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.