Spring Mini Album Page Tutorial

Okey Dokey, Crafters...Good Morning!  I have the tutorial for how I made the pages in my Spring Mini album!

This is an open view of the pages.

This shows the first flap lifted to reveal another pocket.  The scoring and cutting follows...

Oh, Yeah, it is also confession time.  I don't know how to get a PDF on the blog.  So, I made this lovely diagram on my computer, took a picture of it, and imported it that way.  If you click on it, it will enlarge, and you should be able to read it.  Ahhhh, technology!

 I hope this makes sense.  The purple lines are scored, then the line that the red is hovering over, is the only place to cut...just that one 5" line.

Fold up the bottom 2" score, burnish well.  You will glue on the two sides of this 2" piece and in the 1/8" space to create the pockets, but wait until you read the whole post and do all of the scoring so you can really see what it will look like.

Fold over the left side, burnish well.  You will have two scores here, it give you a 1/8" space for more room so your book will lie more flat.  This back side here will also be how you attach it to the previous page (or to the cover).  Open back up.

Fold the top part down...burnish...

Then fold that piece over...

Then fold the little 1 1/2" piece back again.  This little strip is glued on the top and the bottom creating the little pocket, glue the 3 1/2" piece on the top and bottom, creating the other pocket.  This flap lifts up to show the big pocket underneath.  The left side is glued on three sides (on the back side) to attach to the previous page, and also has a pocket!

I sure hope that made sense.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Stay Crafty, my friends!

We Were A Family of 5

In March of this year, I traveled back to my home town in California to spend spring break with my kids.  I wanted to show them the house I grew up in.  I remembered that back in 78' my family put our hands in the cement on the side of the house.  I first knocked on the door to make sure they wouldn't care if we looked  and went over to see if the impressions still remained.  My hand sat under a down spot and wasn't very visible but my two sisters, Mom and Dad still remained.  

 I snapped a few photos as I remembered that moment vividly in 78'

 Many changes have occurred since this.....  

I hid my personal story of my family in this journal spot, one sister going her on way and a father leaving many years ago.  Although this layout didn't come without pain, it felt nice capturing all our hands together again, when we were a family of 5.

April Counterfeit Kit Projects, #4 and #5

 First off, here is my attempt to copycat the paper Headed South, "It's the Little Things" by Fancy Pants. I just grabbed some stamps and colors and went to town.  I don't think it turned out too bad...now I just have to figure out what to do with it.  HAHA!

 This is my layout in response to the challenge of using memorabilia in your projects.  OK, I know that receipts may not be memorabilia...but when I got done shopping I had this idea and I went with it.  I used the die that I bought today to make the gears on the layout.  I added the flower beads and Stickles to the center of them.  I also added the letter stickers to make the title "Retail Therapy".  I grabbed a tag, used Glimmer Mist and wrote the quote in it.

The ribbons and papers came from my April Counterfeit Kit, as did the buttons.  I also love the fact that the bottom of the receipt has the date on it...I didn't notice that until I finished the page!

Have a crafty day!

April Counterfeit Kit Projects, #1, #2, and #3

This is going to be picture heavy!  I made some cute mini albums and one greeting card with my kit so far...and here they are!

 The paper selections I made totally made me think of spring.  I took the pastel colored papers to make this mini.  I designed the pages while playing with paper one day.  The pages are made of one sheet of 12x12 cardstock that has just a couple of scores and one cut.  The size came out to 5x7", so a good sized book.  I covered the chipboard letters with my scraps of papers to make the title.  I also added the purple bling to the butterflies.

 This is a top view.  I made 5 total pages, and each page holds a bunch of tags in different sizes.  I used my Nestabilities die to make them.   I covered the spine with pom-pom ribbon.  A tutorial will be coming soon.

 This is the cover opened.  The pocket on the cover is made when attaching the page to it.  This is also how all of the pages are attached to each other.

 This is the flap on the right lifted to show another pocket and a large space for a picture.  I added the solid cardstock to the kit to make the pockets.  The leftovers from covering the base page cardstock I used to punch the butterflies and flowers.

 This is the next page...

 and that pages flap lifted up.

 The last page and cover.

 So, then I had the butterfly paper and decided to make another mini album.  This actually came from a tutorial I found here at My Creative Journey.  She gives step-by-step directions on making the album and cutting the papers.  Then, I did a little embellishing of my own.  I added the chipboard album from my stash.  I also added one more piece of paper (the black one with the multicolored circles) and stickers from the same company as the butterfly paper.

 The pink brads in the centers of the flowers were also added to my kit, as I didn't put any in my kit at all!  I also added the yellow and green cardstock.

 I used my Nestabilities again, and some corner punches from Martha Stewart.

 I fussy cut a butterfly from the paper for an embellishment on this page.

 Here is the circle paper...I loved it!

 The back page.

This little 6"x6" mini album will be the perfect way to showcase my flowers when we get them potted!

I took some of the scraps and made this card.

 I received the stamp set from one of my birthday swap sisters from Splitcoaststampers.  They are by Provo Craft, and are called Simply Chic Stamps.  I used the yarn to tie around my wooden butterflies to create the bodies, heads and antennae.

I think the ledger paper works perfect inside the card to write a greeting.

Thanks for looking, and have a crafty day!

Vintage style card

I LOVE the soft vintagy shabby look that so many things have these days.  We layered this card using 6 patterned papers and the Fiskars scalloped boarder punch.

 I think the rhinestones added a nice touch of elegance!

File Folder Mini Album

I made this for my daughter, Beth, inspired by this wonderful and creative lady, Susie at Creative Cafe'.  Susie makes just wonderful albums and I "counterfeited" them, if you will.  Please go check out her site, you will love it!

Beth is deployed right now, and she wanted a book of pictures from home...so I got out my stuff and printed off a variety of pictures, and away I went.  There isn't a tutorial for her album, I had to try to come up with what I thought she did.  She inspired me so much that I made it the same day I saw it!  There are a ton of pictures...I hope you like it.

The cover.  The papers are all from a pack that I got by Jenni Bowlin.  The only addition was the "Family" stickers that I used.  The original bingo card said LIVE, but I covered it with the heart to make LOVE.

Some pages have little pockets...the tags are all full sized and have pictures on the back as well.  Do you like the smiley face?  I didn't have permission to use his picture!

Some pages have big pockets...

Some pages have full sized pockets...

This page has a pocket and little flaps that open to show more stuff...

See...more stuff!

This one I chose to make into a proper pocket and add a picture on the side.

This is a huge flap that opens down...

for more pictures.

I hope you liked it.  Please stop by and check out her blog.  She has some amazing stuff there!

Thanks, Susie, for the inspiration!
Michelle

Little Tiny Mini Albums and the April Counterfeit Kit

OK, you have to go to this place and visit Elsa.  She came up with the cutest little mini albums, and she did UStream classes on them!  Here are my versions of her mini's. They are approximately 4x4".

Here is the cover.  She calls this a Never Ending mini.  She uses patterned papers and creates pockets with the folding.  The pictures don't even show all of the extra pockets and pages it has!

 It looks like an accordion, but it isn't!  There are spaces for a ton of pictures and tags.

Here is the other side, and again, the pictures don't do it justice!  There are secret pockets!  The papers I used are K and Company.  I also used some ephemera that I can't remember where it came from.  I bought the Nestabilities shape just for this project, too! Once you watch one of her videos, you will understand...she loves this shape for her tags!

This is her paper bag mini album, and it is mini!  The bags are the littlest ones you can find at Michaels! I used  October Afternoon's Modern Homemaker papers for this one.  I LOVE THIS PAPER LINE!

 It uses four bags and makes a ton of pockets for tags.  I love the chunkiness of it!

 These are a couple shots of my pages all decorated.

 I actually had one of these clocks when I was a kid!!!  The tail wagged and the eyes moves and honestly, it kinda freaked me out!

Now...Counterfeit Kit Challenge has their April Kit up, and here is my version.  The original kit that they are counterfeiting comes from Front Porch Kits.  It is actually their March Kit, but we are using it for April.

 The picture above is their kit papers.  The one below is my interpretation of the kit.

 I used papers from American Craft, Dream Street Papers, Making Memories, Doodlebug, DCWV, Creative Imaginations, Fancy Pants, Me and My Big Ideas, and Paper Loft.  The cardstock is from Bazzill and Paper Company.

Here are my embellishments.  I have no idea where the ribbons came from, they were a birthday gift from one of my "swap sisters" at Split Coast Stampers.  I am a knitter and a crocheter so I had yarn that I thought would match.  The leaves are from Recollections.  The buttons are Making Memories. I have no idea where the bottle caps came from, as I have had them forever.

I love the colors of this kit, bright and "Springy!"

Stay crafty my friends!!!

Dry Erase Flip File

I recently found this Dry Erase Daily Planner/Desk Organizer at a place called Wise Buys in California and did a little tweeking!

 I covered the left side of every page and left the opposite for notes

 I wallet sized photo will fit nice, each page is approx. 4x5

 A great addition to any desk!