Peony And Twine

Edwardina Lady and Natures Notes sneeky preview No 2

This is the second of my sneak previews of the fabulous new launch from Crafter's Companion launching as a Four Day Deal on Create and Craft TV at 8 am on Monday 20th May 2013.

Havent done an album before but thought this cd collection so suited a Mini Garden Album – ideal for recording dates of planting seeds/seedlings, photographs of your garden in full bloom and would make a lovely gift.

I started with a very cheap and basic bare chipboard album kit (they tend to come with the covers, insert pages and the rings) and come in various designs. For my project I chose the square album.

I loved the papers and embellishments on the Edwardian Lady cd, especially the July section. I selected the papers and embellishments that I liked and used these as my anchor colour – dusky pink and ochre green.

I covered the album with a piece of Core’dination’s Tim Holts 12 x 12 paper and passed it through my cutting machine with the Crafter’s Companion 8 x 8 embossing folder Regency Damask. Sanded the relief pattern back with my Core’dination’s sanding tool to give a worn and distressed look. Cut the piece of card to size and stuck to the front of the cover with double sided tape. Ensure to leave enough of an overlap around the edge to fold over neatly and secure with some tape. Doesn’t need to be to perfect on the inside. Selected a piece of co-ordinating ribbon and cut to size, leaving enough to tie a nice bow. Attached to the inside of the cover with strong tape. Cut a piece of the same or co-ordinating card  for the inside of the cover and attach. Used my Tim Holts distress inks (Old Paper, Victorian Velvet, Walnut Stain and Antique Linen) to age the paper, building up the colour gradually. Darkened the edges of the cover by running one of my distress ink pads along the edges. Used my pokey tool to punch through the pre punched holes for the ring to go through later. Carried out the same procedure for the back cover or alternatively just cover in a co-ordinating paper; I used craft paper for mine.

I printed off the all the embellishments, toppers etc from the July section and set about cutting them out – I find it easier to cut and then play around with them to get the layout I like. The embellishments needed background frames for them to sit against. Used my pink chevron paper first as I loved the pink on green effect. Cut a section more or less the height of the album minus a few cm’s each end. Distressed edges with Victorian Velvet. From by crafty stash I had a piece of paper with a chicken wire pattern which I thought fitted well with the garden theme and cut a small square that was slightly wider than the pink chevron strip, so that it overlapped. Matted this onto a slightly larger piece of craft paper. Aged the edges again with Old Paper and Victorian Velvet. To give dimension I used 3d foam tape to layer the chicken wire layer onto the craft paper square.   From the ochre green damask paper I cut a largish rectangular section, layered onto piece of pink Core’dination paper from Roy G Biv that matched the pinks in the chevron paper and then onto another layer again slightly bigger out of craft paper. Distressed all three layers with Old Paper and Victorian Velvet. Now that all the background frames are ready I placed them on the album. I didn’t stick them on yet as I was still ‘playing’ with the layout.

Now for the embellishments. From the cd I printed and cut out with my craft knife 2 0 1 3 in a greenish colour. Used the colourising tool to get the colour I wanted. Once cut out inked with my Victorian Velvet. Found a place for them on the frame that I liked and placed them on (still not gluing them down).

For extra dimension and focal point I found on the www a free printable seed packet, have a look there are lots out there free to use. Printed it off, cut and coloured using by markers and distressed to make it look like it was made from craft paper. Wasn’t sure about passing craft paper through my printer as it’s quite a thin paper. I left my packet open as I liked the look but would be nice to closed and actually put seeds in the packet. Again I placed it where I liked the look of it.

You might wonder why I’m not sticking anything down yet…well I always end up changing my mind where things go so I spend ages playing with the layout. Once I’m happy I take a pic on my mobile, take it apart and use the pic to help me replace and stick. That way you hardly ever mess up your project.

Selected from the toppers and embellishments sections on the cd, elements that I liked and distressed the edges (which also helps get rid of the visible white core). Used the large pink button and tied a piece of garden twine through the button holes. The small pink tag was cut out, added a small beige pearl to the centre of the flower and attached a piece of knotted garden twine. Cut out the pink leaf. Selected a round punched element (I didn’t have a punch this size so cut carefully with my craft knife). I printed it twice as I cut the small viola flowers out with my craft knife and decoupage them on top of the round punched element with my silicon glue. I loved the round viola decoupage element against the green damask matt and layer. Cut another small viola frame from the cd and used this to the pink chevron and chicken wire matt and layers together.

I added additional embellishments from by stash with a small wooden bobbin. Used my Walnut stain to make dark brown; wanted to make it look more like an old fashioned garden twine bobbin rather than a sewing bobbin. Added some ultra sticky double sided tape of the red kind to the body of the bobbin and wrapped garden twine round it. Made a small cream rose (but a shop bought one would look just as nice) and added a small wooden peg.

To create dimension and height when adding your embellishments you can use silicon glue and foam pads and try tucking things under others. Don’t always feel you have to show all of the embellishment; sometimes it’s nice just to see part of it.

Once I was happy with the layout, I took a pic on my mobile and removed all the elements. Used my glues and tapes to re build the front of the frame. Remember when using silicon glue to allow plenty time for it to dry.

Once dry inserted the metal rings through the back cover of the album, then the insert sheets then the front cover. I tied two small sections of the same ribbon as I attached earlier, and that’s you done. I left the insert pages blank but why not decorate those also.

Keep popping in for more sneaky previews prior to the launch on the 20th May.