New Classes and a New Toy!

We've started planning out our next couple of months of classes at Memory Bound, taking us through September. Hard to believe we're already thinking about fall! Soon we will be planning Christmas card classes. In fact, my friend Katie and I will be teaching a Christmas card class NEXT MONTH!

Earlier this week I took the plunge and bought a new tool which I think will be a huge help as I create class projects and kits: The Silhouette Cameo. I've always been (and always will be!) a huge Big Shot fan and have never had a desire to purchase a cartridge-based die-cutting machine like the Cricut. I've been holding out for a machine that would work with the fonts and images I already have on my computer, and when Memory Bound announced that we would be carrying the Cameo, I knew the time was right!

So in addition to my Big Shot, I will be using this new machine to download and cut a few shapes for classes. Because I can set it to cut several of the same shape, it should save me a bit of time over cranking all of those shapes through the Big Shot. And of course the design options are endless!

I still love you, Big Shot! I will always, always prefer the slightly rolled or rounded edges of a hand-cut versus a digitally-cut die. Nope, I will never give up my Big Shot!

Before I bought the Cameo, I had just finished putting together a recipe album class. I've done several albums over the years and have found a few tricks that work well for a class like this. Of course, if you were making the album for yourself, you might do a few things differently than you would for a class. But when you're planning a class, you have to be concerned with cost and efficient utilization of materials. In order to use my materials as completely as possible, I always plan out the entire album before I get started. That way I know that every piece of paper -- and almost every scrap! -- will be used in the project.

This particular project has 20 8x8 pages. I chose 5 colors of cardstock and placed them in a repeating order throughout the album. (I know, I know..but I cannot help myself when it comes to order and pattern!) Once I figured out the order and 2-page spreads, I cut some scrap patterned paper to represent the patterns I had chosen for my project. Using scraps allows me to be sure I like the result before I cut my real paper.

Then I started substituting the real paper and cardstock for my scrap pieces, and the album quickly came together.

Finally I added the various embellishments I planned to use for the album.

We will be using an American Crafts binder for this project. I love the album! It's very roomy so students will be able to purchase additional sleeves to add more pages. When finished, the cover will have a wide checkered ribbon tied around the left side.

This type of project makes a great gift, especially when filled with special family recipes, photos, and stories.

Now, back to crafting...and trying out that new Cameo!

jp