Hey, y’all! Have you opened your Tres Jolie May Mixed Media Kit yet? Have you seen all the creative fun you can have with it? I was over the moon excited when I saw the PearlEx powders! I love blues and teals! And a blank coaster set to decorate? How awesome is that? You can easily use these coasters as they are – just adding some kind of protective surface like epoxy resin (self-leveling!) when you have them decorated – or you can use them as mini-art boards and use them as home décor if you want! Endless possibilities!
However, I just already happened to have some square silicone coaster molds and epoxy resin, so I created a coaster set! I added some heavy white gesso from my stash, used the Tim Holtz stencils, Seth Apter texture paste, and the PearlEx “MicroPearl” powder from the kit, and decorated one side of the Dress My Craft coasters. I have a process video for you, make sure to check it out!
Creating these coasters wasn’t at all very difficult! Waiting for the epoxy resin to cure was the most time-consuming! I hadn’t originally planned on using the silicone molds I’ve had for a few years now, but after I added the texture paste to the coaster blanks, I decided to see how well they would fit into the molds. They weren’t a “perfect” fit – the blanks were a hair larger – but I decided it was close enough for me to work with!
To start, I coated one side of the coasters with some heavy gesso, and after the gesso had dried, I added random stenciling using the Tim Holtz Stencils and Seth Apter Texture paste found in this month’s kit.
While the texture paste was still wet, I sprinkled on some of the “MicroPearl” PearlEx Powder, spritzed it with water, and then let everything air dry.
I started my resin process by only adding a thin layer to the mold and letting the resin pool whichever way it decided to. Then, on the now-hardened pools of resin, I added some of the Transfer Me pieces. The next step was to add some color! After I mixed up a batch of resin, I separated some of it into three small cups so I could mix in the three PearlEx powders. I didn’t stir my colors together in the mold, instead, I pressed the texture paste coated coasters in and let any extra just flow over the bottom – which also has a lovely pattern!
After this batch of resin had cured, I unmolded the coasters and added more of the Transfer Me designs to the surface.
To seal up and protect the final Transfer Me design, I used my gloved hands to spread a light coating of epoxy across the surface.
I will be taking my coaster out to the workshop to smooth out the bottom edges a little from when I pushed the Dress My Craft coasters into the molds and then adding a second thin coat of resin all over the surface of the coaster, but overall, these coasters are done! If my resin hadn’t tried to get away from me too badly when I squished the Dress My Craft coasters in, I don’t think I would have even had to do any cleanup!
Thank you for joining me here on the blog today! I hope you enjoyed my coaster-making process and it gave you some ideas of what you can do with all the goodies found in this month’s Mixed Media Kit!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! Is it May already? WOW! But at least that means it’s time for new Tres Jolie Kits! YAY! As always, these kits are FAB-U-LOUS and perfect for your May creations!
Summer is drawing nearer, soon the season of swimming, bar-b-que’s, and campfires will be in full swing! Make sure you have your Tres Jolie Kit Club kits so you can create your summer memory crafts and preserve your summer memories! Be sure to get your kits before they’re gone! Or, better yet, subscribe to Tres Jolie Kit Club so you will never miss a kit!
Be sure you follow us on all social media platforms (Tres Jolie Kit Club links at the end of the 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 May 2023 Scrapbooking Kit is filled with the wonderful 12”x12” Collection Pack, Laser Cut Elements, and Tag Set from 49 & Market’s Everywhere line! You will also find 49 & Market coordinating flower packs, and fabulous Tres Jolie Chipboard geotags and compass pieces! As always, these papers will be amazing for all your upcoming projects, whether they are beautiful layouts, junk journals, cards, or anything in between! You will find a lovely assortment of patterned papers and perfectly coordinated embellishments.
In the Mixed Media Kit, you will find beautiful PearlEx Pigment Powders in Micropearl, Aqua-Blue, and Sky Blue! These pigment powders will add beautiful color to the IzinkFlakey Texture Paste by Seth Apter if you choose or can be used to add some accent color to the Dress My CraftTransfer Me 3D White Damask’s. Decorate the coaster blanks from Dress My Craft using the Tim HoltzMini Stencils, and add more or a different, texture with some art stones! No matter what you decide to do, the Mixed Media Kit is sure to give you hours of happy craft time!
In the Cards, Tags, & More Kit, you will find a 6”x8” patterned paper pad and cardstock stickers from BoBunny’s Garden Grove collection that you can use to create unique cards using the solid cardstock sheets from the kit, decorate the tags found in the kit, create some ATCs, or whatever you can think of! Who doesn’t like creating 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 May 2023 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. I have had a busy April, but I have one sneak peek for you!
Please stop by the other designer’s blog to 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 April 2023 challenge folder on the Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page. This challenge ends on April 30th, 2023 at 11:59 pm CDT. All entries must be in this folder to be eligible for the prize (to have everyone eligible to win, we limit 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. Be 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! For my final project of October for Tres Jolie Kit Club, I have some November Memory Dex Cards for you. I don’t have a card for every day of the month – although I think it is possible with all of the “(Inter)National Day of’s …”. I just picked the more commonly known days – and National Button Day, since we are all crafters here!
The video is a quick watch – most of the project is die cutting, layering, and gluing – so I really spend the majority of the video time with the assembly of the shaker card and I give an overview of what mediums I used.
First, a warning and apology! I am in the process of switching my recording and editing programs, and had to work out which settings were best for these new programs – so the audio for about half the video is … less than ideal. Fortunately, I think I have it worked out now, unfortunately, it is during the shaker assembly. Sorry! It really got down to the wire of working with what I had, or not being done in time!
My shaker card was the most involved card created! I decided what I really “needed” for this project was to create a large, maple leaf shaped Memory Dex card. Over on my Flickr, you can find the full-sized .jpegs of the shaker parts and my little calendar to use in your personal project(s).
I doubled up the card part of the shaker – made using some cardstock from my stash – so it would have a little extra stability when on the Rolodex tracks since it is heavier than a “regular” card. To make my solid cardstock not so solid looking, I inked up the edges with my Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide, gave it a splatter of water, dabbed up the excess, and dried everything before I glued down the solid leaf, cut from some of the patterned paper from the kit and trimmed off the bit of extra stem from the bottom.
To create my spacer ring I cut two of the outline pieces and used some hot glue between them. And honestly, I think I might have found a favorite way to create the space needed for shakers! There is no dry time, no cutting, and scissors work to trim off any parts that seep out. All I had to do is keep moving so I wouldn’t get any piled up, and if a spot got skipped over, it was easy to go back and fill it in.
For the leaf veins and “November,” I first used a gold marker in my Cameo to sketch the outlines, then I switched over to the blade to cut the pieces out. I left everything on my mat so it would be easier to work on when I added some gold foil transfer to them.
After the foil was on, I grabbed up a piece of acetate and stitched the veins and acetate together. To keep the feed-dogs of my sewing machine from marring the acetate, I just ran it through on top of a piece of tissue paper – which tears off from the stitches super easily! Then I glued down the acetate window piece to the spacer ring using some JudiKins Diamond Glaze.
Since I was in a “let’s see what I can use” mindset, wanted to add a little extra to the shaker and wanted to make sure the edges of the leaf vein cut weren’t going to snag on anything, I brushed on some Peeled Paint Stickles around the edge, and then used it to fill in along the hot glue edge to really “clean” it all up. Then the only thing left to do was flip the window over, add my sequins, and glue the base on.
After the shaker card, the rest of the cards were really just a matter of gluing all the die-cut pieces together! Each card has two layers – except the envelopes – one layer of cardstock, and one layer of patterned paper. I added a bit of random stitching and tucked in and layered up die-cuts and pieces from the cut-apart sheets in this month’s kit.
As I noted in the video, this was the day I discovered my printer had decided to retire, so my calendar is only a black-and-white printout, instead of the original design that I shared near the beginning of this post. The “Native American History Month” Card is actually one of the envelope cards, and inside it, I added a couple of little fact sheets printed from the National Congress of American Indians and the U.S. government’s Native American Heritage Month website. And of course, I have a card to remind me that Daylight Savings Time ends on the sixth, and we “Fall Back” an hour.
The eighth is our mid-term elections here in the U.S., and since I believe voting is highly important and something that should be taken seriously, I had to make a card for that day. The eighth is also the first full moon of November, known as the Beaver Moon or Frost Moon. On the eleventh, we have Veteran’s Day (also known as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day), [originally] to commemorate the end of World War I. For my November 13th card, I have another envelope, but I didn’t to say anything on the outside other than “Fun Day” since it is the Ides of November and the Festival of (the Roman God) Jupiter. And of course, as I mentioned at the start of this post, I have my National Button Day card.
For my last two cards, I have one for (American) Thanksgiving – which signals the start of the Holiday shopping season, so I had to make a card for Small Business Saturday! Don’t forget to support small businesses!!
I used a set of Hampton Art Alpha stamps with my Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide or one of my StazOn inks to stamp the titles and dates and sometimes added some gold embossing powder to make areas stand out a bit more.
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 make using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit! Make sure you check back with us on Tuesday when the November Kits are revealed! You’re going to love them!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
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!
Hey, y’all! I have my last project using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club for you today, a little, zipper-closed, tag flip book that is just perfect for jotting down notes to yourself – things you want to remember – ephemera you may want to tuck away, or just a little place to doodle in. This project is completely customizable – you can use whatever materials and colors you want. And the best part? It doesn’t even have to make sense to anybody else! It’s all you!
I had quite a pile of tags already die-cut from my previous two Cards Kit projects this month that my original thought was to make a tag flip booklet that went on a book ring, but then I started laying out all my tags, and realized that what I really wanted to do was make something a little more interactive – and this was the result! Check out the video to see how I put it all together.
Video:
I still had a lot of die cuts left from my Memory Dex Cards, so I added them to this project. Both the butterfly on the front cover and the flower on the back were cut out of the leftover handmade paper I had from my Junk Journal project that was posted on the 9th. I added some of the Eyelet Outlet Jewels to my butterfly body and popped on a few of the Prima flowers. You can see the random, wayward stitching that I used for my zipper, who knows what kind of stitching I would have used if I had thought about a zipper closure before putting everything together!
Want to add a bit of personalization to your cover material? For me, a paint pen was the way to go! A regular pen, or even a gel pen, wouldn’t work so well on this rough burlap, a marker would probably work some, but I think a paint pen was best because I can make dots just by holding the nib down and letting the paint pool.
I just grabbed up some washi tape I’ve had for years with quotes on it and ran it across all the back tags, then ran some silver dot washi across the top of the left side of the booklet, and the bottom of the right side to fill in a little more and give some shine. I added brads to my tag holes – mostly to use them up – and added random stitching on my KaiserCraft white cardstock tabs to give them some color.
I had these little metal flips in my stash and decided to add them in with some silver brads to hold little stacks of the rest of the tags that weren’t sewn in as part of the booklet. You can also see that for some more personalization, I colored in the outer edge of my tab with a gel pen. No rhyme or reason, just grabbing up a pen that I felt like using at the moment! Having an assortment of pens comes in handy because it can also be a way to express the mood you’re feeling when adding to your booklet.
When it came time to put my third Cards Kit project of the month together, I found myself staring at tags and die-cuts I had already made on leftover handmade paper, and the beginning of an idea to do something that opened in more than one direction. I just started laying tags out, trying to build the “direction” of everything in my mind as I went, so I didn’t just make a booklet that had “pages” that turned from right-to-left. I cut off bits of the burlap and canvas to make flip-up, flip-downs, and flip-outs. When I ran my washi across, I wrapped it around the tags that were “pages” (not the ones made to flip up or down). I didn’t want to stamp on all of my tags, and I didn’t want to cover the whole surface – there needed to be someplace to write – so I left some of the tags bare and added in the rest of the tags I had cut.
With some of the smaller die cuts – either solid shapes or outlines/frames – that were from the KaiserCraft white cardstock, I added some of the silver polka-dot washi tape and some stitching around the edges. If it was just an outline, I folded the tape in half so it would stick to itself, and used it as the center of the die-cut, which was also folded in half.
As you can see, there are loads of places to write little notes or tuck in bits of ephemera you want to keep!
Thank you for joining me here in my little corner, I hope you enjoyed this little tag flip booklet and it gave you some ideas for making your own personalized little booklet.
We’re halfway through June, and this week I have some Memory Dex cards for you that I created using items from this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club and items from my stash – quite a few from previous Tres Jolie Kits! Check out my video to see what I did for each of the cards I made – then grab up your supplies and create your own Memory Dex card(s).
I had bought the Heidi Swapp Memory Dex Spinner quite some time ago, and had originally thought of grabbing up some spray paint and changing the color – I might still do that – but I grabbed it up for this project so I’d have someplace to put my cards when they were done, and to make sure I didn’t make them too tall to clear the bottom! Depending on what kind of “–dex” system you have – be it a spinner, a box, something vintage, or something custom made – you can get very creative on how your Memory Dex cards are made! If, for example, you have the Memory Dex Box, you don’t have to worry about height, only width! (After this project was completed I happened to find a vintage Rolodex® system that would allow cards to fit in without any height or width restrictions!! *happy dance*)
Video:
A closer look at the cards I made:
My Concord & 9th “Lucky” Die cuts the three layers – thick line and outline from one die, thin line from another – so I made two lucky cards. The thick line and outline were cut from a half sheet of the white cardstock that I hand-inked up using a variety of Distress Oxides from my stash. The white pieces were from another partial sheet of the KaiserCraft cardstock, and on some of those, like the butterfly, I added some Distress Oxide to give a pop of color. I didn’t have any particular plans when I set out to make my cards, I just cut a lot of pieces and started layering; generally ending with a few of the Eyelet Outlet jewels and/or some of the small Prima butterflies.
I made my “Imagine” card a shaker card by cutting a circle out of the pink striped paper from this month’s kit, adding a sheet of craft foam with a circle cut out as a spacer, and filling it with some of the beads and sequins from the Buttons Galore cube from Septembers (2021) Cards Kit. I just used some plastic from an old package of die cuts – I often save the harder/stiffer plastic packaging for just this reason! – and stitched it in place with some metallic silver thread. My “Imagine” as a layer of the “Gamboge” Stencil Butter on it from the Mixed Media Kit and, while it was still wet, I sprinkled some Lindy’s Magical Powder on and spritzed it with a little water.
These two cards were really a couple of “let’s see how these parts work together” cards! The “grateful” card has a slot cut from the top (the label die from Tim Holtz’s “Stitched Slots”) that I just tucked a couple of large die cuts into after giving them a little color. The flower is just inked with some Distress Oxide, and the leaves have some Lindy’s Magical’s sprinkled on them. I cut the card from my inked KaiserCraft sheet, backed it with some of my leftover handmade paper, and added some stamping, jewels, & butterflies. The “grateful” had originally been stamped, but it didn’t show up very well, so I traced over it with a gel pen.
I wasn’t sure when I cut it if I would use the Bird Branch die, but I added some Magical’s, let it dry, and thought about what I’d do with it while working on other cards. Eventually, it came time to play with it, and I found that I liked how it looked with the oval frame, but the frame needed some color too! So on went some Magical and PearlEx powders. The card is another cut from my inked sheet and has some of the “Grecian Gold” Modeling paste (from the Mixed Media Kit this month!) dabbed on with my finger for a little shine. Then, to add a bit from this month’s Card’s Kit, I popped on a tab punched from one of the papers, added some orange jewels, and a Tim Holtz “Small Talk” sticker from my stash.
These two Memory Dex cards were made from a piece of scrap cardstock that I practiced a couple of mixed media ideas on. I have some texture paste, mica powder, and Magical powder on the base tag/Memory Dex, then I stamped the butterfly from the stamp in this month’s kit, I cut a tag-shaped frame out from my inked paper, layered a couple of more tags vertically, popped in a flower, added my jewels and phrase.
While I was doing all of my cutting, I decided to make a round Memory Dex card, so I used one of my circle dies to cut out the inked stenciling I had done (stencil from this month’s Mixed Media kit!). I stamped on the butterfly and phrase, attached a rectangle bottom, and ran it through my sewing machine a few times. The final touches were some Distress Oxide around the edges and the jewels.
When I first started this card I had thought of just attaching the pocket to another card, but as I was putting it together, I decided that I much preferred the pocket as the card! The top slot is backed by some pink cardstock from my stash, and the rest of the slots are back with white cardstock – what had been the original Memory Dex shaped card. The Tim Holtz “Stitched Slots” die is the perfect size for the spinner, I just punched the slots at the bottom and popped it right on. I used some of the smaller tags, cut with the tag dies from this month’s kit and cut from this month’s papers, to stick on some “Small Talk” phrases and slipped them into the slots. They don’t weigh a lot, so the friction between the papers is enough to hold them in place when they are upside down on the spinner. I then just added some of my die-cut hearts, outlined them with a yellow gel pen, added the label, and another “Small Talk” sticker.
The card with the bicycle stamped on it was probably the fastest to put together because all I did is layer up the different circles I had already cut out! I used the pink striped circle to fill the circle in the card base, then put the layers through my Sizzix using the dot embossing folder that had come with the machine, added that half-circle with some Lindy’s Magical’s stenciled on, and then all of the other plain circles. To add some contrast to all those circles, I popped on one of the smallest tags, then stamped on the bicycle and added the butterfly and phrase.
My “Spring” card was my first of the batch! I trimmed an inch off the width of a 3”x5” index card so it would fit on the spinner, used the stamp from this month to just get the flowers to peek out from behind the tag, and splattered it with some “Lemon” Glossy Spray. The tag is from some pink cardstock I had that was already adhered to an adhesive sheet. I used the thin scraps from my Folio at the beginning of the month, and just randomly layered them on the adhesive. I then cut the tag using the next to largest die in the set, peeled the protective paper the rest of the way off, and brushed on some Finnabair Mica Powder. Then I just finished up the details with some flowers, jewels, a butterfly, and the small tag.
Lastly, my “document” card. The die-cut word was too long to fit on the Memory Dex Spinner, so I cut it where it could be hyphenated, clipped off an end of the cross-mark on the “t” to use as the hyphen, and layered up a couple tags and a tab on the base card. I used some of the “Grecian Gold” Modeling paste on “document,” the stars and diamonds are from my Concord & 9th Lucky Die Set, there’s a little stamping, and a few jewels, and this card was done!
Thank you for joining me here in my corner! I hope you enjoyed seeing these cards and they inspired you to make your own Memory Dex card or two!
Welcome to June! Did you get a chance to check out the kit reveals yesterday? This month’s kits are just fab!
For my first June project, I made a little tag-filled folio using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club, a few extras from my stash (ink, thread, & eyelets), and a cut file I created (I have the measurements I used listed below!).
So, grab your supplies and make yourself a little tag-folio!
I have a two-part tutorial (well, I talked a lot at any rate!) for this folio, part 1 is the tag cutting and base construction, and part 2 is the decorating and final touches. I go over cutting your folio base by hand if you aren’t using an electronic cutting machine, and my assembly process when putting everything together.
Part 1: Tag Cutting & Base Construction
Part 2: Decorating & Final Touches
First, a quick look at all the tags I made for my folio. I die cut a full sheet of the white cardstock, and six sheets of the patterned paper into a variety of tags – some to use this week, some to have ready for the rest of my projects this month. I used the white tags as my base, tore the patterned paper tags at about a 1/3rd – 2/3rd split, and mixed and matched the sides. I have had those butterfly eyelets for years now, and I thought it was about time to use some up, so I popped them into the holes on the tags.
I used a full sheet of the white cardstock to make my base. I have vertical score lines at 3-3/4”, 4”, 4-1/4”, 7-3/4”, 8”, and 8-1/4” and a horizontal score line 6” from the top. I didn’t cut the bottom 1/2” with the barcode and “KaiserCraft” off my sheet, so I have a score line at 12” also. I actually used that little bit during the construction to “protect” the bottom edges of my pockets during construction! Check out the image below to see all the measurements, plus I have some slot placement templates.
Slot Measurements:
Slot positioning templates are available as a PDF from my personal (non-Tres Jolie!!) DropBox for personal use only, please (attribution appreciated, but not required). When printed, the panels should be 4”x6” for an easy lineup with your edges and score lines – although printers & printer settings may vary! (Note: when testing, I made sure to print “actual size” from the printer dialog box and not “to fit” because Adobe and/or my printer wanted to make the 8-1/2”x11” image smaller to fit with margins on an 8-1/2”x11” sheet of paper!)
I made a pocket for each slot of my folio, but I have also added the measurements for alternate pockets so you have a variety to choose from:
*Measurements are to the center of the slot*
Part 1 of my videos covers the construction of the folio base, so I’ll just add some refresher details here on the blog. I lined my pockets up carefully, and got them in place – they are sized to be able to just be folded in half to fit – more or less – there may be a couple that requires some tweaking by folding slightly more than half. I used a combination of double-sided tape and glue to hold everything together – because I like adhesion! You could easily put it all together with just one or the other!!
Before I folded the folio over to close it up, I added a length of the seam binding from the kit across the middle, cut a slot in the hinge between the middle and last panel so I could feed the seam binding through and I would be able to tie it together when that last panel was folded in. For the end of the seam binding that came out of the edge of the folio, I added a couple of tiny staples to help keep it in place through all the tying.
I wanted to reinforce the hinges some, but I didn’t want to add a lot of bulk, so I used the cover sheet from the paper pack to reinforce the hinges on the [folded over] inside of the folio and to reinforce and add some more color to the hinges between the panels on the [visible] inside of the folio. After I had the folio folded in half and glued together, I added the last bit of seam binding to the outside of my hinges to help reinforce all the bending of the paper and cardstock.
With my base finally put together, it was time to start getting the finishing touches done, so I added the papers I had chosen for the outside of the folio. Since I was going to be adding stitching around my edge, I didn’t worry about making sure my adhesive went all the way to the edge, if you aren’t going to add stitching, you will want to make sure you have a secure seal so your cover paper doesn’t pull up!
Even though I wasn’t going to be doing my stitching yet, I wanted to get my holes made so I would know where my stitching would be, so I made a template that would help me make sure everything was spaced evenly and lined up where I wanted them. You can grab that template as a PDF from my personal DropBox if you would like to use it for your personal folio. I have it made to print on two sheets, with a little overlap in the middle to help line the holes up. Printers being what they are, you may or may not get lucky enough to have it print “perfect!” I didn’t get that lucky, but my second page was only a hair “off” so it wasn’t a big problem. (Note: Just like with the slot templates, make sure you print “actual size” and not “to fit”!)
After my holes were all poked through, I cut some 3/16” stripes of white cardstock and a 1/8” strip to use as a spacer so I could even out how my hinge papers looked. I used the 1/8” strip to add the space between the edges of the holes and the edge of the 3/16” strip. I also added 3/16” strips to the outer [vertical] edges so my slot reinforcements would sit evenly (I also have a layer of cardstock under slot reinforcements – so my tag slots are super reinforced now!). I inked up my slot covers and glued them in place.
Now it was finally time to start thinking about how I wanted to decorate the folio, and which finishing touches I wanted to add. I used my “Royal Purple” StazOn to stamp my butterfly images and to dye my seam binding tie closure. For my main image/cluster, I go over getting permanent ink to bleed out and create the shadow effect in the second video. A helpful “fix” for images that don’t stamp clearly! (Personally, if I were to do this project again, I would add my stamping to the cover paper before adding it to the folio. It was all the pocket layers that caused the stamping issues because it was no longer flat!) Anyhow, even if something goes “wrong,” there is always a “fix.” In this case, I used some 91% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to cause my StazOn to bleed. I added my inks to the cardstock, then stamped the image on and fussy cut it out. The flowers and leaves are glued flat to the surface, offset just a touch to give a shadow effect, and the butterfly is popped up on some foam. The rest of the images I just stamped and left however they came out. (I did use a strip of cardstock to protect my seam binding covered hinges when I wanted to stamp across them.) I popped on some of the orange pearls and thought about what I wanted to add to the panel that folds in.
On that third panel that folds in, I didn’t want to just leave it blank, so I added a couple of the tags I had cut out. I glued the middle-sized tag on white cardstock near the bottom horizontally and added a tag in the next size up (second largest) as a flap with a simple tab added on. The “bloom” was stamped using the P13 stamp set that had been in February’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit.
Finally, I decided it was time to add my stitching! I just have a simple blanket stitch around the outside of the folio and some straight stitching along the hinges. I added some extra stitching to wrap up the corners of the folio, and added the last little bits to the decoration – the Prima flowers under the butterfly wings, and the green pearls along the bottom of the tag flap. With all that done, I added my tags to their slots and closed it all up!
Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed this folio project and have a chance to check out the videos that accompany it! Don’t forget to check out my Etsy shop to get the discounted cut file!
In addition to this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit (*from previous Tres Jolie Kits), I used (some non-Tres Jolie Kit Club items contain an affiliate link where I earn a small commission with no extra cost to you!):
For my final Cards, Tags, & More Kit project for the Tres Jolie Kit Club this month, I’m bringing you an “Envelope Gift Mini Album” using a Paige Taylor Evans cut file. (Links to PTE’s tutorial & the Silhouette Store ID# in the product list.)
I used the cut file as my base, and decided it needed to become a *shaker* envelope mini album! In my video, you’ll get to see how I worked through that process (which means you’ll get to see how to do it the hard way, LOL!).
Check out my video! Hopefully it makes sense – I was working out the process as I went along!
Video:
Close-ups with some explanations:
For the album (and the inside envelope) I used some Paige Taylor Evans papers from my stash, but used papers from the kit as my ‘accent’ pieces and to make the bow. To make this into a shaker, I grabbed up a 12×12 page protector, inserted the album cut, and started stitching to make the pockets. After all the stitching was completed I trimmed off the excess page protector.
Here you can see the inside envelope, I added little magnets just to help keep the flap down. It wasn’t really necessary, I just found it helped keep the flap down for when I folded the album up. You can see I used the Altair Art papers from the kit to make my inside panels, with some doily’s added in that were made using the Dress My Craft Die from the kit.
When I first decided to add in some stamping from the Bo Bunny stamp set I thought I would have a lot more, but as soon as I added these little edges I thought it was enough! Sometimes less is more!
I just had to add in these beautiful Tres Jolie Chipboard leaves from the kit! I found the angle of the leaves made a perfect match up for the flap of the envelope. The addition of the leaves, however, are also the reason I added a button a twine closure, like the one on the right flap, under the outside bow and band closure!
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 make using items from this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit!
Stay Crafty, Friends!
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
In addition to items from this month’s kit, I used:
“Envelope Gift Mini Album” – Silhouette Store ID# 240883 by Paige Taylor Evans; Pink Paislee/Paige Taylor Evans: 19 & Turn The Page 08; Prima/Finnabair: Heavy White Gesso; Ranger/Tim Holtz: “Picket Fence” Distress Paint, “Salvaged Patina” Distress Oxide & Embossing Glaze; Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Ink; pink & white bakers twine; Scotch ATG; white thread; E6000; magnets; Art Glitter Glue
This week I’m bring you some slimline cards I made using the September Cards, Tags, & More Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club, plus some items from my stash—most are from previous Tres Jolie Kits! (Tres Jolie Kits are a great way to add to your stash!) Check out my video to see how I did these slimlines!
Video:
Slimline’s are (were? LOL) originally intended to be created to fit in a standard (No. 10) letter envelope. All of my slimlines this week would easily fit into that size, although in the U.S. if the weight is over 1oz, or if the item is particularly rigid, postage beyond a single stamp may be necessary. If in doubt, go to your local post office and ask! Check out my photos below of each individual card:
“Congratulations”: Layered doily die cuts over the negative cuts in the background paper, on top of my mixed media layer with clear beads circling the solid center of the doily from the Buttons Galore cube in the kit.
“Hello!”: Since I had done my mixed media layers all at once, this card was really very quick to finish up. I added my papers, then realized it needed some of the stencil butter on it, spread that on and set if off to the side to dry. Once dry I added my doily with the “Hello!” stamped directly on it and finished it off with three clear sequins.
“Thinking of You”: This one is super simple assembly! I just added some of the patterned paper on top of my mixed media background and some thin strips that I had left over from my ATC project (Sept. 2nd video); I tucked in a few of the fussy cut flowers under the sentiment and added some sequins!
“With Love”: Once again I needed to add some of the stencil butter so I just randomly stenciled it on in three random area. I fussy cut the banner & sentiment out after they were embossed, stuck it down, and added some light pink sequins to the areas of stencil butter.
“You’re Amazing”: Again I needed to add some of the stencil butter since I hadn’t added any to the mixed media background I used, so I tried very carefully to keep it at the center of the doilies. Unfortunately I only thought of the stencil butter after I had attached to doilies to the card, so it was a little difficult! I stamped and fussy cut the sentiment, tucked in some of the fussy cut flowers, and made three groups of the sequins.
Thank you for joining me here in my little corner! I hope you enjoyed these slimlines and they gave you some ideas of what can be done with the items found in this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
C.J.'s Corner Scraps 