DIY easel (presentation) binder

I recently dowloaded a sketch book from Scrapbook Generation and the printout is in landscape form. Someone showed me a presentation binder online which would make it easy to look at my sketches without having to remove them from the binder (or have to turn the binder). So I thought, I bet I can make one myself! And this is what I came up with.

And voila! Here it is! Super simple, you can use a binder you already have. And if you need to move onto a bigger binder or a new one because it's falling apart, you can simply move your 'easel' part to a new one!

All you need is a couple of binder clips and a small piece of ribbon or yarn. Tie it to the binder clips and clip the edges of your binder like this. You simply flip the top of your binder back so it's 'inside out' before you clip both sides.

Or you can dress it up a little bit with some buttons or something.

And then when you need to close the binder, just unclip the back one and clip it onto the cover.

Punching notches for envelope making

We R Memory Keepers came out with a new envelope punch board, which is nice, but if you already have an envelope maker/scoring board it seems like a waste of money to buy another just for the handy punch feature. However, snipping out the notches on your envelope with a pair of scissors isn't very fun. A bit tedious actually.
So.... my little brain thought about how I might be able to punch the notches out. It's just a triangle - but you can't find a right angle triangle punch - and certainly not one that faces the way you need it! However, a square is just 2 right triangles that got married. :) You just have to turn it a bit. A large square will give you enough 'triangle' to punch out your notches. The one I used has sides that are approximately 1 1/2 inches. Smaller squares may not give you enough 'triangle' for punching.

Here's the paper after it's been cut and scored for an envelope.

 

Now what you want to do is flip over your punch and line up the corner of the punch just outside your score lines. (I should've use pencil so you could see the lines better but I was hurrying to show you! Oops just noticed a scrap of paper still in my punch!)

 

 

Go around and punch out all 4 notches.

Voila! Neater and faster! Just fold up your envelope now. You can always use a corner rounder on your corners if you want to. Or a border punch on the flap like in this post.

 



Miss Saigon v.2

Another Miss Saigon layout I did from another performance we went to. This time, I didn't have the playbill but I did have the tickets! This time I went with the logo, using MTC and a pen tool in my cutter to draw the helicopter/face. Since that's just an outline I had to go and color it all in.
The papers I had to work with were a bit different in finish so in the picture you can see the transition in the penwork/coloring. Doesn't look too bad in person though.

Miss Saigon

A memorabilia page. Unfortunately, I don't have the tickets. At least, I couldn't find any. So frustratingly I don't know the actual date we went.
This is what the original poster looks like so I was trying to duplicate it in part - but wanted to use a background paper that had a bit of an 'oriental' feel to it. This was the closest I had in the LO below.

I cut the title logo using MTC and since I wanted it to be flat and not layered, I cut it out in both yellow and black and swapped out the appropriate colors. I cut just the 'i' in white for the circle part. I used a circle cutter for the sun and tore the bottom edge then inked it with a stipple brush.

Command hooks for organizing/storage

These hooks are a great invention. They hold well yet they're removable. The ones I'm using in my scrap space are called wire hooks. (I think they are size small.)

I have one for a mini trash can and a place to hang my scissors. Best thing - I'm never losing my scissors in a mess on my desk.

I have one on the inside of each door of this little cabinet - holds my Martha Stewart large circle cutter and my ring of embossing folder samples.
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I also have one on the wall at the side of my desk which hold my cricut mats. And another one next to my sewing desk that holds my self-healing rotary cutting mats and ruler.

Owl card

I made this card for a challenge (where we had to draw or trace a design for the card). I drew the owl, colored it with pencils and used a prismacolor blender pen to blend the pencil, and cut it out. The branch background is made using an embossing folder, outlined with a versamarker and chalked over.

 

wedding card

I used my cricut with the pen tool and MTC software for the greeting. Handmade paper flowers.

 

 

Spellbinders simple storage

Here is how I store my Spellbinders dies. I don't have a huge collection and I don't have any grand or border dies so this works quite well. I keep them inside the instructional folder using a small magnetic sheet I've adhered to the inside.

 I've trimmed my folders down just a little bit to fit my drawer. Most of them fit fully inside the folder, which protects them front and back and keeps the instructions handy, but there's one or two that stick out just a very little bit from the top. (I keep blank cards and other supplies in this drawer also.)

I don't have enough clearance for dividers but I do sort them into shape groups - rectangles, circles, ovals, tags.

To boldly go....

Shhh!.... don't tell her.... I made this Star Trek/Spock shirt for my daughter who is a bit of a fan. We have the original series dvds as well as movies.
I found a good picture of the science insignia online and used the MTC program to trace and cut it out. I also found the Star Trek font (Federation) for the back. I used the freezer paper method and fabric paint. Also the Simply Screen glitter/foil fabric adhesive by Plaid and Martha Stewart fine glitter. I didn't know how big the insignia should be so I just made it whatever I thought would be okay - it's 2 inches tall.

I might go over the black inside again with a fine brush.

Christmas cards

My Christmas cards this year. There are a couple of other variations of flowers/greenery placement (some on top, some on bottom).