Some people are just made for each other

I received the Basic Grey Cappella Mini Album Kit from Lil' Lambs Boutique and I went in search of photos to go with it.  Unfortunately, I had just finished a wedding album as a gift and my wedding photos were long done...so what to do...what to do.   I just happened to remember seeing a friend's wedding photos that she posted to Facebook and thought how fun it would be to use her photos for the album and then give them the finished product as a wedding gift...albeit a touch late.  Their photos struck me because you can literally tell how in love they are with each other...not to mention they're so cute when they post on Facebook too.  Anyway, let's head off to the races because this turned out not to be so mini an album afterall.


The Cappella line is a rather subdued line with cream, light yellows, pale pinks and greys.  This makes it perfect to accent with any color cardstock that picks up the colors used in the wedding. 

I created my only real big 3D embellishment, making the cardstock rose, using Tim Holtz's tutorial here.

 The flourish at the bottom is created using liquid pearls.  You can see my tutorial here.

All edges of the mini album were punched using Martha Stewart border punches. I used the same border punch for the front and back of each individual page and then glued the punched edges together. I opted for only 2 sides because of the unusal size of the tag album, which didn't fit the standard around the page measurements for the border punches.

The kit comes with a tremendous amount of tags that can be cut up to use as embellishments.

It also came with complete instructions for finishing each page.  You can opt to follow them or throw caution to the wind along with the directions and do your own thing.  Their version put mini tags in between the bigger pages and I didn't care for the look of the mini tag covering part of the photo, so I opted to pop up some of the photographs and create a tag insert instead.

Don't be afraid to run over the edges a bit when you add embellishments.  That's half the fun with mini albums is chocking them full of embellishments.  If you do have one hang over the edge, such as a tag, ink the back of it with a neutral/dark color and it will be less obvious than stark white (see photo above for back of tag sticking out).

These flowers are from the new Tim Holtz Alteration dies...oh my, I love his stuff! I stamped the background, of the big flower, with a stamp from his Stamper's Anonymous collection.

What's a project without butterlies?  Here, I transfered a rub-on buttefly onto transparency paper.  After cutting out around the edges of the butterfly, I heated it with a heat gun.  This curls up the wings and lifts it off the paper, when glued down.

For the tag at the bottom, I cut out an additional heart shape and the internal wings, inked the edges and then popped them up with pop dots for a dimensional tag.

This is absolutely my favorite photo of all of them.  All the wedding photos used in the album are courtesy of the very talented Julie Dreelin, from Beach Productions.

Here are the tags I inserted throughout the album for the Bride to complete of her treasured day.

And finally....the end.  Understated...but hey, something should be.

And there you have it!  Congratulations Beth & George.  May you have many incredible years of happiness, blessed by the Lord!

Here comes the bride....

I can't tell you how excited I was to get the Graphic 45 Deluxe Kit in the mail from Lil' Lambs Boutique.  My neighbor's daughter is getting married and her wedding shower is this month!  Where has the time gone? I cannot believe it's already April.  Anyway, this kit was just perfection for a keepsake advice album for her.

On the following 8 page album, I listed various Bible references that would quite serve a young, new marriage.  I know they've helped in my 13 years. 


For the album cover, I distressed the right edge with Tarnished Brass Crackle paint and adhered Idea-Ology Photo corners.  All flourishes throughout the album are made using Liquid Pearls on transparency paper.  The pull out tag is a monogrammed card with their name & wedding date.  The book rings are covered in the gorgeous brass satin fabric.  I cut 2 strips of fabric and sewed along the edges of the longer sides.  After turning the fabric right side out, I slipped them onto the book rings. 

I love that this kit catered as much to the masculine papers and embellishments as the feminine.  The black and cream flower was created using a 2 sizes of a 6 petal flower die.  After snipping the petal seams, I curled the top half of the petals backward  using a paint brush stick.

This page is just loaded with die cuts from the various papers.  The pearl string pink background paper is just divine.  I did add pop up dots to the backs of various rose flowers to make the bouquet look dimensional.

I just love the Deep Edge Daisy fan border punch from Martha Stewart.  It adds such elegance to any project.  The chandelier stamp is by Inkadinkadoo.

The pull out tag:

The photo matting is made using the Iron Gate Martha Stewart border punch.

Finally, you can never think of weddings without thinking of the famous "love" chapter in the Bible.  I Corinthians 13.  Aren't these vintage photos stunning?  It's all a part of the paper line.

And finally the back page that I found I couldn't do anything to, because I didn't want to mess up the gorgeous paper...Crackle Paint and Photo Corners notwithstanding.

I hope you enjoyed the album.  If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I'll be sure to get back to you.  Have a most blessed Easter.

Wedding Gift for my Friend

I'm pretty sure this is safe to post here, since my friend is the Groom and I seriously doubt he is here checking out my scrapping blog. So here we go. This wedding is unique to me, in that, the Bride & Groom sent out their gift request in their invitation. Attendees are requested to give their favorite bottle of wine to the couple. Tags for the gift givers name were included. How neat is that?

The Mini Album, I made and posted here earlier. It is based on the "Love" Chapter in the Bible - I Corinthians 13. Close ups can be seen here. I used one of the wine carriers we received as a gift, at our wedding, and recovered it to match the mini album. Finally, I made a coordinating card to go with the gift theme. I used the Basic Grey Wisteria Paper Kit.

I marbled purple cardstock for the top of the wine carrier. This is pretty easy to do. I used 3 colors of Distress Ink (Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Walnut Stain) and 1 colored Prisma Pencil. I started with the lightest color Distress Ink and swirled it on the paper with a makeup sponge. Next I dabbed on the other two colors sporadically with a makeup sponge and then used a clear part of the sponge to blend them slightly. Next, I took a pale purple colored Prisma pencil and drew in my marbeling lines. A blending stick can soften the harsh edges. I love this effect and just wish my dear husband would let me do our house walls!!

Below is a close up of the coordinating card. In keeping with the wedding theme, I paper pieced a wine barrel, wine glass, wine bottle and red grapes, of course.

It's a bit hard to see here in the picture, but I added Glossy Accents to the wine bottle, glass and grapes for an epoxied effect.

Here's toasting a glass to my friend and his lovely bride. May you have an abundance of God's blessings and a long, happy life together!