Authentique's Fantastic "Plain" Papers

Some of you may know that I am expecting my second child, a little girl. As a Father's Day present, I decided to create this cute little mini book for my husband. He is not into anything with dimension, has bows, ribbons, buttons, or anything that sticks out. He also isn't a huge fan of pink, but with one little girl and one on the way, he's kind of stuck on that one.
I made this for him to show off pictures of the baby once he gets back to work. He needed something that he could display on his work desk.

I used my Silhouette to create interesting shapes, titles, and other features that could lie flat. Rather than use simple plain cardstock, I chose instead to break out my Free Bird Collection, and the backs of my 6x6" pad of Delightful.

For each of the pages, I chose to use various die cuts from the Baby Girl portion of Delightful.

I also chose the colors of the colored cardstock specifically to set them apart from the patterned paper.

I'm planning on using black & white prints in 4x4" and 3x3" sizes for each of the matted squares. Since the photos won't compete with all the color, it was fun getting to use all of the patterns I could.

I also decided not to add any of the Diction words until I start placing all of the photographs. This way, I can really make the mini book special and specific for each photograph.

Here is my secret weapon for fantastic die cuts... FREE BIRD! Seriously, the "plain" colors are simply divine! Each color really isn't plain, more textured and variegated than regular old cardstock. And since they are all 6x6" papers, each piece is perfect for using with any type of die cut machine, or paper piecing. Each collection of 6x6" pads also has great "plain" paper that are specific to the collection. I also used quite a few pieces of the Delightful pad on this mini album.

To be honest, my favorite of the colored papers is actually the reverse of one of the brightest pieces of Free Bird, FBS119 of the Fair-Weather Theme. It's a super bright white, with little specks of yellow throughout.

Remember to use Authentique's fantastic "plain" papers the next time you break out your die cut machine. There are really great colors that match perfectly with each collection, you just may have to turn the paper to the back.

Authentique Products Used: Delightful Collection: Beautiful, Lovely, Elegant, Cheerful; Baby Girl Excerpts, Expressions, Noteables, Icons, Tabloids, Diction; Free Bird Series: Fair-Weather & Delight

Other Products: Silhouette, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Tattered Rose, Bind-it-All system, Paper Accents 6x6" Chipboard