Valentine's Day Project ~ Biku-chan

I wanted to share with everyone a very cute idea for maybe Valentine's Day or whenever! I can't edit or insert links for some reason, so for extra resources you can visit the actual tutorial via the link I've provided. 
From: http://peppermintcreative.com/blog/2011/01/52-things-i-love-about-you-deck-of-cards-album/

With Valentine’s Day on its way I thought I’d share this cute little project… ;)

I can’t take credit for coming up with this idea – I’d seen several versions online, mostly sort of cut and paste images from magazines or strips of cut up text so this is my ‘hybrid designer’ version. It was so so easy to put together – the hardest part was coming up with 52 unique ‘things’ LOL…nothing personal to my sweetie but 52 is a LOT of things!

If you want to create your own I’m posting a step-by-step tutorial along with a free download of the inserts (see end of post) I made so you can use them if you want.

YOU WILL NEED:
1 deck of cards
2 binder rings or ribbon
hole punch or crop-o-dile
glue or tape runner
printable inserts (free download below)

OPTIONAL: eyelets and heart rhinestone

HOW TO DO IT: Start with a deck of cards. I picked up a set of two at the dollar store for $1.25.

Punch two holes in one card and then use that card as a template for where to place the rest of your holes. To do this, use a bulldog clip to hold the cards in place a bunch at a time (depending how many cards your punch will go through) and place the card with the holes in it already on top.

Use a crop-o-dile or hole punch to punch holes in all the cards a bunch at a time.

Arrange the cards to your taste. You can place them in numerical order or just at random. You want to have all the cards facing up (as NOT shown below…LOL) because the front cover will cover the front card completely.

Thread the binder ring through the holes. You can find binder rings at your local office supply store. They come in various sizes. These are from Office Depot.

I designed my own cover and inserts for the cards that fit perfectly without covering the card numbers. You can alternate between red and black. So I filled them all out and assembled them on a new 8.5×11” sheet (300 dpi) and printed on matte photo paper (Canon).

Then I cut out all the inserts and start adhering them to the cards. I tried both wet and dry glue (tape runner). The tape runner was MUCH easier but I liked how the wet glue sort of bent the cards a little making them seem more worn. So my happy compromise was tape runner down the edges and a line of wet glue down the centre.

And that’s really all there is to it! I decided to embellish the cover with a rhinestone heart. I found a package at…you guessed it, the dollar store (my FAVE). Then I used my crop-o-dile to secure some eyelets to the cover (as shown in the first photo waaaayy up at the top of this post). You can get fancy and tie some ribbons around the binder rings if you like.

If you want to make your own deck using my inserts I’m sharing my templates with you below. Note that they come with one red and one black insert and one cover page but since the text has to be editable so you can add your own ‘things’ it is in default Arial since I cannot distribute font files but the font is free so you can go find it here. It’s called Stone Hinge from Typadelic. I’ve included a text doc with the download so you can find it later…or choose your own font. DOWNLOAD INSERT TEMPLATES I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment if you stopped by and picked up the files or liked this post – it’s how I know you were here and liked what you saw so I will know that you want to see more ;) Happy Crafting!

**EDITED TO ADD: You will require graphics editing software capable of reading either PSD files (Photoshop, Photoshop Elements) or layered TIF files (e.g. Paint Shop Pro) in in order to edit these files and customize the text as I’ve laid it out for you. This cannot be done in Microsoft Word, iPhoto, or any online photo editing services HOWEVER, due to the bazillion trillion emails I’ve received from people without this type of software, I’ve also included blank JPG files and an 8.5″X11″ blank print-ready sheet that can be used to add your own text from scratch if you have a program that will allow you to do so.**

Show all stories by   Author:  65581 ( Click here )