The Sherlock Book by Watson for Meg's Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you came for a visit.
I am here to show you what I have created with Kerry-Jean Watson's awesome Sherlock Book Kit.  This fabulous Kit is available from Meg's Garden as either a fully printed version or a digital download that you can print for yourself.  HERE is the link to see the video of the Book Kit.

I am basically a card maker and I was in need of a Crafting Diary to keep track of Birthdays and Anniversaries, etc. and also Design Team Deadlines, and so that is what I decided to make with my Kit.  Yes, I do have all that information on my computer, but there is nothing like having it all on hand in a pretty book is there??

For the front cover I did some stamping and stenciling and splashed a little paint around as well before adding the embellies.  Most of the embellishments you can see came from Meg's Garden.  You can purchase some fantastic 'bundles' that contain beads, ribbons, metal embellies ... everything you could possibly need to beautifully embellish your Kit, and they come in an assortment of colours too!!
The film strip frame came from my stash and the photos inside it are actually photos of some of my past projects for Meg's Garden. The quote was found on the net.  I wanted to incorporate some craft quotes into this book so you will see the odd one or two scattered around on different pages.  

The tabs you can see peeking out from the side of the book are part of the Kit.  I simply wrote the months on by hand and then glued them to the edge of the journal pages.

The book measures 5.75" x 7.75" and all the pages were distressed and inked with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and then glued to sheets of Kraft Cardstock.  Punched some holes with my Crop-adile and bound it together with seam binding.  The binding  was also coloured with Distress Ink in Gathered Twigs and Walnut Stain.  

Here's a closie of the charms ...

... and another of the quote and the flower cluster.

I wanted this book to be more than just a Diary.  I also want to use it as an ideas journal so I made a couple of small booklets and some tags in order to record things like interesting sketches, color palettes and great techniques.
Making the booklet was very simple.   I just cut some kraft cardstock and some  plain sheets of paper to the size I wanted, folded them in half and then simply punched two holes in the crease and pulled some twine through and tied it with a bow.   I then covered the front of each booklet with some of the paper and used a fancy paper clip to keep them closed.

Following are some shots of the embellished pages or you can just go straight down  to the end of this post for a walk through video which was made by Kerry-Jean Watson the creator of this awesome Kit.  I don't make videos as I don't have the equipment and I am so pleased that Kerry-Jean offered to do one for me.  Thank you KJ ... you rock!!  

... and this is the back of the book.  The gorgeous stains you can see are actually on the paper itself.  The only changes I made here was to distress and ink the edges ... Looooovee  those stains!!

Here is the walk-through video!!

I do hope you like my little Diary and that I have inspired you to get one for yourself!!  Why not pop over to the Meg's Garden Blog and see what my Teamies created with this awesome Kit.  You will be amazed by the variety!!
HERE is the link to the blog and HERE is the link to the Shop!

Meg's Garden Products used:
The Sherlock Book Kit
Camel Bundle
Sage Burlap Ribbon
Seam Binding

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!
Take care and God Bless.

'Correspondence' Mini Booklet

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.
I'm back to share with you my current reveal for Meg's Garden.
This time I have made a Mini Booklet with the wonderful new 'Correspondence' Mini Paper  Pack and I've also used a few items from the 'Green Bundle' that Meg sells in the store.  This little booklet was made as a small  gift for my Granddaughter, she loves flowers and butterflies.  Usually she would want everything in pink but she tells me she's growing up (she's 11) and is getting too old for pink!!  LOL

 Here is the cover.  As stated before, the papers are from the Mini Paper Pack.  I've created a few layers here although they are not too easy to see.  The ribbon used to close the booklet is from the Bundle pack.  There are quite a lot of ribbons in the pack and it was difficult to chose as they are all so pretty but I think the green stripe suits this little booklet perfectly.  

 The heart diamante strip is also from the Bundle as is the gorgeous green heart gem.  As well as lots of ribbon, there are also lots of beautiful gems in this Bundle.  I loved going through it when it first arrived.  It was like getting a little Birthday present,  didn't know what was going to come out next.  If you'd like to see for yourself exactly what is in this Bundle of goodies HERE is the link.

Did some stencilling on the front with Crushed Olive  Distress Ink, although that ended up being mostly covered but here you can see some of the layers a bit more clearly.  Love the different scripts on these papers ... gorgeous!!

 The first double page which I also stenciled lightly with Crushed Olive Distress Ink.  The small green paper flower is also out of the Bundle packet.  See what I mean about the script??  Love it!!

 The second double page, again with more script.  I guess that's why this collection is called "Correspondence'.  LOL!  Some more stenciling, this time with Fired Brick Distress Ink.  These papers take the ink very well.

 These pages have a little bit of stamping and, of course, butterflies.  Looooove butterflies!!

 More stamping and some more ribbon  from the Bundle Pack ... 

... and more Butterflies!!!  

 These pages are coloured  with Distress Ink and stamped as well ...

 ... and more stenciling here.

 The back cover was stenciled as well, and I'd like to thank my Dragon babies for holding the pages open for me.  Great job guys!!

I do hope you liked my little booklet, I certainly had a great time creating it.  These papers are so lovely to work with and they take the stamping and inking very well. The items from the Temptations Bundle came in so handy and were perfect for this project, and I still have heaps of it left!!  Woo!! Hoo!!

Products from Meg's Garden

Correspondence Mini Paper Pack - S133
Temptations in Green - green bundle

Thank you so much for visiting and for any comments you may care to leave.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.  Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Mini Books and Box

Hello everyone and welcome once again to my blog.  

So lovely to have you visit and I hope you are having a fabulous day!!

Today I'd like to share with you a set of Mini books and the File Folder box to keep them in.  This is a design download purchased from Marion Smith Designs and it was great fun and very easy to put together.  The download includes templates for most of  the required pieces.  The only things you need to measure out for yourself is the outside cover of the File Folder, but she gives you all the necessary information to make this very easy to do.  Marion actually has a video tutorial on this project and, if you'd like to take a look for yourself, you can find it HERE.

The papers I've used for the outside of the box and for the covers of the mini Books are from Prima's Engraver A4 Paper Pad.

The pattern includes this concertina fold for both sides of the box.  It is simply a matter of printing it, cutting around the outside and then scoring the fold lines. 

The back view.

I haven't done a lot of decorating on this.  As a matter of fact, I've done very little.  This is the cluster on the top of the box.  The large gardenia was originally white.  I've simply coloured it slightly with some watered down Tea Stain Distress Ink to make it blend in better with the papers.  The skeleton leaves were cut with my Silhouette from green cardstock and I've coloured those with Walnut Stain Distress Ink for the same reason.  I've also added in some paper and fabric flower buds and some autumn leaves.  The autumn leaves and the gardenia are available from Meg's Garden HERE.  The paper bud is from Magnolia Ink and the fabric buds are from my stash.  There is also a small green gem spray from Magnolia Ink but that is a bit difficult to see here.

For the cluster on the front I've simply used the same skeleton leaves, some small Kaisercraft Roses and a white gem spray.  

The open File Folder showing the mini books snuggled inside.  You can also see the Velcro I've used for the closure of the folder ... 

... and here are all the little books.  The base of each of these is a print out and then you simply cover them with the papers of your choice.  You don't even need to measure your dp as there are templates for that too , including those for the flaps.

Just a closie of one of the books.  You can make up your own mind as to what kind of closure to use.  

This is the inside of the book.  You simply punch the holes through the cover and the paper and then thread through some twine and tie it off.  So simple!!

I've glued an ornate metal plate on the front flap and used Velcro to hold the folder closed.

This was a fabulous little project to make.  Really easy to put together.  The only fiddly bit was attaching the concertina sides to the cover but even that was not really difficult.  It just came together really well and I'm certainly going to make more of these.  I think they would make a lovely little gift.
Sooooo, I'm thinking you might be wondering what I'm going to use this for?????  Well, I needed somewhere to write down  all the bits and pieces used on the cards I make so that when I write up my Blog Posts I'll have all the information at hand, and that's what these little books will be for.  Am I clever or what?????  Actually I just have a pretty bad memory and am sick of having to get up a dozen times or more to find the name of what I've used on a specific card or project.  LOL!!
Will be so much easier now.  That is if I remember to write it down!!!!!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to visit and I do hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

My First Meg's Garden DT Project!!!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are having a wonderful day!!

I am super excited to share with you my very first DT project for Meg's Garden.

For this project I have created a card with some photo mat pages on the inside so that you could take some pictures of your Christmas celebrations and keep them in the actual card itself.

Using one of these types of cards each year, you could keep a record of Christmases through the years all in their own tiny little album.  You only need to take a few photos each time and the card wouldn't take up anywhere near as much room as a Mini Album.

I've used the Musical Christmas Collection paper pack for this card.  These papers are absolutely gorgeous and the paper pack is the perfect size for card making. 

On the front I have created a Christmas tree from some of the DP mixed with some red, white and green cardstock.  The idea for this tree actually came from one of my favourite card makers, Dorota.  She makes the most gorgeous cards.

 The tree is made using a triangle of paste board or chipboard as a base and then just layering different foliage die cuts until the base is filled.  I've also mixed in a bit of gauze here and there.  It was then lightly brushed with gold acrylic paint and I also glued on some gold crystals to serve as the lights.  The star at the top of the tree is from a sheet of gold stickers that have been in my stash for some time as are the stars  around the edge. 

The 'Noel' is part of the design on the paper. I've simply fussy cut the letters from another sheet, glued them onto some paste board and edged them with the same gold paint.

 There's not a lot of embellishment in this card simply because it would then have become too bulky and besides, these papers are pretty enough to stand on their own.  I've simply used some of Meg's beautiful lace ribbon on two of the pages and also placed a few of the gold stickers here and there.

Placed inside the main pockets are a couple of plain photo mats  which could also be used for journaling.  

  On the inside cover is a small tag which was stamped  with the sentiment, then gold embossed and another of the gold stickers was placed on the edge. 

 Two of the pages have corner pockets made out of a piece of clear acrylic that came from some pakaging  I had.  Cut them into heart shapes and placed a sticker on each of them.  They can be used to hold journaling cards or just as decoration on the edge of a photo.

Here is a close-up of one of these pockets ...

... and here is a closer view of the layers on the tree.

I had such a wonderful time creating with Meg's gorgeous papers and I am so thrilled to a part of this amazing Design Team.  Thank you so much Meg for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

Meg's Garden products used:

A Musical Christmas Paper Pack.

1.6cm White Lace Ribbon

HERE is the link to the Meg's Garden Blog so you can check out the beautiful creations of the other Team Members and HERE is the link to the shop so you can check out all the marvelous products.

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope I have inspired you to create some Christmas goodies with Meg's Garden products for yourself.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Mini Album using Kaisercraft Papers

Hello sweet friends and welcome to my blog.

My oldest grandson celebrated his 18th Birthday not long ago and, instead of a Birthday Card, I decided to make a Mini Album so he would have somewhere to keep the photos taken at his Birthday party.

Here is the front cover.  

Some of you may recognise the centre piece.  I did a post on my first attempt at Mixed Media and this is the actual piece from that project.  

Yes, I chopped it up and re-used the main piece here.  I wanted cogs in the middle of this cover and could not get any in the size I wanted.  Then I realized the centrepiece from my Mixed Media Collage would fit beautifully.  I didn't even cry when I cut it apart.  Hey!! It's for my Grandson, right?  Anyway, I really like it here.  The little hinges are wooden embellishments also from Kaisercraft.

Page 1 &2

The papers I used for this album is a mixture from Kaisercraft.  I used some from their 75 cent Collection and some also from their Timeless Classics paper pad, plus an odd piece or two from other collections as well.

The pocket on the inside front cover holds the tag  I made for his Birthday Greeting.  The embellies on this tag follow the theme from the album cover.  The idea for this tag came from a You Tube Video by Rach0113.  You can find it HERE.  I used a piece of kraft cardstock and cut out the tag shape and then used black cardstock for the corner pieces.  I embossed the black with the Tim Holz Cogs Folder and then lightly rubbed over the raised sections with Versa Color Stamp Pads in Bronze, Silver and Gold.  The cogs were colored the same way.  The little clock  was fussy cut from another set of papers, glued onto one of the cogs and then covered with glossy accents.  His Birthday message is actually on the back of the tag.

 The right hand page opens up to reveal ...

... there are quite a few pockets and tags in this album.  I wanted to give him plenty of spaces for his photos.

Pages 3 & 4

 The right hand page here opens one way to reveal ...

 ... and then opens the other way as well.  ( A sheet of Kaisercraft Sweet Nothings paper found its way in here too. )

Pages 5 & 6

 

 Again, the right hand page opens to reveal ...

... I've only used two styles of pages in this book.  One opens once like this page, and the other style opens twice.

Pages 7 & 8

All of the left hand pages are void of pockets to give him space for large photos if he wants.

 This is the style that opens twice.  One way it opens out from the book ...

 ... and the other way it opens into the book.

Pages 9 & 10

The inside back cover has a single pocket just like the inside front cover.

I love making mini albums.  It's a lot of fun deciding how to construct it and what style pages to use and then to decide which papers are the most suitable.  I don't use a lot of embellishments in my albums, mainly because it does inhibit the placement of photos, etc. but I do love a lot of tags for journalling.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.  I hope you've enjoyed it and will decide to come again.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg