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!

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheerio,

kathy

Hello Friends!

A couple of weeks ago, I shared this fun Coffee Break Mini with you.

Kathy by Design/Coffee Break Birthday Mini Album for RRR

So many of you requested a tutorial for this style album that I went to work creating a second album, making sure I photographed the construction steps along the way. So, here I am today, with my Gypsy Moments Tri-Fold Mini Tutorial. Grab a cuppa and snack, because this is a content heavy post with loads of pictures, and I don’t want you to pass out from hunger or thirst before we reach the end!

Here’s a photo of the completed project to whet your appetite.

Gypsy Moments Tri-Fold Mini/Kathy by Design

This is one of the newer lines from 7 Gypsies, and I have fallen completely in love with it. I’ll have a slide show of all the pages and details towards the end of the post, but I wanted to sort of give you a vision of where we are going today.

This is a very compact mini, just 4″ wide by 6″ tall and the base is made with one sheet of 12″ x 12″ cardstock. For this particular mini, I used a piece of Canvas Corp White and Kraft Lace Cardstock.

This is such a great weight to work with and the pattern is perfect for this project. There is just something magical about white ink on kraft paper! Yummy!

Soooo…this next photo might scare you to death…but I wanted you to see the process I go through when I tackle a project of this proportion. Here’s a photo of (most) all the products I pulled from my 7 Gypsies/Canvas Corp stash.

I like to have options! Obviously. I pull out everything that inspires me and pile it up on one side of my desk. Do you see those itty bitty antique silver coat hangers? Squeee! And the sa-weet Flea Market Findings Charms? Be still my heart!

Cut your 12″ x 12″ paper in half to form 2 12″ x 6″ rectangles. Place on your scoring tool, and score at 4″ and 8″. Placing the paper face down on your work surface, fold first the right hand side in toward the center and then the left hand side. Crease with a bone folder. The patterned side of the paper should be on top with the fold on the left.

Cut the other 12″ x 6″ rectangle into these sizes:

2 (two) 3.75″ x 5.5″ rectangles
1 (one) 3.75″ x 2″ rectangle
1 (one) 2″ x 5.75″ rectangle. These will become the inner pockets for your mini.

Flip your paper over so that the print side is up. The second 3.75″ x 5.5″ rectangle will be used in the middle panel, as you see here. You’ll use the kraft side, not the printed side.

Use a circle punch to cut thumb holes in the top of each of the 3/75″ x 5.75″ panels. Ink all the edges of all the cut pieces and the base piece for the mini with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Cut a 3.5″ x 5.5″ piece of Light Pink Burlap . Fray the edges (save the strings!) and attach it to the front panel of the mini album base. As you can see here, I stitched it on, but you could use fabric glue or scor-tape if you prefer. Spritz it with some Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist. (Keep the glimmer mist and burlap handy…we’ll be using it more as we progress.)

Cut a 24″ length of Sheer Iridescent Fuchsia Ribbon and secure it to the right hand and middle panel of the mini album base as you see here. I used Scor-Tape for this. This will be the closure for the album.

Fussy cut a floral section from the 12″ x 12″ Board and Room paper and stitch or glue it to the front of the mini album as shown. Note that I have left the cut side open. This will become a pocket where we can tuck in tags. I did use some foam dots along the bottom and top edge to hold it in place, but you want to be careful to leave an open edge.

Here you can see where I’ve inserted a Happy Birthday Tag and a Handcrafted Tag into that pocket we created. To make these tags, I simple inked them, splattered and spritzed them with a little Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist and matted them on lilac cardstock. I ran more of the ribbon through the top edge and then used some of the burlap strings to tie little bows that I topped with vintage mother of pearl buttons from my stash. I created a loopy bow with Pink Burlap String , hot glued it to the album, and then added a button on top.

Now, the temptation here is to finish the cover. But you don’t want to do that. Know why? If you do that now, stuff will get crushed and you’ll have a hard time working on the inside. We will actually finish the rest of the album, and then do the rest of the cover last. And yes, I learned this the hard way!

Open up the mini and begin work on the inside. This is the far left panel. It looks awful, because you can see the reverse side of the stitching I did on the front. To cover this up, I used a piece of washi tap on the far left edge, and cut another little piece of burlap to go on the top.

Here is where you will begin to use your own creativity. You will need 3 (three) 3.75″ x 5.75″ rectangles to cover the left, center and right hand panels on the inside of the mini album. You will need two more to cover the right and the center panel on the printed side of your base. Once you’ve done this, you can add your pockets and flaps.

Here you can see the mini album in progress. I’ve added a thumb hole panel to the far left side, and I’ve added a Gypsy Moments ATC Mini Folder over that. A word of caution: when you are gluing these pockets and flaps into place, use either a very thin bead of strong white glue to secure them, or 1/8″ adhesive taken to the absolute edge of each panel, or you will not have room to tuck all the goodies into the pocket. Ask me how I know this….

Now that you’ve got your base made, you can have let your creativity loose and decorate to your heart’s content. When everything is finished, add the finishing touches to your cover.

Gyspy Moments Tri-Fold Mini/Kathy by Design

Gypsy Moments Tri-Fold Mini/Kathy by Design

Here’s what I did:

I fussy cut three more flowers from the Gypsy Moments Board and Room 12″ x 12″ paper, and shaped them into dimensional flowers. Someday soon, I ‘ll do a tutorial on how to do this.

Now, please enjoy this little slideshow of all the details and bits and pieces of this sweet little album.

Well, if you made it all the way to the end, you probably need to stand up and stretch! I know I do! I hope you are inspired to make one of these fun minis. If you do, I hope you’ll share it with me. Let me know what you think in the comment section below.