Christmas is such a crafty time of the year.

A quick solution to getting a December Album done…

is pick a Paper Collection Kit- click HERE

to see the ranges and as you scroll down you will notice different Christmas Kits

interspersed with various other kits….and the great thing is there are various prices that might suit your budget

so look through them carefully, there are some great bargains there!

I’ve chosen MME Sleighbells Ring as I love the colours & patterns- it just appealed

These are also available!

And if you love these… there are some gorgeous embellishments that will work perfectly…

I grabbed these matching Decorative Tags and see the black one…weeeeell, that fit PERFECTLY (by accident) in the circle frame on the front of the album! Imagine that!! Without even trying!

I’ll definitely be including the other tags throughout the pages too.

(I’ve put dimensional magic on the vines and around the wreath on the round tag and the word banner ‘Noel’

The number ’25’ Enamel Shapes is also from the Sleighbells Ring range and for sure the rest will come in handy

And did you notice the fabulous ivy vine diecut ‘Mega Holly Flourish’ on the front of the album? It is one of the more expensive dies, buuuuut… I’ve used it over and over, I’ve dimensional magic-ed it, I’ve pulled it apart and used bits of it, I’ve used all kinds of paper and colours too on so many projects. Its one of those general ‘go-to’ Christmas dies!

So after a while… its worth it! Its about 18cms long – fabulous!

Still to be used are these fabulous little Treat Bags

And the Sleighbells Ring washi tape is stunning! It comes in a pack and I’ve taken a proper good look pic below, seeing it out like that does it more justice doesn’t it!

Hmmmn, other things I might use are….
sequins! Pop ‘sequins’ in the search bar in the shop and look at all the pretty colours that pop up!
Most are artist’s drawings of them in packets (have no idea why manufacturers do that!) – but believe me – in real life they are sparkly and gorgeous!
Oh and these…. Teresa Collins Tinsel & Company overlays
(hard to see them from the manufacturer’s photo in the shop (the black & white photo behind is off putting!)… but they make amazing shaker pockets (with the sequins!!!!) Here’s a quick pic of them spilled out on my desk. Hmmmn, does that help?

Some other helpful things you might want to gather if you’d like to learn some new techniques or try out products you might not have known about along the way is
Multi Medium Matte Gel
A Christmas dinner napkin (because you love the pattern!)
Dimensional Magic (or the like)
A stencil (I used Theresa Collins Essential one, it has 3 A4 sized stencils in the packet)
And I LOVE Ranger’s Coredinations Distress Cardstock – it really is such amazing quality. There are some great colours there that work well with the paper collection you might choose.
Inka Gold Graphite is like a metallic finish that can be rubbed onto just about anything. Its great to use as a distress colour on the album covers too!
It doesn’t have to be the same as these are ideas, just gather up your supplies!
There might be other bits and pieces…

COVERS (inside and out)

Not a lot of work needs to be done for these covers as they are pretty much done for us!

The vine looks fabulous with some Dimensional Magic on it – it comes into its own as an embellishment (the photo shows it in its not quite dry form. There is one dry layer, and then I’ve put on a second layer…just on once side of each leaf to give it more of a 3-D effect

which I pulled apart to make it go further for underneath the tag

Then the tag goes on top to finish it off
the little letter ‘DAYS’ can be found HERE

It also got a good dose of Dimensional Magic too!

————————————————————-

Inside Cover:

Have you found a pretty Christmas Napkin…

as this can go along the entire length of the inside cover.. (or any album you choose)

Here’s a part of it as an overview…

you can also notice the Dimensional Magic raising up in places

Usually napkins are two ply, so pull the bottom layer away from the top patterned layer.

Then with a wet brush, paint with water along where you’d like to tear your napkin

So here is where it will be placed… right along the bottom of the inside cover.

If you look closely, you’ll see a join… but that will become in visible

The fun part! Using a Matte Gel (or you can use a gloss one that looks just as fabulous) we’ll adhere the napkin piece to the cover…

Paint underneath where the napkin will go with the matte gel…

then on top of the napkin to seal it 🙂

and here it is right along the inside cover

(and the darker grey inking is already there- its the way the cover comes)

Next is the stenciling of the word ‘REMEMBER’

A stencil (I used Theresa Collins Essential ‘Remember’ one, it has three A4 sized stencils in the packet) now that’s cool! Here’s a photo of them out on my desk so you can see them easier than in the manufacturer’s packaging.

I had a little practice with on a spare piece of paper before I did it for real on my album…

Got to say it worked a treat…. The tub is ‘Inka Gold – Graphite’ (I think I have every colour in Inka Gold because I love it so much!!) I’ve used the Ranger Wooden Ink Blending Tool which worked great blending in the Inka Gold

(don’t be fooled by the ‘Gold’ bit – its just a name, not a colour – don’t know why?)

I did rub this in a second time to get it to go a little darker.

The Inka Gold dries quite fast and suggest you keep the lid on your tub.

Then rubbed the Inka Gold Graphite around the edges of my inside cover, added dimensional magic over the word ‘Remember’ and that really raised it up a treat too. And added in the bar with the rings on too. Some sequins top it off! Pop the word ‘sequins’ in the search bar in the shop and see all kinds of colours!