It's another happy Saturday with a new challenge from the Compendium of Curiosities! Now that I've got my project done, my day will be filled with making Christmas cookies with my daughter and one of her best friends. We get pretty artistic with our cookie decorating, so if you like that kind of thing, check me out on Instagram or Facebook this weekend.
But I digress...
It's another challenge in the Compendium of Curiosities Vol. III series, hosted by the lovely
Linda Ledbetter, featuring techniques and products from the master of distress
Tim Holtz. We're working our way through his fabulous book and the new challenge is
Pocket Pages and can be found on page 36.
We invite you to join us by creating your own project using the technique or product featured, upload it to
Linda's site here, and thus be entered to win one of two fabulous prizes! We LOVE being inspired by you! You can read all the details at the end of my post, and remember, there ARE rules so read those carefully.
Okay, on to my project...
(click on photo for a closer look)
As with all the challenges, before I begin I ask myself "What do I need? What function will my project serve?" Since it's almost the end of 2014, I decided on a year-in-review mini album made with a variety of pocket pages.
I started by creating a front and back cover for my pages by cutting two pieces of thick black chipboard 4 1/2" x 7 1/2", punched a hole with my Crop-a-dile and inserted an elastic loop to the back cover.
I started to decorate my cover with Wallflower papers and Thrift Shop ephemera. I die cut 2014 from the Word Play die.
I added more Wallflower paper to the back cover and to the insides of the front and back covers.
I grabbed 8 assorted Pocket Pages and followed the technique in the CC3 book...
...then connected the first to the cover and the last to the back cover.
Now it was time to print some photos. I scrolled through my iPhoto albums, which I always label as I import new photos, and therefore can find specific photos quickly. I decided to choose the top 20 events throughout the year. For certain events, I selected just one photo and for others--such as our trip to London--I selected a few. I came up with a total of 25 photos.
I set up a letter-size page in PhotoShop Elements and after cropping each photo to fit the space in my pocket pages, I pull each image onto the letter size page. I try to get as many as I can on the page, sometimes rotating photos to get them to fit. Then I simply print and use my paper trimmer to cut them all out.
To adorn my pages, I stuck with the ephemera packs (Thrift Shop and Expedition), several remnant rubs, chit-chat stickers, label letters, and industrious stickers.
Sorry for the glare. It was tricky taking these photos at night in my studio.
As you can see, some of the photos I selected are just everyday types of things, like Jamie with her new ombre. And other major events such as Paul at Arlington National Cemetery at his father's burial ceremony. And then there's Jamie and her best friends all stuffed in my bedroom closet during a tornado warning.
Other photos: Hubby Paul and I celebrating our 22nd anniversary, my first official art journaling class with Dina Wakley, my girlfriends making cards together, and of course our sweet Suki walking on the beach.
Flip the album around and more photos. Our trip to London, more Suki, and Jamie at MetroCon.
The final three pocket pages have photos of Jamie in color guard, Paul and I cracking up, more girlfriend time, and our little family photo at Thanksgiving. As you can see, the last space is empty, waiting for one more photo on Christmas Day.
After completing the inside pages, I came back to the front cover and embellished it further with a heart charm sewn to the elastic band, industrious corner stickers, remnant rubs, and an adage ticket cut down smaller to focus on the word Story.
The band comes all the way around the book to secure it. When lifted away, the album can open all the way out.
I love that I have this quick Year-in-Review mini book to scan through to remind myself of the fantastic year we had. I might just do this every year!
Now it's YOUR turn to give Pocket Page a try!
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Do you have the fabulous Compendium of Curiosities Vol. III book by Tim Holtz? (the master of all things vintage and distressed.) If not, you can find one at your local craft store, scrapbook store, or you can get a signed copy by Tim himself by going here.
You can find all the CC3 Challenge details and FAQs here. The lovely Linda Ledbetter is our hostess of this fun series of challenges, and all you have to do to participate is create your project, and upload to her site. Be sure, though, to read through all the FAQs so you're eligible to win...
We're working our way through this fantastic book of techniques and tips, and challenging you to join in the fun. This round's challenge is sponsored by the great folks at The Funkie Junkie Boutique who have a fabulous gift voucher to give away to one lucky random winner. Also, the Curiosity Crew's Choice scores a giant prize pack of goodies straight from Tim and Mario!
And don't forget, you can find many of these great products I've used today at The Funkie Junkie online store.