Handmade 6x6 Mini Baby Boy Album

I had so much fun making this album for my nephew.
I followed a My Sister's Scrapper tutorial, link is in the description of the Video of the finished album.
A handmade Baby Album needs it's own handmade gift box.

The top of the gift box.

The side of the lid.

The finished spine of the album.

This is a pic of the cover before I finished it, please see the video linked above for the finished cover as I added another fussy cut piece.
I couldn't get the die cuts from this range so I fussy cut from a sheet of the paper, backed them onto cardstock and fussy cut again, which took a while with my hand issues.

This is a pic from my work in progress of the inside cover, you can see the finished project in the video.
The page on the right I cut a second piece of paper so it would line up with the paper underneath.

Inside of the fold out.

I stuck this pocket scrapping card down so it would form a pocket as seen in the video.
I later added a badge/flair to the top corner of the right hand page.

I adhered the pocket scrapping card down so it will form a pocket.

I just love these hand and foot print die cuts, so cute.

A teddy bear charm from a pack I collected when making myself a Firefly themed charm for my Filofax.

I finished these pages off with Yellow photo mats.
The buttons from my stash went so well with these stickers.

Couldn't resist creating a clothesline with these cute stickers and some tiny pegs over a journalling card.

I created a pocket behind the 2 pocket scrapping cards and another small pocket for the journalling tags with the top pocket scrapping cards.

Another pocket created with the pocket scrapping cards.
I added dimension with the hexagon die cuts, they are larger than the hexagons on the card but I love the effect, they are adhered down with foam tape.

I didn't get to finish the inside of the cover but using the BABY BOY die cut blocks with some foam tape worked a treat on the back page.







I really loved creating this and can't wait to create another mini album.

Op Shop Finds

I love op-shopping. 
The area I live in it can be difficult to find a great bargain though but every now and then I have some pretty good op-shop finds.  Here are some of my op-shop finds of 2015.

 I found this lovely bag at the RSPCA op-shop that is perfect for a mobile office for myself.
I was expecting to be studying in Semester 2 and spending a lot of time waiting so thought taking my study needs with me would be a great idea, unfortunately things changed and I was unable to study in Semester 2 but I am looking forward to Studying Semester 1 2016 and using my mobile office.

 It has multiple sections that are very useful, a space big enough for a small laptop or large tablet.
Plenty of room for my study essentials, wallet, phone, and my other regular handbag items.
And the section with all the pen loops, sunglasses pouch, mobile pouch (though too small for my current phone), business card slots, etc is so very handy.

I found this lovely old book that is a collection of Jules Verne's stories for my husband.

A collection of handy stationery that were bargains, including a cheap no-brand planner that has come in quiet handy in addition to my Filofaxes.

 This massive bag of flowers for $2 from the RSPCA op-shop.
There is a mix of fake flowers that have been cut off their stems, craft flowers and ribbon flowers.
I just love this big bag.
I have now sorted into colours.

 I found the perfect laptop bag for hubby to use as a mobile office for his second job at the Salvos.

Handy business card slots, a spot for his external hard drive, pen loops and more in the front section.
It has a large compartment that is padded that suits a laptop but has 2 sections so the big presentation binder he has to take with him can fit in there.

It has a file section so he can take essential forms with him.

 One side has a mobile pocket though it is too small for current mobiles and the other side has a pocket to keep the shoulder strap in.

This TYPO satchel that appears new was $2 at the RSPCA op-shop.
Love a bargain.








I got this cute Christmas Present bathroom container at the RSPCA op-shop for $1 which was a bargain as the same one in red was $4 at another op-shop.
I got a Santa soap bottle at Lifeline for $4 and for a while these 2 items were our only Christmas decorations in the house.
Some other great finds this year included a lovely leather satchel I gifted to a friend who loved it, a purple JAG handbag I got myself that was like new, 2 more letter writing kits and plenty of great clothes for the boys some brand new.  Mr C has had a massive growth spurt going from a size 6 to a size 12 in just a few months, he was size 10 for only 1 month so op-shopping for quality clothes for him has been a great way to cloth him without breaking the budget.

Uni exam is over so I can get back to some crafty projects - Altered Album Cover

Sorry it has been a while since I posted I had a Uni exam to do so I got myself 2 months ahead in designs for the shop I tutor Scrapbooking at and then did very little crafting as I prepared for this exam as it was a deferred exam so I had to review material covered last semester.

Now that my exam is out of the way I am back to crafting and thought I would share with you a fun project I did for the shop.

The packaging was torn on this white album and it had spots of brown paint on it so I took it home to decorate as a display.
Lovely range of flowers the owner wanted featured on the album cover so first I layed them out on the cover to get a idea of how they would work best together.

I gave the album a thin basecoat of Gesso, once it was dry I stenciled with Gesso.
I made paint sprays with the 4 paints I had  to work with and spray them on the album while it stood up, I turned it upside down and did a little on the bottom.  Wiping off any paint with a baby wipe that was on the metal as I went.
It was a little bright so I sprayed the front with water to mute it.
I used my heat gun to dry as much as possible and then left it overnight.

Next morning I placed the ribbon and flowers the owner wanted on the cover before adhering down.

I felt it needed some more neutral flowers so quickly punched out 2 lots of 6 large scallop circles from a damaged book, sprayed with a little water, scrunched and dried with my heat gun.
Layered, poked a hole in the layers and inserted a brad. Fiddled with the layers until I was happy.
I love making these flowers, they are quick and fun.

The finished Display Album, I can't wait to get pages into it.

Simple Stories Life Documented Layouts

Simple Stories Life Documented is such a versatile range, you can create so many various types of layouts with it.
I found myself thinking of so many things photos/memories I could get down with these papers as they are so versatile.  From a beach/nautical theme to school, floral layouts to more geometric styles.
There are 5 classes this month so out of the dozens of ideas in my head I am creating 5 of them.
I wanted to have a mix of simple layouts that are reasonably quick to create and more complex layouts.  I wanted to cater for any new beginners but as someone who has scrapped for over 10 years I do enjoy quick and simple layouts when I am time poor so I wanted to give the more experienced scrapbookers some quick and simple layouts so they have some remaining time some weeks to play with tools and catch up on any unfinished pagess they have.

School Layout
I love the graph numbers, this paper has so many uses, my hand was playing up so I couldn't fussy cut them out as I wished but I think it turned out effective.
This layout is a good example of using paper selection and embellishment selection to tell the story, in this case my daughter's change of favourite colour.

Library Pocket LayoutI love these cute metal embellishments, and the mixed bag of flat backed pearls and wanted them to be a feature of this page.
Creating your own Library Pockets is simple and they are so useful for storing extra journaling and photos.

Susan's Garden Nastrutium Dies Layout
I love these dies, they make such cute flowers.
This paper I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do with it but in the end I found with the flowers, photo and butterflies laid out before cutting up my background as intended it didn't need any more work as it just worked for me.
The little flowers have tiny little flat backed pearls in their centres from the mixed bag used on the Library Pocket page.

Nautical Layout
I loved the nautical feel of this paper and the cameras on the back were so cute so where the paper would be covered I cut out 5 cameras for use as embellishments (second pic).
I created a beach themed tag and used the negative space piece of chipboard from Dusty Attic Swirl No 8 to create the waves down the bottom.

Mixed Media Layout
After creating all my layers I tore a squarish shape from the wet wipe used for clean up and created a flower, I stuck another flat backed gem over the brad when finished.

I had a lot of fun with this range and creating this month's series of classes.

My Minds Eye Jubilee Sherbet Layouts

I recently started working as the Scrapbooking Tutor at for a local shop, I am so excited but it is proving a challenge.
I am so happy to be tutoring, I love sharing my love of memory preservation.
I believe everyone is a artist but some of us need tools to help for various reasons and for me scrapbooking helped me discover I have a creative artistic side that previously I hadn't been able to express due to my hand issues.
I have a mixed class of beginners and advanced scrappers so I tried to design layouts for the first month that will build beginners skills so that in the last week we can do a beginners mixed media layout.
I decided to work with one paper range per month and coordinating cardstock and embellishments so that we can see some of the different ways we can use each range.

I am absolutely loving working with the MME Jubilee Sherbet range, I love the colours, the quality and the designs.

WEEK 1 I included some budget saving tips and how to make 2 types of flowers with Scallop Circles Punches.
I allowed room for journaling to tell the story of the photos.
Die Cut Titles were added to the pages where necessary.

Week 2 I love purple so I really enjoyed creating week 2's layouts, basic stamping and inking was introduced as well as fussy cutting and doodling.  We made a simple accordian flower using 2 large Scallop Circles.

Week 3 This week we will use a versatile stencil called Harlequin Circles, covered colouring store bought paper flowers to coordinate with our layout.  As with previous weeks we are discussing balance, layers and how to enhance the story of the photo using journalling, paper selection, embellishment selection, etc. 
Handy Hint when using Dye Based Inks if you wish to ensure they won't run if your layout gets wet then apply some clear embossing powder while the ink is still wet, shake off excess and heat set.

Final Week Introducing chipboard, lovely gold paint in a beginner level mixed media layout of sorts.
Love this gold paint, we will not only be painting our chipboard with it but splattering it on our layout.
Making a simple but cute flower with the Scallop Circle Punches.

Next Month we will be using Simple Stories Documented Life papers.