The seven most recent projects with this collection were all cards, but I decided to include a cute little micro booklet here as well, below the next Instagram post. I’ve really been enjoying these pretty colours!
Broad ribbons can easily be turned into belly bands – or even pockets if you glue the bottom closed. In other words, they are perfect to hold a little tidbit, like a tag, a picture – or of course, if you’re like me, a bag of tea! Below the Instagram post you’ll find my step-by-step proces!
Here’s the double-sided sheet from Graphic 45’s lovely Bird Watcher colllection that I used:
And here’s my process:
Score a piece of 6×12″ cardstock to give it a 3/4″ gussetFold on the score linesMat the gusset (both sides) and the front. If you want to use decorative brads (like I have), fasten them first, before you glue down your matte.For the inside, fold a broad ribbon around your matte, then glue the matte down and decorate.Choose a nice flavour of fresh tea and create a little DIY tea label to write down the flavour. Decorate the front of your card. (And also, matte the back – but I don’t have a separate picture for that 😉 )
And here’s the final result:
What do you think, would you consider using a ribbon as a pocket / belly band?
Today I’d like to reflect with gratitude on one of my earlier designs, that became quite popular from the start – and to this day there are crafters who manage to find it while spelunking in the deep cave that are my older YT videos. Some of them have even purchased the tutorial (it’s the Number 3 in my shop), others simply enjoy the video – which I will embed below. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
It’s a Folio Album which I’ve dubbed Neverending Memories. If you’d like to see it filled with pictures, here’s a photo (also, there’s a second video embedded at the end of this post, sharing more details):
Whence this trip to Memory Lane? Well, recently a very kind lady from the USA found it in her heart to let me know she had just finished crafting this folio album, based on my tutorial. And she just wanted to let me know she enjoyed the process, the tutorial and the end result. Needless to say her sweet message brought a smile to my face and filled my heart with gratitude! 🙂
She had also sent me some pictures and was kind enough to give me permission to post them here.
So here’s her end result, using the Born to Travel paperpad by Recollections. She did a wonderful job and I think her folio album looks wonderful and on trend, and perfectly fitting for the coming Spring season!
Creator’s Image Studio’s Neverending Memories Folio Album, by Lynn M. from the U.S.A.
Please send her some love in the comments below and/or on the Tutorials ProjectsPage – and while you’re there, please check out the awesome projects of the other crafters too!!
Thank you again to each and every one of you who have been supporting me over the years, by watching my videos, visiting this blog, purchasing my tutorials and sharing the creative love!
Sometimes I feel like crafting, even crafting a mini album, but am no where near in the mood to do everything required. So as an alternative, I thought I’d try a pre-bound mini album. I chose Prima Marketing’s Tiny Journal, which is from their Memory Hardware collection by Frank Garcia.
I figured such a small album (it sports 4×4″ pages) would be perfect for my (rather enormous) stash of 6×6″ paper pads. I went for the Together paperpad by Mintay Papers, which I felt would suit the kraft-colored Tiny Journal pretty well.
Having tried my hand at it, I feel there are some pros and cons to these pre-bound albums. So in the video, after I show you the finished project, I’ll share some thoughts: what’s it like to work on a pre-bound album, which pluses & minuses did I encounter, and – most importantly – would I do it again?
Share your thoughts in the comment section! Have you ever tried one of these pre-bound minis?
I’ve worked many moons on this project, but I’m very proud to (finally!) present: my latest mini album!
This is a hefty girl, with 10 multi interactive page assemblies plus interactive inside covers. I needed four(!) 12×12” + one 8×8” design paper collections, OMG.
So this is a real stash eater, for all of you out there who’ve been hoarding collecting their design papers for quite some time…🤡
All of the gorgeous papers I worked with were by Stamperia. I used the following collections: Lady Vagabond, Sir Vagabond (8×8″), Time is an Illusion (2 packs), and Clockwise.
Anyway, here are the video and some pictures, feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions!
So I finally made it to the end of this new mini album design project I set out to do several weeks ago. If you want to skip straight to the video, scroll down to the end of this post.
I’ve felt significantly less creative energy since the lockdown(s) started, so I’m having trouble crunching out new album designs every month, like I used to. But, I got this one done, and it’s definitely NEW!
I designed what I’m calling a faux paperbag mini album, and because it also sports four fold-out and/or popping elements, I added ‘pop-up’ to the title as well. But there are more themes than it just being faux paperbag and having pop-ups. It is also rich in belly bands, plus it offers several micro envelopes. So if I wanted to be precise about it, my design would be called a Faux Paperbag Pop-up Belly Band and Micro Envelope Mini Album. Phew, that would be a mouthful…
If you’re wondering why the “faux”, well, I didn’t use actual paperbags. Instead, I created my own, while still employing the techniques that are typical for a paperbag mini, like the binding style, as well as the many flaps and the way they are styled.
If I managed to charm you into wanting to create one yourself, then head on over to my shop. There are lots of customers who left reviews, so I recommend rummaging through those if you want to check what other crafters think before you make a purchase.
The papers I used were from AliExpress this time, so I guess you could also consider this another AliExpress product test. I have to say I loved this Paper Designer or perhaps Enogreeting pad (I’m still not sure what the brand is actually called), with its beautiful graphic designs in vintage colors. Moreover, it measured 18×18 cm (7×7″), which I believe is quite unique in the papercraft community.
I suspect it may be a dupe for an older Kaisercraft collection, but if it is, I’m not aware of it. If you do recognize it, please leave a comment below!
I also did some mixed media techniques this time. Not only on the napkin fold element in the back of the album, but also on the spine, for which I altered a piece of pitch black book muslin and turned it into a nice muted slate gray pattern on an antique bronze base.
As for the cute little pop-up I added to one of the page layouts, I used a pop-up die for that. And I did a video tutorialon how to use it, a couple of blog posts ago.
I also did a video tutorial for the Twist & Pop element in the album, you can find that here.
And last but not least, the video tutorial for the Napkin Fold element at the end of the album, is only one click awaytoo.
So, finally, here’s the end of my blabbing along endlessly. On to the video! 🙂
No tutorial for this one yet, let me know if you’d be interested in one
Recently I tried a pop-up die, which effectively cuts a piece of paper that you can then turn into an actual pop-up mechanism.
The video turned into a complete tutorial on how to do all the folds and where to glue, perfect for anyone who has purchased (or owns a similar-looking one to) this die and doesn’t know how it works.
In fact, I’m showing you how to turn this strange-looking diecut into a pop-up mechanism no less than three times. Practice makes perfect! 🙂
I’m sure several brands may offer such a die, though I don’t know of any yet, but AliExpress is of course very very affordable: even when including worldwide shipping it’s still many times more affordable than the same item in Europe. So if you like it, it’s worth a try – you’ll find the link to the shop in the description box of my Youtube video. (And I’m saying this without being sponsored in any way).
So check out the tutorial and let me know if you have ever encountered such a strange-looking die before! 🙂
A couple of years ago I designed and created a very sturdy folio mini album, with the nature-themed Time to Flourish collection by Graphic 45. My mother now owns it, and she asked me to fill it up with some of the awesome closeup pictures my father took, mostly of flowers, insects and birds in their own garden.
And since it’s always nice to see a handcrafted mini album filled up with pictures, I thought I’d share it with you one more time 🙂 .
In the video I’ll be sharing some general tips for filling your mini albums with pictures:
Don’t be afraid to rigorously crop your pictures when your page design or paper pattern requires it;
Die-cut your pictures into shapes, like circles, rectangles, squares, labels;
Apply glitter glue or liquid pearl all around the edges of some of your pictures;
Fussy cut the main subject from your pictures if the background or the rest of the picture is boring or irrelevant;
Trim your pictures down to miniature size to fit them onto smaller tags – simply find a picture with a small main subject;
If two pictures don’t fit onto one page, use washi tape as a hinge for one of them and stack them;
And last but not least, my favorite: color-coordinate between your pictures and your design paper as much as you can!
If you want to create this yourself, check out my tutorial. I also did a second iteration with a masculine paper collection, you can find that one here.
There are of course hundreds (probably thousands even) of different design paper collections on the market. Still, sometimes you feel you’re in need of another sheet of a particular color scheme to really perfect your project. You could of course purchase (or shop your stash) for a sheet from another collection but: you did you realize you can also create your own? And I don’t mean by becoming a graphic designer yourself and printing some cool computer-generated design you came up with.
No, I mean by applying some very easy mixed media techniques. Here’s how.
Ink, paint or spray a piece of white paper that is suitable for mixed media (so no printer or copy paper please; you can use actual mixed media paper, or paper meant for water painting). Spread several colors randomly; make sure the colors coordinate with the design paper collection you’re using for your project. A stencil can add some fun patterns to the mix.
2. If you want, you can even print an image – or in my case a graffiti-style initial – on your colored paper. Wait until everything is dry though, before you run it through your printer.
3. Add some stamping. You can choose actual images, or just some random patterns. Use an oil-based ink like Archival ink, to make sure your stamping ink does not react to the other mediums you’ve used so far.
4. Add some texture with texture paste. I used Tim Holtz’s Distress Grit paste because that is translucent (so the inking underneath will show through) plus it’s heat-stable so you can emboss it. Which is exactly what I did after I added the paste: I sprinkled it with different colors of Embossing Glaze (which is a translucent embossing powder), let the texture paste dry, and then embossed it.
5. I (of course) forgot that I needed more than one mat, so I had to repeat steps 1-4 to create a second mat. It would have been easier had I just taken a larger piece of paper, did the mixed media techniques, and only then cut it to size. Oh well.
6. Mat your mini album page! As you can see in the pictures below I made sure to choose colors that would coordinate with the rest of the design paper I used.
Same page, with left-page flap opened. The smaller mixed media strip has turned into a mat for the top pocket.
Want to see the entire album? Check the video in this blog post!
I have great admiration for design paper companies and their graphic designers: having to come up with unique, lovely and most of all sellable designs several times a year seems like a sheer insurmountable challenge to me. So I can understand that every once in a while some design paper collection comes out on the market that in itself looks great – stunning even – but has a slightly odd theme.
This week I’m sharing what you could do with such fairly non-practical themes; like the pastry-themed Sweety collection by Stamperia.
Lovely colors and beautiful graphic designs – they look so good I want to eat them all!
Other than making me seriously crave some chocolate & cherry pie topped off with some pistachio mint ice cream (yummie!) I’m not sure what to do with this collection, except admire its visual gorgeousness. Yes, I know, the theme is great for birthdays and other parties, but then I would prefer a 6×6″ size for cards and Stamperia doesn’t do those. Now take the 12×12 inch sheets: these elaborate graphic designs look more like a picture you would frame and hang from your wall, than cut it up (how?!) to make it into, say, a mini album or, even more difficult, a card.
A seriously uncuttable 12×12″ sheet
So, here’s what I do whenever I encounter a collection I love but cannot for the life of me think of a project intended for some actual, practical use: I buy only the cutapart sheet, and design one card around it, preferably while using up the entire sheet.
The Stamperia cutapart sheets are always great, plus, they come with beautiful journalling spots on the back. Perfect.
So, here’s a short video tutorial on how to design a card around your specific cutaparts. If your cutapart sheet has differently sized cutaparts, then here’s a tutorial around a second design.
If you look at Papermania’s Nature’s Gallery collection you may think ‘spring’ or ‘summer’, but it definitely also gives me ‘muted fall colors’ vibes.
So when a group of colleagues asked me to create a ‘nature-themed album’ for a colleague who is retiring this month, I immediately suggested this collection.
They wanted a brag book for about 10-20 pictures and with 15 tags – one for each colleague to write a ‘waving goodbye’ message. So I created a 2-page mini album of about 7×10 inches, which looks elegant and sophisticated – yet is quite thin.
If you want to see it in different colors, check out my earlier version in bold autumn colors here.
There’s an easy to follow tutorial waiting for you in my Etsy shop, should you want to make some yourself! (They’d make great Thanksgiving or Christmas gifts 🙂 )
Enjoy the video and feel free to leave a comment in the comment section, either here or on Youtube!
Here’s my latest mini album, Graffiti-themed this time! Meant for a young man turning 16 soon, his mother (my friend) asked me to create a paperbag mini for her son. It has been a while since I made these; I did a romantic shabby chic version and a Christmas version several years ago, and this Graffiti version has been the first one since.
This time I used some of the mixed media techniques I recently started adding to my papercraft repertoire – which added a whole new dimension of fun to working with design papers!
