A Valentine's Project

For this Valentine's day (okay month, I fell a bit behind with the flu) I wanted to create a love themed project that could be used as a piece of home decor around Valentine's Day but could also be viewed as a mini-book during the rest of the year.

I used a Peek-a-Boo album by Tinkering Ink (see here) and Little Yellow Bicycle's Love Letter's line (see here) to create a accordion fold mini-album that can be shown as a continuous piece on a shelf or coffee table around Valentine's Day. Remember, you can click on any of the photos below for larger, more detailed versions.

I created two distinct sides to the project, this first side has an informal feel, with candid photos of different sizes and random placement.
The second side has a formal feel, with posed formal photos of similar height and placement.
Here are some close-ups of the continuous setup. First, the informal side (my favorite).

Here are the close-ups of the formal side:

And here is what the whole project looks like as a mini-book:

Each photo on the "formal" side hides journaling.

Journaling: We went to high school together, although he was a year ahead of me. I first met him during a summer geology class between my Freshman and Sophomore years. I developed an instant crush just to learn he was leaving to go to the Governor’s school for his last two years of high school. But he returned to our high school during October of my Junior year, right in the middle of my – soon to be our – AP chemistry class. The following March, we competed in an academic competition together and got a chance to get to know each other. We soon started dating, attended prom together, and had a wonderful summer. He left that fall to go to college in Colorado while I finished high school. We kept up a long distance relationship for one semester, but it ended that first Christmas break. We tried dating again when he came back that first summer, but it didn’t last long. He had no plans to return to Colorado, but I was leaving for college in Missouri.

Journaling: We didn’t speak for over two years. During that time, he and his family moved to Florida, so I didn’t know where to find him even if I went looking. We both were working on finishing college, me in Missouri and he in Florida. We both dated and in general went on with our lives. Then, in October of my Junior year, I received an e-mail from him. He had stumbled upon a student web page I had created. That one e-mail sparked an entire long distance relationship. We e-mailed, spoke on the phone, and made plans to meet over Christmas. It turns out that we were both still in love with each other, even after all this time. For a year, we visited each other whenever we had a break from school and racked up record phone bills. We spent the summer together. Then, during fall of my senior year, he decided he needed a break from college while he decided what he wanted to do, and moved in with me in Missouri while I finished school.

Journaling: Toward the end of my senior year, I accepted a job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After graduation, we packed up what little we owned and moved it eight hours north. We went through the normal trials of a first year couple, little money or furniture and we were in a place we were unfamiliar with and where we knew no one. But we made it work. We developed a love for bad baseball and cool bars and a dislike for snow and ice. After a year and a half, he asked me to marry him and I said yes. We spent the next ten months planning an outdoor wedding to remember.

Journaling: We were married on an extremely windy but mild day in October 2000. We had a beautiful ceremony in a park overlooking Lake Michigan and a reception at a local country club. We went to Las Vegas for our honeymoon because we had spent all our money on the wedding. We ended up renting a car and ditching Las Vegas for nearby Zion National Park. We always have fun no matter where we are. After four years in Wisconsin, we moved to California for the adventure.

Instructions for creating the text covered grungeboard letters can be seen here. The technique uses tissue paper instead of cardstock so the letters retain the texture of the grungeboard. I covered these grungeboard letters with the lyrics from the first song we danced to at our wedding. You can see the full lyrics (and hear the song if you want) here. Because these letters can be seen from both sides, I trimmed the excess tissue paper with a craft knife instead of folding it behind the letter as described in the instructions.

Other products used in this project include: Making Memories spiral journaling pages, clear creations, and rub-ons; Queen & Co. felt fusion and sequin flowers; My Minds Eye die cut; Adornit stickers; American Crafts letter stickers; Chatterbox wings; tag and fabric swatch from Scarlet Lime kits; Fiesta Felt from Buttons Galore & More; Journaling card from Fancy Pants; Scenic Route chipboard people; Fiber Scraps Tintz; Stickels by Ranger; Bazzill cardstock; book binding tape; foam adhesive; ribbon; craft paint.