Supplies…

• Backpack Album template
• Backpack Album pages
• Epson Premium Presentation Paper
• ribbon
• adhesive
• plastic badge holders

To start, I opened the files and clipped papers from the kit to the template.  I added a bit of embellishment to the optional pocket.  I also opened an 8.5 X 11 blank file which I entirely filled with the same paper.  When it was time to print I loaded my Epson Premium Presentation Paper wrong side up and I printed the entire sheet with that yellow paper.  Then I printed the template on the right side of the paper.  I did this so that the inside of my album would be yellow, too.  I like matchy-matchy!  I then printed each of my album pages.

Next I cut and scored each of the pieces following the guides.  I attached the bottom of the front and back pieces together.  I also cut out all the album pages and put them into plastic badge holders from the office supply store.  I then punched two holes in the top of the backpack.  I threaded my ribbon through the top and through each of the album pages, tying a knot at the back of the pages to secure.  I used about 5 inches of 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon for this and snipped the excess off the ends of the knots.  These pages will essentially hang from the top of the album.

Next, I made the loops on the back.  I punched holes in the back of the album and threaded ribbon through.  I used about 8 inches of 3/8″ saddle stitch grosgrain for this.  I threaded the ribbon through the holes on both sides and glued them down so that the edges would be hidden by the hanging album pages.

All that was left to do was to adhere the pocket on the front and to add a closure.  I rummaged through my stash and found a hitch fastener from Tim Holtz.  I used a scrap of ribbon threaded through a punch hole to hook over the hitch.  A velcro closure would work really well, too.

There you go…quick, easy, and cute.  Plus, it’s proof that sometimes the ideas inside my head really do work!

Here’s what you’ll need…

• Kelleigh’s Tri-Tube template
• digi papers, I used Backyard Barbeque
• Epson Matte Presentation Paper
• Cutter Bee scissors
• 1/8″ hole punch
• adhesive
• festive appetizer picks
• ribbon

I opened Kelleigh’s templates and some papers from my newest kit, Backyard Barbeque, available tomorrow in my store.  I simply clipped the papers on the templates and we were ready to print.  Kelleigh makes everything so easy by formatting her templates so that they print perfectly on letter size paper.  I printed the templates on Epson Premium Matte Paper.  I cut them out with my Cutter Bee scissors and scored on the score lines.  Before I put everything together, I used my hole punch to make a hole (1/8″) at the top of the tri-tube.  Then using some adhesive, fold and adhere it together.  I tied a bit of ribbon around each and inserted the appetizer pick in the little hole I punched at the top.  hint, hint…I found my appetizer picks in the dollar section at Target.

I put these cuties up on the mantle and have big plans to put them all over the house for the weekend!  I also plan to make some for a hostess gift for a bbq we’re going to this weekend!  I think these would also be adorable for birthday candle decorations!  Happy Hybrid-ing everyone!

But now to the important part of today’s post…the WINNERS!  Each hostess has randomly chosen their winner from the comments posted.  Each hostess will be contacting their winner via email to get their address.  Here we go…

Sat June 20: baby shoe favors …#10 Judy Stocker

Mon June 22: $5 gift card to Kelleigh Ratzlaff’s store…# 4 Char-D

Tues June 23: baby announcement book…#8 Angie Britt

Wed June 24: Baby Albums…
# 9 : Baby Girl Album: Dawn
# 16 : Baby Boy Album: Cristina

Thurs June 25: altered picture frame…Michelle A

Fri June 26: $5 gift card to Kelleigh Ratzlaff’s store…#2 – Karen

Sat June 27: Uh-Oh Box…#5 Teri

Congratulations to all of our winners.  And a big thanks to everyone who came to look, comment, and be inspired!  If you are a winner, your hostess will be contacting you soon to get your address so your prize can be mailed! 

I chose these little canvases at my local craft store.  They were the smallest ones I could find.  I would have preferred square ones, but I’m working with what I found.  The packaging on the canvas said that it was a 4″ by 5″ canvas.  NOTE: Please actual measure your canvas!  My little ones turned out to be 3.5″ by 4.5″…which greatly changed my project!  I painted both canvases a light yellow color, Lemon Chiffon, and set them aside to dry.   When they were dry, I thought they were a little flat.  So I gave each canvas a quick coat of Mod Podge all over, front, back and sides, and gave them a little while to dry.  Then I hot-glued rick-rack around the edges of the canvases to cover the ugly staples…remember we’re working with what we could find!

Here’s where a little math comes in!  I needed to make the inside accordian pages.  I knew that to make 6 inside pages I would actually need 9 rectangles.  You end up losing three when you overlap them to secure them together.  I added my width 3 times (3.5 x 3) and then measured my height(4.5).  I cut 3 strips of cardstock that were 10.5 inches long and 4.5 inches tall.  I then scored the strips every 3.5 inches on the long side.  I now had 3 strips of cardstock with three rectangles on each.  I folded the cardstock accordian style (back and forth).  Simply adhere the last rectangle of the first strip to the first rectangle on the next strip.  Repeat for the last strip.

Now to the digi creating!  I opened a new file that was 3.25″ by 4.25″….just a little smaller than my cardstock and my canvas.  I filled that space with beautiful papers and elements from both Mari Koegelenberg and Gypsy Couture.  I used Mari’s Flutterbies: Dotty Paper Pack and Flutterbies: Beaded Paper Flowers and Gypsy Couture’s simply adorable kit, Sweet Pea, for those great baby elements.  I wanted the pages to be cute, modern, vintage, and eclectic all at once and I think these kits really fit perfectly!I filled each of the six pages with information that you would normally find on a baby announcement…name, date and time of birth, height and weight, the proud parents, the place, and then added a little space for the parents to write their wish for the baby.  I printed these out on my Epson Premium Matte Presentation Paper (there’s a link in the sidebar for this awesome paper, a hybrid must) and cut them out.  I adhered one page to each rectangle on my cardstock strip.

Now to put it all together!  I cut some grosgrain ribbon to about 26 inches.  A little tip: if you run the ends of grosgrain ribbon over a flame (I use a candle lighter), the ends will seal and never fray!  I wrapped the ribbon around both canvases to measure the middle and then hot-glued the ribbon to the front canvas only.  That way the book can fold out!  Then I adhered the accordian pages to the inside of the canvases.  After a few tries, I think the best way to adhere the paper to the back of the canvas is by applying a coat of Mod Podge to the back of the canvas and then pressing the paper onto the back of the canvas.  I ended up trimming the very last rectangle off of the cardstock strip to make the pages fit.  I Mod Podged the back canvas as well and let them both dry.  When everything was dry, you simply fold up the pages and tie the ribbon around.  I am so pleased with this project!  It is simply adorable!   Such an adorable project…a precious keepsake to showcase or give as a gift!  As always, we would love to see your pictures if you make one of these.  Just upload your photo to the gallery at The Digi Chick!  As a bonus…I’m giving this little album away!   Although I’m absolutely in love with this, I’ll part with it for one of you.  Just leave a comment here for one chance to win. If you want more chances, then leave us a link to your twitter, blog post, or facebook comment linking up to this post.  That’s up to four chances to win!

I measured my little hangers (I do still have some of those around!) and decided I wanted my tags to be about an 1.5 inches in height and 3.5 inches wide.  That way when I folded them around the hanger, they would stick out enough to see and not enough to be in the way. 

I knew I wanted to use Mari Koegelenberg’s new kit, LuvBug, available now at The Digi Chick.  It has the cutest little elements and that ‘aged’ paper look I love.  I chose some of my favorite papers and elements from the kit and I designed my little tag, making sure to keep the elements away from the middle, giving me plenty of room to fold. 

I printed several out on Epson Matte Presentation Paper (a hybrid must!).  Then I just cut them out, and using a bit of scrapbook glue, adhered them around the hanger.  I decided against scoring them first, as this is more of a rounded fold than a crisp one.

These would be such a cute shower gift!  And making a dozen, even two, would be so inexpensive and a very usable, personal gift.  They could be used on every hanger to easily see the size of the outfit, or used as dividers on the rod (for the very organized!). 

I’ll be giving away a set of these tags with the hangers!  Just leave a comment in this blog post to be entered to win. You’ll receive an additional entry for linking to this post on your blog, on Facebook, or Twitter!  All winners will be announced on June 28th.

Every time I sit down at the computer or the craft table to start a project, I have a little one asking to help. My little one loves to create and I needed something that we could both do…together.

That little one inspired a whole line of kid-friendly printables and projects that are now available in The Digi Chick shop.  I wanted to share some of these projects that are easy, educational, and hybrid, too!

First up is the Color Book:

Use old magazine or catalogs and let your little one find objects of each color.  Then paste them on the ready-to-print pages.  Then using some paper lunch sacks, bind them together to create a cute book.

We bound this one with ribbon and added some extra to the sides.  Included in the kit are pages for nine colors and the title page plus an extra page of shapes and all the color words in both English and Spanish.

Another cute little project to complete with your kids is the ABC Book Badge Album.

This album features cards with each letter, both upper and lower case, in a dashed font so that your little one can trace and learn the letters.  Also included are some sight words.  When you place the cards in the plastic badge album, the plastic serves as a kind of white board…you can easily use dry erase or write-on/wipe-off crayons to trace and then erase!  This one has been a real help around our house!  It’s also a perfect size to stick in your purse for trips to the doc, grocery store, or even in the car.  There is also the 123 Book that can stand alone or serve as an add-on to this pack.  It features tracing pages for the numbers one through ten and also a poem for each describing how to make each number…”Line straight down, then we’re done.  That’s the way to make a one!”

However, my favorite just might have to be the Book Club for Kids series!  The first book is the beloved The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. 

This kit is jam-packed with printables, projects, and activities that all reinforce the themes of the book.  The activities cover everything from the butterfly life cycle to the days of the week and it even comes with a mini scrap kit.  Also included are two complete albums… one is a printable paperbag book and the other is the cutest little numbers badge album book.  Both of these projects are also sold separately. 

Creating something with your kids doesn’t have to be hard, expensive, or fancy… just enjoy the time together!

Here’s the low-down for the pink canvas…

I opened an 8.5×11 blank project in my photo-editing software (I use PSE5).  I do this because I know that’s the size of my paper and it helps me gage my space.  For the pink project, I used the entire space knowing that I wanted the paper to wrap around my canvas.  I used my Dots and Doodles kit for the background paper and the cute label.  I knew the front was, of course, 5×7, so I made my label slightly smaller so I knew it would fit.  I printed on my Epson Premium Presentation Paper (check out Kelleigh’s great article on paper) and used the borderless printing option on my printer.  Since this project printed all together on one piece of paper, I lined up my paper with my canvas, centering the label image and carefully marked around the canvas on the back of the paper with pencil for a guide.  I extended my pencil lines and cut out the excess on the corners to allow for easier folding aroung the edges.  Then I mod-podged it on.  Now, Mod-Podge is like my Crafting Kryptonite…but I managed with a few simple tips.  I applied the mod-podge to the canvas and to the back of the paper.  Then I used a brayer to smooth it out.  I then wait a few minutes and allow it to set before I add the layer of mod-podge to the front of the project.  Allow that top layer to dry completely before adding another thin layer.  Check out Jill’s Mod-Podge Tips for more.

I love that canvas so much, I decided to try another.  This time I used a different technique.  I first painted the canvas a coordinating color.  This one is a gift for a baby’s room, so I used the nursery colors.  I made a paper I knew would match the room and then used the label again from Dots and Doodles and the same ‘L’ (that font is MB Flamingo, by the way) in brown this time.  I used a brown paper I made to back the label, so that cutting it out would be easier.  I printed them separately and cut them out.  I mod-podged the background paper on first using the same technique as before and allowed it to completely dry.  I then mod-podged the label on and smoothed it out before applying the top coats.  Then I just stapled on some ribbon to the back to use as the hanger.

There are so many things you can do with this project!  It was inexpensive, quick, easy, and I can’t wait to give this one as a gift!