Display-It-All address book

I've finally had a chance to work with the new Display-It-All from Zutter. It's such a wonderful little thing, this little mini-book stand, because you can either mount the mini album on it permanently or you can just use it to hang your album on without attaching it and change albums whenever you've made a new one you'd like to show a little extra. I'm lucky enough to have two of these babies, so I've used this one to permanently mount a little telephone book.

Inside, there are only plain white sheets divided by tabbed pages. I've only decorated the front cover here, and the Communique papers and tags from Graphic 45 (what else? LOL) were just perfect for this. Roses from Prima, pins from Maya Road and the cutest little handbag charm, which I think I got from Panduro.

I have more Bind-It-All-stuff to show you over the next few days, so don't forget checking in every now and then. And don't forget to check out this month's DT-galleries over att Zutter Zisters, because they are packed with inspiration! I'm getting back to the project I'm working with right now - the Zutter Spinner Album Kit, which is such a blast working with! But I won't be able to show you that one until the end of June, because it will take quite some time to complete.

A mini book on display

Most of the time, when I'm make minis with the Bind-It-All, I use big wires to be able to put on as many embellishments as possible without making the pages stand out too much, There's nothing worse than a mini book that doesn't stay shut when you put it together. For this mini I wanted the opposite. I wanted the pages to stand out as much as possible to be able to display it like this.
I am so in love with these papers from Rose Moka. They are perfect for my colorful little boy, and also perfect for embellishing his room, which is very white, with white walls and white furniture, and a few colorful spots here and there, such as this album and the sleeping layout from a couple of posts ago that is on display on a shelf.

I've put a wooden stick through the wire, you know the kind you put meat and vegetables and stuff on and put on the barbecue (couldn't find the right word for it LOL) and then I've put a hitch fastener from Tim Holtz on each end. I just screwed them on, very neat little things, actually. I put the title on the stick too, so that you can see it when the book is on display on the easel.

The secret of getting the pages to stand out like this is the embellishments and how you place them. I've put buttons near the wire, and thicker embellishments further out on the pages. I've used a lot of metal and a lot of boyish embellishments, which is fun for a change, because there has been just a little too much flowers lately...

The pics are from a photoshoot I had with Albin a couple of weeks ago when we were out on a walk together. Sometimes I look at him and I can't believe how he got so big so fast. Right now, it's all about being "cool" for him - he wants the coolest clothes, the coolest shoes and stuff. I took him shopping yesterday, and got the coolest checked shorts for him, and all of a sudden he got even bigger. Saturday is his sixth birthday. I wonder where those years went?

Luckily, being cool for Albin means posing in a cool way in front of the camera too. So suddenly I'm allowed to take pictures of him again, in his cool outfits. Guess I should be happy about that, at least.

I've written in the book about Albin, and what's important to him right now, his friends, favourite things to do, hobbies and so on. I tried interviewing him while he was watching How it's Made on Discovery Channel, and that wasn't the greatest idea I ever had, because he's so absorbed by that show that he doesn't have a clue about what's going on around him.

And that's one of the things I've written about in the book, of course. :-)

Oh, and guess what? Aren't I the lucky one? Yesterday, the winners of Magda's Scrapfeber, an online contest I've participated in, were announced, and I won three of the of the challenges, plus I got two second places and one third... And I got to share the second place in the overall competition with one of the most talented scrappers I know, sweet Anna. I'm so happy today!

Getting ready for spring

We're getting ready for spring here, and it's so nice when you finally can get out in the garden and start getting the flowerbeds and kitchen garden ready. As one of my Zutter projects this months I decided to make a little garden diary, with room for notes about where I planted what, progress, things to do etc.

It's divided into different parts. This is the part where I'm writing about my kitchen garden.

And here's a sketch of what I want it to look like. This is what it looke like last year too, but then everything got ruined by thistles popping up everywhere. You see, there were a few thistles, annoying but manageable, until someone ran over the entire patch with a rotary cultivator before I got a chance to clear out those thistles. The result: tiny pieces of thistle roots everywhere, of course, and they were popping up like crazy! I cleared the entire patch once, but no more than two days later, it was full of tiny thistles again. I did the same procedure twice more, but then I gave up, because there was no way I was able to keep up with those horrible thistles. I don't know what will become of it this year though. I'm still thinking of a solution, but in the meantime, this is what I hope and wish it will look like this year.I also made this little thingy to hang the book on. The hooks are actually pieces of 1" Zutter Owire that I have attatched with Zutter Rivets. The hanger itself is made from a piece of Zutter Clipboard cover that I've cut down to size 4X8"

Here you can see how I fastened the hooks. I carved a little sinkage for each hook, bent the ends of the wires slightly to fit over the rivet and keep them in place and then I hammered them in.

And then I realized I need to have somwhere to cultivate my little seedings, so I made a greenhouse from Zutter clear acrylic covers which I put togetther using Glossy accents, Rivets and owire, to make half the roof openable.

We have tried growing garden cress in it, on a sunny windowsill, and it grew like crazy, but then someone (me) forgot to water it the day before the photo session, so this half sad little ivy had to model instead. But at least, I know it's fully functionable.

Thanks for stopping by.

Really girly stuff...

This little mini is something I had so much fun making. Just imagine, digging into all this lace and all these pink goodies... Not to mention all the glittery stuff. I've used a lot of the new stuff from Creative Café here. I totally love their spirit line, and I'm so happy they have added some new stuff.

You remember the fairy pictures, huh? This is what I dressed poor Agnes up for. Well, poor perhaps isn't the right word. She loves to dress up, so she was really happy the whole time.

I've used a really cute poem about how children see things differently than us adults, and about their wonderful imagination.

And once again, it seems as if blogger ate one of my photos... But if you want to see it, and what the rest of the design team has come up with this month, just pop in to Zutter Zisters to check out the galleries! Myself, I'm going to get started on next month's projects. I have this crazy idea (as usual), and I can't wait to see if I can realize it.

Have a great week, all of you :o)

Dear Diary...

This is another one of this month's Bind-It-All projects, a diary I've made from a white Cover All. There's not so much to tell about this one, fairly easy to make and not over-embvellished. Inside, I've put some notebook papers to write on.Close up on the embellishments:

Here's the closure, which I've painted with white acrylic and cleaned most of it away to give it a little tarnished look. I scratched the leather strap a little with a stickpin, and then I made the same thing there.
I just have to show you the sweet little fairy princess who lives in our house. I dressed her up for a photoshoot because I needed some photos for a mini. She loves dressing up, so she was really happy about it, but getting her to pose properly was a bit harder. She was more interested in that wand of hers than looking into the camera. So, most of the photos turned out like this one, with her looking down. And it was dark today, no sun and hardly no daylight, which is why the photo is a little grainy.

Baby's first book

Ah, the Cover-alls... *sigh* You just have to love them! There's no ending to the stuff you can do with them. I'm sure you recognize the cloud pattern on this one. I've done exactly the same thing with this cover as with the wall in Agnes' room - painted it pink (with the same paint as on the wall) and cut out stencils for the clouds. You can surely imagine all the wet paint that has covered this book, and not the tiniest bubble. The Cover-alls are so thick and steady that next to nothing can ruin them.

I made a baby book with room for pictures and journaling about the first part of a baby's life. I picked out some old Basic Grey papers for this one - Sugared. They are so cute, and they were perfect with the pink colour.

Here you can see exactly how the Cover-alls work. You bind the book together with the sheet that goes in the back pocket of the cover, and then you just put the sheet back in the pocket and the pages are attached firmly to the cover. It's so clever!

Yeah, and for some reason, blogger keeps eating the pics of the rest of the inner pages, so I'll try adding them a little later...

It's Advent!!!

It's the first of advent. Finally! It is the day when November darknes has to give in to bright, cozy December, and all the lit windows light up the dark world outside. The kids and I have spent the day baking gingerbread and saffron bread, and we have started decorating the house a little bit for Christmas. I love this time of the year! I just wish I had more time to be creative now, but as we're closing in on the end of the term, things are very busy at work too right now.

Here's one of the corners of our hall earlier this evening. Please ignore the tangled cords under the table, you have to keep phones and stuff somewhere, unfortunately... I bought the lantern at a sale last week, and I love it! I chose between this one and a shabby white one, but now I'm really happy I decided on this one. I painted the canvases a couple of years ago, and on the white one there is a message to Santa. that the children in this house have been good, and deserve their presents.

And here's the first candle lit. I've used Grungeboard numbers, which I've painted with silver Maya Mist, and then attached them with some black metal cord wrapped around the candle. Easy peasy, and cute.

And now it's time to start using this one, a little Christmas recipe book I've made as one of this month's projects with my Bind-It-All. I've used these beautiful Maja Design papers, so perfect for a project like this!

This book has dividers to separate different kinds of recipes from one another. I'm having one for candy, one for cookies and cakes and then the rest for different kinds of Christmas-related food. I've just started filling it out, and there's lots of papers to write on (cheap, white paper for the printer) Here's one of my favourite recipes. I've planned to add photos later on.

So, Happy first of Advent, dear blog readers!

Think Inside The Box!

I always try to think outside the box when it comes to papercrafting, but this time I decided to think inside the box instead. I found this cute little hatbox at Panduro Hobby, and I decided to alter it and put a matching minibook inside. I got these Ambrosia papers, and they were just perfect for the project.

I made the mini book round to fit the box, and put an 3/4" white O-wire in it.
The pictures are from a walk with the kids here in Bräkne-Hoby when the fall colors were at their peak. I love how the sun shines through the maple on the left photo. And the kids really enjoy playing in the leaves.
I also managed to sneak in a little poem about fall.
I have to admit, I did play around in Photoshop to make the fall colors deeper and more vibrant, to match the papers even better. I can't seem to print a single photo without editing it first, and when I look through all the pictures I had developed BP (before photoshop, and before photo printer) they all look so dull... I have hundreds of them, but I can't bring myself to using them... And I just have to show you my little model wannabe who jumped straight into the photoshoot... That's our Lisa, the nosy little thing who always wants to be in the centre of attention. Well, she didn't really jump in for a chance to be caught on camera. I had put a table cloth on one of our garden benches to take these pictures, and she probably thought "Oh, goodie, there's something soft and cuddly to sleep on! I have to check it out!" Is't she the cutest?And I'm proud to say that my gallery at Zutter Zisters is up, this project, and a couple more, is in it, and you simply have to run over there to check out what my creative DT-zisters have been up to this month. There are som really fab projects in there!

Millans väskalbum

I början på sommaren fick jag i uppdrag att scrappa ett Maya Road Clutch Purse Album till Inspirationshuset. Jag fick även med material till ytterligare ett, och det har jag scrappat nu till lilla Millan (Albins flickvän) . Jag har tagit foton på de två och berättat lite om roliga saker de har hittat på tillsammans. Hon ska få det i femårspresent av Albin.

In the beginning of the summer I was asked to design a Maya Road Clutch Purse Album for Inspirationshuset. I got supplies to make an extra album, and I've made this one for Millan, my DS' little girlfriend. There are pictures of the two of them together, and I've also written down all sorts of things they've experienced together. My DS is giving it to her for her fifth birthday.

Här var de bara två år, och gjorde i stort sett inget annat än att bråka / Here, they were only two years old, and they were fighting all the time.

Så småningom blev de helt oskiljaktliga / eventually they were inseperable.

Jag måste bara berätta lite mer om fotot till höger nedan. De kom och berättade för sina ömma mödrar att de minsann hade gift sig. Albin hade packat väskan, och nu skulle de på bröllopsresa. Millan hade klätt på sig en lila tyllhistoria och orange Pippi-peruk. Ni må tro att de var fina :-). Mammarazzin var tvungen att ta ett bröllopsfoto på dem naturligtvis.

I just have to tell you a lottle more about the photo below on the right. The two of them came and told us mothers that they had gotten married, and that they were about to go on a honeymoon. Albin had packed the bag and Millan was dressed in a purple tulle dress, and an orange Pippi Longstocking wig. They were so cute, and of course the mamarazzi (me) had to take a "wedding photo" of them