Here are a few pictures of a mini album I made as a Christmas present for a dear friend, Denise Hogarth. Each year, a small group of friends celebrate Christmas by giving each other something handmade. This was my gift to her.
I first die cut the edges of each chipboard page with the Tim Holtz Pennant on-the-edge die, then covered each page with paper from the Echo Park Times and Seasons paper collection. I used some of the Tim Holtz clear fragments to make my own charms. I did this by adhering a fragment to an image using Glossy Accents. Since the paper was double-sided, the back of the fragment charms look good, too.
On page 2, I used Tim Holtz's Sizzix Heart and Wings die to cut out the paper covered heart with wings. I found some very bright gold metal embellishments in my stash, and changed the color by embossing them with Versamark ink and embossing powder (the 3 square pieces on the right). I used a Martha Stewart French Scroll punch for the pretty trim at the bottom of the page. Much to my surprise, the punched design looked very much like it was printed on the paper, but instead, it was just an optical illusion. When you use papers from the same collection, you can achieve that kind of effect.
I utilized the pre-printed words on the paper for page 3, placing them where they would show up best, at the bottom of the page. The embellishments were simply cut from one of the papers containing lots of small images pertinent to the theme. A little distressing of the edges, and voila, a neat page completed. To finish it off, I adhered some gem flourish stickers as well.
Page 4 has a Maya Road chipboard corner that I simply inked with Distress ink and placed a pretty pre-made flower in the center. Along the top edge, I adhered a piece of crinkled cotton that I tore into a long strip and colored with Distress inks. The central image is simply a stamped image of the four ladies, edges distressed and inked, and two metal corner embellishments. I used a Paper Artsy film strip stamp and matching die to highlight the second lady.
This might be my favorite page, since I am partial to sewing items. The same Maya Road chipboard corner embellishment was used in the upper right corner of this page. Tim Holtz's Sizzix Sewing Room die was used to cut the chipboard dress form and thread spool. Once again, I simply colored the chipboard pieces with coordinating Distress inks. I stamped a flourish over the blue inked portion of the dress form using the same blue Distress ink. Square metal embellishments were used along the top left edge. I distressed a small sewing related image and glued it over a small piece of cotton that I lightly colored to match my other pieces. Another fragment was used to cover the teapot charm in the lower right of the page, and a leafy stem was die cut from another greenish piece of paper in the collection. Smaller metal embellishments were adhered to each point of the pennant.
On the next page, I used another Maya Road chipboard flourish piece, inked with brown and a flower adhered to the center. A few more small ephemera images from one of the sheets in the collection were cut out, distressed, and placed down the center of the page. Gem flourish stickers were adhered along the sides of the central image for a bit of added bling.
I first crinkled a Tim Holtz kraft glassine envelope, then ran a Distress ink pad over the high spots to highlight the crinkles. Crinkling also softens the glassine, making it feel almost like fabric. Then, I inserted the envelope between the chipboard pages and folded the top envelope flap down. I held the flap down by inserting a small sewing snap between the two layers to keep it folded down.
On the reverse side of the glassine envelope, I attached a piece of Tim Holtz mini slide film across the top edge, and added a piece of ephemera from the same paper collection.
Again, I used the paper to my advantage by placing the words and images where they would be seen on the page. As you can see, "Family Heirlooms" and the pretty image next to it are seen quite well. Then, I simply cut out some more of the tiny images and distressed them, added gem flourish stickers, another Maya Road chipboard piece, and placing a flower in the center. At the bottom, I used a Martha Stewart Loop punch on a darker piece of the paper to give it some contrast. A little bling was added beneath each loop.
This page from the collection contained a background of silhouette images. I found a sheet of paper from Hambly that also used Silhouette images. I used that and some oval shaped fragment charms to make the two centered silhouette images. With a couple of jump rings, I was able to hand them from the sign holder above it. This was cut from chipboard using another Tim Holtz Sizzix Hanging Sign die and covered with Tim Holtz crackle paint. I adhered some lace along the top and bottom edges to frame the page a bit.
Another Tim Holtz die was used to cut out the chipboard house shapes, individually covered with different pieces of paper from the collection, and adhered to the page, as shown. Charms and chipboard letters decorated the house pieces. The chipboard alphabet did not match my book papers, so I embossed each one with Distress powders in a coordinating color. I also used Tim Holtz Banner die to make the banner piece above the houses.
Finally, the back cover looked a little bare, so I added a few less dimensional fabric flowers. I had some clay "buttons" I had made some time ago, so I used them for the flower centers. I used torn strips of cotton, colored to match, as a "ribbon" treatment for the spine.
This is the tag that was inserted into the glassine envelope previously shown above.
I love making books, and this was no exception. I hope you enjoy looking at my pictures as much as I enjoy sharing them.
