Wednesday, March 27, 2013

An Album of Precious Memories - Part 1

My husband's cousin Anita Chechi who leaves in the US, is one of those extremely generous and loving people who is frequently presenting my kids and me so many presents whenever she comes to town. So 2 weeks ago when she came to visit her ailing grandmother, I wanted to thank her with something really special and I felt a card just wouldn't do it. It was time for my first Mini Album.


The picture above is the cover of the album. The entire theme is vintage/ shabby chic and I have to give a great BIG SHOUT of thanks to the Gossip Girls over at Swap Central. Saumya did this awesome post on 'What is Vintage" a couple of weeks ago and it not only opened my eyes but inspired me to use these colours. I went with the Luxury Stack from DCVW which had just the right backdrop for the album.


This is the first page of the album and that's Anita Chechi in the photograph with her husband. I wanted to really dress up the page because this photograph is so fantastic. Hussena's bird cage card was posted at just about the same time and I thought - BIRD CAGE! YES! The cage, the leaves and the flowers are all cameo cut and the same layout exists on the other side of the page. Thanks Hussena! Again!


This is the next page of Anita Chechi's daughter when she was a little girl. I should mention that I wanted this album to be a complete surprise so I got all the photographs from Anita's facebook or her family's Facebook. I didn't ask her for any photographs. That's the great thing about Facebook - we only upload our best photos so I found some amazing snaps. Entering this page in Dream Valley Challenges 53 - Pearls and Lace


The next page is all about butterflies! The background page had some grey tinges so I made my butterflies grey. I distressed the edges and centre of each butterfly with some grey ink and that added really an aged look to them. Love it! Added some pearls following the swirls on the page - you can never go wrong with pearls right! Entering this page in Creative Creations Challenge 6 - The letter B (for the Butterflies!)


I've added some closeups of the detailing to give you a better look. And did you notice how all the photographs were tinted sepia? I did that because I wanted the photos to coordinate with the album theme. I personally feel that even the most beautiful album can lose its appeal when photos are added because the album is one theme and the photos don't complement it. So since I was going vintage with each page, I made the photos vintage too. It actually made each picture better I think. 


There are a few more pages to show which I will display in my next post. My only regret about this album is that I didn't get to take nice photographs of it since I was so so so pleased with the result. I spent three days and sleepless nights on it and it was ready just before we all met for dinner. So the photographs were taken after I presented it at night time - with my brother in law's couch as the backdrop.

Thanks so much for dropping by and would love to hear what you think of this creation. If you would like to know the supplies used or how I made anything specifically please write in to craftingtillthecrackofdawn@gmail.com. I am more than happy to share!

35 comments:

  1. beautiful book sunehra .nice choice of pictures ..they blended well .butterfly is just ooooh la la.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow thanks Megha... the pictures are the main focus, the rest is just to make them look good.

      Delete
  2. OMG jawdropping creation.I am so inspired and so impressed....that my language has taken a beating.Really fantstic creation .Love the vintage idea and the way you executed it.Thanks for sharing.I can't pick any one page as my favorite since all of them are gorgeous....and I just can't stop scrolling up and down

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. woah! Snehal - what a complimentary comment!!! I don't know how to respond except to say that it gives me such a sense of validation when I see such responses. Thank you so so much!

      Delete
  3. very beautiful Sunehra!! just couldn't take my eyes off!! thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Berina - it was a blast to make!

      Delete
  4. WOw Sunehra ! I just loved the vintage theme and what an idea to give sepia tone to images..Its like journey into the world of old memories I just cannot stop seeing the pages again n again..loved everything..pearls,paper,cage,shabby chic style ...eager to see remaining pages !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Pooja - ya I think making the photos sepia really makes the album a cohesive unit. All the photos were in color originally so I edited them before printing and attaching to the page. Thanks so much for your very kind words, I really hope I got the vintage thing.... I'm still in 2 minds!

      Delete
  5. WOW Sunehra! Very beautiful album. I love the bird cage and the calla lilies... The butterflies are so beautiful, so are the gorgeous bows. Can't wait to see the rest of the pages..
    You are so right about the pearls..you can never go wrong with them! I sooo love pearls that i include them on almost all my cards! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I know how you feel about pearls because I love seeing them in your projects and love using them in mine. We're the pearlies, you and me!

      Delete
  6. This is another 'Wow' from Me!...This album looks exquisite...You really have done a fab job of creating the whole shabby - chic /vintage look...You work really compliments the pictures you have used of your friend...This is such an elegant beautiful piece of work....Each page looks gorgeous! :)...Really looking forward to seeing the rest of it..!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really do hope I've got the Shabby Chic/ Vintage feel... I sometimes feel it should be a little shabbier... not sure... but thanks so much Hussena, not just for your comment but also for your constant inspiration!

      Delete
  7. Wow! Love your album and the pages are awesome Sunehra! Thank u so much for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. WOW! This is Impressive! You really are a creative crafter. Love the vintage theme and the idea of cordinating photos with sepia tone. Great details! Love the pearls, butterfly and everything about this album. Truly inspirational :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow thanks so much Zubaida... what a wonderful compliment :) So glad you could see the vintage... I just wasn't sure I was getting it right..

      Delete
  9. hey thats so beautifully cordinated ,the bling,the bow and the butterflies look so chic :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lovely. Every details are amazing and perfectly placed.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is like WOAH!!!! amazing!! I love how you thought in terms of the overall balance of the book...sepia and vintage go totally hand in hand. Love that the pages do not take the focus off the pictures and the pictures don't take the focus off the page..beautiful colors...and that grey page!! SWOON!! mostly coz of the butterflies but overall look is soo ethereal. Waiting for the next installment.

    one question though...I always hesitate to put pearls in the middle pages of the book, coz it always makes a dent on the opposite page!! how do you save your pages?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Firstly thank you SO SO SO SO much for your super sweet comment... yes I was going for ethereal on that page so I'm so glad that's the effect that emerged. Regs the pearls denting the page... I haven't had that experience with these small pearls. I have with larger pearl brads but not with these small pearls or rhinestones. Plus there was a 3D element on almost every page keeping the pages from closing flat. And I used 2.5" rings to bind the 8 pages so there was plenty of space between each page. Hope it all stays looking that way and that dents don't appear.

      Delete
  12. This is superb stuff Sunehra.. I love the fact that you have kept the embellishments under stated so that the pictures shine... Amazing amazing amazing.. you really are amazing...!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My goodness what a wonderful comment... shucks I should've taken the photos in daylight then actual colors and detailing could've been seen better.

      Delete
  13. Great Work Sunhera..the pics and pps are so well in colour coordiantion..the bird cage and the leaves are mindblowing..loved each page !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. wow thats Poornima - gotta thank Hussena for the birdcage idea... I was always planning to add it but her arrangement was so inspiring I had to go with that.

      Delete
  14. beautiful! The butterflies are stunning! Thanks for joining us at Creative Creations Challenges with our 'B' challenge - remember you can enter up to three times! Good Luck and hope to see you again soon :) x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very unique album.....butterfly page is very pretty and eye catchy....beads gives a very elegant look to the album.I would like to know which butterfly die you used for that page.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What an extremely lovely creation!

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a beautiful creation! Those butterflies, the pearls - I just love it!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Awesome , simply awesome..!!! I love every single detailing..!!!

    ReplyDelete

Would love to hear what you think. Mention your blog too so I can visit you!