Category: Creating files

Guilt free Crafting Day 1

Post author By Carolyn
Post date March 22, 2020
No Comments on Guilt free Crafting Day 1

I have to admit that before the craziness of the Pandemic, I was not actively getting my blog post out AND was I not actively crafting! It happens, we get busy and we are now in the position of staying at home and practicing social distancing; now there is a lot of time for guilt free crafting!

Today I will share the last two pages of the wedding brag book and the next post will be the spine and cover redone. This post will be all about the images of the pages and the matting: no technical stuff , only want to give you the idea of how the folio pages I have can be used for any type of brag book.

To see these crafting pages used as a Halloween bragbook: check them out here:

Quick note on upcoming posts

The posts that follow will be about different crafts, I am thinking activities for parents and children to help pass the time.

I also now have access to posting courses on my online school and will link content to my blog posts so YEAH!!!! Will have online tutorials for Cricut and Silhouette available soon for my readers, free of charge so we can all be using our machines, crafting guilt free to the max!

My Cricut machine I just got: was using my neighbours all the time!

Subscribe please

[wpforms id=”1223″ title=”false” description=”false”]

Remember that if you see a file that gets your crafting juices flowing, send me a request and I will try to get it to you as soon as I can. If I don’t have a file or craft that you would like to see, let me know and I will try my very best to get it done for you.

Ok, page 5

Page five was very much how I posted in the earlier posts for the page layout:

See page 5 layout here

Page 5 has a large amount of space for larger photos and journaling. I limited the pockets as it will create more bulk when items are inserted later on.

Page 6 Side 1

Note that page 6 side one of the page has a accordian style page and the matting is very similar for both sides. I may or maynot include some pockets: still trying not not feel guilty over the bulk I am creating!

Page six did get scaled down even though I had already decided that I was going to redo the cover and spine and make the book thicker. The problem with crafting somethims is that you just want to keep adding to what you are doing and it does have to have an ending, as sad as that is.

Photos of page 6 side 2

Before I End

Before I go, a reminder of the wonderful free commercial use of fonts, images and crafts at Creative Fabrica. My affiliate link provided: this means that if you use my link a purchase any of the images that are not free, I will get a small compensation. So far there is nothing as I think like me , people find so many images and fonts free that there is no need to buy lots!

Another great site is Cricut Design Space with free images daily.

Silhouette Free image of the week at Silhouette Design Store

For materials I head out to Michaels where they have curbside pickup during this social distancing period

One of my favorite places to pick up Vinyl in Mississauga is Sign Supply Canada

Kijiji and Letgo are also a fun places to shop.

Next up

I hope that my Day 2 guilt free crafting will be tomorrow and I will have the new cover, and spine to show. Wish me luck!

Carolyn

Tags brag book, brag book 101, brag book page, easy to assemble, page 5, page 6, scrapbook, scrapbook layout

Creating files Free Mini Album and Brag Books Paper scrapbook Template

Easy Brag Book Page

For the last page of the album, I wanted easy to cut pieces , simple layouts that had lots of space.

Easy Page layout

Easiest layout for 8x8 album about 40 inches long

This layout is about 40 inches long! it is actually the longest yet but super easy to cut. The pages that make up this layout are all very similar in size and could be simplified even more.

This easy of layouts is made up of:

One narrow flap

Two pages with fold lines on the right and left hand sides.

One insert that I am considering to add to one of these pages is a waterfall feature and maybe even a popup feature to give a “WOW” factor.

Two pages with score lines on one side. You can use both pages in just one size or like mine, have both sizes.

There are two pages that have no score lines for folding and can be used in just one size or in two sizes like the photo below.

Two small flaps

Easy pockets for a page

For the next side of this page, I am using a simple set of pages that open like a folio or accordian. I will attach pockets to these pages so that they have a custom look and feel. With my pocket template files, it is easy for me to change the look and feel of any of my pages.

multiple envelopes — This is the envelope page flat on side two on page six

The page is folded up

Open to the left, there is a pocket on the left and a blank space to the right

The whole thing then opens to the right and there is a pocket attached to the base page.

I may use the shutter page on one of the blank pages and not on the back of the album cover: will think more about it.

I am so excited to move on to the next stage of gluing this down and adding the decorative paper.

Hope this made sense, and if you would like any of my files, let me know.

[wpforms id=”1223″ title=”false” description=”false”]

Tags brag book, brag book 101, brag book tutorial, interactive brag book, template, wedding, Wedding Album Brag Book

10 minute craft Creating files Free Paper Silhouette Tutorial Template

7 Steps for Custom Pocket

Post author By Carolyn
Post date December 6, 2019
No Comments on 7 Steps for Custom Pocket

For my brag books I use templated pockets, tags, pages etc. and customized them for each brag book that I make. The customization can be from welding images to adding embellishments or even just decorative paper.

In this post I will show you step by step how to customize a flap or pocket that involves cropping and welding to give a lovely cut out effect. This technique can be used with any item and design element.

Step 1 Item to customize

Once you know what you want to customize, make sure you have resized it to fit your project. There are so many uses for this technique that it is difficult to list them all. I am going to use a narrow pocket and a flower image that can be inserted in a brag book. Your project could be part of a greeting card, scrapbook layout, wall hanging, sign, stencil and more.

Step 2 Design or font to be used

I use designs I create myself as well as designs and fonts from places like Silhouette Design Store, Creative Fabrica (my affiliate link), designs from Google search, Pixabay and more. As mentioned, I am using a flower image.

Some important thing to consider are:

Make sure that your font/design is not too delicate as it may rip easily
If you font or design is thin, use an offset of about .005 to make it easier to cut.
If the design or font is too intricate or small as it may rip while cutting, try to use simpler larger designs
Look for smooth curves vs sharp angles

Step 3 Arrange your file

Arrange your items in Silhouette Studio so that you are happy with the finished size of the project. If there are multiple layers like score line, ungroup all layers first.

Step 4 Cut out a space

Next you need to cut into the narrow pocket. To do so you need a size cut out of the pocket that allows your design of the flower to fit in to the space but have a little over lap. I am using a circle to cut out the space I need and it is a tiny bit smaller than the flower design.

Step 5 Subtract

Next, position the circle so that it is in the middle of the pocket. I am using only half of the circle to cut into my pocket as seen in the photo below. Once you are happy with the look of the cutout section, use the subtract feature.

Step 6 Weld

Position the image (flower) in the space created and once you are happy with the result, choose WELD feature.

Step 7 Finish up

Notice that the image of the pocket has no score lines (dashed line) that is because once you use the weld feature, it brings the result to the front. To correct this, send the image (pocket) to the back so that score lines are visible

Tags merge, silhouette cameo, silhouette design store, silhouette tutorial, sillhouette cameo, weld

Celebrations Creating files Free Greeting Cards Mini Album and Brag Books Paper scrapbook silhouette design store Template

Grab the Free Folio Now

free Folio page 4 side 2 all flaps open — open all flaps

Folios are multi use pages that I love! and free files are dear to my heart so put them together: Free Folio can’t be beat! See my Halloween Folio. These folio pages can be used as mini albums, an interactive greeting card with photos, or as I am using them here in the wedding brag book.

To grab your free folio, subscribe below and tell me you want free folio page 4 side 1 or side 2. These will be generic and you can customized them yourself.

[wpforms id=”1223″ title=”false” description=”false”]

For page four I am using two different folio pages one for each side.

Although these folios are the same as my Halloween layout, they will look different as I customize the flaps and envelopes and also may rearrange the order the pages and flap attach to each other.

Free Folio Page 1

Both free Folios files available for page four have lots of flaps and pages and close like a book. When opened all the way the folio is an impressive 30 inches long!

Folio page 1 position in Brag Book — Folio position

Folio Page is opposite the double trifold page — Folio position

Since nothing is stuck down, I may still rearrange the flaps and pages to be slightly different from the Halloween Folio. I will only know for sure when I start gluing it all down.

Customize Your Folio

I may add more pockets and tags but in the mean time, the customization done so far is :

With the flap, I use a file from silhouette design store: snapdragon snippets is one of my favourite designers and I used one of her flourishes for the flap.
On the pocket, I use a wedding cake I found on Google for free.The weld technique can be seen here

Free Folio side 2

Like Folio 1, Side two is about 30 inched opened up. Due to the bulk, I may move this page anywhere and swap the layouts with one of the first 3 pages to prevent the brag book becoming too bulky and hence unable to close.

Although this page for side 2 is the same size when opened up, there is slightly more space for photos due to the longer flap. If you wanted even more space,,you could make all the flaps long

Photos of Folio side 2

Folio page 2 position in Brag Book — position in brag book

Folio page 4 side 2 all flaps open — position in brag book

Again, this folio opened all the way out is huge and has a lot of space for photos and journaling.

More Customization for free folio possible

Seems hard to belief that you can add more to this layout but you will be surprised! In the Halloween layout, I used a slotted inset for tags and in this one I may use a file I have been working on that is super interactive! Pulling tabs that make stuff move gets my blood moving!

Keep following me and subscribe for your chance to get any of my files I make and post.

[wpforms id=”1223″ title=”false” description=”false”]

I am also going to sell the entire package soon if that is what you are looking for. Note that you can make your entire brag book with just one layout! does not have to be so many different pages like mine.

Keep crafting and I look forward to finishing pages 5 and 6 so that we can get to the really fun stuff of decorating it all.

Here is a quick look at some of my past pages that you can request the file for free when you subscribe.

Regards

Carolyn

Tags folio, Free Folio, mini album, mini album pages, scrapbook, scrapbook layout, silhouette design store, tutorial for mini album

Creating files Mini Album and Brag Books Paper scrapbook

Wedding Album/Brag book

some possible materials — paper and Vinyl

When I was making my Halloween Brag book I had this wedding album in mind, and although the dimensions are different (8 x 8) from the Halloween brag book, I knew that the digital files were going to be very easy to modify.

The album base I got on sale in Michaels and painted it white. so I did not build my own cover , spine and binding. If you want to do so yourself I cover it here.

I wanted to cut ALL the inserts out for ALL the pages and then start assembling and photographing the pages and posting BUT got to page three and looked at the amount of stuff I had cut out and WOW… I am starting to get a bit confused as to what goes were!

So, I am pausing all of that the cutting madness to go through the album, of what I have so far, and catalogue it here on my blog.

I will post both my screenshots of the modified files and the cut files. Note that there is no decorative page matting or embellishments cut out yet and I will post each page as I assemble them

The Album Base

As I mentioned, I did not build the base album from scratch but got this one on sale in Michaels. My Halloween base was built from scratch and if you want to make your own you can review the process here: Brag book Base

I am trying to keep all the pages as close to the Halloween layout in order to show how ease it is to adjust the digital files I developed. I may rearrange the layout as I go along to illustrate the flexibility of these files, because I know I won’t be able to resit reorganizing them!

Paper and Embellishments

Base pages white Cardstock 8.5 inches x 11 inches from Recollections 65 lb. I was going to use the heavier weight Cardstock but I think it will make the album too bulky.
Decorative paper for matting is Recollections Wisteria 12 inch x 12 inch.
Decorative paper from Dollar tree Metallic silver 11 inches x 14.28 inches come in a pk of 5 different colours for $1.25
Silver Vinyl
Embellishments love birds purchased and free.
Other wedding symbols to be determined
Quotes to pint or cut to be determined.
Magnets for closures
Ribbon and other nick knacks as I find them

Will add as I go along but this is the basics of what I intend to use.

Measurements for this project

The Cover Measurements : 8 inches x 8.5 inches.
The base page will be 8 inches x 8 inches and allow for a large photo mat 7.75 inches x 7.75 inches insert.
The matting for base pages will have a 7. 75 inches x 7.75 inch

Subscribe below and get my free files

[wpforms id=”1223″ title=”false” description=”false”]

Tags album keepsake, brag book, brag book 101, brag book tutorial, brag books, bragbook, bragbook 101, build a brag book, build a page, design store, free file, free template craft, make your own digital file, mini album, mini album pages, silhouette cameo, tutorial for mini album, wedding

Creating files Free Mini Album and Brag Books Paper Template

Brag Book 101 Page 5

Last few pages.

Getting to the last few pages and I am wondering if I will need to redo the spine and make it larger? In my research, a number of crafters recommended building the cover and spine last as sometimes the pages take on a life of their own. I totally understand this now as my pages have expanded in scope and bulk.

Looking for the recap for Brag Book 101?

The recently completed page 4 is so bulky pages that one possible solution was to attach it to the inside cover and redo page 4 altogether! That idea lasted only until I found the floating hinge solution from Anne’s paper creations, the technique was in video 12

Love it!

I tried out this floating hinge and the pages open and lie flat! Still, I am limiting the size of these last 2 pages, just to be on the save side.

On To Page 5

Page 5 is back to simplicity. I am using insert Set 4 for Side 1 and one of the accordion layouts for side 2.

The screenshots are below and if you want these files, subscribe below and send me a message and I will send. make sure you tell me which page layout you would like!

Page 5 Side 1 :The gold piece is a pock that will be on the other side of the page it is attached to in the photo. In the photo below, it is the gold that is showing.

Page 5 Side 2 : Accordion folds. I made 4 different files and decided to use the long one on the right

Here are some photos: I am waiting for my magnets to arrive and the mats are attached with paperclips at the moment.

left flap is a narrow flap
Right flap has the gold pocket that open
flap with bird flips up
opened all the way
Side 2 Accordion Page, first few flaps are narrow
Flap is slighter larger when opened once
Larger flap again
Largest flap fully opened

Next step is to cut all the Halloween images I will use.. For pages 1 to 4, the images were welded on to the pockets and flaps. For this page I will use tags more than pockets and I am not sure exactly what I will do yet.

Pages six is up next and then I will post the entire flip through of the album.

Carolyn

Tags #accordion fold, brag book, brag book tutorial, folio, scrapbook, step by step

Creating files Free Mini Album and Brag Books Paper silhouette design store Silhouette Tutorial Template

Weld Images in Silhouette Studio

Post author By Carolyn
Post date August 8, 2019
No Comments on Weld Images in Silhouette Studio

Before I continue to page 4 of the Brag book, I want to show the simple steps to weld an images with the pocket files I made.

If you would like any of the files I create, then subscribe below and send me a message with the file you would like!

I had a few request about the pockets files I used in the Brag Book and some of you wanted to know where I got the files. I made the pocket files myself and modified them using images that I purchased from Silhouette Design store or got from other sources like Google and Creative Fabrica

Weld in 6 Easy Steps

First of all, open the pocket file in studio and choose the pocket you would like to modify.
Next open the image you want to attach and resize it to fit your pocket: I am using the kitty.
Ungroup any score line
Arrange your images: note if you move your image around, make sure you keep the score line together with image
Choose weld (its on top tool bar and loos like a rectangle with a circle attached) and image will weld together and become one image.
Reattach score line as necessary. (the score line may have moved to the back so send the pocket to the back and score lines will now be on top)

AND….. That is all there is to weld any image together. It is the same for any of the pockets and tags in my brag book : 6 very easy steps.

See how weld is used in past pages

Go here to access my Brag Book Pg 1

Go here to access my Brag Book Pg 2

Go here to access my Brag Book Pg 3

Hope you have Fun with Welding files. Please subscribe below!

Carolyn

[wpforms id=”1223″ title=”false” description=”false”]

Tags brag book, Free, merging files in Silhouette, silhouette tutorial

Creating files Free Mini Album and Brag Books Paper scrapbook Template

Brag book 101: Page 2

Waterfall page with bellyband — belly band &waterfall pages

Since my last post, I have been busy with real life :job and family but finally got to put this post for page 2.

Well, here I am and page two is ready. In the first page I used zombie hands, gates, tombstone tags and a skeleton. This page is all about haunted houses.

To review a few details

My base page is the double page that looks like a large sealed envelope with the long ends cut out: very standard with Brag bookmakers.
I am using 6.5 W x 8.5 H for each of the 6 pages.

Front

The front of my brag book page 2 has a waterfall page with a belly band. I will call this side one of page two as there are a few pages that flip open on this side.

Under the last Waterfall pages is an area to hold journal tags and a large photo mat.

Side 1 of page two continues

If you close up the the waterfall page back to the beginning, with the belly band keeping everything shut, this entire page then flips opens to a double spread: there is a pocket insert with slits for tags on the right (two shown here but up to 4 can fit.) and a flat page with a narrow pocket on the left for photos. The flourish is from the Silhouette design store

The waterfall pages are behind on the left

Back OR Side 2 of page two

The side 2 of page two has 2 envelopes. Tag insert not shown here.

These then flip open to reveal a flat page for photos. The envelopes on this side has some of the tags that came with the paper but I notice its a little big, so will trim them down later

Sides

One open side of the page is attached to the binding, (on the right not seen here). The other side of the page will have a tag insert. This tombstone tag is not the correct tag but shown as an example of how the tag will be inserted

I like this second page and have Page 3 all ready to photograph for tomorrow.

Below are the screenshot of what the files look like in Silhouette Studio, a free software that you can use with or without the silhouette machine to make pages like this . I filled the image with the same pattern as my paper.

Screen shots Page 2 side 1

waterfall pages

Waterfall pages closed and the whole page open again to this

Screen shots Page 2 side 2

If you would like the file for this second page, Subscribe below then email me what you would like.

[wpforms id=”1223″ title=”false” description=”false”]

Carolyn

Tags 3d paper, brag book, brag book 101, brag books, bragbook, build a brag book, mini album, mini album pages, mini project, paper, scrapbook, tutorial for mini album

Creating files Mini Album and Brag Books Template

Making The first page of Brag book 101

Post author By Carolyn
Post date July 23, 2019
No Comments on Making The first page of Brag book 101

After seeing all the beautiful projects on YouTube I really wanted to start building my pages, it is so exciting! Well, I needed to decide what my base page would look like. I decided to go with the “sleeve” page…this is made to two pieces of paper glued on the short ends and the long open ends are attached to the spine, or open for a tag to be inserted. This type of construction seemed sturdier to me; I could be wrong but that is the method I am going to choose.

Once I chose the type of page, the next consideration was the hinge method for the binding. Well did you know that the hidden hinge method is copyrighted/ patented?I DID NOT KNOW!

I did my version of a bookbinding hinges with different spacing and score lines. There is also stack the deck method that looks good. For an example of the hinge I use check out my Shadow card

Now, what will I include on each page?

With so many ideas running through my head, I feel paralyze and decide to sit back to watch people craft on Youtube. It really is entertaining, and I love it!

Eventually, though this blog post keeps calling and it won’t write itself so I decide “I can do this!” and start my page.

These pages are going to be Halloween themed ( coming up really soon! and I am creating them in no particular order. I also decided to make a wedding album since the pages will be the same only the embellishments and paper will be different! I am going to illustrate only Halloween but I will post my wedding album that will use the same files so you will see how flexible the digital files are.

First the digital file

Screenshot 2017-10-05 10.05.23 — Note that Light blue is just the digital color, I will use cardstock from Recollections Ravenshead Manor collection

Screenshot 2017-10-05 10.08.48 — Gate on left, matting for behind gate on right. In the middle is what you see when the gate opens: a pocket with a tag.

The Cut files

When I cut these files with the Silhouette Cameo, I noticed a few adjustments needed to be made.

On side one:

the gate was too big
the pocket under the gate was too large

One side two:

the flap with the pocket would not close because the envelope with the zombie’s hands was too big!
I redid the layout so that the zombie envelope is now on the outside, it also flips open. I added a flap to the inside and may add more see photos below

I have not stuck anything down as I am going to place magnets and cut the matting then glue it all together.

Each page really has two side that need pockets and flaps etc. so page one has a side A and a side B Side A will have the gate that opens to a pocket.

20171005_114744 — This is the gate, I will have a mat at the back, the pink is just for visibility

Open the gate and see the pocket where I will have a tag in the shape of a tombstone. This pocket will be on a page that flips up and there will be place for 2 large photos.

This is the pocket when the gate is open. I will have a tombstone tag for the insert.

Side B of page one:

This is the large envelope.

The envelope flips over to the left. Space for photos.

20171005_115035 — large envelope with Zombie hands

Again the page flips and there is a pocket to the right and a pocket to the left. The pocket with zombie hands is on a flap that opens for large photo mats…..see next photo.

It took a bit of time to mat the pages and there are a few places that still need matting. When doing the matting I placed my magnets first but found they were very thick so went and got some thinner ones but alas, they are not holding very well…next page I will try a different brand.

I am not going to attach to my binding until all the pages are complete because I want to make sure that I am absolutely finished adding flips and flaps to my page.

So here is the first page:

Side A of page one with the gate, now with the matting. I did not get a chance to go looking for cute doorknobs so I used small brads. This was one place my magnets did not hold. EEKS!

When the gate opens there is a pocket with zombie hands and a tag. the flat space behind the tag can hold a photo and the tag can be shorter.

This is to show the space for a photo mat that I have not yet completed but each page will have one in the side pocket.

Side B of Page :

A hinged page pulls to right for photo mat space. On the other side of the zombie’s hands is an envelope

this opens to reveal another envelope no matting yet and the page opposite has another large envelope with more zombie hands

This zombie envelope is on a page that flips up

That is the end of the first page…..

I use the tombstone and zombie hands from the Silhouette design store and the paper is Recollections Halloween Ravenshead Manor collection.

For my template page subscribe and email me your request.

[wpforms id=”1223″ title=”false” description=”false”]

Carolyn

Tags brag book, brag book 101, brag books, bragbook, build a brag book, mini album, mini album pages, Silhouette design Space, silhouette design store, silhouette studio, tutorial for mini album

Baha'i Gift ideas Baha'i Holy Day Ideas Bullet Journal Celebrations Creating files Naw-Ruz Paper Ridvan Template

Bahá’i inspired Journal

Love journaling but can’t seem to find a great Baha’i Journal? We are developing a Baha’i Inspired Journal just for you!

Yep! Here is how it happened: a few of us on a Facebook group page got talking about the lack of a good Bahá’i journal and Lo and Behold a collaboration was born! We were looking to release it at Naw-Rúz but there was so much more planning and organizing to do than we thought, so we have only March and April done! Yeah for us!

For sure Ridván will see it available for download or print.

We think that this will make a great gift ideas for those who love to journal. If you need additional ideas for Holy day gifts, check out the easy pendant idea!

What does it look like?

At first we were playing around with each month having different colours but now we are thinking to just keep it simple.

Here is how we planned the layout:

The cover is a mandala with ta 9 pointed star.
The inside cover has a quote

Next pages are the yearly Bad’i Calendar and the page opposite are the important Baha’i dates
Each month starts with a mandala to colour
Then there is a monthly calendar with all the important events happening like feasts and holy days

Each month will have a place to set goals for the month and the action steps for each.

Then we saw a beautiful info-graph on what is needed to lead a Baha’i life and we turned this into a habit tracker for each month

We all need to remember the things that made us smile along the way and keep track of the random idea and thoughts. We gave these a page for themselves in a very free form manner.

Things that make me smile
Thinking about

I am always trying to remember a book I wanted to read or did read.
A piece of music or a podcast I want to remember
An event to attend
A service project I am involved in or would like to do: this page is a visual representative of that.

Weekly view:

For the weekly view we have each week of the month at a glance.
A planner for meal plans and exercise

Daily View Records :

The day, the Baha’i month and if there is a feast or holy day.
There is a quote inserted in the banner section not shown here
Quotes you love of want to remember
Appointments
Tracking a habit
Tasks
Meals
Who you are praying for
Space to record personal, work and home
A space to reflect

April Daily Page

Then it is a repeat of these pages for each month.

We would love any feedback on this journal.

Download your free March / April and if you want to sign up for notice when the journal is complete then please do so here.

Carolyn

Tags Bad'i Calendar, Baha'i Journal?, Baha'i life, download, feast, goals for the month, habit tracker, Holy days, journal, mandala, meal plans, monthly calendar, Naw-Ruz, praying for, print, Ridván