Recycled Mini-Album

Woo hoo weekend!

I wanted to try my hand at an accordion album since I had seen so many of them on Pinterest. I decided to make one of my own using a little photo album I had bought on sale for $5 a while ago. I loved the cover so much but the inside was very cheaply made ... So I gutted the pages inside! I used black cardstock for my base pages and covered them with The Butterfly Garden paper from DCWV, and put a few small flip pages in it for some interaction. It was very quick to make and I think they would make nice gifts. I definitely want to try to make another one!

Let me know what you think!

Happy Birthday Cake Cards

Cake, anyone?

I love getting those $1.50 card packs at Micheals and turning them into different cards, complete with matching envelopes for matting. These two were made with some paper from my stash along with some pop dots. I then used a Lawn Fawn 'Happy Birthday' stamp inside - simple and sweet! 

I used the little cake that was on the back of the original Michael's note card, fussy cut i,t and added a pierced rectangle from my Spellbinders die set to write on. I just love to do this!

Spring Accordion Mini-Album

Hello and Happy Saturday!

This is another accordion album I made from scratch. It measures 9x7 with a 1 1/2" spine. I used left over file folders for the base pages and covered them with a ColorBok paper stack I got at Walmart for $5 called Mint Julep - such a very pretty stack and I loved the big flowers! I glittered up the flowers using my WOW embossing pen and some WOW sparkling embossing powder. This time I made a double flip page to hold more pictures.

Here are a few highlights.

Front cover

Kitty Cat Greetings

                Long time no post! I guess the older I get, the harder it is to work nights! I've still been crafting on my Saturdays, however. I've enlisted the help of my daughter to photograph what I've been working on and quite a few posts are queued now for the future.

On to the cards!

I was busy last month making some thank you cards for my daughter to hand out at her work. I decided to use these really cute cat stamps I just ordered – CoolCat Clear Stamp set by My Favorite Things from SimonSaysStamps. I've really fallen in love with stamping lately and I'm trying not to go crazy, but there are so many cute stamps out there! I try to buy stamps that I know I can use multiple times. I seem to be leaning towards clean design and I love the look of watercolor and colored pencils. There are some pretty (but pricey) watercolor sets out there but those may have to wait for Christmas! Right now I am using Recollections watercolor and pencils from Michaels. I feel like I've already learned a lot thanks to Youtubers using Tim Holtz distress inks. The colored pencils are Prisma from Walmart – 24pack at a pretty good price!

The gang is all together.

On the left: I really like how this turned! I cut cut a frame window from my Spellbinders pierced die rectangles and used a flower and vase from a Belle&Boo stamp I had gotten years ago.

On the right: I used the paw stamp in the set to accent the paper. I cut a circle with my Big Shot and a circle frame die from Sizzix. The pierced rectangle came from a Spellbinders die. The cloud paper was from my stash and the 'thanks' stamp is another one from the OTC company. Added a few star sequins and a bit of Wink of Stella on the clouds (new favorite!).

 

On the left: I love this kitty, it looks just like my rescued baby Noxie so of course I had to do her in black watercolor. The congrats stamp came from a set from Oriental Trading Company - they have quiet a few nice sentiment stamp sets! 

 

 Last but not least: This was my retro kitty - well that's how I saw her. The 'Thank You' also came from OTC and I just used half of a border stamp I had to make the shelf. Pop dot for the vase on the shelf. Pretty simple, and a little Wink of Stella on the pillow of course.

Simple & cute on the inside.

Hope you like! Can't wait to use these again.

Chalkboard Paper Mini-Album

I had a 6x6 Optimus paper by Prima and decided it would make a cute little book. I tried something new with short
pockets and I mostly like the way it turned out. I also used some patterned masking tape - I really liked using it. It was a great learning book; I got to try different techniques! I love the paper - Prima always has such pretty ones.

Here are a few pictures - this one had quite a few pages, flaps, and pull out cards so I didn't take pictures of them all.

Handmade Spring Inspired "Thank You" Card

I received this stamp free from Quick Cards Magazine some time ago, so I decided to make some cards with them while on vacation. I just stamped it in StazOn black ink and used some watercolor pencils and some Studio G glitter glue.

Stamp: Wild Rose Studio - Annabelle's Meadow

Handmade Paper Garden Card

These little cards I made from another stamp set I got from Quick Cards magazine for free! The background paper was made by me from pieces of scrap paper that I had; the images were stamped and embossed. I started with a bunch of Kraft cardstock bits and pieces and put them into squares - I love using all my scraps (as seen in my last post) because I feel less wasteful, lol! The silver brads are from Recollections.
I think these are too cute!

Sticker Challenge - Panda Paper Craft Cards

I decided to challenge myself and actually try to make something from some cute stickers I bought, rather than just adding them to my ever growing stash! I didn't have stamps or dies for the balloons or bamboo, so I made a template myself for both. I colored the bamboo with Ranger's glossy accents; the balloons I cut out and covered with paper.

The background on the "Congratulations" card is hand made with left over papers from the project. I always like to make papers on tags at the end of every project with the scraps, so nothing goes to waste (and I don't feel guilty)! I almost always like the results. I really had fun doing this and I love every card. I think I'll be doing more sticker challenges in the future.

Resources:
Everyday Stickers from EK Success
Colorbok textured cardstock
Studio G pink paper pack
DCWV Paperstack - Citrus Matstack
Hampton Art - Celebrate Life Stamps
Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics
Spellbinders Pierced Rectangle (as seen in my last post)
Colorbok pigment ink
Recollections Detailed Embossing powder
Rangers Glossy accents

 

The original sticker sheet!

 

A peak inside - plenty of room to write!

 

Inside variation with hand colored bamboo. 

More inside variations

Christmas in July - Holiday Window Paper Card

Hello! Long time no post. I've been pretty busy lately, but I recently went on vacation for a week and had the chance to do some extra crafting, and get some posts ready - so look out for more updates soon!

I have seen so many wonderful tutorials on Youtube using this window die cut, so I thought I would give it a try - of course I had to add a cat! I really enjoyed making these and I can't wait to hand them out in a few months.

Resources:
Small Window - Poppy Stamps
Cat - iostamps
Martha Stewart punches (branch & present)
Tim Holtz distress ink

I also used Spellbinders Celebrations by Richard Garay for the pierced rectangles - they were the only pierced dies I could really afford, so I have been using them a lot lately!

 The inside I kept simple with some glitter embossing.