Romance and Roses Album and Purple Inchies

I've finally decided that my cover for my Romance and Roses album is definitely finished and have put it in the ringbound journal (8x8 7Gypsies) and spend some time adding a selection of fibers and yarns to the rings.

I had a long and hard brainstorming session about what my subject will be and I know this one is closely related to my Red Passion album which is still travelling around in our ArtisticJourneyinColor group. But it is quite simply a subject I never tire off and I just know my wonderful TipTop artists will add a new dimension to this album which is softer and sweeter than the red hot passion one. There is an overview above on which you can see the fibers and a detail view of the front cover below.

I made a fabric/paper collage of which I still have a lot left to use for a spread, and the back cover. I appliqued this to a vintage looking rose fabric (although I actually bought it new from Cabbage Patch Fabrics). I printed out the title Romance and Roses in a suitable romantic font and in pink onto a cotton fabric sheet and positioned the words as shown. Finally I added an ornament, which I discovered purely by chance in a garden centre. No idea what its use is actually meant to be but it looked like it had been made for this album so I received pride of place on the cover. It's very 3D and also quite heavy so I hope the glue I used (tiling glue) will hold it in position. This album will stay at home with me and I will simply add the spreads as they come in every month so it won't be getting a lot of wear and tear.

I also finally finished my own Purple Inchies, made for the purple inchie swap I'm hosting on the ATcards site. It was getting late in the day and I was working on my Journal Quilt for October which also has a purple background. So I just made a bit more and used this for the inchies. It's a velvet fabric which has been machine stitched, cut to 1" size and then I added a tiny little purple postage stamp to it and a 1" piece of watercolour paper to the back which I stitched to the inchies, so I could add my name. These inchie swaps are huge but also an awful lot of fun!