How To Fix Your My Creations Bookmark Album

Close To My Heart has a really cute mixed-page mini-album called the My Creations Bookmark Album. I LOVED the magnetic flip-over clasp; but the whole thing was so skinny! I doubted if I could even layer a photo and patterned paper on each page and still close the book (you can, but barely). 

So I fixed it.

Step one: 

Remove the flimsy tiny jump rings that it comes with. Usually I have no complaints about a Close To My Heart product, but these are really bad quality! Go buy some sturdy ones from an office store as large as you like to fit your book. 

Step two:

Lay out just the last page with the magnetic flap. Chop out the little rectangle between the creases where the flap closes, like this:

Step three: 

Cut yourself a wider one! Mine is cut from 2 pieces glued together of that thin chipboard that comes with a pad of paper. You could use normal chipboard, cardboard, even a few cereal box pieces would be great. Cut your new piece as tall as the old one and as wide as you need for your book to be thicker. Mine is only about 1/4 an inch wider, but it made a world of difference!

Step four: 

Get your Duck Tape. Yes, we are being manly and fixing our girly scrapbook album with Duck Tape. It is ok to borrow your husbands if you do not currently own your own roll :) I used silver, because that's what we had and I am impatient. White would probably have blended in better in this case... Measure and cut 2 pieces the same length as your book (it's about 4 inches). 

Step five:

Line up your album back, your new rectangle, and the magnetic flap onto one of the Duct Tape strips. MAKE SURE YOUR MAGNETIC FLAP IS CLOSING THE RIGHT WAY!!! We don't want to go to all this work and have the flap not connect! Leave a little bit of room between all the pieces so they are still flexible. Once lined up straight, press down hard! (Obviously try to line up really good before the pressing... or your chipboard will look like mine when you rip it off for a second try...)

Step six:

Flip your book over. Line up the other Duct Tape strip and press onto this side. Really press hard and seal the tape together in the creases.  Both sides should now have a lovely strip of duct tape connecting your new rectangle to your mini-book. 

Step seven:

For the love of all things holy, DECORATE THE DUCT TAPE! Unless, of course, this is an album for a teenage boy or something... that would look awesome! And the silver really isn't bad. You hardly see it, see? 

Ta-da! Finished album! Only now it is thick enough to not only hold paper AND photos, but embellishments as well! And it still closes magnetically!

Wow, that was quite the post! Let me know if you have questions!

Favorite

This is my favorite club project ever!!!

A back-to-school ruler-wreath! My amazing upline Blythe (visit her blog HERE) saw something like this on Pintrest last year, and here it is! I can never keep track of an idea for a year...

Wooden rulers, paper, and buttons. Who knew?!

I am entering this in Heart2Hear's back-to-school challenge this week (visit the blog HERE) so more people can see it and copy it and EVERYONE can have one! That's how much I love this wreath!

Now go make your own!

Happy Birthday Blythe!

Today is my amazingly talented and really nice upline Blythe's birthday! She is turning 24 with a few years experience ;)

I didn't get to go shopping (see previous post) so all she got was this card:

As close to a copy from an old Papercrafts magazine as I could get! I think it turned out cute... I just wish it was attached to a present!

Every cupcake needs a little pink glitter! My cupcake stamp was too big to fit in the circle punch I wanted to use, so I just chopped off some of the "wrapper" at the bottom. 

Just the inside view. Not sure why the Hollyhock pink looks so red in this photo?

I like to make cards that open in fun ways! To me, this version of opening is more fun than the traditional card. 

Ok, so it's not that exciting. Let's remember that I haven't slept in 3 days...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLYTHE!!!

Going CRAZY!

I am chained to my house sitting by both phones waiting for the surgery center to call and tell me when my 11-year-old is getting her tonsils and adenoids out... tomorrow...

I am going insane!

So to divert my mind, or at least part of it, I made a card:

This card is not an exact copy, but is pretty heavily inspired by a card I saw in an old Cards magazine. I got to use up some scraps! And cardboard! And acid-full ribbon I can't use on my pages!

Here is a quick view of the inside that kind of makes the whole "orange and oranges" theme work. At least I hope it makes it work...

Thanks for diverting you minds with me!

Don't worry; they will call between 8 and 5. 

Any time now. 

Yes, it really IS a wedding card!

I needed a wedding card.
Quick.
Like the reception was in 3 hours quick.

So after wasting 1/3 of those hours looking through books for something to copy (am I the only one?) this is what I came up with:

I know what you're thinking: zig-zag, orange, polka dots? This is NOT a wedding card! ...well YES IT IS! Trust me, I created it. 

I used the same color combo as all of the towels on their gift registry. They had zig-zags on their invite and their welcome mat. The invite was tied with bakers twine. And their date was printed in a circle. 

See? Perfect for a wedding! Perhaps not most weddings, but definitely for this one!

All the circle pieces are popped up and the card is cut to open in the middle. You could easily make the zig-zag piece into a pocket for a gift card, but mine just went into an envelope attached to above mentioned welcome mat :)

Happy unconventional wedding crafting!

Good Enough?

I'm nervous.

I have been invited to join a rather exclusive card group and I don't know if I am good enough...

You tell me:

This is what I came up with. I needed to use new product, the Flirty Paper Packet, and no discontinued stuff. Oh, and make 20!

I stamped the flower in 3 colors and cut them out separately so I could ink the edges a bit. Then I hooked them on with foam tape for even more dimension.

The awesomely beautiful ribbon is the new Rosette Ribbon. It was surprisingly simple to work with! I have seen people dye is and sponge it, but all I needed to do was glue it on :)

So you let me know.

Is this card good enough?

September Layout

I am super early this time! I was just excited to start using the NEW papers from Close To My Heart's NEW catalog!

Here is the layout my scrapbooking group will be making in September:

We will be using the NEW Scholastic Paper Pack. My whole family loves to read so I decided it was time to make a book layout!

I used the NEW Canvas Alphabet for the title and and OLD poem from Shel Silverstein :)

I am in love with the NEW Burlap Ribbon and the Bakers Twine! We are using lots of embellishments on this one... 

Contact me if you are in Utah County in September and want to join us!