...over here...

...just in case you were wondering...I am back to doing a mini-album from scratch. I seem to be all over the place creatively speaking. Not sure why that is, but if I had to guess, I'm still transitioning from one life to another and in doing so, many things are unsettled, and I am easily distracted. I am fairly confident that once I am on 'the other side' then I will be able to do bigger projects, explore in depth techniques or slap some paint to a canvas, but I just don't feel "there" yet.

I saw this quote on FB the other day and it made me laugh...

"If I had a dollar for every time I get distracted....I want a puppy."

That pretty much sums it up. Rightio then - on to the mini I started on Saturday at a local crop. It was really good to see the familiar faces and catch up on all of our going-ons.

This album I started - and by no means is it done - is for my Dad. I haven't made him a brag book of his grand-daughters, although I have always meant to. I came across this simply stunning collection pack from Fancy Pants "Happy Together" that is a delish blend of browns, teals, muted greens and yellows. The pack includes a page of borders, journal cards, and 2 acetate sheets (one of which is flocked with a geomatric teal pattern- oh my stars!) which I hope to use throughout the album.

I am going to use an old trick of printing pictures in sepia if the colours clash horribly with the palette but my focus right now is just on making pages.

Herein lies the challenge - to make an album for my father (a man-album) with the subject being two girls in various ages of their life. Pretty - yet not overly embellished, feminine yet not choked with flowers and bling. So far, so fun....check it out!

This is the front cover. The approx size of this album is 5.5" x 8.5" and I will be binding it with my Cinch when everything is done. I figured since I wasn't going to be decking out the bindings with ribbon, I may as well bind with proper coils.

Did I mention this is a work in progress? I covered the chipboard easily enough but then got stumped when looking blankness of the brown. It'll come. I just moved on to doing some pages. 

The inside cover and first page.

The tag is attached by a hinge of washi tape that I made sure lined up on both sides so that it looks seemless. I quite enjoyed that...

 

Next page. Trying not to overdo it. Realizing that these are satisfactory backgrounds, but need pictures so I can do some tasteful layering and groupings of embellies. 

 

And the next page....don't like the right side - will need to tweak a bit. Where's my Undo?!?

Using more of the paper from the paper pack. The patterns are lovely, and the colours soft which will make a great backdrop to the pics. I am also getting to use quite a bit of Washi Tape throughout this album which makes me happy!

 This is still in pieces trying to figure out where that left overlay is going to find a home.

 

...and the reverse of the above...I like how the ribbon adds a touch of frill that hides a small tag that I  made out of two different scalloped border stickers.

 

 And the back cover. May leave it this plain....not sure yet.

 So there it is - in its infancy. A mini brag book for my Dad, that I will hopefully get completed this weekend, and shipped early next week.

....oh wish me luck!!!

xoxo