Wedding Mini Album

Hi there. This week's big project is a mini album that I did for my lovely helper. Remember a few posts ago when I made a wedding layout for her, this time I made a mini album for a few of her favourite wedding photos. Just a few but they highlight the ceremony. I just love the outfits and colours of the wedding party and I wanted to echo that a little in the album. Where the layout was brighter and paler, I went with more romantic, muted colours for the album.

Wedding Mini Album

I created a 6.5" x 7.5" album with a 3" spine, which I covered in black cardstock. I then cut out patterned paper panels to cover each page and the outside of the album.

A lot of the flowers and trim were already in my stash.

I glued in two white ribbons under the cover papers to fasten the album.

I love all the romantic flowers, lace and trims. The metal accents and cabochons are also from my stash.

You can get a glimpse of the inside, where I die cut some doilies and also used lace to trim the photos.

Each photo is accented by a flower cluster and I added a pocket to the back inside page so she can add notes or more photos.

I finished with some metal corners to make the album more durable.

My helper absolutely loves the album and she is so happy with it. It's already been packed away for her to take home.

Products Used

Patterned papers from various designers, including Prima and Marion Smith

Flowers, wooden veneers and metal 'love' tag from Prima Marketing

Metal accents, lace, bling trim, pearl trim, sequins and sequin flowers all from stash, locally sourced

Metal corner accents, metal date label tag from Tim Holtz Ideo-logy

Distress Ink Hickory Smoke by Tim Holtz for Ranger

Thanks for dropping by,

Icicles in Tutus

Hi there. I can't believe I've not scrapped these photos yet. I know I printed them out a while ago and thought I had already done a layout, but I guess not.

Miss C loves her ballet lessons and every year, the ballet school puts on a performance. Last year's theme was called Ask Alice and featured Alice in Wonderland but with a twist and had a snow queen as well as other characters. Miss C was one of many 'icicles', with their beautiful blue tutus and as there were an odd number of them, one icicle (mine), was chosen to do a short solo with one of the principle dancers. I was so proud of her, seeing her come down the middle with the snow queen, I actually burst out crying. So silly.

Snow Queen's Icicle

 I didn't have any winter themed papers to go with the photos, so I chose some nice vintage papers and added some icicles as accents instead. That sort of pulls the papers in to match the photos.

 I heat embossed a couple of layers of blue embossing powder to some scrap paper before die cutting out the icicles. I added flowers as well to bulk out the page.

I splattered gold mist on the background paper and added a few bling brads to make the layout sparkle a bit more.

Products Used

Papers by Blue Fern Studios and Marion Smith Designs
Flowers, title alphas and bling brads by Prima Marketing
Embossing powder by Lindy's Stamp Gang
Gold paint by Ranger Inks

Thanks for dropping by,

Love With All Your Heart

I always look forward to my Thursdays, when the ladies come over for lunch and scrapbooking. All of us managed to finish/semi-finish one page and it's always a delight to see what everyone is working on, be it the umpteenth birthday layout or some new experimentation. I love seeing it all come to life. This week, I was excited to play with inks, flowers and some new stamps.

 Love With All Your Heart

 A combination of Marion Smith papers with Prima flowers and embellishments is a match made in heaven. The photos were taken just before leaving the villa in Bali by one of our friends. She styled Miss C's hair and did the golden 'tattoos' for her. I just love this photos.

 For the background harlequin paper, I first added light molding paste through a linked circle stencil. I then stamped randomly around the page in aqua and brown pigment inks with the new Prima splatter stamps - seriously, the best stamps ever.

You can see a glimpse of a chipboard lattic in the back which I painted with acrylic Silks and embossing powders. I love the printed wooden embellishments, especially the mirror and of course, flowers. Lots of lovely flowers.

I even brought out one of my embossing folders for some added texture to the blue damask paper. Is the little wooden comb not the cutest thing?

Products Used

Patterned papers from Marion Smith (several collections)

Flowers, wooden embellishments, brads, pearl arrows and splatter stamps from Prima Marketing

Lattice chipboard by Blue Fern Studios

Wood effect title Thickers by American Crafts

Mini title phrase by Tim Holtz

Linked circle stencil by The Crafter's Workshop

Embossing folder by Sizzix

Pigments inks by Avery Elle

Silks acrylic paints

Embossing powders by Lindy's Stamp Gang

Distress Inks by Tim Holtz for Ranger Inks

Light molding paste by Golden

Thanks for dropping by,

HK Memory Chest Kit Club - September 2014

Can you believe I've been silent for almost three months? It's nice to be back and into the swing of things. We were away in the UK for the whole of July, and although I said I would bring some scrapbooking stuff with me to work on, it stayed next to the night stand for the whole holiday. So bad.

Miss C has been back in school for a month now and really enjoying Year 4. I'm happy as she loves her teachers and friends and the learning isn't so bad either. This year she'll get to go to camp and she already excited even if it isn't until November.

As for me, I've been concentrating on exercising and eating better. The hubby went on a month long detox in Phuket and I joined him for a week. For those who don't know, hubby is diabetic (type 2) and wanted to learn how to reverse the disease. It can be done, but it takes retraining your body to eat the right foods; something that is harder than you think. We learnt all about raw foods and how beneficial it can be for the body. During the detox we fasted, drank clay shakes (yuck), took countless supplements and had daily (twice daily) colemas - I leave you to look that up if you've not heard of them. One week later, I lost 2 pounds. One month for hubby and he lost 13 pounds. It was quite an experience and I think everyone should try it once in their lives. I think we'll try to schedule them regularly.

All in all, we both look at food differently now and I've thrown myself headlong into raw foods and vegan foods. The fridge is stuffed with fruit and veg and even Miss C enjoys some of what I make. There are lapses here and there but overall, I'd say I'm sticking to it quite well. Do I see a difference? I haven't lost much weight, even with the exercise, but I do feel more energetic and the brain fog has lessened. The only thing is planning raw food meals can be time consuming, where some recipes need one or two days of preparation (dehydration, fermentation) before you can put it on the plate.

Between all of this, I've of course had to keep up with the scrapbooking. I can't say I've done huge amount and as usual, after a long holiday, it takes time to get back into it. In fact, I've had to give myself a big shove to start again - in the form of the first kit for the new HKMC kit club 2014/2015 and they are bigger and better than before.

September 2014 Kit
Marion Smith Designs Nirvana - Bliss
Marion Smith Designs Nirvana - Family Record
Marion Smith Designs Nirvana - Print Worthy
Marion Smith Designs Nirvana - Typograph
Marion Smith Designs Nirvana - Up & Away
Tim Holtz Ideo-logy Alpha Parts - Signmaker Black
Marion Smith Designs Junque & Gems buttons - Aqua Vintage
Prima Marketing Shabby Chic Treasures Resin - Baroque Frames
Prima Marketing Shabby Chic Treasures Tassels - Antique
Prima Marketing Junkyard Findings Metal Embellishments - Faucet Wheels
Prima Marketing Junkyard Findings Metal Embellishments - Steampunk Air
Prima Marketing Junkyard Findings Metal Embellishments - Handles & Turns
Trim and handmade fabric flowers

Add-on Options
Prima Marketing Junkyard Findings Metal Embellishments - White Street Signs
Prima Marketing Cartographer Metal Paper Clips
Maya Road Vintage Metal Trinkets - Eureka Light Clips
Marion Smith Designs Junque & Gems resin flowers cream cabbage rose
Marion Smith Designs Clear Stamps - Textured Edges
Sizzix Sizzlets Decorative Strip Die by Tim Holtz - Tattered Curvy Banners

I missed out on doing a sketch layout for this month, but I will be doing them for October onwards.

Ciao Bella

I'm loving the vintage feel of all the clocks and newspapers. The photo was taken last year in Rome at the Pantheon. I used the optional stamp to create a border around the page and to pull in the vintage look.

 To add more of that vintage feel, I fussy cut the camera to use as an accent corner

 I love the Tim Holtz black alphas. You can colour them up with distress paints or gild them with acrylic gold paint, which I did here.

I love how the green chevron columns mimic the Pantheon's columns in the photo.

321 Run

 This page is markedly different from the first layout - full of roses and flowers, I matched it with a photo of Miss C running with her adorable little cousin. We were at a wedding in Sweden this summer and they had the largest lawn for them to play chase on while we waited for the bride and groom to arrive.

 Since the background paper and embellishments were quite pale, I decided to die cut some black leaves to make a bold statement and draw your eye to the beautiful resin frame. Just a smattering of flowers from my stash and the cute tassel to finish off my anchor corner.

 I used glass pebbles to frame the 321 numbers and covered the alphas in distress paint so the letters would not compete with the black leaves since they are originally a black as well. On the background paper, I added random spots of stenciled diamonds with modelling paste.

 With the roses on the background paper, I knew I had to dig out my rose die to add some gorgeous roses to the top right corner of the photo frame. A few wooden hearts and small flowers in similar colour schemes finish off the page.

My Love & Joy

 My last page is decidedly masculine in tone and makes use of the metal embellishments that come in the kit. I had planned to use the whole photo but decided to cut hubby out as I like the way he's looking away from the camera.

 I layered strips of the patterned papers and did a bit of layering to bring out the varying textures and patterns. I also die cut out the heart gears, painted them black and added some bronze paint to make them look a bit rusty. I love the metal gears and wheels to match.

 This time I left the Tim Holtz alphas plain as I wanted the stark black. The little propeller is the cutest little accent.

For the background paper, I used white cardstock and sprayed a trio of colours to match. I use Lindy's Stamp Gang starburst sprays and I just love them. It may only have been three colours, but the sprays are so multidimensional that you will find even more colours in there. Again I added more metals to accent this masculine page.

Here are the projects from the rest of the team:

 Our Boy by Belly Lau

 2003 Mini Album by Belly Lau

Together by Belly Lau

 Wedding Card by Angela Collingwood

 Family by Belly Lau

 Funny You by Erika Lui

Love You by Erika Lui

Me by Belly Lau

 You Are Invited card by Belly Lau

Aren't they amazing? Such a versatile kit and you can see just how many projects you can make from one kit. Just look at Belly's projects! They kept coming and coming.

Since I've posted this entry quite late, most of the free kit club crops have already taken place. I was to do mine this Tuesday, but mother nature decided to come knocking in the form of a typhoon 8, so my session has been postponed to next Tuesday, 23rd September from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the HKMC shop in Sheung Wan. If you haven't started with your kit yet, come join me so we can catch up and get those pages done.

See you soon,