A Place for Photos

I am forever bringing ugly, overfilled bins of disorganized photos with me to crops. The result is that I get little done and I can never find that “perfect photo” I know is hiding in the box. A couple of times the bin fell over in the car and the photos I had “kind of” organized were a total mess after that.

I created this little photo keeper from envelopes and scrap chipboard to help me organize my photos before I go to the crop AND to limit what I am bringing (because I am one that likes to bring everything AND the kitchen sink!). There is room for photos from 15 different events. So at a 12 hour crop if I do one event an hour I still will have a couple of extras which is great because sometimes I am just not as inspired by some events and it is good to have the option to skip those. The fact that the book closes means I can also safely label each envelope with the event name and date on a Post-It note and not have to worry about the note falling off.

Now, if you know me then you know I am a BIG fan of page kits. So why not just put my photos in page kits? I have ALOT of photos in page kits. That is the problem – I have two rubbermaid tubs FULL of page kits that i just don't seem to ever get to scrapping. Because of Design Team assignments I am always having to create things with new paper and products, usually stuff that is not in my stash. If I put my photos in page kits the product they are paired with is “old” in two weeks. This photo holder will hold photos I just don't have in page kits yet so that I can use that “fresh on the shelf” paper for my DT projects.

I covered two 5” x 7” pieces of chipboard with patterned paper. Then I cut a 1”x5” piece of chipboard and a 3”x5” piece of chipboard and covered them both with patterned paper. I traced a plate onto the 3”x5 piece to get the curved edge and trimmed off the excess. I laid out the back page, then to the right of that the 1″ strip and then to the right of that the curved 3×5″ piece of chipboard.

The flap that folds around to the front is actually attached to the back cover, not the front cover. Using gaffer’s tape, I attached these strips of chipboard together with a little space between the pieces to allow them to bend at the seam.

I love the look of this striped gaffer's tape. I still call it “book binding tape” as they originally called it but I just looked at the label and it says gaffer's tape. A few years ago I totally had an argument with a lady who used to work at an LSS about what this tape was called — umm, I guess she is right. For now anyways! LOL

I bound the two covers and several 5”x7 “envelopes together using the Bind It All and ¾” black O-Wires. To close the flap, I attached a piece of Velcro to the cover and to the flap. Now I have a cute way to keep my photos organized at crops and I’ll be sure to always find the photos I need. The Velcro closure ensures that my photos won’t fall out of the envelopes while traveling in my bag. I wish I had bought self-adhesive velcro — several applications of glue dots did the trick though and I can open and close the velcro part without ripping off the glue dots since I used half a roll to hold them on! LOL So if you choose to make one of these for yourself, I say go with self adhesive velcro or Basic Grey magents (which I know I have but cannot find at the moment).

I think that is a cue that I need to go clean up my scrap space…Oh well, gotta create, mess or no mess!

Author: Jennifer Priest

It started with jewelry, beading, sewing, home decor, painting, basket weaving, pottery, and cross-stitch. Marry that to an entrepreneurial spirit & at 9 years old a girl is selling her wares at craft fairs as far as her parents and grandparents would drive her. These days, Jennifer enjoys crafts of all genres from sewing to scrapbooking to jewelry with a little dabbling in the mixed media world. Her style is approachable and she wants everyone who sees her work to feel that they too can embrace creativity and make their home and life beautiful.