The Barcelona Album

Hi everyone,

This week it's NO RULES at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, it's Anything Goes! So please join us!



For every trip I make, I like to make an album with all the photos I took during that adventure. It's always a lot of work to make an album, but this time it took almost my whole summer break! Not that I mind it, it was just a big project. I'm a person who likes to process a lot of photos in the album and that's always a challenge. This time I put about 200 pictures in it! If a picture says more then a thousand words, this album sure has lots to say!



I wrote a lot more about the things that happend and that I've seen, then in other albums. The small notepad I made a while back has really helped me so I could take notes and write the whole story later. I first covered the canvas board with design paper from Authentique, the Accomplished collection and made an album of it. 



The theme of Accomplished actually is graduation, but I find Kraft with black and white a very nice combination and I didn't mind that it wasn't a traveling theme. Because I knew I probably wouldn't have enough sheets, I also used Black and Kraft Bazzil Cardstock. How could I print on a black surface and see the text? I actually had only one answer and that was Perfect Pearls. I've got an inkjet printer and ink is wet, so why not print with the best quality setting and cover it with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold? The first attempt failed because I had printed on the textured side and that made the text difficult to read. The second attempt was successful, perfectly readable. But it needed to set. Unfortunately it didn't work to spray it with a Mister, because if the drops were too big, the text became unreadable. Hmmm, what will work and not bleed? Why not give hairspray a try? And yes, that was the answer!



To mix up a bit, I also used a transparency sheet, and stamped with StazOn on it. This ink works best on a plastic surface. And adhered on both sides photos. The letters I die cut from the Lower Alphabet Dies set with Cork Sheets. The three dots under the text are the insides from the letters. Why not use them as embellishments?



As for the text, I wrote this in Adobe Illustrator. I first decided how big I wanted the piece of cardstock I was going to print on and where the text would come. Once that was set I started typing, and wrote as many as could fit in the textarea. I then printed it out on regular printing paper with a border the size of the piece of cardstock, and I cut that piece out. I adhered it in place where the border was, put it back into the printer and deleted in Illustrator the border. And printed it again. No paper is wasted in this way. This method only works with an inkjet printer and one that has a tray at back of it so the paper remains almost straight when the printer pulls the paper through.



I have lots of photos with the backs glued together and I made them ​​interactive. Each page has a different layout and amount of picture. Quite difficult to make each page different, but again it makes it more interesting for when you browse through the album. The Gears and Mini Gears are from Memory Box. Absolutely love them!



I almost forgot that I had those Shadow Presses. It gives such a cool effect to a photo. I've learned that they best work on a background if it has a solid color. If you look carefully you can see this page exist out of two different design papers.  I've adhered the two remaining strips of design paper together with washi tape and so created a whole page. Really convenient and also very pretty! Maybe next time I make all the pages that way.



The cover I decorated last, it was already covered with design paper. But I mean the decoration of the cover, because I wanted it to with the style of the content of the album. I kept it pretty simple, because I have done taht with the inside too.




To join in all you need to do is make a project that fits this weeks challenge and you can be the winner of the $50 gift voucher that our amazing sponsor Simon Says Stamp offers. This prize will go to a random entry. So go over to the Stamp and Show Monday Challenge blog, let the DT members inspire you and join in the fun!

Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra