Paper Bag Albums--Homemade Gifts

Some special young ladies graduated this year from high school. I've known them since they were six years old, and I decided to make a special gift for their graduation. I made them each a paper bag album for them to take with them to college. The compact 6x6 size works well with dorm room life, and will allow them to bring photos of people they love with them into the beginning of their new worlds.

Paper bag albums are not new creations in my scrapbook room, they are one of my favorite homemade gifts. I make them in a variety of sizes, but the 6x6 is still my favorite.

Here are Eeva and Anna's albums.

The Front of Anna's Album

The Back of Anna's Album

The Front of Eeva's Album

The Back of Eeva's Album

I love giving these homemade albums as a special personalized gift. I just made one from my cousin with her first baby, and I have seven more baby albums to make! Three girls and four boys. I need to get three of the boy albums completed by next Tuesday. With that said, I'd better go to my scrapbook room and get working on them. :0)

Happy Scrapping!

Show Me Saturday

Hello All!

Given the economy many of us understand the trend for giving handmade items as gifts. I personally have always been a fan of making gifts for people because of the personal connection. I spend hours and lots of care and attention to make whatever item I choose to give. It's from my heart.

There are many paper crafts that you can make and give, but it can sometimes be overwhelming to know where to start. Today we'll focus on a paper bag album. Lunch bags turned beautiful. I love giving paper back albums because the base of the book is inexpensive, but I can turn it into a irreplaceable keep sake.

Here are the instructions that I use. This site also has other mini album ideas and instructions. Check out the calendar!

http://www.scrapbook-crazy.com/paper-bag-album-instructions.html#a1

Here are some samples of paper bag albums. This one as you can see was title, "A Mother's Love" and was donated to a charity auction.

Front Cover

One of the pages--this one actually lifts up for photo or journal spot

The removable tags--tucked into the pockets

Side view

Show my what your albums look like! I'd love to see what you create!

Refelction Image Stamping Technique

Hello everyone. Here are a few recent cards I made using this technique. The first one I made with wet craft ink stamped onto a glossy cardstock and transferred the image that way. The second one I used a new technique which was really slick! Here are the cards, and look below for the instructions. HAPPY STAMPING!

Ok. Now you try it! I'd love for you to send me some of your creations with this technique. Send me a pic and I'll post it for others to view.

Supplies:

• Desired Stamp
• Piece of Cardstock large enough to accommodate 2 images of selected stamp
• Ink pad
• Ziploc baggie (large enough to accommodate 1 image of selected stamp)
  

Instructions:

1. Stamp image onto upper section of cardstock (ensure that you are leaving enough room to stamp the image a second time)
2. Stamp the same image onto the Ziploc bag (I usually make sure the bag is closed so it’s a little sturdier—the freezer bags work really well).
3. Make sure you hold the bag securely so that it doesn’t slip as you stamp—you may consider taping it to your work surface with masking tape.
4. Turn the bag upside down to line the image you just stamped onto the baggie underneath your cardstock image
5. Press the image onto your cardstock being careful not to slide the bag over the paper.
6. Remove bag and viola, reflection image!

Are You Ready?

I don't know about all of you, but I can't believe Christmas is in 3 days! I am no where near ready! I don't even have a tree up yet! We've been getting a ton of snow here in Minnesota, so it has already begun to look a lot like Christmas, but something is keeping me from being in the mood. Perhaps it is the economy. When I think of how many people are out of work and won't have much to celebrate it makes me sad.

Please don't get me wrong, I know that Christmas isn't about gifts, but for people with children that can't afford to get things for their children, it is sad. Unfortunately, I am not in the position to donate as we have in years past.

Things have been very slow for sales, and I haven't been creating things for the past few weeks. I have some time off from my full time job over the next few weeks, and I hope to get lots of scrapping and paper creating done.

Here are a few of my latest albums.

Christmas Paper Bag Album

Hello everyone!

Well, this was certainly a busy weekend. I've been painstakingly working on a 8x8 Christmas paper bag album, and I finally finished it! I'll be listing it on eBay shortly, so be sure to take a look at my links below to find it!

Here is a photo of the front cover of the ablum.

How to Heat Emboss Card--Part 1

Ok...so I'm having a few technical difficulties with video, so I'll do this in two parts. First post will be supplies needed. In part two (to be posted this weekend) I'll post photos of the steps.

Supplies Needed:

1. stamp of choice
2. cardstock (base for card, as well as separate piece for stamped image)
3. coordinating pattern paper
4. versamark stamppad
5. embossing powder of your choice (I chose Stampendous--kaleidoscope)
6. heat gun
7. brads, ribbon, or other chosen embellishments

Stop back later this weekend for the photos and instructions!