So today I have for you graduation cards that I finished off this evening.  I rounded up a passel of tools, inks and embellishments that I've received from the Shoppe and came up with 3 different looks.  The wonderful papers are from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found Idea-Ology paper stack.  These stacks come with 3 different sets of the same patterned paper (12x12 sheets, 6x6 sheets and ATC sizes with border strips).  All papers are double sided, with a patterned front side and solid color distressed back side. The Lost and Found collection is currently sold out but we do still have some of his other stacks found here.


I have been having a blast playing with the Tattered Florals Die from the Tim Holtz Alterations collection. There are 4 different size and shape flowers.  Here I cut two of the same flower and layered the lighter color underneath, curling the top layer slightly to give color differentiation between the background and the flower. 

More of the Tattered Floral die here but this time, I used the Spellbinders Flower Impressabilities template as a stencil.  I laid the template over the floral die cut and lightly sponged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I used the same template on the inner yellow flower, but used Broken China Distress Ink instead.  I really liked the effect it gave.


The bottom of the card is cut using the Alterations On the Edge Die from Tim Holtz.




For this final one, I needed red for my accent colors to match the recipient's school colors.  I love the Prima Say it in Pearls swirls and wanted to use them somewhere, but I only had pink...what to do...what to do.  Well, I just got out my Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks and sponged them a reddish color.  I added several layers to get the color I wanted, letting each layer dry before adding the next one. After adding a few punched flowers; it was easy as that.




Congratulations to all the graduates of 2010!

Have a wedding coming up?  Need to find a gift?  Have your own wedding pics to scrap?  It's the season for it...tulle, lace, silk, flowers and cake.  We have a perfect kit for you!  The Basic Grey Cappella Mini Album Kit comes complete with page by page instructions for completing your project/gift.  The Cappella line is a relatively neutral based color scheme with pale yellows, light pinks, creams and greys.  This works nicely with any wedding color coordinating cardstock you might want to add for photo mats or punched flowers. As an advance warning, I did not follow the directions exactly and added my own flair.  I'll have a list of the extras that I used at the bottom of the post.


 To start, I wanted a touch more room side to side, so I could add photo mats to my pictures.  To accomplish that, I added a punched border to the bottom and side of each page.  You could add a border to each side or no border.  I opted for only two sides, because the Martha Stewart around the page combos have set standard measurements for matching same side corners.  I didn't want to take the time to fuss with measuring and remeasuring for the small tag album so two sides was all I chose to do.  For each individual tag page, I chose a different border punch. 

The cover page of the album is a great spot to load up on 3D embellishments.  I chose a cardstock rose, made with the new Tim Holtz Alterations die.  His tutorial for creating the roses can be found here.

The instructions for the kit called for mini tags inserted between the main pages.  I personally, didn't care for the mini tags covering a portion of the photos, so I altered mine and popped out the matted photo and created an insert for the mini tags.  Add a coordinating ribbon to use as a pull-out feature. The swirls below were created with Ranger Ink Liquid Pearls using a technique I explained here.  I added mini Got Milk flowers, from Prima, inked with Distress Ink by Ranger.




One note to add here.  If you decide to create a punched border and use it along the bottom/tops of the tags, you will need to splice in a short piece of matching paper at the top.  The length of the tags are just under 6" and the paper pad included in the kit is a 6x6 paper pad.  I added about a 1/2" of matching paper to the top of the tags.  It was very easy to cover the seam by adding a decorative design or tag to each page.  For instance, I used the Lace Cut border punch  to create the orange decorative strip at the top of this page.
If you like having an added border but don't want to worry about the extra pieces, than just do a punched border on the left and right sides.




The photos are all approximately 2 1/2 x 3 1/2.  While creating my photos, I zoomed in to cut out most of the extraneous background, however, it's a good idea to leave some of it, in case you need to trim the sides of your photo down a little to fit in your tag album.  Because I added a cardstock mat to each of my photos, I found that I was trimming a little off each photo to accommodate for the mat.








I also opted to back some of the tags and sayings with coordinating cardstock.




If you are the type of person who loves coloring outside the lines, then you're like me and enjoy going off the edges with your embellies.  It's okay...it really is!  Don't be stuck by the borders...jump them.  You'll notice however, that if I had a tag going over the edge, then I inked the back of the tag with a dark neutral tone, so it wouldn't stand out as much (notice the tag in the picture below and it's backside in the picture above).






I have some beautiful rub on butterflies and couldn't resist adding one to my project.  I transferred it to a transparency sheet, cut around the edges and then heated the edges with a heat gun.  This curls the wings slightly so it jumps off the page.




I added a bit of dimension to some of the tags included with the kit. Below, I cut out an additional heart and internal wings from the solid paper in the paper pad, inked them with Distress ink and popped them up with pop dots. It's a nice little way to perk up your pages without creating thick embellishments for the inside part of the album.








If you find you don't want to use all the tags included in the kit, a good idea is to cut out part of the tag.  I cut out the word "Cherish" below with the little flourish to add to another tag.






Whew, and the end!


Supplies used:
Basic Grey Capella Mini Album Kit

Supplies used outside of kit:
AC Cardstock - all orange cardstock added
Various Martha Stewart Border punches
Tim Holtz Alteration Tattered Floral Die
Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz
Quickutz Flourish Die

Distress Inks by Ranger (various)
Liquid Pearls by Ranger (various)
Mini Got Milk Flowers by Prima

Various Sizzix Dies (flourishes, photo corner punches)
Ribbon