Friday Focus - Heartfelt Creations

Hello, it is Cec here and today I am presenting the Friday Focus segment on the Heartfelt Creations line that is carried in The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

For the next two weeks there will be an additional 15% discount on Heartfelt Creations, so now is a great time to go shopping!  Just click here for all the bargains.

I decided to create a mini album for a Bride once I saw the stamp and die set called All Dressed Up.  I don't have a lot of the Heartfelt products but a couple weeks ago I was in Virginia and had the opportunity to spend a couple hours with the talented Olga Jewell, who is a member of the Heartfelt Creations Design Team and she let me stamp and cut a few extra items.  A couple of those items may not be in the shop, but I will suggest available alternatives for you.

This is a photo heavy post, so let's get started (you can click on any photo to bring up a larger version).  I did all the measurements myself, aiming to have as many photo mats for 4"x6" cards as possible and using pockets for pages.  Once I did all the measurements, I looked for patterned paper in my stash and believe it or not I did not have enough of anything to complete the album so I decided to print co-ordinating papers in yellow, white and grey that I got as freebies from Raspberry Road, Luvly Marketplace and Summertime Designs (blog no longer available).  The papers lean toward modern so this is a more shabby album than vintage.

I made the cover first using chipboard and covered it with white copy paper.  Next I added the binding system that I used before for the baby album I showed here.  I left a lot more space between each page this time with the intention of adding more dimensional embellishments.  In the end there are a couple pages that are a bit further apart than need be but space is critical for keeping really thick elements looking good when you are continually opening and closing the album.  I added patterned paper, including some between the pages this time and a bit of lace on the cover bends.

I made the dress from the All Dressed Up stamp set by stamping onto vellum four times with Versamark and heat embossing it with white embossing powder.  I used the co-ordinating die to cut it out (easy, peasy).  Next I layered the dresses, cutting off sections until I had a ruffled dress.

I used Watering Can Archival Ink and stamped multiples of each size of the petals from the Open Vintage Floret stamp set.  I did not have the co-ordinating die set so I fussy cut them but I encourage you to get dies when they are offered because it makes things so much quicker.  I stamped two sizes of leaves from the Open Leaf stamp set and Olga kindly used her die to cut them for me so I didn't have to fussy cut those too.

I also stamped flowers from the Majestic Morning stamp and cut some plain yellow flowers using the Arianna Blooms die set.

I coloured a variety of petals with Distress Inks and Copic markers and then shaped them differently to make flowers.  I went pretty simple with my shaping but if you check out the Heartfelt YouTube channel you will find numerous videos to help you create all sorts of lovely flowers with your stamps and dies.

Next I talked my husband into cutting the pockets for me along with a grey cardstock mat and a piece of patterned paper for each side.  You will notice that there is a thumb notch and since he designed each layer, they are an equal distancet apart on each layer, which you cannot achieve with a circle punch.  HOWEVER, if you don't have a fancy laser cutter and a handy husband like me, you can use an envelope punch board to make the notch or just make sure your photo mat is longer than the pocket - don't forget to adjust your cover measurements accordingly.

The pocket mats were punched with a Martha Stewart border punch and patterned paper was added on both sides.  Other mats don't have the punched border.

Once the pocket pages were added to the binding system, I added the lace to the spine and part way around the back and front, then added any additional pocket elements before I started to decorate with the inside coming first.

The inside front cover has a side pocket and holds a tent card that has been decorated with a large flower made from the Open Vintage Floret set, a large leaf, some paper flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, organza ribbon, venise lace, pearls and a butterfly from a Martha Stewart punch.  I almost forgot to add the lace ties to hold the album closed so they were added under the side pockets.  - whew.

The front of the first pocket has a flip up that was decorated with some computer generated text on a Spellbinders label die cut and a lace butterfly with pearls for the body.  Inside there are two strips of paper cut with the All Dressed Up die.  The die matches a stamp from the All Dressed Up set but comes in three pieces, which allows you to cut the stamp out completely or in part.  In this case I used two parts of it to create a border.

I found some clip art of a rose that I coloured with Prismacolor pencils and added to cover the magnet that holds the flip up down.  A tag with some narrow ribbon adds another photo spot.

The back of the first pocket has a simple bottom pocket that I decorated with a row of roses created on the computer, coloured with Prismacolor pencils and embellished with a few pearls.

The front of pocket two has a corner stamp from the All Glammed Up Shoe set, cut with the full co-ordinating die and coloured with Prismacolors.

The back of the second pocket has to flip downs for journaling spots that were decorated with a bit of venise lace and a button.  Magnets hold them in place when they are in the up position.

The front of pocket three has a die cut decorated with a Majestic Morning flower and leaves as a pocket.  I made another tag for use as a photo mat.

The back of pocket three has a side pocket and is decorate with a flower made from the Arianna Blooms die cut petals that have been inked with some distress ink along with some leaves.

The front of pocket four has a little envelope with another corner stamp added and magnets to hold it closed.

The back of pocket four has a couple little pockets with small journaling spots inside that have die cut toppers.  I made the toppers from dies I had on hand but there are some fancy ones from Heartfelt that would be perfect.

The front of pocket five has a bottom pocket with a two-layer die cut topper added along with a little organza bow.

The back of pocket five features a little window element with a tiny Majestic Morning flower and some leaves on the closure, which holds a magnet to keep everything closed.

The inside of the back cover has a layered side pocket and holds another tent card, which has been decorate with another flower made from the Vintage Floret stamp, leaves and venise lace.

I added some fun organza ribbon trim over the lace on the spine and then made some bead charms and attached them with a faux pearl ring.

Finally I decorated the front cover with more flowers made from the Heartfelt stamp sets, a couple paper flowers, some organza ribbon, a little wooden word that was painted with some white Distress crackle paint and finally the lovely vellum dress to which I added some pearls.

I hope my album will inspire you to pick up some of the gorgeous Heartfelt Creations stamps sets and dies and start creating.  Don't forget to add the fabulous flower shaping tools to your cart so you can make really fancy flowers.

The following products used to create this album are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:


The following products available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique were not used to create this album but are suggested alternatives: