~ “Made with Scraps” BIA Minibook

While I was thinning out my collection of paper this weekend to give to a friend, I had amassed a pile of scraps, not worthy enough of sharing in current-state.   I saw a lot of similarities in the colors and patterns.  Instead of throwing the scraps away, I challenged myself to create one project using the bits of paper – married similar styles of different manufacturers – to make this little minibook.

{Close-up of the punch detail.}

{Click on each photo for a closer look.}

   

   

I’ll eventually make another project using other scraps in the coming weeks.  Come by again to check it out.

Supplies:

• Zutter Innovative – 6″ acrylic covers, 1 1/4″ antique brass o-wire
• 7Gypsies – round chipboard
• patterned paper – My Mind’s Eye, SEI, Bella Blvd
• Recollections – flowers
• Doodlebug – jewels
• American Crafts – fabric chipboard alpha
• ribbon, buttons, other bling

~ Parting Gifts

 

So, this is my last week at my current job.  Far be it for me not to have one last share of my craftiness before I go.  I made candy goody bags for the co-workers in MILCON and special bags with extra stuff for my branch.  I wanted to make use of my latest Fiskars punch in my projects since I wasn’t able to teach a class using it. =(  We have a long-standing “purple Thursday” in MILCON so I had custom buttons made by the awesome Emily Adams.

The bags below are filled with other good stuff are what I’m giving to the ladies in my branch.  There is a prolific amount of lilac and honeydew twine from The Twinery, which I totally love!  The bags were 59 cent gift bags I bought from Target and embellished.

Goody bag supplies:

• flat plastic bags, Dum Dums, Smarties, Kit Kats
• My Mind’s Eye – patterned paper
• The Twinery – twine
• Tim Holtz – mini staples
• Emily Adams – custom buttons

Gift bag supplies:

• Fancy Pants – patterned paper
• The Twinery – twine
• Tim Holtz – tissue tape
• American Crafts – ribbon
• Tim Holtz – mini staples

 

 

~ All Occasion Card Class

Finally got around to putting these photos up.  I taught three sessions total of my All Occasion Card Class in March and early April.  Here are my co-workers putting their projects together.

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Supplies:

• PaperSource, Stampin’ Up! – cardstock
• Fancy Pants – patterned paper
• American Crafts – adhesive fabric paper
• buttons

~ Pop-up Heart Card Class

I’m teaching two classes next week and here are the sample cards.  Valentine’s Day crafts are a big hit with my office.  I get the most participation from my men co-workers during this occasion. =)  If I remember to bring my camera, I’ll take pictures of them making their projects.  Happy Valentine’s Day, all!

 

Supplies:  American Crafts – cardstock and envelopes; Bo Bunny – patterned cardstock; Queen & Company – heart bling; PaperSource – cardstock; Stampin’ Up! – cardstock and brads; Prima – flowers; various ribbon and rickrack

~ OZZ March Project #2 – Blizzard

For more Bind-it-All inspiration, please check out the following links:

Original Zutter Zisters Showcaze

2009-2010 Design Team Galleries

 

 

 

 

Materials:

• Zutter –  1 ¼ ” antique silver o-wire, 6” Clipboard Wood Covers, 6” Acrylic Covers
• My Mind’s Eye – patterned paper
• Bazzill – cardstock
• Little Yellow Bicycle – snowflake diecut
• Dymo – labels
• Stampin’ Up! – ink, snowflake chipboard, embossing powder
• Adirondack – acrylic paint
• Doodlebug Designs – jewels
• American Crafts – alpha stickers

~ OZZ Project #1 – Farewell to Sheryl

For more Bind-it-All inspiration, please check out the following links:

Original Zutter Zisters Showcaze

2009-2010 Design Team Galleries

Materials:

• Zutter – Bind-it-All, Pound-it-All, Rivet Setter and Hammer, 1 ¼” antique brass o-wire, 8” Acrylic Cover, 8” Clipboard Wood Cover, 8” Chipboard Covers, Perfect Closure
• Basic Grey – patterned paper, journaling tags
• Bazzill – cardstock
• My Mind’s Eye – journaling tags
• Prima – flowers
• Stampin’ Up! – flowers
• American Crafts – Thickers

~ OZZ Feb Proj #3 – Farewell to Janet

For more Bind-it-All inspiration, please check out the following links:

Original Zutter Zisters Showcaze

2009-2010 Design Team Galleries

{Click on each picture for a closer look.}

Materials:

• Zutter – Bind-it-All,  1” white o-wire, 8” Chipboard Covers, Cover-Alls
• K&Company – patterned paper, cardstock stickers, epoxy stickers
• Making Memories – acrylic paint
• Foof-a-La – buttons
• Martha Stewart – glass beads
• Stampin’ Up! – ribbon
• American Crafts – alphabet stickers
• ribbon

~ Mini Calendar Gifts & Sunday Morning in the Snow

I finally finished making the gifts for my hubby’s office last night and put the finished projects in gift packaging just in time for giving this week.

 

Stuff:  Zutter – 3/4″ antique brass and antique silver o-wire, acrylic covers, chipboard covers, clipboard wood covers; Creative Imaginations – patterned paper; Stamping Station – patterned paper; Diecuts with a View – patterned paper; K & Company – patterned paper; Crate Paper – patterned paper and cardstock stickers; Ranger – cardstock; Paper Source – cardstock; American Crafts – foam letters 

==============================

The snow finally stopped falling late last night and what was waiting for us in the morning was a huge blanket of snow.  By our measurements, we had 23 inches yesterday.  I went out this morning and took some pictures of the neighborhood.  Even with some of the neigbhors shovelling, it was really still and quiet.  Strange how snow casts a lot of blue hue in photos.  Very hard to adjust for that much blue, even with a snow setting on the camera.

~ OZZ Dec Proj #1 – Fall 2009

For more Bind-it-All inspiration, please check out the following links:

Original Zutter Zisters Showcaze

2009-2010 Design Team Galleries

 

Supplies:

• Zutter Innovative – 1” antique brass o-wire,
• Teresa Collins – bracket chipboard covers
• Recollections – patterned paper, button embellishments, dimensional stickers
• AccuKut – acrylic sheets
• K & Company – epoxy stickers, embossed stickers, cardstock leaves
• Creative Imaginations – epoxy stickers
• Lil’ Davis Designs – glitter rub-ons
• QuicKutz – fuzzy vinyl
• Doodlebug – gems
• American Crafts – ribbon

~ WCMD Challenge

I issued a World Card Making Day Challenge in the Zutter Zisters Ning Board earlier this month.  Here is the card I made for inspiration.  The only requirements were (1) it was a card or card-like project and (2) that it used Zutter products.

 

Run-down on how I made this card –Instead of using the Canvas Cover, which I thought was a bit too thick for a card projects, I tore off the canvas from the cover itself.  I inked the canvas with two shades of orange and two shades of green then crumpled it up and inked a little bit more.  The patterned papers were sewn onto the canvas.  Once all of the other sewing details were added, I added the canvas to the Acrylic Cover with rivets.  Rub-ons, flower and foam letters were added and the ribbon was the last addition.  The little pocket will hold a tag and gift card.

Stuff:  Zutter Innovative/Bind-it-All – Acrylic Cover, Canvas Cover, rivets; My Mind’s Eye – patterned paper; Prima – flowers; American Crafts – foam letters; Making Memories – rub-ons; We R Memory Keepers – large eyelet; Stampin’ Up! – ink; eFavor – ribbon

~ Monja & Casey

I have a bridal shower to go to this weekend and I wanted to give my friend, Monja, something completely different than the usual housewares gifts people usually give at showers.  In addition to the Victoria’s Secret gift card I got her, I made this 8″ x 10″ book with simple patterned paper-covered pages for her to save some of her pre-wedding memories.

 

Stuff:  Zutter Innovative – chipboard covers, 1″ antique brass o-wire; My Mind’s Eye – patterned paper; Stampin’ Up – grosgrain ribbon; Anna Griffin – satin ribbons; Prima -flowers; American Crafts – Thickers; K & Company – Grand Adhesion; Tim Holtz; staples

~ I’m Starting to Get That Autumn Feeling…

Summer is quickly coming to an end and the season will soon be changing.  I love the autumn!  Here are a few fall projects I made to celebrate the coming of the new season.

Stuff:  Zutter Innovative – 3/4″ antique brass o-wire, Cover-Alls; Daisy D’s – patterned paper, stickers; K & Company – patterned papers, stickers; Bazzill – chipboard; Jolee’s – stickers; Flair – stickers; Stampin’ Up! – ribbon; eFavor – ribbon; American Crafts – ribbon; Adirondack – acrylic paint, AccuCut – acrylic

~ Mini Desk Calendar

Here is my first mini calendar using the Bind-it-All.  This one is 4 inches square.  I printed calendar months onto cardstock and trimmed to size and layered on the Mr. Campy Cosmo Cricket collection.  It could use some tweaking here and there (use not-too-heavy or thick cardstock for the pages, maybe not layer as much, use a larger o-ring for the bottom supports, smaller piece of cardstock to connect the bottoms of the chipboard, etc.)  I’ll use my lessons learned to make another one that will be posted on the Zutter site in November. 

{Click on each thumbnail for a closer look.}

 

{view of the top}

{view of the bottom}

 

Stuff:  chipboard and acrylic covers, 1/2″ and 7/8″ o-wires – Zutter; patterned paper – Cosmo Cricket; cardstock – Bazzill; ink, rub-ons – Stampin’ Up! number stickers – American Crafts

~ The trio is complete – K&Co Halloween Minibook #3

 

Sorry about the poor lighting.  I took these pictures when I got home from work today–Lots of shadows from the tall trees in my backyard.  So, here it is–the third and last book of the trio that I set out to make this week with the Jen Yanok K & Company Halloween collection.  It was fun!  I love all of the paper and embellishments.

{Click on the thumbnails for a closer look.}

This book makes use of different patterned papers (from books 1 and 2) througout and a lot of rub-ons in the background of the cover.  I really like the effect the rub-ons had, almost as if the scene with the tree against the moon was really farther back in the cover of the book.

Here are all of the books together. =)  I highly recommend trying the Bind-it-All (if you haven’t already).  It really expands the options for making minibooks.  I really do not know how I managed without it!  Leave me a comment and let me know which of these books is your favorite. =)  

Stuff:  black chipboard – unknown brand; paper collection, paper embellishments, stickers, rub-ons – K & Company; acrylic – AccuCut; extra large eyelets and large eyelets – We R Memory Keepers; ribbon – Stampin’ Up, eFavor, American Crafts and Lil’ Davis Designs; black o-ring – Zutter/Bind-it-All

P.S. – Thanks friends for your prayers and positive thoughts so far for my brother. 

P.S.S. Prayers for my youngest brother, Jimmy.  He is at UCLA Medical Center this week for thyroid cancer surgery. 

~ K&Co Halloween Minibook #2 and cake!

Here is book #2 in my series of 3.  This one is a little different inside — a couple of different patterned papers and large pockets for 5″x5″ tags (instead of the mostly clear acrylic pages I made in the first book).  There are also two of the other tags in this project where I had six in the previous.  The acrylic tags inside the pockets are decorated with rub-ons at the bottoms of each.

{Click on each thumbnail for a closer look.}

 

 

Doesn’t this look like the biggest chocolate donut you’ve ever seen?  Hee hee–it isn’t a donut.  I found a little time this morning to bake a bundt cake, all chocolate with cute sprinkles.  Love all of the colors of these sprinkles and the cake tasted great, too! =)

Stuff:  black chipboard – unknown brand; paper collection, paper embellishments, stickers – K & Company; acrylic – AccuCut; extra large eyelets – We R Memory Keepers; ribbon – Stampin’ Up, eFavor, American Crafts and Lil’ Davis Designs; black o-ring – Zutter/Bind-it-All

P.S. – Prayers for my youngest brother, Jimmy.  He is going to the UCLA Medical Center this week for thyroid cancer surgery. 

~ K&Co Halloween Minibook #1

I am going to do a series of Bind-it-All Halloween minibooks using the Jen Yanok K & Company line.  This K&CO line is totally cute!  I plan on making at least three 6″x6″ books to give away to my three sis-in-laws to scrap their little ones’ pictures this year.  Oh, I’ll make myself one, too, but it will probably be a larger format. =)

{Click on each thumbnail for a closer look.}

I realize that crafters from different countries come by to visit my blog.  Leave me a comment and let me know if you celebrate Halloween (or Day of the Dead, All Souls Day, etc.).  I like knowing what other countries and cultures observe. =)

Though it is difficult to see in the pictures, there are acrylic pages and journaling tags.  I haven’t mastered taking photos of acrylic in bright sunlight yet.  (I’ll keep trying!)

Stuff:  black chipboard – unknown brand; paper collection, paper embellishments, stickers – K & Company; acrylic – AccuCut; extra large eyelets – We R Memory Keepers; ribbon – Stampin’ Up, eFavor, American Crafts; black o-ring – Zutter/Bind-it-All

P.S. – Prayers for my youngest brother, Jimmy.  He is going to the UCLA Medical Center this week for thyroid cancer surgery. 

~ New life for obsolete plastic cards

Before – boring, obsolete plastic cards / After – super cute and tiny mini books

    

{Click on each picture for a closer look.}

My co-worker, Maureen, had boxes of old plastic copier key cards.  She was going to throw them out but I rescued and repurposed them into these cute little mini books.  They’re perfect to keep all those half wallet-sized pictures that the kids collect from their friends at school or other little keepsakes.  So, the next time you have a spent gift card (or want to recycle old credit cards or driver’s licenses), cover with scraps of patterned paper and bind with a handy wire coil or rings. 

Stuff:  paper collections – Cloud9 , Pink Paislee; embellishments – Cloud9, Lil’ Davis Designs, Doodlebug; ribbon – Stampin’ Up!, American Crafts; wire binding ring – Bind-it-All

~ Monkey Fun

Here is a small project I made for my daughter’s welcoming home.  She’s coming home this week from her summer vacation with my parents in Las Vegas.  She had asked me to make a mini album for her with these monkey papers a while back and I just got around to making it for her.

I kept the book simple in design so that my daughter can easily add photos or other keepsakes to it without much fuss.

  

Stuff:  patterned paper – Reminisce; cardstock – Bazzill; wire binding – Bind-it-All; ribbon – American Crafts, SEI and Wal-Mart, extra-large eyelets – We R Memory Keepers; alphabet stickers – Lil’ Davis Designs and American Crafts

~ Family Mini Album

I took a ton of pictures when I went to visit my parents and brothers earlier this month, so I put a small album together for my mom and dad.  I had my teenager in mind when I made this, so the style is a little messy-funky-quirky but I think it works for the theme of the photos (and my family!)

 

 

Stuff – book boards – 7 Gypsies; paper collection, cardstock buttons, epoxy stickers – Love, Elsie; alpha stickers – American Crafts; felt flowers – Creative Imaginations; rub-ons – Rusty Pickle; extra large eyelets – We R Memory Keepers; ribbon – eFavor

~ Funny Faces on the 4th of July

 

Most of my projects are gifts, this one is no exception — an 8″x8″ scalloped acrylic mini-album filled with pictures (assorted goofy mugshots, really) of my brother, sis-in-law and nephew from my visit to Las Vegas on July 4th.  This is my first project with Kaiser Craft paper.  I’ve often used their pressboard albums but never their paper collection. 

Though you really can’t see it that well, there are thin sheets of acrylic (little tabs are attached to each) between each of the decorated pages to protect the facing pages from the thick embellishments.  I’ve found in the past that really thick embellies tend to leave indentations on the pictures or paper of the facing page, so this was my solution.

I would have liked to have taken pictures of every page but the combination of acrylic and lots of light just created too much glare.

Stuff:  acrylic album – Creative Acrylics; paper collection – Kaiser Craft; chipboard and stickers – Scenic Route; alpha stickers – American Crafts; extra large eyelets and binding rings – We R Memory Keepers; grosgrain ribbon – Stampin’ Up!;  gems – Doodlebug; bling – Heidi Swapp; additional materials – brads, rickrack, glitter

~ “Boo-tiful” Halloween Minibook & House

{Click on the picture for a closer look at the three different Fiskars punches used on the cover–Leave it to Weaver, Threading Water, Give it a Swirl.}

 

I love Halloween!  I couldn’t wait to finish this minibook and matching house and share it with you.  This is my second Bind-it-All project and I think I’m getting the hang of my new tool!  (Lea’s lesson–Don’t try to cram too-thick materials into your BIA if you want it to work for you.)  Though I love straight lines, I like the challenge of making odd-shaped projects like this one using a chipboard album from Crafty Secrets.  This mini is pretty full with pockets, acrylic tags and hanging cardstock tags.

 

{acrylic tag close-up}

 

{back and front of house}

 

 

{inner pages}

 

Stuff:  chipboard house – Michael’s; chipboard album – Crafty Secrets; paper collection, rub-ons, cardstock stickers, tags – Rusty Pickle; textured cardstock – Bazzill; alphabet stickers – American Crafts; ribbon and ink – Stampin’ Up!; ribbon – eFavor; extra large eyelets – We R Memory Keepers 

~ Trading Card Mini Album

Who said you have to put baseball cards in those sturdy plastic collector sleeves?  I re-purposed 10 sleeves  into a solid little mini album.  Each of the “cards” is 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 (more or less) — about the size of an ATC — cut from Bazzill Bling and covered in Cloud 9 Sunrise Smoothie.

Click on each picture for a closer look. 

Stuff:  cardstock – Bazzill; pattened paper – Cloud 9; ribbon – American Crafts 

~ Bugs & Flowers Minibook

Flowers and cute bugs are a great inspiration!  I made this project while I was home with sick kiddies yesterday.  (Today, I’m not feeling that great–I guess I caught my kids’ “bugs”.)  I took a pressboard occasion planner from Kaiser Craft and turned it into a minibook covered in flowers, bugs, ribbon and bling!  Couldn’t make up my mind which collection I was going to use, so I married both SEI Doodley-Do Girl and Doodley-Do Boy sets of patterned papers, stickers and tags and threw in the Fiskars Threading Water punch for design.

   

Click on each picture for a closer look!

   

Stuff:  pressboard occasion planner – Kaiser Craft; patterned paper, stickers, tags – SEI; bling – Heidi Swapp and Doodlebug; chipboard letters – Heidi Swapp; ribbon – American Crafts and eFavor; rings – 7 Gypsies; ink – Stampin’ Up! paint – Making Memories