Christmas presents- mini-albums

I actually made all but two of my Christmas presents this year- it was time-consuming, but worth it, as the gifts were really appreciated. My family are used to handmade things- I used to make all my pressies from an early age (mostly felt comb-cases and embroidered hankies!)- but I have never made anything for Paul's family before, apart from cards, as I didn't know if they would like what I do! These are the scrapbooking projects, and I will show all of the arty things later!

Stamps by Studio G and Paperartsy. The green concertina album is made using two used gift-cards for the covers.

Altered Board Book- 'E'

I went to a Scrapaholix roadshow a couple of weeks ago, and was completely uninspired as to what to do. I haven't scrapped for ages, and couldn't get into the right mindset to organise myself. So I took along my altered board book and did another page.

Colour: Paint Dabber, Moonshadow mist, Versamagic
Stamp: Aud Design (in white on the green, very subtle!)
Papers: Crate Paper, Basic Grey
Other: Gin-X rub on letters, Dovecraft heart, black pen

Another Page for my Altered Board Book

This is the last page of my altered board book- I thought it was safest to work in from both ends, and then decided what to do in the middle if my maths is wrong! And it really isn't my style to start at the beginning and just work straight through to the end, like I should do! This page actually has no Glimmer Mist at all, although it does have Paint Dabbers, dabbed on to create lots of texture. It also uses some of my favourite Paperartsy stamps. stamped onto the letters to create a pattern, and onto the book itself. Everything else is pretty straightforward, for a change, I must have been having a calm and chilled out day!

Stamps: All Paperartsy
Colour: Versamagic, Brilliance, Paint Dabbers
Papers: Basic Grey, Crate Paper
Other: Sizzix Sizzlets alphabet (can't remember which one as it is my friend's), Chipboard letter from cheap shop.

Altered Board Book- Scrapping Project

It was scrapbooking that got me into crafting, and I do still scrap, although not as often. I stamp alone, but scrap best in company, so I get together with my best friend every so often so that I can do some serious scrapbooking (and yakking lol!). Most of my projects end up being given away (my husband loves having mini-books and other items with photos of our son- I think his desk at work must be heaving under the weight of them!), so I am making this book for me, not to be given away.
It started life as one of Dan's board books. It started to fall apart, plus the story was about how great little brothers are (he doesn't have one), so I decided to use it as the basis of this book. I felt really guilty when I gessoed the pages! There will be a page for each of the letters of his name, and obviously this is the first page. I am using chipboard letters on each page, so this will be really thick when finished; I am planning to bind it with big book rings. The pages are all green or turquoise, and I have used all of my favourite products to colour the edges. It will be a long project, I'm afraid, as we only scrap once or twice a month, but I am promising myself I will finish it!

Colour: Distress Crackle Paint, Glimmer Mist, Brilliance Inks
Stamps: Katzlecraft, Studio G (alphabet)
Papers: Basic Grey, Crate Paper
Other: Grungeboard Mini letters, Ellison Thin Cuts alphabet (Sunset), AMM tag, Me and My Big Ideas Designer Chipboard (introducing...), Chipboard 'D' from pound shop.

Scrap page

I'm stealing a couple of minutes to blog this page, as it has been finished for over a week, but I haven't managed to find the time to take the photo. I am really pleased with this, as I feel I have finally 'got' the idea of layering patterned papers. I was amazed to find, after I had stuck everything down, that the photo is exactly 2.5" in from each side, so I think that means that the balance of the layers is good. I did stamp on the page, the swirl on the upper right corner of the photo/ stripy paper is a tree design from Katzelcraft. It is a pretty versatile stamp as it really doesn't look at all like a tree here! The photograph of the page isn't brilliant, I'm afraid, as the light is awful and I had to use the flash. The next sunny day we get, I will re-take the photo and change it.

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey
Cardstock: The Paper Mill shop
Embellishments: Wooden letters from a pound shop, Embelliscrap swirl, brads from my stash
Stamp: Katzelcraft
Colour: Brilliance Coffee Bean

P.S. I need to say thanks to a couple of people for this page. Petra sent me some Technique Tuesday scallops to use as templates, which is how I did the scalloped layer, and Vicky gave me the wooden letters, as the ones I had were too big. Vicky also told me when the page was finished; she knows that I would just keep adding things forever otherwise! Oh, and I took a class with Isa recently where we did layering, I think I it worked and I learned something, so thanks to Isa, too!

Scrapping some photos!

I have taken so many photos over the last year or so, and every time I download them onto my laptop I think "That will make a great layout!". Of course, I tend to spend my craft time stamping, as I just love playing with inks, but I have finally bitten the bullet and done a page. And there is stamping on here, honestly!
This page is in the 8 1/2 x 11" landscape format, to go in my new Papermania album. The cardstock is Bazzil, and the patterned papers are Junkitz and Basic Grey. The chipboard letters are Making Memories, painted with orange acrylic paint then stamped with my Judikins circles cube. I had to paint over the stamping with a couple of coats of acrylic, then I added Glossy Accents to make the balls effect. The metal letter brads were black inside the letters, I used a Sakura Stardust pen to go over the black, and used a punched heart over a 'v' (I figured it wouldn't be missed!). Anything else was from my stash, which I really have to use before I get anything new!
I enjoyed doing this layout. I have always struggled a bit with 12" x 12", as it is not an instinctive shape to design around. After all, most magazines, books, and paintings are rectangular! I can see myself doing some more pages soon, I have got a whole album to fill!

Isa's weekly challenge-'D'

I always thought that as a mother, I would be scrapping endless photos of my baby, charting every stage of his life. In reality, I'm way too busy doing to stop and scrap! That's why I thought a layout would be a good interpretation of the sketch which was part of Isa's challenge.
The first evening of work on this was just assembling the elements, and I did doubt that I could get the visual balance correct from using the sketch. I'm normally instinctive, and just move things about until it looks 'right'. But last night it all just came together so quickly, I had finished in an hour! I could have played a bit more with the typeface and journalling, but I was so pleased that I was moving forward so rapidly that I didn't want to stop and go back! I may try some more sketches, (it will get the backlog of baby photos under control!)
Isa's challenge was to use the letter D as the subject, use a butterfly on the piece, and use the sketch she provided. My subject is Daniel, my son, and the butterfly is in the lower right corner.
The background paper is Basic Grey 'Perhaps', chipboard letter is Making Memories, the second background paper is a photo printed onto transparency, and I used a butterfly stamp from Anna Griffin. The journalling and title paper was altered with Distress ink in Antique Linen, the butterfly was embossed in white on vellum. Thanks for another fun challenge, Isa!