Weekend Creative : May CK Love Board Book

Lovebook

I received some requests over the last month for more in-depth instructions on how to put together the Love minibook featured in my column in the May issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Here's the basics:

The Love album is made by BoBunny Press. There are lots of different words available - here are a few of my favorites:

Chipboardwords_2

[ links to individual books here: Happy + Baby + Family ]

Love4_2

The main thing to keep in mind as you begin this project is how your
photos will fit on the letters. I chose my photos based on the size and
shape of the letters. For the "O" I chose a photo where Simon was
oriented to the left and there was some space that could be cut out for
the middle of the "O." I measured the longest part of each letter (will be different for each of the words) and made my photo just a bit larger so I would have some room to cut all the way around (and inside in some cases like the "O"). These books are 6 inches tall.

Love1

I used a craft knife for cutting the excess from the photos. For
this process I actually adhere the photo onto the chipboard letter with
a glue stick, turn it over, and cut from the back side with my knife.

Love5

The formula I followed for this minibook is this: photo + patterned
paper + transparency.

The front side of each piece of chipboard is a
photo. The back side is patterned paper (or could easily be another photo if you wanted to include more photos). In between each page is a transparency that is cut to match following the outside shape of each letter (I did not cut out the inside of any of the transparent pages).

Love2

On top of each transparent page I placed a piece of journaling tape from Collage Press and backed it with 7gypsies gaffer tape (literally on the other side of the transparency).

The next step was adding the Scenic Route letter stickers on top of the journaling tape. I used single words that related to what was happening in the photos.

Love3

As you may notice on the image above my photo was not big enough to cover the entire letter "E." I can't remember whether I made a mistake when I was printing or if I meant to do it that way...either way I ended up continuing the patterned paper from the backside of the "V."

Just a bit of journaling on this one (see the small card above + the journaling tape). If this was a project where you had a lot to say you could use some lined patterned paper for the backs of each of the letters. There are so many different options to add more words or more photos.

My finishing touch was going around the outside of each letter/photo/paper combo with a gold metallic Ranger Acrylic Paint Dabber. You could also use a gold leaf pen to achieve the same look.

It's pretty much just a bunch of words + photos.

Your prompt this weekend is to create something using a photo or photos where you might have originally used patterned paper. Maybe you want to make a layout like this one I shared on Wednesday that pretty much takes over the entire page. This weekend, let your photos do most of the talking.

Dottedline_2

[ Project Supplies: Scenic Route Letter Stickers; Narratives Transparencies (I
looked for ones with words on them that would not completely cover the
photos - the ones I used are an older product + I am checking with
Karen to see where people can get them online. Check your stash at home
or your local store.
); Collage Press Ledger Journaling Tape; 7gypsies Red Life Gaffer Tape; Patterned Paper: K&Company; Gold Acrylic Paint Dabber from Ranger (used this around the edges of each page in the album) ]

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51 thoughts

  1. aj says…
    05/23/2008

    Another beautiful book with meaning and sentiment. Love it. I am drawn to the way you add just a little bit of something (paint, pop dot, gaffers tape, etc.) to make it come together so well. Thanks for the inspiration and for the time to make your blog my must read of the morning! Annette

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  2. Sue says…
    05/23/2008

    Thanks for the detailed instructions on how to put one of these albums together. I may try one this weekend using photos of my grandchildren. Your blog is awesome!
    Sue

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  3. elise says…
    05/23/2008

    badda bing, badda boom.
    this is fabulous.

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  4. Sharon says…
    05/23/2008

    Thanks for these very detailed instructions. I bought the 'family' book a while back, but haven't done anything with it because I wasn't quite sure how to start. Now, I know what to do! I'll work on it this weekend.

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  5. jackie says…
    05/23/2008

    Incredible! I love your LOVE album. You always inspire what is important in this crazy life we lead. ThANKS Ali.

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  6. Felecia says…
    05/23/2008

    Ali,
    THis is just awesome...I have this chipboard album sitting in my stash, awaiting use. This is such a do-able project!
    I don't comment much, but prefer to lurk. But since, I'm here: I've been a fan for awhile, thanks to my friend Karen.
    I just bought your Life Artist book and have to say I'm THRILLED with it. I think I love it more than any other book I have because the approach is timeless.
    Its my habit to mark the pages that interest me in any idea books so that I can go back and jot the ideas into my journal and/or use them to scrap.
    With your book, I found myself putting stickies on nearly every page! I had to switch strategies and just read the book all the way through once, then go back in detail with my journal to glean the ideas I feel inspired by the most. I know I'll be coming back to this book over and over, as my own style and life situation evloves.
    I so appreciate your insight and the freedom you espouse with Scrapbooking. I don't scrapbook to be published anymore and have found you such an inspiration to get back to WHY I started in the first place.
    And to top it off, I feel that you are a truely GREAT artist. One becuase you freely practice art (key word - practice!!!), Two because you spend your time being true to yourself and your style rather than trying to get to every technique and trend, and Three because your vision consistently generates something unique.
    Thanks for being available to us to share your philosophy, process and mind-set. You are truely an inspiration!!!

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  7. Shelly Kettell says…
    05/23/2008

    Great project...it turned out amazingly beautiful. Great layout yesterday too!
    I just finished a 26 page book for my daughter's teacher (last day of school gift) and I stuck to your theory of words and pictures. It turned out awesome and brought tears to her eyes! Thanks for all your inspriation!

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  8. lynn says…
    05/23/2008

    this book is totally awesome. and it never occurred to me to use PICTURES. sigh. thanks for the inspiration! :)

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  9. mary says…
    05/23/2008

    Your album is stunning and the detailed instructions are helpful. It doesn't hurt to have a such a cute, photogenic subject does it? !!

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  10. Steffanie S. says…
    05/23/2008

    Thank you Ali. I have had this exact word book for months not knowing what I want to do with it. I absolutely LOVE your version. May have to scraplift!

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  11. Suzanne says…
    05/23/2008

    Thanks for the inspiration, very much needed at the moment.

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. Trubags says…
    05/23/2008

    Gorgeous minibook and as really inspirational take on it! One to definitely try in the future - thanks for the fab instructions too!

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  13. Lan says…
    05/23/2008

    Thanks for sharing this! I plan to scraplift it with the Baby book for my sister.

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  14. Chris says…
    05/23/2008

    What an awesome idea to add those transparency pages. It adds so much to the finished project! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. jennifer says…
    05/23/2008

    Loved this one when I saw it in Studio A. I have the BEACH book and look forward to filling it with some good shots from this summer. Thanks for the inspiration! Beautiful as usual. I just keep thinking that one day when Simon is older, it will mean so much to him to see his life documented in this way. I wish that I had more pictures and stories of myself as a child and that's what drives me to capture my life now with my children. Have a great weekend.

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  16. jennifer says…
    05/23/2008

    oh my gosh - i just saw the about ali link on the left and clicked it and see that you have another book coming out late summer. way to go! i can't keep up with all my own projects that i have planned never mind being inspired by pretty much every one of your projects - lol i look forward to it :)

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  17. lacey says…
    05/23/2008

    I am SO doing this! Have a few word books that I want to do. Thank you for the continuous inspiration and detailed how-to's. You ROCK Ali! Have a great holiday weekend :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. Joy says…
    05/23/2008

    This album is the bomb! This is why you are just the coolest scrapbooker, Ali! I have one of these albums and couldn't face covering it with bold papers that would make the letters be indecipherable. LOVE THIS! FANTASTIC IDEA! AMAZING! Such creative ideas coming from you all the time! Thanks for sharing these detailed instructions!

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  19. Molly says…
    05/23/2008

    once again you've shown me a cool [vs. cutsie] use of a product I would otherwise overlook. Impressive! have a great weekend.

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Molly says…
    05/23/2008

    back for more commenting: i simply adore this book. lately i could just climb inside your blog and camp out here for a while.

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. liz says…
    05/23/2008

    hi....wasn't that book fun! i made one too, a few weeks ago....the "baby" book....for a friend with a new grandchild...it turned out really great! i was pleased with it and it was pretty easy too....a lot of cutting for the letters and i sanded all the edges and used inks to color the edges...but all and all, i was happy and i am planning on making another one soon! thank you so much for sharing and i will try using the transparencies next time....i think! those are hard for me! hahahah! thanks for listening!

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  22. Keely says…
    05/23/2008

    I have a family book that i want to make for my parents' 50th anniversary. It really helps to see your process! Thank you for sharing the details so clearly.

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  23. tempestdelfuego says…
    05/23/2008

    Wow, this one is particularly inspiring! Thanks for sharing the process with us.

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  24. BethBG says…
    05/23/2008

    Wow, Ali, this is such a fresh idea for these albums. I look forward to reading/seeing your unique perspective on things, I always come away inspired and energized. I have the "Believe" album and now I think I'll dig out photos of my boys wearing their Santa suits. XX's BethBG

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  25. Brianna says…
    05/23/2008

    This is totally cute. Thanks for sharing.

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