Beyond the Book - BLEW US AWAY!!!!

The Beyond the Book Challenge entries had us all SPINNING!!! .....such fabulous creativity and ideas! I think the DT will be working overtime to make some of our own projects based on these fun designs! You really pulled out all the stops on these! Each of the three ladies below will be getting a new SPINNER ALBUM KIT to keep the creative juices flowing!


ME LAYOUT
Part of the challenge was to get out of your mini-book comfort zone, that is what our first winner, Kathy, did with her “me” layout. She admittedly had to get cozy scrapping about herself, and did it with owire-bound flip up pages on her layout. You can add hidden journaling and pictures under and on the flaps, like Kathy did here. Great job! (Tip when adding owire to layouts, use small diameter owire like ½” or 3/8” and punch the holes with the Space Bar. Check the video here -Chapter 7 - on how to use this add-on).

RIBBON BOX
I think every one of the DT can relate to trying to keep their scrap rooms organized, so no doubt we all lit up when we saw Elizabeth’s ribbon organizer! Can you just say CUTE!?!?!?!?!? And it’s just chipboard! There’s no way tape or glue would hold all the ribbon I have if I were to make a handmade storage box like this – only the owire would hold it all together! And, the nice touch of using ribbon to thread in the holes on the sides is just added cuteness! Congrats, Elizabeth!!!

TREASURE BOX
This one is a real treasure....this artsy box is just begging for some goodies to be hidden and saved in it! We need some Swedish translation for the instructions, though. Regardless, you can't help but love the texture, colors, and the lacing of the BIA holes!! Check pysselninjangittan 's blog for instructions and more photos. Congrats to you too!

Ladies, send me your shipping addresses (nan@binditall.com) and we hope to see your Spinner creations soon!

For the U.S. folks, have a great Memorial Day Weekend (yeah, 3-day weekend!!!)

Rock On!

The DT is busy reviewing all the Beyond the Book entries and will be announcing our faves at the end of the week. If you didn’t partake in this creative challenge, we still hope to inspire you to use your Bind-it-All for non-book projects.

I took on the challenge myself this weekend, with this hanging memo board for my teenage daughter. She's always telling me I need to get "cool" - wait...I'm NOT? Well, this paper line is really cool!

This project uses the 10X10 Zutter Clipboard wood and a random piece of metal I had in the garage! I covered both with cardstock, and adhered the metal to the Clipboard Wood. I took these wild-fun “Rock On”* flowers from Prima and glued magnets to the back. And – because for a teenager simply tacking up a note isn’t always enough – I used a piece of scrap cardboard and attached a 3X3” sticky note pad with some Owire. Now she can put little notes up with the magnets, but also tear off a sticky note to take with her! I love how I was able to find some sticky notes in a color to match this line of paper and embellies. I figure when the sticky notes run out, I can just glue on another pad. When she doesn’t want the sticky notes in the way, she can just flip it over so the full magnet board is visible!
And, just because I am young at heart (and because I love this paper...see, I can be cool!), I made myself a Cover-All with the same product line. Hey – I can “Rock On” too! I used the 5X7 patterned paper pad to cover the Cover-All, layered the flowers with the bling, and added my initials. The cardstock in this line is incredibly vibrant, so I hope to journal some of my more “colorful” ideas in this book!

* Prima has debuted the “Rock On” product line at Michaels. Almost everything on these two projects was made with this line, except for some things you can only get at your local scrap store, like the cool lace ribbon and the clear and black Say-it-in-Crystals. Not to mention, Zutter Products are available at your LSS and not at all the chain stores! We are not discriminatory when we support our craft stores!!! We buy everywhere!

Hanging Memo Board Materials used: Zutter 10X10 Clipboard Wood, ¾” black owire, scrap piece of metal; Prima Marketing *Rock On cardstock, flowers, embellishments; other: magnets, ribbon.

Rock-On Cover-All Materials used: Zutter 6X6 Flat Spine Cover-All , ¾” black owire; Prima Marketing *Rock On cardstock, 5X7 patterned paper pad, flowers, embellishments, chipboard letters; other: ribbon.


Have a great week, and check in for news about the Challenge winners and announcements for the next challenge!

Bind-it-All & Scor-it: Made for Each Other!

We here on the BIA DT are a biased bunch, no doubt about it! We will go on and on about how great this little tool is and give you countless reasons why you can’t live without it – not only for scrapbooking but for general paper crafting (and crafting in general).

Yet ANOTHER reason to love the tool is that you can make mini books from a variety of materials. A lot of scrappers ask me about chipboard, acrylic, wood, fabric…..but you can make a really cute project with just cardstock or sturdy patterned paper. I also discovered that using the Scor-it along with the BIA opens up new possibilities for creativity. For something fast and fun (and to use paper you probably have on hand), try this: The inspiration for this project is from the Bind-it-All Around the World Idea Book, and an adorable project made by Yvonne Tinney in Virginia. It’s a simple-to-do envelope book that, once constructed, can be embellished and decorated any way (and to any degree) you wish. This would be a great “keeper” for recipes, memorabilia or as a folder to take on a vacation to collect mementos and ticket stubs, etc. I can also see using something like this to sort photos in my never-ending need to organize when I scrap! Virginia's version is a school memories booklet, to hold treaures and photos to document a school year!

Here are the supplies and tools used, and general directions:

1. 6 pieces of cardstock, trimmed 9X9” (really cute paper from Jillibean Soup is used in the sample below and in the video)
2. Round corners with the Zutter Round-it-All (I trimmed them all at once - gotta love the RIA!)
3. Ink or distress, as desired

4. Score about 3 ½” on three corners of each sheet, using the Scor-it Board
5. Secure flaps to form pockets; use a good strong adhesive (or stitch like Yvonne did in her project!)
6. Punch holes along pocket edge using the Zutter Bind-it-All (again, I punched multiple pages at once to save time and because the BIA V2.0 has a wider punching channel to make this easier!)
7. Place pages in desired order
8. Bind with preferred color of Owire, I used Antique Brass to go with this paper
9. Embellish and complete

Now, this video doesn't have any voice over - just a bit of cuckoo music. When I was taping, both my daughters decided it was a good afternoon to gab over everything I was doing. To avoid your hearing me tell them to "go outside" about a million times, I chose to just add the music this time. Most of the steps are pretty self-explanatory, so sorry about that!

I love how the Scor-it makes the folding task so much easier and cleaner. I didn't realize that using the Scor-it helps keep the paper from cracking and is a professional grade scoring tool. I don't know what I did without it before! Gonna go play with it and experiment with some fold-out flaps for my next mini book! Goodness knows I have plenty of paper in the stash to make use of!

What have you made with your BIA and Scor-it?

Don't forget! The Beyond the Book May Challenge closes TODAY!!!! Post a comment/link NOW!!!

Have a great day!

BIA makes more than books! (Part 2)

This is my second offering in a series of non-book BIA projects. (See several posts below this one for my first non-book BIA project for the May blogging.) This project is a hanging album of three of my husband's nieces and nephews.

Please note that you can use as much or as little of the binding to suit your project. Here, I used just a few little pieces of o-rings to connect the panels. This is a very good way to use up leftover scraps of o-rings you end up with from other projects.

Directions are similar to the post "BIA makes more than books" a few posts down. =)

Materials:
- Zutter Innovative - 1/2" brown o-rings
- Basic Grey - patterned paper collection, alpha stickers
- Bazzill Basics - chipboard, cardstock
- Stampin' Up! - ribbon, ink
- Adirondack - acrylic paint
- Foof-fa-la - buttons
- Heidi Grace - epoxy stickers
- We R Memory Keepers - extra large eyelets

Visit us again soon more more projects and tips! --Lea

Reflections: An "UP"fold Album

I hope everyone had a creative National Scrapbook Day last weekend. It’s one of the few “holidays” we can call our own, and gives us license to be uber creative (and maybe a little silly too!). I was fortunate enough to attend a weekend event in Newport Beach called Reflections – a wonderful scrapbooking retreat that brought innovative teachers to intimate teaching settings (about 20-25 students per class made it really enjoyable and fun!). One of the teachers we were immensely entertained by was Stephanie Ackerman – a long time friend of Zutter – who taught her family album using the Bind-it-All, Dreamkuts and Teresa Collins’ line of Family Documented papers.

If you are still on the fence about why you might need/want a Bind-it-All, this album should help convince you. In Stephanie’s unique style, you can see how you can create an album that opens to the left, and also up on the right. It’s more than a gatefold ….it’s an UPfold….I guess. You can only get a customized album like this using the Bind-it-All!

My album doesn't have photos in it yet, but Teresa's paper are so warm and versatile that my photos will look so great....and Stephanie designed this album to be interactive in unique ways. The journaling cards, tags and file folders are placed so they fold out. Pages are scored to open like doors (and punched with border punches to give them a pretty touch). The paper letters are adhered to scrap chipboard and cut out (then covered with Glossy Accents) for an easy, shiny homemade embellishment. All of Teresa's papers work perfectly in the Dreamkuts....just cut in halves or thirds and you are done - you don't need your other trimmer or make complicated measurements when you cut! It's a dream! The right side of the album with the little 4X6 flip top is so clever, and adds a unique element to the album that you can't get in a ready-made book. The piece de resistance is the Antique Brass Owire that is perfect with this homestyle album.

So remember, with the Bind-it-All you can bind your projects in multiple variations to add that special tough to your book! Have fun!

OH!!! Owire Winners

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! Time to break out the tamales and guacamole and say OLE AY yiyiyiyiyiyi! Congrats to our OH! Wire winners from our "Perfect O" video. Franny was tickled to read all the nice comments about her video debut. I think we have coined an official new Zutter phrase: "Are your Owires o-ish?"

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 53 66
Timestamp: 2009-05-05 18:08:05 UTC

So here are the winners for today:

#53 Lynn from Conover, NC

#66 Lee Ann Koesters, South Australia

Ladies, send me your shipping address (nan@binditall.com) with your preference of color. In addition to choosing from Antique Brass or Antique Silver, you can pick from Baby Blue or Baby Pink.

Keep your Owires o-ish everyone!

BIA makes more than just books!

Happy May, all! The Bind-it-All does more than just bind books. To get more inspiration on what you can make wth the BIA, please go to the Design Team Galleries on the Zutter Zisters site and browse to your heart's content.

Case in point, one of my May projects is a three-paneled tabletop project called Susanna. This one is really easy to make and doesn't take much in materials. It is a quick project if you need something to give as a gift. The project I made below used 5" x 7" panels.

{ Click on photo for a closer look.}

Directions:

• Use any size Zutter Innovative chipboard, clipboard or acrylic covers OR you can cut three any-size panels from your stash that you wish.
• Paint or ink the edges of the panels and cover with patterned paper.
• Bind the three panels.
• Add matted photos, rub-ons and embellishments.

Materials I used for this project:

• Zutter Innovative – ½” brown o-ring
• We R Memory Keepers – patterned paper collection, alphabet stickers, rub-ons, chipboard diecuts
• Bazzill Basics – chipboard, cardstock
• Adirondack – acrylic paint

Thanks for coming by! I'll post a few more projects in May. Happy crafting! --Lea