the hybrid chick

I really wanted to do a baby announcement for this post.  But something different…something that could be displayed or given as a gift.  Besides, I have been wanting to try using small canvases in an album project.  Ok…baby, announcement, gift, canvas, and album.  So that got my creative juices flowing…and I am so pleased that it ended up as this cute little announcement album!

I chose these little canvases at my local craft store.  They were the smallest ones I could find.  I would have preferred square ones, but I’m working with what I found.  The packaging on the canvas said that it was a 4″ by 5″ canvas.  NOTE: Please actual measure your canvas!  My little ones turned out to be 3.5″ by 4.5″…which greatly changed my project!  I painted both canvases a light yellow color, Lemon Chiffon, and set them aside to dry.   When they were dry, I thought they were a little flat.  So I gave each canvas a quick coat of Mod Podge all over, front, back and sides, and gave them a little while to dry.  Then I hot-glued rick-rack around the edges of the canvases to cover the ugly staples…remember we’re working with what we could find!

Here’s where a little math comes in!  I needed to make the inside accordian pages.  I knew that to make 6 inside pages I would actually need 9 rectangles.  You end up losing three when you overlap them to secure them together.  I added my width 3 times (3.5 x 3) and then measured my height(4.5).  I cut 3 strips of cardstock that were 10.5 inches long and 4.5 inches tall.  I then scored the strips every 3.5 inches on the long side.  I now had 3 strips of cardstock with three rectangles on each.  I folded the cardstock accordian style (back and forth).  Simply adhere the last rectangle of the first strip to the first rectangle on the next strip.  Repeat for the last strip.

Now to the digi creating!  I opened a new file that was 3.25″ by 4.25″….just a little smaller than my cardstock and my canvas.  I filled that space with beautiful papers and elements from both Mari Koegelenberg and Gypsy Couture.  I used Mari’s Flutterbies: Dotty Paper Pack and Flutterbies: Beaded Paper Flowers and Gypsy Couture’s simply adorable kit, Sweet Pea, for those great baby elements.  I wanted the pages to be cute, modern, vintage, and eclectic all at once and I think these kits really fit perfectly!I filled each of the six pages with information that you would normally find on a baby announcement…name, date and time of birth, height and weight, the proud parents, the place, and then added a little space for the parents to write their wish for the baby.  I printed these out on my Epson Premium Matte Presentation Paper (there’s a link in the sidebar for this awesome paper, a hybrid must) and cut them out.  I adhered one page to each rectangle on my cardstock strip.

Now to put it all together!  I cut some grosgrain ribbon to about 26 inches.  A little tip: if you run the ends of grosgrain ribbon over a flame (I use a candle lighter), the ends will seal and never fray!  I wrapped the ribbon around both canvases to measure the middle and then hot-glued the ribbon to the front canvas only.  That way the book can fold out!  Then I adhered the accordian pages to the inside of the canvases.  After a few tries, I think the best way to adhere the paper to the back of the canvas is by applying a coat of Mod Podge to the back of the canvas and then pressing the paper onto the back of the canvas.  I ended up trimming the very last rectangle off of the cardstock strip to make the pages fit.  I Mod Podged the back canvas as well and let them both dry.  When everything was dry, you simply fold up the pages and tie the ribbon around.  I am so pleased with this project!  It is simply adorable!   Such an adorable project…a precious keepsake to showcase or give as a gift!  As always, we would love to see your pictures if you make one of these.  Just upload your photo to the gallery at The Digi Chick!  As a bonus…I’m giving this little album away!   Although I’m absolutely in love with this, I’ll part with it for one of you.  Just leave a comment here for one chance to win. If you want more chances, then leave us a link to your twitter, blog post, or facebook comment linking up to this post.  That’s up to four chances to win!

Other Articles by melwilson:

• Backpack Album - September 10th, 2009
• Start July off with a BANG! - July 1st, 2009
• Winners Announced! - June 29th, 2009
• Baby Clothes Hanger Tags - June 16th, 2009
• Try Hybrid with the Kids! - May 3rd, 2009