There is a very special post that I wrote for Elle's Studio a month or so ago about journaling. I volunteered to take part in their "Journaling: in Your Own Words" series upon being asked because it's something I don't often think about "out loud" with myself. I found the class questions to be insightful as they helped me to further understand and realize the importance of this hobby. You may feel the same after following this free online class: Elle's Studio.
Speaking of classes, allow me to present my final tutorial before the start of the school year..that's correct, this will more than likely be my last extensive tutorial to you. Consider it not a farewell, but a temporary "time-out" from my regular ongoing presence here at my blog. You will find that in September, updates here will be once a week and they'll be less participatory than usual. I can't promise amazing layouts every week, but what you will find is the occasional layout and my own personal story in surviving college as a single woman on a mission to finally once and for all earn her bachelor's degree. So, enjoy this final piece of inspiration...It's all for you. Thanks you guys for your continued support and sharing in my passion for this hobby!
Windows are magical. They're shielded spaces filled with stories and materials that feel hidden from the naked eye. You can't help but want to peek in and find out what's going on inside of them. I'm an avid of fan of creating windows on my projects. They assist in supporting the subject matter of my project and are ideal for housing subtle details that relate to project's overall surrounding design. They can be either small or big and created from a multitude of things including die-cuts, chipboard, rub-ons, stamps and more. You can also make them by hand via pattern paper and pre-existing die-cut designs that aren't necessarily frames per say. The purpose of this tutorial is to demonstrate various ways to work with windows using frames either already made or self-created. Frames are available in a vast variety of styles & sizes and no two are ever truly alike. Each one offers up a special place that is in need of filling...I'll show you how to fill'em using materials and elements that one might not ordinary think to use inside a window or behind a frame. I'll also demonstrate various techniques for building your own one-of-a-kind frames! Each window will be presented via a single mini album page which will ultimately turn into a full mini album. So, sit back and enjoy and watch the glorious world evolve of window making...
You're probably expecting a supply list, but because this project is still "in progress", I'm going to hold off on providing an extensive supply list at this time. I'd rather forward it to you as I'm presenting the tutorial; page per page. There are few basic things though you might consider organizing to complete your own mini album. Here's but a small list:
Bazzill 3" x 5" Really Big Chips "Silhouette" (Pages of Album)
Neutral Color Cardstock/Flat Cards (Page Background)
Acrylic Paint & Paint Brushes (Painting Chipboard Pages)
Pencil
Journaling Markers
Hole Punch (We R'Memory Keeper's Big Bite)
Small Corner Rounder Punch
Ranger Distress Ink & Sponge (If you like the distressed look)
A Good Paper Trimmer (Love Tonic!)
Exacto Knife/Ruler
Small Fine-Tip Scissors
Adhesive (Dry for Photos/Wet for Paper & Elements)
Glue Dots (Large & Small)
Foam Core Dots (Large & Small)
Variety of Border Punches
Variety of Circle Punches
Your Favorite Die-Cut Machine (If you have one)
Coordinated Pattern Paper & Embellishments
Stamps & Inks
Matching Cardstock
Summer Photos (2" x 3" Vertical/B & W)
Nail File
This is usually the not-so-fun part..at least for me anyway. Laugh. Paint the edges of your album pages (I painted a total of six/seven) a coordinating color to coincide with the overall design of your album and selected project materials. Apply a good two coats - you may need a half of a bottle of paint to finish this first step. Allow your pages to dry on a top an absorbent surface like a paper towel to keep paint from reaching your work surface.
Trim and adhere a layer of cardstock on top each chipboard page (back & front). Make sure to the round the corners of your cardstock using a small corner punch. Set your pages aside accept one, which we'll use for creating the cover.
I'm feel innately happy whenever I look at the cover of this album. It's of a large size window trimmed from a long narrow die-cut card that I embellished with a lively picture of "Home Life". It's quaint, cute and perfectly inviting..shall I share with you how to make one for yourself? It's not as difficult as it looks..follow along with the images below.
Trim a 3.25" x 2.5" opening from a large die-cut card (MME/Sophie Collection) or ledger pattern paper. Use the opening as a guide for creating your cover.
There is one rule you'll need to follow in window building - always use your window as a guide for trimming and combining elements which you plan to house behind and inside your window!! You don't want to end up with too small a background or not a long enough border. Pay attention to sizing and use a pencil to mark your trim lines before making that final cut. Always ensure that "size" is taken into perspective before finalizing your window design.
Layer lower portion of window with yellow floral pattern paper (Digital). Lay paper beneath opening as I've done above, trace opening of window onto the paper and trim paper piece as shown. Set yellow paper piece behind lower portion of window, though don't adhere in place yet.
Layer upper portion of window with light blue geometric pattern paper (MME/Lush "Blue Damask Paper"). Trace once again, trim and set aside.
Our pretty yard is in need of a fence. Select a border punch (Martha Stewart) that best represents an old fashion fence and punch a length of border from Light Blue/Blue-Green cardstock. Back the punched border with Vanilla cardstock.
Trim a small length (that equals the length of your Yellow Floral pattern paper piece from the previous step) of Gray cardstock as shown above and adhere it beneath the top edge of your Yellow Floral pattern paper.
Now adhere fencing beneath the top edge of the Yellow Floral pattern paper& Grey cardstock strip as shown above.
Adhere a section of brightly color pattern paper or a Sassfras Die-Cut Paper Whimsy Card (Your Turn) to the Light Blue Geometric pattern paper from the beginning of the tutorial. It should sit center and along the very bottom of the paper piece.
Adhere your pretty fencing creation on to the top the very bottom portion of Blue Geometric pattern paper/Card as shown above. Use your window opening as a guide for fencing placement to ensure that the fencing shows as desired.
These sweet delicate stickers are a new offering at Jo Ann Fabrics and are manufactured via EK Success/K & Company. They're housed in lil' drawers for easy finding..if you're without a Jo Ann Fabrics in your area, you may have to seach these out online at Ebay. You could also substitute the house with something else..maybe you have a house from a different set of embellishments that is usable for this project. You could also die-cut a small house or search out the sticker section at a store/or online for a small house you think might work. I like this one because it's the perfect size and is 3-D!
Adhere multi-layered background on top of page as shown (Fencing Creation). Again, use pre-cut window as a placement guide before adhering down your background. Add house just above fencing.
Create your very own series of trees from Olive Green Cardstock using the following circle punches: 1/2", 5/8" & 3/4". Punch one 1/2" circle, four 5/8" circles and three 3/4" circles. Combine them as show using foam core pop dots (though don't adhere to page as of yet).
Hand-trim four tiny trunks from Brown cardstock using a fine-tip scissors. Adhere trunks and tops to your page as shown using wet adhesive. Carefully watch the placement of all these items so that the trees all fit inside the window.
Finally, adhere handmade frame/window to your page with a fare number of foam core pop dots. Trim pop dots to size if needed in order to fit them beneath your frame so that they don't show through to the front. You're window is almost complete!
In order to finish the cover, you'll want to include a few additional elements both inside and outside your window. Select and apply a couple a phrase stickers that best describes your album's subject matter (K & Company/Serendipity Embossed Stickers)(GCD/Homespun Chic Word Strips). I adhered the "made with love" phrase to my page with small foam core pop dots. Lastly, add a small felt flower to the left of the middle phrase (Making Memories/Flutter Felt Stickers) as shown above.
Because I felt like the cover desperately needed a little more decorating, I quickly put together a flower using a small set-up of three different size circles trimmed from one of Basic Grey's solid color pattern papers. They're not expected to be perfectly circular, so when trimming your own, do so quite freely. Sand the edges of each circle with a small nail file and combine them together with a medium size fabric brad (Making Memories/An old collection of fabric brads once available exclusively at Michaels). Attach green leaves to the back of your flower with glue-dots and adhere the flower to the lower right corner of your album via multiple large glue-dots.
We're almost done - one last defining touch to further bring our window to life - adhere three photo corners (I don't remember the brand of my photo corners - they're obviously die-cuts and possibly from an old Making Memories collection) slightly over the three corners of the frame (bottom left, top left & top right). Add one more phrase sticker to the lower inside area of the window (October Afternoon/Cherry Hill Cardstock Stickers). My phrase is "Summer".
Here's the cover in it's entirety - as you can see, it's seeking a page-mate or two..we'll work on page two this Wednesday! Hope you'll join me again...
