Family Brings Joy

I have always wanted to do a mixed media scrapbook.  I planned on making one of Paper Coterie’s Mother’s Albums but had difficulty with the site.  I found this blank MOTHER chipboard album in a stash of supplies a friend gave me.  I kept the title of the one I was going to make on the previous mentioned site: Because Of You.

Mixed media is a fancy term for using lots of different supplies and lots of layering.  I will highlight the ones I used.  I found my color scheme of blue, green and brown in a 12×12 piece of scrapbook paper.  It had all the patterns you will see in the album on that one piece of 12×12 paper.  I even had some paper left over.

Above {back of  M} I used a stamp to make the background of squigglies with regular stamp ink.  Next, I stamped the bird with acrylic paint.  Here comes the fun part, I dabbed my finger in the green acrylic paint to make the border…smeared it some to make a smudgy look.  The smudgy look is IN with mixed media…I LOVE that!  Plus it is all about being creative…no right or wrong way.  Later I decided I didn’t like the stark white background and added blue chalk with a cotton swab.

Above {front of O} I traced the O on the piece of scrapbook paper and adhered it with Mod Podge.  That is how I adhered everything on this album, by using Mod Podge.  Important tip: when using Mod Podge make sure you apply a somewhat even amount of it with a foam brush on the back of the media first.  Then take a Popsicle stick, ruler or whatever you have handy to smooth out the bubbles.  I found some blue acrylic paint with some shimmer and lightly dabbed it across the paper with my fingers to add some depth.

Below {back of O} I did the same as what I did on the back of the M but used brown chalk instead of blue.  You will see that I ended up stamping the bird upside down, but it didn’t matter.  I covered it up with photos.

Below {front of T} I used more of the scrapbook paper and a paint swatch.  Again I added the shimmer blue with my fingers across the top of both.

Above {back of T} I used the paper, took the green acrylic paint and smudged it on the lines in between remember this and (note worthy) with my finger.  I took a darker teal blue acrylic paint and finger painted over some of the lines in the paper’s pattern.  Next, I added a little more depth with a border of blue chalk around the top edges.

Above {front of H} I adhered fabric (left over from an earlier project) and part of a map.  Finger painted on top of both with a shimmery tan acrylic paint.

Above {back of H} Used a strip of paper for the top part, added blue paint to accentuate the line.  Blue chalked the white part again and added green dots with my finger.  Topped it all off with the shimmery tan acrylic paint.

Above {front of E} Used another strip of the same scrapbook paper to go down the middle.  Accentuated the lines on the paper with coordinating paints to the stripes.  Finger painted the top & bottom white areas with green and blue paint with a layer of shimmery blue paint all over the page.

Bottom {back of E} Had to use a book page.  This page has significance to my Mom & I as it comes from New Moon.  We share the love of the Twilight series.   To the right of the book page is crumpled tissue paper with blue and green paint rubbed on top.  {So much fun!}

Bottom {front of R} I used several different mediums here: burlap, part of paint swatch, fabric, map, scraps of same paper and a ticket from my scrapbook embellishment stash.  Finger painted the green dots with the acrylic paint.

Above {back of R} Stamped on blue hearts with the same shimmery blue paint on top of a strip of the scrapbook paper.

The categories I began with were:

Because Of You

• I am creative
• I love crab legs
• I love photography
• I love to laugh
• I appreciate beauty
• I love
• I love my family
• My children have a Grandmother
• I am

I used my label maker to print out the category labels for each page.  Made things super simple for me instead of printing them out on the computer and cutting them all out.  You’ll notice I changed the categories a little in the end.

I put all the photos I wanted to use on a jump drive.  The nice man at Staples printed them all in wallet and contact sheet format {for the small size.}  If I have a laser printer I could have printed these at home.  Since I only have ink jet I needed to have them printed at Staples.  WHY?  Because when you brush the Mod Podge over a photo printed with an ink jet printer, the ink will run and ruin your photo.  Everything in this album has a coat of Mod Podge on top of it.  I like the matte finish Mod Podge.  Another tip about using Mod Podge on top of your laser photos…I learned this the hard way.  Don’t press too hard on the photo with your Popsicle stick to get the air bubbles off.  It will take some of the color off.

After cutting out the photos I organized them by using post-it tags.  This is how I figured out what photos to put on what page.  For example, the least amount of photos per category were placed on the smaller pages.

Here is the finished album:

 

Above {back of M} I appreciate beauty: Added word stickers and a flower rub on.

Above {front of O} I am a Daughter: On the wedding photo of my Mom & I…you will see where I pressed too hard on the photo and it took some of the color off.  I decided it didn’t look too bad.  The main reason this happened is because I didn’t spread the Mod Podge evenly over the photo before adhering it.  It left a lot of bubbles and I was trying to smooth them out.  Anyway, I added the Here comes the bride sticker, some filigree cord and lightly dabbed the edge of the page with Annie Sloan’s Old White chalk paint.  If I had the time I would have done this to every page.  I like the dimension it brings.

Above {back of O} I am creative: Added word stickers and a vellum saying, “What one loves in childhood stays in the heart forever.”  My Mom made the cute outfits for my Daughter’s Bitty Baby (American Girl) twins shown in the photo.  I’m the little tap dancer which is 3rd from the right.  I took dance from a little girl until high school.

Below {back of T} We love to play games: I found a scrap of the cross word paper in my scrap bin.  Mom & I play Words With Friends.

Below {front of H} I love to laugh: I added the photo booth photo because my Mom and I laughed so hard playing with the photo booth software on her new laptop.  The photo is from that laugh session.  Makes me smile to think of it.   I added a caption to the bottom left photo.  It says, “Taken when we told you I was pregnant with K.”  The words Laughter and Giggle are rub ons.  Last but not least, I added the metal word smile.

Above {back of H} We love crab legs: Added one simple word sticker.  It is because of my Mom that I love Crab legs.  I have passed that love onto my own Daughters.

Above {front of E} My children have a Grandmother: I found photos of my Mom holding each of our kids after they were born & added their names using the label maker.  Besides the photos, I added more word stickers and a cloth label saying bundle of JOY.

Below {back of E} I love my family: This category went for both pages, back of E and front of R.  I made a label of “Where there is a will, there is a way.” I placed on the front of the R.  It is the one saying my Mom said I have incorporated into my own life in a BIG WAY!  It’s all about perseverance.  Thank you, Mom, for teaching me this.   Besides photos & word stickers I added flower stickers that have buttons in the middle.

Above {back of R} I am here: Found a cool newspaper article about my great grandpa in my baby book.  I made a color copy of it and incorporated it as part of the background. {It’s not the whole article.}  I added our family history beginning with me to my Mom then to grandparents and great grandparents with their information. {blurred the info for privacy}  Added a special scripture at the top, “Her Children arise up, and call her blessed. Proverbs 31:28″  Attached ribbon & filigree cord to the bottom right with vellum My Family History over it.  Last but not least, I took the front of a pretty note card {bird} my Mom sent me, cut it in strips and added it to the back ground.

Below {front of M} Because of you: Nothing is complete without ribbon…attached this soft, white, velvet ribbon on top of the burlap.  Next came a blue felt flower and a metal C which is her initial.  My Brother took the professional photo of her placed at the top.  Don’t think I mentioned earlier how I added the blue shimmery paint to the front of the M as well.

I had so much fun making this album for my Mom for Mother’s Day.  This would be a great gift for any occasion.  Hope you enjoyed this, probably too thorough, tutorial.  Let me know if you have any questions, though.

Joining:

Crafts bring JOY,