We live in troubled times. Suddenly the familiar world around us has become a scary place, where we must avoid social activity and stay away from people we love. Social gatherings, meetings with friends, chatting over coffee or hugging our grandchildren – for many of us these simple pleasures have become forbidden fruit . We must find our ‘Happy’ in other ways, reaching out to others through social media. So welcome back to my space my crafty friends, I hope and pray that I find you well. Let’s talk about crafty things for a while.
Memory Books are my latest papercrafting passion. They’re so much fun to make with their hidden away pockets and surprising little flips and flaps. There are so many ways to do this, its not difficult to add variety and texture to your finished book. And there are also lots of ways to build in some future expansion.
Choosing just the right paper, the colours and then mixing and matching so that each page is a little treasure, is a joy – then you have the fun of tucking mini photo albums inside hidden pockets, adding tags and bookmarks, or folding a special note into a beautiful envelope disguised as an embellishment.
What I like to do is leave some pages with extra folders tucked away so that new photos can be added later. I might slip some tags and tiny envelopes into pockets, so that the recipient can use them, give them away or just keep them as they are, if they prefer. Memory Books are the gifts that keep on giving.
In the one above I chose Crafter’s Companion Vintage Lace paper for most of the pages and embellishments, with its delicate hues of purple and turquoise. The designs are so pretty, quite etherial and worked perfectly for this little album.
The pages were cut from the die set: Keepsake Insert Creator Book of Special Memories by Tonic Studios. You can make memory books in so many ways, with or without dies. Sometimes I just use simple folds to create mini albums (I use the Crafer’s Companion Ultimate Pro to score) which I’ll tuck away in pockets or adhere to a page with a simple hinge.
I made this project in a day. I’m not a fast crafter – I enjoy the process too much to rush through it! Now I just need to add some photos to the pockets and write a little note to my friend. I hope she will enjoy my gift as much as I’ve enjoyed making it.
Have fun with all your crafting. See you again soon.
Big Crafty Hugs – Sandie xxx
Jolly Robins 