It's taken me weeks to get here...here being the place where I wake up and feel inspired to do something crafty. It's Sunday, and a little gray outside (unusual for Sarasota, FL), I slept in, and then I made tomato, spinach, Cheddar cheese, and shitake mushroom omelette's for breakfast (at noon). I gathered my tools and everything else I needed, also known as mise en place in my other life as a saute cook.
This is the mise en place for Anna Griffin's "Summer's Sunniest Shots" kit. It's an accordion picture album, and a breeze to make. I found step by step instructions here... http://www.oakleafacre.com/OakLeafAcre2/AGClass509_510/AGEPC510.asp
This is the 1st cut of the project using the Measure Magic. I love the fact that a 12" X 12" standard piece of scrap-booking paper fits perfectly in the Measure Magic. The I ruler makes it easy to cut straight lines without all the hassle of measuring and marking, and double checking.
After cutting two 7 1/2" X 7 1/2" squares, I once again used the Measure Magic to center and adhere the 6" X 6" chipboard.
On the back side of the paper I centered and marked where the chipboard should go.
In order to hide the chipboard edges I used the Measure Magic to trim the corners perfectly. Instead of guessing I butt the corners of the paper and lined them up with rulers on each side of the Measure Magic. Then I used the I ruler as a straight edge to trim the corners.
The Measure Magic comes in handy when you want to place words or letters straight and evenly on a page.
In order to insure that every layer that I was working with was placed squarely on top of each other I tape down the I ruler on either side of the Measure Magic at the appropriate intervals. When I am placing each layer down I can use the straight edge of the ruler to line everything up.
Another great thing about the Measure Magic is that you can cut more than one piece of paper at a time. Depending on the thickness of the paper, one cut will do the job perfectly. This is great for those instances when you need two or more pieces cut exactly the same.
Next I needed to fold all of the cut pieces in half.
By placing the top left corner of the paper into the top left corner of the Measure Magic and folding the bottom left corner up and placing it in the top left corner too, the fold will be perfect every time. It's better than eyeballing it, trust me.
At this point I was ready to glue everything together.
Just like before, I butted the folded corner up against the top left corner of the Measure Magic, and then fit the next folded piece into the corner on top of it, all glued up and ready to go. So on and so forth, yada yada yada....and then the according book was made.
It holds up to 14 pictures...pictures I haven't picked out yet. I will also be adding embellishments and journaling. When that happens I will have more to show.
All in all the project took a little more than an hour to complete. I would suggest using the Xyron sticker maker instead of glue to affix everything together (hind sight is 20/20). Other than that, I can't wait to fill it up. More than anything though, I feel inspired to do more...and just in time for Christmas!
