Balloon Ride Anything Goes

Welcome to the June blog hop! 
If you've just come from visiting Natalie at scrappysassystudios you are in the right place.  And if you just hopped on here but want to start at the beginning, you can start with Pam at  p-inks .  Have fun!

This month we're featuring the terrific "Balloon Ride" paper collection from Close To My Heart.  This collection is SO versatile and fun, with a touch of vintage to it and gorgeous soft colors.  I've used it for a ton of projects, from cards to layouts to mini albums.  Today I've got some traditional layouts and a mini album to show you that feature this paper collection.  (Can you tell I love it??)

First of all, here is a series of layouts I made to showcase my photos of my own balloon ride!  This was an experience of a lifetime, and I wanted to make sure I displayed my pictures in a way that worked with the paper, but where they weren't overwhelmed by the paper itself. 

 

I used my Cricut to cut some arrows to keep the story moving in the right direction.  Picture My Life cards are great journaling spots and accents, especially since they coordinate perfectly with the paper collection.

 

 

This layout features views from on high, and it really was "Some kind of Wonderful".  The chipboard sentiment that came with the Balloon Ride Complements was a just right addition to my layout.

 

 

 

I love how you can mix and match papers from different paper collections and still make it work.  This layout features two sheets of deep blue paper from the retired paper collection "Tommy".  The color and the bird's eye view design worked really well with these evening photos.

 

 

 

A perfect day and an incredible experience is best celebrated with one lovely sunset and a bottle of champagne, both captured here on these two pages. 

 I think these layouts display my memories of this very special event the way they should and the paper collection is the perfect choice for them. 

 

 

And now a mini album.  This one is a real quickie and I made it to try a new-to-me technique for making pages, and to give me a place for some more of my fave flower pictures.  Which I have a gazillion of, by the way. 

 

 

 

 

The cover is chipboard wrapped in Kraft paper, and measures 6" x 7" x 2".  I decorated it with a single piece of the balloon paper from the collection, then with a 3" x 4" card from the Balloon Ride Picture My Life collection backed with Crème Brulee cardstock.  I made flowers on my Cricut using the CTMH Artiste cartridge then added pearl centres to some of them.  A smattering of rhinestone bling finishes it off nicely. 

 

 

 

There are only three main pages in this little book, but you could easily increase the number by adjusting the number of hinges you made to bind the pages into the book.  Because the paper is double sided, the pages all work together, and each page is unique and interesting. 

 

 

 

The folding process for each page results in two horizontal pockets and one vertical pocket in each page.  The horizontal mats hold two 3 1/2" x 4" photos easily.  Each vertical mat is actually a folded insert which gives four 3 1/2" x 4" pictures a home.

 

  All inserts and mats have tabs to make them easy to pull out of the pockets. 

 

 

 

I kept the embellishments to a minimum so I could showcase the beautiful paper, but there is plenty of room for dimensional embellishments (flowers, charms, chipboard).  I've now filled this little mini with flower photos, 28 of them to be exact.  I used several 3" x 4" Picture My Life cards as both embellishment and journaling spots, with some quotes about flowers on each of the cards, written in my own handwriting.  I think it's important to feature your own writing in layouts and albums, even if you don't love it. 

 

  A quick and fun project.  This album would be a cute gift for a baby shower or birthday, featuring pictures you take at the event.  Then...gift it to the guest of honor.  

 

For an example of another mini album using this terrific paper collection, see my previous post "Gatefold Mini Albums" posted in March 2014. 

 

Thanks to Dawn's Inspirations for the YouTube video on how to make these pages.  You can check it out here .

Skylark Gatefold Mini Album

Hello All and Welcome Spring/Summer!

Here in the 'Peg it's been HOT!  30-32 degrees C kinda hot.  I'm loving it but had to retreat to my basement scrap room for some scrap therapy and cooling down.  I made this mini album in the last couple days because the heat has reminded me that summer is coming and I will need someplace to put some fun summer pictures.  Plus I had the Close To My Heart "Skylark" paper collection staring at me which is a guarantee that I will soon make something with it.  I hope you enjoy it, and if you want to know how to make one I have posted detailed instructions for a similar style album in a previous post called, strangely enough, "Gatefold Mini Album Instructions".  I hope you like this little book and it inspires you to get out there and glue one up yourself. 

The cover is a wrapped one using patterned paper.  The closure is magnetic, and made with duct tape, eyelets, ribbon lacing and an antique wooden button accented with a chipboard flower from the Skylark Complements collection. 

 

 

 

The Gatefold cover opens in the middle and the inside of the two halves are decorated with large cards from the Picture My Life Skylark collection.  The double pocket forming the first page on the left holds 3-4 PML cards.

 

 

 

Pages have either (or both) a smaller fold-out portion which can mat a 3" x 3" or slightly larger photo, or a larger fold-up portion which mats 4" x 6" photos.  I used some Washi tape from my stash to add a little pizzaz to my plain cardstock pages without interfering with photo matting.

The corners of the larger fold-up pages are rounded to prevent snagging. 

 

 

I used the Skylark Complements as functional accents.  They hold PML cards and photos as well as coordinating perfectly with the paper collection.

 

 

 

The colors and images in this paper collection are soft but not wimpy, and have a little vintage vibe which I love. 

 

 

 

This album measures 6" x 9" x 2 1/4" but holds a whopping 18-20 photos of the 3" x 3" size, and nearly 50 standard 4" x 6" size photos. 

The smaller fold-out pages have decorative corners made with my Fiskars corner punch. 

 

 

 

The back page is another double-pocket page, just because I couldn't help myself.  I love pockets but wanted this album to close smoothly and hold a maximum amount of photos, so I kept the page construction simple and streamlined. 

 

 

 

I love how this album turned out and it was super quick to make because of the simple pages.  I'm looking forward to preserving my 2014 summer memories in it.  And I hear rumors that summer is, indeed, on its way to Winterpeg! 

 

Happy scrappin' everyone!  Don't forget that summer heat is a GOOD excuse to head for your scrap rooms and escape weeding and mowing.  See ya next time!

 

 

May Cross Canada Blog Hop Home Decor

Welcome Everyone to the May Cross Canada Blog Hop, featuring Home Décor from Close To My Heart!  We're going to give you a feast for your eyes.  If you just hopped here from visiting Nancy Klein you are in the right place.  If you just happened to come here first, make sure you visit the rest of the beautiful blogs in this Hop too.  If you'd like to work your way across the country, you can start at the beginning with Michelle at My Creations With Michelle .

 

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you!

 

Today I'm featuring the Hinged Display Tray from Close to My Heart.  It's a cute and versatile black wooden display tray. 

 

 

 

Closed, it measures 5" x 7".

 

 

 

You can display photos, memorabilia, 3-D items or whatever you like in this little tray.   One side of the hinged tray has four wells, the other side has three wells, one of them is large, the other two smaller.  The tray can be placed in whatever orientation best suits your display.   You can also personalize it to suit any room or any lucky recipient you choose. 

 

 

 I chose to keep mine simple and focus on just a few photos.

 

 

 

I placed mine with the three wells on the left, and in the larger one I've displayed a stamped image I love.  It says "Where flowers bloom, so does hope."  I stamped the image with White Daisy pigment ink onto black cardstock, then colored it in using pencil crayons.  I layered the color on heavily to make it glow, kind of like stained glass.  It reminds me of illuminated manuscripts in old and beautiful books.  On some of the flowers in the stamped image, I placed a tiny pearl accent to catch the light.  I then mounted it along with the word "Hope" framed below it onto the blue and white striped paper from the Ariana paper collection.  I added a tiny glass bottle with a cork stopper that I filled with paper flowers I colored with ink markers. The bottle is stuck down with Liquid Glass so it doesn't fall out.

 

 

 

 

The words Faith and Love are stamped with black ink on green patterned paper from the Ariana paper collection.  The font of the Vogue stamp set was perfect for this project.  I cut a black cardstock frame for each word using my Cricut and the Art Philosophy cartridge.

I tend not to use a lot of bling in my creations, but these needed something so I chose to place a pearl accent at each corner of the frames surrounding the words.  I love the overall effect and look forward to gifting this tray to its new owner. 

 

Everything you need to create a tray like this can be purchased through your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant.  Here's a list of what I used to make mine:

 

Hinged Display Tray (Z1838)

Ariana Paper Collection (X7179B)

Black Cardstock (1386)

Vogue Alphabet Stamps (E1026)

Black ink (Z2105)

Hope Stamp (A1153)

Cricut Art Philosophy Collection (Z1686)

Watercolor Pencils (3505)

Liquid Glass (Z679)

 

The glass bottle and the flowers I had in my stash, waiting for just this project. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!  If you are starting here, you can hop along with Michelle of  My Creations with Michelle . 

Free To Be Me Mini Album

Hey Everybody!  Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there, whether you are a mom, mum, mummy, mother, Nana, Oma or whatever term of endearment is used for you.  I wish you a wonderful day!

Today I've been using some of my Mom time to finish up a mini album I've been working on.  I've made this little one out of paper bags and the rockin' paper collection "Free to Be Me" from Close To My Heart.  It's a colorful, fun paper collection that just got my creative juices flowing, and this is the result:

 

The chipboard cover is wrapped in black cardstock, then decorated with the embossed teal blue paper from the collection.  I chose a "Life is Good" theme to go with these cheery colors.  The film strip is cut using my Cricut and the Artbooking cartridge. The feather is also cut with the Cricut using the Artiste cartridge.  The reel life accent is stamped using the Reel Life stamp set, also from CTMH.  I used some old Scrabble tiles I bought at a garage sale (knowing they'd come in handy sometime) to make the title. 

 

 

 

 

 

I hung a chunky charm from the spine, with ribbon, beads (from an old necklace) a little brass-bound book, and a key.  I like the "crazy hair" look of the ribbons sticking up from the charm.

 

 

 

 

There are six base pages in the album, each made from a bag with a cardstock flip-out attachment.  Inside the front cover is a vellum pocket using the feather vellum in the paper collection, mounted on black cardstock.  A big tag serves as a photo mat, and three feathers accent the pocket.  These were stamped with the CTMH Feathers stamp set and fussy cut.  The right side of the page has a belly band with a stop that holds two journaling spots. 

 

 

 

 

Each of the six pages has a large flap and all the main pages easily display a 4" x 6" photograph.

 

 

 

 

On the left of each page is a pocket that holds a bi-fold photo mat that can house two 3" x 3" photos.  The right side of this page has a photo flap that is magnetized and flips up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three pockets of varying sizes on this page assembly.  The outside corners of each of the page flaps are cut with a Fiskars corner punch to pretty them up a little.

 

 

 

The cute little mats on this page were cut from the paper collection, black cardstock and a single sheet of graph paper cardstock I had in my stash.  I stamped the words using the All The Details stamp set.  White Daisy pigment ink on the black cardstock makes it look like a little chalk board which I love.

 

This page has a pocket set on an angle and open on two sides, then a little ticket helps hold the mats in place.  A tiny camera accent is also stamped and fussy cut.  (Used the True to Life and Sightseer stamp sets for those)

 

 

 

 

Another magnetized flapped mat for this page, paired with a little side pocket and mini journaling mat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the back cover I built a waterfall feature that mats fourteen 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" photos.  I love how it showcases the gorgeous papers.

  

Each pullout mat has a large area to mat a 4" x 6" photo as well as a journaling spot below each.  Lots of real estate in this mini album which measures only 5" x 8 1/2".

 

 

 

So that's the latest mini from c1make1.  I hope you enjoyed it and are inspired to go build one yourself!  As always, feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.  For instructions, Ginger of My Sisters Scrapper has a great YouTube series on building a vertical paper bag mini album.

 

You can get this awesome paper collection for a measly $5 with a $50 purchase this month only from Close To My Heart.  You can shop with me here on my site, or through your nearest CTMH Independent Consultant.  Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for my next creation, coming soon!  Cheers!

Li'l Bit Country Mini Album

 

This little mini is made from envelopes and cardstock, with a chipboard cover.  I used the Close to My Heart "Jubilee" paper collection.  I love the bright colors and will use the album for an assortment of photos I've taken over the years of country fairs, parades, agricultural shows and other fun summer events that take place on the Prairies during summer.  I colored the letters on the cover with alcohol markers to match the paper.  The closure is magnetic and accented with a strawberry button.  A chipboard prize ribbon decorates the spine. This album is sprinkled with chickens...watch for 'em!

 

 

 

 

Lots of foldouts and interactive elements in this mini album.  I wanted it to be really fun and busy like a country fair.  Inside the front cover is tri-fold photo folder that tucks behind a chipboard-mounted image from the design paper.  Each page has a large pullout nearly 6" x 6" in size and accented by a cute metal button from the accents collection.  This album is very similar in construction to the other envelope mini albums I've shown, but a change in paper and the addition of some different interactive elements makes it a whole different color of horse.

 

This page opens to allow a spot for two photos and journaling.

 

  

 

The left side of this page has a large fold-out with a magnetic closure, the right has a tiered pocket which also folds out. 

  

 

With the page fully open, you can see there's room for a whole parade of pictures plus two removable mats and journaling space.  The pocket on the left is fussy cut from the design paper; the centre mat is held in tucked behind two chipboard strawberries.

 

 

 

 

The left page has a belly band that holds a moveable mat in place and a stopper to keep it from slipping down.  The right side is a gatefold page with a chipboard magnetized closure made from design paper mounted on chipboard and fussy cut.

 

 

 

 

Lots of real estate here too. 

 

 

 

 

The chicken is a placeholder for the mat, and on the right the page flips up to reveal...

 

another pocket and journaling spot as well as a 6" x 6" photo space.

 

 

 

 

This is one of my fave pages--fun and interactive.  The right side has a simple pocket with a movable photo mat.  On the left the page flips down and is held in place by a decorated photo turn.

 

The flip-down portion opens up gatefold style to give lots more room. 

 

 

This middle page is a smaller pocket page just for fun.  Perfect for journaling on the card inside.  The right side has a trifold 3" x 3" photo area with a magnetic button closure.

 

 

 

 

This page has matching flip-up portions and I may run a photo title across both flip-ups inside. 

 

The doilies are fussy cut and open to form a pocket on each page, with a moveable photo mat behind each.

 

 

 

 

This is just another flip-out page opposite a pocket page, but I hid a chicken behind the door, just for fun.

 

 

 

 

To complete the book, I made a "denim" pocket complete with rivets to hold event tickets , then inside the back cover a chipboard rooster and "best home cookin' " button holds in place a moveable mat.

 

 

And that's it for this busy mini!  I had loads of fun making this one, and I'm looking forward to collecting all the photos I have in mind for it and putting them in.  I may be a city gal, but I'm also a Li'l Bit Country...

 

Thanks for poppin' in y'all.  (okay, that might be getting to be a bit much--sorry!)  Come back again for my next creative side trip. You'll have fun--I promise.   

 

And by the way, nearly everything I used to make this fun little album you can get from Close To My Heart except for the magnets and the chipboard to make the covers.  Oh and the chickens too.  Sorry 'bout that.  You'll have to locate your own chickens.  Now get on out there and glue something!