It's a Zoo Out There

I had the pleasure of making a new friend at a baby shower recently, and she's expecting her first little bundle of joy in a few months. She knows she's having a boy (yeah for boys), and wanted me to make her a name book to showcase some special photos of her son-to-be!

The nursery theme is monkey's, and the colors are espresso, sage & yellow...so awesome! I wanted the book to have a little variety, so I decided on a zoo theme (and Mom agreed) instead of doing 6 monkey layouts, and here's what the Mommy-to-be received!!!

Now for some detail:

Grandparents x's Three

I grew up with the most amazing grandparents, so I really value the relationship between a grandchild and his/her grandparents.  My son is lucky enough to have 3 sets who love him very much!

Two Grandmas recently celebrated birthdays, and Mother's Day is just around the corner..so it was my goal to create something for each of them that they could treasure forever, and what Grandma doesn't love to show off her grandchildren???

No two, or three, Grandmas are exactly the same, so each of their books are a little different.

K:

I:

D:

S:

Name that Baby

I've been waiting almost 2 weeks to post this project...I had so much fun creating this special keepsake! My old neighbors (and friends) are having their second baby, just weeks before my second is about to arrive, and I was able to go an celebrate the pending arrival with the beaming Mommy this past weekend! My friends already have an adorable little boy at home, so they have most of what they need for the newest member of the family, so I wanted to give them something unique to have for years to come! I decided on a mini-album, but instead of the word LOVE, or BABY, I went with the NAME :D Here's the final product...

E-T-H-A-N

"T" - New Arrival Page

"H" - the "Announcement" Page

"A" - Plane & Banner

"N" - Choo Choo

The nursery theme is planes, trains & cars, so I wanted to throw in a couple of elements to tie that together. The other pages are just all about baby! Pages & letters were cut from chipboard & covered with scrapbook paper from the stack "All About Boys," seems fitting doesn't it. The dimensions for the book itself are 5" tall, and starting with the first page out, it's 3", 5", 7", 9" & 11" wide. Letters were all cut at 3" x 5". All photo mats fit the standard wallet size photos. Embellishments were cut from the New Arrival & My Community Carts.

If you have any questions on how I created this album, or are interested in purchasing an album for yourself, please contact me at sandiegocoley@yahoo.com

Happy Monday!!! I'll have new posts all week...I'm so excited to share with you!

Mini Mod Podge

While I'm waiting for photos to be printed for one of my current projects, I thought I'd give another mini-album my attention. I bought a pre-cut, 5 page Christmas tree chipboard album at Michaels Craft Store, and decided to use Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the tree. With a few swipes of the sponge brush and little mess, the paper was on and I could easily cut away the excess with a craft knife.

Before Mod Podge:

After Mod Podge:

Now onto the fun part...embellishing!

Cover:

Page 1/2:

Page 3/4:

Page 5/6:

Page 6/7:

Embellishments were cut using the Doodlecharms & Stretch Your Imagination Cricut Cartridges. All photo mats are cut to fit a standard wallet size photo.

If you are interested in purchasing THIS particular album, or would like something similar, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at sandiegocoley@yahoo.com

Happy crafting!!!

Baby Girl Mini Album - Take 2

When I have an opportunity to create AND do something special for someone, I jump on it! For this project, my baby sister wanted to give a personal gift at a baby shower she attended this weekend, and didn't quite have the time to complete something herself. She is always willing to step in and help others when they need it, so this was my turn to do something for her. Here is my creation:

B(aby):

A:

B:

Y:

Materials/Directions:

Book - Hand cut at 3, 5, 7 & 9" x 5" out of chipboard

Base Layers - Hand cut at 3, 5, 7 & 9" x 5

Photo Matting - Hand cut to fit wallet & 4x6 photos

Embelishments - Cut using Cricut New Arrival Cartridge

If you are interested in creating a custom word book (it does NOT have to be a baby album), please let me know...I'd love to make you something just your own!!!

Baby Girl Mini Book

A longtime girlfriend (nearly 28 years) of mine is expecting her first baby...a little girl! I know that I just LOVE getting personal keepsakes as gifts, I wanted to do something special for her. I have seen a lot of different word books, and some just seemed more complicated than they needed to be. I came up with this simple & sweet version for my friend to include a few pictures to show off to her family and friends!!! B-A-B-Y:

A:

B:

Y:

Book - George & Basic Shapes Cricut Cartridge, cut using Design Studio at 3, 5, 7 & 9" x5" (black chipboard)

Top Layers - George & Basic Shapes Cricut Cartridge, Cut using Design Studio taking .25 inches off width & lenght to create a natural border

Letters - George & Basic Shapes Cricut Cartridge, cut using Design Studio all letters are 3"x5"

Matted Frames - All handcut to fit either a wallet size print, or 4x6 photo

Embelishments - New Arrival Cricut Cartridge (cut at different sizes depending on space required)