My handmade smash book.....

Ok I'm going to first share with you all what my inspiration was for this journal. So please watch the video and then scroll on down and see what else I have to say about it along with my take on a smash journal.

Ok now that you've seen the video. I'd like to say this. First off I've found that even though these were introduced back at the winter CHA K & Company still didn't allow for the type of sales that they had to of known would happen. If you are one of the lucky ones that actually have one then good for you. I myself however was told that I'll have to wait until the latter part of August before I can get one. I clearly can not wait that long soooooo what's a crafty girl to do??? Yep make my own. I wanted to have one of these to give my best friend Suzie when I go visit her later on this month. So I watched the above video and took the things that I really liked about it and came up with an idea for me to make my own including the little things that I really like about K & Company's Smash journal. But to tell you the truth.....I like mine must better and I'm not sure that I even want a store bought Smash journal now. So if K & Company think that this is just a ploy for more exposure for their new product...Then personally I think someone at the company needs to open their eyes and realize that crafters aren't ones that tolerate waiting for very long before they too get to work and make the products themselves or finds an alternate.

So now without further ado.....here is what I came up with...

 Ok these are a little out of order but that's ok at least they are all on here going the right direction and no one has to turn their head sideways to see the pics.   Regarding the above picture: I made the choice of leaving the front cover plain so that when you are carrying it things want be getting in your way or possibly falling off. I did however do a little stickles on the butterflies on the front to give it a little bling. Ok so now one of the things that I really liked about the Smash book was the fact that they are selling a rubber band that goes around the journal to keep lose things inside. Well my thoughts on that were...I can use some flexible thin chipboard and do the same thing...BUT mine will look much more professional looking and have a flap with a purse latch to close it to keep things put.

 In this above picture you can see what the journal looks like closed.

 Here is the back side of the journal (again sorry that these are out of order)

 The above picture is the back page of the journal. As you can see I added a slanted pocket to tuck things in until you can glue them in your journal. And speaking of glue.....I really liked the idea of the K & Company Smash pen....it has glue in one end and a pen in the other and they have a convenient place for it on the side of the journal. Well I had to include those things that I really liked in my journal because I truly want this journal to be one that can travel around in a purse or whatever and so that you will have everything at your fingertips. So I just pulled out some velcro that I had, grabbed a tube of new stick glue and a new cute pen and put velcro on all of them so that they will stay put right inside the journal.

Here is the last picture...it's actually a picture of the front cover and first sheet in the journal. As you can see I added another slanted pocket to hold lose things in case your in a hurry and can't glue them in instantly. I really like this journal and am going to make myself one and am thinking that I'm not even going to worry with buying a Smash journal from K & Company. Sorry......I like mine better and K & Company missed out on my purchase. I hope that this inspires the rest of the crafters out there that are sitting around and waiting for the Smash journal to become available again to just go to your craft room and make your own. They are TONS of fun to make! I am going to try my best to do a tutorial on here when I'm making my journal so if you like this style then keep checking back to see if I've posted a tutorial on it. Have a great one everyone....and I'll see ya later!

Shadow box.....

Hey everyone and welcome back. Here is what I made for my niece for her upcoming wedding in 2 weeks. I had bought this shadow box kit at Scrapbuck.com a long time ago..matter of fact I bought 2 of them because they were dirt cheap. (NO I'm not affiliated with that company in any way! I'm just a disabled housewife who loves to craft and decorate and have to do it all on a budget) So when I was trying to figure out what I could do for my niece for her wedding I ran across this in my stash and thought it would be perfect. It is a K & Company kit and I also had the same paper pack in my stash as well. So I went to work.....just about everything on the inside is 3 dimensional which was loads of fun. Then I added some brown silk ribbon for her to use to hang it with. I hope that she likes it.

Altered Composition book for Reunion....

 I thought that it would be nice to make this also to donate to the reunion for everyone to sign in. We had been using a wire bound notebook and I was thinking that I could help out by making us something pretty. I didn't get real detailed on the front of this and tried to keep everything as flat as possible so that it would be easier to write in and would hold up much longer.

 I'm sure everyone has seen the plain black and white composition books that have been altered but I thought that I'd share anyway....I decorated the front and back inside covers as well and made pockets.
Now it's on to working on a wedding gift.......stick around because it's coming right up....

Reunion album completed.....

 *WARNING THIS POST IS LOADED WITH PICTURES
Hey all! I started this album back almost a year ago and you all might remember me posting a picture of it. Well I have finally finished it. I had planned on keeping it for myself but then decided to donate it to my family for them to have it to show at the reunion each year.

 Sorry about some of these pictures being turned the wrong way....I'm still not sure why they are doing that even though I flip them and save them before I post them....

 I really struggled with adding these pictures because I was reflecting on all the ones that passed away just this year...it was not a good year for our family at all.

 I thought that it would be a good idea to instructions in the album so if i wasn't around to show them how it was animated then they could follow directions.

 Enjoy looking.....

 I'm so bad....I need to get some names at the reunion this year so I can write their names in....I hate when I can't remember my cousins married names!

 oh my word.....I'm so sorry that this one is upside down.....

Our reunion is this year is this coming weekend. I look forward to getting to see everyone again. I'm not sure where this pattern came from that I used for this album. It may have been something that Laura from Following the Paper Trail had done but I'm just not sure. It's been so long I honestly don't remember. I know I haven't bought a pattern like this so not sure if it was my twist on something I saw someone else doing or what. Anyway, hope that you enjoyed looking......I have much more to show you so stick around...