Celebrating the Last of Summer With a Corrugated Board Technique

Hello! It's Amy here today, and I am so happy to share a favorite technique of mine in a video tutorial, and to give you a look at a layout I created using this technique!

As summer reaches its end for us here in Kansas, I wanted to review the celebration of fun we had at the beginning of the summer, visiting family in Minnesota. While we were there, we enjoyed several trips to their clear, beautiful lakes. My daughters all love the water so much, mostly because I am a water lover myself, and had them in the water right away, when they were tiny babies. My oldest daughter is now in her senior year (where did the time go?) and I'm getting nostalgic about everything. Of course, when seeing the picture below of her so happy in the lake, I remembered back to how she would amaze everyone at the swimming pool, by diving in the water, and swimming like a little dolphin, as early as 2 1/2 or 3 years old. No matter if she's an adult or not, she'll always be my "water baby." So, I created this layout around this theme.

Here is the video of the technique used to created the colorful, airbrushed look on the Zutter corrugated board:

And as seen in the video, here are some of the details on the page:

 I got the fabulous idea to create "water" with mist and layers, from a beautiful layout created by Jennifer Priest. You can see it HERE (it's a must see).  I changed it up a bit, by using cheesecloth, and spraying it with many colors and layers of mist, and then shaping it using decoupage paste and Krystal Kote (in Matte) by Helmar.  

 

Thank you SO much for stopping by the Zutter Zisters blog today, and for checking out my technique and layout! I hope as summer's celebration winds down, you will find fun photos of your summer activities that you can create a beautiful background with too, using this technique!

Other supplies used: 

Patterned Paper: Every Day is a Holiday; Foreign Text Paper/Punchinella/Teal Ribbon/Feather Fibers: Gauche Alchemy; Flowers: Prima, Recollections, Bazzill, Webster's Pages; Crocheted Trim, Hydrangea Hippo; Wooden Alphas: Pink Paislee; Starfish, Dew Drops: The Robin's Nest; Cheesecloth; Ink: Clearsnap, Tattered Angels

A Mixed Up Summer Journal

 

It's Amy here today, to share a recent book I made for myself. I have recently become very dependent on Google calendar on my iPhone to organize myself and my family, but I often need a place to quickly write a note, stick a business card or brochure, sketch out an inspirational idea, or tuck tickets from a movie or event. I was sort of needing a Smash book, but something more along the lines of a smash book meets journal, meets spiral notebook. I decided the only way to have this strange book, to my own to suit my needs and style, was to craft one myself. 

 

I 

To embellish the inside covers, I simply took two pieces of super cheap stationery, ($1.25 for 150 sheets), cut them to fit the inside of the book covers,  and distressed them with the distrezz-it-all. Then I decoupaged them to the book, and gave the white area of the paper a coat of gesso, before misting them with black mist, and some drips from the cap.

I started with an old library book discard for my book's cover. The covers of this book were sturdy, but very vintage, and it was easy to tear the binding apart, and use just the outside covers. I decided I would have pages of differing sizes and textures inside, so I punched the holes with my bind-it-all on the top and bottom only. In retrospect, I would have punched all along the side, to simplify the process....but I do like the look of the separate sets of o wires.

 

I used my bind-it-all to punch and bind all kinds of interesting and quirky objects, like this 45 record I cut in half (the other half is on the book cover). The bind-it-all is amazing, and can just bite into nearly anything! I covered the cut ends in washi tape, and it kept the edges from potentially chipping and splintering during the punching process.

 

 I wrapped stamp packaging with washi tape (if anything needed edges, it was washi taped!) , and threw those in the mix of pages that also include library card pockets, a restaurant beer coaster, and legal sized envelopes. It always inspires me to have a mix of ideas, even in something somewhat utilitarian. Since this book will accompany me pretty much everywhere, I definitely wanted it to be inspiring! (Even if it's a little quirky and strange at the same time).

 

Another soft cover to a book was a fun addition, but it felt a little thin, so I added washi (again) to the edges. 

 

I had an old spiral notebook with some blank pages left, so I tore them out, and bound them, as well. Zutter chipboard helped me out with some stability, so I put gesso on one side of four pieces, and put October Afternoon travel themed papers on the other side. The other blank papers are more of the stationery, and it is simply folded in half and bound. There are plenty for me to use to journal/make notes on.

  

My summer has been quite mixed-up, and definitely hasn't been what I planned. But now, I have a fun and inspiring journal to tote with me during the last "dog days" before school starts. 

I hope maybe you will give creating a "mixed up" book a try.....it's so easy! Just grab your great Zutter tools, some random things you love, and in just a little bit of time, you'll have something special to use for ideas and inspiration, too! Thank you so much for joining me today! 

Hello, Amy!

It's Amy here today with my first post as a Zutter Zister! I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of this amazing team, where the original Zutter Zisters set the bar for fantastic and innovative album design. I have deeply admired what Zutter has to offer for so long, and been so inspired by the ways the design team has showcased such fun and exciting products! So, needless to say, I'm thrilled to be showing you a few of my projects featuring these products, and to let you know a little about me.

 

Products used: bind-it-all v2.0, 1 inch O wires in Antique Brass

 grungeboard, tissue tape, button, Tim Holtz; Tag, KI Memories; Twine, Pink Paislee; gaffer tape, 7 Gypsies; paper flower, paper, Creative Memories; 

border punch, purple ribbon, Martha Stewart; corrugated alphas, Jillibean Soup; canvas fabric, brown ribbon, vintage

I thought I'd kick things off with one of my favorite album covers, for a travel journal; because besides being a mom to 3 lovely, creative girls, and the wife to my best friend from college, I'm a courageous soul, who loves to explore the world, even if it is just where I am at that very moment. I try not to be limited by fear, and to try to use each of the talents I may have to the fullest. One day, I hope to travel the world, and see the sights in such places as India, Peru, Thailand, South America......the whole globe! Of course, the best part will be scrapping all of those memories!

 

Products used:  bind-it-all v2.0, 1 inch O wires in Antique Brass, corrugated board 

Stickers, Authentique; journaling tags, papers, Jenni Bowlin; paint, Liquitex; mist, Tattered Angels; ribbon, Martha Stewart, vintage; 

metal elements, Tim Holtz; handle,  upcycled

Since I started scrapbooking and crafting a few years ago, one of the main things that really keeps my creative motor running, is thinking of fun ways to showcase my memories. I love how the bind-it-all makes it easy to take a fun, different idea, and make it a reality! Like this "haunted house" album I made showcasing the photos from our annual family "Halloweenie Roast" at my mom and dad's farm. It was fun to figure out how to make the album open up like the doors of a haunted house, by binding them on each side, to one large piece of Zutter corrugated board in the back. The album doors open wide to a panorama of photos of the event! (The handle to the door, is a old cabinet pull I found in the drawer in my garage!)


Oh, and as a quick aside, if you see the books that are fitting for this album (spooky Agatha Christie mysteries) on the side of the album, and maybe the shelves of books behind, you'll see this was photographed at my place of work....a library! I am the director of a small public library (with perfect evening light for photographing projects after work), as my main source of employment, as well as being a church soloist and section leader. I am a trained operatic soprano....who obviously took a bit of a detour. Hehe.

 

Supplies: 13x13 Corrugated Board

papers, Jenni Bowlin; paper flowers, paper circle, Creative Memories; stamp, Graphic 45;

 flowers, Webster's Pages, Prima; Dymo labeler; Alphas, Jenni Bowlin, Doodlebug; paint, Liquitex, Mist, Tattered Angels

twine, rickrack, fabric, buttons, library card, vintage.

 You'll see that these last two projects are created using Zutter's 13x13 corrugated board.  I have a slight obsession with this corrugated board, for any project! I love the texture and dimension it provides, and how it absorbs paint and mist. I use Zutter's corrugated board so much, that I have developed a special painting technique for the cardboard, that I will be so excited to share with you all very soon!

 

Supplies: 13x13 Corrugated Board

Stamps, fabric and plastic flowers, brads, Jenni Bowlin; paper, Fancy Pants, Jillibean Soup, vintage; 

paint, Liquitex, mist, Tattered Angels, Clearsnap

You will also find that I enjoy finding and using recycled and thrifted elements, especially in my mini books. I love to take things that have pretty or usual graphics (like the coffee bags that I turned into book pages HERE on the bind-it-all blog),and use them on my pages. It always makes me feel so bad to throw them away! (No, please don't sign me up for the next episode of Hoarders, my husband keeps me in check!)

Thank you so much for joining me today on this walk down my Zutter project memory lane.

 http://sparklinggnome.wordpress.com

Upcycled Coffee Bag Journal

I'm so happy to share this project with you today on the Bind-It-All blog! 

About a year ago, I was about to throw away one of my Starbucks coffee bags, when I looked at at it, and thought that it was such a shame to throw it out, because it was so pretty! Of course, it seemed a bit silly just to keep it because I liked how it looked, but I decided to give myself a day to think about a creative use for the bag, before I pitched it. 

When I was sitting in my studio that evening, I saw my brand new Bind-It-All sitting there, and it hit me! I could collect the coffee bags, and create an album especially for my coffee loving friend Christina! I asked my extended family to save their pretty and unusual bags for me, too....and I ended up with some pretty interesting ones, especially when my parents went on their travels. 

The day I mailed the coffee album to my friend was such a great one. Though I usually only get to "virtually" enjoy coffee with Christina, I could make a handmade gift to let her know I was thinking of her over coffee each day. I think this idea makes a great unique gift for any coffee lovers out there. :)

http://sparklinggnome.wordpress.com