Birthday Blessings

My little sister turned 40 this year. To help her celebrate, I gathered wishes from friends and family members and then scrapped them into a Birthday Blessing Book. I made an altered tin for the book to go in. Her initials are on the front cover.

The tin got a little bulgy with all the wishes in the book...so I had to tie the tin shut with ribbon!

I made special pockets for the book for the original emails from her friends. The pocket paper was from Martha Stewart and had a sort of vinyl feel to it, so it is stretchy and able to hold folded paper. I punched a notch in the top of the pocket. The papers that I used for the book are from Heidi Grace.

I wanted to make the book interactive, so I hid things here and there. Traci had a Bible verse for my sister which I hid under a taggy flap, securing it closed with a mini magnet.

This picture shows Traci's verse when the taggy flap is closed.

For Rebecca's wishes I used clear buttons that I glued matching papers on the back, then tied the buttons with frayed ribbon fibers.

On Rachel and Marsha's wishes I used super cute epoxy brads as little accents. I also made "ribbon" with paper strips.

When using ribbon on projects, make sure that you use super adhesive to help the ribbon stay put. I love Stampin' Up's sticky strip.

Carolyn and Abby's page both had interactive elements. For Carolyn's wishes I put them on tags that I made by using the birdcages as shapes for the tags. For Abby's, I folded paper and used a punch to create the circle flaps. Fold paper in 1/2 and then put it in your punch without punching through the folded bit and you'll create a sort of book. I made the tag on Traci's the same way.

For the greetings from Grace and Michelle I just kept it simple, adding a little texture with ribbon.

Here's another look at the email pockets. I only used adhesive on the bottom of the pockets because the inside edges were held closed by the black rings, while the outside edges were folded over in one continuous piece of paper--didn't need adhesive.

Janey's greeting was the last one that I put in the book which was getting really thick by now! Because I was worried about the tin being able to close, I didn't put any embellishments on Janey's page.

You can click on any of the pictures for an up close look. Happy Birthday sis!!

Things in my backyard

This year Fall has been more colorful than I remember it being last year. It could be that I'm just used to the perpetual green around here now and I can see the fall colors in the midst of that and not be overwhelmed by the green. Whatever it is, I find it beautiful! This Japanese Maple is in our backyard not too far from the swimming pool.

I think I might be obsessed with mushrooms! The yard guys come on Tuesdays and mow through any mushrooms that have grown. So, if I want to take a picture I have to look sometime before they get here. These little red mushrooms keep coming back in about the same spot every week. I finally got down on my knees to take this picture. Shots from above just look silly, like there is a clown nose in the grass. When I pick the mushroom to take pictures that way, it feels like something gets lost in that process. I'm sure I'll keep trying.

Happy Fall!! Soon it will be Thanksgiving. May you be blessed with much to be thankful!