Sunday 1 July 2018

For the love of snail mail

Hello friends and happy July! It's the first of the month and that means we have a new challenge starting over at the Mini Album Makers Challenge blog.
Like always you can add any type of book or album to the challenge and our sponsor this month is Lindy's Stampgang.

My project this month is a correspondence folder:

I have fallen in love with sending letters by snail mail, but this particular project is actually meant for a friend.

It all started with a modest old manilla file folder. Regulars will know that I have used these a lot lately, but I just love how these folders are so versatile and can be used in so many ways.

Here is a view of the inside, so you can see where it is going:



I'll give you a brief run down of how I put it together:
I started by cutting off the tabs and then cut off a piece as you can see on the photo. The bit on the right side will be folded up to create a pocket.
I will also add a vertical pocket on the left. Above you can see the hinges I cut from the left overs of the folder to make the pockets deeper.

I decided to cover the outside of the folder in calico fabric and used mat medium to do so.
I also added a bit of lace over the spine and coloured the fabric with Vintage Linen Distress Spray.
I made sure to cut the fabric large enough so it would fold over the edges, and as you can see, the inside at this stage still looks terrible, but that will soon be remedied with some pretty  paper. The pocket on the right at this point has not yet been attached. That will happen when the rest of the inside will be covered with design paper. The paper I chose was from 49andMarket.
Here you can see what it now looks like from the inside. I adhered the paper using strong double sided tape as that stops the paper from bubbling or warping. I had these to metal tab things in my stash so decided to use them as decoration, though they have little pull handles, they really serve no purpose....
In this photo you can hopefully see how the hinges I showed above are used to add depth to the pockets.

Alright, now for the contents. As this is a correspondence folder it obviously needed some writing paper and envelopes.
My latest passion is using wax seal stamps, so I held the paper and envelopes together with some ribbon and a wax seal, like you sometimes see in posh wedding stationery.
Here you can see how the paper and envelopes fit neatly into the pockets.
One of the things I like about altering these file folders is that they have multiple scores on their spine, which gives them enough depth the create hinged pockets that will hold things like envelopes.
The front of the folder was further decorated with some rice paper scraps and another wax seal and that was pretty much it.

Don't forget to go over to our challenge blog and see the amazing albums my team mates have created and if you love making books, journals or minis please share them with us over there.

Thank you for your visit like always and have a fantastic month of July!
xxxxx

24 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Wonderful vintage file folder, love the additional pockets and the beautiful trims. Hugs, Valerie

Redanne said...

What a wonderful gift for your friend Astrid and a fantastic use for the file folder (I still have dozens of them). Adding the calico will make it very sturdy as well as textural and the wax seals give such a beautiful professional finish! A beautiful project. Hugs, Anne xx

brenda said...

As always a beautiful and inspirational creation Astrid.

Have a lovely Sunday.

B x

Margaret Mifsud said...

What an amazing transformation of the file folder and a stunning gift for your friend Astrid! The calico and rice paper looks so beautifully vintage on the outer cover and the paper on the inside is so gorgeous!! I really love the rich colour and the metal pieces look amazing!! So beautiful!! hugs x

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, what an amazing transformation! I love the contrasting colours of the cover and inside pages - beautiful 😁. The finish is stunning and this is such a wonderful gift, I'm sure the recipient will love it! Hope you are having a lovely weekend and wishing you a Happy July! J 😊 x

maj. said...

What a great work! Fabulous file folder!

Annie said...

Such a beautiful file folder for your dear friend Astrid x I love the stamp seals and those wonderful details on both the inside and outside of each page x A real treasure for sure xx
Thanks for sharing
Hugs Annie xx

Patty O'Malley said...

What a wonderful gift for your friend! I love snail mail. Too bad it's not as popular anymore.

froebelsternchen said...

A unique gift - wow -- this is such a fantastic project! Inspirational and so so beautiful!
Happy July Astrid!
Hugs, Susi

Susie Bentz: My Time to Play said...

Beautiful project - time to pull out my file folders! The detailed tutorial was very easy to follow. Love the vintage feel you created.

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Who would have thought a simple manilla file could be transformed into such a wonderful thing. I LOVE it.. reminds me very much of something from century's gone by which would carry important manuscripts and documents. Amazing Astrid.
Creative wishes for the week ahead Tracey xx
P.S Sorry i'm late for the party having IT issues still and trouble keeping pages open long enough to comment :(

Maryann Laursen said...

Just as gorgeous work here as always from you Astrid. I love your fancy little albums and folders always and this one is just fabulous as ever. You´ve done such an amazing job, thanks sooo much for sharing all your great ideas always.

sarascloset said...

Astrid, I cannot look at my pile of 'junk' file folders without thinking of you and your wonderful projects you conjure out of them! This one's a real beauty with the fabric and lace cover (swoon!) with bits of rice paper and those functional pockets on the inside. Adding the ribbon and the wax seal to the goodies inside is the pièce de résistance Just lovely and a sweet gift for your friend. by the way, this fits perfectly into our 'By Airmail' challenge at Frilly and Funkie...wink, wink! Hugs!

Jackie PN said...

Absolutely exquisite Astrid! The cover look so old! I just love how you distressed it! And the inside with the handles and sealing wax? Brilliant! Truly a gorgeous gift for your friend!
sending hugs,Jackie xx

Nancy Wethington said...

I'm sure your friend is going to love this special gift. Clearly it's made with love. The design is so wonderful and I love the addition of the wax stamp. Thanks for the inspiration.

Dorthe said...

I love what you did, Astrid, this looks as if many many years old, and in many hands , so lovely a cover !!
The fabric used gives something special to the folder and also the inside papers you used are beautiful, expecially when the cream papers and envelopes are there in the pockets, it looks very rich.
Hugs, Dorthe

My name is Erika. said...

Happy July Astrid. Wow, what a gorgeous folder. I looked at your first photo and thought it was a vintage folder that you were then going to fix up. You are on a roll with these folders-your muse is definitely giving you some inspiration. Hope it's a good start of the month. Hugs-Erika

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Loving this and what a great gift. You always know just the right additions to your projects and this just works so well. Have a happy and creative July, Angela xXx

Jennie Atkinson said...

Wow Astrid !!! I can't believe the transformation of the file folder and what a wonderful present! Your eye to detail in terms of everything relevant to letter writing is second to none so all the elements fit so perfectly together. So many inspirational ideas, thank you!!!! Jennie x

Words and Pictures said...

Another brilliant file folder construction - this stationery folder will make a splendid gift. Gorgeous vintage styling (of course!), and I particularly love that aged, distressed front cover - it really looks genuinely old.
Alison x

Paper Wishes said...

This has your signature beautiful, vintage style and I see one of those great wax seals. Mine have thus far been very messy. Your gift folder is wonderful, thanks for sharing it. x Amanda

Helen Wallace said...

Your friends must be thrilled to receive on of your unique gifts Astrid. They are always chock full of little surprises and I love the addition of the was seals. They remind me of a Scarlet Pimernel novel.

SewPaperPaint said...

Astrid, this is such a neat concept! I love that you wrapped the cover with calico. Super details throughout and such an inspiration. The wax seals look beautiful with your colors and lace elements. Thanks so much for a great tutorial this month! Big hugs, Autumn

Timdani said...

Wow, this is really nice. I think anyone who loves snail mail would love this!

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