Be still my heart - I'm actually crafting again!

Well, I most certainly did not expect it to take me almost a year to get back into crafting, but it has truly been that long - mostly because it has taken me that time to get the new house and studio settled (mostly, lol!)  Several of my original organization ideas in the studio turned out to be not the best for new ways of storing stamps, etc.  Which led to deconstructing the original and replacing with the new.... but it is all good!  And in my new space, I can indulge in virtually any of the various hobbies I dabble in.  Which are many!

Although I've not been crafting, I have been following folks on Facebook, including the talented Anne Redfern, who recently posted a tutorial for a Flip Pocket Mini Album.  I've tried my hand at a few books (here, here , here and here) but Anne's tutorial got me itching to get back to it, so I could enter the June challenge at Mini Album Makers Challenge - and here we are!  There is a short video showing of the entire book at the end of this post.  If you'd like to know more of the process, read on....

Per usual, I had no set ideas of what to make, but wanted some size where I could use both the fabulous 3D embossing folder "Elegant" from Tim Holtz/Sizzix, and a technique new to me that involved such a folder and Distress Oxide (DO) ink and a metallic Distress crayon; I picked this up from Bubblescrap, through Pinterest.

First, I totally copied her colors of black card, Bundled Sage DO, and the copper Distress crayon.  By the way, I've seen recently some wonderful experiments with other colors (using a slightly different technique) from Stacey at Tattered Nest that I want to try soon!

I decided to use the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Vintage Cabinet Movers and Shapers die, as it would accommodate nicely that gorgeous flourish.  However, I wanted a larger edge for my binding, so after die-cutting two pieces from black mat board, I trimmed off the little pedestal on the bottom.

I then adhered the flourish piece, and put some lovely Stamperia paper from the "Time is an Illusion" collection on the inside covers.

I've been watching Tamara Morton of Posh Cat Crafts , who has posted very detailed tutorials on her YouTube channel making albums from various Tonic Studio memory book and other of their dies.  One of these dies cuts a ready made hinge die, and I decided to use that here.

This die will make a spine for quite a large album, so I just cut it down to size.  Only afterwards, did I realize that the spine is designed to allow for very thick pages, with lots of flaps, pockets, and the like.  My book being quite small, I kept these to mostly flaps of cardstock, with one magnet belly band in the front cover, and a small pocket on the back cover.  But I look forward to making a full size, or at least bigger, album soon with all of the fun elements.

From there, I chose a lovely set of stamps from the Herbarium Collection by Craft Consortium.   I used Spellbinders Labels 22 for the layering pieces, as this nested set has a nice selection of sizes, and fit well on my modified cabinet base.

I used papers from my stash by Maja Design, and the Alchemy collection from Stamperia.  On the first page, I created a little window with a real pressed flower in it; the other pages are flaps, and as mentioned, the front cover has a magnetized belly band.

To cover the hinge binding, I covered two pieces of Paper Leather; the first with Antique Bronze Distress Paint, and the other with Black soot.  I used a dimensional embossing folder from Spellbinders (E3D-018) on the first, and highlighted with some gunmetal gilding wax from my stash.  I did not like how it went with the outside cover, so decided to use this to cover my binding mechanism on the inside covers.

For the black soot leather, I embossed with a die (Moroccan Wildflower from the Nana's Friendships collection of Scrapbooking Made Simple).  The leather embosses much better with this latter technique.  I highlighted the embossing with Rich Coper Metallique Wax from Prima.

To create a closure, I adhered two small decorative rings from my stash with E6000, placed some Dirty Bronze Nuvo Drops as "brads" and cut a piece of copper ribbon.  And thus, we come to the end at last!  

In addition to the Mini Album Makers Challenge, I'd like to enter the 50th mixed media challenge at Creative Artiste Mixed Media.

Here is the short video - thank you to my sister-in-law Beth!