I wanted to share a quick run-down of how to put together the structure for this mini book I made with the February kit:

Supplies:

• 7gypsies Book Covers
• Ribbon
• Scrips and Scraps
• Sewing Machine
• Thread
• Gel Medium (or other strong adhesive)
• Fabri-Tac
• Cardstock
• Bone Folder
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Corner Punch
• Binder Clips
• Scissors

STEP ONE: Create the Cover Base

The book covers from 7gypsies are 5.5×7 inches, so that’s why my cover is the size it is.  I cut a piece of cardstock to 7×12 inches and then scored it to create a 1 inch wide spine.  You can see the score marks a little more easily in this photo:

If you don’t know how to score, here are some instructions I found online.  I use a bone folder or my Scor-It to make my scores.

You’ll also need to round the corners of your cover (because the 7gypsies book covers are rounded and we want this base to fit the covers perfectly).

I used a corner punch I bought at Staples a million years ago.  Here’s the result:

Put together a stack of “pages.”  They should be 11 inches long and 6.5 inches tall to fit in your book.  You can use plain paper, scraps, fabric, whatever you’d like.  My stack is 5 pages high.  As you can see, I used binder clips to hold it together and keep things from shifting around.  I also used a pencil and a ruler to draw a line straight down the center of the signature.  This is my stitching line.

Above, you can see several signatures all stitched down the middle.  I made 3 signatures, but only ended up using 2 of them.

STEP THREE: Fold the Signatures

Fold each signature along the stitched center line and use a bone folder to help ensure you have a strong crease.

STEP FOUR: Stitch the Signatures Into the Cover Base

Use a pencil and a ruler to mark the inside of your spine on the cover base.  Make marks every 1/4 inch.  Sew your two signatures at the 1/4 inch and 3/4 inch marks.  Here’s a photo of the signatures stitched into the cover base:

Again, I used binder clips to hold the signature to the cover base while I stitched.  You don’t want anything to shift while it’s going through the machine.

Decorate the front cover any way you’d like.  And don’t forget to include a ribbon to close up the whole thing.  The covers are made out of chipboard and you can sew right through them.  Just go slowly.

STEP SIX: Attach the Covers

I used gel medium to adhere the 7gypsies covers to the back and front of my cover base.  I used binder clips to hold everything together while it dried.

All that’s left now is to cover up that ugly spine!

Stitch two pieces of ribbon together length-wise to create an extra-wide ribbon:

Cut the ribbon to size, cover with Fabri-Tac and adhere it over the spine:

And that’s it!  Your book is done!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Let me know if you have any questions!

xo Julie

 Ever get stuck in a rut?
Or how about you just don’t feel very creative?
It happens!
One of my favorite things to do to help get myself out of a rut is to scraplift myself!
{it’s easy and totally legal!}
I pull out an old album or 2 (which is always fun to look through anyway!) and start going through my old layouts.
I don’t go too far back because some of my old layouts are just plain hideous!
But I do go back a couple of years because I am trying to get myself out of the rut of the same ole layouts I have been doing recently.
I’ve got a couple of examples for you!
I made this layout for the February gallery
using the Skylark & Passerine kits.

I made that layout after finding this next one in an old album.
I used the same basic design and theme for my newer layout.

 I might need to do one of these “love” layouts once a year.
They would be fun to look back on after a while!
_______________________________________
Here is another example.
This funky layout is one of my favorites from a couple of years back.

I used it as a jumpstart to create this next layout using the Skylark kit.

I hope this tip helps you out the next time you get stuck in a rut or need a little boost of creativity!
Have a great day!
:)

I am a big fan of the handwritten letter, although to be honest i have been a bit horrible at sending thank you notes lately. So, last night i made a digi leatterhead with the new HoneyChurch kit {so i can send a few out this week} and decided I love it so much i’d share. simply click the image below and you can download an 8.5×11 version for yourself. use it for letters. notes. or you can even scrap a page or two.

please note this is a pdf file so you will need adobe in order to download and view.

happy wednesday!
xo

I am beyond thrilled to be welcoming Diana Martin & Cathy Pascual to the kR creative team. They are incredibly talented Digital designers who have been inspiring me for years so I am beyond happy to have them join us. Both Cathy & Diana will be creating projects with the kR digital kits that are available at Two Peas and we’ll be showcasing their projects and tutorials here on the blog so that even you ladies who have said you are a bit intimidated by using Digi kits can see how easy it can be.

Welcome to the team ladies! We are so excited and honored to have you join kR!
happy tuesday!
xo

it’s no secret that the internet abounds with amazing inspiration….almost TOO much inspiration.  there are so many amazingly talented crafters & artists & scrapbookers out there who are so generous and share their ideas and their projects and their “how to’s” on the web.  the trick, for me, has been how to handle it all.  previously i had a jumble of bookmarks & some images saved that amounted to a big bunch of gobelty gook that i could never navigate & hence, all that promising creative inspiration went nowhere.

but recently i discovered tumbl’r, and it has been extremely helpful organizing all of my favorite images and tutorials and great ideas from talented crafters and artists around the www in one pretty place.  if you are anything like me, the time you have to sit down & create is pretty precious because there is not much of it to go around.    i’m looking forward to utilizing my tumbl’r more & more going forward so i can really cut down on that whole “ooooooo what do i do??????” when it comes to creating time, and get more productive during my small time window.

so when i got my february kenner road kits, i immediately turned to my tumbl’r & was easily able to find some wonderful inspiration that i quickly turned into layouts.

for example, i tagged this post in my tumbl’r a bit ago.  aside from the fabulous granny square crocheted blanket and the little tutorial for a heart garland for your home, i immediately thought…”hmmm….a little heart punched garland would be super cute on a page”

so….i punched & punched little hearts & had a great time creating this:

one of the other cool things about tumbl’r is that you can “follow” other people who have similar (or interesting or different) tastes as you, so you can benefit from the inspiration & information they find as well.   that is how i found this amazing artist’s flick’r page.  it was just what i needed to finally tackle some photos i had from my nephew’s birthday NYC trip last summer.  i always get stumped by “event” photos for some reason, but a little “moline” patterned paper city was perfect for this page.  i especially loved how “moline” put those tiny black hand cut rectangles on the “buildings” for windows.  SO cool.  creating this page was really fun :)

and one of my favorite aspects of all of this “inspiration saving” is that once i find something wonderful that sparks something creatively, i know exactly where it came from & can give credit where credit is due.   :)

happy creating!  & happy tumbl’ring :)

xoxo

gi