Z Fold Mini Album

I found this tutorial on You Tube here, by UKMaryanne.  It is a take on the "Z" cards, and I thought it was absolutely a must try!  I uses cardstock, papers, chipboard and coin envelopes.  It was very easy to do, and fun to see when all completed.

This is the cover, I need to finish decorating it, the spine, and how I chose to close it.  I punched two holes and set eyelets.  I put ribbon "tag style" through one eyelet, then threaded it through the other, bringing them around to the other side to tie it closed.  I added a separate piece of cardstock to the spine to cover it up.

I really love how it  turned out.  The pockets are holding tags for more picture and journaling space.  I obviously have way more to do for embellishments/decorations, but the base is done and I couldn't wait to share!

The papers used here are from Creative Imaginations, Winter Woodland.

Olive U!

Just like Jackie said, we both got the Nifty Fifties Cricut cartridge and we both love it!  Unknown to us at the time, while she was making her card at her house, I was working on this card at my house!   I like to make my husband little "just because" cards and leave them around for him to find.  He loves a good martini, so this was perfect for him.

I cut out two of the martini glass shadows and attached them at the "bowl of the glass" so that the stems would separate to help it stand up.  I used glitter pens to color the star and the pimento in the olive.

I created the sentiment with the font on the cartridge, and  used my Gypsy to connect the letters.  I used my glitter pen to make olives out of the dots over the "I" and the exclamation point.

Have a creative day!

Nifty Fifties

Michelle and I both received the great new Cricut Cartridge, Nifty Fifties for Christmas and we LOVE it!

 This is one of the sample cards that has step by step instructions in the book that comes with the cartridge!  It was fun and easy to make!

Wintertime Fun Mini Book

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!!

We have a couple of things to say before we get to today's post.  First...

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU  

to all of our followers!!!  

We are very happy that you all enjoy our site!  

Without you all, there would be no us!  

Your support and friendship is truly wonderful 

and we appreciate it very much...

Have a VERY MERRY HOLIDAY SEASON!!!

Second...

I have had some inquiries about the Christmas Pull Out Accordion Album...there is a tutorial I posted here that describes the making of the base of the book.  Let your creative spirit fly to cover and embellish the pages as you desire.  Have fun with it, and if you make one, PLEASE LET US KNOW!!!  We would LOVE TO SEE IT!!!!

Now, for today's posting...

I went to my local Craft Warehouse and they were having a free make and take for this cute little holiday mini.  It just so happened that I used this line of papers for my Christmas cards this year!  The papers are from Bella Road, and the line is called Wintertime.  I decided that I needed to use more from my stash and embellish it more when I got home, and this is what I came up with.  I added more to the snowflake, after I used Glimmer Mist, added the title and the bird button.  I added more ribbon to the rings.

I added these letter charms to a Tim Holtz chain to spell "SNOW".

Added some stickers from the paper line..

Made pockets and added journaling tags...

Added more punched snowflakes and acetate pages I cut with my Nestabilities and my Cuttlebug...and used some stickers on the acetate to make it pop a little...

Added a coffee mug sticker that I created a pocket out of, and added another little tag...

And I got myself a cute little mini album to celebrate winter with!http://creativeoperation.blogspot.com/2010/09/mini-book-experiment-take-3.html

Christmas Pull Out Accordion Album

Here is the Christmas version of my Pull Out Accordion Album.  I taught a class on how to construct this at Scrap Happy.  It was a lot of work, but we all had fun doing it!

The front cover opened. 

The accordion pulled out to the right...

and to the left.  

I thought it looked cool in the Halloween papers, here, and I think it looks even better in Christmas papers.  What do you think?

Quick and Easy Date book makeover

Looking for a last minute gift for Christmas?  Well, I frequently grab one of these free purse size date books when I take my daughter to her orthodontic checkups.  I slip the advertisement out and create my own!  It makes a great addition to any purse!

I did all the embellishing under the plastic jacket except for the ribbon, I added that to the outer edge for texture.

The typical inside.

The original advertising on cover. 

December Daily 2010

Here it is...December Daily 2010...

I made the book following directions from Laura at The Paper Trail.  I used a lot of fun papers and my Cricut to make the tags and embellishments.  The papers are by Cosmo Cricut.  The embellishments are a bunch of things I had in my stash.  This is picture heavy, so I will just get to it without delay...

Here are the tags that go into the pockets...

Now all I have to do is add pictures and journaling for the month of December!

December Daily

I found this project by Ali Edwards a couple of years ago, and thought I would do it.  I started in 2008.  The idea is to document every day of December...the festivities and the everyday.

Here are the pictures of the 2008 album...

In this one is my Grandson, Cooper!

The book base was by Teresa Collins.

I then decided that I loved this project so much that I did it in 2009...

 I feel I have to explain...the Bah Humbug was because a pipe in our garage burst and we were dealing with all of the pain and frustration that situation brings...

The album base is by Bo Bunny.

I will be showing you my December Daily for 2010 really soon.  The idea is that you premake it, and then don't have the stress of making the book while you are supposed to be using the book!

Creative Gift Bags

I spent this weekend putting the tree up and wrapping presents!  I had a few plain white bags that I wanted to decorate and came up with this.  They are made with ribbon and buttons, so quick and easy. I found Score Tape worked the best to get the ribbon to stick to the smooth surface. 

The Family Christmas Card, 2010

I have been making my Christmas cards for about three years now.  Every year I pick a color scheme, and design a card, then make massive quantities of them.  This is the "winner" for this year...

And here is what I did to make it:

I used papers from Bella Road.  It is called Wintertime.  It is an awesome line of snow themed papers!  I made my own cards, 4 1/4" x 5 1/2",  from white cardstock that I get from the office store.  The brown Bazzill is 4" x 5 1/4".  I cut some white, 3 3/4" x 2 1/2", and ran it through my Cuttlebug with my new Sizzix folder.  The bottom paper is cut the same as the embossed white.  I found this great glitter ribbon at the Craft Warehouse, it is made by Darice, and it is called Glitter Garland.  I attached it to the card with Scoretape.  I made the folded Christmas tree, using a 5" half circle cut by my Gypsy and Cricut.  I added the rhinestone for the "star".  This line of papers has sheets of journaling cards.  I cut them out, rounded corners, and stamped the sentiment with a stamp that I got in a goodie bag at the CK Convention.  The stamp is by Unity.  This card is placed on the inside.

Stay cozy, my friends!

FOLDED CHRISTMAS TREES!!!!!

 Ok, so I know that this may be an "older" technique, but it is NEW to me and I LOVE IT!!!  When I saw this, I was amazed, how simple and beautiful a simple fold can be.  But, when I tried to find out how to do it, I couldn't!  I saw lots of finished products, but no directions!  So, I figured it out on my own, and now I am going to share with YOU!!!

First, make a pattern.  You need to cut a circle 5" in diameter, and cut it in half.  Use this as a template to cut your double sided paper.

Place your paper in a scoring device of choice, and score straight down, from the left side, at the 1 1/4" mark.

Turn your half circle over and fold on the score line.

Now, fold it back, meeting the cut edge with the folded edge.

Turn it over...

Take the cut edge and fold it down to meet the folded edge.

Turned back, edges inked, folds adhered down.  TAAAAAA DAAAAA!  It is about 3 3/4" tall after folding.  You will notice that depending on the direction of the folds, with double sided papers you get a different look.

Here is the trick to this...  You can use any size circle you want, just cut it in half to get the needed half circle for your tree.  Measure the diameter, then divide by 4.  This is the point where you want to make the first score!  Fold as above, and you can use any size circle you want!  This just makes me so happy!

I am doing this on my Christmas cards this year.    I am glad I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!  I hope you have fun making these.

Stay Jolly My Friends!