Traditional Scrapbooking Tuesday

Welcome to Traditional Tuesdays with The Cherry On Top.

I'm in the middle of so many huge projects, both digital, traditional and personal.  I'll start mixing things up again, once the kids are back in school.  Not that this album isn't full of inspiration and fun.

Take a look at the newest page from my Trier, Germany mini album.  See the other pages we've done so far as well as a different scrap from a previous blog.

Last week, I was feeling guilty for having such a simple page.  You definitely shouldn't beat yourself up for not spending hours on one page or using dozens of embellishments.  Do what feels right to you.

This week my page is again, super simple, but I truly love it.  This chipboard font is so awesome.  If you have problems keeping your letters straight, stagger them.  It also helps save space.  My photo was light, so I backed it on dark paper.  I added my letters, then a simple flower with a coordinating button.  In my Pizza Box, was an elaborate design with these various beads you see in my layout.  Although, it was all connected, I clipped out the parts that worked for my page.

My final steps were adding a smaller, similar flower, smaller, similar button and another piece of the beaded design.  Can you imagine how fast I got this done? time wasn't even an issue.

If time is the reason you are not scrapping, then perhaps you should reconsider your scrapbooking methodology?  Peruse Pinterest and search out layouts and sketches that are clean and simple and only include a few steps.  Pin those to an inspiration board.  When you do finally make time to scrap, hit up your board for the basic design, grab your coordinated scrapbooking collections of paper and embellishments because those are truly time savers and get to work!

Here are a few other pages from the mini.  These veneer frames are great.  Ink or paint them if you like.

Repeating elements is a super way to keep your pages looking similar and connected.

Scrapbooking doesn't have to cost a fortune.  Clip out images from papers and use them as embellishments, that can often be very costly.

Repeat patterns and elements on pages throughout your album to keep up the cohesion.

Here's a 12x12 page I recently made.  I've had to hang it in the hall for now because the boys loved it so much.  I'll soon blow off the dust and put it in a sleeve and they will forget until we bring the book out, again.  They can go through our books a million times, noticing something different and feeling different emotions each time.

What does scrapbooking mean to you?  The memories you want to continue to cherish?  Those young, smiling faces you want always in your heart?  The feel of that paper under your fingers or the therapeutic aspect of making time for yourself doing what you love to do?

Make the time to scrapbook.  Make the time to do what you love because you deserve it.

Thanks so much for letting  The Cherry be a part of your day.  We invite you to scroll through our blog and join our Facebook Group for fun chats, inspiration, games and exclusive freebies.
  
Happy scrapping!

A Free Template for a Mini Paper Purse Scrapbook An Easy Fun Project for Kids and Adults

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

Today, I've got a mini with some blingy. Hehehe... Read and see how easy it is to put this baby together. It's such a fun project. Teachers, stay at home moms and crafters can all have at it.

(I'm going through all of my old blogs and doing some minor updating and deleting. I can't believe I didn't have a template for you and it is so easy. I tried finding the one I used, but no luck. Pinterest is an awesome source for templates and creative inspiration. Check out all of the fabulous designs there. I'm going to give ya a template that I just whipped up, but I haven't tried it out yet. If it doesn't work, let me know. I did find anther purse template I designed for Design Bundles when I worked there. Keep scrolling for that template and get another link with a little tutorial on how to assemble that one as well as a look at a really pretty Parisian kit.)

Howdy partners in craft crime! This here little doozy of a project will have the whole town up in arms. OK, maybe not the entire town. Hehehe...I'm not sure if girly scrapping gets much more fun than this book. It might take ya a little longer than an afternoon to put it together. It's not that the difficulty level is so high, just that there are a lot of elements involved. I would encourage scrappers and crafters of any level to give it a try.

You start off with this white, template.  (I can scan it for you and send it via e-mail or Facebook and then you have to enlarge it.) or you can just free draw it.  There are three patterns.  The hour glass shape, the page and the flap.  All three are here in white.  Trace over them in the colors you like.  I kept my book fairly rigid and made it with good card stock, but I used cheaper paper for the inserts and adhered them back to back.






The bright, green card stock is the basis of the book.  I chose a matching, bright, girly patterned paper for the inserts and to decorate the outside of the purse. I used both double sided tape and glue.  Typically, I use double sided tape around the outside and then glue in the middle if I'm using stronger paper such as card stock.

No worries if your pages are not perfect, but I do line them all up and snip a little here and there to see that they are approximately the same size.

Use a hole punch to make three small holes in the crease outlined by the black dotted line on the pattern. You can use eyelets or in this case, brads.

I used three large brads. It gave a little more freedom when it came to the depth I needed for my inserts. This picture is an excellent illustration of where you need to score your inside pages.

My first page is one heck of an opener! I just love it. Many of these papers used in the book are from a 6x6 book I bought at a discount store and because the inserts are so small it gave quite some left overs and that was a big part of my embellishing technique.

Keep in mind as you are designing your book that some pages are going to be upside down when in the book. It took me a bit to figure that one out. This top page with the pink ribbon and flowers was supposed to be the bottom of the page (in my deranged mind), but after applying it properly, it turned out on the top. I thought it still looked great. So, I didn't make any changes. Go with the flow.

Gems and ribbons are just screaming, "GIRL!" I did use a lot of them throughout this book. When coordinating how I was going to set up the pages, I kept in mind, the next page. So that when the pages are back to back and the book is opened, the book coordinates. Like you see to the left. A little strip of the top page paper is on the bottom page. Each page is softened by ribbon.
                                 

Another little strip from the two previous pages is applied here. A little injection of that bright green is sporadically used throughout the book to continue the coherence. The flowers on the top page were from one of those confetti sets and I just used my smallest hole punch for the centers. Some flowers were doubled up and some were doubled up with paper punch flowers.

The fabric flowers on the bottom page adds more warmth and texture which contradicts the cooler silver frame giving a little obvious contrast. Soft and warm with fabric and cool and hard with metal or metallic.

My latest craze are pearls. They just add that perfect touch of elegance. I received these pearl strands at a workshop. It was a small container full! I hope I will be able to find them somewhere when I run out. There's that touch of green again. This time coupled up with some cute buttons in coordinating colors and a lace look that brings a bit of old to a more modern style.

This little frame was a synch to make. The 6x6 pattered paper was just this grid of cuteness. I cut a square out of the middle that fit on my page. Some sequins here and there for more glitz, a cute little butterfly and a big, blingy flower makes a serious statement.

This is the last page. However, I would suggest not decorating the last page and adhering it to the basis of the book. Oopsy...there are some upside down hearts here. I thought the page was really cool and had some very interesting aspects, but the book would be much better if you glue down this last page.

You may have to cut your flap a little bit smaller to fit like this on your cut out.

Here is how I chose to close my book.  If you use a bit heavier embellishments it may automatically hold down your flap. You could use magnets, velcro, a clasp, ribbon, a tiny Glue Dot...there are many options for you to choose.

I don't know about you, but embellishing is my favorite part of scrapbooking. This cover was really fun. Here is what I used: A large circle, a large flower, then a smaller one, then a brad and then a tiny hole punch from super, blingy, glitter paper. Which is just what those tiny, pink, circles are with even tinier silver dots layered up. My trusty Elmer's Craft Glue pen and some Glue Dots to adhere. 

TIP:  I use the bottom end of this handy pen, which is a wide tip, to fill in larger spaces and the top tip is super tiny which makes gluing minuscule bits a snap.

For the back cover of the book, use a strip of paper to cover over your brads, eyelets or whatever you used to fasten your pages in the book.
Of course, you could use a larger piece of paper to cover the back as well.  I thought the green was really great and eye catching.  So, I left most of it exposed.

Ah!  It's really coming into shape, but what's missing? The handle or strap can be made in many ways. You could use a small, light, chain, ribbon, wire...The possibilities are endless.  That's one of the great things about this book. There are just so many options. Styles, textures, colors, themes, they are are all limitless with this project.

Here is an inside look at the brads as well as how I fastened the ribbon of the handle to the inside of the book. A simple knot is all it took. Keep in mind of the limited amount of space in this crease to not only fasten your pages, but your strap as well.

I was a bit surprised how fast the strap came along. Thread one end of the ribbon through a small hole in the top of the purse (and eyelet if you choose) then tie a small knot. Then go up a couple of inches, tie another knot and then begin adding your beads. I made a fixed pattern because I'm a kind of symmetric freak. When you have the amount of beads you want, tie another knot. Thread the other end of the ribbon through the hole in the top of the purse, tie the last knot and voila! I used enough beads to measure the width of a typical, feminine hand.

Here is how I covered up the brad pins from the big flower embellishment on the flap. I could have used a flower, but I felt like I used enough of those already and chose another shape that was repeated in the project. TIP:  Where it's appropriate, I put a flower over the back of the brad pins and if the pins are colored then you turn the brad and fix the flowers so the the two pins look like petals from the flower.

Here are some more supplies used in this crafty endeavor.  More up-cycling with cards to make tags.  Check out that awesome glitter paper!  Cut in an oval, decked out with a blingy brad, some ribbon, dimensional butterfly and the word, "Fun" I snipped from an old birthday card. Check out all of the useful fonts on that card.  I'll be using that again. A little glitter glue is applied in dots in the word, "Fun" to pump it up another level.

Below is the back of the "Fun" tag. More fun!  A little ribbon is used to cover the brad pins and the embellishments were backed on to black paper to make for more pop.

  

Add some metal elements and charms for even more excitement.

Here's my newer template with the Paris Collection. Click on the image to get the little tutorial. You can see the purse, the pages and then look for the papers and elements in the Paris Collection.

You can buy the digital papers and elements if you like them. 

Click here to download the two purse templates!!!

This really is a great project and an eye popper. So many people love this when I give it as a present. Give it a try and post your end results.

Happy crafting!

An Heirloom Scrapbook with Graphic 45

Happy Friday, Cherry Fans!

Today I'm sharing a fairly large project with you. It's an heirloom book I started last year in a workshop I attended in Kortrijk, Belgium at a hobby shop called Tiny's. You can imagine how excited I was when I found out the instructor was from America?!  She had with her an abundance of goodies from Graphic 45 and Tattered Angels. Our supplies seemed unending. Everyone was oohing and awing at all of the wonderful things that were placed before us.  

The project was a bit ambitious, but the end result was fabulous. It took me forever to get this one done. I put it away after not finishing at the workshop and did a million other projects in-between. After going through all of the wonderful things again I jumped right back on the project and finished it all up at once. I couldn't believe I would let such fantastic materials sit in that lonely little zip loc, in the closet. What the heck?!

The cover is to die for! So many embellishments and products that I would normally not use. Like the lace at the bottom. I might jump to say that it isn't really my style, but it is. It is! How can it not be when it looks so great?! The dimensional flowers, blingy brad and the pearls. The PEARLS! I love the pearls! I will definitely make pearls a permanent part of my embellishment stash. They just finish the look perfectly.

The cover and the first page were very labor intensive. So many layers, textures, colors...and now we are inking. Inking! I don't ink! I do now! The ink also gives a more polished look. Here was my rub-on disaster. My rub-ons often don't any more which leads me to cutting them out. At least it's an option.

What a special treat?! Scrapping these old, family photos. People who I didn't know when they looked like this. Whom I could hardly recognize due to their youth and vitality. Such young, innocent faces. A fantastic experience for me.

Until I placed these pearls, this page just seemed so boring.  Not any more.

On this page you can see we used a stencil and some glitter spray. We were not able to take that home with us, but I could copy it by using a splattering method with some paints and a brush. Of course it was not nearly as easy and it was twice as messy. I made an attempt at making my own bling. Hehehe...I used my Elmer's craft glue pen and squeezed out a few small dots of glue, then buried them with blingy glitter, let dry and voila!

The page with my uncle in the tree is one of my favorites. We also made this page at the workshop, but with no photos at the time. All of the layering and the contrasting little stamps looks great. Check out the page torn from an old book. I am so going to the thrift store and getting a huge, old book with weathered pages so I can continue this strategy on other pages. It's fantastic!

My layout with grandma on it, creeps me out. According to my father she was a terrible mother. This picture proves his story, in my opinion. I also had no idea they had colored pictures in the late 20's. How fortunate was I that there were pages in this Once Upon A Spring Time collection, that matched so perfectly? Great! I do plan on inserting information on some of the pages about the people in the pictures. (I had to temporarily delete this photo due to it's upcoming publication in Scrapbooking Magazine.com. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

How cute?! All the little bunnies! My pops and his two brothers. Such lovely embellishments all coordinating so magically. Anyone can make a fabulous page with these kinds of products.

Does it get any easier than the layout above?  A beautiful paper from the collection, a fancy frame, a few flowers, greenery and pearls and it's finished. That simple. Despite its simplicity, I really, really like this page. That's my daddy and his oma. 

I left some space on the bicycle layout for information. My printer is out of ink, again. That's a paper doily I had left over from a dinner I had ages ago, fancied up a bit with some antique white paint. I rubbed in a little paint around the edges of the page to make it look a bit more older, used and loved.

The gang's all here!!! Loving the TV! More brushed on paint, cut outs from the collection, another gorgeous butterfly, pearls, ribbons and the torn effect. Man, this stuff is easy!

Another very simple look. A rustic, brassy frame, applied gold paint for further cohesion, flowers, pearls and ribbons brings the book and the look of this layout all together. What do you think of the spattered paint look? The page just seemed a bit too plain without it.

I've seen this peek-a-boo look a while back in a scrap magazine and I couldn't wait to try it out. Doesn't it look just great on this page?! More doilies and torn paper finishes this one up.

Straight lines and like colors and hues brings it all together. Repetition with flowers, ribbons and pearls goes throughout the book.

Did I over do it? A little over the top? Tacky? The pink mesh is a totally different touch, but somehow it seemed to work here. I love this pinky orange color, too. It adds a nice little kick of color.

I could not be more pleased than with the above layout. My pops in his pram, rattle in hand. Love it! Cluster arrangements around the picture add a rich, luxurious feel to this. More gold spatters to carry the panache to the next level.

Well, you made it to the end. This is the last page. It looked a tad bit washed out until I added the blue-green color injection. Using fabric, pearls and this awesome, detailed butterfly makes it look like you spent a fortune on this page.

The back cover incorporates many of the styles,colors, textures, etc from the entire book. With repetitive use of papers and colors it gives the book a coherence and lifts the book to a higher level of quality and style. Use these kinds of techniques in your projects to raise the bar and push your crafting skills.

Oh, the purse! I still didn't give you the purse! I'll try to squeeze that in next week. Until then, happy scrappy trails to you...until we meet again....

Up-Cycling A Fun Circular Mini Scrapbook with Just a Few Supplies

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

Up-Cycling is recycling by taking garbage or unwanted things and turning them into something stunning. I am a total up-cycler. I have such a limited budget that it is absolutely necessary to do this. I'm also kind of weird about wasting stuff and find artsy potential in just about everything. Wow! The world is my oyster. Even the world of junk. Hehehe...

To the right you will see a...a...round thingy. I will call it a flyer that I received when visiting...a family help center. (My youngest son has Autism and my older son is also currently being evaluated. So, times getting testy around here.) I was immediately brain scrapping when I saw this thing. I couldn't wait to get started on this project and I did something I rarely ever do. I got started immediately!

Here was my template.

These are the separate pages of my boys and their new pup.

 

I started with the smallest circle.  Using my handy, Fiskars shaper, I cut out all of the circles. Make sure you use fairly sturdy to sturdy card stock paper for this project. At least for the basis of your circles. I also strongly recommend using embellishments that are not too thick. Especially, if you plan on using a brad to bind your circles together.

The color pallet is quite simple. This particular paper is Lime Rickey from Basic Grey. (My all time favorite supplier.) I got it on a clearance rack in one of the few local, craft stores here, in Belgium. The second to last page is my favorite. The silver paper is so hip and eye catching. Everything you see is just circle punched or hole punched and glued on. Super, eh? It shines and matches great with the ring I used to keep it all together.

Above you can see that I used a brad originally, just like in the sample. It gives a totally different effect to your end result. There are some draw backs when using a brad (split pin). Your embellishments need to be very flat.Use your embellishments preferably, around the edges that do not rub the above circle. You can go crazy on the last circle, around the edge because nothing will touch there. I considered punching holes, eye letting them and tying ribbon through each hole. I love the idea of using journaling as well. Below you can see how neat it is to spread out your pictures. However, you can't see the top of most of them. So keep this in mind as you design your pictures to the circles.

When using a ring you have a lot more freedom. The embellishments do not snag as much on each other.  ou can also add more flair with various ribbons around the ring and use the same ribbons in your designs for a cohesive look. I considered papering up the back of each, but you really do not see the back anyway.  So, I saved time and precious supplies by not doing that and I'm glad with the result.

The effect with the ring when spread out is completely different, but equally as beautiful.  You can see more of the picture with the ring as well. I would recommend using eyelets on each page where the ring would go through. I can't find my eyelet tool at the moment. So, I didn't do it or otherwise I would not have thought twice. It really helps reinforce your circles and keep them in good shape and from tearing.

I put this book together in about 2.5-3 hours. It goes so well when you have an idea in your head.  I went through all of my papers looking for just the right combination. Then through matching embellishments and it all just clicked right away. It isn't always like THAT! Hehehe...A super fun project, inspired by junk, turned out to be excellent therapy. Keep on scrap'n! It helps keep the coo coo out! Hehehehe...

Thanks for checking out The Cherry.

Happy scrapping!