WELCOMING BABY! - Shabby Chic 1st Year Album

I finally got to make time last week to play. And I had so much fun creating this shabby chic album for my niece, Cheyanne. I've never worked in shabby chic before so this was fun to play with. I should have done an 8x8 but I am happy with how the 6x6 turned out.

This album was originally brown. I removed the plastic cover, took the posts out allowing me to dismantle the album. I used hot glue to adhere the unbleached canvas to the front and back covers and wonder-under for the spine piece. I did the inside covers with April Lovely cardstock by Core'dinations. If you've not used this cardstock before, it has a beautiful canvas texture. I chose April Lovely, Mystic Gray (which actually has a sage green tone to it) and Picket Fence. I found them at JoAnns Fabric and Crafts.

I raided my vintage lace and trim sewing tub for soft textures. The cover has 2 different layers of lace plus a strip of white/ pink daisy ribbon from The Paper Studio. All of the flowers are from Recollections except for the antiqued one in the center. That is made from 6 scallop layers punched from book pages and inked with SU Caramel. The baby buggy is made from 1 and 1/4  scallop circles punched from SU Pretty in Pink and GP White. You will find the directions HERE. I added the mini flower punch 'spokes'.

One of the embellishments I used throughout the album was the mini butterfly punch from SU. I punched some from GP white, and some from DCWV Shimmer Matstack. Some of the white ones I brushed with ink or stickles, others I left plain. For the body I used Recollections teardrops or The Paper Studio gemstones. The pink ribbon is pink grosgrain from Paper Studio bobbin.

The inside cover is stamped with an Innie Outie stamp in SU Regal Rose. I've layered the stamped GP white mat on a sheet from DCWV Garden Party. I loved the hints of the pink tones I had in the Recollections flowers. Then these were layered onto the Mystic Gray.

Here is a sample of a 2 page layout. There is a spread for each of the first 12 months of little Libby Ann's life. I used the Picket Fence for all of the 6x6 bases. The titles are printed on GP white using the MEANINGFUL font. You can download it free HERE. Each title mat was layered onto the April Lovely then Mystic Gray.

The journaling box is corner punched with an EK Success decorative corners - Lace. The pink ribbon decorative strip is layered with a soft green print from the DCWV Garden Party slab.  On the facing page, I brought in some of the vintage lace (no, that isn't paper). The photo mat is large enough to accommodate a 3x5 photo... just the right size for a 1st year picture. The concept is to see the subtle changes the child goes through from month to month that we often don't see as they occur. The only embellishments I used were the flowers from Recollections (there were 3 each of 3 color tones in the package) and the butterflies.

I know Cheyanne liked the album and I loved having the opportunity to give her a head start on documenting little Libby Ann's life. Of course, her grandma (my SIL, Kelly Sue) has a new camera and has been taking tons of pics of the mommy-to-be and is a paper crafter so I know there are more albums in their future.

Tomorrow is WOYWW. Are you sure you want to see the mess I left in the wake of this album as we headed out the door to OK last weekend? Come back and see me. I'll show you what I bought while we were there.

Creative Blessings!

Kelly