Black & White Wedding Mini-Album

Here it is as promised ... my fabulous creation!
I made it as a gift for my sister Beth's 6 month wedding anniversary. I think she should have a nice simple album and it should be fabulous!!!

I should probably premise everything by saying that I also made it to submit for a magazine call. You had to follow specific instructions and showcase a sketch by Becky Fleck. Click here for details. I didn't have much hope of winning, but I gave it my best shot. I obviously didn't win, but I knew I was making this for Beth first and foremost, so it had to be something she would like as well. Following a sketch both creates and alleviates problems. It's nice because some of the design process is done for you ... but difficult because you have all of these criteria you're trying to fulfill and you want to win!
This is the sketch:

You can see how it's sort of carried out throughout the album but I tried to make it my own ...

Notice the charm on the rings ... I love it :) It gives in that special touch ...

I used a Basic Grey Dark Chocolate stepped bracket chipboard album in BLACK. I'd already decided on going with the black and white theme and I debated with different shaped black albums ... but this one just appealed to me the most.


Then I pulled a bunch of stuff from my stash that would match the theme (but everything had to be currently available products).

I used a black and white paper pad from K&Co - the Marcella Black and White - thick cardstock with metallic accents.
The journaling spots are from the Making Memories 5th Avenue journaling notebook.
Lace and trim from my local fabric store.
Making Memories Tiny Alphas in black, white, and pink.
Best Occasions rhinestone circles and flourishes (about half the price of Prima - available at Walmart).
Making Memories Blossoms felt and sheer
CTMH buttons in black and Colonial White.
CTMH White Daisy paper flowers.
Bazzill Basics Paper Flowers (black)
Heidi Swapp black fabric flowers. I don't know if I really like this with the finished product, but I tried...
Rhinestone flowers - could be from Kaiser Craft, Prima, Petaloo, etc.
CTMH brads
AC Thickers
CTMH liquid glass
Misc. hatpin ...
That's enough about the products ... but you want to know what you're looking at :)

I ran in to challenges right away by estimating my measurements wrong. I created these collages of photos and had them printed out in 4x6 ... and then they were too big for the page (which is 6" tall). So, I adjusted, cropped and worked with what I had.

The goal of this album was to quickly and succinctly capture the essence of the day and tell the story of their wedding day. So we start with being walked down the aisle and the ceremony ending on this page with walking out as man and wife.
Family matters a lot to us, so I did a page of the wedding party and the respective families ... very simple. I used lace and rhinestone flourishes as accents. The only rhinestone circle is to draw attention to the happy couple in the big photo.

This is layout that I created just for the contest - with the extra oomph. I really like the way it turned out!






I wish I could take better photos, but I really like the way this turned out!

I hope you like it!

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