My first scrapalbum, made from scratch

Last December I was browsing in The Range, and came across a pack of 8" x 8" Kraft card and decided to use it to make my first scrap album from scratch. I am part of the monthly scrapbook layout challenge on the scrapbooking forum on the DoCrafts website and we are making an album of one layout per month, with different members choosing the theme.

Firstly I wanted to find a theme for the cover and I found it in some beautiful paper, sorry can't remember who made it, but it inspired me. I covered the front and back cover in the same lilac papers, and on the front finished it with corner and numeral peel-offs, before punching the holes for the D-rings with my Bigbite.

                                 "Create, Dream, Imagine, Believe" album cover for 2013

 

January's theme was either celebrations or hopes for 2013. As there were lots of difficulties in our lives in January I didn't feel up to doing the celebrations theme but the hopes for 2013 was right up my street. I covered the page with pink and lilac Papermania starry paper, and embellished the page with donated die-cut corners, which I coloured with a metallic pen, a die-cut medallion which I coloured with Tim Holtz 'Fired Brick' distress ink and finished with lilac pearls and a doily.

 

JANUARY - HOPES FOR 2013 layout

February's challenge theme was love and I went very retro and romantic for this layout. I chose a photo of me and Andy taken in 1984, check out the fashions! My daughter thinks they are awful but they were bang on trend for the early 80s if any of you remember that great era. I covered the page in pink cloud paper, then matted and layered pearl and patterned card and embellished the page with metallic hearts, tags and a mini envelope, which had a hidden tag of journaling, shown on 2nd photo.

                                                        FEBRUARY - LOVE layout

March's challenge theme was vintage, and I decided to finally do a scrapbook layout of my beloved dad, something I'd not felt able to do in the 7 years since he died. I hunted for this favourite photo of the 2 of us, me aged 2, in India where I was born, its a a lovely black and white photo. I went for a muted colour scheme, for the vintage newspaper backing paper, the 3D tags  and chipboard alphas, the green backing papers and journal tags came from the Papermania Chronology goodybag ( a mothers day gift from my daughter), the large 'thankful for you' journaling tag is taken from the 6" x 6" Webster's Pages "Petite Papers" paper pack.

                                                      MARCH - VINTAGE layout

the April challenge theme was either Easter or Spring, I chose spring as I had a gorgeous photo of my grand-daughter on the first day at her new school, taken on my front doorstep, next to a bed of daffodils. I covered the page with a pearlised butterfly paper (12" x 12" Michelle Ackerman 'Green Buterflies'), and embellished the page with chipboard die-cut flourish corner and 'sweet', the 6" x 6" journaling paper is taken from a vintage floral paper pack.

                                                         APRIL - SPRING layout

the May challenge theme was black and white photographs, i decided to think outside the box slightly for this challenge as I didn't use a B & W photo, but I did use black and white buttons, but my photo is almost all black, a silhouette photo of my brothers, taken by my mum, I love this stunning photo and had wanted to scrap it for ages and this seemed the perfect opportunity. I covered the page in cogs paper taken from the 8" x 8" Papermania Chrononolgy paper pack, along with co-ordinating tag and journaling tag from the same chronology goodybag. Also on the DO Crafts forum Emma (Trenouth) set us a challenge on the cardmaking forum to use stash we hadn't used to its full potential and just looked at in our craftrooms, my underused item was buttons. I have a large eclectic button collection, my mum started it for me when she gave me my granny's button box as part of my bottom drawer when I got engaged in 1983. I've added to my collection over the years by buying vintage buttons in charity shops and boutiques as well as removing buttons from worn out clothes and some of them have come to me via craft stash swaps on DO Crafts cardmaking forum. Its so easy to love our stash so much that it doesn't get used and I just enjoy looking at it, but I decided to use buttons not as an embellishment but as the main feature of the scrap page, so I emptied out my white and black button jars onto my craft desk and the design grew organically. I used them to show light and shade to reflect the photo and am very pleased with the result, I used Pritt power gel as its clear and strong and doesn't make as much mess as silicone glue. In all I used 50 of my vintage buttons.

                                   MAY - BLACK & WHITE PHOTO layout

I am really enjoying this monthly challenge along with scrapping in a style that's new to me, I will add the later months pages to my blog as I make them, thanks for any comments you may leave, happy crafting, Fi xx