New Design: a Two-Page Brag Book

On the brink between Summer and Autumn, I’m proud to present my new, summery-autumny Two-Paged Bragbook 🙂

This time I used not one but three paper collections, which for me is the absolute exception, definitely not the rule. And I also threw in some digital scrapbooking again. Not only did I use my own graphically designed paper for the binding system, but I also enhanced the background of one of the pictures and did some digital collaging. And lastly, I dolled-up my own picture… well, what can I say, I just couldn’t help myself 😉

Above: Text die by Crealies

It was commissioned by a group of my co-workers as a gift to one or our retiring colleagues. So I designed it to hold as many pictures as there were co-workers who joined the gift giving, and had them all write on a unique tag.

As you’ll see in the video, this is another great group gift!

Of course I wrote a tutorial for all of you who’d like to create such a great mini album yourselves. It’s fun to make and it really makes for such a great gift. As an added bonus, you don’t need the usual ‘thousands’ of patterned paper sheets, as it only has two page assemblies!

Oh, and I also threw in a card, made with the leftover papers 🙂

So, enjoy the last weeks of summer and hopefully your autumn will be as colorful as this album 🙂 See you next week – don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment!

 

Gift Idea: Upcycled Jewelry Box

Sometimes that accessory you buy comes in a small jewelry box. My recent such purchase sported the name of the shop on its lid, but apart from that the box had a very nice antique bronze color, which inspired me to re-use it as a gift box.

So I thought I’d share this idea with you today, for this is the perfect little quick scrap gift idea, which you can finish in about 15 minutes (tops). Simply alter the lid, covering the shop’s name or logo, by decorating it with some design paper, a brad, and some embellishments.
It’s very easy to do, it’ll cost you hardly any time at all, and you’ll have a uniquely customized gift box for your present. 🙂

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Photo Gift Booklet

From a very sunny Portugal ☀️ I’m sharing this new Photo Gift Booklet, which I created with some cardstock and a couple of sheets from DCWV’s Colorful Life paper collection. It is custom-fit to hold four 9×13 cm (3½ x 5⅛”) pictures. You only need four pieces of design paper of that same size for the covers, and your’re done!

Being a hybrid between a card and a small photo album this little booklet is the perfect gift to send over the mail to your far away friends & relatives! ?

If you’d like to create one yourself, go to my Autumn Time Ultra Mini Album for a quick explanation on the page technique.

Have fun, see you next week!

 

 

Photo Explosion Box: Golden Wedding Anniversary

An explosion box is a really great gift to surprise someone with. You can make it interactive with tags & pockets, using design paper to decorate. There are several examples of these on this blog, and there’s a tutorial in my Etsy shop.

Another way to decorate is to use pictures only. This way it will become a treasure trove of someone’s dearest memories, always easy to keep nearby and peruse them. This kind I’ve dubbed a 100% Photo Explosion Box. And this week I’m sharing one of these, which I created for some people’s golden wedding anniversary.

So enjoy the video & pictures! Please like this post – and of course subscribe if you’d like to receive weekly updates of my work. 🙂

 

 

30th Wedding Anniversary Explosion Box

A short while ago a lady asked me to create an explosion box to suprise her husband for their 30th wedding anniversary. She had seen my Still in Love explosion box, and hoped I could create a similar one, but of course customized to her specific likes and wishes.

Since I still had enough of DCWV’s Natural stack, I set out to create another one of my explosion boxes. It has two layers with an altered miniature treasure chest hidden inside. The lady sent me some thoughts and feelings about her beloved husband, and some pictures of her family and their dog, all of which I incorporated as creatively as I could.

I was very happy to hear that the lady and her beloved loved it and are continually adding little personal memorabilia to it!

Like to create an explosion box yourself? Check out my tutorial, explaining the process of creating a three-layer explosion box in 80 pages and 190 pictures!

So, here’s the end result, enjoy!

 

The first two tags of these three were made with some tag die sets by Crealies:

 

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Mini Layout with Ma Cherie

Today I’m sharing a little layout with my lovely mom as its center of attention 🙂 .

I used Kaisercraft’s wonderfully feminine and slightly oriental Ma Cherie paper collection for this fun little project, which has a chipboard base and measures only 6×6 inches (15×15 cm) instead of the usual 12×12″ (30.5 x 30.5 cm).

This smaller size makes it a very practical gift, for not everyone has room in their homes and hearts for a relatively large addition to their interior decorations – especially when the gift is a complete surprise. A smaller size is a lot less threatening and – more importantly – a lot easier to assign a nice little spot to somewhere in their house.

On the creator’s side, the small size makes for the perfect opportunity to use the 6×6″ (15×15 cm) cutaparts that sometimes come with collections, like the Fine sheet in this Ma Cherie paper line.

I used the top-left cutapart of the sheet called “Fine” for my layout

I embellished my mini layout with some Ma Cherie Collectables die-cuts, some flowers from my stash and some Stickles. I also fussy-cut two butterflies from the Exquisite sheet of the collection.

Exquisite

All in all I was very pleased with the end result – and more importantly, so was my mom! 🙂 So enjoy the video and pictures, and feel free to let me know what you think!

 

Curled up the lower left corner, added the word “treasured” that I cut from one of the sheets, then decorated the rest of the corner with some flowers and die-cut leaves. I also added two Collectables die-cuts right above the curled up paper.

Added a simple hanging mechanism, which I got in a home improvement store (very affordable!)

 

 

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December Deluge 5: Decoupaged Candle & Box

This December month I’ll post many projects on my blog, to give you some inspiration and ideas for your Christmas projects – and also to help you spend your holiday time creatively. In my previous posts I showed you a quick Christmas Mini Album, a 1-sheet Micro Walleta set of Nutcracker Sweet Christmas Cards and some Trishutter Christmas Cards. Today: Part 5 of this December Deluge of creative ideas 🙂

Decoupaging is a great technique for altering projects, especially when you’re out of paper crafting ideas and want to switch materials a bit to stir things up again 🙂

This decoupaged set of a Christmas candle and a matching box is quite easy to make and will make for a great Christmas holiday afternoon. Plus, they’re a great little emergency gift set for that one neighbour you forgot 😉

The only materials you need are:

  • one or two Christmas napkins (the regular, layered paper ones),
  • some mod podge (and a brush to apply it)
  • the objects you wish to alter

And: some patience while it’s drying 😉

Note: if you wish to alter a candle like I have, please use special candle podge.

You can watch my free video tutorial on how to decoupage a candle to see how it’s done, and how easy it is!

Here’s the little Christmas set I created!

 

Next: December Deluge 6 – Candy Cane Lane – Twice! 🙂

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December Deluge 1: Quick Mini Album “Caramel Christmas”

Hi guys!

This December month I’ll post many projects on my blog, to give you some inspiration and ideas for your Christmas projects – and also to help you spend your holiday time creatively. This week, Part 1 of this December Deluge of creative ideas 🙂

I’ve got a cute little Christmas mini album to share with you all: it’s kind of a mini mini album. For with its 4⅛ x 5⅛” (10,5 x 13 cm) it’s not quite micro yet, but smaller than average nonetheless. It’s fairly easy to make, for each page has the same design, and there’s only four pages.

I’m calling this one Caramel Christmas, mainly because of the color scheme of the paper pad I was using (some nameless Dutch brand) – it just reminded me of Christmas sweets like toffee, or coffee candy. Or caramel! 🙂

Both the album’s size and its small number of pages guarantee that you’ll only need one 6×6″ design paper pad btw – probably only about half at that.

All in all this is what you might call back to basics, or perhaps Mini Album 101 🙂 If you’ve never created a mini album before, I hope this one inspires you to try your hand at it after all! No time like the present right? 🙂 And if you’d like to know how to create this, you can check out the tutorial in my shop – which has 60 pages and 126 pictures.

Enjoy the video & pics below!

Btw, as stated above,  I’ll be posting a lot more Christmas projects this month, so stay tuned!
Next up: December Deluge pt. 2 – A 1-sheet Micro Wallet!

 

 

 

Enjoying the Little Things – A Miniature Display

Hi guys,

Today I’m sharing a blog only project with you all, so no video this time. Several pictures though, so check it out!

Recently I created a little display with a picture of one of my aunts. It’s made of chipboard and cardstock, but is very sturdy nonetheless and can stand all on its own. It sports design paper on all sides and some cute little embellishments on the inside.
For this particular one I used some Mariposa paper by DCWV.

These little frames are very cute and are a great way to use up all of your leftover pieces of chipboard and paper. On top of that, they make awesome little personal gifts! Because they won’t take as much time as, say, a mini album, and I find them perfect for rainy Sunday afternoons 🙂

Check out the pictures below, and if you’d like to create some yourself, check out the (affordable)  tutorial!

See you in a couple of days with a video post again – until then, stay crafty! 🙂

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Explosion Box for a Man – Still in Love

Recently a lovely lady ordered a customized explosion box as a gift for her beloved, to celebrate their love. Today I’m sharing the end results with you, for not only is this the first love-themed explosion box I created, it’s also the first that is intended for a man!

It’s a two-layer explosion box, created out of cardstock and decorated with the Natural paper collection by DCWV. It has several quotes and sentiments about love and family; some I came up with myself, based on what she shared with me about her beloved and their relationship. Others were copied from the Heirloom sticker sheet by Kaisercraft, which is a great source of inspiration for projects about family.

In the center of the explosion box is a tiny wooden treasure chest, super cute, that I altered with papers from the same Natural stack, on top of a copper-colored paint base.

If you feel inspired to create one yourself but don’t know where to start, check out my explosion box tutorial in my Etsy shop, based on my Explosion of Joy version. As a bonus, this tutorial covers a three-layer explosion box, so that’s a whole extra layer compared to this one!

Enjoy the video!

 

Curly die by Crealies:

These tags were made with some tag die sets by Crealies:

Raining Cats & Dogs Tea Box from Chipboard

For World Animal Day I thought it would be fitting to show a project I created with Raining Cats & Dogs, a lovely, richly colored design paper by Graphic 45.

From chipboard I created a little box that I filled with Original First Tea, which comes in its own little boxes. They fit perfectly into my little gift box. And of course I added a matching birthday card as well!

No video this week, just some lovely pictures. Enjoy, and please like, subscribe and feel free to share them on Pinterest or other social media.

Stay tuned this month, for I’ll be sharing at least two other Raining Cats & Dogs projects the following weeks! If you like what you see below, then click here for a double card I created with this gorgeous paper.

Matching birthday card, created to fit into this little box:

Removable tiny birthday cardlet:

Back of the card:

Filled up with tea:

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Large pockets & tags card + bookmark – “Mediterranean”

Ah, those beautiful last days of summer… In the Netherlands summer has been short but sweet, with the early September sun trying its best to still give us a little warmth. So before we have to say goodbye to summer definitively, we can take one more look at it and celebrate its vibrant colours with this cheery birthday card!

It’s turned out rather large (A5), has a strong blue (think Mediterranean Sea) for its base and sports several tags and pockets. And, as a special bonus feature, there’s a bookmark too! An actual one, not a digital one – just adding that for the young people reading this and wondering what a paper bookmark might be… 😉

Here’s a little photo shoot I did. The design paper I used is by some nameless Dutch brand, it has no title of its own but I’m calling it Mediterranean. Because it looks……. Mediterranean – but then again, you’d already figured that one out yourself, had you not? 🙂

Front – setting the Mediterranean tone with a sunny flip pocket:

Inside the flip pocket is – of course – a tag. I will personalize it by printing some birthday wishes onto it and who knows, I may even do some stamping!

Inside – Summer landscape on the left, sea-themed pocket on the right, with a dolphin tag hanging from a gold-colored brad and a blue ribbon along the border of the pocket. The pocket holds a bookmark, with a quote from a well-known Dutch literary writer. The quote reads something like: “Good literature has the ability to make us see through another person’s eyes.”

Back – Two matching side-loading pockets with identical dolphin tags/photo mats. On the other side of the tags is room for journaling, or for writing some personal messages to the recipient.

What colors do you associate with summer? And with what craft project are you saying goodbye to this year’s summer season? 

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