for the love
I fell in love with scrapbooking somewhere between the end of my grade school and the beginning of my high school years. Whenever any of my friends' birthdays would come up, I'd immediately think of a unique gift, whether it be a mini-album on their quirks or a list of things us other friends love about them. Each time I'd make a gift, I noticed, I'd be up all night cutting, pasting, binding and cropping. Without any sleep at all, I'd work with only one thing as my driving force: the idea of how much they'll love and appreciate this project I was making for them, because I knew they'd see how much work was put into it and seriously, who doesn't love a list of things people love about you?
One of my close friends since grade school is going off to Australia for a couple of years, and our barkada decided to whip up a surprise despedida for her. Included in the list of things to prepare was a scrapbook, and naturally, it was handed over to yours truly. Our friends would submit things they'll miss the most about her and their favorite photos of her, and I'd have to put it all together.
I'm glad I got assigned this project because 1) it brought me back to the beginnings of how I discovered that "scrapbooking" was a real hobby and it reminded me so much of the reason why I love this craft; 2) it forced my mojo to come back and work with me and 3) I got the opportunity to make someone really happy.
It is pretty liberating to use all your newest and nicest materials, when you don't think about the cost but only about how much you're sure your friends are going to love it. That's enough for me. :)
I started with a blank 6x6 mini-album that was all brown. Repainted the cover and decorated it with AC Thickers and some patterned paper. For the inside, I decided to use sheets of double-sided patterned cardstock/paper instead to save paper (instead of cutting and pasting paper onto the scrapbook's original pages). I had to punch them one by one with an cheap old one-hole punch. By the 5th sheet (out of 30, by the way), I was cursing the punch because my hand was aching so much!! I ended up ordering a Crop-A-Dile online for my future projects. Hahahaha. Things you do out of frustration!
Cut up a lot of the new patterned paper from Studio Calico kits. Love all the colors! Also used some of the lovely Jenni Bowlin bingo cards. Since it was a little bigger than 6x6, I trimmed the end and glued it to make it look like a 6x6 bingo card. Very fun!
Here are more pictures from the mini-album:
I didn't care if I didn't get any sleep that night (two days straight of working on this album)... everyone's reaction was enough for me. They all loved it and that's all that mattered! :) Besides it was a joint effort, with two of our barkadas all chipping in their favorite memories of Leah.
We were so many that by the time I was done with the album, i couldn't close it properly anymore!! The ring was too small for all the stuff inside!
I need a Bind-It-All!! But I realized that I can live with a Crop-A-Dile -- do it the long way! :P
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