Cards and Memories

Wow! I can't believe it's already past the middle of April ... and that I haven't put anything on this blog since January.

Crafting took a bit of a back seat with the start of the year and I just didn't have the ideas.
I have done a few more cards for my friend (she still hasn't seen them, unless she reads this blog), and I have been working on a few other projects - mainly putting all my memory stuff in books (more on that later). I'm also still trying to get African Sunset finished for my sister's birthday later this year; and I'm desperate to get it done and move onto something else (I've been working on it, off and on, for 5 years).

In case you were wondering, my camp costume worked really well (sorry I don't have a photo - although there may be one somewhere).

Cards

 This one was for my brother - just using stickers on a green card ... Simple!

A découpage lion for a friend's cute 1 year old! It took me hours to cut out all the layers (I think there were 7 layers).

 These two are for my friend. It was remarkable how the first one (burgundy bow) came together. It all started with the bow. I have several of these that came off some packaging (can't quite remember what, although they may have been around some of the writing paper sets that I had - see earlier posts for how I've used those), and I wanted to use them somehow because they have been stashed away for years. So I rummaged around in my scraps of card and found the embossed background that I had done to test out a Fiskars texture plate. Then I layered it with the burgundy cardstock (it was from an old Stampin' Up! range) and added the final touch with a Kaiser Craft tag from one of their collectables collections (can't remember which and I'm too lazy to get them out to check).

The second one also uses elements from Kaiser Crafts Collectables - the koala and gum leaves. The photo behind is one that I took on a holiday to Phillip Island last year. I'm really happy how that worked too.

There are several more cards to be made for my friend - one I have got inspiration from at a craft show that I went to over the weekend. It is expanding on a 'Make-and-Take' that I did while there (details to come in a future post), plus there will be a Mother's Day card to make (inspiration also found at the craft show).

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Memories
How many of you have a box (or several) packed full of tickets, invitations and other memorabilia that you just can't throw away, but they get all mixed up in the box you have them in?
Well, my next project has been working out what to do with all these things, and what I have done with them was inspired by Kristen from The Next Bird. I stumbled on her page thanks to Pintrest and the rest, so I'm told, is history! Yes, my history - at least from the last couple of years.

My memory journal, is of course my own. I didn't have the rings, but I do have something else - my Bind-it-All! You'll remember that from the journals and notepads I've made previously. It's one of the most useful things and the great thing is that I didn't even have to buy it - I won it in a competition!! (but enough about that, lets get on with the project).

I started with 2014, as the items from that year were at the top of my box. I sorted them into date order as best I could (not everything had a date). Then I made my covers! Recycled cardboard from some packaging, covered with pretty scrapbooking paper and then clear contact over the whole lot to protect it (the label on the front was done later when I figured out what I wanted - I had thought about an inside cover page - using my Brother P-touch).

As I went through everything I punched the holes in them and figured out the best way to display them. Some items were stuck to a piece of cardstock or scrapbooking paper as they were too small to individually punch. For other things that I didn't want to punch or wanted to see both sides I made pockets with scrapbooking paper and washi tape.

I got really creative with some of the pockets - like using the map of Phillip Island to hold some the the memory things from there and I marked on the map where we went, stayed and used the camera washi tape to mark where I took photos, just cutting an individual camera for each spot.

I also started using some of my stash of mini pockets that are pre-cut but you make up yourself. These were stuck onto paper, not individually punched.

For the 2013 Memory book, I used covers from an old display book. The spine of the display book had broken, but the covers were still good and perfectly matched the holes that the Bind-it-All makes. My favourite pocket from that one, is the pocket I made out of a paper hat from a Christmas cracker.

It took a bit of work to figure it out, as I didn't want the things I put in it to go between the paper layers and I wanted to make it a strong as possible, given that it is just tissue paper. So I put the washi tape at the top and made sure when I folded it over that it held the layers together. Originally I was just punching it and putting it in, but then I decided to stick it to the cardstock for extra strength - it's the purple pocket at the bottom of the above photo!

I had thought about stopping with just those 2 years, but then I looked in the box again and decided to keep going with other years, so I'm now working on 2012. I just have to wait for a parcel in the mail because although I have more packaging cardboard, it is not fully A4 size, so I've had to order some A4 chipboard. I'm told it's on it's way, but that stuff is hard to find. Hopefully the thickness is right - thick enough to be strong, but thin enough to fit in my Bind-it-All.

I will say, it is a lot of work to get these books right - making pockets, punching the pages, arranging the items so that one spot isn't too bulky, but I'm really pleased with the result, and now my memory things are neat and not getting mixed up in a jumbled box.

There were some things that were just too bulky to put in, but I have now put them all together in an envelope and that fits into the box with the book.