Organizing die cuts with an envelope album

I always have so many scraps to store after I make a project. I don’t want to throw them out – it literally hurts my heart, ha ha! I’ve tried to find different ways to save these without it becoming a big mess on my craft desk.

Hello everyone, Maureen here with you again. I’m testing out a new idea for storage by making an envelope pocket album. Great news! This month is a perfect time to pick up some extra envelopes from CutCardStock because they are on sale!

I’ve started by making a binding out of Classic Crest Solar White 110lb. cardstock. I did this by scoring a piece of paper every 1/4″ with a scoring tool. Next, I folded the scored lines like an accordion until I had about three mountain folds, then cut off the excess.

From here, I glued the mountain folds together and clipped them with a clothespin. Once dry, I laid this piece flat on the table and glued two Classic Crest Solar White cardstock pieces to either end. These need to be 1/4″ longer than the envelopes you choose to use. These will become the front and back pages of the album. Let this dry.

Next, “bind” these together with a scrap of patterned paper. I anticipate adding more envelopes or having a large number of shapes stored in each one, so I intentionally left this piece wide.

To create the pockets, I decorated the front of three Classic Crest Solar White envelopes with ink, stencils and die cuts. My craft room is primarily black and white, so I stuck with this color scheme throughout. Stencil a pattern (mine is floral) on the front of each envelope.

Then, using leftover scraps of patterned paper, layer 1-2″ flag strips over each other along with some die cut flowers. I used the same Classic Crest Solar White and Pop Tone Black Licorice papers.

Add titles by die cutting letters from Pop Tone Black Licorice and adhere them to the Classic Crest Solar White envelope fronts. To keep the letters straight, it’s helpful to run a piece of washi tape across the middle of the title when adhering the letters.

When your envelopes are complete, glue the bottom edge to the inside of the binding in the front of the mountain peaks. If you want to fit more than three, you can glue another one to the back!

Now decorate the front of your album! You can add more titles, or scraps of paper cut like flags for embellishments. I added some stamped florals to mine.

For a flexible width, I am closing my album with a loose piece of twine. I am using a floral die cut with a pop dot to give myself a ring binder to close it with.

This project is complete and you are on your way to organizing your die cut shapes! I know I will probably need several of these to get organized, and they will look nice lined up on a bookshelf. What will you do with your envelopes to get organized?

If you enjoyed this project, I hope you’ll follow us on our Creating With CutCardStock Facebook page. See you next time!