You can pick up a package of plastic badge holders in horizontal or vertical format at your local office supply store for just about $3.00.

Using either Word or an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop Elements, make a new document sized 3.5” x 2.375. Bring in your photo and scale to size. For my overlay I used Ali’s Travel Memory + Title Photo Overlays – scaling them 55% to fit onto my badge document.

I changed the colors of the overlays to maintain readability over each photo (view a tutorial from Ali on how to do this in Photoshop Elements here) and added a little note about what we were doing in each photo on top of the overlays. I saved each page as a JPEG file and then created an 8.5×11 letter-sized document and arranged all the pages for printing.

A nice thing about this type of mini book is you don’t need to have a large format printer. I can get 8 pages on one letter-sized paper.

After printing trim your pictures, insert them into the plastic sleeves, wrap up with some ribbon and call it done! Simple as that! A perfect way to document your spring break!

ABOUT KATIE : A professional graphic designer for over twenty five years, Katie Pertiet turned her passion for scrapbooking into a full-time business at DesignerDigitals, an on-line source for digital scrapbooking products. Her layouts have been published in Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Memory Makers, Legacy, and BHG Scrapbooks Etc. Katie also designs products for Autumn Leaves, Creativity, Bo Bunny among others and licenses her designs in the home decor market. Her blog is called Cherish Each Day, her gallery can be found at DesignerDigitals, and her products are available at DesignerDigitals.

This week Tuesday Tutorials welcomes Debbie Hodge with 5 ideas for journaling tougher subjects or those that you find more challenging to articulate. 

Below you will find an extended excerpt of Lesson #5: Expressing The Inexpressible from Debbie's self-paced online class called Be Real. You can download the full version of the lesson, including her full journaling text here: Expressing The Inexpressible PDF. The entire workshop (six lessons) are available as a self-paced class for purchase on Debbie's site: Be Real.

Here's Debbie:

INTRODUCTION 

This is about getting those feelings that are hard to articulate in words onto the scrapbook page. Do you ever have a moment when you stop — when you almost understand something or you have a fleeting idea but it’s gone in a second? You have a feeling it’s meaningful–but you need to pursue it farther to know. How do you stop and figure out and express thoughts that you can barely grab on to let alone explain in a clear cut way? Read on and try the following ideas.

1. Explore Fuzzy Notions

When you have one of those "gasps" — one of those moments in which you feel you’re understanding something new or maybe only almost understanding it, follow that impulse with pen and paper. You probably won’t be able to write through it at that moment, but make a note to yourself of what was going on and what your "fuzzy notion" is. You may not even realize you have a fuzzy notion you want to pursue until it’s tapped at your consciousness a couple of times. That’s what happened to me when I had the original seed for "Seeing Me With You." I would see attractive mothers with their children — looking like ideal, pretty, competent, lovely mothers. Then I would think: Oh my goodness! Imagine how I must look! And then I thought: How do I look? And, what’s more, I thought: How am I doing as a mom? And finally: Why haven’t I made this more important? What am I missing out on?

When you do have time to write — just start writing. Don’t censor yourself. Don’t worry about where it’s going. When you get thought after thought after thought onto the page, you can get to bigger understandings in a way that’s not so easy to accomplish in your mind. You’ve got a written trail to follow.

How I explored a fuzzy notion in "Seeing Me With You:" 

JOURNALING: The initial writing I did around these thoughts was messy and much longer. Most of the time, I write on the computer because it’s faster for me and I can easily pick out the parts I want to save for the final journaling. You should choose the best method for yourself–perhaps pen and paper. Understand that you’ll revise after you’ve followed what might be a long path to your final comprehension. 

PHOTOS: I used the photo browser on my computer to look through photos and pull up a few (spanning several years) of myself with my boys. I wanted to show and see in print the thing I’d been writing about: how do I look in my role of mother. 

DESIGN: I used patterned paper with images of childhood to support my theme.

2. Tell It Slant

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—

Success in Circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm Delight

The Truth’s superb surprise

As Lightening to the Children eased

With explanation kindT

he Truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind—

Emily Dickinson

Pay attention to the first two lines and last two lines of Emily Dickinson’s poem "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant" shown here. Think about how you can apply this to telling your truths on the scrapbook page. Consider coming at one of your inexpressible feelings from an angle other than straight on. Consider the impact on the reader/viewer when they comprehend your intent from a gathering of images and words that are not obvious representations of your message. 

When you’re “telling it slant” think about all you have at your disposal for creating a page including images,
photos, colors, words, and design.

How I "told it slant" in "10 Years Past:" 

EMBELLISHMENTS:. The embellishments on this page include images of growth and change: a measure, trees, the words “grow and learn,” and an image on patterned paper of an adult man with a boy that echoes the older and younger boys in my photos. 

PHOTO: Tree stickers are placed right on the photo as if they were a part of the woods. 

JOURNALING: It’s not long or necessarily clear, but it makes sense to me and triggers the feeling I’m after.

TITLE: The title, which not a clear descriptor but rather a phrase open to interpretation, sits at yet another angle to the journaling and images on the page.

3. Accept Complexity

When you’re scrapbooking and journaling feelings you’re not able to clearly express, it will not be all clean and clear and tidy. This is not like writing an essay in which you lay out your arguments and then sum them up in an easy way. Everyone doesn’t have to "get" everything all the time. Think about the song lyrics that fans contemplate and try to interpret. When asked about the meaning of the lyrics in "American Pie," Don McLean said, "You will find many 'interpretations' of my lyrics but none of them by me…sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence." 

If you like the page and it "means" to you, then accept it as a record of what it is to be you.

How I accepted complexity in "Been There:" 

JOURNALING: This journaling is written as if to my nieces, yet there’s no formal greeting or closing to the letter. I’m not sure it’s even really to them — but rather the feeling I was trying to express had to do with what I might tell them.
The journaling rambles in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, moving from my childhood quickly through to today and how the land was a part of me on either end of that life so far.
Basically, it’s not tidy. 

TITLE: Because the journaling and my message are a little muddy, I used a more straightforward title that tells you how I feel about the subject. 

PHOTOS: I used the photo of my nieces that was the trigger for these thoughts alongside photos of the land that’s at the core of this page’s meaning.

4. Springboard From The Ordinary

I have said this in almost every one of the lessons for this class, but I’ll do it one more time. When you begin with the ordinary, concrete details surrounding the experience you’re trying to express, you are on your way to understanding more.
The short story writer Alice Munro is known for her ability to "say the unsayable" in her stories, and in “Lives of Girls and Women,” her character Del is a writer and says of her writing, "What I wanted was every last thing, every layer of speech and thought, stroke of light on bark or walls, every smell, pothole, pain, crack, delusion, held still and held together— radiant, everlasting." 

I love that idea of "radiant and everylasting."

How I used ordinary details in "Fortunate:" 

PHOTOS & JOURNALING: I collected photos of my husband and son together from three different times and I wrote the ordinary details of each of those times.
These three instances are my evidence that let me add that final journaling that sits at bottom right on a tag. This is where I sum up my understanding of the fuzzy notion I began with. 

TITLE: There is summation and judgment in this title. You are cued from the beginning that this is a happy story. 

DESIGN: The colors and motifs here all add to the sense of good fortune and happiness.

5. Use A Central Metaphor

Photograph (or find an image of) the trigger for your moment of insight. Put it on the page, and use it as a metaphor for a key part of your story. It was a neighbor’s-shed-turned-hunting-blind that triggered the thoughts I journaled on "Unexpected Destination."

How I used an item in a photo as a metaphor for the feeling I was trying to express in "Unexpected Destination:" 

PHOTOS: I am using a shed’s unexpected final destination as a metaphor for my own landing spot in life at this point. I included a photo of the shed alongside photos that show me and represent the important parts of my life right now: family, housework, writing, my book. 

JOURNALING: I begin with the story of the shed and then clearly connect that to my thoughts of how my life might relate to that of the shed. 

TITLE: The title is the metaphor that I’m working with on the page–and it comes from one of the last lines of the journaling.

Trigger For Exploring Fuzzy Thoughts

For the next week or several days:

1. Carry a pencil and bit of paper or pad OR a small recording device with you. Make it a point to jot down notes whenever you have a thought–something that pricks at your feelings but that you don’t totally understand–that you’d like to pursue. (If you like doing this, you can continue it indefinitely). 
2. Every night, put the thoughts on individual slips of paper and put them in a jar or bowl. 
3. Pay attention to your days and figure out when would be a good time to work in a daily 10 minutes of writing. 

After several days, set aside 10 minutes per day to free-write from these slips:

1. Use a journal that you can keep all of these writings in.
2. Draw out a slip of paper.
3. Copy what you wrote on the slip of paper at the top of your page and then for ten minutes: don’t stop writing; don’t censor yourself; don’t plan; don’t worry about grammar or punctuation.

Use these writings to spur scrapbook or art journal pages. How you do this will depend upon you. You might find you want to scrap or journal a subject immediately. You might find you want to leave your writings unread for several days or longer. However you use these writings, know that if you do them, you’ll have an unending source of satisfying personal subjects to scrapbook.

Download this lesson, along with the journaling text for each of Debbie's pages here: Expressing The Inexpressible PDF

Debbie Hodge is the author of Get It Scrapped! and Embellishing with Alphas. At her online scrapbooking website you can find resources for memory keeping that include beginning scrapbooking tutorials, page sketches, challenges, and online classes for paper and digital scrapbooking, art journaling, and photography. This Tuesday Tutorial is an excerpt from “Be Real,” a class by Debbie that focuses on making scrapbook pages from your everyday life and events photos that go beneath the surface and include deeper meaning.

This week Tuesday Tutorials welcomes Cynthia Friese-Hassanein with a wonderful minibook for documenting Autumn. Her foundation design is really lovely and would make a great base for all kinds of stories. I like the idea of running some brown paper bags through my printer – definitely want to try that on an upcoming project. And, I really love how she did the cover – such a cool, graphic way to begin an album.

Here’s Cynthia:

AUTUMN : NOSTALGIA PAPER BAG MINI BOOK

Autumn deserves to be documented. This past August, like every prior one before, I get one bad case of Fall fever. Anticipating those crisp nostalgic days arriving….

So now that fall has arrived, I prepped to create a Autumn mini book where repetition rules. Photos and Words. The main products I used are paper bags to overlay the pages. Simple. Simple Simple.

This year I have made the pledge to creatively embrace scrapbooking formulas that work for me and remove me from the frustration of trying to reinvent the creative wheel every time. Oh so liberating!!! Especially now with the beginning of the hectic holiday season quickly approaching.

The Autumn: Nostalgic paper bag mini book is a celebration of all the details and traditions I adore about Fall. Before I even began the book I sat down at my favorite window with a cup of coffee and did some basic brainstorming. One page of whatever comes to my mind about Autumn: how I love using my typewriter in the fall or sitting at my writing window all bundled up. These little everyday traditions are moments I want to document and remember for many years.

Once I had my ideas on paper, I decided to gather photos and make a list of new ones I wanted to take for my little mini book.

Before constructing the physical book. I sat down with each photo and wrote down whatever thoughts came to mind about that particular image. Some shorter than others. I stuck with a list style journaling for the book. So no matter how random the memories, they flow. After finishing the interior page journaling. I wrote my introductions as a gratitude “letter” to Autumn. For the End-note I documented the process of creating this little ode to Fall so that whomever comes across it will have a little peek into how I create.

ALBUM SUPPLIES: *all these supplies can easily be substituted with items from your own stash.
- Maya Road landscape chipboard binder album in 4×8 inches
- 7 gypsies ATC chipboard trim
- Making Memories paints in autumn colors (wheat, evergreen, nutmeg, espresso and shopping bag)
- Foam brushes
- Ink pad in grey or dark brown for distressing page edges
- 8-4×6 autumn images: good mix of horizontal and vertical and make sure to have it least one horizontal for your cover page
- 8 paper lunch bags or 3 grocery paper shopping bags
- Adhesive sheets suggestion: Quikutz double sided (8) 4×12 or K&Company Wackytac Large (6) 5 1/2×9

BASIC SUPPLIES:
- Paper corner rounder in 1/4 size
- Exacto knife
- Cutting board
- Masking tape
- Paper trimmer
- Small Hole Puncher
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Black or Dark Brown pen (American Crafts or my favorite pilot fine tip g-2 pens work as well)

- Adobe Photoshop Elements or Word if you choose to type your journaling
*If you currently do not have Photoshop Elements, Adobe offers a free trial here.

- Royal 200 typewriter font (free) available at Dafont.com.

AUTUMN : NOSTALGIC STEP BY STEP

Now that you have picked out your autumn images and wrote out your fall past and/or present descriptions it’s time to begin to construct your very own yummy Autumn: Nostalgic paper bag album.

Step 1: Plan the placement of your photos and journaling.
I have created a simple page planner (Download: Autumn Nostalgic Page Planner) that you can print out or you can take a more hands-on approach by just writing on the pages with pencil or pen where the photo/journaling will go (don’t worry the notes will be covered). This step will make the construction process so much faster and easier.

Step 2: Cutting paper bag album page overlays.
If you are handwriting your journaling, I would recommend using the standard paper lunch bags. If you will be printing out your pages I suggest using shopping bags – the larger size will allow you to cut them down to 8.5×11 to easily run through your home printer. For both sizes of paper bags, trim both front and back of the bag to the bottom leaving both the bottom and the sides for scraps.

After the bag pages are cut you will need to use the scraps for trim by your photos. Use your paper trimmer to cut 7 pieces down to 2×4 inches. Don’t worry about the seams on the paper bags it only lends more to the vintage look:)

Step 3: The journaling. Photoshop and handwriting instructions.
A) Photoshop step by step.
1. open< blank file>.
2. Grey box will appear. Fill title< height: 4 inches
3. Go to View on toolbar. Make sure to turn on ruler and grid by clicking on both.
4. Go to left sidebar and click on the capital T icon. Then go over to your page and create a journaling box. Leave it least a 1/2 to inch around your journaling box.
5. Pick your font and font size.
6. When finished and ready to print make sure to apply crop marks to page

B) Handwriting friendly reminder: If your anything like me it is difficult to write straight without lines. So, I always draw with a pencil and ruler journaling lines. I also write my journaling in pencil and then go over it with a pen after I am done.

Step 4: Applying adhesive and Overlays to album pages.
Now that your journaling pages/image trim is all cut, apply adhesive sheets to the naked album pages. Position the paper bag sheet over the page. Press firmly from center outwards to make sure bubbling does not occur. If there is a little bubbling, no problem – it gives the page some imperfect-perfect character.

Step 5: Trimming overlay excess.
Using your exacto knife, cut away any excess paper from the edge of the pages. Leave the excess on corner edges to cut with your 1/4 corner rounder. Or if you are feeling sassy, carefully do it with your sharp exacto knife.

Step 6: Hole punching.
Once all the journaling pages are adhered use a small hole punch to remove the paper covering the binder holes of the pages.

Step 7: Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 with completing the picture side.
Remember to place the photo on the outside edge of the chipboard page with embellishment of your choice in the middle and then paper bag trim on the inside of your page by/over binder holes.

Step 8: The embellishment detail.
Trim the 7gypsies chipboard page edges to 4 inches. Paint them individually with a different choice of my five Autumn color palette. Give them few minutes to dry and then take medium grained sandpaper to the edges to give a little more vintage feel.

Here’s a few other fabulous embellishment alternatives: Autumn colored Ribbon (1/4 or 1/2 inch width size works best) or ribbon works as easily and equally charming.

Once all the interior pages are done use dark brown or black ink on the page edges to give a finished but raw touch if you prefer.

Now it is time to design the cover.

Step 9: Faux book bind.
Using masking tape, create a faux front book bind with paint. Using your ruler measure out 1 1/2 to 3/4 width and make a small line to know where you will be applying the masking tape. Once masking tape is applied make sure to press firmly over the tape so paint bleeding won’t occur under the tape.

Step 10: Painting faux book bind.
Choose a paint color that will compliment your cover image. Apply your paint choice to the foam brush and start painting away. I extended the paint all the way to the back cover page, but you can choose to complete the faux book bind on the back as well as the front cover.

After the cover paint dries, you might need to apply a second coat depending on your paint thickness and also make sure to pull masking tape off slowly to prevent ripping.

Step 11: Creating a cover image.
I call this style of cut the Mondrian Cut after the mid-century mod painting style. For my cover image I chose a vintage postcard of an Autumn NYC sidewalk art show. Any 4×6 Autumn image of your liking will do for the cover page.

I have also purposely chose not to title the book, maybe to entice future readers to peek inside, but you sure can title yours if you desire too.

A) Place image in paper trimmer width wise. Make four cuts (try to have them slightly different sizes to give it more depth and style:).

B) Take each piece and cut again either higher or lower on strip. Alternate height of second cut with each strip.

C) Place all the pieces together like a puzzle and then apply adhesive to each to back of each individual piece and place them one by one on album cover. Remember to leave space in between images to complete that Mondrian cut look.

Step 12: Now take the time to enjoy your new very own Autumn: Nostalgic Album.
Show it to your family and friends. Even maybe take pictures of it and share with your blog readers if you have one. I was so inspired I taught a local workshop recently @ my favorite coffee shop to show non- scrapbookers the joy of documenting your everyday life and seasons. I even plan on doing a four season series with this simple mini book formula:)

Happy creating and Have a wonderful Autumn.

Cynthia Friese-Hassanein took up scrapbooking a little over three years ago after stumbling upon her local scrapbook store and has been in creative love ever since. Cynthia keeps it simple and is constantly trying to embrace her scrapbooking mantra of “Imperfection is creative perfection.” When she is not making pages or mini books and teaching creative workshops @ her local coffee shop, she enjoys spending time with her husband Ahmed, writing, drinking obscene amounts of coffee, blogging, watching Mad Men and reading biographies. To discover more about Cynthia visit her blog or check out her Typist work @ The Creative Type Challenge Blog.

This week Tuesday Tutorials welcomes Wilna Furstenberg with a very, very cute coffee-cup inspired minibook. Wilna has put together a fantastic pacakage including three tutorial downloads for completing the project (available at the bottom of this post), a video on binding, and a Flickr gallery featuring other artist's versions of this project. 

Here's Wilna:

Three things that are my favorites: My Husband Jaco, coffee and drinking coffee with Jaco. So, one day I thought about making an album of these 3 things. Recycling has never been this much fun. I am just excited to be able to share this with you!

We will be making a little album from a tall size Starbucks cup. I designed 6 pages for you that you can download and print (see bottom of this post). Of course, you can use your own creativity too! This is so much fun to make. And if you are not a coffee drinker, customize it to your favorite drink! 

We will be adhering these pages back to back to make 3 double sided pages. To bind them is a bit tricky so I made a video to show you how. As English is my second language, and I can’t always explain myself so well, i thought to rather show you. Don’t make fun of my accent behind my back .

1. Download the PDF file called Watercolor. Print out the 6 pages. I printed mine on Kodak Matte photo paper. Make sure the settings of your printer is on Matte paper. Choose the highest quality your printer can print. You can also burn the PDF file on a CD and have it printed at your favorite print store. Each page is 11×8.5.

Cut out the 6 pages and now we are ready to begin!

2. I used Photoshop Elements and cropped a few pictures and printed them out on one page. You need 8 pictures (this is flexible of course). An easier method is to use 6×4 pictures and just cut them smaller! I have included some specific measurements for the pictures – it’s in the class notes (one of the last pages): Download Class Notes.

3. I added my pictures to the pages by cutting into the Watercolor pages with a craft knife and adhering the pictures from the back. If you look at the picture here, you will see I even stitched with my sewing machine on the picture. If you don’t have a sewing machine, you can add the stitches with your hand…or not!

4. Important to note:
Finish each page completely with pictures and embellishments and journaling before we adhere and bind them. This will make it much easier in the end…(ask me how i know). Once you have added pictures and your choice of embellishments to every page, it’s time to adhere them together. This can be a little tricky, so make sure you read the instructions carefully!

5. Important to note: Now you will choose a “friend” for each page and we will adhere them back to back. First, fold each page in half. One page will fold with the blank part inside and one will fold with the blank part to the outside. Now, glue (or double sided tape) the one half of the page (like in the picture) then adhere the other page to the one with the glue. I used Scotch quick dry adhesive. However, I think double sided tape will work better.

6. Now add glue to the other half and adhere the second half. By using this technique to adhere the 2 pages, you will find that they fold better. You might have to trim some bits of white paper on the edges.

7. After you have adhered the 6 pages back to back, you now have 3 double sided pages. You will have to trim a little border here and there…(i did too). You can add some pages by just tracing one of these pages on some double sided patterned paper and embellishing it!

8. Find a tall Starbucks cup. Roll up the rim and punch out the bottom till your cup looks like this (I used the blunt side of a pencil to punch it out). If you can’t find a Starbucks cup, I have one that I scanned for you. You can download & print the PDF and cut it out (Download Templates)! Print the inside template (also shown in the picture).

9. Tear out the bottom with your hands. Start by making a small hole with your scissors to give you a head start. If you want it neater, you can cut it out. Next you want to fold it flat and cut open the right side.

10. As you can see, the cup is still curling up. That’s why we are making insides for it out of cardboard to stretch it out and make it flat. You will find a PDF with a template for the insides of the cup. Print and cut it out and use it as a template to trace on a piece of cardboard (not too thick). You need 2 for each side and one little piece for the spine.

11. As you can see here, I covered the cardboard with some Making Memories Patterned paper. You can use any paper you want. Then the next thing to note is that I used a glue gun to adhere the cardboard to the cup. This worked really well as the cup’s insides are glossy and not any adhesive will stick to it. If you are using glue, make sure you press it under a heavy book for an hour or two. ALSO note: The middle of our cardboard spine should align with the middle of the cup’s fold.

12. In this picture you can see how I folded the front and back cover around the spine. I folded each side and used a bone-folder to flatten the fold.

13. I used my machine and stitched around the edges of the cover. You can do this by hand too. I suggest you make little holes first with a paper piercer to have a little mercy on your hands. : ) The stitches will prevent the insides of the cover curling over.

14. To finish the cover, I used some watercolors and painted the outside. There is really no right or wrong here. Just keep a kleenex ready to dab away what you don’t like. I first painted with blue and then added some green while the blue was still wet to get that blended look.

15. Here is what I did to add the finishing touches to the cover: I used Staedtler watercolor pencils (blue and green) and colored around the Starbucks Logo. The I adhered a Making Memories Vintage findings label holder and some string + the little lag. I used a hot glue gun to adhere the string to the front of the cover just so it will stay put. I also covered the text on the cup with paint.

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16. I made a little video explaining how to bind the album:

Binding the little Album. from Wilna Furstenberg on Vimeo.

Now we will bind the 3 double sided pages together. Take one of the pages and adhere a strip of book tape (I used Scotch Book Tape) on the fold, like you can see in the picture.

17. As you can see in this picture, the next step is to line up the second page so that they align perfectly. Now, simply fold the tape over and trim the edges. NOTE: you will find that in the middle of your new booklet, there will be a sticky bit (see the arrow) where the tape used at the back will show. Simply cut another strip of tape the length of the pages and adhere it on the inside to cover the sticky bit and to make the binding a bit stronger.

18. Open the inside pages where you can see through the Book Tape. Now position the insides on the spine of the cover. I used my Machine to stitch though the tape to adhere the insides to the cover. I have done it many times using needle and thread too… you don’t have to stitch through the whole length, a couple of inches in the middle will be sufficient.

And Viola! Your album is all done. Now you have permission to eat a cupcake.

To see some more examples of this album, I asked some awesome designers to make one too and this is what they came up with: FLICKR gallery. I was so inspired and I am sure you will be too.

Downloads:

Download Class Notes
Download Templates
Download Watercolor

Born and raised in South Africa, Wilna has always been passionate about art. She graduated from art school (University of Pretoria) in 1996 and shortly thereafter she and her husband Jaco, a medical doctor, started with a family. Having three beautiful girls (Tia, Kirstin and Jana) in four years did not provide time for creativity until she discovered scrapbooking in 2003. In 2005 she and her family moved to Prince Albert, Canada and numerous scrapbooking opportunities opened up for her. In 2006 she won the CK Hall of Fame and the first Making Memories Idols contest. Her work has also been published several times in Creating Keepsakes, Memory Makers and the Canadian Scrapbooker. She is currently a Making Memories designer and have been published in three of their publications. Married for almost 18 years, Wilna loves to spend time with Jaco, their 3 girls whom she also homeschools and Mac, the mini Schnauzer. She hates skiing but loves good coffee and to write about life on her he(art) blog, wilnaf.com.

This week Tuesday Tutorials welcomes May Flaum.

May sent this wonderful submission full of ideas for re-purposing and personalizing old magnets. Great examples to get your creative juices flowing for the upcoming holidays. 

Here's May:

Do you have any magnets on your fridge, or perhaps even sitting in a junk drawer somewhere that you don't particularly like? I was trying not to snack the other day and staring at my fridge and was appalled to see how many of my fridge magnets were no longer something I wanted.

Upon closer inspection I discovered a few things about these standard fridge magnets.

1. The paper and plastic coating can be removed.
2. They are two parts – the metal front covering and a thin board plus magnet part. 
3. There is a lot of creative potential in these small bits.

The problem I found with opening up the metal casing and removing the paper is that I always warped the thin metal. Perhaps if I was more gentle or had better tools I'd be more successful – but I always found myself warping the edges. My solution here was to either be ok with the imperfect look, slice the paper off (using craft knife) thus leaving metal casing alone, or simply scoring the paper covering to create a surface that would hold glue and allow me a surface to work with.

My process changes with the photos and supplies I want to create with, but one thing remains the same: This is a great project for re-using, recycling, scraps, and taking just a few moments to add creativity to your fridge.

SUPPLIES:
• Perfect Paper Adhesive by US Art quest (liquid adhesive, sealant, all around great product)

magnets
photos (crop-able and index prints)

• Left-overs – any scraps of paper, stickers, fabric, flowers, jewels, or anything else you desire can be used for these projects making them both economical and great stash busters.

IDEA ONE

Let's start with a simple photo magnet. First I roughed up the paper covering the magnet so that adhesive would better stick. Then I covered the back of a photo with tape runner adhesive and pressed it onto the magnet. I used a craft knife to roughly cut the excess photo off.

Once that was done I used an emery board (any sand paper or sanding block would work) all around the edges to file down and distress the edges.

Finally I added a Basic Grey rub-on, jewels, and coated the whole thing with a generous coat of glossy finish liquid sealant (PPA by US Art Quest).

IDEA TWO

Next I made a magnet for my husband's locker at the fire station. This time I removed the metal casing from a fridge magnet and worked just with the magnet and board attached to it. I found Claudine Hellmuth's sticky back canvas to be a great product for covering these to create a neutral base to work with.

I cut a piece slightly larger than the board, removed the paper backing, and laid my magnet down centered on the canvas. Then I cut the corners at an angle (so they would not be lumpy with excess material) and pulled all the edges around to the back as shown.

Just to be safe I put a thick bead of liquid adhesive down around the edges on the back and allowed it to dry over night. This added extra stability and ensured that the edges of the canvas would not lift.

Once dry I got to work! I trimmed a photo down and placed with tape runner, then added Pink Paislee (Mistletoe & Co) patterned papers and a thin edge of glitter, and finished off with matte finish liquid sealant to keep the photo secure and make everything longer lasting.

You can see some glare off of this magnet – that's one of the downsides of using sealant is that it sometimes shows up in photos. But in person it doesn't and is totally helpful.

IDEA THREE

So what to do with that metal casing? I could add another magnet, but instead I wondered how it would work to create the base for an ornament. I cut a piece of brown felt larger than the front of the metal casing and sewed a loop of ribbon on where I imagined the top fold to be made. I also stitched on a scrap of torn red silk fabric across what would be the bottom third of the magnet and I stitched a paper Christmas tree (from Pink Paislee) in the spot I wanted as well.

Sewing done, I got out my hot glue and attached the brown felt around to the back – being sure to pull it tight and keep everything straight.

I strongly suggest using a pencil, stylus, or other tool to keep your fingers away from the very hot glue you have to press into. I was overly generous I found out – but that's what these creative experiments are for so it's ok!

I added a paper scrap with my daughter's name and the year on the back as well as a pinking shear cut piece of brown felt to cover all the rough edges. A little hot glue slipped out – but that's ok!

To finish off the front I added index print images of my daughters and several green rhinestones.

This is going to make a great package topper or gift for a special grandma or aunt. I think felt is the best material for the base of this simply because it's sturdy and covers up the rough spots of the metal better than a thin fabric or paper would. Just think of the possibilities for using up your stash and making special ornaments!

IDEA FOUR

Getting out the felt started taking me in a whole new direction of creative play. For this magnet I did the same technique where I covered with Claudine's sticky back canvas first. Then I drew and cut out a heart from index prints and stitched it onto felt. I cut the felt with pinking shears about 1/8 – 1/4" from edge of photo.

I used a flatlock stitch around the very edge – but a zig-zag or hand stitched edge would be great too.

I applied letter stickers (Making Memories) and sealed them on to complete my family magnet. I also glued a strip of pom-pom trim to the backside of the magnet (just below actual magnet).

I really liked how the heart turned out – I'd love to try a star or some other shape next time.

IDEA FIVE

Of course you don't have to play within the lines – your magnet subjects can fly off of the magnet and take on a life of their own. Here I used a (Making Memories) tag paired with a strip of index prints to make a special tag featuring my youngest daughter.

I used bits and pieces of this Jenni Bowlin rub-on (my current favorite!) along with some left over letters and a little rose to embellish this tag.

I worked directly onto a green zoo magnet – just scuffing up the surface to help the tag stick. I did apply a coat of sealant to this tag as well to add stability and ensure that my rub-ons and photos would be more protected.

EVEN MORE IDEAS

What I love most right now is that I feel like I’m barely scratching the surface here. The possibilities are truly endless. I look forward to giving these away as gifts as much as keeping some for my own home.

I've found that gift cards that no longer have monetary value are great magnet bases – just add a strip of magnet and all the techniques remain the same.

You can let your artistic side run wild and create little collages without photos – just fun works of art with stamps, charms, or any other tiny treasures you see fit.

Being able to create something from materials that might have otherwise been forgotten or thrown out, as well as working with a small surface that means quick projects is so much fun. I hope that you've enjoyed recycling fridge magnets, and that you'll have fun playing with some of your own.

May Flaum has been published in numerous magazines and is the co-author of Paper + Pixels: Scrapbook layouts. She is a Big Picture Scrapbooking instructor, education coordinator for the Fiskars Crafts website, and a design team member for Scarlet Lime kits. Over the years she has taught classes around the United States as well as managed a scrapbook store, been on design teams, and done freelance work with various companies.

She defines her style as eclectic, and has a soft spot for buttons, damask, polka dots, kraft cardstock, and mixing things up in unexpected ways. Nothing is safe when May is crafting – she'll try almost anything and has no fear of mistakes. She believes that messing up is the road to true creative discovery and has fun with her artistic adventures.

May is currently preparing for her next Big Picture class Adventures In Scrapbooking: Using kits as well as dreaming up her next wild project ideas.

This week Tuesday Tutorials welcomes Katie The Scrapbook Lady.

If you have never had a chance to visit Katie's site I highly recommend checking it out. One of my favorite things she does is a roundup of memories at the end of each month (she's been doing it for 3 years now). You can read more about her process here.

This week Katie is going to show you 10 of her favorite tips for working with digital layered templates. Don't do digital? Take her advice and apply it to sketches you use for traditional scrapbooking. Here's Katie: 

I adore digital templates and I almost always start each scrapbook page with one because of how they streamline the whole creative process. The beauty of digital products is that they can be reused over and over again and that is one of my favorite things about templates. One template can be used many ways to result in unique scrapbook layouts every time. There are also a few great tricks on how to change a template around for even more versatility (and most of them are even valuable for paper scrapbookers who use sketches as well!).

If you are new to using digital templates be sure to read Ali's tutorial for some helpful tips.

Here are 10 terrific tips to get the most out of templates: 

1. Use the same template over again in a completely different album, or by making sure plenty of pages separate the layouts if they are in the same album. No one will ever know that you are reusing a template unless they see the two finished layouts side by side. Each page will be unique simply because you use different photos and papers on each one.

These two pages turned out very different from each other, but when you look at them side by side it is easy to tell that I used the same digital template for each one. However, they are placed in different scrapbook albums so I'm pretty certain no one will ever even think twice about the designs being similar.

Ali Edwards template no. 25. Full credits here.

Ali Edwards template no. 25. Full credits here.

2. Don't use all the layers on a template to get a different look. You can "turn off" selected layers in PSE and Photoshop (just click the eye next to the layer to make it inactive.) I decided not to use the red title block from the above layouts and I removed some of the paper strips to come up with this page from the very same template. If it wasn't for the measuring tape along the side of the page, I bet you never would have even known it was the same template again!

Ali Edwards template no. 25. Full credits here.

3. Just as you can take away layers from the template, you can also add other elements to it. Don't be afraid to add a few things to the template!

I loved this template on it's own but I had fun adding some slide photo frames, word art, and some stitching to give it a different look.

Ali Edwards template no. 7. Full credits here.

4. Use a photo instead of a paper or vice-versa to freshen up the template design.

 
 
Ali Edwards Mix and Match no.1. Full credits here.

When I replaced the top paper with a large photo, the template takes on a whole new look.

Ali Edwards Mix and Match no.1. Full credits here.

5. Change the location of the journaling. By using a different space for writing, you can give the template a whole new look. Using the same template pack as listed in #4, I journaled on the template layout around the edge.

Ali Edwards Mix and Match no.1. Full credits here.

In contrast, on this next layout, I put the journaling in 2 of the rectangle spaces.

Ali Edwards Mix and Match no.1. Full credits here.

6. Re-use holiday or special theme templates. Just because a template is designed for a Christmas layout, doesn't mean you have to use it that way. Of course this set of December Daily templates is great for Christmas layouts.

Ali Edwards December Daily template pack. Full credits here.

The same template works equally as well for any other subject. I simply removed the holiday text and turned this into a fun and summery page.

Ali Edwards December Daily template pack. Full credits here.

7. Move things around. The layered pieces of a template can be moved around on the canvas. Grab a shape and stretch it. Or move tags and elements to different locations on the page. It's ok to modify templates, just be sure you mention that if you are posting to public gallery or magazine. I list the template in the credits like 'Ali Edwards template no. 14 (modified)"

Here's a layout using the template with only a few minor modifications.

Ali Edwards template no.14. Full credits here.

Here's a layout using the template after I modified it a lot. It was easy to stretch out the area for the main photo and delete the paper strips. I also moved the background pieces around.

Ali Edwards template no.14. Full credits here.

8. Add more photos to the template. I organize all of my templates by the number of photos they hold, but I force myself to look at them differently sometimes and think about how I could increase the number of photos that would fit within the template design. Or you could remove some of the photo spaces and turn a multi-photo template into a single photo template as well.

Here's a layout using the template in the original format.

Ali Edwards template no.3. Full credits here.

I could have easily added 9 more little pictures to this template but I chose to use only 3 with some embellishments.

Ali Edwards template no.3. Full credits here.

9. Flip the template. That's right, flip it around or turn it on it's side.

Ali Edwards template no.13. Full credits here.

Here's a layout using the template after I rotated the template 90 degrees to the right. (Image> Rotate> 90)

Ali Edwards template no.13 (rotated). Full credits here.

10. Stretch the template into a 2 page spread. You can just use the same template on both pages, or you can combine templates or even stretch out some of the pieces of a single template to fill both sides of the 2 page spread. A good way to tie together both sides visually is to have an element like text or a background paper running across both pages.

I used a template from this pack on both pages:

Ali Edwards Bread And Butter Templates. Full credits here.

I bet you can't wait to dig through your template stash now and find a whole new way to use each and every one of them! Enjoy the creativity that can come with finding new and fresh ways to use the same idea all over again.

Katie became a scrapbooker when she was only 14 years old and got her hands on a jar of rubber cement and a giant scrapbook album! She was a die-hard paper scrapper for more than 20 years before switching to digital in 2005.

She is an experienced scrapbooking educator having taught at crops, classes, and online for more than 11 years. She has had a feature article and several layouts published in various scrapbook magazines. Her passions include; scrapbooking, photography, blogging, and tweeting. To see more examples of her work, visit: http://scrapbooklady.typepad.com/ and you can follow her twitter postings at: http://twitter.com/ktscrapbooklady

Katie lives in Utah with her husband of 18 years and her 2 children (ages 12 & 15). Her 15 year old son has high-functioning autism. She keeps busy homeschooling her children using a virtual academy online program, and enjoys playing board games and building legos with her kids.

This week Tuesday Tutorials welcomes Jenn Shurkus. 

UPDATE: Jen did a great update post on her blog including info on the stamps in the photo below and more information on the binding. Click here for more info. 

Here's Jen: 

This handmade mini book is a great base for so many projects. This can be an inspiration journal, an artist journal where you can test out different techniques or you can add photos make it a mini scrapbook. 

Materials Used:
Claudine Hellmuth 12×12 Sticky Back Canvas
Gesso
Gel Medium in matte
acrylic paints
brushes
Chipboard sheets
UHU glue stick
scissors
paper trimmer
stylus and bone folder
an anywhere punch or japenese screw punch
ribbon
variety of artist papers (i used watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, drawing, and canvas paper)
variety of scrapbooking patterned papers, single & double sided

1. Start off by cutting your chipboard and sticky back canvas.

For chipboard you will need:
(4) 6×6 pieces(2) 6×1.5 pieces

For sticky back canvas you will need:
(2) 8×8 pieces
(1) 8×3 piece
(2) 5.75×5.75 pieces
(1) 5.75×1.5 pieces
(4) 6×2 pieces

2. Using your UHU glue stick, glue two pieces of 6×6 chipboard together for your front cover, the other two pieces of 6×6 chipboard for your back cover, and your two pieces of 6 x 1.5 chipboard for your spine. This will make it stronger. I don’t use glue sticks often, but when i do I love the UHU glue stick.

3. I love Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Back Canvas, the possibilities are endless!! Cover the chipboard with the canvas pieces. Use the 8×8 pieces for the covers and the 8×3 piece for the spine. Miter your edges (cutting the corners off of the sticky back canvasas shown in picture) and then wrap the edges around the chipboard. Use the 4 pieces of sticky back canvas that are 6×2 for “hinges” between the covers and the spine.

4. Use the remainder pieces of sticky back canvas to finish off the inside of the book cover so that there are no naked pieces of chipboard showing.

5. To decorate the cover I like to use gesso in thick layers to add texture. As you can see in my picture here I only added gesso in some areas. Play with different texture tools to “draw” into the gesso as well. 

6. While waiting for this to dry, begin preparing the inner pages. Cut all the pages cut 5.5×11. You will want 3 signatures (groups of pages). This is explained more below.

7. To score all of your 5.5 x 11 papers you don’t need a fancy scoring blade. I find that those often rip the paper. I simply use my paper trimmer to measure over to where I am going to score. Then I drag my stylus along the track where the trimmer blade would normally go. This will give you a nice straight score. Use a bone folder after you have scored your papers to get a nice flat fold. 

8. I like to start off by using gesso to cover the areas of my patterned paper that I don’t want to see. I might have a double sided paper I want to use but I don’t like one of the sides or there is a barcode I need to cover up. Once the gesso is dry I then go over it with different acrylic paints. This is when you get to play!

TIP: When using Claudine Hellmuth’s paints I like to scoop out the color with an ice cream stick. I keep one for each color so I don’t contaminate the paint.

9. Play with all kinds of different papers. I like to flip through the book and have different textures and weights. On some of the smoother pages you might want to add some stamped designs or words that reflect the theme of your book. Remember ANYTHING goes!

10. Once the inner pages are all decorated it’s time to get back to the cover. 

11. I tore out the definition for “inspiration” from an old dictionary and used matte gel medium to adhere it to the front. I then used acrylic paints again and played with coloring the whole cover, spine, back cover and inside as well. 

12. Now it’s time to put our holes in our spine. I drew up a template to use for putting the holes in my cover and my signatures. Download Spine template. 

13. I used some scrap pieces of sticky back canvas to attach the template so it won’t move when you go to punch the holes. I used a Japenese Screw punch to put holes in the spine. I like this tool because it can go through so many layers with ease and no hammering!

14.Sort your pages into 3 signatures. Then using the sample template you used to punch holes in the spine, punch holes into each signature. I do one whole signature at a time.

15. Your ribbon will be threaded through each signature from the inside to the outside then through the cover. You should put your middle signature in first, then the outside signatures. This makes it easier for your hand to get in there. The middle hole is shared by the top “stitch” and the bottom “stitch.” Once you have all the ribbons fed through tie them into a double knot and trim excess ribbon.

I created my project with a pink/artsy theme. I donated this journal to the scrapbook store I manage (Colorful Creations in Cape Cod) for our Scrap Pink raffle last weekend. All proceeds were donated to the Susan G Komen Fund.

Now its time for you to go get messy and have fun playing! I would love to see what books you create!

Jenn has always been crafty one way or another – from doodling posters for her bedroom as a young girl and writing short stories and poems in high school. It was only natural that she studied graphic design and fine arts in college! Jenn is originally from New Hampshire. 

She has been stamping for over 10 years, and when she isn't busy running Colorful Creations, a scrapbook and rubberstamping studio on Cape Cod, she can be found teaching a wide array of classes weekly at Colorful Creations or for A Muse classes around New England! Jenn is also copic certified and a Ranger certified educator. You can see more of her craftiness, and adventures in life at: {creative chick}

This week Tuesday Tutorials welcomes Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. 

Julie's submission inspired me with it's creativity and emphasis on recycling and reusing stuff you would normally throw away. Watch the video to see her create a great circle-grid layout (among a bunch of other cool ideas + techniques). Make sure to check out her blog for a peek into all her other creative endeavors. 

Here's Julie: 

This tutorial explores several easy ways of turning the trash in your home, into tools for art making. All of these techniques are easy, cheap, and environmentally friendly!

TOILET PAPER TUBE STAMPING

I often look into the bathroom garbage and see a pile of toilet paper tubes.  Here’s something fun you can do with them!

Using a paintbrush, spread acrylic paint on one end of an empty toilet paper tube.

Press it to your project to “stamp” a slightly distressed circle.  In my experience, you can get at least three circles, and sometimes more, from one brush load of paint.

Here’s what the finished circles look like

And here are some finished layouts that use toilet paper tube rings:

MAGAZINE CUTOUT FOR MASKING
Before your magazine even hits the recycling bin, take a few moments to pull some useful items out of it.

Find an image in a magazine with a strong silhouette.

The photo on the left is not a good candidate because of the way her arms are folded into her body. However, the photo on the right will work well because her limbs are clearly defined. Optional: Cover both sides of the image with packing tape (or clear contact paper). If you want to be able to use the image over and over, this is a good idea. If it’s for one time use, don’t bother.

Using scissors and/or an exacto knife, cut out the image. Place it on your paper and spray with ink.

Remove the silhouette (wipe it with a rag to clean it) to reveal your masked image!

And here are some finished cards that have magazine cutout silhouettes on them:

TOOTHBRUSH PAINT SPLATTERING

They say that you should change your toothbrush every three months.  Here’s something you can do with that old toothbrush (other than clean the grout in your bathroom).

Mix water and acrylic paint together.

Dip the toothbrush bristles into the pool of paint and water.

Holding the toothbrush facing sideways, rub your thumb along the bristles in a vigorous manner.  

Paint should go split splatting in every direction!

And here are some layout that use toothbrush paint splats:

This week Tuesday Tutorials welcomes Allison Kreft Abad. 

Here's Allison: 

Recently I’ve been making over and rearranging everyday things in my house to have them look better and match the rest of my home decor. I figured if you have to stare at them everyday, why not have good design? That’s the graphic designer in me…

Every morning I make myself a latte to take to work, so on my counter next to the espresso machine sits 3 bottles of syrup. The labels were not the prettiest, so I came up with the quick way to replace the labels and make them look better.

Label Re-Do: Custom Label Tutorial
by Allison Kreft Abad

Materials:
Avery Consumer Products – Inkjet Labels, Full Sheet, 8-1/2
Elegant Label rub-ons by Hambly
Antique Frame rub-ons by Hambly

First you need to get your label paper – it’s basically one big 8 ½  x 11 label (sticky on the back). Next, type out some words on the computer in the program of your choice and print it on the 8 ½ x 11 label paper. Make sure you space out your words so there is enough room for the rub-ons and to cut around it (you can also just leave them blank and write you own words with a pen).

Since the label paper is all sticky on the back it’s easy to make customized shapes for the labels.

After printing the words, select the frame rub-ons from the sheet and cut them out by hand. Next transfer them to the sticky-backed paper by rubbing the labels directly over the words. Use the back of your fingernail or a popsicle stick or rub-on tool to transfer the label design. Lift off the clear liner slowly to make sure the whole design transfers. 

Cut loosely around the frames, following the design of the label. Repeat with the different colored frames to get a nice variety.  

Peel the backing off the label and stick it to the bottle. 

I love the way it turned out – especially since I use these every morning when I make my coffee!

MORE IDEAS

Create pre-scored labels using a sheet such as the Avery 8165 White ink jet mailing labels. Rub on a variety of different Elegant Label rub-ons in different colors directly onto the label sheet. Use these for mailing packages, organizing supplies, or for creating holiday package tags.  

It’s a quick and easy way to get organized with a lovely design.

This is also a great technique to use for scrapbooking as well. Here’s a mini-book I made using the same technique just with our screen-printed papers instead of plain label paper. These would also make great titles for layouts.

My co-worker Kim also loved the idea, so she did the same thing for her canned pickles! 

Allison Kreft Abad is the art director and designer for Hamby Studios. Allison, with the occasional help from her sister Amy, creates innovative designs for their popular silk-screened products. Allison’s unique design style is a mix of both modern and vintage. Hambly products are unlike any other since they are silk-screened with bright inks on an assortment of metallic and textured papers. All of the overlays, papers and rub-ons are each hand silk-screened in their studio located in Santa Clara, CA

While designing for Hambly, Allison’s work has appeared in many popular blogs and magazines including Creating Keepsakes, Paper Crafts, Country Living, Adorn, Craft:, Apartment Therapy, Craft Stylish, decor8 plus many publications overseas.

Allison’s other creative passion is glass blowing. In her free time she can be found at the local glass studio blowing glass or fusing glass.

To learn more about Allison and her designs for Hambly (plus more projects) visit www.HamblyScreenPrints.com or www.hamblyscreenprints.typepad.com

You can also find some of Allison's glass art at www.allisonglassart.etsy.com

captured memories ©2009 tim holtz®

The world of scrapbooking has many interpretations. In fact, the definition of the word “scrapbook” means:

scrap·book   (skrāp'bŏŏk')  
n.  A book with blank pages used for the mounting and preserving of pictures, clippings, or other mementos.

One may say that scrapbooking always has to follow this definition when in fact it doesn’t. One of the cool things for me when it comes to scrapbooking is the ability to follow my own muse and design projects that use the same key elements but share my memories my way. Whatever creative journey you take, remember you don’t have to follow the rules, you can always make them up as you go along, just make the time to create and capture your own memories your way.

These projects use Ranger’s line of “memory” products which include memory glass, memory frames, and memory capsules. These are so fun, easy to do, they don’t take much time to put together, and of course unlimited possibilities. The hardest thing to decide is what you’re going to use your finished work of art for – jewelry? embellishment on a book cover? photo charm? holiday ornament? The list goes on. So while those wheels are starting to turn in your head, let’s go through the basics of how to make these captured memories.

Supplies: all supplies below available online from eclectic Paperie
Ranger: distress inks, ink blending tool, glossy accents, memory glass, memory frames, memory capsules, black archival ink
Tim Holtz Idea-ology: jump rings, mini pins, mini paper clips, ball chain, tiny attacher
Stampers Anonymous: visual artistry clear stamps
Tonic: Tim Holtz scissors
Misc: dictionary paper, tiny key, tag, misc. beach elements

project #1 paradise found

1. Select size of memory glass to use and cut photo to size. It’s important to keep the perspective of the photo when you’re cropping down to smaller sizes. Since the largest size of memory glass is 2×2 your photos can end up pretty small. One tip I have for this is don’t worry what you’re cropping off as long as your main focal image is visible. So for that spare arm or half a head in the shot simply tear a piece of dictionary paper, or any other paper and cover up those unsightly cropping casualties – no problem!

2. Next adhere that paper to your photo using your favorite adhesive and trim to the photo size.

3. Now you need to select your memory capsule that fits your photo. One of the most important things when creating these memory pieces is that everything you’re working with on each project stays the size of your glass that you started with. Since it’s all made to fit together you need to keep this in mind during each step. The memory capsules are plastic bubbles designed to fit over the memory glass and inside the memory frame. These can be used to create “shakers” with elements shaking around, or just a way to incorporate a dimensional object into your project.

4. Place memory capsule (opening side up) and pour in “beach mix”. There are so many things you can use for “shakers” like beads, sand, watch parts, glitter, and anything tiny enough to move around.

5. Apply a small amount of glossy accents around the edge of the memory capsule.

6. Press your photo background face down over capsule and let dry.

7. Cut a piece of background paper the same size of your memory glass to cover the back of your photo.

8. Place background paper and memory glass on top of the back of your memory capsule to create a sandwich – you do not need to adhere any of these layers together, the frame will keep it all together.

9. Open memory frame by carefully bending up the tab on the side of the frame.

10. Grab both sides of the frame corner and pull apart. One of the most important things when working with the memory frames is to remember never straighten out any of the metal edges. Otherwise the metal can become stressed and break apart.

11. Insert capsule, collage, and glass sandwich into the track of the frame – be aware of the position of the frame jump ring and position it on the top of your project.

12. Begin wrapping the frame around everything being sure all layers remain in the memory frame track. Sometimes you will need to squeeze the sides together to make sure it fits inside the track. If parts of the capsule or background are too big, you should trim them off – do not force into the track of the memory frame or you could risk breaking the memory glass.

13. To secure closed, re-insert the tab on the frame back into the slot in the frame and bend back down – that’s it!  How simple was that??? Now you have a custom photo charm!

14. Ink tag with distress ink using ink blending tool.

15. Stamp various images on your tag for a background.

16. Place fish net around corner of tag and secure with tiny attacher in various areas.

17. Tie ribbon through hole in top of tag and pin your photo charm to the ribbon with a mini pin.

18. Clip a piece of stamped text or handwritten journaling to tag with mini clip. One of the key things to keep in mind when creating projects to capture your memories is to include some sort of journaling or words to truly embrace the moment. I know they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but hey what’s wrong with a thousand and one, or two, or three? This is the time to tell your story so remember the little things that are important to you.

project #2 key to my heart

1. Select size of memory glass to use and cut photo to size. Remember to adhere collage paper to cover up those random crop casualties.

2. Ink edges of your photo with distress ink using an ink blending tool.

3. Print words “to my”, cut, and ink the edges with distress ink.

4. Punch a mini paper heart, pin with a mini pin, and ink the edges with distress ink.

5. Place a small key or charm over your photo background and place the memory capsule over the top to make sure the capsule fits and lines up with the edges of the photo. This is am important step when using dimensional objects in your memory capsules. Sometimes where you want to put an object doesn’t always fit inside the capsule so checking this before adhering anything save time and frustration later.

6. Once placement is determined, adhere all elements (key, words, heart) to your photo background.

7. Place memory capsule over photo background and place on memory glass. *Remember to include a background paper behind the photo if you want.

8. Follow directions for memory frame assembly – be sure the jump ring is on the top and attach a jump ring through top jump ring of frame and insert ball chain through jump ring. There you go – wearable memories!

Tim Holtz is the Education Director for Ranger Industries, one of the leading manufacturers of innovative inks, paints, and embossing products.  Tim plays an integral part in the development and design of cutting edge paper crafting products. Tim had teamed up with various key companies including Advantus/Tim Holtz idea-ology, Tonic Studios, and Stampers Anonymous to bring unique products that work hand in hand with Ranger’s extensive lines.

As a well known designer, Tim travels across the country and internationally to educate and introduce people to his world of ink techniques, clever projects, and so much more. His DVDs and books are filled with creative and inspiring ideas for the beginner paper crafters and beyond. He truly lives his motto that creativity is an endless journey…

In a world where the moments of our lives can be captured and created in art of the everyday, it’s important it reflects our own unique personality. Finding just the right objects, accents, and tools to use are most important. Whatever your artistic vision is, exploring the imaginative is a chance for our creativity to escape understanding. Remember life isn’t about finding yourself – life is about creating yourself…

For more information about Tim and to view project demos visit www.timholtz.com and www.timholtz.typepad.com.