Stamp Act

Handmade Book Tutorial....

Good Morning!
I have my book tutorial all ready for you and I hope you enjoy it!!  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  Before I get started I have to tell you that the actual book and pages were something I learned at a class last year taught by Donna Downey so that is not my idea!  Of course I have added and changed things to make it work better for me as will you!!!

Just so you know what you are making, here is a picture of the finished product!

The decorative papers I used are from the new SU! Summer Picnic line.  Step #1 is to get 2 pieces of 6 1/4" chipboard.  The chipboard I had was too thin so I glued 2 pieces together so it would be more sturdy.  I use just a regular old Tombow glue stick and it has worked great for me!

OK, Step #2 ~ cut the decorative paper you would like for your front and back covers at 7" square.  I used the Cherries for my front cover and just the polka dot Bashful Blue for the back.  Here is a picture showing how I glued the Chipboard on top of the decorative paper as well as the measurements. 

Step #3 ~ now you are going to fold the edges in and glue them down.  I ran my glue stick along the top edge and then glued the top flap down.  I then did the same thing and glued the bottom edge down.  I then did each side and the reason I did it this was was to give the corners a nicer fold.

Step #4 ~ Tape (regular Scotch tape will work) the ribbon you would like to use to tie your book closed.  I used Wide Olive grosgrain.

Step #5 ~ Now you are going to make the spine.  For this book I used a piece of Old Olive cardstock that measured 6 1/4" wide and 11" long.  I scored every 3/4".  I have 5 pockets in my book and I JUST had enough valleys so if you want more pockets, you can use a 12" long piece of cardstock and score closer together.  I scored this wide because I found it easier to add my holes to hold the book together.

Step #6 ~ cut 2 pieces of coordinating cardstock 6" square.  These are for your front and back covers and to cover up the spine and ribbon.  I used my glue stick to adhere these.  Here is a picture ~



























Step #7 ~ Now do the same thing for the back cover.

Step #8 ~ How to fold your pockets!

        Step #8A ~ Fold 12x12 piece of decorative paper in half.  (You will want to use thin              paper as it folds nicer.  Chatterbox is perfect and the SU! paper worked fine.  A few
       edges frayed but not bad!).  Using a bone folder helps!














        Step #8B ~ Unfold and just flip up the bottom right and fold in like this ~














       Step #8C ~ do the same on the left side so your paper now looks like this ~














       Step #8D ~ Now, keep your paper folded as above and flip up the point so it now             looks  like this ~














        Step #8E ~ Be sure to use a bone folder or something to crease the edge on this fold.  Now you are going to fold this in half.  The crease will be from the top of the point to the bottom ~













The right open side of this will got into your spine and the the top of the point will be on the outside, like this ~













Step #9 ~ Fill the above pages just as it shows.  The back 2 flaps per page you will put inside each valley of the spine (1 valley per page).  You can use adhesive it you want to hold them in place but if you hold it tightly, they will stay in place.

Step #10 ~ Now you will drill the holes.  I marked the front of my book with a pencil at 1 1/2" from the top and the same from the bottom up.  I used my husbands cordless DeWalt screwdriver to drill my holes.  I did it on top of a phone book and it has worked great for me!














I made my own reinforcers by punching a 1/2" circle from Real Red cardstock and then I punched another circle out of the center of it with a 1/4" handheld punch.  I then added 2 ~ 1" binder clips and here is what it looks like ~













The final step is to decorate it and add what you want on the inside.  For this one I made a recipe card and will add more as well as a great recipe I have for Cheesecake when I get a chance.  When I made these for my kids' teachers and my friend last year, I made big tags our of coordinating cardstock and had all the kids write a note to their teachers and for my friend, I had all her friends write notes wishing her a Happy day!  There is a lot you can do.  The links to my other books are HERE and HERE!

The way I decorated this one was to use my Quickutz Daisy die and Olive and Summer Picnic papers.  I added red Heidi Swapp crystals (used my Quickie glue pen), added a chipboard "r" that I covered in Red cardstock, stamped special from EFP and punched it using my word window punch, tied it on using white polka dot ribbon from Micheal's and white scrappers floss and then added the rest of the word recipes using Alphabits and the 1/4" circle punch.   I used a bunch of misc. ribbon and that's it!  Here is a picture of the inside and how it should look ~ this is the back page ~













and here is a look at the center pages ~













Here is another look at the finished project!  Thanks for stopping by and please don't hesitate to ask ANY questions as I am sure I forgot something!!!  Have a great day!

Help!!! I'm seeing spots!!!

Here is my second Spring Garden that I CASEd from Lauren!!!  I promise, I won't show you EVERY single one I do but this one is quite different than the first one so I thought I would share!!!  I will definitely share though if I am able to find some jars that will fit inside the "egg carton" holders in the box!  Anyway, this one is quite polka dotty.  I designed it TOTALLY around the red and white polka dot paper I got at Target in their dollar spot.  I knew I would be glad I got it!!!  Hope you like it!

This one was definitely not as time consuming as the one in my previous post.  I basically cut a piece of the polka dot wrapping paper to be long enough to fit around the entire box.  I also made it wide enough so I could tuck it down inside the box (I will show you the inside in a minute!) so I just used adhesive and stuck the paper on the box.  I trimmed the polka dot paper at each corner just down to the top of the box so I could fold it in without it being folded or scrunched.  I used some adhesive to adhere these down as well as the bottom.  The ribbon and flowers were done basically the same as the previous box.  I will show you a close up in a minute as I did stamp the white flower and I really like how it turned out!

The bags were done by stamping the flower background stamp from Boho Backgrounds using Black Stazon.  I used punched Whisper White using my SU! scallop punch for the tops of the candy on the inside.  Here is a picture of that.......

This one was fun finding all the red, white and black candy!  I used Lifesavers, Black jelly beans (I love these but I don't think anyone else does!!! LOL!), red & white gumballs, Twizzler bites, Starburst red jelly beans and red Swedish Fish.  I covered the "egg" holder part with Basic Black cardstock.  This was really easy as I just laid the cardstock on the carton, used a pencil to trace the circles on the back, punched them out with my 1 3/8" circle punch, adhere the cardstock on the holder and then trimmed around it.  Easy as can be!!!

The Spring Garden Sentiment is also from the Just Hatched set.  I stamped it on Whisper White cardstock using Basic Black ink and then cut it out leaving a very small edge.  I then mounted it on Basic Black cardstock and cut it out again.  I punched an oval from my Marvy Giga oval scallop punch and then mounted all of it on top of a rectangle I cut from Basic Black cardstock using my rectangle Nestabilities.

The flowers are all misc. flowers I have had.  The black  scalloped ribbon is from Lindsey as are the red single jewels and the jeweled flower center (by MAMBI).  I used a pop up glue dot to adhere the flower on the front.  The ladybug is from Autumn leaves and was stamped on Whisper White cardstock using Basic Black ink and then cut out.  I colored in the dots using my Copic Spica red glitter pen, added it's antennas with my black marker and stuck it on using a dimensional.

In case you didn't see my previous post with all of the links for the supplies used, HERE it is!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!!! 

Have a great day!

~Lynda

Wanna see the CUTEST Spring Garden???

I am so excited about how this little "garden" turned out!!!  It was actually really easy but a little time consuming but LUCKILY I had LOTS of candy to make it worthwhile!!   You know, you can't give an edible gift to someone without making sure it tastes OK first!!!  LOL!!  This box is a TOTAL CASE of Laurens carrot garden HERE!   She is so amazing and I totally HAD to make some of these!!!!  The box came from Papertrey Ink and actually has the little egg carton divider included!  All you have to do is cover it and use your 1 3/8" circle punch and punch the holes.  You probably would like to see the darn thing since you have no idea of what I am talking about ~ right?!?!? LOL!!!

Are you ready????

Maybe you should get your credit card out now so you are ready to order the boxes!!! LOL!!

I'll wait.............

LOL!!!  Funny aren't I???  OK, here it is!!!

As I said before, the box came from Papertrey and I linked directly above.  The boxes are $4 each and come white just like you see.  I did not do anything to the box except add the polka dots, ribbon, etc...  I will start with the box.....  I left the lid on the bottom as you see and used my piercing guide from my mat pack to mark where I want to add my polka dots.  I used a pencil to mark the spots and erased the mark afterwards.  I used 4 brand new pencil erasers and "stamped" the polka dots randomly with Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery.  Pencil erasers make PERFECT circles!!!  The ribbon on the lid is first scalloped pink ribbon and then a layer of Celery grosgrain with white polka dots.  I think that came from Michaels.  The pink came from Lindsey.  I added some flowers and accented the center flower with a pink jewel Prima Flower center that I got from Lindsey as well.  Lindsey's store is closed for right now while she is moving and will hopefully open back up in the next few weeks!

Here is a close~up of the ribbon and flower ~

I used Scotch tape to tape the ribbon down and then used 3 glue dots to adhere the flower.

The "carrot" bags are actually Wilton cake decorating bags in which I cut about 3 inches off of the top, "stamped" using a pencil eraser and White Stazon ink and then gently used a Q-tip to color in the circles on the bags using my SU! chalks (Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery).  After I let it dry, I gently wiped the bags with a tissue to get rid of any residue. 

Here is a picture from the top of the box.  The polka dots were only done for a about a quarter of the top and then the candy was added.  Before tying it closed, I added a scalloped circle that was punched from Celery cardstock (totally Lauren's awesome idea).  I then tied the top closed with my Celery with white polka dot ribbon.  I used 6 different pastel colored candies but of course you can use anything you want.  I will be making these for my kids teachers and a couple of them aren't huge candy eaters (have you EVER heard of such a thing?!?!?!?) so I will put trail mix, nuts, sunflower seeds, etc... in theirs!

The label on the front is also from Papertrey and is from a new stamp set they just released called Just Hatched.  I stamped the image using White Stazon ink on vellum and then heat embossed using White Detail embossing powder.  I then cut it out and adhered it to a Bashful Blue oval I had punched using my Marvy Giga Scalloped oval punch.  I added a couple of green crystals on each side.

I am working on another one and will post it shortly!  I was hoping to use my Prima flower jars on the next one but unfortunately, they are a little too big.  I am going to go to the Dollar store and see if I can find something that might work!!!  I'll let you know!!!

~Lynda