That means that part of the book is designed digitally and part of it – traditionally. Together it’s a great mix of new & old.
Using digital elements, such as patterned papers, word art and other digital embellishments helps in keeping a theme and a color scheme for the book. If you want to make this book as a gift, in multiples, then starting on your computer also allows you to include all your journaling on the pages and then printing them either once or a million times, with no extra effort.
Start this project on the computer. Open your photo editing software and either crop or resize the digital patterned papers to the same width and height of your board book.
Don’t forget to count the spine while making the pages for the cover, leave a gap the same width as your spine between them.
Print your pages on cardstock. Plain paper won’t be opaque over the altered pages of the board book.
Use the borderless printing setting, otherwise the printer will scale down your images to allow a white border around them and it’ll distort your measurement.
Start working on the cover – trim off the excess paper and score your spine’s fold lines to get crisp creases. You may also go over the folds again with the bone folder, for an even crisper look.
Adhere the cover by applying a generous layer of glue stick on the board book cover and burnish with a brayer. Let dry.
In the meantime, start cutting the pages and your photos and any other digital element you have printed (word art, embellishments, journaling tags, etc.)
Once the glue has dried, turn your page around and cut off the excess with a very sharp craft knife. If you get uneven edges, you can file them down with sand paper.
Repeat the same process with the rest of the pages: adhere, go over it with a brayer, let dry and trim off the excess.
Make sure you trim off the edges of a page before adhering the printed cardstock to the other side.
Some ideas for embellishing your mini altered book:
Adhere your titles with foam pop-dots to give some extra dimension.
Stick to one type of embellishment (buttons in my case) to maintain cohesion.
Use different sizes of pen tips to create interesting handmade word art.
Outline your pictures, letter stickers and other elements with your journaling pen to anchor them to the page and add dimension.
Using 3D embellishments can make dents in your photos, so make sure both pages have the same “elevation” so the elements won’t touch the pictures themselves.
Have fun!!!
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
Check out the new “Make Your Own Planner” workshop and you may solve this year’s holiday gift shopping problem. An affordable workshop that keeps on giving…
This week’s project is also quick and easy to put together. You decide how much time you want to spend embellishing each page later on…
All you need is a bunch of envelopes, 2 pieces of chipboard and a long piece of ribbon. Pretty straightforward.
You can take your time and decorate each page individually, or just adhere a photo on the back of each envelope and insert your journaling in each corresponding envelope. The sky is the limit for you.
Cut 2 pieces of chipboard – ½” taller and wider than your envelopes.
Stick a strong double sided tape at the center of each chipboard piece. You can use the markings of your cutting mat for easy alignment.
Adhere your ribbon to both pieces of chipboard, while leaving a ½” gap between them.
Adhere each envelope to the next at the base with plain packaging/wrapping tape. Make sure you keep the orientation of the envelopes.
Cut the excess tape off the sides of the envelopes stack.
Adhere the envelopes stack to the chipboard with some more strong double sided tape.
Cut the envelope inserts out of cardstock. Make them ½” shorter and narrower than your envelopes.
Insert a piece of cardstock into each envelope.
Embellish and… Voilà!
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
For this week’s project you don’t even need cardstock. It’s as simple and easy as it gets…
All you need is a batch of 4″ by 6″ photos, a 5″ by 6″ piece of chipboard and a fabric scrap.
Is that all? Yes. That. Is. All.
In my album I gathered pictures from 5 different apartments my husband has lived at (in 5 different continents). There is one common denominator in each photo – my husband is completely absorbed in his computer. I named the mini album: “Nadav’s Playground”…
If you have a few photos that tell a story and you wish to compile them in this cute album you can carry around or gift to a dear one, than read on.
Fold each photo in half lengthwise (into 2″ by 6″).
Adhere half of each photo to the next with glue stick – back to back – to create a photo booklet. Go over it with a brayer to eliminate air bubbles or glue bumps.
Lay your chipboard pieces over the left side of the fabric scrap. Leave a gap between the 2 chipboard pieces. The gap should be as thick as the booklet’s spine.
Adhere the chipboard to the fabric with glue stick as laid before.
Trim off the excess fabric. Leave a 2″ edge all around the chipboard pieces.
Cut the corners of the fabric, but leave a small gap for a neat fold later.
Adhere the fabric flaps to the chipboard with glue stick. Use a brayer to ensure the adhesion.
Adhere the booklet to the cover with glue stick.
Embellish! (Although the American Crafts letter stickers are self adhered, I added a dab of strong liquid glue to make sure they stay put. TIP - I ran out of some of the letters so I switched on my creative half. The ‘N’ is actually a trimmed ‘M’ and one of the ‘A’s is an ‘at’ sign – which goes well with the computers theme.)
I want to share with you one of my favorite pictures from this mini album. It was taken here at our apartment in California. Note the pasta on his lap and the computer on the dinner table…
Isn’t that a memory to cherish?
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
I am always trying to come up with the quickest and easiest projects for Creativity Prompt, but this time I have really outdone myself…
All you have to do is gather all your 4″ by 6″ photos together and in a matter of minutes they are all assembled in a cute mini album, with a twist.
This project is perfect as a last minute gift, or a mass production gift as well as a way to deal with a large amount of photos that convey the same story.
If you want to watch me make this mini album, than keep scrolling.
Tools & Supply
Your batch of standard size photos (4″ by 6″)
1 sheet of 12″ by 12″ cardstock (cut to 4 pieces sized 4″ by 6″ each)
Temporarily adhere both cardstock pieces together and cut a shaped window out of them – you may use any shape and any die-cutting system you prefer.
Adhere the cardstock pieces and the acetate in a Cardstock-Acetate-Cardstock sandwich.
Back each photo with a 4″ by 6″ piece of patterned paper.
For the back cover, cut 2 additional pieces of cardstock at 4″ by 6″ each and adhere together – back to back.
Gather all your photos and both cover pieces together and punch 2 holes w/ the Crop-a-Dile.
Fasten with the binding rings.
Tell the story.
Shana Tova (Happy New Year) to all my Jewish readers!!!
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
How would you like to put together a beautiful mini album – from start to finish – in about an hour?
Sounds good, doesn’t it?
You know what, let me throw in a special feature that will turn your mini album from a beautiful albeit simple board-book into an intricate gate-album that is guaranteed to extract some “oohs and ahs” [I am pretty sure it's a technical term. Please correct me if I'm wrong].
Are you interested? Yes? Then keep reading.
Oh, wait. Have I mentioned there’s a video tutorial included in the package?
Tools and Supply
2 Heavy-weight acetate or acrylic sheets – 4″ by 6″ each.
5 pieces of heavy-weight chipboard (about an 1/8″ thick) – 4″ by 6″ each
[Music with permission is by Josh Woodward from his album "Here Today"]
Step By Step Instructions
Cut all your acetate and chipboard pieces to size and arrange them according to the following chart:
The top and bottom acetate (or acrylic) pieces protect your photos. You may leave those pieces out if you wish.
Mark a 1/4″ line – lengthwise – on the respective edges and mark 3 dots on that line – 1 dot in the center and 2 other dots 1″ above and below the center one. Punch these marks with a Crop-A-Dile.
After you have punched 3 holes on each side on one piece, you may use it to mark the holes on the other pieces and punch them accordingly.
Adhere each photo to the chipboard with a generous application of glue stick. Start with one side, use a brayer to insure strong adhesion, and re-punch the holes before moving on to adhering the photo to the backside.
You may replace each photo with a 4″ by 6″ sheet of patterned paper or cardstock – whatever works best for your needs.
If the photo is bigger than the chipboard piece, trim the excess with a sharp craft knife.
Double check the orientation of each photo, before you adhere it.
Assemble all your layers, following the chart above, and attach together with binding rings.
Embellish!
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
Score each strip at 3″, 6″ & 9″. You can just align your score lines with the 3″ mark on your paper trimmer.
Fold your score lines – once up and once down – to create an accordion fold.
Adhere the folded cardstock strips to the fun foam with a double sided adhesive. Optional - Before attaching each cardstock strip, you can add a strip of ribbon to it – just align the middle of the ribbon with the center point of the back of the cardstock and adhere to the fun foam. Tie the ends of the ribbon in a bow to make sure your accordion fold stays put.
Find the center of the fun-foam cover’s flap with the grid ruler and mark 1″ on each side. Cut along these marks all the way to the bottom of the flap and snip off the ends.
Adhere the velcro or magnetic snaps to the flap. To make sure the aligning is perfect, adhere both parts of the velcro while they’re attached together and then peel off the backing and close the flap. To allow some room for bulky embellishments, make sure you don’t close the flap too snag.
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
Reminder
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Being environmentally friendly is important to me. It is actually very selfish of me, as I want my posterity to enjoy mother earth as long as possible. Therefore on one of my very first creativity prompts I have shown you how to turn your trash into treasure.
This week I am revisiting this idea and I am going to show you how you can upcycle an empty yogurt container, just before it hits the recycle bin, and make a beautiful surprise mini album with it. If you are not a big fan of mini albums in boxes, you can stop half way through and make a lovely pencil (or brushes…) holder from it.
So if you are interested in turning your trash into treasure too, keep on reading.
[The fabulous music is by Josh Woodward from his album: "Not Quite Connected"]
Step By Step Instructions
Measure the lid’s diameter with a ruler.
Cut a circle from your patterned paper in the same diameter.
Adhere the patterned paper circle to the lid with Mod-Podge and seal with another generous layer of Mod-Podge on top. Let dry completely.
Cut a bunch of patterned papers to the same height as your container and a 1″ width. [mine are 4" by 1"]
Adhere the strips to the container – one by one – using Mod Podge. To eliminate air bubbles, rub each stripe with your finger. It’s messy, but important to secure your paper strips to the plastic container.
Seal your strips of paper with another generous layer of Mod Podge and put aside until it dries completely.
Measure the diameter of the bottom of your container to figure out the smallest size of a circle that can fit into your container.
Cut as many cardstock circles as the number of pages you wish to have in your mini-album. The circles vary in size whilst the smallest has the same diameter as the container’s bottom and the largest has the same size as the container’s lid.
To find the center of the cardstock circles, cut some more circles from scrap paper, at the same size as your cardstock ones. Fold each scrap paper circle once vertically and once horizontally and mark the point of conjunction. This point is exactly at the center.
Use the scrap circles as a template and punch a hole at the center of each cardstock circle.
Cut a long strip of strong decorative string and fold in half.
Make a knot at the fold (with the two long string edges coming out of it).
Weave both edges of the string through the circles. Secure each circle with a knot and add another knot between each circle, at about 1″, as a spacer.
Punch a hole at the center of the lid and apply Diamond Glaze (or any other strong liquid adhesive) to the inside of the lid.
Thread the ends of the string through the hole and make sure the top cardstock circle gets stuck well to the inside of the lid.
To finish off the lid, thread the ends of the string through the paper flower and the button and secure in a knot. Dab some diamond Glaze on the knot to make sure it stays put.
Cut a piece of ribbon that circumscribes the top of your container. Apply a strong tape adhesive to the back of the ribbon and adhere to the top edge of your container. Repeat on the bottom of your container. This will finish off the edges.
For a more cohesive look, add a second strip of ribbon (about 1½ times the circumference of your container) and then adhere to the edges with glue dots, while pleating the ribbon at each 1″. Secure each pleat with a glue dot.
Variation - You can skip steps 1-3 & 7-16 and make a quick and easy pencil holder instead…
How Ideas Become Creativity Prompts…
A page torn from my bedside journal:
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
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There are days in which I want to color the world around me in the colors of the rainbow. Days in which some “pick me up” color treatment wouldn’t hurt. Do you also have days like these sometimes? If so, then I have the perfect project: A rainbow colored mini album with an accordion fold spine and to finish things off, it is covered in a soft fun foam. (Is it wrong to cuddle with your mini-album? I am not sure I want to hear the answer…)
So if you want to learn how I made this cutie, stay tuned and keep on reading:
Cardstock. [You will need a total of five 4" by 8" pieces. A sheet of 12" by 12" yields 4, but in order to make this mini colorful, you'll need 5 different colors - your choice].
To make your spine, cut your cardstock at: 4″ by 8″.
Score the cardstock at 1½” on each side and then every ½” in between the initial score lines.
Fold all your score lines in an accordion fold. That means a “mountain” fold (folding down) is followed by a “valley” fold (folding up). Make sure your creases are sharp by burnishing them well with the bone folder.
Cut the 5 cardstock signatures – 4″ by 8″ each. Score them at 4″ and fold in half.
Attach the signatures by applying a strong double-sided tape adhesive to each of the ½” folds. Apply the adhesive as close as possible to the crease but not directly on it. Apply some additional tape adhesive runner to all 4 inside edges of the signatures and attach to the spine. “Hug” each “mountain” fold in the spine with 1 signature.
For the cover cut your fun foam at 4½” by 12″.
Lay down your signatures on the fun foam and make sure you have enough room to cover them and then start marking the remaining flap, as follows:
Find the middle (lengthwise) and make two pencil marks – ½” downward and upward from the middle [That is going to help us create a 1" flap in the middle].
With a T-Square ruler, draw lines that connect the edges with your tick marks – both lengthwise and widthwise.
Cut out the outer rectangles with your scissors.
Attach the signatures to the cover with a strong double-sided tape adhesive.
Attach your Velcro to the flap. I always attach the corresponding Velcro pieces together and remove the backing from both of them. Adhere one side to the flap and then close it – that adheres the corresponding piece of Velcro at the perfect spot on the cover.
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
Surprisingly felt costs less than cardstock. How strange is that? Michael’s offers letter size pieces of felt in many vibrant colors for only 30 cents a piece. Regardless of its price, felt adds so much more to a project than a simple piece of cardstock. It adds softness, texture, cuteness and a dash of “je ne sais quoi” that makes everything better.
For this week’s creativity prompt I teach you how to make this cutest little felt mini album. If you feel like making one, stay tuned and keep on reading.
Cut from your cardstock 1 big oval and 5 ovals which are ¼” smaller then the first one. The big oval will be used as a template for your felt pages and the smaller ones will be used to support the felt pages and make them more durable.
Take your largest oval and lay it down on your felt. Trace around it with a marker. You will need 10 felt ovals for a 5-pages album.
Cut your felt ovals out.
Note: for the sake of this tutorial, I have skipped this step – which is the main one => Now it’s time for you to create your beautiful felt album pages. Make use of the felt’s special qualities. Embroider on it. Sew your pictures and patterned paper onto it (just pierce them first with an awl). Add buttons, flowers and other pieces of fabric with a needle and a thread. Be creative!!! All the back stitches will be covered in the next step.
“Sandwich” each 2 felt pages with 1 cardstock “core”. Adhere the felt pages temporarily with a tape runner.
Sew all around the edges of the felt “sandwich”. Make sure you don’t sew through the cardstock.
As you will not be able to conceal the edges of your embroidery floss, thread them through a button and tie in a knot. this way you can secure your stitching and add a decorative finishing touch at the same time. (Tip: Add a tiny bead of diamond Glaze to your knot to prevent it from fraying later on.)
Punch a hole at the top of each oval “sandwich” and set an eyelet in it. The crop-a-dile works the best. (as you can see on the video, I was trying to use a Provo Craft’s eyelet setter too and it was too hard to poke through the 3 layers of felt and cardstock).
Thread your ribbon (or book binding ring) through the eyelets (Tip: Cut the ends of the ribbon in a sharp angle to make the threading easier), make a cute knot and enjoy your fuzzy mini-album.
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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
It has been a while since I last designed a free template for you guys. Now it’s time to hone my limited Photoshop and reverse engineering skills and provide you with another free template. This time a template for a mini album case.
This case is perfect for a 3″ by 3″ album, for those important pictures you want to always carry with you in your bag…
I created an album, made out of 3″ by 3″ laminated cards, featuring the early days with Nadav – long before we even thought about getting married
If you feel like making a similar mini-album, or you have some other ideas for this cute little case, then stay tuned and keep on reading.
[You can watch the video in HD on YouTube. While you're there please rate & comment ]
Step by Step Instructions
Download the templates by clicking on the link at the supply list above and print the case template on cardstock and the lining template on a patterned paper. Make sure the printer’s settings are set to a letter size (8½” by 11″) and to borderless printing. Print on the back side (the smooth side of a textured cardstock and the wrong side of your patterned paper), so the lines won’t show on your finished project.
Cut along all the solid lines with a craft knife and a ruler. Be careful not to cut any of the dashed lines. Finish off the curved parts with scissors, it’ll make a smoother cut along the curve.
Score all the dashed lines with a stylus and a ruler.
Fold all your score lines (You can use a bone folder for that).
Cut along the solid lines of the lining template. You can use either scissors or a craft knife, whatever is closer you feel more comfortable with.
Score along the dashed lines on the lining template and fold your score lines.
Adhere your lining to the case template – make sure you are concealing the printer’s lines, which means your positioning is correct. Don’t be shy with your adhesive and apply a generous layer, especially on the edges and the score lines.
Apply a strong adhesive tape to the small flaps and on the long flaps, on the right side of the template.
Assemble the case and voila, it’s too easy
Few pointers regarding the mini album -
Cut your cardstock to 3″ by 3″ squares (1 sheet of cardstock makes 16 squares).
Adhere your photos and journal on the back.
Laminate all your squares and cut the excess laminating material off.
Usually this type of albums gets handled often, not to mention it’s tossing and turning in your bag all the time. The laminating helps to keep the album more durable.
Use only flat elements on your cards so the lamination goes smoothly.
If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share
You still have a chance to enter the drawing on Creativity Prompt for a $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE to Scrapbook.com. For more details on the giveaway click here.
This time I revisit an oldie, but a goodie – the altered board book. 
For this week’s project you don’t even need cardstock. It’s as simple and easy as it gets… 
I am always trying to come up with the quickest and easiest projects for Creativity Prompt, but this time I have really outdone myself… 
How would you like to put together a beautiful mini album – from start to finish – in about an hour? 
For this week I have a 5-minute-project for you. An adorable little brag book with a fun foam cover that makes it extra “snugglable”. 
Being environmentally friendly is important to me. It is actually very selfish of me, as I want my posterity to enjoy mother earth as long as possible. Therefore on one of my very first creativity prompts I have shown you how to 
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