Daily Morning Grind, With a Tutorial!

So to make an attempt to have some inventory of certain things before my stickers run out I am making book marks of varying height and sizes using what I have at hand. Also decided to go back and get my husbands art cards from two years ago and laminate them to preserve them and hopefully sell some.

(PAGE PLUG! My etsy page, go look please?  ALSO, My Husbands Deviant art of his art cards

While doing this I thought why not make a tutorial page? Its helpful and gets craft ideas out there. Bear with me as this is my first tutorial, feed back is appreciated!  I do apologize for not having pictures of EACH step but again I am learning.

WHAT YOU NEED:
A Lamination Machine
Lamination Paper
Scrapbook paper/pages of choice
stickers of choice. (most can be found at dollar stores or on sale)
cutting board or scissors
patience

PLEASE BE ADVISED IF YOU ARE GOING TO PURCHASE THE LAMINATION PRINTER AND PAGES JUST FOR THIS PROJECT I ADVISE AGAINST IT. UNLESS you plan to use it for more than just this. The lamination process is great for many a project so you know.

Before I begin I will lay out some handy tips and good info to have. You DON'T need a top of the line lamination printer/machine etc. If you can swing it great, if not office depo or walmart have great deals on a Scotch Brand/3M or Fellowes. I am fortunate to have an awesome friend ( Miss Kat Blue! ) who allowed me to borrow hers. Thank you!

The same goes for lamination paper. I know I know, walmart is evil but for some things they have a good price....such as the Lamination printer and paper. I had sent my wonderful husband to office depot to buy a pack of lamination paper and he ended up spending about $30 for a pack of 50 pages. Yeah, walmart had the same amount for $15. These prices are rounded up to include tax. OR if you have a Harbor Freight nearby you can obtain 50 sheets of lamination paper for under $10 (Thanks to Tim for the last bit of info)
SO if you are going in an attempt to save money I recommend walmart. And this device is great for many a thing, not just book marks.
The same can be said for their craft section if your local wally world has one, otherwise your local craft stores be they locally owned or Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Jo-Annes or what have you. Do note if you can Michaels and Hobby Lobby print their ad in the sunday paper with an up to %40 off coupon. Hobby Lobby has theirs online per week. Not sure about Michaels.

Hobby Lobby Coupon Link

Michaels Weekly Ad Coupons

Keep in mind thes are per store per week so this will change at the end of the week. The point being that even for little things like stickers, scrap book paper and so on, its good to try and get them on sale or use a coupon to save when you can! Its not wrong, its THRIFTY!

MOVING ON
For this particular lamination machine of Scotch brand you want to get your items in the lamination paper ready before turning it on. There are two switches the first one on the far right is the on and off switch which has a red light. The second switch is for 3mil and 5mil, which indicates the thickness of the lamination paper which is measured in millimeters. When the green "ready" light turns on you are ready to go.
WARNING! TURN THE LAMINATION PRINTER OFF WHEN YOU ARE DONE OR IT WILL INTERNALLY MELT ITSELF IF LEFT ON FOR TOO LONG

 

This is the office depot paper which shows how many pages are within, the sizes and the mil thickness.

This is the packet from walmart that is Scotch brand, same amount, different page size though. It doesn't show the mil but its about the same thickness.

When you have your measurements of paper cut and ready to  lay the stickers down however you want and lay them in the lamination paper making sure to leave enough room between them to cut out later. This is important because if they are too close you cannot cut out without cutting into the other.
When you put it through the lamination printer its a good idea to hold the paper tightly as items may adjust, that is ok. Make sure you have the bottom part where its sealed at the bottom in first as they book marks have something to lay against and are orderly in a sense. If the other parts slide thats ok you have a few moments to adjust before they are laminated.


Yes this looks weird but notice the difference. On the left is the lamination paper BEFORE the heating process, on the right is a laminated page (artwork not shown) its tougher and more clear than on the left side. This is to show what happens after lamination. Keep in mind once laminated its sealed in there. If the item shifted during lamination and there is space in the page don't worry you can cut out around it to make it look nice and squared off. I DO STRONGLY SUGGEST you round off the edges using your scissors because those are sharp and WILL poke you.

For me I went and took my scrap paper, measured  marked and cut out with my cutting board. You can use scissors but make sure you cut in straight lines. I used this kind of scrapbook paper, grass and colored circles. Yes that is an actual sheet of scrapbook paper not someone's lawn I promise. I sadly don't have a picture of the colored circles.

For the grass one I did some Spongebob, some Little Mermaid and Nemo, and then random characters.
Now another option is to use the white backside that way its not completely transparent and when the book mark is turned around there is something neat on the other side. This works just as well for double sided scrapbook paper that way if you REALLY want you can put stickers on both sides and there is paper in between to keep from showing anything.
For me I stuck with simple. In this case using the white side of the paper may have hidden the lines but such is how I learn.
This was basically take the page, fold in half and cut which is why they are short. For some children their books are short and don't need the long book marks. HOWEVER if you want to make longer ones measure and cut accordingly.

Now I also use the lamination printer for badges and other things. I was traded artwork and decided to prevent damage, tearing and yellowing over time laminate them. I am also getting ready to make badges of pokemon and cutie marks I just need to get more printer ink.

SO hopefully this was a helpful if not lengthy tutorial. PLEASE feel free to ask questions so that I can include answers if need be. Thank you for reading!

3x5 mane 6 cutie mark badge done in photoshop.