If you look at Papermania’s Nature’s Gallery collection you may think ‘spring’ or ‘summer’, but it definitely also gives me ‘muted fall colors’ vibes.
So when a group of colleagues asked me to create a ‘nature-themed album’ for a colleague who is retiring this month, I immediately suggested this collection.
They wanted a brag book for about 10-20 pictures and with 15 tags – one for each colleague to write a ‘waving goodbye’ message. So I created a 2-page mini album of about 7×10 inches, which looks elegant and sophisticated – yet is quite thin.
If you want to see it in different colors, check out my earlier version in bold autumn colors here.
There’s an easy to follow tutorial waiting for you in my Etsy shop, should you want to make some yourself! (They’d make great Thanksgiving or Christmas gifts 🙂 )
Enjoy the video and feel free to leave a comment in the comment section, either here or on Youtube!
Christmas is nearing ever more, so this week I’m sharing two great interactive wallet cards decorated in a truly Woodland Winter atmosphere. You can find the tutorial here.
You can of course use embellishments as elaborate as you like with these cards, as I did with previous iterations of this design, like the Time Machine version:
This time I used only paper decorations, some came with the collection and others I added myself, by way of decorative borders and die-cuts.
This is a pretty elaborate design, which makes it a great group gift or group card (to give as a group, with each individual adding their own wishes). It can also hold at least 5 pictures, which makes it kind of a mini album card 🙂
I guess I’m into some mailable minis… So here’s a different design altogether! You only need 1 sheet of cardstock and some design paper. The flatter you keep your decorations, the easier it will fit into an envelope and off through the mail.
In this video I’m showing you an example of such a 1-sheet album, and I’m also taking you with me through my decorating process.
Btw, you can turn this project into a mini album page for my Double-Stacked Too mini album design. There’s a video class series for that entire album available here.
Hope to have inspired you to create a fun & quick project!
On the brink between Summer and Autumn, I’m proud to present my new, summery-autumny Two-Paged Bragbook 🙂
This time I used not one but three paper collections, which for me is the absolute exception, definitely not the rule. And I also threw in some digital scrapbooking again. Not only did I use my own graphically designed paper for the binding system, but I also enhanced the background of one of the pictures and did some digital collaging. And lastly, I dolled-up my own picture… well, what can I say, I just couldn’t help myself 😉
Above: Text die by Crealies
It was commissioned by a group of my co-workers as a gift to one or our retiring colleagues. So I designed it to hold as many pictures as there were co-workers who joined the gift giving, and had them all write on a unique tag.
As you’ll see in the video, this is another great group gift!
Of course I wrote a tutorial for all of you who’d like to create such a great mini album yourselves. It’s fun to make and it really makes for such a great gift. As an added bonus, you don’t need the usual ‘thousands’ of patterned paper sheets, as it only has two page assemblies!
Oh, and I also threw in a card, made with the leftover papers 🙂
So, enjoy the last weeks of summer and hopefully your autumn will be as colorful as this album 🙂 See you next week – don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment!
Special occasions require special cards, and with this interactive wallet card you can go many directions. To give you some examples, my first card of this design had an Encouragement theme, the second version commemorated the first year since my father’s passing.
This week I’m sharing a third way you can use this card: as a mini album card, to send (or give in person) someone some pictures of dearly remembered moments you shared with them! Which is perfect for someone who really already has everything they ever wanted – I mean do you really need to give them more ‘stuff’? I’m convinced that memories in the form of pictures – nicely done up – will always be much appreciated, and also add that extra personal touch to your gifts.
This design offers room for 6-8 pictures and of course a personal message.
So, hope to have inspired you, let me know what you think in the comments! 🙂
Last May Kaisercraft announced their Kaisercraft Exchange project, aimed at sending and receiving Happy (snail) Mail to and from people around the world, without knowing anything about them except their name and address.
I immediately signed up, for it’s always a lot of fun to create specifically with someone else in mind!
I chose the Be-You-Tiful collection and designed a new wallet card, to be sent to a lady called Kirstie, in Pacific Pines in Australia (hi Kirstie, hope you’re reading this! 🙂 ) I also added a small a mini album to keep pictures of her loved ones, to keep in her purse.
For both of these designs together I only needed 2 sheets of 12×12″ cardstock and 5 sheets of 12×12″ double-sided design paper (including two cutapart sheets with some lovely sentiments).
I also wrote a 29-page tutorial for the wallet card, which you can find in my Etsy shop for a small price, to help me keep doing what I do.
This coming week we’re saying goodbye to our – now former – boss, thanking him with a gift and of course an accompanying card with our well-wishes. I offered to create a card instead of one us running to the first available store for a relatively random Thank You card. Fortunately for me, my colleagues agreed! 🙂
Since there are seven of us the card had to offer enough real estate for seven personal messages. Also, since I offered this quite impulsively, I only had one night left to create it, so the design had to be relatively simple. And last but not least, our former boss is a man, so the card had to have a masculine feel.
So here’s what I came up with. This magnetic fold-out card is easy to make and offers room for seven personal messages. I used the Oxford paper collection by Basic Grey, which I feel is a mostly masculine paper line. Since I could not use any of the girly stuff I love so much (no roses, no butterflies, no bows and ribbons!) I let the paper speak for itself. The only embellishment I allowed was a magnetic closure with a ribbon pull – which yes, was a ribbon, but which I felt was okay since it was black…
Anyway, here’s the video – hope it inspires you! Oh, and this card would also make a great mini album insert by the way, so even more possibilities!
If you’d like a tutorial for this design, please let me know in the comment section below (click on the title of this post if you don’t see one) or leave me a Tweet!
It’s springtime! 🙂 Although it’s still pretty cold where I live here in the Netherlands, you can already feel a certain ‘softness’ in the air as days are lengthening and nature is preparing to wake up. I don’t know about you, but I’m totally game for spring!
And this year we’ll have a fairly early Easter. Normally I don’t send out any Easter cards (it’s simply not a Dutch tradition) but this year I felt like letting at least a couple of people know that I’m thinking about them and wish them some great times with the upcoming holiday.
I found this lovely sheet of paper by We R Memory Keepers, from their Cotton Tail collection, and it immediately took my thoughts to all the wonderful things that make up springtime and Easter.
So in the spirit of spring, I decided to design something new. I challenged myself to use only one piece of 12×12 inch cardstock for the construction of this card! Of course you will need some extra materials, but not a lot and the main items on that list are 1 extra sheet of cardstock for tags (A4 will suffice), and 1 sheet of 12×12 inch design paper. That’s about it! This design will enable you to create an elaborate and interactive card that is still quite affordable in terms of the supplies you need – awesome right?! 🙂
Also, this card is perfect for more than one sentiment and personalized message, it can function as a gift card holder and it will come in very handy as a vehicle for a group gift, when a group of people are giving one gift together.
And last but not least, you could also use it as a mini album page insert!
Good news: I’m making this design available to you all in my Etsy shop – and like the card itself this tutorial is also very affordable, so check it out!
And here’s the show & tell video, enjoy and let me know what you think!
If you want to try your hand at this interactive wallet card yourself, please check out the tutorial I wrote for you, which you can find in my Etsy shop.
NEWS flash: this tutorial is now also available in Dutch – email me if you’re interested! Plus, several card kits to make this particular card are now available as well! 🙂
Recently Jessica, a young lady from the USA whom I had never met before, contacted me via Youtube, proposing a project swap. I loved this idea, as well as the great spontaneity she showed with this initiative, and we agreed to a friendly card challenge. I set the theme, she added some parameters. So here’s the homework we gave ourselves:
Create an interactive, not too bulky wallet-type card around the theme Encouragement. The projects would have to be true to our individual styles and personalities. Extra criterium was to try and make the message to the other person as personal as we could – without us actually knowing eachother… So we’d have to find our inner Encourager, as it were. 🙂
So, in the video below you can check out what I came up with! This wallet card measures 5.75 x 5.75″ (14.5 x 14.5 cm) and is of my own design. It has pockets, tags, layered layouts and several interactive closures. It’s perfect for more than one sentiment and personalized message, it can function as a gift card holder and it will come in very handy as a vehicle for a group gift – when there are several personal messages by different people and/or gift cards needing to be tucked away into one awesome card 🙂
I used Kaisercraft’s Lady Rose collection, which is stunningly beautiful, feminine and timelessly on trend. Plus, it has some great and encouraging sentiment labels which fit this challenge perfectly!
And here’s the video of the card Jessica created for me! So thank you again Jessica, for your lovely card and your great initiative – an encouragement in and of itself! And for those of you who’d like to see what Jessica’s up to, check out her website, which you can find at AT2 Design.
This style of explosion box combines two of my previous styles of decorating: 1. designpaper only; 2. photos only.
This one makes for a great gift idea if you’re giving this as a group of people, like your entire family, or a group of colleagues – like in this case with this particular explosion box. For it has both design paper and photos, and a new element: several personalized messages, printed onto the design paper itself!
And by the way, there’s an explosion box tutorial available in my brand spanking new Etsy shop – called Creator’s Image Studio! 🙂 This tutorial was based on the Explosion of Joy explosion box, but it resembles this one in most of the designs and techniques, so check it out in my Etsy shop!
I’ll post an “official” shop announcement video in my next blog of course, but I thought I might mention it now, since the first tutorial in the shop is on an explosion box 😉 .
So enjoy the video – please like if you do & feel free to leave a comment! And don’t forget to check out the explosion box tutorial in my Etsy shop!
A couple of days ago I uploaded part 1 of this gift wallet for groups of people who give one gift together.
Now, here’s part 2! With not only all 15 personalized tags for this wallet, but also with the special money envelope I created, and some instructions for making it.
Have fun – and then of course like & subscribe! 🙂
This gift wallet is perfect for people who give one gift together as a group, like when you’re giving money or some luxury coupons with your entire family, or like in my case with a group of colleagues.
You can add lots of unique tags for each person to write a personal message to the happy couple, which is not just fun for them but will also be a great keepsake.
DCWV’s Once Upon a Time design paper is of course very usable for weddings, for this stack actually has a Happily Ever After sheet, how perfect is that!
Oh, and there is a part 2 to this post by the way, which you find in my next – with not only all 15 personalized tags for this wallet, but I’m also showing you the special money envelope I created, with some instructions for making it! 🙂
And….. don’t forget: please like & subscribe! 🙂
