"What's In Your Pocket" Page Challenge

  I recently joined a new ning site called Scrapping Carolina that is hosting what will be a series of fun page challenges designed such that you would have a completed mini when you finish them.  And since this year seems to be all about challenges I thought this would be another great one to add to the long list Ive already completed so far.  The guidelines of the challenge are as follows:

"What's In Your Pocket" Challenge"

This challenge will be a first in a series of 7x7 page challenges. When finished, you will have a completed 7x7 mini album. So, what is your style?...Grunge, Vintage, Shabby Chic?
The Challenge - Create a 7x7 page layout that will include a pocket & tag on one side and a pge with a flap on the other. Please feel free to use other goodies on your page such as journaling, photos, ephemera. Let your imagination run wild.
This will be a two week challenge so you have until Friday, March 16th to complete your pages and post your pics. I chose the 7x7 because you will want to leave an inch on the side of your page for binding.


And here are my completed pages.......
 

  I had so much fun creating these pages and can hardly wait to see what the next challenge brings.  Tamara is a gracious host and a lot of fun and Im sure her new Ning site will be a success.  So anyone looking for some fun challenges or just a coffee and a chat stop on by.

Potfolio Gatefold Christmas Wedding Mini

   My dear friend Chris got married this Christmas holiday and I was honoured to be able to share this special day with her.  She requested I make her a mini album for the occasion.  This is an adaptation of Kathy Orta's portfolio.  I added several pages and used coil binding to create a gatefold mini album with the large pockets of her portfolio to house cards and memorabilia.

Christmas Mini Challenge

 I was chatting away with some scrappy friends one morning and catching up on watching some of my favorite YouTubers when i stumbled across an older Kathy Orta video I had not seen before. After sharing with my friends they decided it would be fun to challenge me to do something with it.  The original was a cupcake theme mini and the inside was constructed of paper bags.  I decided to modify slightly to use envelopes instead.  So here is what I came up with:

 Each of the insert fronts has been decorated slightly different using a combination of Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies and and my Noel Cricut Cartridge.  All the berries throughout were made using my 1/4" hole punch and glossy accents.

 I cut off the ends of my envelopes to make them perfectly square and then glued the cut off end to the fronts to for a pocket for tags of all shapes and sizes.

 In each of the envelope pages I inserted a card so that half was inside and half out.  This created the effect of having a flap on the front of each page that could be pulled out to see the photos attached on all sides. I had so much fun creating this little mini and feel so blessed to have those like Kathy Orta to inspire me.

At the bottom of the mini i created a Trifold with smaller envelopes. The two outer ones have flaps attached to the fronts of them for more photos or journaling.
This project was a great jumping off point to the start of my christmas crafting. Hope to post some more projects in the next coming days.
Thanks for stopping by :O)

Mini Album for Deanne at Mini Album Scraps

  This is a coin envelope mini I made for my friend Deann in a swap over at http://minialbumscraps.ning.com/ .  I used the Out of Print paper by Basic Grey and the printed recollections flowers as well as some Wild Orchid Crafts flowers to embellish.  The tags are 7 Gypsies and Maya Road and the mirrored butterflies are from the dollar store.  This Mini was quite the challenge for me making for someone else that wasn't family, but in the end a lot of fun.

  I covered the flaps of the minis with patterned paper that had a decorative edge cut on my Big Shot using my Tim Holts Bracket Die.  The black cardstock was punched with a Martha Stewart edge punch. I did half the pockets horizontal and half vertical in this mini.

Double Tri Shutter Mini Photo Book

  This was a fun little mini album project I helped a girlfriend make for her Brother and SIL new baby boy.  Have always wanted to try one of these and was a lot of fun.  I found the tutorial on youtube here http://www.youtube.com/user/JohaneWilson .

 
 He's such a cutey!  I love this picture where it looks like he's winking at you..lol!!

Family Calendar Minis (photo heavy)

 Three weeks before Christmas I decided to start a project as Christmas presents for some of my family.  Photo Calendars are always a favorite and so I decided to make 3.  Needless to say these calendars were more of an undertaking than expected and Christmas presents turned into New Years presents, then Valentine's, and now St Patty's.  I was thrilled to have finally shipped them early last week and cross them off of my unfinished projects list.  Although the first 2 1/2 months have already passed, they will make great mini albums for them to enjoy once the year is done.

  The calendars are 8 x 8 and each month features a scrapbook page with pictures from 2010 and perhaps some journaling and/or a Title.  I tried to keep the pages relatively simple so that these projects could actually be finished.

  I know that these will be cherished for years to come and it makes it all worth it, and is the reason I scrapbook in the first place!  Next time though, I think I'll start a little sooner lol!!  Now on to the rest of the pile....