Flash Folder Mini

Good morning Bloglanders

I'm looking forward to a long, long weekend and plan to do absolutely nothing all of the time. But first, the mini book that I've made X5 for our trip. Mine will be incorporated into my Flash Folder afterwards and 4 will be for the kids going with. In there we will put pictures and make notes of what we see and do during the trip and afterwards.

This is what the front looks like:

And the inside pages:

And the back:

I actually used brown book covers, cut them up and sewed pockets for the front and back pages. Inside the pockets I have cardstock note cards with tabs at the top.  This gives sturdiness to the outside of my mini book.  I also included 2 sheets of white paper (recycled from the office). I stacked everything together and sewed on the crease to keep the book together. Easy Peasy.

Next week I'll show the finished product and how I'll include it into my Flash Folder.  That's it.  I'm off to my well deserved long weekend.  Please come back to play on Wednesday to share in my crafty fun.



Flash Folder on the Go

Hi there Bloglanders

I'll be going away on Thursday for a very long weekend.  Today I started putting my stuff together and want to show you how my trip will be incorporated into my Flash Folder.  The reservations has been done months before and everything was filed under April up till this week when I took it out and filed it in my "Mobile Folder".  Actually it's only 2 red binder rings that I got from Monika's shop, a laminated map, a plastic zip lock bag (I added a binder spine to it) and an envelope.

I've already done mini books for me and the girls going with on the trip and will post the pictures tomorrow.  While away, I will just punch holes in everything and add it to my Mobile Folder. Back home everything (the mini book as well) will go into a folder like this:

If you want to see how I've made it, click here.

I love collecting memorabilia but it always ends up somewhere in a box or on a shelf but not any more - with my Flash Folder system it gets sorted ASAP.  I think I'll adapt this concept for my December Daily as well as last year's is still in a plastic container on my desk!

That's it from me for the day.  I'll show you the mini books tomorrow and then I'm off on that very long weekend. Can't wait!

Flash Folder Part 2

Hi there Bloglanders

6pm
I'm so sorry for not posting earlier but I had a hectic day and as I have guests for dinner, I first did all the prep and can now relax for the rest of the evening.  They will be arriving soon and I have a few minutes to give you more info on my Flash Folder.  If you have missed the outside, scroll down to the previous post.

First I have a calender of 2012. On the outside I've got all my new year's resolutions.  I'm prepared to share one with you - I inteded to lose 24 kilo's this year and keep it off. (For the record - I'm halfway) Inside I just jot down what the whole family did. In the end this is important to me - exactly when did we go on a trip / when did we buy a new car / birthdays etc.

Afterwards I do my monthly lists that goes into my album as well as into the Flash folder from these notes.  On the left you can see my January list.

9.50 pm. Guest gone and here we go again:

On the right you can see my attempt at making cards.  I keep one example of each for my file for inspiration ant to monitor my progress.

I make a photo collage every month. This get printed in A5 format for the Flash folder and I print exactly the same one on A4 to go into my album. (will show a pic another time)



On the right you can see stuff that I added during the month. I normally add a little title or journaling an it's done.

This is a great idea to keep everything filed away and I really enjoy paging through the previous year's Flash Folders as it is like a year in review without the work.

I hope you enjoyed the info on my Flash Folder.  I'm off to bed. Please come back to play tomorrow.

Flash File Part 1 / The Play Date Cafe

Good morning Bloglanders

I promised to share my Flash File system with you today as I store all the memorabilia collected through the year, this way. No fancy stuff.  Punch two holes and in it goes. Best part is that my desk remains clean and I know where to look if I need the info again.

We will start with my cover.  I have a tin with little things that I have collected since I started scrapping - some new, some very old.  Since I don't use them on my layouts (remember I'm an album maker, not a real scrapper) they were waiting patiently for this special project. I just used some bull denim and sewed them on.

I made a similar item for my Esty shop as well as a book cover which I will add to this post later today. (still have to take the pic's) My book cover will be for the Play Date Cafe challenge of the week. So, check back later for some more fun.

Ok, the sun is out and my picture taken. Enjoy!  Have a great weekend!

The Play Date Cafe challenge PDCC128

The inspiration:

And my take on it:



Did you see???????

Good morning Bloglanders

Did you see that my blog header is finally up?  Long story but at least now that's it's done, I can move on to the next venture.  When I have time, I plan to write a post to thank you all for your support and patience and report back on the ups and downs of starting a blog.  My son is still laughing at me for thinking that an URL is a garden dwarf! Well, it still sounds like one to me.

Do you remember the recipe book that I made for my friend that got married? If you missed that one, here it is again. If you want to see all the pictures, click here to go to the post.

And the guest book for the wedding:

You can view this post here if you missed it.

And this time round I have a picture of the bride to show. Isn't that what a happy bride should look like?

I'm always talking about my junk folder where everything goes that doesn't fit into my albums.  Well, I'll be sharing my Flash File system with you over the next few posts. I find that this really works to keep everything organized and my desk clean. Please join me tomorrow as I will show you what the cover looks like.

The Play Date Cafe

Hi there Bloglanders

You all know that I love a challenge and try to participate in The Play Date Cafe's one weekly.  Normally I try my hand at cards (something I didn't do at all before I moved to Blogland) BUT this week the colors just spoke my language and this is what I came up with:

And  this was the inspiration:

The story behind my project is that when my son was small we used to have a bag which we took with whenever we went out.  He spent hours playing with the little toys we kept in it. Of course his was home made and up till now I haven't seen anything like it. Of course you will find it in my Etsy shop as well. Click here if you want to visit.
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I hope you enjoyed my Play Date and will come back to play. Hopefully I'll have my blog header up next time you visit me in Blogland. Have a great day!

My Holiday mini

Hi there Bloglanders

I'm so glad you are joining me on a play date today.  Yesterday I promised to show you the mini album I made last year during our holiday at the beautiful seaside resort, Jeffrey's Bay.  What I did different with this mini album is that I pre printed my journaling cards before we left and filled it out while we were on holiday. When we came back, I just added pictures and my job was done!

Front:

Inside: Here you can see the little envelopes I made to store all my mementos.

Inside: On the left you can see the pre printed journaling card and on the right is one with a picture dropped in.

As this was a self catering holiday (by now you all know that my mum hates cooking), I did all the meals and took some recipes with. When we go again, I'll just take the envelopes out and add it to this year's binder ring.

And the back:

I really added a lot of memorabilia to this mini album and made a canvas bag to keep everything intact for the trip. The bag turned our so well that I'm keeping the album in it.  The artwork was done in Photoshop, printed onto transfer paper and ironed on. (Remember to flip your image in PS if you want to try this!)

I hope you  have enjoyed our play date.  I will be back later today to post my Play Date Cafe challenge pic.  Please check back as I promise you that this one is a surprise.





Mini holiday album

Hallo Bloglanders

I hope you had a great weekend! You wouldn't believe it but I finally took the plunge and there is one item in my Etsy shop! Want to see?

If you want to visit the shop click here. I'll be putting more stuff in later this week. My blog  and Etsy shop headers are also on my "TO DO"-list for this week. But first I'm showing you the mini books that I have made for my mum, sister and sister-in-law. 

This was our 2011 winter holiday and I made my mini book ages ago but when my sister told me that she lost all her pictures, I decided to do it times 3 for them. I did the pictures, layouts and journaling digitally and  also customized it for the different recipients.

Inside it looks like this:

And the back:

X3 ready to be delivered:



I used antique brass binder rings, added a little silver dolphin charm (for a sea holiday), ribbon and a perspex photo frame. 

That's it from me for today. Tomorrow I'll show the one I made for myself during the same holiday.  Please come back to play.

CPS Card Challenge #260

Good morning Bloglanders

I hope you are having a great weekend.  Here is my card for the CPS card challenge of the week.

You can actually shake the little black and orange fish around under the vellum!

Remember I showed you my cappuccino 4 one?  If you missed it, click here. I've made my first refill packs with hot chocolate, a butterfly marshmallow and a KitKat.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'm off to a craft market to get inspired. I'll be back to play on Monday, bring your toys and join in the fun.

Always a plan

Good morning Bloglanders

Finally it's Friday and you'll have more time to spend on yourself, your passions and the people you love. Can't wait!  I'm sharing my impromptu money envelopes today.

First - the story. Wherever I go, goes my diary, a paper pad, a punch (very small one I got from a Christmas cracker!), glue and a pen.  My diary, gratitude journal, scrap folder and even my sewing book all looks like Smash books.  Done that long before Smash books became fashionable and will still do it like that even when something else becomes the flavour of the month. To be fair, I love the Smash book add-on stuff and will add that to my system any time. (whenever it gets to sunny South Africa) It is just that I'm sticking to what I know works for me.

Last weekend when I went to the beach, a friend's children brought over a whole basket of fresh tomatoes. (I love to make tomato soup)  As I wanted to thank them,  I took two colored pages from  my paper pad, folded it to form envelopes, included money and glued it.  To zuss it up I added little paper flags and aeroplane paperclips that I love to buy from my local stationary shop. For the record, these were in my diary and I borrowed it until Tuesday when I got home to replace it.

Here is a picture of the back:

Maybe my message is not clear enough but in short I want to say that you can use ordinary items to create original items at no extra cost. Just be inspired by what you see, hear and feel.

Have a great weekend and if you don't have a creative diary or junk folder yet, go out there and buy a Smash book / make your own. I love the concept. Click here if you want to see the one Monika Wright did.

Make your own thick letters

Hi there Bloglanders

As promised, I'm here to show how to do home made "thickers".  We really struggle to get these in sunny SA so I came up with my own. Best part is that I recycle a lot of stuff and I make letters in whatever color I want. First I'll show you how it looks on my junk album folder.

And this is what you need:

I use old cereal boxes for carton. On top I glue my scrap of paper and the contact. (that is the adhesive plastic I use to cover books with)

At the bottom I put a piece of the Sizzix double sided adhesive. Most of the time I skip this as I prefer to glue my letters on or use foam dots.

And the whole stack goes through my fave toy - the Cuttlebug! Plastic side up.
 

Ta da. My very own "thickers"!

OK, this is becoming a very long post but for those of you who wondered how I add the folder to my ring binder, I made some notes.  First the pic's of my home made folder:

I cut a spine from transparency (this one was actually cut from packaging material), cut a slit through it and then fold my "folder" over it. Inside this one I sewed 2 big glassine bags and even cut open their backsides for additional storage. A  home made string clasp with some eyelets and twine to finish it off.

And the back. Here you can see that my Easter page is still waiting for the pic's of my parent's 50th anniversary to be printed.

And for the inside info of how my binder spine works. I've drawn one as you can't really see the transparency. 

Hope you enjoyed Toy Tuesday.  Have a great day and please come back to play.