It's the Small Things

Paper Bag Mini Book Tutorial

 

It took me 6 years to get up the courage to make this album. I am working on my other son's, right now, too. It was definitely a labor of love and feels wonderful to have. Here is what I wrote about the album:

In 2004 Vanessa Reyes won the Chatterbox Make it Meaningful contest with her "If For Any Reason" album. When I saw her album, I cried. I knew I needed to make an album like this for my son. The album consists of letters to a child for all of the major moments in life. Both Vanessa and her husband wrote letters to their daughter with words about these moments and tucked them lovingly into the album. The purpose of the book is that if for any reason one of them were no longer in their daughter's life, she would still have their words to read and cherish. It's taken me 6 years to finally sit down and make this album. My husband and I both spent hours crying while writing these letters. As emotionally difficult as it was to do, we are thrilled to have this for our son. The album is his to read whenever he wishes. The great thing about paper bag albums is that you can easily add to them. I have another 6 big moments I want to include in this book and it will be simple to do because of the format.

Have a wonderful Holiday weekend! 

Lori
 

My Next Class

I have been wanting to make myself a card planner for a very long time. I am always scrambling last minute to get cards in the mail, so I wanted to organize the process and make it simple. I created a fun card planner that has tons of my favorite photos. It's for me, so I have filled it with all of my favorite photos of our family. 

It is a mini book that is broken into months and includes addresses and lists. It, also, has two pockets for cards and stamps. I love my little book! I think it would make a great gift idea, as well. Below are just a few images. The inside pages are filled with photos and lots of fun details. 

 

We will be working with canvas, luminarte, gel bead medium, gesso, micro beads and more. I went technique heavy this time around. The book features the brand new Creative Imaginations IOD Loolah collection, shipping to stores soon, Christine Adolph Chipboard and Creative Cafe! We will, also, get to play with some of the gorgeous new bloomers ribbon from Webster's Pages. 

Here are the class details:

Memories Live On
Saturday, June 5
10 a.m - 1 p.m.
$45

• Supplies needed:
• Fabric Glue – Helmar 450 Quick Dry
• Personal Trimmer
• Tape runner
• Foam dots or squares
• Scissors
• Favorite Border Punch – I used Martha Stewart “Double Scallop”
• Red ink – Colorbox fluid chalk ink catseye “warm red”
• 2 Foam brushes
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Skinny paintbrush (about ¼ inch)
• Black Sharpie extra/ultra fine pen
• White paint
• Sand paper or nail file
• Photos - twelve 4"x6" horizontal and nine 3"x5" horizontal or vertical. 

Have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! 

Happy National Scrapbook Day

I want to thank Memories Live On for having me there to teach my By the Beautiful Sea class. I had the BEST time. I was really nervous, but once the customers started walking in, I got over it quickly. The gals that took my class were so nice and really, really fun. The best part for me, was watching them mix things up and show me a thing or two. I love that. I really did feel right at home in the store and am so grateful for that. I am excited to be coming back in a month or so to teach another class. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos, but my friends in the class did. When they send me their pictures, I'll post them. 

For those that are interested, there are a few kits available. I included full color photo step by step directions and sketches for converting the page to vertical photos. I, also, put my email address in there. I am always available to answer any questions or for any feedback.  The kits are really full of product and there is enough left over to add to your stash or create a few layouts. 

 

It's National Scrapbook Day this weekend (technically it's Saturday) and there are events happening everywhere. If  you are wanting to get involved in some fun, here are a few things you can join:

1. A Cherry On Top is hosting a weekend long online crop. Sally and Josie of IOD will be teaching a FABULOUS shadow box class at 4pm EST on Saturday. It's absolutely darling and they are even giving a kit away. 

2. Crate Paper has some fun up their sleeves on their blog. Read the fine print, ladies! There is a giveaway on there, you do not want to miss, not to mention the inspiration they plan to share. It's going to be a great time.  

This is the latest layout I did with Crate Paper and October Afternoon. The two mix really well and I thought went perfectly with my son's t-ball photos. He isn't much of a sports fan. Turns out he's really into piano and learning music and I'm all good with that, but he did want to try out baseball and he seems to enjoy it. It's really cool now that I've seen him actually LOVE something. That's all I want for both boys. I want to put them in a bunch of things until they find "the" thing they love. Now that I know what his "love" is, it's so nice to not have to worry about doing what he's ok with. If he wants to do it, great, if not, great. He seems to enjoy t-ball mostly because he doesn't have to run around as much as in soccer. This makes me laugh, because I would have thought he might get bored standing around, but what do I know? Kids are funny!

Happy NSD. I hope you find time to create at least one little thing in the spirit of the day. Enjoy!