It's Clearly Christmas!

I can't believe Christmas is around the corner, and for us in the industry, that just gets us closer to the CHA Show in Anaheim. Another of the projects that we made at the Holiday Hideaway was a clear book...I've been so wanting to make one of those, so I was psyched!

Tim made covers out of the largest Fragments from Tim's Idea-ology(tm) line. You have to drill the covers; a Cropadile will give you "real" fragments! Tim had shown us this neat spray that when it dried, looked just like frost on a window. I had the brainstorm if the fragment covers could be sprayed...and they could! They looked just like frost and were able to take rub ons.

The pages were from Hambly's Studio; I love their new Clearly Heavy Overlays and the regular printed overlays. They were all cut to size and we rounded all the corners with Tonic's Boot Punch. I had never used their punch, but I liked how it worked...my hands were not cramped up after all those corners!

We then played with Hambly's Christmas Decor Rub ons...they work awesome as well and we also were able to "bling 'em up" with Heidi Swapp's Bling Accents. They worked great in conjunction with the rub on Christmas Trees and ornaments.

The book was finished up by punching out holes and adding binder rings and ribbon! Today I actually printed out a punch of small pictures of my tree and from the retreat and added them throughout the book, double facing the photos on either side of the page so there was no blank spot. I'll probably add in some journaling here and there...but I will definitely be making more.

I also had fun today decorating my Mini Mister(tm) holder that Kim DeRonde made us. I painted it black with a few coats of the Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabber in Pitch Black and then took my bazillion different Bandanna Backgrounds that I had finished and made tiles with the Fragments, gluing on the paper with Glossy Accents(tm). I then glued them on, one side at a time. I'm so psyched how it turned out! I'll be all ready to go with all of my Mini Mister/Perfect Pearl(tm)/Distress Ink(tm) reinker combinations...

I'm really enjoying decorating the living room with my Holiday Hideaway decorations! I hope you're enjoying them, too!

Enjoy the weekend!

Robin

Packin' Up Our Suitcase...with a Mini Book

I hope everyone on the East Coast is keeping warm and dry. We're getting whatever everyone else had earlier in the week and we're supposed to be getting a "Nor-east'r" this weekend...a perfect time to make samples and play (and do laundry...oh well)!

We made a fun, fun project on the first full day of our retreat. Clever Tim, trouble maker extraordinaire, was able to finagle this cute as anything mini suitcase so everyone had it in the Christmas red and green. Some things you don't ask, just appreciate it! The insides were the fun part...this was an easy mini book that can be recreated in tons of different sizes!

Tim used the Wonderland papers from Cosmo Cricket. We folded them to create little pockets for the mini-folders and with the mixture of Distress reinkers, water and Perfect Pearls in the Mini Mister(tm), you're ready to go! As an aside, we were given the MOST WONDERFUL block of wood from Kim DeRonde with 30 holes drilled in, perfect for the Mini Misters! I can't wait to decorate mine so that everyone know that it's mine and not to touch it.

We distressed all the pages with Tim's Paper Distresser and edged with Distress Ink(tm) and the Ink Blending Tool. Just a little ink on the paper creates dimension...love to use this. Remember, you can use either the Ink Blending Tool or the Alcohol Ink Applicator handle for the Ink Blending Foam...it will stick to both! We punched holes on each page and added some vintage binder rings and ribbon from American Craft-love their embellishments! Don't you also love the foofy ric rac? Crazy Kate brought it and was kind enough to share!

Don't forget to distress the suitcase. A few scrapes with sandpaper and more inking and pounding the hardware with Tim's Texture Hammer. I almost got out of hand with the hammering...the snaps almost stopped working...!

I'm going to go through a bunch of photos that I have of my mom and my uncle and add them to the book! It's a great gift for someone and a wonderful gift I made for myself!

Keep toasty, everyone!

Robin