Love Letters Paperbag Album Tutorial (Kit in my ETSY)

When I got started on this little album, I wasn't sure what direction to go in. Should I get all my punches out, make bordered paper, mat every page, use photo corners, lots of extra embellies? Well, I decided that for this one, I would keep it simple to show what can be done with a kit, a sling blade cutter, scissors, a glue runner, some glue dots and maybe a couple of extra bards (that's your items list BTW), and a little bit of creativity. You don't really need much more than the basics for getting this one done.
This is the kit I used, Love Letters from "My little Yellow Bicycle", a classy, barely distressed looking line.



The first thing I did was lay out my stuff. I counted how many pages I had and decided on which papers I would use for the pages. I cut them down to 4.5x5".
I then sprayed the front of my album with some glimmer mist (though you can ink it, paint it or leave it plain. I put it in an empty box and sprayed in there to keep the area from getting the mist all over, that stuff doesn't always come out!



I then decided on what embellishments I would use for the cover.
This is what I layered on there, it's all in the kit with the exception of the round black brads through the flower.



I used one of the clear cuts as the title on the cover. (I am single so there is no one in particular I was thinking of making it for).



I also used one of the square brads around my bow, I slipped a little charm through the bottom post and curled the posts around the knot on the bow.



I adhered the items with either my glue runner or glue dots, you could use pop dots for a more dimensional look, but I was trying to keep it as simple as possible. At this point you could use a corner rounder or edge punch on the papers, or ink them for a distressed look, or paint eh edges with white or red. There are so many things you could do, but to keep it basic I didn't do anything else to them.

I then adhered my 4.5x5" papers to each of the pages , I left two pages blank but I'll show you why in a minute. I also picked some of the embellishments and clear cuts I would use on the pages, and I adhered them with glue dots or glue runner.



I then opened the blank pages and took some more of the embellies and the large tag and layered and adhered them to the pages.



I used some of the ribbon for dimension. I also, as you can see, I adhered a doily to the page and wrapped it around the flat bottom of the bag page. This gave me a little flap to work with, and I put the little journal tag peeking out underneath for a little message.





I embellished some of the pages with the sticker borders, some of the clear cuts, ribbon and some of the paper strips I had cut from the 6x6. I tried to keep my pages simple and carry a similar theme by embellishing the pages with patterned paper only on the corners.







The last step was cutting the left over silver ribbon in half, putting it through the eyelets ans tying it in a bow. Tadahhhh! Ready to just add pictures and maybe some love notes to hide in the pockets, and give it to someone special.






The kit for this paperbag album is in my Etsy store for $14.
Leave me a comment please, I'd love to know what you think.