Hey, y’all! If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere of this rotating blue marble, I hope you’re staying cool! If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, just know I’m jealous! I am just counting down the days until I can see highs under 100°F (38°C). I am fortunate enough to have some AC though, which I know not everyone has.
This week I have a “Cottage Life” Décor piece I made using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit, and a deep frame that has existed since sometime in the 80s (the company is no longer in business, that I’m aware of), and some mediums from my stash.
Check out my video to see what I did to put this adorably vintage “Cottage Life” frame together!
Video:
Now, y’all know I love using every part of the kits – packaging, scraps, etc. – and this project was no different! I loved the shapes of the Graphic 45 Chipboard pieces, and thought they would make some fantastic vintage frames – and they did! I, very carefully, cut along the outside of the negative space where the chipboard piece had been, eyeballing my distance, and to strengthen my new frames, and start them on their patinaed copper journey, I used some “Patina Bronzed Copper” embossing powder on them. After they were embossed, I backed them with different pieces of patterned paper.
After my “Cottage Life” Folio (July 7th post), I had quite a few strips of paper, so I got them evened up and made a collage of them on a 5inx7in canvas board to use as the background for my frame.
Aren’t those Tres Jolie Chipboard gnomes adorable? I had to add them to my “garden,” so I did the same to them that I had done to my frames – I embossed them to give them a bit more strength and stability – and to make them copper so they could start their patina journey.
For my frame, I didn’t want it completely rough, but I didn’t want it completely smooth either, so I randomly added some Finnabair “White Sand” texture paste before giving it a coat with some white gesso, “Steampunk Copper” paint, and a touch of “Brass” Patina Effect Paste.
To raise up all of my frame and gnome layers, I used hot glue because it is sturdy, and there is only a cooling time, not a long dry time – plus, when it’s hot it’s “stretchy,” which means I was able to make a pile of it, then use both hands to adjust the frames exactly how I wanted them. I was careful to keep the hot glue away from the embossed areas though because I didn’t want it to reactivate!
You can see I left no surface bare! Since this is an open-front, deep frame, I wanted to make sure I had the inside of the frame matching the outside. After the canvas was together and the paint was dry on the frame I started adding my waxes – some “Rich Copper,” some “Patina Green.”
When it came time to add the frame to the canvas, I used hot glue at the corners to get it in place and to hold the canvas even with the back of the frame so I could turn it over and fill in around the edges with some 3D Gel.
After the 3D Gel had dried, I turned my frame back over and popped on the final, front chipboard piece using more 3D Gel.
Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed this “Cottage Life” décor piece and it gave you some ideas of what you can make using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit.
Stay Crafty (and cool & hydrated!), Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Ever have one of those projects that was filled with “technical difficulties” all the way through? That was me with this lapbook! My word of advice, if your sewing machine stops working at the beginning of a project, take it as a sign to stop and do a different project! I didn’t heed the warning sign, and while I waited for a replacement sewing machine I kept trying to work – but nothing went right after that! I went from being ahead of schedule with my July projects, to being barely able to finish on time; so a project that I didn’t think would take too long, took way too long!
It’s here though, I finally finished, and I have completed a Recipe Lapbook using this month’s Scrapbooking Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club for the July 2022 Mood Board.
I tried to explain my process the best I could in my video; it did become rather difficult to work in an orderly fashion when I had to do what I could while waiting for my sewing machine. Hopefully the video makes some sense, or at least enough sense to give you some idea of what I’m attempting! It’s a rather long video – almost an hour, so you might want to watch it in sections! I couldn’t figure out a good place to split it apart and have it appear continuous since I was already fighting confusion!
Video:
The mood board this month has some deep, beautiful, summery colors to it, and the papers in this month’s kit are the perfect compliment. And, of course, lemons = lemonade on a hot summer day, and an entire recipe lapbook to go with! Place your entries in the July 2022 challenge folder on Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page. This challenge ends July 31, 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 three months).
You can create any type of project for the challenge.
You MUST say what you were inspired by.
You MUST include the twist in your design – DAYS OF SUMMER
We would love to see you use at least one of Tres Jolie’s products on your projects but it isn’t required to play along.
It MUST be a new project.
You saw the front cover of my lapbook at the beginning of this post, but I also wanted to show the other three sides of it. After more work than I had hoped, I was able to get the honeycomb chipboard from this month’s Mixed Media Kit to give some nice texture along the spine. If you haven’t seen the video yet, this spine is actually the second spine I made – because the first one wasn’t working; I just couldn’t get the honeycomb to show up. I finally got it to show by using some (metal) nuts that fit inside the chipboard and my iron to get the iron-on adhesive to melt together.
I originally planned on making a single flap for the closure, but the yellow stripe ended up being off center, and that would have drove me nuts! However, I actually like the final closure better, because I like the yellow being horizontal against the vertical of the lemon fabric and the “panels” of the closure area. I didn’t actually tack the fabric down, I used lots of glue, clipped the tacks down to where they would just enter the book cover, and added some 3D Matte Gel to help keep them in place.
The main flap on the left side of the lapbook is an accordion folder made from a hanging file folder. I don’t have all of the specific measurements, because I made my folds where the score lines already were on the hanging folder, cut it to the height of my inside cover paper, and just eyeballed how wide I wanted it based on how it would look. However, I do know the sides were cut three inches wide and scored every 1/2-inch for the accordion folds.
On the back of my accordion folder I have a couple of book covers added in as flaps. The larger one is covered in some sari silk, and the smaller one has [what I think] is the last piece of that particular print. I have magnet closures for the smaller book covers, but I didn’t add any closure of the main, accordion folder, flip. Under the accordion folder, I have a double-pocket folder and three mini file folders I created just for this project using sheets of the Simple Stories paper from the kit.
On the front of the larger cover with the sari silk, I added a hinged belly band. I have some 3/4-inch magnetic tape, and I laid a strip down on the cover and on the band. At the top of the band I added a couple of stronger magnets to make sure it would stay shut even with a few recipe cards in place. On the other side of the same cover, I added some homemade glassine (using a tracing paper + semi-gloss spray technique I learned from Nik the Booksmith!) to one of the frames, propped it up on some macramé cord, and turned it into a pocket. The magnetic closure for this flips under to close, and flips out of the way so the pocket is accessible.
In the spine of the book cover I added a [new and unused!] headband so I could put a removable booklet in. It is a soft cover booklet – I layered the paper with some interface backed fabric – then I popped on the chipboard frame from the kit that I had embossed with a few different powders. After my frame was in place, I filled in the open areas with some Glossy Accents and/or Diamond Glaze, alcohol ink, and to really deepen the black on the bees, I used the “Black Hole Black” Lindy’s Magical Powder from this month’s Mixed Media Kit.
I have two folders, filled with more folders/pockets in the booklet – one for main dishes and one for side dishes.
I wanted to add in some charts, so I printed out a couple of different ones on tracing paper using a ledger paper I created as the background, then added my semi-gloss spray to create my “glassine.” I turned the 3-slot chipboard frame into a pocket with some vintage photos to give the “family history” feel.
The right side of the lapbook features a large, fold-out panel with a little box folder on it. The box folder also folds out – it is held in place with some magnets & magnetic tape – to reveal a couple of folder pockets and a little coin pocket I made.
When you flip open the large panel, you will find a little strap holding another book cover in place that has another chart on the front, and a couple of pockets on the back. I added another headband to the hinge of this cover, and created another little removable folder to slide into this space.
This folder is a simple one, with just three pockets inside it and a pocket on the back to hold another piece of “glassine” with some helpful hints on it.
On the back of that big flap I made, I have a couple of pockets for breakfast and lunch recipes, and some ephemera to add some decoration.
Thank you for joining us here at Tres Jolie, I hope you enjoyed this lapbook – even if I did have a few hiccups along the way! Hopefully I didn’t make the video too confusing and was able to explain what was going on clearly – even if it was “out of order” because of my sewing machine fiasco.
Stay Crafty, Friends … and remember, if something breaks at the beginning of a project, take it as a sign!
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!
We are here today to reveal our July 2022 kits; get yours before they’re gone!
We are starting to implement our new year changes, so make sure you are following us on all social media platforms and are a part of the Facebook Café – that way you won’t miss a single announcement or project created with these kits.
The July 2022 Scrapbooking Kit is filled with the gorgeous “Simple Vintage Lemon Twist” papers and ephemera from Simple Stories. As always, these papers will be amazing for all your upcoming projects, even though they have a beautiful spring/summer feel to them. You will find a lovely assortment of patterned papers and perfectly coordinated embellishments.
Ready to get your hands dirty? This month’s Mixed Media Kit has some shimmer and shine ready for you to add to some nice crackle texture!
Our Cards, Tags, & More Kit includes “Cottage Life” papers and chippies from Graphic 45 and goodness so you can create a beautiful summery 6”x6” folio album and more. Who doesn’t like creating a variety of projects from one kit?
These kits are for the beginner to the advanced, clean and simple, to mixed media maven. No matter your style, there is something for everyone. We know you are going to love it!
Presenting the Tres Jolie July 2022 Kits:
*Scrapbook Kit*
*Mixed Media Kit*
*Cards, Tags, and More Kit*
Don’t forget to stop by the Tres Jolie YouTube channel and see our video reveal of 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 the Tres Jolie subscribe page.
The designers at Tres Jolie have created some amazing layouts/projects with this kit.
Here is a little tease from me using the July 2022 Cards, Tags, & More Kit:
Please stop by the other designer’s blogs and check out their sneak peeks. They are listed below:
We have a new mood board challenge for the month; the rules are as follows:
You can create any type of project for the challenge.
You MUST say what you were inspired by.
You MUST include the twist in your design.
We would love to see you USE AT LEAST 1 of Tres Jolie’s products on your projects but it isn’t required to play along.
It MUST be a new project.
The twist for this month is: DAYS OF SUMMER
July 2022 Mood Board:
Place your entries in the July 2022 challenge folder on the Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page. This challenge ends on July 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 reveal their projects on the Tres Jolie blog all month. Make sure you join us for tons of inspiration, including video and photo tutorials. Also, make sure you check out our newest chipboard designs that were just added to the store.
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.
Hey, y’all! I couldn’t help but use this month’s Mixed Media Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club after I saw the bright, beautiful colors of TCW’s Stencil Butter’s and modeling paste. I actually didn’t even own the moulds I used for the flowers until after I saw the kit, then one day the Magnolia mould showed up in the “you might like” section of my Amazon homepage, and I knew then and there exactly what I was going to do with the kit!
As I noted in the video, I still have to give my project a coating of some Triple-Thick Clear Glaze, but we have had “tropical” conditions here for over a week now, and I still haven’t been able to spray them! I kept waiting, hoping to be able to take photos after the spray had set, but at this rate, it might be October before I get to do that!
Video:
There are not a lot of steps involved in the making of this project, and those fabulous Stencil Butter’s do a lot of the “heavy lifting.”
I used all three of the Mixed Media Boards for the background – pushing them together and stenciling across the seams to create a continuous pattern. I built up the layers using the Stencil Butters, some white texture paste, some 3D Matte Gel, and the modeling paste from the kit this month.
I grabbed up my paperclay and moulds, and set about creating the flowers I wanted to use to span across the Mixed Media boards. I used two of the “Magnolia” pieces (product list at bottom of post) and one set of the “Winter Blooms,” then set to work to create my flower spray. I wrapped some plastic wrap around my boards so I could work on the placement of my flowers without worrying about making a mess, and while still on the plastic wrap, I used my 3D Matte Gel to hold the pieces together.
After the gel had set up, I pulled the plastic wrap off the back and coated the flowers with some white gesso. My first layer of color was a coating of the Gamboge Stencil Butter, followed by a coating of the Grecian Gold Modeling Paste.
When it came time to attach my flowers to the boards, I mixed the Grecian Gold Modeling Paste with some of my 3D Matte Gel and used that – that way it would all blend together!
At this point, the only thing holding my boards together was the flower spray, so I got a 9”x12” MDF board from my stash and cut it down to size. Then I used some wood glue, spread it out evenly, and set the boards in place. I used some book clips, with some cushioning under the front edges, to hold everything together while that glue set up.
Eventually, I will be adding some Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze to the finished piece, once we get a break in the humidity, and then this will be completely finished!
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 with the Stencil Butter’s and Modeling Paste found in this month’s Mixed Media Kit.
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!
This week I turned the June Scrapbooking Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club into a junk journal. The P13 papers and ephemera from their “Let Your Creativity Bloom” line had such beautiful colors – muted shades of pink and sage – and there was a photo of a book in this month’s mood board! What else would I think up for the challenge?!?!
I didn’t just put any old fabrics and papers together, I decided that to be extra messy, I needed to dye my fabrics exactly how I wanted and make my own (matching) paper – check out my video to see the process, or, if you want, you can just check out the flip-through.
On my cover, I layered up strips of fabric, so of the ones I dyed, some are scraps from my stash. I topped a part of one of the patterned papers with one of the Tres Jolie Chipboard pieces coated with some embossing powders, added a few of the flowers, and added some Distress Foundry Wax in “Sterling” as some accent color. Check out the video to see the process of my junk journal from start to finish!
Video:
Flip-through:
Have you checked out the June Mood Board yet? Beautiful pink flowers, galvanized steel bucket, Ball Mason jars, and a book – take a peek and see what creativity it inspires in you!
Make sure you join us for our June mood board challenge!
You can create any type of project for the challenge.
You MUST say what you were inspired by.
You MUST include the twist in your design.
We would love to see you USE AT LEAST 1 of Tres Jolie’s products on your projects but it isn’t required to play along.
It MUST be a new project.
The twist for this month is SPRING FLING.
Place your entries in the June 2022 challenge folder on the Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page. This challenge ends on June 30th, 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 limited the same winner to once every 3 months).
This junk journal is thick! There are over 50 pages filled with lots of writing space, tuck-ins, and pockets – and a securely attached tie closure to keep it together.
On both the front and back covers I added a section of lace trim, lightly colored with Distress Oxides, as tuck in spots.
I turned envelopes into pockets, covered them with strips of fabric, and added closures to a couple of them – a zipper on one and a simple tie on another.
I have tuck-in spots throughout the journal made up of layers of papers and ephemera. I have even added in some old book pages from a 1935 History of English Literature book – I thought this book fit well with the overall “Creativity” theme.
I wanted to add a lot of texture and visual interest in this journal, so I have short pages, ledger papers, bits of fabric and lace, and tons of stitching in here. There is something to see and feel everywhere!
I turned this bit of patterned paper into a simple flip-up card using some lace as the hinge and adding a tab to the edge.
a sheet of patterned paper torn makes a wonderfully distressed pocket! And I just couldn’t bring myself to (fully) separate this stretch of flowers, I used the last bits of that particular lace to make hinges between four inch sections so it could be pulled out – and the image could stay together.
Old music sheets add a lovely aged touch while also making fabulous pockets. I even used the envelopes from the ephemera and tickets to create little tuck-in areas.
When I saw all that leftover dyed water from my fabrics, I couldn’t just let it go to waste, so I added scraps of paper and created my own custom-colored, dapple-edged sheets – either glued to decorated envelopes and pages, or straight into tuck spots to be written on (I suggest using markers, paint pens, or gel pens though, due to the uneven nature of handmade paper!)
I didn’t want to just simply cover my basic white envelopes, so I added fabric, lace, paper, and/or ephemera to create variety and interest. I used one of the Prima flower packs from the kit, and in addition to my cover decoration, I stitched flowers directly onto some of the tuck-ins.
As promised in the video, here is the “stitching guide” (I don’t know what else to call it!) for how I put my signatures in.
How I stitched in my signatures:
Out = from the inside –> out
In = from the outside –> in
First-Middle-Third = Signature from left to right
Top, Second, Middle, Fourth, Last = Hole, from top to bottom.
First Signature:
Middle Signature:
Third Signature:
Out – First – Middle
In – Third – Second
Out – Third – Top
In – First – Second
Out – First – Fourth
In – Third – Last
Out – Third – Fourth
In – First – Middle
Out – Middle – Middle
In – First – Second
Out – First – Top
In – Middle – Second
Out – Middle – Fourth
In – First – Last
Out – First – Fourth
In – Middle – Middle
Out – Third – Middle
In – Middle – Second
Out – Middle – Top
In – Third – Second
Out – Third – Fourth
In – Middle – Last
Out – Middle – Fourth
In – Third – Middle
Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed this junk journal and it gave you some inspiration and ideas of what you can do with this month’s Scrapbooking Kit!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
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!):
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C.J.'s Corner Scraps 