“A Rat Pack Journal”

Hi Friends,

Welcome to June and Winter in Australia. It is the Queens Birthday long Weekend here and it has been lovely having a the weekend off!!

I was checking out Youtube last night and found anew Tutorial from Nik the Booksmith on creating what she called a “Rat Pack Journal” this looked like fun so I thought I would give it a go!  Her Video is “HERE” if you would like to pop over and have a look.

 

I decided to make my journal cover, from some cardboard packaging that I rec a book in. It was sturdy enough that I thought I wouldn’t bother strengthening the covers like  I normally would with extra cardboard. I thought a soft, squishy cover, would be nice for a change and  I measured it roughly 8.5×8.25″ (17×16.5″)  I then mesured out where the spine would be and how wide I wanted it. I just eyeballed it with a pen and ruler as it was too big to place in my trimmer.

I nearly always use book tape which I find at Bunnings, to add a bit of strength to the spine as it takes the load of the signature (lots of papers). and binding.  I decided this journal didn’t need it.

I had some of this nice fabric left that I found ages ago and thought it was lovely, so I used a bit more of it on this journal. I just placed the covers on the fabric and cut around it. I then cut a way a bit of the excesses fabric and cut a few notches so it would fold over the edges properly.

I used some thin double sided tape on it just to hold it, while I machines around the edges with a zig zag stitch. I am pretty happy with how the cover came out.

For the inside covers I used some retired SU DSP that I thought was a good match, of course its Blue!!.  I just adhered it with tape and some strong clear glue.

 

 This was the ‘RAT PACK” part of this journal, as I had been saving these lined scrapbook pages and my coffee stained note paper. ………………. I just cut them down to a good size and sew a few pagers together. I made 3 signatures. Of course you don’t need to sew them together as they will stay in the book once you do your binding.

I made this one into a pocket just by sewing three sides together and punching a spot at the top so I can get bit and bobs out of it.

To bind the signatures in I just used some seam binding and wrapped it around the spine a few times and tied it off on the front of the spine. This is an easy way for beginners also with no sewing.

This is the Easy Twine Binding Method that I use for most of my journals. I like being able to add and subtract pages if they don’t work or suit my project!

As I used fabric for the cover and seam ribbon for the binding I thought a fabric name plate was in order.  I layered it up with some book paper, pattern paper, old curtain and some gauze.  I am very happy with it.

This is my finished little journal ready for me to jot down notes and things when I am watching a tutorial or thinking of ideas for my next creation!!!

I hope I may have inspired you to have a go at making your own journal. The are fun to make and use.

Have a great afternoon, I am off to spend some time with my boys!!

Hugz

Kerri x

“Easy No-Sew Journal”

Hi Friends,

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. In between being an Essential worker here in Aus, I am staying at home. #stayathome

I was watching Johana Clough  “HERE”  on her YouTube channel and she made a fun Journal. I thought that would be perfect for a Cookbook for myself to use in the kitchen. It’s not too big and I can have separate recipe categories.

I had eight spare notebooks that I didn’t use awhile ago for a project so I got them out and adhered them all together, one on top of the other. I glued two at a time, then all together with white PVA glue. I then did, as Johanna had and used some fabric to bind them together. I just made sure I had plenty of glue on the spine and under the fabric when I attached it.

I put a couple of heavy books on to of my journal so it would stay together while the glue dried. You can see the covers of the exercise books buckled a bit but that doesn’t worry me as they will be covered up. I also added washi tape to each side of the books to give the spine a bit more strength.

Today I have made some sections using pattern papers from the collections, to divide them up in my journal. I covered each of the joining covers with some pattern paper and that made dividers. This is the first pages inside. I made a pocket on the left with some spare journaling cards and a bit of embellishment, with the first Catagory for Notes.

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As you can see above in the slide show I have made the other dividers the same but with a different mix of the two collections. I used stickers and die cuts to embellish them.

On the backs of a few of the dividers, I adhered a clear 6×8 page protector. These are to hold recipes that I cut from magazines until I get a min to put them in their section. I also have some of mums handwritten ones I want to include.

Above, you can see what you can create from something that looked pretty ordinary into your own personal Journal. You could do this project for anything you want to record. This probably cost me about $10 to make with what I already used from my stash and the few papers etc I used from the kit I bought.  It is made to have our family favourite recipes and to the way, I wanted to keep them together for my boys 🙂

This is a look at the tabs I made for it.

I hope you like this project and you hop on over to Johanna’s Channel and have a go at making something for your self.

My next project is a fun journal for me to play and create in with a lovely group on FB called “Isolation Days Journal” Just some fun ladies getting together and creating while they #stayathome  I am also playing along with a new Scrapbooking group created by the lovely Fiona Kenward to get some scrapping done!!

Stay Tuned and thanks for stopping by x

Kerri x

“Finished 6×8 Album”

Hello there,

I just wanted to show you the album I have completed for my mum’s Best Friend Helen. I am going to visit her on Friday for a few days as I have not seen her since before mum and dad passed away in 2017. I am really looking forward to seeing her.

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Above is a slide show with all the album pages for you……………….

This album took me a week to create in between my shift work and other commitments. It was a labour of love to create it for her. Aunty Helen and her kids, Rod and Wendy have been a big part of our lives growing up. Lots of great memories!!

I created a few single pages layouts and then some pocket pages as I didn’t think I would have time to do all singles. I just added some words and embellishments on the pockets. The covers are a cereal box cut down and embellished. I decided not to use binder rings, instead the seam binding to keep it all together.

The page on the left I created of my mum and stepdad (Les) who were married 9/6/72 in Warrnambool Mum and dad were married 44 years and we lived in Colac. Dad was a hard-working, loving, family man and he was 102 when he passed away.

On the last page, I put a photo of My biological dad (Arnold) and my gorgeous mum (Val) when they were first married in 1960. This has been good for me to scrap some old and new memories for her.

I miss mum and dad every day……..  I am very grateful for the precious time we had with them and for the great life and memories that we all had together………

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are able to be creative today……………. I am sure I will have some new memories to share with you when I come home !!!

Have a great week!

Kerri x

” Stampin’ Up! Ring-Bound Album”

Hello there friends and followers,

I hope your start to March and autumn here in Australia has been nice. I had a team get together at a clients house on Sat which was lovely, then a catch up with a friend which is always great. Work today was busy, I went for a walk and now I am getting a chance, to post about a couple of Ring-bound Albums I am making.

First up I wanted to show you that you can use Stampin’ Up! products not just for cards. I am an avid memory keeper and I have created one of my Memory albums using all SU products.  Our biggest Sale-A-Bration of the year is happening now and this gorgeous brand new Peaceful Poppy Dsp (Item # 151324) is available to purchase.

To make my albums, I used cardboard from the backs of some of my old paper pads and cut them 20x23cm. I then covered them with the lovely new designer series paper and inked around all the edges with Soft Suede Classic Ink. (Item # 119982)  I then stamped the Large Crackle Paint Background stamp (Item 3 148752), with the same ink. I layered some Dsp on the top, then I tied around it with some of the Linen Thread (Item #104199). I stamped the flowers from the Floral essence stamp set (Item # 149450) and punched them out using the Perennial Flower Punch (Item # 49522)   I stamped the sentiment from the Crafting Forever stamp set (Item # 15231) I used our retired Crop-O-dile to punch the holes and set the Jumbo eyelets to finish it off. this has really come up lovely and I hope it has given a bit of a peek into this wonderful company I am a part of 🙂

This shabby/vintage style album above I created using my stash. It is for a very special lady who was my mums best friend for 66 years.  Aunty Helen has always been a big part of our lives and we grew up with her son and daughter. She is a beautiful sewer, so I added the tape measure and stitching embellishments to the cover.  I will be putting some up to date photos of us all in it for her.

I am hoping now to start some much-needed scrap layout therapy and catch up on some family events etc. I will post them later in the week as I get some done.

Thanks for popping by, have a great week!

Kerri x

“A New Project”

Hi Friends, I hope your week is great so far………….Busy here as usual!

I don’t know if any of you are like me, but I like working on a few different projects at the same time. I feel more productive and it gives me variety in my craft. At the moment I am working on my prompt journal which I am really enjoying and trying out a bit of Art Journaling. Just a bit of messy fun!!!

I have decided…….. I want to make a few 6×8 page size scrapbook journals, but using the page protectors.  As much as I like using my journals for scrapping, I am very particular about how my work is stored.  I want it to be archival and safe to pass down to my children, grandchildren one day.  I am not using any more large albums and I want to stick to my journal type size.

  So with that in mind, I am using some pocket pages that I already have and I am going to make my own covers from chipboard and use binder rings to keep them together.  I have different sized protectors also, that I can add extra photos if needed.  I am also cutting down my 12×12 paper and cardstock to sort through what I will actually use and I will donate the rest to my nieces after school care program. I am only using my stash for this project apart from a few extra page protectors I have purchased.

I have gone through my cardstock and pattern paper and I have cut them down to 6×8 ready to use. I have sorted them into my categories of Floral, Journal, Grunge, Patterns, Vintage, and Speciality.

I decided to use the top tier of my Raskog cart to store my cardstock and pattern paper as it easy to get to and holds everything neatly. I added a box of the middle tier to keep my scrap paper in view so I would use it.

  As you can see it all sits organised and easy to access. Better than on a shelf where it would most likely fall off. To make the dividers I just recycled some backs off old 6×6 paper pads. I made the tabs using my trusty retired SU Tab Punch.  I will have an album for Our Family Year, Sisters, About me, Our pets and probably one each for my two boys.

I have been using my OLW “Inspiration” as I have been creating. This is another way for me to find inspiration and create more this year!! I hope I may have inspired you to try scrapbooking a different size layout or even to try making a journal to use.  Pop in later in the week as I hope to start some pages over my weekend off!!

I hope the rest of the week is great for you and thanks for stopping by!

Happy Crafting

Kerri xx