
This week, here, on the Fancy Pants Designs blog, you will get a handful of inspiration everyday and we are focused on our ever popular Brag Books! Whether you are into mini albums, want to scrapbook your summer memories or document your daily life, our Brag Books are the best companion for memory keeping.
Meet Nicole for our second Brag Book Day!
Hi everyone! Welcome to this second day of our Brag Book week!
Before even creating I pulled my Brag Book apart. I gently separated the metal binding and separated the three types of pages: plastic photo sleeves, lined printed pages, and the pocket pages. I like putting together albums this way if I can then I’m not constantly fighting the rings or binding.


First off I started with the cover.
I covered the base with liquid glue and placed the dark blue corrugated paper (from the Down by the Shore line) on top. After it dried I trimmed the overhang.
I had previously cut a title for my album with my die-cut machine and knew I wanted that as the focal point. Playing with the arrangement I layered paper from the Park Bench and Etcetera Brag Pads.
Before gluing my title and papers down I took some gold mist and dropped it right on the corrugated background. I really like the way it ran into the corrugated lines and created a linear effect.

Once the mist was dry I attached all my pattern paper and title to the top. I finished the look off by tucking in a few tags (from Etcetera and Park Bench), added a sticker from the Park Bench line, and stamped the dates with a date stamp.



On the inside cover I wanted just a little something without going overboard since my cover page would be on the opposite side.
I chose to cover the whole thing with grey cardstock and added a little dictionary paper and some stickers from Park Bench and Down by the Shore lines.

My cover page is an enlarged 6x8 ½ picture. I used my Quickutz tool and punched out the corners from pattern paper. I glued those down at the corners and added a sticker from the Park Bench line over the top of the left over tag piece (Etcetera line) I used on the front cover.
I punched two small circles from some pattern paper and glued those to the sides and topped them with some Ranger’s Glossy Accents. As one last finishing touch I also applied some Glossy Accents directly on the picture to the word Higher for a little added dimension.

Tip: I used Glossy Accents on top of punched circles throughout my album to mimic the ever popular pearls, brads, and enamel dots. I love doing this since it gives the same effect, but you can customize them to whatever color you need.
Page 3 of my album is a pocket page.

I could have placed the page as is into the album but chose to trim off the binding holes.

I then adhered the pocket to the back of my previous cover page to make it a little thicker and sturdier. I then took pattern paper from the Trend Setter and Park Bench lines and covered the pocket area to give it more color. I finished this page off with a sticker from the Park Bench line.
Page 4
This album contains pictures and events that happened while my sisters, step-mom and I attended Time Out for Women. We listened to many wonderful talks and musical numbers and just had such a great time together. The quotes I used are quotes that my sisters and I had written down and I then used through the album to help tie everything back to our wonderful experience.

Using my die-cut machine I cut the quote from a piece of cardstock and backed it with pattern paper from the Park Bench line and accented beneath the quote with a strip of paper from the Etcetera Brag Pad and a sticker from the Park Bench line.
On top I sandwiched a decorative bag between the quote and the kraft page. Inside the bag is a small and large tag tied together. The smaller tag is decorated with a strip of pattern paper and some alphabet stickers to spell out the name of whose quote is on the page.

I finished off the quote with some pattern paper, baker’s twine, and button from the Park Bench line.

Page 5

My step-mom happened to be the guest of the day at our hotel. I took a picture of the sign that was at the check-in desk and enlarged it to a 6x8 ½ size. I punched more corners from pattern paper using my Quickutz and the page is done.
Page 6
Between page 5 and 6 I cut a photo sleeve down to fit our hotel room card (Shhhh, don’t tell anyone I took it). I placed part of a Park Bench title card in with it and sewed it shut.



This page is combination of a picture on the background and a pocket I sewed onto the bottom so I could slip in some journaling tags.
The tags are a combination of Park Bench Brag Pad papers and the decorative tags from the Park Bench line. On the back of the tags I wrote what the amenities were for being guest of the day and my Step-mom’s reaction when finding out the news.
Using gold metallic thread I sewed a strip of cardstock to make a pocket, tucked in my tags, and then placed a picture on top. I matted my picture with some yellow pattern paper from the Park Bench line and cluster some stickers in the corner. Stickers are from the Park Bench and Trend Setter lines along with the flags that were cut from the Etcetera Brag Pad.
To finish off the page I punched a few more photo corners from Park Bench paper for the top photo.
Page 7

Another quote page cut out using my die-cut machine. This background paper comes from the Park Bench line. I backed it with pieces of cardstock and did the same tag/bag treatment at the top.
The embellishment cluster at the bottom is pieces from Park Bench and Trend Setter lines.


Page 8

At the base I used a piece of dictionary paper and placed my pictures on top with some odds and ends from the Park Bench and Down by the Shore lines. My title was cut from some yellow paper from the Park Bench line and I cut a little accent from the Etcetera Brag Pad and stapled it on the top.
Page 9

This page I wanted to include more photos than just the one on top. To allow more photos I cut several of the photo sleeves apart and sewed them to a piece of cardstock.

Once sewn together I put adhesive on the back of the blue cardstock and attached that to the top of the page. I added a title cut with my machine and added some strips of paper and tags from the Park Bench line.
Underneath the pictures I added a piece of pattern paper from the 6x6 Etcetera paper pad and did a little journaling.

Page 10

Another quote page. This one is cute from some pattern paper from the Park Bench line. More corners punched and a small strip of pattern paper at the bottom for easy embellishing.
Page 11

This one is one of my favorite quotes. I backed the cardstock cut with pattern papers from the Park Bench line and embellished with some of the border stickers and buttons. The ‘inch by inch, ‘day by day’ is trimmed from a sheet of the Etcetera Brag Pad. I finished this off with another decorative bag at the top and some glossy accents on the words ‘Succeed Gloriously’.

Page 12

Lots of different pattern paper used on this one. Etcetera Brag Pad and the 6x6 papers with some of the Park Bench Brag Pad thrown in for the hints of yellow. I used some of the border stickers from Park Bench along the bottom.
The title is cut with my machine and I used the small Park Bench alphas for the word ‘one’. I used some yellow mist and gold washi tape for the final touches.
Page 13

I combined the receipt paper from the Down by the Shore Brag Pad and the film strip from the Etcetera Brag Pad with a picture of our restaurant. Another bit of gold washi tap along the top and more punched photo corners from some cardstock.
Page 14 & 15


I used one of the photo sleeves and slipped in 4 4x6 photos.
Page 16
I cut down one of the photo sleeves and made it just big enough to hold a 2x3 sized photo. I placed some small letter stickers from Park Bench along the photo and placed two index tabs on the top and sewed around the outside.



This page is all about the picture. I used pattern papers from the Etcetera Brag Pad, Down by the Shore Brag Pad, and tags from the Park Bench line and cut from the Trend Setter tag paper. I placed all the elements down and topped the photo with pieces of washi tape. The title is made up of alphabet stickers from Park Bench and Trend Setter as well as accent stickers from the Park Bench line. I punched another corner from cardstock and finished the title accent off with some glossy accented pattern paper along with the rules of our clicker game.

Page 17
A simple quote page. I backed the quote with some cardstock and matted it with pattern paper from the Down by the Shore line.

Page 18
Pattern papers and banner die-cuts from the Park Bench and Trend Setter lines along with some dictionary paper I staggered along the bottom. I added the banners and tags to the top.
The name ‘Hilary’ I cut using my machine and paper from the Trend Setter line. I misted it with gold mist and applied a coat of glossy accents.

Part of the title is made up of alphabet stickers from the Park Bench line.

Page 19
The last picture is a screen shot of a video we watched. We laughed so hard that I couldn’t help but include it as a memory from this weekend.

I decorated it with some stickers from Park Bench and Trend Setter. Tucked into the top is a strip of paper from the Etcetera Brag Pad and along the bottom a strip from the Park Bench Brag Pad.
I added in a sprinkling of glossy accented cardstock among the stickers.

Page 20
Opposite the picture is the words from this video that I printed out on some cardstock and accented with some washi tape and a felt flower from the Park Bench line.

Page 21-24
The last several pages of the album I left blank and are just the printed lines paper included in the album. I wanted my step-mom to have a place to write down her notes of her favorite talks or what she enjoyed most about our time together.
Inside back cover

I included a final pocket page and slipped in a picture of the thank-you balloons we left for housekeeping in our hotel.
I covered the pocket with pattern paper from Trend Setter and finished it off with some stickers and a chipboard button from Park Bench.

The back cover I glued down a piece of dark grey cardstock and then began placing all my pages back onto the spiral binding.
Once all the pages are in order gently press the rings back together.
As one final accent I tied a big yellow ribbon onto the binding.

Thank you for reading this tutorial, I hope you will be as inspired as I was creating in this beautiful Brag Book!
- Nicole