Throwback Thursday: Year in Review Mini Album

Hello We R Memory Keepers friends and fans, Becki here to share a fun “Year in Review” mini album with you. I used three of my favorite We R Memory Keepers tools to create this mini album. I absolutely love how this album came together. When I started creating the album I thought that I would include 5-10 of my favorite photos from 2017. As I gathered photos, I realized that there was no way to narrow down the number of photos to 10 to tell the story of our year. 2017 was a very eventful year for our family. This year in review album has over 20 photos.

I streamlined the creative process by printing all my photos at 4×4. In this album all the photos are on the right side and the journaling is on the left. To create a space for all the journaling, I used the frame punch board to create 3 ½ x 3 ½ square frames.

Then, I printed the journaling to fit inside the frame.

On a few of the pages, I used the clear cut punch to create a window so that the reader could get a sneak peek of the photo that was on the next page.

It was so easy to create a cute heart window using the clear cut punch. I love that I was able to move the punch around the page so that I could make the heart window where ever I wanted to on the page.

Even though, the album contains a LOT more photos than I originally intended, I love the story that it tells.

Using a few of my favorite tools from We R Memory Keepers made creating this album so easy and fun. Thank you for stopping by the We R Memory Keepers blog. Happy 2018 my friends!

 

Supplies:

Frame Punch Board

Clear Cut Heart Punch

Crop-a-dile

Crate Paper Carousel Collection

2018 Photo Garland

Hello, We R friends! Enza here, and today I’m sharing a fun garland created with the Frame Punch Board.

Every year towards the end of December, I like to put together a year-in-review type of project that is a collection of our best moments. It can be a mini album, a grid layout, or a home décor piece that displays one photo per month, and gives a general idea of what our year looked like.

For today’s project, I decided to go with a garland. What I like about this type of project is the flexibility of moving things around, add fun embellishments, and have the opportunity to enjoy the photos at any time.

I opted to create a variety of frames in different sizes. The Frame Punch Board is super easy to use; by simply adjusting the alignment bars, you can vary the thickness of the borders.

I picked the Hooray! collection by Crate Paper for the frames, and a combination of embellishments from several Maggie Holmes collections to decorate them. Some of the frames measure 3.5×4”, others 3×5”. I used foam tape to adhere my elements down, just to give them some dimension. I then traced and fussy cut the numbers for the year to thread through the first row. The Mini Alphabet Punch Board would work as well for this. I only have the regular size one, so the numbers were too big compared to the frames.

I used white and gold twine to thread all my elements together.

I love how this garland turned out. It is the perfect way to remember the past year. It would also be a great gift idea for grandparents! I know my parents would love to have photos of the kids on their wall or mantel.

Thank you for stopping by!

Enza

 

Supplies:

Frame Punch Board

Crate Paper Hooray!

Crate Paper Flourish

Crate Paper Willow Lane

Photo Frame Christmas Ornaments

We love these photo ornaments from last Christmas so much, we just had to share them with you again!

Hello We R Memory Keepers friends and fans, Becki here to share a fun Christmas ornament idea with you using two of my favorite tools that work perfectly together–the Frame Punch Board and the Square Punch Board!

Ornaments with photos are my favorite ornaments. This year, I decided to make ornaments for my brother and his wife. Earlier this Fall I took photos of my nieces and nephews for their family Christmas card. I LOVE how the photos turned out and I knew they would make the perfect ornaments. I started by printing 3×3 photos of each of the kids. ( You can also trim down a 4×6 photo to 3×3.)

After the photos were printed, it was time to put my square punch board and the frame punch board to work. I used the Square Punch Board to punch perfect 3” squares. This tool makes squares and rectangles perfectly every time. When the 3” squares were punched, I simply made them into frames with the Frame Punch Board.

Using dimensional adhesive I adhered the frames on top of the photos. I wanted to keep the photos the main focus of these ornaments so I kept embellishments to a minimum. All of the embellishments and patterned papers I used are from the Fa La La collection from Crate Paper. I love the traditional feel of this collection mixed with a few modern colors of pink and teal. This collection complimented my photos perfectly!

These ornaments make the perfect gift idea! I know my brother and his family will love them for years to come. These photo ornaments would be a perfect gift idea for grandparents too! I know my parents would love to have photos of all the grand kids on their Christmas tree. They’re so easy to create they’re perfect for last minute gifts as well. I hope these Christmas ornaments have inspired you to create some of your own with the square punch board and the frame punch board. Merry Christmas!!

Frame Punch Board

Square Punch Board

Crate Paper Fa La La Collection

5 Holiday Scrapbook Page Ideas

Hello, and Happy Friday We R fans! This week our design team has shared Holiday Memory Keeping projects with you, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the inspiration. Today we’re closing off the week with a roundup of Holiday Scrapbooking Ideas from our fabulous in house design team. You’re going to want to bookmark this post for sure. Enjoy!

Add Ribbon

The holidays just wouldn’t be the same without all the festive Christmas ribbon. So, why not add some to your holiday scrapbook page! It’s easy to do with the Ribbon Cutter. This battery powered tool not only cuts ribbon, but heat seals it meaning no more frayed ends!

Frame Your Photos

Holiday memories are some of the most special in our lives, so why not add extra emphasis to them with custom paper frames! You can make paper frames in almost any size and tons of different styles with the Frame Punch Board.

Reach for the Stars

Stars are an iconic holiday symbol. Cut some out of your paper scraps with our Craft Knife or Detail Scissors. They’re an easy shape to hand cut, and they’ll add a rustic handmade flair to your holiday scrapbook page.

Include Gift Tags

During the holiday season we go through tons of gift tags, so why not add them to your scrapbook page? They’ll capture the holiday feel you’re looking for and make for a cool page design. Make your own gift tags from your paper scraps with the Tag Punch Board.

On the Grid

Scrapbooking during the holiday season can be tricky with all the hustle and bustle, so keep your holiday scrapbook pages simple with a basic grid design. Get that grid perfectly aligned with the Laser Square!

Thanks for stopping by! We hope these holiday scrapbooking ideas have inspired your memory keeping this season. Happy crafting and enjoy your weekend!

 

Travel Themed Card

Hey there, We R Memory Keepers friends and fans, Becki here, to share with you a fun card that I created with the Frame Punch Board. I love traveling and have a lot of friends and family that love to travel as well. For an upcoming vacation, I have a gift to share with my travel mates. I thought it would be fun to create a card to go with the gift. Of course, I grabbed my favorite We R Memory Keepers tools to create a card that’s adorable but also quick and easy.

The frame punch board is always at my finger-tips. I love making custom frames to fit perfectly on my project. The card base for this card is a five-inch square created from white cardstock. Then each layer is slightly smaller than the previous one.

The woodgrain framed patterned paper was so easy to create with the frame punch board. To give the frame some texture and definition I used my stitch happy sewing machine to stitch around the edges.

Before I adhered all the patterned paper layers together I rounded the corners with the rounded corners punch. I love being able to choose the radius on the rounded corners. On cards, I love a more subtle look so I chose the smaller radius. I was able to punch all the corners and adhere the layers within a couple of minutes. I finished the card with a few embellishments in the center.

I can’t wait to attach this card to my gift for my travel mate. Thank you for stopping by the We R Memory Keepers blog. Happy crafting and happy travels!

 

Supplies:

Frame Punch Board

3 Way Corner Punch

Spring Scissors

Laser Square

Crate Paper Here & There collection

Mother’s Day Gift Idea: DIY Journal

Happy Friday We R friends! It’s Aly here with you again. Mother’s Day is so special–I love celebrating the women in my life who have incluenced me the most. Along with the joy also comes a bit of stress because I want to give my special peeps something meaningful that shows them how amazing they are. I often turn to handmade gifts, and that’s exactly what I did this year.

My mom is an avid reader and writer who loves family history, so I created a DIY journal complete with journaling prompts that will encourage my mom to write down her ideas, thoughts, experiences, and all those important details that I want to have recorded for years to come.

The DCWV Journaling Stack provided the perfect spring board for this project. Its full of patterned paper and die cut journaling cards, tags, and labels that you can punch out and add directly to your projects. I love the soft color scheme–perfect for a Mother’s Day gift!

I created the cover with a double sided piece of cardstock from the DCWV Okey Dokey Stack that coordinates perfectly with the Journaling Stack. I cut a 7 x 8 inch block and scored it vertically down the middle with my Trim and Score Board. Then I decorated the front of the cover with some die cuts I punched out of the Journaling Stack.

For the inside pages of the journal I gathered four pieces of paper from the Journaling Stack. They’re thin text weight paper–perfect for journal pages. I cut them all to 6 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches so they’re just smaller than the cover. That way when folded to fit in the journal, the edges of the inside pages don’t stick out over the cover. I stapled the cover and inside pages together with my Staple Board to finish the structure of the journal.

I added a journaling prompt to each of the inside pages, along with some die cut embellishments I punched out of the Journaling Stack. I also made some frames to embellish some of my pages using the Frame Punch Board.

I finished off my DIY Journal with decorative paper clips, and secured it shut with a Heidi Swapp binder clip. Visit your local JoAnn Store to find the supplies I used to make this project.

I’m so excited to give this to my Mom! It’s a handmade unique gift that I know she’ll enjoy.

 

Plus, my family and I will enjoy reading what she writes in it. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

Supplies:

Trim and Score Board
Frame Punch Board
Staple Board
Detail Scissors
DCWV Stacks: Journaling and Okey Dokey
Heidi Swapp Binder Clips
American Crafts Shaped Paper Clips: Cameras and Hearts

DIY Mini Album

Hey there, We R Memory Keepers friends and fans, Becki here, to share a mini album that I created with a few new tools. I had some much fun creating this mini album. I love working with the new tools. A couple of these new tools have a permanent home on top of my desk. First of all, the new Spring Scissors are a favorite of mine. This love comes naturally because I love fussy cutting. These scissors are perfect for fussy cutting!

The base of this album is created from scratch with patterned paper. Each page is carefully cut with the trim and score board. This trimmer is my new go-to trimmer. I love having two tools built into one. Another of my favorite features of this tool is that it folds into a compact size so it’s easy to store or take with you for crafting on the go.

The other tool, I’ve fallen in love with is the Sticky Piercer. This tool makes placing small items like sequins so easy. There are tons of tiny sequins through-out this mini album.

When I created this album, I kept the same basic format. Each page has a frame (created with the Frame Punch Board). Each photo is 3×4 with a 3×4 frame. By keeping the photos and frames all the same size it made creating this album so much easier.

This album is easy to create with hand tools from We R Memory Keepers. I’d love to hear which hand tools you’re most looking forward to playing with. I think we may share some favorites. Thank you for stopping by the We R Memory Keepers blog. I’ll see you again soon.

 

Supplies:

We R Memory Keepers Tag Punch Board

We R Memory Keepers Spring Scissors

We R Memory Keepers Trim and Score Board

We R Memory Keepers Typecast Typewriter

We R Memory Keepers Sticky Piercer

We R Memory Keepers Frame Punch Board

Pebbles Patio Party Collection

 

 

 

 

Year In Review Mini Album

Hello We R Memory Keepers friends and fans, Becki here to share a fun “Year in Review” mini album with you. I used three of my favorite We R Memory Keepers tools to create this mini album. I absolutely love how this album came together. When I started creating the album I thought that I would include 5-10 of my favorite photos from 2017. As I gathered photos, I realized that there was no way to narrow down the number of photos to 10 to tell the story of our year. 2017 was a very eventful year for our family. This year in review album has over 20 photos.

 

I streamlined the creative process by printing all my photos at 4×4. In this album all the photos are on the right side and the journaling is on the left. To create a space for all the journaling, I used the frame punch board to create 3 ½ x 3 ½ square frames.

Then, I printed the journaling to fit inside the frame.

On a few of the pages, I used the clear cut punch to create a window so that the reader could get a sneak peek of the photo that was on the next page.

It was so easy to create a cute heart window using the clear cut punch. I love that I was able to move the punch around the page so that I could make the heart window where ever I wanted to on the page.

Even though, the album contains a LOT more photos than I originally intended, I love the story that it tells.

Using a few of my favorite tools from We R Memory Keepers made creating this album so easy and fun. Thank you for stopping by the We R Memory Keepers blog. Happy 2018 my friends!

 

Supplies:

Frame Punch Board

Clear Cut Heart Punch

Crop-a-dile

Crate Paper Carousel Collection

Christmas Photo Ornaments

Hello We R Memory Keepers friends and fans, Becki here to share a fun Christmas ornament idea with you using two of my favorite tools. The new Square Punch Board is the perfect tool to pair with the Frame Punch Board.

Ornaments with photos are my favorite ornaments. This year, I decided to make ornaments for my brother and his wife. Earlier this Fall I took photos of my nieces and nephews for their family Christmas card. I LOVE how the photos turned out and I knew they would make the perfect ornaments. I started by printing 4×4 photos of each of the kids.

After the photos were printed, it was time to put my square punch board and the frame punch board to work. I used the square punch board to punch perfect 4” squares. This tool makes squares perfectly every time. When the 4” squares were punched, I simply made them into frames.

Using dimensional adhesive I adhered the frames on top of the photos. I wanted to keep the photos the main focus of these ornaments so I kept embellishments to a minimum. All of the embellishments and patterned papers I used are from the Fa La La collection from Crate Paper. I love the traditional feel of this collection mixed with a few modern colors of pink and teal. This collection complimented my photos perfectly!

These ornaments make the perfect gift idea! I know my brother and his family will love them for years to come. These photo ornaments would be a perfect gift idea for grandparents too! I know my parents would love to have photos of all the grand kids on their Christmas tree. They’re so easy to create they’re perfect for last minute gifts as well. I hope these Christmas ornaments have inspired you to create some of your own with the square punch board and the frame punch board. Merry Christmas!!

 

Square Punch Board

Frame Punch Board

Crate Paper Fa La La Collection

Holiday Gift Idea: Mini Wall Calendar

Good morning, We R fans, Laura here today. The holidays are just around the corner and I am planning out all my gift giving. I love to make handmade gifts when I can, so today, I am sharing a gift idea that would work for just about anyone on your gift list. I am going to show you how to easily create a mini wall calendar using the Frame Punch Board.

Start by printing out the free 2018 mini calendar. Be sure to select “actual size” when printing to be sure each month prints out 3” x 5”.

2018 Mini Wall Calendar (click to download PDF file)

Next, cut out each month of the calendar leaving a ¼ inch border around the edge. The layer guides make this so easy.

Choose papers to create your calendar with. I am using papers from the DCWV Constellations pack. If you go with a patterned paper pad, you know your papers will coordinate effortlessly. For each month you will need two 5 ¼” x 7 ¼” rectangles of your patterned paper.

Use the frame punch board to create a 1” frame on one of the sheets of your patterned paper.

For the shorter sides you can use the punch board to trim the middle.

On the long sides, you will need to use a paper trimmer to cut out the inside of the frame.

To assemble your calendar, you will glue the cut out calendar into the frame. Then, glue the solid coordinating piece of cardstock on the back of the frame and calendar.

Use the cinch tool to bind your calendar together. I did 5 holes on either side of the top of the calendar to create my binding.

Punch a hole in the bottom of the middle of each calendar page. The crop-a-dile makes it easy to go through multiple sheets of cardstock. This will allow you to hang your calendar on the wall from a small hook or nail.

Here you can see each of the calendar pages, plus the front and back cover.

On the front, I cut out one of the sentiment pieces that came in the paper pack. It says “never lose your sparkle”. I matted it onto a scrap leftover from the patterned paper I cut.

Everyone can use a calendar. And this one is extra special because it is handmade. I have a mini calendar like this that hangs above my computer. You can personalize it with a name on the cover, pictures inside above each month ( 4” x 6” photos fit perfectly), and whatever paper suits the recipient. Happy gift giving!

 

Supplies

 

DCWV Constellations Paper Stack

Frame Punch Board

Cinch Book Binding Tool

Cinch Wire

Crop-A-Dile

Layer Guides

Adhesive