Anyone for sailing?

I am not a sailor, but as I thought about how to use the pad of sailing-related papers that was given to me a few months ago, a mini album is what came to mind, so a couple of weeks ago I got it out and started working on an album.  Being still isolated at home, I could not go shopping to see what I could find for embellishments, so I just used what I could to add interest and dimension.  I am pleased with the results, as I continue to learn the techniques necessary for good results in a book.  Here area couple of views of the cover:

I cut out a sailing ship and added it with foam tape .  I also added black ink to the body of each ship for some colot, and put clear glitter glue on the one above, although the glitter turned gold when I put it on the blue paper!  Go figure!  I also put pearl on the two wheels.  Some red and white ribbon and navy and white twine added a bit of color to the cover.

There is a waterfall album on the inside of the front cover that has 5 pages, so it could hold up to 9 or 10 photos.  It is held closed with a magnetic tab.  Then page 1 has a little 4-page booklet.

The rest of the pages are pretty self-explanatory.  Some have pockets with mats for photos, others have what looks like a band of different paper across the page.  Those can have memorabilia that is thicker tucked under them.  The page with the seahorse has a square of other paper in the corner that is only glued down on two sides so a photo or a paper can be tucked under the "pocket."

I have enough paper left on the same pad to make another book, which I plan to do soon.  I don't have any plans for the books at this point, but I figure one day someone will go on a cruise, or go to the lake for a vacation, and will have pictures they take that will fit into this sailing theme.  When I can, I'll give it away, or sell it!

Mini album

I have not been doing very well at posting my work lately.  Don't know why except maybe laziness, and forgetting to photograph my work before I mail the card or give away the album!  In the past couple of weeks I have been working on a small (about 3 1/2 in. x 5 in.) interactive album and I actually remembered to take some photos this time!  It was fun to make, but I am a bit saddened by how tight I made the binding, so it is harder to open up than I would like.  It made it more difficult to photograph than I like, but I'll learn from this experience for the next one.  I will make a larger space between the spine and the front/back covers to allow for better opening ability.

But, that being said, here is the finished product:

There is a waterfall album on the inside of both the front and back covers and each of the 3 pages is full of interactive elements that you unfold or open up in some way.

I covered the spine with some hammered gold metallic paper which went very beautifully with the brown and yellow cover papers.

Mother Goose

I just love making these folio albums, and when looking through my stash of paper the other day I found leftovers from another album project that was just asking to be used!  After all, I was looking for something to use for making an album for a friend who wants one to put pictures of her great grandchildren in.  This Mother Goose paper from Graphic 45 is so cute, and it made up really cute.  I love those bright colors, and making the base with a bright blue card stock brought out all those lovely colors, I think.

I also tried a new project with some other left over paper from a previous folio album and made a small gift bag for the album.  It turned out pretty good, if I may say so myself!  I'll definitely try this again.

It has been a productive week!

Songbird album

I spent most of the day yesterday creating this new folio album from a set of papers named Song Bird, from Paper Wishes.  I think this paper is beautiful and it made a really pretty album.  It is the same design as the other folio album I made last week.

Here are some pictures of the songbird album.  I'd be interested to know which one people like the best

Oops!  This picture is a bit blurrier than I want, but you get the gist of the closed album...
Here is a side view showing the 3-D effect bird on the lower right:

Now, opened up all the way...

As before, the pocket on the left side has three mats, one of which is a little booklet folded.

And, finally, the waterfall in the center section.  I love the colors in these papers!

My first folio album

When I came across pictures of a folio album on Pinterest, I immediately fell in love with the layout idea and since I had a set of papers from Paper Wishes that I was planning to use for some kind of mini album, I set to work to use this paper and I LOVE  the results! 

The paper set had a sheet that had a flower collage in the lower left corner with the blue pattern and pink stripes, so I used that as the base of the front.  It opens with the panel you see on the right.  I added the gold butterflies at the bottom and a die-cut pink and maroon flower beside the rose buds.  By the way, the base of the folio is black card stock.

When you open the right panel, this is what you see:

I covered the inside of the panel with plain pink patterned paper then added a cutout of flowers from the top left corner of the paper that had the flowers on the bottom left, as described above.  I die cut a flower and leaves and added them to the lower part of the panel just for added dimension and interest.  
Now, open the left panel all the way to see the rest of the folio:

The left side is a pocket with three tags in it, one of which (the deep red one) is actually a folded 3 1/2  x 4 1/2 in. booklet that has four panels total.  Both of the other two tags (one is 5 x 7 in. and one is 4 x 6) are two-sided.

The flower and butterfly decorating the pocket is a three dimensional decoration:

The center panel is a "waterfall" album that has seven two-sided panels.

All in all, there is space for at least 22 photos or journaling spaces.

I like this so much, I plan to make several others with paper sets I have in my stash.  I think it is quite striking~  I can hardly wait to see how others will turn out!

Songbird mini album

I bought a set of papers from my favorite papercrafting source, Paper Wishes, and have been saving it for a while.  However, in my effort to stop "saving" paper, I decided to try a new pattern for a mini album with this set and I love how it turned out!

Inside, on the left side, there are two pockets with tags.

And the right side is a "waterfall" of tags that can have pictures or journaling on them.  Each page in the waterfall is two-sided and has some kind of simple, small decoration as well.

The theme of songbirds and music is such a sweet outcome for someone who loves birds.  The album is 7 or 8 inches tall and is about 4 inches wide.  The spine is one inch wide.  When I make this again, I think I will make the spine slightly narrower, but overall, I am very pleased with how this looks.

Belly Band Book

I bought (on sale, 2-4-1 from Dayspring) pads of religious paper with pretty colors and designs.  I was not certain just how I would use it but it was like nothing I have ever seen in the store and I figured if nothing else I could use it for cards.  But then I found a tutorial on YouTube for making a small book with fold-out pages and pockets and it seemed just the right thing for my new paper.  This book is the result.  I added some quotes to make it more meaningful and am happy with the result.

Each page is made to the same design... a large pocket with a large tag and a fold-out page.  The back side of the pocket section has a small pocket in which I put one or two smaller tags.

There are plenty of spaces for adding one's own quotes or thoughts as well as some photos if desired.
Here is the front view with and without the belly band:

And some samples of pages opened up:

And some showing the backs of pages with the small tags: