A Special Wedding Gift

This post is more personal than most that I make. That is because the content I am sharing is a wedding gift that I made for my sister Louise and her husband Rick. They were married two weeks ago in Oregon. Because I am in between two major surgeries, my husband and I were unable to attend. :-(

I decided to make Rick and Louise a mini album and covered box to store some of their wedding memories. When I chose the paper, I had no idea that she had chosen the same colors for her wedding.. How uncanny is that? I guess the sister wave-lengths work long distance!


The papers I used were all from the 12x12 paper pad that I had in my stash. I loved it from the moment I first saw it and had saved it for something special. It was perfect! It is Everyday Moments by Recollections, with the exception of a couple of papers here and there that I copied onto cardstock from her wedding invitation. I enjoyed making this gift a great deal and tried to incorporate many images that represented them.

Below are photos of what I made and descriptions in the photo captions.

Card I made for my sister to let her know I was thinking about her while she was making wedding plans.
The flowers are from Miriam's Crafting Supplies and Michaels.
I die cut the leaves from the paper and scored them and inked them to show dimension.



It is hot where Louise and Rick live. It is the High Desert in the middle of the state, just east of the Cascade Mountains.

They were planning an outdoor wedding, but did not have a crystal ball to predict the weather.

Temperatures in the mid-90's are not unusual for July!

I suggested that I make some hand-held fans for her guests and she liked the idea.

Since I wasn't able to throw her a shower, this was my "shower" gift! ;-)

At at the local JoAnns, I got the last of the paper in these colors.

How is that for luck? :-)

I made this wedding card and enclosed it in the box.

The birds are fussy-cut from the paper and placed atop of other flying birds on the paper.

The box.

I love how it turned out!

I placed a fussy cut bird on the cover and used a little wooden chair that I white-washed and stained.

I made the yellow leaves from the paper.

I used purchased flowers and used their wire stems to make the curly-Qs.

A close up of the box top.

I painted both the exterior and interior edges of the box with acrylic paint.

The interior and exterior, including the bottom that you cannot see, with paper.

Here is the mini album cover.
The 6"x6" album is all hand-made, from the chipboard pages, to the die cuts on the interior.
I used two lengths of sheer ribbon to bind it.
I really like a smaller album, like this one, because it does not take up a lot of space and is easy to display and handle.
The paper was so much fun to use and, as it turned out, it was just right for Rick and Louise!
You can see here that the cover has an old-fashioned typewriter on it.

My sister is a writer, so how perfect is that?!

Pages 1 & 2
On the left, is a little album attached to the page.
It will hold 9 photos and there is a tag with lines on the back where they can record memories.
I enclosed a photo of them that was on their invitation and a template to make it easy for them to add photos.
On the right is an image from the paper and a little phrase that I fussy cut and matted.
I used the image to make a pocket where they can tuck little momentos of their special day.

Inside the pocket, I tucked two tags with lines on the back for journaling.

Pages 1 & 2 without tags.

You can see the hole protectors that I made using one of my dies.

Pages 3 &4
I have wanted this Tim Holtz typewriter die, on the left, forever.
My friend Debi sent me one in a RAK and I have been hoarding it!
In the crafting world, RAK is short for Random Act of Kindness.
It was perfect for my writer sister!
It was plain chipboard, but I stained it to give it the look of an old and tarnished relic, so it would match the paper.

Two more tags are tucked behind it.

There are two double-sided photo mats tucked under a circular paper clip on the right.

Pages 3 & 4 without tags and photo mats.

Pages 5 & 6
Two double-sided photo mats are clipped on the left side.
I finally had a reason to buy this camera die!
My brother-in-law, Rick, is a photographer.
The camera is cut from chipboard that I painted with acrylic paint.
I used bronzed metal eyelets and a lever to embellish it.

Two tags are tucked behind it. 

Pages 5 & 6 without photo mats and tags.

The paper on the left reminded me so much of the tall grasses that grew along the roadsides when my sister and I were little girls growing up on the farm.

Pages 7 & 8
On the left, I used my bird cage die and curved it a bit when I applied it to the page.
Two tags are tucked behind it.
There are more flowers and two of my hand-made leaves.

On the right, an accordion-style photo booklet is held in place by a circular paper clip.

Pages 7 & 8 without tags and photo album

The back cover.

As you can see, there is a camera on the paper, which is fitting because Rick is a photographer.

This is the inside of the photo album that is attached to page 1.

This is one side of the accordion photo album on page 8.

This is the reverse side of the accordion photo album that is on page 8.

Here are all the tags, photo mats and photo albums included in the mini album.

Pictured are the reverse sides of all the tags, photo mats and photo albums in the mini album.

Louise and Rick have settled back into a more normal routine now. They were very busy making plans, hosting out of town guests, and having the wedding at their home. The setting was perfect and the weather cooperated. Everyone who attended, said it was beautiful. I wish Louise and Rick many happy years together!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and scroll through the photos. As always, if you have a question or comment, please write to me in the space provided below.

And . . . until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy