Book Box

The other day I was cleaning up some things, getting my books and magazines in some sort of order, and an idea hit.

 I took one of my scrapbooking books...

 And created a book box out of it!  I followed the premise of the tutorial found here, on Whiff of Joy.  It turned out to be huge...the area inside the box is 1 1/2" deep, 10 1/2" high and 7 1/2" wide.

I love how the sides of the box resemble papers.  I created a lining for inside the box, since I didn't want the ridges inside the storage area.  I think it turned out pretty cool.

Now, what do I put in here?

Stay Crafty, My Friends!

The Three Pocket Paper Bag Mini

I really don't know what else to call this one!!!  OK, here goes the tutorial.  If you have any questions, please please please let me know.

This is how I prepared my paper bags for this mini album...

 I used three bags in all for this mini.  Here is the basics of how I did it.

 Have your bag in front of you like this...This is the "back" of the bag.

 ...open it and cut on the pink line, and cut the diagonal fold line until you reach the corner of the "Y".

 It should look like this.  Do the same for the other side.

 You should have the whole "front" side of the paper bag cut out.  When laid flat, it will look  like this above on the right...

 ...and this on the left.

 You should have the gussets flappin' in the wind now.

 Put some adhesive on the edges of the flaps as shown.  The top flap is folded, the bottom one is open.

 Fold the top flap over the bottom, and TAA DAA, you have recreated the paper bag pocket.

 You get a pocket at the far right of this page. (Shown by the paper slipped in here.  It is a small pocket, only the size of the bottom of the bag.  I folded the triangles down and adhered them.

 So...the page goes like this.  This is pocket #1.

These are #2 and #3 pockets.

 You already have a fold in the bag, make a score at 1/4" away from that, creating a gusset.

 You will get this...I adhered scoretape to this gusset and that is how I adhered the bag to the inside spine of the book.  I spaced the other bags 1/4" apart, leaving room for embellishments.

 I know this is hard to see, but next I decided that I wanted the pages to be 8", so I cut the right page 8" from the new scoreline.

I flipped the page over to cut 8" from the bags original score line.

I covered everything with papers, after I distress inked the paper bag.  When I covered the bag on page two, I cut out a space with my spellbinders die to make the opening for the little pocket.  There are a ton of pictures on the post about his book, so you can look at them to see what I mean.   If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.  I hope this was helpful!

Stay Crafty, My Friends!

A "New" Desk File

Hi all!  Ok, I am still working on the tutorial for the new paper bag mini that I came up with.  I am hoping to get it done for you by the end of the weekend.  Sorry for the delay!  I hate it when I tell you all that I am going to post something, and then life gets in the way from me doing it.  But, all is well here, just busier that I thought it was going to be!

I had this little project done for a while, and thought I would share with you today.

I love these folded books for filing things.  I made a recipe file using this technique.

I decided I wanted one for my new craft room.  So, I made this...

 I wanted to make a quickie project that I can use on my desk top for little notes that I write to myself.  I found a bunch of these weekly time books at the local thrift store, and I have used some of the pages for my junk journals.  I carry one in my purse, and do Zentangles in it when I am waiting somewhere and a little bored. I also draw in it on my lunch hour when I need a little "Time Out".

They are old, but I don't know how old, there is no date on the books at all.  Look at this wage table!

It made a cute, simple, and small organizer for my notes.  I jot things down, and now I have a little place to put them until I do them.  

Have a wonderful MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!  Take a moment to remember those who have fought and died while serving our country.  

Stay Crafty, My friends!

A Super Awesome Little Mini

I finished this mini album in a box yesterday, and think it is the cutest thing!!!

 It is called a "Flip Top"mini, and I found the tutorial here, on the Gentleman Crafter's site.  If you haven't seen his site yet, GO DO IT!!!  (After, of course, you get done looking here! HAHA)  Jim is an incredible, amazing, talented artist, and you will love his work!!

 The box has a top that flips open to reveal little envelopes to hold tags.  I created a closure with a Tim Holtz hitch post and a ribbon threaded through an eyelet on the bottom of the box.

 I used G45's Curtain Call papers.  (I think I am going to do a mini journal on my top 10 favorite movies.)  I cut the top piece out of a scrap of the paper, I love, Love, LOVE how that looks when you open the top.  (I am sorry the pictures are a bit fuzzy, I have to do it at a lower pixel so that I can post them!)

Here is an example of my tags.  They are only 3" tall, as this is a true mini album.  I made my pockets out of the papers. In Jim's tutorial, he used coin envelopes matted with papers.  I made 10 pockets, and then 10 tags.  I alternated brown and black ribbons for the tags. I also used distressing ink from Tim Holtz throughout.

I hope you like it!  Now, go check out The Gentleman Crafter's site!!!

Stay Crafty, My Friends!

A new paper bag mini album!

Can you ever get tired of making these paper bag books?  I can't, especially when you find yet another way to use them to create another new set of pockets!  I love how versatile these little bags are, and how a few simple cuts can bring out a whole new way to have a mini album.

 I used a new line of papers I found by GCD called Antiquities.  IT IS GORGEOUS!  I love the color tones in it and the almost Steampunk style in it.  I made the flowers on the front with my Spellbinders flower die.  I used leaves by 7 Gypsies, and the bling is Recollections.  I also have a couple of Tim Holtz light bulbs in the flowers, along with rhinestone centers in the flowers.

 I made this stand for it.  I was thinking about putting the book in a box, but then I couldn't have dimensional flowers on the front.  So, I make this.  It is super simple, I just took a heavy piece of chipboard and covered it. Then I hot-glued it to the Tim Holtz box corners.  It holds the book ever so nicely, and the corners also create a kind of closure for the book as well.  The spine of the book has a new Tim Holtz faucet knob.  I added a watch from Jolee's and some buttons by Jenni Bowlin.

 The inside cover and the first page of the mini.  I used 3 paper bags for this book, creating 12 pages in all, with 9 pockets and 18 tags!  I did not use any extra pieces for binding this book.

 Here are two of the tags, using Tim Holtz new File Folder Tabs.  This paper is double sided.   There is plenty of room for pictures and journaling.  The flowers throughout the inside of the book are made from my Sizzix die by Tim Holtz.  Can you tell I love his stuff????

 Behind this pocket is the inner pocket.  I created two tags with cardstock.

 Since I am in a "Polaroid Phase" I made the fronts of these tags like a Polaroid picture...

...the back of these tags are layered with journaling paper.

 When you turn the page, there is an INNER POCKET! (Shown on the left side of the page.)

 These are the tags in this pocket.  I used bakers twine for the ties, and made hole reinforcements with the papers in this collection.

 On the left side is the back of the first set of page made with bag number one.  They repeat three times.

 Here are the rest of the pages.

 I had this tag (on the right page) from a long long long time ago, along with the paper clips.  I think they are K and Company.

 I bought the amber bling at Jo Ann's in the dollar bins.   The mini gears are Tim Holtz.

 The last page and the back inside cover.  I fussy cut the goggles on the right and layered them onto the cover with foam tape for dimension.

Top view here.  I am working on a tutorial to show how I made these pages.  Please stay tuned!

Stay Crafty, My Friends!

Taa Daa! The Photo File is Ready!!

Well, here it is...my latest brainstorm.

 I bought this box from IKEA thinking I was going to store things in it.  I turned it into what I am calling a "Photo File".  It is just an average storage type box.

 I lined the inside with this AWESOME paper from DCWV, called The Snapshot Stack.  I LOVE THIS PAPER!!!  I am also currently (or should I say continually) addicted to the whole instant photo thing.  I  had missed being able to see and touch your picture as soon as you took it.  It is just not the same with digital pictures.  I have wanted an Instax camera since the first moment I saw one, and I love it.  Yes, the picture quality isn't super terrific, but the ability to have pictures instantly is sooooooo cooooooollll!!

 I lined the inside of the box with the blue paper with a ton of instant cameras all over it.  The handles are ribbons that I attached with eyelets.  Then I created an inside pullout piece.  This came to mind because I am also currently very enamored with Rolodex type files.  I am sure there are more things to come from this obsession!  I had visited my LSS and they were having a clearance on the Tim Holtz binder rings.  Can you believe it!?!  I bought all of them.  HAHA!!

 That's what I used for the base of my photo file.  I wanted something that the pages could attach to, but could be added to.  I also wanted to give some wiggle room for embellishments.  I spaced the rings about 1" apart.

 I decorated the inside covers of the pullout.  The following pages are what I have created so far.

 I, of course, had to put a picture of my camera!  I took it with my digital, printed it, and put it on a polaroid frame that came in the paper pack. The page with the large heart is a pocket where three pictures and a journaling tag live.

 A few flowers and buttons, some bling, and fussy cuts from the paper pack.

 More pages.  I got a lot of flowers in the last couple of days.

 The page with my house is a flap that opens for hidden journaling.

 My dogs and my man's "Man Cave".

 I have many more pages to fill.  I think this turned out to be a cool idea.

This is the inside of the back cover.

So, what do you think???

Stay Crafty, My Friends!