India Scrapbook Pages 12 & 13

Today I have a couple more India scrapbook pages. One of the big challenges of these pages was that the background paper was so busy.  I did a couple of things to decrease that feeling.  First, I added strips of an rust colored patterned paper.  This felt better, but still busy.  I added plain rust colored paper blocks at the bottom of the pages - this helped quite a bit.  Then I added narrow strips of that plain paper top and bottom of the patterned paper strips - which helped even more.  Here's a closer look at each page:

Trying to figure out how to fit all the journaling and photos on these pages was another challenge.  As you can see, with some of the pictures, I zoomed in on the important parts of the pictures & printed them up as small embellishments, while printing other pictures medium-small or more normal size.  I found it worked best to use Distress Ink & a round foam applicator to color the journaling background a bit bluish - they didn't blend into the page as well as I wanted when they were stark white.

The last challenge was how to include the airplane tickets without them overpowering the page.  Here I created a vellum envelope in which the sit - with a journaling over the top of it.  This keeps them easy to look at when desired, and yet not really competing for space.

December Swaps

Today I have several swap cards.  First up is the standard swap card.  The theme was "anything goes".  The background was a digi-paper.  To this, I added some stamped and die cut deer (Heartfelt Creations Woodsy Critters).  The sentiment was from my stash - matted in white & added with foam tape.  Finally, I added snowflake confetti to complete the card front.

Inside:

A strip of patterned paper from my stash formed a lower border on the inside - along with more stamped/die cut deer.  Finally, I added a stamped message (Crafter's Companion Compendium called Warmest Wishes).

Next up are my Materials Swap Cards - theme was winter and we were to include a specialty paper.

Materials Swap - my materials:

The materials I pulled together started with a sheet of printed mirri card stock from Hunkydory. To this, I added a dark navy card stock, white card stock, white card base, white glimmer paper, foiled acetate die cuts, die cut sentiment (Moonstone Splendid Snowflakes), and star stickers.

My Card:

As you can see, I used the mirri for the background - matting it on white and then navy - cutting them both small enough to leave a narrow white border on the card front.  Next, I created a border from a narrow strip of the mirri, and more white and navy.  I backed the foiled acetate die cuts with white glimmer paper and fussy cut around them before adding them.  I finished the card front using the die cut sentiment and star stickers.

Inside:

Inside I simply added a strip of the mirri for a border.  The stamped message was again created using a stamp from Crafter's Companion Compendium sheet called Warmest Wishes.

Materials Swap - my partner's materials:

I can't believe that I forgot to take the "before" picture of the materials my partner sent me.  Hopefully she'll post one I can use here. Most items, including the paper tole, were from HOTP.

This is the card I made:

I don't know where my brain was when I was making this card, but I got it mostly made & then forgot what I was doing and started trying to meet another challenge & added a couple of elements from my stash - the cream colored ribbon on the border near the bottom (I COULD have just used a strip of the lighter colored patterned paper), and the brad near the top (I could have simply punched a small circle from one of the papers that were sent and used it in the same way). Anyway, the focal is paper tole style with several layers separated by thin foam tape.  All the papers were in the kit that was sent to me - and the metallic blue paper was already embossed.

Inside:

On the inside, I really wanted a lighter color on the inside for writing my message, so added a cream colored sheet from my stash.  The border is from leftovers of the kit sent to me.

India Scrapbook Pages 8 to 11

  

First up is a two-page spread forming pages 8 & 9 of the scrapbook.  Both pages start with orange patterned card stock.  Inside that is a layer of yellow checked paper - then a layer of black.  Here's a closer look at each page:

Page 8:

After printing and cutting out the pictures, I glued them on the black background leaving a black border around each.  I then matted a small picture on black and placed it as an embellishment - in addition to yellow flower stickers.

Page 9:

For the right sided page, I started with a piece of orange patterned paper that was cut just a bit smaller than the black - so the black forms a mat for it.  The focal photo was matted on black before adding in place on the patterned paper.  My journaling takes quite a bit of space.  As you can see, I cut it with fancy edge top and bottom, and then matted with black.  After adding a border of black along the left edge, I centered the journaling and added more embellishments - a couple more matted photos and more of the yellow flower stickers.

Page 10:

Here I printed the journaling over the top of a faded copy of a picture of the airplane's wing.  As you can see, I matted that, a printed title, and two other pictures on a dark piece of paper.  The page felt quite "precise" - which did not reflect the busyness of Kolkata.  So, I added several arrows (Brad Buddies from HOTP) to try to speak to the busy surroundings.  Most of the arrows point toward important parts of the page, while the final one points to the Jain temple on the next page.

Page 11:

To illustrate the beauty of the Jain temple, I started with a beautiful foiled background that was reminiscent of some of the decorations in and around the temple.  The photos and journaling are matted on a piece of plain silver.  The title was printed and I added a portion of a close up of one of the pillars on each side.  The whole was then matted in silver and added with foam tape.

Digi-Thanks

Today I needed another quick Thank You card, so used a sketch posted on a message board I frequent.  The background was printed from a digital sheet and was matted in dark green.  I added matted circles of old HOTP papers & a white one with dark green stamped sentiment (Personal Impressions Thank You from Inkadinkadoo).  I added a strip of green border.  Finally, I added a stamped and die cut colored paper flower (Blazing Poppy from Heartfelt Creations), two die cut and embossed leaves (Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms), and a jewel for the flower center.

Inside:

A dark green strip and narrow printed floral strip form a border on the inside of the card.  Another stamped message (Crafter's Companion Compendium Thank You) completes the inside. 

India Scrapbook pages 6-7

Today's dual page layout is based on one of the layout sketches for December 2003 at pagemaps.com. Here's a closer look at each page:

The background paper is from an old mat stack from DCWV called Taj Mahal.  I cut a border from green patterned paper that coordinated with it.  I also added a cream colored grosgrain ribbon along the bottom of the page.  Pictures and journaling were printed on my printer - and I used distress ink to color the large mat on the focal, and the background of the journaling.  The title was die cut from another paper from the mat stack. The panel the journaling & title sits on was cut top and bottom using a Spellbinders border die.

On the 2nd page, I added a partial circle cut from the same paper as the title on the previous page.  I didn't have any dies large enough to cut the circle, but found a 12 x 12 stencil that had a large circle on it that I could trace & then fussy cut.

Calendar Slimline

Today I just have one card - made after I cut up a calendar and a bunch of Birds and Blooms magazines, to use in making cards.  It's really very straight forward - a piece of calendar glued to the card front, a ribbon run across for a border of sorts, and an inked, die cut (Spellbinders Twisted Metal Tags and Accents) stamped (one of my Mom's stamps) sentiment added with foam tape.

Inside:

As you can see, I added borders top and bottom using scraps from the same calendar page - then added a small picture that shows what the whole page looked like originally.  Finally, I stamped a sentiment using a JustRite stamp from the set called Good Friends Labels Twenty-Nine.
 

India Scrapbook - pgs 4 & 5

 

Today I have another couple of pages from my India scrapbook.  I wish my photos were better.  I'm having a real challenge with those lately.  Once again, the background pages are from the DCWV matstack called Taj Mahal, and the pictures, journaling, and title were all printed on my computer.

Page 4:

There's a lot of "busy" in the background, so I toned it down with a piece of blue lightly patterned paper.  I simply cut that sheet in half and added it in the center of each page.  I'm not sure why, but the pages look less busy in real life - though your eye certainly has plenty to look at on these two pages.

Page 5:

I really liked the "scatter" effect of the smaller photos - it keeps the eye moving around the page.

India Scrapbook - first 3 pages

 

YAY!  I'm finally getting this scrapbook made for a trip we made EIGHTEEN years ago!  This post will show the first 3 pages.  Most of the papers used for this scrapbook come from a pack I purchased especially for this scrapbook many years ago - a DCWV Mat Stack called Taj Mahal.  This first page is no different.  I'm not going to call out each page from this mat stack - I'll only note those papers that were NOT from the mat stack.

Page #1 (above): The focal picture for this first page is a map of our travels - with colored lines showing where we went.  As I usually do, I printed the pictures and journaling on my computer.  The Title is a purchased die cut piece.  Tickets and planning printouts are in a hidden pocket behind the page - with hand-lettered labels pointing to them.  I printed several small pictures - of my passport and visa, our luggage, and a syringe.

Page #2:

I found some "jeans-like" paper scraps in my stash and used them for border & mats on the background paper.  Once again, I have a hidden pocket behind the page to hold tickets and the printout from the bank about money we exchanged (necessary in case we wanted to change some of it back into US $ at the end of our trip).  I also added a vellum pocket on the lower left corner with documentation from the YMCA tourist hostel.  I printed the pictures, title, journaling, and embellishments - fussy cutting the embellishments.

Page #3:

As you can probably tell, the background for this page combines identical pages from the first two pages - along with plain blue card stock.  The rest was all printed on my computer - including the title, which I fussy cut before gluing in place.

November Fancy Fold Swap Card

This month's swap card needed to be a "fancy fold" (anything other than a regular card) with a winter scene.  I decided to make it as a "Dual Side Step" card.  Previously I made this as a 4.5" x 6" card with 1 1/2" sides.  This time I made it as a 4.5" x 7" with 2" sides.  I wanted it to be sturdy, so cut it from a sheet of Adoreable Scoreable (Hunkydory printed card stock).  The basic steps for making the card are below:

Card Base: 

• Cut card stock to 7" x 9".
• Placing it vertically in front of you.  Starting 1" from the bottom edge and ending 2" from the top edge, measure in 2" from one side and cut your card stock.  Repeat for other side, making sure the 1" and 2" un-cut portions match the previous slice.
  
• Turn your card horizontally with the 1" mark on your left.  Now you'll be scoring vertical lines between your two cut lines from the previous steps.  Measuring from the left edge, score these at 1", 2", 3 1/2", 5" & 7".
• On the outside 2" sections, score at 4 1/2".
  
• Fold along the center score lines starting from the left: mountain, valley, mountain, valley, mountain.  Fold the outside edges in a mountain fold at the card center.  Now your card is ready to decorate.

Decorating:

• I started with a Little Book page from the Hunkydory LB of Winter Time, gluing it to a piece of card stock to increase stability.
• Next, I cut the houses/fireworks section away from the people - trimming it to 3" wide & gluing to a piece of snowy paper from my stash.  I glued this in place on the last step.
• Then I fussy cut the 3 groups of people.  After gluing another piece of the snowy paper to the middle step, I added the groups of people - two to the middle step and one to the back step (using foam tape behind their heads for added dimension.
• Then I made borders from ribbon and added to either side, before adding the foiled greeting (Gemini's All the Happiness foiling stamp)

HD Christmas Classics - Christmas is Coming

 

Today's cards & tag were all made using the HD (Hunkydory) kit called Christmas Classics - the set called Christmas is Coming (along with stuff from my stash).

Here's what the original set looked like:

 

As you can see, there is a sheet of die cuts and two sheets of AS (Adorable Scoreable printed card stock).  And here's a pic of the six cards and tag that I made:

 

 

And now for a closer look at each.

Card #1:

The first two cards are slimline cards.  For this first one, I cut a panel from the AS - and then some extra border to add at the top.  This meant that I needed to trim top & bottom just a smidge so it would fit on the card base leaving a narrow border all around.  I added the focal with foam tape, and added a strip of red velvet flowered ribbon & a narrow strip of green suede paper to increase the bottom border.  I found a tag in one of my HD Essential Book of Christmas Sentiments, added some red ribbon to it, and glued it in place as you see in the picture (part of it was on foam tape so it fit with the raised focal).

Inside:

Inside, I added a narrow AS border - like I had on the front (but without the added ribbon/suede at the bottom.  As you can see, I added a tag (from the set) and called the inside complete.

Card #2:

Next up is a piece from the other AS.  I matted this on gold card stock & added a die cut sentiment (Moonstone Winter Wonderland Minis)- also from the gold.

Inside:

I found some coordinating blue paper in my stash & used it with some more of the gold to make a narrow border, then stamped the greeting using one of my stamps from my Christmas Sentiments (no brand name) stamps.

Card #3:

This card was really simple.  Starting with a cream colored 5 x 7 card blank, I cut narrow panels from the AS and glued them in place on as you can see.   I added the focal with foam tape, and used a Dazzles sticker for the greeting.

Inside:

After finding a green strip in my stash that would work for a border, I stamped a message inside the card.  Unfortunately, my first attempt stamped the message as if it were a landscape card!  Whoops!  I found another piece of cream colored card stock, stamped a message on it (Inky Antics Christmas Friends), glued a gold frame around it, and added it to the card over the incorrectly stamped message.  I was concerned you might still be able to see hints of the mistake through the card stock, so added a few stamped snowflakes (from Simply Made Contemporary Christmas stamp set)  to prevent that. :)

Card #4:

I found this set harder to work with than expected.  I had cut a piece of the AS to use as a card base, but the green on the focal pieces did NOT match the green of the AS!  While I was trying to figure out what to do about that, my Mom was working beside me using a set that had poinsettias.  She suggested I use one of her poinsettia pieces for the focal.  It worked great!  Thanks Mom!  As you can see, I matted them on a piece of gold card stock - after die cutting it using a die from Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles Two.  A tag from the set completed the card front.

Inside:

Green and gold scraps form a border on the inside.  A stamped message - using a stamp from CCC's (Crafter's Companion Compendium) Believe in the Magic - completes the inside.

Card #5:

I really like the way this card turned out.  I started with a piece of the lovely golden AS.  To this, I added a dark green grosgrain ribbon and a narrow cream colored one with gold edges.  I wanted to back the focal on a fancy gold die cut mat (Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles Two), but it was too wide - so I sliced a piece out of the middle and melded it back together.  I added a green mat that I had die cut with Spellbinders 5 x 7 Elegant Labels Four) to the card front before adding the gold matted focal with foam tape.  Finally, I added some poinsettia Dazzles stickers to the border, and a sentiment in the upper right corner (from a HD Essential Book of Christmas Sentiments).

Inside:

As you can see, I create a border using a green strip from my stash and a narrow piece of the golden AS.  To this, I added some more poinsettia Dazzles stickers (same as on the card front, though they don't show up as well in this picture for some reason).  Finally, I stamped a sentiment - one of Mom's stamps - and called this one done.

Card #6:

By this time, I had only one focal left - and it was a small one.  I also only had a small piece of AS.  So, I put them together to make this A2 sized card.  As you can see, I used the AS for a border at the bottom.  Then I added a die cut green mat (Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight), a gold die cut mat (Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Eight), and then the focal (with foam tape).  I added the "North Pole" sentiment from the set and a "It's Christmas" sentiment (from HD sentiment book) to complete the card front.

Inside:

Once again I use a couple of scraps for a border - and a stamped greeting from my no-name Christmas Sentiment Stamps.

Tag:

I had several die cut greetings left that I didn't figure I'd ever use on a card, so I put them together along with a scrap of AS border, and made this tag.  It opens up for writing to/from.

A Quick Digi Paper Christmas Card

 

Today I have a quick Christmas card made with a set of free digital papers that I printed up.  I didn't think to take a picture of the materials before starting the card, but here's a picture of the leftovers:

And now, here's a closer look at the card.

Card Front:

I found some card stock in my stash that was nearly a perfect match for the borders on the greeting/focal pieces.  I used it to mat the small print that I used as a background for this card.  I added a couple fussy cut gingerbread men and star with foam tape - cut from the larger print paper.

Inside:

Inside I used more of the small print and plain colored card stock to form borders, and finished the inside by stamping a greeting using some matching distress ink.  The stamps were from Crafter's Companion Compendium sheet called Believe in the Magic.

After posting a picture, I realized that tiny red Jewel Dazzles would be perfect for the buttons on the gingerbread men.  I ended up adding them - along with some green ones for the poinsettia centers.  You can see the finished product at the top of this post.

Last of BeNeLux Pages

Today I have the last eleven pages of my BeNeLux album.  It feels SO good to have the 88 pages of this book finished!

Pages 1 & 2:

The background paper is a HOTP color block pattern.  The color block part of it was useless for this layout, but the color worked well so I used it anyway.  I printed up a several copies of a small windmill drawing to form some embellishments.  Below is a close up of each page:

Page #1:

I used vellum to create a pocket behind the page to hold a brochure about Kinderdijk - and a circle punch to cut the finger access.

Page #2:

Page #3:

Another HOTP patterned paper forms the backdrop for this Amsterdam page.  The title was a purchased 3-D sticker.

Page #4:

Pages 5 & 6:

The green background here was from a Mat Stack (DCWV), and the brick paper was from my stash.

Here I used a "handmade" paper purchased from Costco many years ago.  The title and journaling block was inked with some Distress Ink and matted on black card stock.  Two different types of washi tape complete the page.  And now, for the close ups:

Page #5:

Again, I used vellum to create a pocket behind the page to hold the map/brochure of the palace.

Page #6:

Page #7:

I'm not sure who made the water patterned background paper used on this and the next page.  The tulip shaped picture/embellishment was a purchased post card.

Page #8:

As you can see, this page is simply the water background paper and printed photos/title/journaling.

Page #9:

The background paper for this layout is a special London paper purchased at a scrapbook store. As you can see, I matted the photos, text, and map with black.  The title was printed on white photo paper and then inked with Distress inks.

Page #10:

The silver and black background paper is "handmade" paper I purchased from Costco years ago.  The silver is actual stitching on the paper.  I again used distress ink on the title/journaling block.

Page #11:

Again, I'm not sure who made the background paper used for this page.  I used distress inks on all of my printed pieces (photos, map, text).  Then I matted most pieces on brown card stock.

YAY! That's all for this scrapbook!