Just a quick note to let you know I just did an interview with Alura, you can read it here!
Alura create tools for Etsy sellers to start, run and grow their shop and they have a series where they feature successful Etsy sellers. They wanted to hear more about my story and what has worked for me. Well, as I said in the interview, considering my relatively small numbers I’m hardly the one to tell anyone how to run a magnificently successfulI Etsy shop 😅 but I still think my story might offer some encouragement for sellers just starting out.
I tried to make it a fun read and I would be thrilled if you all would take a few minutes of your day to read the interview, and perhaps share it with someone who is considering opening an Etsy shop themselves. They might find, hopefully, some inspiration.
And let’s start 2023 with a lovely vintage 1-sheet card, its browns & grayish blues so suitable for autumn and winter, and yet its pink roses remind us that Spring is coming (well, eventually it will).
There are many ways to fold beautiful cards with only one sheet of paper. You could also use cardstock and mat it (which would technically make it a 2-sheets card) but much easier is using a double-sided sheet of design paper.
I designed this particular card type myself, it takes a bit of folding, one cut with a paper trimmer and a little bit of glue, and it will turn into this very nice multi-faceted card with two pockets and a little doorlet on the front to tuck some extra niceties behind.
If you want to know the nitty-gritty of how to make this, there’s an excellent PDF tutorial in my Etsy shop, it’s Tutorial #9. (It’s very affordable btw).
I’ve made several of these over the years, and here’s my latest, using the beautiful vintage Time is an Illusion paper collectionby Stamperia.
Opening the front flap and finding a nice removable bookmark on the insideChecking out the center pocket, which holds a lovely tag, which I decorated with some stamps and a die cut image of a cup of teaOn the back of that same tag, I attached an actual bag of tea for my friendBack pocketThe back pocket contains a bookletThe inside of the booklet offers room to write a message on the left, and a nice stamped sentiment on the right
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
With the current year nearing its close – and what a bizarre year that has been – I’m considering some new ideas for my blog and Youtube channel. Counting the fact that we haven’t been able to go out shopping and hunting for new craft collections on the one hand, and given the fact that many of us may have lost (part of) our incomes, I figured next year might be a No Buy Year for me, as far as craft supplies are concerned. Or, to be more realistic, at least a Buy Less Year.
Shopping my stash would be a great way to go about that, being that by now my stash probably rivals the inventories of many a small “Craft Shoppe” (sorry, not sorry).
So to give that a try before dedicating an entire year to it, I shopped my stash for my latest mini album. What I found was an almost forgotten treasure: TheSweetest Thing – Lavender collection by My Mind’s Eye. I only had ten design paper sheets, a couple of brads and a journalling card, but I decided to make do and use them all. I also borrowed a chipboard piece from a different collection and threw in an bunch of flowers and some feathers for good measure.
And here’s what I created: a sweet little two-page album in landscape mode! Tutorial available for all of you stash-shoppers with probably many a ten-sheet paper collection 🙂
And should you find mostly 12-sheet collections in your own stashes, that’s no problem at all: either add an extra album page, or simply add more photo mats/tags/booklets.
Enjoy! And please leave a comment: will you be shopping your stash more the coming weeks/months?
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!
One of my new favorite brands is Mintay Papers, and even though I only bought one sheet of their beautiful red-white-blue Berrylicious collection, I think I managed to squeeze the absolute most out of it! 🙂
I created a multi-pocketed interactive 1-sheet card – Tutorial #9 in my shop – and this time I used cardstock as a base and matted with the double-sided Berrylicious sheet (instead of design paper only/no cardstock).
The color theme of this paper collection makes it ideal to celebrate national holidays – (if those are your national colors) – without having to work with actual flag-themed papers. Like this week, if you’re an American and celebrate the 4th of July. Or when you’re in the Netherlands like me, and celebrate Liberation Day (5th of May).
Mintay Papers, Berrylicious, MT-BER-01
Or you can totally ignore any national theme and simply enjoy the bright, fun colors and homely images and patterns, and send it to your mom for Mother’s Day – which is what I did 😊
Enjoy the video – and if applicable: Happy 4th of July! 🎉
If you’re in the mood for a larger project, I’ve got just the thing for you! 🙂 For here’s my latest design, a gatefold mini album with a small box pocket and a bonus project, a mini folio!
If you’re going to work many hours you should choose the loveliest papers you can find, for you’ll be looking at them for quite some time 😉 My choice this time was the Dear Diary collection by Mintay Papers. Very lovely indeed.
So, enjoy the show & tell video, and of course some pictures below. Tutorial available!
I’m very happy to be able to share my latest design in one of my favorite categories, the Micro Album. This one I’m calling a Harmonica Micro, by which I mean that each of its four page assemblies consists of harmonica-style panels, held together with a cute and practical belly band.
You only need two 12×12″ sheets of double-sided design paper to decorate, which makes it a very frugal little project. 🙂
So check out the video for all of the details, and if you’d like to make it yourself, an elaborate tutorial is available for you in my shop.
Back in 2015 I came up with a cute little micro album in a box. That was years before I made tutorials, and at the time I got many requests to do one. It took some time, but I finally came around to it and this week I’m sharing the end result.
The box that holds the gatefold micro album opens like an explosion box, so there’s a bonus for you. The album itself sports four updated page designs, since I’ve learned a lot since then 🙂
You can of course choose any theme for your project; mine is romantic vintage, with Rose Fields papers by 13@rts.
So enjoy the video and if you’d like to make this yourself, now you can for you can find the tutorial in my shop.
Here’s a fun Christmas holiday project, which will be easy to take with you in your purse because it’s relatively small. It will hold at least 47 pictures, which is perfect not only for said Christmas holidays 🙂 but also for all other occasions, like birthday events, weddings, baby’s first year, summer vacations, back-to-school brag books, remembrance of loved ones and – why not – rock concerts or visits to the zoo 🙂
The only thing you’d have to change to achieve all of those are your paper collections – and we all know What Fun that is! 🙂 Mine was the Wassail collection by Basic Grey, an older collection not available anywhere anymore I think, but you can of course substitute any awesome Christmas collection you like.
So watch the video to find the inspiration to create one yourself, or help yourself to my written pdf tutorial, sporting 70 pages with step-by-step explanations and 160 clear pictures. This makes it absolutely suitable for beginners as well.
Recently I finished creating and editing my latest video course, on how to create a micro album! It’s based on my original Fresh & Bright micro album, but with Moda Scrap’s very cute The Color of Puppies paper pad.
With the purchase of your video course you get the original PDF-tutorial as a free bonus. You can of course watch the video lessons as often as you like, no limits there!
This baby boy version is actually kind of a sequel, for 2 years ago his granny commissioned a baby girl version for his (then expected) sister. Needless to say that these are the cutest of projects, both because they are tiny and because the paperlines are all so darned adorable 🙂
So, enjoy this demo video, and check out my shop for either the PDF tutorial (#18a) or the video course (#18b)!
Happy New Year everyone! May 2019 bring you closer to your hopes and dreams than you have ever been, taking the first steps to turning them into reality!
Me, I’m kicking off the new year with some plans of my own, though I haven’t worked them out in detail yet. For instance, I’d like to add some new elements to my Youtube content – about which I’m talking in more detail in the video below, and I’d love to hear you all’s opinion by the way!
As a first project share, I’m showing a new photo storage box I created for Nora, for whom I’ve made two other projects: the Remember Me box pocket album, and the Beautiful Dreamer folio album. For this box I used the gorgeous Beautiful Dreamer papers again, by Bo Bunny.
All of my boxes are very sturdy and the lids close tightly. If you’d like to make some of your own, check out my elaborately detailed tutorial! It comes with two free bonus cutting guides for different sizes. I’m confident that once you’ve made all three of those boxes, you can design a box of any size you need!
And: because my birthday is January 11th, I’m celebrating it with you all by offering you a 40% discount on all of the tutorials in my shop, from January 11-13th! So don’t hesitate any longer and grab this – only once a year – chance!
Have fun watching the video – you’ll see me on camera again, which is one of the changes I’m implementing in 2019 (not sure if that’s a recommendation… let me know in the comment section below! 😉)
