Baby Brag Book

One of my husband's cousin had a little boy and I made this little brag book to accompany the gift. Every proud new mama needs something to display pics of her new baby wherever she goes... :-)

Inside are pages of double sided cardstock that she can just glue pictures on.

This is actually quite easy to do. The cover is a piece of cardstock that has been embossed with a folder that looks like some sort of leather to me, and the pages are just cut to size and sewn with a sewing machine.

To decorate the cover I just used some of the same cardstock from inside, and some felt buttons (glued on with a hot glue gun so there is no chance they will come off even if this is carried in a purse). I used special brads and some twine to make sure this stays closed as well.

I made a simple card to go with it, using more of the coordinated cardstock, and heat embossed the sentiment. The twine on the brag book is by Trendy Twine, the one on the card is by the Twinery. Stamp is My Thoughts Exactly. The button dies are by the Cat's Pajama.

Purple Birthday...

No you are not dreaming, finally a card on my blog!! LOL Well, what can I say, life is crazy! I'm sure most of you can relate... ;-)
This card I made for my friend Bee's birthday is a huge card actually, since it's made of a whole 8.5X11 sheet of ivory cardstock as the base. I really like the DP I used and wanted a big background to really showcase it!  (If you want it big too, just click on the pic... ;-))
I cut-out the wings of some of the butterflies right from the paper to give them a little lift... and added one made with a die cut. I played around with transfer paper a little bit to see if it could stand up for vellum at a fraction of the cost and I have to say, it's not bad! :-)
I used a mail themed stamps set from PTI to decorate my paper further and make a mini stamp for the corner. I used as much purple as possible since it's her favorite color... ;-)

For a little bit of a surprise inside I made those buttons with a die, using one layer of DP and one layer of cardstock (cereal box! ;-)). I glued them together with my mini Xyron, perfect for that kind of project when you want glue on all the surface but don't want to use liquid glue which will make the paper warp... The colors of my pic are horrendous, I swear they're not as ugly in real life (but I cannot take another pic since I mailed them today, LOL)!.. ;-)

On a felt kick...

I have been on a felt kick lately! (yes, of course I plan on pairing it with the twine!... ;-))
Today I tried some of my dies with felt and am happy to report I got great results!

I recently ordered some PaperTrey Ink wool felt and, let me tell you, it's nothing like the acrylic stuff you find at Michaels!... I tried both with the dies and, needless to say, the wool felt performed way better. The acrylic was ok for basic shapes like the heart or a scalloped circle but anything slightly intricate, even buttons, didn't work at all. The wool felt is pricey, but in that instance you get what you paid for... ;-)

A lot of companies are now selling thin steel dies that you can use in your Cuttlebug, and they cut cardstock but also felt and fabric. Before I got my Cricut a year ago, I was using dies with my Cuttlebug, and even now they are still a staple for me. I like their convenience, and the fact that I can use them to make a dent in my stash of scraps, (something my Cricut doesn't help with!). :-)
Today I used dies from The cat's pajama, PaperTrey Ink, CuttleBug, and some shapeabilities...

I apologize for the yucky pics but it was night time, and I wanted to take pics quickly before putting those away since, as you know from yesterday's post, I cannot leave anything on my desk! ;-)

Shapeabilities




 How cool are those butterflies?!...

The Cat's Pajama

 Now, won't that look lovely with twine?!...

Cuttlebug

PaperTrey Ink

Cuttlebug

 Aren't those Paisleys awesome?!... Can't wait to put them on a card or something!...

Cuttlebug

Now all I need is time to try and use my little stash of felt embellies!!...
So next time your mojo took a vacation, grab your dies and your Cuttlebug (or your big Shot, or your Sizzix, or your Wizard.... ;-)) , get some (good) felt and start making some embellishments! While you're at it, also use some of your scraps of designer paper!... ;-)