Aloha! Joscie here with a quick and easy holiday project. I created these simple calendars in just a few easy steps, I call it calendars for the under achiever because it’s a lot of "pop" for a little work!  Anyone can do it, including you!

First I selected 12 photos from the past year.  I added a mat from Peppermint Creative’s Custom Bracket Mat 2 and added a Peppermint Creative Modern Calendar Stamp on top. Here are a few:

I saved each one at 300 dpi 6"x4" size.  I took the files on a disk to Wal-Mart and ordered one hour prints.  Before paying for the prints I checked all of the prints and asked for a few months to be reprinted because the days were cut off on the bottom (no charge for fixing mistakes).  I brought it home and collated each year.  I cut up 12×12 sheets of black chipboard into 6"x4" pieces.  I used my Bind it All to punch holes in all pieces.  Although I could fit all 12 pictures in the punch area, I only punched 6 at a time for a cleaner punch.  I also used the spacer bar to create the punched holes closer to the edge.

When binding projects with the Bind it All, I recommend stacking the back cover on top of the front cover on top of all inside pages.  Insert the 1/2" binding coil in through the back cover so the ugly part will be at the back of the book.  Squeeze gently in the bind it all and voila your perfectly bound project.

For the covers, I used my new spellbinders pinked circle dies with my Sizzix Big Kick to cut my flocked damask Doodlebug paper into large circles for the front covers and a smaller circles for the back covers.  I also used my Quickutz Studio dies to cut foam numbers 2009 and adhered with the Xyron machine.  I stamped my "from the studio of" stamp on cardstock, punched with a Stampin’ Up! circle punch and mounted on the small pinked circle with foam pop dots.

Ok, so its day 2 of Hybrid for Dummies. See yesterday’s post for the step by step Board Book tutorial. I’m going to vote the Matchbook Album as the easiest hybrid so far. You don’t even NEED glue which is always a huge plus for me. You’re going to start with this handy dandy pre-made template. Everything is all measured and pre-sized for you. No thinking required (another huge plus for me).

This makes a really cute brag book, stocking stuffer, or  ‘just because’ gift. You can go with matching pages or just pile in your top 10 pages. The beauty of this project is that it’s size to accommodate your 12×12” layouts. Just shrink them down and add a strip of matching paper to the bottom where the edge folds over.

I photographed this project STEP by STEP as I did it to show you exactly how it’s done!

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I have a confession: I’m no hybrid-er. Not even a paper crafter. I don’t have tons of expensive tools or a room dedicated to crafting. I get paint on my clothes, I don’t like taking the time to measure. I make mistakes and white glue kind of scares me.

But I made a board book album, a CD album AND a matchbook album and I lived to tell the tale (and they turned out great!) And that’s why I’m the perfect person to grab you by the hand and walk into the world of hybrid; To tell you that TRUST ME, if I can do it – your 5 year old can do it and that means that you can do it too.

The strangest thing I hear from people is ‘oh I don’t do hybrid’ or ‘I’m not a hybrider’. As if you have apply for a membership to some kind of crafty club. Well good news, you don’t! So if you are the least bit interested in creating some basic projects but don’t know where to start, it’s your lucky day.

I photographed each project STEP by STEP as I did them to show you EXACTLY what to do (and what not to do). You really only need a few basic tools to get started (see notes at the end of post) and I swear to you it’s so simple you will wonder what you were so scared of once your try.

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