Prima Georgia Blues Skinny Mini Album Tutorial

Hi friends!  I'm thrilled to be joining our challenge at Mini Album Makers again for our September Challenge.  We made it to the two year mark and are hosting a blogaversary hop.  Make sure to visit the challenge and our DT posts for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Lindy's Stamp Gang.  And if you participate in our challenge you will also have a chance to win a  Stencil Girl Studio Class!   

I wanted to create an album that was specifically geared towards using Prima Marketing A4 paper pads.  I find these pads are the greatest value and I waste much less when using them for cardmaking.  This album maximizes the pad and allows you enough pages to showcase the various patterns in the Georgia Blues pad.  I've linked all of Prima's A4 pads at the end of this post so you can choose the one that works for you. 

I find this method of album construction the easiest.  I determine my scrapbook paper page size and build from there.  To cut the A4 paper in half it is roughly 4 1/8".  From there I determined a height I thought was proportional, 7 3/8".  Next I cut watercolor pages to the sizes in the photo above.

7 1/2 x 8 7/8"
7 1/2 x 9 5/8"
7 1/2 x 10 3/8"

I scored each piece 4 1/4" from each side.

I wanted the gutter between my pages to have some color, since many of the pages were dark blue, so I wrapped washi tape around the panels to the back, between the score lines as shown.  I burnished the tape very well.

Next, I used my We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board to make some small envelopes to add as flaps to a couple of my pages.

I cut chipboard covers to (two) 4 1/2 x 7 3/4" and (one) 3 x 7 3/4" .  I glued them onto fleece/batting with a small gap between each panel and cut the edges even all the way around.  Then I wrapped the panel in cloth and mitered the edges, as shown.  I covered the inside with paper, carefully using a bone folder to gently make the folds in the paper, as not to tear it.

I nestled the pages together and glued them to the inside spine of the book.  The result is tall and skinny but super chunky mini album!

I glued elements to the cover in collage style.

Here's a look at the inside...

I was down to the wire to get this one finished, but will try to share a video in the next week or so, so make sure to bookmark or Pin this post and revisit.  We hope you will join our challenge at Mini Album Makers and make sure to visit our DT posts for a chance to win the blogaversary prize!

Tracey

Anne

Jennie

Inna

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Prima Lavender Peeled Planked Wallpaper Tutorial

Hi friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and our hostess Zoe has chosen the theme Bloomin' Marvellous.  She says, "As spring pokes it's head through the frozen ground, let's celebrate the season and create a vintage or shabby chic project with flowers as the focus and in vintage muted pastel tones, (no brights)."

I was soooooo inspired by THIS card I pinned from my Instagram feed.  I started out to make a similar card.  I used my We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board to create a 3 x 4" envelope from the Prima Lavender collection.  I learned that you should orient your paper facing up on your first punch/score so that the inside pattern will not be sideways.  This is my first envelope and I'm soooo excited about the possibilities with this simple, but power packed tool.  :)

Next I tucked and tucked various Prima flowers and basket filler into my envelope until I had an exploding beautiful bouquet!  It was hard for me and my frugal nature to commit all of these beautiful blossoms to a simple card, so I switched gears and made a mixed media planked wood panel to use as my base.  I plan to hang this springy project in my cubicle at work now and enjoy it twice as much.

Using the back from one of my beloved watercolor paper pads, I cut the thick chipboard into a 7 x 9" panel, then cut the remainder into 1 1/2" strips and pieced together like so.  I glued them to the base then gave a wash of watery gesso.  Next I tore a strip of the Lavender floral paper and glued it to the planks in various places.  I tore some floral tissue tape and adhered as well.  Then I used Tim's stripe stencil with texture paste to make some wood grain texture.  Finally, I scraped on DecoArt crackle paste over the entire panel.  I applied the paste heavier in some areas and lighter over the torn paper.

When this was completely dry I mixed Dusty Concord Distress Ink with water and gave the entire panel a good wash.

I just love how those beautiful bits of floral paper peek through!  I got the idea for this from something on THIS post by Beulah Bee.  It worked out better than I envisioned and was super easy to produce!

I raised the envelope up quite a bit to get maximum dimension.  The basket filler adds so much texture.  And I was happy to use these leafy wired blossoms that I have never really known what to do with.

As a final touch I attached a die cut bow to my envelope and some Venice lace to the bottom of my panel.  I hope you've enjoyed reading about this process and will give it a try.  We'd love to have you play along with our current challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  If you don't have any paper flowers in your stash, I have a few posts on making your own HERE.  You can even used stamped flowers, just play along for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

You can find these and other beautiful floral papercrafting items there:

(LATE JANUARY PRE-ORDER) Prima Marketing A4 Paper Pad - Lavender	(LATE JANUARY PRE-ORDER) Prima Marketing Lavender Flowers - Aislinne	(LATE JANUARY PRE-ORDER) Prima Marketing Lavender Flowers - Anneta	(LATE JANUARY PRE-ORDER) Prima Marketing Lavender Flowers - Esme
(LATE JANUARY PRE-ORDER) Prima Marketing Lavender Flowers - Jolene	Sizzix Thinlits Festive Greens by Tim Holtz	Seam Binding	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Iced Spruce
Venise Lace Trim - One Inch (1")	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Dusty Concord

I'm also sharing with:

Scrapki-wyzwaniowo: Lines

613 Ave. Create: Anything Goes w/Twist Reuse/Recycle
Crafter's Castle: Anything Goes w/Option Favorite Technique
Creative Craft Cottage: Make it Feminine
Crafty Hazelnut: Anything Goes w/Patterned Paper
Noor! Design: Spring
Creative Crafters: Anything Goes