Plain to Wow!

A box + book paper + gelli prints on tissue paper + a big dose of Mod Podge = a cool box

The box is the one my contacts come in.  These are super strong boxes to begin with but add a few coats of Mod Podge and they are extra sturdy.

I printed the gelli prints on plain wrapping tissue paper from the dollar store.

Check out the video for this project here:


Thanks for stopping by today!

Notebook with Gelli Print Cover (Video)

It's that time again for a new notebook for my to-do lists.  I haven't quite jumped on the planner kick yet.  I lived by my Franklin/Covey planner back in the '90's and early 2000's.  Nowdays my life just isn't quite that complicated and I really like having my schedule electronic.

I've tried making to-do lists on the computer though and that just doesn't work for me so I do my notebooks.  The basic notebook I use has been discontinued as far as I can tell.  I still have one more I haven't used.  The ideas here would apply to any spiral bound notebook.

For this cover, I took a gelli print and added a little more decoration with markers.  The rest of the cover is very simple and flat.

Watch at YouTube


Have you tried any of the planner systems on the market right now?  If so which ones do you like?

Thanks for stopping by today!

Journal Cover, Silhouette File, Video

 It's that time again!  I've gone through another notebook.  I use them for to-do lists, lists of things I've done, class ideas, etc.  My favorite style is the Mead Cambridge business notebook that is 9 1/5" long and 5 3/8" wide.  I have only found this particular one at Office Max.

With so many people going back to planners, I did revisit the idea of using a Daytimer or some other planner system again.  I lived by my Daytimer in the 90's and early 2000's but my life has changed.  I have far fewer appointments but just as many lists if not more.  So I needed to stick with something more free form.

Typically, I use a hole punch to do the front cover to fit.  I've done a couple of popular videos on this before.  Here is the basic one: 

This year though it dawned on me that I have an electronic die cutter that could cut out all those little holes and slits for me.  The crop-a-dile will cut through anything but it is tedious compared to putting a paper on a mat and pressing a button.  So after a couple of fits and starts, I set up a Silhouette file to do a cover.  It is a dream!  

Fortunately, the Silhouette software uses a lot of the same conventions as PowerPoint so it was fairly easy to get it to do what I told it to.  It makes me want to create some other files for different kinds of notebooks.  Hopefully, I'll get to that soon.  Right now I'm still busy getting the video editing for the Stencil class coming up.  With concentrating on that, I won't have a scrapbook process video this week.  I do have a video below on the notebook cover.  Here is an inside view of the notebook.

And here is the video at YouTube:


If you happen to use this style of notebook, here is the Mead Cambridge Notebook Cover Silhouette file.  You may download for personal use.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mixed Media Notebook Cover

My last everyday notebook lasted just through the 2013 so it is time for a new notebook cover.  For this journal, I used some mixed media and just had fun playing.  I'm not much of a doodler.  The flower is the one flower I know how to draw.

For the bottom layer, I first misted some book paper with various yellow and peach mists.  Then I adhered them with Mod Podge - maybe a bit too much Mod Podge or either I wasn't patient enough with the drying.

The flower is drawn with a Faber Castell Pitt pen.  These are the best pens I've ever used.  They draw over anything!  I used the Big Brush pens to color.

The final layers were stickers, Washi, and a little stamping.  I added some gesso over a stencil in just a few places.  I have to be careful adding white.  For some reason I can easily get too much.

I did this cover on Saturday and when I went into my scraproom on Sunday, the notebook cover had curled. My excess Mod Podge had caught up with me, I guess. So I heated it with a heat gun and then put a heavy book on it. I don't know if that will work long term but it lasted long enough to get photos!

Thanks for stopping by!  Tomorrow I have a new scrapbook page and video.

Making any size gift bag

Do ideas come to you at the oddest times?  I was taking a shower the other morning and thinking about things I needed to do that day.  One of the things was to deliver some baked goods to a neighbor who lent us their Internet connection when we were having so many problems.  I wondered what I would put the items in and starting mentally creating a gift bag.

This led to the bag in the photo.  I did no research on this so I don't know what methods there are for making one but I thought this worked well.  Here are the measurements and how you can plug in your own numbers for any size you want as long as you have paper large enough.  I used some brown kraft wrapping paper which I believe came from one of those wrapping paper stores at an outlet mall.

I wanted a bag that was 6"x4" on the bottom and 6" high.

To calculate cut length:
Take the height of the bag - 6" in this case
Add 3" for the bottom
And add 4" for the top.
So 13"

The 4" on the top will allow you a double 2" turn which makes it plenty sturdy when putting in your handle.  (Now I'm just holding a cheese ball, cookies and crackers.  If you had something heavy you probably would need grommets or perhaps not even trying to lift it with the ties.)

The 3" for the bottom is calculated as 1/2 of the depth of the bag (4" divided by 2) + 1 inch for an overlap.  So take however deep your bag is to be, divide that in half and add an inch.

To calculate the cut width of the paper:
Add the two side measurements together and double them.  So in my case 6"+4" X 2 so 20 inches.
Then add one inch for gluing everything together.  That gives me 21"

The video goes through these measurements and the construction.  It is in real time.  I only cut out a bit of the handle tying to save time so it took about 10 minutes to create including some stamping.

Video at YouTube:


I like doing my own as I can make it any size and decorate as a like.  This was for a man so the kraft paper worked well.  I snagged the ribbon from my donate bag and clipped on a card I'd already made which was very appropriate for the subject.  I hardly ever use wrapping paper anymore so this will give me a way to use some of it up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Altered Boxes

I wanted to do something mixed media for gifts but I know that not everyone has room for a canvas in their home or enjoys that style.  So I decided to do some altered photo boxes.  That way if the recipient likes it, she can display or if she doesn't, it's still good for storage.

These are for my last two customers of my window treatment business.  I guess I wouldn't really need to do customer appreciation gifts since I'm going out of business but I still appreciate these ladies.  Since I've done their entire houses over the years, I know their colors and things they like.  One of my ladies loves, loves birds.  Any fabric with birds was always considered - though not always chosen - for her home.  Another client likes purple, black and gold.  So these are my boxes using techniques from Christi Tomlinson's Behind the Art class.

For this one, I did the entire box though I kept the bottom really simple with just a stencil, stamp and a color wash of Mod Podge and a little ink.

For this one, I used a stencil and modeling paste for the raised design.  The large "K" was painted and then misted.  The mist won't hold up to more coats of Mod Podge as it is water soluble so it was the last coat.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Capturing the Holiday (December Daily)

"December Daily" seems to be the catch phrase for all the various albums and systems used to document the holiday system.  This is my first holiday season trying to document on a regular basis and I thought I'd share what I'm doing - or part of what I'm doing.

The first thing I started is an art journal.  At last count I have 7 pages done!  I'm quite proud of myself as this is 6 pages more than the first time I tried an art journal a few years ago.  I haven't shown it to anyone yet as it is pretty basic.  OK, some of the pages might be downright ugly but I'm learning and playing and I am capturing stories and thoughts of the holiday season.  I started this in October actually and I'll share more about it later.

What I just started is a little envelope of cards to capture the memories of the season as they unfold.  A few days ago I attended Lain Ehmann's November Scrapinar called Dazzle Your Decemer (It is available for viewing through November 24).  If you are on her e-mail list, you heard of this I'm sure.  You didn't even have to register.  She shared some great ideas for capturing the holidays without a complex system.

The day after her webinar I found myself at the doctor's office with my dad for a last minute appointment.  (No big problem, he's fine).  His doctor is quite prompt so we didn't have to wait long.  Nevertheless, as soon as we sat down I thought "Darn, I forgot my book."  I accompany my parents to  a lot of appointments and am never without a book.  In the rush, I forgot.  So I peeked inside my purse to see if there was anything there to amuse me.  Nothing.

Then I remembered the Scrapinar and thought "wouldn't it be great if I had a little book or something to write some holiday ideas on?"

And that was the basis for this envelope system.  I created a custom envelope to hold 4x6 index cards.  On the cards I wrote a few of the following prompts.  Now when I'm out with a free moment, I can document holidays past or present.

My prompts:

• Christmas Past - Gifts
• Christmas Past - Decorations
• Christmas Past - Family
• Christmas Past - Events
• Christmas Present (no pun intended) - Gifts
• Christmas Present - Decorations
• Christmas Present - Family 
• Christmas Present - Events
• Favorite Treats
• Thanksgiving Past
• Thanksgiving Present
• Giving Thanks for...
• Signs of Christmas  (what do I see right now that reminds me of the holiday season)

Granted these are very broad.  I could write a book on many of these topics.  I just want them to jiggle my mind to write something that might become inspiration for an art journal page, a blog post or a scrapbook page.  For example, Christmas Past - Gifts might be the 'best gift received as a child' or 'what my Aunt Clara always sent me for Christmas' or 'how I dog-earred the Sears Wishbook.'  

There are tons of stories just waiting to be captured and often I find myself with a few minutes here or there as a captive in a waiting room.  Perhaps you have a few minutes waiting to pick up a child from school or an activity.  

I put this to use this afternoon when at the eye doctor with my Mother to write down a few of the ways we celebrated Christmas at church and with family when I was growing up.

I think the key to this is to just get some thoughts, memories and ideas down.  Don't stress if you don't do something with every card.  The "Christmas Past" cards might get scrapbooked or journaled or they may get filed with my older 4x6 photos for a scrapbook page some other time.  The memory isn't just in  my head anymore, it is on paper and that is memory keeping.

Here is the video for creating the project:


Are you doing a holiday album or other memory keeping project?  Thanks for stopping by!  

Card Box Top

About 3 years ago, I bought this white photo storage box at Hobby Lobby.  It is the perfect size for standard size cards so I keep some made up for birthdays, thank you's, etc.  At the time I tried to decorate it by stamping the top.  The slick surface didn't take to my dye ink at all.  Everything smeared.  Then, I'd never heard of gesso and didn't know what to do.  So I did the best thing I could think of - I procrastinated.

Finally, this weekend, I gesso, Mod Podged, and painted the top of this box.  The chipboard swirls are from Oriental Trading. I've had these for years to and have tried numerous times to fit them on a layout but they were just too big.  I'm glad they found a home.  They were covered with gesso, stamped with permanent black ink and then gone over again with a mixture of white paint and gel.  I put a final coat of Faber Castell glaze over the chipboard before gluing it on with Glossy Accents.

Some of the paint and stencils I used are products that just came in from Simon Says Stamp.  I was the lucky winner of a gift certificate and did my first order with them a few days ago.  The haul is covered in this video:



Lately I have an obsession with Mod Podge and paint.  I'm eyeing all kinds of things around the house that might need a little artistic touch.  The cat better not nap too long in one spot!  (Just kidding, Jasper)

Happy Monday!

Quick Travel Journal with a 6x6 Paper Pad (video)

Typically I make a travel journal for our trips; however, this time I left myself very little time to make one.  Without a journal, I tend to forget some of the details I want to include in our album.  I made this travel journal for our trip with papers from one 6x6 paper pad and little else.  The designs on the front are cut from some of the pattern papers.  The entire thing took less than 40 minutes including filming the video.

Using rings to hold the pages together make it easy to dissemble and use pages as journaling in my travel album later on.  Although, I have such poor handwriting that may not happen.  Still it is an option.
To save time, I did simple designs on each page.  Pages that had a busy print got a ledger stamped paper for writing space.

Now that we are home, all the pages are filled with details.  I've put the journal with my memorabilia from the trip so it will be ready when I get to the scrapbooking.

Here's the video at YouTube:

How do you capture your memories while traveling?

Thanks for stopping by!

School Notebook Covers

I thought it would be fun to use the same techniques I've used to cover spiral notebooks for myself for school notebooks.   Typically I put the paper under the spiral portion of the notebook as shown below.  For this one, I did a faster method of just taking the paper close to the spiral part.  Both are shown in the video below.

The stickers are from Hobby Lobby.  I had a young child in mind for this one.  The designer paper is an older piece from Pebbles.  A good medium weight paper is perfect for covering notebooks.  The really thin papers show their wear quickly and the very thick textured papers are tough to fold around to the inside.

This notebook below is for Dillon if he wants it.  Would a 7th grade boy like this?  I'm not sure.  He is growing up so fast and it is very hard for me to tell being quite a ways away.  Anyway, it is an example of one that uses designer papers mainly. It uses the Yearbook collection from Studio Calico and some 6x6 Simple Stories 24/7 papers which coordinated nicely.

For this one, I did the paper under the spiral and used a sticker for placing the name.  The letters are on there lightly so Jaime can remove them and pass it along to someone else if Dillon thinks it isn't 'cool' (or whatever the word is now.)  Boy, am I the one getting old?!

Here is the video at YouTube:

Have you entered my 1000 Subscriber Celebration Giveaway.  One randomly selected winner will get a special prize pack.  The video and instructions are here.  You have until Tuesday afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by!

House Art Canvas

Remember this (right)?  I did this background in May when I was taking Christi Tomlinson's Behind the Art class.  Other projects took priority so I never finished it until this weekend.  I rewatched Christi's video on adding a house and flowers to finish it up.

The design sticks fairly close to her example. I positioned my house a bit high on the canvas so I added the walkway by painting in a backdrop and then using modeling paste and some Close to Cocoa ink over a circle stencil for the paving stones.

I wasn't sure about the flowers as they are out of proportion to the house, but they are one of my favorite parts.  I also used Christ's rub ons that I'd bought from 2P's.  For shading, I'm using oil pastels as they are very inexpensive.  The drawback is that they can smear so you have to be very careful if adding another coat of Modge Podge over the top. If I dabbed it on with a sponge brush, it seemed to be fine. She uses Faber Castell markers in the video and I'm not quite ready for the investment.

I was pleased with the end result particularly as it is one of my first pieces.  I made the background a bit busier than the example in an effort to try all kinds of things at once.  Patience is not my strong suit.  Although the idea is to have a lot of visual dimension with transparent paint, tissue paper, stamps and rub ons.

Also I learned some things that I really like the effect of (stamping in black) and things I don't (rub-ons in white at the end of a project).

I particularly like how you can use all kinds of things that might be gathering dust otherwise like old clothing pattern pieces, rub ons (I used some old Stampin' Up! ones as well), and acrylic paint.

For more info on Christi's class, check it out here.  "Behind the Art" is very comprehensive.

I'll have a new video up for you tomorrowTuesday and a special surprise coming later in the week...

I Craft

Over the 4th, I took advantage of Karen's Big Shot and the scallop steel rule die to cut out a kit of chipboard and designer paper shapes.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to use them for, perhaps a mini album.

A couple of weekends ago, I started playing with the shapes and decided they were a bit small for an album.  I thought they would work as a banner.  I had seven chipboard shapes so I searched my mind for a seven letter word (Scrabble, anyone?) that would fit the creative process.  "Imagine" was my best one.  Finally, I thought out of the box a bit and used two words "I Craft."  In between, I put in a butterfly die cut also made with the Big Shot.  They are tied together with twine and are easy to flip over so I can flip some or all of them around to see the other side - sort of mix and match. Here is a version with some of the fronts and some of the backs.

On one side of the circles I have just the letter and some embellishment.  I have this box of large odd chipboard letters and this was a perfect project to use some of them up.

On the other side of each scallop circle is the letter cut from the Cricut and a word that uses that letter:

I - Inspire
C- Create
R - Remember
A - Art
F - Finish
T - Teach

The definitions for the first three are from Stampin' Up!'s Define Your Life stamp set.  The back side of the butterfly is a heart I'd already made when experimenting with Perfect Pearls.  It is a mixture of Perfect Pearls red and heavy gel.  It was just hanging around my worktable looking for somewhere to go :-)

When I first started the project I was obsessed with figuring out the perfect word and using the shapes in the best way.  Finally I relaxed and particularly enjoyed doing the back side of it.  Now the banner hangs over the attic door next to my worktable.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Travel Girl Travel Journal (video)

In the last couple of years, I've created some kind of travel journal for my trips.  It really helps me keep notes along with all the photos I take.  Last summer, I used October Afternoon's Campfire collection to do a journal for our mountain trip.  I did a video but never got around to posting it. So in the video below, there is a brief bit about that journal before going through the process of making this journal.

I was so excited to see a new collection by October Afternoon!  I love their 8x8 paper pads, label stickers and mini market stickers.  Also with this collection, I got the word stickers and the border stickers.

You can make travel journals or Smash style books out of any papers.  These just happen to be my choices.  I also really like to put ledger papers in so I'll have plenty of writing space.  Here are some close ups of the front cover followed by some of the pages:

Isn't the little car cute?  I won't be traveling with a dog but I'll be loaded down with lots of other things.

I like a few pockets for receipts and journaling cards:

Stamps make the book a bit more fun.

Here is the video at YouTube:

Thanks for watching!  Wherever you go this summer, I hope you travel safe and take lots of pictures!