Amy Tangerine Projects Blog Hop: Mini Tag Book

Hi Scrappy Friends!  One thing I always love is bringing home some new scrappy goodness and some of favorites to tear open and get to playing with are by Amy Tangerine.  I belong to an Amy Tangerine fan group on Facebook and today a few of us getting together to show off our projects made with her lines from American Crafts.  Here are the other ladies' links:

Ruth: http://www.scrapmachine.com/
Shay: http://www.shaytibbs.com

My project is a cute little tag book with a ribbon closure, all about the first time we took our two year old son to one of Michigan's Great Lakes for a day at the beach.  This is very much a summer tradition for many families in Michigan, including ours.  Since it was his first time at the "big" beach, as opposed to the smaller inland lakes across the state, it was a special memory and certainly deserved it's very own mini book.

The dimensions are around 3 inches wide by 6 inches tall when closed.  I learned the technique for making these from Donna Downey's book Creative Albums so I can't provide a tutorial but it's simple so you can probably figure it out from the pictures.  But if you can't and have any questions let me know and I will try to clarify.

The front and back covers were made by covering chipboard and then layering the photo and elements on top.  I disassembled the "Let's Go On An Adventure" sticker to remove the foam tape because I like to keep small projects like this as flat as possible.  I've just found they hold up better when they aren't so bulky since they won't be in a photo sleeve to help protect them from wear and tear.  Plus then they are easier to store.

You open up the mini book and there are four pockets, each with a hand cut tag inside.

Pocket 1:

• I punched a small circle out of the same paper I lined the book with to reinforce the hole.
• I love those mini puffy stickers!
• Wouldn't it have been nice if my husband had managed to put on a smile?  Oh well, at least our kiddo is cute!

This is the back of the first tag.  The orange lined "paper" I journaled on is actually part of the sticker packaging.  Waste not, want not!  In hindsight It might have been better to journal with the grey pen but it's more readable in person.

Pocket 2:

•  I love using lined paper to journal on, pretty and functional! 

On one side of Tag 2, I have a photo of my son with his age and on the back is one of his sister with her age.

Pocket 3:

• I made sure I trimmed my orange paper so the "paint" marks on the paper would be included on the piece I used.  So fun and a great place to "ground" the circle sticker.
• Aren't those itty bitty hearts adorable?
• The photo (not shown in this post) on the other side of the tag shown above, isn't the best but I wanted to include that we used a new sun tent and that he ate big boy sandwich.
• I had to use the ribbon and skip the hole because I didn't want to place a hole right in the middle of the little guys forehead.

 Pocket 4:

• Love seeing the sand on his fingers, so glad he was willing to get all dirty.
• The half circle I journaled on is leftover from being punched out of the second pocket.
• On the other side of this tag, which I forgot to photograph, I used some black "washi", which is really the strip of paper at the top of a 12X12 piece of paper trimmed to mimic washi.

On the back I left the camera paper as is, because seriously it's super cute as is, don't you think?  I added a picture too wide to fit on a tag or the inside on the back two middle panels.  And yes, I am totally wearing a bathing suit under that towel!  Whenever I look at it, I think it might look like if I dropped it I'd be flashing all the beach goers.  Note to self take pictures in beach cover up from now on!

There you go, that's my mini tag book, a one night quick project.  I have made several of these over the years but always given them away as gifts before.  I am really glad I finally made one for us to enjoy and love how it turned out!  Thank you for visiting and I hope you go check out what the other ladies have made.  Here again is a list of the participants.

Ruth: http://www.scrapmachine.com/
Shay: http://www.shaytibbs.com

A Note of the Supplies:

The book uses papers and embellishments from a couple of Amy's lines.  All the patterned papers, stickers, and pens are from her.  The supplies that are not are the washi tape (various companies), ribbon (unknown), one little striped scrap on the cover, 2 sun shaped brads, and twine, but the twine is still by American Crafts.

A Pocket Full Mini Album

The latest mini I've been working has got me more excited about creating than I have been for awhile.  It was the perfect thing to get my crafting mojo back!  Inspired by the eclectic look my Project Life album gets from a mix of page protectors and the idea of smashbooks, I wanted a project with lots of little places to stash things.  Looking around my studio, my eyes spied a big stack of 9 pocket pages for organizing trading cards.  Perfect!

I made the album base from thicker scrapbook papers, all from a MAMBI paper pad I picked up at Michaels.  On the cover I mixed a variety of stickers and die cuts, layering them on with dimensional Zots.  I didn't put adhesive on the larger die cuts so the cover photo can be slid underneath them.

Open up the book and you'll see the first spread, this one has two inserts a trimmed down page protector and a handmade pocket.  I love how you can see glimpses of what's to come through the clear plastic.  The "Keeping Cool" die cut is attached with dimentional Zots so you can slip a picture underneath it and leave a pretty pink border mat for the main picture.

I included three trimmed down page protectors throughout the album.  Each has been cut down from nine pockets to four.  Inside are a variety of 2.5"X3.5" papers.  Some have been embellished a bit, others can have a little photo attached, and some can be left as filler cards.

This easy to make pocket is just a piece of paper folded up, the sides sealed with washi tape.  It has a hint of glitter, so fun!  I decided to reinforce the holes so it won't tear over time.  I used a punch to make the opening and added a sheet of pink cardstock.  You could add a longer story inside or remove the paper and put in longer keepsakes like concert tickets etc.  

There are a couple of foil covered papers throughout the book, this check and the pink polka dots, which give it a cool metallic look.  Only the bottom and sides of the green journaling card have been attached so a photo can be slipped under, or not.  Just depends on your personal preference.  An epoxy castle sticker's in the corner.

The yellow ice cream die cut is lifted up a bit and the popsicles are little brads, giving a hint of dimension.  Love the washi tape attached mini picture space.

Die cut attached just along the top so a picture of a delicious meal or friends at your cook out can be added.  You could also add your favorite BBQ menu here.  I added the staples before gluing this page to the next so the prongs are hidden, smashing them down a bit gives them a smoother finish.

A tip for foil paper, make sure you know exactly where you want you pictures to be, before attaching.  If you do and change your mind the sticky side will leave marks.  I learned that the hard way, and that's why the cute beach ball is where it is :)

I have a couple of Whisker Graphics mini treat bags leftover from my son's first birthday party.  We used them for the stop sign rice krispy treat favors we made.  Those turned our super cute.  The bags were also too sweet not to do something fun with them.  They matched my theme so in they went into the project! 

I left the back of this little mini plain white, thinking a larger photo attached overing the entire surface would look great.  Used some Martha Stewart labels for someplace to add a few details, what on earth did I do before those came around?  I use them all the time now!

You can slide something under the "Summertime" tag.  I liked this page because the white provides a natural photo mat.

Now you know a little twine would also show up, didn't you? 

Here's the other Whisker Graphics bag, this time it's a pocket on the page.

I was thinking having your kiddo add a self portrait, their name, and age on the reverse would be a fun way to use the citrus tag.

Here's the last page, with little orange brads in the corner of the photo mat and another handmade envelope.

Here's another little tip for working with foil papers, if you want to stitch on them, stitch on the reverse.  My sewing foot left marks all over, which led to the washi tape detail.  Oh well, it all worked out, I like the washi tape on.

Here's how I finished off the back of the pocket, with a little photo mat and tag.  I liked the big bold text paper too much to cover it up.  I hope you enjoyed a walk through my lastest mini!  I'm going to be wrapping it up and sending it off to my friend Jenny and her daughter Abby.  I hope they love it and have fun filling it with all their summer memories and treasures.

Below is a closer look at some of the details.

Shared at Skip to My Lou, Craft-o-manic, Sew Can Do, Ninth Street Notions, Serendipity & Spice, Home Stories A2Z, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Sugar Bee Crafts, and on my own weekly co-hosted linky A Crafty Soiree.

Summer Must Have: The Perfect Sun Hat

One of the season's must haves is a stylish yet effective hat to protect yourself from the sun and I have really chic version to share with you today.  Don't I look super cute in my Sewen Ribbon Sun Hat, Style LC511? I love the sewen ribbon styling and four inch brim, which provides UV sun protection so I can enjoy all the fun outdoor activities summer has to offer.  I also really like how unlike baseball style hats, it provides all around head protection for my face, ears, and neck.

The Sewen Ribbon Sun Hat from the Scala Collezione by Dorfman Pacific is light weight and the external bow trim is adjustable so you size the hat for the perfect fit.  It's also ideal for travel, as it bounces back into shape after being stuffed into beach bags or luggage. 

I am modeling the hat in the natural color.  It's also available in turquoise, lime, fuchsia, white, tan, and black.  It retails for $30 but for a limited time my readers can purchase one for 20% off, use the coupon code SunHatSave20.  That makes it just $24!  Offer good through June 30, 2012.

Click to Purchase

Disclaimer: A complimentary review hat was provided, no other compensation was received.  The opinions and experiences related within this post are personal and unbiased.  The links used in this post are NOT affiliate.

Our Last Hurrah of Summer

Today is Labor Day in the US, a day that celebrates the working force and marks the end of summer for many. I thought it was a fitting time to share what looks to be our last bit of summer. I can't believe it was just last week I was sweatin' on the beach along Lake Huron! It's definitely felt like fall the last few days.

We spent a few nights at my parents' house at the end of August and drove a few hours over to Lexington for the day. The beaches are rockier so it's not as easy to swim, but on the plus side they are a lot less crowded.

We practically had the place to ourselves and the breeze by the lake was refreshing, it was hot and humid otherwise.

ER is a collector, she loves to pick up bits and pieces, she was in heaven! She scooped up lots of interesting rocks and shells.

After playing for awhile, ER enjoyed the play ground above the beach and we all had a snack in the shade. Wasn't our view beautiful?

We drove up the road a little bit to Port Sanilac for ice cream and found this playground. I haven't seen one of these spinning things in quite awhile. They've been removed from most places because they can be kind of dangerous. Anyone remember their name? Kids tend to jump from them while they're still spinning. I used to love them when I was growing up, and ER loved it too.

Obligatory picture of me, to prove I was along too.