A Paper Garden In Full Bloom

I must admit, this Manila Envelope Gardening Photo Journal makes a perfect gift for a loved one or to keep for yourself holding all your wonderful gardening photos, seed packets, plastic flower tags, newspaper or magazine articles, brochures or any other item you want for a keepsake.

I have published each page for your viewing. In my Etsy shop, you can only post 5 photos, that is not enough to get the overall feel of my work or what you would be getting if you were to purchase this book. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back and I invite you to take a walk through this beautiful garden.

Front Cover

Inside Page - Note how the left hand side has an overlay page that swings open to the left. The white spaces are for photos of your garden, special flowers, family members or however you want to use this book.

3 Dimensional nature embellishments are throughout the book for depth and interest. Butterflies and birds are constantly in gardens and you will find both on many pages. 

I love adding accents to photos. I feel they add a little more interest to the overall photo. Here a 3D bird sits amongst  beautiful blossoms.

I decided with this book to add more journaling pages. The inside, front cover, opens up into even more space for just that. The decorative tea paper shown above was too pretty to cover up for photos. I love the idea of someone making notes on this paper in-between all the cup of tea sayings. The overlay opens to the left and contains two small flaps to journal and there is a secret pocket however you'd like to use it.

Small tags for notes

Each page is labeled with a month tag. Small embellishments of bird postcards enhance the small envelopes housing journaling tags.

Each item has been inked to make these items appear old and distressed. I am a very detailed person and love creating eye catching details to each page.

I have pulled a tag to show the size - these measure right around 2.5 inches by 3 inches 

I enjoy stenciling and have created a 5 x 7 Garden Notes using a beautiful bird cage scene. The small brown notebook tied together with beautiful ribbon opens for more writings 

Notebook contains 4 pages

A garden saying adorns the front

Again, I have created an extra page insert for photos and journaling. 

Mixing papers gives books depth and interest. These papers all coordinate and look beautiful together. The month tags were made from scraps, along with the flowers that attach to them.

I always try to add a saying on vellum paper somewhere in the book. In my Christmas albums I use many more to really set the mood. I felt the small bird and fruit embellishments could do that in this book.

Glassin bags are wonderful to house photos or notes. I have added 5 x 6.5 inch notes, which have garden quotes on them, inside each bag. The tags of happiness keep the bags in place and can be moved to turn the glassine bags from page to page.

Small tags are placed on the bags for more note taking 

I love tutorials and found a wonderful one to create this 6 x 6 inch photo holder. This is cool for the small flap stays down with a craft magnet. It's sturdy and you can store 3 x 5 photos inside.

Close up of top flap and coordinating paper 

Beautiful glitter embellishments to accent plain papers

A small bird is ready to fly up and take that wonderful, delicious piece of fruit right from the tree.

Wherever you see a paper clip, take it off and you can use your page like a traditional manila envelope to store larger items in. These are great for 5 x 7 photos, newspapers articles, thin magazines, etc.

I love adding tags to journal on behind a photo spot. This way, you can journal about the photos without writing all over your page.

I love these stand alone photo holders. These are made from one piece of paper, folded in a way to create a wonderful pocket folder. I have placed interior cards that can be pulled out, using the ribbon, to journal on. If you don't want to journal on them, you can add photos or whatever else you like. Maybe a pressed leaf from your garden.

Journaling paper that sits inside the pocket folder.

Above are the two pocket folders with gardening embellishments 

Each pocket folder has a place for photos or other items you want to keep.

No matter how you use this Gardening Journal, it will bring great joy to you or a loved one. They will have a gift that no one else has for I never create the same journal, each one, like my children have their own personality, design, flair, color and interest.

Each time I create a book, I always say how this one is my favorite, so I have a lot of favorite albums. I never create a photo journal I wouldn't use myself and have decided when I do create one, I always keep in mind that if it doesn't sell in my shop, I can use it down the road or save it for my future daughter in law. When an album does go to a new owner, I am very happy and sad at the same time.

Just like a garden, I create a design I get excited about working with, I sow these books with great love, enjoy choosing papers and color that flow just like the flowers I place in my garden and sit back and admired each page as it appears in full bloom.

I hope these photos help you decide if this book is right for you or a loved one and if not, I love to take on custom work, creating a very special book for you or a family member. Thank you for walking through my Manila Envelope Garden Photo Journal with me.

Happy Gardening ~

Barbie

A Paper Garden - Day 2

The colors of nature

Todays share is about color, texture and a new tutorial.

I had to share this photo with all of you today. This moth was sitting in our driveway yesterday morning. The colors of nature are just amazing. When I first started creating this new gardening journal there were a lot of muted pinks, mauves and browns in it. The fact I antique all the edges of my paper I had no idea working with these colors. Some people wouldn't care for the combination due to the brown theme.

Most gardens have very bright colors. Purples, yellows, reds, white and a variety of green.  In my garden I tend to lean more towards muted colors with a splash of white. Most people would view this moth as brown with not much color or interest. I find her to be absolutely beautiful. A perfect color combination. Just like the color combination in this book. By observing nature I get a better understanding how muted, mundane, not very interesting colors make up a beautiful item when placed side by side.

I found a wonderful tutorial on a 6x6 album holder and decided to try my hand at it for this book. In choosing colors, I wanted to go with something lively, something that would stand out and be noticed. Going back to the moth, I decided to stick with a brown theme and embellish with brighter pieces. The exciting part about this is the front flap. It stays closed with the help of a magnet. On the large envelopes I always use decorative paper clips to hold down the flap but when you have a folder on a page that needs to be adhered to the paper you can no longer think about using paper clips.

The magnet gives this 6x6 holder a very clean look. By using a clean background, I am able to get a few very texturized embellishments on the front. Just like in the garden, depth and texture is a very important thing to add interest and beauty to your space. I love layering papers to give them depth and the embellishments always add that special touch. While working on you projects, always remember the color outside your window, leaning more toward them and not the bright colors in your head.

Thanks for reading and remember, my doors are always open at Nellie and Ruth Designs on Etsy. Stop in and say hello ~

Barbie

A Paper Garden

Photo Journaling you garden from April - October

I have found I love creating these manila envelope photo journals for my shop. This particular design is for a person who really loves their gardens as well as the birds who visit each day. I'll be posting on a regular basis the progress of this book. I think it's important for my potential customers to have a good idea what the inside of my books look like. 

I have a tendency, like most people, to create what I like and hope I have touched the heart of another who thinks like me. To me that's a very scary idea; I can't imagine anyone who thinks like me. But if you do, you are living a wonderful life allowing very little to get in your way.

This photo journal is more about journaling than it is about the photos. Oh believe me, there are lots of places to place your photos, but being a gardener myself, there is a lot to write down each month. What flowers have bloomed, what small little critters may be invading or just visiting, when you fertilized or just to write your own thoughts of poetry or what have moved you while sitting in your garden.

The above photos are of the first two pages. The above page shows a secret pocket, small flaps for more notes and two pages where you can write your thoughts and notes. I had a really hard time covering up the Tea paper with 4 x 6 photo spots, so I'm leaving it just as you see it for the new owner to do as they like. The papers in this journal are absolutely beautiful.

In this photo journal, I am also creating all kinds of small little notebooks in it for quips and personal quotes and notes. As I create more and more books, I'm finding I'm becoming a bit more creative. I love all the books I create, even the simpler ones. I find there are those who like a really simple book, a book with more photos than journaling, more places to journal and less photos; but whatever your style, I'm sure I'll have a book for you.

I hope you've enjoyed what you've seen and I'll be posting more photos as I go along. Be sure to stop in my shop to see all the new items I've been listing.

Happy Gardening this Summer ~

Barbie