Tammy Tutterow Travel Themed Mini Tag Book Tutorial with Graphic 45 City Scapes Collection
Hello my friends! Are you smack dab in the middle of Christmas preparations? Can I interest you in a non-Christmas project? Hmmmmm? I just finished creating a super cute birthday card/gift for my dear daughter. I had the presence of mind to snap photos of the process, so I’m able to share this Travel Themed Mini Tag Book Tutorial with you today. Graphic 45’s scrumptious Cityscapes collection and Tammy Tutterow’s fabulous Mini Tag Book Die make great traveling companions, don’t you think?
I wish you could see how tiny this darling Mini Tag Book is. It measures just 4″ wide x 2.25″ tall. The inner pages are even smaller. It is cute, cute, cute! It packs a real visual punch though. Take a look:
I strung travel themed charms onto a Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Mini Caribiner Clip.
This album goes together in a jiffy! I used tags and cut apart images from the Cityscapes collection to fill the small pages.
I hand wrote travel quotes that I thought my daughter would enjoy.
Glue just the bottom edge of a border piece, and you’ve got a nifty pocket!
Cut border strips apart to add a great sentiment page.
I also used Tammy’s Window Mini Pocket Die to create a fun money wallet on the last page. Here’s the Snapguide Tutorial so you can follow along, and make one yourself!
Oh the Places You’ll Go: Travel Themed Mini Folder with Tutorial for Frilly and Funkie
Hello, Friends! It’s time for a brand new challenge over at the Frilly & Funkie Blog. The fantastically talented Zoe is our host this go round, and she has chosen the theme “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” Here’s what she has to say about this challenge:
Challenge Theme: Oh the places you’ll go! – Create a vintage or shabby chic project with travel as the central theme. Think planes, trains, automobiles, ships, maps, globes.
We always invite you to play along with us in these challenges, because they are such fun. The winner will earn the chance of a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie, and everyone who enters and follows the rules will go into the draw for the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. And there are Top 3 Badges for three further outstanding entries, chosen by the Design Team, because choosing just one winner is so hard!
You can find all the entry guidelines on the Frilly and Funkie BLOG. Now, without further ado, let’s get on with this Oh the Places You’ll Go theme!
Oh the Places You’ll Go Travel Themed Folder tutorial
With the theme in mind, I wanted to make a travel folder that was about the same size as a Passport, and fill it with postcards and tags and travel themed goodies. I also knew I wanted to have a play with Graphic 45’s enticing Cityscapes Collection. After a few false starts with the construction for my folder base, I came up with this fun design.
This travel themed mini folder measures 4″ x 5.5″ and is made with a white cardstock base. I glued two folders together, back to front, leaving the side open to be used as a pocket for photo mounts. Even though it is small, it has room for a surprising number of photos, tags and goodies.
This is a view of the front and back cover. The burlap serves to add extra strength, as well as a lovely vintage vibe. I prepared a Snapguide Tutorial for you so you can see how the base is constructed. It’s easy to make and can be used for a wide range of projects.
I create inner pockets filled with postcards, tags, photo mounts and postage stamps by cutting apart the images in the 8×8 collection. I did use the postcards and some photo images from the 12×12 collection, as they seemed to be sized just right for this project.
You can journal on the tags, and add small photos to the backs of the images.
The pocket on the opposite side is filled with photo mounts that I die cut using Heartfelt Creations Cut, Mat, Create dies. They are perfectly sized to fit inside the pockets.
I used Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink to stamp on these cute cork tags, and it worked great! Linda just recently added these to the shop. Aren’t they fun?
I constructed the album by gluing two folders back to front, leaving a pocket between. This is a perfect place to tuck in several more photo mounts. I’ve held them together with a hinged clip, then tied on a charm with burlap string.
The inside of the second folder follows this same format: tags and postcards on the left, photo mounts on the right.
The colors and images in the City Scapes collection are just dreamy!
I matted stickers onto black cardstock to create the tabs at the top of each page. And this page has a pocket on top of a pocket!
I had such fun making all these cute tags and adding the charms. I tapped all the charms with Broken China Distress Paint, and I love the vintage effect.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go with this mini travel themed folder! It’s small enough to fit into purse, carry on or suitcase, making it the perfect traveling companion.
You have until 11:55PM on Tuesday, May 31st. to link your project up at the Frilly and Funkie BLOG. I can’t wait to see what you make!
I’m really excited to be sharing my Maritime Sea Fever album today on the Canvas Corp/7 Gypsies blog. You all know how much I love the beach, so this album is near and dear to my heart.
Maritime “Sea Fever” Journal/Kathy by Design
Because we live fairly close to the beautiful North Carolina beaches, we visit as often as we can, to walk along the sand, soak up the sun, listen to the surf and let our spirits be refreshed and revived. We find all kinds of treasures along the way, and I thought it would be nice to create a little journal to write down memories and a poem about the sea. The cover is decorated with some of our favorite treasures: wood, shells, sand, bits of sea grass…all the things we love about the shore. I hope you’ll feel the serenity and freedom of the sea as you peruse the pages of this hand bound journal. Come walk with me beside the sea….
Here is what you will need to create your own Maritime Sea Fever album.
I started with a 14″ x 6″ piece of medium weight chipboard that came in some packaging I had. After scoring at 6″ and 7″, I creased the chipboard to form the book cover, then trimmed away any excess so that the front and back covers were even in size. Next, I cut a piece of canvas that was 1″ larger than the chipboard cover on all sides. I misted this with Crushed Shells Glimmer Mist and stitched it directly to the chipboard base using my “messy stitching” technique. I cut a 4″ square of ivory burlap, misted it with Crushed Shells Glimmer Mist, fringed the sides and adhered it to the front cover using Scor-Tape. I trimmed the corners of the canvas, covered the inside edges of my album with Scor-tape and then folded the canvas onto the inside of the cover.
This rusty clip was created with the TA Rusty Bare Metals Paint System. It was originally bright green, so I just love the total transformation that occurred when I added layer after layer of mist.
I cut 6 sheets of kraft cardstock in half, scored them at 6″ on the long side then stitched them together up the middle to create the journal pages. These were glued into the spine, then tied with natural white twisted hemp rope. I hand wrote lines from John Masefield’s beautiful poem, “Sea Fever” throughout the book, leaving lots of room for photos and journaling.
The small stamps and torn edges make this book feel like it just came out of an old sea chest.
The white pigment ink stamped onto the natural kraft paper let’s the stamp designs stand out beautifully.
Adding mini ephemera pieces to various pages gives just the right touch.
Create a pocket using the 5″x7″ journal pages and slip in ephemera and the smaller journal pages in place.
Adding touches of nature to your book like this found leaf.
The B&W Maritime Tags are the perfect starting place to add color, distress or mist to make them match your project. The vintage nautical art pieces are transformed to match the neutral colors in the book.
Creating a tattered, worn album like this is easy when you have such inspirational products to work with. I think I used just about every item in the Maritime collection from 7 Gypsies in putting this together. And I can’t wait to add our family memories to the pages.
Wishing you sand between your toes and a shell in your pocket!
Come Away with Me Travel Journal for the RRR Aqua and Coral Color Challenge
Hello, Friends! There’s a brand new challenge up at Really Reasonable Ribbon! This time, it’s a color challenge, which is always fun! Since the April Ribbon Club Assortment is filled with beautiful Aqua and Coral Ribbons, we decided that would be the theme for the challenge. And I used those gorgeous ribbons to make this Come Away with Me Travel Journal.
I’ll give you a nickel if you can guess what I used to make the journal cover. Give up? Ok…it’s the Duncan Hines cake mix box that I salvaged from our Easter celebration. I realized just before tossing it into the trash can that it was a great size for an album, and already had a scored spine! All I had to do was build the hidden hinge binding and fill it up. I stitched white burlap directly onto the cardboard base, and my sewing machine performed like a champ!
I punched hole at the top of the spine and threaded my ribbon through, then tied on a huge vintage key and a bunch of charms that I tapped with Peacock Feathers Distress Paint. Aren’t they fun?
The final page has more of the swiss dot coral ribbon and a couple more sweet blooms with lots of room for photos.
Now I want to go up in a hot air balloon! How about you? Be sure to visit the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog for more inspiration and details on how you can play along in this fun challenge!
7 Gypsies American Vintage Photo Crate and Travel Journal
Hello, Friends! I don’t know about you, but I love a good road trip! There’s something magical about waking up in the pre-dawn darkness and packing suitcases, snacks and people into the car for a far away destination. I have such great memories of car trips we took with our kids when they were small: the silly songs we sang, playing the Alphabet game, I Spy, counting cows, roadside picnics and even the bathroom breaks were fun. So, I am super excited to share today’s project with you! I’ve been busy working with 7 Gypsies American Vintage Collection…which was just released this week…and I have made the most fun travel journal ever! It’s vintage, and funky, and fun, and interactive …and it’s in a photo crate! How awesome is that????
Kathy by Design/7 Gypsies American Vintage Photo Crate
This darling little photo crate measures 4″ x 6″ x 4″ so it’s the perfect size for holding photos, souvenirs, maps and all kinds of bits and bobs. I changed the finish on mine by treating it to a light coat of Picket Fence Distress Paint and then lightly brushing it with Tattered Angels Roses R Red Glimmer Glam. I wanted it to be the same color as an old barn on the side of a country road. How’d I do?
I used just about every single element found in this collection…and some besides…to fill up my crate with fun file folders, ephemera, journal notes, and papers. On the front of the crate, the borders from “Go and See” and “States I Visited” were used to decorate the slats. I topped this off with the Road Trip book knob and a bunch of gears.
You know how when you are in the car, there’s something to see no matter what direction you look? Well, I designed this crate so that no matter which side faces forward, there is a nice view to be had. On the back of the crate, I created a happy little banner with denim and burlap from the famous scrap packs that are filled to bursting with fabric, burlap, paper and cord. I hand cut my little banner pieces, then sewed them onto a piece of natural sisal roping and topped them with more gears. They are held in place with a jaunty pair of antique silver vintage clips. That great vintage truck is from the ephemera pack. The crumpled road maps were fussy cut from the 8×8 paper pack. I know nobody uses maps any more, but I kind of miss them…and this is how ours always ended up looking after having been folded and refolded time and time again!
I tinted a 2″ x 2″ stretched natural canvas with Blue Ribbon Chalkboard Mist, topped it with a fringed burlap square, another gear (that makes me think of a steering wheel) and some cut out words from the totally fun “Across the USA” 12×12 paper. Both short ends of the crate received a little ribbon treatment with Red Center Stitched Burlap Ribbon and a vintage button. You can also see another great ephemera bit here….I love these replicas of route signs!
There’s nothing but fun inside the crate! On the right, I salvaged the gear package to make a really fun tag that looks like a vintage luggage tag. On the left is one of the file folders that I loaded up with fabric and ephemera and then stuffed with the hilarious “Are We There Yet?” journal tag. You will get quite a chuckle from the sayings because I guarantee, you’ve heard them all before. And, this is a quick, easy way to document a trip. Just fill it out and put it in the file folder along with photos, menus, and other great memorabilia.
The vintage photos on the “Go and See” 12×12 page are perfect for creating a quick card, journal page or in this case, a divider for the crate. I made each divider the same way: cut a 5.75″ piece of Kraft C-Flute, paint with Roses R Red or Blue Ribbon paint, and top with one of the photo squares from the paper. I added stitching, distressing, buttons and even stamped a compass on the paper. The red cording adds great texture, as does the clothespin.
I lined the back side of the C-Flute with paper from the double sided American Stamps paper. I love these bold stripes. I cut a thumb hole in the top and did not glue the top edge down, creating a pocket for photos. The 4″ x 6″ vintage post cards were scored, folded and turned into little journal notes.
I like that the file folders can be used horizontally or vertically. This makes for a great look in the crate and gives you lots of options for designing. Here, I mounted another of the border strips on a scrap of C-Flute and tucked a Travel Log notecard into the pocket. I found these vintage keys in my stash, and thought they looked great with this line. You could easily pre-load your crate with folders and dividers and then fill in the cards as you go…a great way to keep the kids engaged with the trip.
These letters were fussy cut from the 8×8 pad and matted onto a journal page that I splashed and splattered with Glimmer Mist.
Here’s the red barn that was the inspiration for this project along with some more fussy cut mini ephemera.
I made a handy little notebook to tuck into the crate by stitching papers into one of the file folders. Don’t you love the vintage telephone dial? Ask your kids or grandkids if they know what this is….that could lead to a really fun conversation!
Here’s the inside of the file folder. I love that these are decorated inside and out, making them reversible.
So, that’s my 7 Gypsies American Vintage Photo Crate and travel journal. Doesn’t it just make you want to hit the road and go someplace? I’ll bring the snacks!