Travelers Notebook Insert: Flip Through of my Mommy Lhey B6 Clear TN

Hi Friends!  I have been busier sharing on Instagram than on my much neglected blog so please connect with me there too, my handle is @ktnestingspot.

I'm still into subscription boxes...

Sidenote: Did you hear that Julep just discontinued there Maven program?!? I was a saddened by that, as I do really love their makeup products.  My go to eye look uses only their eyeliner and eye shadow stick, plus their top and smoothing base coats are awesome. I can still order but it's nice to have something automatically show up on your doorstep each month.

Anyhoo, my tendencies to get sidetracked evidently are still in full force.  I wanted to jump on here and show off my latest video.  I watch a lot of YouTube on my Kindle, like A LOT of Youtube... it's a fun and relaxing way to "hang" out with my crafty peeps.  From tutorials, unboxings, and more it's really been a joy to see what so many different papercrafters and other creatives are up doing via their YouTube videos. 

I have been wanting to be more involved in the community vs being a passive viewer, although I do happily pass out "Thumbs Up" Likes on their videos and subscribe to a lot of channels.  One of my 2019 New Year Goals was to JUST DO IT and get to my channel and begin posting and not keep recording videos and then deleting because they're not good enough.  Because the truth is, I'm not a professional and it will be a long time, if ever, that they are "good enough".  But in the meantime I'm missing out by not putting out what I AM creating. 

With that being said, here's the first video I created on my iPhone vs my Canon.  I'm enjoying this format because it's streamlined with easier upload and editing right on my phone.  I've still got a long way to go to learn how to use the tools I've got but to start somewhere :)  I hope you enjoy!

100 Day Project: 100 Days of All About Me

I just finished the most ambitious daily project I've participated in to date.  I still can't really believe I actually completed all 100 entries on a daily basis and on time, except for a short period during which I was on vacation and without easy Internet access. 

Many, many creatives participate in the 100 Day Project, this year it officially began April 3 and you can read more about the concept on The100DayProject site. I have done a few month long photo challenges like October Daily and December Daily but I've never fully committed to anything this long.  I'm not counting Project Life because I have never worked on that as a daily commitment.

When I saw that rukristin was coordinating a journaling project with a daily prompt emailed out to participants each day, I decided THIS was the year to join.  I need the daily push to get anything done, I think so the community feel of it was very helpful and I'm sure was a big part of my success.

I opted to make a handmade binder and travelers notebook style inserts but I highly recommend purchasing the book version.  I found out about the project very last minute or that's what I would've done.  It would've made things a lot easier, because to be honest, figuring out a way to cover up the text on the book pages I used nearly every day, so I'd have room to journal was the biggest challenge and one I wish I'd have skipped so I could've focused on reflecting on my replies more.

But I won't lie, having the chunky two inch thick book with all my completed responses after 100 days was ridiculously satisfying.  I've shared some of my favorite entries above, but you can see all of my pages via the hashtag #ktnlovesdailychallenges on Instagram and while you're there, it would be great if you followed me @ktnestingspot because I love making new crafty friends!

Traveler's Notebook Insert Binder Project Share

I have kept journals off and on throughout my life ever since I was able to write.  I have ring bound notebooks from elementary school that were no doubt done as daily assignments but nonetheless instilled a love of writing early one.

Ever since I switched to using a Traveler's Notebook format a few years ago, I've amassed a collection of inserts and covers but I often like my fabric covers so much that after the inserts are completed I don't want to put them on shelf for storage.  Recently I decided to upcycle a used book from my local library's sale, into a storage binder for the two family trips we took last year.

Constructing the cover was simple enough.  I cut the covers down to size and covered with paper, covered with contact paper for durability.  Eyelets were set into the spine for the elastic to hold the insets in place and another for the closure elastic. 

I decided not to cut down the book cover height, so that the extra space would provide cover for some tabs and it also gave me room to add a clip with tourist brochures that would otherwise be too tall.

The completed binder evokes the travel theme I was looking for and now I can easily find the journals for our vacations.

Summer 2014 Daybook

I'm on a roll with making and actually completing mini books right now!  I just put the finishing touches on this adorable Dear Lizzy + American Crafts spiral bound Daybook.  This Daybook is so pretty, it has a die cut banner on the cover, I backed mine with the brown polka dots, a gold vellum page, and a pocket page.

I made this as a keepsake for my daughter's Godmother, who came back from AZ for the summer.  It's the first time in seven years that we've had extended time together and we made the most of it!  I thought this would be a fun way for her to remember all the fun we had together.

I was going to leave the front inside cover blank, but since I filled in the die cut banner with paper, I wanted to cover up the backside of that paper, so I turned this space into a dedication page.

The gold vellum is just gorgeous!  I had fun layering on the front and then using the back of those elements as a bit of a discrete mat for the this side.

I used a lot of various supplies to embellish the Daybook, the Heidi Swapp epoxy words, butterflies, and arrows were among my favorite.  I also relied on some craft stickers to journal on and also some embellishments from various Dear Lizzy + American Crafts lines such as the glitter flowers, gold tickets, etc.

I am still deciding on whether or not to add some twine through the holes on these tags.  I don't want the book to be too bulky, but they look kind of incomplete without them.

That photo frame was cut from an anniversary card I got last August.  It was too perfect not to use. I am going to have my daughter write on some Project Life journaling cards about her favorite summer memories and slip them into this pocket.

I don't normally leave a whole page blank, but I love how the right side looks so much, I just couldn't cover it up.

I used vellum a couple of places in the Daybook to create a very subtle photo mat.  I like how it helps emphasize the grouping of four photos, without drawing taking away from the very graphic number paper.

There were some outings with my three year old son too, but I tried to keep the focus of the Daybook on the fun girl time we shared. I did include this one adventure, since it was an all day affair that the four of us went on while Brad was at work and before E went back to school.

I really enjoyed creating each little page.  I thought the combination of patterned paper in the book was just fantastic.  I have two more of this exact same Daybook so don't be surprised if another one pops up on my blog!

Handmade 3 Pocket Mini Book: October 2012

Last month Jennifer over at Simple Scrapper ran a Stash Bash event and since I have a (affiliate link ->) Premium Membership the event was included in my monthly membership price.  The special events like this really help make the most of your membership.  The girls are so supportive of each other and it's a great community filled with other like minded scrapbookers.  I have shared this project on the monthly Community Show & Tell.

Jennifer had several challenges and the #2 Bake Sale got us looking through our stash to make page kits or a project kit.  I compiled the supplies above into a project kit, do you like the late night cell phone pic I took?  Please excuse the flash!  The things included a lot of leftover bits & pieces from previously used sticker packs, kraft cardstock I bought because kraft was really "in" even though it's not really my thing, and a 6X6 pad I got as a gift with purchase that's not my style and that's been sitting around gathering dust.

Originally my intention was to pre-make a Halloween mini album to have on hand this month all ready for pictures from all the various activities we do.  Somewhere along the way, I decided it was more in line with the Stash Bash theme to use it with already printed pictures from my photo box.  These are mostly photos that never made it on a layout or that I had duplicates.  It was oddly exciting to clear up some room in both my supplies and photos!

I decided to use the kraft cardstock to make pockets, three of them to be exact, and to put "tags" made out of a sheet of double sided paper from the paper pad inside each one.  One pocket has a bonus insert with a little folded photo mat.  Here is how the book looks when you open it once.

This is how it looks when you open it once more.  You can see the three handmade envelops all laid out and connected.  The punched half circles give you a peek of the tags inside.  The one of the far right is the envelope with both a tag and a folded photo mat.  This mini is approximately 6.25 inches by 6.25 inches.  I sized it to work with the 6X6 paper pad with minimal cutting.

Let's take a closer look at each envelope and start with the one covered with the banner paper.  Here is the folded photo mat, shown opened.

I used the folded photo mat to put pictures of each of my kiddos in their costume.  The inside of the mat is shown above.  On the front of this envelope is a picture from pumpkin carving.  Since the paper's design is kind of busy, cute but busy, I kept the embellishment simple.

When you open the mini book the pocket you see on the left is covered in diagonal stripes.  This pocket is where I put all pictures from each of our trips to the pumpkin patches and cider mill near our house.

This kind of mini book is such a fun way to show the highlights of an event or holiday activities.

When the book is opened, this is the pocket you see to the far right.  Inside I was able to put in four not the best quality photos, that look a lot better when cut down into these small sizes.  I like how they help summarize the things we saw & did at our trick or treating at the natural history museum.

Since I devoted one side of the tag to my son's pictures, my daughter is shown on the reverse side.  Low profile embellishments like washi tape & flat stickers work really well to help make a project like this special.  They do not add any extra bulk that might make sliding the tag inside and out difficult.

The middle envelope is one of the last seen when opening up the mini book.  This one is about Halloween, the day time activities at school and the kids all dressed up and ready for candy.  I thought that little witch and pumpkins were so cute and was determined to make sure I incorporated them.  You might be able to see an itty bitty spider on one pumpkin, that's a rub on.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the project I was inspired to work on and complete during Stash Bash.  The paper pad is almost gone and I put a serious dent into my leftover Halloween stickers.  One thing I found as I was creating, is that since I normally choose bright papers, that I didn't have much that went with these more antique looking ones.  I had to research my stash for better embellishments, although I did use several that were in my original Challenge #2 Bake Sale selections.  I didn't finish adding my pictures in time to earn all the points for the challenge but using up some products I've had for way too long was prize enough!

I can't wait to show my kids the new album!

Here is another look of at the mini book, this time shown from the side,  Below is one more view, that shows the back of the middle pocket.  I just covered it with patterned paper.  My plan is to go back and add a few more details like the kids ages, the school E was in, where we live, etc.  These details are fresh in my mind now, but down the road they may not be so it'll be nice to have a quick reference to refer to.

Upcycled Birchboxes into Gift Boxes

Birchbox sends my monthly subscription of beauty & life style samples in sturdy little kraft colored lidded boxes.  They are so nice that I always keep them.  I find they are handy for all sorts of things.  For instance, I keep all my information cards in the empty one from December.  That one was special because it has Merry & Bright embossed on it.  The others all have Birchbox across the middle, but it's easy to cover that up and repurpose the boxes.

We are meeting friends for an Easter get together next weekend and I packaged up a little gift for each of the girls using a few supplies I already had on hand and an empty Birchbox.  It was easy to do.  I started with a bit of leftover of scrapbook paper, which was notched and then layered some metallic washi tape over it.  Next, I spritzed on pink and green mist to give it a little texture and interest.

The pretty twine was added by cutting three equal lengths and then stapling the ends on the sides of the box lid, tucking the loose ends underneath for a neat finish.  I then did a double bow out of more twine for another pretty touch.  A mini glue dot underneath the knots is a nice discrete way to ensure everything stays in place.

The paper flower was made by punching tissue paper, this sheet was salvaged from a gift previously received and is another way to add a little green crafting to this project.  I used a two inch scallop punch, scrunching them up a bit to give it a layered look, and then secured it together with a green brad.  I used more glue dots to attach it to the lid, along a sweet little wood veneer butterfly for a finishing touch.  I think this lovely box is a delightful way to give a gift.  Plus it is pretty enough to be kept for storage by the recipient.

Supplies:

Birchbox: Lidded Kraft Box
Marvy Uchida: Scallop Circle Punch
Making Memories: Patterned Paper & Green Brad
Target Dollar Spot: Washi Tape
American Crafts: Twine
Recollections: Simple Pastel Spray Ink in Pink Shimmer & Green Shimmer, Wood Veneer Butterflies
Glue Dots: Mini & Kraft Adhesive Dots
Tissue Paper: Unknown Source

If you are unfamiliar with Birchbox, it is a monthly subscription service.  You can see my previous reviews, here.  If you choose to try it out, it would be great if you used my referral link.  I earn points and you get to try cool stuff, it's a win - win!

Sharing this at Life on Lakeshore Drive.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

May the Luck of the Irish Always be Yours!

A couple of weeks ago I went to my very first Pinterest Party and it was super fun to craft with my sorority sisters!  It was an Kappa Delta Alumnae event and since our sorority's colors are green and white and our annual big philanthropy event is called called the Shamrock Project making a St. Patrick's Day wreath was especially appropriate!

I really loved how one of our inspiration pins had layers of embellishment and tried to recreate a similar look and feel. My bow is bugging me a little, and I just noticed that the original has the tails tucked in.  I think I'm off to try that!