Vintage Valentine Paper Bag Album Tutorial Part 1

Hello Friends, Today I would like to start sharing with you how I make one of my favorite projects!Paper Bag Albums!

So please join me as I share with you over the next couple days how I create these.

First start with a 6 x 6 paper bag book. I buy my books in lots on ebay by The Scrapbook Supply Outlet. What I love about these are that they have been sprayed with archival spray so that the album is acid free, They have been sewn together, holes pre punched and pressed to lay flat.

You can also make your own with 3  6 x 12 paper bags.

  

For the cover, start by cutting a sheet of paper 5 1/2 x 6.

Print and cut this Valentine card.

I then took my pinking shears and cut along the edge of  2  1 x 5 1/2 strips of red cardstock.

Glue the strips of cardstock to the edges of your card.

Punch 2 holes in your card where the holes originally were for ribbon.

I then pulled a small piece of ribbon through the holes and knotted it. I also changed the title of my album. You can cut and print any title to fit your needs.

I then poked this cute plastic pick through the ribbon. I found these in the party section at Hobby Lobby. You could also use stick pins.

I then added glitter glue in red, yellow and pink to the flowers along both sides of the card. Set aside to dry.

For the first page in your book cut another sheet of paper 5 1/2 x 6.

Cut photo corners from paper. I use this really cool photo corner punch by Martha Stewart which is available here or at Wal Mart and Michaels.

Next I cut a 1 x 5 1/2 strip of patterned paper and punched along one edge with my Fiskars Apron Lace punch which you can find here or at Jo Anns and Michaels.

Glue the strip along the bottom of your page. Next add a strip of ric rac along the bottom.

Print and cut Valentine.

I then cut a 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 piece of pink cardstock and added three photo croners to create my first photo mat. Next I glued the Valentine to the bottom left corner. I added a scalloped photo corner to the top left corner of my page and glued three small buttons along the bottom of the book. I then added blue ink along the edges of the book. Set aside to dry.

For the second page cut a sheet of paper 5 1/2 x 6. Cut a 1 1/2 inch strip of paper and take your pinking shears and cut along one side. Add blue ink along the edge to make it stand out. Glue along the right side of the book. Cut a piece of pink cardstock 3 x 4. Cut a piece of red  cardstock 3 1/2 x 4 1/2. Glue together to

create another photo mat and glue to the upper left side of the page.

Cut and Print Valentine.

Punch a small hole in the top of the Valentine and tie a bow at the top and use a pink brad to hold the ribbon in place. Use adhesive foam dots on the back of the Valentine to make the cage stand out. I then added three small glitter heart stickers to the bottom and the words "Happy Valentine's Day". Add blue ink around the edges of the page.

It is easy to take these basic layout sketches and apply them with any style paper and enbellishments. If you wish to use the same paper as I did, it is by Pink Paislee from the Cupid Collection. You can find it here at Amazon or on ebay.

Stay tuned as I share the rest of the pages this week!

Have a great Sunday, Lindsey