G45 Artisan Album

I cannot believe how much time has passed since my last post … I am in the busy crop season and time is just flying by!

Earlier this week, I taught this class at Scrappy Chic in Livonia. I love how it turned out and thought you all might like to see it.

It is based on Graphic 45’s Mixed Media Album, which is about 8″x9″ or so …  I love the album because it comes with vellum, kraft and ivory pages and black pocket/divider pages. Even after creating a 24-page album and using some of the pages for tags and photo mats, we still had leftover pages!

I used the Artisan collection of papers from Graphic 45 to make it.

The photos are a bit out of order, but you get the idea … I used a sheet of black cardstock and a sheet of green cardstock and printed off words on ivory paper. Everything else is either part of the Artisan paper collection or came with the book.

Now, I’m back to making Mosaic Moments videos, designing a few classes and making more page kits …

 

Remembering: Sending snow to Guam

Today I am sharing an oldie, but goodie … this post is from 5 years ago, but I thought it would be fun to share again!My son, a corpsman in the U.S. Navy, is currently stationed in Guam. This will be our first Christmas apart.

He called last week and asked for me to send him his ornaments and I included a special gift from Mom.

It is a tradition I started when my children’s father and I were divorced. Each Christmas I give them a personalized, usually handmade, gift from me.  They open their special gifts on Christmas Eve and then I make them listen as I read “The Night Before Christmas.”

This year, since we will be apart, I thought I would send some of our traditions to him in the form of a mini wooden book.

It started with a mini album from KaiserCraft. I love their Beyond the Page line. You simply cut, sand lightly and cover with paper.

I wanted a winter theme, since he is living in the tropics, so I chose the new winter paper line from Bo Bunny.

I made a shaker box (super easy with Shake It from Impression Obsession)  for the cover and filled it with “snow,” in the form of Art Glitter and a Grungeboard Snowflake.

Inside, I shared some photos of him, along with the gifts of Christmas. I think he’ll enjoy showing his friends how cute he was when he was little!

In addition to snow, I sent him my love …Our tree (with Misty hiding underneath … she loves Christopher almost as much as I do!)And Santa … along with a photo that I know will make him laugh.On the last page, I made a stocking and filled it with a copy of “The Night Before Christmas.” I know as my kids got older, they only endured the reading to humor me (and because my husband told them that Santa wouldn’t fill their stockings if they didn’t make their mother happy), but traditions become important as you grow up, so I thought I would send it anyway.

Assuming he doesn’t read my blog, which I doubt he does, he should be surprised by his little book in another week or so … it takes a long time for mail to get to Guam!

At the Beach

I’m on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog today with this design … check it out, here. 

Celebrate Winter

Our challenge this month for the Elizabeth Craft Designs’ Design Team is to make a project with the new Tags & More die sets. I decided to turn them into a little mini album.

And since I am obsessed with foxes at the moment, I used Authentique’s new Cozy papers (with foxes and snowflakes) and ordered Dutch the Fox, one of the newest dies from Karen Burniston for ECD.

Cut four strips of paper 3 1/2″ x 12″. Use Tags & More 1 — Lace and cut the tag on one side. Then, snip and trim the edges so you have four long tags.

Score at 5 1/8″ and fold each tag. Then ink all of the pieces.

Take two tags and put them back-to-back so the ends match. Tape the ends together to make a page. Line up another tag so the tops of the tags match and adhere. Then, do another set of bottoms to form the book. It will look like this:

Cut out the pieces of Dutch the Fox (I used black cardstock, white velvet paper from ECD and some of the Authentique paper) and adhere him to the front of the book. Cut out six flower hole reinforcers and two corners (included in the Tags & More 1 — Lace set). Adhere the corners to the front. Adhere the flowers onto each side of the tops of the tags — making sure they are lined up so you don’t see any backs.

 

Add letters to spell Winter and a few Glitter Dots to the cover. Tie ribbon through each of the tags.

Then, complete each of the inside pages as shown …

The tree is also a die from ECD.

I love how the book turned out.

Now, see what the other designers created with the new tag dies on the ECD blog!

Perfect Birthday Gift

This month’s contest at Scrap It Girl is birthday.

 

This little 4×4 mini album is the perfect gift for a birthday present. It has places along the way to record memories and place photos of the special day. And the last page has a gift-card pocket!

I used chipboard to create the cover. The inside pages are Mosaic Moments RTC Grid Paper, which can easily be cut to 4×4 sheets. I glued them together back-to-back to make sturdy pages. I bound the book with a ring and added ribbons and fibers from my stash and a little clock from Hobby Lobby.

I typed all of the quotes and words and printed them off to use in the book. The tiny prints are all from Memory Box.

The cupcake is an outline sticker by Elizabeth Craft Designs, filled with ECD glitter and colored with Copics. (Don’t try this without ECD glitter!)

By using the grid paper, I can easily place 1″ squares to frame the photo on this page.

The striped, text and jar papers are all from American Crafts. I just cut one jar out for an embellishment on this page.

This page takes advantage of the grid paper. I also added a Cornerstone (the cake) from Mosaic Moments. I replaced the paper it came with with a piece of patterned paper to keep with the theme of my book.

The last page used another Mosaic Moments Cornerstone (a present), along with chevron and note paper from American Crafts. The pocket (the brown chevron paper) allows for a gift card to be inserted.

Now it’s your turn … create a card, scrapbook page or project with a birthday theme. Post it at Scrap It Girl during the month of March and you could win this:

 

 

 

 

Linnie Blooms Canvas Journal

Today is my second time as a guest designer for Linnie Blooms.

This time, I created a mixed-media canvas book.

 

Here’s a peek at some of the inside pages …

 

To find out how I created this book, visit Linnie Blooms’ Blog!

 

Holiday Gift Album

Mini albums are quick and fun gifts to make and receive.

I created this 4×4 mini album using RTC Grid Paper from Mosaic Moments, a new paper/sticker collection from KaiserCraft and a few other embellishments. It is ready for photos and journaling to remember this Christmas.

The last page in the book has a little pocket where you can insert a gift card. Imagine the delight of the recipient to receive a beautiful mini album and then, when they turn to the last page, a gift card to their favorite store or restaurant!

To see the rest of the pages in this little album and to learn how I did it, visit my page on Journella.

 

Got Wood?

September is a special month at Scrap It Girl.

In addition to the back-to-school challenge, we are also having a wood challenge. And, to get your mojo going, each of the girls on the design team created a project using a wood book from Genuinely Jane Studios.

Prior to this challenge, I had not even heard of Genuinely Jane Studios, nor seen any little birch books, so I was eager to try it out.

This is the little mini book I received. It’s made in Missouri, a definite plus!

Anyhow, there were a few tiny chips around the edges, so I took my Tim Holtz sander and went around each edge, then wiped it with a microfiber towel to remove any dust. It was easy and only took me about 30 seconds per page.

I pulled out my Distress Stains to color the book. I wanted to give it the look of water, so I added a variety of blues and greens.

Then misted them with water and let them blend on their own.

I then dabbed off the excess water/stain and dried with a heat tool because I am always impatient.

Once I got the background how I wanted it, I added a bit of metallic stain to it and dabbed it around with a paper towel. It created a beautiful effect — much like frost on a window. Click on the photos for a larger picture to see the details.

I wanted the cover to resemble a port hole, so I coated it in Tarnished Brass Distress Crackle Paint and let it dry. (heat tools and crackle paint do not mix)

Once I had that part done, I got to decorating the cover and filling in the book.

I filled the book with inspirational quotes I found with a nautical theme. I added buttons, twine and stamps as well. (click on the pictures for a better view)

This is my favorite page … a ship on one side and a Michigan lighthouse on the other!

On the back page, I added a bit of fiber to soften it up a bit.

I added lots of little things on the cover … Dew Drops, metal and a tiny compass.

Here’s a look at the front again …

Now it’s your turn. You do not have to create an entire mini album. Just use a bit of wood on your scrapbook page, card or layout and post it here. One person will win an amazing prize package filled with woody goodies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recording the Garden

It happens every spring when Matt and I head for the nursery to buy plants. We stand there surrounded by flats of tomatoes, squash and beans arguing over how many pepper plants we had the year before or which variety of eggplant we really liked last year. The experience turns what should be an exciting day — one we both look forward to each year — into a stressful, tiring one.

So this year, I decided to take measures into my own hands by making a mini album to keep track of the varieties, number of plants and locations, as well as showing off some of the fruits, or should I say, “vegetables,” of our labors.

I love making mini albums … they are a great way to use up leftover embellishments, stickers and bulky items you love but don’t want in your scrapbook album. I used bits of everything from multiple product lines and things I found in my stash. The pages are made by simply adhering two sheets of printed papers together. Then I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes and rings to bind it.

This particular album is restrained from my usual style. Normally the rings would be covered in ribbons and each page would be thick and bulky. However, this album is intended to grow right along with our garden, so I kept it flat and simple so it is easy to write in and add pages as we go along.

Many of the pages are not finished, since I am still adding things about this year’s experience.

 

I included photos of the new flower beds and trees we planted this year.

 

In some cases, I kept the tags from the flowers and tucked them in a little bag for future reference …

The chicken garden is still waiting for a photo (I’ve been waiting for the sunflowers to bloom) … this is a special garden I planted for the chickens with things they like to eat, like corn, sunflowers and lettuce, along with plenty of space for digging and scratching.

 

The “Garden ’13” page lists all of the varieties and quantities of plants we placed in the vegetable garden this year.

These pages show how the garden has grown over the summer …

And this page shows a rough map of where everything is planted so we can easily rotate our crops next year.

I have other pages reserved for the flowers in full bloom so in the middle of winter we can look back and remember how beautiful the yard looks in the summer.

I hope I have inspired you to make your own mini album — for the garden or any special event.

This month’s challenge at Scrap It Girl is to create a mini album and you will find more inspiration on the site from other designers.

Give it a try, then hop over to Scrap It Girl to post your creation. You could win an amazing collection of prizes!

And, if a reader from my blog wins, I’ll post your album on my site, too!

 

Tour the National Parks

Wow! Time sure does fly!

Between deadlines, not feeling well, starting up a business, teaching and working on projects I cannot share right now, I have not only neglected my blog, but I forgot to share the mini book I made for my mother in law on Mother’s Day!

My mother in law loves to travel and she enjoys visiting National Parks all over the country. So, I thought it would be fun for her to have a book that listed all of them so she could record when she visited.

The process took a little longer than I anticipated, since I couldn’t find a list of all of the parks online. So, I went through the National Park Service’s website and copied each state’s parks into a Word document. That ended up being 500+ pages long!

So, I deleted photos and descriptions and formatted all of the text, which took me down to around 200+ pages.

Obviously, I was not creating a book that long, so I deleted all of the National Monuments, Historic Trails, National Lakeshores and other things included and focused only on National Parks. Then my book was a manageable 13 pages long and I could cope with that!

Then, I went through and grouped each of the parks by the area they were located in. So, all of the parks in the Pacific Northwest were together and those in New England were together, etc.

My final lists looked like this …

I then went through and created an index page with a tab on it for each section. I used a variety of stamps and quotes with a travel theme to decorate each one. Here are a few examples:

 

Most of the stamps I used were from Studio 490 (Wendy Vecchi) or Tim Holtz. They both have great sayings and the images were perfect.

On this one, I also included a die cut tag from Tim Holtz.

Each index page lists the states that are included in that section.

I covered the insides of the cover with map paper from My Little Yellow Bicycle. the index pages, cover and accents were all made with a very old line of paper that I love from Cloud 9.

I used the Cinch to bind the book and then added ribbon to the bindings.

Here is the cover again.

It turned out great and she loved it.

Should you decide to make a similar book, I am more than happy to send you the Word document I created. Just drop me a line with your e-mail address.