Stashing Inspiration

Before Pinterest came along, I had my own way of collecting images that inspired me.  I would pick up a large scrapbook with plain paper pages at a garage sale to use.  Now I hit the local craft store and pick up an inexpensive sketch pad.  I picked this one up at A.C.Moore for $5.00.  Of course I need to scrap out the front cover.  I fill the books with clippings from magazines for house decorating ideas, organization inspiration, recipes, you name it.  Of course you can also print out your Pinterest snapshots.  I save all of my magazines for these projects.  And a little secret...I actually get my magazine subscriptions free from saving my Coke points.

Here is my latest old school Pinterest book, now ready to be stuffed full of new ideas and inspiration.  I pulled out an eksuccess binding punch that I hadn't used yet. I love how it plays into the whole 'office supply' theme.

 
I also dug through my old supplies and used Crate Paper Stickers, a Basic Grey office tab, Recollections Paper Cut outs and Washi Tape.

I wanted to stick with fun summer colors like pink, lime green, orange, & yellow with some black accents.    

For inside of the book I make some quick and simple page markers. I used large black and white paper clips and tied ribbon around the tops.  This isn't your typical scrapbook project, but I will keep these books with my others.  In several years it will be fun to look back on what styles and ideas inspired me.

I'm submitting this for the following challenge:
Use It Tuesday -- Diecuts, Punches and Cutouts!! (my most hoarded item on this project is card stock)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Vacation Mini Books

I adore putting together mini books.  If you're thinking about starting to scrap, I would highly recommend trying a mini book first.  Today I'm sharing one of two books I did for the same vacation.  I made one for myself and one for Bubbalouie.  I still have both... I couldn't part with either of them!  Today I'll cover the first book. :-)

 Zach & I went on a week long trip through New England.  Zach was living in Boston at the time and I had an opportunity to stay in the area for a month.  Boston is an amazing town.  I loved being able to explore that city and see Zach almost every day.  Zach enjoyed Mom taking him out to dinner, movies, shopping.  All the things he had missed the most when he moved away.  We had a ton of fun.

The first minibook was a simple square shaped 5 pages of chipboard.

 I used Jenny Bowlin lettering, Basic Gray Office tabs, and other goodies.  I sized and cut the paper to fully cover the chipboard.  I then 'roughed it up' along the edges to give it a rustic feel.  I also used some Basic Gray Bloomers on the bottom right side of the page by the fun canvas tag.

 Lunch at FINZ in Salem Mass. This cod is the best I've ever tasted.  I had no idea what a cute town Salem would be.  Its a beautiful town to walk around and explore.  I added some K&Company embellishments to this fun foodie page

 I love the canvas flowers (Jolee's) and the crocheted flowers (Websters Pages).  I added a Prima flower and a Making Memories gem on top of the crocheted flower.

 Zach was cracking me up in this one.  Here we're in Portland Maine, a super cute and funky town.  I added a snapshot of the market prices for the seafood.  It will be interesting to look back at this years from now and compare the prices.  I'm in love with using tags on my projects as you can clearly see in this shot.

I love how this little fishy charm paired up with the epoxy stickers looked together. 

 Next stop, York Beach Maine.  We lucked into a ridiculously awesome hotel room.  This is the first floor of the room we stayed in that night.  We were steps away from the beach.  On this page I went crazy with bling.

 On this cluster of embellishments I used a silver glitter tag frame, sliver key charm, vintage button and a Jenni Bowlin chipboard button with green ribbon.

 Mini books are super easy and fun to make.  They're chunky and grab the eye.  I sit them on bookcases around the house for anyone to check out.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day!
~K