Handmade mini-albums

My husband has been wanting me to make little scrapbooks of some pictures we had from an afternoon we spent with his family. The task seemed somewhat daunting, but really I just needed a little inspiration.
I ended up making a little mini-album for his dad and his brother (don't tell - I haven't given them away yet!) I tried to use a basic concept for the albums so that it would focus on the pictures and be quick to put together and it worked!
I used the Manchester designer paper that is now retired. It works for men and I made it without using ANY ribbon (quite an accomplishment for me!)
I had this idea because I had some envelopes that I purchased that didn't work with the A2 card size. I hate to waste things like that, so I decided to use them to make an album. I just followed someone else's idea and adhered the flaps to the envelope above it.

I used 2 stamp sets for this album: Wanted and Party Hearty (it was his dad's birthday on this occasion).

Below is a similar album that I made for Toby's brother. I didn't use envelopes in it - just pages of cardstock.

20 years sure goes by quick!

My husband's 20th high school reunion is coming up this weekend....wow! That makes me feel old!
These are a few of his high school buddies (and our kids!) at a basketball game this spring. They are the briarjumpers...thus...the bunny. Or, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail as Halleigh sees it!
If you live around here and you are a Somerset city school scrapper, by the way, this is the perfect color combo for your school colors! And there was NO RIBBON to make the hubby happy (he doesn't allow ribbon on any boy-ish projects...heaven knows what I'll do if I ever have a boy!)
Stamps: Serene Spring
Ink: Basic Black, Crushed Curry
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Crushed Curry, Whisper White
Accessories: Gingham brads, watercolor paper, watercolor pencils, blender pen, sticky cuts, purple glitter, purple gems

silence + baby powder....uh, oh!

This is the wierdest upload. It just took about 10 times to get this to turn the right way! It looked fine in My Pictures, but then it would always turn when I wanted to upload it.....
Anyway...I finally can talk again! Hopefully I can make it through a school day tomorrow (as long as none of the kids are listening to me sing!)
I'm sure if you are a mommy, you know that the sound of silence usually means mischief or silliness. In this case silence + a bottle of baby powder = one piece of "artwork" by a 2 year old! Might as well catch it on a picture and scrap it!
I thought I'd go with a very whimsical layout and color scheme to match the mood. {By the way, I didn't really mean for the pink to match the tile....WHO puts PINK tile in the entryway to a home? NOT ME...but it's not something I can change, now is it?}
I think I've been home and not talking to people for too long now! Too many tangents....!
Stamps: Jumble Alphabet, Office Accoutrement, Sweet Centers
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Kiwi Kiss, Urban Oasis DSP, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Circle punches, 5 petal punch, Kiwi Kiss corduroy buttons, Fleurettes, Elegant Eggplant ric rac, rub-ons

New shimmer paint is Snow pretty!

Well, it seems as if I cast a shadow onto my picture and didn't realize it until just now. I just recently scrapped a few pics from our poor little excuses for snow this past winter. I guess we should be glad we get 2 cm of snow, since there are places in the world that never see snow!
I came up with a really soft color combo that I enjoyed using for this snow page. I used Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla and Not Quite Navy. It really surprised me how nicely these colors work for a snow page!
You'll notice a lot of Irridescent Ice Embossing powder on the snowflake image in Pink, I also rubbed VersaMark all over the Vanilla/Navy snowflake to add some shimmer and finally, I painted the largest snowflake using the new line of shimmer paint! To add a final touch of glistening snowy feel, I rubbed VersaMark over all of the title letters and embossed them in Irridescent Ice embossing powder as well. Here's a little close-up - isn't it lovely?
Stamps: Serene Snowflakes
Ink: VersaMark, Not Quite Navy
Paper: Vellum polka-dotted paper, Not quite Navy, Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Very Vanilla brads, Scallop circle punch, scallop edge punch, 1 3/8" and 1 3/4" circle punches, light blue felt ribbon, KI Memories letters, Making Memories journaling page

Swap cards

Only 3 more weeks until I get to go to my first Stampin' Up regional seminar! So, since I'm sick, I figure I might as well start working on my swap cards.

As you can see, I ran out of Pretty in Pink and had to go with Bermuda Bay in its place.

Also, since I wanted to switch the colors in the center, I decided to switch the background color, also. Thus, the same card, different colors.

Quite a striking combination of colors. Rather interesting I thought.

Stamps: Sweet Centers, Note to Self

Ink: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White Craft

Paper: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay or Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Scallop edge punch, 1 3/4", 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" circle punches, corner rounder punch, various ribbons include Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, and Whisper White Satin

Another flowerpot card with leftovers

So since I'm home sick with laryngitis and ragweed season mayhem (if you have allergies, you know what I mean!)....I decided at least I can scrapbook and stamp even if I can't talk!
Here is a leftover flowerpot from my April club meeting. I decided to change the flowers from my original creation. I made these nice and quick little flowers using the scallop circle punch. I just cut little slits at each groove and then put a pop dot and a 3/4" circle on top to finish it off.
Stamps: 8 Great Greetings
Ink: Old Olive
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, So Saffron, Ballet Blue, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Eyelet border punch, scallop circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, So Saffron grosgrain ribbon

Summertime Noel

I think the technique used for this card is called reverse embossing. You sponge or brayer ink onto Whisper White (I used Tempting Turquoise and Orchid Opulence) and then stamp images in VersaMark over that. Next, you brayer a darker ink color all across the entire image - for that I used Rich Razzleberry.
To finish off the card, I took a square of Tempting Turquoise, stamped Noel onto it and then tore it in half. I used glue to add a little glitter to the torn edges (I wanted to go with the snowy look!) and finally added a sliver of Rich Razzleberry ribbon with the horizontal slot punch.
Stamped images are from Serene Snowflakes (coming out soon!) and Many Merry Messages.
Don't forget to try for a little blog candy at http://stampintracy.blogspot.com/
Or better yet, enter a clean, graphic holiday card in the contest at Cath Edvalson's Moxie Fab World! http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2009/08/stretch-your-holiday-style-clean.html