the hybrid chick

So… I got a little ambitious the other night. My printer was working, so I went for the gold!

You see, for so long now—maybe a year—our printer as never had both black ink and color ink working properly at the same time. It’s so frustrating and stupidly expensive. I’m sure some of you can totally relate!

Well, the other night when I printed out the little diaper bag tag for the last post, it looked so good that I simply had to seize my golden opportunity to make something else before the whole thing when kaput. Ha! So I quickly got to work on something I’d always wanted to make—a little mini album full of Bible verses that mean a lot to me.

Supplies:

• Mini Envelope Album template by Karla Dudley
• Click. digital kit by Kelley Mickus
• White cardstock
• Mod Podge
• Paper trimmer and scissors (I adore my Cutterbees for stuff like this)
• Scoring blade
• Glue Dots
• Coordinating embellishments, like ribbons, buttons, flowers, etc.

Karla’s template pack is just awesome. It comes with two files (an envelope and mini card) in two formats: One file is an outline of the shape that you can print on the back of any patterned paper in your stash (and then cut out). The other file is a gray template that you can open up in Photoshop and clip your digital papers and elements to (and then cut out). So, you simply choose which method you want to use and get to printing!

STEP 1:

Pick your papers and print out your envelopes and little cards.

Now, if you are doing this project with digital paper, like I did, this is the point where you’ll need to stop and ask yourself “To Mod Podge or not to Mod Podge?”

STEP 2:

Like I said, I had printed these out at night. When I work at the computer or scrap and craft, I’ll work at the kitchen table. Well, knowing that I have two kiddos who are able to make a huge mess of things in an instant, I made sure to put these papers off to the side and away from trouble. But as I was going to cut these papers out the next day, I noticed that somehow there were already two water spots on one of the cards! Sigh.

So that made me stop to think—this is a mini album, meant to be handled. I decided that I needed to Mod Pogde if I was ever going to let the kids touch it (LOL!). So, we did…

Notice the eager audience, waiting to see what Mommy did next? And with their own crafting supplies that they got out? So cute. Another reason to love hybrid—for me, it’s time well spent chatting with my kiddos.

Oh! And I came up with a quote for all you (if you’re anything like me): “It’s not a Hybrid Project if there’s not at least one fingerprint in the Mod Podge.” It’s so hard to be patient, isn’t it? Hee hee!

STEP 3:

Once it’s dry (hopefully), it’s time to cut everything out!

I used my paper trimmer for the cards and my beloved Cutterbees for the envelopes. I love Cutterbees for things like this because they are have a short blade, give you lots of control over what you’re doing and are sharp to the tip (for tight spots).

These envelopes are an easy shape and quite simple to cut out, but it’s still nice to have a great tool to do it with! Regular household scissors aren’t really built for the job.

STEP 4:

For this next step, the easiest thing to use is a scoring blade. Scoring your paper helps to give it a perfect fold, just were you want your paper to fold.

My trimmer came with a little black scoring blade, but I could not for the life of me find where in the heck I had put it. Obviously not in the place where I thought I’d be most likely to find it again! I finally gave up and improvised with a clay cutting tool and my favorite little mini ruler.

After you score your envelopes and your mini cards, fold them and get ready for the fun part!

STEP 5:

It’s time to embellish! Get out everything you have and go to town! At least, that’s what I did…

Here’s a close up look at the front of each little envelope with the cards inside:

By the way—you may have noticed above on the black striped envelope that the stinkin’ printer did run out of black ink when I was 3/4 of the way done with this project! But you know, sometimes you just have to keep on going with these things and work around them or cover them up and pretend like you meant for it to be that way anyway.

I thought it actually looked kinda cool because it went from black to blue (which was a color in Kelley’s kit) back to black again. So I just left it as is and even added a blue button on the front to pull it all together! I had a girlfriend that I used to stamp with who had another great quote: “There are no mistakes—there are just opportunities for creativity.” And she’s right! It’s really the best way to look at those aggravating boo-boos that happen when you’re crafting.

Now, back to the mini album!

STEP 6:

As you can see, I folded the little flap down inside of each mini envelope and tucked each card inside. That’s because I wanted the envelopes to be the container that held each teeny, tiny mini book. Here’s a close up of one of the cards:

I was going to print out some verses to go inside these booklets, but as I was talking to my daughter she changed my mind. I said I was hoping to get a little more ink out of the printer today because I didn’t want to use my own handwriting. Then she asked just one little question: “Why?” And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that she had a point. If this is something I’m making, why not put a little of myself into it and not just use a font. So, inside the card are two little square pieces of cardstock (about 2 x 2″) that I glued to the booklet with two of my favorite Bible verses written on them.

STEP 7:

Now, to finish it all up!

I punched a hole into the corner of each envelope and strung them together with a piece of black ribbon. I tied a knot and that was that! I was finished.

Here’s another shot of the album with a close up of the embellished backside of one of the envelopes:

And the front:

Pretty easy. Pretty snazzy looking. I love it! Let me know if you try your hand at making your own. I’d love to see it! My daughter was busy making her own just minutes after I was done:

If she can do it, so can you!

Other Articles by Nicole Seitler:

• Spotlight on: Kellie Mize Designs - February 27th, 2010
• Hybrid + Stamping = The Perfect Touch - October 1st, 2009
• Diaper Bag Tag - August 7th, 2009
• Try your hand at a Hybrid Layout - May 2nd, 2009
• Paper Daisies - Free Paper Pack! - May 1st, 2009