Breaking down the fabric album

Some people are auditory. They can listen to a speech and absorb every word. Some people are visual. They can read something or see a photo and totally understand. And some people are hands-on. They absorb information through their fingertips.

This is my one complaint when purchasing scrapbook supplies. While I do have an LSS, she can't stay on top of all the new products and have what I want in stock. This means I need to go online for my scrapbooking needs. And then there are places like Studio Calico, that take it one step further and just do my shopping for me! Love that!

The May kit at Studio Calico has a project kit for an add-on. The minute I heard there was going to be fabric I knew I was going to purchase it, and when I learned that one of Donna Downey's fabric albums would be part of the project kit I practically hopped in my car for a quick jaunt to Kentucky so that I could get it in my hands as quickly as possible. Yes. I'm definitely auditory, visual, and hands-on! I have to do it all!

My first thought was to make an Easter album. We host a party every year and I knew I would take a few hundred photos which would give me a lot of options to fill the pages. However, when it got here, I realized it was much bigger than I thought it would be, and Easter went right out the window. Because it is such a fun and homespun album, I decided to do something I have always wanted to do. I can't WAIT to show it to you. It's a memoir to be sure.

I took the liberty of taking several photos of this album, so the auditory, visual, hands-on learners, like me, can have a opportunity to check this baby out.


The album itself is 8.5 x 8. It's made out of canvas.


It is much deeper than I thought it would be.

As you can see, I had some 3 year old interference when trying to get all the good angles. Mind you, it was just about dinner time, so she was getting anxious, but I had just received the album so I closed the curtains against the direct sunlight and snapped a few photos.

The pages are held in the album by tied ribbon. This makes it very easy to add or change the placement of the pages in the album.


The first 5 pages are page protector pages. See those grommets? Very secure.


They have some fun orange zig zag stitching on the outside edge. Love that detail.


The next five pages are canvas, front and back.

Good grief.

As you can see, the canvas pages have been stitched with blue thread.
When I first saw that these pages were canvas, I KNEW I wanted to sew all over them. But how would I do that if I used my machine? When you bend the pages, there wasn't chipboard in between, yet it was a little stiff. I decided to investigate with my seam ripper. I have more blue thread at home.


Interesting. White felt! My plan is to sew the watoosie out of my pages and then sew the pages back together. AND if I need another embellishment, I can make my own out of white felt!

I hope this helps you understand what you are getting into should you purchase the project kit this month. I can tell you I am SO glad I did. I have been having a lot of fun with it, I've been going a little green, which I can't wait to share, and it has helped me explore my creativity. Dina Wakely is our guest designer this month. YOu know that girl will break out the paint! It totally inspired me to break out mine as well. Here's a tiny peek to what I've done to the cover:


Lastly, humor me, lol. I made a deal with my PJ. She said if I'd let her take a photo of her rainbow horse, she'd let me take a proper photo of her, and since she normally is not a fan of photos at all, I RAN with it. lol





Have a great day! Davinie