Swirlydoos Blog Hop Party!!

           Welcome to Swirlydoos' August Kit Reveal Blog Hop 

                                         Block Party!!

If you came here from  Rae's blog, then you are on the right track.  If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there.  We have some amazing projects for you to see today !!

I decided to take the kit and create a mini album with it. I thought it would be perfect to take some of my family photo's and put them in this project. The hard part is going to be choosing which photo's I would like to include.  I have only added a few little trinkets from my own stash, and as the mini evolves, I will add more. 

The mini is made out of 3.5 x 6.75 inch paper bags that  I purchased at Michaels. I did a Mini Album Ustream video on how to make the basic pages for the mini.I learned how to from Stephanie Miller during a Prima Live class.  There are lots of pockets and sleeves to place tags, pics and ATC cards in. 

This is the front cover of my album.

I used a Tim Holtz Ornate Plate for my cover title. Love those plates!! The flowers are a mix of KaiserCraft from the main kit and my own die cut from Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms die. The sparkly bird is Prima.

Just another side view of the cover of my mini.

This is the inside of the cover. It has a pocket to place pictures or tags. The outer flap of the cover can also be stuffed with pictures or tags as that is the opening flap of the paper bag. I do reinforced the cover and the back with card stock to give it  little bit of body. You could also use card board to make it chunkier.

 This is the second page, and as you can see i did place an ATC card in the inside flap created on the page. I used my  Tim Holtz ATC & Corners die. I love it and it is the perfect size to slip into this spot. The photo corners are part of the die and are so sweet!! Give it the perfect finishing touch. I sprayed the corners with Smooch to give it a beautiful Mat finish. Just like a real photo corner. I created a small banner and strung it on some lightweight hemp cord and added a flower to top it off. The back can be used for a photo or some journaling.

 The next page was created from the Tim Holtz Tag and Bookplates die. I love the size and it is perfect as a compliment to the mini. I covered it with card stock from the add on kit, then sprayed it with some Glimmer Mist in Vintage Pink for shimmer. I added a button, a butterfly from the file I created for this months kit, and a frame that is in the main kit. There are LOTS of frames to punch out. I discovered Crystal  Lacquer and will use it to paint the frame for a shiny lacquer finish.

 I just added a few die cut  Bitty Blossoms flowers and a journaling strip to this side of the tag. The tag was also reinforced with chipboard in between.

 This page has another ATC that I created I chose to tie a piece of hemp around it for interest and texture. Love the beautiful lacy trim to the pocket flap.

 Not sure what I am going to do with this page yet so I left it plain.

 I created another ATC card for the little flap pocket.  I attached a wide eyelet to the ATC and strung a piece of hand dyed Seam Binding through it.

 I left this page unadorned intentionally because I fell in love with the paper.

 I die cut some Spellbinders shapes to create little in between pages. I covered chip board with card stock and sprayed them with Glimmer Mist in Vintage Pink.

 Here are the 2 pages opened up. i attached a small butterfly to each page. They can be used for attaching pics or may be used for journaling.

 This page has a flap pocket for tags or another ATC card.

 Just another page left unadorned. A tag can be slipped into the top of the pocket envelope that is created with the paper bag.

 This is another Tim holtz Tag that I die cut and covered with card stock, and using a Crafters Workshop mask, created the page with thick Gesso. You could also use Texture or molding paste. When it dried, I sprayed the whole page with Glimmer Mist in 2 colors. Vintage Pink and Suede. I colored all of the seam binding using the same colors.

 I used another punch out frame for this page. I added a few little flowers leftover from the last kit and a butterfly.

This is the back of the mini. I decided to create a banner to drape the back spelling out the word Family. I used some hemp cord to create the banner.

Just another view of the banner on the back of the mini.

 A close up of the bookplate.

A close up of the binding side of the mini. I used wide eyelets for the holes that I punched using my Cropadile. I love that tool and use it all of the time. The Tim Holtz trinket chain hangs from a hole I created in the cover and I added the small heart to the end for a dangle.  I used the lace, some hemp cord and the hand dyed seam Binding for the trims.

Just a closer look at the sweet heart dangling from the chain.

 

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Sunday, August 12th to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Monday the 13th.  In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down.
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentemce.
3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.    Can't wait to hear from you.

My special word is :  the middle

 The party continues over at

Heidi's blog.  Have fun!

 I  would like to thank my very good friend Frank Garcia for the tips on Photographing my mini and for the inspiration you give us with your shabby Chic style!!!! xoxo