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Creativity Prompt #22 – The “One-Sheet” Mini Album

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Multiple Mini Albums

This week’s Creativity Prompt is to make a cute mini album, or journal – what ever you wish to use that for – using a single sheet of cardstock and a couple of chipboard squares (or recycled cardboard…). For a special touch I covered the chipboard squares with fabric, and it turned out fabulous 🙂

Supply –

Instruction –

  1. Score the cardstock at: 3″, 6″ & 9″ (every 3″). I used a stylus for the scoring.
    Scoring with a stylus
  2. Flip the cardstock sideways and score it at: 3″, 6″ & 9″. You should end up with a grid of 3″ by 3″ scored squares.
    Scored grid
  3. Cut 9″ along the score lines of one side of the cardstock, alternating between cutting top to bottom and cutting bottom to top. The template below might help to understand it better:
    Cutting template
    Cutting along the score lines

    4. If you happen to cut the cardstock in the wrong direction (e.g. cutting from top to bottom consecutively) don’t worry. I had accidentally done that and created a great project out of it. Stay tuned for the instructions on next week’s Creativity Prompt!!!

  4. Fold each score line in an accordion fold (once up and once down) until you are left with a 3″ by 3″ booklet.
    Folding along the score lines
    For making the little booklet sturdier, I adhered the inner pages on one side, using a tape runner (you can also use a glue stick, although it’s much messier).
  5. Cut two chipboard squares at 3¼” by 3¼”.
    Cutting the chipboard cover
  6. Generously apply glue with your glue-stick to one side of the chipboard and adhere it to the center of the fabric strip.
    Adhering the fabric to the cover
  7. Cut the corners of the fabric strip in an angle, and leave about a ¼” (or more) from the chipboard edge.
    Cutting the corners of the fabric for the cover
  8. Adhere the remaining fabric flaps to the chipboard with your glue stick. First adhere two flaps which are opposite to each other and then adhere the remaining two flaps, while tacking in the corners for a neat fold.
    Adhering the fabric flaps to the cover
  9. Position the two covers, wrong side up, about ½” apart from each other. Apply a strip of a strong double sided tape to the middle of each cover and adhere the ribbon to it – while keeping the ½” gap. Make sure the ribbon is long enough to allow tying the mini-album in a nice bow.
    Attaching the ribbon to the covers
  10. Apply double sided tape to both sides of the mini booklet – make sure to cover all the edges.
    Adhering the cardstock booklet to the covers
  11. Adhere the booklet to the inside of the cover and voilà!!!
    Finished mini album

Enjoy!!!

If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!

I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share 🙂

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Posted in creativity prompt, Tutorial | 6 Comments »

Creativity Prompt #21 – Making An Accordion Spine Album

Friday, October 17th, 2008

Accordion Spine Album

I love making my own albums and journals. Many times I use recycled materials along with some yummy patterned paper. If you are new to Creativity Prompt, you are welcome to have a look at the different album and journal tutorials I have posted so far:

Album Tutorials –

  1. Circular mini album.
  2. Guided album.
  3. Recycled mini album.
  4. Mini acrylic album.
  5. Circular Pocket album.
  6. Mini chipboard album.

Journal Tutorials –

  1. Hardbound journal. This journal acts as a base for any hardbound album or journal that I am doing.
  2. Matchbox journal.
  3. Tiny hardbound journal.

Now lets get to business and make an accordion spine album – just another fun way of keeping your heartfelt memories.

Materials & Tools –

How To –

  1. First cut the cover of the album out of your chipboard. You will need to cut 2 pieces, 7″ by 7″ each.

    Cutting the cover

  2. Next you need to cover each of the chipboard pieces with patterned paper.
    • Cut the patterned paper at 8.5″ by 8.5″.
    • Adhere the chipboard piece to the middle of the patterned paper with your glue stick.
    • Cut the corners of the patterned paper up to 1/8″ of the chipboard corners.
      Cutting the corners of the patterned paper
    • Adhere the edges of the patterned paper to the chipboard (you can use either the glue stick or a double sided tape). For crisp lines, use a bone folder and work each time with the flaps on the opposite sides.
      Covering the chipboard
  3. To finish up the cover’s look, adhere a 6¾” by 6¾” piece of cardstock on each of the chipboard pieces.
    Covering the inner side of the chipboard cover
  4. Now it’s time to add on the ribbon. Position your chipboard covers one next to another with a gap (1″) between them. Put a strip of very strong double sided tape along the midsection of each chipboard piece and adhere the ribbon to it. Keep enough excess of the ribbon on each side for tying it nicely in a bow. Learning from my on experience, I suggest not to use a wire rimmed ribbon.
    Adhering the ribbon
  5. For the spine you need a 10½” by 7″ piece of cardstock. Score it along the 10½” side at every ½”.

    Scoring the spine

  6. Next you need to fold the cardstock on each score line in an accordion style – one fold up and one down. It is important to burnish each fold thoroughly with the bone folder. When you finish up folding the entire strip of cardstock, secure the spine with paper clips. If you have the time – let it rest like that for at least a day or so.

    Folding the spine

  7. Adhere the spine to the chipboard cover, in a way that creates a mountain fold between the cover and the spine and the other cover (which means the score line is turning outwards). I used a double sided tape for adhering the spine.

    Adhering the spine to the cover
    Closer look at the adhered spine

  8. To control the accordion spine, which tends to get a bit unruly… use your crop-a-dile to punch a hole all the way through it, both at the top and at the bottom of the spine.
    Make sure that you leave enough room for the album’s inserts to fit inside.
    It’s hard for the regular crop-a-dile to go through the spine and the two chipboard covers. So either use a craft drill (don’t forget to protect your cutting mat, when using the craft drill) or punch the spine and secure it with a ribbon before adhering the spine to the cover (that means doing steps 8-9 before step 7).
    Punching holes to secure the spine
  9. Secure the spine by threading a ribbon or a strong thread through the holes and tying it in a knot on each side.

    securing the spine

  10. Cut all your inserts from cardstock at 6¾” by 6¾” (and keep the leftovers for fast card making 🙂 ). I have used 9 inserts in two different colors – you can use as many colors as you wish or make it monochromatic.

    Cutting inserts

  11. Attach each insert to the spine by lining its edge with double sided tape and adhering it to the inside fold.

    Adhering the inserts to the spine

Share –

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial (along with all the others) and that the instructions are clear enough for you to go right into making your own mini album. If not, please feel free to ask any question by leaving a comment.

Please share your creation with us by posting a link as a comment here or by adding a picture to the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group.

Enjoy!!!

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Posted in creativity prompt, Tutorial | 8 Comments »

Creativity Prompt #20 – How To Make A Circular Mini-Album

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Circular Mini-Album

I love making my own mini-albums. The handmade album is unique and filled with love and attention.

By definition, the handmade album is going to be a “one-of-a-kind”, even if you make a hundred of them – because as long as it is not mass produced by machines it is going to turn up a wee-bit different each time you make it.

Apart from the handmade album’s singularity, there are two more things that make me happy about making my own mini-albums:

  1. Recycling. By making my own albums (and journals) I get to reuse stuff that otherwise would go to the bin and clutter the world… I can recycle boxes, notepads covers, chipboard which is used for flattening shirts and linens in their packaging. I get to literally turn trash into treasure, and I LOVE it.

    2. Flexibility. When I am making something from scratch I am the one setting up the rules. I decide what shape it’ll be (or that it is going to be made out of multiple shapes). I decide what size is it going to be (or multiple sizes – to fit my own personal needs). I decide which materials I am going to use (hence the opportunity to recycle). I am the boss 🙂

In this week’s creativity prompt, I am calling you to use your flexibility and create a circular mini-album for yourself or as a gift for a loved one.

Tools –

Materials –

(for embellishing your album you can use whatever you have in your stash – patterned paper, paper flowers, buttons, glitter, ribbon etc. The sky is the limit when it comes to embellishments. You can be creative and do some recycling for creating your embellishments as well…)

Instructions –

  1. Start by making the album’s cover. Cut 2 circles from a cardboard box (mine are 6″ in diameter). Because of the thickness of the cardboard, the circle cutter won’t go all the way through, but it’ll help you in creating a nice groove that you can follow cut all the way through with either the utility scissors (very sharp) or the craft knife.

    Cutting the cover

  2. Next you need to cover the cardboard circles with patterned paper. Apply a generous amount of glue with your glue stick and stick each of the cardboard circles to a sheet of patterned paper. Then flip it over and cut the excess of the paper with either the utility scissors or your craft knife (what ever works better for you).

    Covering

    Alternatives: you can paint the cardboard with acrylic paints and a sponge brush or cover it with modge-podge or leave it as it is for a natural-recycled look.

  3. Punch the holes for your album with the trusty Crop-a-Dile. Make sure your hole is no farther than a ¼” from the edge, otherwise the pages of the album won’t turn easily (I’m speaking from my own experience here… You can see that in the picture below).

    punching album's holes

  4. Cut the insert circles from your cardstock, using the circle scissors again. You can cut them a little bit smaller than the covers. You may use multiple colors of cardstock to make it more interesting visually.

    Cutting inside inserts

  5. Next punch the holes in your inserts. Use your punched covers as a guide and trace the holes lightly with a pencil. Using the Crop-a-dile, you can punch all your pages at ones to make it quicker and to insure even lining. (Don’t forget the ¼” rule from step 3 above!!!)

    Punching holes in the inserts

  6. It’s time for the fun part – embellish!!! You can cut any excess by flipping the circle over and use your utility scissors or craft knife.

    embellishing

    cutting excess

  7. When all your album pages are done, thread them through with the loose leaf rings (you can also use ribbon or thread as an alternative binding method).

Share –

I would love to see your own interpretation to the circular mini-album.

Share you creations by leaving a link in the comment section below or by adding the pictures to the Flickr’s Creativity Prompt group pool.

Feel free to share your thoughts about this project. I’d love to hear what you think about it.

Book cover of
Book cover via Amazon

Psst… You have got less than a week for a chance to win a copy of the book: Visual Chronicles by Linda Woods and Karen Dinino.

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment here. Just follow the instructions and secure your place at the raffle.

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Creativity Prompt #19 – Make A Visual Life Coach

Friday, October 3rd, 2008
FREE Textures TO DOWLOAD - 1
Image by Pixmaniaque via Flickr

Still in a “the-beginning-of-a-new-year” mood and on the verge of yet another relocation to another country in another continent, I have come up with an idea for today’s creativity prompt.

As a very visual person I have realized the best way to reflect and plan my new year’s resolutions is by preparing a visual “life coach” or “life book”, if you so wish (more on naming the project later).

The visual life coach is actually a place for all the little components of your life – a place for self-reflection, a place to come to for inspiration, a place to jot down your aspirations, your goals and your wishes and follow up on them. Every single one of those component is an important building block, but only as a whole can you use these components to build yourself a life plan for the next year.

Your goals need the inspiration to get you going.
The aspirations need the wish list for maintenance…
Neither your goals nor your aspirations can be gathered and achieved without a bit of self-reflection.

Therefore, after I have established the way to make my resolutions stick, here is how I went about it (and am still going):

Step 1-
magazines Gather a bunch of magazines, a second before they’re tossed into the recycling bin.

Any type of magazine will do.

I have used a compilation of style, home decor, health & fashion magazines which works perfectly well for this project.

Step 2-
Grab a pair of utility scissors, a craft knife, a journaling pen and a glue stick from your stash – these are the essentials to which you can add stamps, punches or anything else you are gravitating towards while leafing through the magazines’ pages.

Step 3-

Leaf through the magazines pages and cut out everything that speaks to you – titles, photos, color combination you find attractive, interesting composition, nice font, an image you’d like to paint/draw – anything.

Step 4-

start compiling your very own visual life coach–

  • Start with listing everything you love about yourself. It is a very important exercise in positive self reflection and can change the entire way you are going about you life (for the better).
  • Compose your very own list of goals and include images that relates to your goals and make them more tangible.
  • Prepare a visual wish list. Some scholars believe that by visualizing your wish list you can attract its components to your life.
  • Include inspiring quotes in your pages to create an inspiration well.
  • Stick inspiring images among your pages and don’t forget to jot down some words on what made you gravitate towards each image –
    • Does it have a fabulous color combination?
    • Does it make you feel happy/relaxed/in-love?
    • Does it make you feel like creating something right away?

      • etc.

  • Experiment – sketch/create layouts. prepare color swatches. draw an outline of a composition which appeals to you.
  • Reflect- some points to consider:
    • what were the highlights of your previous year?
    • What things would you like to keep on going next year and what things would you like to refrain from?
    • what were your most memorable decisions last year and how did they affect you?

Enjoy – it is all and only YOURS.

Here are some snap shots from my visual life coach for the coming year:

life book life book life book life book life book life book life book life book life book life book

Participate in the naming game

I have suggested 2 names for this project:

  1. Visual life coach
  2. Life book

Non of them seem to resonate well with the idea behind the project. So I hereby invite you to suggest names for the project – just leave a comment below with your suggestion.

Book cover of
Book cover via Amazon

Psst… You have a chance to win a copy of the book: Visual Chronicles by Linda Woods and Karen Dinino.

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment here. Just follow the instructions and secure your place at the raffle.

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Creativity Prompt #18 – The Complete Guide For EASY Holiday Cards

Friday, September 26th, 2008
Greeting cards on display at retail.
Image via Wikipedia

The joy and magic of the holidays are already here. I love everything about the holidays. The familiarity. The festivities. The customs. The atmosphere around. Funnily, I don’t just love the holidays I traditionally celebrate, but all the holidays (except for ones based on hatred which I do not condone nor enjoy).

Nothing conveys the holiday’s spirit more than sending cards with holiday greetings from the bottom of the heart. We have this saying in Hebrew: “what comes from the heart is also received by one’s heart” and I do believe that giving the cards some extra attention by hand-making them makes all the difference. It becomes unique, original and most of all – drenched in love and attention.

Having said that, I do know you are all thinking I have gone mad. Handcrafting the 300 cards or so you need is the understatement of time consuming and who has free time on his hands these days? Fear not, as I’ve got the perfect holiday-cards-solution for you!

The Ultimate Guide For Handcrafted Cards

  1. Plan Ahead. Card making, as every other time consuming chore needs a game plan. You need to figure out the scope of the task and prepare accordingly by cutting the chore down to bite-size chunks. Starting a couple months in advance should be enough – so start now for Christmas/Hanukkah and if you’re celebrating Rosh-Ha’Shana (Jewish new-year) than either run a “card-a-thon” this weekend or aim for next year…
    • Figuring out the scope -or- how many cards do you actually need. Make a list of all potential recipients. Use these groups as reference: family, friends, colleagues, business partners, neighbors etc.
    • Time slotting. Now, that you have a definite number of cards you need to prepare (1517), divide this number by the number of days you’ve got until the “d-day” (when considering your “d-day” allow enough time for mailing the cards) and that is the number of cards you’ll have to make each day. Feel free to play with the numbers,allowing more card making time over the weekends or vice versa – whatever works well for you.
    • Gathering materials. Make sure you have everything you need for the cards, otherwise the production line would be cut off and you’ll use its momentum. Don’t forget the basics like: adhesive, cards and envelopes. Make a “card station” with all the materials you’ll need for the card.
  2. Think: “Mass Production”. The only way you can conquer this behemoth of a chore is by tagging along the momentum a production line. You need to get to the point where your actions are technically automatic. OR you can prune your list down to the very close loved ones and prepare a killer one-of-a-kind card for each (but this is not really the point, isn’t it?!?).

    3. For creating your own little card-production-line, just follow these principles:

    • Go For A SIMPLE Design. This is really not the time for intricate and artistic cards, detailed cut outs and seventeen-steps stamping. Leave those fun interactive -secret tags-double pop-ups-magic- cards out for now. GO SIMPLE. Use nestable punches or die cuts and go for linear design with no more than a few pieces of patterned paper, a piece of ribbon and one additional embellishment you can just stick down and call it a day. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying you should go for ugly, just make it quick and easy – so reproducing it 1517 times would be feasible…

      Embellishments

    • Use pre-cut and pre-scored cards. Save your time for important stuff. Cutting and scoring aren’t. Feel free to use other pre-made stuff as well like paper flowers and threaded buttons. Relax, it isn’t cheating just being sane. If you insist on making your own cards – make it in advance. First cut all of them and then score all of them (remember: production line thinking).
    • Use Scraps. Another way of saving precious time is using scraps. We all have them and using them saves time on cropping and coordinating. As an additional advantage you are stretching your hard-earned buck and being more tolerant to your environment.

      using scraps

    • Use Tools. The right tools can save you time and money. You do not need to go overboard, just get a paper trimmer, a bone folder, a craft knife, scissors, a ruler and cutting mat, a few nestable punches and a crop-a-dile (for good measure).

      Tools

  3. Personalize. Don’t throw away all the hard work of making your own cards by forgetting the final personal-touch. Hand write the recipient’s name and add some personal hand-written words – even if it’s just: “Luv,(your name goes here)“

Here are some example for easy-peasy cards I have made – feel free to “lift” the design (click on the link to get to the original Flickr photo-page and then choose “all sizes” for watching it in high resolution):

holiday cards

Share –

Now it’s your time to throw in some good advice on handling the massive holiday-cards-making task and to share your own holiday card-creation.

Leave a comment on this post with an advice or a link to your creation.

You can also join the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group and add your card-creation to the pool.

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Creativity Prompt #17 – Tag Book

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Tag Book

For this week’s creativity prompt I have a quick and easy project for you. All you need are 3 sheets of 12″ by 12″ cardstock (OK, and some double sided tape).

With such an easy and low maintenance project I am sure every single one of you can make this beautiful tag book, along with the cute little matching box. This makes a great keepsake for yourself or a thoughtful, yet very affordable, present for a loved one.

So, lets get to work:

Supply-


Tools (optional) –

Instructions –

Tag Book

  1. Score one side of the cardstock every 3 inches and the other side at 6 inches.
    Scoring
  2. Cut 3″ down each 3″ score line on one side.
    cutting
  3. Fold and embellish the 4 flaps of the cardstock anyway you wish. You can get some ideas from this picture:
    creating embellished folds
    Here is another way of creating the pockets for the tags. You can create that with a circle punch:
    alternative pockets.
  4. Optional – Apply short strips of packing tape to seal the tips of the brads and the ribbon on the inside of the pockets to prevent the tags from getting stuck inside.
    Sealing
  5. Apply double sided tape to the seam of each fold line, as well as to the edges of the cardstock. Then fold along the 6″ line and adhere the two sides together. As an alternative, you can run all these lines through the sewing machine, and create the pockets after folding along the 6″ line.
    Adhering the pockets
  6. For the tags, cut 4 pieces of cardstock at: 2 5/8″ by 5½”
    Cutting tags
  7. You can embellish the tags with an ink pad, a corner rounder and some ribbon – and your tag book is ready!!!
    tag book

Cardstock Box

The box tutorial video is given as a courtesy of Jennifer Muraoka. Jennifer is an extremely talented artist and I enjoy following her creations both on her blog: “Kiyomi Krafts” and on her You-Tube channel. Apart from her wonderful creations, she also conveys her great personality through her tutorials and blog posts.

Share

Share your tag book creations on the Creativity Prompt Flickr group or by leaving a comment on this post with a link to your creation. You are also welcome to share your thoughts about this tag book and to suggest ideas on what to use it for. Your comments are always adding so much value to the prompts, so keep on commenting 🙂

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Creativity Prompt #16 – Guided Album

Friday, September 12th, 2008

Guided Album

What is a guided album? let me show you but lets start with a story.

A good friend of mine has recently given birth to her third child. A baby girl named: Noa. Having two more children to take care of (and a job to come back to after the short maternity leave) means she has zero time on her hands. A guided album is the result of me thinking “what can I possibly give my friend for Noa’s birth?”

A guided album is an opportunity. It is a chance to preserve your memories and document your thoughts and feeling without going through the effort of making a traditional scrapbook.

A guided album is basically a mini album with journaling prompts written on premade journaling tags and a designated space to stick uncropped 4″ by 6″ pictures on.

A guided album can be a perfect gift for a busy mom, a bride to be or to serve as a “pregnancy pal”. (Just adjust the journaling prompts to the occasion). You can also make a guided album for yourself, as an incentive to preserve more memories, thoughts and emotions. Make it in advance, on your free time, for a busier time to come.

This week’s creativity prompt is to make a guided album.

Supply –

Tools –

Instructions –

  1. Cut all the pieces of cardstock, chipboard and patterned paper to size:
    • 2 Cover pieces – cut chipboard at 5″ by 7″
    • 2 pieces of patterned paper to cover the chipboard – cut at 6″ by 8″
    • 2 pieces of cardstock, for the inside of the covers – cut at 4¾” by 6¾”
    • Inner pages – cut as many cardstock pages as you wish, at 4¾” by 6¾”

  2. Cover the chipboard pieces with the patterned paper.
    • First adhere the chipboard to the center of the patterned paper.
    • Then cut all the corners of the patterned paper, allowing a gap of 1/8″ between the chipboard edge and the base of the triangular cut.
    • Fold and adhere the remaining patterned paper’s flaps to the chipboard.
    • Adhere the two cardstock pieces to the inner side of the chipboard cover, to give it a finished look.
  3. Punch 2 holes on each cover, a ¼” from the middle edge and an 1″ from the top and bottom edges.
  4. Use the punched cover as a guide for marking the inner cardstock pages.

    You can then punch them all together with the Crop-A-Dile.
  5. Attach the binding rings and make sure they run through all the inner pages and both covers.

    The framework of the album is pretty much done…

    Now we will proceed to what makes this a “guided album” …

  6. On each 2 pages spread, designate one page for a standard size picture (to eliminate the need to adjust and crop the photo) and one page for journaling.
    • Photo page – Take a standard size photo as a template and position it wherever you wish, then trace lightly with a pencil around your template. Avoid positioning the photo where the punched holes are, so you or your recipient won’t have to repeat the punches.

      Apply 4 strips of double sided tape to the corners of the pencil marks and leave the top cover on. This way, your recipient can just peel off the top cover and use it as photo-tabs, for a quick and easy assembling.
    • Journaling page – Write a journaling prompt and include a journaling tag (or stamped image) to write on.

Some journaling prompts to consider –

  • Birth details: date/name of hospital/ weight/ height/ eye color/ hair color; etc…
  • Thoughts and feelings during the last week before giving birth. Worries/ hopes; etc…
  • The birth experience itself.
  • The first moments at home, with the new baby.
  • How did the siblings greet the new baby? What do they wish for the new baby?
  • A letter from dad.
  • A letter from mom.
  • First bath.
  • First smile.

You can browse the entire guided album here.

(To join the Creativity Prompt Flickr group click on the link at the right side bar.)

Share

How did you find the idea of the guided album? What would you use it for? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment on this post.

Giveaway

Only two more days are left. To enter leave a comment here and give me some feedback.

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Creativity Prompt #15 – Make Your Own Matchbox Journal

Friday, September 5th, 2008

Matchbox Journal

Making handmade journals has become a special hobby of mine. It all started with with the hardbound journal and kind of evolved with the micro version of journal cuteness. In this post I will show you how to make a matchbox journal and I promise you haven’t seen the end of “Journal Mania” yet 😉

Supply –

Instructions –

  1. Trim the cardstock to a 5“ by 12“ strip and score at 5“, 5½“, 10½“, 11“, then fold all the score lines. Use a bone folder to make crisp folds (you can also use the bone folder to create the score lines if you haven’t got a stylus).
  2. Cut 20 pieces of handmade paper, measured: 4¾“ by 4¾“.
  3. Now we have some measuring to do – lazy people style … Collect all the inserts together and position on top of the small 1“ flap. Make sure all the “layers” are aligned and centered and put the ruler on top. Now mark 2 points which are equally separated from each side.
    (I am sure the picture will do the “measuring method” much justice than all the mumble jumble of words)
  4. For marking the punch marks inside, just use the marks on the flap as a guide.
  5. Punch all the marked points with the Crop-A-Dile. As you can see, you can easily punch through all the inserts at once.
  6. Thread a ribbon from the flap, through the inserts, into the back cover and back.
  7. The matchbooks journal is actually done, but I have an extra tip => after tying up a nice knot in the ribbon, apply nail varnish to the tips of the ribbon to prevent fraying.

Enjoy your journal:

Front –


Inside –

What do you think about the matchbox journal? Did you find the instructions comprehensible? Please leave a comment to this post!!!

New Feature –

I have started a Creativity Prompt Flickr Group
 to which you can submit your creativity-prompt inspired projects and you can also initiate a conversation on any relevant subject (including some Q&A or suggestions). You are all welcome to join.

Giveaway –

Do not miss your chance to win a free copy of my new e-book. Leave a comment with some feedback on this blog here to preserve your place at the giveaway.

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Creativity Prompt #14 – Making A Teeny-Tiny Journal

Friday, August 8th, 2008

This prompt is a variation of the hard-cover journal tutorial. This time the journal is teensy-weensy and can easily be carried around in your pocket or your handbag. As an added bonus, the cuteness factor makes you want to actually use it all the time 🙂

Supply –

Instructions –

  1. Cut 3 pieces of chipboard, measured: 3×3, 3×3 & ¼ x 3 inches.
  2. Repeat the same process of making the hard-cover journal tutorial for covering up the covers and the spine and then adhering them together.


    3. The picture features a different micro-journal, but the technique is the same. I made a bunch of these cute minis and didn’t take pictures of each one separately.

  3. Adhere a strip of double sided tape along the middle of the journal’s binding, widthwise, to secure the ribbon on it. Adhere the ribbon and make sure it is long enough to be wrapped around the journal several times, when it’s closed.
  4. Cut the handmade paper to size (10 pieces measured: 2¾x5½ and one piece measured 2¾x6½).
  5. Fold each of the 10 pieces of the handmade paper in half and burnish the fold with the bone folder.
  6. Score the longer strip of handmade paper at 2¾ on each side, to allow an ½ inch spine in the middle. Burnish the folds with the bone folder.
  7. Pierce each of the 10 pieces of the handmade paper at the middle of the score line (fold) and again 1 inch to the top and to the bottom of the middle hole. All together, each piece should be pierced three times along the middle fold.
  8. Pierce the spine of the longer strip of handmade paper, as follows:

                  Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°
    « 1 inch »
    middle       Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°

    « 1 inch »
                  Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°Â°

    Basically what you need to end up with is a corresponding hole to each of the signatures’ holes
  9. Use the needle and thread to sew each separate signature to the spine.
  10. Attach the bound signatures to the cover of the micro journal, using double sided tape



Voilà!
Now, don’t be surprised if the journal starts multiplying …
Consider yourself duly warned 😉



Please share your own micro journal creations with me and don’t hesitate to ask for more information, either by commenting or by using the contact form.

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Posted in creativity prompt, Tutorial | 3 Comments »

Creativity Prompt #13 – Recycled Mini Album

Friday, August 1st, 2008

Mini Recycled Album

Due to the vast popularity of the former “turn your trash into treasure” post, I have decided to make a series of posts, concentrating on using recycled objects to create art.

On this week’s creativity prompt I am going to show you how I have made a beautiful mini album, featuring my 3 nephews and niece, also known as “the elite squad“, using a USPS priority mail box.

Instead of throwing the box to the bin I salvaged it by taking it apart and cutting it to 3½ by 3½ inch squares. After covering the squares, punching them and putting a ton of embellishments on them, no one can tell they were taken out of the garbage bin 🙂

By making the album out of this box, I am not only helping the environment by the mere act of recycling but also by not using a brand new album or a new chipboard sheet, made out of newly chopped trees… I guess I can call it a mindful use of finite natural resources and the results are pretty cool, as you can see yourself.

So here goes this week’s tutorial:

Supply –

  • Cardboard box (not necessarily USPS’s box).
  • Patterned paper and black or craft cardstock.
  • Adhesive – glue stick, tape runner and double sided tape.
  • Basic – ruler, scissors, craft knife and a cutting mat.
  • Crop-a-dile
  • Binder’s rings

    • Embellishments – clear your stash & go crazy!!!

    Instructions –

    1. Take the box apart and flatten it up
    Cardboard Box
    Flat Cardboard Box

    2. Measure and cut the squares
    Cardboard Squares

    3. Cover up the squares the same way you’d cover a journal bind – cut a bigger piece of patterned paper and apply glue stick to the cradboard square. Adhere the square in the middle of the patterned paper piece and cut all the edges in an angle, then adhere the flaps you have created to the cardboard.
    Covering Cardboard Squares

    4. Cut 3½ inch squares from the black cradstock to cover up the other side of the cardboard squares. (As I was using a very colorful and busy patterned paper for covering the cardboard squares, I chose to cover up the other side with a black cardstock. I would have used craft cardstock, had I had any…. but the main idea is to use the supply you already have.)

    5. Adhere the cardstock squares to the uncovered cardboard with double sided tape, to insure a sturdy hold.
    Cardstock Cover
    Covered Squares

    6. Punch your finished covered squares with the crop-a-dile (¼ inch from the side edge, 1¼ inch of the top and bottom edges).
    Punching holes

    7. Attach all the squares together with the binder’s rings and start adhering the pictures and writing the stories to go along with your pictures.
    Mini Album

    You can take a peek at my finished mini-album here.
    Finished mine album pages

    Please share your recycled creations with me by leaving a comment!

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    Posted in creativity prompt, Tutorial | 13 Comments »

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