Love is.....creating a new mini album

Earlier this year, I discovered the world of mini albums using scrapbook papers and supplies. I was hunting for ideas on how to create a family recipe book and tripped across some online tutorials and videos for building books from scratch using various binding methods and techniques. It went beyond using the traditional photo album and premade ringed binders.  I love love LOVE books. I was hooked!

My world opened up to Kathy Orta....Ginger (mysistersscrapper)....Laura (Following the Paper Trail)...Tim Holtz...amazing and gifted designers that I grew to love watching, and the list still grows. I use an ATG....love DCWV and Graphic 45....and hug my scoreboard, forgetting that not everyone knows what the heck I am referring to. I've lost track of the number of albums, big and small, that I have built (maybe 11 or 12 or so)....experimenting with various sizes, paper patterns, using different base pages and binding systems, but loving every one of them. It was a private passion until late last Spring, when I attended a "crop"....my first....and used the time to build another album. It became my chance to "pay it forward"....sharing a gift that I had been given by others that I didn't personally know, but feel as if I've known them for years. I have been blessed to add new friends to my world, that can share the joy that I feel. I watch their faces light up when I place a book into their hands, and allow them to explore the hidden gems in the pockets and flaps. It speaks to them as it does to me, and I feel blessed to be the messenger of such a wonderful gift.

Well, this week I completed two new albums, using paper bags as the base of my pages.

 





 The paper collection used here was from DCWV Timeless collection, and I used black paper bags and black cardstock for that dramatic, masculine look.  Walnut stain distress ink adds that vintage look and a few metal elements help to tie in with the look I was after. It is loaded with tags and pockets, and journalling spots, and allows for lots of photos to complete this album. This is a peek at one of the albums. I will share the other with you next time...I loved them both!

 

Hugs until next time. I wish you happy scrapping and crafting :)

November Tim Holtz Tags

 

Last evening I was able to get out to enjoy Tim Holtz November tag night with a group of amazing ladies here in Williams Lake. We didn't get "inky" as we normally do, being that distress ink wasn't on the menu this month. We did, however, get "chalky" and chuckled and bantered as we normally do. The photo above shows my two tags created. The tag on the left was not as distressed or grungy as we normally do.....I used white embossing powder on this one, with Timmy stamps and white watercolor pencil to trim it out. On the right, we used one of Tim's embossing powders and chalk per his instructions for the November 2013 tag, and whatever supplies we happened to have on hand......lol.....we tend to deviate a lot...  You can check out all of our tags at Hilltop Creations blog (hilltopcreations.blogspot.ca) to see everyone's that attended. All in all, it was fun as always. 

 

Janet, Barb, Marianne and Moe.....you light my life with your friendship and generosity. We missed a few ladies yesterday that couldn't make it, but we were thinking of you :)

 

I am in the process of finishing up a couple of mini albums that I will share soon. Love the paper collections used, and so proud of how they have turned out......stay tuned!

 

Until next time.......

I found my dining room again...for awhile

I discovered scrapbooking again earlier this year, and it literally took over the dining room and kitchen!  Life has been all about vintage, roosters, pretty papers and the "right" and necessary tools. My new "craft room" has been gradually leaching into the other rooms and now requires its own domain (aka the Rec Room) but it keeps crawling back into the dining room. What the heck??!

We had a new patio door installed this week, which meant (you guessed it) banishing said-stuff from the dining table to the rec room again.  It looked strangely bare....for the day.  Lol. But true to form, it is sneaking back. Don't know how it does it, but it happens. And then one finds ink on the fingers and you realize that it's happened again. Of course, it had nothing to do with the box of scrappiness that came in the mail from Joann's that I just HAD to check out....no....

I confess..... I am a mini-scrapbook-aholic. I am a You Tube and Pinterest junkie and can't get enough of the beauty that one can create from paper, glue and tape.......LOTS of tape. I never imagined that I could go from 2 boxes of scrapbook supplies to an entire room full, but it has happened. But creating these things is nothing short of amazing. Thanks to those amazing ladies and gents like mysistersscrapper, Kathy Orta, Laura Dennison, Tim Holtz, and countless others that share the how-to's of such beautiful creations. I am in awe and the artist in me is so happy to include that much more  beauty in my surroundings.

Well, off to find some breakfast and then ink up again :). Happy scrapping to all my buds!  See you again soon ;)