Belinda Basson DT - Stamperia - Piano Hinge Album

 Hello Friends

My Design Team project for Belinda Basson this month is a Piano Hinge Album using Belinda's gorgeous Lady Vagabond papers by Stamperia.  I have wanted to make this type of album for ages and it was surprisingly easy to do!  I found a really useful short YouTube video which explains the process very simply and gives measurements so that you can very easily have a go yourself. 

 I used my own measurements on my album to suit the size that I wanted.  The notches are cut at one inch intervals.

I created four 'signatures' for my album, from heavy Kraft cardstock as I wanted the front and back page to be heavy enough for my covers.

Once I added the design papers to the front and back cover they were a really good weight.  I used a combination of papers, die cuts, chipboard shapes and crackle paste to add some texture and age to the covers.

This is one of my favourite pages, using a mix of Lady Vagabond papers and chipboard elements.  In some of the pages I created secret pockets to store tags or ephemera in.

For the next set of pages I used papers which I decoupaged, along with some chipboard pieces.  I am in love with Belinda's fabulous airship!

Again, I used Lady Vagabond papers and chipboard.  I also created a deep pocket and added some Stamperia metal cogs, crackle paste and inks to add some texture.

The final pages were covered with more Lady Vagabond papers, chipboard and the luggage is decoupaged up.  I added a Kraft envelope to keep those little bits and pieces safe.

If you do watch the video you will see that the designer created a box to hold his album and I liked the idea, so I created one too.

I constructed the box from black card using the following template I created, it fits the size of album that I made.  I simply covered the box with Lady Vagabond papers, aged with inks and crackle paste and added a metal plate from my stash along with a chipboard piece.

To finish off the album I created a charm using bits and pieces from my stash, adding a little map element (Lady V papers) to the bottle.  

The album fits inside the box (allowing for some expansion) and showcases the piano hinging beautifully.  I finished the ends off with some colour coordinated string, knotting and gluing the edges.  You don't need to glue the ends, you may want to add some extra pages to the album.  My pages are quite thick and I didn't want to crowd the box.

I cannot stress enough just how easy it is to make a piano hinge album and it is just something a bit different.

Thanks so much for your visit and please excuse me if I do not get fully back to social media for a little while yet, I am taking each day as it comes at the moment.

Hugs, Anne xxx

The Stamperia products I used in this project are:

Stamperia Lady Vagabond 8 x 8 paper pad

Stamperia Wooden Shapes - Lady Vagabond

Stamperia Chipboard - Lady Vagabond

Stamperia Crackle Paste - Transparent

Stamperia Scrapbooking Accessories - Metal Cogs

Home Sweet Home....

Hello Friends 

Firstly, I apologise for being missing for so long.  Unfortunately I spent nearly a month in hospital (not Covid related) and have only recently come home, still not 100% well, but I am taking lots of time to slowly recuperate.  I want to say a huge thank you to all those who missed me, messaged me, sent me cards and flowers and most of all to those very special friends who supported me through a difficult and worrying time.

Before being whisked away, I followed a Youtube tutorial by one of my hugely talented Stamperia team mates - Shamela Hendricks.  Shamela made a larger exploding house album and box but I didn't have enough of the gorgeous House of Roses papers .... and so I made a half sized album and exploding house shaped box.

This is a view of the front of the 'closed' album cover.  

Here it is 'exploded'.  My dinky album version measures 4.1/4" x 4.1/4" (album) and the house measures 4.1/2" by 6" maximum.  I modified my house to include four sides,  whereas Shamela's house has three sides, using the album itself as the fourth side.

My favourite set of pages includes a waterfall section.  I really enjoy making interactive elements to my albums.  I also created pockets in all of the pages, to store little tags or bits and pieces.

Here are a few more of the pages using the beautiful Stamperia House of Roses papers.  I added some Stamperia House of Roses chipboard, along with ephemera and die cuts from my stash.

Here is a view of the outside of the little album, using Stamperia House of Roses ephemera pieces.

I loved making this project.  Shamela is a great teacher, she takes time to explain everything well.  I hope you might find time to check out her video, if only to see her completed project, it is incredible.

Thanks so much for your visit, I am so happy to be 'back' and I will slowly be getting back into social media and look forward to visiting all my friends soon.  Please bear with me!

Hugs, Anne xxx