Hello CP Fans! Michiko here with you, and today, I've an album devoted to CP's brads and buttons! There are infinite possibilities when it comes to using them. They lend well to any kind of project, including layouts, mini albums, project life entries, and so on. Personally, I love to use them on mini albums. For me, brads and buttons are especially important - without them, the creation process just wouldn't be the same. Take for example, today's album crafted from Crate's "On Trend" collection - being that it's key feature is to show-off the many uses for B & B's, many of the embellishment collages inside depend on their extra dimension and texture. The cover itself is adorned in a button and brad combination wrapped in twine, securing the album in it's entirety. In my mind, they're an absolute essential - let's take a peek at a few techniques from the album!
First, this is the front cover the album, or the album as a "whole", all tucked together inside a wrapped shell. I always create thick mini albums, and while doing so, I often use large sized brads. This usually makes the album's pages "thicker". In dealing with this, I like to use twine to contain them inside something. This not only protects the pages, but it also leaves wiggle room for expansion. A couple of brads are quick to hold twine - just make sure they're wide enough to hide twine behind them.
Let's take a look at some of the pages! On this first one, I positioned a metal/green button on "On Trend's" hip, retro radio. The two go well together and it almost appears as if the button is a part of the radio.
Crate Paper introduced new flowers with it's Summer release - their design is delicate and cool! As a quick dress-up for this polka-dotted flower, I attached a large B/W flower to it's center. I chose the button because it's unique and chic!
Using my very favorite button from the "On Trend" collection, I accented the page's title. The small flower button is so cute. It matches the apple sticker, too!
On this next one, I took a medium sized vellum bag and filled it with Story Teller's bingo numbers. Amongst the mix is a small gold button - a playful accent piece. Sewn to the bag is a message and at the very top is a red wooden clip {Story Teller} with a button glued to it.
Sometimes, one brad goes a long ways! Here, I positioned a brad beneath two pieces of chipboard. Even though it's not readily apparent at first, this one tiny addition is all it takes to finish the look.
Lately, it seems like brads have taken on new designs outside the world of epoxy and fabric. One of my favorite new items from Crate are these colorful flower brads. I anchored my banner with two of them - the colors blend in beautifully!
You can have a lot of fun using brads and buttons! Now that you've had a chance to check out the album, I hope there's even more reason for you to play around with them. One can never have too many buttons, or brads, for that matter! Check out Crate's latest button & brad assortments HERE.
Really lovely mini album Michiko. I'd love to see some detail about how you bound it together.
Posted by: BEA | October 22, 2012 at 01:56 PM
This is soooooooooo awesome! I love love love the photos and the buttons!!!!
Posted by: Julie Tucker-Wolek | October 22, 2012 at 05:29 PM
What a pretty mini album! I really like your use of brads & buttons throughout. Very inspiring!
Posted by: Jessica reyes | November 04, 2012 at 10:15 AM