Club Scrap Blog Hop: December Kit: Navigation

This is an amazing kit.  If you love pirates, sailing ships or old word this is the kit.  It is full of wonderful images and sayings.  The colors lend themselves to a vintage feel or can be enhanced with color.  Very versatile.    You should have arrived here from:  Hetty.  If you get lost, you can start at the beginning by following this link:  Club Scrap Blog Hop.

My Cards:

I went with the ship and vintage theme.  I had made a treasure chest for the Team Challenge, and was going to use the shadowbox card as the card.  Then changed my mind.  Once I started down that road, it was hard to change focus.  But I like all three and they would be perfect for a man or boy.  

Card 1:  

Lets start with the simplest and work to the most complex.  As you know I like to learn something new and this month was no different.  I had used my Distress Markers for the Watercolor Blog Hop and decided to continue with that at least for one card.  I have all the markers and am sad to say I haven't even begun to learn what I can and can not do with them.  They have a place in my kit. 

I think the markers enhance this image better than anything I could have tried.  It gave the vintage feel due to the muted tones of distress.  

This is how it was colored.  I work on a glass mat.  Scribbled the markers onto the glass and added water, painted onto the image.  After finished, I enhanced the edges with distress ink and cut out.  

I used many markers:  to name a few: Ground Espresso, Evergreen Bough, Barn Door, Festive Berries, Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, Chipped Saphire and Peacock Feathers. The ink pads were Bundled Sage, Broken China and Charmed Clover.  

The tag was stamped in Brown Ink and heat embossed with clear.  Here are some tidbits:  I used the back of one of the pattern papers.  We often forget about the back.  But for tags it is perfect and will match the project well.  I needed in antiqued, so inked it with Distress Ink in Ground Espresso and sprayed with water.  Perfect match.  Rather than finding that die, fussy cut to match the area that the tag needs to go.  It is just paper, if you make a mistake, cut again.  I shaped it and used foam dots for dimension.

Final steps.  One of the pattern papers was used as a mat, then a dark brown and finally mounted on a tan A2 card base.  The ribbon is seam tape that was left over from making the trunk.  If you did not see that project here is the link:  The trunk and Treasure inside the box.  Card one done!!

Card 2:  

This card is similar but has a bit more detail.  

The image was stamped in brown ink and heat set with clear embossing powder.  It was then colored with colored pencil.  After coloring a Dove blender was used to smooth and enhance certain areas.

After coloring the paper was torn with the idea of creating parchment.  or a piece of old paper.

Using Distress Ink: Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso, the edges were inked and further distressed and shaped.  

A mat was torn in roughly the same shape as the image, distressed with Ground Espresso and a distressing tool.  

This is an A6 finished card.  A mat was cut slightly smaller than the finished size with the darkest brown paper.  A pattern paper was cut thinking about the image that would show.  A ribbon wrapped and held in place with by a metal eyelet.

This tag was created the same way as in Card 1: using the backside of the mat paper, stamped in Brown ink and heat set in clear, distressed lightly with Ground Espresso.  Of note here, the tag is cut and shaped to fit into that corner .  The edges are chopped to give distinction and interest.  That focal piece is going to steal the show, but we want to make sure that the birthday message is present.  It has to do with design and how the eye moves around the paper.  

The focal image was added with foam mounting tape, and the edges shaped to give the impression of a folded or rather unfolded parchment.  I think this worked very well.

Card 3:

This card was the most challenging from a process perspective.  I wanted to make a shadow box card like the Recessed Window Card whose direction can be found here.  There is also a link to a YouTube Video.  Anyway, I wanted to "changed it up a bit".  I am not overly happy with it, but the technique of possibilities for this type of card are endless.  

So lets walk through the steps.  

First I cut a card that would finish at 6" square.  Since I had 6 inch paper I just cut it in half.  At the center scored (6") and again 1/4 inch from first score.  That gives us the "spine".

I deterred from the video instructions by using a die.  I am visual and having a die to measure is easier for me.  

Once it was centered, I drew around it and scored it just like in the original instruction.  Then using a knife, made the cross cut as described in the general instructions, folded and added score tape to the flaps.

I cut out mats that would fit into the "window area".  The first a Dark Brown was cut exactly to the size of the opening and then a smaller was cut from patterned paper.  The next step I missed photographing.  My son makes model sailing boats and he had a lot of little pieces left over from a ship.  I glued these pieces down with glossy accents.  Then this was secured inside of the window.

Next I cut a piece of acetate and stamped the sailing ship and "you are here" stamp to the acetate.

Using the dies I cut a frame from the green pattern paper and then put score tape around the outside.

The center row of score tape was removed and the acetate with the ship stamped was centered over the from and adhered.
A second piece of acetate, slightly larger was cut out.  Foam tape was added to the inside of the frame covering the center and outside score tape.  The score tape is used to help secure this.  It will act as a backup glue should the glue on the foam tape fail to hold securely.  Probably over kill, but I live in Texas and it is hard to get adhesive to stick when humidity is high.

Flitter and beads are added to the acetate that was stamped, and the second piece of acetate adhered to the foam tape.  Are you following me.  This was hard to photo with all the glare from the glitter and the acetate.  In other words we are making a sandwich.  The frame is the Bread for example, acetate with stamping the "meat", glitter "the cheese", plain acetate the second "piece of Bread".  More score tape was added and this sandwich was affixed to the front of the card.  Creating a window pane over the box.  Whew!!!

A view of stamped acetate, mat with "things" and the beads.

Inside:  the center from the frame was used to cover the box and then message cards were matted and adhered to the mat:

Wooden arrows were distressed with ink and finished the layout.

On the bottom, a mat was cut from white paper in kit, a journaling tag added and a bow was made from left over ribbon.

Finished inside. You can see the "spine here.
All that was left was to add an embellishment to the front and call it done.

Thank you for stopping by.  Your next stop is:  Annette

Supplies:
With the exception of ink, glue, markers, colored pencils, and some of the ribbon, all of the supplies came from December's Kit: Navigation

If you would like to learn a technique or have an idea, post a comment.
Thank you for hopping and
Happy Crafting,
Josette

Happy Penquin

Stop by the Sweet Stamps Blog and see my new card.  Here is a preview.

Full details are available at:  Sweet Stamp Blog

Remember all new stamps sets are on sale:

Happy Crafting:

Josette

Sweet Stamps: Treat for a Snowman

Today I have a card over on the Sweet Stamps site:  Sweet Stamps Blog.
Be sure and follow the link and see all the other amazing creations by the design team.

She was colored with Copic Markers and embellished with glitter and a texture paste to represent snow.  Layered on a colored mat and then onto an A2 white card base.

What a big difference a little glitter makes!!  This is a very flat card and was easy to mail.  I added a piece of bubble wrap to the front to protect the snow and bow, popped it into an A2 envelop and it went regular mail.  A little extra postage was added.  This was because it did feel a little heavier than a regular card.

Have a Merry Christmas, will be back next week with another Sweet Stamp Card.
Stayed tuned for Club Scrap Team Challenge and the conclusion of my Treasure Chest.
Josette

Supplies Used.
Winter_Treats_Snowman digital stamp
Copics:
R:      11
RV:    04,10,14,23
Y:      00,11
YG:  03,11,23,25
BG:  0000
B:     0000
E:     13,77,79,99
G:     40
C:      000,00,01
W:     5,7,9
Micro glitter: clear, white black, red, green
Texture Paste and assorted sequins
White Seam Binding
ATG, Score tape, Glue Dots

Team Challenge: The Treasure Inside the Box

The Treasure!!  A custom album.

Here we are for another Team Challenge Project.  You should have arrived here from:  Mayra

Earlier in the month I made this:Blog Post: Making of the Trunk

A video of the entire process can be viewed here:  Making of the Trunk

Now is the time to make something to go into the box.  This is suppose to be a challenge for a Christmas Gift (quick?) made from paper.  Whenever I need a quick gift, I turn to an album.  There are plenty of templates and patterns to make an album, but what if you need something a specific size.  How do you figure that out.  Well, let me show you.  But a warning, it is important to think through the entire process before starting, or like me, you will need to make 2 (or 3,4,5 of some parts because I wasn't thinking.  Even with all the redo's and restarts, both albums took me less than 2 hours each.  I have decided to give you the instructions for both.  The skill set is similar for both and if you understand the construction you can make whatever size you like.

Option 1:

It fits, it is beautiful.  Masculine (if I hadn't put the flowers on the  box front!  So what is the problem.  Well, I used a ring binder to attach my pages.  When the book is closed, the pages stick out too far.  If using the ring type binding system, the cover must be at least 2 inches longer than the pages, Duh, bet you knew that.  I did but somehow I just forgot!  This type of cover would have worked, but I needed to use a a different binding system on the inside.  Attaching a ring binder to the inside would be a good option.  But I had already attached the ring with rivets.  I will cut the ring off and fix it, but for now. . . . . . .

Let's see how to make it.  This is a good example to learn the dynamics of album making.

Start with the finished size (not what it should be but what I thought it should be, follow me).  Anyway, I had to use the opening in the box.  So I measured.  The inside was 5.75" square.

So my covers needed to be slightly smaller, I opted for 5.5" finished.  Actually cut the cardboard 1/16" smaller to allow for the paper thickness.

Cut 2 chipboard pieces to this size.  I sanded to make sure they were exact.  An emory board works well.  Often it is just a single layer of the paper that needs removed, or frayed fibers.  

Next,  I determined my depth.  In this case I was going to add a ring system and I needed clearance on both sides, so settled on 1.75 inches.  I measured the center of the binder clip and added a 1/2".  No matter what binding system you need, use the same formulae.

I am working on a grid mat, in this case it is glass, the grid helps with alignment.  After these are cut and sanded, I ran them through my Zyron.  That gives me a little extra hold.  I also run a line of ATG on the glass.

Be sure to burnish this down well to get all the adhesive stuck to the back.  When I am ready  I run the Zyron sheet over the edge of the table to remove my project and keep all that stickiness on the back.  

Next prepare the paper.  Plan here, measure twice, check twice and then cut.  Especially if using a directional paper.  I chose to continue with my Glassine theme.  The paper is 5 x 8 ", so i would need to figure out how to cover the middle.  

Lets, start with the glassine:

First I stamped it  using an Archival ink in Black, then heated with heat tool, scrunched and inked it with Distress inks and water.  Heated again!!  Very important with Glassine, heat to melt the coating and get the ink underneath it.  When it cools, the coating is on top and the inking trapped inside. 

dry

I then marked where the Glassine would go on my book fronts and back.  Make sure that both are marked in exactly the same place.  Next I glued the pages down with a Gel Medium.

Notice that there is a good margin around the covers.  This paper all around the edges, will be folded to the other side.  Let dry and heat the glassine.  

Next I took the sueded paper that was included in the kit, and  figured out where it was going to be applied, measured the area, including overlap all around, and  die cut the edges to give them some interest.  If I had been using paper, I will sometimes, ink the edges.

This step determines the final outcome, go slow.  I work on glass because I am going to use my ATG to adhere these to the glass as I get them aligned.  I created a Jig from two pieced of the cardboard glued together.  The jig will provide the spacing. Start my aligning the left page on the grid.  Then add the center piece, space with cardboard jig.  ( I glued to glass mat), then do the same with the right page.  Make sure the spaces are even and tops and bottom aligned.  

Lay the prepared center paper and adhere to center.  The center is sticky from the Zyron, smooth into place.  Time for a deep breath and a snack.  Hard Part is over!!!!

Using the Jig (made from 2 pieces of the cardboard used for the covers that had been glued together), miter the corners. I just laid down  the jig and using an exacto knife trimmed off the corner.  A safer option is to draw it on and use scissors to trim (ask me how I know).  

Next apply Score-tape to the inside edges.

Try and get the tape close to the edges, use scissors to cut as you don't want to risk tearing or loosening the top layer of the chipboard.  

Fold over the edges and burnish into the score tape.  Do the long sides first, fold in little "tabs" at corner and finish folding over the short edges.  Dog ears are hard to get right without practice.  The Glassine helps as it is elastic, and Club Scrap paper is wonderful in that it molds well without cracking.  If yours aren't nice and neat, or cracks, just ink, no one will know.  Pounding the edges and the corners on the table, helps to make nice firm edges and will also break down those corners, making it easier to tuck in.  

Here is a photo of bending the paper before adhering it down.  I will also hit the edge on the table 2-3 times to get the paper tight against the edge.  Another reason for using the glass rather than a mat. 

Next step is to cover the insides.  Since this is longer than 12 inches, I needed to cover bother ends and then the center.

Measure, leave about 1/4 inch all around, cut and put score tape around all 4 sides, repeat for the Back cover.  

Remove scor-tape cover and attach to book front or back.  Gently bend the spine to start the creasing. Repeat for back cover.  To cover the Center, I cut a piece of suede paper, die cut the edges, added score tape. 

Finished!! Just need to add the ring to the inside and something to hold it closed.

Using a punch, I punched out holes and used rivets to attach the ring holder and latch to front.  Oh so happy.  Now onto the inside!!!  OOPS, this is where I realized my error.  So now what.  If I continued to make the insides, they would be very skinny and not of much use.  So I decided I needed an album that held the pages tighter to the spine.  The only option is to add rings like Tag Book that Tricia created, but was worried that the rings would get caught under the edge of the canvas.  So, out came my Bind-it all.

Option 2:

The covers are made the same, but there is no spine.  I measured, cut my chipboard and covered it with paper.  The difference here is measurements.  I am not visual, so I placed a finished notebook in the opening to see just how much room the ring took up.  That meant that I needed to adjusted my width to 4.75 inches.   I left the height at 5.5 inches.  Then I cut my paper into 6" squares.  Remember my discussion earlier about paying attention to directional paper.  TAKE NOTE!!  I did for this step but promptly forgot!!!

Paper glued on with Zyron, jig used to cut miter.   Folded over just like in previous album.

Paper was cut and adhered the same as on the first album, but much simpler without the spine.  Done with this step.  Back to making the insides!!

The Pages:

I chose to make three different types.  The first was clear plastic for pictures. I calculated my size, used a ruler and marker to mark out my "plan" and sealed the packets with this tool.

This is sold under many names. It is made by Memory Keepers.  This one is a Project Life model (all that Hobby Lobby carried).  In the past, I used my sewing machine which I think is still a better option for durability.  There is a learning curve with this tool, so practice.  Anyway, I cut my holders out of 8.5 x 11 inch acetate page protectors.  You could use picture protectors  too, but I just used what I had on hand.

The next style, involves cutting down an envelope.  I found one, I believe an A5, that worked great for width and cut off the top.

Glued down the flap. Added a tag or journaling block  from the kit to the back and a small envelope to the front.

Then I inserted a Manilla tags that had a ribbon or bow tied onto it.  I  stamped this with a journaling stamp.

The Third Envelope, I made from the paper in the kit.  

First I calculated the finished size.  I used the envelope to determine my finished size, so they would be the same.  Doubled this number and added 1/2 inch. Scored one end at the 1/2 inch mark and the from the other side, determined where the fold should be and scored.  This created an envelope.  Added score tape as in the picture.  Do not fold  and close yet!!

Next was the tab closure.  This was made by cutting a strip of paper, 1/4 inch shorter than opening and 2" wide.  Scored at 3/4", die cut the edge. Added Score-tape to the flap but Don't adhere yet.

Next I measured and punched a hole 2" from top of envelop and added a brad and closure.

Here the brad is attached.  To cover the brad on the inside and prevent things from "hanging up", I run a piece of velum through the Zyron and then die punch a circle.

Here the velum circle has been used to cover the brad legs on the inside.  This is burnished down well.  Now close the envelope and add the flap.

The flap went on the outside back of the envelope.  I found it best, to loosen the backing strip on the side opposite from the fold over on the envelop, start to adhere, stop, adhere the envelope closed, then finish the flap.  The flap can also be adhered onto the inside, but again I didn't think everything through and once I thought of it, I had all the Score-tape down.  

Final step:  Put all the pages and covers together, punch and finish with your binding wires.  Remember my caution about directional paper.  Make sure that you have this in perfect order before punching.  I did not and ended up making another back and then punched wrong and had to make another front.  Geez.  Lastly embellish and get it wrapped up for the intended receiver!  DONE

Photos of finished project.

Fits perfectly.  Embellished with leftover flowers, ribbon, more ribbon and medallion from kit.

The inside of the box was covered with paper.  The top you can see.  The bottom is covered with the same green paper that is the cover of this book.  

The hard part is who to give this to!  I need to make another I am thinking.  Hope you enjoyed this journey into Album and mixed media.  Next posting will be for the blog hop and I am making Cards!!!!  But in the meantime, I am making myself a cup of tea and knitting!!!

Your next stop is is Debbie.

Happy Crafting,
Josette
Links:
Club Scrap
Video of Box
Previous Blog Post: Making of the Trunk
Supplies:
With few exceptions: the brads, Bind-it all, envelopes, page protectors and ink, Everything came from ClubScrap: Navigation.  Did I mention how much I love this kit and stamps!!! Oh they are keepers.