Everything’s Coming Up Roses

Everything’s Coming Up Roses Paper Bag Mini Album with Polly’s Paper Studio

Hello, Friends!

I have such a treat in store for you today!  I just received my Everything’s Coming Up Roses Creativity Kit from Polly’s Paper Etsy.  Oooh la la!  This kit is gorgeous.  I could not wait to get my craft on!  I created this fun paper bag mini album to share with you here today.  I think you are going to swoon when you see it, so you’d better sit down.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 01I told you so!  Honestly, Polly’s Paper outdid herself with this amazing kit!  You could use it for cards, banners, wall hangings…anything your creative mind can imagine.  But I had a stack of paper bags on my desk…and a cake box that I’d saved when making Sophie’s birthday cake….so I made a shabbylicious paper bag mini album with a hidden hinge binding to share with you today.  I also have a short (2 minutes!) video you can watch at the end of this post.  I think it helps you get a better idea of the flow of the album.  But I know my paper peeps love to study still photos, too, and trust me, I have plenty of those!  You might want to grab a cuppa and a snack before we get started!

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 04Yes, friends, it all started with a Duncan Hines cake box (butter recipe yellow…my fave!) that I cut down to measure 5.25″ x 6.25″ x 2″.  I just cut of the top and bottom flaps, flatten the box, and then carefully slice off one of the sides, just enough to open my box up.  Then I trim it to size, leaving one of the sides completely intact to act as the spine for my book.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 05After sanding the print side of the box pretty thoroughly,I sprayed it with a light layer of Ranger Adirondack “Espresso” Color Wash.  After that dried, I did another layer and so on until i had achieved the desired depth of color.  Then, I ran it through my die cutting machine with an embossing folder from Anna Griffin called “Poppy.”  I randomly painted Vintage Photo Distress Crackle Paint onto the cover, let it dry and do its thing.  Then, I tapped the entire outer cover with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder.  The result?  A cover that feels and looks like aged leather…and is water resistant and super sturdy.  Yes, it takes a little time, but it’s so much fun, and the finished product is definitely worth the effort put forth.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 15I cut a strip of white burlap and glued it to the spine, wrapping around the front cover.  I love the added texture and “cloth binding” effect this gives to a mini album. Once I’d added my hidden hinge binding to the interior, I used a power punch to add a hole to the top of the album and strung pretty ribbons and fibers through it.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 03Ok, back to the cover.  Naturally, I fell in love with this romantic vintage image from the Everything’s Coming Up Roses Creativity Kit.  I layered it with papers and tags from the kit.  I dug into my own stash for the clocks, roses, buttons, photo mounts and doilies.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 06When you receive a creativity kit from Polly’s Paper, it’s just like getting a birthday present in the mail.  Everything is wrapped up in tissue paper and tied with a ribbon.  Sigh….so lovely!  And then the kit is tucked into a darling paper bag like the one you see on the left hand side of this album.  This one was such a perfect color match for the kit, that I folded it up and used it to create a tag pocket.  I used my own paper stash for the end papers and photo mounts in the book, but all the other images and papers come with the kit.  It even has pre-tied bows!

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 07I folded up my paper bags so that each page would be a double pocket page.  The base of the bag is where my focal images are displayed.  Then there’s a pocket behind that for tags or photo mounts, and the bigger pocket that is actually the top opening of the bag.  Someday, if you ask me real sweet  (LOL) I’ll do a tutorial for making the bag base.  It’s not at all difficult, and makes a great base for a page.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 08Here’s another gorgeous lady from the kit, one of the pre-tied bows and beautiful, already fussy cut for you, roses.  Swoon…..

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 09I love the way everything in the kit coordinates.  All the papers and images go together beautifully!  Here is a photo of one of the tags I tucked into the pocket.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 10Glorious roses!  Be still my heart! I do ink all my edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to make them look properly aged.  And I sometimes crumple the ephemera, like I’ve done here to give it a worn, shabby appearance.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 11Another of the pre-tied bows that comes in the kit.  The sentiment banners comes in the kit, too.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 12Here’s the last page.  One last pocket for tucking in treasures.  You can never have too many pockets!

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 13I just had to show you a closeup of this beautiful vintage bicycle image.

Everythings Coming Up Roses Mini Album Kathy Clement 14This album is a super chunky monkey, so I had to tie it shut.  Before I layered on my cover images, I added a strip of antique gold plaid ribbon to the center of the cover, leaving about 8″ of ribbon hanging over each side.  These ends tie together into a pouftacular bow!

As promised, here is a very short…just 2 minute….video for you to enjoy.

 

Thanks so much for joining me today!  I hope everything’s coming up roses for you and yours….

Cheerio,

kathy

P.S.  If you’re interested in purchasing this mini album, you can find it in my Etsy Shop.

16 thoughts on “Everything’s Coming Up Roses

  1. Carol

    A lovely few minutes of relaxing video Kathy, love the music to go with it to. Gorgeous project , just love all the bits and pieces you have put together. You are such a clever and inspiring last x

  2. Pamellia

    This is so soft and romantic Kathy, I could almost melt into all that pink lusciousness! I adore all the vintage images, and that floral cameo is just dreamy!! What an amazing feminine project, I could stare at this for hours and still find new things to adore! hugs 🙂

  3. pollyspaper

    Oh my stars this is really just a feast for the eyes. Every single detail thoughtfully arranged beautifully coordinated. You’ve really made that kit look fabby..thanks for your hard work! Now I’ll have to find someone who uses cake mix boxes so I can beg for their boxes lol.

  4. Pattie Jns

    Hi Kathy, WOW! this is a beautiful project and fantastic kit.I like the idea of using the cake box, i do the same for making bookmarks, don’t buy chip board. This is an other very good idea to use by the way? how did you attach the pages inside the album.? You always help me to create and recycle, helps the budget so much an keeps the juices flowing……have a good day….LOL

  5. soozyb2013

    Darlene Pavlick took the words right out of my mouth!!! Love this album and all the things that your got from Polly’s Paper Studio! Great job!!!

  6. Darlene Pavlick

    Oh my stars! You just amaze me with your talents my friend!!!
    A cake box … really! Now why didn’t I think of that … well done!!!
    This is absolutely STUNNING and of course, so well put together from front to back!
    AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS! WOWZA!!!

  7. 2amscrapper

    best cake mix for ooey gooey cookies! And now something even better–using the box for an album cover–the technique on it is fabulous. What gorgeous inside pages. How did you make the interior spine? Everything is perfection.

  8. Candy Colwell

    Shut the front door!! This is awesome, Kathy!! You have totally peaked my curiosity and I have GOT to try that cover using A CAKE MIX BOX?!? Really?!? Your adornment of that mini album cover is awesome. The papers are vintage divine! Your bouquet of roses on the cover are so sweet, so delicate and give a wonderful feminine quality to this beautiful album. Love the burlap spine! Love each and every page. Just beautiful!

  9. Robin

    Another fantastico mini album, Kathy! It’s just scrumptious (which I had to look up in order to spell correctly and means “very pleasant to taste…so not scrumptious in the absolutely correct meaning of the word), but a feast for the eyes for sure! I always so love your projects which bring beauty to my life each day. Thanks for including little bits and pieces about the construction and your video is lovely.

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