Sunday, January 13, 2013

Nutcracker Sweet by Graphic 45


 As promised here is the finished Nutcracker Sweet toilet paper (cardboard tubes) core book I promised last week.  I have been fascinated by these awesome little chip board books after seeing one being made in a video several months back on YouTube by Jacqui Chimes/abbeyjoley TP Mini Part 1 and Charli Jones My Creative Spirit. I saw a lot of fun techniques and decided to make one but it has taken me forever to get around to doing it. 

I love the Graphic 45 Nutcracker Sweet papers this Christmas and decided to make my book using them.  First off you will need to collect  toilet paper cores to make your book/s with.  It doesn't take long to collect them yourself but I told some friends at my LSS about my need and by the end of the month I had a large trash bag full of the cores.  I didn't realize how many different sizes of these cardboard tubes were used in making toilet paper so you will have to be careful and choose cores of like size.  I used spray paint and painted the cores basic black and allowed them to dry before smashing them down and using an iron and waxed paper to flatten them out.  After flattening them I used extra sticky tape to seal the bottom before gluing the decorative end piece on.  Another problem was there are different lengths to the tubes so I took basic black heavy weight card stock and made and end piece that I glued to one end as a decorative finish but also to get my lengths correct.
Each one of the tubes holds a tag that can hold a picture and journaling.
Inside pages

pages 1+2
For the first two inside pages I made a mat on the left and a pocket on the right that holds 3-4 ATC cards (3.5 x 2.5 in) 
pages 3-4
Simple mats of contrasting cardstock
pages 5-6
I put a decorative sticker on the left and another edge pocket on the right that holds one or two ATC.
pages 7-8
Journaling tag on the left and a single mat on the right.  
pages 9-10
pocket made with a piece of print paper that holds a 'book' for journaling and putting photos into.  One mat on the right.
 page 9 close up
pages 11-12
The last pages hold fewer pictures but you could switch around and put a pocket on the left and have more ATC's in the pocket.  I loved the look of these papers and didn't want to cover them up.
pages 13-14
Once again I didn't want to cover the paper up so left it as above
Back of book
Cute collaged finish
I had a lot of fun making the book and look forward to making more in the future.  I counted up a total of mats and tags in this book to hold 25 photos or journaling entries 2.5"x 3.5" in size.  If you wanted more then you could increase it by matting each page or making multiple pockets etc.

Stay tuned another one is in the making!






6 comments:

  1. That turned out beautifully!! ♥ You really did a fabulous job with it, and I can see how making it would be addicting! waving hi from the hills of North Carolina :)

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  2. Hi Vickie,

    Wow! Your TP book is amazing! I've seen a few pins, and I must admit, I wasn't too impressed. Yours, though, is WAY beyond beautiful! I just love it. Right now I cut my cores and give them to Poppy to play with. Believe it or not they are one of her favorite toys.

    It's brr cold here today. Chance of snow. I'm hoping for a snow day tomorrow!

    Hugs,
    Kay

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  3. It's beautiful and such a good idea! Love little books and this is even better because of the way you can add tags and pictures! Chrisx

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  4. This was a whole new thing to me. Now I have watched the YouTube tutorials and others... and I must say, that your is one of the best! I´m now collecting the paper roll cores :)

    Hugs,
    Tuire

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  5. Wow this is amazing I love it, I am not one for putting together these type of albums I usually add the photos to go with the project so it is then completed. I love how you can do this and this album is so beautiful.

    Please be careful with the grundgeboard, lip swelling and tingling, not good. No it doens't go well with FM as I also have FM, didn't know if you knew that. I try and cope the best i can and have a life.

    I hope rain comes soon, not good when you are in winter, we had a horrible drought that lasted 10 years and last year it broke thank the heavens. Stay Safe and Happy

    Eliza

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  6. Oh Vickie this is just gorgeous - good enough to eat lol!! I really love the bright colours. Thanks for your visit, and your nice comment. So glad you enjoyed the wedding stuff. Making that pressie for my hubby made me relive the whole wedding day and it was such fun to do! As for the wheelchair spoke guards, I am now well on with embellishing them. I am making videos and taking photos as I go, and they will be uploaded when the project is complete. I got lovely and messy with acrylic paints and gel mediums this evening! It's a real mixed media project and I'm looking forward to adding some texture.

    Shoshi

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I would really love to hear what you think about my art and my posts. Please leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks for visiting my blog. Vickie aka Okienurse