Guider Smash Book

What to do with all those Girl Guide meeting plans, little notes, photos, craft ideas and such ?? SMASH* them of course!

Most of you have probably heard of "Smash books" by now right?  The concept is nothing new but the term smash became the new fad back in 2011 when a company called K & Company introduced their new line of SMASH* products.  They have Smash* books, Smash* pens, Smash* tabs, Smash* labels, to name a few!  Their products are available at Michaels and Walmart...and many other stores.  There are plenty of blogs and videos out there that show the many styles of Smash* booking.

Check out K & Company's fun Smash* video to see what Smash* booking is all about!

YouTube link

The neat part about Smash* booking is that you can make your book out of any old inexpensive scribbler, notebook, journal, or handmade book and put whatever you like in it.  Make it Your Own ! Release your Creativity!  The possibilities are endless!  You do not need to go out and purchase a $14.97 Smash* book or buy the Smash* products...use whatever you have available...or go to a yardsale and find a Smash* book for $1 like I did a few weeks ago! Score! {the pen was missing but that is ok since the pens can be purchased separately}.

K & Company SMASH* books come in a variety of colours

"A doodle of a Poodle" as seen in the SMASH* video

My Guiding memories and meeting plans have been kept in handmade scrapbooks, scribblers and boxes for several years...and as the years went by my scrapbooks and plan books eventually became more of a hodgepodge rather than a layout designed scrapbook or a general plan book.  Somewhere along the line they sort of merged...into what is now called a smash book.  Smash booking is much more fun than typical scrapbooking in my opinion...it is less structured and more messy!  I have so many things such as little papers and notes and tiny crafts and cards etc. that I would like to keep...and not have it all hid away in a box that is difficult to access.  I want to have it in one book along with my meeting plans and activities so that I can look back to see what we did at past meetings...keep track of things... and also add notes for whatever I need to run our current meetings.  This is where smash booking comes into play!

Flicker Image...This is the coil scribbler that I used 

This is my version of a Smash* book...

a Guider Smash Book!

My Guider Smash book is a coil scribbler that I had purchased from Staples...it has owls on it because I LOVE Owls...{and I was both Brown Owl and Guide Guider last year when I started this book}.  I added some trefoil logos and an owl colouring page...then some SMASH* tape...and then covered it with Mod Podge mixed with glitter just to add some durability.  

This is the result of two years of Girl Guide meeting plans, photos, keepsakes, craft samples and ideas, district reports, and whatever other tid bits came through my hands while Girl Guiding the past two years!  This is something that I would do on a weekly basis.  There are enough blank pages left in this book for next year too but it is too thick already...a little over four inches thick...so I will start a new book in September 2013.

The tabs are K & Company Smash* tabs...they are self adhesive and work great...and only $1.97 per package...but you could use any sort of tab...or none at all.

Inside cover and title page

Above ...I used words cut from magazines, GGC letterhead, GGC Clipart, SMASH* tape, washi tape, and my retro dymo label tape. The larger trefoil logo was cut from the GGC cookie box case.  {I also used those large trefoils from the cookie cases to make brooches}

I use my Guider Smash book to keep track of birthdays, our weekly prize draw, who got the squeeze that week , badge work, upcoming events, meeting plans, contact info for other leaders etc.  

I used regular glue sticks, a stapler, paperclips, binder clips, paper fasteners etc in my smash book.

Here are some of my pages...

If I ran out of space then I would insert a page such as this blue cardstock page. Washi tape works well to hold the added pages in place.  I usually use one page per meeting but some needed more pages to hold everything. Below is the flip side of this page.

I added little pages that open up to hold photos or notes such as these black and white papers. I  incorporated the layered minibook that I used for Lapbooking.  The layered minibooks hold quite a few photos... the one above was used for game instructions.

The above pages contain photos and artwork from our UK Pen Pals.  I ♥ the artwork!

My pages usually have lists, photos, clipart and this page has the post from the GGC facebook ... my Paper bag Scrapbook...so I wanted to include that in my book.  Thank you GGC Facebook for that post!

The page that is turned is Campfire songs from that night...I used washi tape to attach it.

This page ended up having an abundance of photos from our sleepover so I layered them into a flip book...and also included a sample of one of our crafts from that day.  

There are still some blank spots on the pages... I can go back and journal if needed.

On this page I included a fabric swatch from the hot/cold therapy bags that we made, photo flip book, game instructions, and notes.

These are notes that were left for me at our Brownie meetings last year...they were from one of my Guides...very cute! I want to remember things like this so I SMASHed them into my book!

I do not have my camera with me at all of the meetings ...sometimes I forget to bring it...so some pages have just writing and whatever is available.

The Guides' Program challenge badges are inserted into library pockets on the back cover.  Inside the pockets are notecards dated with the year in which we had completed the Challenges.

Google image

Here is a photo of Washi tape...I ♥ this stuff!...washi tape is a thin, semi transparent tape that is less tacky than regular tape.  Some kinds are called tissue tape or craft tape.  It is great for holding photos and notes in place since it can be removed without tearing whatever it is holding.  I have used it to edge the pages in my smashbook.  As you can see it comes in a variety of widths, colours, and patterns.  It is available at Michaels and other craft stores...I have not yet seen it at Walmart. 

This project can be time consuming if you let it...but so much fun!  I enjoy doing projects like this and hope that it inspires you to create your own Guider Smashbook!  

Have a SMASHing day!