Gifts Galore!

I have finished up my holiday gifts and thought I'd post some pics. Here are a couple of dolls that I made for my niece. I used the Black Apple doll pattern. You can find it HERE.I decided to make her a cowboy and cowgirl to reflect where her aunt and uncle live. They turned out really well, I think. It took me forever to decide on how to paint the cowboy face. I went super simple for both faces, but I think that is okay. I found the buttons for the "belt buckles" at JoAnns and I decided to add the handkerchiefs to give them a bit more character. I hope she likes them. I love this pattern. It is a great way to use up scrap fabric. I made a couple of other dolls as well, but I haven't decided who to give them to yet. I will definitely be making more of these.





I also finished up some small journals for my co-workers. I used Amy Butler designed scrapbook paper for the covers and cream "résumé" paper for the interior pages. I saddle stitched them with embroidery floss. I think they are cute. I will probably make some more of these in 2009.

1st Birthday Photo Album

My good friend Julie's son turns one tomorrow. They had a party for him this weekend. Along with a book and a sweatshirt from our Alma Mater, I made this album as a gift for the family. I took 12 of my favorite photos that Julie sent over the last year, converted them to black and white and printed them. I then window matted and mounted them into the pages of the book. It turned out well. I found some pretty cool fabrics in fat quarters at the fabric store and used a blue accent ribbon for the cover.

Wedding Album Gift

Here is my most recent album creation. I made it for two good friends who were married this summer. The color choices reflect the wedding colors. It turned out really well.

It holds 12 4" x 6" photos. Most of my albums are made approximately 6" x 9" with a 1.5" - 2" spine width. Each page will hold one or two 4" x 6" photos. It depends on whether you choose to put photos on the fronts and backs of pages, or just on the front.

Photo Album

Our friends AV and Sonia came out for a visit in July. As part of a belated wedding gift I crafted a photo album for them. Below are the pics.

Jim and I picked out the fabrics together. Initially the idea was to have them swapped, with the stripes on the spine and the pattern on the cover. When we got home we thought it would look better this way.


I used brown for the interior.


I believe the album had 10 or 12 pages. It is approximately 9" wide by 6" tall and 1.5" thick. The pages are meant to hold 4" x 6" photos.

First commissioned photo album

It's been awhile since I posted. October was a hectic, but fun, month. A trip to Vegas, parents in law for a visit and a wedding in California. Lots of fun, but not much time for posting or crafting. Anyhow, before things got too hectic I finished the album below for a friend of mine. She gave it as a gift to a friend for her twin boys 1st birthday. She asked for a "nautical/Cape Cod" type feel. The pictures don't really do it justice (I know I need to work on photographing my work better), but the album was possibly the best one I've made to date, AND it was my first commissioned photo album!

Baby Album

A friend of mine had a baby girl at the end of June. I finally finished an album to send as a gift last week. It turned out really well and I love the fabric I found for the cover. It was a remenant at Jo-Ann's. I think it is upolstery fabric. Anyhow, the blue sheen went well with some chocolate brown fabric and ribbon I already had. I also had chocolate brown paper on hand for the interior covers and for the binding. It's a smaller version of the album we made for my parents, but without the window mattes. I put a custom card in the front that states the album was created in celebration of the birth of my friend's daughter. I love giving hand-made gifts. They always feel more personal. And I love making them.

Wedding Album

Jim and I created photo albums for our parents as Thank You gift following our wedding. They turned out really well. We had the photos printed locally and then mounted them in the albums and sent them off. This is the one I created for my folks. The cool thing is that the pages are mattes around the images. We cut them and folded them in half so that it created a kind of envelope. Then we cut out the matte windows, mounted the photos and tied them into the binding. It was a process, but the final result turned out so well I definitely hope to make some more in the future.

Journal project

Yo! Happy New Year! So far 2007 is off to a good start. Wedding plans are being finalized, people are responding, it's going to be a fantastic party.

I finished a project I was commissioned to do by my sister-in-law. I've uploaded the photos so take a look. They are small journals, about 4.25" x 5.5". She asked me to make 20 of them. I think they turned out nice and I plan to add this style to my "Signature" collection of albums and journals. It feels good to finish such a large project and have it be successful.

I think we'll be hitting the mountain tomorrow for some skiing/snowboarding. We were going to go today, but the web site for the mountain said the wind speed on the ridge was 424 mph. What? We think that was a mistake, but it was really windy. Hopefully tomorrow will be calmer.

Later . . .