Hey, y’all! March is drawing to a close, and soon it will be time to see the fabulous kits Tres Jolie Kit Club has put together for April! They will definitely have you blooming for spring!
For my final March project, I combined elements from all three kits and a few items from my stash to create this little hoop album. Check out my video to see how it came together – it really is rather simple.
Everything started with me looking at a 3-inch embroidery hoop I’ve had in my stash forever, and knowing I wanted to use the clock and flower chipboard piece from Stamperia in the Cards, Tags, & More Kit this month. I hadn’t originally intended to cut the clock out, it just worked out that it was a perfect size – sometimes serendipity steps in for these projects!
I didn’t want to leave the hoop its natural color, but I also didn’t want to have layers that could rub off, so I just used my hands and rubbed in the Lindy’s Moon Shadow Mist spray from the Mixed Media Kit. (And as soon as I figure out where I moved it to, I will add some cutting board wax to seal and protect the wood!)
I backed the flowers with the large Tres Jolie Chipboard piece from this month’s Scrapbooking Kit after adding some of the Lindy’s Magical Powder from this month’s Mixed Media Kit and some embossing powders from my stash. For the bottom of the base hoop, I used the solid circle from the Tres Jolie Chipboard frame, adding the same embossing powders and Lindy’s Magical Powder to it.
I turned the chipboard clock face into a shaker, adding tiny seed beads from my stash and using a length of paracord as the spacer between the acetate and chipboard. Then I slipped the larger (outer) ring from the embroidery hoop over it – face down so the top surface would be flat, and backed the shaker with a circle cut from the 49 & Market papers found in this month’s Scrapbooking Kit.
I used the packaging from the 49 & Market chipboard package to create the cover for the bottom – since it wasn’t very “pretty” with the cut-up pieces of the Tres Jolie frame showing!
I just rough traced the chipboard base, fussy cut the shape out, and to add some coverage to the random print that peeked through the Tres Jolie frame, I added a coat of gesso with some Moon Shadow Mist and gum arabic – then sprayed more Moon Shadow Mist until I got a fairly good cover!
With my base and lid together, it was just a simple matter of cutting out twelve circles to create six pages, running a length of ribbon through the two sides of each page, and stitching around the edges.
After my pages were all stitched to the ribbon, I glued the ribbon to the bottom and added a little phrase. If you don’t want to add a phrase, or you just want your ribbon to be tucked in, you could easily put your pages together before putting all of your base layers together and tucking the ribbon in along the way!
The last step was just adding some light decoration. The pages aren’t very big, so it doesn’t take a lot to add just a little more interest while still leaving space for photos!
Thank you for joining me here today on the blog! I hope you enjoyed this project and it gave you some ideas of what you can make using items from all three kits this month!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! Have you seen the fabulous heart-shaped mini album in this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit yet? It is so adorable and makes putting a love-themed mini together quick and easy.
Make sure to check out my video to see how I decided to use my album with this month’s papers and embellishments, then grab your scissors and glue and get started on yours!
To prepare my chipboard, I mixed some white gesso with a bit of the Worn Lipstick ink from the kit and brushed it on the front of the heart-filled-heart chipboard page and the back of the flower-filled-heart page, as well as around the edges of the front and back of the other three pages.
Using the chipboard as a template, I traced out hearts for each of the cover hearts from all of the different patterned papers, glued them in place, then backed the page with a full sheet of the pink with white hearts patterned paper – turned 45° the paper covers all of the “holes” surrounding the hearts!
I didn’t want to over-do the flower page, so I just added some of the “XOXO” paper to some of the larger flower centers, then backed everything with a sheet of the pink floral print patterned paper.
For the background of each page, I decided to do some paper piecing instead of trying to decide which paper I wanted to use – they are all so beautiful, I had to use them all!
I just cut out some templates to work on using some plain printer paper – it is far more forgiving if I make a mistake than the chipboard would be – and randomly (by randomly, I mean I didn’t think about the width or pattern too much when selecting which strip to use!) glued down my strips of patterned paper. I didn’t bother measuring my strips either, I just put the paper through my trimmer a width I felt was good, cut, and did it again until I had a fair amount of strips to start working with.
After I had all of my backgrounds finished, I trimmed them up, distressed and inked the edges, and glued them in place.
Although I hadn’t originally planned on adding stitching to every page, as I was working on the album, I determined that it was “necessary” for each page to have some of the simple straight stitches added to them! I just created a quick template so my spacing would be even, then used an awl to poke the holes through before adding the variegated perle cotton thread.
With the base of all the pages completed, it was just a matter of picking papers to use as photo mats, pockets, and envelopes! I also decided to use the circles from the pop-out pages to create a couple of window pockets on the photo mats!
Some elements are backed with thin foam (about 1/16” or approximately 2mm) just to add a little depth, but I didn’t want my pages to be too bulky since they would be going on album rings.
The first page has a “hidden” envelope – I attached the photo mat and frame to the envelope flap, then used a bit of ribbon from my stash to keep it tied down.
On a couple of pages, I just have photo mats – again, because I didn’t want there to be too much bulk on the pages! Then on other pages, I added pockets, a couple turned horizontal, and I added touches of ribbon to almost every page, just to keep the design elements [mostly] the same.
On the page with the tied horizontal ribbon, I left two of the envelope flaps open and created a double-flip out page element.
I kept my flower page rather simple – I didn’t want to create something too busy or cover up the chipboard, so all I did is add a bit of the ink and a couple of photo mats.
Finally, to finish it off, I just added a single envelope to the inside of the back cover to hold any larger ephemera or notes.
For the cluster on the front of my album, I just cut a strip of the lace print paper, added some of my ribbon to each side, and stacked a couple of the Prima flowers on under one of the resin frames and the “I Love You” piece I had cut from one of the pop-out pieces.
When I was adding the gesso to my chipboard, I also added it to the resin pieces so they would be ready to use, so when I did decide my cover would need one, all I did is add a second coat of gesso (heavy gesso this time!) after dabbing on some of the ink. I don’t know if it’s odd or not, but I really love how matte gesso is!
After everything had dried, all that was left to do is slide the pages on to my album rings.
Thank you for joining me today on the blog! I hope you enjoyed my mini album and it gave you some ideas of what you can do to create your own mini album! I’ll see you again soon!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! Hope you’re having a fabulous December!
Have you had the chance to check out this month’s kits? They are all sure to get you into the holiday spirit in no time! For my first project of the month, I used the Cards, Tags, & More Kit to create a mini-folio-album-thingy. Maybe I should call it a wallet album since the size, shape, and the way it opens reminds me of a wallet…anywho…I used a couple of the solid cardstock sheets, and about 5 or so of the patterned paper sheets to create this fun little album – then I printed out some photos from Christmas a few (or maybe more than a few!) years ago to fill it up.
To get the rundown of how this all went together, I have a video where I explain my process and try to explain my thinking! (LOL – explain my thinking )
Although the closure was the last thing I did for the project, I’m just going to go over its construction now with the photos of the folio album all closed up.
I used the full length of ribbon from the kit to create my closure by cutting the lengths needed for both the horizontal and vertical wrap and a faux bow. I wanted everything to remain smooth and flat – which is why I wrapped each direction separately – then used Fabri-Tac to hold it in place (pardon my areas of excess glue that soaked through – I had forgotten I had just got through thinning my bottle out when I went to use it and it got away from me!). My bow is a faux bow because I just folded the bit of ribbon into a bow shape, added staples to hold it together in the center, then wrapped the last little piece I had as the “knot” for the center.
For the closure, I used some white velcro. I have a couple inches of the hook side of the velcro (the stiffer side of velcro that grabs) on one end of the horizontal ribbon, then I added pieces of the other (softer/fuzzy) side of the velcro to the other end of the horizontal piece and the back of the bow after attaching my bow to the vertical ribbon.
For the outside patterned paper, I just picked out what I wanted to use, and cut it down to size.
I used the full sheet of this piece of cardstock from the kit and just added some score lines to create a size to work with! I have 1” scores along the long sides, then, from left to right, I scored at 1-1/2”, 2-1/2”, 6-3/4”, and 7-3/4”.
Then, because this cardstock isn’t necessarily “made” for a lot of sharp folds or hinging, I added score lines between the 1-1/2”, 2-1/2”, 6-3/4”, and 7-3/4” scores at 1/8” intervals. The only excess pieces I cut off were where the score lines intersected with the 1” side margins (the little flaps that are folded up in the image above).
I left the flaps for the top and bottom of the folio so I could fold them in to reinforce and round those edges some, and the flaps in the “main” (center) section are where my inside flaps connect.
As I have been known to do, I used some packing tape to strengthen my moving parts! I added to all of the folds in my base so that cardstock would have some support at all the bends. (I only added tape to one side of the cardstock, I didn’t want to make the folds too stiff!).
To help hold everything in place, before I glued my outside patterned paper in place, I added a few small staples to the corners with the top (flat) side of the staple showing on the inside but allowing the bottom (curved) side to be covered when I added the outer papers.
For these little windows/frames, I marked where I wanted to cut on the back of the patterned paper I would be using and carefully cut the centers out using my craft knife. I kept the frame edges at 3/8”, allowing just enough room for a 2-1/2”x3” photo to slide in and not have too much of the edge of the photo covered. For the green cardstock backing the patterned paper, I just used my cut patterned paper as a template and added (about) a 1/16” extra to peek out from the inside and outside edges. (Note: The windows/frames in the center section were created the same way! And since I hadn’t glued anything down yet, all I had to do was use my already-cut pieces as templates!)
For my inside flaps, I cut the cardstock into 3-3/4”x 4-1/8” pieces, then scored at 3/8” to create a 3-3/4”x3-3/4” square and glued then reinforced with more tape the 3/8” edge to my 1” flap on the base. I have my 3/8” flaps facing each other – creating a 3/4” space between them – then I just cut a strip of patterned paper down to size to cover that seam!
After the main body of the album was put together, I just went through and used up all the smaller bits of patterned paper and cardstock I had from the build to decorate the remainder of my album.
For my chipboard pieces, I gave them a coating of “Lumberjack Plaid” Distress Paint, then used the “Lumberjack Plaid” Distress Ink and Embossing Glaze for some depth and shine. After the Distress Glaze had cooled, I came back with some Lindy’s Embossing Powder and added it to the bottom half-ish of the chipboard to create a gradient-type effect (I just used the “Lumberjack Plaid” Distress Ink again for the Lindy’s since I already had it out!). Then the only thing left to do was glue my words, add my ribbon, and tuck in my photos.
I do hope I wasn’t too confusing in this blog post! If I was, the video should be far clearer!
Thank you for joining us here today at Tres Jolie! I hope you enjoyed this project and it gave you some ideas of what you can do with this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit!
Stay Crafty, Friends!
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! Did you see the Tres Jolie Kit Club October Kits yet? Aren’t they all just fabulous?
I must admit, I love pumpkins! As decoration. I won’t eat or drink them, but I love pumpkins and gourds as décor; so I was super excited to see this adorable Tres Jolie Chipboard Pumpkin Mini Album in the October Cards, Tags, & More Kit!
I used the amazing “Autumn Moods” papers from Craft o’ Clock found in the kit, and some beads and mediums from my stash to add some highlights.
Check out my video to see how easy this album comes together! All you really need are the papers and chipboard found in the kit – and a trusty pair of scissors – the mediums and embellishments are in my “use ‘em if you got ‘em” category! You can easily leave the chipboard plain – which in itself gives a rustic appearance! (Note: If you do use unfinished chipboard, wipe it down with a damp cloth/paper towel, or a baby wipe! The chipboard is laser cut, so there is often some sooty residue!)
There honestly isn’t a lot to describe for this mini album. The first thing I did was get all the cut apart pieces, cut apart. If you have an electronic cutting machine and a scanner (or camera), you may be able to speed up the “fussy cutting” process. (The most common ones I’m aware of is the Silhouette PixScan mats, the Brother Scan-n-Cut, and I don’t know about Cricut, but I would think they would have something.)
The same can be done with the pumpkin shape – you can scan one of the chipboard pieces, double-check the size, and then just cut them out. Or, as I showed in my video, it’s easy enough to trace the shape lightly onto the patterned paper and cut it out.
To prepare my chipboard, I grabbed up my jar of TCW’s “Marigold” Stencil Butter and brushed it all along the edges of all of the pages and the front of the cover piece.
In addition to the Stencil Butter, I used some Halloween & Holiday Distress Crayons (2021 & 2022 releases) to add a little more shine, color, and highlights to the outside of the cover pieces. For the front cover, before adding the patterned paper, using my water brush, I added “Crooked Broomstick,” “Decayed,” “Tree Lot,” and “Bubbling Cauldron” to color the leaves and vines, then a little “Burning Ember,” and “Jack-O-Lantern” to add a little shading on top of the Stencil Butter.
With the Crayons added to the front cover, I started the process of gluing all of the patterned paper down to the chipboard – adding my flip-outs and eyelets as I went along. On the front cover, I used some Diamond Glaze – making sure all of the swirls and curls were glued down – because it dries very clear and I knew I’d be coming back later to add a bit more decoration to the front. For every other page, I just used some Art Glitter Glue.
When I added the eyelet to the front cover, it was a little off-center, which left an edge sticking out. I trimmed off that edge, but I also wanted to cover the sharp metal, so I just dabbed on some 3D Matte Gel. Even though it wasn’t in the original plan, I think adding that little extra bit of texture worked out well, especially after I added some of the Distress Crayons to it!
I also did distress the edges of every page, only the patterned paper on the two cover pieces and the tops of the little pockets from the cut-apart sheets.
On a few pages, I wanted to add some little flip-outs, so I traced the shape of the album onto the patterned paper but left off the leaves and vines – just hand drawing the rest of the pumpkin top – and cut a tab at the edge that would be the hinge. I cut the tab to tuck into a slot I had cut using my craft knife before gluing the patterned paper down to the chipboard.
As I was working, I decided I wanted to add a little extra reinforcement to the hinging edges of the flip-outs to help keep the paper from weakening and potentially tearing with use. I didn’t use any type of special tape, just regular gift wrapping tape that I aged with some alcohol inks.
For this tape, I used Ranger “Sunshine” and “Eggplant” alcohol inks to go with the autumn colors of the patterned paper, but I have used Ranger’s “Caramel” and “Ginger” to create the more “traditional” aged tape pieces.
For the little pockets, I just used my Art Glitter Glue to hold them down, but for my tuck-in spots, I used my hot glue gun so I would be able to give them a little extra lift off the surface of the page.
You can use some of the longer tags, or cut out some stripes to create one or more belly bands for your album if you would like! For the page above, I just tucked the top and bottom of one of the longer tags under and glued them down to the page.
I added some of my faux vintage tape to the bends and edges of the envelopes since I decided not to glue their edges closed.
For the tag on the envelope above, I created some faux brad heads using a few small beads and Diamond Glaze.
With so many cut-apart pieces to choose from, it’s super easy to create layers in your clusters for some added dimension!
I used the “Decayed” Distress Crayon on the edges of all the cut-apart pieces (fussy cuts) to soften the white of the edges.
Now the only thing that is left is adding any photos or ephemera to this adorable pumpkin album!
And that was all there was to put the inside of this little pumpkin together!
Before I added everything to the book ring I was using, I added the final details to the cover pieces. On the front cover, I used a small paint brush to add some Micro Glaze to the patterned paper to give it a layer of protection so the two purple Distress Crayons (“Hocus Pocus” and “Fortune Teller”) I used wouldn’t just soak in and leave “stains.” After the paper was protected, I added my purple, spread it around some with my water brush, and let it dry. After that had dried, I added a couple different glass beads inside a few areas of the cover using my Diamond Glaze, and after that was set up, I brushed on some more Diamond Glaze and sprinkled on a few microbeads.
For the back cover, I gave the patterned paper a coating of the Micro Glaze, watered down and mixed together the purple Crayons on my mat, and just set the back cover on that mix letting the color go where ever it wanted!
When everything had dried, I added my pages to a book ring and used the same fine jute twine on the tags to tie one of the leaf charms to the ring.
Thank you for joining me here in my corner! If you haven’t had a chance to start playing with your kit(s) this month, I hope this project will give you some ideas of what you can do with your October Cards, Tags, & More Kit!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! Welcome to (hopefully!) the crisp, cool days of October and the reveal of this month’s kits!! Make sure to get yours before they’re gone!
Be sure you are following us on all social media platforms (Tres Jolie Kit Club links at end of post; Corner Scraps links to the right) and have joined the Tres Jolie Kit Club Facebook Café so you won’t miss a single announcement or project created with these kits.
The October 2022 Scrapbooking Kit is filled with the Rustic Dreams collection pack from the new-to-us company Memory Place. These papers are perfect for building up all of your projects! Fantastic floral, distressed wood, and grungy walls – you’ll find it all in this month’s Scrapbooking Kit! You will find a lovely assortment of patterned papers and perfectly coordinated embellishments.
Who’s ready to get spooky? This month’s Mixed Media Kit has a fabulous Tres Jolie MDF Bat Base ready for you to build your Halloween – or year-round! – décor piece! You’ll find a bottle of FolkArt Purple Glitter Paint, Tim Holtz Crackle Paint, DecoFoil glue pen and foil sheets, and some Lindy’s “Black Hole Black” Magical powder that is perfect for creating a beautiful, deep (DEEP!) black. And the best part? The kits can be used with each other!
In this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit, you’ll find a fabulous pumpkin-shaped Tres Jolie Chipboard mini album ready for you to decorate and personalize using the beautiful autumn papers and cut-apart sheets from Craft o’ Clock. There is so much you can do with this kit! After you’ve put your album together, you will still have plenty of material to make some cards, tags, or whatever you can think of! Who doesn’t like being able to create a variety of projects from one kit?
These kits are for the beginner to the advanced; from clean and simple – to mixed media maven. No matter your style, there is something for everyone. We know you are going to love it!
And now (drumroll, please) the October 2022 Kits from Tres Jolie:
Scrapbooking Kit
Mixed Media Kit
Cards, Tags, & More Kit
Don’t forget to stop by the Tres Jolie YouTube channel and see our video reveal for all our kits.
Love them, right?!?! You can still get one of your own (some kits are in very limited quantities). Become a subscriber and you will never miss out on our gorgeous, coordinated kits. Just visit Tres Jolie Subscribe.
The designers at Tres Jolie have created some amazing layouts and projects with this kit. Here is a little tease from me using the Cards, Tags, & More Kit:
Please stop by the other designer’s blogs (listed below) and check out their sneak peeks:
We have a new mood board challenge for the month, with the following rules and guidelines:
Place your entries in the October 2022 challenge folder on the Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page. This challenge ends on October 31st, 2022 at 11:59 pm CST. All entries must be in this folder to be eligible for the prize (to have everyone eligible to win, we are limiting the same winner to once every 3 months).
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
All the designers will be revealing their projects on the Tres Jolie Blog all month long. Make sure you join us for tons of inspiration, including video and photo tutorials. Also, make sure you check out the newest Tres Jolie Chipboard designs that were just added to the store.
Hey, y’all! The project I have for you this week is a mini album I created using items from my stash and this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club – along with a card to go along with the album using the card blank from the kit!
This album is sized just right to be able to use the Craft Consortium Belle Fleur papers in the kit without having to piece any together – in other words, the circles are slightly under six inches!
Make sure to check out my video to see how I put this album together and what I did to create my card!
Front and back cover piece measurements.
Inside pages measurements.
For my cover, I added a little batting to the underside of some stretch (faux) suede and then wrapped it around pieces of heavy chipboard for the back and front covers and carefully stitched about 1/4” from the edge (the spine is also heavy chipboard, but it doesn’t have batting or the fabric). I wanted to add a little something extra to break up the solid brown of the fabric, so I added some interfacing to the back of a piece of the Finnabair Decorative Paper that was in the July Mixed Media Kit, and some iron-on vinyl to the front to turn that paper into something that would be sturdy enough to be used on the front side of an album!
After all my fabric and paper were in place, I added some of the Belle Fleur rub-ons where the two materials met. I wasn’t sure how well they would stick to the fabric, but it was easy! I had to rub a little harder to get to the solid surface (the chipboard/my desk!) because of the batting, but it wasn’t a difficult process at all. To give the rub-ons a little extra protection I sprayed the cover with some ScotchGard and dabbed on some matte gel to help hold them down (do this very gently, because they liked to stick to my fingertip).
With the matte gel dry, I added my macramé cord along the edge of the decorative paper and the seam side of my cover circles – using the cord to finish the circle. Then I popped on the wicker hearts, some of the Prima flowers, the enamel dots, and my bit of ribbon. To harden the ribbon so it would hold the wave, I soaked it in some (water-thinned) Glossy Accents, placed it on the cover, and shaped it, then brushed on a layer of the Glossy Accents to really get it to hold its shape.
My spine is (about) 1-5/8” (41mm) wide and 4” (102mm) tall. The inside of the chipboard is covered with some of the same decorative paper used on the outside with some iron-on adhesive on the back to act as a “moisture barrier” so the glue doesn’t soak through and without vinyl. I did however use some of the vinyl-coated decorative paper to cover and reinforce the rectangle sections of the pages and to create the hinges. There is approximately 1/8” (32mm) space between the pages and from the edges of the spine to the first and last pages.
Photo page ring measurements.
Photo mat measurements.
For the inside, the Craft Consortium patterned paper on the front and back covers and the pages are 5-7/8” (149mm) circles. I distressed the edges of the circles with my scissors, added some of the chalk ink from the kit, and added some vintage-style crochet lace to create pockets on the inside front and back covers then started adding my photo windows.
The acetate and rings are not flush with the surface of the page, I left a little space to allow some room for a photo to be added to the photo mat and still have space to slide in and out. The windows are layered as follows (top to bottom):
Patterned paper ring
Cardstock ring
Acetate
Craft foam ring
Cardstock ring
Just remember to only glue half of the ring onto the page – starting at the widest point – or your opening will be too small for the photo mat! The photo mat is a 5” (127mm) circle of cardstock, and I added a little piece of the Belle Fleur trim to use as a pull tab, with some stitching and glossy accents to reinforce it.
My card is really a lot simpler than it may first appear! I used the chalk ink from the kit along all of the edges of the card, then added my patterned papers to the back and flaps. It was at this point that I took everything over to my sewing machine and added a line of stitching – sewing the outside papers to the card base, adding stitches to the papers that would be going on the inside, and adding stitches to the two circle halves.
I grabbed up my “Royal Purple” StazOn and created a ring of stamping around the card front and attached the two circle halves with some double-sided foam to give it a little lift. The doily is cut using a Dress My Craft die from a previous kit and the heart is a Sizzix die that came with my Big Shot Plus. To get that doily and the flowers to really pop from the background, I added some “Villainous Potion” Distress Ink along the outside edges. The heart is coated in a mix of the Distress Ink and the “Pale Brown” chalk ink.
There is a stretch of trim across the front of the card, cut slightly over the halfway mark for the opening, and the flowers run along that trim. The closure for the card is a couple of tiny magnets placed behind the (right) edge of the heart and one of the petals of the flowers, so now it stays closed and looks like it is all one piece, but is very easy to open!
The final details of the card are rub-on flowers that I added a layer of Glossy Accents to, some of the enamel dots, and a rub-on sentiment on the heart – also with a layer of Glossy Accents.
The inside of my card has the patterned papers glued in and it’s ready for personalization – which I would probably do by printing the message on some coordinating vellum and gluing it in place.
To make my envelope match the card, I blended on some of the Villainous Potion and stamped on a couple of flowers using my Royal Purple StazOn topped with Pumice Stone Distress Oxide. I used the Pumice Stone because by this point I had used every last drop of the chalk ink between last week’s project and the album! Plus, the Pumice Stone is a perfect match for the colors on the card! Then, to finish it up, I blended some of the Pumice Stone onto the envelope.
Thank you for joining me here in my corner! I hope you enjoyed this mini-album and card and they gave you some ideas of what you can make using the papers and the card blank in this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
The year is already half over, and now we count down to autumn and winter to get relief from this summer heat! (Seriously, is it October yet? )
Have you had a chance to dig into your Cards, Tags, & More Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club yet? There is a fabulous folio kit and some gorgeous Graphic 45 papers in it – which is what I have for you for my first project of July!
I have a video up showing how I decorated my folio – I didn’t put mine together fully to start; I left my pockets and flaps unattached until after they were decorated! I don’t show the assembly of the folio, because I felt it would add unnecessary time to the video since it has instructions in the package, and Photoplay Paper has a step-by-step; follow-along assembly video on their YouTube channel.
Video:
I really wanted to make my cover one continuous image, and I ended up using all three of the “Living the Simple Cottage Life” sheets from the paper pack to do it! I hadn’t originally planned to add the extra garden scene as a flap, but as I started going along, I knew I really liked that image as a whole.
I have stitching as a border for all my patterned paper pieces, sometimes added to just the Graphic 45 paper, sometimes I stitched the Graphic 45 paper to the folio piece (this was semi-planned out – for me anyhow! – and is why I didn’t attach all the folio pieces in the beginning!). I also grabbed up my Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and inked around the edges of all my Graphic 45 pieces and the bits of chipboard I added on.
When it came time to add my finishing touches, I had the little round piece of chipboard and the rectangle left of my ink pieces, and decided to pop them onto the cover – finding out the round one makes a nice little “door knob” at the edge of my flap!
On the inside of the left flap, even though I used some strong double-sided tape to attach my extra flap, I added a piece of the chipboard to help stabilize that addition. You can see how I covered the larger folio cover flap with one sheet of the paper and, very carefully, lined up the pieces on the shorter cover flap and my additional flap.
For almost every piece of Graphic 45 paper I used to decorate the folio, I waited until after I added the stitching to distress and ink the edges. However, on the pieces I stitched onto the folio parts I hadn’t attached yet – pockets & flaps – I distressed and inked the edges before stitching them together.
I made up a few specimen tags and used some of the chipboard pieces to make my samples, sandwiching my samples between some iron-on vinyl, then attaching everything with a brad from my stash.
I cut out some of the cards from the cut-apart sheets in the paper pack and just added some stitching to them and backed them with some bits of index cards so there would be a place to write.
While some of the cards were tucked into pockets, I left some of them out and just used some paperclips to hold them to the edges of the pages.
With the largest specimen, I didn’t attach the chipboard frame to the card, but just tucked them into a pocket together and held them in place with a paperclip.
For the flap of the pocket that is on the (inside) back panel, I stitched the top piece of patterned paper to the flap, then added my stitching to the paper that was going on the underside before gluing it in place. I didn’t stitch all three together, because when sewing through paper the underside of the stitch holes tend to be rougher. After my flap was together I stuck it down in place before adding the blue & white paper so the flap edge would be covered.
For these two pockets, I layered up some of the papers and cards to cover them, then cut a couple more cards down to fit and added some tabs so they would be easier to pull out. The backs have an index card attached, and the tabs are just made from of the strips of patterned paper I had leftover after all the cutting.
As you can see, I used the same patterned paper for both the insides and outsides of the spines; I added my stitching and inking to the back paper and glued it down.
The three specimen samples I have on brads allow them to be spun off to the side to see the card underneath or hang over the edge of the pocket they are in. All of the flowers I used came from my yard – I had picked and dried them a couple of months ago – so I know they are free of pesticides! And even though I didn’t get the cards filled out (yet), I even know what a couple of them are!
Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed seeing how I decorated my Photoplay Folio-4 found in this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit!
This week’s project is a paper bag journal using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club, some kraft stock and transparencies from my stash, and of course, paper bags. I just searched through my stash until I came across some items that I’ve had for ages – and decided I needed to quit hoarding them! Plus, the kraft stock matches the paper bags!
Check out the video to see how this little journal came together!
Video:
Pretty quick and simple, right? You don’t need “special” tape for this journal – clear packing tape works just fine and goes much better with the transparencies!
For the cover, I grabbed up one of the Tres Jolie Chipboard butterflies, coated it with some white gesso, and added a couple of the Finnabair Mica’s from this month’s Mixed Media Kit using the Liquid Color Fluid Medium from March’s Mixed Media Kit to make those mica’s permanent. I used my JudiKins Diamond Glaze to get a nice seal with the cover. I didn’t mind the Diamond Glaze leaking out some, because I was already planning to add it to the top of the butterfly to give it a bit of a curved surface and now my butterfly almost looks like it has welded seams! After the cover was dry, I popped on a few of the Say-It-In-Crystal’s and called it done.
I’m not going to show every page in the journal, I’m just going to focus on the ones that have pockets – some are “plain,” but I’ll explain that reasoning closer to the end. I didn’t close up any of the bag openings, I decided to turn them all into side pockets – including the cover. I covered the bags with the patterned paper and used a hexagon punch to make some thumb holes.
I turned one of the kraft sheets into a pocket with a flap and added some of the patterned paper inside for a spot of color.
For all of my bends and hinges, I used regular packing tape because I wanted to add some reinforcement, but I didn’t want it to really stand out.
My journal is comprised of three paper bags, three kraft sheets, and three transparencies – layered like this:
Paper bag Cover with reinforced spine and eyelets added
Kraft stock – transparency – paper bag connected with eyelets
Kraft stock – transparency – paper bag connected with eyelets
Kraft stock & transparency connected with eyelets
I wanted to reinforce my holes, but I didn’t have long eyelets, so I just decided to make sections, then I used some macramé cord to tie it all together.
I really like using the printed transparencies because they make clear pockets, but are not totally see-through because of the print – plus I would sometimes add some strips of patterned paper to one side to create some visual interest. As you can see in the above image, some of the pages made from a transparency have side openings.
A couple more side open pockets, and one of the paper bag bottoms – which I talk about a few paragraphs down.
Some pocket pages were made from one of the transparencies and from one of the kraft sheets (I just used a scrap of patterned paper here to show the pockets).
The center of my journal is one of the transparencies turned into side pockets. When I put my eyelets in, I thought about how they would be facing so the finished side would be showing in the center.
For the pages made from the bottoms of the paper bags, I covered the bag with bits of leftover patterned paper and made two shallow pockets. Where the bottom folded up flat I added some glue along the edges to make one pocket, then added a strip of patterned paper about halfway up to create a second pocket.
As you can see, this journal is filled with pockets that you can tuck all your photos and notes into! And the reason for the “plain” pages? So you can grab up some colored pencils, markers, crayons, pens, etc., and add your own touch – maybe based on whatever mood you’re feeling at that given moment.
Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed this paper bag journal and it gave you some ideas of what you can do with some “plain” cardstock you have in your stash and this month’s Cards, Tags, and More Kit.
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
In addition to the items from this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit (*from previous Tres Jolie Kits) I used:
*Finnabair Liquid Color Fluid Medium; printed kraft stock; unknown transparency; Little Yellow Bicycle Transparencies: Generation Z “Silver Metallic Wing” & “Silver Metallic Argyle;” paper lunch bags; We R Memory Keepers eyelets & Crop-A-Dile II; EK Tools Score Board; Fiskar’s 1.5” Hexagon Punch; Aleene’s Tacky Glue; packing tape (I used Duck brand because that’s what I had!); Double-Sided Tape 1-inch, 1/4-inch, & 1/8-inch; a small piece of chipboard for the spine; Bead Landing Creations 3mm Single Ply Macramé Cords
Hey, y’all! Welcome back to the Corner Scraps Blog! For my final February project I have a little keychain album I made for the Tres Jolie Kit Club using (almost) the last of my February Cards, Tags, & More Kit, a cut file I made for the page shapes, and some items from my stash to document (part of) a trip I took in 1997. Check out my video to see how I put this little album all together.
Video:
Easy peasy, right? A little cutting, sewing, and gluing, and I have a little album will some photos from a trip I took! I left the backs of my pages blank, because I’ll have to use the power of the Internet to look up Hearst Castle and record what it was I saw back in 1997, but other than that, it was a simple project I put together in no time!
I grabbed up some alphas from my stash to create my title page, and just hand wrote the year in. Since I had some of my mini envies left from my Cards project, I decided to add a few throughout the album. I stitched my pages together, without worrying about “neatness”, because sometimes that rough look works just fine!
Some of my pages have two photos attached with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher – usually if the photos were the same item but at a different angle. I used some embossing powder from my stash, and cut up one of the Tres Jolie Chipboard pieces to scatter throughout the album.
I used every flower from the 49 & Market pack that came in the kit! Those mini flowers were perfect for an album of this size! I even grabbed up the stamp set and added some random lines of music.
Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed this project and it gave you some ideas of what you can do using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit!
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C.J.'s Corner Scraps 