Design Team Showcase: G45 Place In Time

I am SO excited to be posting my very first Design Team Project for Lone Wolf Designs. I created a calendar/mini album for my friend, Katie. Please check out her YouTube channel: CraftyKhandy.

The album is approximately 5"x7." The cover is made with mat board and wrapped with Tim Holtz Shabby Vintage Paper Stash. I used my Bind-It-All and 1" o-wires for the binding. After taking the photos, I noticed that I didn't tie any ribbons and fibers to the binding. I'll be doing that before it gets in the mail to Katie. 

I decorated the cover with a pretty floral arrangement. The blue flowers are by Prima and the leaves are from the dollar bin at Michael's. The cream paper flowers I received from my friend Tami for Christmas. I received the stick pin, metal embellishments and pearl trim in various swaps last year.

The paper stack I used is "Place in Time" by Graphic 45. I love every single sheet in this stack. Can you say that about a paper stack that you own? I'm glad I purchased two of these. I'm definitely going to have to make a mini album for myself with the other stack. : )

One of the things I love about G45 paper stacks is the "Cut Apart" page. For each month, there are 24 tags, cards, and strips on this page. That is a lot of embellishments! I used several of the these on each page of the mini album. There are several tags and a postcard which would be great for journaling. Several of the Cut Aparts are large enough for photos to be placed on the back.

This is the back of the January Cut Apart page that is pictured above.

The inside of the album is made with lightweight chipboard and black envelopes and cards (from Recollections). I painted the edges of the chipboard with black acrylic paint and then glued the envelopes down with mod podge. The chipboard is cut about 1/4" larger than the envelopes. The envelopes are sealed and then a sliver cut off one of the long sides so that it can be used as a pocket. Most of the large photo mats (on top of the envelopes) are cut from Stampin Up cardstock and they are cut about 1/4" smaller than the envelopes. Everything is inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. The vintage calendar is a free printable from Crafty Secrets.

Inside the pocket I used the matching cards as a photo mat. I cut them in half and then cut them down to 4.5"x6.5," rounded the corners, and added a matching pull tab made with my Stampin' Up Tab Punch.

Here is a closeup of the March page. You can see that I used the large image from the Cut Apart page and glued it down to the base. I cut out the row of stamps and glued them down on 3 sides to make a pocket and then used dimensional foam tape on the bottom portion of the calendar.

The pages are all very similar. From the Cut Apart page I used the large image, one of the smaller images, the post card, a tag, and the calendar stick. There is also a monthly calendar image on each page.

On this month, I used some Fun Fur (specialty yarn) on one of the tags.

An example of how to use these elements would be to write a summary of the month on the calendar stick or just note important dates and events with a few dates and words. On the tag, you could have journaling on the front and a small photo on the back. The post card is large enough for an almost full-sized photo. You could place a smaller photo on the right hand side of the front or do some journaling on the address lines.

For July, I added a flower (from the dollar bin at Michael's) and a button to the top corner. I made a belly band by cutting one of the strips from the Cut Apart sheet and glued it down only on the two ends. I also added Glossy Accents to the red stars. Glossy Accents is one of my favorite items to use when crafting. It gives a nice shine or epoxy look to anything! On the February page (shown earlier in the post), I used Glossy Accents on the lipstick prints. I used my old Fiskar edge scissors to cut one of the stamps out and glued it on the bottom only to use a photo stop to keep the tags from falling out.

I'm not sure if you can tell it from these pictures, but I used gold glitter glue on the sand area of the large tag.

Christmas~my favorite time of year! I added another one of those flowers from the dollar bin at Michael's. I used one of the smaller pieces from the Cut Apart page and glued it down on two sides to make a pocket for the tags.

On these tags I used red glitter glue on the holly berries and clear on the mistletoe.

A close-up of the holly berries, though I'm not sure if you can see the sparkle of the glitter glue in the photo.

I had a lot of fun making this album. Once I decided on the general page design, it all came together quickly. The hardest part is trying to decide on additional embellishments for each page.

I'd like to leave with you a few tips to take your next creation up to the next level:

• Ink your edges~Find an ink that you love, like Tim Holtz Distress Inks, and use it to ink all the edges in your project. It adds a nice dimension and finished touch to your project.
• Dimensional adhesive~There are many kinds out there. Pick one that you like to work with and add dimension to your projects. It's amazing how a little bit of dimensional layering brings a new look to your work.
• Shimmer and Shine~Stickles (or glitter glue) are great for adding a little something extra to your work. Glossy Accents provides that epoxy look with just a little bit of drying time.
• Ribbons and Fibers~Great for pull tags and the bindings of your mini albums

Here are just a couple more pictures of the finished mini album. Thanks for sticking with me for all of them!

Check out this video of the finished mini album. I also go into a little more detail about some of the embellishments.

If you would like to purchase any of the products used for this project, most of them can be ordered or purchased through Kris at Lone Wolf Designs. Please join her Facebook Group "Lone Wolf Designs Discount Retail Sales" to make a purchase.

And now for Blog Candy!

Subscribe to my blog and leave a comment, then head over to Lone Wolf Designs and enter the giveaway for a Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Ink pad and a Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool. Hurry! Contest ends Thursday, January 31, 2013!

Go and Be Creative!