I watched this album being made by Lyriclover810, and thought it would be fun to make for Halloween. I bought four sheets of loose scrapbook paper at Joanns for this project…My paper wasn’t perfectly square and it would have been better if I had used a pad of paper, as all of it would have been the same size.
You’ll need four 12″ x 12″ pieces of scrapbook paper, not super thin, as you need it to be sturdy enough to create an album. Score each sheet at 6″, then turn it one turn and score at 3″. Do this to all four sheets. Then fold the paper in half and burnish with a bone folder or anything that will flatten your paper. Fold the 3″ scores toward the raised score (and not the indented score) to create pockets. Take wet glue and glue the two outer edges with a fine line of wet glue. If you want to round your corners, do this before gluing it down. My corner rounder is from Amazon and here’s the link to it. http://tinyurl.com/ydf9a6w6
I rounded all of my corners.  The bottom ones might be difficult to round, so press your rounder hard enough to leave an impression on the paper, then use scissors to cut it.
Once all four papers are scored and folded, you’ll want to glue them together. If you use double sided paper, the middle two sheets won’t show on the outside, as they’ll be hidden with other papers…so if you don’t like one side of your paper, put it in the middle of the album with the ugly sides on the outside (not where the pockets are). The outside two pages will show both the inside and outside.
To glue them together, fold them, then glue the back of one to the front of the next. I used Elmers glue stick on the page on the left side and Tonic Funky Glue Pen on the page on the right.  Make sure all four corners are perfectly lined up before going on to the next page.
To create a binding for the album, cut a piece of coordinating paper that is 9″ long by 1″ to 1 1/2″ wide. If your binding is thicker, you’d want to make yours 1 1/2″ wide like mine. If your paper is thin, you can get away with using a 1″ wide piece. You’ll need to put tear tape or ATG glue on this strip to ensure it adheres well. Center the 1 1/2″ wide part on the binding, making sure it’s laid so the 9″ length is even on both ends of the album. Bend the edges of the 1 1/2″ piece and fold them until they meet the album and press down on both sides. I also pressed the center on my craft mat so it was flat. I put binder clips on it to ensure it stayed in place until the glue was set..
The papers I used to decorate are from Graphic 45 and the set is called Rare Oddities. It’s a retired set of paper, but you still should be able to find some of it on Ebay or Etsy. I decorated the album almost solely from the 8″ paper pad and ephemera set that you can buy separately.
I used pearls from Stampin’ Up and colored the pearls with a Copic marker to ensure it matched the album.
I got a box of goodies from my friend Kelly, and showed it in the video….I bought some things from Stampin’ Up that are discontinued. If you are looking for any of these things, here is the information on them. Since these are being discontinued, you might want to shop sooner, rather than later if you’re interested in them.
Black Metallic Thread #141695
Pearl Buttons #138394
Just Add Color Designer Series Paper #144180

 

I looked over the album I’d glued together and decided it wasn’t worth finishing.  Rich and I went out to lunch and then to a movie with friends..We saw “A Simple Favor” with Anna Kendrick…It wasn’t at all what I expected, but still kept us wondering where they were taking us with the plot…Might be one you should wait to watch on video.

After the movie, we stopped at Joann’s and I bought five sheets of orange dotted card stock.  I thought it would work well for the album, but it never occurred to me that the paper would be different sizes.  It definitely wasn’t 12″ x 12″, and that creates a problem when making this album.  You really need to start with four pieces of 12 x 12″ paper.  I had to cut mine and score in a different spot and frankly, it was kind of a hassle.  If I had bought a paper pad, I don’t think I would have had the problems I had.  Oh well, live and learn.

I have to say though, the album is really cute and I’m hoping will be a nice gift for someone…Although who I should give it too, I’ve got no idea.  It’s Halloween themed and so many of my friends’ grandkids no longer trick or treat.  I might make a giveaway for viewers with it, but so far, I’m not sure what I’ll be doing with it…Have to think on it a little while.

I finally got the codes to work for the Mulwark Tools…It’s only taken me about a week.  I felt so stupid that I kept getting codes that wouldn’t work, and finally, YAY!  They had to send me individual codes, so each person needs their own code.  I’ve never heard of anything like that happening, and was blown away that they actually worked.  I’m breathing the biggest sigh of relief!

I didn’t finish the album today, or look at it for that matter.  We had a thunderstorm about 4AM and Honey gets so anxious that I have to take her to the basement and sleep with her there.  And no, she doesn’t want Rich to do it.  If he takes her downstairs, she still paces and worries…It’s a job for SuperDogMom!   As soon as I lay blankets on the couch, she jumps on one end and lays at my feet…I don’t feel sleepy until I hear her make a deep sigh, and then I know it’s OK to rest.  I can’t imagine how scared the poor dog must be.  So needless to say, I was pretty groggy most of today.  I even took a nap, and then we had a tornado warning, so back to the basement with Honey, as it was thundering again….It’s been a long day..I’m hoping tomorrow is a whole new ballgame.

I had a bunch of scrap paper left over from the purse we made and I wanted to make six cards to fit inside the purse..I started with 110 lb Recollections (from Michaels) heavy weight card stock in cream for card bases. I cut them to 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ when closed 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″, an A2 size card.

I used sentiments from Aliexpress and a stamp set called Many Greetings from My Creative Times.

Cut the sentiments with dies from a Spellbinders set from the Small Dies of the Month, March, 2018. I put my greetings on the magnetic plate of my Vagabond and laid the dies on top of them, then rubbed washi tape on the sleeve of my shirt, and taped the dies in place (for those of you who don’t have a magnetic plate.) My plastic plates are warped so I wanted to be sure mine would stay in place, and added the washi to them so they would.
I made a lot more sentiments than I would need, but I wanted the recipient to be able to use the ones that they needed on the cards. Some people need a lot of thank you, or happy birthday, so I made sure they could apply only the ones that they needed to the cards.
If you only have larger dies, I showed how to trim a sentiment so it would work with them. Took a rectangular die that was much longer than I needed, and laid it as close the the left side of the image as possible and cut that, then laid it as close to the right side as possible and cut it again. FYI, this doesn’t work well with dies that are embossed (raised) on the edges, as it’s almost impossible to line it up so the embossing doesn’t look odd. I used a stitched die, and if you try to line up the die with the existing stitches, you should have good results. The die set I used was also from Aliexpress.
I stamped the sentiments with brown and black inks from Versamark, then put clear embossing powder on them and heat set them (off camera.)

I wanted these cards to fit inside the pockets of the purse so I didn’t layer them with foam so they weren’t very dimensional.  Didn’t have a ribbon that matched my card, so took an alcohol marker and colored it so it was more pinky-peach. For my second card, I used a scalloped edge border punch from Stampin’ Up and layered one of the images on black paper that was leftover. The black layer was 4″ x 5 1/4″. I had a blue ribbon that I laid on the left edge of the scalloped layer, vertically, and tied a knot in it to resemble a bow.
The next card I showed how I chose from the scraps, and used a dotted design that was 4″x 5 1/4″ and put tear tape on the back, then layered it on the card. I used Funky Tonic Glue Pen to glue down strips of black to the back of a patterned blue piece as the black scraps weren’t wide enough to cover the blue piece on their own. It’s a great way to make more use of leftover paper. I glued the black lined blue scrap about 1/4″ from the left side of the dotted paper, then laid a floral image on top of it.
For the next card, I did the same technique with black paper, so my pink striped paper would end up being 4 x 5 1/4″ once the black paper was affixed to either edge. Then glued a blue and beige paper that was about 1 1/4″ wide by 5″ long onto the center of the card and laid a length of postage stamp images onto black paper, cut the black paper so it was about 1/4″ wider and taller than the stamps, and centered it on the blue and beige layer.
I stamped the back of all of my cards with a stamp I had made by Discount Rubber Stamps that says “I made this for you.”. I thought it was a great plan as I’m giving these so that someone else can mail them and the recipient will think they made the cards for them.
The next card was strips of blue patterned paper that edged a blue polka dot layer on either side to make it 4 x 5 1/4″ and put a large bird image on top.
The last card was a blue background 4 x 5 1/4″, with a polka dot layer that was about       2 1/2″ wide by 5 1/4″ long…I added a black layer that had a bird image on it…the black layer was about 1/4″ wider and taller than the bird image..glued that on the center of the polka dot layer and called it a day.

I started making a video on an easy album I wanted to make.  Everything went wrong and I’m thinking I should start over.  The paper needed to be 12 x 12″ and I think I might have somehow trimmed one of my pieces shorter, thus making the whole project a mess.

I tried to rectify the situation, but you know how that goes sometimes, it’s either meant to be or not, and right now, I think this could be made for the trash.  I’m not sure yet, and I’ll know for sure tomorrow, as I’m waiting for the glue to dry to see if I can trim edges that are really nasty right now.  I would never have thought that I’d have the patience to mess with something like this, but I guess patience has been a gift of mature age…I could have said old age, or almost old age, as I’m definitely not middle aged any more…If I’m middle aged, I’d have to live to be 116…I sincerely hope I don’t live until then.  I don’t consider myself to be old, but when talking to anyone below forty, I’m pretty sure they would classify me as old.  (I know I would have when I was young.)

Tomorrow is another day for the album.  I might wake up and wonder what I was fretting about..Cross your fingers that I’m thrilled with it tomorrow, otherwise it could be a long wait for another one.

 

We had a really nice day today.  Our college friends had a get together, and Rich made an apple pie that was amazing.  He’s quite the baker, and his friends were amazed that he did such a great job on the pie…  It’s always nice to see them and reminisce about the “good old days.”  Those days seem like they were yesterday (in some ways) and in other, forever ago.  Some of our friends have grandchildren and in my head, I still think we’re about twenty-five…How does that happen?  In our heads, we’re still young, but on the outside, not so young.  I wonder if everyone feels the same…young at heart, I guess.  I don’t know, but I definitely don’t feel like I’m almost sixty..Holy cow!  Sixty…weird!  I have one more year to go before I turn sixty, but it still seems so odd to me…Let me know if you feel the same way in your head..if that even makes sense.  Obviously it makes sense to me, but I don’t know about anyone else.

I’m hoping tomorrow I hear from the people at Mulwark and that we get to the bottom of the issue with the promotional codes that don’t work.  I feel so stupid about it and am hoping it gets corrected, because I thought it was fixed on Friday, but obviously not.  Man this is frustrating for everyone…

Today has been super frustrating for me.  I had been contacted by the Mulwark Company a few months ago about doing a video for them demonstrating their tools.  I agreed because of the great discounts they were offering my viewers for these tool, plus they would let me have the tools to try out for free.  Now that the video is live, the link and the promotional codes don’t work.  It’s making me crazy.  I emailed them yesterday and they thought the links worked….but on our end, they don’t seem to be working.  I tried one this morning and it worked for me, but it doesn’t seem to work for anyone else.  Geez!  I just want to scream…I feel like I should be able to do something, when I clearly have to wait for them to get back to me.

I’m trying to get over this..haha

I decided to order the Simon Says Stamp monthly kit.  I get the Hero Arts kit, but don’t make videos with them because by the time I receive mine, there are at least ten people with videos featuring the kit and why would anyone want to watch yet another Hero Arts video…I’m hoping the SSS kit comes on a more timely basis, and I’m crossing my fingers that I do.  I’ve been watching the last few, and really think they are nice kits…I’m hoping they continue to make me happy, so I can make some fun cards with them…We’ll just need to wait and see.

I was sent the information for thinking of you card week by Rebecca Walton, owner of pegstamps.com…She thought it would be great to participate and send cards to seven people, and I agreed. Unfortunately my timing isn’t great, as the week started October 24th and runs through the 30th. I still think it would be nice for us to send seven cards to friends unexpectedly though..Here’s more about this week’s initiative.  https://thinkingofyouweekusa.com/

I wanted to create seven cards and started with Recollections 110 lb heavyweight cardstock, cut it in half on the long length and then scoring them at 4 1/4″.

I used a variety of stencils…one from Joggles called Damask and the others I think are from Aliexpress, with simple geometric patterns.

I used sentiments from a My Creative Things set called Many Greetings and a set from Aliexpress with simple script greetings and a couple of frames. I put all of the greeting inside the MISTI on scrap white cardstock, and stamped them a few times with Versafine Onyx Black ink and then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. I ran my brush (that I bought at a garage sale) to put some baby powder on my papers to ensure the embossing powder only sticks to the images before putting embossing powder on them.

I used a black water based marker and colored the edges of my sentiments then put clear embossing powder on them and heat embossed them as well.

I taped the stencils down on the sides to hold them flat (with a card base under it) and then used a Tim Holtz distress tool to color through the stencil. You need to heat set Distress Oxide inks before going onto the next step.

I used Distress Oxide Inks in: Worn Lipstick (thought it was too coral)
Picked Raspberry
After the first layer of Distress Oxides, I offset the image just a little bit, and used the white ink for the next layer…Then I used Seedless Preserves that’s a purple color and moved the stencil a little more to make the images pop. Then I sprayed some water on a few of the cards to make them look a little different.

The white ink is Hero Arts Unicorn White pigment ink, and it needs to be heat set as well as it’s very slow drying.

I used the inks on the edges of my sentiments as well.

I ran some pink ribbon through the Xyron and attached it to some of the cards beneath the sentiments…I put foam squares under the sentiments and laid them on the ribbon. I used white sheer ribbon with glue dots on one card as the Xyron adhesive didn’t seem to stick to this type ribbon.

I added white gel pen to one to brighten it and to cover a mark on one of the sentiments.

If you want to tag photos of the cards you create for thinking of you week, here are the tags.

Instagram.com/thinkingofyouweek
facebook.com/ThinkingOfYouWeekUSA

I have been working like a busy beaver in my craft room today, trying to catch up with Thinking of you card week.  I felt so bad that I forgot about it, so decided it was time to make seven cards that you can make quickly, that are simple yet look really 3-D.  I have been torturing poor Rich with making him not only upload the purse video (over 45 minutes long), but also making him upload the seven cards I made.  He’s a real trooper, and said he would take the blame for me forgetting about the thinking of you card initiative.  I’m so scatterbrained sometimes…Hate that about myself.

I finally got the purse video up, and now am just waiting for Rich to finish the second video of the day..  I played with my Distress Oxides and really enjoyed them for the first time ever.  I’ve used them in the past, but never seemed to like the results…All that changed today.  I hope you enjoy the cards and that you’ll participate and send seven cards to people like I’m going to do..

My friend Sherry sent me all of the dimensions and directions to make this great purse…It’s perfect for a gift.

You’ll need this template. Print it out on your computer and cut it out as you’ll need it to make the sides of your purse.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_EhP26vb9-sM3yGkUVXTbqsFvIFIXQz8

Once you’ve chosen the paper you want to use for your covers, you’ll use the back of the paper (the blank side) and trace the template you just printed out…You’ll need to trace four of these for the outside and inside of the purse…You can use two paper patterns, one for the outside and one for the inside.
You’ll also need to use the template on cardboard, chipboard, mat board—whatever works for you. You’ll trace the same template twice on whatever cardboard option you choose.

I was sent tools by the MulWark Company and they are giving my viewers a great discount on the them.
MLK-53751 MulWark Industrial Grade Carpet Utility Knife: https://goo.gl/nRGA7v $3.20 with 80% discount
MLK-53761 MulWark 16 Pieces Precision Craft Knife Set: https://goo.gl/1Ljykp $3.00 with 80% discount

I found the middle size handle for the craft knife worked best for me, and really loved the cutting ability of the utility knife. I have to say that I was completely impressed with the quality of these tools.
After cutting out the cardboard and designer papers, distress the designer paper and then glue the paper to the cardboard. You will need to put your magnets in place before gluing down the designer paper for the front. I took the purse closure (below) and laid that on the center of the unfinished cardboard front with tear tape on the magnets that correspond to the one on the closure and put tear tape on the magnets then laid the closure on the front of the purse so the magnets with tear tape on them would adhere to the purse in the right spot. Then you can cover the cardboard with the designer paper.

Papers you’ll need:
The flap that holds the purse closed:
Black: 4″ long by 2″ wide round all four corners
score on the 4″ length at 1 1/2″ and turn it around and score it at 1 1/2″
Designer paper to lay on top of the black cardstock: distress the edges and round the bottom corners
1 3/4″ wide x 1 1/4″ tall (you need 2 of these) for either end
1 3/4 wide x 3/4″ tall for the middle
Before you glue the layers together, you need to determine where you want your magnets to go, and then make sure you glue it between the two layers of cardstock. I used tiny magnets and glued them under the front flap and put a pearl on the front flap so I’d know which is the front. Then I laid the corresponding magnets on top of the black cardstock attached to their other magnet piece so I would remember to glue it to the purse.  I attached this piece last after gluing the purse together and putting the straps on.

Front Pocket:
black: 4″ wide x 6″ tall and score on 6″ side at 2″ and 4 1/2″
designer paper:
3 1/2″ wide x 1 3/4″ tall piece for bottom section
3 1/2 x 1 1/4″ tall (sorry I said the wrong size on the video) for the closed top of the pocket.
Fold the bigger scored area toward the center and fold the smaller scored area down so it makes a pocket. Round the corners of the flap you folded down and put magnets under the designer paper on the top flap so it can adhere to the bottom and round the bottom corners of the designer paper as well. Before gluing your designer paper to the bottom section of the front of this pocket, you’ll need to put your magnets there and then glue the designer paper down. Take an oval punch and punch out (or cut) a notch in the bottom part of your pocket so that people can stick their fingers inside. You’ll put tear tape on the outer edges and pull the notch a little out and then glue down the pocket.

Inner Pockets: You’ll need two of these
Black: 8″ long x 3 1/2″ across (need 2)
score on 8″ length at 1/2″ and 1″ then flip over to score the other end at 1/2″ and 1″ and then turn on 3 1/2″ length and score at 1/2″ and 1″…again you need two of these
Designer paper: You’ll need two of these 5 3/4″wide x 2″ high

First fold all of your black scores on the pockets, then cut on the bottom scores on the second set of scores from the edge, cut them to the second score line up..do this on both ends, and then cut to the first score on the first scores on either end, then put tear tape on the outside up to the first score and tear tape on the inside of the longer piece at the bottom. Put the pocket together then put tear tape on the back of the pocket as well as on the side flaps, and put some on the very bottom of the pocket as well.
I decorated the pockets with some stamps that looked great after I glued the designer paper I gave the dimensions for above.
I used Distress ink in Gathered Twig and it was really too dark for this, but once I started, I was committed…I put it on the designer paper for the pockets as well as all designer paper on the entire purse.

Bottom of purse:  Black cardstock 6″ x 1″

Pieces your straps go through:  Black cardstock: you need four .. 1 1/2″ long x 1″ wide and round the bottom corners
designer paper 1 1/4″ long by 3/4″ wide and round the bottom corners
Glue these layers together centered on the black paper…
I used a Sunstar Kadomaru Pro, Corner Cutter and here’s a link to it at Amazon. http://tinyurl.com/yct9korz

I decorated the pocket for the front of the purse with papers from Graphic 45 that look like stamps. I also added a pearl there and on the purse closure.
I attached the pieces that the straps go through on the purse, then took my Crop-a-dile and punched holes into the centers of these pieces.
I glued a pocket onto the bottom of one of my cardboard pieces (purse side) and took the 8″ x 1″ piece and glued it to the bottom of that pocket, (making sure I only covered half of the 1″ wide strip), then took the other pocket and centered it on the other half of the black strip, then put the other side of the cardboard (purse side) onto it and used a pokey tool to rub the inside to ensure the pocket stayed glued to the purse.
I took two lengths of 15″long, 1″ wide organza ribbon and knotted the ends of it and pressed it through the holes on my purse with a pokey tool. You’ll need two pieces of ribbon, one for each side of the purse. If you use a thicker ribbon, only use 1/2″ wide ribbon and push it through one hole on one side then knot it and then push the other end through the other hole on the same cardboard piece, and knot it.