Army Album (Custom Order)

This was a custom order album to document and treasure her husband's time spent serving our country in the Army. I love the idea of making it a special keepsake for such a special time in his life.

The cover shown above commemorates an important time in history and I was so honored to use it. I didn't want to cover it up, I thought the image was too important, so, I added some embellishments off to the side to compliment the overall look. The brilliant blue ribbon with golden stars ties in with the stars on the flag, I have also added a medal embellishment with a gorgeous Military Chevron and the medal hanging from it. The small black splash of ribbon brings the black from the chevron in to focus.

 

Above I am showing the main spine which carries on the theme perfectly, showing the raising of the flag. I added a beautiful metal flag hanging from a typical ball chain to accent the spine. The back of the album again, carries the flag theme all the way around. My personal 'handmade by' stamp is matted and attached to the back as always.

 

 

This is a view of the magnetic side closure flap. Note the brass buttons .... those are actual military buttons you would have found on WWII military clothing! I was so excited to find these at an antique shop and knew they would be perfect for this custom order!!

 

 

Opening the album, the inside is displayed. I have papered the inside with star pattern paper. I think this continues a nice flow and coordinates well with the outside of the cover.

 

 

The inside cover has a nice generous size pocket that holds the large matted tag with the star ribbon pull. I have embellished that pocket with metal corners and a fabulous United States Army dimensional embellishment!

 

 

Page 1. This is a gatefold page with a nice surprise under those flaps. Love the subtle paper... I used a cool dimensional embellishment that I matted as the center closure. Military Life sticker is matted and popped dotted on the bottom.

 

 

Open the gatefold flaps and you will find a pocket on the backside of that flap with a nice matted tag w/sheer brown ribbon pull. The other flap has a belly band with cool golden starts and a bottom USA stop which holds large matted tag with a sheer brown ribbon pull. On the base there is a large bottom side load pocket. Inside that pocket are 2 matted sentiment tags.

 

The matted tags

 

The other flap with the embellished bellyband and the large matted tag it holds.

 

This is the super large matted tag that are in the top load pockets of each page. I won't post pics of each one, as they are all the same.

 

Pages 2 & 3.

 

This embellished booklet resides in the roomy pocket on page 2. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of just page 2. I embellished that booklet using golden brads to bring a sense of masculinity to it. Inside is matted and a small golden star is inside. Perfect for photos and or journaling.

 

 

Page 3. This page I love. I used the other 2 antique brass military buttons on this page. A large side pocket with a touch of deep navy seam binding works well here. The American flag papers are just so patriotic.

Inside that pocket is a large booklet embellished with a wooden open star that I coated with gold rub n buff. Some blue embroidery thread is sewn through the inside and tied off on the outside. Blue matting inside is a perfect place for photos and journaling.

 

Pages 4 & 5.

 

 

Page 4. A large lower pocket is embellished with sheer brown ribbon, and vehicles used in the military.

 

The goodies to be found in that large bottom pocket. 2 large matted tags and a good size booklet. Lots of space for photos and journaling.

 

Page 5. This page is inter-active, it has a magnetic flap to keep it all in place nicely. The top portion has a cool yellow US Army flap tied with a cream colored seam binding. One star on the bottom has a gold/brown star to make it 'stand out'.

 

Open that yellow flap and inside there is a side stop that holds a flag themed matted tag. Underneath, on the base page, there is a bottom side pocket that holds a large matted tag.

 

The large matted tag from that pocket. I love leaving the space at the bottom to make a note or add a date about a photo that can be added to the backside.

 

Pages 6 & 7. Love these!

 

Page 6. This page has two side slit pockets. They are both embellished with golden star brads The top pocket has the larger stars the one on top of that one, is embellished with the smaller star brads. Inside the pockets are some awesome pieces.

 

The page with the goodies removed so you can see the awesome embellishments.

 

The additives from the large pocket. There is a cool yellow star matted tag, a Hooah! matted tag and a booklet. Inside the booklet is a bottom stop with a matted tag. The large booklet is decked out in an awesome star striped paper, then we have the HOOAH matted tag and finally the stars and stripes booklet. Inside the booklet, thee is a bottom stop that holds a matted tage.

 

Page 7. This page has a cool magnetic flap that keeps a large matted tag nicely in place!

Inside that magnetic flap is a bottom stop that holds a matted U.S. Army tag.

The bottom side flap opened to show it too has a bottom stop that will hold a matted booklet.

The goodies inside within the page. A Proud to Serve booklet, U.S. Army booklet and a large matted tag all have room inside this page. 

 

 

Pages 8 & 9.

 

 Page 8. This page I used that fabulous paper again, to create a monumental page. The magnetic top flap is papered in a red pattern with USA throughout and a red seam binding to set it off. A few sparkly silver stars finishes it. Opening the flap reveals the entire scene. Once again, I just couldn't bring myself to cover this photo.

 

Page 9. This page has a magnetic side flap that is adorned with an antique Military Chevron (Army). I was lucky enough to find 2 of these in an antique shop and grabbed them up for this special order album. A dark navy seam binding ribbon completes that flaps decorations. Lifting the magnetic flap will show on the backside a matted sticker saying: Courage. This made for an excellent side stop to hold the small booklet. The base page shows an army scene and I have used another of the sentiment stickers saying: fight for freedom, and matted it. A wooden open star coated with golden rub n buff coordinates nicely with the golden sticker.

 

Pages 10 & 11

 

Page 10. This page is inter-active also. A shadowy army scene graces the fronts of the page. "Support our TROOPS" sticker was matted and used for an opener on the front magnetized flap. A green ribbon was a subtle embellishment.

 

Opening that flap reveals another army scene in the dramatic dark sepia colors. I handmade the small envelope that is stationary on the base page and holds a matted card where perhaps a note about time spent in the army or some memories of those days could be written and tucked away out of sight but not out of mind.  The other flap has a bottom pocket that holds a large fold over booklet.

 

 Page 11. This page has a handmade large envelope. Decked out in patriotic colors and the round embellishment on the envelope serves to keep the envelope flap tucked in nicely.

A close up of the embellishment on the envelope shows a United States Army dimensional piece. The very large matted tag again, a perfect place to write those memories to keep for generations to read.

 

Page 12 & Inside back cover.

 

Page 12 was saved for my favorite technique, the waterfall. Lots of space for photos and journaling taking up such a small area of the album. This waterfall is made up of some of the papers that were used throughout the album. A dimensional sticker and taupe seam binding adds to the simple embellishment.

 

The inside back cover. I have put a long side pocket on the inside back cover and dressed it up with metal corners. An American Hero Sentiment sticker is matted and added. A very nice size matted tag with a blue/star ribbon pull is nestled inside. The pocket can hold many photos or memorabilia.

 

I do custom orders of the theme of your choice, for information, drop me line and we can discuss it.