Austin by Nicole Reaves

Austin by Nicole Reaves

I had an opportunity to go to Austin, Texas at the end of September and, as I do with most of my trips, I planned to document it in the form of a mini book. While I didn’t know what the guts of the album were going to hold yet, I wanted to figure out what size and orientation I was going to use before the trip, so I would know what kind of photos and memorabilia to be on the lookout for.

I also wanted to take this time to create a cover for my mini book. I love the bold outline font of the Lexington stamp set in this month’s release and found it to be a great match for what I envisioned for my cover. I love that you can layer this stamp set on top of another pattern without blocking what is behind it. Plus it is large and eye-catching – just right for my mini book cover. Here’s how I put it together :

• I wanted to incorporate a map of Austin on the cover, but rather than just printing a full page map, I wanted it create some sort of die-cut-like embellishment with it.
• Next, I found clipart online of the outline of the state of Texas. I reduced the scale before printing to be a bit smaller than my album covers, which are about 5” wide x 6” high.
• Using a window as a lightbox, I taped the Texas outline to the window and then placed the map of Austin over it, moving it around until I was happy with what parts of the city would show within the outline. I taped the map up over the outline and traced the Texas outline on the map.
• Then, I pulled the map off the window and cut out the Texas outline. I also adhered a small red star to the map at the approximate location of the city of Austin.
• I grabbed the Kelly Purkey Shop Lexington alpha stamp set and pulled off the letters that spelled “Austin.” I arranged them on the map to get an idea of letter placement, and see which letters I should start with so they would line up and be evenly spaced.
• With my favorite black ink, I stamped “Austin” onto the map.
• Below “Austin” I used the month and number stamps from the Admit One Traveler’s Notebook kit to add “Sep 2017.”
• Before I went any further, I needed to decide what I wanted to do with this Texas cut. I knew I had a couple of options here. I could adhere it directly to the front of the acrylic cover (and cover the backside with a mirror image cutout). Or I could attach it to another piece of paper and make it the first page of the album, which you’d see through the clear cover. I ended up going with the first option and right now I think I will add a photo as the first page of the album, so you’ll see a peek of it behind the Texas cut when the album is closed.
• Before I adhered the cut to the album, I traced the map onto a piece of paper from the Admit One Traveler’s Notebook kit. I flipped the cut over so I was creating a mirror image of the Texas outline, which would go on the inside of the front cover. The interior pages of my mini book will be 4” x 6”, so after a little trimming, the rest of the papers in this kit will be perfect for adding in extra pages to my mini, and more color!
• Next, I used a tape runner to attach the Texas cut to my mini book cover. I eye-balled the approximate center and stuck it down, then flipped the cover over and adhered the patterned paper reverse piece over the back.
• Finally, I trimmed down a label from the Home Sweet Home kit and stamped my travel dates on it. I used a tiny paper clip to attach it to the inside cover and also added a little adhesive to make sure it stays in place.

I am so happy to have this part of the album finished before my trip. When I get back home, I can move right on to printing photos and sorting through stuff to add to the inside.

Product Used: Home Sweet Home kit, Admit One Traveler's Notebook kit, Lexington stamp set

Original article and pictures take www.kellypurkeyshop.blog site