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.

Wildflowers and Embossing

Hello dear friends and welcome.  Thank you for stopping by today.

I haven't spent much time in my craftroom lately but I thought I would share a card I made quite a while ago which I haven't shown before.

A few months ago, I purchased a couple of new dies and, after a little experimentation, came up with a simple design using these dies.  I have shown lots of cards made with the Texture Subway die by Kaisercraft (still have more of those to come) but today I thought I would share a card made with the other die I purchased.  This is the Wildflowers #2 die by Tim Holtz.  I have actually only made this one card with that particular die because I was concentrating so much on the other, but, I'm sure I will be using this one again and again.

A few close-ups first.

I've been trying to use up some of my older Kaisercraft papers and have no idea which collection these papers are from. The sentiment was taken from one of their newer collections.

Used a couple of Kaisercraft stamps to emboss the background.

Originally, I cut all of the flower stems from the darker cardstock but didn't like how it looked.  I then tried it again using just the light green but didn't like that either and finally settled for a mix of the two.

Wasn't overly happy with the combination but then decided to add a little colour to the center stem and that made all the difference.

 Voila!!  

 Hope you like my little wildflower card.

Thank you so much for stopping by and thank you for the lovely comments too.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy your crafting!

Take care and God Bless. 

Cogs & Gears for the Boys

Hello dear crafty friends!  So pleased you stopped by.
Hope your day is going well.  

Thought it was time to share a couple more of my masculine cards with you today.  Nothing new I'm afraid .. simply more of my embossed and diecut cards.  The designs are pretty much the same, just different papers and different stamps used.

The papers are by Kaisercraft as are the wooden cogs.

Actually, pretty much everything I have used on this card is by Kaisercraft.  The dp is from their Anthology Paper pad, and I've used their 'Arty' stamp and their 'Texture Subway' die in the background.  The only thing not K'craft is the embossing powder which is 'Seafoam White' by Ranger.

The greeting is also from the paper pad.  I mounted it onto a piece of card for extra strength.

Obviously didn't clean the edges of the stamp before putting it to the paper, but I don't mind a bit of extra texture.

Added an extra strip of paper (I believe it's from Prima) behind the die and cogs on this card and, as you can see, I also coloured the cogs this time.

One of these cogs is actually a die cut.  Can you tell which one??

There you go!  Two different looks from two cards made almost exactly the same.

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a look.
Have yourselves a wonderful and crafty day!
Take care and God Bless.