Altered Heart Mini Album Kit

Here's my first project for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps!! Nicole has started carrying the most *awesome* kits, and this is one of them -- the Heart Mini Album Kit. Each kit is all inclusive -- everything you need to make the indicated project, including instructions. Woo hoo! Here is my take on the heart album.

These albums are super easy and way fun to make. Even for me, and I am so totally altered art challenged! Definitely my weak point in the papercrafting world.

To show just how simple it is to create your very own album, I'll detail the steps I followed -- you can loosely follow them if it will help you.

1. First decide what you want the book to look like. Do you have a paricular theme or use in mind for the finished product? I wanted to keep mine open so it could be used for anything. The patterned paper selections will vary from album to album. The one I got was several colors of pink, plus a peachy color and a couple dots of blue here and there. The internal cardstock pages are ivory. I decided to focus on the pinks with this book. I used stamps from the Wire Butterfly & Whimsical Birds half-sheet of rubber from PPRS. I thought that the swirls really went well with the swirls in the paper. Consider elements such as embellishments (brads, metal accents, fibers, paper or fabric flowers, etc. etc.) Also, think about the overall feel - do you want your project to have a lot of shimmer & shine, maybe a really distressed look, or just classic and clean (just a few of the options)

2. Once you have some ideas for your book, start laying out with NO ADHESIVE. Move things around until you're happy with the way your added products look on the cover of the book. I spent a lot of time here making sure I was happy with things. The two die cut paper flowers I used came with the kit. I layered them and decided to use the metal accent in the middle. The phrase I used is stamped and then cut out with decorative scissors. I wasn't happy with it so I went back and added some distressing, then some layers. Good planning during this step will save you a lot of "$#%&!!!" down the road. Make sure you love it before you move on. Don't be afraid to throw away a section (i.e. your phrase image or another layer you're thinking of adding) and start over if you're not happy with it. I am so serious about this! You can always cut more cardstock.

3. Once your layout is set, go back and do your distressing or glitter or whatever you want to do to both the add-on pieces (like the flower die cuts) and the heart shaped pattern paper that makes up the cover of your book. This is also when you can add embellishments such as brads directly to the cover paper as well. I sanded the background paper and then rubbed my Palette New Canvas and Distress Ink Vintage Photo ink pads all over it. I just wanted to soften it a bit, not too much. Then I took my little sewing machine and sewed a little border around the cover sheet. For my flowers, I used iridescent ice EP on the larger one w/ the Dazzling Diamond Dust technique, and plain clear on the Kraft-colored one to give it some shine and depth, with magenta Radient Rain spritzed over the top -- just because I can. :-)

4. Adhere your cover paper to the chipboard and then adhere the elements to the front of the book. Keep foam tape/dimensionals in mind for this step, you can add a lot to a project by giving it 3D depth.

5. If you plan to distress or stamp your internal pages, you can do that now before you finalize the project and bind it up.

6. Put the book together. There's a pre-drilled hole through the chipboard & internal pages and the kit comes with plenty of fibers if you'd like to do the binding that way (just tie it off). For this book, I took a 1" metal ring and put it through the holes. Then I tied bunches of random fibers and ribbon around it to hide the ring.

See that? Soooo easy! These make great gifts -- or keep them for yourself *g*. I sent this one to Nicole for her displays, but I think I'll have to get another kit so I can have one for ME! Happy album making everyone.

Complete Supply List: Heart Mini Album kit from PPRS, Wire Butterfly & Whimsical Birds 1/2 sheet of stamps from PPRS, Magenta Radient Rain, foam tape, lots of random ribbon, 1" metal ring for closure, Fiskars mini scallop scissors, SU Blush Blossom and Shimmery White cardstock, Cuttlebug & D'Vine swirl embossing folder, metal accent from Karen Foster, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, clear embossing powder, sanding block, mini sewing machine, Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, Palette Hybrid ink in Haystack and New Canvas, SU Pink Passion classic ink, Versamark, Copic Pink Sketch Marker.