Tres Jolie Kit Club & Clear Scraps Collaboration!
Hey, y’all! Have you heard the news this month? Tres Jolie Kit Club has teamed up with Clear Scraps!! How awesome is that?!?! Have you had a chance to check out the other (Tres Jolie & Clear Scraps) designer’s project this week? If not, go check them out!
Last week you saw a couple of Clear Scraps wooden blanks I used while playing with color, this week is my “main” or “feature” collaboration project – Tres Jolie Scrapbooking & Mixed Media Kits + an acrylic “Wave” album from Clear Scraps! As soon as I opened my package from Clear Scraps, I knew, knew, what I had to do with the album! It was a real test to my ADHD to finish other projects I was working on – that had a time limit – before tearing into the Tres Jolie Scrapbooking Kit and the Clear Scraps Album! Are any other ADHDers out there? You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? ROFL!
I have a tutorial video for you too! I do my best to explain everything I’m doing and how I’m doing it! Make sure you check it out so you can make your own file-journal-album type thingy! Maybe it was because here in the States it was tax season when I started it – all I know is I really wanted to create something pretty and functional to help me get organized (LOL) for next year!
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I can’t give a “good” answer to why I wanted to add a hidden pocket/faux window to the cover, I just did! Thinking back, I believe it started with the window idea and morphed into not wanting the window to actually show what was inside – so I made a pocket instead of just covering the backside of the front cover.
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I found a round lid from a container I had been saving, and it was the perfect size for my window! I just traced the lid on a piece of scrap paper to use as a mask while stenciling, and traced the lid onto the section of patterned paper I wanted to use for the “backing.”
To really make sure I had good adhesion, I mixed some 3D Matte Gel from my stash with some of the “White Sand” Texture Paste and “Fairy Wings” Sparks paint from this month's Mixed Media Kit before adding it to the cover using the Craft o’Clock stencil also found in this month’s Mixed Media Kit.
I used JudiKins Diamond Glaze to attach all of my paper to the acrylic pages throughout the project. Diamond Glaze has a strong hold and it dries clear – well it dries clear unless the paper “soaks” it up! I wasn’t sure exactly how the Diamond Glaze would work with the paper and acrylic, but it was the best I could think of to hold everything together – so I used it and hoped for the best! In the end, I’m happy with my choice! Even though the glue dries clear, it leaves darker, water-stain-ish areas on the paper – and I’m okay with that because it just adds more aging to the entire project!
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I glued the patterned paper circle on first so I could make sure it lined up with the un-stenciled area on the cover, then I added the sheet of patterned paper I had picked to cover the entire inside of the cover. The circle and the floral print are from the same 12x12 sheet, and, shockingly, I had thought this through! With the floral print showing through the cover, the tea-stain look – the same pattern for my window circle – is what shows within the pocket!
After I had my faux window pieces in place, I cut out the piece I wanted to use for the pocket and cut an extra strip of patterned paper out for the (inside) top edge of the pocket to reinforce it. When it came time to attach the pocket, I laid a bone folder in the center of the acrylic cover before adding the pocket. This creates just enough gap to keep the pocket loose enough to remain functional.
To finish off the details on the cover, I added some of the flowers and foliage I had fussy cut from a few of the 6”x6” sheets of “First Kiss” papers in the scrapbooking kit, splattered on some of the “Ginger Magic” Sparks paint from the mixed media kit, and then gave everything a light-medium coating of Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze for protection. Once the Krylon had dried, I added a few of the 49 & Market Epoxy Stickers – adding some Diamond Glaze for extra adhesion since they are on the cover.
The back cover is far simpler – in fact, all of the other acrylic pages are! For the rest of the acrylic pages, I started out with some light stenciling using the “Ginger Magic” Sparks paint, but as I went along, I wanted to try and add some dimension to the pages, so on the side that was still “plain,” I added random stenciling, reverse stenciling, and/or splotches using the “Fairy Wings” Sparks paint. On the sides that had the “Ginger Magic” stenciling, I sprayed a light coating of Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze to protect the paint, but I didn’t need to add the Krylon to the “Fairy Wings” side since that would be where my pockets were going to get attached. 
Besides the vintage feel of the “First Kiss” Collection, the “vintage” tape was why I didn’t mind the “water stains” caused by the Diamond Glaze – I had already planned on making everything “old”!!
I used some Duck Brand Clear Laminate and alcohol inks to create my aged tape – because I have had a roll of Duck Brand Clear Laminate sitting around for about six months! The laminate is self-adhesive, not too thick, and flexible! Plus it is in a 12” wide roll, so I inked up a 6”x12” section, then cut it into four, 1-1/2” wide strips for the bottom edges of the pockets (Packing tape or gift wrapping tape can be used just as easy to create vintage tape!). This gave some reinforcement to the edge of the pocket that the holes went through and the bottom “hinge” of the pocket.
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For the pocket construction, each page is created using one of the 12”x12” sheets. I determined what sections of the pattern I wanted to show, traced the wave edge of the acrylic sheet where it needed to go, made light marks if needed at the straight edge, and added 5” from the straight edge for the pocket front. Where the straight edge of the acrylic page was marked is where my first score line went, then I added a second score line 1/2” over on the front of the pocket. The reason for the two score lines was simple. The first one is the main fold line of the pocket, but because I needed to account for the book ring holes, I added a second one to create the functional part of the pocket.
In that 1/2” section, I added some double-sided tape and glue and sealed it up – leaving me with a nice sturdy edge to punch my holes though!
For the accordion fold edges of the pockets, I cut two, 4-1/2”x2” strips for each pocket – eight in total – scored at 1/2” and 1-1/2”, then added a 1”x5” strip of the laminate (without alcohol ink) between those two score lines. I added the extra 1/2” to the laminate so I could fold it over the top of the accordion edge to give it some extra strength. After the laminate was in place, I added a score line right down the center of the strip, then folded everything at the score lines to create a W. 
I decided to add a separator to my pockets – to create two sections inside – so all I did is grab up a couple of 8-1/2”x11” pieces of cardstock from my stash and cut them in half. This gave me the four dividers I need for all four pockets. I added a strip of patterned paper to the inside of the front (straight edge) of the pockets and the top, front edge of the divider to reinforce them.
I checked and re-checked that my divider was the right size, attaching one accordion side, doing a dry (glue-less) assembly, and marking how much needed to be shaved off to make sure my divider didn’t buckle in the pocket. Then, after I was sure everything would fit, I added my second accordion side, did another glue-less assembly (because it would be far easier to remove the accordion ends and make a new divider now!), quadruple checked for fit, then finally I glued the divider to the accordion sides and set it off while I worked on the closure. 
I have added this quickly-created graphic to show you where the pocket and divider are glued to the accordion sides. The pink-ish lines represent the edges for adhesion – hopefully, this is a far better explanation than I could have ever done trying to use words!!
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For my pocket closures, I wrapped a 1-1/2” wide by 5-3/4” or so long strip of patterned paper with some of the laminate – cut in a 4”x3-3/4” square. After getting my magnet in place with a little Fabri-Tac, I add some of my homemade vintage tape, then the 4” width gets wrapped around the latch (1-1/2”+1-1/2”=3” plus an extra inch for overlap), and the edge of the latch (with the rounded corners) lines up with [one of the] the 3-3/4” edges – this leaves about two inches of the paper unwrapped, making it easier to ensure good adhesion when glued into the back of the pocket! Or, at least in my thinking because I find it easier to glue paper to paper than laminate to paper!
Starting about two inches from the edge of the latch with the magnet, I add about 1-1/2” of score lines – my scoreboard has 1/8” spacing, so I made about 12-13 score lines. I had cut the laminate wrapping the closure just long enough to reinforce all the score lines on the latch and to go about 1/2” or so past the last score line. Since some of my score lines are “inside” the pocket, this also ensured that all areas of the latch “outside” the pocket had the laminate protection. Then, all that was left to do is glue the latch in place – center along the back – using some Fabri-Tac because of the laminate, add a couple of clips at the edge to hold it together while the glue dried, and add my paperclip magnet catch to the inside of the front of the pocket.
I used jumbo paperclips and glued them in vertically so that as the pocket got full and expanded, the magnet would be sure to catch on some part of the paperclip!
Once my latch and paperclip were in place, it was finally time to glue the center divider and accordion sides in! 
Although, for my pockets, the eyelets are both decorative and functional, I consider them only decorative because adding a little glue between the accordion folds would create the same effect – to help create the V shape when the pocket opens. And, honestly, you don’t really need to add glue or eyelets, the pocket isn’t going to not open in a V, but I think it does help to keep the “strain” [of the accordion folds] off the front of the pocket, if that makes sense.
And, for some extra decoration and a way to hold more papers without covering up all the stenciling I did on the acrylic pages, I made up a few hidden or covered paperclips! (You can search YouTube for “covered paperclips” or “hidden paperclips” to get a list of different videos!)
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Thank you for joining Tres Jolie and Clear Scraps this week! We hope you have been enjoying the collaboration projects and they have given you some ideas of what you can create using Tres Jolie’s beautiful kits and fabulous Clear Scraps products!
Stay Crafty, Friends
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In addition to this month’s Scrapbooking Kit & Mixed Media Kit, I used:
Clear Scraps 5.5” x 11” (approx.) “Wave” Acrylic Album, We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile, We R Memory Keepers 3-way Corner Punch, Ranger Alcohol Ink “Ginger,” “Latte,” & “Caramel,” Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution, Finnabair 3D Matte Gel, Duck Clear Laminate, EK Tools Score Board, double-sided tape, Art Glitter Glue, Fabri-Tac, Krylon Triple-Thick Clear Glaze, eyelets, hole punch, book rings, jumbo and standard paperclips