Envelope Mini Album #2

Hi everyone!  Welcome to my blog.

I hope you are all staying safe and well and are keeping yourselves busy while the world is in lock down.  Luckily for us in South Aus, our restrictions are starting to ease.  Hopefully people will continue to do the right thing and we will keep moving forward.

I wish to share a little envelope album I've created.  The design for this comes from  Dawn Meadows of The Book Vandal Shop (Here is the link to the video)  and is the same design as my previous envelope album (Here).  I have added a couple of small design changes but it is, basically, the same.

I must warn you that this is a huge post so, grab yourself a cuppa before you start and, hopefully, you will stick with me to the end.

The papers used are by Kaisercraft, from their 6.5" Antiquities paper pad and the finished size of the album is  6.75" x 4.5" x 0.75".

I didn't do much embellishing on the front.  Just a little flower cluster and a fancy book plate.  The closure is a simple wrap around with twine and I've just added a couple of beads to the ends.

 As in the previous album, this one opens both to the right and to the left.   This view from the top will show you what I mean.  As you can see, it's only a small album but you can fit quite a bit into it.

 So, when you open the book from the left (I'll show the other opening later in this post) it reveals a flip page and pocket on the left side and the front of the junk journal on the right side.

 There is photo collage decorating the front of the flip page and a large tag inside the pocket.

 On the back of the tag I just added a few pieces of torn book page leaving plenty of space for photos or for journaling.

 The flip page is one of the design changes I made to the original.  As you can see I've added another photo collage and then on the right is a small poem I found on the net about books.  I love to read and so this really hits the right spot for me.  I love this little poem.  You'll notice that the photos I have added to this album are all about books so, I guess, this will be my Book Book.  LOL!!

 On the right side of the page is the small Junk Journal and this is the other design change.   In the previous album, the Journal was actually sewn into the album but, I wanted to be able to remove this one so the back cover simply slips into the pocket.

 Added to the pocket is another bookish photo collage.

 I won't show you the whole Junk Journal as this post will be way too long already, but I will just show a few of the pages.

 I've added stenciling and torn bits of book pages and washi tape ..

 .. a little touch of lace, an envelope and some printed pages.

 Altered some paper clips to add the flowers ..

 .. and added a few word strips as well.

 Here you can see how it just slips in, and out, of the pocket ..

.. and this is how I finished off the twine after sewing the signatures together.

So this is the page that opens the other way.  There is another flip page and pocket on the left and a diagonal belly band on the right.

Another full size tag inside the pocket ..

.. with the back left practically bare apart from the torn bits of book page.
Can you see my faux pas?   I placed the tab on the wrong side!!  Duh!!  So,  instead of making a whole new tag, I simply added another tab to the correct side.

Open the flip page to reveal another photo collage and another book poem.  This poem is brilliant.  When I read, I totally lose myself in the story and this poem says it all!!  Love it!!

Under the belly band there is a little envelope which holds a bookmark, (are you surprised??  LOL!!) and a couple of tags as well.

I have shown the envelope before in another post so, if you are interested, you will find it HERE.

The back of the album was left plain.

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this booklet and I really love how it turned out.  I hope you have enjoyed seeing it.  I do have two more books on the go at the moment.  They are quite different from this album and I hope to be sharing them in the next few weeks. 


Am entering this into the Mini Album Makers Challenge for May.

Thank you so much for your visit and any comment you may care to leave.  I would love to know what you think.

Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

My Junk Journal Part #3 - Completed!!

Hello dear visitors and welcome to my blog.   Hope you are having a lovely day!!  

 I have finally completed my first Junk Journal.  Gosh, it has taken me such a long time to get this done but I have thoroughly enjoyed creating it.
In a previous post (HERE) I shared the first signature of this journal but I had to change it .. again!!  The cover I made for the original journal was a wrap around and, when I finished the second signature, the two together were way too thick for the cover I made.  I had to make the decision whether to cut off the wrap around section (which I didn't want to do) or, to create a whole new cover (which I definitely didn't want to do) or, the last option was to take some pages out of both signatures so they would fit.  This last option is what I finally decided to do.  So now my book looks different again!!!  Not a lot different, but different just the same!!  LOL!!  Have to say though, I am quite happy with it!!

I was only going to show you the completed second signature in this post but, as the first one has now changed, I am actually showing the completed journal.   Must warn you, there are a lot of photos, so you may want to grab yourself a cuppa!!

A reminder of the cover.

I had some trouble deciding what kind of closure to use and in the end went with a bulldog clip attached to a little bit of chain.  As you can see, I also attached a few charms as well.

I used the pamphlet stitch to sew both signatures into the book.

The inside front cover and the cover of the first signature.  The flower is attached to an altered paper clip which holds a couple of journaling tags.

Below, the page on the left is the same as shown before but, on the right I've added some stenciling, stamping and strips of washi tape.  The tape idea came from Astrid Maclean.  She uses it a lot in her journals and I loved the look so much I decided to use some in mine.  If you don't know Astrid and would like to see her works HERE is the link.  Believe me, you won't be sorry .. her creations are amazing!!
Not 100% happy with the way I added the washi, but I'm hoping that, with some practice, it will get better!  LOL!!

Added stenciling and stamping to the page on the left  but the right side is the same as shown in Part #1 with that ingenious lift up tab idea I pinched .. errr .. borrowed .. from Jenny Marples at Pushing the Right Buttons!  LOL!!

Again, I just added a touch of stenciling and stamping to the page on the right.

Just the cute flower stencil with a little added stamping on the left and the page folds out.

This is where I removed some of the pages ..

 .. and here is the centre of the signature.

 I attached a couple of charms to the ends of the thread I used to sew the signature to the cover.

The stained tracing paper on the right folds out.

Love, love, love those stains!

Added stenciling and stamping on the right side.

Here I've added stenciling and strips of washi to the left side and added an altered paper clip as well.  They are so handy for tuck spots.

A tiny little clip on the left and stencil and stamp on the right.  The right side page folds out as well.  Means there's plenty of room for journaling or adding photos and ephemera.

Here I just added the stencil and washi on the left side ..

 .. and here is the back cover of the first signature and the front cover of the second.  I do hope you are still with me!!!

So, here we are inside the second signature.  As you can see, there is a pocket on the left with a couple of tags and on the right I've left the page clean and just added strips of washi tape.

 This flower is another altered paper clip.

Just a little stamping on the left and more of the tea stained tracing paper on the right.

 Folded a doily over the edge of this page and added a little washi for some interest.

 Another pocket on the left with some tags, one of which is a booklet.  The little banner on the right can be moved or taken out completely as it is simply attached to the page with a small clip.

 A couple of different sized pages here with the usual stenciling and also a touch of lace.

Page on the left folds out.

The middle of the second signature.

 Again, I have attached a couple of charms to the ends of the thread used to sew the signature to the cover.

Page on the right folds out.

Page on the right .. you guessed it!! .. folds out!!  LOL!!

A triangular pocket this time to hold some tags.  I really like this shape of pocket and will certainly use it in other books.

Another altered paper clip (you can see how I make these HERE) and more of the tea stained tracing paper.

On the last page is a small envelope which doubles duty as a tuck spot ..

The back cover of the second signature and the inside back cover of the journal.

And there it is!!  My first Junk Journal done and dusted!!  I hope you managed to stick it out till the end and I really hope you like it!!

As stated at the beginning of this post, this book took a really long time to complete mainly because I didn't work on it all the time.  I only dragged it out every once in a while when I wasn't busy with other things and I also changed it around a few times!  I had a lot of fun with it though because I wasn't in a rush to finish and I could take my time to decide what I wanted to do and how I wanted it to look.  I do love how it turned out and am definitely making more of these.

I am sharing this in the August Mini Album Makers Challenge

Update:  I am totally thrilled and delighted (and, let me say, stunned) to tell you that my little book was chosen as the Design Team Favourite for August.  I would like to thank all the members of the Mini Album Makers Challenge Team for giving me this honour!  You made my day!! 

Thank you so much for your visit and for the lovely comments left on my last post.  I really do appreciate it and I must apologise for falling behind again with my blog visits.  This post was scheduled because I haven't been very well just lately and have not been able to get on my computer.  Thankfully I am starting to come good now and, hopefully, I can catch up with all of you soon.

Whatever you like doing, do it lots, and have fun with it!!
Have a great day!!
Take care and God Bless.