celebrate CREATIVITY in all its forms

You've Been Tagged

Looking for a twist on scrapbooking?   How about a tag book?  For those times when you may not be in the mood to scrap an entire page, why not consider scrapping a little booklet instead?  This tag book is just perfect if you want to create a fun photo keepsake that won't take a lot of time to complete. 

As we approach the holidays, you may also want to try this super easy project to add a little something extra to that special gift.

A while back, I made this little tag book as a gift to my twin sister, Paula.  It's a delightful project to consider this time of year. When you open up the booklet it's like a little mini scapbook page inside with four individual panels to decorate as you please. 

This project took about 90-minutes to complete.  That's no time at all and I love the finished look.

Here's what the tag book looks like from the back when opened up. Of course you can always add more embellishments to the back side. 

However, in this case I just didn't want to cover up the pretty vintage paper, so I kept my additional elements to a minimum and confined to the first and last quarter panels only.

To make your own tag book, start with one piece of your favorite 12 X 12 patterned paper. This will be the paper that represents the outside of your tag book. 

You'll also need a second sheet of 12 X 12 plain paper for the inside of the book.  Put both sheets together and cut down to desired size of the tag. I cut mine about 6 inches X 12 inches.

With both pieces together, fold one end over to line up with the opposite end.  Next, fold the first half side turning it back toward the initial fold. 

Turn over and fold the other side in the same way.  This will give you the accordian-style tag book.

Once you have your folds in place, clip both ends at the top right and left corners at an angle to create the tag shape.  At this point adhere both pieces of paper together using double sided tape or glue. In this case, I chose to stitch all the way around the booklet for a more finished look. 

Hole punch the top center of each quadrant for the ribbon.

Thread assorted ribbon through the holes you just punched and then embellish the tag book to your heart's content. 

Since this project is likely to get handled quite a bit, you may want to apply a clear sealant over any rubons you use.  This should prevent the rubons from wearing off over time.

The transparent effect below which appears on the front and back of this tag book, was created using a packaging tape image transfer technique that's easy to duplicate. 

Read further for the step-by-step instructions for this great application.

First, copy a small photograph onto regular printer paper.  It's important to copy your image.  Do not print the picture out.  Apply a small strip of clear packaging tape over the copied photo.  Then, rub the entire taped image using a bone burnisher. 

A bone burnisher is a nice tool to have in your stash, but if you don't have one, a popcicle stick or spoon will also do the trick here. 

Take your time and make sure you thoroughly rub all areas of the tape to ensure the image will tranfer completely.

After a good burnishing, run the taped image under warm water as in the photo below. Soak both sides of the image thoroughly. 

The warm water will loosen the paper and cause it to slide right off the clear packing tape.

Once the paper peels away from the tape you'll be left with the transferred image on the packing tape.  Also, because the adhesive from the tape will not wash away, you'll have an instant transparent sticker from a favorite photo.  Don't forget to let your new sticker dry (face down) before applying to your project. 

Your new personalized sticker will have a wonderful effect on your project if you place it over patterned paper.  I have some other great projects using this fun packing tape technique that I'll share later in a different post.

Now, getting back to the tag project, you can also stitch a couple of pieces of ribbon into the seam to use as a tie-back to hold the tag book in place. 

Carefully measure both pieces of ribbon first to make sure it will fit all the way around the tag book with room for a bow, before actually sewing it into the seam.

These tag books can be tailored for any occasion too.  Here is another example below with a baby theme.  Instead of using ribbon, try a few colorful buttons in the center of each quarter panel.

Wouldn't this be great to go along with a baby shower gift?  You could decorate the inside of tag book with pictures of the mom-to-be.

I love the soft colors of the lavandar ribbon and matching patterned paper in the tag book below. I used the same packing tape technique on the front of this book too. 

On the inside, I used pre-printed stickers to decorate the panels.  The stickers were already inscribed with beautiful quotes so it fit nicely with the overall wedding theme.

These tags are also perfect for the holidays.  The 12 X 12 patterned paper that was used for the tag book below had red on the top half of the paper and the wonderful ornaments on the bottom half.

I simply cropped most of the red out when cutting the paper down to size to keep the focus on the decorative ornaments. 

For this tag book, I attached my ribbon with these little metal brads. If you use brads, you'll want to conceal the prongs on the other side. 

To do that, I simply cut little paper squares and angled them in a diamond shape on the inside to hide the metal ends perfectly.

As you can see, this is a really easy and versatile project. These little tag books can be customized to fit any theme or occasion. 

You can add pictures and embellishments on the inside or even leave the quadrants blank for your own personal sentiments in your prettiest handwriting.  How special would that be?

These tag books can be attached to a gift box, or used as a stand alone gift.  Of course they also make nice memory keepsakes to keep for yourself. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I must add one quick warning here.  The folding for these tag books is so fast and fun, you may not be able to stop at making just one. 

601 Great Scrapbook Ideas

If you're looking for fantastic scrapbook inspiration, look no further.  601 Great Scrapbook Ideas which was one of the most anticipated idea books in the industry, is now available.  The book is jammed packed with literally hundreds of some of the most beautiful and amazing layouts you'd ever want to see.  Honestly, I think the Memory Makers book editors outdid themselves with this edition.  This wonderful collection of never-before-seen layouts will have you racing to your scraproom to get cracking on your own pages right away.

The layout below is one of my pages included in the book featuring my son Jordy.  I remember when I created this page, I wasn't sure about using the photo because it is slightly blurred.  It turns out that's exactly what the editors liked about the photo because it suggests the whirlwind action that little boys are known for.  Just goes to show you even the photos you think aren't "perfect" can still be used to create a perfect page.

The 265-jammed packed pages are broken down into five distinct and delicious chapters.  Starting with Everyday Life, chapter 1 captures the pages that make up every day activities.  Hard to Forget covers holiday, seasons and special events in chapter 2.   You'll get a lot more than sugar and spice when you turn to chapter 3, which is entitled Princess and includes pages to show off the little girls in your life.  Up next, Prince Charming is a wealth of inspiration for scrapbooking those special men and boys you love.  Finally chapter 5 entitled Open Heart, shares wonderful pages that showcase family ties and meaningful friendships.

Memory Makers book editors also included something new this time around with a contributor index. This way, if you're looking for a particular designer, you'll have no trouble tracking down their pages.

The page below is another one of my favorite pages featured in the book. I created this layout for a good friend who was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her first baby.  Her husband snapped the pretty picture of her tummy.  This page really reminded me that you don't always have to see faces in a layout for the scrapbook page to have wonderful meaning and beauty.

I just love all the little details on this page from the soft pink painted chipboard letters to the various flowers and buttons and the three different patterned papers. I even managed to sneak in a stamped baby footprint image, ribbon, painted chipboard photo corners, some white rubon words, a pink baby safety pin and some sewing machine stitching.  That's a lot of embellishments-but I think they all work together nicely.

My friend loved the layout and today she and her hubby are very busy bouncing their happy, healthy, beautiful little baby girl.

Trust me, when I say there's so much to enjoy in this publication.  I'm also stunned by the huge size of this idea book and it's really heavy too.  I think this must be Memory Makers' thickest idea book ever.  I couldn't help but pull out my trusty ruler to measure it for myself.  As you can see below, it's nearly an inch thick.  Now, that's a lot of awesome scrapbook inspiration!

There are more than 200 individual contributors to this book from all over the world. I think just about every style and skill level is represented too. There are fantastic examples of simple techniques as well as pages that show intermediate approaches to scrapping.  If you're a more advanced scrapper, there's plenty for you too, with plenty of inspiring layouts to get your creative juices flowing.  There is definitely something for everyone-and then some.

I really appreciate the staff at Memory Makers books giving me an opportunity to contribute to such a great project.  Clearly this was a huge undertaking, so hats off to the hard working editors who pulled so many layouts together from all over the world and from so many artists.  Memory Makers definitely has a winner here with a well thought-out, organized and eye-poppingly beautiful finished product. 

When it comes to 601 Great Scrapbook Ideas, the pages are just so delicious looking.  It's a good thing this book won't give you cavities because it's pure eye candy.  I love it, and I think you will too.

Pudding Pie and Podcasts

I'm in the mood for something wonderfully yummy, and I want it now!  OK maybe not now, but soon and the pumpkin pudding pie recipe below is super fast and easy.

While you're enjoying this sweet dessert, perhaps you'd be interested in putting a voice with the face and projects you see on this blog. I just participated in my very first podcast interview. You can see it, or I should say hear for yourself by scrolling down to the end of this post for a link to the podcast segment. 

In the meantime, first things first when it comes to tasty treats. 

The preparation for this pumpkin pudding pie is lightening quick at about 20-minutes and that's one of the best things about this recipe, aside from its great taste.

You'll need 4 oz. cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 8-oz. tub of Cool Whip thawed and divided in half, 1 graham cracker pie crust, 1 cup of milk, 1 (15-oz) can of pumpkin, 2 packages of Jell-O vanilla instant pudding and pie filling, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves.  Doesn't it look delightfully delicious?

Mix cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of milk and the sugar together in a large bowl and mix until smooth. Stir in half of the whipped topping and continue to mix well. Once creamy, spread this mixture evenly into the graham cracker pie crust.

Next pour 1 cup of milk into a large bowl and mix with your pumpkin ingredient until creamy.  Add both boxes of dry pudding mix as well as the various dry spices and continue to mix well.  The mixture will be very thick at this point. Then pour the pumpkin mix gently and evenly over your cream cheese layer in the pie crust.  Smooth the top pumpkin layer with a butter knife and refrigerate.

You could sample it now but if you want nice firm layers, set the pie for about two hours in the refrigerator.  If you need it in less time, you could also freeze it and serve as a chilled dessert.  Finally, add a little leftover whip cream to top off each slice and enjoy!

Since I'm not the best baker on the block, the fact that this is a "no-bake" recipe is great for me.  My kids love the yummy double filling and I love the graham cracker crust.  Scrumptious!

Meanwhile, diehard scrapper and crafting enthusiast Adrienne Nixon invited me to participate in one of her "conversations with Adrienne" recently.  It was alot of fun and we had a great chat about scrapbooking, sewing, maintaining a blog and juggling multiple hobbies with everyday demands.

You can listen to my podcast interview here.  I hope you check it out and let me know what you think. 

From the Heart

As I post this entry, Christmas is less than two months away.  Translation?  We should all get going on those handmade holiday items. While I admit I'm way behind in my efforts to meet the approaching deadline, I can say I've at least begun putting a dent in my long to-do list.

I've decided to try to keep things really simple this year and my little scented hearts in the photo below are a great start.

Of course the first thing you need is fabric. I love the look of linen for this particular project, because it's easy to work with and the embroidery looks nice against the linen texture. After you decide on your embroidery design, you'll need to cut two equal size fabric pieces for each pillow. 

If you take a look at the pictures below you can see the how the design looks as it's stitched out by my embroidery machine. I started with this open-centered floral heart pattern and then added a monogram.  People love monogrammed gifts and I think it makes the offering much more personal when you add this special detail.

By the way, if you're thinking about talking to Santa about upgrading your sewing machine this holiday season, might I suggest you consider an embroidery machine which will give you the best of both worlds. You can sew when you feel like it and when you're ready to do some embroidery, just attach the embroidery arm which comes with the machine. There are loads of models on the market to fit every need and budget.

The embroidery machine screen in the photo above, shows you all the information you need to help guide you through the embroidery process. Inside the grid you can see what your finished design will look like. The smaller box to the right shows you what stitch your machine is currently working on in the overall design.  At a glance you can see the dimensions of your stitched pattern, how many minutes the project will take to stitch out and how many thread color changes are suggested.

The pretty little finished design in the photo below is a simple example of how embroidery can turn ordinary items into extraordinary ones. 

Don't get me wrong, you can always complete this project with hand embroidery and get a finished product that is just as beautiful.  I just like to point out the advantages of an embroidery machine because my machine has been so instrumental in my crafting efforts and has really helped me enhance my gift giving.  Not to mention, I'm not very good at embroidering by hand anyway.

 

OK, getting back to this heart pillow project, once you have stitched out all your squares give it a good hit with the steam iron just to make sure everything is free of wrinkles before moving on to the next step. Adding just a spritz of spray starch at this point will also help give the fabric some extra crispness.

Trace a heart shape onto a piece of paper to make a template. Make sure the template you create is large enough to accomodate your embroidered design and fabric size. Before cutting out your heart shape, also make sure the embroidery pattern is positioned in the center of your heart template. 

Positioning is key here because you want the embroidery pattern to end up in the dead center of your finished pillow. Take your time and double check your heart shape placement before you actually put scissors to fabric.  Don't forget to slide your second plain linen square behind the embroidered square so you can cut out two identical hearts at the same time.

The picture above shows you what the heart shapes look like once you've finished cutting. Notice the embroidery is distributed evenly throughout the entire heart shape. This is why that initial template positioning is so critical before you cut the fabric.

Place the plain linen cut-out heart on top of the embroidered heart (right sides together) and pin all the way around.  At the center point of the heart, fold your ribbon in half and insert it between the two pieces of fabric with the two raw ends of the ribbon pointing upward and beyond the seam. The picture above shows the correct ribbon placement before sewing. 

Stitch 1/4-inch seam all the way around the heart, leaving a 1/2-inch opening for stuffing. At this point you can add a handful of lavendar or favorite pouporri to your stuffing to give the project a nice scent. Then close the opening with a slipstitch. 

Adding a matching bow helps finish off the heart pillow nicely.

 

I think these dainty little hearts can easily work with any decor. They can be beautifully displayed just about anywhere you like, including on the end of a drapery tie-back, a dresser drawer knob or simply hung from a door handle. These would also look adorable in a nursery-boy or girl.

Each pillow took me less than an hour to complete and that includes machine embroidery time. I think if you're looking for a super simple and elegant handmade item for loved ones this holiday season this project is picture perfect. 

Also, when you say this gift comes from the heart, you'll definitely mean it-in more ways than one.

The Power of Cute

Let me say right off the top that the next few photos have absolutely nothing to do with crafting. Nothing, nada, not a thing. However, I figured since I take a lot of pictures and perhaps you also take a lot of photos, you might enjoy getting a closer look at my latest fabulous find.

I was in Wolf Camera the other day to buy some photo paper and when I walked past the camera bags, this little beauty caught my eye.  It's made by Jill.e and it's totally adorable, functional, stylish and just plain cute to boot. Ahem, so much for that photo paper.

The bag is a delicious yellow leather with a bone colored croc-like trim exterior. It's got dual carrying handles as well as a really comfortable detachable shoulder strap. It's wonderfully waterproof too. 

Take a look at the photo below for a peak inside at the fun polka dot print lining. I love that. There are several Velcro dividers and well-padded compartments so I'm sure my gear will be safe and snug. Isn't that a cute little detachable zippered purse too? Great for personal items like money, makeup or whatever.

The little netted strip of pockets in the cover flap looks like it was designed to store film cannisters. Now that does make me wonder how many people out there are actually still using film in this digital camera age.  Since I stopped using film a few years ago, I'll just use these slots to hide a few pieces of leftover Halloween candy.  Hey, sometimes I just need a sweet and tasty energy source.

Anyway, I love that there's room to store a little bit of everything in the bag and all the great spaces in the base can be configured to fit your equipment size needs.  Also, did I mention the bag is just so darn cute?

When I find something I love, I love to share it with everyone who'll listen, or in this case everyone who'll keep reading.  Glad you're still with me on this.  I really think my gear looks so much cuter sitting in this bag, don't you? 

Notice the recurring "cute" theme going on here?

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't go into the store looking or a new bag, remember I was out to buy some 20-dollar photo paper. Come to think of it, I've never held anything against my old camera bag. I don't even think I needed a new camera bag.  In fact, I didn't need one. That is until I saw the yellow one.

Sorry old black bag, the writing was on the wall the minute I walked into that camera store.

I think you can see how I got to this point, and I suspect you've been in my shoes at one time or another. OK, I'll admit it. I do have a fair weakness for pretty storage and yellow is my favorite color. That last point just happened to be a very convenient selling point, by the way. Not that I needed any convincing though, because this cute yellow bag had me at hello.

So, now it's out with my old boring, black masculine camera bag that I've had for years-and in with my new feminine, fabulous, fully functional and oh, so cute replacement.

Hmmm, like I always say, "never underestimate the power of cute".  I sure don't.