One thing you might not know about me is that I love to collect (and possibly even hoard) fabulous patterned paper. I am a sucker for anything with Amy Tangerine's name on it, so I could barely wipe the huge grin off my face when I got a big box of goodies from Amy's amazing Plus One collection…. yes, the collection that is sold out in most stores and online!
I knew instantly that I wanted to make a cute mini album with some of my favorite Instagram photos of my family from the last few months, and this collection was just perfect!
First I went through my Instagram photos from the last few months, and picked out some of my favorites. After some trial and error, I figured out a cool way to print Instagram pictures in square sizes from Costco (hellllloooo, 13 cent prints) that I'll be sharing with you soon. Once the photos were printed, it was time to get started choosing paper for each page of my book!
Every single piece in the collection is just amazing. I love the bold colors and fun patterns. I cut out long strips of paper in different patterns, making each strip 4" x 12."
I folded each strip in half like a book, with the patterned side on the inside. One of my favorite things about the Plus One paper pad are the pages that have cards that you can cut out to use as journaling or fun accents for a page. Many of these were 4" high, and perfect for my book, so I just cut along the edges, folded them like the regular patterned paper, and used them as pages for my book, too!
Once I had all my pages cut and folded, I got to work creating each page. First I cut my photos down to the size I wanted them, then figured out which embellishments I wanted to include. I used lots of rub-ons, thin washi tape, pins, and flair to make each page unique and fun.
For the cover, I added some see through letters for the title of my book, "Instalove." Here's a fun trick for applying letter stickers to a project so that they're nice and straight every time- use the outside wrapper of some of the plastic packaging, and line up your letters along the top of the plastic, so that each letter has just a tiny bit of the bottom sticking to the plastic. This helps you line up the letters evenly so that they can be easily adjusted until you get them just right. Once they're nice and neat, just push down to stick them on, and pull off the plastic from the bottom bit of the letters… perfect placement every time!
I used the embroidery stencil kit to add some detail and color to my first page. This was so easy! Just place the stencil over where you want the letters on the page, use the included tool to poke holes through the paper, and then stitch through those holes to get perfectly straight letters every time.
For my daughter's page, I cut out some of the accents from the paper pad. I used a pop dot behind the yellow heart I cut out to give it some dimension and make it pop from the page.
Notice how the "Today" paper sticks out from the rest of the book? I like to have elements of my minis poke out of the pages to make it more interesting! When you close the book, that piece is centered above the camera on the cover.
This is my all time favorite Instagram photo I've ever taken. I wanted to keep the pattern simple on this page so that my beach photo of my son gets all the attention.
For this page I added the ice cream and sun rub-ons to the page that went perfectly with the story I was telling about my optimistic daughter.
I used the washi tape to add some lines for journaling. I cut out black and white hearts from the patterned paper, and then cut off the rounded ends to use as accents on the page. I thought the plus sign was perfect for my daughter, because she is always so happy and positive!
I added some of the adorable thin washi tape over the journaling lines on the left hand side of the page, and included a photo of my darling little guy on the opposite side.
And the back cover…. that one word sums it all up!
To put the whole book together, I just applied adhesive to the blank backside of each page and adhered the pages. I cut a small piece of paper for the binding of the book, to make sure everything was held together.
When I was at the CHA Winter Show in January, I was able to get a sneak peek at the Plus One collection in American Crafts' booth (AND meet Amy herself, eek!), so it's no surprise to me that this was THE top selling signature line released in Winter 2014. I was going to include the photo of Amy and I, but I look absolutely horrible in it ;) She was very sweet and her baby was just adorable, and it's so nice to meet someone you look up to and have them be just as great in real life as you hoped they were!
xo, Laura
