Can you say CUTE!??

This adorable little birdhouse idea was designed by Nichole Heady for http://www.papertreyink.com/ What a fun little project, and it's quick and easy too. These would make the cutest little gift boxes or tree ornaments. Here's my first one using Nichole's template. You can find a link to download the template here.

I used My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary paper line--this one is double sided Best of Friends from the Mary, Mary collection. For the shingles I used the QK dog tag die and the butterfly is from the QK exclusive Easter Bunny set. "Perch" is a hitch fastener by Tim Holtz, Ideaology.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day, Crafty Friends

Hope you're enjoying a fun scrappy weekend. I plan to play and play!!! And the best part is, Grace will be here with me scrapping and entering contests and challenges too. She loves scrapbook challenges! We'll be joining the buggies at Scrapbuggy for NSD fun. Hope to see some of you over there. There will be drawings, contest and prizes. You can't win if you don't play! Also check out Scrapendipity Studio fan page on Facebook for RAKs and giveaways throughout the weekend.

On a completely random note, guess who I saw at Walmart today.....none other than Santa Claus, himself! Yes, the fat white haired guy in a red shirt! He turned his head just as I snapped his pic. I guess he hoped I wouldn't recognize him or something. Too late! I saw you, Santa!

Mother's Day cards and another mini book

Mother's day cards. I really like these. Maybe I'm finally getting the hang of card making.

This one will go with the keepsake box I made for my mom. I used the DCWV La Creme stack. All the papers are black and cream, some with flocking like this floral piece. Letters are QK Chicago alphabet.

This is my first attempt at ribbon flowers and I think it came out pretty good. This is the sewing kind where you use a running stitch on one side of the ribbon and pull the thread to gather. Pretty.
And this one is for Randy's mom. The lighting is awful, sorry. These papers are also DCWV, from the Latte stack. Letters are QK new English Rose alphabet, and butterflies are Cottage Cutz.

Sewing planner for my daughter. These papers are so cute for this project. It's the Material Girl collection by Cosmo Cricket. Super cute vintage look sewing-related prints. I used QK Holiday and Chicago alphas for the letters and the cover is reinforced with QK plastic sheets. These are really nice for making sturdy covers and divider pages. It's not at all thin or flimsy film, it's quite strong. Thimble charm, ribbons and buttons embellish the binding. This is the largest sketchbook die in the newest QK release which fits the 3/8" Bind it All o-wires exactly.

Back cover, also reinforced with the plastic.

Inside pockets for notes or coupons

Two sections have index card pages so she can jot down notes and measurements on the ruled side and sketch ideas on the back.

and the last section is notebook paper with all perforated pages so she can tear out a list or take notes with her when she shops.

Mini books all over the place!

These are so much fun--I can't stop making them!! I've had a ball using older paper and scraps to make a bunch of them for the kids. They love to draw, write, make lists....these will be perfect for them.

Emmy's peek-a-boo book was really fun to make too. I might have to make a bigger one now. LOL! There are ten "guess what is its" ending with the good night page. I think she will love the interactive pages.

So I've been asked about how to put together the Composition Book

Since I posted my books, I've received a lot of emails about how to attach the pages in the new CHA release composition book. It's too bad they didn't include some kind of instruction booklet, but I'm happy to share how I have figured out how to do this and hope this works for you too.

First tip is this: Do not cut the inner pages individually. I used computer paper folded in half then laid the paper over the die with the fold just inside the cutting edge. I cut three folded pieces at a time this way. (For the book pictured, I used 9 pieces of computer paper for the inside pages, cutting three at a time.) Now cut the spine.

It will look like this from the back side



And like this (die and paper side up) when you place it on the cutting mat

Now lay the cut pages, nested together, with the spine on the outside. To hold the spine in place, I used temporary adhesive, and to keep the papers from shifting I used binder clips so they would stay lined up evenly. Using a ruler I made a light pencil line down the center on the fold line so I could see it easier in the sewing machine.* Now sew the pages together using a medium to long stitch length.

*If you do not have a sewing machine, you can sew the pages together by hand. Use a paper piercer to puncture stitching holes all along the center fold.

At this point you're already ready to add the cover. If you don't want the stitching to show on the outside of the book, you can cover it by adhereing another spine over it.

Rub off the temp adhesive from the spine now that it is sewn in place. When you add the cover, lay it over the pages so it extends slightly beyond the pages, then adhere it to the underside of the spine. Repeat this for the back cover lining it up with the front cover before adhereing to the spine.

You can see the spine accomodates quite a few pages by doing it this way. I'm sure I could have added more and still been fine.

Now just add your label, embellish the cover if you like, and you're done! This paper is so cute I didn't want to cover it up so I put the label on the inside front cover. :)