Fast Festive Scrapping with a Mini Book

Happy Monday to you! 

Louise is here today to show us some ideas to speed up our festive crafting!

Louise:

Last week Lisa-Jane shared her process for telling her Christmas story in this post and this post! . She explained that gathering together and organising your scrapbook supplies helps with the whole Christmas Journal process. I really do second this and for several Christmas seasons this is exactly what I have done.

This year finds me restricted with my mobility. This limits the activities I might otherwise have been involved in over December which means unlike other years  I'm unlikely to have a daily photo. It has also meant that I've not been able to pull together all of my Christmas supplies.

It is still important to me that I record my Christmas however I didn't want the structure of a daily photo or entry so I started to think along the lines of a little book to hold some photos and record some stories in December, along with the big day itself.

Once I'd decided on the format for my little Christmas book - I found it a quick and easy project to undertake. This is an ideal project for a busy time of year, when lets face it most of us feel there aren't enough hours in the day.

Today I'd like to share with you five quick and easy steps to construct a little book for recording your family photos and stories during the month of December. 

There's also another five optional steps with ideas to help you add to your little book if you find you have more time available to craft than you thought, or if you find that you have more photos and stories you would like to include. Or you could add to it in January.

1. Restricting your supplies for a project can be more productive. If you are like me then you can spend hours looking for the right papers and embellishments. To narrow down your supplies use a Christmas collection Kit. I chose the gorgeous Echo Park's 'Tis The Season Kit perfect for this project. Within the collection kits you have your co-ordinated double sided patterned papers, including journaling cards, a sheet of alpha's and a sheet of festive stickers.

2. Pick out just one or two tools that you will use for the book.In addition to this Christmas collection kit I chose one punch (yes just one!) to use throughout the book.

3. Next, you will need to cut your papers to make the pages of the book.
I knew I wanted a smallish book so I selected some patterned paper from the collection kit for the pages and cut them to 6 x 7 inches.  I liked the squarish look of the album and decided to shape only the top cover into a tag shape. Of course, you can cut your pages to whatever size and shape you like.

I put a hole through the top of each page to hold them all together with a book ring.

4. Once you've got your pages and a front cover, you can use a few stickers to embellish. Try to limit yourself to using only the sticker sheets in the collection kit or if you're not using a kit choose just one or two sheets. This will make the whole embellishing process quicker and easier. I used stickers to decorate the front cover of my little book....(with a little help from the Teresa Collins Santa list sticker sheet, which in my defence just happened to be close to hand at the time!).

5. To complete the book you can add a page pocket to the back page of the book for somewhere to keep all of my Christmas memorabilia.

And that's all there is to it!

  

A little Christmas book all ready to be embellished and journalled in!

Optional Extras

Not only does a project of this type fit nicely around your hectic December schedule, it is also a superb project to add as many or as little pages as you like, when you like. Next Christmas....even!!

6. If you find that you have an hour to spare here and there, then you can add inserts or overlays. For example while I was waiting for the next few photos and stories to include in my Christmas book, I cross-stitched (freehand) this cute reindeer head from this pattern on Pinterest.

 I framed the reindeer and now it sits on top of the front cover.

7. Inserts can be in any form. Acetate pockets filled with confetti, decorative tags, envelopes for that special journaling. If you have the time and inclination these inserts can add interest and decoration to your book. This time I chose to
 include a glassine envelope to hold my children's Christmas wish lists.

8. At this busy time of year when we are trying to find the perfect present, inspiration can be lacking. This is the best time to consider a scraplift. I did it! I scraplifted a Christmas card (thank you Kandis Smith). It's a little inserted page that adds decoration to my book. Later on it will hold a photo and journaling.

9. Another quick and easy way I like to add interest to a project, is to add stitching. Hand stitching can be time consuming....so I dusted off my sewing machine. I do love how decorative stitching can transform a page.

10. Finally, no Christmas project is complete without bling. A pack of gems or enamel dots is a quick and easy way to bling up your little book.

I hope that this project has inspired you to put together a small book to record your Christmas. 

Please leave us a comment and let us know if it has!

I will be sharing the finished book on my blog after Christmas when I've recorded and included photos from Christmas day.

Happy Christmas Scrapping 

Louise x

Louise shares stories and her papercrafting projects at her blog Boys, Bugs, and Beautiful Buttons

P.S. Don't forget about our Design Team Call!

A Christmas Notebook!

Hello - Jenny here today!

With just over 8 weeks to go (I know - scary how fast time goes!) it really is time to turn out thoughts to our Christmas crafting!

Every year at Christmas time I have a little notebook in which I keep a record of all the presents I have bought so I don't forget anyone or more likely buy another present when I've already got one squirrelled away for them!

This year I thought I would make myself a pretty one so I set about altering this notebook.

It was a pretty bog standard spiral bound notebook, which cost me less than a £1 when I bought it. I started off by levering the spiral open to remove the covers.

 I used a promarker to do this so I didn't bend the spiral out of shape.

  

I have covered the front and the back with kraft card and then added a panel to the front using papers from Teresa Collins Santa's List 6 x 6 pad. I've cut an aperture in the paper and put my image behind the hole. I used a cute penguin image coloured with my promarkers. I have heat embossed the silver on his hat and scarf and given him some stickles snow to stand on. For the finishing touches I  added some red twine and punched snowflakes with red gems added to the centre and tied a variety of ribbons to the spiral bound once it was back in place to pretty it up.

  



On the inside of the back cover I have added a pocket cut out of kraft card so that I can add any receipts I wish to keep. I created the pretty shape on the top edge of the pocket using one of my nestabilities dies.

I hope this might inspire you to make your own festive notebook - you could keep your "To do" list or your menu ideas in it as well as present ideas!

Don't forget you still have a few days to enter the Six Cards Challenge - we are loving visiting your blogs to see your cards and don't forget each time you link up six cards you gain an entry into the Big Draw to win a box of stash!!

Thanks for visiting today!



Jenny is a busy Mum with three children and regularly blogs her cards and crafts at Dragonllews Spot