BUSY BUSY

I have been busy today.

First:       I applied to be a free lance Blogger for Blitsy. (Blitsy, if you are not familiar with it, is a fabulous place to get discounted artist materials for a number of crafts/arts.)

https://blitsy.com/

Second:  I signed up for a free 7 day course in paper love. You can too;

Want to get creative this month? How about 7 days of PaperLove? http://bit.ly/1pVV48D @bookpaperlove


Both will help me expand my horizon which has gotten a little tunneled lately.

PostCrossing's Post Card book

1) I have created a new album for my Post Crossing postcards. I began with cardstock cut 7 1/8" x 12" which I scored at 1, 1 3/8. 1 7/8, 2 3/8, 2 3/4, 3 1/4, 3 3/4, 4 1/8, 4 5/8, 5 1/2 and 6. I then turned the sheet around and did the same from the other end. I also used 7 envelopes 5 1/4 (trimmed top and bottom to  4 15/16) x 7 1/4. My envelopes determined the rest of my measurements.

2) I ended up with seven hinges 1/2" deep and eight spaces 3/8 " wide with two ends 1" to attach the covers to. I applied Scor-Tape® to one underside of each hinge. The cardstock and envelopes are all the Paper Studio® Kraft colored packs.

3) After peeling the Scor-Tape and pinching the hinges together I ended up with a piece 7 1/8" x 5". The actual spine will be 3" wide but since I plan to rest the book on its spine that will not be a problem. I made the spacing 3/8" rather that the usual 1/4" because I have some bulky embellishments I wish to use.

4) Distressing the hinge after it was assembled was a bit tricky but the envelopes were a snap. (Next time I distress the hinge BEFORE scoring.) I used Tim Holtz® Frayed Burlap. Notice I have added Scor-Tape to one side of each hinge.

5) I attached an envelope upside-down over each hinge. I am not worried about the flap I removed. It is CRITICAL you place your envelopes perfectly before pressing them against the tape. This tape is permanent and any mistakes must be lived with or you start over.

6) I chose 14 designs from my 4 1/2" x 6 1/2 UNCHARTED paper pack from The Paper Studio. Some were already distressed. (Note some of the designs are duplicates done in different colors. To make this more pleasing to the eyes just made sure they were not opposite one another.)

7) After outlining the pages with Scor-Tape I fastened them to the envelopes from and back. Because I butted the bottom of the page against the spine I did not have to worry about the missing flaps. 

Sept and on Pause

Here is is already Sept 14th and I still have not finished my Christmas cards. This has been a slow year. Usually they are done by St Patrick's Day at the latest. I need to take a few pictures of my work and post it here.

The Etsy is going slow since my sister took over setting it up. 

I feel like someone hit the pause button on my life. (Never knew one existed)