Amador County Farm Day

Recently I had the honor of chaperoning my daughter and her class at our county’s first Farm Day--what a treat!  Gwen was so taken with the chickens that we might just have to get a couple for our backyard next spring.  I think it will be a great learning experience for the kids and maybe we’ll get a few eggs a week out of it.  By the way, you DO NOT need a rooster if you just want eggs.  I’m sure if you think about it, you’ll understand why.  The reason I’m bringing this up is that initially, after explaining to more than a few people that I just wanted to have some backyard chickens for eggs, they kept explaining I needed a rooster.  Being the understanding person that I am, I just nodded my head and walked away.  Trust me, I don’t want to BREED the hens, I just want their EGGS.

That day, instead of lugging around my big DSLR, I decided to just use my iPhone to take pictures. I couldn’t help but take the pictures and combine them in an album for her as a keepsake of our day together.  The Spellbinder’s Snapshot set came in handy as well as Cricut’s new Mini Books cartridge.

Hopefully I will have the opportunity to go with my son, Raiden, next year.  Maybe after that trip, we’ll plant a vegetable garden, too—Lol!    

The tag above lists all the children that were in our group during the Farm Day tour at the Fairgrounds.

The children were given a swag bag at the event.  Gwen gave me permission to use the ruler she received in the bag as an embellishment in her album.  You’ll see the rest of it at the end.

The tag on the right side includes the folded itinerary for the day that we received at school before leaving on the trip.  Each activity was given a letter on the itinerary which explained the nature of the activity.  Most of the pictures I included in the book after this page will have a letter on the tab which refers back to this itinerary.   The picture below shows the itinerary unfolded.

The picture above shows the other side of the tag with attached itinerary.  Below, you will see how this side will unfold and show a map we used that day of the Fairgrounds to get to each activity.

In the above picture and in the picture below, you see that ruler again!

This entire album, almost every page (except for the manila tags) was constructed with chipboard.  By the time I was done assembling my pages, I noticed it was quite bulky.  With that said, I did have to remove some pages (not pictured above) from the album.  One of the things I had removed was a cardstock folder assembled using that new Cricut cartridge called Mini Books.  Our name tags from the day were going to be nestled in that pocket.  I just loved it but it had to go. In the future, I think most of my pages will be constructed with cardstock instead.  Also, the spine originally was closed---another cut from Cricut’s Mini Books cartridge, but it was just too bulky, so I had to cut it in half.   

All in all I am very proud of it, but most of all, so is Gwen.  It’s hers after all is said and done.  This did take quite a bit of time but we just had Fall Break and Gwen helped me in the planning of her album while we were off. 

Below will be a list of items and tools used to assemble the album.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at cammie1971@yahoo.com.  TFL!

Supplies

All patterned paper and some doodle elements by Nancie Rowe Janitz available at  jessicasprague.com items:

My Doodle Book

Mixed 4:  Mixed Media Canvas

Mixed 3: Backgrounds

Die Cutters, Tools, Inks, and Stamps

Cricut Mini Books and CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridges used with Cricut Expression 2 and Gypsy for album structure

Spellbinders Grand Calibur and following dies for frames, etc:  Snapshot, Nested Lacy Pennants, and Labels Two, Twenty, and Twenty-Five.

Jenni Bowlin For Fiskars Tab Punch and Butterfly Punch

WRMK Crop-a-dile 2 and large eyelets on binding of book and pages

I-Rock and crystals by Imaginisce

Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pens and Pads:  Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, China Blue, Faded Jeans, Barn Door

K&Company Smash Tape and Smash Clips

Stamps by Unity Stamp Company:  Summers Best by Simple Stories, Travel Notes, Slow & Steady, and 1/12 and 9/12 Kits of the Month

Binded ATC-Style Mini Album + Cards . . .

We had lots of seriously fun activities going on at school and in our household this past May, from field trips to an annular eclipse.  So I decided to make a mini album.  I didn’t want anything too complicated, just iPhone pictures with page titles.  No fuss.  Jodie Lee’s Art Journal Printable ATC Cards (available soon at jessicasprague.com) were just what I needed.  I printed the PDF twice for the pages and went to work creating this simple mini by cropping and adhering the pieces to chipboard and binding it with my Bind-It-All using 3/4-inch rings. This size was fun and NO STRESS.  Best of all, it fit in the hands of my children and they loved flipping through the pages.  Also, the title/page titles were pretty easy, too.  I printed the title/page titles out, placed the paper on a light box, and adhered popsicle sticks to the back.  Then I used my craft knife to cut away the excess paper and filed the sides, etc., to give it a shabby-like look.  The popsicle sticks gave the album just enough weight and dimension.

Below are some images of cards I completed recently but just haven’t posted to my blog yet.  I hope you enjoy looking at them.  The one just below this uses my favorite Jenni Bowlin papers from her Farmers Wife Collection at jessicasprague.com.  The second card uses papers from her Tangerine Dream Collection at jessicasprague.com.  TFL!

Recent Favorite Photos

There were lots of pictures from various sources like my cell phone, my husband’s cell phone, my SLR, etc., that I wanted to print out and place somewhere.  This mini album kit by Carina Gardner helped me do it in no time!

Recent Favorite Photos Mini Album

Carina Gardner

LE PETITE PAPERIE ALBUM and LE PETITE PAPERIE Mega Collection

Kitschy Digitals

Vintage Cameras Kit

Splendid Fiins

Evidence Paper Pack

Other Supplies:  Cricut Street Sign Solutions and Going Places Cartridges; chipboard and cardstock; Bind-it-All; Various punches, i.e., extra large scallop, wavy circle, border, and embossed button.

Monthly Inspiration Binder

Have you ever been so overwhelmed by a scrapbooking tool/embellishment that it completely spins you into overdrive?

I was so overwhelmed with inspiration using Splendid Fiin’s Evidence Notes and Frames that I spent most of the weekend putting together a handmade binder I didn’t know I even needed!

It became so clear to me.  Every month, I complete about four to six projects, either scrapbooking, papercrafting, sewing, or home decor.  Quite often, I find inspiration everywhere—online through tutorials, on my phone in apps such as craftgawker, looking through home decor or scrapbook magazines/sketch sites, or looking at products in a catalog.  It occurred to me that keeping a tangible binder with these ideas might make life easier for me.  I can actually PLAN to do them.

For each one of the above subjects, I’ve made a divider using the note frames as a prompting tool in my binder.  Each divider contains information and a picture of the inspiration I’ve found.  The information includes the tutorial or origin of inspiration, the month I’d like to complete it, why it inspired me in the first place, and what products I would like to use to complete that project, etc.  Each month, I am going to print out the note card and place it in my binder with hopes of completing it.  If I don’t get to it that month, it stays in the binder until I complete it—then onto another inspiration note card prompt.  A lot of times, I find some pretty good inspiration out there and save it to my browser, phone, etc., only to find I’ve forgotten about it.  At least if I print out these prompts and save them some where tangible, I can actually DO them and keep the inspiration alive by planning to do them.  I’ve included plastic pockets in my binder, so that I can store/save sticky notes for those ideas that pop in my head from time to time. 

The binder itself is not cumbersome, small but not too small, and was made using a lot of the tools/mediums that inspire me in the first place. It was binded using principals from this tutorial by Francine Clouden.  I used loose-leaf binder rings so that I could add to my binder instead of using the Zutter O-wires.  Also, I discovered that my Cricut will cut canvas sheets.  I pressed Heat-n-Bond to the back of 1 canvas sheet, trimmed to 12-x-12, that I had previously painted on.  I cut 2 of the bracket cards from this canvas sheet using the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge (fit to page), one for the front of the album and one for the inside of the album, using fabric settings on my Cricut Expression 2.  I then cut the same shape again from chipboard, using chipboard settings and my deep cut housing with blade.  I pressed the canvas die cuts to this chipboard piece, one on each side.  You would not believe how sturdy it feels. It’s going to last.  As you can see from the picture, I can keep a pen in the binding.  I’m hoping to replace the pen with one of those smash book pen/glue sticks by K&Company.  That would be more useful, I think for something like this.  The pen is attached to the binding by sewing and tying  one hair tie, cut in half, to the holes that were placed by the Bind-it-All.  A hair tie with button was also used to make the closure.  Paper bag pockets were included to store sketches, magazine clippings, etc.  All in all, it was a lot of work but didn’t seem like it at the time because I really wanted to see the idea come to fruition.  I’m very satisfied with the outcome and hope it inspires someone to make an inspiration binder of their own.  Here are some pictures of he outside and inside.  TFL!

The doily and colored label (seen on the back) are from the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  “Craft” is from the Word Collage Cricut cartridge.  The Ohh-LA-La! mat is from the kit of the same name available at jessicasprague.com by Jodie Lee.  The folder pages you will see in the binder is also available in this kit but will be full 12-x-12 pages. I printed and then cut them using my Sizzix folder die.  The dress form is a rubber stamp, stamped on the paper, then cut and attached.  The heart was a chipboard shape I had lying around, embossed using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, painted with red acrylic paint, and then UTEE was applied in several layers to add dimension.  

Here’s a peek at the inside paper bag pocket where I included Becky Fleck sketches that inspire me.

Above is the scrapbooking inspiration prompt.

Plastic pocket that holds some sticky notes for those inspirational a-ha moments.

Above is the home decor prompt.

Another sketch pocket and plastic pocket to include magazine clippings, etc, that may come and go with my binder.

Above is the papercraft inspiration prompt.

Card sketch inspiration pocket, perhaps I could add some quotes/sentiments that might inspire me as well. 

Above is the sewing inspiration prompt.

I’m sure ideas will pop in my head following the printing of the prompt, so I can jot them down in the back of each prompt.  Also, another pocket for sewing projects I may find in magazines, catalogs, etc.  In this plastic pocket, I might include color inspiration, like paint chips, palettes, etc.