Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #252 - Green

Hello dear visitors and welcome to my blog.
A special welcome to my new followers.  Thank you so much for joining me.

Another Challenge is starting at Crafty Cardmakers.  Chanya is our host and, in celebration of St. Patrick's Day, the Theme is Green!  As always, you may create whatever you wish and, although your project does not have to be for St. Patrick's Day, it must follow the green Theme.

For my project, I have created a Notebook Holder or Folder .. not sure what to call it.

 I found the basic design for this Folder on a You Tube Channel called Burlap and Daily Bread run by a lady named Kristi.  She has a set of three videos that she calls a Folder Journal Kit.  On these videos she shows the kits and explains how to create the Folder.  I simply took the basic Folder design and adapted it to suit my needs.   I will share the link to the videos at the end of my post.

The papers I used are from the Memory Lane 12 x 12 paper pad by Kaisercraft.  I had some scraps left over from another booklet (here) and simply layered them to cover the front and back of this folder.  Saved me cutting up whole sheets and being left with more scraps.  Trying to be more frugal with my papers so there is less waste.

  I inked all the edges with Ground Espresso Distress Ink and, to embellish the front, I added a piece of gauze and a die cut flourish by Altenew.  The flower is by Little Birdie and the quote tag is from the same Kaisercraft paper collection.

This notebook will be used to record any info I may need for different crafting projects.  It will come in handy when I'm away from home crafting with friends.
On the inside front cover there is a pocket in which I have placed a few useful items.

A small note pad to record the things I need to get and take with me.

I simply cut a few pages to size and stapled them together.

A pocket folder to hold die cuts, chippies and other small and delicate items.

For our next craft session, I have included a sheet of paper which has a template of this particular Notebook holder.  I will need that as my friend also wishes to make one of these Folders.
If anyone is interested, please feel free to use this.  Solid lines are cut lines and broken lines are fold lines.  I might actually do a step by step on this booklet but, if you watch the video, you will see how easily it's constructed.

 On the inside back cover is another pocket.

Popped a few tags and bits of ephemera in this pocket.

To hold the notebook I simply tied a piece of clear elastic around the folder.  This way it is super easy to replace the notebook once it's full.

 Here is the cover with the notebook removed.

The back cover was left plain (makes it easier for writing as there is no bulk at the back) and I used seam binding for the closure.

A very simple little booklet but, I think it will be very useful and, it's a little prettier than just a plain old note pad.

Do pop on over to the CCM blog and check out the fabulous creations by the rest of the Team.  Would love to have you join in.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #252 - Green

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed seeing my project and I hope you will also pop over and take a look at Kristi's Channel.  Here is the link to the first video for this particular booklet but she also has a lot of other videos and projects to enjoy.

Have a wonderful day!
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #239

Hello dear friends and welcome to my blog.  

So pleased you decided to drop by.

So, the Crafty Cardmakers Team is back from holiday and the new Challenge has begun!  Lin is our delightful Host and the Theme is 'It's a Bug's Life'!!  

So, we would love to see some bugs/insects on your creations.

I created an all occasion card for my DT project and here are some close-ups.

The base paper is from a small paper pack by 49 & Market.  To add a touch of colour, I swiped the paper through a little pool of Distress Ink which was left on my mat from a previous project.

I stamped the background with embossing ink and then sprinkled on Sea Foam White embossing powder.  Adds a nice little touch of texture.

Added a small strip from the edge of a sheet of Maja papers and topped that with a diecut and a piece of floral lace.

Topped it all off with a Little Birdie flower and then a sweet little butterfly flew over and settled on my project so, of course, I invited it to stay .. and it did!!  LOL!!

I hope you can find the time to join in!  Would love to see what you create.

For all the details of the Challenge and for some wonderful inspiration by the rest of the Team here is the link

Crafty Cardmakers #239 - It's a Bug's Life!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for any comment you may care to leave .. very much appreciated.

Have a wonderful day!

Take care and God Bless.

Marg xx

Cogs & Gears for the Boys

Hello dear crafty friends!  So pleased you stopped by.
Hope your day is going well.  

Thought it was time to share a couple more of my masculine cards with you today.  Nothing new I'm afraid .. simply more of my embossed and diecut cards.  The designs are pretty much the same, just different papers and different stamps used.

The papers are by Kaisercraft as are the wooden cogs.

Actually, pretty much everything I have used on this card is by Kaisercraft.  The dp is from their Anthology Paper pad, and I've used their 'Arty' stamp and their 'Texture Subway' die in the background.  The only thing not K'craft is the embossing powder which is 'Seafoam White' by Ranger.

The greeting is also from the paper pad.  I mounted it onto a piece of card for extra strength.

Obviously didn't clean the edges of the stamp before putting it to the paper, but I don't mind a bit of extra texture.

Added an extra strip of paper (I believe it's from Prima) behind the die and cogs on this card and, as you can see, I also coloured the cogs this time.

One of these cogs is actually a die cut.  Can you tell which one??

There you go!  Two different looks from two cards made almost exactly the same.

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a look.
Have yourselves a wonderful and crafty day!
Take care and God Bless.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #238

Hello dear visitors and welcome to my little blog.  So nice of you to pay me a visit.

There's a new Challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and I'm here to share my DT creation with you.  This is Challenge #238, Chanya is hosting and the Theme is 'Here Comes Summer'.

Well, down here in Aus we are in the dead of Winter,  so Summer is still a long way off but it was nice to create something in Summery Colours.  Made the day seem warmer somehow!

I have created another card and the papers used are from 49 and Market.

This was made in a similar vein to the cards I've been showing you lately (when you're on a good thing, stick to it!  LOL!) but it was made more recently.

I cut the paper to size for my card and then added some colour to the background with Distress Inks.  I simply smooshed the stamp pads onto my craft mat and then sprayed it with water and dragged the paper through the puddle.  Once that was dry I used a Harlequin stamp by Kaisercraft and heat embossed with Ranger's Seafoam White Embossing Powder.

There's that Texture Subway die again!!  Can you guess that I love it!  He! He!  Works very well for both feminine and masculine cards, which is awesome!

The flower is by Little Birdie and the greeting was taken from a Kaisercraft Paper pad.

So, drag out all your Summery papers and embellies and have a go at our Challenge.  Looking forward to seeing what you create!

The rules and all the details of the Challenge, plus lots of inspiration from the rest of the Team can be found here -
Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #238 - Here Comes Summer.

Thank you so much for stopping by and have fun with your crafting!!
Take care and God Bless

oxox Marg

Embossing and a Couple of New Dies

Hello and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you decided to stop by.

We have a lot of birthdays coming up in the next couple of months so I finally got back into my craft room and have been madly making cards, both masculine and feminine ones.   I purchased some new dies recently and have been experimenting with some different ideas gathered from around the net.  Nothing new really, just some simple techniques that I thought would work.  Some of my experiments have been total disasters but others have turned out quite nicely (Well, I like them anyway) so here I am to share the first of the 'nice ones' with you.

The papers and the stamps are by Kaisercraft.  I simply stamped with Distress Embossing Ink and then heat embossed with Rangers' Seafoam White Embossing Powder.

The white diecut is one of the new dies I purchased.  It is called Texture Subway and it's by Kaisercraft.  I cut it out a couple of times and then glued the two together for extra strength and dimension.
The branch die I have had in my stash for a while and have no idea where it's from.

The flowers were created from some loose petals I've had for ages.  I simply glued a couple together and then used prills to create the centres.  The circle greeting is also by Kaisercraft.  In the back of their small paper pads they have a few pages of pop-out tags and greetings that match the paper collection and this is one of those.  I layered it onto a piece of cardstock before adhering it to the card.

Blue is my favourite colour, and the techniques used are very simple, but I do love how this turned out.  I hope the friend I sent it to will love it as well.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I will share the rest of this batch of cards over the next few weeks and I do hope you will come back to take a peek.

In the meantime, have fun with your crafting.
Take care and God Bless.

Masculine Flip Fold Album

Hello everyone.  Welcome to my crafty place.
Hope you are having a wonderful day.

I'm here to share with you the Masculine Mini Album I created for my Guest Design spot over at Mini Album Makers Challenge blog.  I had been wanting to create a masculine style mini album for a while and thought that this would be the perfect project for this post.
On the MAMC post, I shared the first half of the album and also shared how it was created.  In this post, I will show you the completed Album.  If you'd like to see the tutorial as well, HERE is the link.
This will be quite a long post so you might want to grab yourself a cuppa.

The outside of this album measures 5.5 x 6.5" and the inside pages are 4.5" x 6".  The spine is 2" wide.

The papers I've used are a mix from Studio Light's Industrial 2.0 paper pad and Kaisercraft's Factory 42 paper pad.

 The inside cover and the first page set.
I haven't done much embellishing in this album but I have added  a few cogs here and there and a little bit of washi tape as well.  I have also stamped some splatters and coffee stains, added a little stenciling and inked the edges of all the papers with Ground Espresso Distress Ink.

I created two sets each in two different styles of  pages.  So, there are 4 page sets in this book but, as you will see, there are a lot of places for photos, etc.
This page set opens up firstly to the left as seen above ..

.. and then the page on the right lifts up to reveal a folded card ..

 .. which is tucked into a side opening pocket attached at the back.

You may notice that I've added a few of Tim Holtz's Snarky Small Talk Stickers to this book.  If you'd like to see them properly, simply click on the pictures to get a larger view.

This is the back page of the first set and the first page of the second.
I have used a stacked hinge to bind my pages to the spine and have left a gap of about .25" in between each set so that the pages will sit nice and flat when opened.

The back page of the first set has a double belly band which is held down by some magnets ..

.. and opens up to reveal another photo mat.  All of the above mats and pages are attached to, and held by, a single hinge.

The second page set opens out to the right, and there is another underneath which opens out to the left.  It also has a folded card tucked into a pocket which is attached at the back of the set but this pocket is open at the top..

The back of the second set and first page of the next.

   This little flip up opens to reveal a double photo mat (or journaling spot).

The next two page sets are the same design as the first two but, of course, I have used different papers (from the same paper pads) to decorate.

  

The little flip up here is the same as the one from the second page set but I have changed it a little in that it opens up first and then flips up.  The first one flips up first and then opens.  I'd like to say that it was deliberate but I didn't realise that I actually put the papers on the wrong sides .. LOL!!

I can actually still flip it the right way but I wanted the dark grey papers showing on the outside of it as it is a nice contrast to the papers underneath.

The cover is made of chipboard.  As you can see I used a piece of hessian style material to cover the spine and, although the material is glued down, I added the brads for some extra interest and strength.  After all, this is a man's book and is going to get some rough handling!  LOL!!

I used a piece of corrugated board under a chippie frame by Little Birdie and a word strip by Scrapmats, to decorate the front of the book.  The frame was heat embossed with a mix of black and bronze embossing powder and the word strip was edged with Ground Espresso Distress Ink.

The chippie decorating the spine is also by Little Birdie and was heat embossed similarly to the frame on the front.

This book is fairly plain but I really enjoyed working it all out and creating it.  Between this book and the Junk Journal I created a while ago (you can see that here) I rediscovered my love for making books and I am itching to go and make another.  Hopefully, soon.

Sorry that this is such a long post but I hope you managed to stick it out to the end and that you enjoyed seeing my little album.  If you need some inspiration for your own Album making, pop on over and pay a visit to the Mini Album Makers Challenge blog.  The DT ladies create the most amazing books and I'm sure you will find plenty of inspo there and, if you enter the Challenge, you will have the chance of doing a Guest spot as I did.

Happy album crafting everyone!
Take care and God Bless