Graphic 45's Mon Amour collection mini album

Being on the Graphic 45 design team has been such a thrill for me and it has exceeded my wildest dreams in every way possible.    Diane, Aimee and Charee have got their very classy act together as G45 is such a fantastic and well run company!

The biggest thrill so far (other than seeing my name on the design team roster ☺) was when I received my shipment of all the new collections so that I could create projects for the summer Paper Arts show.  It was so exciting to be on the "inside" and  see Mon Amour, Worlds Fair and Christmas Carol up close even before sneak peeks were shown on the blog.  Along with those new collections came the reissued deluxe versions of Botanicabella and Steampunk Debutante.  My imagination had to go into overdrive since I had around 2 weeks to get a lot of  projects done and mailed to the offices in Oregon.

One of the projects I completed during that time was this mini album.  Now you know, it usually takes me nearly a week to make a mini album so I really had to push through this but oh gosh, these papers are so divine and romantic.  I loved every minute of that two weeks and ssshhhh, don't tell, but my husband was out of town so it was perfect.  No one was home wondering when dinner would be ready;  I could just play with my glue and scissors all day and night!

I built the mini from scratch using chipboard and followed Kathy Orta's binding system.   I didn't make this mini for anyone in particular but was thinking of a wedding album.  With that in mind, I made sure there were plenty of pocket pages and tags,  perfect for storing photos and other memorabilia.

The front and back cover are coated with Matte Medium to protect the covers and help keep them clean.

 I love all the beautiful floral imagery in this collection and so I went crazy on the cover with flowers!  There's a  Prima vine and Prima roses there along with roses from I Am Roses.  I used a G45 lion's head door knocker on the spine along with roses wrapping around to the front.

 Some of the pages are pocket pages that load from the sides and some load from the top.  I included G45's large tags in the top loading pockets.

The right page features waterfall photo storage and on the left is a pocket with a Graphic 45 regular sized tag.   You could put photos and/or journaling on the tag as well as tuck photos and notes in the pocket.

"Girly" pages for photos of the bride or maybe the bride's maids.

These pages are a bit more masculine for the groom's photos.  The page on the right has a little mini booklet with pages to store photos and journaling.

The page on the left opens up to reveal two large pages where the bride and groom can record their story and memories about their special day.

I always keep the backs of my minis simple so that they can store flat if desired.  This paper needs no decoration, the script writing on the black background is so elegant on the white cardstock binding.

Supplies List

Graphic 45 Mon Amour collection (12 x 12):

Mon Amour 4501203

Dearest Darling 4501204

One and Only 4501205

True Love 4501206

Heart's Desire 4501207

My Beloved 4501208

Precious One 4501209

Forever Mine 4501210

Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Key Holes

Graphic 45 Door Knockers

Graphic 45 Regular and Large Tag Albums - ivory

Graphic 45 Artist Trading Tags - ivory

Other Supplies:

Bazzill French Vanilla cardstock

Paper Studio black cardstock

Core'dinations G45 Signature Series cardstock Precious Pink, Vintage Rose, Spring Green

Grafix medium weight chipboard

Prima Le Mia flowers

Prima resin cherub

Prima vine - Divine

I Am Roses pink and white roses, carnations,  gardenias

Wild Orchid Crafts pink salmon seam binding

Zva pearls

Kaisercraft pearl strips black and white

Liquitex Matte Medium

Spellbinders Nestabilities Opulent Ovals

Martha Stewart Flourish Lace punch

EK Success Pointed Flowers

Colorbox Ink - Fireberry, Rose Coral

Distress Ink - Black Soot,

Scor-tape

Zip-Dry Glue

Foam tape

I hope you are inspired to create a project with these fabulous papers!  If you know me at all, you've heard me say that my favorite colors to design with are black, cream and red.  True, there's a lot of pink in this collection, but really it's a peachy pink blending with a lovely red.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I loved sharing this project with you.

Fabscraps Country Kitchen card

Country Kitchen, one Fabscrap's newer collections, is such a fun collection and it's perfect for making cards, tags, cookbooks, and other homey kind of projects.  I sized this card so that I could write a recipe inside.  I love to cook and share my recipes with my friends.

 I popped up the layers to give the card some dimension and interest.

For This Project You Will Need:

·    FabScraps Country Kitchen Collection C76:

·        1  Sheet C76 001 Hot Chili

·        1 Sheet C76 002 Food & Friends

·        1 Sheet C76 007 Pomegranate

·        DC76 011 Die-cut Gray Rooster

·        Journal Die-Cuts Pack MC76 001A

·         

·    Other:

·        1 Sheet ivory cardstock

·        Embellishments of your choice, flowers, etc.

·        Border punch, I used Martha Stewart's Fleur de Lis

·        Spellbinders Decorative Labels 27

Instructions:

1. Cut a piece of ivory cardstock 6 x 10" and score at 5".  Make a card by folding at the 5" score line.
2. Cut a piece of 001 Hot Chili 5.75 x 4.75" and adhere to the front of the card.
3. Cut a strip of 002 Food & Friends 5.75 x 1.75" and border punch both edges.
4. Cut a strip of 007 Pomegranate 5.75 x .625 and adhere to the strip in step 3, then adhere both to the middle of the card.
5. Cut a shape approximately 4 to 4.25" square from 007 Pomegranate.  I used the largest die from the Spellbinders Decorative Labels 27 set.  You could cut a square and punch the edges or leave it plain if you do not have a similar die.  Adhere to the left side of the card, centering on the center strip.
6. Cut another shape approximately 3.25" square.  I used the 2nd largest die from the Spellbinders Decorative Labels 27 set.  You could cut a square and punch the edges or leave it plain if you do not have a similar die. Cut a piece of cardboard or use foam tape to pop this up and center on the shape from step 5.
7. Remove one of the rooster die-cuts from the Country Kitchen Journal Die-Cuts Pack MC76 001A and adhere it to the corresponding rooster, DC76 011.  Attach this over the layered squares from step 6.
8. Cut out a sentiment from 002 Food & Friends.  I chose the words "Food & Friends".  Use foam tape or something similar and adhere to the bottom right of the card.
9. Now add flowers or other embellishments and that's it!  You have a pretty card all ready to give to a special someone.  I'm going to make a dish for a friend and  add this card with the recipe for the dish inside!

The cutest little cookbook from Fabscraps C76 Country Kitchen!

Fabscraps new collection, C76 Country Kitchen, includes the cutest little cookbook headed by a jolly little cook that I've affectionately named Guido!  Guido is all ready to share your favorite recipes.

I've used a recipe paper from the journal pack for each set of pages; perfect for recording your favorite recipes.

On this page, I added milk can and welcome stickers which I first attached to white cardstock and then fussy cut out and adhered to my page.

I added more stickers to this page and some fussy cut elements from the design papers.

 On these pages I added a Cuisine sticker and  die cut sign and fleur de lis from the Journal Pack.  Then I added some flowers that I punched from the design paper.

 More stickers and diecuts!

Here I've added fussy cut flowers and a rooster along with a sentiment, all from the design papers.  On the right I created a pocket to hold some 4 x 6" recipe cards.  The rooster is a diecut included in the Journal Pack.

 The back cover is just some simple layered design papers.

Supplies

Fabscraps Country Kitchen collection C76:

• 001 Hot Chili
• 002 Food & Friends
• 003 Masterchef
• 004 Masterchef 2
• 005 Sunflowers
• 006 Tea Lovers
• 007 Pomegranate
• 008 Pomegranate Check

DC 76 001 Chipboard Recipe Book

ST76 001 Stickers

ST76 002 Stickers

MC76 001A Journal Pack

Other:

• Paint
• Ink
• Small buttons or bling
• Silver embossing powder
• Embellishments of your choice:  flowers, ribbons, fiber,  etc.
• Cream cardstock
• Spare Parts metal charms - utensils
• Distress ink walnut stain

Instructions:

1. Trace the cover front and inside onto patterned paper, cut out and adhere to the front and inside cover.  Ink as desired.
2. Trace the chef's hat, pants and jacket onto 006 and 008 and cut out and adhere to the cover and the inside of the cover.  Ink as desired.  Add small buttons or bling to the represent buttons on the chef's jacket.
3. Heat emboss the domed serving dish with silver embossing powder on both sides.
4. Select paper and cover each of the cookbook pages with paper of your choice or follow along with each of my pages.  Ink as desired.
5. Use the Recipe pages included in the Journal Pack MC76 001A, ink,  and adhere to the center of selected pages as per the photos.
6. Embellish the pages with the stickers from ST76 001 and 002.  Stick the stickers onto white or cream cardstock, cut them out and then adhere to your selected pages.
7. Create a pocket on the inside back cover to hold blank recipe cards.  Cut a rectangle 5.25 x 6" and adhere to the inside back cover with 1/8" thick foam tape.  This creates a pocket that will hold a number of blank 4 x 6" recipe cards.
8. Layer papers and a diecut rooster on the pocket in step 7 to give it some interest.
9. Use the die-cuts from Journal Pack MC76 001A for additional embellishments on the other pages.
10. You can embellish with fussy cut images from the patterned papers.  I fussy cut roosters from 003 and flowers from 008.
11. Add flowers, bling, etc of your choice.
12. Tie ribbons, flowers, and some utensil charms onto the binder rings to add a festive touch to your cookbook.

Thanks for visiting today, Guido ;-) and I appreciate it!

Fall Layout with Graphic 45 An Eerie Tale

Happy Fall!  I am so glad those hot, humid summer days are behind us, I am not a fan of summer at all.  Here in the south, summer is misery in my book though I do enjoy my garden in the summer.  Even then, I avoid the heat as I am usually out in my garden by 6:30 and back inside in the wonderful AC by 9 am.

I'm celebrating fall today with this layout of my cutie pie great nephew.  I used Graphic 45's An Eerie Tale papers for this.  Though this collection is a Halloween themed collection, it's colors and images work with a fall layout too.

I did a tutorial for my sunflower vine a while back but I'm sharing it with you again in case you missed it.

This vine is really easy to make, I use a leafy branch diecut as the base to build my vine.  Give it a try, it's really simple!

This cute little witch is fussy cut from the G45 Happy Haunting collection.

 Graphic 45's chipboard pieces are perfect for adding little details that help give your project BIG impact.  I love the 3 small circle chippys and the 2 larger button chippys, together they help  focus on the photo.

Supplies:

Graphic 45 An Eerie Tale Collection (12 x 12):

An Eerie Tale 4500930

Enchantment 4500931

Unsolved Mystery 4500934

Wicked Whimsey 4500941

Run and Hide 4500935

Decorative Chipboard 4500948

Journaling Chipboard 4500949

Happy Haunting Collection (12 x 12) - Jolly Jack O'Lantern 4500528

Other:

Distress Ink black soot

Be sure to stop by the Graphic 45 blog and see Robin's beautiful World's Fair layout AND for a chance to win a Steampunk Spells collection!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Tranquility - A new collection from Fabscraps

Well here it is Monday, again....  LOL!  Since I am retired I don't have those Monday blues but I do remember it so well from my working years.   Here's a little Fabscraps beauty to cheer you up and hopefully chase those Monday blues away!

Fabscraps has several new collections out now and this one is Tranquility.  It has such pretty soft greys and blues.  My photo her is a Tim Holtz found relative.  I used a Spellbinders diecut frame to accentuate the photo along with lots of pretty blooms from Prima, Petaloo and I Am Roses.  I fussy cut some flowers from the paper collection and tucked those into the clusters.

For This Project You Will Need:

·    FabScraps Tranquility Collection C75:

·        1 Sheet C75 006 French Lace

·        1 Sheet C75 005 French Rulers

·        1 Sheet C75 002 Misty Floral

·        1 Sheet C75 007 Sewing Pattern

·        Tranquility Journal Die Cuts MC75 001A

·    Other:

·        1 Sheet white cardstock

·        2 x 12” piece white corrugated paper

·        Lace and ribbon

·        Assorted flowers and leaves

·        Mask & white masking paste

·        Clear or white gesso

·        Music stamp and black archival ink

·        Lavender or pink mist – I used Lindy’s Saltwater Taffy

·        Distress ink – Color of your choice.

Instructions:

1. Cut a 1 x 12” strip of 007 Sewing Pattern and adhere to the right side of the white cardstock.
2. Tear the right edge of the white corrugated paper and adhere, overlapping the strip of Sewing Pattern as shown in the above photo.
3. Glue a 12” piece of lace on the left side of the white cardstock.
4. Tear about a 2 in piece off the side of 006 French lace. Use a border punch on the other side of the paper.  Distress and ink the edges as desired.  Adhere this paper to the white cardstock so that it overlaps the edges of the white lace and white corrugated paper.
5. Paint over 006 French Lace with clear or white gesso.  I mix the two together and that allows some of the pattern of the paper to show through.
6. Do some masking on the background using white masking paste.
7. Do some stamping on the background with a music or texture stamp using Archival Ink.
8. Add some mist to the background.
9. Diecut a frame from 007 Sewing Pattern  that fits your photo nicely and ink it to add some color.  I used Spellbinders Gold Labels Four.  Adhere the frame over your photo.

10.   Cut a rectangle that is larger than your frame in step 9 from 005 French Rulers and round the corners.  My rectangle is 4 x 6.25”.  Distress and ink the edges as desired.

11.   Glue a piece of cardboard (or use foam tape)  cut to fit under the rectangle from step 10.  Adhere to the right side of the layout.

12.   Glue a piece of cardboard cut to fit under the frame from step 9.  Adhere the framed photo over the rectangle.

13. Remove one of the diamond shaped flourishes from the Journal Die Cuts MC75 001A and cut in half.  Tuck under the rectangle at the top and bottom centering on the rectangle.
14.  Fussy cut one of the labels from the same pack, I used Cherish.  Adhere to the left side of your layout.  Layer some scraps extending from the edge of the label underneath the photo stack.
15. Fussy cut and ink  some flowers from 002 Misty Floral.  Now arrange your flowers as desired on the layout tucking in the fussy cut flowers here and there.  Add whatever embellishments you like.

The soft greys and blues of this collection pair so easily with other colors.  In the layout above I chose to add soft lavenders and purples.  In this next layout, I went bold with bright red.  The photo is another Found Relative from Tim Holtz.  Those photos work well when I feel like scrapping but can't find a photo to use.  I used alot of white paint on this layout to give it a work appearance and to soften the red just a tad.

All these pretty roses are from I Am Roses and  I have just dry brushed them a bit with white paint.

One of the things I love in the Fabscraps collections are their diecut paper pieces that perfectly fit on their diecut chipboard pieces.  I love this window box that I've accentuated with small red roses.

 For This Project You Will Need-

FabScraps C75 Tranquility collection:

•   003 Gentle Flowers
•   005 French Rulers         
•   006 French Lace
• DC75 011Diecut Gray Chipboard Window Box
• MC75 001A Journal Diecuts Pack
• ST75 002 Vinyl Stickers

Other Supplies:

• Red cardstock
• Red corrugated paper
• Clear gesso
• White paint or gesso
• Mask
• White masking paste
• Green and red mists

Instructions:

1.      Paint the paper, 006 French Lace,  with clear gesso and allow to dry.  Cut the paper down to 11.5" x 11.5" and distress the edges.  Dampen the edges and crinkle.  Dry and then ink the edges if desired.

2.      Add some random masking to the background of the paper using white masking paste.

3.      Cut the center out of the red cardstock leaving about a 1" frame.  Adhere the paper from step 1 to the cardstock as shown in the photo.

4.      Tear off enough corrugated cardboard to fit under your photo as shown above.  Paint over the cardboard with watered down white gesso or paint to dull the bright red color.  Distress and adhere to the upper left corner.

5.      Cut a rectangle from 005 French Rulers about 1/2" larger all around than your photo.  Distress and ink the edges.

6.      Cut a rectangle from 003 Gentle flowers about 1/4" larger all around than your photo.  Distress and ink the edges.  Adhere to your photo.

7.      Pop up the photo and mat from step 5 with cardboard or foam and adhere to the rectangle 005 from step 4.  Adhere this to the layout over the red corrugated paper as shown in the photo.

8.      Border punch a strip of 003 Gentle flowers and fit on the right side of the photo mats as shown.

9.      Adhere a die-cut window box from the MC75 001A Journal Die-cuts Pack to the DC75 011 Die-cut Chipboard Window Box.  Adhere to the lower right corner of the layout using foam to pop it up.

10.   Take a  ST75 002 vinyl sticker and stick onto a white paper scrap and then cut the sticker out.

11.   Add flower clusters of your choice to the layout and then tuck in the sticker from step 10.

12.   Paint a little red (or the color of your chosen flowers) and green mist underneath the flowers creating a shadow effect.

13.   Add a perky ribbon or other embellishments of your choice.

14.   Dry brush some white paint or gesso over the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!