Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary.

Recently I had the greatest pleasure to be asked to make a photo album for a customer who having seen a previous album I made using the amazing Graphic 45 paper collection A Ladies Diary, wanted something similar for a wedding present.

This is the front cover.  As the album was travelling to South Africa it had to be fairly flat for transporting so there were some limitations in the amount that I could use to decorate the cover.  Here I did a lot of fussy cutting and used my sizzix Eclips machine both here on the front and throughout to accessories with die-cuts.  Here I used a die-cut of a hand mirror and adhered a fussy cut lady from the collection.  I also die-cut a frame and added one of the stamp cut-outs from the paper.  I have used a Tim Holtz embellishment, a Graphic 45 button to act as a closure and two button charms on a ribbon.  A clock charm was also added as a necklace around the hand mirror.

On the outside spine I use my Decorative Doodles Shapes and Alphabet cartridge to draw this manikin .  I love how the silver pen has drawn this out it looks really stunning.  I then cut around the shape and adhered it down.

In the inside cover I used the same cartridge and on my 5th attempt was happy with the drawing and also the writing inside.  

With page I cut around one of the borders on a page and adhered it to two sides of the page.  I then fussy cut flowers and two of the ladies.  The lady in middle was adhered only on the  stop and bottom and I used Claudine Helmuth multi-medium in matte to add some strength  to parts of the cut out that were particularly fragile.  I also used Ranger's Glossy Accents to add to her hat and fur trim around her dress.  Throughout this album there has been extensive fussy cutting, which I love to do.

In these pages once again there has been a lot of fussy cutting of flowers and my Eclips cartridge making the hand mirror and perfume bottles.  Both ladies have been cut from the paper and with +Basic Grey magnets attached them to the back to ensure they close. 

These pages were a lot of fun.  The art deco type borders were die cut from the Decorative Doodles cartridge as was the manikin.  The left hand page also has a place for adding either a photo mat or some memorabilia.  The right hand side page has a booklet tied with a ribbon and places for photos or journaling inside. 

Here is a picture of the left-hand page which opens up and has a place for pictures on the flap and also a tag placed under a band, which has been cut out and mounted on black card stock for additional strength and design.  Again lots and lots of fussy cutting.

These pages again have places for photos and for journaling both within the tag and the lift up page underneath the tag.  7 Gypsies metal embellishments have been used on the blue cut out on the right-hand page.  On the left page the Eclips cartridge was used again using a doily template where 4 were cut out and then a brad attached to allow the pages to fan out.

A view of the page with the flap lifted up.  There is also a small wallet type booklet with small photo mats inside, which have had the corners punched with a photo corner punch to enable the easy insert of photos.

 This page was lots of fun.  I used the Holiday cartridge to make the picket fence then fussy cut the lady out and made a booklet and used embroidery thread to bind the pages together. Tags and cut outs were used on the left side page and again 7 Gypsies metal embellishments adorn the band, which has again been adhered to black card stock.

I loved making these pages.  On the left  I again die-cut the manikin out and then made a cross over page, which is meant to emulate a corset.  This has been secured down and allows a photo mat wallet, above in picture, to be placed behind.  The manikin I used an darning needle and embroidery thread to zig-zag and make corset ribbons.  On the right I had seen other crafters make similar pages where the page is reinforced behind and then slit with a craft knife.  A tag is then added.  I think this has a fantastic effect for the page and it looks great.  The tags also have a place for photos on a mat or for journaling.  A ribbon was also added.

This is another view of the pages with the booklet removed and the flap page exposed.

These are the final pages and for me the Grand Finally.  I love them so much.  I had seen Anne Rostad first use this in one of her albums.  You can follow Anne on Youtube, xannero1 or follow her blog annespapercreations.

I hope you have enjoyed this run through and if you wish to see the album in more detail below is the video I made, which is also available to see on my Youtube site Scottishcrafter or click the link:

http://youtu.be/D1uej5V_R1w