Over the last couple of years, I’ve found some wonderful hardware to salvage before throwing away the old backpacks from the kids’ school year.

If A Closure Can Secure A Pocket, It Can Secure A Minibook

Do you see the pink closure on the minibook in the picture above? I cut it out of my daughter’s backpack a year ago(it was on a side pocket) and added some pink wire and a charm. Here’s how it works:

1. Use a utility blade or scissors to cut away the material that encloses the closure. Then cut the bungee-like cord away from the back pack.

2. Add a charm to one end of the cord (if your charm comes from an old unloved bracelet or necklace, that makes it even better!).

3. Put the two ends of the chord together and wrap multiple times with a thin wire.

4. When you’re almost done wrapping the wire, position the charm over the center of the wired area and feed the wire through the ring of the charm. Then wrap the wire one or two more times.

More Backpack Hardware Ideas

Every backpack has its own sweet surprises. While this year’s packs didn’t have any closures like the one above, Trinity’s did have these:

I love the stitching on these.

This mesh will be a great way to add texture to a layout.

I might feed some ribbon through this clasp. You could probably feed two or three narrow ribbons side by side for a fun mix of patterns.

Remember to examine items for potential before throwing them away. It’s at least as fun as shopping. I promise.

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We’re spending the weekend in Pine Top and Show Low, Arizona. Last night our friends, Rhonda and Kelly, got married in the woods outside of a cabin. It’s been a fun and relaxing time with the kids and with friends. And with my camera.

Video Tutorial

There won’t be a video this week but we’ll resume next weekend with a tutorial for the Premium Subscribers. If you want to learn more about the Paperclipping Premium Membership, click here.

Blog Topics

Most everyone’s kids are out of school now so I’ll be sharing some end-of-the-school year tips. Don’t throw anything away yet. Trust me.

Schoolwork Scrapbook Tutorial

If you haven’t ordered it yet, this is a great time to get the Schoolwork Scrapbook Tutorial so you can make a book that displays all your students’ cool stuff. To learn more about the tutorial and see pictures of the project, click here.

Paperclipping Live

I’ll be sharing my favorite products during Paperclipping Live on Tuesday night, 6:30pm PST. This will be the perfect night to call the show using Skype if you’ve had something you’d like to share or ask.

It’s been a crazy and hectic month and the time I spent getting caught up last week left less time for blogging. I’m looking forward to regular posting this week and I’m excited to share some fun ideas and projects with you!

My favorite detail of this layout is the sun, which is, in part, the result of a happy little accident. I used foam dots to raised my sun off the paper but the beads weighed its edges down so it actually has a rounded puffiness to it that I just adore–perfectly child-like. I wish the photos showed it better.

Take Advantage Of All Angles

Notice the totally different effects between laying beads flat and lying them on their side. You can get two different looks with one product.

Glisten

Stickles have proven themselves to be 100% versatile, from the glitter of Christmas time to the glistening reflection of the summer sun. I love products like this that provide multiple uses for multiple purposes, making a huge impact from just a small amount.

I bet the designer of greenish-blue paper never thought of water while creating it, but look how wave-like it is?

A Wet Look

Add Glossy Effects or Diamond Glaze to the top of an element on your page for a wet look. It takes a steady hand to do long, thin lines like this, though, so you may want to practice beforehand. I had a little trouble with mine.

The economy is tight right now, at least for Americans. You don’t have to hit the scrapbook store, though, to find just the right summer products for your layouts. Search through your current stash to find items that emulate aspects of summer on this year’s pages.

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115 Degree Summers
8.5×11 Layout

Supplies used: Cardstock (Bazzill); Patterned paper (Creative Imaginations); Glitter (Stickles by Ranger); Clear glue (Glossy Accents by Range); Letter stickers (Creative Memories); Beads (from own stash).

Paperclipping 48 - Summer Elements from izzyvideo on Vimeo.
Today’s episode is short and sweet, perfect for what we’re enjoying right now–summer time! If you’re already taking photos at the pool or beach, you might get a few ideas for your next layout.

As always, we have a higher-quality version for you to enjoy, as well as show notes for this episode.

This is the story of my daughter’s dance growth this past school year.

I found this photo book, brand new and wrapped in plastic, at Goodwill. It had a big, ugly blue ribbon on it and was covered with a very un-trendy looking label that disguised its potential. I removed the white paper inserts that filled each page so that I could use it as a transparent album.

I love the canvas cover and the fact that I can protect my photos behind the plastic while still getting the dimensionality of a regular mini-book by placing embellishments on the outside of the plastic pages.

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Ballet & You Now

Products used: Patterned paper (Close To My Heart, Creative Imaginations); Gaffer tape (7 Gypsies); Flower (unknown source); Stickers (Creative Memories, Creative Imaginations, 7 Gypsies): Transparencies (Hambly, Creative Imaginations, My Mind’s Eye); Word stickers (K.I. Memories, Ali Edwards for Lisa Bearnson’s KOTM); Brads (Making Memories, Creative Imaginations); Stamp (Ali Edwards for Lisa Bearnson’s KOTM); Ink (Staz-on); Rhinestones (Heidi Swapp); Rub-on’s (Art Warehouse, Anna Griffin); Glittery embellishment frames and flowers (Making Memories); Ribbon, buttons, and tulle from own stash.

Are you interested in using more acrylic and transparent products? Have you been curious to try an entire transparent mini-book but felt intimidated? This video for Premium Subscribers will give you some tips and tricks for dealing with all of those transparent issues.

If you’d like to learn more about the premium membership so you can have access to all of the videos, click here.

Last Week

It was a fun change of pace to have Liz and Jackie as call-in guests on Paperclipping Live last week. I know it was hard for you to see their projects in that little tiny corner window, but fortunately, they posted them on their own website, IllustratingStories.com and you can see them here.

Both techniques came from the book, Lifelines. They look really cool and really fun, so I’m excited to try them some time.

This Week

This coming Tuesday night I’ll be working on an acrylic album. The album will feature all those pictures I took when Liz and Jackie challenged their readers to take a photo an hour for a whole day.

If you’re interested in making a similar album, read about the challenge here so you can have your photos ready to work on during the show. I’m using a semi-clear album by Maya Road and I printed my photos in wallet-size.

Don’t forget: Paperclipping Live is Tuesday night at 6:30pm, PST.

If you’re unsure of the time zone difference, look for your city on this website and then compare it to my city, which is Phoenix.

Remember to register for Skype (it’s free) if you’d like to call into the show to ask a question or share something cool.

I wanted to answer some questions from Toni about this layout from Episode 46.

Questions

Is the subtle hue on the paper (visible in the top right quarter) painted on, or was it already present in the paper pattern? The hue change was already present on the paper. It is made by Daisy Bucket and is from their Garden Gate collection. It’s the backside of the red patterned paper called, Summer Sweet.

How long did it take you to plan, layout and complete this page? I am a slow scrapbooker (I force myself to work faster on Paperclipping Live, but I really prefer to take my time, enjoy the moment, and allow my brain to wander and think about things) but this was a very fast layout for me. One of my easier ones. I completed it in three different short sittings. As for time, my best guess is maybe 5 minutes; 45 minutes, and 30 minutes.

My Process

Making the grid: I first laid my photos on the Basic Grey mat (this took me 5 minutes at the most), then put it away for a week while I worked on other projects. When I pulled my mat out again, I quickly saw that there was one spot that looked predictable because it formed a sort of checkerboard formation (if you don’t know me yet, I don’t like my art to be predictable–something I discovered as a child when I used to choreograph my own dances for fun) so I moved two of the photos and then I was happy with it.

Transferring the photos to my paper and adhering it was the longest part of putting this layout together, but was so easy because of having had the photos on the mat first. I used a ruler, not to measure, but to make sure the photos were straight. As I transferred each photo to my paper, I sanded the edges.

Adding the details: Next, I knew I wanted to add a happy color so I grabbed a scrap of orange patterned paper (Basic Grey), cut two squares, and placed them fairly randomly. I also felt I needed some circles for variety and found two different circle stamps and a piece of Scenic Route chipboard and put them in a triangular formation.

As I was looking around my room at my stuff I noticed my acrylic letters and pulled out the “a.” It was perfect for adding something into the bottom left corner because it added some detail down there without making that corner too heavy–I wanted the most weight to be at the bottom right corner.

At this point it was all about balancing my color by adding second and third points of a visual triangle for each color. I knew I wanted my title in the empty rectangular space and green would finish one triangle. Adding a swipe of orange paint underneath the title would help it to stand out and complete the triangle of orange. I ran out of green letters so I was happy to add yet another color to my palette (red), and then found two red buttons to balance it. I continued this until it had a nice balance of color and empty spaces to filled spaces.

A magnetic mat is not necessary.

I do recommend you use a grid of some kind because it makes it so easy, but you don’t need a magnetic one. I used the magnets on the video because my mat was upright for you to see. When I did this with my actual photos, though, I didn’t use the magnets, even while I was storing it away for a week.

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Self-Expression
12×12 layout

Products: Adhesive (Diamond Glaze, Creative Memories Tape Runner, Foam 3-D Dots by EK Success); Patterned paper (Daisy Bucket, Basic Grey, My Mind’s Eye-for circle stamp, K.I. Memories lace paper); Chipboard letters (Heidi Swapp, Making Memories); Stamps (7 Gypsies, Catslife Press); Ink (7 Gypsies, Stazon); Acrylic letter (Heidi Swapp); Chipboard (Scenic Route); Brads (Making Memories); Buttons (Creative Cafe); Sticker (7 Gypsies); Rub-on letters (for Mama–Heidi Swapp); Ribbon (We R Memory Keepers); Flower Charm Buckle (from own stash).

We’ve been talking about personal style a lot over the last two weeks. Part of our focus was an exchange of products between Dedra Long and myself. We have two very different styles and my hope was that we could try elements of each other’s style and make them our own. This is an interesting exercise to do because it can help you hone in on, not only what you are, but what you are not. It also gives you an opportunity to try something new, while learning to stay within the parameters of your own personal style.

My Layout

Here is the layout that I made using a combination of my products with the ones Dedra gave me. Almost everything in her kit was stuff that I like. The parts that weren’t me were the pink and white heart paper, and the abundance of pink in general as a main color. I added cream lace, lavender tuille, and additional patterned paper to make it my own.

Another way that I dealt with the difficult items was to add a second, warmer shade of pink (which is more of a “me” pink) and to turn the heart paper into an embellishment (I cut out a bunch of hearts and had them bubbling over the top of the lace and paper. In fact, my idea for dealing with the hearts came when I was going through my older layouts for the series on the evolution of my personal style. I found a cluster of hearts on one of my earliest layouts (not shown in my posts) that I loved then and still like now. I like the bubbliness of the circular tops of hearts so that is what I focused on.

Lately, I’ve been wanting to play with more happy colors so it was a good time to work with more pink than usual and to play with more three-dimensionality than I normally do on a layout. I do feel like I’ve expanded my scrapbook repertoire from this experiment.

Dedra’s Layout

Dedra cheated on her project. =)

I had to put that in there. Actually, it’s okay. She really tried to fit all my pieces in but ultimately, it just wasn’t her to have so many patterns, especially in the colors I chose for her, so she left some things out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dedra work with these golden browns and I think it’s gorgeous. The layout still screams Dedra, but in a new color.

The beads were also new for Dedra and I love how she added them as an accessory to a very Dedra-esque wire frame in a very playful and whimsical way. I’m curious to know if she plans to use more beads in the future and if she learned anything about herself in this process.

I’m so excited for Paperclipping Live tonight because we’ll have Liz Ness and Jackie Wood from Illustrating Stories calling in from Skype as our long-distance guests. They’ll be experimenting with techniques in some collage books they bought. I’m excited to see what they’ll be trying and how it’ll turn out. These are some of the ideas they’re considering:

Image transfers with inkjet photos
Create watercolor images using watercolor crayons and photos printed on watercolor paper
Paint unwanted backgrounds out of a picture
Try some resist techniques for journaling
Make some paper dolls inspired by the art of Claudine Hellmuth

Let’s hope UStream works for us. Apologies to those of you who tried to watch the last couple recordings. There were technical difficulties with UStream and the shows didn’t record.

Meet us tonight at 6:30pm, PST.

If you’re unsure of the time zone difference, look for your city on this website and then compare it to my city, which is Phoenix.

Note: If you’re waiting for Part 3 of my style journey and scrapbook history, it will be up this week, along with the final layouts that Dedra and I completed for the Style Exchange Challenge.