"Key to my heart" itty bitty mini album in a box|step-by-step demo

 Hello there, dear crafty folks!

I am back with more pastel love! An itty bitty mini album inside an altered box. What better way to send sweet nothings to that special someone than a shabby floral box to keep your whispers safe? ;)

Follow along as I go through the process of altering the box and construct the tiny mini album-step by step... with a spine and gusseted pages!

I decided to upcycle a box in which 4x4 photo prints had been delivered.

1. Select a box. Gauge dimensions. Mine was 4.25 x 4.25 x 1.25 inches on the outside. A quarter inch smaller (all three dimensions) on the inside.
2. Decide on which surfaces to mat. I realized that matting the outside of the base would make it difficult to shut the box. The upper lid could catch on the matting. I decided to mat only the outside of the lid.
3. Choose pattern papers. I picked these peppy, cute patterns from the Little Birdie Pretty in Pink paper pack. I decided to save the shabby romantic rose patterns for my next project. (I did give in eventually and used a bit of the rose pattern.....you'll see!)
4. Pick solid card stock if you want to double mat your box. I love double matting.....it enhances contrast and makes the patterns pop! I picked black IB card stock to mat the lid. The white card stock will be used in building the album. Let me mention here that this is the new white card stock from the store.....it's sturdy and scores smoothly, making it perfect for page builds. I have, in fact, made a card stock album (no chipboard).

Here are pictures of the matting process.

1. Matted the lid with black cardstock.
2. Matted the lid with pattern paper.
3. Matted the inside of the lid and the base with another pattern paper (no double matting on these.)

Here's how the insides looked after matting...LOVE the polka dots!

Next, prep your chipboard because they may take time to dry.

1. Select chipboard pieces. (I used the heart and the butterfly in this project...the chevrons have to wait for the next project.)
2. Brush them with gesso and go over them again with white acrylic paint for better coverage.
3. Allow them to dry. I do go over then again with glitter glue right at the end...after they are layered under flowers.
I went on to build my mini album next. I like to keep all the decorating for the end (and that is also how I miss shooting that part...sorry!) Anyway...I digress. Here's what I did for the mini album.

1. I took a 12 x 12 inch sheet of card stock > cut three 3.5 x 12 inch pieces out > trimmed the pieces down to the following dimensions...3.5 x 8, 3.5 x 7.5, and 3.5 x 7.25 inches.
2. This is what I had before starting to score.
3. Scored all three pieces at the 3.5 inch mark on both sides and stacked them one inside the other.
4. Adhered the creases down to form a spine. Please note that these dimensions will give you gussets of varying sizes...the outer one being the widest. I wanted this because I usually embellish the inside covers, even in itty bitties! :D

Here's how I matted the mini album.

1. Cut 12 pieces of 3.25 inch square designer paper.
2. Matted the pages. Added two top loading pockets on the inside covers to hold booklets.
3. Matted the cover, spine, and back cover--retained the same pattern as the lid for the first two. For the back cover, I used the cut-apart sheet from the collection!
I also added belly bands and diagonal pockets on other pages of the album--you'll see them in the finished album.

I decorated the box and the album using Itsy Bitsy chipboard pieces (Forever Love and Butterflies), Little Birdie Sparkle and Mix Media (canvas) flowers, Little Birdie Handmade flowers, Nyra metal charm, Itsy Bitsy faux pearls, Valentine's Day special burlap hearts embellishment, IB satin ribbons, and glitter glue from my stash.

Here are the glamor shots!

More views of the the box:

And the mini album that sits in it:

A peek at the pages...top loading pockets, diagonal pockets, and vertical belly bands.There are two of each feature across 6 pages.

So that was my "Key to my heart" itty bitty mini album in a box. I hope you have enjoyed. Please leave us your comments/questions. It feels great to hear from you and I will make sure to reply!

Happy crafting!

xoxo
Suchi

Fabulous Cards by Hussena Calcuttawala

Hello All, today we have an extremely talented crafter, a crafter who probably needs no introduction, Hussena Calcuttawala!

She is passionate about card making & Quilling & her fabulous cards are creatively adorned with  stunning flowers & foliage! Over to Hussena:

Hello, everyone!

This is Hussena here. I have been a craft blogger for over 4 years now and I love to try out different types of craft and techniques related to it. My current crafty passion is card-making and I am head over heals in love with it. I usually love working with florals and all my work has some element of flowers in them.

When I was invited for this Guest Design spot for Itsy Bitsy, I was really thrilled as I love all the products that Itsy Bitsy carries, but especially the gorgeous range of flowers and foliage that Itsy Bitsy carries and that too in such pocket-friendly budget.

Today, I have three projects to share. One is a card and two are note-cards. So without further ado. let's get on with it.

Here's a look at my card first :

And a look at the two note-cards :

I have used some really beautiful pattern papers which were sent in my kit along with the gorgeous flowers from Itsy Bitsy's new release Margarita Carnation from the Little Birdie range. Itsy Bitsy have also launched some really amazing Stencil designs and Burlap embellishments which are all included in all three of my projects.

I also have a small tutorial to share on how I created the background for my card and the products used.

Step 1 - I have used a peach colored card base which was sent to me in the kit along with a piece of pattern paper which I have distressed using a pair of scissors & colored the edges using two different shades of Distress inks.

Step 2 - After distressing, I glued the pattern paper to the cardbase & then using a stencil from Itsy Bitsy (Floral) and some Mont Marte Modelling Paste, I did some stenciling using a Spatula to add some texture. I also added a bit of Distress ink to the Modelling Paste to give it a hint of colour.

Here is how it looks once the stenciling is done!

Step 3 - This is what I have used for embellishing my card. The Pattern papers that you see on the left were the ones i have worked with & the little flower embellishments were created using flowers from this set. I absolutely love the Glitter Paper from Itsy Bitsy & I have used it for die-cutting my leaf & foliage. Also used some dies for embellishing my card.

This border die by Spellbinders is absolutely regal & so intricate. I absolutely love using this.

And here's a final look at all the projects together.

The note-cards were die-cut from the Itsy Bitsy Nesting Dies & I die-cut it from the same pattern papers. The jute strings that you see on my card & note-cards are also from Itsy Bitsy. I have used a lot of embellishments and the background for my brown note-card was created using the Leaf Stencil. The green leaves that I have used on my blue note-card are also created using the stencil & then fussy-cut it into the leaf shape to create my embellishment. The purple pollens are also from the store. 

I hope you like what I have created. I would like to thank Rashmi & her team for inviting me over (and also for their patience). This post was scheduled for nearly a month back, but due to some personal reasons, it couldn't go live.

If you have any queries regarding any of the projects, or supplies used, please leave me a comment below & I will get back to you.

Thank you so much for your visit!

Have a good day ahead.