C.R.A.F.T. #21: Mini Scrapbook

Mar 3 posted by
 Mini Scrapbooks…
AKA: accordion scrapbooks, explosion scrapbooks, squash books
I made one for the BF before he moved to China, and Annie made me one for my birthday. As you can see it was 2006 (way before the ol’ blog) So, I just googled and found a great tutorial from Making Mini Scrapbooks.
Tips: 
1: You MUST be able to make mini pictures for this project–I like Picasa collage tool :)
2: Great project to use up all of your scraps
3: These are fun gifts for someone who is going away for any period of time…it doesn’t take up much space!

Happy scrap booking :)
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C.R.A.F.T. #19: Altered Books

Mar 1 posted by
I loved scrap booking in high school, and then I got to college and my mom stopped buying all of my supplies! That paired with digital cameras made me quit old school scrapbooking. Then, I learned about altered books. Literally grab an old book, and use it to add pics, doodles, and whatever else you like! Now, I made altered scrapbooks for special occasions. OK, I’ve made 2 in my life, but I’d like to make one a year.  If you like this sucker, be sure to check out more altered scrap booking tips. 
altered books
Tips for making altered scrapbooks:
  1. Out dated atlases are good books to use…you can use the maps to your advantage!
  2. I covered this page in Chinese newspaper (This book is about our time in China)
  3. I often use Picassa to edit pictures, one useful feature is the collage button–you can throw a bunch of pictures in a folder and collage the entire folder.  Then print the one collaged picture, and cut out the little guys. I’m sure there are many other ways to make mini pictures…
  4. Scrapbook stuff is expensive, so I cut a lot of stuff out by hand… the plane, watermelons,  leaves and branches, letters
  5. The bottom page is the last page in the book, it is of lots of mini pictures (shocking, right?) I use scrapbook tape to tape on pictures and little things, and mod podge for the big stuff.
  6. It is hard to tell in the pictures, but you can also add fun foldables or flaps, or mini books within your recycled book. (“The Job Site” is a flap that opens up, and has 2 secret pictures) Just fold a piece of card stock in half and only glue down one side…

This is a large, super outdated atlas from Good Will.

Altered books

I used itty, bitty scraps of paper and cut all the watermelons by hand.

Altered books
Mini pictures are cheaper to print since you can print 40 of them in one 4 x 6 print. 
Altered books

Have you ever made a recycled book? How do you collage pictures? I’d love to hear…

 

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C.R.A.F.T. #18: Recycled Book

Feb 28 posted by
Recycled books are a fun, less expensive alternative to scrapbooks. I have also heard them called altered books. You can use ANY book it just depends on the length of “scrapbook” you desire. I found a cool leather bound book at a 2nd hand store for one
dollar.
I like the look of the recycled book because it can sit on your coffee table and look like a “normal” book. 

Here are some tips for creating a recycled book:
1: Use double sided scrapbook tape to “glue” the pages together. You can also use modge podge. You can tape as many pages together as you want.You could make a 100 page book only 5 pages by gluing or taping multiple pages together.
2: Use the book pages to your advantage. Look through your book, and see if you can incorporate any maps, pictures, or sayings into your recycled book. 
3: On the back cover of the book I used mini envelopes to hide my little thank you notes…

 
What do you think of recyled scrapbooks? Are you a scrapbooker? Find more tips for altered books here.

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