What I received in the MAS Altered Clothespin Swap

Woohoo...I got my package in the mail today from the Mini Album Scraps Altered Clothespin Swap. What beautiful clothespins I received. Such very talented ladies...Millicent Marshal, Michelle McLean, and Patria Flowers. Thank you so much ladies for the beautiful clothespins. Now to show you just what I received...drum roll please...

Fall Birthday Paper Bag Mini Album

My daughter-in-law's mother came down to Florida last October to celebrate her 65th birthday with her daughter. We had a good time and since it was her 65th birthday I wanted to make her a mini album to document her memories. It is a paper bag mini album with chipboard covers and I used grunge board for the spine. I used Recollections Night of Fall paper and I used vintage photo to distress all the edges. And I also distressed the bags to bag them a bit darker to match everything else. But of course I couldn't leave well enough alone. I had decided since she is a non-crafter it would be more difficult for her to store the album because I had decorated the top with all those beautiful flowers and leaves so I decorated a Paper Mache box to store the album in. I used up some of my stash making this album which I love because I have a lot.

When I did the video I had to rush through it because YouTube only gives you 15 minutes unless you go through some process to have longer ones. Since I am new to doing videos and to blogging I figured I did not want to do that at this time. Maybe later on when I am more experienced.  I hope she enjoys this album and box. There are plenty of places for her and her daughter to journal and they can add more photos in the pockets.

 

Altered Clothespin Swap

I had decided to join my very first swap. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous about it. Was my work going to be good enough? Was it too flimsy? Wonder if they don't like it? All kinds of negative things running around in my head. But I realized I will never know until a take the plunge and I can't get better if I don't work at it. Amazing how that pertains to everything in life. So I joined an easy swap on Mini Album Scraps. Since I work a lot I don't have a lot of time to devote to my crafting endeavors so I needed to do a swap that I could do in my spare time. I went to the site and seen a swap for altered clothespins. You had to do 3 sets of 3 altered clothespins. I thought that shouldn't take too much time to accomplish so I took the plunge.

I took the clothespins apart and used Gesso on them. Then I used Marion Smith's Garment District design paper to cover the clothes pins on both sides and put the clothespins back together. I distressed the edges lightly with antique linen. On some I punched a hole in the top of the clothespin and added some charms. On some others I used a wood veneer butterfly that I stained with pickled raspberry and on the last ones I used a little crocheted doily flower with a paper rose on top. I thought they came out pretty good.

I also made an extra one for each recipient as an added gift. I used a beach/summer type paper, added a charm, and then little acrylic dots that look like little water drops. I had a lot of fun making these and now I have all kinds of ideas running through my mind for later. Can't wait to see what everyone else makes.