Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

Freebie Friday - Scenic Route

Happy Friday blog readers!  It was a sad day several weeks ago when one of our favourite companies announced they were closing their doors. 

Scenic Route was a long time partner of Scrapbook & Cards Today and there is no doubt we will miss Sarah’s wonderful designs.  I have several layouts in my album with Scenic Route chipboard alphas and many arrows and could not resist placing just a “little” last order with them!  It arrived on Monday and since you are all such loyal readers, I wanted to share some of my favourites with you! 

This week we have a fantastic prize package consisting of an Ashville collection kit (one of my all time favourite Scenic Route lines), a chipboard alphabet, a scallop mini album and a surprise too!  This is one cool prize package!

   

All you have to do to win this prize is leave a comment below about Scenic Route – how much you have enjoyed working with their products, wishing them well in their next chapter, or let them know what your favourite all time Scenic Route product was!  The winner of this package will be randomly chosen at 6:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 19.  Good luck!

Oh yes, and just because I like to enable all my close friends, there is still some available in their store at www.scenicroutepaper.com!  Have a great weekend!

Last week we asked you about what you would like to see, what you would like to see more of or even what designer you might like to know better to win a one year subscription to Scrapbook & Cards Today. This is what our winner Suz said:

I'd like to see more readers ideas - a variety of crafters really inspires me (edited)

Posted by: Suz | November 06, 2009 at 06:58 PM

Congrats Suz!  Allison will email you in the next 24-48 hours for all of your mailing details. Good luck this week everyone!

Reader's Submission: Ellen Sosnoski

Let's celebrate autumn today with Ellen Sosnoski!  Ellen submitted this adorable acorn album for our fall issue and we just had to share it with you today!  Here's Ellen's beautiful creation:

Here's a Story About....

by Ellen Sosnoski

 

 

 

 

supplies: acorn album, Twisted Cherry designs;  patterned paper, Kaisercraft;  alphabets, My Little Shoebox;  chipboard shapes, Sassafras Lass;  rub-ons, Hambly;  wooden embellishments, Karen Foster;  stamp, Daisy Bucket;  ink, Stampin' Up!

Today is the last day to leave a comment to win a one year magazine subscription to Scrapbook & Cards Today.  You will win a full year of magazines that are delivered straight to your door starting with our winter issue being revealed in only 4 weeks!!!  To win a subscription of your own, visit our Freebie Friday giveaway here.  Good luck!

Don't forget to follow us on our Facebook page and also on Twitter!

Design Team Project: Sherry Steveson

Sherry Steveson is back again with us today and she's going to talk about making your own faux die-cut images.  You won't want to miss this because it's such a simple technique!  Here's Sherry with her project:

This layout captures the fun and personality of the girls in this photo by using bright, colorful patterns and colors and using lots of circles to give the page energy. One of my favorite things to do is take a rub-on and transfer it to cardstock and carefully cut around the shape. Using a butterfly rub-on, I cut it out and bent the wings so that they looked like they were 'lifted' off the page. This is a wonderful way to create your own die cut shapes on your page.
 

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
by Sherry Steveson

supplies: cardstock, Bazzill;  patterned papers, W R Memories, American Crafts, Sassafrass;  rub-ons, Urban Lily, Pink Paislee;  letter stickers, American Crafts, Making Memories;  label sticker, Luxe;  pen, American Crafts.

Here's a close up of my butterflies:

Thank you Sherry for joining us this week! 

3t's with Virginia Nebel

With the month of December fast approaching, our 3t's designer Virginia Nebel thought she would share an AMAZING advent calendar project with you today!  This just makes me want to raid my Christmas patterned paper stash and have fun with my kids making this project.  Here's Virginia with her adorable project:

Celebrate the holiday season by making your own countdown calendar.  Get ready to dig up all those pretty pattern papers and embellishments in your stash.  This project is fabulous to make with all the ‘lil helpers at home too.   We are going to make 50 little boxes using a traditional origami technique.   The tools you will need are a ruler, pencil, and a bone folder.

Start with 25 pattern paper squares measuring 5 x 5 inches each (best to use double sided papers).
 

 

Step 1.  With your ruler mark the center of the square by intersecting lines from opposite diagonals.
 
Step 2.  Fold in each corner to the center.
 
Step 3.  Open up , fold in each corner to the top line created in the previous step.
 
Step 4 and 5.  Open up again, refer to photo, choose two opposite ends and cut 2 lines from each end into the points which will become the outside corners of your box.

Step 6.  Fold in bottom and top as shown, squeeze in the sides at the same time.
 
Step 7.  Flip up side flaps and tuck into center.
 
Step 8.  Voila, you’ve just created a little box.  Use a bone folder and run along the creases to square up the box. Repeat above steps for remaining boxes.

I used squares 1/8 inch smaller (ie. 4 7/8 x 4 7/8 inches).  Depending on the thickness of your paper you may need to adjust accordingly.  Experiment first making sure the bottom fits snugly under the top before cutting out all the bottom squares.
 
To make bottoms for the boxes, repeat the folding technique but start with a smaller a square measuring 4 7/8 x 4 7/8 inches.
 

You’ve just made a ton of little boxes, yeah!  Now just one more box base to make and you are ready to decorate.  Cut a 11 ¼ x 11 ¼ inch square cardboard and score at 1 inch in from all sides.  Notch out the corners and fold sides up and glue the corners.  Cut 1 inch paper paper strips and decorate the sides.  (If you want to have decorated edges like scallops on my example, then start with 1 ½ strips and trim down to fit).
 
Get creative and decorate, most of all have fun filling the boxes with goodies!  My countdown calendar reflects all things my daughter loves to collect-- candy, sweets, buttons, and little erasers.
 

 

Didn't I tell you Virginia's project was AMAZING!   You can check out more Virginia's work on her crafting blog, http://scrapalicious-creative.blogspot.com/

Designer Challenge: Sherry Steveson

Happy Monday everyone!  We hope that you had a great weekend and are ready for a fun filled week of lots of inspiring projects.  This week we have a special guest with us, Sherry Steveson!  Sherry will be sharing a challenge with us today and a project with us on Wednesday.  Let's learn a little bit more about our extremely talented guest:

 

Sherry Steveson has been passionate about scrapbooking for over ten years. Finding a hobby that merged her love for photography with her gift of writing, all wrapped up in a creative outlet was the catalyst for a life long devotion. Her work has been published in many of the major scrapbook magazines and idea books and always brings a thrill to her family when they see their faces on the pages of those publications, and she is the author of When Life Gives You Lemons and  The Scrapbook Embellishment Handbook  (Memory Makers Books). She has also found her calling in the world of teaching scrapbooking to others. Sherry currently maintains a blog at www.sherrysteveson.typepad.com . When she isn’t writing, scrapbooking or teaching, she has a very full schedule with her three children and husband’s landscape business and training to run a marathon.

Here is Sherry with her challenge for you:

I just love adding all kinds of texture and interest to my pages.  Adding buttons is a fun and easy way to spruce up a layout or card so today I thought I would show you how to jazz up some buttons!

To add buttons to rub-ons, I collected the buttons and rub-ons that I wanted to use (find rub on images that will fit easily on the button size that you want to use).

I cut out all the rub-ons and set them aside.

I then applied each chosen rub-on to a button and then I rubbed until the entire image is transferred. 

 
*some tips; not every rub on is quite as EASY to rub on to buttons so look for styles that have a higher than average stickiness to make the transfer to the button go more smoothly.

Here's my finished project using the buttons I made:

Thanksgiving; The Best and The Worst
by Sherry Steveson

supplies: patterned paper, chipboard letters, GCD Studios;  letter stickers, GCD Studios, Making Memories;  rub-ons, GCD Studios;  buttons, American Crafts;  pen, American Crafts.

Here is a close up shot of the finished buttons.

Thank you Sherry for joining us today!  We can't wait to see what you have in store for Wednesday!

Freebie Friday - Big Creatopia Announcement & Win A Subscription!

Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU for the hundreds of people that left comments and sent emails for our big Xyron “Creatopia” giveaway.  How we wish we had one for everyone as this is one incredible machine!  (Check out Beth Kingston’s great videos at xyron.com)   Your reasons for winning a Creatopia were funny, heartfelt and wonderful to read – we really had so much fun reading them all.  After putting all the email and blog comments together and having my daughter Erica reach in to pull one out, the winner is … are you ready for it … cross your fingers … Barbara Matthews! 

Here is her comment:

Wow, Wow, Wow,  what a giveaway.  It would be absolutely awesome to win the Xyron.  As a matter fact, I have been searching their product line recently and I can't believe the awesome tools that they have in their product line up.  I would love to win the Creatopia.  Even the name sounds awesome... "imagine the possibilities" is the phrase that comes to mind when saying the word Creatopia!  One machine that you can cut, emboss, adheres and laminates materials and up to 12" wide...  all I can say is wow.  OMG, the cards that I could make.  Thanks to Xyron and thanks to Scrapbook & Cards for the opportunity to win this awesome tool!   Barbara Matthews

For those of you who did not win … I’ve got a little secret!  Make sure to check out this blog for our “12 days of holiday giving” starting on December 12th!  Many wonderful surprises are in store for all our blog readers!

And here are the winners of our Piggy Tales prize and the Daisy Bucket Little Monster collection ...

Our winner of the Piggy Tales prize is Andrea MacDonald and she says:

I have many fond memories of Halloween. I love celebrating it. My most memorable one is just last year when my daughter went trick or treating for the first time. She was a little unsure of going to peoples houses but when she got a handful of candy she was convinced this was the best thing ever. I can't wait for tomorrow night.

Posted by: Andrea MacDonald | October 30, 2009 at 11:36 AM

Our winner of the Daisy Bucket Little Monster collection is Melissa and she says:

This year brought my new favorite halloween memory. My husband and I took our son out trick or treating for the first time. My son loved it and smiled the whole time and all the neighbors loved seeing him in his costume!

Posted by: Melissa | November 03, 2009 at 01:10 PM

Last but not least … on to THIS week’s giveaway!  Drum roll please … your very own subscription to Scrapbook & Cards Today starting with our winter issue due in stores on December 10!  As we are planning our editorial line up for 2010, we would love to know more of what you would like to see amongst our pages. 

Leave us a comment below about what you would like to see, what you would like to see more of or even what designer you might like to know better. 

You have until next Thursday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m. EST to leave your comment below!  Good luck!

Catherine

btw… don’t want to miss what is going on with Scrapbook & Cards Today?  Why don’t you join our Facebook Fan Page or follow us on Twitter! 

Reader's Submission: Paula Gilarde

This week I wanted to showcase something a little different.  I am always a little intimidated by mini albums but this gorgeous one by Paula Gilarde just makes me want to pull out all my travel photos and create like mad!  Here are all the wonderful pages of Paula's creation:

10 Days in Ireland
by Paula Gilarde

 

 

supplies: chipboard album, Maya Road;  patterned papers, gaffer tape, 7Gypsies;  chipboard numbers, alphabet stickers, BasicGrey;  tiny alpha stickers, Making Memories;  sheet labels, Avery;  tape, Cover-up;  other, Post it labeling.

Today's the last day to ensure you have your comments to win one of our 3 fabulous Freebie Friday giveaways.  We have our Halloween giveaways from Piggy Tales and Daisy Buckets for two lucky winners and our Creatopia by Xyron giveaway too!  Our 3 winners will be announced tomorrow.  Good luck!

 

Design Team Project: Summer Fullerton

Summer Fullerton is here with us to take to talk about using all those fun pieces of memorabilia that we collect.  Here is Summer with her great tips on using these pieces on our layouts:

There are many ways to include memorabilia on your layouts.  Here are several layouts that show how I have incorporated memorabilia on to my scrapbook pages.

In this layout I used an original classroom assignment by my son directly on my layout. It not only serves as the grounding point for my layout but the journaling as well.

Space Saving Tip: create a pocket for school work and layer photos on top.

Your Story
by Summer Fullerton

supplies: cardstock, Bazzill; patterned Paper, AtoZ Essentials, Making Memories; stamp, Hero Arts; ink, Colorbox; rub-on, Hambly; chipboard alphabets, Scenic Route; stickers, Creative Imaginations; chipboard, American Crafts; misc., brads. 

This layout features original artwork from my daughter. Her original drawings didn’t fit on my layout so I scanned in her art and re-sized it to fit my project. This technique also works for those who are concerned about using acid free items on their layouts. 

Art Draw Sponge Bob
by Summer Fullerton

supplies: cardstock, Bazzill;  alphabets, American Crafts, Heidi Swapp; brads, Bazzill; patterned paper, KI Memories; metal accents, Rob and Bob Studio; misc., staples.

Other Ideas for including memorabilia on layouts include, saving tags from newly purchased school clothes, use the program from a play as background paper then layer photos directly on top, create pockets to include ticket stubs from sporting events. I like to keep a folder for my non photo items that I might want to someday include on a layout. The pieces you save can often make a layout even without photos. Let your imagination take the reins and the possibilities can be endless.

3t's with Allison Cope

Happy Tuesday everyone!  With everyone beginning the tough task of thinking about their holiday shopping and gift giving ideas, you might want to take a gander at this cute project idea by Allison Cope.  Here's Allison to teach us how she made this cute project:

Today I thought I would share a fun project showing you how to make some cute little back packs.  I found a fabulous template by Mary Armia on Splitcoaststampers to use as the base for this project. 

Here’s the simple steps to create a cute little back pack creation of your very own:

Print and cut out the template pieces using regular paper.

Trace each template shape onto the patterned papers or cardstock of your choice.  I chose a white cardstock for my back pack bases which allowed me to stamp images all over my cardstock.

For my first back pack I grabbed my “Wishing You Sunshine” stamp set and went to town stamping all over my pieces of cardstock.

Once I had stamped and coloured all my images in, I scored and folded my cardstock according to the details on each template piece.  I add my eyelets and threaded my ribbon straps and the adhered all of my pieces together to create my mini back pack.

Here’s my end result….

supplies:  cardstock, Prism;  stamps, myStamp BOX;  eyelets, Making Memories; ribbon, Esprit;  magnetic closure, BasicGrey;  ink, Stampin' Up!, Copic;  adhesive, 3M, Glue Dots.

And here’s a photo of the back of my creation….

I thought one of these little back packs would make a great gift for a sick friend.  So I bought a fuzzy little teddy bear, added some goodies to my back pack with a small get well soon card in the front pocket…

A simple but cute present for an ill friend!

Since Christmas is just around the corner, I thought a Christmas themed back pack was in order as well!

So I grabbed my “Hohoho” stamp set and made a second little back pack with a few modifications.  Here’s my final creation….

supplies:  cardstock, Bazzill;  stamps, myStamp BOX;  eyelets, Making Memories;  glitter, Stickles by Ranger; patterned paper, BasicGrey;  ink, Stampin' Up!, Memento, Copic;  adhesive, 3M, SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L; other, Liquid Applique.

Instead of putting on a front pocket, I left it off and put a fun Santa Claus stamped image on an oval.  The flap from the top tucks under the raised oval to hold the flap closed on the top.  I can totally picture creating these as a fun way to send a friend a gift card!

I hope you have enjoyed my project today!  Have a great Tuesday!

Designer Challenge Monday - Kathy Thompson Laffoley

Happy Monday everyone!  We hope that you had a spooktacular weekend and enjoyed greeting all the creatures that knocked on your door and walked down your street!  We hope that you had lots of fun photo opportunities and captured lots of great snapshots of all your Halloween fun!  Kathy Thompson Laffoley is back with us to share some fun Photoshop tips and tricks for us today.  Here's Kathy with her photo editing technique:

Hey everyone! A bit of Photoshop (PS) fun for you this Monday morning!

This is a fun effect that’s easy to create and can really add to your photos – perfect to try on some of those hauntingly great photos some of you no doubt captured last week for Halloween!!

Before we start, I just want to say that in PS there are a hundred different ways to do things but here's what works for me. It may seem a bit confusing at first but after a few tries you'll be whipping through it!

OK, let’s get started!

1. Open your photo, make your changes, sharpen, B&W, etc.

2. flatten your layers

3. crop to whatever size you want, making sure your resolution is at least 300

4. press "D" to make sure your default colours are set (black on top, white on the bottom)

5. go to layer, new, layer, ok

6. alt, backspace - this should fill your photo with black

7. press M to select your marquee tool (rectangular)

8. with your rectangular marquee tool selected, draw a rectangle inside your photo, you should see a white dotted line. I usually go 1" inside my photo.

9. go up to select, feather, enter 170 pixels, and hit OK - you rectangle should now look kind of sloppy with rounded corners?

10. hit backspace

11. You should now see your photo with a darkened edge

12. click outside of your photo to deselect or click Ctrl D

13. Because we created the vignette on a separate layer, in the layers palette, play with the opacity until you have the right amount of vignetting.

14. layer, flatten image

15. save

16. done!

Here are a few examples of photos that I’ve used this editing technique on:

Hope you try it!