Paper Bag Album Cover

Hey Everyone! Happy Hump Day! Only a few days till the weekend and I can't wait! There's plenty of crafting to be done. I have a few birthday cards I need to make this week, as well as, my paper bag album and I'm also helping a friend design a one of a kind Hello Kitty b-day party. Plus, I have my mom stuff and housework, so you can see that my plate is pretty full. But ,since we women are so adept at multi-tasking, I'm sure I can get all this done with only a few meltdowns here and there. I was able to create the cover for my paper bag album sans meltdowns. My hope is I can do the other pages justice. Here's the pic of the cover:

 

I LOVE IT! The papers I purchased from my local Walmart really set the tone for the rest of the album to come. I used a ColorBok paper stack called "Delilah" to create the cover. This stack has alot of beautiful patterned papers in pinks, greens, blues and a few bold colors like red and yellow. It really is a beautiful collection! So, the next time you're at Walmart make sure you check out the paper. You might be surprised by what you find!

 

Now, I know what you're thinking. There's alot of complicated things going on here, I can't possibly do that. YOU CAN! Alot of what you see is a technique called Paper Piecing. Excluding the letters and rosettes, I used 3 papers from the stack and cut out the patterned circles, lace edge and flourish. The trick is to layer them to create the illusion of a single sheet of patterned paper. 

 

Once I had it all adhered down, I moved on to the rosettes. I cut three strips measuring 1 x 10" and scored every 1/4 ". You fold along the score lines back and forth all the way to the end, then glue the ends together. Quick Tip: Overlap the ends a little so that the folds meet up. It makes it a lot easier when you push down on it to form the rosette. There are alot of videos on YouTube showing how to make these. You need a circle, either punched or cut out, to adhere the rosette to to maintain its shape. For the middle of the rosette, I used chipboard circles and a lace heart to finish it off.

 

Now, for the chipboard letters. I got these from a Cosmo Cricket set my husband purchased for me at a local flea market. Its a western ABC set that I customized to fit my cover. I took papers from the stack, glued the chipboard letters and trimmed around it using my craft knife. I used Stickles on some of the letters and used Crystal Effects from StampinUp on the others. It's a great way to customize chipboard pieces and make them your own. I adhered the letters to the paper background with Glue Dots.  I think it adds texture and dimension to the cover.

 

Finally, the banners in the top right corner were made using paint chips. I picked them up when I purchased the paper. Just cut into banner shapes, stickle every other one, offset them, add rhinestones and then adhere. It adds another interesting element. And that completes the cover of my album.

 

Before I end this post (my hand is going to fall off from all this typing), I forgot to mention that the cover was cut at 5 x 10". With this measurement, I know that every page for this album will need to be cut at 5 x 10". It makes it easy to layer your pieces and get it looking the way you want it before you attach to the album. Also, I inked all the edges ,except the letters, in a light brown ink to give it a more shabby chic look.

 

I hope you all enjoyed this project, I had fun creating it. Stay tuned for more. I'll be starting the second page today and hopefully I can post it tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day and Peace!