Monday, July 16, 2012

paraphernalia: noun

equipment, apparatus, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity

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One of my favorite things to create are mini albums, I really love making them as gifts too! My friend ( who doesn't visit my blog, I'm not sure she even knew what a blog was until she met me, doesn't stop by too often, so I am probably safe in sharing this! ) ....anyway, we are going to the beach together next month, and since she rarely even has her pictures downloaded, edited nor printed, not even to mention she doesn't put them in an album, ( I mean how can you, when they are most likely sitting in some abandoned file somewhere on her computer )...::sigh::..how do I get these kind of friends? lol

Oh well, that being said, I thought it would make a cute gift to collect her pictures for her and put her favorites from our vacation into a small album. I figure I'll make up the entire book before we go to the beach, designate each page for a 4x6 picture and a small saying, quote, etc. for the picture and take it with me to create while I am there. We'll see how this works out, best made plans and all that! lol

So 2 sites are having challenges that I can enter this into:

Pan Pastel UK Challenge Blog: Sun, Sea and Sand
and
Cricut Circle Blog, to use the Out Of Character cartridge


Big sigh, I am spoiled!
  With the Out Of Character cartridge, I wish they had made it so you could break up more of the letters using Cricut Craft Room so you could personalize them more easily! I had to resort to my pre-CCR days of cutting the whole word several times on different paper and cutting them apart by hand to get the desired look I wanted to achieve. I actually printed it several times on white card stock so that I could do some fun things, adding sand embossing powder to the letter R, wrapping twine around it with beads, dripping alcohol inks and spraying mists on the letter V,


 sewing mesh onto the letter E, and adhering ribbon to the letter L and adding a fussy cut starfish embellished with stickles and glossy accents.

I also had fun adding twine, beading, shells, and glittered fish. I don't know about you, but for me the most fun of a mini album is decorating the cover! lol  One of the fish got cut off in the letter A, so I painted him back in using Smooch and paint and finished him off with a pearl eye!

And as usual with mini albums comes the usual beach paraphernalia for the closure. I have used 2 rings, a string of beads and shells and a tag that says fun in the sun!

And what does it all look like when you have all the letters, sand, shells and beads put together? It spells a TRAVEL album!

Really Reasonable Ribbon, twine, ribbon
Out of Character cartridge

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Hope you are stopping by Project Pinterest, there are some real cute crafts and yummy recipes being made from the pins these ladies are using from Pinterest! We would love to have you join us too!

15 comments:

...the yorkshire fox... said...

...WOW Sandee you have put so much into this piece, so much intricate detail, super stitchery & loVe your shell charm and the pretty coloured glass, so clever...a stunning make...Mel :)

May said...

Wow, This album is fabulous... What a lovely gift for a freind.. she will be thrilled I'm sure... I would be!..love the letters on the front... Brillant! Hugs May x x x

Mary Pat Siehl said...

oh i love all the details! great job

Rita said...

That will be a sweet gift. I'm a crafter and make cards but I have never gotten into scrapbooking or making photo albums. It will be special. :)

Brenda Brown said...

I hope your friend appreciates all the work you have put into this Sandee, I love what you have created. Such a great idea and full of texture and colour.
Thanks for sharing this with us at PanPastels UK this week and also a huge thanks for leaving me such a lovely comment on my project.
Have a great week.
hugs {brenda} xox

bellefrogworks said...

I love this - what a fun piece of art.

Craftymoose Crafts said...

Oh boy, can I go on vacation with you next time? This is fabulous and I'm sure your friend will be inspired to fill it with photos!

Kathyk said...

WOW!

Kathyk

Craftychris said...

Fabulous! The colours are gorgeous and there is so much lovely texture xx

Redanne said...

Hi Sandee, your album cover is brilliant and if this doesn't make her want to keep pictures in it then nothing will! Love the lettering and the fish are just so cute. Like you, I love making the covers best too. Crafty hugs, Anne x

scrappymo! said...

So cute...I had trouble loading your page from my reader so i just googled your blog and tracked you down. Your pae was coming up empty!

Queen Lightwell said...

OOooOoh, I love it! So many details, so well thought out and so nicely coordinated and complimentary! I haven't done a mini-album but it looks like a lot of fun. :)
Deeyll~QL

Princess Judy Palmer said...

Dude! There is so much work and detail put into that cover! I'm impressed. I'll bet you had a lot of fun with it. Sometimes even those intricate projects come together quickly because you just get immersed into them.

Kim said...

This is beautiful.

Lindsay Craftymonster81 said...

wow brilliant project, I love the shells, thank you for joining in with the PanPastel challenge blog
Lindsay xx