Life is a Journey - Part 1 by Gill Humphrey

I know that I am quite an eclectic crafter but one of my first loves was scrapbooking and in particular making albums from scratch so this week I am sharing an album for the men in your lives using the wonderful Craft O'Clock papers - Age of Gentleman. I have used a combination of the 12 x 12,  8 x 8, 6 x 6, extras sheet, journal extras and Cardboard die cuts packs. I chose to use the That's Crafty! Multi Purpose Glue Pen glue to adhere my pieces in place as this allows precise application with minimum fuss.

To make my album I reverse engineered it - now whilst that may sound a bit scary it allowed me to create my pages and then to make the cover to fit but as I have done the hard work it will be easier for you as I have worked out the measurements that are needed. As it is a large project I am going to do the step by step over two blog posts.

The basic page is created by cutting  two pieces of black card stock 21cm long and 11 cm wide then score at 2cm from one edge before adhering along three sides to create an open pocket on the short edge or on the long side. Use a Crop-o-dile to make holes in the short edge with the score line 2 cm from each line.

Page 1:

I took my basic page shape with open pocket on the short side and adhered paper pieces 18.5 cm by 10.5 cm on both sides keeping the spines paper free. On the front of the page I created a pocket cut from the journal extras pack trimming the top so that if would fit on my page before adhering it in place along the score line. I added tags from the papers to black card and trimmed around adhering circular elements from the chipboard set over the areas that normally have string in them. In addition I matted a pice of patterned paper 16.5cm by 7.5 cm on to black card. The tags and card were then popped into the pocket.

To create a piece for the pocket I cut black card 19cm long and 9 cm wide rounding the corners that were going to jut out from the pocket and then adhered more papers 18.5 cm by 8.5cm on both sides. 

For the reverse of this page I then cut another pocket from the journal extras pack and created a large tag to fit inside using another cardstock die cut to reinforce the top of the tag. 

Page 2:

This page is made from the basic page with the pocket this time along the long edge.

I added a base layer of paper to each side of my page and then added two flaps to the front. to do this I cut back card 7.5cm wide by 11cm tall and scored at 2cm from one edge to create a flap. The flap was then adhered to the inside of the pocket close to the spine and then matted with more papers. The second flap was created in the same way using a base piece that measured 7.5cm by 9cm.

A panel to go in the pocket was then created using black card 16cm wide by 12 tall with the top edge rounded before adding paper from the collection. The back of this card has been kept simple with just a piece of paper added. 

Page 3:

This page uses a base page with the pocket open on the short side. This time I have tucked two panels of paper - black card 19cm long and 9 cm wide rounding the corners that were going to jut out from the pocket and then adhered more papers 18.5 cm by 8.5cm on both sides - into the pocket.

The front of the page has a pocket from the journal extras pack with tags cut from the collection. One with another cardboard die cut and the other with shabby ribbon secured with a Lark's Head Knot. 

The back of this page has another flap - this time opening from the short edge of the page and again using the pocket to conceal the attachment. The black card stock is 20 cm long by 11cm tall scored at 2cm along the long edge. A file tab label from the journal extras pack was added to the edge to make turning the page easier. 

To finish part one of this two part project  I am showing the inside of the front cover. which has pieces from the journal extras along with tags and an extra photomat.

I do hope you will join me next week when I complete the album.