Butterflies & Dragonflies Pocket Photo Album

Evening All,

I'm very late today ... had another dentist appointment this morning. I thought it was just for a check on the root canal job done last week, but no! An old filling ... a very old filling ... needed to be replaced - is there no end to the torture our teeth give cause to??? Anyway that should be it for now :)

Here's another reason why I'm later today.

Looks like a card, doesn't it? Aha! ... but it's not, there's more to it than can be seen at first sight. Here's the inside:

It's an album with two pockets for photos. I've included two double-sided photo mats, but if these were omitted the pockets could just as easily hold gift vouchers, money, sachets of hot chocolate, tea bags or even CDs - the possibilities are almost endless :)

I spotted Dawn Bibby on TV recently doing a demo of one that was already cut out and ready-to-go and thought I'd try to make my own. It is made from one sheet of 12"x12" double-sided pattern paper, scored at 6" horizontally and vertically, folded and then a triangle cut away from the lower half of the sheet to form the pockets ... hope you can follow that explanation, but won't blame you if you can't, it's easier to do it than to explain it :) Once the sheet is folded in half again and the long sides of the pockets are glued down, using that really sticky DS tape, all that is left to do is to decorate it and make the photo mats if required.

In all, I used three sheets of coordinating papers from a lovely K & Company paper pack. The butterflies ... actually, they might be moths ... I cut out of one sheet, likewise the dragonflies/damselflies - you can tell I'm good at identifying insects, can't you :))  And the other sheet was used for the making the trim, toppers and photo mats.

This is the back - I didn't give the embellishments as much dimension on the back as the front so that it can be laid down flat.

Materials I used:

• K & Company, Susan Winget's Nature 12"x12" paper pad
• Tools: Hougie Board for scoring; scalloped-edge punch; tiny butterfly punch; scissors; guillotine
• Adhesives: Red DS tape; photo glue; glue gel; a glue pen
• Creative Expressions Gilding Flakes - Sunshine
• Iridescent glitter
• Embellishments: Marianne cotton lace and ribbon; lilac gems

It occurs to me that although I have made this project using three sheets of paper from the same pad it could just as easily be made from one sheet for the base and all the trims and embellishments could come from my stash mountain.

I think it would make a perfect little present so hope to find the time to make a few more ... now that I've made a practice piece, the next one shouldn't take me so long to do :)

I'm submitting this project to the following challenges:

Craft Us Crazy - Challenge 24 - Altered Items and/or Anything But A Card
The Joyful Stamper's, Inspire Me Fridays 52 - Anything Goes!

It's just as well the weather is cooling down again because tomorrow is Barbara Gray's workshop day. The EM is beating a hasty retreat and leaving me to hog the big TV in the lounge!

The most surprising and happy news I've had this week is that I'm to be a great-grandmother again. My granddaughter, Jenny, made the announcement last night - they are hoping for a brother for Rhian - and the baby is due some time around November, EDA not confirmed yet. Just in time for Christmas :)

That's me for today and if I don't get this published soon it will be tomorrow already.

I wish you all a lovely weekend, albeit a tad chillier in the UK that what we've become accustomed to.

Take care and happy crafting,