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.

More Halloween mini photo albums

Here's the second installment of my Halloween mini album frenzy.  What a great time I had inspired by all the artisans and scrappy crafters on Etsy and You Tube.  I learned some new techniques and enjoyed reviving some old ones from my cut and paste layout days on  The Howling, a Gothic magazine I published in the late 1990's and early 2000's!
Of course once again, I used techniques learned form Tim Holtz and altered artists and used materials from Holtz, 7 Gypsies, K and Company, Martha Stewart as well as vintage items from my Halloween stash (you can't take the goth out of this woman, even if she does enjoy steampunk now).  Since these mini photo albums are meant for young- to pre-teen Halloween Trick or Treaters I didn't pull out all the heavy gothic, but tried to make them more fun and whimsical.  We all have to break out of our regular zones from time to time and I guess having a new granddaughter on the way and a nine year old granddaughter, that helps.  (although she will be a gothic fairy for Halloween - I can't wait to make her album!) 
I start out cutting my pages from cereal boxes.  To cover the pages I sometimes emboss colored heavy card stock with Sizzix or Tim Holtz embossing folders and texture fades using my handy dandy Sizzix die cut machine. I love that thing.  I use it all the time. And glue them onto the cereal box pages. o
Next step involves gleing on adding scrapbook papers in Halloween colors to each page and I always use Golden matte gel as the glue because it sticks and stays - a little messy because I use my fingers but it is the best adhesive for paper and embellishments in my eyes.  Once both sides of the cereal pages are covered I cut the whole sandwich with Tim Holtz edge die to create beautiful interesting edges.
For my photo mats, I sometimes I use the background cards from the packing of scrapbook embellishments s because they are just the right size. Or I use heavy card stock for photo mats or more cereal box pieces.
I often make my own tags now using heavy cardstock in parchment or tan colors, just tracing one tag and cutting them out and then adding the hole with a hole punch or gromet punch.
  I love distressing the edges with Ranger inks in Distress colors to make the pages look more finished and vintage. And then the fun starts with embellishments!
I make an insert lots of photo mats and tags for journaling so parents can go back to previous Halloweens or add photos of more than one family member.  I love adding lots of photos and writing in my journals for posterity - wondering how my  grandchildren will view these when they're grown up and hopefully share their stories and memories with their own children.

For the last album I tried a different approach and made a vertical album which will stand up as it's own display with the pages and photos being changed from time to time.
This was fun but I had to remember to flip the back pages upside down - took me a few tries to pull that off, I'll tell you!  Good for the brain though and it's always fun to try a new technique.  I did make a steampunk vertical album for my friend Cindy last year around the topic of The Orient Express but had already forgotten how to pull off a vertical album.  Now I have it down, I need to make a few more.
I was also lucky to find older goodies at Big Lots and other odd places.  As much as I love to use the new lines of my favorite altered arts designers - I also like to include items that aren't currently popular. And after Halloween I will stock up on as many half price items as I can to combine with next year's new designs.
I have already sold the Boo album from the last post so perhaps I'll make a few more on Sat., not sure.  I'm eager to make some baby girl and baby boy albums after making the baby girl one for my soon to be granddaughter!

Halloween mini albums frenzy

When one of my friends asked if I was going to post Halloween mini albums for sale on Etsy, I hadn't thought about it since I'm caught up in the baby girl mode waiting for my second granddaughter to arrive.  But Halloween is my favorite time of year so thanks to Elizabeth I went into my usual obsessive mode of creating and made four books in less than a week.  I love to see a variety of styles and colors, was always that way with weaving scarves and shawls, making beeswax collage etc.
But this had to beat them all in productivity.  And I only spent $3.59 cents.  I already had enough supplies form collecting Halloween items for years in my stash. 
I was very fortunate and kind of went into the zone watching British TV shows, favorite movies (Firefly, "9", The Englishmen Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain) and cluttered up my living room with scrappy goodies until one could not sit or walk, except for my narrow place on the couch. 

Since I've been making these for a few years now, I have a system of  steps.  First I apply all the background pages to chipboard or cereal box cardboard, often cut with Tim Holtz edge dies. Then I add photo mats, next come the embellishments, then the words and scripts. Ribbons and bling with jewel spots are next followed by rubber stamping, flowers, metal pieces, Tim Holtz additions.  I love using  embossing cards (Bingo and Spirals), die cuts, Perfect Pearls  and other accent techniques. The last thing I do is make the tags.  It's like dessert after a large dinner of baked potato, veggies and yummy steak!

Of course I love using all my favorite designers, including 7 Gypsies, K and Company, Graphic 45, Reflections.  But even more fun was looking through my vintage pieces.  I've been collecting these for years and I love adding them to my distressed look.  I'm not a cutesy kind of gal.  As a goth from way back, a VOG (very old goth) I  like an edge to my work and even though these are meant as children's albums, I hope they have enough dark touches to appeal to all those moms out there who really get into Halloween.  I also like to add the New England flavor.  We're known for our dark sides what with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and authors like Nathanial Hawthorne and the nearby town of Salem, Mass., the witch capital of the U.S.  We were brought up on the macabre even in school and ghost stories and witches tales were common folklore. 

Vintage/Victorian mini album

 I'm still completing the finishing touches on the Vintage/Victorian mini album I'm making.  It will be one of the items I donate to the Upstate Steampunk Extravaganza.
I used a good many random pieces including handmade mulberry papers, Graphic 45, Tim Holtz, Bo Bunny and 7 Gypsies items, some of my own art and hand dyed handspun yarns, a photograph of my collection of alchemy type bottles, metal findings, envelopes, vintage stamps.  The first page includes a photo accordion foldout and there are a few photomats and journaling tags throughout.  Not as many as I should have included, perhaps.  I included a page made from papers embossed by Tim Holtz embossing folders on my Sizzix Big Kick and then accented with Distress Inks and Perfect Pearls. 
This book took me two days of constant work to do the bulk of the book and accents, but I'm still adding metal tokens, vintage stamps, ribbons and charms. 
The theme is "Secrets" and the album has to do with secrets, mystery, alchemy, longing, absinthe and temptation.
I've included four little reproductions of my own art, the drawings" "The Potter" and Nude form the Back" as well as the painting,m "Francois Burgogne" and a pull out ATC of the collage "Temptation."
I accented the cover with Tim Holtz grunge board elements - the placard holder and the scroll, as well as with a handmade flower made with Tim Holtz tattered flower die cut and then accented with distress ink and Stickles. Most of the papers I found at Big Lots and can't recall the maker although they always come in packs of six coordinated one sided papers and are always pretty.  Sometimes I find these packets at the dollar store. 
I made a few of the tag and ma making more, simply because I love to include lots of opportunities for journaling and I have so many vintage style rubber stamps I enjoy using on these shabby chic, grunge style albums.

Valentine Wolfe mini album

I made this mini album back in the fall of 2010 but couldn't show it until I handed it over to Sarah and Braxton, the singer and double bass player for the goth/steampunk macabre musical group, Valentine Wolfe.  This duo has appeared in a variety of venues including clubs, steampunk and other conventions and even are booked for an upcoming tea house.  By day, Braxton is a double bass player with the Greenville (SC) Symphony Orchestra and Sarah is a costumer at Costume Curio. Sarah also has her own specialized costume and accessory business on Etsy, called Valentine Wolfe,  focusing on corsets, shrugs, top hats, tri corns, wrist cuffs,  and many many more amazing items which are especially desired in the goth and steampunk arena.
Sarah and Braxton are an incredibly talented couple.  And because they were so kind as to give out free Valentine Wolfe Cd's at one of our local gatherings of the Upstate Steampunk Dining Out Society, I felt inspired to make them a mini album. I haven't shown the photos before this due to time, other things going on and the fact that I couldn't reveal it until I delivered it to them late last year.

Because they do goth and steampunk, I went for an elegant but grungy look using a lot of black, browns and reds, for some reason the butterfly hits me with them because of how light and airy Sarah's voice is.
I used a lot of different products some from Tim Holtz, 7 Gypsies, Graphic 45 papers and tags, the Once Upon a Time papers photo mats and journaling cards.  Of course, I added a lot of musical symbols and elements and lots of journal pages and journaling tags because they travel to a number of performances each year and perhaps this will help to capture some of those memories.
I added fold-out photo books too. As a  special tribute, in one of the envelopes, I stashed the lyrics to one of their songs for remembrance.  And used keys words such as dream because they are doing just that - following their dreams. They are so photogenic and wear such amazing stage costumes, it was hard to choose what photos to include. Some of the photos were accentuated by the artist, James Nimmons. Hopefully they'll find places in this journal to add more as they continue on their lyrical journey. I bound it with three book rings and added handspun yarns, ribbons, charms and bling to the binding rings.

Book Making Again - Bird mini album

I've mostly been writing lately, but did have some time to make a mini photo album with a bird, butterfly, magnolia theme for my friend Mark for Christmas. Her house is called Magnolia Cottage so that's why this particular southern flower is predominant.  I'm still working on taking photos - the first set came out blurry because I had to shoot inside during the snow storm, but I'll add more later.  I used a lot of new techniques on this one, including the Perfect Pearls from Ranger inks and beeswax collage.  It was a lot of fun!  She and I both love birds, both in the wild and in art so it was a fun theme to try. 

Like my other books, I made my pages from cereal boxes etc and the front and back cover from the hard cardboard found on the backs of paper packs.  I used a lot of Botanicabella papers from Graphic 45, one of my absolute favorite paper companies. K & Company, Tim Holtz, 7 Gypsies are also featured throughout as their styles fit right in with the kind of vintage look I want in my books.  This book is a bit more whimsical than most of my books but birds are like that, aren't they.  I've filtered in some of my own sketches as well as photos of my garden to give it a more natural feel and I've already started putting photos in of Mark and her husband Mike, who is a Harley rider, so there's even a page with a Harley theme in here!  Quirky I know but Mark and Mike are a very unique couple. There are also some ocean themed pages because Mark and I spent time together on Folly Island, off the coast of Charleston, SC.

Upstate Steampunk October meeting

Busy weekend - started it off with an Upstate Steampunk meetup in the posh wine room at the Pelham Rd. Marriott where we'll be holding the con.  The conversations were stimulating and plans were finalized and I had the chance to meet new folks and also was thrilled to see friends I haven't seen in a while. It was great to meet Lennis and her husband,  Howard, (who is from Liverpool) and discuss Morris dancing, Sherlock Holmes and the tradition of first world war First World War soldiers who sent home unusual scrapbooking creations they made with photos (thanks to all the revolutions since the invention of the camera obscura)  and  paper emperema from where they were stationed. The conversation started when I showed Howard and Lennis the mini album I made for Valentine Wolfe.  He has a examples his ancestors made and he said the book I made reminded me of the same way of putting things together. When photographs were able to be reproduced cheaply, scrapbooking using family photos became a passion.  I have seen some period examples some women have created but never knew the soldiers did things along these lines. Howard explained that in lapses in between battles, the young men would make them and ship them home. 
 The wine room, accented with a fireplace and comfortable upholstered furniture was perfect for mingling so I moved about the room to take part in lots of discussions: technology with Penelope, the Egyptologist, trains and clockwork with Professor Thaddeus, see Josh again after more than a year, listen in amazement to the news of  the latest inventions to emerge from his engineering workshop and hear from Gypsey,  Pilot of the Second Thought, about her plans to build and fly her amphibious dirigible over Lake Hartwell.
  But the rest of the weekend is to be spent finishing up on the Fissure Steampunk issue and doing art.  On Saturday, amidst fires in the fireplace, pomegranates and the crisp fall weather (finally arrived here in the south) I worked on more beeswax encaustic mixed media pieces, this time though they are for the Upstate Steampunk show since Gypsey announced there will be an art room.  I finished two I'd started months and years ago, one steampunk and one alchemy and  then completed three more using lots of paper epherema including vintage photographs, lots of the metal findings I've picked up at the sides of the roads for years, gold leaf, pigment inks and of course, the most fun of all...beeswax.  There are Tim Holtz, 7 Gypsies and Graphic 45 paper,  elements, clockwork parts, antique keys, international vintage stamps, flowers and more of the

Indie Craft Parade and steampunk!

A totally creative weekend and it's nto over yet.  Mark and I attended the Indie Craft Parade (Greenville, SC) and boy was it wild!  Lines out the door, down the steps out the big mill door, down the street!  It was wall to wall crafts and shoulder to shoulder crowds.  All the people made it difficult to see everything (we had to look over heads) and we had to move when the line moved, because we couldn't hold it up to browse.  But I have to say the quality level of the artisan's work was out the roof of the Hugenot Mill and I came away inspired.  Must make flowers and more or my own papers! We left that craziness and went to The Artistry Gallery for a photography show of France scheduled to appear in National Geographic.  Just peeked into Ryan Calloway's blacksmith shop, had a quality visit with Janina Ellis, one of our friends and favorite artists (both Mark listed and I own some of her work) and then listened to artist, Hamed Mahmoodi with his marvelous and exotic storytelling as the sun set and the fall breeze blew the clouds around.  A lovely start to the weekend. 

  So this weekend, inspired, I made my first steampunk mini book, using Graphic 45, 7 Gypsies, Industrial Chic and Tim Holtz papers and embellishments and am thrilled with the results.  Got in the zone on this one and went to town, listening to Valentine Wolfe and Din of Thieves. 
My major inspiration came from Steffogal (with a Grin)  and her Steampunk Debutante Mini Album, Manoli Navarro's, Simply Irresistible card, both of whom are on the Graphic 45 Ring and Zettie Bettie's Vintage Grunge Mini Album video on you tube.

I made all my own pages from chipboard backs of paperpacks and cereal boxes.  I also made all my own tags except for the Dream Journal tag. I did use library card holders, vintage photographs, lace and stamps, my handspun, hand dyed yarns, my own drawings, and ribbons. More photos are up on my Graphic 45 page.