Search results (tags) for: "albums"

Etsy Finds: One for the Memory Books

2009-04-28T12:20:00-05:00

Mother's Day is right around the corner. There aren't many people in this world who still show you unconditional love after being put through temper tantrums, dirty diapers, car sickness in the back seat, late nights worrying and waiting for you to come home, monetary loans, broken bones, hair color experimentation, or a few minor driving mishaps. I can't think of a better way to celebrate this special day than to present Mom with a photo album filled with memories of days gone by. Say thanks to her for always sticking by your side.

White Scroll Photo Album with Spring Green Japanese Silk

By brooklynbookbinder, $95.

View Item | View Shop

Chalkboard Accordion Photo Album

By moonlightbindery, $18.

View Item | View Shop

Journal 26

By dailythreads, $25.

View Item | View Shop

powerline etching book

By grimm, $34.

View Item | View Shop

Folksy Floral Photo Album

By maydaystudio, $65.

View Item | View Shop

Pink Roadster Photo Album

By charliewarlie, $45.

View Item | View Shop

Tangerine Suns 10x10 Photo Album

By watermarkbindery, $47.

View Item | View Shop

polaroid.album

By paintedfishstudio, $6.

View Item | View Shop

Pink Paper Cut Journal

By artkitten, $25.

View Item | View Shop

Looking for more Etsy Finds? Try these links:

Gift Guides | More Photos Albums | Books and Zines Posts | Gift Ideas

Need a daily fix of Etsy Finds? Sign up for the Etsy Finds e-mail! Conveniently delivered to your inbox!

Handmade Kids: Crafting Memories with culpepergeneral

2008-08-04T12:36:00-05:00

In her pre-family life, Shannon Carter aka culpepergeneral was Senior Editor in the crafts department of Martha Stewart Living magazine. She now makes adorable clothing for kids and crafts with her two children, Erwin and Silas, from their home in Virginia.

I suppose I'm one of the few people who miss their day job. I worked for the craft department of Martha Stewart Living until I moved from beloved Brooklyn.

Commuting from Brooklyn on the subway to midtown Manhattan was nothing when you were dreaming of the downhill ski diorama made from a pressed ham can that you left late last night to dry, and can't wait to get your hands on to finish. Imagine even just buying the pressed ham and disposing of it so that one could build a diorama. What fun! That was part of my job! The diorama story for that Martha Stewart Kids Issue was inspired by our craft department and our collective memories of dioramas from childhood memories. Who has never crafted a diorama for science class? A volcano maybe, with baking soda and vinegar? My plastic dinosaurs stood on the edge of a construction paper lake at the foot of the mountain, doomed to be run over by the rush of lava. I cannot wait to create these craft memories with my children.

These childhood memories to me are warm and satisfying to recall, and the urge to craft and to make things myself stems from these memories. We all drew from those memories for many of the stories that we crafted together at Martha.

Two kids later — the importance of making good memories and keeping good memories is at the top of my list of things to pass down to my children. Time flies when you are having fun with diapers and sweeping bits of construction paper off of the floor, so here are a few things I do to keep it under control. This does not mean that I am super organized and have beautiful photo albums on display with a photo of every moment (like Martha would), but I do the best I can.

One thing that I find helpful are pretty boxes to store the general memories in — I like to rifle through the things sometimes rather than turn pages, so in a pretty box like this one would be baby hospital bracelets, snips of hair, cards and ribbons from the baby shower. I also use boxes for art projects, drawings, handmade cards. I just mark the outside with the child's name and year. The box can be made of whatever material suits you, but this would make a great heirloom. By ParadiseHillDesigns, $27.

I have a bunch of brag books with my favorite photos from the first year. I love to send these to family members for holidays and birthdays; I stuff them with photos. I also made a few for the kids and they are on the bookshelf. I find them looking thorough them sometimes. Mama Pocket Book by NinaJudinBooks, $50.

These Month by Month Baby Tags are fun for the first year! By elles, $3.99.

This is a great baby book. It's modern and clean. By brellababy, $54.

I love this little book: it is a great way to record each year with a photo and favorite memories. By melaniejanebooks, $35.

My favorite way to get photos out of the computer and on display is with a ribbon string tacked to the wall with clips to hold the photos. I rotate photos mid season and include postcards from friends and bits from our travels as well. We also have an art wall with the same system. We call them our wall diaries. The top image of this post is a perfect example: lynnelle wall dioramas to order — you send her a photo of your child and she puts together a custom listing for you. This was especially great in the nursery: it adds a little personality to the room and something to talk to the baby about after a diaper change. My kids love it now, especially when we have company — they love to talk about their favorite photos and art on the wall.

This Twill Ribbon would be a great material to use on a wall diary. From Kiwii, $3.75.

Now how to deal with those milestones and funny things kids say and do. Things happen too quickly to have the video camera ready. The only way I found to record those gems is to keep some pretty cards in a little bowl in the kitchen. As soon as something cute happens, I jot it down and pop it into a covered tissue box. It's fun to dump them out and read them aloud to the kids later! These can always be pasted down in a scrapbook when the kids are off to school. Vintage Wallpaper Tissue Box Cover by Fondue, $35.

How do you keep your memories? Post in the comments below!

Also, check out Jodi Levine of Martha Stewart Kids' kid-friendly picks!

Handmade Kids Series | Special Kids Showcase | Baby Gift Guide | Children Gift Guide

Handmade Weddings: Choosing the Perfect Wedding Album & Guest Book

2008-04-10T16:36:00-05:00

As we near the end of the Handmade Wedding Series, it's time to think about preserving all of the memories. Thanks to solidio for her great ideas on guest and scrap books!

Of all the things you buy for your wedding, you only get to keep a few. The cake gets eaten and the flowers fade, but the guest book and the album for your photos are items that you will have forever.

There are probably as many options available for handmade books and albums as there are Etsy sellers, so I narrowed it to two key decisions you need to make when choosing a book or album.

Decision one: The Cover
I like to think of the cover as the personality of the book. It’s the first thing you see, and is also a tactile element of the book. Remember that the guest book should look good in your wedding and also in your home. So choose a cover you like! It doesn’t have to match your wedding perfectly, but should blend in with your theme. If you are having red roses at your wedding, but your home décor doesn’t have much red in it, keep that in mind.

Cover materials range from silk to wood to leather to paper to metal and a variety of oddball materials. There are advantages and disadvantages to each – and each has it's own feel to it. This is truly a personal choice, and my best advice is to search the options out there, and if you have an idea for a cover, find someone that works in those materials and ask them if they can make a book or album for you.

Take a look a these —

Nina Judin Books' Leather with copper details:

Pamela Tang's Silk:

Decision two: Binding Type
The binding is important for two reasons — it affects the way the book lies on the table, and affects the ability to add pages to a book. (I’ll be talking more about functionality and style in this article, not techniques or terminology. I’m not a bookbinder!)

One type of binding used for albums is called post-binding, and it is commonly used in scrapbooking. This type of binding allows you to add or subtract pages by unscrewing the posts that hold the pages together. You can then add, subtract or move pages, and screw it all together again. The pages of the book do not lay flat, but they do tend to stay open while you are looking at them. You can usually find pages to add at your local craft store, and they are very easy to use with photos. These books often have standard page sizes, like 12x12, 8x8 or 8x10. This binding is a logical choice for an album, but could also be filled with blank pages for a guest book.

A cool post-bound example from Sleeping Forest Studios:

The other type of binding is constructed in a variety of ways, but has the common trait of looking like a book – it lies flat on the table and you cannot add pages to it. These are your typical journals or sketchbooks. They sometimes use beautiful knot patterns, and can have an exposed or covered spine. This type of book would be a logical choice for a guest book, but can also be used as an album. You will need to attach your photos directly to the paper with photo tabs or adhesive.

Here's a great example from LaPaperie:

Other terrific options —
You can find an Etsy seller like jennysbooks and ask her to make a custom cover for a traditional guest book or album that you already have. Here's an example of one of her covers:

You can also find an Etsy seller (the one below is from scrapbooks) make a custom wedding scrapbook for you:

In the end, there are two major choices with albums and guest books: cover materials and binding. There are many options to fit just about any taste, or you can take this opportunity to get a custom book designed to your taste through Alchemy. Many artisans/crafters will take the time to walk you through what choices they have and go over options with you. Keep in mind that a custom book could take 6-8 weeks to make, so order early! And enjoy the process.

Wedding Gift Guide | Wedding Category | Wedding Showcase | Handmade Wedding Series

The Whimsical World of Lavender Diamond

2007-08-31T20:00:00-05:00

Lavender Diamond's music has been described by Matador Records as "pull[ing] together elements of folk, pop, country, performance art, children's music, and protest anthems to make one of the most original musical statements we've heard in years." The key to Lavender Diamond's appeal can be found in its simple, pretty harmonies and front-woman Becky Stark's earnest, loveable stage presence. However, The Storque was interested in talking with the band about more than just the music: Lavender Diamond is actually a very handmade, multi-media endeavor.

The project started with Becky collaborating on a series of musical plays with her friend Xander Marro. Marro is now involved in the Dirt Palace, a feminist art collective in Providence, RI. At the time of their collaboration, Providence was thriving on an underground culture of creativity. Many creative projects emanated from Fort Thunder, a former textile mill building used by RISD students and other modern day beatniks for studio space, squatting, and as an informal show venue. Lightning Bolt, another band to emerge from the scene, also played loosely with various media forms: collaborations flowed across music, elaborately costumed performances and screenprinted music packaging. The Providence scene remains a vital center of art and creativity that continues to influence artists to this day.

Becky and Xander's collaboration consisted of handmade sets and costumes, hand-developed films, and silkscreened CD-cases sewn up with silver thread.

"Lavender Diamond" was the name of a part-bird-part-woman emissary that sang to humans about peace. After Becky moved to Los Angeles, she started playing with Elvis Perkins, but when she had the idea to do a "country pop record, kinda like Linda Rondstadt," the project morphed. In 2004, the lineup of Lavender Diamond became a quartet with Becky, Steve Gregoropoulos, Jeffrey Rosenberg (who has since left the band), and Ron Rege, Jr. In addition to playing the drums, Ron brings his totally unique illustration talents to the Lavender Diamond mix. His work adorns the "Imagine Our Love" album, as well as posters, hand-drawn t-shirts, and other doodads. Ron has been creating and self-publishing comics for years. Becky learned to screenprint while making the album covers with Marro, and continues to sew patches and make buttons with lavender crystals.

The band has since been signed by Matador Records and has toured with the Decemberists. Despite hitting at least a lil bit of the big time, the band continues to make handmade merch and spread their earnest message of peace and love. After all, the band came together agreeing to "focus our intention on making music in a way that would be uplifting to people." Ron told us that he is fascinated by the fact that many Lavender Diamond fans are older people or little kids, and says the band is looking for alternative times and venues in which to perform for their "not-so-traditional" audience. In a recent interview in Performer magazine, Becky said that she would even like the band to perform at nursing homes. As Becky told us, "It's been a very funny, long road."

We had the chance to interview the band backstage at the 2007 Siren Festival, an outdoor music festival held at Brooklyn's legendary Coney Island.

See Video Part 1:

See Video Part 2:

See Video Part 3:

More information:

See our Flickr photos
Lavender Diamond's website
Matador's Lavender Diamond site
Lavender Diamond is on Wikipedia!
The Siren Music Festival
The Dirt Palace
Fort Thunder wrestling match