Valentine Tag Blocks

Hey there, everyone! I am ashamed to realize that it's been so very long since I've made a blog post.  The holidays flew in like a surprise winter storm and passed through even quicker! Did anyone else think this holiday season was just a blur? I haven't been creating very much lately, but I did get around to making a set of Valentine tags to go on my Words for all Seasons block set that I purchased last year at the Scrapbook Expo from the Little Blue House. If you haven't had the pleasure of shopping there, I highly recommend it! Tracy Pounds and her staff are the most friendly, helpful and creative bunch of ladies. The store is so inviting and the best part about it is the fact that you walk in and feel like you're walking into your very own creative studio. She has tons of great workshops and kits for all kinds of different projects, whether it be page layouts, mini albums or even mixed media projects. Go visit them and tell them we sent you!
I almost always sketch out my ideas. They don't always come out the way I draw them, because let's face it, this is a creative process and you have to be open to how the ideas develop and evolve. That's really the best part about creating, don't you agree? Please forgive my drawing skills, my daughter is the one with the talent in that area. :)

Wonderland Mini

As you can see I'm still in Halloween mode and have another mini to share with you. It has taken me a little over a week to get this finished due to a sick little one and that pesky little thing known as my full time job.  All distractions aside, I love making minis. You can finish them in a short time and to me that is all kinds of gratifying. Plus, they make great gifts. I have this little problem, maybe you can relate, but when I buy paper, I almost always purchase several in the same collection and even some embellishments that coordinate for the sole purpose of making a mini album.  It's a sickness really. As soon as I see a collection I like, I can almost see the completed album in my head before I really even know what the design is. Does that make sense? Anyhoo.........

 The photo mat behind the Queen and Alice can be removed, so a photo can go on the page behind it and on the mat.

 A photo can go behind the "frame" on the page to the right

 This page is a pop-up when the book is laying down and the purple mat is removable

 The purple photo mat can be removed and the photo for the right side goes behind Alice

 These photo mats can be removed as well and again the photo can go behind the checkered stripe

 I used a magnetic closure under the tiny pumpkin on this envelope

 I love to do fussy cutting on elements from the papers, you just simply add pop dots to the elements in layers and it adds a sense of depth and dimension. It's hard to capture in photos, especially when you're using a phone to take pics with, but hopefully you can see it a little bit closer here.

I made this mini with a few interactive pages. Some of the photo mats can be taken out and photos placed underneath as well as on the mats.  The pages are made out of long envelopes, which made it easy to make tags to insert into the ends, making for even more photo mats or journaling space.  I used a binding system as well. That was a first for me. I usually use the bind-it-all or use a album that is already bound in some way.  If you get on YouTube there are a ton of videos on binding systems, just pick the one that will work best with the type of album you're working on.

Until next time.........