Claire Murphy – Christmas Traveller’s Notebook

Claire says :

Cut files are your friend. Traditionally they are used on scrapbook pages, and these look fabulous and really give you that extra something and wow factor.  But, they are often completely overlooked when it comes to scrapbooking in a traveller’s notebook. Most cut files are scalable and so you can cut them to the size and shape you need. This works great if you want to use cut files in your Traveller’s Notebook. If you haven’t tried this already then you are missing out on some fabulous designs and ideas and I am here to show you what I have created to use inside my own Traveller’s Notebook (that I created myself).

I used the 3×4 Let it Snow cut file, which comes with the title and a snowman card, along with the 6×8 Diagonal stars cut file.  These are great because they are in a rectangle/oblong size already which meant that tweaking them should still easily work for a traveller’s notebook layout. And boy did they.

The Snowman and the Let is Snow cut file I used specifically in a pocket. I wanted them on display in my notebook and so I cut them to the size of the pocket (which you can see being created in my the YouTube tutorial), and left the embellishing very minimal. I cut them in white cardstock because the patterned paper from the notebook behind each one would be peaking through and I love that effect.  With the Let it Snow die cut I wanted to make it into a shaker pocket so I just added some sequins and secured the top of the pocket with some washi tape (I will go back and Fuse this) and hey presto. Super simple, quick and easy shaker pocket.

Next I used the snowman. Again, I wanted this cut in white cardstock and just used a couple of chipboard embellishments to dress it up a little and again this went straight into another pocket. I absolutely love how this has added another element to my traveller’s notebook.

Finally, I wanted to show that you can use larger cut files in a traveller’s notebook too. Again, I scaled the stars cut file to size (7 3/4 x 4 inches) and this fit inside my traveller’s notebook so well. It’s important to not cut the cut file to the exact size of your page as your insert won’t close properly so make sure its scaled a tiny bit smaller. Or, you can cut one edge if you don’t mind that look. With this cut file (again, I cannot get away from cut files from white cardstock!) I decided to back it with some co-ordinating patterned paper and used my craft knife to carefully cut around some of the stars. This will enable me to add in little shaker sequin pockets or maybe even photos.

The thing to remember is to get your preparations done in advance. So if you are taking part in the December Daily/December Documented/Journal your Christmas, whatever you want to call it, be prepared. Get the cut files cut in advance with a plan of what you are going to use them for and it’ll take the pain out of creating your album in December.

But most importantly, don’t forget to use cut files in your TN’s!!  And do check out the video here!

With love and colour.

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