Mini Book - In Full Bloom

One of the challenges at Burlap and Buttercups this month is to recycle something to use in a project. (Find the details here.)

I created a mini book of flower photos, beginning with a spark of inspiration.

I bought two of those packages of Prima flowers awhile back and used one up on a layout I created about my senior prom. (Check that out at my previous blog, here.) The leftover plastic packaging caught my attention as something I could repurpose to use on a layout, somehow.

First, it needed some color, so I got out my alcohol inks and inking tool, choosing two shades of green.

Next, I used my tag punch and 1/4" hole punch to create a tag.

Originally, I planned to create a layout with flower photos from late spring last year, with this piece serving as a title block, "In Full Bloom."

I printed the word "bloom" on a piece of plain white paper and put the tag on top of it, using it as a template to place gems.

By the time this step was complete, I already knew I wanted to use the tag as a mini-book cover. I added letter stickers to finish the title, lots of flowers, shimmer ink, and glitter.

For the pages, I selected kraft card stock and gathered punches: quarter inch circle, tag punch, and corner rounder.

I also used chalk ink in a color similar to the alcohol inks I used on the cover, and I used label stickers to do a tiny bit of journaling. The last step was putting all the pages on a jump ring, tying on a bunch of ribbon scraps in different colors.

Here's the completed mini-book:

I had such a good time creating this mini-book, and I love that I used a piece of packaging that I would normally have discarded. Thanks to Burlap and Buttercups for the inspiration and to Prima for including that piece that looks meant to be re-used.

There's still a few days left to participate in this challenge. What do you have lying around that you could recycle into a beautiful embellishment or other element to use on a scrapbook page or in a mini-album? Be creative. Play. Have fun. You never know where that will lead!

(Supplies used: Card stock by The Paper Company. Label and letter stickers by October Afternoon. Most gems by Kaiser, K&Company, and Marcella by K. Paint by Ranger. Swirl stamp, unknown manufacturer. Chalk ink by VersaMagic. Most flowers by Archivers. Alcohol ink and blending solution by Ranger. Shimmer ink by Mister Hueys for American Crafts. Glitter by Stickles. Ribbon by various manufacturers. Punches by Fiskars, Stampin' Up! and EK Success.)