The base page I am using is a 6.5 in x 8.5 inch page that will be attached to the spine of a handmade book measuring 7 in x 9 in.
This template page is easily resize to fit any brag book.
The base page will be open along both long sides. One side will be attached to the binding and one open side will hold a tag.
The Page Makeup
Each page will have a side 1 and side 2.
Each side will hold many interactive pages such as envelopes, pockets, waterfall pages, tags and more. The pages could also be very simple and hold a pocket or a large photo mat: you get to choose.
Subscribe below and message me that you would like the file for the base page. I will be happy to send it to you!
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.
waterfall page belly band is up
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 thispages expanded
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.
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
Note that Light blue is just the digital color, I will use cardstock from Recollections Ravenshead Manor collectionGate 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.
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.
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.
I have to say that this step took a long time for me to begin as I was feeling out of my comfort zone and just not certain if this cover will be what I wanted.
Take it from me, now that I have done the cover…no need to freak out! Follow my instructions or look up video instructions…lots of information out there and have fun, make mistakes and move on!
Step One: Make your cover
I first needed to buy medium density chipboard but I was not willing to make a trip to Micheals or wait for Ebay or Amazon delivery…LOL…sooooo I and went looking to see what I could substitute. I found stacks of very thick photo mats in my garage and cut it down to size (9 in x 9in ) with my Exacto knife. So far so good.
Tip
As I make each piece of this brag book, I am creating the digital templates AKA the Digital SVG cutting files and PDF files so that the next book will be a breeze. If you decide to make your own book from scratch, consider doing the same.
Step two: A Decision to make.
Now the decision was to lay the pieces out on one sheet of paper and wrap front, back, and spine together or wrap separately.
1, Here is an example of a cover wrapped in one sheet of paper (video at about 32 minutes in) This video is also a great resource for making a brag book.
2, Here is a video with an example of the pieces wrapped separately and joined. This is from one of my favourite brag book creators Jen of Eve
I am going to use method # 2 for a few reasons, but the main reason is that I want to make bigger albums and to find paper large enough to do a one-sheet wrap is not easy.
Cover, Spine and Binding cut
Here are my front and back covers and spine cut from matting material I am using 9 x 9 as my size. I did not use my Silhouette to cut these but you can use your machine with a deep cutting blade. If you want to skip all the measuring and just want the SVG files to cut , then subscribe and the message me: I want your Brag Book cover package and I will send the files for the cover and spine and the files for the wrapping.
“chipboard ” pieces for the book cover and spine
Here are the front & back covers, and the spine wrapping cut out. I used 12 x 12 sheets to fit the 9 x 9 cover size with a 1/2 inch tab allowance for glueing. Dollar store Bristol board works well and all you will need is one sheet
Here are the front and back of the cover with the cardstock wrapping glued on. The spine cardstock is not attached to top and bottom of the spine yet and will be attached next.
Everything is covered up and this is the finished cover and spine
If you want the digital cut files for the cover, spine and binding , subscribe to my blog and send me a request.
Next post: the page binding: found out some interesting information!
Please subscribe for my blog, i would also love to know what you want to read about.
What is the ideal size for a brag book? In some of the tutorials I viewed, the brag book was closer to a mini album than a brag book.
Which brings me to another question I had as I sorted through the mass of material online: what separates a brag book from a mini album?
As far as I can tell, its size and to some extent, complexity….by that I mean how many flips and flaps, pockets, tags, and belly bands an album has.
Another feature that brag books tends to have are different methods of binding the pages together.
As the name implies, brag books are made to showcase something you wanted to brag about … its used in business to showcase skills, testimonials etc and for the craft sector it would be used for a new baby, a grandmother/ father to have the grandkids photos in, weddings, travel memories and more.
If
anyone has a true definition, I would love for you to comment below.
My goal
Is to develop all the components of a brag book in digital file format and PDF that can then be used interchangeably to create interactive, unique brag books easily with many different looks and feels.
I also hope to incorporate techniques I am not seeing in my search to give a WOW factor each and every time.
Back to size: there were a few page
sizes I considered
6.5 in. x 8.5 in.
8.5 in. x 8.5 in.
5 in. x 7 in.
6.5 in. x 6.5 in
7 in x 7in
Sizes I Like
I really liked the 6.5 in x 8.5 in. size for a few reasons, first because it fit 8.5 x 11 in. cardstock, also it allowed for a potential of two 4 in x 6 in. photos.
The 8.5 in. x 8.5 in. fit 8.5 x 11 in. cardstock and allows for the 8 in. x 8 in. pads of paper for matting. Similar with the 6.5 in. x 6.5 in. page as it allowed for the use of 6 in. x 6 in. paper stack.
I found a blank base already bound that is 8 in x 8 in, so if I use this pre-made book pages I will skip the steps for making the cover and pages and my files will be tailored for the 7 in x 7 in page clearance.
Binding methods looked at:
Stack the deck
Coptic stitch
Hidden hinge (trade marked)
Accordion hinge
The popular method seems to be stack the deck, and I am researching if this is the method I will use. For my TUNNEL / SHADOW card, I used a version of the hidden hinge which I really liked.
My Pinterest board has pins for binding methods and for brag book ideas
The saga continues next post with making the digital pages.
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At last, I have started the process of creating a brag book from scratch. I must admit that this has been a prolonged process because of how I do things:
My Thinking Process
I need to look at as many examples as possible,
Collect the ideas and then sort through them
Choose my favourite.
A bit of procrastinating is involved and sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the information out there.
Eventually, I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I get started.
Looking At examples
So the first step was looking at examples and collecting ideas : I pinned the ideas on Pinterest, great way to get organized! For those of you who want to start this process and are like me, here is my board Mini Album and Brag books
There is maybe duplicates as I did get a bit carried away! I also used youtube to look at tutorials online, there are so many amazing ideas on creating Brag Books!
Making Decisions
Once I finished looking at the examples, I figured that what I liked most were brag books with templates pages that can be used in many ways.
Heartfelt creations was one such maker and another was Jen of Eve designs , both of these brag book creators gave me the sense that their templates can be used to create many variations of a brag book.
I liked that Jen of Eve design has templates that can be stored in a binder and when you are ready to make a brag book, you just have to photocopy the pattern onto cardstock and cut it out by hand. There are many who do not own cutting machines like Silhouette Cameo, Circuit, Brother machines etc. and SVG files would be useless.
With Heartfelt Creations, the brag book and all the inserts came precut and you just had to assemble and put your own matting and photos.
Decoration A paper
This is a good time in the planning process to look :
At what decorative paper you will use and what
Embellishments and images needed. I use free images from Creative Fabrica that are for personal and commercial use.
Who is the book for? I am going to make a brag book for a newly wed but the template will be adaptable for any type of brag book.
In my next post, I will start the actual process I went through to make my brag book digital file and PDF version.
From the Silhouette Store by Valerie Foster Design ID #7183
Egads! What is a wiper card and WHAT on earth is a Kokeshi card?
Well, you are in for a pleasant surprise. I was pinning stuff on Pinterest and came across wiper cards tutorial on Youtube.
I was intrigued! I love any paper projects that has movement in it and this one did.
Basic explanation
When you pull on the sides of the card, there is a piece that pops up. Take a look at the video for a way better feel of how neat this project is.
I looked at the video, made notes and created a digital file so that I can share this with you all. I did find the measurement (slightly different from the video) written out and pinned it to my board, so go take a look if you want to make this but need to cut it all out by hand.
So that takes care of the wiper card part.
What is a Kokeshi card?
The Kokeshi card are cute Japanese doll cards I got on The Silhouette Design Store and I used parts of them in this project.
The project parts
Here is a look at the pieces you will need. This is a mock up on my computer so the actual cardstock I used was blue.
The solid pink is the body of the card. The polka dots are decorative pieces and the grey is the wiper arm.
I cut my card out of plain blue cardstock. So the two large “pink” pieces are in reality blue below and folded along score lines.
card with Z shaped folds on opposite ends
Assemble card
Base is cut out
Using the measurement given, cut out the white matting for the front and decorative pieces for the side panel mat
You can use your own measurements and decorate the front with any measurement of patterned paper you like, there is no one correct way.
This is a modified version of the decorative piecesThis shows the decorative pieces that are in the file
Once the front was decorated, I glued the wiper arm piece of the project to the inside of the front of the card.
My downloadable file below has a small score line to help line this up.
Arm attached to inside of card
shows the arm from the front of card
Once the pop up arm is lined up and glued down, attach the back piece so that the “Z” shaped folds are on opposite ends. (see photo at the top of the post with the blue card pieces)
Decorate with your choice of images. I will use my card as a “hello” card with the Japanese translation on the back “Konnichiwa”
Pulling the sides allow for the two dolls to disappear inside and pop up again.
Welcome to the resource for the Feast of Words. First a few suggestions on activities that are not craft related:
Play a word game using simple words the child can recognize such as : “We”, “Are”, “Baha’i”, “love” etc.
Cut out blank cards or use index cards and write simple words on them . A word game like go fish can be an activity to play or just use the cards as flash cards.
Craft: make the card (template below) to give to someone at feast
This is the coloured version that can be used on a card or to frame:For the children, this is a very simple activity that takes 5 to 15 minutes.This craft uses cotton balls for the clouds, Sparkles if you want to add to the sky or cloud or the Greatest Name, and the template picture to colour in.
Here is a fun and easy craft using word art . Use the images as you like or follow the easy steps below to make a cute card. Or download my template.
This activity is easy and suitable for all age groups. All you need to do is print, cut, glue, decorate the images and then enjoy.
So what are you waiting for? Let us jump in and get started!
Where to Use
You may wonder what to do with this card once the kids make them. Here is an idea: use this cards as a gift to give someone at the 19 Day Feast. Another idea to use the cards is to take them with you on a home visit.
If colouring is more your thing, then you might like my post for Feast of Mercy with a colouring activity.
This craft uses the following quote :
“O SON OF MAN! My majesty is My gift to thee, and My grandeur the token of My mercy unto thee. That which beseemeth Me none shall understand, nor can anyone recount. Verily, I have preserved it in My hidden storehouses and in the treasuries of My command, as a sign of My loving-kindness unto My servants and My mercy unto My people.”
You can choose any quote you like and use the website generators to produce lots of exciting activities like colouring pages and posters.
Resource Links
The online resources to generate these images and PDF are amazing with lots of other fun activities!s So continue reading below to find out more.
Spirals makes me dizzy!
This Spiral word art is from the site Festisite . This site allows you to make stuff , like logo maker, word cloud , posters, traffic signs and more.
The image above is the spiral image we will use to make the card but get creative and use it as you choose.
For instance, show the letter “M” for “Mercy” and have the kids look for and circle all the “M’s” in this spiral.
I “HEART” this
The next image is a word cloud using the quote “O Sone of Man” from above. To make a word cloud yourself, visit the site Festisite, Typing your quote, and its is that simple.
word cloud using the quote above
Flowing waves
The wave image below, uses the same quote as the other images above , and is available as a PDF. The word search puzzle on the other hand is from another site called Discovery Education
Wave formation from Festisite using the quote O Sone Of Man
Some people and kids don’t like to make stuff but may enjoy a puzzle like the word search below. Again this is easy to make using the link for Discovery Education, so give it a try.
Who loves word searches?
this is the PDF of the words each using the quote O Son Of Man…
Now for the fun part: let us make a card. To do this follow the simple steps below.
The easier Card
Print the images you want to use : size them to 4″ x 6″ ,
cut the images out
fold a 8.5″ x 11″ cardstock in half, this is the card base.
Glue your image to the front and decorate as you choose.
The EASY Template Card
Print the template (see below)
cut everything out.
fold the card base in a “Z” shape: see photo below)
The template has 2 coloured “base “pieces these glue to the front and back of the swing section.
Glue or stick the image you cut out to the card.this can be on the front or back of the swing section
Decorate the other side of the swinging section
The front of the card can be decorated with ribbon, paper, stickers…whatever you have on hand. DONE!
“Out of the heaven of Thy mercy and the clouds of Thy tender compassion, what will gladden the hearts of Thy servants, who have turned towards Thee and helped Thy Cause.”
Welcome to the resource for the Feast of Mercy. This Feast month we have a simple exert from the writings and a simple craft that can be done by any child.
This is the coloured version that can be used on a card or to frame:
This is a quote for the Feast Of Mercy and some images to help children remember.
For the children, this is a very simple activity that takes 5 to 15 minutes.This craft uses cotton balls for the clouds, Sparkles if you want to add to the sky or cloud or the Greatest Name, and the template picture to colour in.
Time: 5 minutes
What you need
Template to download (see below)
Cotton wool
glue
crayons, markers or paint
glitter
Method
. Colour in parts or the entire picture with crayons, markers or paint
Glue cotton ob for clouds.
Apply glue to areas you want sparkles and apply sparkles.
Shake off extra.
ENJOY
Here is mine example…took 5 minutes. I used only paint and sparkles.
