Hopes & Dreams Mini Album | Hip Kit Club

Hi friends!  Today I have a sweet mini album created for Hip Kit Club, filled with positive affirmations for those days when you need to be reminded of your hopes and dreams.

I wanted this mini to look like a book, so I scoured my local vintage bookstore and found the perfect small hardcover book, which I removed the pages from.

Then I covered both the inside and outside with coordinating patterned papers from the May Hip kits, and a spine cover with a third paper.

The Hopes & Dreams sentiment is a clear sticker from the All Heart sticker book, that I've adhered to white cardstock and then fussy cut.

I'm a total sucker for pretty lace and stitching, and I love how well they match with the florals and silver glitter chipboard pieces on this page.

I've totally fallen in love with the fabric bows from the main kit this month, and what better way to finish this pretty wreath.

Adding interactive elements into my projects is something fun I like to do.  I used the rainbow paper to create a mini envelope and added a bow. Then I tucked one of my positive affirmations inside the envelope.

This is another interactive element I created by trimming a piece of coordinating paper to size, then using a circle punch to punch out a tab at the top of it.  To create a pocket to slip my sentiment into I just stitched it to the purple paper.

To create this interactive element I measured the width I wanted the banner piece to be, then added an extra 1/2 banner width.  I folded that extra width back on the banner before trimming the bottom of it.  This works so well with dual sided patterned paper because it creates an awesome contrast.  When I adhered the 'Hey Girl' chipboard over the top, I adhered it to the right side only so that it can flip up to the right.  You can see in this photo at the very top, I've also hole punched the flip up element, and snipped the top of it with my scissors so that it can fold out without having to open the album rings.  Here's a look at the inside.

Another way to create interactive elements is to pop a paperclip into your project and tuck extra elements behind it.  Here I've added one of the exclusive acetate butterflies and an ephemera piece.

If you've ever thought of creating a positive affirmation mini album I highly recommend it, I had so much fun searching through Pinterest to find these quotes, and I think it will be a beautiful album to flip through on those days when I might need a little reminder to follow my hopes and dreams.

Thanks for stopping by today guys!

Paige Evans May 2019 Guest Designer!

Hi friends!  I was so excited and honoured to be asked by the amazing and very lovely Paige Taylor Evans to be her May 2019 guest designer recently.

I'm up on her blog today with three projects created with several of Paige's gorgeous cut files from the Silhouette Store, and of course her latest collection, the super sweet Horizon collection with Pink Paislee.

Here's some sneak peeks at:

My wall art piece that uses an entire packet (!) of floral ephemera.

A traveler's notebook spread with embroidery, fussy cutting and a large photo.

And a super fun, rainbow and tone on tone mini album documenting our vacation in Hawaii.

You can see the full projects on Paige's blog and my Instagram and Facebook today, and I also have a walkthrough of the mini album on my Youtube Channel.

 

 PS my husband and puppers even make an audio appearance at one point ;) 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sweet Mother's Day Mini Album | Hip Kit Club

Hi friends, all this week the Hip Kit Club design team are sharing beautiful Mother's Day projects in honour of those that mean so much to us, our Mums!

My kids are in their early 20's and the first few years of their really adult lives have brought me so much joy and admiration for the people they've grown into. So I decided to make a mini album using photos of just them and me (since the theme is Mother's Day), and add some meaningful quotes from Pinterest, and also use some of the Paige Evans 2x2in phrase tags from the April Pocket Life kit throughout.

Just a quick note before we go any further that the ribbons, lace, embroidery thread and sequins in this project are from my own personal stash. Everything else is from the beautiful April 2019 Hip Kits, and yes that does include those exquisite charms from the Maggie Holmes Sunny Days collection!

Since my photos were all taken at different times and in different situations, to create cohesiveness throughout the album I printed them all in black and white. I also printed them all at 1.5in wide on their shortest side, and layered vellum behind nearly all of them. Because my mini is well, mini, this creates a soft layer without being overbearing on such a small scaled project.

There's a lot of photos from here on in, so I won't talk too much further, but if you have any questions please leave them in the comments and I'll come back to you!

One of my challenges for this project is to use the negatives of cut files. These sweet clouds are part of the April Freebie cut file, and I separated them out from the rest of the cut file and moved them close to each other. So that I could make a shaker pocket out of them I duplicated the clouds then flipped the second set horizontally. Then I spaced them far enough apart so I would have enough room to die cut the heart pages. 

Once the clouds were cut on my Silhouette I placed my two pieces of card together, aligning the clouds (this is the tricky part which is why we flipped one set horizontally!) A little piece of washi helped to hold them in place while I ran them through my Big Shot. Then I pieced them back together in the usual shaker pocket-making method. I think they turned out pretty cute in the pink cardstock!

This is another negative of a cut file and it looks just as pretty as its positive! I trimmed the cardstock I cut it from into a strip and placed the very middle of the letters back inside. It didn't quite fit into the heart but that's okay, I just trimmed a little extra corner piece around the 'H'. That's what's so great about mini albums, the little bits and pieces sticking out from the edges!

To make this interactive element I folded some patterned paper in half horizontally and ran it through my die cut machine so that it didn't quite cut the entire heart out on the left side. This is important to make the flap to hold it together. 

There are some papers from Shimelle's Sparkle City collection in this kit, and Shimelle does the most ahmazing branding strips!! The pink and purple polka dot in the photo above and the tiny bunches of flowers in the photo below are both branding strips from Shimelle's papers.

I tucked in the photo for this page with a few extra pieces and held everything in place with a paperclip.

I created a little pocket for this page to place a few bits and pieces into. I cut strips from one of the 2x2in Paige Evans swatches and folded them in half to make tabs to pull out each of my two photos.

I also trimmed down two cards from the Pocket Life kit as fun elements. I stitched some pretty lace onto the end of one, and will add some journalling onto the 'afternoon' tag (both of these photos were taken in the afternoon of their given day).

I thought this was such a great quote to finish off my album. It's so true that raising children is a busy, crazy, frustrating, rewarding, fun, challenging time. But by the time they get to be adults you'll look back and wonder where the time went.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope if you're a Mum you have a wonderful Mother's Day this Sunday, and I also hope you have someone in your life who is a Mum that you can make feel special too!

Happy (inter) National Scrapbooking Day!! | Hip Kit Club

Hi guys, and happy (inter) National Scrapbooking Day!  I hope you've had a chance to get your crafty on today, or at least this weekend (because let's face it, scrapbooking deserves a weekend of celebration right!?)

Hip Kit Club are having an amazing weekend of challenges, fun games, a YouTube hop and so.many.prizes. on their Facebook member page!  Here's a link to where you can find out about all the fun, and I promise, there is a Bunch of fun happening over there.  Pst you don't even have to be a subscriber to join in the fun.. everyone's welcome!!

Each of the design team are posting challenges across the weekend that you can join in and contribute an entry to for a chance to win some awesome prizes.  My challenge is to make something that's just for you, something pretty that you can enjoy.  It can be some wall art or something to sit on a shelf, it can be some bunting made from patterned papers, it could also be something like a bookmark! There are so many options here, but the two challenges you have to meet are that:

• It's for you so that you can enjoy it (not for anyone else); and
• It can't  be any type of spread (no photos allowed guys!)

And here's my challenge piece, an altered mini clipboard with some pretty 3D flowers and my initial embroidered in one of my very favourite colours.  

I had some Maggie Holmes Apple Blossom paper left in my March Hip Kits and it was just perfect for my background.  I trimmed it to nearly size and adhered it with some Mod Podge.  When it was dry I used a large foam nail file to basically file off the paper right to the edge of the clipboard.  To do this use the file at a 45 degree angle to the board, and drag from above clipboard to below the clipboard.  

Then I used some Distress Ink in Antique Linen to distress the edges just a little.  It's been a while since I've used this technique but it works so well with Maggie Holmes collections.

To create that brilliant gold layer I used the gold washi tape from the March Embellishment Kit and adhered it to some white cardstock to give it some body.  Then I measured it to the size I needed and cut a 45 degree angle on each of the corners to make it look like a frame element.

The blue scalloped layer was made with an edge punch from my stash using the Typhoon cardstock from the Cardstock Kit.  I trimmed a few strips out and adhered them under my main white cardstock layer.

To create the letter I typed out my initial in Silhouette Studio in Times New Roman font at 586 size.  I love the classic look of this font for this type of project!

Now this bit is a bit fiddly, I pierced holes around the edge of the letter and chain stitched with embroidery thread right around it.  You do need a little patience for this haha but it's totally worth it!

And finally I get to play with the gorgeous 3D flower cut file!  I pulled all my leftover patterned papers and cardstock from the March kits and cut these flowers out on my Silhouette machine, before winding them up and hot glueing them together to make these gorgeous blooms.

I also added a few leaflets punched from the same blue cardstock with a punch from my stash, and added one of the beautiful Maggie Holmes bows from the embellishment kit and some ribbons from my stash and a couple of charms from the April embellishment kit.

Thanks for stopping by today guys, and I hope you take up the challenge to make something pretty just for you!

Traci Reed Designs Mini Album Part 1

Hi Friends!

Today is release day for Traci Reed Designs over at the Sweet Shoppe Designs shoppe. 

Get ready to celebrate, because today's release is called A Hullabaloo For You!  This bright and cheery collection is birthday themed, and is just one big bunch of happiness.  I usually lean towards pastel tones, but as soon as I started creating with this collection I just felt inexplicably happy, the colours in the collection are just so beautiful, vibrant and happy.

Traci is updating and re-releasing some of her very favourite collections at the moment into travellers notebook editions.  But, she's also included full 12 x 12 papers as well as the TN sized papers, so really you can use these collections for any paper crafting project you'd like.

For this project I've made a mini album celebrating my daughter's 18th birthday.  The basic shape of the mini is a tag, and I've used a cut file saved in my Silhouette library and cut base tags in both patterned papers and white cardstock.

While I had my Silhouette out I also cut the title in the hot pink quatrefoil paper. 

The scalloped circle is a die from my stash.  I ran it through my Cuttlebug on white cardstock, and backstitched in white embroidery floss around the inner edge.  Then I've used some dimensional adhesive to pop up the title and embellishments.

Once I'd finished the front cover it was time for some content.  This page is about being interactive and I created a pocket on the bottom tag to slip a couple of photos into.  I attached some ribbon as a tab to each of the photos. 

I popped in some strip journalling on the top tag and called this one done.

So I have this thing for polka dots, and for bunting. Kinda explains this page ha!  I've used a photo on one of the tags and added journalling on the other, and used some of the fun wrapped gift and party hat embellishments to finish each one.

One thing I've tried to achieve with this album is to not be restricted by the edges of the tags, and to let elements overhang the sides.  I love the extra dimension it gives!

This collection comes with pocket page cards as well as the papers and stickers, and the journalling cards come in super handy as a place to include journalling.  I think I resized the 3x4 cards just slightly in photoshop elements so they were a little smaller and fit my mini, and then typed my journalling before printing the card out.

And that's the first half of my mini using the re-released A Hullabaloo For You collection!  I had so much fun making this mini and can't wait to share the second half of it with you later this week.

Be sure to stop by the Traci Reed Designs shop to check this super fun happy collection out!

Thanks for stopping by!