TAC Savvy Projects for People on the Go

Natalee Sneak Peek!

Say hello to one of my FAVORITE new palettes!  This is actually a card I made from our Natalee Accordion Album Kit that is debuting in our Fall|Winter Inspiration Book.  I had the opportunity to 'play' with this kit this past weekend and I ended up cutting some of the pieces apart to make my own projects.  This piece was set aside and I decided to make a card ... just because!

Here are a couple of other views ...

I SOOOO LOVE this collection!  Now, please remember this is a SNEAK PEEK and the collection will NOT be available until June ... plus ... I didn't tell anyone at work that I was posting a sneak peek ... so we'll keep it our little secret!

Hope you enjoy!

Bella Flor Mini Album

This is a Mini Album that I had been chomping-at-the-bit to design for a couple of years.  It's certainly not an original concept so my challenge was to find a way to take a concept and make it mine ... something I loved.  This Bella Flor Mini Album is the result. 

We introduced this project at our Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas, in January and 100% of those surveyed said they loved this project and would pass it along! (Statics show that people who start our projects finish them and are excited to start their next one!).

From start to finish ... you will have a complete Mini Album in LESS THAN 1 HOUR!  You'll spend most of your time trying to figure out what you want to put in it (photos, quotes, scripture, memorabilia ...).  The Mini Album itself can literally be constructed in minutes!

So let's get started ... the basic supplies you need to make your Mini Album are shown below.  You'll also need adhesive and a 12" Paper Trimmer. 

The first thing I do to make this Mini Album is trim all of my paper to size. 

Mini Album Cover ~ this needs to be 4" x 12".

Mini Album Inserts ~ these need to be approximately 3-1/2" x 12".  (I've also made these 3-3/4" x 12", however, I think the first size listed leaves a nicer border around the insert pages).

This SAVVY little project uses a total of 1 SHEET of 12" x 12" paper!  Isn't that FANTASTIC!  Okay ...

 

After I cut my paper I set aside the 2 sheets of SOLID BLUE.  I only need my Mini Album Cover right now.  This is super simple ... fold it in HALF (4" x 6") .

Now, I want to fold in the right hand flap , towards the spine, leaving about 1/2" - 3/4" from the crease in the spine. 

here's another shot ...

Now it's time to fold in the left hand flap.  After about a gazillion of these little albums I discovered a little trick.  You see ... we could measure this all out and be exactly precise ... but there really is no need.  This little album ALWAYS turns out FANTASTIC!  So here's what I do now ...

I fold my cover INSIDE OUT and match up the left hand corner with the right and SHAZAM!  It's a SIMPLY PERFECT SOLUTION! 

Okay ... so after I do that this is what the inside of my Mini Album cover looks like ...

The next thing I do is grab my Crop-a-dile and punch a hole through my Mini Album like this ...

Notice that I'm going through two layers at once.  I use the large hole on the Crop-a-dile and usually punch approximately 1/4" - 1/2" from the spine.

Now I rotate my album 180 degrees and prepare to punch through four layers on the opposite side of the hole I just punched.  This hole I usually punch about 1/2" from the edge of the paper. 

TIP: If I'm using an extra large eyelet I set the eyelet on my album and kind of 'eye' where I want it to fall.  I have to be careful because I have had some of these larger eyelets hang off of my album cover ... and that's never pretty.

When I open my Mini Album up ... this is what it looks like on the inside right now ...

Now it's time to set my hardware.  I'm going to close the flap on my album and set my eyelet through two layers. This is what it looks like from the front after I set my eyelet ...

And this is what it looks like on the inside after I set my eyelet ...

Now, I repeat this step on the other side. 

NOTE:  I don't set any eyelets in either of the two holes along the spine.  These remain raw openings.  Here's what my Mini Album looks like (from the back) now ...

Now it's time to insert my ribbon.  I fold my album INSIDE OUT and make ONE swipe through the center hole like this ...

 

Then I string it though the other two holes.  At this point I need to make sure that my ribbon is laying how I want it to and that my strip of ribbon is centered in my album.  Here is what my album looks like from the inside ...

   

and this is the view on the outside ...

My Mini Album cover is DONE so I set it aside and now I need my two strips of BLUE paper. 

I fold my first strip in half (like we did the cover) ...

Then I am going to fold the right hand flap all the way in to the spine ...

I'll repeat this with the left hand flap and I end up with this ...

Then I fold it like this ...

Now I want to make my POCKETS so here is how I tape along the back of my inserts ...

TIP:  I like to put my double stick tape or adhesive right down the center of that seam in the back and across the bottom.  (I've squiggled in MAGENTA where I apply adhesive).  Putting the adhesive down the center gives my finished album even more durability than it already has!

Here is the back of my insert.

Make sure you NOTE the back from the front and also the TOP of the POCKETS from the BOTTOM!  I can't tell you how many albums I've made with pockets going the wrong way!

NEXT ... I assemble my pages in order ...

and prepare to staple them into place ...

I put two staples in my Mini Albums.  I center each one between the RIBBON and the EDGE of the album.

The most important thing to remember here is that the NICE flat part of the staple goes on the outside of the album.

And the clamps go on the inside ...

After that I trimmed up the ends of my RIBBON to POLISH them up ...

and then tied a pretty bow ...

Another FUN idea that you can EASILY do to JAZZ up and add POLISH to your Mini Album ...

Before I make ANY folds on my cover ... I sometimes like to take STICKLES and randomly freehand SWIRLS all over it.  The KEY is to use it VERY sparingly!  I hardly let any STICKLES out!

Check out the SPARKLES ...

This is one of my FAVORITE projects and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

To get this GORGEOUS Bella Flor Paper Collection contact your Angel today.  If you don't have an Angel contact us and we'd be happy to find one in your area for you!

Enjoy!    

If you need to replenish your supplies, have questions with a product, technique or are interested in one of the products I've used here please contact your ANGEL and she'll be happy to assist you!  If you don't have an Angel yet ... click on SHOP NOW on our homepage and find one in your area today!

What NOT to do FOLLOW UP

I promised you a follow up to my 'What NOT to do' Mini Album ...

Well, I've been working on the neatest follow up project and it is FUN!!!!!  So much FUN in fact ... we decided to make a mini version of it as a Make and Take Project for Seminar 2008 Just Dream!  So you won't be seeing it just yet after all.

In the meantime ... I received an email from a friend with an idea to turn my 'lemon' of a project into freshly squeezed lemonade!  I haven't completed it just yet but look forward to sharing the idea soon!  It's a GREAT twist that we can all incorporate when a project goes bad!

I have an AWESOME tutorial (that I have been waiting to share since February) that will be going live on this blog May 1.  It incorporates one of my all time favorite paper collections Bella Flor so I hope you check back on the 1st!  Until then ... thanks for stopping by!

What NOT to do!

I had firmly decided that I was NOT going to post this little piece ... however ... my inspiration returned after an evening off and I'm wrapping up my replacement project this week.  So consider this a really BAD teaser for what I think is turning out to be a really GREAT project that is on its way!  So here it is ... the UGLY!

Have you ever had a project go bad?  I mean ... really take a turn somewhere along the way and go HORRIBLY WRONG?!  Well, that's what happened with this mini album.  And oh!  How I've debated sharing this with you ... but ... I feel like I have a duty ... and that duty is to prevent YOU from making this same HORRIBLE mistake!

I warn you ... what you are about to see is NOT pretty!  Not even close!

It all started with good intentions.  You see ... I had these photographs left over from a class I had taken.  We never used them in class!  They were all cut to the size required and ready to drop into my layout.  Well, when we got to the class ... it really had nothing to do with the photos we were required to bring.  So as I was straightening up the other day ... I found these photos.  They were all cut to size and ready to go.  Each photo represented something that made me happy.  PERFECT!  Half my work was done.

So ... I was so tired I thought I'd do something REALLY simple.  Take one page design and use it for every layout.  This is a common technique and the results are always great.  The main thing is to just rotate the layout every now and then for interest.  So, I pulled out my square chipboard and covered it with Lilly Anna Cardstock.  Then added my photos.  Before I embellished too heavily ... I wanted to go ahead and bind my mini album.  I've learned the hard way ... you BIND as soon as you can versus AFTER you've embellished.  So I finished my foundation and punched the bind-it-all holes in my mini album.  And then I bound it.

What you are about to see is what the layout was SUPPOSED to look like after binding ... and what it LOOKED LIKE after I bound it.  Of course ... on the SUPPOSED to look like ... try to NOT visualize the bind-it-all holes punched at the top!

Inside spread #1 SUPPOSED to look like layout ...

Inside spread #1 ... LOOKED like after binding ...

Inside spread #2 SUPPOSED to look like layout ...

Inside spread #2 ... LOOKED like after binding ...

Inside spread #3 SUPPOSED to look like layout ...

Inside spread #3 ... LOOKED like after binding ...

Inside spread #4 SUPPOSED to look like layout ...

I know you MUST be asking ... what makes me happy about this photo?  #40 is MY boy!  There were SIX kids (one is in front) from the blue team trying to take my boy down and he drug them along for a dozen yards or so!  (Okay ... don't really know how far ... but it was FAR!).  This is one proud mama!

Inside spread #4 ... LOOKED like after binding ... (this wasn't a proud mama) ...

Inside spread #5 SUPPOSED to look like layout ... (NOTE the pink cardstock background on the left and right pages) ...

Inside spread #5 ... LOOKED like after binding ... SERIOUSLY!  What happened to my other pink background?!  Did you see it on the previous layout?  That's where it is.

The only thing I can say in my defense is ... I was trying out a new liquid glue that a manufacturer wants us to start carrying and the fumes were apparently stronger than I had first thought.  That and it was after midnight!

Can I tell you how HAPPY I am that I didn't embellish any farther!  I wanted to add in the 'details' AFTER I had bound the album because it's hard to use the bind-it-all if you have too many layers of embellishments on your pages!

Thank goodness I hadn't adhered the front or back cover layouts yet!

Ok.  So this is what NOT to do.  I am going to make another one of these albums.  At this point ... it's not because I WANT to ... it's because I HAVE too!  Surely, surely ... I'm smarter than a bind-it-all???!  Don't worry ... I'll let you know if I am!