I have a little treat I want to show you today. Most of the time I am a card maker and use only Stampin’ Up! products. That is because I love Stampin’ Up! and the projects I create with them.  But, every now and then I “go rogue” and make other projects with other products.  “Junk Books” are one of my diversions. These handmade books are just a jumble of everything you have hanging around and usually revolve around a theme.  They are great for using up a lot of the bits and bobs of paper, trims, embellishments, etc. you have  in your stash.  And once you start a “Junk Book”, you can always go back and add more later! There are no rules.  It is just what you want to create.

I often shop for unusual and artsy paper from a company here in St Louis called Red Lead Paperworks. The company is run by two very artistic sisters. They used to have a store in St Louis, which was a delight to shop and I often took classes there.  Now, they just have an online store. But I order their “Junk Book” kits now and then and make these books. Some are big like this Halloween book and some are tiny.

The Halloween book I just “started”.  You will recognize many retired Stampin’ Up papers, etc.  But a lot of “stuff” came in the kit I received from Red Lead Paperworks. The best thing? I will take this book out next year and add more “stuff” until I cram it full.  And then it will just stay on display as a decoration! Enjoy!

And that is my “Junk Book” for Halloween.  I have ordered the Christmas book.  One day when I need some quiet time away from the holiday hustle and bustle, I will sit down and do my Christmas book.  And I don’t worry about the little episodes of “going rogue“.  Anything you do makes you a better artist and expands  you creativity.  So, diverting a little bit never hurt anyone!

Every month, a group of demonstrators get together and exchange sampler squares.  This month we did harvest, thanksgiving cards and I used the Painted Autumn DSP and Painted Harvest stamp set to create my sample square. And because I made an extra, I decided to make it a card!

This is one of those “everything but the kitchen sink” kind of cards.  But for a sampler that you will put into a shadow box framer later, you need something that has a lot of dimension to make it work.  The dies cut come from several sets and the leaves are stamped and die cut using the Colorful Seasons stamp set and Seasonal Layers Thinlits.

Once you cut out all the pieces, just start layering until you are happy with the result!  Sometimes, it takes me a few tries and other times it just all comes together.  I generally don’t glue down everything until I have a layout I like.  Then I make what I call a “prototype” so I have a sample to go by and get the other sampler cards to look as similar as possible.

If you are not doing samplers, I encourage you to give them a try.  You can see many examples on Pinterest.  They are quick and easy to do.  And because you are working on a small surface(the ones our group does are on 3/35″ x 3/35″ base card), you don’t need a lot of supplies.  And even better, once you are finished, pop them onto a 12″x12″ paper and into a shadowbox!  Now you have a great piece of home decor for the holidays!

Products Used In This Project

At the last demonstrator meeting, I agreed to show Memories & More.  I have been using Memories & More for card making.  I am not a scrapbooker, but I love the Memories & More cards for the artwork and the simplicity of using them. In planning what to show for this presentation, I decided to try some small shadow boxes.  I used DSP to line the inside of the shadow boxes and Memories & More cards to create the focal artwork. A few embellishments and I was done.

What is great about this project is that it showcases not only the Memories & More cards, but uses a lot of embellishments.  And most any of the designs used for the shadow boxes could be reworked for a card or a package topper.  I find there are so many more ways to use the Memories & More cards than just memory keeping. With a great collection of cards, transparencies and stickers, the Memories & more are an incredible value and a truly handy thing to have on hand for the holidays!  You never know when you might need a quick card, a gift tag or a gift topper.  You can do all that and more with Memories & More!

Here is a close up of the embellishments in the inside of the shadow box/

And I made another shadow box with more cards.

On the shadow box above, I used stickers from the card pack to the glass.  The snowflakes added a glittery look. Then I filled the shadow box with some “jingle bells” I found on sale at a local Micheal’s store.  The “Merry & Bright” letters on the card were colored in using a Wink of Steel pen.  You can see the glitter in the photograph, but it truly does add a nice touch.  Stickers from the card pack were added to every corner of the card to finish the focal piece.  A star from the Year of Cheer embellishments was tied to the bow with ribbon.  And to make the star “shine:, I added a rhinestone.

These shadow boxes were fun to make and did not take much time.  They are very small, about 6″ x 9”. I bought them unfinished and then painted them. On the green shadow box, I used an ivory paint and added drops of Old Olive re-inker to match a Stampin’ Up! color.

So, think outside the box and see what you can come up with for holiday day decor using Memories & More!  (and yes, the rhyme is intentional!)

Products Used In This Project