Crafty Secrets August Linky Party

For my Craft Hoarders Challenge #13 post, please click HERE.

Good morning! This is my first post as part of the Crafty Secrets Design Team! I do have two long posts this morning, so make sure you click the link above to see the second post.

Welcome to the Crafty Secrets August Linky Party! I have created a cute 4 1/2 x 6 x 2 inch mini for you today! It is in a fall/school/friendship theme. I had so much fun making this mini and I hope you enjoy looking! This is a long post, with a few tutorials, so get a cup of something and settle in!

I created this mini from scratch, using cardstock, Graphic 45 policy envelopes and Crafty Secrets Digital papers. With some other goodies thrown on top! All of the printed paper, images, and vintage photos are Crafty Secrets items. Prepare to be amazed. {grin}

I created  six pages, including the covers. Three of the pages are policy envelops, two are cardstock, and one is a large tag.
  

I bound the book with a "stacked spine," which I describe HERE. If you scroll down that post, there is a video showing you how to make this style of spine. The measurements for this spine are: 4 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches, scored at 3/4 and 2 1/2 inches; 4 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches, scored at 3/4 and 1 3/4 inches; 4 1/4 x 1 3/4 inches, scored at 3/4 and 1 inches. I used cardstock for the spine.

Fold the cardstock on the score lines and stack the pieces together as shown, smallest on top. This becomes your page flaps - glue each page to one of the little flaps.

My front and back covers are Graphic 45 kraft policy envelopes from their now discontinued policy album. 

I glued the digital paper to the back of the spine, and once I had added decorative paper to the front and back covers, I reinforced the spine with washi tape. I kept the back cover plain; it is simply digital paper.

Before I share the rest of the album, I want to talk a bit about digital paper. What is it? Basically digital paper is an image, usually a jpg or png file, that you can load into your photo editing software (or even Microsoft Word) and print with a color printer. I printed all of my papers onto Neenah Natural White cardstock, using an Epson photo printer. 

Digital papers are beautiful and easy to use! Below are instructions for sizing and printing your digital paper using Photoshop Elements 11 and Microsoft Word, if you do NOT have a printer capable of printing 12x12 inches.

Photoshop Elements 11:
1. Click on File, Open, select the paper you wish to print. The image will load as a 12x12 inch piece of digital paper.

2. Click on File, Print and select your printer. Under Printer Settings, make sure your printer setting is at 720 dpi, or the closest to this value of which your printer is capable.

3. Under Select Paper Size, make sure it is set to 8 1/2 x 11. Select the orientation. This may not matter, depending on your paper. 

4. Under Select Type of Print, select Individual Print.

5. Under Select Print Size, choose Custom. When the box appears, type 8x8 inches (or anther size). This will "re-scale" the pattern of the paper to fix the size paper you select. There are other options for sizing and scaling the image. I printed all the paper for this project at 8x8 inches. You also have the choice to fill an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper with the pattern.

Microsoft Word:
1. Choose, File, New, Blank Document. (I am using an older version of MS Word, so your selections may vary.)

2. Choose File, Page Set Up. Set all margins to zero and Ignore the error message. 

3. Choose Insert, Picture, From File. Choose the digital paper you wish to print.

4. Right click on the image and select Format Picture.

5. Under the Size tab, set the size of the image to 8x8 inches (or whatever size you wish). Under the Layout tab, choose Tight.

6. Drag the image so that you can see a bit of white margin around the digital paper.

7. Select File, Print. Choose your printer settings as you normally would. If you get an error message about the margins, ignore it and continue to print. 

Click HERE to see more information about printing digital items. Please note, for good quality ink at a great price, Ink Farm gives all Crafty Secrets Customers 15% off and Free Shipping Forever! Use code craftyink.

Now, let's take a closer peeky at the mini!

The plaid paper is a digital item, as is the school report, the small photo, and the title phrase. For a full list of Crafty Secrets products used, see the supply list at the end of the post.

This little book is quite chunky and full of fun elements. The wooden letterpress tiles are a fun set of tiles that I found online about a year ago. I purchased three sets, just in case! {can you say hoarder?!}

This is the fist time I have ever made a project with ONLY digital papers! It was fun to select and print the papers. Plus, with the papers being digital, I could alter them to fit my needs!

I added a chipboard clock and some metal clock hands, as well as bunches of flowers. I love the unexpected pops of pink!

Now, a closer look at each page of the album.

All of the photos are actually Creative Scraps Vintage Photos, or are from one of the Creative Scraps booklets! Since this project is a just for fun project, and not for my own photos, I wanted to use the Crafty Secrets images. My goal is to give you ideas for decorating your mini, and to share where you could place photos. Many mini albums are very pretty, but it is unclear where your photos would go! Normally, I just put a blank photo mat, but this time, I wanted to use these amazing vintage images!

This first page is the back of the cover, and is an envelope.

I added a bottle cap and some twine. I used a circle punch to punch out an image to decorate the bottle cap. 

The envelope is great for hidden journaling or for more photos.

This page is just cardstock. I loved this digital paper, especially the message on the teacher's blackboard! And how cute is that baby with the newspaper?!

For this page, I cut a bit of the digital paper with a star wreath die cut template. Since I printed all of the digital images onto cardstock, they were sturdy to work with. The bingo image is also a digital image.

This page is actually a Regular Graphic 45 Kraft Tag. I decorated it in the same manner as the other pages.

In the close-up shot, you can see that the vintage images are slightly "colorized"! The star embellishment is a piece of Canvas Corp cork, that I die cut and then sprayed with red spray mist.

This is the back of the tag. I created some rolled flowers from scraps of the paper. I also made use of a new die cut template - the Viewmaster Reel! But, I did dig WAY into the hoard to find the school sticker for the title! That sticker sheet is over 10 years old!

I love the addition of the clock and the twine. This rustic, vintage book makes my heart sing!

This page is another envelope Again, all the paper is digital. I know most of you think digital scrapbooking when you hear the words "digital papers," but if you can afford the cardstock and the ink, you can print amazing things for your hands-on projects! I am pretty sure that each sheet I print is about the same cost as buying a 12x12 sheet of high-quality designer paper!

I love these ladies. They remind me of my grandmother. I have photos of my grandmother from the late 1800's and she looks just like these gals! 

I had some fun with this page! The little girls are fussy cut from Altered Fairies Creative Scraps and the ladies are from the Girlfriends booklet. I loved showing a then and now sort of page!

This is the page that convinced me add all the pops of pink to the album.

Once again, I used digital paper. And flowers and leaves cut from some paper scraps. I love the wood ruler! This page is cardstock also, not an envelope.

I have had the bike die in my stash for ages, but have not used it very often. I love it paired with the flowers!

And the last page is an envelope. I trimmed the flap off this time. Once again, I love the whimsy of the little boy playing tag with the little girl, and then the photo of them as adults. 

I had fun adding the flowers and mini clock to the tree!

I hope you had fun with me today!

Maybe you will be inspired to make your own mini using digital papers! 

Now hop along and see what the rest of the team made!

Crafty Secrets Design Team

Kathy Clement, DT Leader  

Darlene Pavlick

Diane Hover

Elizabeth Lincoln

Gloria Stengel - YOU ARE HERE

Melody Clement

Michele Kovack

Shantaie Fowler

Sheila Rumney

Crafty Secrets Blog

Create a new project featuring a Crafty Secrets products and link it to the CS BLOG and you’ll automatically receive a $6 store credit. One lucky participant will be randomly chosen to win a $50 shopping spree in the store! If you don’t have any Crafty Secrets goodies, you can download FREE images from the Crafty Secrets blog; just look in the sidebar! You have until 11:59PT,  Sunday August 17th to play!

Come and play along! I mean you get $6 just for linking up your project! How can you pass that up! And a $50 shopping spree for the winner...come on, people! Make something and link 'er up!

Crafty Secrets products:
Vintage Typography CD
Vintage Christmas CD
Vintage Patterns CD
Digital Barbershop Kit
Creative Scraps: Altered Fairies, Vintage Photos, Seasonal Calendar
Vintage Stickers: Little Boys
Vintage Images and Journal Notes: Seasonal, Childhood, Girlfriends

Policy envelopes: Graphic 45
Cardstock: WorldWin Papers Heritage Black, Sandstorm; Neenah Natural White
ABC Chipboard: Graphic 45
Brads: Prima
Ruler: Maya  Road
Cork: Canvas Corp
Spray mist: Tattered Angels
Linen cloth: unknown
Letterpress tiles and bottle cap: Bottle Cap Company
Washi tape: 7 Gypsies, Tim Holtz
Doily: Wilton
Metal clocks: Sky Blue Pink
Chipboard clocks: Teresa Collins
Clock hands: Tim Holtz
Flowers: Petaloo, Prima, Wild Orchid Crafts, Pro 31 Designs
OId book paper, tickets, buttons: craft stash
Ribbon and twine: Really Reasonable Ribbon, May Arts
School stickers: Paper Loft
Ink: Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint
Paint: Ranger Distress Picket Fence
Tools: Stampin' Up 1" Circle punch; Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms, Stars Five die templates; Memory Box Vintage Bicycle, Starry Wreath die templates; My Favorite Things Reel Life Die-namics
Adhesive: Aleene's Tacky Glue; Scotch 3M ATG tape; Scor-tape; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L 3D Foam Squares