Scrap N Grow

Good morning blog readers.  How is your week thus far?  Mine has been extra busy as my fiance has been out of town for work.  Today’s project is going to be presented over 2 days due to the size and complexity of the project. I spent my free time yesterday taking and editing photos and composing my list of supplies used. Today’s featured project is a Toy Box and Mini Album.  I made this toy box mini album for a girlfriend who is expecting her first baby.

Toy Box Exterior

Opening View of Toy Box

My mini album was initially inspired by a past project that Kathy Orta of Paper Phenomenon shared with her viewers.  I have included a link to her website here. Kathy Orta  is a very talented designer and is well known for her amazing mini albums. Furthermore, she also sell tutorials for most of her mini albums via a secure website.  Her tutorials are very clear, concise, and include several step by step photos. I purchased Kathy’s Toy Box tutorial; however, I was a bit intimidated by the construction of making the toy box.  I instead decided to use a pre-made unfinished toy box that I purchased at Joann’s.  Because I used a store bought box, I had to resize my mini album as well as get extra creative in order to add a shadowbox to mine. After having completed my project and comparing mine to Kathy’s inspiration Toy Box mini album, the only resemblance between the two is that each projects encompasses a toy box, shadowbox, and a mini album component.  The design of my project is therefore an original design that I improvised along the way.  Sorry for the fine print explanation, but I do want to ensure credits are given when and where appropriate.

Toy Box:

As I stated earlier, I purchased an unfinished toy box at JoAnn’s.  I lightly sanded the box before I used Espresso Color Wash spray to color the box inside and out.  I sprayed 2 coats and used nearly 2 bottles to adequately color the box.  Indie the box, I lined the bottom with patterned paper from the paper collection, Crate Paper Toy Box collection.  Once adhered, I applied Walnut Stain Distress ink to the box’s corners and edges for a vintage look.

Toy Box Interior Bottom View

I created a shabow box using Tim Holtz’s configuration  boxes.  I have several of his boxes and used left over boxes from a previous project.  I selected my desired sizes and cut to fit a thick piece of chipboard and adhered the boxes to the chipboard.  I colored the boxes using the same color wash that I used on the exterior of the box.  Afterwards, I selected desired papers and cut each to size and adhered to each of the boxes.  I then adhered a miniature bear to one of the boxes using Craft 6000 adhesive.   I elected to leave most boxes undecorated so that the recipient can add her own personalized trinkets.

Close Up of Shadow Box Inside Toy Box

Throughout the mini album, I used Crate Paper’s Toy Box collection.  The collection has a 6X6 and a 12X12 paper line as well as chipboard and sticker embellishments.  I did also add in a few other decorative papers from other collections that coordinated with the theme.

Toy Box Mini Album Cover

Because I used a pre-made toy box, I had to customize the size and shape of my mini album to fit inside the box.  The mini album is hefty in size and thickness.  I made my own binding and covers for the album. The binding is dark brown leather and the binding uses 4 large book binders from Tim Holtz’s Ideaology line.  The albums closure uses a brad and a hair binder and is accented with an Industrial Chic Jewelry component that I purchased at Michael’s.

Side View of Toy Box Mini Album Binding

Top View of Toy Box Mini Album Binding

I told you that the album was a biggie.  Now let’s take a look inside. In all, there are 14  2 page spreads in the album.  Each spread has a minimum of 1 interactive element.  This definitely added to the bulkiness of the album.

Title Page.  I chose to spell out Child’s Play using Scrabble letters.  I inked the edges of each tile using Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Toy Box Mini Album Title Page

Spread One

Toy Box Mini Album Spread One

I embellished the left hand page using several embellishments for the collection.  The dog puzzle piece is a stray piece of a puzzle that I own.  Behind the boy’s life band are 2 removable tags that the recipient can place photos or journal on.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread One Embellishments Close Up

The opposite page features an interactive element.  I used a Sizzix A2 Card w/Flap Die to house pictures of journaling. The insert has room for a photo on the front, back and two more inside. I used a Velcro hook and loop fastener for the flap closure.

Toy Box Mini Album Close Up of A2 Card Flap Enclosure

Spread Two.  It’s all about a Barrel O Fun!  I die cut the barrel using my Cricut and the Old West Cricut cartridge. I inked the edges of the die cut using Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  The monkey’s are actual pieces from the Barrel O’ Monkeys game.  I lightly sanded them, applied a coat of Gesso before painting them with acrylic  paint.  I painted them a dark brown. I adhered them using E6000 adhesive.  I kept the opposite page simple.  A photo mat and a tag that can be pulled out from behind the mat.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Two

Soread Three.  This was a super fun set of pages that I went a bit overboard on.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Three

The left hand page tank was die cut using the Stand And Salute Cricut Cartridge and my Cricut machine. I used pop dots to add dimension to the tank’s tracks.  The dirt is full of texture.  It is a product called Elements made by Art Glitter Inc.  I used Flower Soft Glue to adhere the product and let dry for several hours to ensure good adhesion. The opposite page is actually a card that open’s and has a pop up feature.  The card’s front cover includes a photo mat and is embellished with a painted chipboard tag that I added Tim Holtz Ideology chain to to simulate a military dog tag.  I embossed the word boy using my Melody Ross embossing dies.

Toy Box Mini Album Close Up of Card Front

Inside the card is a pop up feature.  The pop up was created by using a Sizzix pop up die.  I used Zig Zag.  I adhered chipboard elements from the Toy Box collection to simulate a mini scene and added a journaling spot and additional dirt for added texture.

Toy Box Mini Album Pop Up Card Interior

Spread Four.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Four

This spread features a dinosaur theme.  The dinosaurs and the mountains were die cut using my Cricut and the Dinosaur Tracks Cricut cartridge. The die cut’s edges were again inked using Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  Behind the adventurous band is a removable journaling card that is stamped with a notebook image from Impression Obsession.

Toy Box Mini Album Dinosaur Scene Close Up

Toy Box Mini Album Close Up

Spread five will be featured in my next post. I will continue this post tomorrow to help minimize the length of my posts.  As many of you know who blog, it takes several hours to compose a post that is jam packed with photos.  I will share the remaining pages in my next post.  I hope that you like what I have shared thus far. Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. Thank you so much and have a great day!

Michelle

4 Responses to “Toy box Mini Album Part One”