Start Summer with a Splash

I just finished another fun summer album for my Etsy shop, Heartspeak. I love the colors in these papers, so bright and cheerful. I think orange and blue are the ultimate summer colors, don't you? I bound this chipboard book using my Zutter Bind-it-All. This is definitely one of my favorite tool purchases. It cuts through the chipboard very easily and lines up perfect every time. The paper is from Echo Park Paper Company, which has some great paper collections this year.

As for the album itself, I always have a lot of fun with ones that have cutouts on the front. The first two pictures below show the front page and then the page the window looks onto. I love the little wave showing through, but it would also be fun to put a photo of a wet child there to show through the window.

Thanks for looking!

School Days

Another album just posted in my Etsy store, Heartspeak. This is one of those theme albums I've been wanting to make for a while but couldn't find paper that I really liked. This paper is from Bo Bunny Learning Curve collection and it was so fun to use. I've always loved Bo Bunny collections and this one did not disappoint. Great chipboard embellishments, along with the cut outs made this come together easily. I just LOVE this one! The chipboard book came from Maya Road, of course.

I do want to share something new I did with this one -- I used cutouts by gluing them securely at an angle, cutting off the overhang, then sanding the edges so they blended right in with the pattern paper. The photo just below this, with the cut out with the saying about teachers, is a good example of this. A good use of the cutouts.

Thanks for looking!

The Beach House

My latest creation for my Etsy store is this fun beach album. I used a line of Cosmo Cricket paper and embellishments to decorate a house-shaped album from Maya Road. I like this paper because the colors are a little different than the usual bright primaries you see with "beachy" paper. I love the primaries, too, and will be making a few albums in the very near future using that kind, but I loved this for the beach house theme.

This project was a little more time consuming because of the shape of the album and the need to cover the chimney and trim separately on each page, but worth the effort, I think. Thanks for looking.

My Mother's Face

Tonight I thought I'd share a little of how a new card for my shop comes together. (I started to call it "the creative process" but it seemed a little over the top for a greeting card!) In this instance, I found the quote from George Eliot first: "Life began with waking up and loving my mother's face." I've had that quote for a very long time, trying to figure out what I was going to do with it. Something about it just touches me. It makes me think of the hundreds of hours I've spent looking at my own daughter's face over the last nine years. A few weeks ago I found this digital image of a mother and child looking at each other and I just knew it was the one.

Now, you would think at this point I'd launch right into making the card, but it actually took me about two weeks of thinking about it before I even tried. I used to think I did this because I was procrastinating, but I've come to realize that it is just my creative process (oops, there I go again, sounding like an ar-teest). Once I knew the "look" I wanted it to have (vintage, pattern paper that reminds of me of wallpaper, lacy ribbon,the handmade flower) I couldn't wait to put it together.

So, is it wrong to say how much I love this card? I love it because it's beautiful, it's meaningful, and I was able to create something tangible to express my own feelings about the mother/child bond. It's like writing a perfect sentence. It's so satisfying to get it right. Right for me, anyway. Selling it on my shop is just gravy (and helps me buy more supplies). The real satisfaction comes when someone tells me they like it, feature it in a treasury -- in some way communicate that they "get it." C.S. Lewis said, "We read to know we are not alone." This is kinda like that.

Thanks for looking. I've never had a comment on this blog before, but according to my analytics you're out there looking. Feel free to comment -- I'd love to hear from you. If you're the first to comment, I'll even send you the card of your choice from my shop!

Happy Birthday Cupcake

Well, I'm trying to catch up on some of my latest projects so here is my second posting in one day. I created these two birthday cards using chipboard die cuts. I covered the frame and cupcake bottom with pattern paper paper and the "frosting" is bright pink glitter on one card and pink flocking on the other. I just love the way they turned out -- so festive!

I also wanted to add that I bought these great bare chipboard die cuts from Amy at SpectacularStuff on Etsy. I also used one of her chipboard words on the cover of my "Friend" album below this post. I was so pleased with her product -- the chipboard was thin enough for cards but strong enough to cover without bending. I can't wait to order more from her!

Album for a Friend

I just posted a new album in my etsy shop this afternoon and promised to have extra photos on my blog, so they are posted below. This project is a little more complicated because of the many cuts around the edges of the chipboard album, as well as the handmade flowers and embossed chipboard embellishments. I do love the shape of this one, though, despite the extra work. A photo can be slipped under the frame in the front of the album as well.

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