Transforming Albums

You can buy some really beautiful albums today, but sometimes you haven’t got quite what you are looking for and you need to personalise an album. It is very simple to buy a plain album and then adapt it to suit the theme you are working on. Think of it as being like a mini book cover ….. only bigger! It is really really easy to do and you end up with a custom album that no-one else has got.

If you are covering a post bound album, the best way is to take it apart completely and cover the different bits piece by piece. Don’t be afraid ….. it’s simple. I promise. You cover the front, the back and the spine as three separate pieces and then just reassemble it.




If you are working on a smaller size like 8 x 8 then scrapbook papers work perfectly to cover it. If you are covering a 12 x 12 album then, unless you have a lot of joins, 12 x 12 paper won’t work. But – now here’s a radical thought – why not use something different. You could cover it with fabric. The fabric could be stamped on, sewn on prior to covering, embroidered, embellished and generally made very beautiful. Or, you could cheat totally and use wallpaper off cuts. I know they are not acid free but if it is a post bound album and your pages are all in page protectors inside then it really won’t matter. Once you go into the realms of wallpaper or material the world really is your oyster.





You also don’t need to cover the entire album. I have also bought cloth covered albums and just embellished them on the front. I did that with my A – Z Christmas album by adding run-ons and chipboard letters and it was very effective.





Finally there are the lush D ring albums. These are a little trickier to cover as you have to deal with the D ring mechanism, but if you work on it as separate sections it is possible to make a really neat job of them. The D ring albums really lend themselves to having the spine in a different pattern which also deals with the sixe of paper needed. You can add all sorts of embellishments and give your album a title that links everything together.

You can see my covered D Ring album here http://dollysdreamings.typepad.com/dollys_dreamings/2009/12/5210-preparation-time.html It was made as the album for my 5210 project running throughout the year.

Preparing For Stitches On Sunday

Stitches (Abbreviated name for Craft Hobby and Stitch International Trade Show) is the main UK trade show for much of the craft industry including the scrapbooking and paper crafts sectors.

We usually attend every year for a day trip, it is a chance to catch up and reconnect with suppliers, take advantage of good show offers and discounts and see the newer products in the flesh (especially important this year as we missed CHA)

We have been making plans for the main orders we want to place and highlighted stands we want to visit with a view to expanding the products we carry.

We are also planning on meeting up with a couple of the Design Team girls and it will be great to have their input into the lines we will carry and what new products catch their eye.

Sunday evening is when we will be announcing the challenge winner for the January Lists chalenge (there is still time to get your entry in before the 9pm Saturday deadline - see details in the linked post) but in addition I hope to have a little feedback from our day at Stitches and maybe even some photos :)

*~* An Interview With Dawn Evans *~*

Today we are interviewing Dawn Evans, I hope you enjoy the peek into her craft room and a look at her favourite layouts.

Hi, I’m Dawn, a forty –something (!!!!) wife to Robbie, mum to Phoebe and William, full time Reception class teacher and scrapbook addict. I discovered scrapbooking in 2003 and have been hooked ever since-the photos, memories, stories, papers, textures, friends, shopping-what a fabulous hobby this is! I am lucky to have been part of ATDML DT since 2006 and am thrilled to be returning to the team after a short break last year

When did you discover scrapbooking?
It was during the Summer holidays 2003. I caught the last few minutes of a craft show on a shopping channel and then spent the rest of the holidays trying to catch the repeat show-even setting my alarm to wake up at some early hour in the hope of finding the important item numbers to order a trimmer, a huge pack of plain cardstock and the biggest assortment of vellum you would ever see!!

What subjects do you scrap?
More often than not my family and friends.

If you had to choose one scrapbooking format 12x12 8.5x11, minibooks, atcs etc and only scrap in that format for a year, which would you choose and why?
Always 12” x12”-I love all that space

Describe your scrapping style in 5 words.
Busy,with lots of inking!!!!

Tell us about your favourite ever layout (please attach photo or scan to the email)
“Stay Beautiful”-Pink and blue –my favourite colour combo; lots of ribbons and flowers; a song lyric as a title; and photos of my best girl!

If you could take a class or do a workshop with one scrapping celeb or teacher who would it be and why?
Ooh so many... in the UK, Debbie Jewell and Tracie Hudson; In the US, Kelli Crowe and in Aus, Carole Janson

Show us your scrap area (don’t worry we can handle mess!)

These are photos of my craft space in the conservatory-I spend most evenings here in my little haven, whether I am scrapping, surfing or working on school planning and record keeping!!

What is your favourite manufacturer and all time favourite range from them. Why?
I have to say Basic Grey-right from the early ranges, I have been hooked. The plains are my “go to favourite”-in fact I always take the plain sheets out of the collection packs and store them in separate baggies-all the greens together, etc. I think I use some Basic Grey on almost every layout I make. If I had to choose just one range, then I would say “Urban Prairie”

What technique or style would you like to try or master but have not managed to yet?
White space!!! I try, I promise...but I just have to put something in that space.

Do you make cards as well as scrap? If so can you show us some?
No-I am the world’s most useless card maker-I take hours and hours and it ends up looking like a button on a pretty piece of paper!

How long do you spend on average per layout?
I can spend days and days on a layout, but usually about three or four hours for each one.

How often do you scrap?
In fits and spurts...I can scrap every day for a week and then not touch a glue stick for days.

What does your husband \ partner \ family think of your scrapbooking?
Rob loves that I have found something I love so much-and the fact that it keeps me busy whilst he is busy with his hobbies!!

Do you pre plan your layouts or just sit and shuffle paper til it looks right? Describe the process you go through when creating a layout
I find it really hard to follow a plan-I love to pull out lots of papers and just fiddle with shapes and layers. Often I can spend hours working on the background just to cover it all up with a photo or title. At the moment, I am enjoying working first with all the beautiful papers and then adding a photo and title at the end. I have also started to work on two or three layouts at the same time-making the backgrounds one day and returning to them the next day to finish them off.

What colour schemes are your current favourites – if you have a layout you have recently scrapped in this colour scheme let us see
Pink and blue (Stay beautiful - shown above in my favourite ever layout);

pink and green(flower girl);

I love pale icecream tones (A High Tea and Yum)

What colours do you rarely use and why?
Orange and purple

How do you organise your layouts into albums (e.g. chronological \ date you scrapped them \ random \ by subject)

I keep an album to outline each year and then all the other layouts fit into non-chronological albums for Phoebe, William, Family and Friends, Holidays

What is your favourite design tip, style or technique that you use on your layouts?
A little black edge-whether it is ink or card -always makes a page pop.

A Card Making Mini Class By Ann Freeman

Remember the "That Hat!" Class by Ann freeman? Well as promised here is the mini card class using the left overs from the layout class. Of course you could use items in your own scraps box to make the card.

To download the PDF Instructions for this class click HERE

New Class Showcasing Prima Strawberry Kisses Range

When I was planning my class for this month I was wondering what to use... Then the new Prima paper was delivered and I knew exactly what I wanted to use!

I selected four papers from the Strawberry Kisses range and added a set of thickers, a prima crystals swirl, a couple of My Minds Eye Life Stories journaling cards and a pack of Prima tea Roses which I had been coveting for a while and sat down to play.

The papers were so lovely to work with that instead of ending up with one layout I managed three out of those supplies and I still have some left overs to use on cards and things. So this has turned into a bit of a Product Spotlight post as well!

My three layouts are below and the PDF instructions for all three can be found HERE

Valentines Home Decor

On this day of love and romance we thought we would share this fabulous little home decor project by Ann Freeman. It is a sweet piece perfect for Valentines but it will last the whole year through (unlike Chocolates or Roses which for different reasons don't last long!)

Here is Ann's project and the supply list and instructions are below:

Patterned Paper/Card:
SassFrass Hog Heaven - Lots O Luck
Pink Paislee Cupid - Eternal Love
Pink Paislee Cupid – Postcards
Bazzill Bling – In the pink

Stickles:
Ranger Cotton Candy
Ranger Baby Blue

Flowers:
Prima eLine - White
Prima eLine - Aqua

Other
Polystyrene Heart, sequins, short pins, wooden dowel, small plastic plant pot (Hardware shop)
Brown fabric scrap, pink organza ribbon, blue ball fringe trim, paper bird, brads, gems.

Method
Cut variety of heart flowers from the Sassfrass paper, punch/die cut a selection from the pink cardstock, and stickles a selection of the Aqua flowers too.

Cover the polystyrene heart in the selection of flowers using brads, sequins, pins etc to secure and decorate with gems and other brads to fill gaps/add depth to the flowers.

Decorate the plastic plant pot with Pink Paislee Eternal love paper (Tip: make a template first using scrap paper to determine the shape of paper to cut and prevent wastage!) Whilst doing this also cut a cardstock lid for the plant pot and punch a hole in the centre.

Add a fabric strip border to the top of the pot and wrap over to cover the plastic edge. Add the blue ball trim and a flower.

Run a length of double sided tape along the fabric strip and wrap around the wooden dowel.

Adhere a large piece of bluetack inside the plant pot (use strong glue) and push the dowel into the bluetack and slide the cardstock lid over the top. Add a further heart flower to the centre if desired. Seal with clear drying strong glue and add a layer of stickles to hide any imperfections! (Tip: Be generous with the blue tack as it acts as the weight in your home décor piece as well!)

Using a pencil make a small hole in the base of your decorated heart, fill with strong glue and gentle place on top of the fabric covered dowel.

Add a tag (cut from Pink Paislee postcards paper), a bow of organza ribbon and a small paper bird to complete your home décor project.

Vintage Valentine

So tomorrow is Valentines Day and perhaps, like me, you are spending a little time today making a card for that special someone?

This year I decided to go all vintage and use pages from an old poetry book to alter a big heart shaped box and make a card. The box I made for my hubby is actually in the DT gallery (spoiled the surprise for him somewhat!). You could also decorate a small box, just big enough for one little chocolate heart – that’s what I’ve shown below…

To make my box and card I started with a plain box and kraft card and glued on torn strips from pages of poetry.

I then painted over this with a metallic glaze so that the text would still show through (Ranger’s dimensional pearls are good for this).

Then I made the flowers and leaves to go on top…

At our January crop in Kirckaldy (Fife, Scotland) we were treated to a fab class by friend of mine, and fantastically talented scrapper Vicki Canning. She taught us a LO using the stripped down cardboard from a pizza box.

The LO was great but my favourite part was the technique for making these great 3D flowers. Thanks Vicki for giving me permission to share them here.

Cut several different sized circles from double sided paper (I’ve used October Afternoon and Basic Grey ‘Nook and Pantry’).

Dampen the circles then crumple them up ramdomly. Next uncrumple and then reshape by holding the circles at the centre to form the petals of your flower (see picture as this is hard to explain!!).

Hold the circles like this while you dry them with a heat gun. Then layer up the flowers with the smallest circle in the middle. I used glossy accents to glue them but any adhesive will do.

I used a similar technique to make some crumpled leaves which I just cut freehand.

I glued two leaves and a flower on top of the box and the others to the front of my card. (If you’re posting the card though you’ll need to flatten down the flower a bit). I then distressed the box a little with some vintage photo distress ink and added a little sparkle on the leaves with some Stickles. On the card I filled the centre of the flower with glossy accents then sprinkled in some red beads.

The thing I like about these flowers is that they’re so quick and easy to make and could be used for a range of purposes. I’ll be getting the 9 year olds in my craft club at school to make them to decorate gift boxes for mothers day – I’m sure their mums will love them.