Andrea's Review	Kathleen's Review	Melanie's Review	Catherine's Review	Eli's Review

Review by Andrea

Caputo's Kits is a place where you can truly be creative! Jen Caputo is the woman behind the workings of the site creating new kits for crafters to exercise their artistic side. Her product line offers "bare bones" kits for different sized albums allowing the crafter to truly create the project from it's very foundation, the cover! There are ready-made albums also available just waiting to be lovingly embellished and altered. Speaking of altered, you can also pick your own materials a la carte for book binding and album making of your own complete creation. There is quite a lot to see at Jen's site and I'll bet you'll see new things everytime you visit.

Caputo's Kits come packaged in a clear cellophane resealable bag with a product insert. We received a Card Keeper Kit, 6" x 6" Album Kit and 8" x 8" Album Kit. All of them were individually packaged with the blank book board covers, book board spine spacers, page protectors and hardware included. Since I was a first-time customer, I received a color printed set of instructions on how to assemble an album kit. No extra material like adhesive, patterned paper or embellishments were included. That was just fine with me since I had certain materials in mind for these kits anyway!

I embellished the Card Keeper first. I thought this kit was a neat idea since I send and receive cards all the time! This product actually puts those cards on display so that you can see them any time that you want while keeping them protected. The clear page protectors are designed to fit A2 sized cards (half of an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet folded in half) even allowing for lumpy embellishments too. This kit is very easy to assemble. Basically the covers are decorated and embellished any way that you want. The page protectors are sandwiched between the 2 covers, then the large key rings are passed through the holes in the top of the covers and protectors. Simple! The rings are easy to open so that you can add more page protectors when needed.

One feature that I really liked about this product, is that you can turn the keeper landscape or portrait depending on what cards you've included in the protectors. The Card Keeper can stand up on it's own, but I found it best to prop up on an easel for more stability as shown on the web site. Any simple plate or picture frame easel will work. It also adds a nice decorator touch to your project and allows for either orientation for the keeper itself.

This Card Keeper was going to be my "Keeper", so I really went nuts embellishing it! I heat embossed the WHOLE THING: front and back covers, inside and out. I used masks to add to the base design and emboss around them. I made it so that one cover was a landscape orientation ("cards") and the other cover could be either landscape or portrait (daisies). Depending on my mood, I flip the book! The cards inside can be viewed from either way since the top rings allow the book to basically double back on itself. Smart thinking Jen!

Title: Cards Keeper Duo (2 looks)
Products used: Card Keeper Kit (Caputo's Kits)
Embossing Ink (Ranger Distress Embossing Ink and Stamp-n-Stuff Embossing Ink)
Embossing Powder (Powder Keg: Tuscan Sun, Burgundy & Bordeaux)
Masks (Heidi Swapp: Daisies & Alpha)
Ribbon (Shoebox Trims)

The Card Keeper can be placed on its side also in case your cards are oriented in a portrait manner instead of a landscape.

The 6" x 6" Album Kit was next on the list. Initially I was a bit intimidated by the instructions because I couldn't quite follow the progression from one step to the next. As I got into the project though, I found that it came together quite nicely with the exception of ruining one sheet of paper. I found how important it was to smooth the glue out rather than leave it in lines from squeezing it on from the tube! No worries, I was able to pull the paper off and spread the glue before too much damage occurred. The embellishing was the easy part and allows your creativity to guide the design. I enjoyed putting this book together after the initial scare!

Title: ScrapFriends Page Swap 6" x 6" Album
Products used: 6" x 6" Post Bound Album Kit (Caputo's Kits)
Patterned Paper (Sandylion Kelly Panacci: Pink Mini Dots, Pink Linen & Stitched Floral)
Stickers (Sandylion Kelly Panacci: All About Me Cardstock Stickers)
Brad (Jo-Ann Scrap Essentials)
Ric Rac (Shoebox Trims)
Adhesive (Ad Tech A Fine Line...PVA Glue)

I think Caputo's Kits is a great place to shop for the altered crafter and for scrapbookers who like to really personalize and create albums from the ground up. Any of the kits would make terrific personalized gifts for that special person. I do believe that more detailed instructions for each sized kit would be extremely helpful for the first-time album kit builder. I believe it would alleviate some of the frustration or anxiety at the beginning of the project for those not familiar with book binding and kit building in general. The first one is always the hardest though isn't it? I do feel that I could easily build my next album without a hitch.

Great job Jen, keep on creating! I can't wait to see what your next product offerings will be! I think I'll be shopping at your place for some holiday gifts this year!

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Review by Kathleen

I love albums of all shapes and sizes so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with a company that is new to me: Caputo’s Kits. Jen Caputo is the creator behind the mini album kits and album accoutrements.

The kits I received to work with are the 8" x 8" post-bound album, 6" x 6" post-bound album, and the Card Keeper kit that uses metal book rings.

Each post-bound kit comes complete with a chipboard front and back cover, two chipboard spine spacers, page protectors, and the aluminum posts. The Card Keeper album comes with the book boards, page protectors, and metal ring binders. All you need to do is create the look you want for your album.

Because I was a “new customer”, I did receive a printed out tutorial (which is also available on the website). The tutorial walks you step by step through the process of covering your album covers. When I first sat down to assemble my albums, I thought it would be super easy. However, I must admit, there is definitely a learning curve involved. While I was happy to have some instructions to guide me, I would have appreciated more detailed instructions and larger photos, especially when it came to creating the spine of the album, which was a bit more complicated than anticipated. When I assembled my second album, I did not have as many complications with the whole process, but for the first album, I really could have used an “Album Assembly for Dummies” type of instruction sheet.

The following projects are the two album covers I created using the Caputo’s Kits. This first image is a mini album I created for my son, using his photos from a recent camping trip. The 8" x 8" album size was perfect for recording the experience through his eyes.

Title: ‘Family Campout 2006’ Album Cover
Products used: Caputo’s Kits: 8" x 8" album kit
Pebbles Inc: patterned papers, cardstock stickers, ribbon (Great Outdoors Collection)
Prism Paper: Prismatics cardstock
Making Memories: foam alphabet stamps
ColorBox: fluid chalk ink
Micron: black pen
Adhesive Tech: Glue Runner


Title: ‘Family Campout 2006’ Inner Album Cover
Products used: Caputo’s Kits: 8" x 8" album kit
Pebbles Inc: patterned papers, cardstock stickers, ribbon (Great Outdoors Collection)
Prism Paper: Prismatics cardstock
Other: transparency
Adhesive Tech: Glue Runner

My second project is a 6" x 6" album that I designed for housing my garden pictures. I designed the cover with a lovely floral paper and then many flower embellishments to give the album a definite garden feel.

Title: ‘Garden Delight’ Album Cover
Products used: Caputo’s Kits: 6" x 6" album kit
BasicGrey: patterned paper
Prism Paper: Prismatics cardstock
Close to my Heart: alphabet stamps
ColorBox: fluid chalk inks
Prima: flowers
Other: metal photo corners (source unknown)
Adhesive Tech: Glue Runner

In summary, I think these kits are fun. I did find putting them together a bit frustrating and at one point figured it would be easier to buy something like this pre-assembled. However, the creative junkie in me loved getting to create the cover from scratch. With a little bit of patience and learning, I think I created some pretty cool albums that I will enjoy using. In addition, after working with a couple, I am much more eager to tackle other sizes as well.

The Caputo’s Kits for post-bound albums are available in 8 ½" x 11", 8" x 8", 6" x 8 ½", and 6" x 6" as well as the Card Keeper kit. The prices range from $7.20 to $11.20. There are also several other types of album kits and accessories available on the website.

My recommendation is if you really enjoy having total creative control, you will enjoy working with these kits. You are in control of everything from the cover material to the spine covering. So if this is your thing, I would recommend the kits. They are a reasonable price and they really are fun to work with once you get past the learning curve.

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Review by Melanie

I love mini-albums and kits. I don't use them as much as I should, but I didn't waste time using my kits from Caputo's Kits. The Caputo's Kit website offers post bound album kits, accordian album kits, envelope album kits, ribbon bound album kits, and much more. I received the 8x8 album kit, the 6x6 album kit, and the cardkeeper kit.

I absolutely fell in love with the 6x6 chipboard album. It's approximately 9 1/4" x 6 3/4" in size, but the page protectors that go with it are 6x6 pages. I love 6x6 pages, and I love the fact the the album is a bit larger. The kit included two acid free chipboard covers and spines, two aluminum screw posts and 10 page protectors. The kit sells for $7.20. The instructions for assembling were easy to follow. In fact, I made it within 3 days of receiving the kit - I loved it that much. I made this album to hold various snapshots of things from this summer. I've included images of a couple of the pages.

Title: Summer Memories Mini-Book
Products used: Mini-Album: Caputo's Kits (jencaputo.com)
Patterned Papers: American Crafts (The Goods/Scarecrow); Cross My Heart & A2Z Essentials
Cardstock: Prism Papers
Flowers: Prima
Rub-Ons: American Crafts, Chatterbox and SEI
Ribbon: Self-Addressed Card Kit
Buttons: American Crafts
Stamps: Provocraft
Ink: Clearsnap
Flower Punch: EK Success
Mod Podge: Plaid
Adhesive: Adhesive Tech Permanent Glue Runner

I was very happy to have received the Cardkeeper Kit. I have several handmade cards that have been sent to me since I've been scrapbooking and didn't have a proper way to keep them. This kit comes with two chipboard covers approximately 5 1/2" x 6 1/4" in size, two 2" binder rings and 10 page protectors (for A2 size cards). The kit sells for $7.00 and holds 20 cards. I covered this with a floral paper and embellished with chipboard, stamps and ribbon. I love my Cardkeeper! I changed the binder rings to a smaller size, so the image below reflects the cardkeeper with one-inch rings.

Title: Memories - Cardkeeper
Products used: Card Keeper Album: Caputo's Kits (jencaputo.com)
Patterned Paper: Flair Designs, Inc.(Autumn Splendor, Mum's the Word paper) and Chatterbox
Chipboard: Bookplate and Framedango by Everlasting Keepsakes
Stamps: Memories Interactive Circles Large (Limited Edition/Hampton ARt) and Clear Expressions Cameo Alphabet by Hampton Art
Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink by Clearsnap (Chestnut Roan)
Brads: Doodlebug
Paint: Memory Makers and Jacquard
Mod Podge by Plaid
Rub-On: Flair Designs, Inc. ( Cool Cat Images)
Ribbon: Flair Designs, Inc., American Crafts, Offray
Photo Corners: Making Memories
FLower: Bazzill
Font: twentieth century poster downloaded from the internet
Adhesive: Adhesive Tech Permanent Glue Runner

I highly recommend these kits. I found them easy to assemble and use. I absolutely LOVE my Caputo's Kit Albums. Recommended for all level of scrapbookers and papercrafters.

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Review by Catherine

To be honest, when I saw Caputo’s Kits on the review list, I had never heard of the company or the kits. After checking out the website, I was certainly intrigued. Chipboard kits for creating your own post-bound albums and card keepers sounded like something I would enjoy.

Jen Caputo, the owner of Caputo’s Kits, was generous in shipping her album kits to the review team. I received two post-bound albums, sized 8” X 8” and 6” X 6”, and a ring bound card keeper kit. I really enjoy the fact that all three of these kits include precision cut covers in very thick, sturdy chipboard. Having everything included that it takes to make the albums is a great convenience.

I started with the card keeper kit. The website states that the Card Keeper album is the “perfect storage solution for your hand-made cards”. Each kit includes two thick chipboard covers, ten page protectors, and two binding rings. The page protectors included are indeed wonderful for storing A2 sized cards. The interior of the page protectors, that the cards slip into, measure 4.47” X 5.69”. The covers of the album measure 5.5” X 6.25”, and the rings that bind the album are 2.25” in diameter.

This little album was so fun the put together. So quick and easy, I enjoyed every bit of putting this together. I brushed Adhesive Tech PVA glue onto the chipboard cover, added the patterned paper on top, and used my brayer to make sure that there were not any bubbles or wrinkles underneath the patterned paper. I love the way that this little card keeper album turned out, and plan on keeping hand-made cards that I receive in it.

Title: Card-Keeper Front
Products used: Chipboard Album Kit (Caputo’s Kits)
Patterned Paper (Scenic Route)
Ribbon (Variety)
Chipboard Alphabet (Heidi Swapp)
Ghost Flower & Jewel (Heidi Swapp)
Scrap Tape & Photo Corner (Heidi Swapp)
Journaling card (Jenni Bowlin Kit)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech A Fine Line PVA Glue & Permanent Glue Runner)


Title: Card-Keeper Back:
Products used: Chipboard Album Kit (Caputo’s Kits)
Patterned Paper (Scenic Route)
Ribbon (Variety)
Scrap Tape (Heidi Swapp)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech A Fine Line PVA Glue & Permanent Glue Runner)

At first, when I opened the Post-Bound Album kit, I was a little confused as to how to put the album together. There were no instructions included in my kit. I quickly visited the Caputo’s kits website, and was able to view step-by-step instructions for completing the album. I appreciate the pictures on the site, and the well written instructions as well. A print-out of these instructions are included in any new customer’s order, for your convenience.

I decided to complete the cover of the 6” X 6” Post Bound Album kit next. Included in this kit are acid-free book board covers and spines, aluminum screw posts, and ten page protectors. After seeing the instructions, I jumped in and started my album. I was surprised and how simple completing the covers of this album really is, as I was expecting much more difficulty as it definitely looks like an album that takes a great deal of effort to create. I decided to make my album in the “style” of Heidi Swapp, so I “scraplifted” a card design that I had seen on the Heidi Swapp website. Again, I am very pleased with the way my album turned out.

Title: Love Album
Products used: Chipboard Album Kit (Caputo’s Kits)
Patterned Paper (Heidi Swapp)
Cardstock (Prism Papers)
Stamp (Heidi Swapp)
Flower (Heidi Swapp)
Large Brad, Chipboard shape (Bazzill Basics)
Paint (Making Memories)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech A Fine Line PVA Glue & Permanent Glue Runner)

I was shocked by the ease in which these albums went together for me. It took me very little time to complete either of the albums, and I am very impressed with the results. I definitely plan to use my remaining 8” X 8” Post Bound Caputo’s Kit to make another album to put my pages in, and to order more of these kits for future products. Making these books is definitely addicting, because it is so easy to do and the outcome is so satisfying. I recommend the kits for anyone, book-maker or scrapbooker, who enjoys having custom looking albums for gifts or for themselves.

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Review by Eli

Caputo’s Kits; The cake mix of album creation!

There’s a new trend in cooking…embellishing cake mixes or revving up jarred sauce—making a pre-made element, something fabulous. The scrapbooking industry is also beginning to show this trend. Jen Caputo created Caputo’s Kits to make it easy for crafters who would like to create/embellish their own albums. It’s not exactly from scratch but it is the next best thing.

Caputo offers several sizes and each kit includes the following: a front and back chipboard cover, pocket page protectors and an element to keep it all together, such as rings or posts. I received a 6" x 6" post bound album, an 8" x 8" post bound album and a card keeper kit.

I was so excited when I received the card keeper kit. The pocket pages fit A2 cards and have ring closures. I needed something like this to store hand-made cards. The kit comes with the elements in a Ziploc bag and a page with the kit name and website address. This kit was intuitive to put together. I chose papers, covered the album and embellished it. I used eyelets to fit into the album holes and put it all together with the large binder rings. Now all that’s left is to fill it with cards. What fun.

Title: Creativity/Art
Products used: Card Keeper Kit (Caputo’s Kits)
Brown Flower patterned paper (Crate Paper)
Summer Field patterned paper (Rusty Pickle)
Antique Cream Stripes patterned paper (Keeping Memories Alive)
VersaMark Watermark ink (Tsukineko)
Glue Lines (Glue Dots Intl.)
Weathered Wood Distress Ink (Ranger)
Gold Embossing Powder (All Night Media)
Flower clip (The Paper Studio)
Icicle Stickles (Ranger)
Ribbon, Charm, Foam Rubber Stamps
Wizard Dark cardstock (Prism)
Brads (JoAnn’s)
Silver Pen (Creative Memories)
Permanent glue runner (Adhesive Tech)

Next, I decided to use the 6" x 6" post bound album to create a book to put my fridge photos in…you know the ones…friends send you them year after year in a lovely Christmas Card. Imagine if they were all in one place. You could really see the growth in the kids.

I was a little intimidated by the post bound album as I don’t typically use them at home, so I didn’t have the first clue how to put them together. I was hoping that basic instructions for the kit would be on the back of the title page. But instead, I found the basic instructions on a sheet included in my order. According to Jen, she will include this sheet with every new customer, which I think is perfect. They are also found on her website . The instruction sheet was easy to understand and the pictures were quite helpful. I was no longer intimidated and was ready to create my album. I chose coordinating papers, followed the instructions to make the album covers, embellished them and put it together.

Now, where did I put that stack of fridge photos…

Title: Fridge Fun
Products used: 6" x 6" Post Bound Album Kit (Caputo’s Kits)
Yellow dots, blue squares and strips patterned papers (Provo Craft)
Flowers paper (Me and My Big Ideas)
Blue Swirls paper
Ribbons (Michael’s)
Tag letters (Colorbok)
Mini brads (ScrapWorks)
Blue pen (Sharpie)
Embellishabilities flower and large brad (Hot off the Press)
Glue Dots (Glue Dots Intl.)
VersaColor Imperial Blue ink (Tsukineko)
PVA Glue and Permanent glue runner (Adhesive Tech)

Conclusion: I really enjoyed working with these kits. All the “ingredients” for each basic album is included, and I like that. It would be helpful to have the metal binding parts (rings or post bound) in a small Ziploc so they would stay together and not ding the covers. I like that additional pages can be added to the albums and packs of them can be purchased on the site. If you are looking to create a specialized album, a gift for someone dear or just want to try this kind of craft, Caputo’s Kits is a great place to start. So get cooking, I mean, crafting! Recommended.

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