Foto Folio Creations

Around this time last year I took a course at a local scrapbooking store, Knit 2 Scrap 2. I had never considered myself into "scrapbooking" & truthfully was a bit hesitant to enter this culture of crazy "scrapbookers".

The creation of focus in this class was creating a Mini Album. The tutorial & class was developed from Paper Phenomenon, with Kathy King who is the master creator.

This type of scrapbooking is different in that you construct the entire book from the very base, to the pages & finally the matting/decorating. The first class was VERY overwhelming & it was basically like learning a new language. For my first project we did a hard covered album. There are about 6 pages in the album with tons of inserts & lots of paper layering.

Cover

Inside Page & Tag

Decorated Pages

Decorated Pages

Decorated Pages

Decorated Pages *my absolute favourite :)

I found it a bit difficult to work with colors like green, orange, red & yellow. They typically aren't my usual "go to's" but I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised with how this turned out!

Naturally, I became a bit obsessed with this kind of scrapbooking & decided to take it one step further. I purchased the online tutorials from Paper Phenomenon because I really fell in love with the Foto Folios which are a bit more complex than the Mini Album I started with.

In only two months I have made four different Folios & I have been in love with how each one has turned out.

The below photos display one I created as a wedding gift. This was the Style 4 - Gate Fold Folio from Paper Phenomenon Foto Folio. Follow the link to view in the Paper Phenomenon online shop.

Side Note: I do have to admit that I found the PP website extremely confusing to navigate through. I did some research watching youtube videos to find what style I wanted. I purchased the Foto Folio 2 package not realizing that the specific folio I wanted wasn't included in this package. I contacted customer support & they were not helpful at all & I was a bit disappointed as they did not resolve my problem. Hopefully this is something they can work on in the future.

Front Page

Cover Opened

Flaps Opened 

Inside Pages & Pockets

Back Page

The paper pack I used for this Folio was from Michaels & I just loved how the gold & navy looked together! Amazing!

Side Note: If you are unfamiliar with Foto Folios, the decorative paper is used as a photo mat for different sized photos to be placed on top of. When filled with photos the decorative paper just "peaks" through & thus it doesn't look so busy. The books are filled with pockets, photo mats, insert cards & journaling areas so they can become quite complex!

The next one I tackled was another Gate Fold Folio but this time the recipient was a friend of mine who was gifting it to his wife for her birthday. I used the paper collection Pen Pals from Pink Paisley, with some accents of gold from the previous foto folio we just explored.  I just loved how it turned out.

Front Page

Opened Cover

Opened Flaps

Pockets & Flaps

Back Page

I had a ton of left over to Pen Pals paper, so I decided to craft another Folio. This time I changed it up & made Style 3 - Envelope Folio, Side Loading, from Paper Phenomenon Foto Folio This particular folio was more of a book style.

Front Page

Opened; exposing envelopes

Page with Pocket

Small Pocket Pages

Larger Pockets & Side Loading Envelopes

Last Page

Back Page

The most current Folio I made was Style 2 - Match Book Folio from Paper Phenomenon Foto Folio. The recipient of this one is going to be for a friend featured on my blog who is expecting a little girl in January! The paper collection I used was from Bo-Bunny. I have to say that this is one of my most favourite paper collections that I have worked with.

Cover Page

Photo Mats in Front Cover

Opened Book

Pull Out Photo Books

Four Large Photo Mats; two sided with a pocket & photo mats

The matchbook was a different style & I keep feeling like there should be more too it. I kind of like the simplicity of it for a baby gift though because it will allow for a lot of journaling & personal touches.

These folios can be extremely time consuming but I think they make for amazing gifts for friends & family! With both packages of Folios there are a total of 12 Folios that can be made, as well as mini folios, storage boxe & a pouch. So although it seems like I have done a lot of projects....there are way more to come!