A Purple Mini

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend! I spent the weekend here at home, cleaning out my garage! It wasn't pretty, but I'm just about done and it looks SO much better! Then we spent Monday grilling and hanging out with my in-laws. Today I want to share a mini I created awhile ago. The recipient wanted an all-purple mini. She loves purple as much as I do! So here's a look at the album and some of the pages:

The paper was some I was hoarding saving in my stash, the bling and the big flower were from Recollections, and the tiny flowers are some of those Prima petals I'm sure everyone has in their flower collection.

Paper: Recollections, Dies: Spellbinders, Flourish: Want2Scrap, and Flower: Unknown

Dies: Spellbinders, Quickutz, Cricut. Flowers: Prima. Border punch: Fiskars. Embos. folder: Sizzix

This is was my favorite spread in the album. Short story about the cameo...I couldn't find a purple cameo, so I made my own using an image from the Forever Young Cricut Cart, and mounting it with pop dots.

I got a little "camera happy," so here's a few more pics:

Got to use my dress form die...Yay!

I created a few tags with washi tape, embossing, and paper strips

Back cover

That's a lot of purpley goodness, huh? Thanks for hanging in there with me! I will be sharing this album for SOC's Playing with Purple challenge! Thanks for stopping by today. Take care...and That's All She Wrote!

An Anniversary Mini Album

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted, but I wanted to stop by to share my latest mini album project! Remember this mini I made a few months ago? Well, the lady really loved the album and wanted me to make one to surprise her husband for their 34th wedding anniversary. I really loved how it turned out, and wanted to show you the cover and some of the pages!

I'm excited because this is my first time using digi paper!! Her wedding colors were mint green and white, something like a Tiffany blue so I did a Google search. I found this paper on Etsy. The bling is from Recollections, and the flower is one from Prima that I had in my stash! Initially I thought about just using the flourish on the bottom, but I thought it was missing something! I played around with more from the same pack, and really liked it! I guess the saying is true...there's never too much bling, lol

Here's a few pages inside:

The doves were cut with the Sweethearts Cricut cartridge, and the frame with a Spellbinders die. The Michaels/Recollections black and white paper stack was used for variety and some extra pop!

 The lyrics from Whitney Houston's "I Believe In You and Me" were printed and added to the album because the bride walked down the aisle to the song during their vow renewal ceremony.

This page was created with more paper from that digi paper set, accented with more ribbon and bling! I can get used to using digi paper! It's affordable and there are so many different patterns and colors to choose from!

I'm entering this in last week's Anything Goes blogger challenge over on SOC! It was really great sharing with you again! Have a blessed day!

A Mini for Momma

Bling and Flowers: Recollections

Hi readers! Today I wanted to share a mini album project I made recently. My friend Camilla wanted to surprise her mother with something different for her birthday and asked me to put one together. Camilla's mom loves pastel colors, so I was able to pull lots of oldies but goodies from my stash. Anna Griffin, K and Company, and Chatterbox to name a few. Here's a closer look at the pages:

Love the glittery accents in the paper

Dies: Spellbinders, Bling: Want2Scrap, Flower: Unknown, from stash

Punch: Martha Stewart

The left page has a pull out pocket, and the butterflies were stamped with clear embossing powder on the right one. I love flips and pockets on a mini, and couldn't resist putting one on here! Check it out:

Butterfly stamps: Hero Arts

Finally, I covered the last two pages with the Chatterbox papers I mentioned earlier, complete with something written especially from the birthday girl from her daughter.

I really enjoyed making this mini! As I make more, I realize they really are just as fun as the "big boys" and come together a lot faster! Well, that's all I have for today! Thanks for stopping by! 

Take care...And That's All She Wrote!

Bucket List Mini Album

Hi everyone! In my last post, I shared the album Chauntelle made for the 

bucket list mini album swap. So today, I wanted to pop in and share the album I made for her. I mentioned before that I haven't made a lot of mini albums. However, who could turn down the chance to do such a fun album! Here's a couple of pics:

Patterned Paper: Unknown, Dies: Ovals, Spellbinders, Title, Quickutz Eliza Mini
Border: Fiskars, Flower: Recollections.

Now I don't know about you, but there's just something about a "chunky"album! Love it!

Charm: Making Memories

I found this charm on clearance at Michaels! I really like it, so I'll have to go back and try to find a few more! Here are a few pages:

The first page was for Chauntelle's dream to open her own business. She can add a picture right on the brown mat, but also add pics or journaling to the tags underneath. I learned about the accordion tag pockets in this tutorial. The album was 5 1/2 x 8," so I wanted to give as much extra "real estate" as possible.

Patterned Paper: SEI, "Home" card: Jenni Bowlin, Chipboard Flourish: Bazzill

The next page has a slide out pocket. There are three in this album, and they were really cool to make! Since I made the album in a different size, I had to make the pockets from scratch instead of covering envelopes and using them. There's a tutorial for this on YouTube too. You can find it here. 

Patterned Paper: KI Memories, Dies: Quickutz, Rockstar Font

This page represents a dream of mine too--that dream craft room!! The quote came from one of those vellum sentiment sheets that I'm sure everyone has in their craft stash. I simply cut it out, put it on a piece of white cardstock so it would show up better against the other papers, embellished it with the eyelets, and matted it on the pink cardstock. I love this quote, and may use it again soon!

Well, that's all of the pages I am willing to share today...I'll leave the rest to Chauntelle to share if she decides to one day soon! But before I go, I wanted to share one last detail--the inside covers. That open space was a great opportunity to add some inspirational quotes. Maybe you'll like them too:

Stamps: Hero Arts, Ink Pad: Versacolor, Embossing Powder: Ranger

Stamps: Hero Arts, Embossing Ink: Versamark, Embossing Powder: Zing

I love these quotes! I hope that both of the albums I shared here will inspire you to make your own Bucket List, and your own album! 
Thanks for stopping by!...And That's All She Wrote!

A SOC Mini Album Swap

Hi readers! I hope you're doing well! The weather here in NC has been really nice lately--temps reaching into the 70s and even the mid 80s, only dipping a bit in the last couple of days. Honestly, this has been the craziest March weather in a really long time! I think we have gone from winter straight into June, lol...I hope that you're having great days wherever you call home...

Today I wanted to share another album I received as part of a Mini Album swap over at Scraps of Color. This was a "Bucket List" themed swap, and Chauntelle was my partner! All of the participants were paired off, and required to send our partners ten items on our bucket list. Then we made pages from the items on the lists...too cool, right? To keep this post from getting too pic heavy, here's a sampling of this great album:

The poem on the cover is called Don't Quit. You can
read it here.

A couple of the items on my bucket list is to visit Venice and to take a cruise! So check out Chauntelle's pages:

The passport on the left is a neat little place for journaling!

Getting a puppy is also on my bucket list! Isn't that puppy (and this layout) too cute?

This page represents my dream of going back to school...

Sorry the lighting on this one is a little dark...but this page is for the dream of seeing a Broadway show in New York!

And for seeing sights on the streets of Paris!

But before I go, I have to learn French!

I love all of the pages in this album, but this is one of my favorites because Chauntelle added a pocket with French phrases inside. French was on one side, but if you flip the card over, it has the phrase in English!!

Finally, this page is for just putting on that black dress and heels for a night on the town!

(Don't giggle, I've never done that before...)

Isn't she fabulous? Love her!!

I am still drooling over this book!! Now I need to get busy on filling those pages up, and checking those items off my bucket list! I'm looking forward to it! Thanks again Chauntelle!! So what are some of the things on your list?

Vintage Christmas Mini

Hi blog readers! I hope you're having a great week! In my last post, I told you about Alycia's Winter Wonderland mini for the SOC mini album swap. So today, I wanted to stop in and share the album I made for the swap.

Patterned paper: Simple Stories, Dies: Spellbinders,  Rings: 7Gypsies
Distress Ink: Ranger, Key and Flower: Michaels, Stamp: Hero Arts

It's a vintage Christmas album! Now first of all, it was a little challenging because this was my first mini album...It's true--I've done accordion books and even a star album, but never a standard mini. I went back and forth on the size for a long time before deciding  on a 6x6. The Simple Stories 25 days of Christmas mini paper pack was a good fit, and since I didn't have to do lots of cutting, it came together pretty quickly. So here are a few more pics:

Embossing template: Sizzix, Dies: Spellbinders,
Distressing Ink: Ranger, Eyelet: Making Memories

The little square on the right unfolds into a mini accordion album
for extra space for journaling and pictures

Back cover

The album was a lot of fun to make! You know that means there will be more in the future!! I learned a few things that I want to try next time, and got to use some cool products, even a few from my stash! Is there something you'd like to try but haven't done it yet? Just jump in and take on a swap or challenge!!

 I'm glad I did!...Thanks for stopping by...And That's All She Wrote

Is This Deja Vu?

If you think you've seen this here before, you're right!! I created a Disney-themed accordion book as part of a Pay It Forward challenge I had going with my Facebook friends at the beginning of the year. You can check out that album and read more about the challenge here.

So here's the story: This is my second project for the challenge. It's for a friend/fellow church member who is celebrating the birth of her new nephew. Unlike the Disney album, I wanted to keep the colors in soft shades of blue. So I had to really think about what I wanted to do to embellish the book. I felt like I had found it when I discovered some leftovers from this diaper cake.

For the smaller circle accents, I used the 1 1/2" circle function on the New Arrival Cricut cartridge. (Images used: baby feet, the words "baby" and "love," duck, hearts, sailboat, and the smiley face.) Then I matted each of them onto 2" scalloped circles and popped them with pop dots at the corners.

One last "behind the scenes" story: I was working on this project at a crop (while cutting up with my buddies) when I cut my paper the wrong way! (I zigged when I should have zagged, lol) It was the last scrap of the only piece I had of that paper, which was covered with words. So if I used it, my words would've been upside down. For me, it would've been okay, but since I was giving this as a gift, I wanted to find a solution. And I did...with a color copy of my patterned paper! I matched up the two scraps, taping the two pieces with clear tape. From there, I was able to copy, cut, and correct my paper problem. So if you find yourself in a pinch, that's a possible option. Well, that's project two in the challenge...one more to go! Tune in soon to see what's next on the list! That's all I have for today, thanks for stopping by...And That's All She Wrote!