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Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part IV (Final)

I put the finishing touches on just as my family was putting the spaghetti and garlic bread on the table.

Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part I
Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part II
Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part III

And I'm posting this after Saturday night tubs (I surprised our 9 year old in a walking cast - and threw her in the tub, casted leg dangling over the side.  I was sick of the whole sponge bath wash cloth thing.  Her laundry basket aka stool started caving in half way through but with some giggles and quick scrubbing - she came through it with a dry cast) and after putting the 2 year old to sleep (which still involves rocking.  I won't quit - I enjoy it too much.  He's my baby. sniff), and I kind of nodded off.....but I want to get this done tonight so I'm going to post despite my fuzziness.  Something might not make sense - feel free to shoot me an email.

Photo above - I began punching the pages with the Bind-it-all.  That machine rocks my socks. As I punched, I put them in the pile on the left and I worked my way through the book.

 

In the cases where I had several pages in a row all the exact same size - I put those in the machine together. 

Important: You can still do an album if you don't have a Bind-it-all (altho - take it from me, who is very very very very picky about what tools I purchase - this one is worth it).  Alternatives to consider are using a hole punch and weaving ribbon or O-Rings for your binding. 

 

The Bind-it-all has this handy little gadget on the side so that you can run your punch all the way down your binding and keep it spaced correctly.  By sliding that black thingamabob forward, I'm sliding it thru the slot and creating more punches further down the row. 

This is better described in their awesome video library (Chapter 3 would be the one where that is described) 

Now, as you must imagine, my paper sizes are all over the board within this book. Because of that, it's difficult to keep all the pages precise. You'll notice on this one, the striped card, has a half punch on the right.

That's okay. It only happened a couple times - but it happened. I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

When I get my new work station - I'm also going to get better lighting so I can provide better photographs.  Deal?  Until then - I apologize. 

When I was punching my pages - I started at the center. I inserted my page so the arrow (just above the first T in Zutter) was at the middle - and I punched. Also - to know me is to know I'm an eyeballer - I don't measure it, but it would be easy to do so.

After I punched everything, I began assembling.  Confession - I utilize the Chapter 4 video every.single.time I do this step. My brain simply won't retain it on it's own - I've accepted that, and I use the tutorial.  Now that I've posted my step by step here, I might be able to come here and figure it out - but I'll probably still go to the video.

Because this book had so many pages in so many different sizes - I put them on one by one, just to doublecheck and make sure I got it right.  Ever since that year that I put a card in upside down - I double-check twice.

 

I put the pages on, starting with the last to the first. (Note - I did NOT put the back cover on.  This was intentional)

 

The insides all stacked as they should be - I then slid on the cover.  I'm really digging that cover, if I do say so myself. 

 

The last thing that goes on top is the back cover.  What you are looking at is the inside of the back cover (I ended up using the inside of the snowman card because it seemed fitting)

 

I now hold it all just as it is shown, insert the coils into the Bind-it-all and give it a squooosh with the lever. Word check isn't recognizing squoooosh as a word, but you and I both know what it means.

And now it's time to open it up.  The reason we stacked the back cover on the top of the book is so that this part of the binding lies within the book rather than on the outside.  It makes the whole thing a better, happier, easier to handle and more like I knew what I was doing when I put it together sort of book.  It's done right.  (I love those videos)

So let's look through it just a little bit more. Here was a card I received from the family I was a nanny for in Finland. (Hi Seija!) Their card included a CD, and I figure this is a good safe place to keep it.  I punched the card on the binding and included it in full.

Other ideas for CD's are to include an envelope that it could slide in and out of.

The card on the right is the front of the CD card and the card on the left is a regular greeting card as well.  If you look closely, you can see that the fold on that card is not the side where I punched it.  Again - that's okay.  I can still lift it open by the corner to read the message inside.  It fit better the way I put it, so that's the way it went in.

I'm a little bit 'so there' when I type tired, aren't I.  heee.

 

In Part III I mentioned how I added that card piece on the left, and  how it peeks through for a few pages.  There it is there. It happened that a few 4 x 6 cards fell before it, so I can view it amongst several pages.  It makes me smile, and so glad that I didn't leave that spot white.

 

There it is, still peeking through. And there are the Anderson's in their swimsuits while I'm all wrapped in a throw and my hoodie typing this. 

 

Laid out flat - the back cover is very simple and coordinates with the front cover.

 

And from the top. My new favorite book.

And that's it. 

I ended up not doing the tags/label dividers on this one like I did for 2006. I might still add them, but I probably won't.  I figure if I put those in every few years, it helps me keep track.  My plan, tho, was to use the circle punch to create the tabs and tuck them in where they needed to be.

I think I'll wind down my night with a cup of hot cocoa.

And tell me - did you enjoy the step by step? Will you make an album?  Do you do something different altogether?  Will you join me for some hot cocoa?

Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part III

I'm not done yet - but let me show you what I got done between the breakfast and lunch rush.  (Note to self - price that work station again and budget) 

Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part I
Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part II

I finished stacking and arranging my album the way I want it. Again - it does not matter if the cards don't match up exactly.   There were a few cases that I couldn't get things to match up quite right.  In this case - the photo on the right is what I'm going to work with

 

I adhered two cards to the back of it.  The photo card fit perfectly width wise, but didn't feel the depth. I cut a standard greeting to fill the remaining space.

In a few cases, the cards were just a smidge off from each other. This actually wouldn't be a huge deal in the end result, but I'm a tad fussy sometimes.

So I went through the album page by page and took the trimmer to those few pages that didn't match up exactly.  My trimmer is dusty. I'm not fussy about everything.

This was the biggest space gap I had.  A few things I could have done here - some pattern paper, reconsider trimming the backing card, or fill the gap with an element from a card.

I trimmed it just to size and adhered it. What I really ended up liking about this is that it peeks through several pages the way my album is set up.  I'll share that more later.

Now, my cards all stacked exactly how I want them in the album - I'm ready to think about the front and back covers.

 

While I was working with my cards, I decided that I love this greeting that I got from Wendy at Scrapsupply SO much - that I'm going to use it for the album's cover.  I sized it up, and I think it will work perfectly.  I then measured my pile both horizontally....

....and vertically.  I decided that 8 3/4 x 7 would be ideal.

The card is exactly 7 inches high, which helped me decide that size.  I have some remaining room to fill.

 

As you can see, I strayed completely from my paper choices in my first post and in using the card, then tried to find a paper that matched.  This paper from Creative Memories Classic Winter Addition filled the bill perfectly.  I also love that the paper has cardinals, as I'm partial to them. It suits the book. 

I favor many types of adhesives, and have used three different types so far in this project.  To adhere the cover, I actually reached for my Mod Podge, only to find that I forgot to replenish it.  Gah!  So I'm using my Perfect Paper Adhesive instead.  The Starbucks gift card with the 7 cent balance on it is for the adhesive, and is fitting since it was the gift that came in that snowman card. 

 

I squirted a bit of adhesive about where I planned to put the red patterned paper

 

Then I used the gift card to spread it about evenly.  I have a whole stash of expired credit cards, membership cards, cards that come in the mail that are fake, and old gift cards that I save for these types of projects.

 

All adhered and smoothed out (I used a bone - but it's hard to photograph myself doing that) I then added a scallop. Because I'm addicted to scallops and need them on everything. 

 

I then layered a few little embellishments

And decided that I want them under the scallop - not on top of....

 

And then I adhered the card. On the center of the back I used my paper adhesive and in the corners, for extra hold, I used Glue Dots. I like the security of using several adhesives.

On the backside of the cover, I had this piece of the red paper that was cut to the exact 7 inches, but was a bit short width wise. A little bit of trim took care of this nicely.

 

A Glue Dot on each end (the binding will hold the center) and I put that into place

Both sides covered and embellished, I then went around the edges with my sponge sander.  This just gives it a more uniform edge and I like to think it fastens it just a bit more to the chipboard. This could be in my head - but I do it just the same.

 

My front cover is now complete.

I'll do my back cover in the same fashion - but with just patterned paper.  I was kicked off the table once again as my family desired lunch (grilled cheese and soup).  Now I'm going to run out and enjoy the sunshine for just a bit before finishing this up.  Next step - Binding!

And to answer a few questions:

• It was asked what to do if you have mostly standard cards and few photo cards - the reverse of what I have.  I would go about it very similarly - but I would probably put the fold of the card at the binding
• What about newsletters?  Include a pocket page or envelope inside your album to tuck these into
• We received a couple CD's this particular year, so I'll include those in an envelope

I'll be back later with the rest!

Enjoy!

And if you're creating along with me, please share your links in the comments. 

Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part II

Christmas Card Album * Part I

So now - moving on.  Once I gathered all my Christmas cards - I like to organize them.  I like my album to have some semblance of order. My need to organize, or the way I do it - won't pertain to everyone. Use whatever method best suits you.

That pile in the top row - that's our immediate family, meaning mine and my husband's brothers and sisters families. 

Next Row - Our first cousins, from L to R:  Laakso's (my dad's people), Tormanen's (my husband's father's people), Eskola's (my mom's people) and Pennala's (my husband's mother's people)

Next Row - Finland friends, Illinois friends, lower Michigan friends, upper Michigan friends and Minnesota friends

Next Row - Scrapbooking friends and miscellaneous cards that I want to use as separators.

The rows are how they will go in my book, but the order of the rows is not definite.  I tend to wing it at that point.

So beginning with the immediate family - I begin adhering photos back to back.  Some notes:

• I only adhere the outside edge - the inside will be held together well enough with the binding
• I tend to go in age order. ie: I began with my husband's oldest sister and then went down to the youngest
• But only if that works out the best with the back to back card size. His family cooperated greatly and all sent the same size cards that year.  Thank you kind family. 
• If one card is slightly larger than the other - I match it up on the outside (the side of the book you would flip) and trim the inside
• Sometimes they will be very different sizes - and that's okay. I try not to twitch too much about it.

• Another note - sometimes the photo will be on the binding side, and sometimes the sentiment.  I don't worry as much about continuity as I do about chopping heads or names/greetings with the binding. I treat each card individually, and whatever works best for that card is what I do.

I lay them out, adhere, and lay them just like I would a book.  And as per my notation above - the card on the left has a lot of room on the head space, but didn't have a lot of room on the sentiment space - for that reason it is going in the book facing out, rather than in.  Again - I treat each card individually - whatever works best.

The last immediate family photo (nieces and nephews fall under immediate family) fell on the left, so for a spacer before the next section, I'm inserting a standard greeting. These are chosen somewhat randomly (but I'd have to confess to choosing the one that best went color and size wise) and I keep the card intact. The binding will still allow the corner to be peeked open on it if I want to read the greeting. 

 

Next, the first cousins. In no particular order - I chose to do my mom's side of the family first. If I had to say why, it would probably be because they seemed the most size consistent and easiest to do when my family was rushing me to clear the table for dinner. 

My mom has three siblings - so I separated those families into three separate piles

 

I decided to start with Barb and Bill's family simply because the oldest in that house kindly had a card that was the exact same size as my spacer. This is rare - and I enjoyed it. I adhered this card directly to the back of the Happy Holidays greeting in the photo two above (are you following all this?)

And please excuse the out of focus photo.  My husband got home an hour earlier than I expected him and my family really was rushing me to hurry up and clear the dinner table.

 

Continuing on then, I went thru Barb and Bill's families cards and adhered them back to back, matching as well as I could, until they were done

 

Barb and Bill's family completed - I moved on to Jim and Ann's family - the five cards above the album. Jim and Ann have four kids and again - look how kind they were - they all ordered the exact size card. Easy peasy - AND - they line up with the last of Barb and Bill's.

Adhere
Flip
Adhere
Flip
Adhere

 

Next up - Rick and Judy's gang. Rick and Judy's gang ordered cards of all sizes - and that's okay.  Instead of going in any age order - I went with what worked best back to back size wise - but put Rick and Judy's card at the front of their family, just as I put Jim and Ann at the head of theirs.  I'm slightly OCD.

 

And this is where it is right now.  As soon as I post this portion of the lesson - I'll finish stacking and adhering right through the rest of the cards and then post what I do next.  It might be tonight - it might be tomorrow - we'll see how things go around here.... it's never predictable. 

to be continued.....

Create!: Christmas Card Album * Part I

Okay - this weekend I'm going to create, and I'm going to share step by step as I go. Gather your cards and play with me!

The album above is one that I created a few years ago and one that I shared in my Souvenirs for the Season class at Get it Scrapped!  While I shared it there as an idea, it wasn't shared as a step by step.  I'll do that right here as I make a new one.  I love Christmas cards. I put these albums out on an available flat surface (sometimes harder to find than you might think) when the season comes. They are stored with our Christmas decorations.

 

The first thing I've done is to gather what I might use.  Might use.  Since I'm posting as I create - this is subject to change. There's a good chance I forgot to put something in that pile, and there's a good chance I'll pull something out.  I'll correct and share what I changed as I go. What I've gathered so far:

• Christmas Cards (I'm using 2008, (which I've stored in a handy bag that originally held a pair of pillowcases) - I'll share why shortly)
• Bind-it-all and supplies (If you don't have a Bind-it-all, there are several options: see if your store allows use of theirs, come and visit and borrow mine (bring your own binding), use O-Rings or Ribbon instead or get it bound at a place like Kinko's)
• Heavy cardboard for front and back cover
• Christmas patterned paper
• Adhesive (my adhesive of choice seems to have wandered off....so I have to do some hunting before I begin)
• Embellishments
• Circle Punch
• sanding sponge/emery board

The reason I'm doing last years cards. 

I tend to keep ours up on display until open door season when the cross breeze has them blowing off the wall.  I love walking through this hallway amongst so many friends and family. My kids enjoy finding their cousins and friends. We also get cards straggling in until late February, and I'll be finding the ones that were passed to my husband and children in odd nooks/vehicles/catechisms and crannies over the next few months

** Note 1: Our many cards and large family sizes is why I don't run with Ali's idea for Christmas cards, also a great one. Be sure to check hers out as well and make the project fit for you!  Combine them, create your own, put your own spin on it. Share.  :)

** Off the topic note 2: We went with the over the door shoe holder for our hats and mittens until I find a dresser that fits. This was not my option of choice only because we don't have any great doors on this floor. There's this door or the bathroom door. That's it.  But it's working. Each of us gets two definite spots and then there are a lot of flexible spots.

** Off the topic note 3: Someone asked which pictures I chose for the kids and how I display them.  There they are!  Right above the coat rack. That poor overflowing coat rack. Can there ever be enough hooks?

** Off the topic note 4: That yellow snowsuit on the hook?  Seriously my favorite garage sale purchase of 2009. By far.  Love that thing.  It belongs to our four year old.

Enjoy! I'll be back this evening with Part II

Now to go find that adhesive - and get creative!