Creating Keepsakes' March/April 2012 giveaway!

The March/April 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine is out!

 
This fabulous issue includes 286 must-try scrapbooking ideas, including:

• new style inspiration for layouts about your family,
• 8 cool techniques to help you "leap ahead" in your scrapbooking,
• clever ideas to scrapbook baby photos (taken recently or not),
• 5 new uses for pigment powder,
• heartwarming ways to celebrate friendship,
• easy-peasy scraplifting tips,
• and more.

Here's a layout I created for this issue:

Copyright Creative Crafts Group.  Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

I made the flowers out of Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine paper that I colored with pigment powders:

 
First I used my Slice to cut flowers from glassine paper.  I crumpled each flower slightly and applied pigment powders with a cotton swab (you can also use a paintbrush). I then used a heat gun on each flower to set the pigment powder.  Last, I layered the flowers and added a bit of Bazzill bling to the center of each layered flower.  Credit:  I saw this technique done on Tim Holtz' blog

You can find a copy of the March/April issue at your local newsstand/bookstore, or you can purchase a copy of the issue from CK's online store:  March/April 2012 issue.  Here's a link to the online extras so you can find the contests, downloads, and techniques that compliment this issue: March/April online extras.

Guess what? The generous people at Creating Keepsakes are allowing me to give away a copy of this issue.  To be entered to win, simply leave a comment here before Sunday night.  I'll announce the winner next week.  But wait, there are a handful of other bloggers who are also giving away a copy of this issue on their blogs.  Go visit the blogs below and leave a comment for more chances to win!

Linda Barber: http://milesofpaper.blogspot.com/
Scrapbook Society: http://www.lollipopscards.com/
Mou Saha: http://collagecollagecollage.blogspot.com/
Cindy Tobey: http://cindytobey.blogspot.com/
Laina Lamb: http://lifeonthelamb.blogspot.com/

Good luck!

Scrapbooking From the Inside Out - Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Scrapbooking From the Inside Out ("SFTIO") Blog Hop! If you are just beginning at my blog, make sure you go back and start at Melissa's blog.  As mentioned in my last blog post,  I have the pleasure of being the Guest Designer at SFTIO this month.  The topic for March is "Grace", and the monthly kit is just as "graceful" and beautiful as can be!  Here's one of the layouts I created with the kit:

I wrote about how proud I am of my girls and the respectful way they behave around other people -- with grace and good manners.

Now if only they acted that way all the time at home.  You moms all know what I'm talking about . . . but we won't get into that now. ;-)

Here's a look a SFTIO's beautiful GRACE kit:

And now is your chance to win the GRACE kit!!  Simply leave a comment here by 6:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time this Saturday and tell me how you define the word "grace".  Each blog you visit and leave a comment on gives you another chance to win (though only one kit will be given away). 

To continue on the Blog Hop, just head on over to Bonita's blog!

Scrapbooking From the Inside Out - Guest Designer

I'm honored to be the Guest Designer at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out this month!  The topic this month is "GRACE", and the gorgeous monthly kit really epitomizes the word.  The philosophy at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out is that it's important for us to sometimes tell our own stories on our scrapbook pages. This was a great exercise for me because I rarely scrapbook about myself.

Here's one of the layouts I created with the Grace kit.  I did some fussy cutting with the lovely Pink Paislee  papers. 

The story behind this layout:  A few years ago I read an interview with an actress and she talked about the importance of living her live with "grace". I had to stop and think about what this means in general, and more specifically, what it means for me personally. To me, living my life with grace means treating other people with gentleness and kindness. This has always been one of the rules I live by, and it's a value that I have tried to instil in my children since an early age. Of course I'm not always perfect, but I do strive to put the "kindness vibes" out there in the world.

I used a dinner plate to trace a circle onto the cardstock, then I painted the circle with gesso. While the gesso was still wet, I sprinkled on some white glitter. Next I cut out the center squares of the Pink Paislee trellis paper. I cut a circle out of the trellis paper and adhered it to the gesso/glitter circle with 3D adhesive. As a final touch, I added Viva pearl pen dots to the trellis design.

I'll be sharing the rest of my layouts and a card in the coming days.  Be sure to come back on Friday, March 9th, because I'll be joining the Scrapbooking From the Inside Out Design Team for a fun blog hop!

Prima: Ruby Violet

Have you seen Prima's new(ish) Ruby Violet collection?  This whimsical collection is very different from Prima's usual style, but I love this one too!  The papers and embellishments are fun and colorful.  Here's a Ruby Violet layout I made featuring my girls in the pool:

Here's a close-up of the patchwork:

The Ruby Violet collection includes an array of funky trinkets that are great for making jewelry and altered projects.  Here are a few pieces of jewelry I made:

 

Fun stuff, that Ruby Violet!

Fun with stitching

I love to stitch on my scrapbook pages -- both by hand and by sewing machine.  Unfortunately, my sewing machine and I have been having a few little tiffs lately and there's been a lot of "tension" (or lack thereof).  I blame it on that darn bobbin!  She's a little troublemaker.  Thankfully, I think I figured out the problem and my sewing machine has been working fine lately, knock on wood. 

My sewing machine is actually one of my best bargain finds.  It's a heavy duty Singer sewing machine that I bought at a garage sale about 6 years ago for only $10.  And it worked perfectly from the get-go!  I've used it to sew on many scrapbook pages over the years.  That Singer sewing machine of mine is a great old workhorse!

When I have the time, I like to handstitch on my layouts.  Here's a layout I created for Creating Keepsakes' Fabric and Notions special issue. 

As seen in Creating Keepsakes magazine.  Copyright Creative Crafts Group.  Published with prior permission from the publisher.

I did a basic cross stitch, which is a decorative stitch made by two bisecting diagonal stitches.  I cross-stitched using three different materials: yarn, embroidery thread and ribbon. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine's Day card and chocolate candy box

Happy Valentine's Day!  I have a few V-Day projects to share today.  First up is a little Valentine using some of Prima's new products. The Prima Design Team members all participated in "go green" challenge and we all made cards using Prima packaging as the base.  Here is mine:

The sentiments in the background come on Prima's new packaging.   To make the damask hearts, I stamped on a transparency using Prima's damask stamp (from a few releases ago), then I added black embossing powder and heat embossed it.  I cut out heart shapes and backed them with red cardstock.   I crocheted around the edge of the card for good measure.  You can see the other DT members' gorgeous Valentine cards on the Prima blog.

I don't usually re-post projects I've already shared, but I just couldn't resist sharing my little Valentine's candy box from last year.   If you've been following my blog for a year or more, than you might remember this chocolate box I made:

Hungry? How about a little peak inside . . .

They look good enough to eat, don't they?  Not so fast!   I made these scrumptious looking chocolates out of Fimo polymer clay (the beads are the giveaway).

But here's the BEST part.  My jester husband saw the finished project and decided to play a little joke.  When I was in the other room, he snuck into my scrap room and found my Fimo clay.  He made his own little piece of "chocolate", complete with a "bite" taken out of it (he used the handle of a fork to make the teeth marks).  Then he replaced one of the the chocolates in my candy box with the one he made.  So imagine my surprise when I opened up the box to photograph it and saw a half eaten chocolate!!

Funny man, that hubby of mine!   I think I'll keep it this way.

And here's the Valentine's chocolate candies I made the year before (again, these are made from polymer clay).  I still get hungry looking at them!

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Nothing Better

Today is a big day for my daughter.  She's getting braces!   She's only 8 1/2 years old and I know it seems pretty young for braces, but that's the way they occasionally do it now: Phase 1 at a young age and then Phase 2 as a young teenager (but for less time).   Luckily she's very excited about it.  She even created a little countdown calendar four weeks ago when we first scheduled the appointment.  She's been excitedly marking off each day with an "X".   As a special treat I packed Skittles and Dots gumdrops in her lunchbox today since she will no longer be able to eat these things when she has braces.  

Here's a layout I made for Prima's CHA booth using the fun and whimsical Doodle Deux line.  It's a little more "clean and simple" than my typical scrapbook pages.  It features pictures of me kissing and cuddling with my little girly.  Seriously -- there's nothing better in the world than mommy-daughter cuddles!

Lately I've really been into using circles on my layouts.  For this page I cut out various sizes of circles and then stitched around them.  Then I used lots of 3D adhesive to pop up the top layer of cardstock and give the page some dimension.

Thanks for stopping by!

CHA trends and a giveaway on Creating Keepsakes' blog

In my last post I wrote about some of the product trends I noticed at CHA (Craft and Hobby Assocation tradeshow).  You can see examples of five hot new trends on Creating Keepsakes' blog:  CHA Trends.  Best of all, CK is doing a GIVEAWAY of an assortment of prizes from each of their five "trends" categories.  Leave a comment on Creating Keepsakes' Creating Keepsakes' "CHA Trends and Giveaway" post (not on my blog) before this Thursday, February 9th for a chance to win. 

Some of the hot trends are flags, tickets and wood.  These adorable new embellishments by Prima combine all three of these trends:

Also, be sure and check out Creating Keepsake's "Cute Booth Tour" videos where you can get a little peak at some of the creatively-decorated booths at CHA.  I had the pleasure of doing a quick little video tour of Prima's CHA booth.

Have a great week!

I'm back from CHA 2012 . . . what a great show!

I just spent the last few days at CHA 2012, and what a fabulous show it was!  There are so many fantastic new scrapbooking products coming out.  In past years I wasn't always thrilled with the trends I saw (case in point: mustaches and owls), but I love a lot of the new trends I saw this time around.  Some of my favorites:  wood pieces of every kind (buttons, banners, tickets, mini shapes, etc.), twine, all kinds of fun little tags, frames and bits and pieces.  I also noticed a lot of vintage paper lines with beautiful feminine pastel colors like soft teal, blue, green and pink -- my favorite combo!   Decorative tape (aka washi tape) was everywhere.  I haven't quite caught the washi tape bug yet, but maybe I'll give it a try in 2012. 

There are also some new tools I must have.  One of them is Imaginisce's new I-Magicut Ribbon Cutter that cuts ribbon and seals the end in one quick step.  I love the sealing feature!  I'm always adding a tiny line of Stickles or glue to the ends of my ribbon to keep them from fraying, but that can get messy.  This tool solves the problem!   The other thing on my "must have" list are Martha Stewart's new Silicone molds.  I like the idea of being able to make my own frames, flourishes, and more.

But of course, the creme de la creme of the show was the Prima booth.  OH ME, OH MY!!!  As I mentioned in my last post, Prima has so many beautiful new products coming out.  And the design team projects were jaw-droppingly gorgeous!  I feel honored and humbled to be part of that amazingly talented group of women.  I know Prima will be posting pictures of their CHA booth on the Prima blog soon, so be sure and take a little look-see.

Here is a layout I created using the adorable new Yuki collection:

I popped up the center photo/paper/flower square with multiple layers of pop dots, then I framed it with mounds of soft gauze that I partially colored with blue spray ink to mimic the look of the ocean water. 

If you're a scrapper, you've probably seen pictures of all the new 2012 CHA products from the various manufacturers.  What are your favorites?  Please leave a comment and tell me!

New Prima for Winter CHA

Prima has done it again!  Just wait until you see all the gorgeous new paper collections, flowers and other goodies they are introducing at CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) tomorrow.  If you haven't checked out the Prima blog yet, be sure to pop over there to see the sneaks peaks and all the beautiful projects created by my fellow design team members.

Now I can start sharing some of the projects I've been working on for Prima's CHA booth.  I created this layout with the new En Francais collection:

Prima products used:

843892 En Francais “Memoire”
843885 En Francais “Billettes”
556037 Lucerne En Francais
556020 Essentials Petals En Francais
558123 Cherise white
554767 Resist canvas
558338 Primmer’s Peanut
551360 SIIC
550097 Alphabet stickers

Have a wonderful weekend!

Queen & Co.

I had the  pleasure of creating some scrapbook pages for Queen & Co.'s booth at Winter CHA.   Queen & Co. has some fun new products coming out, including decorative tape (aka washi tape), twine, and beautiful sparkly bling.  I got to play with the Queen, Girl, Soccer and Disney themed collections.  Here are some of the layouts I created:

I'll be sharing more CHA projects in the coming days!

Shadow Box

It's been quite a scrapbooking worldwind lately.  I've been working on many, many fun projects for Creating Keepsakes and CHA.  I think I set a new record for myself.  In a 4 or 5 week period I completed 26 -- yes, 26 -- different projects, which included 16 layouts, 1 altered canvas, 2 necklaces, 1 bracelet, 1 altered teapot, 1 card, 1 ATC, 1 paper doll clothesline, 1 tag, and 1 pair of paper shoes using my shoe template.  This has been quite a feat for a slow "turtle scrapper" like me.  But sleep is overrated, right?  Now I'm looking forward to a taking a little scrapping break. 

Before I start posting some of these newly created projects, here's something I made a little while back for the Prima blog.  It's a "shadow box" layout made with layers of cardstock.  I love to create projects with a rainbow of color.  Bright, vibrant ROYGBIV colors make me very happy! 

I cut squares from a sheet of Prima's Screenprinted Canvas and then I colored them with Ranger alcohol inks. I used several sheets of white cardstock to create the dimensional shadow box effect.  I simply cut out the center of each sheet in graduated steps, then I separated the layers with extra thick foam adhesive.  Yep, this thick puppy is going on the wall rather than in a page protector.

Prima products:
920722 Screenprinted Canvas
890711 Shabby Chic Treasures
552718 Sherwood Rose Cottage flowers
548124 Floret Collection
544393 Arco Iris
552978 Gillian Lilac
536350 Clear Stamp
551407 Say it in Crystals
548193 Dollhouse Collection

Thanks for stopping by!

CK giveaway winner and Prima goodies

First of all, I want to announce the winner of last week's giveway for Creating Keepsakes' newest special issue:  Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season.   The random number generator picked comment number 1, which was posted by Crie Artezzanato (Val Rodriques).  Congrats Val!!  I see you posted your email address (thank you!), so I'll contact you to get your mailing address.

Prima is introducing their new collections and flowers for Winter CHA, and WOW, they're gorgeous!!  Check out the Prima blog for sneaks of the new products.

I've been busy, busy, busy working on projects for CHA and I'll be able to start showing them here shortly.  But in the meantime, here are a couple Prima projects I did a little while back.  This layout features my precious little kitty, Lucy.  I took these pictures of her when she was just 8 weeks old.  She's so much bigger now at 10 months old.  Isn't she adorable??

I used Ranger alcohol ink to color the Prima Resist Canvas and also the Reflections antique mirrored pieces.  I added tiny beads of Ranger Liquid Pearls to outline my stitched circles.

This is a card I made for my daughter for her last birthday.  Every year on my daughters' birthdays I make them a special card and I write a very long note inside -- all about who they are at that age, how much I love them, etc. 

I'll be sharing a lot more Prima projects in the coming weeks!

New Creating Keepsakes Special Issue and...of course...a giveaway!!

Creating Keepsakes' newest special issue is out:  Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season.  It's a great resource for your year-round scrapbooking.

Showcasing hundreds of scrapbooking ideas to inspire you throughout the seasons, this new special issue from Creating Keepsakes is a must-have resource for your year-round scrapbooking. With plenty of 2-page layout ideas to help you scrapbook more photos in less time, color combinations and patterns to refresh your creativity, season-specifictips for better photo taking, and more, you'll reach for Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season again and again.  You can purchase a copy of this issue here.  

As usual, I have a copy of this special issue to give away to one lucky blog reader.  Just leave a comment here before Sunday night and tell me your favorite season.  Personally, I'm partial to summer.  I'll announce the winner next week! 

Favorite layouts from 2011

2011 has come to an end and 2012 is off to a roaring start.  Looking back, I have to say that 2011 was a very good year.  My family was healthy and happy, my girls progressed in all areas of their lives (school, friends, mastering new skills, etc.), and we welcomed two loving kitties into our household (they've brought us so much joy!).  Also, I made some wonderful new friends in 2011 -- some real life friends here in Southern California and some online scrapping friends from all over the world.  I'm grateful that this hobby has brought these sweet new friends into my life.  In 2012, I reduced my scrapbooking commitments down to a manageable load, so I was able to enjoy more free, non-scrapping time.  I had the honor and privilege of designing for Creating Keepsakes Magazine and Prima throughout the year -- my two biggest scrapbooking "dream" teams. I'm filled with gratitude for all the gifts of 2011.

I'll jump on the bandwagon and post my favorite layouts and projects from 2011.  

Thank you for indulging me!  If you posted a list of your personal favorite projects from 2011, please include a note/link in the comments.  I would love to check out your beautiful work!

I wish you all a very healthy and happy 2012!!