10 Dec

‘Just Believe’ Christmas Card Set by Tarrah

Hi there, everyone! Tarrah here with you today, and I hope you are all  getting organised for Christmas? I am very happy to say I am just about ready — thank goodness!

One of the traditions that I like to keep at Christmas time is making some of my own Christmas Cards for some of my close family..

I went looking through my stash of Christmas collections and stumbled across this beautiful one by Kaisercraft called Just Believe. I knew that the co-ordinating papers and embellishments would be perfect for some handmade cards!

Just Believe Christmas Cards

When I create cards, I like to create them with different orientations. Here, I have created two that open from right to left and the other one opens from bottom to top. I like the challenge of decorating the different size and oriented cards.

It is so much easier to create cards if you are using products from the one collection. It takes a lot of the guess work away from you especially if you are limited for time and a lot of us are at this time of year!

Do you create your own Christmas cards? I would love to know if any of you have created Christmas Cards using non-traditional colours! I am certainly not that game, but I love the look of them!

I hope you are getting some to create in between getting organised for the festive season!

Have a great day and thanks for visiting the Papercut Labs blog today!

P.S. Don’t forget there’s a blog hop and crop happening that’s being hosted by Papercut Labs. All information can be found on this page!

08 Dec

Blog Hop: Get organised for the festive season!

Welcome, welcome to the Papercut Labs’ 12 Days of Christmas! Over the next twelve days we have some awesome Christmas projects to inspire you and (if you’re not already) get you totally in the Festive Spirit! To keep up with the hop and where it lands each day: visit our information page. And don’t forget to join the crop event for chances to win the giveaway prizes.

So where are you in the hop? DAY ONE! Make sure you check A Piece of Cake Designs tomorrow for stage two.

Monday, 8 December 2014: Papercut Labs << YOU ARE HERE
Tuesday, 9 December 2014: A Piece of Cake Designs
Wednesday, 10 December 2014: Kellie Stamps
Thursday, 11 December 2014: Heidi Swapp
Friday, 12 December 2014: The Scrappery
Saturday, 13 December 2014: Seriously Scrapbooking
Sunday, 14 December 2014: Maya Road
Monday, 15 December 2014: Stampin’ Up!
Tuesday, 16 December 2014: Scrapmatts
Wednesday, 17 December 2014: D-lish Scraps
Thursday, 18 December 2014: Studio Calico
Friday, 19 December 2014: Papercut Labs

It’s Jodie for Papercut Labs with you today for the First Day of Christmas, and I have a project that can help you get organised for the Festive weeks ahead. (Note from editor: click the images to view a larger version of them!)

Notebook_1

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to the busy time around Christmas I really need lists to stay on top of everything. Each year I grab a notebook that I can alter and use for the entire Festive Season, so that I can keep track of my notes, things to do, gift ideas, family holiday plans and anything else that pops up. Everything is in one place and easy to find which is definitely a good thing! With a few scrapbooking supplies, a sewing machine and a printer, you can put together a Festive Planner like this in no time at all.

Notebook_2

My favourite notebook to alter is an A5 spiral notebook from Typo. They come with a back cover in heavy duty coloured cardstock and an elasticised band to keep the notebook tidy and secure. Because I remove the original front cover I love that they have a second inner cover also made from cardstock.

The back covers & elasticised bands come in different colours so you can pick a notebook according to your chosen colour palette.

For my other supplies I’ve used some papers from my stash from Crate Paper’s Bundled Up collection. I’ve also used some coordinating papers from other Crate Paper lines, Style Board and Oh Darling, some Bundled Up ephemera and some free Christmas printables from Marie Lottermoser. My full materials list is included at the bottom of the post.

Notebook_3

The first step is to alter the front cover. With a pair of scissors remove the original front cover of the notebook. You’ll be left with a cardboard inner cover which will be the base for our festive front cover. In my case, the inner cover is kraft cardstock. Add a patterned paper which has been trimmed so that it’s just smaller than the notebook (creating a border) and then embellish as you wish.

I’ve chosen one of the Christmas free printables from Marie Lottermoser as a feature for my front cover. You can find these gorgeous fawns and three other designs on Marie’s blog.

Notebook_4

I’ve divided my planner into sections and added a tab to each one. This makes it easy to thumb straight to the section I need.

To make the tabs, I’ve typed my headings in Word, using a different colour for each title within my colour palette. I’ve printed these onto the smooth side of some white cardstock, and then punched each title out with a tab punch. If you don’t have a tab punch you can simply cut the words out in rectangles of the same size and use a corner rounder to round the top two corners of each rectangle.

Notebook_5

There’s already a pocket inside the front cover of the Typo notebook, but to make it a little more festive I’ve trimmed it so the top of the pocket runs diagonally.

To do this measure one inch (1″) down from the top of the pocket on the right side. Line that mark up with the top edge of the pocket on the left side and mark with a pencil. Cut away the top portion with scissors. Add some patterned paper cut to size and embellish.

Notebook_6

The next step is to add strength to each heading page so that its not easily torn out of the notebook.

Adhere the tab for the section in place on the sheet of notepaper, and adhere a piece of patterned paper cut to size over the top. Add another two notebook pages (you’ll now have a piece of patterned paper and three notebook pages in total), and using a sewing machine stitch them all together around the outside edge. (Tip: to stitch close to the spiral you can use a zipper foot on your sewing machine.) This makes a sturdy section header page that won’t tear out of the planner easily. Then you can embellish your page. Repeat this step for each heading page in your notebook.

Notebook_7

You can create as many sections and tabs in your festive planner as you like. This year I’m happy with four sections: one for keeping track of gifts to buy; one for chores that need doing before Christmas; another for Christmas itself, (for things like recipes that I want to make for Christmas Dinner, grocery lists, Christmas treats to make); and finally one for our family holidays (lists of things we need to pack, places we want to visit while on holidays).

The circle printables I’ve used throughout my planner are also from Marie Lottermoser. They’re a set of 9 that suit a 2” circle punch, and you can find them on her blog here.

Notebook_8

Notebook_9

As I’ve embellished each page, I’ve coordinated the colours to match the font colour on the corresponding tab.

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Notebook_11

To add an extra storage area on the back of the planner I’ve used a plastic sealable pocket that I picked up for a bargain from Officeworks.

I’ve positioned it on the outside of the back cover and stitched it in place along the bottom edge with my sewing machine so that it’s securely in place. I’ve then added a couple of stickers and some die cut patterned paper straight onto the plastic pocket.

Notebook_12

Once the plastic pocket is stitched to the back you can then add another pocket to the inside of the back cover.

Trim a piece of patterned paper to size, then using a large circle punch, punch a semi circle on one side of the pocket.

Notebook_13

Attach your pocket using double sided tape on the three straight edges and embellish. Because I didn’t want to stitch through the back cover I faux stitched this pocket using a white rollerball pen.

Notebook_14

As an extra little place to secure notes or to mark a place in my planner, I’ve given a wooden peg a bit of festive treatment. I’ve watered down some gesso to create a white wash for the top portion of the peg, and then painted the bottom portion with Mod Podge and added a good coat of red glitter.

This really is a quick festive project that will help you keep all your Christmas planning in the one easy to find place!

Thanks for joining me on day one of the 12 Days of Christmas blog hop! Don’t forget that the crop is still open and you can try to win giveaway prizes right up to December 20!

— Jodie

Materials:
Typo A5 spiral notebook, Officeworks sealable plastic pocket, patterned paper – Crate Paper Bundled Up, Style Board & Oh Darling collections, American Crafts cardstock, Crate Paper Bundled Up Accent Stickers & Ephemera, Crate Paper frames, Heidi Swapp Mixed Company Buzz Words, My Minds Eye brad, October Afternoon labels, Sizzix die, bakers twine, wooden peg, glitter, shipping tag, acrylic paint, gesso, doily, Christmas free printables from Marie Lottermoser, ric rac, scallop edge punch, washi tape, paperclips

01 Dec

Vintage Christmas Tag by Tarrah

Hi there, everyone! It’s Tarrah here with you today to share a cute tag I created recently. I have been scouring Pinterest for some Christmas Craft inspiration lately and I came across this beautiful Christmas Tag created by Karen Shady. I loved the vintage look to this tag!

Created by Karen Shady

I decided to create a Vintage Christmas tag of my own and keeping up with the Papercut Labs 12 Days of Christmas events and challenges, my tag below meets challenge number 12: Must Be Xmas-y!

Products used for my tag:

Ranger Manilla Tag
Heidi Swapp ‘Believe’ Papers and Ephemera
Tim Holtz Vintage Sticker and Mini Staple
Jenni Bowlin Studio Chipboard Button
Words or Whatever Mistletoe Wreath Chipboard
Teresa Collins Stamps
Versacolour and Staz-On Inks
Kraft Bitty Bag
Paper Doily
Grosgrain Ribbon

Vintage Christmas Tag

Created by Tarrah McLean

When I first grabbed the paper doily to add to my tag, I felt it was too white looking so I toned it down a little with some Versacolour Grey ink to give it more of a vintage look. I also inked the edges of the tag and the chipboard wreath in Versacolour Pinecone Ink as well.

I made a process video while I created my tag. You will see in the video that I go to use all different elements on my tag but I end up choosing some different elements and add those instead!

Thanks so much for stopping by the Papercut Labs blog today. Have a great day!

04 Nov

Sneak Peek & Freebie: FUN & FUNKY CHRISTMAS

Today, our Christmas classes have gone on sale! This is super exciting since I was actually filming them with Donna just three weeks ago, and I can’t wait to try some of the techniques out myself. (I have to say, I’m particularly taken with the postcard.)

You might have noticed I said “classes”. We’ve launched two: however, there’s a catch!

The full ‘Fun & Funky Christmas‘ is four weeks of jam-packed Christmas gift making, card making, advent calendar making and even table decoration making. There’s over an hour of video tutorial (probably closer to 90 minutes), and a multitude of handouts that you can take with you on any device you like.

The ‘Fun & Funky Advent Calendar‘ is just the advent calendar project. This is week two of the full course. The advent calendar is so large with so many details and so many instructions, some people might just want to tackle this one.

Which is why we’ve split it up. We want to give you as many options as possible for learning exactly what you want.

That’s enough talk though.

We’re giving you a freebie today!

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been designing and building the PDF handouts that go with the two November classes. And today, you get to download one for yourself!

This is day one of the Advent Calendar. Most of the handouts (for both the Christmas class and Natalie’s Flashy Cards Fast) are gorgeous like this. They’re easy to read and print off.

When you press the image below, you’ll see that the images on the PDF are a little dark and the font not always sharp. This is because this is a low-res PDF, which means it’s easier to download quickly. When you’re in the class, you get the option of a low-res PDF or a hi-res PDF. Hi-res PDFs are best for printing.

** Note: there is no material list, since the whole Advent Calendar uses a similar set and the list will be a page on its own. However, if you’re looking for the materials, most of them are from Stampin’ Up!

Enjoy!

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