Thailand Scrapbook Pages 1 - 7

Yesterday I started a new scrapbook - but I really started it a LONG time ago.  Most of the time spent so far has been going through pictures and sorting out how I want to organize the scrapbook.    I DID make a pair of pages about tigers that I worked on for National Scrapbook Day in May of this year - see them here.  Those are actually pages 32 & 33 - and will come near the end of the book.  But now I'm actually starting to create the book as a whole.  This post will show the first 7 pages, all of which make use of leftovers from my Taj Mahal mat stack from DCWV (the same one I used for my India scrapbook).

Page #1 (above): The color of this one isn't quite as true to life as I would have liked.  The red appears a bit more scarlet  - though it has a pattern of deeper red in it.  The filigree is a metallic gold.  In addition to the basics of photos and text (as you can see, I printed the title on my map), I added a pocket in the back at the top to hold tickets from the flights mentioned on this page.  You can see the little thumb-place where they can be pulled out.  They're in an envelope that fits in the pocket.  You can probably tell that I took the piece I cut for the thumb hole and glued it in place on the envelope.

Pages 2 & 3:

These pages were created as a dual page spread.  There's a lot on them.  I'll discuss each individually.

Page #2:

Here I glued several pictures in a strip right next to each other - actually with mats overlapping - before adding the remaining pictures below.  Title and journaling were printed on my computer.  I matted the title with a die cut gold mat using a Spellbinders die from Romantic Rectangles 2 set of dies.  I then added another pocket to hold an envelope containing hotel receipts.  Having realized from the last page that it was easier for the envelopes to slide out of the pocket than intended, I created a bit of a latch from a piece of gold. It is only glued to the envelope where the thumb hole is, but serves to hold the envelope in place a bit better to help prevent the envelope from accidentally falling out.  I added a white strip on top of the latch to identify the contents.

Page #3:

This companion page has more pictures, journaling, and a second title.  It also has a vellum pocket into which a brochure was inserted.

Pages 4 & 5:

Next up is another two-page spread - this time about the floating market.  Here's a closer look at each.

Page 4:

As you can see, I created a 3 x 3 grid of photos and matted the whole on a piece of red card stock.  I also matted the upper photo and journaling block on the red.  I printed the title block using Microsoft Word and trimmed it close to the green border.

Page 5:

I chose to use a wider red mat with the focal photo, and a narrow one with the journaling block. I chose not to use a red mat with the rest of the photos.

Page 6:

Page six starts with a sheet of white paper.  To that, I added a strip of red that I used to mat the focal picture and a second one.  I used some pretty decorative red and gold paper to mat all photos and journaling blocks.  The title was die cut using Momenta alphabet dies from the same decorative paper.  I added a gold mat for the focal photo. and this page was done.

Page 7:

The next page has a block of 15 photos matted on decorative paper (the same paper used on the previous page).  The title was die cut from the same paper using the same Momenta dies and some no-name dies.

It feels so good to have made a good start on this scrapbook.

HD Perfect Days - Afternoon Tea

Today I have cards made from another Hunkydory set.  This set - Afternoon Tea - comes from the kit called Perfect Days.

Set as it comes:

The 5 cards that I made from it and some misc from my stash:

There's a 6 x 6 card, a 5 x 7 card, a slimline card, and two A2 cards.  And now a closer look at each card.

Card #1:

This one is pretty straight forward.  I started by cutting the piece of lavender checked scrap for a background.  Next I added the die cuts (some on foam tape), splitting the border behind the sentiment so it stretched all the way across.  The sentiment itself is on foam tape, and I added a ribbon bow from my stash.  I finished it by adding gold Thin Line Border Dazzles from HOTP.

Card #2:

 

Next up is the slimline card.  This one was created using a panel cut from the coordinating AS (Adoreable Scoreable printed card stock) in the set.  I cut a piece of leftover AS to extend the bottom of the panel before adding it to my card.  I covered the join with a piece of border and put another piece of it toward the top of the card.  I added a layered piece on the focal with foam tape - and then added the sentiment using the same.  I again added gold Border Dazzles - this time wider strips just on either side of the card.

Card #3:

 

Next up is another piece of AS for the background - with focal, extra pieces, corners, and sentiment added die cut pieces (some on foam tape).  This time I did something extra special on the inside:

 

I used one of the smaller die cut pieces to add a pop-up feature on the inside of the card.  I also added just a strip of the AS that was used on the card front.

 

Card #4:

 

This card started with a small piece of AS left over from making cards.  I matted it with gold tag board, wrapped a ribbon around it, and glued it to a mat of patterned paper from my stash.  I added some extra pieces to the foal with foam tape, added a bow to the top left corner of the focal, and the added a die cut sentiment on top of the bow.

 

Card #5:

 

By the time I got to the last card of this set, I had already used most of my supplies.  I added a checked lavender piece from my stash, added my die cut focal (with extra piece on foam tape), added the sentiment from the set (upper right corner) and then finished with a greeting from HD's Little Book of Essential Greetings (lower left corner).

That's it.  5 cards from this set.

Piano!

Today I have proof that making mindless embellishments can spark my creativity when mojo seems to be missing.  I've realized that I tend to use my die cuts more if I make them ahead, so when mojo disappears, I get out my cutting dies and get to work.  Today I found myself using a set of musical dies from Paper Discovery called Lost in Music - Musical Panels.  I have often used the music notes on a card that says something like "just a note", so having a bunch of them on hand is helpful.  And, while I have used quite a few of those notes since I got the dies, I've never actually used the piano keyboard.  So, I decided to cut out the piano keyboard and put it together before cutting out a bunch of the music notes for my stash.

The piano turned out pretty good, but before I put it in my stash, I die cut the music notes to go with it.

After cutting out the music notes, I found myself staring at the "leftovers".  I had cut the panel of notes twice side by side out of black card stock.  As I looked at those scraps I realized what a pretty background it would make!  I decided to trim it up and see what I could do with it - and that is where this card came from.

The background panel and keyboard both were approximately 6" wide.  I thought about using them on a 4" x 6" card, but felt that too much of the background panel would be hidden if I only had 4" to play with.  So, I decided to use a 5 x 7 card base.  I thought about cutting it down to 5" x 6", but didn't like the resulting proportions, so left it at 5 x 7 figuring I'd create some sort of border on either side.  

I knew I wanted to wrap a red ribbon between the keyboard & the rest of the background before gluing it all down, but it was a  bit tricky since the background panel wasn't 5" tall.  I ended up gluing the keyboard to a portion of the background first - making sure the combo came out to exactly 5" tall and the sides were even.  This was made much easier by using my new glue press.  That tool enables such a fine line of glue that I could put glue on the lower part of the background panel and line up the piano keyboard on top with both on top of the card for sizing purposes - all without the panel sticking to the card front!!!  Once the two pieces were glued together, it was a simple thing to wrap the ribbon where I wanted it.  I taped the ribbon to the back of the panel to hold it taut before gluing the whole thing in place.  (Once again that glue press came in handy to make sure all little pieces were glued down with out making a gluey mess that would be seen through the die cut holes in the background.)

I went looking for red to match my ribbon to create a border on the sides.  That was harder than it should have been!  I ended up using some sticky-backed vinyl from my stash - cut to fit as you see on either side of the focal - leaving a narrow white border between it and the keyboard/panel.

For a finishing touch, I tried lots of things over the background panel, but they just didn't look right and took away from the beauty of the panel.  So, I settled on a Hunkydory printed greeting tag.  After adding that, I added a little ribbon bow and my card front was done.

Inside:

I had originally created the banner, using red Dazzles stickers adhered to a white mat, for the front of this card, but it just didn't look good against the background.  I could have used a black strip for backdrop like I did here, but would have covered up a bunch of that pretty background.  I decided that rather than let all that fussy cutting of the mat go to waste, I'd use it on the inside on a black border strip.  I will probably go back and scatter a few musical notes on the inside of the card after I decide who will receive this card and how much room I need for stamped sentiment and/or handwritten note.  For now, my mojo's back and it feels good!  (Though unfortunately, my time for crafting is up for now!)

More Holiday House

Holiday House #1: Here's a Christmas house - made using dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs Holiday House.  It took me most of the day to make it (which I suspect is why I like to have things made ahead rather than doing it as I make a card/scrapbook page).  The original die was designed to make the center section.  I chose to cut extras of the middle piece around the door to add on either side of the house to make it bigger. 

I inked various parts of the house to create some texture.  Then I colored the door frame, heart, and lights with red.  I colored the light strings and window frames with silver Sharpie, backing the windows with pieces colored with light yellow to effect light coming through them.  I covered the door frame, heart, and eaves with a clear glitter sheet and fussy cut around it.  I thought the Dazzles leaves worked great to form some small bushes & a Christmas tree in the window. Wreath is suede paper - as is the greenery in the window boxes.  Little red Dazzles complete those.  

Holiday House #2:  

This one was much more basic, as you can see.  I used the clear sticker on eaves, windows, and heart.  It's surprising, but all purple (except the roof/gingerbread) was colored with the same marker - just depended whether or not it was going over top of the clear glitter sticker.    Looking at these, I realize that both need door handles.  I probably won't come back to show the updated photo, but I will go and fix that.