Mini Album Makers BLOGAVERSARY & GIVEAWAY

Hello Friends

This month sees the Blogaversary of Mini Album Makers and we are celebrating by having a Blog Hop and Giveaway!!

We are giving a $25 gift certificate from Blitsy.com to one lucky reader whose name will be chosen at random from all of the comments on the Design Team blogs (so please be sure to leave one).  In addition, our sponsor,  Lindy's Stamp Gang will give a $25 gift certificate to one lucky participant in our challenge.

Congratulations to Autumn on achieving a wonderful first year, the blog has gone from strength to strength and it has been such a pleasure to see so many amazing entries!  If you have arrived here from the wonderful Jennie Atkinson's blog, then welcome!

I have gone all teeny tiny this month and created a vintage looking domino album, with a sea theme.

I am sharing a few step by step instructions, in case you have not tried a domino album before.  I will not be adding measurements as I find that dominoes come in a whole variety of different sizes and I would not want to confuse anyone!

I measured the domino carefully and then took some cream card, scored it to fit the domino size, then spritzed it with Lindy's Stamp Gang Moon Shadow Mist in Golden Doublooms.  Whilst this was drying I added some gilding flakes to the edges of each of the dominoes and left these to dry too.

I attached my images to the front of each domino with Distress Collage Medium and then coated each with two coats of Collage Medium.  This is a really important step if you wish to coat the dominoes with Resin, as it seals the image properly.  The Ice Resin dried with a slight vintage tone.

Next, I mixed the Ice Resin (use your chosen type of Resin) and added it to the top of each domino and left these to dry thoroughly (it may take a day or two).

Before attaching the accordion element to each domino, I added a picture to each of the 'pages' and added a piece of ribbon to each cover. and then attached the accordion to the covers.

To finish off I added some Tim Holtz Chit Chat words and two jewellery beads to each domino to represent feet.

A final view of the completed mini album!

Please do visit my teamies during this blog hop, their projects are amazing!  Be sure to leave a comment on each one, we have two wonderful prizes on offer, a $25 prize from Blitsy.com another $25 prize from one of our wonderful sponsors, Lindy's Stamp Gang. 

Nancy Wethington - Art-From-The-Heart

Jennie Atkinson - Live the Dream

Anne Redfern - RedAnne (That's me)

Maria Lillepruun - Magic Attic Design

Alison Bomber - Words and Pictures 

Inna Bronnikova

Autumn Clark - SewPaperPaint

Please do join in our challenge this month, at Mini Album Makers, we do love seeing your wonderful creations!

Thanks so much for your visit,  the talented Maria Lillipruun is the next stop on the hop. I hope you enjoy hopping around to visit everyone! 

Hugs, Anne xx

In Disguise at Inspiration Journal

This month at Inspiration Journal the challenge is 'In Disguise' - we would like you to use something in a way that is different from it's original intention.  This is a time to think outside the box....

The prize for one lucky winner is 50 Emporium Dollars to spend at Inspiration Emporium's on line store!  We would love to have you join us!  You don't have to make Halloween things, just use something in a way that is different...

I admit, it took me a little while to get the old grey cells thinking along the right lines but I have come up with two different projects to show you.

For my first project I took two plain dominoes from my stash and turned them into a little mini book:

Well, I just had to go with a Halloween theme, it is my favourite time of year after all!  The dominoes were coloured with Ranger alcohol inks in Sunset Orange and Rust.

The sides are made from Ranger Foil Tape sheets, embossed with a Texture Fade (Dot Matrix) and coloured with the same Alcohol Inks.

The inside was created using Ranger Speciality Paper coloured with Shabby Shutters and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks and decorated with the fabulous Tim Holtz Halloween Shadows Decorative Strip Die.  A few Remnant Rubs were used to finish off.

More Remnant Rubs and an elastic cord with beads from my stash finish off the piece.

My second project uses a technique that I first saw Wendy Vecchi demonstrate way back when and Tim Holtz also uses and loves the technique, it is great fun.  It is one of my all time favourites.  I took a glass tumbler and turned it into a night light holder (I would not recommend using a real candle if you try this - but a battery operated one works just fine).

I covered the glass with Ranger Multi Medium in Matte and let this dry.  Then I coated it generously with Tim's fabulous Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint and once dry I coated the whole of the outside with Sunset Orange Alcohol Ink with a Distress Tool and felt.  I dribbled more here and there and I love how it seeps into all those wonderful cracks.

To finish off I used Tim's On the Edge Graveyard die, the die cut was covered in black embossing powder and a few pinches of gold embossing powder.  The witch is another Tim Holtz die - she is simply balanced on the side and can be removed easily.

I have two more projects 'In Disguise' to share with you this month but in the meantime I hope I have inspired you to think of making something a little different and join in our challenge over at Inspiration Journal, where there is a fabulous prize of $50 to spend at Inspiration Emporium,
waiting for one lucky person!!  If you want more inspiration, check out Inspiration Journal throughout the month where you will see some fantastic projects from my DT Sisters.

Don't forget too, if you do buy anything from Inspiration Emporium please use my code Redanne for a 10% discount on your whole purchase.  Shipping costs are very reasonable at $5 for USA and $10 for the Europe.

As always, thanks for looking, I look forward to seeing you again soon.  Hugs, Anne xx



Products Used from Inspiration Emporium, with links

Ranger Speciality Stamping Paper
Ranger Foil Tape Sheets
Ranger Alcohol Inks
Tim Holtz Halloween Strip Die - Halloween Shadows
Tim Holtz Bigz Dies - Witch
Tim Holtz On the Edge Dies - Graveyard
Distress Inks
Ranger Multi Medium Matte
Ranger Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint