Art by Ansu: Make your own Mini Albums

Friday, May 31, 2019

Make your own Mini Albums

Dear #Creativegirl,

Thank you for popping in to read my blog. This post is a little catch-up of my May 2019 projects.

I mostly develop products and manage our Design Studio, called Ivytree Studio. I am going to attempt to post at least once per month here. It will be a round-up of what I have been up to and my top favorite projects of that specific month.

As a creative girl, you might totally be aware of the fact that we bounce around from project to project and some projects linger a bit longer and sometimes they get left behind totally. As a teacher, I always use to attempt to guide my students towards finishing what they started. Now that I am living the "FREE" life of a full-time artist, it is not so easy. Between work (our little studio) and my own personal creative projects, life can also get in between and what you intend to do and what is actually possible with the time God gives you, is totally something different. Can you relate?

So, I am still very much committed to finishing the projects that I started. At least the most important ones. In May this year, I launched a challenge in my #CreativegirlClub called "This is Me" Mini Album project. The idea was to print some photos of your life from start to date and then make a mini album with it. Well, I started. I completed a couple of layouts. What I found was making the album is ONE project, decorating the cover is another project, and then each layout can be a session each. So this project is taking much longer than I expected, but I think it is an important one, so I am sticking to it. It will be finished when it is finished and in the meantime, I am committed to put my heart into it.

MAKING THE ALBUM:

I used the A4 sized chipboard and found that 2 sheets are enough for the cover. I watched a couple of videos by Bea Valint (she is amazingly talented and I love her style sooooooo much) Creating the album cover is basically very easy. You decide on a size, cut your pieces from the chipboard including front, back cover, and spine. Lay them down next to each other with a little bit of space in between. I would say about 3-5mm. Lay it on top of your pattern paper, trim the corners, fold over with the help of your bone folder, stick down. Cut another piece of pattern paper to cover the inside, stick that down. Remember to use the bone folder to crease the folds before you close the album. It will ensure that your paper doesn't rip. And you're done!

I think when you start out with #MemoryKeeping, you can get easily overwhelmed with all the possibilities. It takes time and effort and study to find your style. I am a novice when it comes to making albums from scratch and I am a bit stubborn. I want to figure things out for myself, so I don't attend classes. It is the way I learn.

- Kinesthetic learning (American English), kinaesthetic learning (British English), or tactile learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by the students carrying out physical activities, rather than listening to a lecture or watching demonstrations. -

I make mistakes, try different ways and design my own end-product. I find it satisfying and sometimes you end up with something great and unique. (PS: when I attend a class, the only reason is for the socializing and perhaps the shopping). Because I am an educator, it has always been my "job" to know how things work and to be able to explain it. This fact makes you a lifelong learner and you go the extra mile to find things out. Teachers tend to be expert researchers.

I would say that when it comes to #Scrapbooking, I like it simple and fun. I develop our Ivytree Studio collections to make things easy, fun and creative for the end-user...that's YOU. ;). I hope that you check our products out. We have been developing #PrintandPlay products this year and it has been so much fun. Creativity just went up a notch!

IN THE NEWS:

Another happening I have to note here has been the article placed about us in a local Magazine. It is always wonderful when you get noticed outside of your usual network and this was just such a big deal to me. We first featured last year December in the online version of the Magazine and then we were surprised by this article in the printed version this year. It is my all-time favorite magazine and it was a great privilege to be featured. Check out the Magazine here.

THE BIG PROJECT FOR 2019:

I would say this was the biggest project I have attempted thus far. I developed with God's help a full online Retreat program with a Workbook, Creative Journal, Devotional Study and other related content. It has a Biblical foundation and is aimed at the Female Christian Artist.

I will write a full article dedicated to this project in another post to come.

This is me, Ansu. This photo was taken during the Retreat. You can perhaps see the tired eyes from

all the late nights.

MINI JELLY BOX ALBUM:

This was such a fun project and I shared a video over on the Ivytree Studio Channel unboxing the album. Watch it here:

Ivytree Studio's #Print&Play collections are just so much fun and so easy to use and create multiple projects with. It is for #PersonalUse only and we don't allow distribution or teachers using our products to teach with unless they purchase the physical prints from us. But, for the crafter and #Creativegirl who just wants to #PLAY, this is going to be a gamechanger for you. It definitely was for me. Here I created a journal cover with the elements from the Karalea collection.