design each moment

Creating an Explosion Box with RTC Paper

First I would like to say Congrats to all 2013 graduates! Getting through school is a wonderful accomplishment.

Instead of getting a card for a recent graduate or Father's Day create an explosion box. It can be a cute, and more personal gift. Today I am creating an explosion box for Father's Day. Here are the directions on how to create one.

Here are the items you need:

• 4x4 RTC Grid Paper
• Pencil
• Good Quality Eraser
• A Ruler
• An Exacto Knife
• Cutting Mat
• A Score
• Repositionable Tape
• Permanent Tape (to create lid)
• Embellishments and/or Photos

 

To begin, Take your RTC paper and lightly draw lines across the page as shown below (lines are darkened so you can see). Use your ruler to help measure the correct amount of spacing and to keep your lines straight. Notice on the page how the one inch squares with the solid lines has an 3/8 in. space and the sides that do not have the vertical lines need to have 1/2 in. of spacing. Tip: Always, Always remeasure to make sure everything is correct!!

 

Once you have you lines drawn, Use your exacto knife and ruler and carefully cut out the squares on each corner.  The lines you need to cut are shown here in red:

 

After you cut, the grid paper should look like the image below. Now score (use your ruler to help keep the score straight) the other pencil lines left on the RTC paper. These lines are circled in the image. Fold each square towards the center of the page. Erase any pencil markings.

 

 

Now Embellish your page the way you like. Here are some detail shots of what I did to the inside of my box:

I put a picture of my siblings and me all around the box, and we each each put a message underneath our photographs.

 

 

You can also embellish the outside of your box. I used 6x6 paper and cut it into 4x4 in. squares. I glued two different pattern papers on the same box. (You can see the outside of my box at the bottom of this post).

 

To Finish your Box you also need to create a lid

To begin take a sheet of pattern paper or card-stock of your choice and cut into a 6x6 square (the 6x6 pattern paper packs are perfect for this). I chose paper from the This & That "Charming" paper pack.

 

 

Next, flip your paper over so you see the back. Take a pencil and lightly draw a one inch border on each side like in the image below (lines have been darkened so you can see better). When you are done Score along each of the lines. Use a ruler to help keep it straight.

 

 

Now take your Exacto knife and cut along the lines that circled in the image below. Just cut one inch of the line (don't cut past the horizontal lines).

 

After you cut your square, use permanent tape in the spots circled below in the image. Fold the little flaps (created with your Exacto knife) and fold them so they are on the inside of the lid.

 

Here is how the lid should look like when it is finished: When you are finished you can put it up on top of your box.

 

 

Here is the final box (shown below). This is a great project because it is not your typical gift card, and when you add photos it makes your gift more personal. To create the outside of this box I used "This & That Charming" 6x6 pattern paper. The 6x6 paper packs are perfect for creating the explosion box since they are a smaller size. To decorate the outside of the box cut pattern paper to a 4x4 square and glue it on the outside. If you look on the left side of the box I used extra paper to make an 4w x 1h border.

I hope you enjoyed learning about creating an explosion box. You can also check out Janine's Explosion box on this blog as well.

Thanks for stopping by this post!

 

Creating a Mini Book

Do you need a last Mother's Day gift, or maybe there is a birthday coming up? Or maybe you just want to create a brag book of your children or grandchildren. This post is about creating a mini book using Mosaic Moments™ 12x12 grid paper.

Here is what you need to create a Mini Album:

• 2 sheets of 12x12 grid paper
• A ruler
• A pencil
• A good quality eraser
• An Exacto Knife
• A Hole punch or Bind-it-All
• Photos
• Embellishments of your choice

 

Here are the Directions:

Step 1: First you will need to measure each of the blocks you will use to create your mini album. look at the photos below. This is what the final result should like on this page. These images shows how many square lengths you will need to cut out. (I darkened to the lines so you can see them easier).

You want to measure out each of the Squares as shown below.

 

 

 Here is how you measure: (click image for a closer view)

 

Notice where the Red circle. Wherever there is solid lines you will measure 1/8th of an inch.

 

Take your ruler and measure 1/8th of an inch from the line. Do this in a couple of spots and draw a line lightly with your pencil so you will know where to cut. Make this line reaches all the way to the edge of the grid paper so you get the space where your binding will go.

 

 Notice where the red circles are on this image. In these spots where there is not a solid line you will measure 1/4 of an inch. This line will line up with the backs of the squares outside of this box as shown below.

 

Put your ruler in a couple of spots and draw a line just like before.

 

 

When you get each part of the grid paper lined up, cut each piece using your exacto knife and use your ruler to keep the cut straight. Afterwards, stack each piece placing down the largest first, until it gets to the smallest piece (this will be the front of your mini album).

Note: The front page's squares are upside down. The photos will still line up correctly even though the lines aren't in their usual spot.

 

 

If you plan on using a hole punch, draw circles along the edge so you will know where to punch. Make sure all your peices are straight to make sure the holes are punched through correctly. You may also used a bind-it-all (this is what I ended up using).

 

Take a 4x6 photograph and cut it into one inch squares. Put all the squares on the outside row of each of the sheets to get a pretty mosaic as shown here:

 

Next, add all the embellishments and photos you would like and you are done! This is my finished Mini album:

supplies used: To create the album I used 12x12 Mist grid paper. The embellishments on the front cover were a 2011 Cornerstone, and Blueberry Pie Paper Tiles, A scalloped mat, and Basicgrey alphabet stickers.

 

I decided that I would show each Disney park on a different page. Here is what I did on the inside of my Disney Mini album:

 

 

Here I used our New Wish Cornerstone in Ivory. 

 

 I was able to spell out Disney with the Monogram Cornerstones.

 

For this page, I used Blueberry Pie and Sand Paper Tiles, and a Blueberry Pie Magical Row Cornerstone.

 

If you would like more inspiration on a Mini album you can look at Sandi's Christmas Mini album (also has directions) and Elizabeth's Mount Vernon Mini album.

 Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment. I hope you enjoyed learning how to create a mini album!

Creating Different Borders

 

Welcome Back! I hope you are enjoying all of the posts on the Design Each Moment Blog.

Have you ever created a border on your Mosaic page? If you haven't you can check out the Border patterns on our Page Pattern blog to see several different borders. Today I will be giving several ideas that you can use on your Mosaic Moments™ pages.

You can create Borders using the smaller Paper Tiles™, photographs, stickers, pattern paper and other embellishments. The grid paper is wonderful for creating borders since it will help give you a nice clean look that would be more difficult to line up without it.

 

Here are a few simple Borders you can create:

 

Use Large and Small Sizes Together

You can combine large and small Paper Tiles™ to create a border. Here I used two different sizes of pattern paper in my border (shown in the page below). Different sizes help give variety in your border. I suggest only using two different sizes most of the time. Your border may look too busy and chaotic if you use more than two different shapes.

This 8x8 page has a border on the left side using two 2.125 size blocks, and two 2.125w x 1in. blocks.

Supplies used for "Paris" - Mosaic Moments™ 8x8 White grid paper and pattern paper from Echo Parks's "This & That" Pink 6x6 paper pad.

 

 

Checker Board Style

This Border is very simple and makes a nice, classy look on a Mosaic page. Just choose two different colors of paper and create a pattern like a checker board. Easy! You can create a checker board border using 1 in. squares or with 2.125 squares (on a 12x12 page).

 

On this page I used Black one inch Paper Tiles™, and I punched out pattern paper with the One inch punch. So Quick! I created this page in under 10 minutes!

 

 

Weaving Style

You can create a weaved border with pattern paper and Paper Tiles™. Here are the directions on how to create this:

First, Cut three strips of either pattern paper or Card stock into 11.125w x 1in. strips.

 

Next, Glue on the edges of each strip. DO NOT put glue in the middle. This will help the smaller Paper Tiles™ to slip through each strip easier.

 

Stick each of the Strips on the grid paper as shown here.

 

Next, take a 1 in. x 3.25 strip and place it carefully in the strips as shown above. So, for this first Paper Tile™ I made sure it went on top of the middle strip and under the top and bottom strips. Line it up carefully and as best as possible with the grid lines.

 

It should look like this when you are done.

 

Next, take a second Paper Tile™ (it can be the same color or a different color) and slip into the strips as shown in the picture. Align with the grid as best you can. Repeat these last few steps until you have ten Paper Tiles™ in between the strips.

The final result should look like this: Isn't it a fantastic look! I added some alphabet stickers as well.

"Butterfly" supplies used: This page was created using Mosaic Moments™ 12x12 Sandstone grid paper. White, Boysenberry, Grape Delight, and Plum Delight Paper Tiles™ were used for matting photographs and as embellishments on this page.

 

 

Adding Embellishments

You can always decorate Paper Tiles™ with stickers, rub-ons, or stamps. Cut them up to create a border like the one shown on the right below:

 

Photo Borders

You can create a mosaic border as shown below. This is great for when you do not necessarily want to cover your entire page with the Mosaic look. A border makes a nice accent on any page.   

 

For the page below I used a mix of mosaic border with 2.125 square photos (covered with circle tiles). This is great for mixing close up photographs with other detail shots. Here I cut a close up shot of ornaments into one inch squares and the other detail photos are the presents we received for Christmas.

 

 

Using 2.125 Squares

If you have taken many photos on a vacation or other event, making a border with 2.125 blocks is a great option to fit many photographs on a page as shown below: Cutting the squares with a 2.125 square punch makes it fast and simple.

 

"Murphy-Brown Family Days"  by Tami Potter

 

 

I hope you gathered some ideas for future pages! If you create any pages with borders, publish them on the Journella website. I would love to see your work!

Journaling Tips and Design

 Hello Everyone! Are you glad that it is finally Spring? I am! I can go outside again and take more photographs for pages.

 

Basic Journaling Design

I am going to show a couple tutorials on how you can create and layout journaling on your computer. I will post how to create a simple title and then I will show how to put a title and journaling on the same block. These are long tutorials since I am going to show a step-by-step process.

 

Creating a Title:

Many of you have possibly seen this page before on our site or newsletter:

I'm going to show how to create the "Seattle" Title shown above. Follow along these steps:

1. Open up Microsoft Power Point on your computer. I am personally using the Mac 2011 version.I recommend opening up your Power Point Document and follow along with each step. I tried doing this same process on Microsoft Word, but it didn't work for me. I highly recommend creating a title on Power Point. If anyone knows how to create this same title in Word, let me know! Pay attention to everything in the post so you do not miss any important details in each step!

 

2. Click on the Home tab. When you open up Power Point, it will show a slide with this image: Delete the Bottom Block and Click the Top Text box so it is highlighted.

 

3. Next, make sure the text box is selected in the document or these next steps will not work. Click on the Format tab and find the sizing on the far right side of the tool bar. Enter in the Height and width of Block You would like to use

For this particular title I entered 2.125 for the height and for the width I entered 6.625. The text box will change to the size you entered. (Note: the Measurements will change to the nearest hundredth, but it will still fit on the Mosaic Moments™ grid paper.)

 

4. Click on the Home tab again and click "Click to Add title". Make sure that the type is in the Center. Type in the title of your choice. In this case I typed Seattle.

 

5. Next, choose the Font you would like to use. Tip: Choose a font that fits with the style of your page. Example you would not want a fun, funky font for a page about a fancy dinner party. Experiment with different fonts and see what works for your page.

Here is a list of a few good fonts to use, be sure to check them out on your computer:

• Minion Pro (shown on this Title)
• Arial
• Baskerville
• Bell Centennial
• Didot
• Futura
• Garamond
• Goudy Old Style
• Gill Sans
• Optima
• Rockwell
• Times New Roman

Here is a list of Fonts to use sparingly:

• Comic Sans
• Courier
• Papyrus

 

6. Pick the Size that best fits the title Block. When you choose your type, make sure it fits the majority of the space in your block. See the Difference Here:

Small Title - Notice how there is a lot of empty space in this block. The type is too small for this space. You may only want to do this if intend to add embellishments around your type. (This is font size 96)

Large Title - Notice how well this font fits into the space, You may not always want your type this large, but you want to make sure it fills the majority of space at least. For this title I used font size 170 (You will need to type this number into the font size box since the largest size goes up to 96).

 

7. You may need to adjust where your title in the font box. When I originally typed the word "Seattle" it was not centered vertically in the space as shown below:

If your title does this you will need to use a couple of different tools on Power Point to help bring it to the center. First click the button shown below (click it for a closer view). There will be different number options. Pick the number that will put your title closest to the center. I personally chose 0.9.

Now it looks like this: 

Now it is more in the center, but I personally wanted to fix it a little more. If your title is still not quite to the center as you want you can right click on your title and scroll down to Format Text. Next, you will a screen come up (shown below). Choose Text Box.

You can adjust the placement of your title by adjusting the top and bottom Internal Margins shown in the Red Circle above. For my title I adjusted the top margin to 0 and I adjusted the bottom margin to 0.01.

Now my title is centered. When adjusting your title make sure that there is an approximately equal amount of space between the edge of the letters and the border of your block as shown here:

 

8. Here is the easiest part: Add Color. Choose colors that match with your page. After you add your colors make sure you add a light grey border (or white if you are printing on a dark color) to help you see where to cut your title once it is printed.

For my title I made my letters white. I can keep it this way and print it on Pewter Card stock. Or I can make my background very close to the color Pewter, and print it on White Card stock. Yes, I highly recommend printing on Card stock and not regular print paper. It's thicker, sturdier, and better quality.

Here is my final result on Power Point: Now I can print it off and stick it on my grid paper. Be sure to use and Exacto knife since you will get a straighter cut than if you use scissors.

 

 

 

Adding a Title and Journaling on the Same Block

Here is another page you may have seen before:

I made a tutorial on how to create the journal block on the bottom of this page in Microsoft Word.

 Although I used Power Point for creating titles, I found that this specific layout worked better in Microsoft Word. Follow along with each step so you can some practice before starting your own. Here are the directions:

1. Open up Microsoft Word (I am using the Mac version) and make sure you are on the home tab.

 

2. Find the text box as shown below. Click on this and make a box on the document. (click image if you need a closer view)

 

3. Now you will want to create the dimensions for your text box. Click on the Format tab find the box where you can enter dimensions on the far right side. For the height I entered 2.125 and for the width I entered 4.375 (Note: the Measurements will change to the nearest hundredth, but it will still fit on the Mosaic Moments™ grid paper.)

 

4. Go back to the home tab and choose this button to make sure the text is in the center of the text box. Choose your font and add your title (and subtitle if you want). In this case I used the font Gabriola and put in the title "Shenandoah National Park" and the subtitle "On the Skyline Drive."

 This is what my text box looks like:

 

 

5. Now you will need to change the size of the title. If you want to use a subtitle, it is usually a smaller size than the actual title as shown here: For the title I put in size 34 and for the subtitle I used size 24.

 

6. Notice that the Title and subtitle are spaced too far apart from each other. To fix this go to this icon on the home tab: A menu will come up, scroll down to the bottom and choose Line Spacing Options...

 

7. This screen will come up: Go the area shown with the red circle. Click the down arrow until. I pushed it until it said 0.5.

 

 Now the title block changed to the image below, and the spacing between the title and subtitle is better. But, notice how the title is very close to the top edge of the title block. I see this very often in scrapbooks. You need to make the space larger between the top of the letters and the edge of the block. Notice the space between the sides of the title and the title block. The space between the top of the letters and the top of the title block needs be approximately the same amount of space as on the sides.

 

8. To fix the space, right click on the text box. Scroll down to Format Text Effects... This screen will show up:

Select Text box in the menu and use the area shown in the red circle and adjust the top and bottom as needed. I just changed the top to 0.2.

Now my title and subtitle are entered correctly. Notice that the space around the title is more even now:

 9. Next you will need to make your journaling text. Click the left side of your title (or subtitle if it is the bottom) so that your type symbol shows up. In this case it will be next to the 'e' on the word "drive". Push the Return button on our keyboard Once.

To begin adding your journaling, make sure you on the home tab and click this icon so your words will start on the left:

You will need to make your font size smaller than the title. I chose size 9.5. Here is the result after I typed in my words. If your text comes out like this, it will definitely need to be fixed!

 

Please consider different fonts before you begin. - Usually I make the title a different font from the journaling. There are certain fonts that may be appropriate for your title, but not for the journaling (Example: Cracked, Curlz MT, Playbill, and Zipty Do are better as a title fonts, but they are not good for journaling since they would be too hard to read).

Here is a list of good fonts to use for journaling:

• Minion Pro
• Arial
• Baskerville
• Bell Centennial
• Didot
• Futura
• Garamond
• Goudy Old Style
• Gill Sans
• Optima (shown on this journal block)
• Rockwell
• Times New Roman

If you plan to use two different fonts for your title and journaling, pay attentions serif and san serif fonts. The rule usually is to NOT use two different san serif fonts together or two different serifs together. You want to have one serif font and the other be a san serif. Need some help with figuring out serifs and san serifs are? Read this article to learn more.

 

10. Adjust your type as needed. Here is what I had to do:

• I highlighted my journaling. Do Not highlight the titles!

• Click this icon choose the amount of spacing that looks best to you. I chose 1.15 spacing amount.
  

• Next (make sure your journaling is still highlighted) use the bar shown below and drag the arrows so that the edge of the letters align with the large title.

Here is what the Text box should like after you have lined the words with the main title:

• Next, click this icon so all of the letters line up (shown below):

Notice the difference between the right edge of the words in the text box above in comparison to this text box:

 

•  Last, to finally finish your journaling, click on the right side of the first word. In this case it would be the "W" in "We", and push the return button on your keyboard. This way there would be a good amount of space between the title and the journaling. Also Note that there should be some space between the bottom of your type and the text box so all the space between all of the Type is even around the box.

 

11. You are almost done! Add the colors of your choice and print. Be sure to add a grey border (Or white if you want to print on a dark color) around your text box so you will know where to cut your text.

Here is the final result before I print it on Card Stock:

 

Design Tip: You can apply this same design concept if you do not want to add a title with your journaling.

Be sure to check out the many pages on Snapncrop, our monthly newsletter, and Tami's blog and pay attention to how we design our journaling. Feel free to make similar designs on your pages!

 

A Few Tips on Adding Alphabet Stickers and Handwriting:

Many of you probably already know to use alphabet stickers, hand-write, and stamp to help you create title and journaling. I have a few simple tips for these:

• Using Stickers and Stamping - I like to use Alphabet stickers sometimes to create titles for my pages. So one tip is to choose stickers that fit with the colors and style on your page. When creating pages, craftsmanship is important. So before sticking your letters on, draw a line where you will place the bottom of each of the letters. When using Stamps - practice on a piece of scrap paper first to pick out the color you want and to see how you want to line up your letters. When you start to add your stickers or stamps on a Paper Tile or page, start placing down stickers in the center and work your way to the outsides of the word.

• Handwriting - I highly recommend writing out your journaling lightly with a pencil. This way you can correct any mistakes before putting down the permanent ink. Use a ruler to line up where your journaling will go. Tip: The lined jouraling Free Downloads are great for handwriting since it helps keep everything straight.

    Apply the same journaling design ideas shown in the computer tutorials when using stickers, stamps and your own handwriting.

 

Wow this was a long post! Take your time when you are reading this post and I highly suggest following each step on Power Point or Word. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment here or on facebook (refer to this blog post if you do so).

Thanks for stopping by the Design Each Moment Blog!

Using Left Over Paper Tiles

Sometimes you buy certain Paper Tiles™ with a specific color scheme in mind. But, once you have created your scrapbook page you may have some extras taking up space. I am going to give you some simple ideas on how you can use your left over Paper Tiles™.

By the way I missed my post about Journaling on Paper Tiles. I'm really sorry about missing it. My family and I have been sick this last month. It has not been very fun and it's much harder to be creative when you are not feeling well. I will be posting it sometime within the next couple of weeks. Be sure to check back soon!

Here are the ideas I will be giving on this Post:

• Mix and Match Paper Tiles™ on a Mosaic page

• Creating a Simple Card

• Organization

• Color Swatches

 

 

Mix and Match Paper Tiles

One idea is to simply create a page using colors you originally were not planning to put together. Take a look at our many Mosaic Moment™ Layouts on Snapncrop, Facebook, and from our Design Team. You might find some unexpected color combinations! You can also check out this site: design-seeds.com. Click on Palette Search and enter in a color of one your Paper Tiles. This site will bring up many different color combinations that look great with the color of your choice. This is great for color inspiration on mosaic pages.

 

Do you have a lot of the 1 in. tiles left?

 

 

 Create a fun and colorful Mosaic page with them:

 

Originally I did not plan to use these colors together. I used the creature (shown in the photo on the left) as inspiration, and started to mix and match different colors of one inch Paper Tiles™ to create a fun page. Because the squares are already cut, I was able to make this page in under 10 minutes. Be sure to try this with your left over 1 in. squares!

 

 

 

Using Left Overs to Create Cards

Of course you can always use extra small pieces on our RTC paper which is great for card-making. If there is a birthday coming up or you need a last minute holiday gift you can use paper tiles to put together a card quickly since everything is already cut up for you!

 

You can also create a little card to attach to a gift bag. Here are the instructions:

First, pick the color Paper Tile you will be using. For this project I usually use a 4.375w x 2.125h block.

Second, Use a score to fold the Paper Tile in half. You can use a ruler to make sure it makes a straight line.

 

Third, Fold your Paper Tile in half and punch a hole in the top left corner as shown here. 

 

Quick and Easy! Now you just need to embellish the card as you would like.

 

Here is my finished card. If you are in a rush you can use stamps or stickers to decorate your card.

 

You are not just limited to smaller Paper Tiles. Use larger Paper Tiles (like the 6.625w x 4.375h blocks) to create a quick card. Simply fold the Paper Tile in half with a score, and embellish!

 

 

 

Organization

There are a couple of ways you can use Paper Tiles to help organize your photos and scrapbook supplies.

Tami uses 6.625w x 4.375h Paper Tile blocks to organize her photographs as shown above. Just get a cute container that will fit your photographs. Simple! Just use Paper Tiles as dividers. This is a cute and colorful way to organize photographs and you can grab them easily when you plan on creating a page.

Here is a close up shot of the dividers.

 

I personally like using 3.25w x 1 in. paper tiles as labels. You can either use a pen or marker to write down the items or print them off your computer. This one was done by a label maker. The Paper Tile is a perfect fit for labels and is a colorful way of keeping things organized. Here I used it on a plastic bin where I keep all of my supplies.

 

Color Swatches

Using 3.25w x 1 in. Paper Tiles are great for making color swatches! If you have stamps at home, you can use a color swatch to help you find matching pattern paper and other embellishments when you shop for new supplies. It is also great for helping you know what the ink looks like on paper.

Here are the directions on how to make a color swatch for inks:

First, choose several or all of your inks. Here I am going to make a swatch for several of my chalk ink colors.

 

Second, take your ink and color the end of your Paper Tile. Make sure the ink is spread on evenly to get the best color.

 

Here is what the end of the Paper Tile should look like.

 

The third step is to write down the color ink with a marker or pen. This will help you remember the color name if you need to purchase more. Whenever you are creating a page, you can use this as a quick access for figuring out what ink to use with your pages.

 

Next, punch a hole at the opposite end of your inked tip. Repeat this step, and all of the previous steps with every color of ink.

 

Last, simple add a ribbon, string, or another embellishment through the holes to make sure all of your swatches are together.

 

Finished! Now you have some color swatches for your convenience when you shop and create your pages!

 

 You can also use these steps to create a swatch using different colors of Paper Tiles as shown above.

 

Also remember you can use left over Paper Tiles to create tags. Click here to see directions (directions are near the bottom of post).

 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you will find many uses in the Paper Tiles!

Embellishing Paper Tiles - Part 2

Hello again! This is part two of ideas on how you can embellish Paper Tiles™. On this post I will show how to:

• Stitch around Paper Tiles

• Create a Tag

• Use Stamps to Decorate One inch Paper Tiles™

Originally I was going show journaling on Paper Tiles also. But, I realized there will be a lot of information for it. So, I will also be posting next week on how to journal on Paper Tiles.

 

Stitching around Paper Tiles

To start this post I will be talking about stitching around Paper Tiles. Many of you may like the sewn on look on your pages. There is more than one way to sew around Paper Tiles. Sewing is great if you like the look and it gives the illusion that you stitched it right on to the 12x12 paper. If you are not comfortable with sewing I suggest practicing on scratch paper first.

 

Using a Sewing Machine

The first is simple. If you have a sewing machine you can easily sew around the edges of the Paper Tiles. This is the easiest and fastest way to sew around a Paper Tile.

 Here I am sewing on a 4.375 square Paper Tile, and I will be using this to frame a photograph on my page.

 

Here is a close up shot of the Machine sewn Paper Tile™ An example of a Machine sewn Paper Tile is shown underneath the hand sewing instructions.

 

 

Hand Sewing

The second is stitching by hand. You can stitch around the edges for a different look or if you do not have a sewing machine. This is not very difficult to do, but it does take more time than using a machine.

To do this you will need:

• a small hole punch,

• Paper Tile(s) of your choice

• Needle

• Thread (I suggest using a thicker thread)

 

 

Here I am using a 4.375w x 6.625 Paper Tile™. To begin the process, first draw a line lightly on each edge. I used the Mosaic Moments™ mat and drew a line on the 1/8 line.

 

For this next step I used the mat again and drew a point on each of the 1/8 lines. This helps mark where you will punch  holes on your Paper Tile™. If you need, you can use a ruler to keep your marks straight.

 

After you have each line marked, you will need a small hole punch as shown here.

 

Next, take your hole punch and punch holes on each place that you marked on the Paper Tile.

 

Here is a close up image of the holes punched out along the edge.

 

Next get your thread and needle. As shown here, make sure that you have one - two inches of thread through your needle. Next, measure enough thread to be approximately 3 times longer than the width of your Paper Tile.

 

Stick the needle through the bottom of your first hole and...

 

Put the needle through the next hole to get this look. Pull through the thread through until there is about an inch left so you can tie a knot as shown below:

Flip the Paper Tile on the back and tie a knot to keep the thread in place.

 

 

Thread through all the holes until you get to the last hole on the edge you are working on. Tie another knot at the end. Repeat this process until each of the edges are threaded.

 

You can also wrap the thread around the edges as show here for a different look.

 

Here is an example Mosaic Moments™ 12x12 page with a Machine and Hand sewn Paper Tiles™:

   

"Cole in Nauvoo" supplies used: this page was created using Mosaic Moments™ 12x12 Birch grid paper. Navy and Sunflower Paper Tiles™, pattern paper from Simple Stories™ Summer Fresh 6x6 paper pad, a 2011 Cornerstone, and a Making Memories™ metal frame are used as embellishments on this page.

 

 

Creating a Tag

You can use Paper Tiles™ to create tags. Tags are great for adding journaling or a title onto a page. They can also be used as fun embellishments. 

Here is what you need:

• A 2.125 wide Paper Tile™ (any height)

• A ruler

• A pencil

• An Exacto Knife

• A Hole Puncher

• Ribbon

 

For this tag, I am using a 2.125 (width) x 3.25 (height) block. To begin creating your tag, take your ruler and draw a line (on the longest length) in the center of the Paper Tile. Here I used the Mosaic Moments™ cutting mat to help me figure out the exact center.  

Note: Draw your lines on the Back of the Paper Tile

 

 Next turn the ruler to parallel the width of the Paper Tile. Draw another line where you would like to punch a hole. I suggest placing this line approximately 1/8th of an inch away from the top. Now you will have two lines, which are important since they help you punch out the best spot.

 

 

Next take your hole punch and make your hole right where both of the lines meet as shown here.

 

Now you can a ribbon if you would like. You can leave the tag as it is. Or you can cut slits on each corner of the Paper Tile block. Directions are shown below:

 

Notice in this photograph that there is a point on the fifth line on both sides of the Paper Tile. So if you start in the right corner, count five lines to the left, and draw a point. Repeat on the left side.

 

Next you will draw another point. On both sides count down to the 8th line, and draw a point.

 

Use your ruler and draw a line to connect the points on both sides. Your Paper Tile should look like the photograph below:

 

 After drawing your lines, take your Exacto Knife and cut each of the corners.

 

You're Done! You have a tag to add to your page!

Check out the Mosaic Moments Page at the bottom of this post to see an example of a tag made from a Paper Tile™.

 

 

Using Stamps to Decorate One inch Paper Tiles

Have you ever used our Paper Tile™ One inch squares? They are fabulous for making your own pattern paper. All you need is a few stamping tools.

What you need:

• One Inch Paper Tile Squares

• Stamps of your choice

• Ink

 

To begin, Choose your largest stamp. Stamp evenly around the page as much as possible.

 

Repeat the first step with each stamp beginning with a largest stamp and continuing until you get to your smallest stamp. Use the smaller stamps to fill in the extra small spaces on the Paper Tile™ sheet. 

 

Here is the entire sheet finished. Easy! Now you can simply take the pieces you want for your page and stick it on with adhesive.

 

Here is an 8x8 example Mosaic Moments with the Paper Tile tag and the decorative one inch Paper Tiles:

"Alexis" supplies used: This page was created using Mosaic Moments™ 8x8 black grid paper. This page also has a Dark Pretty Pink Paper Tile™ cut into a tag, and One inch Paper Tiles™ were used as embellishments. A Cyclamin Pink Paper Tile™, and stamps from Clearly Numbers were also used on this page.

I hope you enjoyed learning about Paper Tiles. Be creative and don't be afraid to give your ideas on Journella! If you have any questions you can leave them on the post or on the Facebook page (please refer to this blog post if you do). Next week I will be showing different ways to journal on Paper Tiles. Come back soon!

Thanks for visiting!