Follow your Bliss

One of my paper crafting passions is creating mini albums to share as gifts with my friends and family. Using a Glitz Design Chipboard Album, teamed up with other Glitz goodies from the Laced with Grace collection I created this mini album to give as a gift for a very special friend.

A transparent Peek a Boo lies beneath the Journal and Title stickers which decorate the front cover of the album.

Butterflies were hand cut from patterned paper and layered before a little Glitz frosting was applied to give this cover a touch of bling.

The inside page was covered with patterned paper and embellished using What Nots and Stickers from the Laced with Grace collection. A length of lace was wrapped around the stickers before they were attached to the page and then further embellishments added to create a point of interest.

Decorating only one of the pages from each two page spread meant that there is plenty of room in this mini album for your journaling and photographs. To keep the embellishment design running smoothly throughout the album I decorated just along the edge of one of each of the pages. A Sticker was cut in half and attached to the page before being embellished further. The remaining sticker can then be used elsewhere through out the mini album.

Attaching the Stickers to cardstock and then cutting them out makes them a lot sturdier and also allows for the use of 3d foam pads to be applied. By layering the Stickers above Glitzers it added plenty of dimension to this page.

The use of blooms and lace adds texture to the page.

A Title Sticker was adhered to a Peek A Boo before being 3d layered across a Butterfly What Not from the Laced with Grace collection. Pearls were added to the outer edge of the accent sticker to draw focus to the page title. A Glitzer sticker was cut and attached to the bottom left of the page -

leaving the other half to be used on the opposite page - helping to keep a sense of continuity running throughout the mini album.

A Paper Layer from the Laced with Grace collection was used to cover this page which was embellished using a Glitzer decorated with a bloom. Wording was added to the page using Wood Grain Teeny Alphas.

To create a framed base for the blooms to sit upon a Glitzer was cut in half before being attached to the page. A Butterfly was hand cut from the patterned paper and attached using 3d foam.

A large What Not was used to create the background for this page, which was embellished using a floral design which had been hand cut from a smaller What Not.

The remaining half of the brown frame Sticker was used to peep out from beneath the lace and a small rose used to embellish.

A combination of What Nots and Stickers were used to decorate the inside of the back cover, which had first been covered with patterned paper.
Finally the book was bound by threading along the spine using a length of coordinating ribbon.

If you have used one of the Glitz Designs Chipboard Albums then please leave a link here because I'd love to see them.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for dropping by,
T.x.

Craving the return of NORMALITY

A quick catch up - The first weekend of May I had the pleasure of spending time with a great bunch of gals at the "creative heART & soul retreat" - where I taught a 8x8 album class using calico, crochet pieces, tulle, glass bottles and a hole host of other yummies from Glitz Designs

My class was so much fun to teach and I hope the ladies enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed creating it especially for them.
When the event came to an end all of the delegates were asked to sign a slate heart - which was then hung around a tree which was planted by the event organiser in the grounds of the venue - what a wonderful way to leave our mark eh?

The retreat was without doubt the best UK weekend event that I have ever attended - the venue was idyllic, the food divine, the rooms were luxurious, the sweetie bar was far to tempting and all thanks to the ever so talented Debbie Nicholas. I'm excited to have been invited to return and teach again at the next event in October, which I believe is sold out - however there a just a few spaces left for the May event which is being held in Lake Windemere......with the ultra talented Lida de Witte and Jen Starr teaching at the event I'm sure it will be a weekend of non stop creativity.

During May I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Israel where I was invited to teach three classes. My stay in Israel may have been short but the memories I have will last a lifetime. The event organiser, Alice, was the perfect host and shared with me some of the sights and sounds of her country - which of course is filled with so many biblical and historical places to visit.

Tel Aviv

                                                                                                     The beautiful Alice

The girls who attended the classes made me feel very welcomed and at ease and we had fun as we worked with products from Glitz Designs, Fancy Pants and Echo Park.

Within hours of my return from Israel things started to go a bit whacky around here.
Hubs got sick - really sick and had to undergo emergency surgery to his leg (which after 11 months of suffering still isn't sorted!) He developed an infection in his bone marrow which is a tricky little blighter to clear - anti b's don't appear to be working and he's too and fro to the hospital several times a week.
More surgery is needed on his leg, but things are a bit up in the air until we can get the infection under control - with so much uncertainty as to when the surgery is going to take place I was left with no other choice but to decline any invitations to teach overseas for the rest of 2011 :(

Things have gone from bad to worse for us as a family and to be honest I haven't had very much time to do anything else but look after all of my boys the best that I can. On the odd afternoon when normality comes and pays us a visit I sneak out my stash and manage to have an hour or two to play - sadly though, normality doesn't drop by very often at the moment :(

I'll leave you with a few of the LO's that I have managed to create and wish you all a happy and peaceful Summer - whats left of it.

designed for Scrap Rat Kits

Glitz Designs

T.x.