Kraft Tex Mini Book and Luggage Tags Tutorial

Mini Book

         Being able to work with super tempting new products of my choice is one of the biggest perks of being DT for India's premier shop for imported Craft supplies....Shalini Mittal's Crafters Corner....Shalini always brings innovative and amazing products from all corners of the world to India! And C & T Publishing's Kraft tex is one product which has been selling out so fast that in fact I had to hold on for this post to go live as it had already sold out from Crafters Corner several times!!
        In this post I will share what is so special about Kraft tex and project ideas.

What is Kraft tex?

Kraft tex is a super special paper which looks and feels like leather, can be die-cut and stamped on like paper and yet is supple and strong like fabric and the ultimate is it can even be washed and ironed!!

Why is Kraft tex so special?

What is so special about Kraft tex and why it is so popular with paper crafters is that it has all the properties of paper which we paper crafters love [can be die cut, stamped, embossed etc] but yet is strong and durable and can take wear and tear. So it is highly popular  in making albums, books, bags, wallets and any project which needs to withstand wear and tear! 

Kraft tex 

Kraft tex

Kraft tex is sold in huge rolls of 18 x 54 inches and comes in many colors , the most popular being natural and black. I have used natural Kraft tex in my projects as I love the leather look of this shade of Kraft tex. The rolls are huge and value for money as you can create so many projects from a single roll.

Kraft tex Bag Instructions

When you buy a roll of Kraft tex you even get a free Tutorial with detailed pattern to make a handbag using Kraft tex. Kraft tex is so popular that there are even books of sewing projects using Kraft tex !!

How to Use Kraft tex ?

Kraft tex feels like a thick leather paper. You can cut it with normal scissors and even die cut it with thinlit /wafer thin dies.

Though it already has a lovely leather look and feel, if you want to make it look more like fabric/ leather ...here is how to do it :-

• Cut out the required amount, crinkle it, soak or even boil it in hot water and either smoothen it with your hands or iron it and use.
• Another way to get a crinkled leather look is to wash it in the washing machine and after drying ,iron it using your iron.

Because of the fibre content in Kraft tex it will not tear even on machine washing...isn't that cool!!!

Cutting ,Scoring and Embossing Kraft tex

Because of its unique properties you can score  Kraft tex using a bone folder and hence it can be used to easily make the spine of your mini albums.You can also run it through an embossing folder to get a lovely embossed texture

Embossing Kraft tex

I scored and embossed a piece of Kraft tex to form a sturdy cover for my mini book.Left the spine area unembossed as the spine would look better un textured.

A tip to follow when using Kraft tex in album making is to use a strong wet glue like Aleene's tacky glue rather than red tacky tape as it gives a stronger adhesion.

Kraft tex Mini Book Cover

Here is the inside of my mini book/album with pockets and tags.This book was made with a single sheet of 12 x 12 inch pattern paper and has 8 pages with pockets to hold 8 tags. I used 4 x 3 inch piece chipboard on the front and back and wrapped the whole thing in Kraft tex for extra strength.

Mini Book

Added a golden chain with cute metal charms on the spine of my book .

Mini Book

Created the  main focal element on the cover by twisting rose buds around a resin heart and adding leaves galore [Cheery Lynn  leaves and Heartfelt creations leaves] plus lovely crystal fillers.

Mini Book

All the metal charms and embellishments got a nice rubbing with Inka Gold. Do scroll down the post for links to all the products I have used to make this mini book.

Mini Book

I thought I would use this handy little mini book to hold the numerous lists I keep making.I am a lists sort of person and love to jot down to do lists , shopping lists, goals etc etc!

Mini Book

I first  made this Christmas One Sheet Mini Book following Kerri's Tutorial .I am sharing my version in this Video Tutorial  .These are so easy to make and will make great gifts

Making Monogrammed Luggage Tags with Kraft tex  

My second project using Kraft tex are these easy to make strong and cute Luggage Tags.

DIY Luggage tags

To make these easy DIY Luggage tags, I die cut Kraft tex using Xcut Luggage Tag dies though you can use any nesting die you have or hand cut your tag shapes.

Xcut Tag die

How easy is it to die cut Kraft tex?
It is super easy...and see how clean even the tiny circular apertures on the side have die cut...!

DIY Luggage Tag

Gluing Kraft tex

Kraft tex Luggage Tag

          Though Kraft tex has many properties of cloth it is not difficult to glue . I used Aleene's Fast Grab tacky glue not only to glue paper and ribbon to Kraft tex but also one layer for kraft tex to the other. Love this glue which Shalini sent me in my DT pack.It is sticky but not irritatingly sticky if it gets on your fingers, dries fast and is very very strong.

Luggage Tags

Stamping, Inking and Heat Embossing Kraft tex

DIY Luggage tags

      I wanted to see how well Kraft tex took inks and so stamped on it with a variety of ink-pads including Memento and Archival ink using alpha stamps .Also experimented using Embossing Powders and loved how sturdy the material was in taking the blast from the heat gun.

Alpha Stamps

In the tag below , the central part is normal white card stock I inked with Tea dye and Walnut stain Distress Inks  to match the color of natural Kraft tex . The shiny butterfly was made using glass cabochons, mariposa paper and a super useful Ultimate Back support which can convert anything into a hanging charm! Here is the  Glass cabochon Tutorial.

DIY Luggage tags

       All the cute metal charms I have used in my Kraft tex projects were part of my Crafters Corner DT package and my all time favourite is the gorgeous golden flower girl!!

       The monogram in this tag has gold embossing, outlining with a Sharpie and a die cut felt P.

DIY Luggage tags

I hope you liked my mini book Tutorial and  Kraft tex projects...do tell me.

More Resources

• I have a pinterest board dedicated to Kraft tex here : Kraft tex Projects and Tutorials
• Video on different Kraft tex Projects from makers of Kraft tex C & T publishing : Kraft tex Project Video
• Washing Kraft tex by So Sew Easy : Washing and Treating Kraft tex

Supplies : All from Crafters Corner

Stamps : Heartfelt creations Open Leaf stamp ,Alpha Cirque Stamps 

Dies : Cheery Lynn Butterfly, Heartfelt creations Classic Leaf Die , Xcut Luggage Tag Die