Joy Christmas mini album

The more I make Christmas mini albums , the larger they get and the more techniques I try.  Of course I often refer to Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas series going as far back as 2008.  He outlines every step of the techniques he uses on his tags in his blogs and even has a 30 something page pamphlet you can print out for some of the more recent years.  My second treasure trove of ideas are the You Tube videos of other altered paper arts crafts folks who also give lots of info and come up with some amazing concepts about fold out and accordion pages, waterfall photo spots, journaling spots.  I'm still learning like crazy and may be at the moderate range of trying some of these.  They can get complicated but are so beautiful and offer more space for those treasured memories.

So my newest album, The Joy Christmas mini album offers 14 chipboard pages which feature many photo mats, tags and journaling cards in addition to pockets, fold out photo mats, library card holders, and a present which opens into a photo mat.  There is also mini scrapbook, which adds further record keeping. I used open stock Christmas papers that I found at Michaels and A.C. Moore this time since I was focusing on reds, greens and blues.  In addition I made some of the photo mats from the mini paper pak from K and Company's Christmas paper pak of this year.  They are the perfect size. My chipboard embellishments and some of the papers came from the Once Upon a Time line, items form the dollar baskets at Michaels' from years past, 7 Gypsies journaling tags. The entire book is accented lavishly and embellished with Prima pearls, faux Swavorski crystal, chipboard accents, handmade papers and handmade flowers. This photo album is a 6 1/2 X 5 1/2 inch mini album and is bound by two metal rings accented with ribbons and handspun yarns.And of course, I used my Sizzix Tim Holtz edge dies to make the edges more interesting and then repurposed the cut off pieces.  And to finish off some of the pages, I added color to the edges with Ranger Distress Inks in green, red and black. The gorgeous matte copper cardstock I found at a wholesale paper supply house in Raleigh a couple of years ago for use in my book printing business, Shadow Archer Press. But they may be available this time of year at local office supply stores like Staples and Office Max.

On the cover I used some K and company chipboard elements, copper cardstock numbers cut with my Tim Holtz Sizzix Vintage Market alphabet die (I love making my own letters and numbers), a handmade flower, Prima bling, vintage Christmas postage stamps and large chipboard letters for Joy.  These letters I layered and layered with paint and pigment to get a more vintage look.