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!