Accents & Elements Tin Album!

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Ok...this project was SOOOO much fun to make! I got the idea from my good friend Kallien who is doing a class on this...and SHE got the idea from Splitcoast (where else??) This tin was made by Staramaze which I admit I did case quite heavily! Be sure to click through to Sarah's blog for a wonderful tutorial on how to make these!!

Originally, I thought I'd make a cute tin album for my daughter of some photos I was planning to take over her decorating Valentine's Day Cookies with friends. Then...I saw my box of wedding photo proofs, and realized I really miss having photos from our wedding up here in our "temporary" home...and that they would be much more fun to work with. When I showed my husband his first reaction was "You cut up our wedding proofs??" to which I responded "Yes dear...that's why I brought them. We have the negatives in a firesafe in the US, so we can make more!"

I started with my tin, and belly band. I was too cheap to use one of my actual chipboard hearts, so I punched it out, then used the negative image to trace onto some thin cardboard and make my own heart to cover with our wonderful Loves Me paper. I swiped my heart across the Regal Rose inkpad to give it a little more shab. I measured my Pretty in Pink belly band, and layered some more Loves Me paper underneath just for the front. Then, I wrapped some brown Flirty ribbon around. On the heart, I added an oval of Pretty In Pink CS cut with my coluzzle, and I used one of the die cuts from the Sweet Nothings Accents & Elements tin. I stamped Celebrate Love using the Fancy Flexible Phrases set (I LOVE this set!!) Then I added some real chipboard colored with Pretty in Pink craft ink, tied with ribbons, and finished with a button from the regals set of buttons.

Lastly, I FINALLY got a heat gun, and so embossed on my tin! I first washed my tin (it's been handled a LOT) then rubbed my embossing buddy ALL over it. Then, stamped the Sweet on You image with versamark and embossed using detail Silver embossing powder. I think because I used the detail embossing powder, I didn't get as crisp an image - there was a LOT of extra powder that stuck, and I did try to wipe off as much excess as I could. I'll try again when I get more tins using the regular Sterling Silver powder to see if it works better.

For the inside, I used 4 pieces of Pretty in Pink CS cut to 4.5" by 5.25". I scored each piece at 1/2" on the long side to make the binding, then punched 3 holes with my 1/16" hole punch to insert the soft subtles brads.

For the cover, I added some Taken With Teal CS with faux stitching around the outsides, a square of Loves Me paper with the edges sponged with Chocolate Chip ink, and then stamped out names in Taken with Teal ink on Whisper White CS which I then punched out using my new Square Scallop Giga Punch. The ribbon is narrow white organdy, and I used a ribbon buckles from the Antique Brass hodgepodge hardware set. Finally, on the bottom is another die cut from the accents & elements tin with the date of our wedding.

The inside pages each have a strip of Loves Me DS Paper and the photos. I used the "Happy Today" stamp from Small Sayings to add a few words on the first two and last two pages with a Chocolate Chip marker. I thought about coloring the photos with chalks...but decided I liked leaving them as they are. Finally, for the last page, I again added some Taken with Teal CS and stamped the LOVE image from Love Matters, colored with markers, mounted, added some hardware and a little more flirty ribbon, and then stamped "the best is yet to be" from the same set at the bottom.

You could certainly do this much simpler than I did...but I wanted to put a lot into this one.