paper: pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Hi, my name is Paige, and I’m addicted to patterned paper! (Hi Paige!). The more patterned paper I can use on a layout, the better! For this layout I wanted to create a semi-background of mini envelopes using most of the papers in the lovely Shimelle collection.

Die cut fifteen small envelopes from patterned papers.

Fold the envelopes on the score lines.

Glue the envelopes so they hold their shape.

Start building your layout with the envelopes down the center in a 3 × 5 grid. Try tucking small embellishments into the envelopes. Consider adding journaling on a tag in one of them.

Choose a background paper or cardstock then glue everything in place. I usually use cardstock for my backgrounds, but I love the subtle woodgrain pattern of the “Hall” paper.

Paige Evans has been scrapbooking since she was sixteen years old and worked at her first job at a local scrapbook store. The first time she put pictures and papers together it was a match made in heaven! She is the design team manager/blog hostess for American Crafts, on the creative team for Studio Calico, and on the digital creative team for Ali Edwards. While not scrapbooking she makes pacifier clips for her etsy shop. Paige is the mother of two adorable children – Fox age four and Jane age two. She and her husband Chris have been married for seven years and currently live in Grafenwöhr Germany where Chris is a dentist for the US Army. You can check out more of her and her work on her blog, Instagram, Etsy shop, Pinterest, and Studio Calico Gallery.

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Hi I’m Cara, and today, I want to walk you through the steps to a make a fun, interactive planner. This one is Christmas themed, mine is already full of present ideas and to-do lists, but feel free to make yours any theme you like. I originally made this book because to me the Christmas season should be filled with baking, scrapbooking, playing in the snow and having fun, but for many years, it ended up being a stressful season of countless events, marathon shopping and endless obligations. Keeping the have-to’s organised left me time and room for the want-to’s. And why not organise it all in something pretty, right? The book has lots of pockets, a little journal (perfect for ‘Journal your Christmas’), a mini photo album and Shimelle’s 1-25 list leading up to the big day.

Here is what you’ll need:

Five pieces of 12×12 patterned paper
*one for each of the front and back covers. These don’t have to be the same, use what you have, but you will see both sides of each, so make sure you like both sides and they match your theme.
*one piece for the binding and the mini-folder. Again you need to love both sides.
*Shimelle’s Winlock paper with the 1-25 list or whatever you’d like as your flip-out paper. Yup, you guessed it, you need to love both sides!
*the last piece is for the inside pockets and you will only see one side of this one.

*Washi tape
To decorate your book
You also need one that you don’t mind throwing away afterwards. We are going to use it to hold the book together before stitching. I know you must have some that, either, you don’t like anymore, or came in a pack with others that you just had to have but this one you could take or leave.

*Pocket Pages
Any size up to A4 (8.5×11 inches)
you can use all the same or a variety
up to four pages (any more, I find they get slippery and are hard to stitch)
you can even cut pages from a ‘cheapy’ photo album

*Notebook Paper
about 10-20 sheets, depending on how thick the paper is
I used the leftover pages that I ripped out of the back of my kids’ notebooks at the end of last year

*Corner Rounder
Sewing Machine or big needle and baker’s twine or embroidery thread
Pretty Embellishments

ALLONS Y!

Step One
Cut down your pages to the dimensions below:
front cover: 11 inches high by 10 inches wide
back cover: 11 inches high by 10 inches wide
flip-out page: trim the Winlock paper down so you see only a bit of the reddish-pink edge (about 103/4 inches high x 11 inches wide)
pockets: cut the paper into two pieces, both 6×10 inches
binding: 11 inches high x 3 inches
mini folder: take the rest of the paper you used for the binding and cut a piece 73/4 high x 12 inches. Then, cut out a strip as shown below to make a tab. Round all corners.

TIP: If you are using Shimelle’s Dowdy paper, you can use the whole sheet including the black stripes and trim off the blue ‘pretty paper’ bit. Make both pockets 61/4 inches high x 10 inches

TIP: That inside corner of the tab may be tricky. Bend your paper carefully and wiggle your corner rounder in and you should be able to get it. Otherwise trace another rounded corner and hand cut.

notebook paper: 71/2 inches high x 5 inches Be careful where you trim, if you want to keep those red lines.

Step Two
Score the pieces at the following marks:
front cover: 1 inch from the left
back cover: 1 inch from the right
flip out: 31/2 inches from the right (non-numbered side)
binding: right down the middle at 11/2 inches
folder: fold in half, not counting the tab
front pocket: 1 inch from the right (if you are using the Dowdy paper, make sure that last little blue bit is in the 1 inch that gets scored)
back pocket: 1 inch from the left

Step Three
Stitch the notebook paper to the inside of the folder, but leave a bit of room from the centre, you’ll be stitching down this centre fold.

Step Four
Washi tape the flip-out paper to the front of the one inch flap of the back cover and stitch. Don’t worry about stitching through the washi tape if you need to.

Step Five
Lay the front pocket on the front cover and the back one on the back cover. Use the washi tape you don’t like much to hold it in place.

TIP: test the tape on a piece of scrap paper to make sure it won’t rip your paper when you pull it up. Or you can always stick it to the back of your hand before laying it down.

Step Six
Lay the pieces down in the following order, lining up all the scored lines to make the centre fold, using washi tape to hold as you go.
front cover (with pocket)
back cover (with pocket and flip-out)
folder

Step Seven
Stitch it baby! Right up that centre fold!
If you haven’t stitched on paper before, or are a little leary, I have a series on youtube that’ll walk you through it. Otherwise you could try the no-sew option.

NO SEW version:
Poke four holes along the centre fold, through ALL layers of paper (I just poked through with a thumbtack). One at the top, one at the bottom and two near the middle. With your big needle threaded with baker’s twine or embroidery thread go in through the back of the top middle hole, bring it up to the top hole. Go back out and bring it all the way down to the bottom hole and then back out the bottom-middle hole. Pull everything really tight and then tie a double knot to hold everything well.
If you’d like a video run through of this, I have a free class on my website that runs you through it. You can sign up here and the no-sew bit starts at about eighteen minutes thirty seconds.

Step Eight
Remove all the washi tape carefully. Use the washi tape you like to stick down the flap from the front cover and to cover the back of any stitching you don’t like.

Step Nine
Stitch around the pockets.

TIP: stitch from the front, I find that when you stitch on paper the back is not as pretty. This way your front cover will stay nice. Add a pencil mark to the front so you know where the pocket ends and where to start and stop sewing.

Step Ten
Trim the holes from the sides of your pocket pages. Make sure you leave enough extra room for stitching. Line up and washi tape to the back of the flip out about 1/4 inch from the fold.

TIP: I like to washi down each page individually because these suckers are slippery!!

Step Eleven
Glue the binding on and add some wash tape to either side. The book will be pretty stiff, so I like to fold the book open and closed over and over to loosen it up.

Now it’s time to decorate the cover the way you’d like!! Check out this quick, little video on my Youtube to see what it looks like on the inside.

If you make one I would love to see! Link it up in the comments, please! Also, don’t hesitate to ask any questions, I’m happy to help.

Cara is a Canadian living in Luxembourg with her hubby and 6 children. She’s trained them well and they all adore Star Wars, Harry Potter and Doctor Who. She loves every single moment of the scrapbooking process, from the stories and the photos, to the design, techniques and product (who can resist all those gorgeous products!). Cara loves bright, happy colours, lots of white and lots of white space and layers and clusters! Her first love was sewing until she discovered scrapbooking in 2000, now she tries to blend the two, whether it’s stitching on scrapbook layouts and projects like this one or adding layers and clusters to clothes. You can find Cara on her site thehootingpirate.com or on her handwritten blog . However, in all honestly, she’s on instagram everyday! She has a brand new etsy shop, where you can buy your very own Christmas planner if you’re feeling the crunch and making one just seems too daunting this year.

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I love incorporating different mediums all into one scrapbook page. Today, I am demonstrating some of my favorite techniques at the moment – stamping, watercolors and stitching. I love starting off on a fresh, clean sheet of white cardstock.

To make the watercolor shapes, I made a small circle with a juicy dot of paint and used a straw to blow some air to make this splattered effect. For the 2 strips of paint below, I just painted two short lines, lighter color first, darker color on top.

To add the circles, I punched out some phrases from Shimelle’s and my Stitched line of papers, added a cork circle and stamped a Kelly Purkey image.

Next, to add a few more stamped phrases from Kellie Winnell and place my photo.

I added some handwritten journaling and then beneath, I used a paper piercer to make a few holes and added some simple line stitches beneath the journaling. This is a fantastic and fast way to add a bit of texture with thread to any paper project. And really is the perfect finishing touch, in my opinion.

It’s hard for Amy Tan to imagine where her life would be had she not fallen in love with scrapbooking in 2007. This hobby has afforded her so many amazing opportunities—including a number of signature lines with American Crafts, many of her projects published in a variety of magazines, her own book, and the chance to meet so many inspiring people—that she is endlessly grateful for. Her company, Amy Tangerine keeps her busy with creative collaborations ranging from custom scrapbooks to celebrity events to consulting services. When she’s not at home in Los Angeles, California with two mischievous Jack Russell Terriers, her long-time partner, JC and their adorable son, Jack, she is traveling, finding great places to eat, and doing her best to enjoy every moment. All while Instagramming everything along the way. Amy loves salted caramel anything, doggy cuddles, baby giggles, palm trees, riding her beach cruiser, and nachos. Always nachos. You can see what she’s up to on her blog amy tangerine and Instagram and join her for her latest online workshop, entitled Inspiration Live (only $20!)

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Some of you may remember I designed a set of ‘real life’ phrase stamps for Two Peas in a Bucket last year, called Nailed It. With the closure of Two Peas, I now have the remaining sets of this design and can ship them from here in London, which may make a difference if you were hoping to order a set to a European address and shipping from the US was too expensive. Of course it’s still possible to send them back to North America if that’s where you are!

These stamps are high quality photo polymer, made in the USA. They are long-wearing and can be used with a variety of inks. You will need an acrylic block or other stamping surface, as clear stamps don’t come mounted to anything (that will be old hat to those of you who stamp all the time, but I know it’s a little confusing the first time you see a set of clear stamps so it’s worth a mention now and then). The set is 4×6 inches, and the individual phrases are designed to fit on 3×4 cards for Project Life scrapping as well as other projects of any size.

Sorry – all stamps now sold! Thank you!

About the Workshop The new workshop will be available shortly, just waiting on one last tiny detail and then it will be available for you!

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With September’s end drawing near, I find the end of Learn Something New (the annual September project in my world) makes me excited to dive into new learning adventures with a more specific focus. Just in case you’re the same, I wanted to share two new scrapbooking workshops with you, led by two talented ladies and dear friends.

First up, a workshop from May Flaum! I’ve contributed a layout and extended video to her new class that focuses on using all the supplies you’ve been collecting. (My contribution covers paper scraps.) For ten days, May will lead you through the different items in your stash. Supplies on Hand starts this Wednesday.

May has brought together a great team of contributors, including Ashli Oliver, Lisa Dickinson, Paige Evans, Patricia Roebuck, Sasha Farina, Anna-Karin Evaldsson, Michelle Wooderson, Mel Blackburn, Emma Williams, Sian Fair, all contributing new layouts with either step by step tutorials or videos, and of course May has included lots of her own new projects too.

Supplies on Hand starts on the first of October and you can register now.

Or if you’re looking for a last minute workshop now that we are coming to the end of Learn Something New, Wilna Furstenburg has just started a new four week workshop, Art and Design, at Big Picture Classes.

With twenty instructional videos, Wilna will walk you through dozens of tips, tricks, and techniques to make new pages that break her beautifully artistic style down to simple steps and easy ways to remember strong design principles that can be applied to all sorts of layouts. If you have taken and enjoyed her Art Class workshops (formerly at Two Peas and now available on her own site), you’ll love this new twist of teaching her style, but it’s not necessary to have taken any of her earlier classes to follow this one.

This class has just started and registration ends on the first of October, so there are only two more days left to sign up.

And speaking of workshops, I’m in the final stages of moving my Two Peas workshops to my own site and will be launching a brand new workshop this week too! Watch this space, as they say.

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When I saw that the Shimelle collection was overloaded with fabulous patterned papers I could not wait to get my hands on it… all of it. I immediately jumped in and got started. I picked a few papers to save for background papers and then I started cutting the rest into strips. Some of various widths but mostly in the one inch and one point five inch category. I am thrilled with this collection and can’t wait to create even more projects with the supplies I have left.

Day One
On this layout I used twelve strips of patterned paper. I cut each piece of paper just under an inch wide. I scored and pleated each strip and machine stitched each pleated strip before I adhered it to my background paper. At the top of each strip I added a die cut number. This technique gives lots of texture and dimension to the layout.

First Day
By cutting strips of patterned paper in various widths I created a bold chevron background on this layout. With a background this bold I kept embellishments to a minimum and only added a little bit of machine stitching throughout the chevron.

Almost Two
This is my favorite of the five layouts I created with patterned paper strips. This was really easy to complete. It was a little bit time consuming so I turned on my favorite show and got to work. I adhered the very end of the strips while I was weaving them to make sure they stayed in place. I used a LOT of adhesive underneath when I was finished. To give the project a more finished look I put strips of white cardstock above and below the woven parts to cover the uneven ends. The layout is complete with a strip of glitter tape on the top and bottom of the woven background. The strip of cardstock at the bottom of the layout made a perfect spot for some journaling cards.

Keep Learning… always
This layout is created by cutting a heart out of the background sheet of paper. Then, on the back of the paper I adhered strips of patterned paper so they were inlaid on the background. I also added a wood veneer piece to one of the strips. This layout also varies from the other ones because it doesn’t contain a photo. This layout is just for my kids. I wanted to document my hopes for them. I didn’t have a photo that particularly went with the story so I just left it as a story, without a photo.

State Fair Fun
On this layout I used all the bits and pieces from the previous layouts I created. I adhered the strips to scraps of cardstock and then die cut the scraps of cardstock in my manual die cut machine. These bold scalloped circles added a bold whimsical look to the white cardstock background.

Becki Adams has been passionate about memory keeping since 1998 when she first started scrapbooking. She lives in a small farming town in Idaho, USA. She spends her days scrapbooking, blogging, creating, being a mom to three amazing kids, and being a second mom to her nieces and nephew. She loves a clean house, a good book, and a really great cup of hot chocolate (in the winter) or a glass of raspberry lemonade (in the summer). Oh, and chocolate, don’t forget chocolate. She also love a great find in a thrift store. Some of her favorite things to look for are books and dishes… a girl can never have too many dishes, or books. You can find Becki designing for Pebbles Inc. and Carta Bella Paper. You can also find her on her blog, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

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Gold is all the rage right now, and using gold foil in scrapbooking has become a staple. I’d been toying with the idea of using actual gold leaf in my scrapbook projects for a while and recently decided to give it a try. In doing so, I found that it’s actually quite easy to work with. Now I’m adding gold leaf to almost all my crafts and may even prefer the texture over gold foil!

Below is a three part video series where I create a mini book using some of the lovely products from Shimelle’s new scrapbook collection. In all three videos there are examples of the simple process I use to add gold leaf in any shape to my projects.

Part one is the mini book cover, where I add gold leaf in the shape of a jeep with flourish design (which I created on my computer).

Part two is adding gold leaf letters and shapes directly onto some of the mini book pages and photos.

Part three is design and assembly of the mini book as well as a flip through of the completed project.

One of the things I like the most about this mini book is that I only use three 12×12 papers, and two embellishment packs (all from Shimelle’s collection) in the design. Of course, I also used photos, page protectors, and an album cover, but the basics are only made up of those five elements with almost no waste. I think it’s such a cool idea.

Some helpful notes/details about this project:
・I use contact paper that is sticky on only one side. Silhouette makes a double sided adhesive sheet if you don’t want to trouble with adding adhesive to the non-sticky side of the contact paper.
・ I am able to add gold leaf to any surface type (paper, wood, plastic, metal, glass, etc…), because of the adhesive I use for the backside of the contact paper. This all purpose wet adhesive is called The Ultimate.
・ Make sure that your contact paper has the sticky side facing towards you and the non-sticky side towards your background.
・ I use my Silhouette Cameo to cut out most of my shapes, but instead you can hand cut out any shape you like.
・ You can use a protective sealer over your gold leaf, but I personally haven’t found one yet that does not cover up that beautiful gold leaf texture.
・ Sometimes it is easiest to line up your cut design (if it consists of multiple pieces), by using the opposite cut as a guide. If this doesn’t make sense there is an example of this in the Part Two video when I’m working with the word “FUN”.
・ I used my typewriter for the journaling.
・ Trimming page protectors to custom sizes, and adding tabs to the smallest helps create depth, interest, and makes the pages easier to turn.

Carrie is a YouTuber who loves to take photos and create little pieces of art with pretty paper.  She enjoyed teaching scrapbook classes when she lived in San Diego, adores her family, and thinks where she now lives in the Pacific Northwest is breathtakingly beautiful. When it comes to memory keeping her imagination usually takes over and helps her see outside the box. Carrie is expecting her first child around the new year, likes having blue mermaid hair, thinks that rain smells sweet, and still has a crush on her sweetheart of 20 years. You can check out her work on her blog, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.

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Just a quick update to let you know the Shimelle collection is now available here at scrapbook.com, and is currently at a discount.

Have a fabulous weekend!

_{(That’s an affiliate link. Thanks for your support if you choose to use it!)}

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