Home For Christmas & Autumn Blessings Pocket Album Tutorial

I'm so excited to finally be able to share these great new albums I've created to hold holiday memories. I have also written a step by step tutorial if yo are interested in creating these albums for yourself.

After making one, I am sure you are going to want to create several of these versatile mini albums! They go together quickly with coin envelope pages that create pockets to hold tags, photos, journaling or memorabilia. The cover is made of chip board wrapped with DSP for a professional, finished look. The hinge style binding allows enough spacing for heavily embellished pages, and also enables the album to close flat. The two albums shown in this tutorial are the adorable Home for Christmas Album and the Bohemian Autumn Blessings Album. By simply changing your papers and embellishments you can create an album for any occasion.

The page sizes are staggered to really show off the the Designer Series papers and embellishments right when you open the cover and make you want to flip from page to page to take in the whole album. Here's a peek inside of the Christmas album. Wouldn't this make a darling Baby's 1st Christmas album.

The Autumn Blessings album uses the Bohemian papers, Vintage Leaves and Feel Goods sets, but you can change it up using the stamps you have to fit any occasion. Here's a peek inside...

Each album has 6 pocket pages...that's a total of 12 pages with front and back, plus 6 tags...front and back. That's a lot of area for photos and journaling! Here's a closer look at a few elements on three different pages inside the album...ready to add photos!

The Home for Christmas album uses Home for Christmas DSP along with the Cozy Christmas stamp set and Sleigh Ride Edgelits. Here's a closer look at a few elements on three different pages inside the album, ready to fill with your Christmas memories.

My 25 page tutorial, packed with quality photos, will take you step by step to create both of these albums. Once you learn how the wrapped chipboard cover and binding goes together you will be able to make albums for any occasion. Recreate the pages exactly as shown, or put your own spin on them using supplies you have on hand. I encourage you to personalize your album the way you would like. I think you will have fun creating this keepsake album!  Don’t be afraid to use some old favorite stamps sets and embellishments that may have retired. I used a few favorite retired sentiment stamps as well as a few embellishments in my albums.

I've had a few questions regarding the coin envelopes I used for this project. Here is a photo of what they look like before I cut them down...

They are No. 7 Coin Envelopes measuring 3- 1/2 x 6- 1/2". the weight is 28 lb Kraft. I've seen them in lots of other colors as well. I have a good sized box of the coin envelopes, so if you need those I am offering that as an option as well. Unfortunately I don't want to deal with variable pricing to mail them outside the United States...sorry. 

The finished size of the album is 4x7"

Coin Envelope Pocket Album Tutorial

The full 25 page, step by step tutorial outlining how to create both the albums shown above, emailed to you for $7.99.

After receiving payment, I will send the PDF file to the email provided with your PayPal payment. I usually check my email a few times daily, but please allow up to 24 hours for delivery to your inbox.

Coin Envelope Pocket Album Tutorial + Envelopes

In addition to the 25 page, step by step PDF tutorial emailed to your inbox as described above, I will mail you 12 coin envelopes which will allow you to create two albums using your additional supplies, for $10.99. (This option is for inside the United States only.)

After receiving payment, I will send the PDF file to the email provided with your PayPal payment. I usually check my email a few times daily, but please allow up to 24 hours for delivery to your inbox. I will do my best to put envelopes in the mail to you the same day, but please allow up to a week for the envelopes to arrive to your home and be sure to include your ship to address.

If you have any questions regarding supplies needed to complete this project, please don't hesitate to contact me.

If you have yet to purchase one of my tutorials, below are a few comments others have said after receiving one of my previous tutorials:

Kathy: "Thank you so much for the wonderful tutorial. Your work is stunning."

Barbara: "I have ‘stumbled’ upon your blog and it is truly amazing!!!! You are an amazingly talented and creative woman. I am grateful for your ideas and inspiration!"

Isobel: "Thank you so much for a speedy delivery of your tutorial. It looks fantastic and very detailed."

Dianna: "These cards are great!! I have bought tutorials from you before & you do beautiful work :) Thanks so much."

Kim: "Lynn, I made the cards with your tutorial and just love them...I enjoyed learning new techniques."

Thank you to all those who have purchased tutorials from me in the past and an extra THANKS! to those who have taken the time to share their feedback...I really do appreciate it! I hope you all love this project as well!

Birthday Keepsake Mini Album

Frequent visitors of my blog may remember that this past November I shared a mini pocket album made using the envelope punch board and the All Is Calm products along with the Festival of Trees stamp set. Today I have another mini album to share...this one with a birthday theme!

I made this album the same way as the All Is Calm Album, I just changed up the papers and stamps. I used Basic Black for the base and bright, fun colors from the Brights Collection...Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive.

This keepsake album was a gift for a good friend who celebrated her 50th. The papers I used are all retired, but they were perfect for the photos from this fun party. I printed my photos wallet sized - 3x4 so that they would fit the pages.

Each page has a pocket with a pullout to include additional photos and memories. Here's a look at the pages pulled out...

Each side of the pocket pages have photos or journaling...just need to be sure to not make those pages over embellished or too thick so that they fit into the pocket easily.

I included fun facts of things that happened the year she was born along with a CD with all the photos I took at her party. She loved the little album, and I had fun making it.

While I no longer have kits available for the All Is Calm Album, I do have the tutorial available, here. Once you know how the album goes together, it is easy to change the theme to fit any occasion. It makes a wonderful gift that is sure to be cherished for years to come.

Tutorial for All Is Calm 6 x 6 Pocket Album

It took me much longer than anticipated, but I have finally finished the tutorial for my All Is Calm 6 x 6 Pocket Album!

This is a a very detailed 14 page tutorial loaded with photographs and step by step instructions to complete the cover with its fun shaker detail, plus all 14 inside pages of this beautiful keepsake album.
Note: Pages consist of three two page layouts, which equal 6 pages plus an additional 4 double sided pocket pages for a total of 14 pages. Once you learn how to create this fabulous little album, you will want to create more for all different occasions!

If you would like to purchase my All Is Calm 6 x 6 Pocket Album Tutorial for only $5.99, just click on PayPal button below. After receiving payment, I will send the PDF file to the email provided with your payment. I usually check my email a few times daily, but please allow up to 24 hours for delivery to your inbox.

Each kit includes the full tutorial with an additional bonus card, pre-cut supplies...including all cardstock, twelve 6x6 sheets of All Is Calm DSP, die cuts, embellishments and even a set of 6 shaker frames. You will need to provide adhesive, stamps & inks along with washi tape if desired. Kits will be shipped to you for only $32.99 (shipped inside US only)

Read more info, including full supply list  here.

If you would like to purchase my All Is Calm 6 x 6 Pocket Album Kit for only $32.99, please contact me as I only have a couple kits left.

Thank you so much for the positive response I've received for this project so far.

All Is Calm 6x6 Pocket Album Class & Kits

I'm excited to finally share a project I've been working on for a while.  This sparkly 6x6 pocket album uses many of my favorite products from the Holiday Catalog! I'm offering this as one of my upcoming classes in my home to those who live locally (Livingston County, Michigan) and for my blog readers...I am taking orders for kits in the mail!

The album features a fun shaker element on the cover and the inside contains 6 pages...four of which have pockets containing additional pages. That is a total of fourteen 6x6 pages! This little album would make a lovely keepsake gift holding treasured memories from the holiday season. Or maybe you have a new little one in the family? It would also make an adorable Baby's 1st Christmas album.

Here's a little peek of a couple pages showing details from inside the album...

Each kit contains the supplies to create the album and all pages, including twelve 6x6 sheets of All Is Calm Specialty Designer Paper (one sheet of each design), cardstock, die cuts and embellishments, along with a detailed PDF tutorial loaded with photos.

Once you learn how to make the basic album you can change the theme and fill with cherished photos to give as a thoughtful keepsake gift for any occasion!

You will need to provide your own adhesive, inks, stamp sets & some punches. In addition to my kit, here is a list of supplies you will need to provide to complete the book as shown:

• Envelope Punch Board (133774)
• Stamp Sets: Festival of Trees (135059) & Endless Wishes (136829)
• Inks: Soft Sky (131181), Pear Pizzazz (131180), Lost Lagoon (133644), Versamark (102283)
• All Is Calm Washi Tape (135844)
• Silver Embossing Powder (109131) & Heat Tool (129053)
• Dazzling Details Silver Sparkle - optional (124117)
• Punches: Tree (135859), 1/2" Circle (119869), 3/4"Circle (119873), 1" Circle (119868) & 1-1/4" Circle (119861)

If you do not have these supplies already, and would like to purchase them, please visit my Online Store. 

The All Is Calm 6x6 Pocket Album Kit will be shipped to you for only $32.99. (Additional postage will apply to those living outside the U.S., so please contact me prior to purchase.) Each kit includes the full tutorial with an additional bonus card, pre-cut supplies...including all cardstock, twelve 6x6 sheets of All Is Calm DSP, die cuts, embellishments and even a set of 6 shaker frames. You will need to provide adhesive, stamps & inks along with washi tape if desired. 

If you would like to purchase my All Is Calm 6 x 6 Pocket Album Kit for only $32.99, please contact me as I have only a couple kits left.

If you would just like to purchase just the tutorial for this project, I now have that available as well. It consists of 14 pages loaded with photos and step by step instructions to complete this album. 

Please click the button below if you wish to purchase just the All Is Calm 6x6 Pocket Album Tutorial for only $5.99.

This & That

Have you seen the This & That Bundle of products yet? They are so much fun! I got a couple of the albums...one for myself and the other for my future daughter-in-law. We got together one day last week to decorate the covers and we had such a great afternoon visiting while we worked on our project together. She hasn't done too much scrap booking, but I thought this would be perfect for her to journal her thoughts & some photos while my son (her fiance) is deployed in Afghanistan. Then when he returns he can read about things that happened while he was gone.

Here is my beautiful DIL-to-be along with her This & That journal. Didn't it turn out cute!? There's going to be a Hexagon Punch available in the new catalog that will punch out those shapes in the perfect size for this cover...but we had to do it the hard way because the punch isn't available yet. :-(  I made a little template out of chipboard and we just traced it onto the Epic Day DSP and cut them out...it wasn't too bad. We also added some stickers from the Epic Day Sticker Pack. Here's how mine turned out...

I had to take the coil out to adhere the DSP into place and I must have bent it a little in the process...so be careful if you do this. Other than that I love how it turned out and cannot wait to start adding some photos & mementos. I'll make another post showing some of the inside pages in the future.

Have an epic weekend!

Birthday Keepsake Flip Album

Over the weekend we celebrated a dear friends milestone birthday. She requested no gifts, so I kind of respected her wish. I made her this flip album that will contain photos from her party. (I made one for another friend a couple years ago when she hit the "big 5-0" and all my girlfriends told me then...we better all get one of those when we hit 50!) So here is the one I made for Bonnie.

I used the retired Thoroughly Modern DSP through out the album, so the color scheme you see here is what is used in those papers...Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay, Rose Red and I also added Basic Black. I used the Designer Type Photopolymer Stamp Set (embossed in black) along with Daydream Medallions (embossed in silver) for the cover. Here is another photo with the embossing shining in the light.

After I get the photos into the book, I'll share some of the inside pages. I also made her a joke gift....a basic black (so it goes with everything & looks classy! haha) bedazzled, cone bra top so she can channel her inner Madonna!

You might be asking yourself why I would post this on a SU! themed blog? Well everything I used (except for the actual bra) is Stampin' Up! I cut large circles of of Basic Black card stock and cut up one side to the center, and folded it into a cone shape, which I adhered into place with Sticky Strip.. Then I "bedazzled" it with adhesive backed rhinestones and attached the cones to the bra using hot glue. For added fun I added the little 5-0 charms to each cup using fishing line so they dangled freely. Those were made from Silver Glimmer paper, sizzlets & small scalloped punch.

You cannot say I didn't support my friend as she hit her milestone birthday, right?

Matchbook for Dad

After seeing the cute matchbook albums in the July issue of Stampin' Success I just had to try one! So instead of making a regular card for my Dad for Father's Day this year I made him this matchbook album/card using my favorite photos of him & I. The masculine prints and colors of the Woodland Walk DSP was perfect for this project. Here is the cover.

 I used my new Simple Letters Bigz dies to cut the letters out of chipboard and DSP. Chocolate grosgrain ribbon and an Antique Brad with a little tag created using the Jewelry Tag punch embellish the cover.

 I also used the Lots Of Tags Sizzlets for several of the tags. The family quote is from a retired set called That's Nice. The photo is of my Grandpa, Dad & I on Christmas.

I added a bit of Victoria Lace layered on Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon for the next page. A chocolate button tied with some Linen Thread and a tag punched out using the Round Tab punch finish off this page.

The last page is a more recent photo that includes my boys...so like the 1st photo, it is also 3 generations. I used the Top Note & Petal Cone dies to create the message area on the opposite page. I stamped my greetings and left room to write my Dad a personal message as well. I used the Weathered Background stamp (retired) and an image from Tiny Tags to add interest to my tags.

After I completed the pages, I pierced them, along with the cover, down the center scored line using the Mat Pack & Paper Piercing Tool. Then using a large craft needle and Linen Thread I stitched the pages into the cover. I hope my Dad likes it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Celebrate Birthday Album

A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine celebrated her 50th Birthday. A bunch of friends got together for a Girls Night Out to celebrate. I'm always the photographer in our group, so I made her this little flip album to hold some of the photos from that night.

I'm having so much fun with the Build a Blossom stamps and matching punch! This big blossom was stamped in Melon Mambo and then Rock 'n Rolled in Cajun Craze before stamping on the Pumpkin Pie cardstock. After I assembled it, I sprayed it with some Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz for some nice sparkle. As you flip open the album, there are spots to add the photos and fun embellishments. Since I shared this with her before I added the photos, I also stamped the mats where the photos would go.

 Here's what it looks like with some photos...

Don't you just love my friends birthday glasses?! lol She was a good sport and posed in the glasses & sombrero so I got lots of good photos. Here's a look at a couple of my favorite embellishments I added to the album.

The margarita glass was cut with a Sizzix die and the border along the side is one of the adhesive borders from the Ice Cream Parlor Scrappin' Kit (FREE during SAB).

I couldn't make a birthday album and not use my Build a Cupcake Punch, now could I? I didn't adhere the bottom part of the 50 to the page so that I could easily slide in the photograph under it. For this album I used the Brights Designer Series Paper Stack in Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie and Rich Razzleberry.

On May 1st I am offering a class to make another version of this album using the Springtime Vintage Papers. That is such a pretty paper pack, and it will make the perfect keepsake album for Mother's Day photos. So, if you are in my area, sign up now to hold your spot. I could also make this a kit to go class if there is enough interest.

Thanks for stopping by...ENJOY your day!

Celebrate! Birthday Album

I want to start my post today by saying thank you to everyone who took the Catty Cruise over the weekend and anchored here to explore. I appreciate all the kind comments and emails you left for me... I enjoyed reading them all and I'm so happy that you liked what you saw! I'd also like to welcome all the new readers who have subscribed to my blog, I hope you stop by often. The whole crew of the Catty Cruise shared some wonderful projects, so if you haven't taken the cruise...you still can!

The other day I showed you the cover of a book I was making for my Aunt to hold photos from her surprise birthday party, and said I would share some of the inside pages when I was finished. Below is photo of cover and here is link to my original post telling what I used to create it.

I also said that I hoped to have it completed before Saturday so I could give it to her over the weekend...I'm happy to say that I got it all done...and she absolutely LOVED it! Here are a few of the inside pages.

I used the Circle Circus set to stamp many of the background pages and to create some embellishments. Colors used: Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie & More Mustard

See how nicely the retired Haiku paper works with the Circle Circus set? I wish it was still current...or that they made those patterns available in other colors. Oh well...at least I had some left for this project.

I also used the Party Hearty & Birthday Whimsey sets on many of the pages. On the pages that I used the Birthday Whimsy set I used the Whimsy jumbo wheel for the background pages and some striped DP that I had on hand that matched the colors I used.
My Aunt hosts almost all of our family parties each year and it was so nice to see her surprised at this special party that my cousin had for her. She got to enjoy everybody and not do any of the work...she LOVED it, yet felt a little lost at the same time. I'm so happy that she loved the album I created for her.

Have a wonderful day!