Printable Book Kits

New Product Line

We have been so very busy & very secretive in designing our new product line.
Mini Books are a favourite with both Kerry-Jean & me & after a few meetings we have our first mini book in a KIT. We have called it:

'The Sherlock Book Kit by Watson'

The kit is really unique & has been designed by Kerry-Jean Watson to have no defined theme.   You can use it as an art journal, add mixed media to it;  perfect for vintage & heritage albums; it could be a treasure book, a recipe book, travel book or simply a gift for a favourite person  - YOUR CHOICE.   The papers are beautifully distressed & the edges torn.

Kit contents:

10 double pages
4 ephemera pages
2 tag pages
Front & back cover
Front & back cover liners

The book kit is:

• available as a printable download - you purchase the files, download them & print the pages out on  your printer or take the page files to a commercial printer or an Officeworks type shop.  You can print the files several times & make the book into several styles.
    OR

• purchase the pages already printed, cut them out & put the book together

• there is a YouTube video showing how to print the kit (easy, easy) & also ideas on putting it together

• the Design Team will be showing you many ways to put the book together on the blog

This  is the first of our book kits.  We are very excited about this new product line & know you will have lots of fun & enjoy putting your own stamp on the kit.

link to the kits:  http://megsgarden.com/contents/en-us/d706_The_Sherlock_Book_Kit_Designed_by_Watson.html

YouTube link:  http://youtu.be/lzqu-LOFlrU

We would love to see what you have done & will be showcasing your projects on the Blog.

Our 2nd kit is already on the drawing board

Bye for now
Meg & Kerry-Jean

The Gentlemen Wallet/Brag Book by Margaret Mifsud

Hello everyone and welcome to Meg's Garden!  Hope you are having a wonderful day!

It's my turn again and this time I would like to share with you a Wallet style Mini or 'Brag Book' made specifically for the men.
I must point out that this is not my design.  I first saw this style of Mini Book on Astrid Maclean's blog 'Astrid's Artistic Efforts' and she actually got the instructions for this design from a video on You Tube made by Dawn's Inspiration.  I really loved this design and thought it would be perfect for the 'Gentleman' papers.
I should warn you that this will be a long post as there are quite a lot of photos so I hope you won't get bored.  Perhaps you should grab yourself a cuppa before we begin!!  LOL!

Here is the front cover.

For this wallet I used the strips from the bottom of the 12 x 12 Gentleman's Collection papers and also some sheets from the Mini paper pack.  On the cover I used the strip from 'A Gentleman on Time' page.  Roughed up the edges with a distressing tool and inked them with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  I then scraped some Clear Rock Candy Distress Paint in the top right hand corner and, when it was dry, swiped some gesso  around the corners as well.  The inkwell and quill was fussy cut from the 'Letter from a Gentleman' strip and the labels are from the 'Cut & Create' page.

The clock was cut from the 'Old World Time' Transparency and the cute little metal clock and key are also available from Meg's Garden.  As you can see, I wrapped some wire around the twine to hold the clock and key in place, but I need to practice that a bit more so I can make it look a bit tidier.  LOL!

Unfortunately the crackle paint doesn't show up very well in the photos, but you can see where the gesso cracked as well.  The metal gears are the Idea-ology Mini Gears from Tim Holtz.  All the papers (with only one exception) and embellishments used in this project are available at Meg's Garden.  Below is a closie of the fussy cut inkwell.  I used some foam dots  underneath to pop it up off the page.

When closed the whole booklet measures 4" x 7" but there are lots of flaps to open and some pockets as well for holding tags and journaling spots.
Here it is with the top flap open.

This flap has one of the pockets.  The tags were cut from the 'Create & Cut' page.  I inked the edges and backed them with some kraft cardstock so they can be used as journaling spots.  Stenciled a flourish on the pocket itself with some translucent texture paste and, as an embellishment, I cut out the small graphics from the mini pack and trimmed them with  some fancy scissors.

On the flap below there is space for a photo and you can see some more of the labels from the 'Cut & Create' page to which I have added the small metal clock and a piece of Tim Holtz's Mini Film Strip.

The page above and some of the following pages were stenciled with either the Lattice work Stencil or the Burlap Stencil from Tim Holtz using Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

All the removable tags and labels were mounted on kraft cardstock.  The clock can be used as a journaling spot and the tag beneath as a photo mat.

The page above opens to the right to reveal a photo mat ...

... and opens to the right again to reveal a pocket and tag ...

... and another photo mat.  The coffee stains and splats were made with Bobunny's Stained Textures Stamp.

The tag was stenciled with 'Black Soot' and  'Gathered Twigs' Distress Ink and some circles created with a bottle cap dipped in gesso.

I hope you are all still with me.  I did warn you about the photos didn't I???

 This page opens to the left ...

... to reveal another photo mat and opens to the left again ...

... to reveal a pocket and tag ...

... and another photo mat.

More stenciling and stamping and circles.

Here is the middle of the wallet with both sides open.  The belly band was made with paper from Prima's Engraver Collection.  I simply attached it with some eyelets.  The gorgeous Filigree oval trinket is also available from Meg's Garden.

The tags and calendar were cut from the 'Gentleman's' papers.

Don't despair people, we're nearly finished!!!  Hope you're still with me!! LOL!
These photos show you what the whole piece looks like.
It was very difficult to photograph the whole wallet so I elected to do one side at a time.
This is the front left side ...

... and the front right side.

The back left side ...

... and the back right side.

I didn't add much in the way of three dimensional embellishments because in the first instance, guys don't really go for that and in the second instance, the wallet would have ended up way too thick.  Besides, this paper collection is awesome all by itself and doesn't really need too much embellishment.

I do hope you managed to stick with me to the end and that you like my Gentleman's Brag Wallet and are inspired to try it, or something similar,  for yourself.

Meg's Garden Products used:
Gentleman's Collection 12 x 12 papers
Gentleman's Collection Mini Paper Pack
Old World Time Transparency
Filigree long oval
Tim Holtz Mini Gears
Tim Holtz Film Strip Ribbon
Clock Charm
Hardware Metals - Key Antique Chest

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Correspondence set: Album & Card

Hello there Crafters and Meg's Garden fans!

This is Marzena and it's my first projects for Meg's Garden as DT Member.

I am so happy to can work with this fabulous papers and embellishments.

My first 2 projects feature Correspondence Collection.

I have made an album for my Friend's Birthday entirely with the Correspondence Collection using papers 12x12 inches. I used out every single page :-) 

My album has 10 pages and covers.

The cover wears beautiful Carabella Rose Posy - fairy pink flowers, 

the leaves are made from the Ivory Mesh Ribbon, 

there is one metal Filigree flower 

and amazing Tim Holtz Pen Nib,

Every page is based on Correspondence papers embellished with stamps and some non-pop up details. 

All the pages and covers are distressed with brown ink. Love this Collection for the vintage look.

My second project is a card which matches with the album and is second part of the Birthday gift. 

I tried to keep it the most similar to the album as I could. 

The card is made from the same Correspondence Collection with the 4 x 12'' strips. 

I put the same flowers and leaves. 

I will be back soon with another inspirations. Have a great day!

Marzena

Timeless Memories : tribute to my parents by Irit

Hello my dear crafty friends!
Irit is here snd this is my very first post here on Meg's Garden blog featuring Kerry-Jean Watson new vintage and most adorable Correspondence collection (also I have as small piece form the same designer new Gentlemen collection too).
I made an altered box and a wooden tags mini album, but first let me tell you the story behind this project.
My dear parents were married for 57 year before my Dad passed away  two and half years ago. They were madly in love till  his last day. But then they didn't have too many photos at all. This old generation didn't have a camera  and later didn't think they need one.
So we just have a few old vintage scanned photos and I used  two of them for the first 2 pages and another  two, like 22 years ago were added to the last 2 pages.

So here is an overlook of this wooden tag album (I think it's Kaisercrafts, but I am not sure as it was in my stash for ages).

  

Each tag was covered with Correspondence paper, mostly form the 6*6'' mini  pack and then when I used all six designs I moved to 12*12'' papers and used just a few of them to cover the backside of the tags.
Actually I used just two patterns from this collection: Distress letter and Letter from Tucson 1909.
And now for the close- ups of all page. First the front cover again:

I used  this gorgeous Vintage  collage stamp set  for all my stamping over this project. Vintage collage saying was a perfect match for the cover page and I also die cut this Good old days sentiment from the same paper collection to make the title. Then over all pages, not just over the cover, I used bits and pieces from Cut and create correspondence paper. Over the cover I covered it with a frame cut from Frames 3 transparency, clocks cut out from  Old world time and a couple of butterflies from More butterflies piece. Then I added a few  Hardware metal  and Vintage Trinkets pieces 
( Handle/knob, Lion head with handle) and misted white Cherry Blossom  flowers with  light brown mist to make them more vintage. Finally a few " blood" drops were added, both misted and some blings too.
The back of the cover  was made just for the journalling made with old Prima stickers.

Now its a turn for the first  inside tag that was made with a lot of stamping from the very same Vintage collage set, some more clock transparency and some metal charms.

And on this tag's backside I added a  first photo of my Mom as a young 21 years old bride.

The second  inside tag is very similar to the main line of my book: same paper collection, same transparencies  etc.

And my dear parents  1955 photo on the back of this tag.

The third  page- front and back.

And the last one -  front and back again with photos of my parents just 22 years ago. 

And now for the second part of this project as I made an altered box to put this mini inside.

I used a very old cardstock box and covered it with the same two 12*12'' papers from Correspondence collection that I used over my tag book. 

I made my title with old stickers and some distress ink and with a die cut inked to the same brown color as all my inking on the mini book.

Here I used a piece (just one clock) from a very new and gorgeous Gentlemen collection and then just the very same Cherry Blossom flowers, one single fabric Ivory Heirloom  flower  misted again to fit the project colors,  Handle or pull  piece, transparent butterflies and  another clock and added some leaves from Flourish with a Bling and a washi tape to cover the box on the front . And then I added a Doily over the front  side of the box with a single metal  Filegree flower charm.

I hope you like my project as much as I do. It was made as a tribute to my dear parents and will be given to my Mom very soon. I also hope this was not  a very long post after all. See you soon again with another Meg's Garden project.

Past Generations Layout by Cathi O'Neill

Hello fellow crafters!! 

Cathi here over in the USA right now visiting family, so this family heritage layout really was fun to make! I live in Ireland with my Irish husband, but I was born in the USA (Maryland) and have a great wealth of old images of my American ancestors thanks to one of my aunts who has taught me the love of genealogy!

For my first project I am using The Gentlemen Collection. The main paper I selected was A Gentleman's Automobile. The image I used is an actual family photo of my Great Grandfather, John Jones. This is a photo taken of him that just perfectly matches the paper!! I couldn't wait to use this photo when I saw the gorgeous design.

In the close up above you can see some gorgeous Megs Garden products!! I just love the amazing Meg's Garden Vintage Trinket Drawer Pull and Knobs! I think they really add a great edge to the masculine layout.   I used the 10 cm Paper Doily underneath the photo and added a gorgeous black and gray Silk & Organza Primula, two Latte Heirloom Flowers, and the lovely little Ivory and Chocolate Small Roses. I cut my Camel Mesh Ribbon in half to make a thinner ribbon to turn into a bow, the other half of the ribbon I tucked under the photo in a few areas for texture!

I used the vintage ads from the A Gentlemen's Ephemera - Cut & Create to layer under the photo, I just love that one of the vintage ads mentions St. Louis, that is where my Great Grandfather lived and where the photo was taken!! Perfect!!! I added some molding paste, masking, stamping and some simple alphas to finish off my layout and even used some strong Irish tea to color in my background!!

I really enjoyed creating my first project for Meg's Garden and hope that you liked it!!

Supplies from Meg's Garden:

A Gentleman's Automobile

A Gentlemen's Ephemera - Cut & Create

Brown Dodo Vine Wire

Vintage Trinkets - Drawer Pull and Knob

Silk & Organza Primula

Latte Heirloom Flowers

Ivory and Chocolate Small Roses

Camel Mesh Ribbon

Double-Page Layout & Card by Nicole Doiron

Hello Meg's Garden followers!

Nicole here, and I am so thrilled to be newly part of the amazing Meg's Garden Design Team!

And I am just as thrilled to share with you my first creations as DT using 

the beautiful Gentlemen and Correspondence collections.

This double-page layout is very special to me as it features pictures of 

my maternal grandparents who unfortunately are no longer of this world since my adolescence.  

Pepere and Memere Allard were such exceptional people and my family (my mom, brother, lots of aunts, uncles and cousins) misses them all still.  They will live within each and every one of us forever.

 

What better way to give them tribute than to include into my he(ART).

Here is a close-up of the left side:

and the right side:

The Gentlemen collection is very vintage and elegant 

and the patterns and colors went perfectly with these old photos.

I added some quotes from other pattern paper that I thought fit well the theme of my layout.

For all of you who love Meg's Garden, you know that she offers a large variety of exquisite flowers, leaves and accents including the gorgeous large white Lotus flower.

I used white cardstock as my background and added some stenciling with molding paste and then sprayed it with mist to give it an aged look.  I tucked in little pieces of cheesecloth and silver mesh ribbon.  

And, as I normally do (you will see that I do this on practically all my shabby-style work), 

I dabbed some white paint all over to soften everything up.

 This lovely butterfly was cut out of one of the many Collage Art images available at Meg's Garden.

I added a bit of bling to it by cutting off a strip of the Square Silver Diamante Trim and sticking it in the center of the butterfly.  I've also added several squares of the trim throughout my layout, as you can see on most close-up images.

My favorite of all the Meg's Garden stash I've received as part of my DT kit are the Heirloom fabric flowers.   The ones I used on my project are the Latte ones, but they come in several different colours, all beautiful from one to the next.

 And one last close-up...

As a bonus project, I used up some more of the Gentleman collection mixed with a little piece of Correspondence papers to create this birthday card.

I love the blue touches of the 'A Traveling Gentleman' sheet which I've matched with a single Cherry Blossom flower, two adorable blue Small Roses and some small Rose Leaves.

Once again, I cut out this blue butterfly from the Collage Art Butterflies ATC paper.  

I cut out a piece of the Round Silver Diamante Trim and added a tiny blue gem in the centre.

 And some gorgeous Lace Trim to finish it off...

 

I hope that you have enjoyed my shabby chic/romantic style first post here at Meg's Garden

and that you will come visit my blog, Scrap-Utopia, to see more of my creations!

List of supplies from Meg's Garden Shop

The Gentleman Collection

Gentleman (P6407)

A Gentleman on Time (P6410)

A Gentleman's Automobile (P6411)

A Traveling Gentleman (P6409)

The Correspondence Collection

Letter from Tucson 1909 (P6403)

Butterflies Collage Art ATC paper (ATC015)

Fabric Flowers

Lotus White Flower (098wh)

Latte Heirloom 4cm (9317lat)

Paper Flowers & Leaves

Copper Paper Leaves (med copper)

Copper Paper Leaves Small (sm copper)

Rose Leaves 3cm (da0962)

Mini Rosebuds white 1cm (gt-wh)

Small Roses white 2 cm (008wh)

Small Roses blue 1.5cm (gil523)

Cherry Blossoms (cherry)

Silver Diamante Trim Embellishments

Round Silver Diamante Trim (RBY28)

Square Silver Diamante Trim (RBY48)

Lace

Lace 3.5cm off white (L2902)

Charms

Clock lg flat back (c69)