We’re now one week into the Last Chance promotion for the January to June 2022 Mini Catalogue. As I suspected, the New Horizons 6” x 6” Designer Series Paper (DSP) sold out very quickly. So now that and a number of other sold out products are gone for good. Over the next week or two my plan is to bring you projects using some of the other retiring products while they remain available. Today’s I’ve created a sweet mini pocket photo album featuring the last of the Mischievous Mice images.
MEASURE CAREFULLY!
I have to start out by saying that this project didn’t go quite according to plan. I began by taking the boring cover pieces from a pocket album designed for 4″ x 6″ photos. After measuring one of them I then cut two pieces of Basic Black Card. However I was obviously distracted as I cut the card at 4-1/8″ x 6-1/8″ instead of 4-5/8″ x 6-1/8″!
Oblivious to my mistake I then chose a subtle Gray Granite design from the Sun Prints 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. I was obviously still thinking of the 4″ x 6″ photos as that’s the size I cut my DSP. It was only after I cut it that I also noticed a very faint white text on the grey surface. So that meant the album would have to be finished in a landscape orientation! Oh well I could live with that.
So I continued on and put Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) on the back of the DSP. Then I attached the DSP to one of the Basic Black layers. It fitted perfectly with a 1/8″ border all round. With that done I decided I should slide the other Basic Black piece into the back cover of the album. And that’s when I realised my mistake, the cover pieces were too small.
Correcting the problem for the back cover was easy, I simply cut a replacement piece at 4-5/8″ x 6-1/8″. The rejected piece would go with the rest of my Basic Black Scraps and be used another time.
The front cover however was a little trickier but I started by cutting another 4-5/8″ x 6-1/8″ of Basic Black Card. Next I glued the layered DSP on top with wide borders at the top and bottom. Then to turn my mistake into a design feature I cut a 1/4″ x 6″ piece of Basic Black Card and glued it 1″ from the bottom edge of the DSP. Now my background panel looked like I’d planned the wider horizontal bands all along, and I could start on the main panel.
MISCHIEVOUS MOUSE
I love the cute Mischievous Mice (Host) Stamp Set but had only used two of the three mice. I still had the one in the cheese to get inky. So using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped the image onto a 3″ x 3-1/2″ piece of Very Vanilla Card.
Colouring the mouse started with a little dark Gray Granite Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker on his ear and the top of his head. Then on the rest of his fur I used the light Gray Granite. Next, inside his ear and on his nose, paws and tail I used the Ivory Stampin’ Blends.
For the cheese I started with the dark So Saffron Stampin’ Blends to add a shadow inside the holes and to colour the crumbs. Then I used the same marker for the top of the cheese and around the right and bottom edges. This reminded me of the darker rind I often see on cheeses in the delicatessen. The rest of the cheese was finished off with the light So Saffron Stampin’ Blends. Finally I went back to the light Gray Granite to scribble some ‘ground’.
With the colouring complete went back to the stamp set and found the perfect sentiment for a photo album; “say cheese!”. So using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped it in the top left corner of the panel.
All I had left to do was glue the finished piece to a 3-1/8″ x 3-5/8″ piece of Basic Black Card. Then I attached that to the assembled background before sliding it into the front pocket of the album. Job done.
Despite the little measuring error at the beginning, I love how my final Mischievous Mice project turned out. Now to find some photos of family members sporting suitably cheesy grins…
To see projects featuring the other two mischievous mice check out these earlier blog posts:
PRODUCT LIST
RETIRING HOST STAMP SET – Mischievous Mice is one of two Host stamp sets from the January to June 2022 Mini Catalogue. Both these stamp sets are now in the Last Chance section of my online store and only available while stocks last. Host stamp sets (and other hosts products) cannot be ordered in the regular way. They can only be ‘bought’ using Stampin’ Rewards dollars earned by placing an order of at least $200CAD, or by hosts of a party/workshop reaching the same level in orders. Stampin’ Rewards start at 10% of the total sales (before shipping and taxes). For more information visit the Host page of my online store, or see page 90 of the Mini Catalogue, or pages 178/179 of the new Annual Catalogue.
Leave a Reply