Christmas Present

I said before I loved the trees in this month's pink paislee Tinsel Town Collection. I'm afraid I got carried away cutting them out and ended up adding them to this layout, creating a cheerful and elegant little forest across the bottom of the Polar Express paper. Initially, I wasn't sure about the color of this paper for Christmas, but it quickly grew on me and this is one of my favorite holiday layouts. I decided I really wanted to pull the color red out of the photo. The die cut paper was easy to trace, creating a nice red border. I loved that the red chipboard parentheses from Scenic Route were exactly the same shape as the die cut. They provided a unique way to add emphasis to my journaling. A little red ribbon, a few buttons, and a sprinkling of chipboard stars and sentiments finished it off - my reflections on Christmas Present and the gifts in my life have been saved for posterity.

How to use index prints...

Okay, I promised I would show you the inside of my mini-book today.

First let me say how much I love the double sided paper this month from Scenic Route. I cut the strip of surfboards out for the cover, and the flip side of the paper is this cool yellow and orange pattern where I used my Autumn Leaves journaling stamp.

I did something kind of fun with the next page, which is actually just (2) photos glued back to back. Those tiny pictures are actually from the index print I got with my picture order. Nothing fancy, just used some glue and popped them straight onto the picture. (If you want to see a larger image, just click on the picture.) I like it because it tells more of the story and I don't have to feel guilty about throwing away the index print! I have been trying to figure out for a while how to use them, so sprinkling them throughout this book made me very happy!

I used the chipboard pieces on this picture of a seagull on a pier piling. I think it looks like a signpost! This little book went together so fast because the pages were double-sided and coordinated so well. Throw in the stickers and chipboard...and it couldn't have been easier!

Tools Rule!!

I made my first mini book this month and it was a fun and easy project, thanks to having the right tools - my Scor-Pal and my Crop-o-dile. I started out with a 12" x 2.75" strip of cardstock and scored it with my Scor-Pal...every inch on the inch up to 6", then flipped it over and scored it again, every inch on the half inch up to 5.5"...does that make sense? Here's a visual to clear things up:

Using the Scor-Pal, the lines were even and exactly where I needed them to be.I made the accordian folds and then, using my Crop-o-dile, I punched holes through the first 3 folds which was (6) layers of cardstock...yes, I said S-I-X layers...and it was a piece of cake (which is why I love my Crop-O-Dile)! Using one fold as a guide to make sure all the holes were lined up properly, I punched through the next 3 accordian folds (See photo at right). As I added pages to the book, I just used the holes I had already punched in the accordian folds as guides to punch holes in the pages.

When it was finished I used brads to hold it all together. I put one brad through the front of the book and the first 3 folds. Then I put a brad through the back of the book and the last 3 folds. Finally I glued the spine together where the brads met.
Obviously, the number of pages you have in your book would be limited by the length of the "legs"(?) on the brad. I had 6 pages, plus the thickness of one layer of cardstock at the front and back.

The other limiting factor is the length of the cover. My cover was 6" long, and since I was using a 12" piece of cardstock, the maximum number of 1/2" folds I could create for the spine of the book was 6.

I don't know if the double brad thing is a new technique because I made it up as I went along...but it is new to me!! Oh, I will post the actual pages of the mini-book tomorrow.

My "Negative" Reaction!

I saw Lisa's 2 page layout this month (see"Summer fun" which she posted on June 11th) and I had to laugh...I loved it, but I realized that the 2 page layout I had created was the negative of hers! Where she put papers (around the edges), I put pictures, and where she put pictures (nice strong block in the center) I put papers!

I actually need to give credit for this layout design to tomiannie from the Cricut message board...I scraplifted this from one she posted several months ago. I have used this idea a few times, because it lets me use lots of pictures but doesn't leave the layout looking too busy or crowded.

The polka dot papers from Scenic Route this month were really helpful in this layout, because it is a very consistent pattern. It was very easy to decide I was going to leave 2 rows of white polka dots on the green paper all around the edge, and then have a row of red circles from the next layer of paper, before I started laying down my pictures - and everything was even! I didn't need to take out a ruler once!

I ordered some of my prints as wallets, because that is the basic building block of this layout, but I also incorporated several larger pictures trimmed to the correct width...like this one on the right that I framed with the outline of the diecut arrow journaling block

which I ALSO used, as you can see in the picture to the left! It does take a bit of fiddling around to get the pictures to fit right, but you can fill in gaps with stickers (like the "gone surfing" one).

I can't emphasize enough how easy it was to use these papers...the colors and the patterns have such energy! The stickers make it easy to add a quick punch when needed.

AND...I loved the die cut journaling blocks...and even used the remnants/edges! In addition to the arrow in this layout, did you catch that the sun in this layout provided the outline edge for the sun in my one page "dream" layout below?

I am curious...how much time do you spend deciding upon the title for your layouts? I tried to be clever with a title for this layout, discarding at least 5 or 6 ideas before I ended up with stating the obvious, "the sign said No Diving!" How important is the title for you to be satisfied with your final layout?

A Real "Dream" Page...

Does anybody else create in their sleep? It happens to me all the time...

This month things were really crazy around my house so I didn't get to start working with my Design Team Kit right away. I took everything out and drooled over the Scenic Route papers, and then put them away. I didn't forget about them, though, because I woke up one morning and knew exactly how I was going to start this layout!

I took out my Cutter Bee exacto knife and sliced most of the sun's rays along the bottom half of that paper. Then I trimmed out the wave paper and "married" the two of them, pulling forward a little ray of sunshine here and there. A couple of times I had to slice into the wave so that the "sunshine" would lay properly on the page.

I had noticed the Accu-cut swirl die back at Scrapbooks Plus, and it reminded me of the waves. After a trip to the store (where I also bought some terrific Luxe clear acrylic stamps that will undoubtedly show up on some of my future pages) I was back in business. I painted the chipboard green and then pulled out my Pearl Ex to try a slightly different technique using Future floor polish! I filled a Waterbrush with Future and used it to apply the Pearl Ex. I also painted in some shimmery details on the fishies I had cut out. Once it had dried, there was no need to seal these items with acrylic spray to keep the Pearl Ex from rubbing off. Love it! A couple of pop dots for dimension...Done!

Now the bottom of the page was finished and the top half needed some more "weight". I had a die cut of a sun, but it really didn't work, so I used my scissors and trimmed out the thin outline of the sun that was left on the diecut paper (I love to squeeze every little bit out of my kit!). I added a little Pearl Ex...and it looked good, but still not quite right. Soooo I dug into my stash and found some sunshine yellow mulberry paper with a gold paisley pattern. Perfect! I adhered the mulberry paper and the sun outline with Memory Mount.

The final touch was the title which I ended up printing from my word processor. I tried to add a tag for journaling several times but I just couldn't find a spot that made me happy. In retrospect, I think I could have made the sun into a flap, and journaled behind it. There really wasn't much I wanted to add - this was one of those rare moments when they were all together and happy and not bickering - so "Sibling Revelry" really says it all for me!