Yellow Wedding Mini Album

I love mini albums. I love making them. I love receiving them. I love giving them as gifts. I just finished a vertical paper bag mini album as a bridal shower gift for a young lady in my church. She also happens to be my step-daughter's Sunday School teacher, so I put some extra love into it.

This 6 page mini album is made from the black Celebrate It lunch bags from Michael's. I used this tutorial video by Mysistersscrapper on YouTube to help me create this mini album. I used My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 Sunshine as my paper choice for this project. I used a 12x12 paper pad, 6x6 cardstock pad, and some assorted solid colors by Recollections.

Here are a few photos of the cover and my favorite pages from the inside.

It's a little chunky! I only used a 1/4" gusset between my pages...maybe I should have made  it wider!

This flower clip is actually a bobby pin! 

I also made a video flip-through of this mini album. This is a new video set up for me and I did go out of frame a few times. Sorry! I just got it last night (Thank You, Darren!) and had to record the video real quick this morning before we left for the bridal shower. I need to get something down there to use as a guide to make sure I stay in frame for future videos.

I love this style of mini album. I think I will make several more! The most time consuming part is building the base of the album and making the pages. That took at least 6 of the 12 hours that I spent working on this.

LWD Design Team Showcase: Spellbinders Nestabilities & Stampers Anonymous Stamps

My Lone Wolf Designs Design Team Showcase for this month features cards created with Spellbinders Nestabilities and Stampers Anonymous Stamps.

The main set of Nestabilities that I am featuring is the "A2 Curved Matting Basics A" set. This set includes 8 dies to create perfectly spaced 1/4" layers for your cards. If you prefer narrower layers, there is also a "B" set, when used in conjunction with the "A" set, would give you 1/8" layers.

For this first card, I used the 4 largest dies in the set. I used the largest one to cut a card base out of black cardstock. I then cut the rest of the layers with the next 3 dies. I used Black Soot Distress Ink on all the edges. I stamped the sentiment (Stampers Anonymous "Way With Words") with Black Versafine Ink first and then used the die to cut around it. If you stamp first and then cut the shape out, it is easier to get your sentiment in the middle of your shape. And, I didn't notice until I took the picture, but my layers are crooked. *sigh* All my projects tend to lean towards the right a bit.

This picture is a close up of the (crooked!) layers. One of the great things about Spellbinders is that they not only cut, but they can emboss as well. I think the embossed edge is a nice touch to the layers. The Spellbinders website provides a Spellbinders Compatibility Chart to ensure you get the proper "sandwich" when stacking your layers for cutting and embossing in your particular machine.

This card uses one of the dies from the Matting Basics set and also a die from the "Lattice Rectangles" set. I used DCWV The Linen Closet Mat Stack and inked all the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink. The quote on this card is also from the Stampers Anonymous "Way With Words" set. I believe the sketch is from SplitCoastStampers, but I'm not sure. I didn't have a name on it in my file.

TIP: You can use washi tape to temporarily adhere your die to your stamped image. This ensures that the die won't move around while you are getting it from your work surface to your die cut machine.

The lattice rectangles have LOTS of little pieces that have to be punched out. I ran the die through my CuttleBug twice to make sure all those little pieces cut through. The hard part is getting them all cleaned up after you punch them out from the die! You just need a sharp-pokey-tool (that would be the technical term) to release them from the die. I used the end of a wooden skewer.

Here is a close up of the die cut and embossed layers. I attached the sentiment with foam tape.

I love making cards with layers and I think the embossed layers that you can make with the Matting Basics set will help me to quickly create cards that have perfectly spaced layers. It's easy to mix and match different sets to create the perfect card for any occasion.

Many of the supplies I used for my project can be ordered or purchased (at 25% off MSRP!) through Kris at Lone Wolf Designs. Please join the Facebook Group Lone Wolf Designs Discount Retail Sales to make a purchase. If you are a crafter and haven't joined us yet, you are paying TOO MUCH for your supplies!

PopulArt Swap: Altered Composition Book

One of my current crafting goals is to go "shopping in my stash" and not go out and buy so much for the swaps I'm participating in this year. For this project, I spent a grand total of $3, and that was only because I had to re-make the journal. I absolutely hated the first one I made (paid $2 for that one!) and had to run out to the Dollar Tree the other day to purchase another composition book.

This is an altered composition book for the March PopulArt swap at Your Paper Pantry. My swap partner is Cari and she pretty much let me have free reign for the design. We had to cover the front and back, include pockets and ephemera, and ink/distress the edges of the book and/or pages. The base is just an ordinary black and white composition book. I paid $1 for it at The Dollar Tree. The paper I used is K&Co KP Blossom. I love all the bright fun colors. It definitely reminds me of spring! I added some green botanical print washi tape to cover the seam where the paper me the black binding of the book. The edges of the cover and all the pages are inked with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. I didn't take any pictures of the inside pages, but I just grabbed a few stamps and used Archival ink to stamp a few sentiments throughout the book.

I used grungeboard letters for the title and the little butterfly in the upper right corner is grungeboard, too. I painted them with white acrylic paint and then inked the letters with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and the butterfly with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink. I used Glossy Accents to adhere the grungeboard to the cover. The heart bling is Basic Grey.

I covered this large flower with Crackle Accents. I love how it turned out!

This is the inside of the front cover. I added a piece of washi tape to the inside so that it matched the front cover.

Inside the back cover I made a pocket out of an envelope. I sealed the envelope and cut off both of the short ends. I folded one end up about 2" and glued it down. I then attached pieces of patterned paper and glued it the inside of the back cover.

The pockets hold a photo mat for a 4"x6" and a 4"x4" photo. I included a glassine bag filled with cut-apart tags from the paper collection. I used a piece of the washi tape to keep the bag closed.

And here is the back cover.

I hope you enjoyed my altered composition book. Thanks for stopping by! If you have made an altered composition book, I would love to see it. Please leave a link in the comments below.

If you aren't a member of the Lone Wolf Designs Discount Retail Sales Facebook Group, you are paying too much for your supplies! Kris offers all your favorite crafting supplies at 25% off MSRP.

LWD Design Team Showcase: Studio 490 Wendi Vecchi Embossing Paste and Stencils

My Lone Wolf Designs Design Team Showcase for this month features Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi embossing paste and stencils.

This was not the project that I had originally planned, so I don't have step-by-step pictures like I usually do. I'll try to tell you everything I did, though. The base of my project is a #8 tag by Ranger. I used the inside of a bubble mailer to make the background. I mixed blue and white acrylic paint and brushed it on the mailer and then pressed it onto the tag. It was still a bit too dark so I dry-brushed on some more white acrylic paint.

Next comes the fun stuff! I used Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste and Lovely Leaves Stencil to complete the background. The embossing paste is white, but I colored it with green acrylic paint. I scooped about a tablespoon out on my non-stick craft mat, added paint, and mixed well. I used a spatula to spread the paste over the stencil. After I scraped off the excess, I used my finger to add texture before I removed the stencil. After the leaves on the bottom of the tag dried, I flipped the stencil over and repeated the process for the leaves on the top.

The flowers were inspired by Tammy Tutterow's Crinoline Tattered Roses. I used the Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Florals Die and for each tag, I cut 2 sets of flowers from crinoline and 2 sets of the 2 largest flowers from cardstock. I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks to color the cardstock and the crinoline~Blue (Shaded Lilac and Salty Ocean), Orange (Ripe Persimmon and Wild Honey), and Pink (Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet).  I used a skewer to roll the edges of the flowers and used my hot glue gut to assemble them. I completed the look with a vintage-inspired clear button in the center of the flower and a piece of white trim across the bottom of the tag.

As I went searching through my ribbon tub (yes, tub!), I came across lace seam binding in the colors of each of my flowers. In addition to the that color, I also added a piece of blue and white lace seam binding.

I plan on using these tags as the base for the April Stick Pin Swap at The Scrap Cafe. I added a few stick pins from my collection to see how it looked. What do you think?

Many of the supplies I used for my project can be ordered or purchased (as 25% off MSRP!) through Kris at Lone Wolf Designs. Please join the Facebook Group Lone Wolf Designs Discount Retail Sales to make a purchase. If you are a crafter and haven't joined us yet, you are paying TOO MUCH for your supplies!

Artsy Fartsy Ticket Swap

This month I joined a new (to me!) swap at Your Paper Pantry~Artsy Fartsy Tickets. We were to make 5 different sets of ticket strips and use flowers on each set. I had a lot of fun with these and even used some new techniques.

I don't have the Tim Holtz ticket die, so I made my own ticket strips. Cut strips of cardstock 10" x 1.25" and score every 2". Use a small circle punch, hole punch, or crop-o-dile to punch half-circles on the score lines. Easy Peasy!

Set 1: I made the ticket strip with a piece of pink paper from the Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby Stack. I inked the paper with Fired Brick Distress Ink and used texture paste and a brick wall stencil by Wendy Vecchi to add some texture. The texture paste picked up some of the red color from the ink. After it dried, I added Fired Brick and Vintage Photo to the bricks. These flowers are Recollections and I used burgundy buttons from my stash to embellish them.

Set 2:  I used my favorite distress technique to color this ticket strip~Tim's Wrinkle Free Distress Technique. These tickets are made from glossy cardstock. I used Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, and Wild Honey Distress Inks. The sentiment is from the Language of Love set by Stampin Up and the ribbon roses are from the dollar bin at Michael's.

Set 3: I used the TH technique on glossy cardstock. I colored the strip with Victorian Velvet and Spun Sugar Distress Inks. I used Scor-Tape to adhere lacy seam binding all the way across the tags. The pink felt flowers are from Making Memories. The white flowers are from a stem of flowers from the Dollar Tree. I took them apart and inked the edges with Vintage Photo and then glued a sparkly pink gem in the middle.

Set 4: I made the ticket strip with a piece of blue paper from the Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby Stack. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The felt leaves and the paper flowers are from Making Memories. I finished them off with some green bling for the flower centers.

Set 5: This strip is made with glossy cardstock. I inked the entire strip with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo. I used a polka dot stencil by Wendy Vecchi and Vintage Photo Distress Ink to create the patten on the tickets. I used a stamp (Spiraling Inferno by Inkadinkadoo) from a stamping gear and Forest Moss Distress Ink to create an additional pattern behind the flowers. The flowers are different shades of coral/peach and are from the dollar bin at Michael's.

I had a great time making these tickets. I can't wait to see what I receive. I think these will be great for SMASH*books and mini albums! Have YOU made tickets? Leave me a link below so I can check out your work.

LWD Design Team Showcase: Romance in Paris Tags

My Lone Wolf Designs Design Team Showcase this month features tags I made for a swap at The Scrap Cafe. The theme was "Romance in Paris" and we were to use the colors red, pink, and/or white.

I used #8 Manila tags and 3 colors of Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Barn Door, Victorian Velvet, and Spun Sugar). I used Tim's wrinkle free distress technique to color the front of my tags. I love how they are all different even though I used the same colors and the same technique each time.

Next is the stamping. I used a stamp from Stampers Anonymous (Heartfelt). I stamped the image with Black Soot Distress Ink and then used clear embossing powder to finish it off.

This is NOT how I envisioned this tag when I started. I had planned to use some Core'dinations cardstock that I embossed with a French Script folder and put that on the bottom portion of the tag. When I placed it on the tag, it did not "go" at all....so, the black braid trim and bling mesh is all I have for the Parisian theme. I'm not even sure that it's *really* Parisian, but I'm going to go with the color theme instead of the Parisian theme, here, ok? 

The rose started out white. I used some homemade metallic shimmer spray to color it pink. I used Glossy Accents on a Tim Holtz Adage Ticket and then used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to staple it to the tag.

And here's another look at the finished tag.

Those who know me can attest to the fact that I do NOT like to get my hands dirty. I am a very "neat" crafter. However, I was not able to keep my hands clean for this project and it was kind of fun to get all inky! I just might do it again!

Many of the supplies I used for my project can be ordered or purchased (at 25% off MSRP!) through Kris at Lone Wolf Designs. Please join her Facebook Group Lone Wolf Designs Discount Retail Sales to make a purchase.

Romance In Paris Stick Pin Swap

One of the swaps that I participate in at The Scrap Cafe is the stick pin swap. It is my favorite swap and I participate in it every month. This month the theme is "Romance In Paris" and we are to use the colors red, pink, and/or white.

I started out with a #8 tag (cut with the Tim Holtz Sizzix die) made out of Core'dinations cardstock. After I got the tag assembled, I had too much empty space at the top, so I cut off about an inch. I inked all the edges with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink.
The image is a vintage postcard of the Eiffel Tower that I downloaded from The Graphics Fairy.

For the bottom of the tag, I layered black braid trim, lace, and heart trim. The lace was originally white but I sprayed it with homemade rose shimmer spray. I also sprayed the large paper flower and the smaller ribbon roses with the same rose shimmer spray.

Here is a close up of my stick pins. All the beads are from my stash.

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