A present for a new baby: very image heavy!

I love making 'ready to fill' albums for babies and weddings, they are a unique gift for a happy couple or new parents. I tend to keep them simple and classic rather than go OTT like I might do for myself though as peoples tastes vary so much. This is one I made for our friends baby born just before Christmas, its a 'month by month' book for a photo taken every month on 23rd to chart his growth and changes. I also added some journalling tags into the binding so a note could be made about the photo, such as where it was taken, who is in it, what time of day, anything that's relevant really! At the end of the book there is a page for his first birthday and a large tag to record some of the milestones at 1 year old, such as how many teeth, if he is walking, what his favourite foods are, nap times, etc.

I used Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake A4 cardstock cut to 8.25 x 8.25" to make the pages and the offcuts to make the journalling tags. The covers are the same size and made from 2 sheets stuck together for strength. The pages are filled with papers from the SU! Subtles DSP paper stack, and co-ordinating cardstock colours, plus a little Very Vanilla cardstock. The edges of every piece of card and paper were grunged up with SU! Soft Suede ink on a piece of cut and dry foam. It's all bound together with a 3/4" blue O-wire and the Bind -it-All.

I used various embellishments from my stash and chipboard alphabets to create the titling and decorate the pages a little - the clear buttons, metal label holders and linen thread are all SU! as are all the inks used. Chipboard Alphas are Heidi Swapp. Various stamps by SU! (flourish on cover), Autumn Leaves (journalling tags), Studio G ('boy' and star with 'boy') and Papertrey Ink (heart and sentiment). Some of the bits were jazzled up with some Stickles glitter glues in turquoise and frosted lace. I used the printer to create the wording for each page but the numbers were a sheet of number stickers from a class kit I received at ATDML retreat, and I printed the final large tag too.The scallop edges are made with a SU! scallop edge punch. I also used SU! punches to make the small glittered heart (Heart - small), and the inside of the label holders (Designer label - large).

Where the embellishments cover the photo mat slightly they are not stuck down so the photo can be slipped behind. The mats are all sized ready for standard 6x4" photos - although some are landscape and some portrait just to vary it a little.

The covers I painted black with Jo Sonyas acrylic, and then stamped the panel before adding the letters. The corners have been reinforced with some 7gypsies metal corners to prevent wear and tear. The back is just plain black with a 'handmade' label stamped on it.

So there it is - all ready to fill! I had to stay up late a couple of nights to work on it as I have had a busy week at work and then hospital visiting on top, so crafting time was rare, but managed to get it off in the post yesterday so it will be with the recipient before Sunday, which is of course the first day they will need to take a photo of the baby to fill the 'one month' page!