Hello G45ers,
It's a brand new week of fabulous ideas and inspiration here at Graphic 45! We are so glad you're joining us! Get ready for an extra special treat! Today we're going to show you two unique and gorgeous ideas for French Country altered boxes! First up is a super fun altered cigar box by Kristin Wilson. Then we will share a fabulous tutorial by Gloria Stengel that shows you how to turn an 8x8 Matchbook Box into a beautiful French Country mini album! There are so many clever ideas on today's blog! It's the perfect way to start your week!
We also have a new blog contest this week! Hooray! Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment for your chance to win this fantastic Secret Garden and Place in Time prize pack! It includes 8x8 paper pads, chipboard die-cuts, and stickers from both Place in Time and Secret Garden. It also includes Secret Garden Flowers, Metal Tag Staples and Flower Staples! A $50 value! Be sure to leave your comment for a chance to win! A random winner will be announced on Friday's blog.
First up in today's French Country altered box celebration is this wonderful pencil box by Kristin. We love Kristin's amazing use of paper layering and pretty Graphic 45 Metal Staples! It's amazing what you can create when you let your imagination run wild! Here is what she had to say about this very special work of art.
"This box was altered using an old cigar box.
Since I am in school full time I needed a place to keep all of my pens,
pencils, and highlighters. This little box is perfect for just that, and
what a perfect way to design it using Graphic 45's Staples and French
Country Collection. With this being my very last project for Graphic 45,
I wanted to make something that I will use for years to come. Every
time I look at it I will be remembered of the awesome people I met and
the fun I had on this Design Team." -Kristin
Supplies:
Graphic 45: French Country Collection Papers,
French Country Chipboard 2, French Country Cardstock Stickers, French Country
Tags & Pockets, French Country Banners, Kraft
Reflections Collection Paper, Metal Brads, Metal Clothes Pin, Metal Door Pull
Stampin Up!: Twine, Buttons
Maya Road: Wood Buttons
Next up is this wonderful mini album tutorial by Gloria! She really thought "outside the box" with this little treasure! She converted a Graphic 45 8x8 Matchbook Box into a beautiful French Country mini album! Want to learn how it was made? Follow along with Gloria's fun tutorial to create one for yourself or someone you love! Take it away, Gloria!
Some of my all-time favorite things to make are mini albums.
I especially like to make them from "junk." I had used the
"drawer" of a Graphic 45 8x8 Altered Art Matchbook Box for something
else, but I had kept the "box" portion. I did not want to toss it
out. (Let's face it; I hoard!)
I am so happy I kept it. I
turned the box portion into a mini album. I used 12x12 French Country papers
and embellishments to make a cute 8x8 mini. (Please note that you may need 3-4
sheets of some of the prints to create this mini album. Feel free to substitute
other papers.)
To create this album, follow the directions below.
Supplies:
Graphic 45 paper (12x12 and 8x8):
French Country: French Country, Sunflower, Promenade,
Rendezvous, Bon Appetit, Bonjour, A La Carte, Montage
Graphic 45French Country Chipboard Tags, Stamps, Cardstock
Stickers, Cardstock Banners, Cardstock Flowers, Cardstock Tags and Pockets
Graphic 45 A Ladies' Diary stamps
Graphic 45 Staples: Altered Art Matchbook Box
Staples (8x8), Tag Album (Regular and Large)
1. Cut the box apart so that you have a front cover and a
back cover, each measuring slightly larger than 8x8 inches.
2. Place strong adhesive on the two interior
edges as shown.
3. Create a cardstock spine. Cut black cardstock to 8 1/4 x
12 inches. Score the long edge at: 1", 1 1/2" 2 1/4", 3", 3
1/2", 4 1/4", 5", 5 1/2", 6 1/4", 7", 7 1/2",
8 1/4", 9",9 1/2", 10 1/4", 11". Fold the cardstock in
a fan-fold method. Glue the 3/4" sections together to form
"tabs." Glue the spine to the covers as indicated.
4. Flip the book over and place strong adhesive on the
spine.
5. Trim cardstock to 8 1/2 x 2 5/8 inches and attach to the
cardstock spine. Make sure there is a gap between the covers and the spine to
allow the album to close.
6. Trim Graphic 45 French Country Sunflower paper to 8 1/2 x
4 inches and cover the spine.
7. Cover the font of the album with Promenade paper, cut to
8 1/2 x 8 inches. Trim out the center. Decorate the cover as desired, using
French Country Cardstock Banners, Chipboard Tags, Cardstock Flowers, and various
image cut from the papers.
8. Cover the back with
Promenade paper cut to 8 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches. Decorate the back and spine as
desired.
9. To see a tutorial for
creating the paper flower: http://www.g45papers.com/pdf/Graphic45CardstockFlowerTutorialApril11-3.pdf?utm_source=Graphic+45+Consumers&utm_campaign=9f6a8c25b9-Apr11ConsumerNewsletterFlowerTutorials4_9_2013&utm_medium=email [this is a G45 project sheet)
10. Using the spine "tabs," you may attach up to 5
pages to your album (10 sides).
11. Decorate the inside front cover with Promenade paper. Cut
out the center. Add a ticket sticker to the top center.
12. To make the pages studier, attach each right-hand page
to a piece of kraft cardstock. For page one, cut Montage paper to 8x8 inches
and attach to the spine tab. Add stamped images and other French Country
embellishments. Place a black, 5x5 inch photo mat in the center of the page.
13. Attach 8x8 inch reverse Sunflower paper to the back of
page one to form page two. Add a strip of Sunflower 8x1 inch Sunflower paper to
the left edge. Glue the page to the spine tab. Attach the sunflower list image
from the A La Carte paper and other embellishments to the page.
14. For pages 3 and 4 use one Regular and one Large Tag
Album Staples. Spray both tags with a selection of glimmer mist. Used paper
scraps to create a pocket on the large tag. Assembled one of the French Country
Cardstock Tags and Pockets and attached it to the small tag. Tie ribbon through
the holes in the tags. Adhere the tags to the spine tabs. Glue the large tag to
the front of the tab and the smaller tag to the back, creating page 4.
15. Spray and decorated the back of the tags. Add a 3 1/2 x
5 inch photo mat to the larger tag.
16. Each tag has a place for journaling or a spot for a
photograph.
17. For page 5, cut Sunflower paper to 8x8 inches and attach
to the tab. Add a landscape 7 x 5 inch photo mat. To create dimension for the
Cardstock Stickers, attach them to a scrap of chipboard, then glue them in
place.
18. Use the reverse of the French Country paper, cut to 8x8
inches, for page 6. Add a 6x6 inch photo mat to the center. Decorate with
chipboard elements.
19. Cut Bonjour paper to 8x8 inches and attach to the tab
for page 7. Trim out the Good Luck image from A La Carte paper. Stamp images
and add a ticket sticker to the center of the journaling block. (The rooster
stamp is from My Favorite Things.)
20. Create a pocket for page 8. Attach Bon Appetit paper,
cut to 8x8 inches to the back of page 7. Cut Sunflower paper (I used a sheet
from an 8x8 pad as I ran out of the 12x12) to 3 x 8 inches. Attach on three
edges to make a pocket.
21. Tuck images cut from the various papers into the pocket.
You can also use tags from the Cardstock Tags and Pockets sheet. I also
decorated another Regular Tag Album Staples tag.
22. For page 9, cut
Rendezvous paper to 8x8 inches and attach to the spine tab. Add a 6 x 4 inch
photo mat and decorate as desired.
23. To create page 10, trim the reverse of Sunflower paper
to 4 x 8 and attach to the bottom of page 9. Trim Promenade paper to 3 x 8
inches and attach to the top of the page. Trim a strip of Sunflower paper 1 1/2
x 8 inches and attach to the center. Add a 7 x 5 inch photo mat. Decorate as
desired.
24. Cut Sunflower paper to 8 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches and attach to
the inside back cover. Add an image cut from A La Carte paper and attach to the
center of the paper.
We want to thank you all for joining us on this fine Monday blog! We want to thank Kristin and Gloria for their amazing ideas today. Don't forget to leave us a blog or Facebook comment this week for your chance to win that wonderful Place in Time and Secret Garden prize pack! Our winner will be announced on Friday's blog. Join us tomorrow for more gorgeous craft inspiration that is sure to brighten your day! Have a wonderful day, G45ers!
Happy Papercrafting,
Your Friends at Graphic 45
