Vintage 70's Baby Album

Hey guys! Today I want to share some pictures of the '70's baby album I'm working on for a teacher I work with. The colors drove me a little crazy - not what I usually choose for a baby album.

Everything spread out on the dining table - seems I work best with lots of choices around me. The base of the album was created using 5 Ivory cards/envelopes from the Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby) 5" X 6.5". I assembled them using my usual hinges with a 1/4" gutter. Paper from the "Tattered and Worn" Paper Studio stack was used for photo mats and tags. The solid brown, blue and olive green are from an unknown source. The odd looking red plastic cup is holding my bottle of "The Ultimate" adhesive (upside-down to keep the really thick glue easy to access). I used the envelopes to create the album pages by sealing them closed (I use glue to hold them closed, not trusting the lick-and-stick stuff on them) and cut a scant 1/8" off the bottom to form the "pocket". This cut edge becomes the top of the page; so basically, the envelope is turned up-side down.

I used the cards for tags, cutting diagonal edges on one side of the card, then punching the edge with the Martha Stewart Doily border punch. I also used it to shape the edges of the connecting hinges.

I found some great vintage baby shower cards from my mother's and my mother-in-law's collection of baby "stuff" they collected over the years from their own showers, along with some flea market finds. I scanned the originals and re-sized them to fit the album. I don't like to cut up the original ephemera. I try to preserve it for future paper artists to discover. I own the original pieces, but don't claim to own the copyright(s) to any of them. I'm sharing them for your personal use only. Please don't put these on a CD or collage sheet for sale. You may use them in art you hand create and sell, nothing commercially produced. A link back is appreciated, but not mandatory. I'd love to see what you create using these images.

I'll post more pictures of the album showing how I used the images, along with more images for you guys soon. Take care & happy creating!

Sneak Peek!

I'm doing something a little scary - posting pictures of a piece in progress. This is the album I've been talking about using a 12" x 12" piece of card stock folded and glued instead of a paper bag with card stock on it. The fold creates a pocket for more tags and you guys know how I LOVE tags! I'm also trying a little different approach to assembling my book. I'm still using the hinge with a quarter inch gutter to give lots of room for embellishments, but I'm gluing it inside the pocket (formerly the paper bag), before closing the paper to form the pocket. Clear as mud???? I'm planning some youtube instructional videos soon and I'll show how I'm doing this.

Even without the cover, the bound edge looks clean and neat. The picture showing the pocket isn't as expressive as I had hoped, but hopefully, you can see where the pockets are.

I'm also adding fold-out pages, connected with simple folded hinges without any gutter. I'm using a Martha Stewart edge punch to add a little pizazz. These photos show one spread as all the pages are opened.

Of course the pictures didn't load in order, but you get the idea.Some day I'll take the time to learn more about uploading pictures. For now, I'm enjoying creating too much!

I'd love some feed-back on this album. As a work-in-progress I can always use some constructive criticism. I'd like to list some mini albums using this construction in Katie's & my Etsy shop. Any suggestions? Would you be interested in an album that is constructed like this? If not, what would make it more appealing? What colors/themes might look good in this style album? You guys are my "finger on the pulse" of the art-buying world :) Thanks for stopping by!