My First Envelope Mini

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

I have to warn you, this is a huge post as I am sharing a Mini Album I made just recently.
I watched a video by Dawn Meadows where she created this little album.  (You can find her on  the BookVandal Shop You Tube Channel).  I loved her album so  much, I had to make one for myself .  This mini uses 3 large envelopes + 1 small envelope.
This is my very first envelope mini.  Have seen plenty on the net that I loved but never had the right size envelope to make them and so never really bothered.  When I saw this one though, I got the bug and as, again, I didn't have the right type of envelopes, I actually had to make them as well.  I won't actually show you how to make this album as I think Dawn's video does that better than I ever could.

The finished album measures 7.75" x 5.5" and the papers I've used to decorate this Album is from a 12 x 12 pad called Memory Lane by Kaisercraft.

There's not a lot of embellishment on the front.   Just a piece of lace and a small collage.  I think the papers are pretty enough that they don't need covering up.

This album actually opens two ways.  The first opening is from left to right and reveals a pocket (on the left) and a notebook (on the right).  I will show the second opening later in the post.

There is a large tag inside the pocket.  

I attached a small piece of lace at the side and added some washi tape, book paper, a digital image by Ephemera's Vintage Garden and a gorgeous handmade seal made by Lizzy Hill. 

Lizzy is one of the crafty friends I exchange Christmas cards with and we usually include a small crafty gift as well.  I sent her a set of wildflower diecuts and she sent me a set of lovely little seals she had made.  I absolutely adore them and was so pleased I could incorporate one into this little album.

A small collage and a piece of lace decorate the front of the note book.

Used my fave stencils and added some stamping on the inside, but I've left the pages relatively bare as they are, mainly, to be used for journaling ..

.. although I have also added a few bits of lace and strips of washi tape.

The booklet is sewn into the main journal using pamphlet stitch.

A little stamping on the back of the note book as well as a small butterfly plate.

 Behind the notebook is another page with a flip out pocket (made with the smaller envelope) attached to the side.

Inside the pocket is a small tag.  The back of the tag is left blank for more journaling or you could add a photo.

That completes the left side opening of the album.
The second way to open the album is from right to left and this reveals a large pocket on the left and a simply decorated page on the right.

This flower is attached to an altered paper clip which can be moved to any other part of the book.

Inside the pocket is a simple, folded card ..

.. which could be used for photos, ephemera or journaling.

And, finally, the back of the album which also has a pocket ..

.. and a tag ..

.. with a little tuck spot on the back.

A final look at the front ..

Yayy!!  You managed to stick it out to the end.   Doing a little happy dance here!! LOL!!

I had such fun creating this album.  I do hope you will pop over to You Tube and take a look at Dawn's videos.  She has so many interesting albums, etc., and her tutorials are excellent!

I did say at the beginning of this post that I made this album for myself but, I ended up gifting it to a friend.  So now, of course, I am making another one.  The album I just shared was made pretty much as Dawn showed it but the new one will have some innovations of my own.  Hope you will come back to take a look at that one when it's finished.

I am entering this album into the Mini Album Makers Challenge for February

Thank you so much for stopping by and for the lovely comments you leave me.  I appreciate it very much.

Have a wonderful day!
Take care and God Bless.

Masculine Flip Fold Album

Hello everyone.  Welcome to my crafty place.
Hope you are having a wonderful day.

I'm here to share with you the Masculine Mini Album I created for my Guest Design spot over at Mini Album Makers Challenge blog.  I had been wanting to create a masculine style mini album for a while and thought that this would be the perfect project for this post.
On the MAMC post, I shared the first half of the album and also shared how it was created.  In this post, I will show you the completed Album.  If you'd like to see the tutorial as well, HERE is the link.
This will be quite a long post so you might want to grab yourself a cuppa.

The outside of this album measures 5.5 x 6.5" and the inside pages are 4.5" x 6".  The spine is 2" wide.

The papers I've used are a mix from Studio Light's Industrial 2.0 paper pad and Kaisercraft's Factory 42 paper pad.

 The inside cover and the first page set.
I haven't done much embellishing in this album but I have added  a few cogs here and there and a little bit of washi tape as well.  I have also stamped some splatters and coffee stains, added a little stenciling and inked the edges of all the papers with Ground Espresso Distress Ink.

I created two sets each in two different styles of  pages.  So, there are 4 page sets in this book but, as you will see, there are a lot of places for photos, etc.
This page set opens up firstly to the left as seen above ..

.. and then the page on the right lifts up to reveal a folded card ..

 .. which is tucked into a side opening pocket attached at the back.

You may notice that I've added a few of Tim Holtz's Snarky Small Talk Stickers to this book.  If you'd like to see them properly, simply click on the pictures to get a larger view.

This is the back page of the first set and the first page of the second.
I have used a stacked hinge to bind my pages to the spine and have left a gap of about .25" in between each set so that the pages will sit nice and flat when opened.

The back page of the first set has a double belly band which is held down by some magnets ..

.. and opens up to reveal another photo mat.  All of the above mats and pages are attached to, and held by, a single hinge.

The second page set opens out to the right, and there is another underneath which opens out to the left.  It also has a folded card tucked into a pocket which is attached at the back of the set but this pocket is open at the top..

The back of the second set and first page of the next.

   This little flip up opens to reveal a double photo mat (or journaling spot).

The next two page sets are the same design as the first two but, of course, I have used different papers (from the same paper pads) to decorate.

  

The little flip up here is the same as the one from the second page set but I have changed it a little in that it opens up first and then flips up.  The first one flips up first and then opens.  I'd like to say that it was deliberate but I didn't realise that I actually put the papers on the wrong sides .. LOL!!

I can actually still flip it the right way but I wanted the dark grey papers showing on the outside of it as it is a nice contrast to the papers underneath.

The cover is made of chipboard.  As you can see I used a piece of hessian style material to cover the spine and, although the material is glued down, I added the brads for some extra interest and strength.  After all, this is a man's book and is going to get some rough handling!  LOL!!

I used a piece of corrugated board under a chippie frame by Little Birdie and a word strip by Scrapmats, to decorate the front of the book.  The frame was heat embossed with a mix of black and bronze embossing powder and the word strip was edged with Ground Espresso Distress Ink.

The chippie decorating the spine is also by Little Birdie and was heat embossed similarly to the frame on the front.

This book is fairly plain but I really enjoyed working it all out and creating it.  Between this book and the Junk Journal I created a while ago (you can see that here) I rediscovered my love for making books and I am itching to go and make another.  Hopefully, soon.

Sorry that this is such a long post but I hope you managed to stick it out to the end and that you enjoyed seeing my little album.  If you need some inspiration for your own Album making, pop on over and pay a visit to the Mini Album Makers Challenge blog.  The DT ladies create the most amazing books and I'm sure you will find plenty of inspo there and, if you enter the Challenge, you will have the chance of doing a Guest spot as I did.

Happy album crafting everyone!
Take care and God Bless