Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A surprise for Neenie

The reason I started this blog yesterday, was because so many friends, loved ones, and new acquaintances have asked to see some of the books and projects that I have made in the past.  Since I have posted many of these projects on Facebook for family and friends, I didn't know how to share with those people that didn't have a Facebook account.  So, for those of you who may be on Facebook, and subscribing to this blog, I apologize ahead of time for any redundancies that you will be seeing.  Hang in there though, and keep checking, as new projects recently completed will be posted also.  

Since I started scrapbooking about 10+ years ago, I found over time that I could not find the right color, or right size of album, not expandable enough, and many other negatives regarding pre-made albums, for preserving events and precious pictures that I had.  That started my quest to make my own albums.  While searching to make a traditional post-bound album, I stumbled upon wonderful creations by other scrapbookers, called a mini album.  OMG, what wonderful little books/albums these were - the possibilities were endless.  So that's how the handmade book addiction started.  That was many years ago, lots of ugly ones, and lots of pretty ones resulted by trying new techniques and applying numerous techniques that I had acquired from various avenues, and putting them all together into one new concept.  

Every day, (hopefully),  for several days, I would like to post a collection of pictures of various books and projects that were made, and ultimately given away to someone special in my life.  I will also try to point out some of the techniques that were used and I invite you to ask questions or leave comments on any of the items that you see - I LOVE TO TALK HANDMADE BOOKS and just about paper crafting in general.

One of my first projects was a thank you album for my sister, Janeen - affectionately referred to as Neenie (which is what I called her as a small child and it stuck).  She was gracious enough to mastermind a large baby shower, in Michigan where we both lived, for my daughter who was pregnant with her first child and lived in Florida.  This was back in 2006.  It was my first endeavor at making this "purse" styled album, but it turned out cute.


Obviously, this is the front of the album - most, if not all, of the pages had machine stitching on them to add dimension and a nice, finished look.


Here is a closer view of the cover.


Here is a closeup of the little tag that hung from a ribbon attached to the handle.



Inside are various pockets which held pictures of my sister and I as children, along with our parents.  Each pocket held several pictures on double matting (double sided tags), with ribbons attached.

 
A picture of us along with sentiments and embellishments.


Fun pictures of us wearing the "birthday club hats" that my sister made for all of us in the club and we had to wear on our birthdays.


The envelope on the left page has a magnetic closure that held a "private love message" to my sister, and the pictures slid under ribbons crisscrossing the page on the right.


Here is a close up of the little envelope shown above that I made for enclosing the note to my sister.



Ribbon crisscrosses, pockets, metal embellishments and skeleton leaves surround pictures of us.


Close up of the left page with ribbon crisscrosses and pocket.


And finally, the back of the purse album.

Such fun to make - it was the first of many "same yet different" books of this style that I made - I just swapped out the papers, and changed the embellishments - I loved the concept, and loved the sturdiness of the book when completed.  

The lady that I got the inspiration from was Tonya Strange on Ebay - she lives in Lulu, GA - she's one of my Facebook buddies to this day - all because of my seeing on of her creations on Ebay, she custom made one for me, and I took off them there on my eternal search to learn to make it.  Ah, so long ago .......

That's it for this one ........... hope you enjoyed looking, like I enjoyed making it.

Shar


2 comments:

  1. Nice post! You are fast learner :-) great photos!

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  2. A 'SURPRISE' FOR NEENIE....really excites me. I love all the little nooks and cranies with notes and pictures tucked everywhere. These make our memories together fresh and new all over again. I can't tell you how I love my treasures from you....you are my memory. The ideas you have and how you put them all together is a gift in itself. Love you, Neen

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