Just old fashioned scrapping...

A BIG "Hi" to you all from Di (in Sunny Johannesburg, South Africa this weekend).

This morning we have a prize winner and its Heather from Scotland!!! Please contact us at acreativeworld@hotmail.co.uk provide us with your address and your prize will be on it's way to you!!!

Do I have to remind you that I am an 'old fashioned' scrapper? I used to make scrap books using post cards, menus and loads of stuff cut out from magazines. Well, guess what, I still like to do that!!!!

Recently I spent a week in a beautiful place called Hermanus watching the whales. I was there with my niece Joanne and her boyfriend Richard. Jo asked me to help her make a little momento of the holiday for Richard (who lives in Wales). Now Jo has never scrapped before so we reverted to the old fashioned style!

This is what we made for Richard:

And this is what we started with:

For the pages: cut 2 pieces of cardstock into 6 by 6inch squares.

For the back cover: cut a 6 by 6 inch square of cardboard.

Fot the front cover: cut a 6 by 6 inch square of corrugated cardboard and peeled away some of the brown paper to reveal the corrugated bit.

We used brown ink for the cardboard and green pages and black ink for the red pages. This is what we collected to fill the album:

We collected brochures, menus, bills, and of course photographs!! We cut WORDS from old magazines.

The Front cover

The back cover:

Some of the pages:

We had lots of fun and it did not take long! I have decided that I am going to make an old fashioned scrapbook of IDEAS, using stuff torn from magazines! I think it will be great fun, simple and therapeutic .

Oh and just a reminder that you still have time to scrap your boobs!

And another reminder to keep those donations pouring in. You have been so generous and every single pound helps.

Thanks for visiting us at IACW with love from Di XXX

Mini Book Challenge

Today we are challenging you to make a mini book. It could be in any style for any occasion, it just needs to be some sort of book.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I am put off from making a mini book as I 'think' it will be very time and labour intensive. But of course it doesn't have to be.

A few of the girls at IACW have been playing and have come up with a few ideas for mini books that are relatively quick and simple.

The first is Andrea's book - a gift for her friend. It was made to keep a record of her little girls' birthdays, from her 1st to her 18th so each page has a numbered tab with the age on and in 18 years when Ela is all grown up and beginning life as an adult Donna can look back at a lifetime of birthday memories.

Andrea's book started out life as a 'little pink pig' wire bound journal. She removed the wires, covered the front and back with the candy striped paper, covered the front and back inside covers with a plain pink paper, cut a strip of pink paper and attached to the front and added a chipboard flower and letter.

Andrea made the tabs by cutting small rectangles of patterned paper from the offcuts used to cover the book, folding in half and attaching to the pages with an office stapler, she used number stamps to label each tab. Andrea used different patterns of pink ribbons and teeny tiny paper tags to decorate the wire binding and her book was finished in a couple of hours.

********

Caz also took up the mini book challenge and she has made a fantastic birthday book to record all the important birthdays in her family month by month. Just like Andrea, Caz has used patterned paper to cover the front and back of her book and used die cut letters to spell out the title.

Caz added tabs to the top and side of each page to distinguish each of the months so she can easily keep up to date with upcoming birthdays.

To decorate and disguise the wire binding Caz used a variety of different ribbons and tied small charms that dangle down the spine.

********

Trish was inspired by the arrival of Snuggles, a new family pet and made a mini book to record it's arrival. She used Basic Grey papers and various tags, rub ons and embellishments to create this sweet little book.

********

We hope that you've been inspired by our mini-books and we want to see your creations so please leave a link back to your gallery in the message box and remember to check back on Saturday for details of our exciting prize draw.

Memories of......

Hey from Caz!! I hope you have all had a good week and have an exciting weekend of crafting planned!

In todays post we are going to be looking at a themed mini book. And it's in a format I totally love to do....envelope books! They are seriously so easy and quick to put together, and of course you can make the book as small or large as you need it. With the added bonus of ready made pockets!

As we near the end of 2007 I am amazed to think back at how eventful this year has been for us so far. My DHs son came over to live with us for 6 months, going from 0 to 13 in no time was a shock to my system but has also been a massive learning curve for me. It snowed, heavily, for the first time since moving to the country and that brought with it some very interesting experiences. We got married!! That was a great day, and one I will never forget *heart*. Very good friends of our left to return to NZ for ever (!!) to start a family and settle down, very sad for us :( but FABBO for them. DHs daughter has returned to live in the UK, which we are very happy about. And finally we have 2 new babies in our family which is just too flippin' exciting!

So without further delay, here is the cover for my Memories of 2007 'book' and below it is open showing January to June, July to December are on the other side.

And some close up details photos :)

I have used 7 envelopes to make 12 'pages' plus the front and back cover.

To make up an envelope book all you need to do is adhere the envelope 'flap' to the body of another envelope. You can either lay all the envelopes the same way ie all the 'openings' facing up, or alternate them, so you have openings (ready made pockets) at the front and back of the book. Concertina it and use ribbon to tie it closed.

I have used different papers throughout to represent the theme of the month and photos. And of course it's a great way to use up your off cuts and scraps :)

Print smaller photos so you have loads of room to journal.

I do hope this project has inspired you, and don't forget you can adapt this to use as gifts too.

Grannys would love an envelope brag book of their grandchildren ;)

Ciao and haPPy creATing!! Caz

xx