Another mini album

I really loved making Beatriz's black and white mini album, and wanted to try my hand at another one.  I am trying my best not to buy any more paper or cardstock this year, as I have so much of it.

The album I made for Beatriz used double sided patterned cardstock.  I only had a few sheets of double sided, so I thought I'd give it a go.  The papers were from a kit I got a while ago, and since I wasn't a big fan of the colours and design, I hadn't used them yet.

The covers and inside covers still need work, but I wanted to post it now before I go to bed.

So here it is, what do you think?  Leave a comment to let me know.

Front cover

Inside Cover

Page one (2 small tags and one big one)

Back of page one (One big tag)

Page two

Back of page two

Page three

Back of page three

Page four

Back of page four

Page five

Back of page five

Page six

Back of page six

Inside back cover

Back of book

More sweet candy!

Jessica in Australia is celebrating the fact she is now a design team member for The Stamp Spot Online Store by giving away some pretty nice stuff.  Check out the link, follow the instructions on how to enter, and wait for the happy news! You have until June 9th.

Cute Flowers

Go and check out Amy's blog.  She is giving away some gorgeous blog candy.  Just follower her or subscribe to her and leave link to your blog.  You have until May 31st.

April's Project 12

I have been busy making other paper crafts in the past month and my Project 12 completely left my mind.  The cut off date is the 20th I believe, so I quickly threw this one together.  I like the paper colour combination, I knew which photos I wanted to use, but when I put it together, it looked a bit lopsided and crowded!

Anyway here it is.  The photos are:
Frenchy, celebrating her 5th year in Canada at the Fox and Fiddle pub
A stall outside St. Lawrence Market on Easter Day
Smoke from a fire at my building
Dinner at the Hard Rock after watching Grease at the Canon Theatre
Beatriz at the Distillery District on Easter Day
The Black Jacks for the scavenger hunt at Nathan Philips Square

Colour Challenge

Over on Kristina's page she has a colour challenge.  This is mine:

Cards for Meredith

Meredith has been my trainer at the gym for 8 months now.  She is leaving and returning to PEI where she is from to do work, that is more in her field.

My gift to her is a box of all purpose cards.  I found the directions for this very easy box here.

I know she is going love them, I do!

Beatriz's Birthday Book

I spent a few days putting this book together for my good friend Beatriz.  I got the idea from Laura at Follow The Paper Trail.  She makes some incredible books.  I was watching her create an amazing book one night on Ustream, and when I saw the papers she was using I realized that I had some of the same ones.  So that gave me inspiration and I set to work at making my friend's book.

 Front Cover

Inside front cover.  I used my Cricut and the Home Decor cartridge for this page.

There are 2 small tags and one large one.  I used rub-ons here.  The pulls are pink plastic discs I found ages ago at the dollar store to which I added pink jewel brads.

Here you can see I have pulled the large tag out.  A photo will fit on the back of this tag.

This is the back of the first page.  This is a large tag where a photo can be added on the back side.

The 2nd page again has rub-ons.

Another tag at the back.

I love the paper I used in this book.  The pulls here are felt flowers that I found at the dollar store.

The back had this lovely design on the paper.

The 4th page has this green double sided paper and I used both black and white rub-ons.

This is the other side of that green paper, gorgeous.

The 5th page again has black rub-ons.  I also had some glass marbles that I used on a few pages.

I used a few plain white cardstock pieces so that it isn't too busy.

There is a transparency that says Giggle attached to this large tag.

The back of the last page.

The inside of the back cover, again I used my Cricut.

The back of the book.

You may have noticed that there is an empty hole in the middle of the binding, that is because I only had 2 binding rings that fit this book.  I didn't realize it was going to be this thick, so as soon as I get another one I will add it to the book, along with the ribbons that are waiting here!

The papers are from Luxe Designs and Rouge De Garance.  I got them in a kit way back in July 2007 from Scraptivity

Beatriz loved this book.  It is a very special book for a very special friend.

Challenge #12

Make a scrapbook page, card, or other project using an animal or critter. 

I used the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge to cut out this butterfly.  I found some great scrap background patterned paper, and put together this 'Happiness' card.

Challenge #11

Make a project using 1 or all of the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue)

I went through my scraps  to find a piece of rainbow patterned paper, and came up with this one.  I added some flowers, sequins and ribbon then to finish it off I added this unusual stamp.

Challenge #10

Make a project using flowers or something Springy!!

I'm not a fan of flowers, so it is always a challenge for me to use them.

I stamped these beautiful flowers and added a leaf stamp and drew in the stems.

Challenge #9

 Make a shaped card, shaped scrapbook page, or shaped project! 

I spent a long time thinking about this one.  I seldom make shaped cards, although I have often thought circular cards would look really cute.  So here is my attempt at a shaped card.

Challenge #8

Make something using monochromatic (which means only 1 color with a neutral color) and add a flower!
I had fun with this one, but initially I forgot to add the flower, so I had to figure out a way to add it afterward.  I added two brads in the bottom left corner.  I think they look okay there, although I was considering using the brads for the eyes, but that would take all the fun away! 

Challenge #7

Make something for a "Dad" or guy in your life.  It does not have to be for Father's Day but try to make it masculine. 
So far this has been the most challenging!  I made my dad's Father's Day card already and I'm just not good at masculine!!
So then I thought I'd do a layout, but I always forget how time consuming they are, even when I think it's just a simple layout.  I over think it EVERY time.
This was my dad's pride and joy for 15 years.  He was so sad when he had to have it put down because of cancer.

Challenge #6

Make something WITH a child or for a child.  
There are no children around so I made something for a child.  I found a video last week showing how to make a little bag out of a single 12 x 12 sheet of paper, origami style.  So here is my attempt, I made 2 because the first one ended up with the pattern inside instead of out.  The bag contains a ruler, an eraser, a pencil, a pen and a heart stamp.

Challenge #5

Create something for Teacher Appreciation Week OR for someone you appreciate.
Since I work in a school, there are many occasions when I need a "Thanks you" card, either for students, their parents or perhaps even a staff member.  So I made a set of Thank You cards.  I will likely add more to the set, having only made 4, for the time constraints.   I love the tiny little box, (although it's still bigger than the previous shirt box!)

Challenge #4

Make a project using your least favorite or least used cartridge.

This was a pretty easy choice for me.  I had seen all the great boxes that people were making and I longed for Tag, Bag, Boxes and More.  When I got it, I quickly realised that it works better if you have a Cricut Expression.  I have the little one that only takes 6x12 paper, so the boxes are way too small for anything.  Also I seldom ust the Blackletter cartridge, just not a fan of the font, but it came with my Cricut, so I figured I should use something from that one too.  It looks nice, but when you consider I cut this at it's biggest, the shirt box came out at 4" x 4 1/2" and only 1/2" high.  I don't think my shirt will fit in there!!

 

Challenge#3

Think Outside the Box.  Do something on your scrapbook page, card, or other item that you wouldn't normally do.

Well here is mine.  It is an anniversary card for my sister and her husband, they are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary May 4.  It's funny I still think of her as my baby sister!

So I used gift wrap that is embossed, and I also glued beads onto the card.  It is a pretty simple card, but I think the white and silver make it look classic.

Challenge #2

Again from My Pink Stamper, the challenge is to use up scraps.  I decided to use just what was on my workspace.  I made a beautiful mini album for my friend Beatriz's birthday yesterday, and one of the pieces was cut out at the wrong size, so I decided to make the focal point of the next card.  Here is a card that can be used to congratulate someone on just about anything!

National Scrapbook Day

Today is National Scrapbook Day, but I am celebrating all the weekend.  There are a number of challenges online today, so I may pick one particular website or try a bunch of them. 

My first challenge was from My Pink Stamper, and the challenge was to create a layout or card with your mother in mind.  I wanted to make a card, but since my mum died 6 years ago, and Mothers Day in England has already been celebrated in March, I would make a card for my sister.  She has supported me in anything I do, so even though she is younger than me, she is a mother figure for me.