Valentine's Day Albums from Priscilla Circelli-Gibbs

Even though Valentine's Day has already passed, we couldn't help but show off some Valentine's Day journals made by Priscilla Circelli-Gibbs.

They are exquisite, and she sells some of them directly from her Instagram page.

Naturally, we at KB and Friends are tickled pink that she uses some of our printable Valentine's Day ephemera to create her albums.

This first piece of art is an exquisite "paper bag" journal whose cover shines with a well-placed gold heart embellishment, a butterfly and a bingo card. Visit Priscilla's Instagram page to see the inside. It is packed with retro goodness.

These next two journals are among my all-time favorites. They feature "book covers" by KB and Friends and, like the first journal, are packed with fun, retro Valentine's Day ephemera. We made this set of book covers large enough to be used as actual covers, but the covers also come in a smaller size for those who want to use them as cards.

Thank you, again, to Priscilla for such inspiration!

There's still time left for Valentine's Day crafting!

With just a few more days left until Valentine's Day, we knew we had to show you these absolutely adorable mini albums made by crafter extraordinaire Stephanie Jordan.

We're pleased as punch to see how she utilized our Valentine's Day printable graphics.

Stephanie says that she turned our Valentine's Day boxes into album covers, and they are so yummy too look at.

Here are the printable boxes that she used from KB and Friends:

We love how Stephanie cut out a window in the box tops so that you can see through to the embellishments inside. It's a tantalizing little peek into each album that makes you more than ever want to open it.

So if Stephanie's album covers weren't enough candy for your eyes, here's a look at the sweet inside: 

Oh, the adorable pockets and pages filled with retro ephemera from KB and Friends! We're so happy when our work is used in such creative ways.

Stephanie used these Valentine's Day kits full of printable ephemera:

So if you're a last-minute crafter, we hope that Stephanie's journals have inspired you to get going! It's easy. And with our printable graphics, you don't even have to leave your house to make a fabulous Valentine's Day album. Thank you to Stephanie for sharing her eye-catching albums.

Inspiring Junk Journals from Luci and Loley

This week's inspiration comes from Gina Gilliam, who turns trash into treasure by making junk journals. She sells them at Luci and Loley. 

For those of you who are new to junk journals, they are handmade scrapbooks made up of reused vintage paper items such as a greeting cards, receipts, textbook pages, flashcards and other ephemera like that sold at KB and Friends. 

Gina is a KB and Friends' customer who combines our printable ephemera with odds and ends that she has collected to create an eclectic and eye-catching look to her works of art. 

Below are pages from a junk journal that she created using our newest cooking-themed, retro kitchen graphics. This kind of two-ringed, tabbed journal would make the perfect holder for recipe cards. The guest check, tickets and milk carton top are really fun embellishments that help give this journal a dose of nostalgia.

Here are the KB and Friends' products that she used for the kitchen-themed journal:

Moving on to more eye candy from Gina, here are some of her other latest and greatest creations. Buy them from  Luci and Loley or get inspired to make your own with printables from KB and Friends.

One fun technique is to use lunch-size paper bags as a base. Paper bags are one of those readily available household objects that give junk journals a truly vintage vibe. That's how Gina created the next three junk journals.

The next two journals feature one of our favorite binding methods: wire binding. You need a special machine, such as a Zutter Bind-it-All, to do this, but, as you can see from Gina's examples, it really gives the junk journals a finished, professional look.

We hope that these junk journals have sparked your imagination! 

Christmas Journal Inspiration from KittyWitty Papercraft

If you're in need of inspiration for making a junk journal, then you've got to see the Christmas journal crafted by Amy of KittyWitty Papercraft.

Amy's almost half-hour video of her journal is chock full of inspiration for the novice to the most seasoned journal maker.  It's worth your time because Amy - who makes and sells journals and supplies at her KittyWitty Papercraft Etsy store - is now sharing her secrets with the rest of us.

As you can see from the screenshot above, Amy started with an adorable children's book to use as her front and back covers. Just take a look at that set of charms and yarn bows that Amy attached to the cover! So cute, and something that would look terrific on any type of journal, not just one for Christmas.

Amy packs her pages with lots of dimensional ephemera to create this really thick journal.

Amy uses a variety of techniques, from pockets to shakers, to create eye-catching pages. And this book uses layer upon layer, as well, to create dimension and volume.

Now, I have to admit that I'm not entirely unbiased with regard to this fabulously fun journal. Amy is a customer of KB and Friends, and she mentions the printables we sell in the KB and Friends' Etsy shop several times.

I'm going to give you a peek from her video of just a couple of our products that Amy used.

First up is the Christmas ornament box top that is part of our Digital Vintage Christmas Package Cards. She turned it into an adorable shaker filled with sequins! When I created this set of printables, I never thought of someone using one of the box tops in such a creative way. I just love this, and it's something that anyone can easily create. Again, watch the Kitty Witty Papercraft video, as Amy describes how she made this.

Next, I'm going to share with you the Christmas telegram from our Retro Christmas Telegrams set of printables.

Amy printed the telegram from our Retro Digital Christmas Telegrams set, and then she tucked it into a pocket along with other fun pieces of ephemera. So simple, and yet so delightful.

Now, I'm not going to spoil the rest for you, so do take a look at Amy's video for lots of ideas on how she created such a charming Christmas journal. And when you're done with that, you might want to wander over to Amy's Website, KittyWitty Papercraft to see other works she has made.