G45 Nature’s Sketchbook Photo Folio

Good morning, everyone!  I have another project to share with you…this time it’s mine!  As you know, things have been quite crazy for me lately…crazy AND stressful.  So…I decided it was time to carve out some scrappy time…time to take care of me.  I decided to make another photo folio, similar to my Cityscapes travel wallet folio, but bigger 😀  Here’s a look at the result:

This beauty holds a whopping 124 pictures, but can be expanded to hold more by adding tags and photos to the two folders inside 🙂  I decided to make it with 3 covers and 2 spines…this allowed me to add 2 pages on the inside in a gate fold style.  For the papers…I had to use G45 and chose their Nature’s Sketchbook paper collection 🙂

Opening the first cover reveals a vertical pocket on the right, and a space to put 2 pictures on the left…there is a flap that opens up to reveal the pictures 🙂

When you open the second cover, you will discover one large folder on the left and 2 pages (one on each spine) that gate fold over one another.  Both pages are identical, and contain waterfall picture mats on the front side.  I decided to do something a little different with the waterfalls this time…some of the flaps are oriented for vertical pictures and some for horizontal.  I opted not to add wallpaper to all of the flaps just to avoid making the folio too bulky.

On the backs of the pages, I opted to add accordion picture mats.  Each can hold up to 4 photos.  Flipping the pages open also reveals a second smaller folder with a pocket behind it…and even better yet, it flips up to reveal more photo opportunities.  I also added a smaller flap on the bottom of the folio with horizontal pockets on both sides.

The base of the folio holds 4 folding picture mats, and removing them all reveals a small corner pocket that can hold more tags.

I did try to keep embellishments to a minimum to help prevent bulking up the folio.  This being said, I couldn’t leave it completely plain 😉  I did use a variety of the G45 ephemera, flowers and chipboard elements throughout plus added a sprinkling of metal bits.  No project is complete without metal…am I right?  Here’s a closer look at the cover.

I used a box closure (#HD879-B) from my shop to secure the folio.  I also paired the G45 embellishments with a bronze leaf and small bronze flower (#CAP040-B) and added a touch of bling (flat back crystal rhinestones).

I did also add a touch of metal to jazz up the fronts of the waterfall bands (#809-B), and the top waterfall flap (#368-B and #CAP040-B).  You will also notice bronze metal corners throughout the folio (#730-B and #731-B).  Probably one of my favorite groupings is on the bottom pocket on the backside of the top flap:

Here, I framed some G45 flowers with bronze leaves and a gold filigree (#810-G), and added a little bit of bling to the center of two of the flowers.

If you’d prefer watching a flip-through video of this project, you’re in luck 🙂  …and you don’t even have to go anywhere to watch it:

I hope you enjoyed this project because I do have a little surprise…I will be showing you exactly how to create it in this month’s tutorial 🙂  And even better yet…I’ll have a free cheat sheet you can download with the dimensions and a few sketches of how to fold all the pieces.  Cheers and I’ll see you next week when we make another one of these together 🙂

ButterBeeScraps Supplies:

• SS8, SS12, SS16 & SS20 Clear Flat Back Crystal Rhinestones
• Bronze Leaf Metal Filigree Embellishments (#150-B – discontinued)
• Bronze Round Metal Filigree Embellishments (#288-B)
• Bronze Metal Filigree Embellishments (#368-B)
• Miniature Corner Metal Filigree Embellishments (#730-B)
• Medium Corner Metal Filigree Embellishments (#731-B)
• Decorative Metal Filigree Embellishments (#809-B)
• Decorative Metal Filigree Embellishments (#810-B)
• Decorative Metal Filigree Embellishments (#810-G)
• Bronze Filigree Bead Caps (#CAP040-B)
• Antique Bronze Box Closures (#HD879-B)