Fathers Day Photo Book

It is almost Fathers Day! Can you believe it? I am going to go with a fishing theme this year. My husband loves to hunt and fish-plus I have a few cute ideas. Here is the first one...a photo book.





I got these cool coasters that resemble fish from-The Lion & the Rose. I love that place, and the waitress was nice enough to give me a large hand full of the coasters! There are so many things you can do with coasters!


Here is what I used:
Coasters
Crop-a-dial
DP
Fish stamps
Binder Rings
Twine & Ribbon
Inks
Embellishments


Here are a couple of pictures of the project:

First I cut my DP to the size & shape of my coasters.
Next I stamped onto the DP.
Each set of pages is a little different.




















Next I stamped my fish and other decorative stamps.













Then colored them.













And cut them out.













Then I attached the DP to the coasters, decoupaged the pages, and punched holes for the binder rings. Finally I attached some pictures, printed from the computer, with some photo tabs.













Here is the assembled pages with added embellishments.

Dangling Down on the Farm with CDS

Maybe its becuase I play Farm Town on FB too much, or because I grew up in the county. I'm not sure, but I am in love with Clear Dollar Stamps farm stamps! I had wanted to enter the CDS monthly challenge, unfortunately I did not have my card made by the deadline. You can check out the entries and winner at thier April26th post on -http://www.clearlyistamp.typepad.com/.

However, I still wanted to do the card I had originally sketched for the challenge. The challenge was to make a card or item that had *dangles*. So, I chose to dangle my little farm animals.

Here is what I did:














First I picked my decorative paper, stamp set,ribbon and inks. I used the Farm Critters, Pickett Fence & My Little Barnyard stamp sets from Clear Dollar Stamps. Archiavals Moonlight White & Black inks, Color Box's Scarlet,Ice Blue & Olive Pastel inks.

I cut my paper, and stamped the barn and fence image. I used CTMH markers and a white glaze marker to highlight the fence.
















I stamped and cut the barn image on a sticky note, so that I could spounge the sky and grass without getting any ink on the barn. I also spounged the fence at the bottom.















Next I stamped my cow, chicken & pig. The cow and pig I used crushed velvet flocking, and the chicken I used CTMH's markers. I then tied embroidery thread though holes I punched in the fence, and taped my animals to the ends of the thread.
















I used fall colored striped ribbon for the card as well. I frayed the ribbon and adheared it to the card. All that was left was to peice it together.

Appreciate Your Teachers!

Let's Appreciate Our Teachers!

It is getting close to teacher appreciation week~ 1st full week in May. My boys have 4 teachers between them. Their home room teacher, and the teacher who brings them out to me after school.

I love all 4 of these ladies! A lot of my friends are teachers, and I am so thankful for all they do and endure. I only have 2 little boys -I can't even imagine 15-20 kiddos! Teachers are truly angels on Earth.

So...for teacher appreciation week I decided to make them a little something. What I came up with (after hours of tutorial videos) was to make them:

beaded pen, coaster booklet, and a mini coaster clipboard

I think I will also make Ian's teacher a little something extra. I am the room mom for her class and take pictures of the class for her. I am thinking...maybe a photo book for the pictures. The wheels are turning. *note to self...find perfect paper and stamps for project*

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Ok. Here is the pen.

It was actually really easy. I have seen my sister make them before, but have never attempted to do it myself. But, I bit the bullet and did it myself and you know, it was really easy!

What you need:

Pen (I prefer Pentel's RSVP)

Double sided tape

Tiny Glass Marbles

Crafters Heating Tool

Decorative Paper

What to do:

Tape the pen, with the double sided tape, where you want the beads to be.

Use your heat tool to heat the tape just a little.

Roll the pen in the Tiny Glass Marbles.

Once covered with beads, roll between your hands to press on the beads to the pen.

For a little extra something, you can also add decorative paper inside the pen.

Tie on a ribbon and you are done!

Now for the Coaster Post It note booklet...

I watched a couple of tutorials on http://www.chicnscratch.typepad.com/ She has the best website! I love everything she does- thanks for your help Angie!

What you need:

Coasters (of course)

Decorative Paper

Post Its

Zutters Bind It All and 1/2 inch Wires

First cut a straight edge on your coasters. Use your post it notes to make the measurements so that you don't cut off too much. Then cut the decorative paper with the coaster template.

Next, just glue the decorative paper to the coasters. Just a little tip, if you are using paper that has a "top" and a "bottom"- make sure to put the paper in order to how you want your booklet to open. I am glad I double checked myself...nobody wants to see a book cover that is upside down. Use a fine sand paper to brush the edges so that they are smooth.

To make sure the coasters look more finished and the paper is protected, brush coasters with Mod Podge. Let the coasters dry completely. What is Mod Podge? Well, it is basically a glue. It dries very quickly and adds a protective coating to your crafty creations.

Now the fun begins! You get to use the bind it all!

Ahhhh, the wonderful bind it all~ This is the first time I have used it, and it certainly won't be the last! This jewel of the crafting world does what it's name implies...it binds. The ideas are just buzzing around in my head! I should write these ideas down.

ok, ok...where was I? Oh, using the bind it all. Take the covered coasters and place them together in the order you want your book. Place the flat side down -centered-inside the bind it all and pull the lever. That's right, that is all there was too it!

After the holes are punched into the coasters, it is time to use the binding wire and assemble the book. I hope I explain this next part right... Take your coasters and put the wire through the holes. To put the binded section on the inside of the book, turn your book inside-out. Basically you do the reverse of how you want your book to look. Does that make sense? The bind it all website has all the instructions from professionals in their video library section...worth a check out! http://www.binditall.com/

After you bind the book, just decorate the front cover, tie with ribbon, insert post its, and add a little embellishment and you are set.

Finally, the coaster mini clipboard.

What you need:

Decorative Paper

Coaster

Clip

Small Notebook-one that has the binding at the top

What to do:

First, using the coaster as a template, cut out two pieces of decorative paper.

As with the Post It booklet:

Glue the decorative paper to the coaster.

Decorate back cover of clipboard.

Brush with Mod Podge and let dry completely.

Gently tear about 15 - 20 pages from the top binded notebook. Using the coaster as a guide, cut some of the top portion of the paper so that it can be clipped onto the coaster. Finally clip paper to coaster and tie clip with ribbon. You can also put decorative paper on the clipboard- mine had an apple stamped onto it. And TaDa~ can you believe it was this easy?

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