Brae-er Team Blog Hop: Back to 'school' we go!

Time for another Brae-er Team Blog Hop: Back to 'school' we go!

This hop will have a bit of a different twist on it- consultants have created artwork, card, scrapbook pages using current product with a tutorial aspect. It might be done in a video, by picture tutorial or in another format. So let's go back to school...

If you have come from Carol-Anne Greiner's blog then you are on the right track.

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Welcome to my first blog hop entry!  I have thoroughly loved looking at other Close to my Heart blog hops and thought I'd give it a try.

Recently I made a graduation memory book for my niece Kira.  I had a blast creating it and she thoroughly enjoyed the stroll down memory lane.  (You can use these tips for a Hip Pic Album on any theme!)

Book theme - Graduation from high school
Colours scheme - Kraft, White Daisy, Crystal Blue, Outdoor Denim, Honey and Smoothie (the light green is non CTMH paper)
Key materials - Hip Pics Album, inks and cardstock in the colours listed above; Cricut Artbooking, Artiste and Art Philosophy cartridges; Cricut machine; sponge daubers; adhesive; various CTMH stamps

The cover circle/star masking is made from the Artbooking cartridge.  The letters are Art Philosophy.  (The small graduate image is from a non CTMH cartridge.)

Inside Cover - Cut borders from Outdoor Denim cardstock at 1".  (All borders used in this book are cut at that size. You will need to trim the ends of most of them as they are longer than the book is wide; however, the height of the border is ideal for the Hip Pics Album size.)

Create a frame with the borders. Trim as needed.  Cover with a 4x6 photo of your choice.

Page 1 - Play around with the size of items on scraps of paper before using your "precious stash' of CTMH papers.

For this page, the flower is cut at 1 3/4" Real Dial Size from page 78 of the Artbooking cartridge. The "Sweet" Flag is cut at 3/4" Real Dial Size from page 49 (also the Artbooking cartridge.)

The border is cut at 1" from the Cricut Artiste cartridge.

Page 2 - The butterfly was cut at three different sizes from the Artiste cartridge.  The largest butterfly was cut from White Daisy cardstock, but I used the sponge dauber and the Honey ink to turn it yellow.

Insert 2a - Cut at 6" from the Artbooking cartridge.  To make the page more durable, I cut two layers: one from craft cardstock and one from White Daisy.  I glued them together to create a thicker, more durable page. The honey (yellow) pocket was also cut from the Artbooking cartridge.

The pocket provides a space to slide in some journaling or a place for the gift recipient to record memories.

Attach the page to the rings of the Hip Pics Album with ribbon or baker's twine.  I used the Outdoor Denim baker's twine (which is not longer available.)

TIP: You can use the inserts to add more photos (as I did on the rear of this one), to add journaling spots or to create dividers.

Other:

The swirly button die cut in Outdoor Denim was cut from the Artiste cartridge. The Outdoor Denim numbers at the bottom of the pocket are a 1" border from Artiste that has been trimmed to fit.

Stamp sets:  The lined page is from the Workshop on the Go Wanderful kit (G1088). 

(Retired hostess stamps: The washi strips are from a hostess stamp from the Fall/Winter 2013 Idea Book and "This makes me smile" is from Enjoy the Little Things a hostess stamp from the Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book.)

Page 4 & 5- To create a more weather or aged look, use a distressing tool.  I used the Sanding Kit (Z1294) to make the ruler border look well used.  I over sanded the border on the page below, it removed the divider between the two ones in the number eleven, but I decided to leave it.  It went along with the well used look.

Stamps sets: The apple is from Teacher Appreciation (D1612) 

(The "grade" letters are from a  retired alpha stamp and the lantern and "Let your light...." are from Illuminate November 2013 Stamp of the Month.) 

Note: The ruler border, bookmark insert and star were all created using CTMH Cricut cartridges.

  

Page 6 - Also used stamp for the pencil.  Cover the eraser part of the pencil with masking tape when inking the stamp.  Remove the masking tape and stamp the yellow part of the pencil on White Daisy cardstock.  Clean the stamp.  Then reverse the process.  Cover the pencil part with tape and ink the eraser image.  Remove the tape. Carefully line up the stamp and press.  Voila!  A Honey coloured pencil with a Smoothie eraser.

Stamp sets: The pencil is from Teacher Appreciation (D1612)

Insert 6a - This page is cut at 6" Real Dial Size from the Artbooking cartridge. The frame and phrase are both also cut from Artbooking. 

To give the arrow a colour other than the background Kraft paper colour, I glued a small scrap of Honey paper behind it. 

TIP: Be careful when inking items that you don't press clean paper into something ink stained.  This is what happened to my insert page.  There was a smudge of Outdoor Denim ink on the page.  So, instead of allowing this to ruin the whole page or make me start over from scratch, I went with it and added more daubs of ink to the page. 

 Page 8 & 9 - The Crystal Blue frame is cut from Artbooking. The centers of the flowers are made from Black and Grey Epoxy Bubbles.

Stamp Sets: The "love this" is from #30yearsofhappy, "Sweet moments" is from the current/September 2014 Stamp of the Month Family is Forever (S1409).

(The flowers are from a retired Hostess stamp.)

Page 10 & 11 - The Kraft frame is cut from the Artbooking cartridge.  I reused the White Daisy arrow by daubing Smoothie ink on it and using it below the frame. 

Stamp Sets: The "Like" and camera are from #30yearsofhappy. 

Page 12 - The banner shape, circle mask, "10 THINGS" and "I like" are cut from the Artbooking cartridge. 

Stamp Sets: "Oh so happy" from Happy Hexagons (C1596) - this is a hostess exclusive stamp from the current Annual Idea Book.  The 1-10 journaling item is from Hello Summer (C1595).

  

Insert 12 a - The insert is cut at 6" Real Dial Size from the Artbooking cartridge.  The small White Daisy folder is also cut from Artbooking at 3". 

Tip:  The mini folder is a great place for the gift recipient to do some secret/hidden journaling.

Page 14 & 15 - The colouring behind the border is created using the masking tape technique. The flowers are cut from White Daisy cardstock and inked using the Daubers.

Stamp Sets: "Remember This Moment" from This Moment (S1501) January 2015 Stamp of the Month, "Hello" from Happy Hexagons (C1596) - this is a hostess exclusive stamp from the current Annual Idea Book. 

Page 16 & Inside Rear Cover -  The blue and yellow coloured lines below the number border are created using the masking tape technique.

Stamp Sets:  "Be Amazing" from This Moment (S1501) January 2015 Stamp of the Month

CTMH Materials Used:
- Hip Pics Album (Z1956)
- Sanding Kit (Z1294)
- Cricut Artbooking cartridge (Z1906)
- Cricut Artiste (Z1790)
- Cricut Art Philosophy (Z1686)
- Ink: Smoothie (Z2196), Honey (Z2162), Outdoor Denim (Z2140) and Crystal Blue (Z2117)
- Cardstock: Kraft (Z1375), White Daisy (1385), Honey (X5668), Outdoor Denim (1275) and Crystal Blue(1292).  (The cardstock can also be bough in the combination packages.)
- Sponge Daubers (Z726)
- Black and Grey Epoxy Bubbles (Z1935)
- Stamp sets:
#30yearsofhappy (Free this month with $30 worth of CTMH stamps purchase)
September 2014 Stamp of the Month Family is Forever (S1409) (Only $5 with a $50 purchase this month!)
Happy Hexagons (C1596)
Hello Summer (C1595)
Teacher Appreciation (D1612) 
This Moment (S1501) January 2015 Stamp of the Month
Workshop on the Go Wanderful kit (G1088). 

Other Supplies:

- Cricut machine

- adhesive (flat and raised)

- masking tape

- Baker's Twine

- photos of your choice

Thanks for visiting my blog!    

Darcel

For more information: contact me at closetomyheartkw@gmail.com

or check out my website at kwregion.ctmh.com.

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I hope you have enjoyed your stop here. Be sure to visit your consultant's website for more information about the fantastic September promotions. 

Now on to Heather Dawson's blog to see her tips on random stamping. 

For a complete list of blogs on this hop, see Brae's Blog.

Enjoy the tour!