Swinger Girl

Happy Wednesday to you all!! Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far! My husband is taking next week off so cannot wait to have a fun little family vacation! The weather is finally cooperating and it feels like summer!! YEA! I wanted to share with you, a layout that I created with Graphic 45's fantastic Olde Curiosity Shoppe Collection.

The colours in this collection are so vibrant and bold that when paired with a neutral background, they stand out even more wonderfully.

Absolutely love the Butterfly Specifics page!! Seriously, the better part of my layouts and cards are covered in these little babies and this particular piece of paper in the Olde Curiosity Shoppe Line is adorned with tons!! Love it and must hoard several sheets!

Some more distressed layers, chipboard pieces and of course metal goodies!! LOVE the hinges and brads!

Thanks for stopping in today!! I'll see you again tomorrow with a card that I created (in 10 min!!) using Graphic 45's Ladies' Diary Collection. A demain!

Tropical Travelogue Mini Album

After every vacation, we are all left with wonderful holiday photos. Sometimes we have so many that the thought of including them all into a scrapbook page or mini album can seem overwhelming. After I returned from a wonderful Hawaiian vacation with my mother last year, I had so many memorable photos that I didn’t want to leave any out. Solution: An envelope album! I was able to display a few of my favourite photos on some of the pages and all of the other photos were easily tucked into several of the envelopes within the album itself.

Directions

Front Cover: This album cover was super fun to create as it had an element of overlap due to the envelope. I first covered the front cover and overlapping top flap of the envelope with some ‘Island Jewel’ paper . I then cut out a rectangular shape from the ‘Hibiscus Heaven’ paper and layered on top of the main page while leaving the envelope flap just with the green paper. I then built up my front cover by layering several fussy cut flowers from the ‘Island Jewel’ paper around a paper doily which I placed in the centre of the page. I also added a few tags around my page to complete the inside of the front cover.

Now we need to finish the top flap of the envelope which will be covering much of the inside design you just created. I used one of the frame tags from Graphic 45’s Chipboard Tag Sheet and centered it on the envelope flap. I then continued fussy cutting more flowers from the ‘Island Jewel’ paper to surround my frame. Lastly, I embellished with a few more fussy cut butterflies as well as another tag for added dimension

Pages 2 & 3: When creating mini albums, I always like to create my pages so that they coordinate with one another. Using an entire paper collection makes this task much easier. I often create my pages so that they flow into one another so that each facing page ‘matches’ the other. These pages have been built up with several layers of patterned papers, tags, and fussy cut elements from the Tropical Travelogue Collection. I often find that when using a neutral background colour, like the ones on these two pages, a subtle pop of colour really jumps right off the page. You can also use 3D Foam Dots to achieve further dimension for your project.

Pages 4 & 5: Several of my pages were created with wonderful imagery from the patterned papers which I was using. Don’t feel like you need to display all your photos front and centre of your mini albums. Sometimes having a page with wonderfully fussy cut elements, bold colours and beautiful embellishments is enough. If you don’t have an envelope album, try tucking your photos behind your embellishments or leaving space behind your patterned papers. You can even add your own pockets to your mini albums for those extra photos you don’t want to leave out.

Pages 6 & 7: Scrappers often find the transition from layouts to cards or layouts to mini albums quite difficult at first – I know I did. What helped me create these more quickly and more seamlessly is to imagine that I was creating a whole collection of mini scrapbook pages. The way you would compose your layout works the same way you would compose the page in a mini album – simply on a smaller scale. For each page, try changing up your designs as well so that the album flows nicely from one page to the next without looking the exact same. As you can see on these two pages, the first is more of a horizontal design with the paper strips cut lengthwise. The facing page is more of a vertical design with both pages showcasing coordinating patterns and colours as well as several layered elements such as fussy cut tags, birds, stickers as well as the introduction of metal hardware. It is important to showcase several types of mediums within your album so that the final result does not look ‘flat’. Even though papers can be popped up with 3D Foam Squares, etc. the end result will look a little more two dimensional that a project with the addition of twine, flowers, metal, etc.

Pages 8 & 9: I decided to make the most of my tag frame and cut out a photo to fit directly inside. When you include photos directly on your pages, try using similar colours found in your pattern papers or use black and white/sepia toned photos so that they do not compete with your page. Because the area in which you are working is smaller, tiny details go a long way. The simple addition of a bow here, a tag here or a layered element there will create wonderfully diverse effects to your pages.

Tip(s):

• Because the finished project can be quite bulky, you can close with twine or ribbon wrapped around the entire album. You can include as many photos as you would like with this album – displaying your favourites on each page and inserting any extras in the handy envelope pages.
• To secure your hemp twine when making a ‘bow’, apply a small amount of Glossy accents to the center of your knot so that it does not come undone.

Supplies:
Graphic 45 4x6 Kraft envelope album
Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue Paper Collection (8x8 paper pad)
Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue Tags
Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue Cardstock Stickers
Graphic 45 Envelope Tags
Graphic 45 Metal Tags
Graphic 45 Metal Buttons
Graphic 45 Metal Hinges
Fiskars Personal Paper Trimmer
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares

June Blog Winners!

Happy July!! We celebrated Canada Day yesterday and took the kids to our annual parade which they totally loved!  Wasn't the nicest of days but our spirits were happy enough to make up for the miserable weather.  Seriously, July and we're wearing long pants, long sleeves and sweatshirts??  Where is our summer???

I've also got TWO winners to announce for my June Blog Candy.  Congratulations to: SERENA and LYNN LE5!

serena  said...
It's the very very very nice.
THIS lot it gorgeous, l 'd like to to have for me. je trouve vos réas magnifique.SERENA
June 12, 2012 11:04 PM
 Lynn Le5  said...
Wow! Great blog!  I am now a follower.   And I also blogged about you on my blog.  Blog, Blog, Blog...lol
Best wishes!
June 12, 2012 5:24 PM

Ladies, if you could please send me an email (torrjorr[at]gmail[dot]com) with your mailing address, I'll get you off your goodies as soon as possible. I'll leave you all with a few photos from our day yesterday.

 The kiddos watching the parade in their Canada Day garb...

 Me and hubby.

 Miss E and my mother in law.

Hubby and his brother.

I also found another four leaf clover! It's the first of the season so hopefully we'll see lots of good luck in the coming months! Thanks so much for your visit today - until next time!