A Soul's Heartbeat: September 2018

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Authentique's Solitude Christmas Mini Album

a Country Craft Creations design team share

It's so hard to realize that Christmas is in the air, well at least the air of all of us crafty people. Tammy Merrill from Country Craft Creations sent me the new Authentique Solitude to play with and it just oozes Christmas memories.

To me it's a very nostalgic collection full of images of Christmas and Holiday's past. It will be the perfect mini album to house a huge amount of this years Christmas memories. I did a little cutting and pasting of images on the front cover to scoot the girls under the tree limbs and pull the limbs around them like a snowy embrace. Using ArtDeco Snow Marker, Stickles Icle and Red brought the cover to life.

This is a 5"x7" mini with a 3" spine. It's constructed of medium weight chipboard and covered with Artisan Kraft Cardstock. All edges were inked in Tim Holtz Iced Spruce Distress Ink. There are 8 pages with many flips and flaps to add to the amount of space housing photos. This mini was designed so that the receiver could add a multitude of 4"x6" photos.

I'm going to do a few tutorial videos, which will be added to the Authentique Solitude Tutorial Video Series Playlist on my YouTube channel. I'm not going to walk you through where to glue each paper and embellishment but instead show you how I created the page designs I used. That way you'll be able to use these designs in any project you so choose. There is no cost to use my designs I'd just appreciate a shout out and link back to my blog, facebook or youtube.

I used a split page design on the page on the right above. You do this by splitting the hinge in half and adding a swing side pocket to the top and the bottom. I also included this adorable belly band to slide a mat overtop. I like using something like this or the stopper on the left page above to keep everything neat and tidy and help pages and photos from escaping the mini.

I also included some swing tab closures in this mini in place of magnets. They keep the pages together and provide a nice visual interest as well, like the little bird above.

There are lots of mats, tags and a little book or two like the one above tucked here and there. This allows for many more photos and memories to be added. Don't forget when you add your photos to add journaling too so generations in the future will know where and who and why you added that photo.

On one of the tutorial videos I'll share how to make this swing out page using the belt loop tabs and a magnet. Super easy and super fun to do. Don't you just love the images?

As is usually the problem there is so much to share with you. I think I'll end with this photo and let you join me on the walk through video which won't share any how tos but will share each page in detail with you. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your time with me!