Xyron and Maya Road Blog Hop

So this week, Xyron is teaming up all week with Maya Road!!!!!!  Okay, did you just see me do my amazingly awesome and geek-filled happy dance.  I mean, can you think of a better partnership?!?!  Maya Road makes some of my favorite alterable embellishments in the industry.  Chipboard, metal, wood, twine, trim, paper...the list goes on and on and on. For this week's project, I wanted to make a book for my daughter using this gorgeous Maya Road Scroll Edge Chipboard Binder.

The motivation behind this project was the desire to make my daughter a special Daddy book.  Most of my mini albums or books are usually geared for her - to integrate those photos and memories into our daily bedtime/ reading routine.  Even when Daddy isn't gone on deployment, he is away from home quite a bit.  There are those long and unpredictable underways when the ship is gone to sea for various exercises.  There are the weekly duty nights.  There are those tireless work days gearing up for inspections or tests or trainings.  Regardless the reason, it inevitably results in my daughter crying for her dad and telling me how much she misses him.  He's only gone for a night, I reassure her.  But he's not here right now, she persists.  A little girl missing her dad is heart breaking - if it is for months or just a night.

So using the amazing products from Maya Road and Xyron, I made my daughter this "Fun Times with Dad" book.  Because even though Daddy can't be here all the time, we can still remember the fun times we have had with him.

  
Supplies: Maya Road (Scroll Edge Chipboard Binder, Chipboard Alphabet, Twine Cording, Antique Angel Wing, Love Chipboard Banner Set, Wood Shaped Button Embellishments); Adhesive (Xyron 1.5" Create-a-Sticker, Xyron Adhesive Dots, Xyron Creatopia (Permanent Adhesive), Xyron 2.5" Create-a-Sticker); October Afternoon - Sidewalks (Patterned Paper, Stickers); WRMK (Journaling Cards - Simply Happy); Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Mats: Rectangle; Doodlebug Designs - Crushed Velvet Flocking Powder; Epiphany Crafts Heart Shape Tool; Basic Grey Letter Stickers; Bossy Joscie Flair; Core'dinations Sand It Gadget; Tim Holtz Distress Ink. 


My daughter already adores the little book and thankfully the Maya Road Scroll Edge Chipboard Binder is amazingly sturdy and can easily hold up to little hands.  Using edge-to-edge adhesive with my various Xyron products also ensures that everything stays adhered on despite the frequent handling of the book.

And here is a peak at the entire album (along with some tips and tricks along the way).

1.  Flocked Letters.  For the "dad" title, I embellished Maya Road Chipboard Alphabet letters by applying adhesive on the top of the letters using my Xyron 1.5" Create-a-Sticker and then rubbing in some Doodlebug flocking powder.  Then, just run the letters back through the Xyron 1.5" Create-a-Sticker again to adhere them directly onto the chipboard album.

2.  Securing Twine.  Simply roll up some Xyron Adhesive Dots and place them directly underneath the bow and where the Maya Road Twine Cording is wrapped along the binder to keep it in place.  May I also say that the Maya Road's twine is some of the thickest that I have ever worked with!!  Just stunning.

3.  Embellish with Trinkets.  Tying on a single Maya Road Antique Angel Wing really adds a lot of charm to the cover.

4.  Covering Album Pages.  After cutting out the patterned paper to cover the album pages, I used my Xyron Creatopia (Permanent Adhesive) to quickly apply edge to edge adhesive onto the backsides to then just stick onto my unfinished pages.  It literally took seconds.  Awesome!  To finish off the edges, I sanded them down using the Core'dinations Sand It Gadget and distressed the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen and Vintage Photo).

5.  Adhering Little Embellishments.  The little heart in the corner of the WRMK "I love us" card is from the Maya Road Love Chipboard Banner Set.  I inked the little heart with some My Favorite Things Dye Ink and adhered them both using my Xyron 1.5" Create-a-Sticker.   

6.  Printing Little Photos.   To print those tiny photos, I created a photo collage in Picassa set for four photos set on 4x6 paper.  I then cut them each out using my favorite Stitched Mats: Rectangle dies from Lil' Inker Designs.

7.  Writing in Pencil.  I was a bit uneasy about writing directly onto the album pages with ink.  So, I wrote in pencil!  It's acid free and archival safe.  And if I mess up (which I did), I can just erase and try again!

8.  Working with a Single Collection.  To keep it easy, I primarily used papers and embellishments from a single paper collection to make it easy on myself.  Since many of the Maya Road embellishments are unfinished, you can make them coordinate perfectly with any collection!  For this project, I used October Afternoon - Sidewalks.

 

9.  A Personalized Trinket.  For the back cover, I added another charm I made using the Epiphany Crafts Heart Shape Tool and the coordinating jewelry setting.  You can see a tutorial here.

So there you go, 9 tips and tricks to make your own mini album!  Make sure you head over to the Xyron Blog and Maya Road Blog all week long for more awesome inspiration and giveaways!

As always, mahalo for stopping by!