tutorial : building a mini

Hi all!! I'm here tonight with a tutorial on how I made the mini album in my Continental gallery. I've been holding these Fuji Instax Mini pics from our February trip to Kansas City, just waiting until the right kit came along. As soon as I saw this Making Memories packaging in the Magellan add-on, I knew it would make a perfect cover. The packaging had more of a faux suitcase shape, but I opted to trim it down into a rectangle. I then backed the opening in the front with a transparency and added a couple die cuts and Basic Grey studs to the outside.



Next, I spent some time thinking about how I wanted to construct the inside of the album. Since I was dealing with original photos, I wanted them to be protected - but I needed to keep the pages on a fairly small scale so they'd fit within the cover. Once I came across these divided page protectors (we keep them on hand for the boys' baseball and Pokemon cards), I know I could turn it into individual pages.



I began by cutting the page protector with my trimmer - I left one row of pockets intact, cutting about 1/2in beyond the dividing line. I repeated the cut on the other side of the middle row, which left me with two strips of three pockets. I then cut those strips into three pockets each - one divided page protector will give you six mini album pages.



My next step was to cut three pieces of kraft cardstock to 4x5inches. I scored them 1/2in from the edge and then added one to the back side of my album cover. I then used a hole punch to punch two holes through both the kraft cardstock and the cover.



Using the punched cardstock as my guide, I punched each of my page protectors as well as the two remaining pieces of kraft cardstock.



Since I knew the title page would show through the window in the front of the book, I laid it in place inside the album as I worked on it, and made sure to shut the album to see how it all looked before I stuck everything down! Once I'd finished, I wanted to hide the backs of the staples from my tiny attacher and the stitching, so I layered a second piece of kraft cardstock behind it. If you have additional journaling you'd like to add to your book, both the back of the title page and the back page of the album would be perfect - just stamp some journaling lines and write away!



Now came the fun part - working on the pages! I cut kraft cardstock to the same size as my Instax Mini pics and built from there. Each page got a label stamp stamped with pumice stone ink and punched out with my photo label punch, and a mix of products from the kit.



To bind the album, I simply stacked up all of my pages and threaded a length of twine through the two holes. I looped it around three times and then tied it off at the back of the album.



My boys have enjoyed flipping through this album - the size is perfect for little hands!!

Turn your paper towel into a piece of art!

Hi everyone ^^

Today I will show you, in this fun little tutorial, how to turn any paper towel into a fun, textured little piece of fabric to use for your layouts and albums.
I was recently inspired by Karine Cazenave-Tapie's new book, "Les Ateliers de Karine : Scrap Texture" (available in French) in which you can discover many fun and amazing techniques and I fell in love with one of her layouts, where she used some paper towel for her layout.

First of all, all you'll need for this technique is paper towel and Maya Mists.

For this layout, I used the Purple and the gold ones, but of course feel free to use any color depending on the papers you picked. You'll find so many amazing colors in the SC boutique, you'll just faint ^^

Take a piece of paper towel and spray the darkest color on top of it.

Then add some gold in order to get a shinier effect on the paper towel.

Let it dry or use a heat gun.

Depending on the paper towel that you have, you might have different designs and several layers.
On this one, there are circles. I decided to separate the two layers of papers for this one, hesitating between using the most colorful one or not.

And I decided to use the white one on which you can see the circles that soak all of the Maya Mists in.


I highly recomment this adhesive to glue the paper towel as it usually moves if you use regular double sided tape.

And here's my layout :


Isn't my mom a doll? :)

I couldn't resist using the Hot Air Balloon stamp for this layout, I don't know why, I think it reminds me of Spring :) And it's my favorite SC stamp so I could use it for every single layout :)

You'll also be able to purchase this cute little doily garland (that was in the last month's kit) pretty soon in the SC boutique.


Of course you can spray on top of the rubons but let it dry a little bit longer than on paper.


Feel free to mix stamps together : here I stamped with brown versafine ink (or brown Distress ink)the journaling square onto kraft paper then used a green versafine ink (or green Distress ink) to stamp the star.

By adding the butterfly stamp later, you get lots of contrast and a lot of brand new stamps :)

Same thing here : I used green Distress ink to stamp the house and then a brown Distress ink to stamp the HAPPY word.

How cute is this JBS garland?


I hope you enjoyed it and I am looking forward to seeing your beautiful PAPER TOWEL layouts :D

xoxo

céline

tutorial : misted & stitched background

Hi all! While you're waiting ever so patiently for the February kits and gallery to go live, I thought I'd try to provide a little distraction in the form of a tutorial. I was working on this page for this week's sketch and had quite a bit of fun creating my own background using misting and stitching, and wanted to share how I did it.



I started by cutting my patterned paper (I used one of the grid patterns on a B side of a Basic Grey Origins piece that was in the Whodunit kit) to size and laying out a pattern of punched circles. I just punched them out of scrap paper that was in my misting box - it looks kind of cool as is, doesn't it? I might have to use that idea on another page. =)



I then carefully lifted the paper and placed it in my misting box, and gave it a few sprays with Lemon Maya Mist.



Here's the background after misting. I kept it light enough so that the grid pattern was still fairly visible.



I wanted to add more texture to the page, so I threaded my sewing machine with yellow thread and stitched a wonky spiral in each circle. I just stitched around and around, pivoting the paper with my fingers as I stitched. I didn't slow down or pay any attention to keeping my lines evenly spaced - I wanted an uneven, funky look.



Once I started laying out the rest of my page, I felt like the bottom half still needed a bit of a punch. I started by punching stars with my Fiskars Twinkle Twinkle punch from the same grid paper and spraying them with more Lemon Maya Mist, and then adding them to all of the large circles.



To finish the bottom half of the page, I stapled each star in place, and added some journaling strips and a little bird stamp from one of the Whodunit add-ons stamped in Timber Brown Staz-On. I also added glitter brads from the upcoming Scones add-on to each smaller circle.



To finish the top of the page, I added a strip of Basic Grey patterned paper (from the upcoming Tea Cakes add-on) and some Prima printed canvas (it's in the upcoming Petit Fours add-on), as well as a Jenni Bowlin circle die cut and wood letters from the Whodunit kit and add-ons. Another stamped birdie and two pins from one of the Orchestra add-ons finish the page.

I hope you're inspired play around with sewing, masking and misting to see what kind of fun backgrounds and accents you can create - if you do, please send me a link, I'd love to see it! I also encourage you to play with mixing and matching your kit leftovers - it's a great way to give those leftover bits a new look.

tutorial : snow frosted background

Happy New Year's Eve! I'm popping in here today with a tutorial to help you add a layer of frost to your winter layouts.

The January kit, Whodunit, has a gorgeous color scheme that is awesome for any season - but I wanted to make it even *more* winter-y for a page featuring my older boys sledding with friends. I started my page by drawing a border 1in in from the outside of my 12x12 cardstock, and then punching squares of various patterned papers from the kit and arranging them in rows inside my square. I used a square punch from Fiskars, but you could simply use your trimmer to cut squares if you don't have a punch. I attached each square of patterned paper to my background using just a bit of adhesive in the middle of the square.



Now, I'm loving this color scheme, but it's a bit spring-y for what I'm going for. I could have left out the greens and yellows, but I really liked the pattern that those pieces added. I knew a wash of white paint could tone down the colors and give me the effect I wanted. I used Manila paint by Making Memories, but Claudine Hellmuth's Blank Canvas paint would work just as well. I love these brushes - the set is inexpensive and they are *much* nicer than the brushes I used to pick up at my local craft store! I put a glob of paint on a paper plate and then soaked my brush in water. I dabbed the brush in the paint and then brushed it across the plate a couple times to remove the excess paint and water. Remember - you can always ADD more paint to the background, but you can't take it away - you'll want to start with very little paint on the brush. If you get a spot that looks too watery, press a paper towel over the top to soak up the excess.



I brushed my watered down paint across the background, adding more paint and water as my brush got dry. I ended up doing two coats to get the shading that I wanted. I painted a little outside my block of squares on all sides to give the piece a nice border. While the paint was still wet, I sprayed the whole background with Silver Plated Maya Mist - the Iridescent Pearl would give you a similar effect. It didn't add any color, but it *did* add a frosty shimmer. Since I only adhered each square in the middle, the water in the paint warped each piece a bit, giving the background some dimension. I hadn't planned on this, but really loved the effect.



I love the star stamps that came with the main kit, and wanted to work them into my design. I laid my photos and journaling block onto my page so I had an idea of what areas would be covered, and then added a couple of stars to each row. I stamped with silver pigment ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder - the stamping is subtle, but adds an extra bit of shimmer and interest to the background.




I cut the scallop sticker from the sticker sheet in half and added it to the top left and bottom left of my square of blocks and then I stitched a border with grey thread. I stamped the journaling stamp with black ink on blue patterned paper twice, and cut each block out. I used one whole to hold my journaling, and cut the top off another and used it as a date tab at the top of my page. I took advantage of the white space in my larger photo and layered the smaller one on top of it, and then added them to my page with foam adhesive. I wrapped the photo with red baker's twine and finished the layout with a few button accents, and a label sticker embellished with star rubons.



While I've used this white washing technique to get a snowy look, it can also be used to unify *any* collection of patterned papers. This would be a great way to use up a bunch of scraps that don't quite match. You could also add a twist to it by using a bolder mist over the top of your background. I hope you get a chance to try this technique, and please link me up if you do!!

tutorial : a twist on handcut titles

When I saw the cover image for the book Paper : Tear Fold Rip Crease Cut, I was captivated. I'd seen other paper art using images cut out of a sheet of paper like this and had been toying with how to apply it to a layout, and this was my answer. I set out to use the idea of a title cut out of the paper but still attached.



At first, I wanted to do the title directly out of the background paper, but as I experimented with it, I had trouble getting it lined up exactly how I wanted it. After playing a bit, I decided to cut the title from a block of patterned paper, and then back it with a contrasting color. Having the letters standing at a 90 degree angle from the background was completely impractical, so I settled on folding the letters back over towards the page and attaching them with popdots. Here's some photos from a few different angles so you can get a better idea of the finished product :




And now, here's how you do it. =)



Start by drawing a baseline on my piece of paper, and then handwrite your title with plenty of room between the letters. You'll want to draw lightly - I've done it darker so that it shows well in the photos.



The next step is to make your letters into bubble letters. Channel your junior high self. ;) All that doodling in class wasn't for nothing!!



Take your craft knife (I used the Fiskars fingertip craft knife, but I'm linking you to the MS one in the store - I've heard good things about it as well!) and cut out your letters. DO NOT cut the letters where the meet the baseline - you need to leave that attached. Go slow - you've only got one shot at this. =) Once you've cut them out, carefully fold the letters towards you.



Draw a second baseline, 1/4in below the original. Extend each of your letters down to that baseline.



Carefully cut down to the second baseline and fold the letters up.



Now you'll need to erase all of the pencil lines - the baselines and outlines of the letters. Fold the letters back along the first crease that you made, and then add foam adhesive to each letter to help hold them in place. You can add a contrasting color behind it, for a dramatic look, or layer it over paper that's the same color for a more subtle effect.

If you give this technique a try, please link me up - I'd love to see what you do!!

let's make something.

Still staring at all those stamps you've accumulated from past kits?
Here's a fun, easy way to use them.

Supply List

a variety of rubberstamps(I've used all Studio Calico stamps in those project)

Distress Inks is Walnut and Brick Red

acrylic blocks for stamps

brown paper bags(the ones our lovely kits come in)

Maya Road Mists in Gold and Charcoal

Claudine Hellmuth blank canvas white paint

a find mist bottle with water

fluid matte medium

foam brush

bone folder

a small box

Ok, let's get started. Hope you're not afraid to get your hands dirty! If ink bothers your skin, you may want to wear rubber gloves.

Start by cutting one brown paper bag. I've cut it down to a 12x12 piece for this tutorial but I usually just collage the whole bag with stamps when it's cut and flattened out.

I like to start with a scripty rubberstamp or something that has fine lines. This creates a nice backdrop. Ink up your stamp and press down to the paper several times before re-inking. Be sure to stamp in different directions, this adds to the layer effect.

Next, I went with the numbers stamp that I arranged horizontally. Same thing....ink, stamp several times, re-ink.

I'm sort of filling out any spaces. You'll start to notice squares that need to be filled. I just keep going down in size with the stamps, leaving really bold stamps for last.

Keep stamping until you achieve a layered look that you're happy with. You really can't mess this up. Actually the messier, the better.
Here's the fun part....wad your stamped masterpiece in a ball. mash away. trust me. this adds to the beauty and makes the paper look old and textured. I do this about 2-3 times until it's all nice and wrinkly (is that a word?) Smooth out the paper with your hands.
Run your Walnut ink pad lightly across the wrinkled paper. You can do this as little or as much as you like. Next, take a couple different Maya Mists and spray in a few places. I've used Gold and Charcoal here.
Then, spray with a fine mist of water. It makes the Walnut ink sort of bleed and will start to look like actual walnut ink.
Let the paper dry.

At this point, you're left with a sweet looking piece of vintagey stamped paper. You can do whatever you want with it. I've covered boxes with it. I've scrapped with it. I've also used this paper as a book cover for a mini.

Boxes are fun and easy to cover. Who doesn't have a random little box lying around?
I was going to use decoupage glue but didn't have any handy. I did have fluid matte medium and it works wonderfully for this project.
Cut your paper into pieces.
1 piece for top of the lid leaving a good amount of overhang to glue down onto the sides of the lid.
1 piece for the bottom with about a 1/2" extra all the way around.
2 long pieces for the sides of the box.
(the measurements will all vary with the box you choose to cover.)

Brush on your choice of glue evenly and press your cut piece of paper down. Smooth out with your hands and use a bone folder to brush down some of the creases and push out any excess glue.

see the photo above on how to tuck in your corners. glue down all sides.
smooth with your bone folder.

continue on with the bottom of the box.

glue flaps up the side of the box. this will be covered nicely with the last 2 pieces of paper.

measure your sides, then cut paper to size.
I like to cut just 2 pieces instead of 4. easier and quicker.

glue all around the box. smooth out with the bone folder.

you can certainly paint the inside of your box. I like the unfinished craft color, so I left it as is.

It's nice at this point but why not do a little more distressing?
Add some white paint to the corners by using a old gift card. see photos below.

I felt like it needed one more thing that made it pop.
How about another stamp? I used Brick Red Distress ink and a special stamp I placed carefully on the edge.

I have several boxes covered in all different patterns of this stamped collage paper. They look really cool all stacked together and house some of my favorite little things.

I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial. Please feel free to email me with any questions.
:)
Tina