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Monday, June 27, 2011

Masters of Forgery Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge DT blog hop! I just love looking at all the fabulous blogs of our talented team! You should have arrived here from Lisa's blog. If you are lost, you can start at the Challenge Blog.

Mini Challenge #2 ( All About The "I" Challenge) was to make a page or mini album all about You with at least one "I" statement in it. This was tough for me. I sometimes struggle with doing pages about myself. I decided to take a different approach with this one.

I'm sure you all have seen the summer-long challenge going on at Counterfeit Kit Challenge, which is to make your own Counterfeit "Smash"-type book. I absolutely loved this idea!! I never really though Smash books were that exciting, until I saw one the other day at a local craft store. They really are adorable, and some of the accessories were very tempting! I loved the idea of making my own book, though. What a great way to actually put my lovely scrapbooking product to good use! Once I got started, my book only took a few hours to make. It would have been quicker, but I had to figure out what to do about the binding, since I don't own a Bind It All. Then, I remembered some EK Success binding coils I had purchased at Big Lots not long ago for $1.25. The large binding coil fit my 6" X 9" book almost perfectly, and I only had to cut a little bit off. The coil is over an inch wide, so I can really cram my book full of all sorts of memorabilia.

How I fit this into the challenge was with the title of my book. It says "I AM SMASHING", which is sort of a play on words. It can be a very positive message, meaning I'm really great, or it can mean I am actually making and using a Smash-type book! I thought it was pretty clever. I intend on filling the book with all the things I love, so it will definitely be about me.

I followed the directions for making a Smash book (part one, and part two) that were given on the CKC blog. I even used the same stamp set for my title (thanks, Crystal!). I found a really great thread on 2 Peas, which had a link to a tutorial by Tracy on binding your book using a Crop-a-dile. This was how I made the holes in my journal. I followed the directions, making each hole 1/2" apart. It worked very well with my binding coils. The coils would be fairly easy to remove if I wanted to rearrange or add to my pages.

I cut down some manila folders to make the divider pages, and used October Afternoon sticker tabs from my kit. I used almost all of the paper from my kit, and had to include a few additional sheets to make the book a little fuller. I also made a nice pocket page for the first page, and included thin white cardstock, grid paper, and other papers to add interest to the book. Lastly, I included a 6" X 9" manila envelope inside the back page for larger memorabilia. It fit perfectly inside my cover, and only required a minor adjustment to keep the flap from hitting the coils. Here are a few of the pages, as seen from the side.

I still need to embellish the pages and start gluing stuff into the book, but I've made a good start. I may even make another book for our summer vacations. These are so much fun to make, I really hope you give one a try!

I hope you enjoyed the hop! Your last stop today will be Meridy's blog.

18 comments:

Counterfeit Kit Challenge said...

i think your book is SMASHING too!!! Awesome job, and I really like the binding coils. Such a good idea to use the crop-a-dial!!! I can't wait to see your vacation book too :)
*meridy*

Crystal said...

I love it! I am so jealous that you are clever enough to think to use folded up manilla folders, I STRUGGLED with how to do my tabs! LOL! I am so happy you got some use out of the stamp set, isn't it fun!? I am going to be making a mini smash book for our trip home since we are going to be there for a while. I hope to get my parents/brother and hometown friends to sign in there too. Great job!

Emily said...

This is so inspiring! Smashing indeed! I love what you have done. Thanks for sharing the crop a dile tip. I don't have a bind it all either and would never have thought to do it this way.

Angela said...

What an amazing, smash-ing book -- love the mix of goodies in there, and I totally remember those binding coils, too -- great use of the stash!

Susanne said...

Wow, your book looks great - I hope you enjoying filling it to capacity.

Tricia said...

I love your smash book, and I'm sure you really are smashing! I like how you broke away from the norm and ventured out in a different direction. This is a wonderful idea.

Rebecca at How I Burb said...

Have fun with your book! All the little details are great - can't wait to see it once you start using the pages.

Lisa said...

these smash books are looking so good - really will have to get around to making myself one - thanks so much for the great inspiration here - love it!

Missus Wookie said...

what a cool looking book - definitely SMASHING :) Neat tip on binding with the cropodile too.

Lora Oliver said...

Gosh, thank you for sharing this! I have been toying with the idea of creating a journal and this is very inspiring. It is absolutely lovely.

CStrickler said...

Definitely a clever way to make a smash book!

Anonymous said...

Great take on it - thanks for the cropodile link - it never occured to me! Your book looks fab

Margie said...

I love your smash book-i have those alphabet stamps, too!!Great job on it!

Margie said...

I love your smash book-i have those alphabet stamps, too!!Great job on it!

Razzled Scrapper said...

Awesome job. I really love your book.

beccaf1970 said...

Awesome book! Makes me want to give it a whirl myself! Have fun filling it up!

redmom said...

I agree with your book...you are smashing!! I love your homemade smash book and can't wait to see it fill up!

Laurie Marmon said...

Very cool to make the smash book yourself. You'll appreciate it that much more too I bet. It looks beautiful and will be fun to fill with stuff. Thanks for sharing.