Adding Pages to a Dear Lizzy Daybook

Hey Friends,

One of the projects I'm working on right now, is finishing up the Dear Lizzy Daybook I started while on vacation.  It's well under way - I think I'm at the halfway mark.



One of the ways I've decided to include ephemera I collected on vacation is to bind the ephemera into my book like this...



It's really easy to do and, unfortunately, not my idea. I believe I saw Amy Tan of Amy Tangerine do this but I'm not sure. I  Googled it but couldn't find anything. Still I'm pretty sure that's where I saw this idea.

Anyway, here's how this works. To get started, all you need is your daybook, your ephemera and a pencil.



I lined up the ephemera with the coils and marked them in pencil. This works best on light colored paper so I flipped my pages over before marking with my pencil.



Then I punched holes over my pencil marks using a 1/4" punch and got something that looked like this...



Then I snipped through holes. This is how I can bind the pages into the coil binding.







Then I lined up the holes with the coils and pressed the paper into place.



And there you have it! An easy way to fill my daybook with custom pages like this...



and this...



and this...



This is so easy to do it's become addictive. It works really well on heavier cardstock, pattern paper and photos. I'm not sure if it will stand the test of time but it's certainly working well for now. Stay tuned for more pics and ideas as I pull this book together, I'm determined to get it done.

Wish me luck and thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

It's June already?

 Oh, my my my!

Things are busy, busy, busy with the end of school coming up fast. Time to get summer programs and vacations organized and still leave time in the schedule for visitors to visit and for some spontaneous fun to happen.

I'm also working, working, working. And one of the many projects I'm working on right now is a new class for The Paperie called 7 Layer Layouts - Part 2. This class is completely new content - new pages, new techniques and using some products you might have in your stash and some you might not.

The pursuit of new content means I make a lot of pages to get the class projects just right. Here's one that I was working on for class but decided not to use.



I really loved that background using my favorite Balzer Designs stencil, Blazonry, layered over another favorite, the Dina Wakley Spilled Hearts stencil.



Because I wasn't using it in class, I decided to do a little stash bashing on this layout.  The scraps of patterned paper are from Amy Tangerine's Sketchbook collection and the Thickers are from her first collection with American Crafts.



And what's a page without a little journaling? I usually write notes to my boys. I'm trying to get better about writing on the page instead of hiding the journaling so it's easier to find and read. I'm not sure if they're going to look for hidden journaling (if they ever look at all) but I am pretty sure that if they have to take a page out of the album to read it they're not going to put it back...ever. So, on the page it is.



And here's the whole page...



Sometimes a simple page is just as much fun to make as a super fantastic showpiece, don't you think?

By the way, registration is open for my class and all you have to do is give The Paperie a call to save your seat.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

Stitching on Scrapbook Layouts

Yeah, it's a thing. A real fun thing.

I have long wanted to sew on scrapbook pages but my sewing machine just wouldn't cooperate. Turns out it's broken. Who knew? But I don't need a machine with Amy Tangerine's stitching templates. They're adorable and are so easy to use and enjoy. My stitching dreams have been answered - it's wonderful.

Although I have both sets of templates, I got the letters first and couldn't wait to crack them open and start stitching. And my first word was...



For this page...



And how about some closeups?

Up here there are lots of pics, some twine, wood veneers and some stamping in black ink (a la Kelly Purkey).



And down here, we have more pics and wood veneers and stamping because once is never enough. 



And don't forget the little elephant paperclip...ha! Get it? Because elephants never forget...

Anyway, now for the scary part.



Oh no, it's not pretty back here, my friends. It's all icky stitches and washi tape to keep thing looking pretty out front. Let's look at that again, shall we?



Ahhh, much better.

I love piling all these little pics from 2012 on one page. These are all little moments from our crazy everyday life and it's fun to see them like this. And, in case you're counting, that's 11 pics on one page which is probably a record for me these days. The stitched title has impact and oomph and stands out from all those photos. And because it's a long one, it also doubles as my journaling! Done and done.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

Just Playin'

I have been having the most fun playing and creating. There are so many wonderful products and scrapbooking lines available it's hard to stay away from my desk.

Right now, I can't get enough of the papers from Amy Tangerine's Yes Please and Dear Lizzy's Lucky Charm collections. And I love cutting them with my Silhouette Cameo - especially into heart shapes. This cut file is from the lovely and uber talented Wilna Furstenberg. Her website is full of lovely inspiration and you can download this free cut file here.



I don't know if I'll ever get tired of ink and paints splatters. It's fun to add doodling with my Signo white gel pen and FriXion 0.5 pen by Pilot. I also love all my enamel dots from My Mind's Eye for even more dimension and pops of color.



And here's the whole page...



Sometimes you just have to play with the things that make you happy. Forget about everything else and just play. It's a great way to fuel your creativity. And if you're looking for some more inspiration, swing by the Simon Says Stamp & Show blog. Each week there's a challenge and lots and lots of inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

Anatomy of a Scrapbooking Class: Pie Charts and Starbursts

Thursday night, I taught a class at The Paperie called "Pie Charts and Starbursts" which was inspired by this page. 



Once I realized how easy it is to make a pie chart and how great they look on a page, I was hooked.  The  technique of drawing a simple shape and then dividing the shape into sections is easy and can be used over and over but have a different look everytime.

Here's the layout I made for class.



The technique is the same but I changed the basic shape from a rectangle to a circle and used papers from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection for this page. I doubt anyone would know this page was inspired by the "He's my Guy" layout above but it is!

The other layout I made for class was this starburst page.



Again, it's a very easy technique. I simply followed the lines of the grid paper to create the sketch for my starburst and then cut out sections until I had the frame of my starburst.  Then I filled in each section with some pattern paper from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection.  Or you can take a single sheet of pattern paper and use it as a background, like I did for this page...



And if you keep the sections you cut away, you can use them as a mask and with a little spray, make a page like this...



So, there you have it. Two techniques that you can use over and over again in many different ways. I hope you enjoyed my take on the popular starburst and pie chart techniques.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

Where do you find your inspiration?

I don't know if I have ever been as inspired to scrap as I am right now.  I have made countless layouts in the past two weeks and I can hardly wait to make more. I'm not sure why because this has never happened to me before.

I know that part of it comes from all the pictures I have printed recently. Most are from this summer but some are from 2010 and 2009. (How could I resist? My photo developer was having a sale.)  So, even though I love scrapping the pictures that are a few weeks old, I've also scrapped some that are a few years old.

I've also fallen completely in love with some new supplies. Yeah, I'm talking to you Ormolu flair badges and Studio Calico wood veneer shapes. I never put them away because I want to use them on everything. Seriously. And then there's the black Amy Tangerine Thickers that go with the Sketchbook Collection. They're my favs.

And as I mentioned here, I'm taking some online classes lately and I find that highly inspiring, too. (I'll talk more about the other classes I'm taking in another post.)

I'm also getting to sleep through the night again. Ben's teething has settled down and we're both sleeping much better - thank goodness.

So, here is one of my recent pages...



It's about my niece, Kiersten, and Ben sharing Veggie Straws on my deck this summer.  You can see lots of Freckled Fawn washi tape and those Amy Tangerine Thickers I was gushing about.  I know it's nothing fancy but I love scrapping these little moments when family is visiting. 

So, my recipe for inspiration needs photos with good stories, supplies I'm excited about, new supplies/techniques to try and sleep. What do you need to feel inspired?

Thanks for stopping by!

zove

Cathie

 

I'm not ready...

...for Gabriel to start Kindergarten in a few weeks.
...for the parade of summer visitors to end.
...for fall colors
...for Halloween costumes and candy!

And I'm definitely not ready for the holiday lines that debuted a CHA-S last month to hit the shelves of my LSS.

I love Halloween and Christmas is great but I want all of this (aka "summer") to last a little bit longer. I really, really do.

I want bright colors.
I want sunshine.
I want beach pictures.

So, what's a girl to do?

Why use summer colors and scrap summer pictures, of course.  As long as I'm scrapping summer, I can ignore all that (see above) that's coming my way.



And I'm not doing too bad (if I do say so myself).

Thanks for stopping by!

zove

Cathie

Ben's Birthday Book - done!

Hey, hey!

So, I have finally finished the Amy Tangerine Daybook I started for Ben's 1st birthday. I used Ali Edwards' concept of Day in the Life to capture what his first birthday was like.  It wasn't wild or crazy - he's only one. You can see the first half of this project here.

When I last blogged about this book, I still had to finish the cover and a couple of pages.  Here's what the rest of the project looks like - including the things that were undone.




















I recovered the book because it was originally a flower pattern.  A little Amy Tangerine paper, some matte multi-medium, washi tape and rounded corners made for an easy cover revamp. The letters are My Little Yellow Bicycle and are from one of The Paperie's previous kit clubs.

This has turned out so wonderfully that I'm going to do one for Gabriel for his 5th birthday. That's a pretty big milestone, too. And wouldn't it be fun to do one for Gabriel's first day of school...

One last thing, my favorite and most wonderful LSS, The Paperie, is celebrating its 8th birthday on Saturday.  It's going to be so much fun with friends, a make-n-take and yummy treats baked by local scrapper extraordinaire, Krista Wells.  She owns, Taffety, a local baking business with a to-die-for list of treats.  Personally, I'm hoping for some Cranberry Bliss bars or some Red Velvet Cream Cheese Brownies. If I eat them on Mother's Day, they won't have any calories, right? Right. Hope to see you there.

Happy Thursday!

zove

Cathie

note: on Thursdays I blog about projects that aren't quite done.  Maybe they needed some journaling, or photos or both.  I call them "the Undones" and I have a box full of good intentions. In this series, I pick a project, finish it and share the results. I'd love it if you would play along and share a link to your newly finished project in the comments below.

the Undones: Birthday Book (part 1)

Welcome back!

Last week, I started this series about unfinished projects that I call "the Undones".  We all have projects that we start with great intentions but never finish for one reason or another.  In my case, I have a box in my space full of good intentions.  Things I want to do but not "right now".  Maybe I'm bored of the project because it's taking too long to finish, I don't have the right supplies, I lost direction or maybe real life gets in the way. Whatever. When the box is totally full, I go through it and try to decide what to do with the projects. 

This week, I tried to finish the Amy Tangerine Day Book I was working on to celebrate Ben's first birthday.  On the actual day, I used Ali Edwards' Day in the Life approach to document what the day was like. I made notes during the day and used Post-It notes for things I wanted to add later. You can see a blue note reminding me to heat emboss a print of Ben's hand.  I can't find my white embossing powder and need to buy more.  Ben's handprint is going to be a little bigger now than it was a month ago but it's better than nothing, right?

By bedtime, the book was mostly done but still undone.  My goal was to have it finished to share today but alas I'm still not done. I'll show you some of what I have and then finish it up and share the rest next week.


































I think this is more than enough photos for one blog post.

So, as you can see it's nothing fancy.  Lots of journaling and photos and some emphemera - just the way I like it!

You're probably wondering what's "undone".  Well, the cover isn't done, and the back page isn't done and I have to emboss his hand print. I have ideas for what I want to do - I just have to do it.

Thanks for stopping by!

zove

Cathie