Making Your Own Journals

I LOVE journals and sketchbooks. I don't know what it is about them, but I could just buy up tons of the pretty books at the bookstore. However, they can be VERY expensive.

I saw this post on the Mod Podge Facebook page and had to share since I LOVE journals. I really like this because I can make custom sketch books for my son Sean that fit his personality.

Part 1 - Making the pages http://heatherscustomsewing.blogspot.com/2010/12/tutorial-book-binding-creating-pages.html

Part 2 - Making the cover http://heatherscustomsewing.blogspot.com/2010/12/tutorial-book-binding-creating-cover.html

Organizing Paper

When organizing your paper stash you have to decide whether you will go horizontal, vertical, or both. How you work and what kind of space you have will help determine that. I use both methods. I store my solid color cardstock horizontally using the ROY G BIV (for the colors of the rainbow). It makes it easy to find coordinating papers. I like the trays by Display Dynamics found here:
http://store.scrapbook.com/dd-st-011.html?w=perfect+paper+stackable+paper+trays


I store my patterned paper vertically using the Cropper Hopper vertical paper files that come with dividers. You can finds these at Michael's and Hobby Lobby. I usually wait for their sales and get them for at least 40% off. I prefer these for my patterned paper, because they offer many options for sorting them.



I sort/separate my patterned paper in several ways: by theme, by manufacturer, and by color



Theme is my first sorting method. Since there are certain themes I know I will work with this makes it easier later for me to find them. Plus I can store the scraps for those themes there, instead of my scrap file. Here are some of the themes I use:

Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter (with subcategories for the holidays that fall in those time frames. A holiday will get it's own file if it's one that I scrapbook a lot, i.e. Halloween and Christmas)
Baby
Party
School
Specialized (these are themes of my interests... for me that's birds, owls, and because of my son robots, pirates, and monsters)


After I've put my papers that belong to a theme away, I sort my remaining paper by my favorite manufacturers. I only do it for my favorites or ones I have a large amount of. I tend to favor Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, Little Yellow Bicycle, BoBunny, just to name a few. So I have a file for each of them.


Any pattern papers that don't fit the categories above will be sorted by color. Color is always my go to organization method, because it makes it easy to coordinate for pages and projects.


Lastly I store paper packs and page kits separately from my other paper. When I'm not feeling particularly creative I go to these paper packs and kits. I have found that sometimes when I confine myself to a set pallet or base of supplies it forces me to work on techniques, which ultimately lead me to feeling inspired for another project.

Scraproom Organizing

With the new year approaching the buzz all around is "getting organized". I love looking at photos and pictures of eclectic ways to organize scrapbook and art supplies. Just wanted to share some of my favorite photos:

Some of my own ideas:

I found this wire bird cage at Ross for about $10 and bought little hooks that I attached underneath to hold my misting and inking masks. This would also make a great piece for hanging ribbons from.

This is a wine rack that I also found at Ross for about $12. I found the glass jars at Ikea. You can use any glass or plastic container as long as it's the same size as a standard wine bottle. It holds all my markers neatly and I can see what I'm looking for.

Yet Another Scrapbook Store Closing (Houston Area)

One of my favorite scrapbook stores in Houston is closing. They are open to selling the store if anyone is interested.

It's so sad that all the scrapbook stores are slowly disappearing.

They are selling everything 40% off and they are also selling off their fixtures.

http://www.lonestarscrapbook.com/

Embellishing by Recycling...

Going Green... we see it everywhere. Well here are some great ideas you can use in your scrapbooking.

This is a great idea by Tim Holtz for using all that plastic packaging that comes with SO many of the products we buy. He used it on his Day 10 Tag for the 12 Tags of Christmas:

http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/12/12-tags-of-christmasday-10.html

I will never look at that hard plastic packaging the same way again. He actually uses the tag die cut to cut the plastic then puts it in an embossing folder to create this awesome overlay.


Here is an idea that I got from one of the ladies at Scrapville in Greenville Texas (http://www.scrapvilleonline.com/):

You know those phonebooks that get left on our doorsteps a couple times a year (hint it's the big book with all the phone numbers and addresses in it - I know we usually throw it in the recycle bin or trash). Here is a great use for those pages:

Use your 2.5" and up scalloped circle punches to punch all those pages. Yes that seems like a lot but when you're feeling less creative it's something you can do to move in the creative direction.

Once you've punched out some shapes, grab several (the amount depends on the size of the scallop circles and how full you want the flower). Punch a hole in the center with your Crop-A-Dile and add a brad. Then start gathering and scrunching up multiple layers at a time. Then separate to create these beautiful flowers. Spray with some Glimmer Mist, Maya Mist, or Pearl Mist (whatever is your product preference) and ta-da... beautiful recycled phonebook flowers!!!