~ “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

~ Greeting Card Gift Set & Minibook Teaser

This weekend I made a set of six cards for a co-worker as part of a going away present.  She expressed interest in the color orange at the last card class I taught at work so there is a bit of orange in both the cards and the envelopes.  I also made a small pockets and tags Bind-it-All minibook that I’ll show a sneak peek of below.  Please come back another day to see a full post on the minibook sometime next month or so. =)

Teaser of my latest minibook cover.

Card Supplies:

• Cardstock – Stampin’ Up!; Bazzill Basics
• Patterned Paper – DCWV
• Flowers – Creative Imaginations; Prima
• Twine – The Twinery
• Epoxy Stickers – K&Company
• Gems – Doodlebug
• buttons

~ OZZ – March Bind-It-All Project – Danielle & Stephen

 

For more Bind-It-All inspiration (and a supply list for this project), please go to the Bind-It-All Blog.

 

~ Valentine’s Day Card Class

Here are the photos from my first class of the year!  Valentine’s Day tends to be a big draw for my office!

I kept the design of the card simple but provided a lot of paper and embellishment options for each of the participants to design their own unique projects.  To ensure that the attention would be paid to putting the projects together instead of the mechanics of prepping the different pieces, I pre-cut/creased all of the paper and pre-assembled ribbon bundles.

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Supplies:

• PaperSource – cardstock
• Recollections – cardstock
• Wausau Paper –  textured cardstock
• Echo Park – patterned paper, cardstock stickers
• K & Company – adhesive borders
• Kaisercraft – bling borders, pearl borders
• Doodlebug – gems
• ColorBox – ink
• Tattered Angels – Glimmermist
• Epiphany Crafts – epoxy caps
• ribbon, flat bottle caps

~ February OZZ Project – Love U Much

 

For more Bind-it-All inspiration, please go to the Zutter Zisters site. 

 

Zutter Products

• Zutter Tools Used:  Bind-it-All
• Owire Size & Color:  7/8” red
• Covers/Cover-Alls:  6” acrylic   

Other Materials

• Bo Bunny – pattered paper
• Stampin’ Up! – cardstock, ribbon
• Doodlebug – gems
• ribbon 

~ I love Halloween!

October marks the beginning of a great season in Northern VA.  The leaves change color, the weather is a little cooler and there are so many autumn activities to do.  Here are a couple of Bind-it-All books I made for my hubby’s cousins’ families.  They were a big hit!  I was so inspired by our visit with the cousins that I plan to make each family calendar gifts for the holidays.

Happy Halloween

• Zutter – 1 1/4″ black o-wire
• Teresa Collins – chipboard covers
• K&Company – patterned paper, embossed stickers, layered stickers
• Doodlebug – gems
• ribbon

Have a Haunted Halloween

• Zutter – 1 1/4″ black o-wire
• 7Gypsies – 8” chipboard pages
• Recollections – patterned paper, layered stickers, epoxy stickers
• Adirondack – acrylic paint
• Prima  – bling
• Stampin’ Up – cardstock
• ribbon

~ Twilight-themed Stair Step Cards

Part of the goody packages I sent to my Twi Sisters included handmade cards with their names on them.  Here are a few pics of the cards.  On other Twilight news, number of times I’ve seen Eclipse as of this morning = 22! =)  I sooooo can’t wait until the Eclipse DVD release party.  Not sure if Hot Topic will have one as they didn’t for New Moon but FYE was a great substitute.

I really love these stair step cards.  I’m developing a Halloween card class for work that will use this card type.  Come back later to see the finished sample. =)

Stuff:  cardstock – Stampin’ Up!; patterned paper – Autumn Leaves; flowers – Prima; gems – Doodlebug

~ Team Edward, Team Jacob & Team Emmett

It’s been a while since my last Twilight-themed project.  With the release of Eclipse, I’ve been inspired anew!  {{{Speaking of Eclipse, 11 viewings and counting!}}}  I found out from my visit to Las Vegas that my nieces are also fans of Twilight, a couple of little Edward fans and one Emmett fan.  Here are my latest pieces.  All of the pieces for the Jacob and Emmett necklaces can be found at Michael’s.  I picked up the Edward pieces at a cute little scrapbook store in San Diego called Paper Tales back in April while I was on business travel.  Please leave me a comment if you’ve come by for a visit and tell me whose Team you’re on!

Team Jacob (front & back)

{embellishment detail and a saying my daughter and I picked up from Taylor Lautner’s SNL skit}

 

 Team Emmett (front and back)

 

 

 Team Edward – Sorry about the poor photos of the Edward charms.  The photos are covered with magnifying glass pebbles that are very difficult to photograph!

Stuff:  Jacob & Emmett – Tim Holtz (gears, chain, type charm), Inkssentials (frames, glass), Jolees (beads); Edward – Doodlebug (gems), Paper Tales (frame, glass pebble) 

~ OZZ March Project #3 – Joy

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

Original Zutter Zisters Showcaze

2009-2010 Design Team Galleries

Zutter Products

• Zutter – 1” antique silver o-wire
• My Mind’s Eye  – patterned paper
• Bazzill – cardstock, chipboard
• Little Yellow Bicycle – frames
• Creative Imaginations – felt flowers
• Foof-fa-la – buttons
• Doodlebug – jewels
• Adirondack – acrylic paint
• ribbon

~ 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

~ Flipped-Out Tag Book

Enough of the snow and dreariness already!  We’re expecting our second snowstorm today, as if there wasn’t already tons of snow in the D.C. area.  I’ll be sure to take more pictures tonight/tomorrow.

So, here is my first real “Spring” project — all bright colors and flowers.  Instead of binding the chipboard tag shapes all in the same direction, I flipped every other tag.  Though this added extra design interest, it made binding a little more tricky.

 

Stuff:  Zutter – 1″ red o-wire; Basic Grey – patterned paper, adhesive chipboard shapes; Creative Imaginations – felt flowers; Doodlebug – jewels; white chipboard, satin ribbon

~ BIA Scalloped Minibook

It was high time that I got to crafting something that wasn’t related to a retirement or farewell luncheon.  I’ve probably made four of “those” types of books in a span of just a few months.  Enough of the departing already!  So, here is a happy book — I took scalloped chipboard pages, lopped off one of the sides to make an even edge and turned them into a cute little book.  Instead of doing the more work-intensive covering and sanding of pages, I opted for painting the chipboard and covering with two different sizes of patterned paper circles.

Stuff:  Zutter – 1″ white o-wire; Stampin’ Up! – scalloped chipboard, ink, ribbon; My Mind’s Eye – patterned paper; K & Company – embossed sticker; Prima – flowers; Doodlebug – gems

~ 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

~ 4th of July BIA Minibooks

I had so much fun on July 4th weekend that I wanted to share the memories with my two brothers and their families.  Here are a couple of 5″ chipboard books I made using the Bind-it-All (of course!), a tabbed chipboard album (that I split to make two books out of one) and pictures I took of the family.  A larger book I made for my parents will be posted to the Zutter Zisters site and on my blog at the end of July, so come back and take a peek then.

Jimmy & Karen’s Book

 

 

 

Michael & Jessica’s Book

 

 

 

 

Stuff:  Zutter Innovative – 1″ white o-ring;  Creek Bank Creations – tabbed chipboard album; Scenic Route – paper collection, chipboard embellishments and stickers; Bazzill – cardstock; Doodlebug – gems; Stampin’ Up! – ink, ribbon; Making Memories – acrylic paint

~ Cosmo Cricket – Family Matchbook Mini

 

I love the bright colors in the Early Bird line.  Paired with black and white photos, the colors “pop” in this 5″ square matchbook project.  This is an easy way to use leftover bits of patterened paper and embellishments.  The photos were resized for wallet prints.

 

Stuff:  Cosmo Cricket – patterned paper, cardstock stickers; Bazzill – cardstock; Doodlebug – gems; Tim Holtz – mini staples

~ 2009 Layered Flower Calendar

I was going to use this little calendar project on the Zutter site at the end of the month but decided to post it on my blog instead! =)  I love the simple but bold colors of this 4″ x 4″ square desk calendar.  The flowers are made from layering Fiskars Oopsie Daisy Squeeze Punches.  Can’t tell you the name of the parchment paper I used for the months of the calendar.  I picked up a bunch of it at an office supply store years ago in Nola, a small town at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.

Stuff:  patterned paper, ribbon – Foof-a-la; acrylic covers and o-wire – Zutter/Bind-it-all; cardstock – Stampin’ Up; bling, chipboard letters – Heidi Swapp; gem – Doodlebug

~ 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

~ Clipboards x 3 (and what the heck is up with these shoes?)

{Click on each little photo to see more details.}

I saw these unfinished clipboards in various sizes at the local A.C. Moore’s and couldn’t resist.  There are dowels in the backs of each so that you can prop them up, or you can hang on the wall, or use as regular clipboards.  I wish the lighting had been better when I took these photos.  It was cloudy all day but I couldn’t wait any longer for the sun to come out to take some decent photos of these embellished clipboards!

This paper collection and matching embellishments jumped out at me at the store.  I love that some of the papers are flocked while others are foiled. 

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I had to post this.  My daughter came home from vacation with my parents and brought home these shoes!  Aaack!  My eyes are bleeding, these shoes are so bright.  Don’t get me wrong, I love bright colors but on her shoes?

 

  

P.S.  Happy Birthday to my daughter, Miranda – August 29.    

Stuff:  paper collection and various stickers – K & Company; ribbon – Costco; ink – Stampin’ Up!; gems – Doodlebug

~ 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

~ Bind-it-All Minibook (and 10,000 Posts Blog RAK)

08/02 Update – Zutter has chosen to show this project on their site in August!  Hooray – http://www.zutterzisters.com/InspirationStation2.html

Friends, in celebration of the impending 10,000th post on my blog, I’m having a RAK!  How can you get in on it?  Just post a comment anywhere on my blog by Friday, July 18 and I will pick two winners at random – one in the States and one International.  I’m giving away two mini Kaiser Craft wood items – one mini heart album and one tag album. 

Please don’t forget to add your Fiskateer # and State or Country listed in your profile so that I’ll know who you are! =)  If you’re not a Fiskateer, why aren’t you?  That’s okay, leave me enough information so that I’ll know how to contact you if I draw your name.  Good luck, all!

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Here is my first effort using the Bind-it-All.  I had a little problem at first with getting the chipboard into the tool so that the holes would line up correctly but I think I’ve got it all straightened out (so to speak!)  This is a mini book I made for Celia, the MOTG (mother of the groom) from the wedding we attended a few weeks ago.  I’m not much of a glitter person (it gets everywhere!) but I love the Doodlebug stickers that I glittered.  It really added a little extra something.

 

 

glitter detail

 

binding, hat pin and flower detail

 

Stuff:  chipboard covers – Teresa Collins (for Bind-it-All); patterned paper, pearls, crystals and hat pin – Stampin’ Up!; flowers – Prima; stickers – Doodlebug; coil – Bind-it-All; ribbon – Target  

~ Wedding Card

I have a wedding to go to today and realized that I need a card!  Just made this card this morning to match the Engagement Mini Album a few posts down.

The little words are actually cut from the strips of the patterned paper you would normally discard.  How’s that for using your resources?  I used two Fiskars punches – Threading Water border punch and Read Between the Vines border and corner punch. 

 Close up of the words

Close up of the border and corner punch

Stuff:  cardstock – Bazzill; patterned paper – Cosmo Cricket; flowers – Prima; ribbon – Target; jewels – Doodlebug

~ Father’s Day Accordian Album

Here is my submission for the Fiskars Crafts Father’s Day Contest.  I made this one for my dear hubby, a wonderful father to our two children. 

I purposely wanted this to look busy and messy by painting over the smooth lines of the photos and around embellishments in a hap-hazard way and randomly adding fabric stickers at angles.   Alas, the album is too “fat” to stick into the little box holder that came with the album.  Not to worry, I’ll use the box for a different project. =)

Click on each picture for a better look.

Stuff:  accordian album – Creative Imaginations; paint – Making Memories, paper collection, epoxy stickers, sticker ribbon – Little Yellow Bicycle; gems – Doodlebug; rub-ons – Daisy D’s; extra large eyelets – We R Memory Keepers; grungeboard – Tim Holtz

P.S. Happy Belated Father’s Day

~ Funky Blinged-out Purse

Funky, huh?  My explanation?  I don’t know…I made this one in the dark last night.  (hee hee)  I was surprised when I got a good look at it this morning.  It is a bit different than my usual crafts but it is good to try something different once in a while.  This is my first project using Pink Paislee. 

Click on each of the pictures for a closer look.

 

Stuff:  purse – Creative Imaginations; paper collection – Pink Paislee; fabric flowers, hat pin and ribbon – Stampin’ Up!; bling – Heidi Swapp and Doodlebug; paint – Making Memories; rain dots – Cloud 9

~ 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 

~ Your love gives my heart wings

Yet another Valentines’ Day project.  This one is a card I made for my hubby. 

Thanks so much to Carolyn for sharing her stash of grungeboard with me.  Totally love the stuff.  Acrylic paint and alcohol ink were easier on the grunge than on regular chipboard shapes.   I’ll have to go out and buy a bunch in all the different finishes.  (My wallet is saying, “Darn you, Tim Holtz!”)

Stuff:  textured and Bling cardstock – Bazzill; patterned paper and ribbon – Foof-a-la; rub-on – Daisy D’s; jewels – Doodlebug; and of course, grungeboard