Sometimes life provides you with enough lemons to make lemonade.
All of my art journals were damaged when our rented storage unit leaked while parked on our driveway this winter. It was a bummer.
I have been collecting quotes for decades. These were stored in the art journals that I have been making for over ten years. Now that the journals and quotes are gone, it was time to start fresh. So I decided to start my new collection with a new kind of journal. This one has inserts with different paper colors or styles. Each of the components is separate, including the cover. I opted for the plain cover so that I could decorate it.
Before drawing and coloring the cover it was a plain white canvas
It was a lot of fun decorating the cover with a variety of stencils and inks or paints. Because I took this with me for a little weekend getaway, I limited the number of supplies that I could use for it. This was actually quite helpful because it also limited the color palette.
Below is a picture of my little travel kit that I took with me when I started two of the quote booklet/inserts a few weeks ago when I flew to Tucson. This one is all black paper and has quotes by women. I love how easy it was to work on the airplane with my little booklets!
My airplane travel kit
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are making time for making art!
If you are interested in watching a video class of the woman behind the Dylusions brand, here is a link to a free class. It is a good introduction to Dyan Reaveley and some of the things she has designed with Ranger.
Happy August 1st! Yes, this is my third and final post for today! The first one has the links to the select new CTMH products that are available one month earlier than the launch date of the new catalog. You can find that post here.
The second one showcases the new Zoe paper packet that I used for a cute Owl Mini-Album.
Which brings me to the really important part of this post.... How to receive free stuff when you order the new CTMH/Cricut Artistry Cartridge Collection! (Click here to see all the images.)
CTMH Artistry Cartridge Collection
The newest cartridge includes shapes spanning a wide variety of themes, holidays, and seasons to add some visual spice to any project you create. Get back to basics with the unique font, banners, layered shapes, borders, backgrounds, and other fun icons you'll find on this cartridge. All of the designs are a must for any crafter!
When you place your order through my website you will also receive FREE Stuff from me! You do not need to put these items in your shopping cart because they will be sent directly to you from me in Arizona. The Artistry Cricut Collection will be shipped from CTMH in Utah. If you wish to purchase the August SOTM or any other items from my website, please do so! They will be shipped from CTMH with your Cricut cartridge.
CTMH August SOTM $5 with qualifying purchase
With every CTMH/Cricut Cartridge Collection purchase I will automatically send the following items to you:
1 - Owl #1 Chipboard Book kit (8 1/2" x 5 3/4") - this post has the photos of the unfinished book, which is how it will arrive. It has 17 pieces of kraft chipboard die-cuts for pages, covers and an owl to decorate and bind as you desire. ($4.95 value plus the postage = $10.70 value)
And for those of you who would prefer to buy the Artistry Digital Collection, I am offering the same great gift!
Contains the same shapes, stamp sets, and cardstock as the cartridge collection. The only difference is the 700 images are accessed using an online code rather than a physical cartridge.*
*Available only for use with Cricut® Explore™ and Cricut® Explore Air™.
With every CTMH/Cricut Cartridge Collection purchase from my CTMH website, I will automatically send the following items to you:
1 - Owl #1 Chipboard Book kit - this post has the photos of the unfinished book, which is how it will arrive. It consists of a 17 piece kraft chipboard die-cut kit - pages, covers and an owl to decorate. ($4.95 value plus the postage = $10.70 value)
Any of the CTMH/Cricut Collections purchased from my website will receive this special, limited time offer.
At the beginning of the check-out process, a "Join One of Beverly's Gatherings" prompt appears. Please Join the "Artistry Celebration" Gathering.
Thank you very much for your business. I appreciate it.
Isn't she adorable? I love mini albums and this one was very easy to make because I used a pre-cut chipboard base kit. I traced around pieces of cardstock and patterned paper and cut them out for each component of the album.
As soon as I saw the new Zoe patterned paper packet from CTMH, I knew it would be perfect for this cute Owl album. It came together very easily using Yes Glue to adhere the paper to the chipboard. The patterned paper eyes were cut with a 1" circle punch. The black chipboard pupils are included with the owl album. The beak was covered with washi tape from the Carnival pack and adorned with an Enamel Triangle.
Chipboard Album Components Covered with CTMH Zoe Paper
After completing each page I made two holes with the Crop A Dile for the binding. The Glacier twine is strong enough for two-hole binding this sturdy little book.
Polka Dots Made Shiny by Covering with Liquid Glass
I used the same twine for the stems of the flowers. The "flowers" are actually intended to go beneath the eyes on the owl's face.
Kraft Chipboard Pieces for Album
Here are the pieces of the album prior to decorating and assembling.
Different Shapes and Sizes of Inside Pages
Having a variety of internal pages makes the book more interesting because you get a sneak peak at what is coming up in the book.
Inside Front Cover
The zip strips from the paper packet make a nice frame around the 5 x 7" photo on the inside of the front cover. My favorite adhesive for photographs is 3M's ATG 1/4" acid free tape. All of the chipboard and paper I used are acid free, too.
The chipboard page on the right is a rectangle that I cut to make a little shorter. The patterned paper was cut to the size of the original chipboard page. I wanted to have some paper stick out on the end to cut with a scallop punch for an additional decorative edge that would somewhat mimic the page underneath.
Journaling Done by Child Adds a Cute. Authentic Touch
By assembling and binding the pages once they were completed I could choose the order that made the most sense to me.
CTMH Cricut Artistry Diecuts Stamped in Sorbet Ink
Some of the stamped images are from the August Stamp of the Month Set called Framed.
4 x 6 photos cut a little to fit pages
Remember that to see more detail,you can click on any of the photographs.
I didn't want my journaling to show since my daughter's journaling is what I wanted people to mainly read. Because of this, I hid a little slide-out card behind a pocket made from cardstock and decorated it with lots of cut up washi tape and a few stamped die cuts.
Hello! I've been cleaning up my desk and using up the scraps that have accumulated/multiplied - and which were beginning to take over. It seemed that the best thing to do (mainly so I would not have to spend time filing scraps of paper) was to make gift tags. But then they had to be stored somewhere until needed. Using more scraps to make pockets was my first thought. Then I realized a little book to keep the pockets corralled would be the easiest (and cutest) way to use up more of the excess paper. The pockets can certainly be used alone on traditional scrapbook layouts for hidden journaling or interactive elements. Or they would look cute on a card. Possibly with a gift card or cash tucked inside.
Accordion Binding Mini-Book
This video shows the three different sizes of pockets and how to make the accordion book for containing small bits of paper or other miscellany. Maybe coupons? Maybe receipts? Or what about a cute tag booklet with photos in each pocket? Lots of possibilities with this one!
The measurements are listed below.
The outside cover is made of two pieces of heavy patterned paper. One piece is 12" x 5 1/2". It is scored at 5 1/8", 6 1/8" and 11 1/4". The smaller piece is used as a flap on the front. It is the pink and red piece with the zip strip words and a resin flower adhered to it. The piece is 3" x 5 1/2" and is scored at one inch. This piece is adhered to the 12" piece and the scored part is to form the bend in the cover to bring it to the front.
The spine of the book is one inch wide. If there were no flower on the front cover, it would sit beautifully on a bookshelf.
There are two inside cover pieces which hide two chipboard pieces. The chipboard is cut just a smidge smaller than the two patterned pieces of 5 1/2" x 5" The chipboard spine is 15/16" by 5 7/16". The easiest way to do this, if your cutter doesn't have sixteenth of an inch marked increments, is to cut a piece 1" by 5 1/2" and then cut off a little bit more from the width and length. The accordion binding will cover most of the chipboard. If you do not want to see it at all, cover it with another piece of patterned paper.
The accordion binding is 7 1/2" by 5 1/2". It is scored at 3/4" increments: 3/4", 1 1/2", 2 1/4", 3", 3 3/4", 4 1/2", 5 1/4", 6" and 6 3/4". The first 3/4" and the last 3/4" are adhered to the inside of the front and back covers. The middle part of the binding "floats". In the video, I stuck one side down and then added the pockets before sticking the other part of the binding to the cover. It probably doesn't matter in which order this is done, but it seemed to make it less cumbersome.
There are three pockets in the book. They could all be made the same or all different, as I did here. More pockets can be added, as I mentioned in the video. Each pocket can either be made with a front and back piece or one long piece folded in or near the middle. All of the pockets have side accordion pieces. The first and last segments are what is adhered to the front and backs of the pockets.
Pocket 1 - One Valley Pocket: 8" x 5 1/4" scored and folded in half at 4 inches. The sides are two pieces of one inch paper scored lengthwise at 1/2" and cut to just under 4 inches long.
Pocket 2 - Two Valley Pocket is 8" x 5 1/8" scored at 3 3/4" to create a little bigger back section of the pocket. The two side pieces are 3" wide and scored every 1/2". These are cut to just under3 3/4" long.
Pocket 3 - Optional File Folder Pocket is 10" x 5 1/2". It is scored at 4 3/4". The side pieces are 6" wide and scored every 3/4". Even though the video said the paper was cut at 5 1/2" long, it really only needs to be about the size of the shortest side of the pocket. So just under 4 3/4" is a good size if you don't want it to protrude beyond the top edge of the front of the pocket. If dividers are desired, tuck a piece of cardstock cut at approximately 5 3/8" wide by however tall you want them. I like dividers to stick up a bit over the top of the shortest side of the pocket, so mine are cut about 5".
The pockets inside the book are different heights and depths.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for visiting today.
Beverly
I love this mini album! It has a variety of fun page shapes which makes it really interesting.
For a fun way to use up an eclectic array of papers, stamped images, and Cricut® shapes, a mini album is the perfect choice! Learn how to make an 8" × 5" mini album from start to finish for a cute little scrapbook full of variety and personality!
Mini-books are more playful than traditional scrapbooks because of their diminutive size. They seem to lend themselves to the use of lots of interactive elements as well. This video shows many examples of folders, tags and pockets that were included on the pages of the mini album pictured on this page.
All of the book pages were cut using the Cricut Artiste cartridge. Most of the interactive elements were random cuts or scraps that were laying on my desk.
The best sizes for the elements will be determined by the size of the pages in the book. It is a great way to use up bits and pieces.
Stella B & T Paper
I bound the book with large book binder rings which were embellished with some burlap and striped ribbons.
