Love, Live, Dreams ~ A Family Album

gosh the weather couldn't get much hotter! i've been getting in our pool on a somewhat regular basis because it releaves so much of the weight & pressure from my legs, feet & well, boobs - anyhow the moral of the story is this afternoon i went to get in the pool and it was darn near 100 degrees! needless to say i had eric turn off the solar - don't think we need that running anymore! ended up just taking a cool shower & making some flavored water which i'm calling a pregnant cocktail. they're fabulous!  found the recipe on pinterest check it out.. 

so far my favorite is the pineapple mint! its wonderful & refreshing! check out the recipe here

been doing tons of scrapping & a little behind on my pregnancy journal which i had planned on posting today however, i'm going to show you a book i finished last month - which i premade for a family photo shoot we going to have right after our little one is born. this whole book including how i made the base/binding itself was a complete & total experiment but with such a cute paper line - i knew it wouldn't turn out bad - ok, i'll stop talking - here it is

the binding was so simple and actually worked i couldn't believe it! what i did was ripped a metal 3 ring binder piece out of a old binder i was tossing away & cut grunge paper to fit - then using my new favorite tool score-it i scored 2 folds about an inch & a 1/4 apart & secured the metal binder in with brands.

 once the brads where in place i covered the outside with this muslin fabric tape (handmade by yours truly) and there you have it the easiest binding ever & ready to hold lots of pages!

for the the tabbed pages i used again more grunge paper since i was going to technique crazy out of them + the tabs themselves where a bit heavy & i was afraid cardstock would not be able to hold em. the black circle tabs are plastic vintage bingo chips i bought at a vintage shop a while back.   

all of the chips have a # and a letter & i chose these certain ones for a purpose/meaning

tab 1 (at bottom) is B 14 = positive pregnancy on the 14th of January

tab 2 is B 1 = our 1st baby together

tab 3 is B9 = length of pregnancy

tab 4 is N 34 = my age at delivery

tab 5 is I 17 = I am due on the 17th

this white flower i actually ordered a whole package online for my wedding layouts but this cover was screaming for a white flower to tone down all the coral & black! the kraft paper helps i think + the white bloomers create a soft feel which contrast all the textures.

every page has sewing some by hand some by machine (the zig zag stitch)  i think this is the book where my machine decided it didn't want to stich anymore - so currently its at the repair shop. hopfully it can be fixed poor dear, its so old. its the same machine my mom sewed my baby quilt on! 

the left page here (artsy/technique central) with a embossed right page

i just ran a little acrylic dapper over the embossing to help it stand out

misting & embossed font stamp

this left page is a bit of a collage. it has randomly placed scrap papers & stamping, inking, glitter, acrylic paint & a little misting cause after all the above why leave out some mist!

love the way the polka dot embossing turned out

so excited about all the punches i used to create all the fun edges but this notebook one is my favorite - maybe cause its newer but i just love the pattern! reminds me of being a kid again when i would rip out a notebook page to do homework

the right page is embossed but this photo doesn't pick it up very well. can you see the little heart diecuts i laid on the left page before i added the gesso? kinda looks ebossed - but its just an extra layer

i used more techniques & tools/supplies in this book then ever just as a experiment & i think it was pretty exciting to see how it all turned out what i liked using together & what i would change next time

on the back inside cover i stamp embossed these bright swirls and using a black archival pen doodled a couple more swirls to complete the pattern. 

just love the way it turned out! 

that's my latest mini album & can't wait to add all our family photos with the little new addition. Jr!