Hello friends! I hope you had a good weekend and got some crafty time. Leo is still not completely recovered from his latest cold, so he had to take it easy this weekend, while Anton got to do some fun things. It is Monday and this week at the
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge we have an
Explore the World theme.
Be sure to also check out our talented Designer Spotlight guest for October,
Nikki Acton.
I made an album this week, for some of my wildlife and nature photos from South Africa. I have a lot of such photos from different trips over the years, and I thought I would combine some of them into an album. It will be a mix of photos from different national parks and from other trips, almost like a summary of all the natural wonders of the country. I think it will also be nice for the boys to look through. The inside is not finished yet, but I added some photos just to give you an idea. I still need to add more and to write journaling. When it comes to pretty large projects such as this one, I like to prepare as much as possible beforehand and then add photos and journaling to a couple of pages now and then. It makes it easier than to do everything in one go.
I used an
Echo Park My Storybook 6 x 8 in Photo Journal as my base. Its a great album and you can fit a lot into it. There are also a whole bunch of different pocket page folders available for it. The papers and stamps used come from Graphic 45
Safari Adventures.
The album was covered with papers from Graphic 45's
Safari Adventure 8 x 8 papers. I also used stamps from the
three coordinating stamp sets. The stamps were stamped with
Versafine Onyx Black and watercoloured with Prima's watercolour paint.
The main image on the cover is a vintage map of Africa, which I love. I stamped some of the small silhouette animal images on the patterned paper. The hearts were die cut from burlap with the
Tiny Shapes die.
I die cut the title from patterned paper, using the
Block Talk alphabet die.
I just love these animal stamps, and they are featureed in the album on photos taking in the wild.
There are also some sentiments stamped on the cover, and of course the animal king himself.
At the spine, I added a small image from the patterned paper pad.
I tied some
Prima cord around the cover and there is an
Adornment camera and a
Typed Token hanging from the string in a
Swivel Clasp. I've been saving that camera for the perfect project.
The back and inside covers were also covered with papers. Isn't this Zebra paper cool? The
Safari Adventures papers and stamps would be great for documenting a visit to the zoo too.
I haven't finished the inside. There will be more photos and of course journaling. I will also add stamps from the three sets here and there. I really like the size of
this album and it is so easy to move page pockets around. For more inspiration, check out my
Summer Memories album from earlier this year.
I cut up a bunch of papers from
Safari Adventures 8 x 8,
Safari Adventures 6 x 6 papers (containing background papers), and
Cityscapes 8 x 8 papers and added to the pockets. This makes it easy to just add more photos and journaling.
There is a mix of pockets in the album, and quite a lot of 4 x 6 ones, since most of my photos are in that format.
There are also two page folders with 2 x 2 in pockets, filled with leftover papers, from cutting down the papers for the other pockets. I'll add journaling to these, and stamping.
The colours of the
Safari papers work really well with safari photos.
I will probably change the order of the photos and patterned papers before the album is done, but that is quick and easy, especially when everything is all ready in there.
I also added some 6 x 8 photos. I've been wanting a good photo of a Lilac-breasted Roller for a long time, and this is the best one so far, I couldn't zoom in enough though since it was sitting far away (this one is too heavily cropped). It's one of my favourite birds.
I hope you will join us in our
Explore the World challenge. As every week, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher from
Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.
Do you use Instagram ? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.
Thank you so much for visiting my blog today!
Happy crafting!
Anna-Karin
Supplies:
Gorgeous album Anna-Karin, the cover is magnificent and the photos inside are awesome! what a great project and I am sure the boys will love to look through this throughout their lives, wonderful memories :-) I think you might have to make them one each though ;-)
ReplyDeleteluv
Lols x x x
Wow... this is such a fabulous creation, Anna-Karin. Love all the beautiful images and embellishments on these covers. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great project! I love the summer mood you created, the safari stamps are fabulous! This will be a perfect place to store all your photos and treasures. Hugs, Marzena
ReplyDeleteWOW! What a wonderful album - I adore the fabulous vintage feel you have created with those wonderful papers and, of course, your artistic talent! Thank you so much for the lovely comment on my blog and the warm welcome to SSS this month, Nikki xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful keepsake for your travels, Anna-Karin! Love the design and embellishments.
ReplyDeleteCathie ♥
Absolutely stunning album, Anna-Karin! I love all the textures and the muted colors to really allow your gorgeous photos to POP! :)
ReplyDelete*mwah*
Steph
Simon Says Stamp!
Fantastic photo journal! I love how you layer stamping and patterned paper. You make it look so integrated.Great for your boys to look at the photos.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Job!
ReplyDeleteWonderful book! We were in Africa for the first time this year and loved it. This is so inspiring and will be so bad for my wallet.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a masterpiece! I really love how you combined the polka-dot paper with all of the animal paper. It's a fantastic combination! I also love all the textural elements-- especially that burlap heart!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome book for your boys to treasure, Anna-Karin! You certainly found all the perfect elements for your book on South Africa, and it looks awesome! and yes, that zebra paper rocks!! hugs, Maura
ReplyDeleteOh what a great book cover, it is dreamfully designed. I like it much.
ReplyDeleteBut the pages inside are amazing too. A wonderful memory book.
Dear greetings
Sabine
what a magical treasure this will be for you all as a family to remember fun times in South Africa...have a great weekend...hugs kath xxx
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful piece to treasure ~ this is fabulous Anna-Karin! As always, it's packed full of detail and I just adore everything about it... :)
ReplyDeleteAnna-Karin I'm speechless! This is a great work, wonderful ! Love your way to create projects to preserve memories of your family! It's fabulous! The cover is stunning! barbara
ReplyDeleteGorgeous treasure....you did this beautifully! Absolutely adore it! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulous, Anna-Karin! The cover is so pretty! Love the paper and all the amazing wild life pictures you took! It must have been incredible to been so close to these stunning animals! Hugs, Sandra
ReplyDelete