MDS Blog Hop - Swatch Books

Years ago (before I had discovered digital) I had made my Grandma a tag book which is actually pretty close to a swatch book. With 10 kids, my Grandma is amassing quite a collection of great-grandchildren. The tag book had a tag for each of her great-grandchildren. It worked great for about the first 3 or 4 kids, but I kept having to steal it back from her every time another "great" was born, and the embellishments that matched on it nine years ago when I started it, I no longer have. So while it was a great idea 9 years ago, it's just not really functional anymore. Now she's up to 7 great-grandchildren with another one on the way.

But then (thanks to today's challenge!) I've discovered the swatch books! And I know it will be perfect for what I had intended to make her years ago, only so much easier since it's digital. Now I just have to contact my cousins and get photos of their ultra-adorable kids.

To the right is the cover and the two pages that I COULD do because I had the pictures and information for them. I'll add more as I get more.

For this project I used the Spring Break II kit which I absolutely LOVE! Have I ever told you how much I love the fact that Stampin' Up! comes out with a batch of new digital downloads available EVERY WEEK? How fun is that?

Now don't forget to visit the other blog-hoppers today! I'm sure they did some fantastic swatch books and I can't wait to go drool over them. Since I'm at the end of the list, you get to start at the beginning!

1. Jeanna Bohanon

2. Rochelle Gould

3. Mandy Grant

4. Julie Leblanc

5. Amber Meadows

6. Terri Mongeon

7. Cindy Schuster

8. Erica Shaw

9. Heather Summers

10. Holly VanDyne (you are here!)

January 1 - Digital 52 Week Album, Week 1

It's the first day of 2010! I have a LOT of things I want to start doing (or do better!) this year and just one of those is scrapbook better. Last year things got so busy and I have not done a yearly family album since 2001. Yes, 2001. Please stop laughing now.

Way back then digital scrapbooking didn't exist yet and I didn't have any children. Now I have two kids who I make traditionally scrapbooked albums for. But since I love digital scrapbooking also I have been struggling to figure out where to fit it in. I figured it out!

This is the first page in my 2010 family album. I'm going to do a page each week with things we do and once I am done the album will have 52 pages. The easiest (and funnest!) way I've found to do this is with Stampin' Up!'s new My Digital Studio. At the end of 2010 I'll just be able to get it printed out and I'm so excited to see the final project. I won't print out step by step instructions, it would take me all night, but if you have any questions AT ALL about My Digital Studio just send me an email at holly.vandyne@gmail.com and I would be happy to help you out! I did get my My Digital Studio certification earlier this year and LOVE using the program.

Until tomorrow - have a fantastic new year!

September 4 - Inspiration Journal Class

Time for another class post - I am WAY excited about this one coming up on Saturday!

My mom collects these antique turn-of-the-century romance novels. If you try to read one, let me tell you - they are a HOOT! Believe it or not it is kind of hard to understand slang from over 100 years ago! Anyway, my mom brought me over a few a couple months ago to play around with and I had the best time with them. I made a few journals from them by taking them apart and rebinding them with my Bind-It-All. I added just about everything in there - cardstock for my sketches and drawings, lined paper for notes and journaling ideas, and pocket pages and envelopes to store stuff in. So I found out then that she had enough she would give me to do a class with them! This is going to be one fun class, I can't wait. It's Saturday from noon - 2pm and there is still time to sign up tomorrow if any of you local readers want to take it. I promise you will love the finished book you'll take home with you!

If you want to sign up just call the store tomorrow at (419) 524-2233. I only have a few more spots/books left.

I'll be back tomorrow with another project complete with instructions, I promise! Today just *really* got away from me. Oh, and the lunch box note from a few posts ago...

Audrey didn't even open the envelope at lunch. She just looked at it and brought it home. HA! So much for all that work I put into it! I even put a Hershey kiss in there too and she didn't open that either. Oh well...I guess it was the thought that counts.

I hope you are all having a great week and are looking forward to the weekend, I know I am! Running back and forth to school all the time sure can wear a girl out (I'm talking about me here, not Audrey) :)

Good night!

June 17 - Mini Chipboard Book

I woke up one Sunday a few weeks ago and thought - "I need to make some clear chipboard mini albums". I'm not kidding, these were SO easy to make that I whipped out 7 of them in like an hour.

The chipboard squares I used were from a Stampin' Up! Christmas chipboard set, but you can cut your own from any chipboard to any size you would like your album to be.

Mini Chipboard Book

Ingredients:

• Chipboard
• Bind-it-all machine and wires
• Clear card with pattern (this uses the white grid pattern from Pageframe Designs)
• Patterned Paper of your choice
• White Cardstock

Instructions:

1- Cut your chipboard pieces (one solid for the back and one for the front, you can die cut a shape out of the middle like this one has a circle.)
2- Punch holes in chipboard with bind-it-all.
3- Cut clear card or sheet of patterned acrylic to fit over the cover of your book. Punch holes with bind-it-all.
4- Cut cardstock and as many patterned paper pieces as you would like to fit inside your book. Punch holes with bind-it-all.
5- Lay it all in a stack then bind it with your machine! On mine I did a mix of patterned paper, then cardstock - you can mix it up as much as you would like. Throw a few different patterns in there, or use two sided pieces and flip them back and forward. Be Creative!

May 21 - Friends Mini Clear Album

Well, yesterday was my birthday and it was a crazy day by all means so I'm posting yesterday's post a bit late.

I LOVE these little clear mini albums from Pageframe Designs. I did this one for a Stampin' Up! class that I'm doing in June - the class is only $25, and includes the album, set of rub-ons and a white signo pen - everything to make this album -->

If you're not local but would still like the class kit with instructions please just send me an e-mail at holly.vandyne@gmail.com and I can ship you the complete kit with full instructions. Or if you ARE local and would be interested in taking the class, send me an e-mail as well and I will get you the date and details.

I won't be including instructions on this page for obvious reasons (they'll be in the kit) but it does make a gorgeous album for you, a friend, your children and their friends - whoever! And you can't see as well in the photo, but there is an elastic band with pearls and beads that wraps around from the back and keeps the album closed.

Hope you all had a great Wednesday!

May 20 - Envelope Album

Yep, you read it right. I'm cheating to get caught up. I finally realized that I just don't have enough time to do enough projects to get back to posting every day, so I'm skipping ahead to today (so sorry about that!) SO...
it's May 20th, and I have a fun new project I've been working on!

I've been creating some envelope albums (or journals if you choose it to be) and they are FUN, let me tell you. The one to the right has 4 envelopes that I'm going to use to hold my photos when I go to crops - I NEVER have a great way to transport those things, but now I do! (YAY!)

I have one available in the etsy store, and will be adding a few more colors, styles, etc. in the next few days - these are fun to mix in with pages made out of anything!

Envelope Album

Ingredients:

• Envelopes in any size or color (or mix them up - GET CREATIVE!)
• Bind-it-All
• Crochet Flower (Fancy Pants)
• Fancy Brad
• Rhinestones (Prima)
• Rubons (Basic Grey)
• Transparencies (My Minds Eye & Hambly)
• Scalloped Circle sticker (Stampin' Up! - retired)
• Pearls (Kaiser)
• Zots (Therm O Web)
  

Instructions:

1- Using your Bind-It-All bind your 4 envelopes together, with the flaps to the front of the book.
2- Decorate your the front flap using the bling, pearls, brad and a flower
3- Add your photo and the sticker frame
4- Layer your transparencies and adhere with Zots
5- Rub on your rub-on letters
6- Add your pearls
7- Open up the envelopes and fill them up!

April 30 - Polka Dotted Clear Album

Well, after I got SO close to getting caught up last Saturday my ever-flaking wireless network decided to take a permanent holiday. So it took me a few days to get it back up and running - but it IS back up and running. So I have much more to post and will be doing so through the night tonight. Here's to catching up in style! :)

I did this album for the Pageframes booth at CHA and absolutely loved doing it - SO fun! Just got it back today (thanks Kim!) and I had forgotten how much I loved it.

Polka Dotted Clear Album

Ingredients:

• Clear Patterned Album (Pageframe Designs)
• Square Patterned Scalloped Frame Shape (Pageframe Designs)
  
• Chipboard Letters (American Crafts)
• Ribbon (Fancy Pants Designs)
• Seal Rubon (Upsy Daisy Designs)
• White Pen (Sharpie)
• Rubon Letters (Heidi Swapp)
• Zots & Super Tape (Therm O Web)
  

Instructions:

1- Its kind of hard to see in the photo, but the cover has a label shape cut out of it. You can cut through this stuff with a Sizzix machine like BUTTER! :) On the inside cover I mounted a small patterned scalloped square frame shape with some mini Zots.
2- On the cover I put some small dots around a few of the large dots with my white paint pen. Then I added my seal rub-on over one of the larger circles. Then added the chipboard letters.
3- On the second page I added the ribbon to show through at the bottom under my title to help the title stand out more. Then I added more dots on the top and bottom. I adhered the ribbon with Super tape and it wraps around both the front and back of the page so it wouldn't look bad in the back.
4- I added my photos on the second page to show through the window opening on the cover. It took some creative cropping and arranging, but I finally got it to look OK.
5- Then decorate the rest of your pages (I used the same elements, along with pink vellum and rubon letters).

April 20 - Altered Childrens Book

Back in 2006 when I was a finalist for the CK Scrapbooker of the Year contest - as part of the hoops we had to jump through for the big prize we had to create a class proposal for a Creating Keepsakes University online class. First they said my class proposal was going to be used (yay!) but then they did away with the online classes (ugh!). So I was left with the class which I've just hung onto for almost two years now. So - time to share it!

I won't post the text here because I made it into a PDF document with much more info that will fit on here so if you'd like to download it, just click the link below. It's in a .zip file to make it smaller, so just download that then extract the PDF to view it or print it out.

ThermOWeb makes these GREAT laminating sheets that I put over my photos/journaling so that as often as my girls look at the book then can't smudge it (and crayons wipe off!). They love this book and want me to read it to them at bedtime all the time, so the laminating sheets really do help with the wear and tear. And for the journaling you can use yesterdays digital downloads, just download and print them on colored cardstock that will match the book you are altering!

Click here to download class PDF!

March 31 - PBS Projects

I had some projects that were on some PBS shows this year - there will be a clear album I had created on Scrapbook Memories (Episode 1209). I just have to laugh at the supplies and directions since they are obviously NOT for the clear album project shown. And I did a window card in Episode 1204. Unfortunately my PBS station does not carry the show so I don't know if I'll ever get to see them.

I also designed a card similar to this one on the Hands On for Kids show (Episode 1110). I won't post the ingredients and instructions here today since they already list them on the Hands On for Kids site here. But the cards are really fun to make and even though I can't see them on TV, it was cool to find it on their website! If you happen to see either one, can you let me know how it looked? I'd love to hear.

Happy last day of March! :)

March 30 - "A" Page

I really hate it when I get a FABULOUS sheet of patterned paper that I'm in love with both sides. I want to buy two so I don't miss any of the goodness. Well I ran into that when I was working on my cover page (previous post). Then the lightbulb over my head turned on and I thought - DUH. Just use both sides. I need two sides anyway since it is just going into the book. So I just flipped the cover page over and went to work on my "A" page.

"A" Page

Ingredients:

• 6"x6" Pretty in Pink Patterned Paper (Prints Pack Hostess Level 1, Stampin' Up!)
• Pretty in Pink and Kraft cardstock (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Close to Cocoa ink and Stampin' Write pen (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Big Deal alphabet set (Stampin' Up!)
• Scallop Punch (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Pretties Kit (Stampin' Up!)
  

Instructions:

1- Flip your cover page over and stamp your "A" on a strip of kraft cardstock. Write your journaling on the bottom border of that strip then attach it to your page.
2- Trim your photo and mat it with the Pretty in Pink cardstock. With your Stampin' Write marker dot around the edges on the pink mat. Adhere it overlapping your kraft strip on the page then write your caption. In this case it would be your "A" word.
3- Punch a scallop from the Kraft cardstock and dot around the scallop with your Stampin' Write marker. Adhere it to your page then add a flower in the center of the scallop.
4- Insert your finished page in your album!

March 29 - ABC Book Cover Page

I finally started Natalie's ABC Album that I posted back on March 18th. The book I did years ago for Audrey was just a hodgepodge of pages, colors, papers, etc. and there was not a whole lot of organization to it. So this time I wanted to do it a bit different. I decided to use my buddy Natalia's favorite brown and pink.

ABC Book Cover Page

Ingredients:

• 6"x6" Pretty in Pink Patterned Paper (Prints Pack, Hostess Gift - Stampin' Up!)
• Big Deal Alphabet (Stampin' Up!)
• All Scallops Set (Sale-A-Bration, Stampin' Up!)
  
• Pretty in Pink and Kraft cardstock (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Pretties Kit (Stampin' Up!)
• Close to Cocoa ink and Stampin' Write marker (Stampin' Up!)
• Scallop Punch (Stampin' Up!)
• Small Zots and Tape Runner (Therm O Web)
  

Instructions:

1- Print your photo out at a smaller size or crop down a larger photo. Adhere it to a piece of kraft cardstock and trim it down to 5" wide.
2- Write your journaling around the edge of your cardstock. Stamp scalloped stamp on pink cardstock, then punch with scalloped punch.
3- Adhere medium white flower in center of scallop with small zot, then add medium white pearl in the center.
4- Stamp your title at the top, and dot around the title with your Stampin' Write marker.

March 21 - Friend Mini Book

This past year I never really had much time to tell or show my friends how much I appreciate them, so I'm trying to make up for it now. Can you tell I have a slight (only slight!) addiction to my Bind-It-All? So Couture Scrapbooking just got in their Teresa Collins release from CHA and I'm loving it. These cute little die cut books are SO fun to play with. I made this little book to send to my friend (and SFAM) Becky.

Friend Mini Book

Ingredients:

• Teresa Collins Bella Girl Journal Die Cuts
• Bind-it-All with Pink Binding
• Acrylic Frame (Pageframe Designs)
• "Friendly Flowers" Stamp Set (Stampin' Up!)
• Black Sharpie
• White Signo Pen (Stampin' Up!)
• Rhinestone
• Scalloped Circle Cardstock Sticker (Stampin' Up! - retired)

Instructions:

1- Punch out your pages from the sheet and layer them on top of each other starting with the largest shape on the bottom.
2- Punch the left side of your book with the Bind-It-All.
3- Punch the side of your acrylic shape with the Bind-It-All (you will need to do this separate from the book since it is thicker)
4- Add your binding using the Bind-It-all machine.
5- Stamp your circle through the window of the acrylic frame on the first page of the book.
6- Add your scalloped cardstock circle around your stamped image.
7- Stamp your FRIEND stamp under the frame also on the first cardstock shape.
8- With your black Sharpie dot around the outside of the shape, but not over where your FRIEND stamped image shows through.
9- With your white Signo pen dot around the center of the scalloped cardstock accent.

March 18 - ABC Album

Today's project is much larger than a one-day project, but I'm excited that I finally got it started. Yesterday I found Audrey's ABC scrapbook up on a shelf in my scrapbook room and we had such a fun time going through it since she hadn't seen it in a while. Even Natalie was loving it, which made me think - where is Nat's?

So I decided to start her album. I had a 6"x6" Stampin' Up! album that I haven't used yet, so I stamped the spine of it and added a ribbon. Then I started my ABC list. I keep it in the album so I can always refer back to it as I make the pages so I don't forget what each letter is. And I ALWAYS write it in pencil because I always end up changing things around and that makes it so much easier.

Natalie just finally started talking a few weeks ago and she has SO many new words for things - I thought this would be the perfect time and way to document all of the things she has been saying. I'm going to try to do the majority of the album with her favorite toys and things to do. I may post some of the pages on here as I get them done, but for now I'm just happy to get a start on it!

ABC Album

Ingredients:

• 6"x6" Album (Stampin' Up!)
• Short Order Alphabet Stamps (Stampin' Up!)
• Rough Edges Mini Alphabet Set (Stampin' Up!)
• Ribbon (Making Memories)
• Black ink (Stazon)

Instructions:

1- Stamp your album title using the Stazon ink on the outside spine of the album.

2- Wrap your ribbon around the cover and tie it in a bow.

March 17 - Binded Clear Tag Album

I had the BEST box show up at my door yesterday! Inside it had a Bind-It-All with some new fun PINK binder wires. I've only used this machine once at a CHA make-n-take, so I was VERY ready to experiment with it! I made a little 4"x3" cardstock book for Audrey to start, then I thought I would try it to see if it would work on a Pageframe.

Well, as you can see on the right - it did! And it worked fabulously! I had to punch each tag in the album separately because of the thickness of it, but I just made sure I lined it up correctly each time and it worked great. Now I have a fun little mini book that I can add my Easter photos to after I take some this weekend. And these fun Making Memories glitter die cuts came from Couture Scrapbooking. I'm instantly sold on just about anything that sparkles, and these were SO fun to use. Plus you get 2 of everything in the package so I can use them again on something else later!

OK, so here are the details! :)
To see the full album just click here.

Binded Clear Tag Album

Ingredients:

• Clear Gift Tags (Pageframe Designs)
• Bind-It-All (Zutter)
• Glitter Die Cuts (Making Memories)
• Bling Flowers (Imaginisce)
• Pearls, Rubons and Big Bling (KaiserCraft)
• White Pen (Signo, Stampin' Up!)
• Crop-a-dile (WRMemory Keepers)
  

Instructions:

1- Using the Bind-It-All, line your first tag up with the bottom of the tag at the bottom of the machine and punch it through. Do the same with the other 3 tags, then also punch the clear flower shape.

2- Dot around your flower shape with a white pen, then place two of the white bling flowers back to back in the center of the clear flower and glue dot them in the center. Attach a center rhinestone on both sides.

3- On the first page attach your "Spring Is Here" tag to the back (but facing through the clear tag) and attach it with an eyelet to the top of the tag. Attach the blue scalloped corners to the front and back of this tag. Add your pearls on top of the front corner.

4- On the second page, add your rubon, then your flower and the rhinestone on top.

5- On the third page add your tag, then overlap it with the bling rectangle. Add the smaller flower in the pack.

6- On the last page just add another tag at the bottom and layer it with bling.

I've been to so many doctor visits this week that I fell behind again (so sorry!) but I'll get caught up FAST and will be posting again daily starting TODAY! So be sure to stop back tomorrow for more fun!