Mini Brag Book Featuring The Robin's Nest Products

Hello everyone.  Barbara here again, and I have a cute little brag book to share with you today, using those wonderful papers and embellishments from The Robin's Nest.  My post is a bit lengthy today, but I am really excited about this little book because, while I was making it, so many possible uses came to mind, and I have so many points to make. So let's get to it.  

After cutting all of your papers as shown in the diagram below, adhere double sided tape to the tabs.  

Double sided adhesive to tabs

On the cover piece (the one with only three thumb cutouts) you will add the closure flap for the front cover, as shown below. It attaches to the inside of the pocket page where there is no thumb hole.

Closure flap for front cover attached upper right

Adhere the tabs to the pockets, as shown.  NOTE:  If you remove only a portion of the adhesive liner and let it hang outside the area to be taped, you can easily line up the paper edges and then pull the remaining liner away to finish adhering the pockets together.

Now you have two pocket pages.  The outer pocket page has a wider spine so that you can adhere the inner pocket page inside, gluing both spines together.  The picture below shows where I have placed a 1/8" strip of double sided adhesive down the spine on the inner pocket page.  I found that I needed a bit more glue for sturdiness, so I also added some Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to the spine.

I also added a decorative spine cover that I cut out from some matching cardstock from my stash, and punched each long edge with a bracket punch.

Decorative spine cover

Now for the closure.  I found these chipboard shapes in my stash and wanted to use them on the cover.  I embossed each with gold glitter embossing powder, then used the loop shape as part of the front closure.  I remembered seeing a hitch fastener being used in a similar way, so after placing the chipboard loop on the front, I determined where I needed to add the hitch fastener to keep it closed.

Here is the result.  

I further embellished the front with the key and a flower that did not match until I colored it with some picket fence (white) distress ink...

Left flower lightened with white distress ink

Of course, it would not be complete without using my favorite embellishment, dew drops.  In this case, the Mocha Trail dew drops fit the bill.  I think it really adds to the piece.  Simple tags were added to each pocket, and voila, you have the perfect little brag book to carry in your purse with your favorite photos of your children, grandchildren, pets, or in my case, my recent trip to Italy.  

Center page with travel pictures

Diagram

I made four tags for each pocket using Glitter Mocha Daisy cardstock.  I cut the tags into 3-1/4" x 5" rectangles and rounded the corners. The tags can either hold more photos, or you can journal on them, or both.  Here is a picture of what I did with one tag, using the gold glitter journal tags.  

Tag with gold glitter journal

Although the journal tags are larger than my book tags, I was still able to use them by simply folding them in half and adhering along the edge of the tag.  Now, I have two journaling spots, one on each side of the tag.  And if you offset them, rather than centering them, you can still have room for more pictures.

Robin's Nest Products Used:  (with quick links below each image)

Mocha Trail Dew Drops

Glitter Mocha Trail cardstock

Glitter Mocha Daisy cardstock

Glitter Gold Journaling

Regency Clippies

Victorian Clippies

This is such an easy book to make, and The Robin's Nest Papers and embellishments make it gorgeous.  I am sure you will want to make more than one. How about a Christmas gift for grandma, a coupon holder, a note holder, a birthday reminder list, or even keep addresses and phone numbers in it, the sky is the limit.  

Thanks so much for stopping by, please be sure to visit The Robin's Nest online store for more amazing products and inspiration. 

Have a very creative week!

Barbara

All Things Altered Fall/Halloween Blog Hop

Hello all of you altered art fans, and welcome to the annual All Things Altered Fall/Halloween Blog Hop, hosted by the very talented Pam Bray of Scrapbook Flair, which is where it all starts.  I am so excited and pleased to be a part of this hop, which includes so many talented artists.  You will be inspired by the projects that will be shared on each of the designers blogs.  We are sure that you will love the "out of the box" projects that everyone has come up with.  Along the way, you will be able to leave comments for some fabulous prizes and, of course, we would love for you to start following our blogs. Please tell your other scrappy friends about our hop. I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

For my project, I chose to do something that makes me think of Fall.  I began with a piece I found in the local charity shop.  It started out like this ... 

... and ended up like this.

I totally love the way this turned out.  I used Graphic 45's Renaissance Collection of papers and cut outs.  Below, you can see the fair lady bringing in the last basket of roses for the season.  I adhered her to heavy chipboard before coating her with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.  Unfortunately,  this made it hard to get a real clear picture, but she does have a mysterious sparkle about her.  

I love mixed media, and here is a perfect example of why.  I started with green German scrap borders and corner pieces, painted them with Vintaj Patinas, brown acrylic paint, and even added some Brilliance Lightning Black ink to them.  You just keep going until you get the look you want.  The bird, also pictured below, is a German die cut.

I added some Prima vines in a Fall color scheme, a Graphic 45 metal butterfly with decorative brad that I colored with Vintaj Patinas, and a cute little bird's nest.  A few pretty feathers were added here and there.

I have some blog candy to give away to one lucky winner chosen at random.  All you have to do is (1) leave me a comment below and (2) follow my blog.  I will announce the winner next Thursday, 4 October.  

Be sure to visit each and every one of the other blogs participating in this two-day event.  

The lineup is shown below so you won't miss a thing.

1. Pammejo http://www.pammejo-scrapbookflair.com/
2. Nicole http://canadiannickelscrapn.blogspot.com/
3. Betty http://scrappybetty.blogspot.com/
4. Gloria http://www.gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
5 .Irit http://iritshalom.blogspot.com/
6. Christine www.scrapbookingtechnique.blogspot.com
7. Debbie - http://studiobeecreations.blogspot.com/
8. Jennifer - http://hydrangeahippo.com/
9. Jess B. - http://thatzuneek.blogspot.com/

10. Barbara R. - http://blackholeartstudio.blogspot.com/ - You Are Here
11. Shelley http://heartstring-designs.blogspot.com/
12. Candice - http://candicewindhamdesigns.blogspot.com/

13. Eileen http://eileenhull.blogspot.com/


I had so very much fun with this project, and I hope you have been inspired to make something from someone else's throw away, just as I did.  Thanks for stopping by, and please come back soon.

Happy altering!

Barbara

Tips and Techniques Thursday

Hello again, and welcome back to another edition of T&TT (that's Tips & Techniques Thursday, of course).  

Today I am going to share a technique with you that I used for my altered cigar box, posted last weekend during Leslie Rahye's Very Fall Steampunk Blog Hop.  In case you missed it, this is the box.

What I am going to show you now is how I made those beautiful steampunk style metal leaves on the box top.  Pictured below are the products I used:

First, die cut the leaves from the Spellbinders Premium Craft Foil, or any lightweight metal you may already have on hand.  I used the Memory Box maple leaf die.  I then embossed the leaves with a Paper Studio Gears embossing folder.  Easy so far, right?   

Next, I painted each leaf with Vintaj Moss Patina and let it dry.  Then I spritzed each leaf with two colors of Smooch Spritz in Limolicious and Sea Kiss.  I used a heat gun to quick dry the paint, allowing it to bubble, which made it age some.  

Now you have beautiful leaves that are easy to mold and maintain their shape for adding to your steampunk style botanical art.  Here is a closer look at them on the cigar box lid.  

Of course, there are a million different ways to make these, but this is just one of them.  I hope you enjoyed it and will give it a try.  It is a lot of fun and the results are pretty amazing.

Until next time, I hope you have wonderful crafting experiences!

Barbara

World Card Making Day Coming Soon!

Just wanted to let everyone know in advance about an upcoming event that I think everyone will enjoy.  In honor of World Card Making Day on October 6th, for a full two hours, several designers from The Robin's Nest will be demonstrating live that wonderful art we call card making.  Every 15 minutes, a new card project will be demonstrated.  And, if that is not enough, prizes will also be given away every 15 minutes.  Doesn't that sound like a fun way to spend a bit of your Saturday afternoon?  So, mark those calendars and be prepared for a ton of fun, some great giveaways, and lots of card projects to inspire you.

I hope you will join us for this wonderful event.  Just click on this link on October 6th to join us live.  See you there!

Barbara

And The Winner is ...

Today is the day to reveal the randomly selected winner of Leslie-Rahye's Very Fall Steampunk Blog Hop.  Using random.org, the winner is...  Cari !!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:10Powered by RANDOM.ORG



Congratulations, Cari.  Please contact me with your address so I can send your prize to you.  

Leslie-Rahye's Very Fall Steampunk Blog Hop

Happy Fall everyone, and welcome back to another blog hop hosted by the lovely Leslie-Rahye.  I am so excited to be participating in this hop with so very many talented artists.  Just like the falling leaves of the season, creativity and inspiration is abundant here.  

My project piece for today's theme is an altered cigar box using Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante papers, as well as  a variety of other embellishments added to complete the look.  

Below is a picture of the top of the box.  

The hinges were made using Tim Holtz's grunge paper that I hammered with a textured hammer to give that "hammered" look.  Copper and patina colors were then added.  

A Tim Holtz acrylic fragment was glued to a print from the paper, trimmed, then adhered to the box top.  You can also see pictured the steampunk style metal leaves I made.  If you would like to see how I made them, I will show you here next Thursday, the 27th of September, for my Tips and Techniques Thursday post.  

I fussy cut the image of the Victorian woman, layered her on top of a pair of wings, and used Rock Candy crackle paint to age her.  A tiny bit of ball chain was added as a necklace.  

I added a butterfly, some Prima flowers and leaves,   and made a large aqua flower using the Donna Salazar scrunched flower method.  Believe it or not, that flower is made from a piece of brown paper bag, spritzed with various ink sprays that I scrunched up and left to dry.  They make beautiful flowers, as you can see.  I added the steampunk charm to the center of the blue flower, and a patina'd bolt and washer to two other flower centers.  A Tim Holtz curio know was attached to the lid.

Around the sides, I added brown lace and metal chain, as well as other various elements to complete the look.  To me, steampunk is a combination of lace, metal, and  a lot of industrial type science fiction.  What is steampunk to you?  

The inside is finished, but I did not embellished it any further.  You could do so, of course, but I did not want any embellishments on the inside that could get hung up on whatever I decide to keep in the box. I covered pieces of chipboard with a faux suede cloth and glued them to the bottom and sides of the box.  This could be used to keep your most special trinkets safe.  This makes a very elegant interior.  

I hope you enjoyed my fall steampunk-style altered cigar box.  I would love for you to follow my blog and to also hear your thoughts and comments. Therefore, if you would leave a comment and follow my blog, I have a nice giveaway for some lucky follower that I will choose at random and announce on Wednesday, 26 September.    

Now, be sure to click on the links below to visit the other wonderful artists and hop along with them. Some of them will have giveaways, too. So be sure to leave comments for everyone.  And a big thanks to our blog hostess, Leslie Rahye, for putting this all together.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Once again, have a very happy Fall.  

Barbara

Tips and Techniques Thursday

Uh oh.  Too much birthday celebrations this week.  I almost forgot to post a new tips and techniques for Thursday.  So, here are a couple of tips to keep you going another week, I hope.  

Tip 1 - The original size Cuttlebug, Sizzix, and Quickutz embossing folders store perfectly in 4” x 6” size recipe boxes.  For easy reference, I like to use a label maker to label each one with their descriptive title, or write on them with a Sharpie permanent marker.

Tip 2 - Brass stencils can be stored in 4” x 6” size mini photo albums you can purchase at your local craft store.  Just flip through the book for your favorite stencil.  If you have lots, you can store them by theme, or even by manufacturer, and add file labels to the pages.  You can then store them on a book shelf.

Tip 3 - If you recycle, keep a lookout for #6 plastic because it is the same as shrink plastic.  You can use it to make your own shrink plastic embellishments. 

Well, as always, I am so very glad you stopped by today.   I hope you enjoyed today's tips and will visit again soon.

Have a very happy and creative week.  

Barbara