One of the things I’ve noticed about my daughter (and others of her generation) is that they take a lot of photos. What I’ve also noticed is that they rarely, if ever, make it out of electronic format. I know it’s nice to have photos at your fingertips but sometimes printed photos are nicer. I love being able to share and talk about memories while flicking through an actual photo album.

Sharing memories doesn’t mean you have to create elaborate 12″ x 12″ scrap book pages. I’ve done that and it has it’s place. Sharing memories could simply be a collection of your absolute favourite photos stored in a cheap pocket album. Once you’ve decorated it of course…

SIMPLE START

My project all began with a pocket photo album purchased in a local Dollarama for a dollar or two. The back and front pockets had very uninspiring printed card inserts which would be simple to change.

First I cut two pieces of Whisper White Card to replace the card inserts.

On one of the pieces I used Old Olive ink to stamp the trees image from the Let It Ride Stamp Set. I stamped the image once, then without reinking the stamp I stamped again. I repeated this to create a simple design for the back of the album.

DIVIDED FRONT

For the front of the album I decided to decorate the Whisper White Card as two distinct areas.

First I cut a piece from the Wood Textures 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. Then using Tear & Tape Adhesive I attached a piece of Very Vanilla 1/2″ Lace Trim.

Over the left edge of the lace I added a narrow scrap of Old Olive Card with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow). Then I used more liquid glue to fix the assembled piece to the left side of the Whisper White Card.

A CLUE TO THE MEMORIES

All I needed now was to create a ‘title’ for the album that would provide a clue to the memories it contains.

I placed the Whisper White Card into my Stamparatus and started by stamping the sentiment using Soft Suede ink. I reinked the stamp and stamped again just to make it really dark and clear. “Live as if someone left the gate open”, it was perfect.

Then I stamped the grazing horses image below the sentiment using Soft Suede ink. This time I left the stamp on the Stamparatus so I could go back to it later.

Using the bullet tip of a Dark Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker I coloured in the horses. Then I used the bullet tip of a Light Old Olive Stampin’ Blends to scribble over the grass. I didn’t bother with any blending of colours, I just wanted the streak free finish these markers provide.

TIP – I’ve heard a lot of people say that they struggle with alcohol markers ‘bleeding’ over the lines of their stamped images. I have two solutions for that. First, use the bullet tip of the marker rather than the brush tip. The colour flows more slowly and is easier to control when colouring small areas. Second, don’t colour right up to the lines, stop a tiny bit back and let the colour find its own way.

Finally, going back to the Stamparatus I then re-stamped the horses image with Soft Suede ink so that it was really clear over my colouring.

Then once I’d inserted the card pieces into the cover pockets of the album I was done.

Well that’s me for today. It’s just started snowing so time for another coffee and a few hours in my craft studio. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow to see what I create.

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