Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

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!

Freebie Friday - Happy Halloween!

TGIF everyone!  This week seems to have just flown by.  With witching hour only a day away now, preparations for having all kinds of critters and creatures visit our doorsteps and just getting all the everyday stuff done this week has caused the feeling of a busy week.  Even as an adult, Halloween is still awful fun!

Since we're all preparing for trick or treating, we thought would have a Halloween themed giveaway for you this week.  This week you have a chance to win not one.... but TWO great packages of goodies for TWO lucky winners.  We have a spooktacular package from Piggy Tales called "the bat and the weasels"....

AND we have another critter paper package called "My Little Monsters" by Daisy Buckets....

You can win one of these amazing packages for today's Freebie Friday giveaway by answering the following question;

What is your favourite Halloween memory?

Leave a comment below by Thursday November 5th at 6pm EST for your chance to win one of the two goodie packages.

If you haven't had a chance to leave a comment on last week's giveaway of the amazing Creatopia giveaway by Xyron, please follow this link and leave your comment HERE for a chance to win by Thursday November 5th.

Good luck this week on both Freebie Friday giveaways everyone!

Reader's Submission: Kim Watson

In the spirit of this spooktacular season this week, we thought we would showcase a Halloween themed layout this week.  We couldn't resist showing you this stunning layout by Kim Watson.  We just love all of Kim's wonderful details!

 

Conversations of a Pirate
by Kim Watson

supplies:  patterned paper, Pink Paislee "Twilight collection"; eyelets, brads, American Crafts;  black alphabets, American Crafts Remarks;  ink, Colorbox;  pen, American Crafts;  software, Adobe CS3;  adhesives, Tombo Mono glue, Thermoweb;  tools, Fiskars border punch, Coluzzle for star shapes, Eyelet setter by Making Memories;  other, Dymo labeler, typewriter, sewing machine, embroidery thread.

Don't forget to leave a comment on our Freebie Friday post for a chance to win a incredible Creatopia from Xyron.  Good luck!

Design Team Project: Kathy Thompson Laffoley

Great photography is the starting point to a great scrapbook but what do you do with all those photos that you love but don't know quite what to do with?  Well Kathy Thompson Laffoley is back again today with us and she's going to give us a ingenious solution to that problem.  Here is Kathy with her fabulous tips and project:

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I have been scrapbooking for a number of years now, and I am at the point where I know what I like.  Period.

Try as I might, I have to force myself to scrapbook multi-photo layouts.  The layouts I am drawn to are most definitely clean, linear and timeless. . . and showcase one photo.

Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t take a lot of pictures – I do... hundreds and hundreds! And of those hundreds, I edit a lot of them, because I love a lot of them. But for me, that doesn’t necessarily translate into scrapbooking them.  I’ve taken that pressure off of myself, by allowing myself to scrapbook only the pictures that I really feel need to make it onto a scrapbooking page.

What do I do with the rest of them? That’s easy, they all make it into a photo album.  But sometimes, I have so many favourites I want to do more with them than put them into my photo albums!

In the case of these photos of my daughter Rebecca and her friends at the beach, I scrapbooked the one I wanted to scrapbook:

It's the Climb
by Kathy Thompson Laffoley

And to house the rest, so that she could sit and look through them whenever she wanted, I altered a simple wooden box, picked up at the dollar store!

So now she has her own ‘album’ to go through whenever she wants, and I got to scrapbook the kind of page I like to scrapbook!

My challenge to you is to create a ‘home’ for those photos you love, that don’t make it onto your scrapbook pages!

3t's with Maya Road

Maya Road is here with us today to showcase a use for their amazing Maya Mists with us.  You might want to grab a kleenex to wipe the drool from your chin for this one everyone!  Take it away Maya Road....

Let us show you how to turn simple muslin fabric into some beautiful roses like these:

Supply List:

• Maya Mist (in colors of your choice)
• MR Trinket Buttons (optional)
• 1/2 yard of muslin (this will make you a bunch of roses)
• Scissors
• Quick Dry Fabric Glue (or hot glue gun or needle and thread)
• Box and papers (for spraying/containing the mist)
• Water Spritzer

Instructions:

• Start by cutting a strip of your muslin to about 2" wide (cut a snip at 1 end and tear it down the length to give it a frayed, shabby look)

• Next, fold the strip in half (does not have to be perfect) and tie a simple knot at one end of the strip. This helps to anchor your flower as you create it.

• Next start wrapping the length of the fabric around the center knot you created. You can twist the muslin as you desire. You can make it tighter or looser as needed to create the rose you want. Keep wrapping until you come to the end of the length of fabric (leave a 1" tail). To finish, either use a quick dry fabric glue on the entire back of the rose and tail or you can use needle and thread to hold the rose together. Another tip you can also use a hot glue gun to hold it together quickly.

• Now you are done with the hard part and here comes the fun part - Misting! To start, place your muslin rose into a cardboard box lined with newspapers or paper towels (this will help you contain the Mist as you work)

• Next pick your favorite color of Maya Mist (we used Pink Bubblegum to start) and spray your rose. To help the color spread or tone down the intensity, use a water bottle and spray with water between sprays.

• Next we followed it up with some of our new Lemon Maya mist and sprayed until we got the color we wanted

• Next allow your flower to dry (we leave it outside to help speed up the process in the sunshine). You can also experiment with different color combinations like we did to get roses like this (we used some Blue Raspberry Maya Mist, Cherry Maya Mist and Avocado Maya Mist to get these roses:

• And finally if desired you can add a Trinket Button to the middle of your flower if desired

You are done! How easy is it to create a beautiful muslin flower with some of our Maya Mists to match all of your projects! We hope you have enjoyed this tutorial!

Designer Challenge Monday - Summer Fullerton

Welcome to the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog for this week. We hope that you had a fabulous weekend and are already for lots of fabulous inspiration this week.  We have Summer Fullerton here with us this week sharing some creative projects.  Here's Summer with today's challenge for you:

When I was in high school I made scrapbooks filled with not just photos but memorabilia too. My albums were filled with ticket stubs from concerts, news paper clippings, brochures and more. We are often so focused on the photos we forget all the little extras that can be included on scrapbooks pages. I challenge you to create a layout without photos - centered only around memorabilia.

Swim Team
by Summer Fullerton

My son just swam in his first swim meet last weekend. I was so focused on the process I didn't even consider bringing my camera. All the kids who participated in the meet received time cards from their race. We were told they normally don't give out time cards at regular meets. I really wanted to scrapbook this first for my son so I focused on the time cards as the basis for my layout.

supplies:  cardstock, Bazzill;  patterned Paper, stamp, October Afternoon;  ink, Versafine;  buttons, SEI and Foofala;  brads, BasicGrey;  scallop punch, Stampin' Up!;  stickers, Making Memories;  chipboard alphabets, BasicGrey, Making Memories and Heidi Swapp;  embroidery floss, DMC;  rain dots, Cloud 9/Fiskars;  pen, American Crafts;  font, Typenoksidi;  staples.