Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Mini Album Love

My husband must think aliens stole my body. (You, too, as I haven't been around in ages.)

I'm up before 7 am, and not for the first time. There was no dynamite, no thunder, no dogs or kids jumping on the bed, and not even an alarm. Unless you count him kicking the bed a couple times, there was nothing to wake me up. In the old days, I'd have rolled over and gone to sleep. Maybe aliens did do something to me. I did visit Roswell, New Mexico several years ago...

I don't feel too guilty being up early with my computer in the bedroom even though hubby's sleeping. He turns on the TV in the middle of the night and early morning all the time when I'm trying to sleep. At least I don't have sound on and I stood up a pillow to block the light to his side of the bed. I don't know how loud the typing sounds when everything else is silent. It sounds pretty darned loud, LOL. And this is in a house full of kids, dogs, and cats who are usually extremely boisterous.

I've decided I want to write another book. That's not a big deal. I've had more than sixty romance novels published and could probably write more of those. I'm sure my publishers are wondering where the heck I've been. My passion has changed from sexy guys to cute layouts and mini albums. You know, I think aliens really did something wonky to me. I'm not sure I know myself anymore. I want to write some non-fiction books about making mini albums and scrapbooking. Like I have the credentials.

So, I'm on a mission to get some credentials.

First, I'll post more (a LOT more) here - the urge happens everytime I see "Julie & Julia".

Second, I'll put in bids for design teams.

Third, or perhaps second, I have to hone my photography skills and get a better backdrop to photograph my work.

Fourth, I'll keep taking as many scrapbooking classes as I can. There are a lot of awesome teachers in South Florida at our local scrapbook stores. You Tube is a great teacher, too.

Fifth, I'll keep trucking, making layouts and particularly mini albums which I've fallen in love with. Hopefully, one day my family will appreciate the 12 x 12 albums I'm making for posterity. They're not too interested right now. However, I'm sure individuals who get their own books personalized to them will like them now.

I've been making mini albums for my dad and father in law for father's day this Sunday. Dad's is safely winging its way to Ohio as I type. At least it should be. My daughter put it in the mail Monday afternoon. Since my father in law lives close to me, I'm still working on his. I HATED the first mini album I made for him so I'm remaking it and am close to finishing. Last evening I added eyelets, more pictures and journaling. I have to cut more tags tonight on my baby bug, then I have to add fibers or ribbon to the tags. Then I want to hang some neat 1950's looking charms I found at Michael's. The theme is 1950's as my father in law was a teenager in the 1950's.

My dad's book was in the shape of a house that I also cut out on my baby bug. I loved how it turned out. The fibers and tool charms added a nice finishing touch. I added a ton of pockets and fold out cards to make it very interactive.






For my dad's mini album I used the house cut out from a springtime Cricut cartridge. I also cut the tags and frames from the Art Philosophy and Sentimentals Cricut cartridges.

Since the mini album I'm making for my father in law has a 1950's theme I've used a lot of images from the Nifty Fifties Cricut cartridge. Car # 2 image is the one I used for the page background. The cover is a pink 1958 Chevy with big dice hanging in the window. Since I'm well known as a crazy cat lady to my family, I also added a lot of cats to my pages, especially to the page dedicated to me. I dedicated one set of pages to each family member. What is shown above is only a few of the pages. We have beaucoup kids and two grandchildren, so there are a lot of pages in these "mini" albums.

Sleepy head hubby is managing to sleep through my typing so I can't take pictures of my car album yet. Perhaps in a few minutes or tonight I can snap a photo to include here.

As soon as I finish my father in law's book, I'm going to try to get a smaller book done for my daughter in law's father. Since he also lives local, I have a slight prayer of finishing a shorter mini book in time. Then I want to make one for my aunt and uncle as a late mother's day/father's day gift, my daughter's best friend for her birthday in July, my boss and supervisor for Christmas, for my friend's birthday in November, etcetera, etcetera...

I've caught the mini album bug, what can I say? They're so cute and so much fun to make.

I'll be exploring more ways to make hidden pockets and dress up the tags more, and post how I did it here when I'm not in such a rush for a holiday. I'll make my Christmas gifts in July so I can catch my breath.

So, for now, sweet new and old friends, or maybe just the empty void, I bid you adieux. The morning sun is rising and my day job is calling.

Ah! Hubby is alive! So I can grab a picture of my car mini album. Remember, it's still a work in progress.



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