Get Out of the House - Nat's TN Insert Cover

Hi all, hope you are well 😊
In my second Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft project for July, and the theme of "Get out of the House" I wanted to make a cover to fit my four TN inserts into.  To do this I found an old file folder I received when I purchased a second-hand filing cabinet and thought this would make a great base for my cover, then I chose two papers from the Photo Play "Living the Quarantine Life" collection to cover the outside and inside of the folder. I also grabbed my "Spiced Marmalade" Distress Oxide to ink the edges of my papers and embellishments.

I used the Dylusions Dyalog insert to roughly measure how tall and wide I would need my cover and cut it down to approximately 8 and 1/2 inches in height.  I left the width of the folder as it was.

I cut my papers 8 and 1/2" by 11 and 3/4" (to fit between the very outermost score lines on both sides of the folder near the outer edges).  The papers were then scored in their centers and one inch both sides of the center, in keeping with the outermost score lines already found in the middle of the file folder.  This would allow for easier expansion of the covers spine when multiple inserts are added.

 I used double-sided tape and glue to adhere the papers onto the outside and inside of the file folder...

 

sticking each piece to the spine area first then adhering either side.

As seen below, I cut the papers to cover just to the outermost score line already found nearer the edges of the file folder.  I inserted eyelets near the top and bottom of the covers middle either side, approximately an equal distance between the middle score and the score lines either side of this.  I threaded doubled-over millinery elastic through each sides eyelets top and bottom and tied these off at the back in a double knot.  I left some length of elastic for adjustment if necessary.  The beauty of this method is that the elastic can easily be removed and changed when needed.  I had been a little heavy-handed with my bone folder when scoring the paper on the outer cover, therefore after it was attached to the folder and I folded it - it cracked a little.  Nothing that a tad of washi tape didn't fix 😉

 I used the Dyalog insert to test my elastic and was relieved when it held very well - phew!

The side edges that were not covered were folded in and glued just along the bottom to create 'tuck spots' at the front and back of the cover, then.........here comes the fun part again! I grabbed my favourite cut apart from the "Covidiot" paper (I just love that name!) and cut it in two, inking the edges with black Distress ink.  These were then glued to the cover with some of the Photo Play Ephemera Die Cuts which had all had the edges inked with the "Spiced Marmalade" Distress Oxide.  Eyelets were added near the center outer of the front and back cover and some red crochet nylon ribbon tied on to keep the cover closed.

I remembered I had also chosen to use the Dylusions Dyalog pockets, these wrap perfectly around the inserts to create a sturdy pocket at the front and back as pictured here.  There were three of these pockets in the packet, and I chose to use one with my expenses insert, one with my bullet insert and the last with my art journal insert.

All pockets and inserts were slipped in under the elastics using a method inspired by Dyan Reaveley and shown in my process video below.

It is not perfect, but I am quite proud of my efforts thus far and cannot wait to get using my inserts and getting some organisation into my life, especially when I begin to "Get out of the House" more!
Take care and have fun!
Love Nat xxx

Process video of making the cover and inserting the pockets and inserts can be found here:

Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft products on sale and being used for the month of July are:

•   Photo Play "Living the Quarantine Life" paper collection including: Covidiot, Plaid19, Covid 19, Stay Safe, This Happened.
•   Photo Play "Living the Quarantine Life" Ephemera Die Cuts
•   Photo Play "Living the Quarantine Life" Stamps
•   Ranger - Tim Holtz Distress Oxide "Spiced Marmalade"
•   Bo Bunny - Clear Stickers "Life in Color"
•   Pigma Micron 05 pen 
•   Ranger Dylusions - Dyalog Insert Book - Ruled
•   Dyalog Dylusions - Dyalog Pocket Inserts

Get Out of the House - Nat's TN Inserts

Hi everyone - hope you are all well 😊

For my first Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft project for July I decided to try and create my own traveller's notebook style inserts.  The theme for July is "Get Out of the House" and it would be great to have a planner system ready to document things such as moments, expenses, and to have some fun in while I am out and about.  These have been inspired by Dyan Reaveley and the Dylusions Dyalog range of inserts, one of which is pictured below.  I have never attempted to make something like this before and found it handy to have this insert booklet as inspiration.
For the covers I will be using the bright and somewhat hilarious Photo Play "Living the Quarantine Life" paper collection.

My first step was to cut the covers down to size (8 and 2/8" in height x 8 and 3/8 across) then score and fold at the halfway mark.

I then raided my stash of papers around the house that I am sure we all have around and don't use! These included an old art diary (one of about five!) my daughter had left here when she moved out, a grid paper pad, an old school lined writing book, and a bullet journal I have had for a few years and only completed one page in . Rather than having these all hanging around doing nothing, I decided to up-cycle them into something I would use. 

I set about cutting twelve pages of each and folding them in half.  The bullet journal pages were not big enough to achieve the required size therefore I opted to use 24 pages, and then created a hinge to join two pages together and cut down to size.  This is demonstrated in my process video below.

Next I sewed each group of pages (signatures) into their respective covers.  I chose to use a five-hole pamphlet stitch for this which is also demonstrated clearly in my process video.  I used binder clips to hold the pages and cover together while I used an awl to poke five holes down the length of the middle of the signature.

  I then used tatting thread and a needle to sew the pages into the cover.

I repeated this process three more times and voila! My TN (traveller's notebook) style inserts are ready for embellishment.

Now to have some fun 😃 I grabbed my 'Spiced Marmalade' distress oxide ink to distress the edges of the Photo Play ephemera pack and paper cutouts then began gluing these onto the front of my four covers.

I had a ball embellishing these, such a fun kit to lighten the darkness of what we all have been living through in past months.  One of the cut outs from the papers was used to create labels for each insert. Created for myself is an expense insert to take out with me and keep track of my spending (that's a bit dangerous!!!), a bullet journal insert to create lists of information, a writing insert to write notes of daily happenings, and last of all - an art journal insert to have a bit of fun in.

I love how these have turned out, the papers and ephemera are so much fun and it was great to be able to re-use my neglected papers to create something handy!
Take care all and have fun!
Love Nat xxx

Process video here detailing how I made the inserts:

Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft products on sale and being used for the month of July are:

•   Photo Play "Living the Quarantine Life" paper collection including: Covidiot, Plaid19, Covid 19, Stay Safe, This Happened.
•   Photo Play "Living the Quarantine Life" Ephemera Die Cuts
•   Photo Play "Living the Quarantine Life" Stamps
•   Ranger - Distress Oxide "Spiced Marmalade"
•   Bo Bunny - Clear Stickers "Life in Color"
•   Pigma Micron black 05 pen 
•   Ranger Dylusions - Dyalog Insert Book - Ruled
•   Dyalog Dylusions - Dyalog Pocket Inserts

Your Cloud's in my Sky - Gina's Travellers Notebook Insert / Journal

Hello Crafty Friends!
Today Gina creates a lovely travelers notebook insert using the core and chosen products from our March theme - Your Cloud's in my Sky.
Not into TNs? No worries! This can also be used as a journal on its own.
I just love all the autumn themes and colours that Gina used!!

Hey everyone I'm back again and so excited to be a part of the team this month. Autumn is my absolute favourite season and I wish it would last for 6 months or more :o The days are perfect here in Perth, not too hot, not too cold and I love to spend as much time as I can outdoors which my kids love.

On to my project, I've decided to make a travellers notebook insert which can also be used as a journal by itself. To start with I cut one of the beautiful Bo Bunny cardstocks, "Decaf Vintage" across at 8 1/4"

I then scored it at 4.1" and 8.2". This will make the cover of the TN insert. Fold and burnish

At first I intended to use the entire flap as a tuck but it was too long so I ended up cutting it down to a width of 2 3/4". I then used my Martha Stewart border punch to punch out a fancy edge to the flap which I then glued on the top and bottom edges to make a tuck.

I chose 10 pieces of paper that I would like to make the signature and cut them down to 8-1/4" x 8-1/4" and folded them in half. I've used a dictionary page that has the word autumn on it, an orange tissue paper, a piece of newsprint paper, a page from a colouring book and Echo Park "Autumn Floral" and "Falling Leaves" all cut down to size. The dictionary page and the colouring book page are slightly shorter than 8 1/4" but that's okay. Its a junk journal :)

I've used the Echo Park "Autumn Acorns" paper and cut it to be 8 1/4" across but kept the length 12 inches. I've then scored it lengthwise at 8 1/4" and folded over, cut about 1/8" across from the center of the fold to make it less bulky when you fold in half. I've then cut  the pockets at a slight angle from the center to make it look sort of like a folder. Hard to explain. Good thing we have pictures ;)

I used a yellow printer paper that I had and cut it at 8 1/4" but left the 11 inch side as is. I then scored that at 4 1/8" and 8 1/4" to make a page with a fold out flap.

Next I took a white lunchbag that i had and cut both sides so that it was 8 1/4" wide. I then chose 2 napkins that I thought went well with the colours and stuck them on after removing the extra layers.

Next I stamped the beautiful "Tim Holtz Blueprint Stampset - Autumn" on one side of the newsprint paper using Tim Holtz brushed corduroy distress ink. I love how this came out

On one side of the dictionary page I decided to use the "Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Autumn" and using 4 different ink pads, I stencilled it on the page. The Kaisercraft ink pads used were saffron and vintage but I don't know the names of the creative ink pads

I also had a notebook page that I cut down to size. It was the right height so I only had to cut the sides. I stamped 2 of the Tim Holtz blueprint stamps on the top of one page and the bottom of the next in saffron colour because the stamps are gorgeous.

I put all the pages together in the order I liked and then stitched them into the cover using the 3-hole pamphlet stitch.

I stuck the beautiful "Prima Cours Mirabeau Floral Lace" on the edge of the spine so that half is on the front of the cover and the other half is on the back.

For the inside of the cover page I've used the off-cuts of the "Falling Leaves" and "Autumn Acorns". They were all 3 3/4" wide. I cut them to 6", 4 1/2" and 3" and using a 1" circle punch and layering them all on top of each other I punched out a half circle through all of them so that they were aligned. I then stuck them one on top of the other and stuck them on the inside of the cover page to make 3 pockets.

I put glue on the sides of the flaps on the center folder and stuck them to the page to make pockets. I stuck 2 Jolee's Die-cut embellishments - Maple Leaves Autumn" on the edge of each of the strings to  pretty them up and prevent them from fraying later.

I stuck the red "Santoro Kori Kumi Leaf Ribbon" on the edge of one of the yellow pages. I love how it stands out on the page.

I cut out some of the 3x4 journaling cards and clipped them onto some of the pages with shaped paperclips I have in my stash. Here's a look at some of the pages in the journal.

To finish the cover, I added 3 of the autumn leaf buttons from the Dress it up Button Embellishments - Woodland Critters to the bottom on the lace. I cut off the backs of the buttons so I could stick them on. I also added 3 stickers from the Echo Park "Celebrate Autumn" sticker sheet.

You can watch a quick flip through of the completed insert here

I also have a video of the entire process but its almost an hour long so if you're going to watch it I suggest grabbing a cuppa, some biscuits and your clicking finger to skip through all the unnecessary parts.

The pages can be decorated further but I wanted to leave more space to write and also this post would go on forever :) Thank you for reading and I'll see you again soon next week.

Stay awesome - Gina x

Coffee & Friends: Lolly's PocketBook Embellishments and Inserts

Hello Crafty Friends!
Wasn't Lolly's elastic-free PocketBook just brilliant?! Now it's time to fill it with inserts, paperclips and other goodies.....

The last time, I created the PocketBook structure -- remember that "traveler's notebook" without elastics?  Well, now it's time to embellish it and to create the inserts for it!  Let's get going!

When I made my jumbo tag, I had stamped, colored, and cut out several of these cute coffee cups ahead of time.  Coloring is a nice project to take along when away from home!

I used a strip of ecru lace, one of the cups, one of the kit flowers, and another image from my dictionary to decorate the cover of the PocketBook.

I had also pre-stamped and colored some of the one inch circles from the stamp set, so I glued one of those onto a flattened bottle cap for a paper clip.

And that washi!  Oh, how fun.  I wanted to use it as a banner clip, but washi is floppy, so I stuck the washi to paper and cut it out.  Then I folded it in half and attached it to the paper clip, along with a strip of teal card stock.  I trimmed the ends and added the "latte" quote from the stamp set.  A few teensy flat back pearls added detail.

While the paper clips were drying, I worked on the two inserts for the PocketBook.  I cut the paper from the collection into 6 X 8 inch pieces and scored the long side at 4 inches.  Then I collected my junk journal papers -- things like wallpaper, ledger paper, coffee stained paper, music sheets, etc.  I cut these various sizes, but most were 1/8" smaller than the 6 X 8 size.

I also used some old crinkly envelopes to make pockets for the inserts.  

When all done,  I pamphlet stiched the papers into the inserts with waxed linen thread, 

and I covered the thread ends with the adorably tiny coffee cup stamped images.

Now we have a notebook with two completed inserts and two paper clips inside!

One last thing -- I decided to laminate one of the stickers in the paper collection, and tuck it into the front pocket, just for fun!

To see the entire process, watch HERE.

and to see part one, constructing the PocketBook, watch HERE.

This kit is so popular!  Get yours HERE.

Now, time for coffee, right?  Thank you for playing along with me!

~Lolly

http://www.LollyPalooza.net