Covered Board Book

Hi Everyone!! It has snowed here in Alberta but it is just enough snow to cover the ground and it actually looks quite pretty!! I suspect that it will be gone by Monday since it is supposed to be warmer.

The pretty snow makes me feel all nostalgic so I decided to photograph this covered Board Book that I made a while ago. My plan was to create a book to give to my son so that he knows all my wishes for him. (I know -- too sentimental but I'm a real sap!)

I started out with a child's board book -- you know those little kid books that have pages made from really heavy cardboard. This one was a Barney book, I think. I took this awesome designer paper and covered the front of the book with it. I cut and sanded the edges and sponged them with close to cocoa ink. Isn't this paper perfect for the theme of the book - unfortunately, I made this book way before I ever dreamed of having a blog and, thus, never thought to identify the maker of the paper. If I find it I'll edit later.

Then, I covered all the inside pages with paper from Die Cut With a View paper- the Old World Stack (which is absolutely beautiful and you can see a similar project made by Erika Martin[Stampin' Mama] with the same paper) and matching Bazzil cardstock that I bought at my local scrapbook store. That was a really good idea I had, to buy the designer paper and while I was at the store, I walked around the solid cardstock section and purchased colors that matched exactly with the designer sheets! I'll definately do that from now on. Some on line stores are also doing that - like Rhea at R&R Scrapbooking where I've noticed you can purchase Basic Grey designer paper packs and Rhea has listed the solid Bazzil cardstock colors that match perfectly -- way to go Rhea and any one else doing that !! It makes shopping on line a whole lot easier!!

This whole project was so much fun because I was free to design each page any way I wanted!! I really wanted a bit of an elegant feel on this blue and green page so you can see how I added the pinstripe background stamp (retired SU) onto the inside of that little envelope using Hunter Green. And I also used lots of fancy scissors and rub ons (that yummy brown swirl in the corner is from Fancy Pants designs and is called the fancy-free collection). I used the word "Wishes" from the Fancy Flexible Phrases set (SU) throughout the book -- since that was the whole point. I did lots of distressing with both Close to Cocoa (SU), Basic Black (SU) and white pigment ink from Rubber Stampede. Here is a close up of some of the finer detials:

And here are some of the other pages that are included in the book too.

The black swirls on the purple page are from Heidi Swapp called Diamond Drama 1 and they are scrapbook scenery stickers. And see that purple "string clasp", well I made that myself using a 1" circle punch some black eyelets (SU) and some string. It is pretty easy to make. On the turquoise and black page, you can see that "wishes" from FPP again and some swirls from the Finest Flourishes set (SU). I also added some paper from the Provo Craft 8x8 slab by Christina Cole.

Looking at these pictures, it is easy to see that when I scrapbook I love having interactive features. Including pockets and envelopes are a must for me. I'm not sure why but it just "feels right" to have them on my pages. I guess I love the surprise and anticipation of opening them up to see what is inside -- is it a picture or some journaling. Maybe I'll post some of my scrapbook pages with interactive features another day!!

If you like to include interactive features on your cards, scrapbooks, or other projects, I'd LOVE to see them. Leave me a comment with a link to your project! Remember, leaving a comment on my blog helps me know if you are enjoying my ideas and projects!

Thanks for visiting.