Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

Tell the story of your life with Cathy Zielske!

 

How often do you scrapbook about you? Often? Sometimes? Never?

I’ve met a lot of women over the years in this wonderful industry of ours and I’m always surprised at how many do not put their own story on the List of Things to Scrapbook About.

If that’s you or even close to you, I would like to change that. I invite you to join me in a unique story-telling experience in my new workshop, Me: The Abridged Version for Project Life. Yep, we’re going to tell the stories of our lives using the wonderful Project Life system. We’ll use cards. We’ll use photos. We’ll use short little stories. And we’ll do it all in an A to Z encyclopedia format.

 

With me as your guide, we’ll work through inspiration, brainstorming, writing and photo taking and gathering. For four weeks, you’ll immerse yourself in looking at your life in ways that you might not have before. When you’re done, you’ll have an authentic time capsule of your life right here, right now.

And if you’ve already scrapbooked about yourself and think, “I like this idea, Cathy, but I’d rather do one about someone else,” you’re in luck! You can also choose to create a “You: The Abridged Version” or an “Us: The Abridged Version.” All printable cards come with the class.

Also included? All the digital files needed to complete this project digitally, with bonus instruction to walk you through those steps as well.

 

Today, I’m excited to give away two seats to the readers of Scrapbooks & Cards Today. To enter, simply leave a comment and tell me how often you tell your own story. Is it frequently, sometimes, or scrapbook about me? What’s that? We’ll choose two lucky winners on September 30th!  Good luck!

For a quick overview of the workshop, check out my video here.

 

Me: The Abridged Version for Project Life® from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

 ~  Cathy Z

(Hey SCT friends, be sure to check out Cathy's brand new Clean & Simple article in our fall issue HERE!) 

Join us to celebrate our 35th issue with...35 giveaways!

Each issue is special.  Each issue has a story all it's own.  Each issue touches our team in a different way.  Each issue is really special...did I mention that?  Apparently subscribers also feel this issue is special as we have never had the amount of pre-release reader feedback ever.  And it feels SO GREAT!  

This issue also holds a special place in my heart at it marks the release of issue 35!  As I told the team earlier this week my family laughs when we remember the early days of the magazine when I used to say "imagine actually publishing 20 issues" and here we are at 35.  We tripped a couple of times in the early years (the first sentence of my first publisher's letter had a typo, or the time we accidentally published a low resolution image, or the ad we once left out by accident!) but each time we worked harder to create a better issue.  This team I work with is extraordinary, not only in their talents, but in their support.  Each and every day. The advertisers we work with are friends.  They are real people and I've always said, we could not print a single issue without their product and financial support and in turn I ask you to support them and your local stores.  But at the end of the day we do what we do as we love to inspire YOU!  We love to share the latest and greatest in products, trends and design tips.

So friends (you know I love to call you that!) I present to you issue 35!  If you don't have a local store that you can run to at opening today to get it, no worries, you can view/download the issue for FREE right here!  If you love the smell of fresh ink and curling up in a chair with your favourite cup of something, then you can certainly subscribe here.  If you are feeling lucky today, well keep reading as we are GIVING AWAY 35 copies!

Exciting right?  For an opportunity to win a copy of this amazing issue just leave a comment below telling us what your favourite part of this issue is or what you most look forward to in each issue!  BUT WAIT...THERE'S EVEN MORE WAYS TO WIN!  You can also leave a comment...

on Pinterest here

on Instagram here

on Facebook here

This giveaway is open until October 1st!  We will compile all entries from all the above sites and the comments below and will post all the winners here on October 5th!  GOOD LUCK!  

Thank you again for your amazing love for what we do and for sharing in this beautiful path of preserving your memories with us.  To coin Martha, it really is "a good thing."   Now go and enjoy the beautiful issue and if you have any comments you want to share, please send them to me at catherine@scrapbookandcards.com.  I would LOVE to hear from you!

~  Catherine

Publisher, Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine

 

 

"Shake it Up" with Allison Cope!

There is nothing better than receiving a handmade card in the mail!  And the cards that leave a lasting memory in my mind are always interactive in some way for me. Today I’m going to show you a quick way to make a fun SHAKER CARD.  It’s a lot easy that it appears!  Trust me…

All you will need for this project is a few items:

• Some heavy cardstock and/or patterned papers
• A die with a window in it (or you can die cut one in it yourself!)
• Some foam adhesive
• Strong wet adhesive
• Some clear plastic (recycle those pieces of packaging you have tucked away!)
• Some sequins or glitter

Step One:

Die cut your window shape using some cardstock or patterned paper; the sturdier the better.  If your patterned paper is flimsy just back it with a piece of die cut cardstock for the same die.  You will also need a die cut of your shape without the window.  If you are lucky enough and the company includes the backing die cut like “My Favorite Things” did with this smart phone die set than you are good but if not, just trace the outside of your window die cut onto another piece of paper and hand cut it out.

 

Step Two:

Add some strong wet adhesive to the back of your window die cut and then adhere a piece of clear plastic or acetate.  Once it’s dry, trim off any of the excess plastic that is outside the die cut shape.

 

 Step 3:

If you do not have any sequins to add to the inside of your shaker card, hole punched some fun patterned paper circles to add.  Don’t forget to empty the little circle container before you start punching away unless you are looking for an array of different papers and colours in your confetti!

 

 Step 4:

Flip your window die cut face down on your work surface. Now carefully apply your foam adhesive tape so that it completely goes all the way around that window without it showing through the window.  The edges of my die were very thin but I still managed to get it down both sides.  I just trimmed the foam down to fit. Be careful you don’t leave any gaps around your window or your sequins or confetti will escape!

 

Remove the backing from your foam adhesive first. Add the contents of your shaker card carefully to the inside of that foam “bath tub”, being careful not to have them stick to your foam adhesive.  Try using sequins, glitter, punched shapes or beads inside your shaker creation. 

Step 5:

Slowly position your backing paper face down over your front window die cut and confetti and adhere it down.  And voila… you now have a cute little shaker element you can add to a great card!

Now if you do not own any window dies – don’t worry!!!  You can easily cut out a similar shape with a window using your trimmer or use a cut file using your Silhouette digital cutting machine.  

 

And that’s where the extremely talented Nicole Nowosad comes in! She has created this FREE digital cut file for YOU so you can create your own little smart phone shaker card too!  Thanks Nicole for creating this cut file for our readers!  You can download it here!

And here is my completed card…  a fun masculine birthday card with a little shacking action goin’ on!

 

 

Supplies:  Dies: My Favorite Things (Die-namics Smart Phone, Stitched Circles);  Stamps: Hero Arts (Anything Can Happen);  Patterned Papers: BasicGrey (Bowties);  Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic Marker (YR23), Copic Multiliner 0.3, Copic Spica (Red), Sakura White Gel Pen;  Washi Tape:  Queen & Co., Bella Blvd.;  Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh;  Other: Stickles by Ranger.

 Here’s a little close up of all the shimmer and shine I added to some of the elements of my card…

 

Thanks for joining me today!  I hope you’ve enjoyed your little creative journey with me. I hope that you’ll give this “easier than in looks” technique a try for your next card.

 Happy creating!

~ Allison Cope ~

 

Do these dies make my butt look big?

Good day, everyone! It’s Becky, your humble editor. Our fall issue just went out the door this past weekend and we are so excited to share it with you online this Friday! It turned out so beautiful and is definitely one of my favourite fall issues to date.

 

Are you a hoarder collector of metal dies? Do you hoard amass stamps as if there is going to be a run on red rubber in the not-too-distant future? Then welcome to my world, I’m so happy you’re here!

Seriously, I’m pretty fond of both and what I love even more is combining dies and stamps into my projects. One problem I frequently run into is determining if a die is going to work with the stamp image or sentiment I’d like to use on my project. In the past, I’d grab a scrap of paper and die cut a bunch of shapes to see which one fit best with my image or words. Not only was it a huge time-killer but the quickie die cuts always ended up in the trash. What to do?

Necessity is the mother of invention and this is the solution I came up with. To begin, gather your dies and a pile of cardstock cut into 4.25”x5.5” pieces. Punch a small hole in the corner so you can thread them onto a key ring. I tackled this project by manufacturer, so this is my “Stampin’ Up” sample:

Die cut all of your shapes out of the cards, being sure to note the name of the collection on each one. If that manufacturer also makes paper punches, include those, too.

Pretty easy, huh? And the hard part’s over! The next time you want to pair up a die with a stamp image, sentiment, sticker, paper, or other embellishment, just grab your ring of cut-outs and place the shape over what you want to cut. Like sentiments:

 

Or patterned paper:

 

Or stamps shapes:

 

Hope this little tip makes your hoarding collecting easier to manage and use! :)

~  Becky Fleck

 

Colour Suite September with Summer Fullerton and Virginia Nebel!

Welcome to the September Colour Suite! This month I sent my kids back to school, my son is a senior and my daughter is a freshman in high school. I was feeling a bit nostalgic for the good old days when they were in elementary school so I began this Colour Suite by choosing primary colours: red, blue and yellow. Primary colours always remind me of school. Followers of the Colour Suite know I often add a pop of something special this month it was the purple. I then rounded the Colour Suite with an espresso brown. I was super inspired by the brown and blue of this month’s Colour Suite. These colours neutralize the brightness of the yellow, red and purple making this Colour Suite perfect for September.

 

First Day of 8th Grade

Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper Doodlebug/American Crafts/Bella Blvd, Die Cuts Bella Blvd/Elle’s Studio/Chic Tags, Flair Studio Calico, Alpha/Number Metal Dies from My Favorite Things, Wood Stars from Studio Calico, Canvas Stars from Simple Stories, Enamel Dots from Doodlebug, Border Die Stampin Up, Tab Punch Fiskars, White Gel Pen, Clothes Pin Maya Road, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, and font Kingthings downloaded from the internet

 

This month I invited the Scrapbook & Cards Today newest design team member Virginia Nebel to take the Colour Suite challenge! Virginia and I both design for Becky Fleck and PageMaps together so I was super excited to bring her over to my world of colour. Virginia told me she was drawn in to the classic timeless navy blue of the Colour Suite. It was her main colour of choice when she created her layout. The Colour Suite is composed of 5 colours. There are no rules for using the Colour Suite while I present you with 5 colours there is nothing that says you have to use each colour. Virginia took this approach with her layout. One of these days I am going to have to try this on one of my layouts.

 

Thank you for joining us this month and happy crafting!

~  Summer

 To see Summer's amazing Colour Suite's from past months, click HERE!

Monday with Megan: Photo Journaling

This is one of my favorite crafting trends at the moment—use props to tell a story in your photography. Whether you’re creating announcement cards or scrapbooking about major life moments, this style of photography is sure to get noticed. It’s fun, it’s creative, and it makes pictures worth 10,000 words. Check out these clever ideas for adding props to your images to tell a more complete story visually!

 ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

I Said Yes by Hillary Briscoe Photography

The ring is an obvious prop to use when announcing the news of your engagement, but the sign and sweet smooch add just the extra playful touch to make this picture perfect!

 

WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT

Coming Soon photo by Katie Deobald

Okay, so perhaps we don’t have access to a vintage theater marquee, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create a similar “coming soon” movie vibe for an announcement photo. What about a movie poster framed with round patio light bulbs instead? Or you could always ask your local theater manager. You may be surprised by the outcome and have access to that marquee after all.

 

PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Geeky Birth Announcement by Cheezburger.com

Let others know you have a mystery guest on the way with the use of a Mario Halloween costume and a question-mark box. This idea is 1+ (Mario-speak for life!).

 

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

Baby Announcement by By Rosenhoff

Props make it possible to include all of the birth stats without the need for much text. Hello, sweet baby!

 

MOVING ANNOUNCEMENT

We’ve Moved by MarthaStewart.com

A moving box as a prop to announce a change in address? Genius!

BIRTHDAY ANNOUNCEMENT

Maggie’s First Birthday by Megan Hoeppner

Wanting to get in on the photo-prop fun, I did a visual image to announce my daughter’s first birthday. For starters, I drew an oversized calendar on our back patio. I then added a light-up 1 that my sweet husband made using a paper mache number one and patio bulbs, a few balloons, and, of course, the birthday girl. Love the way this turned out and how it looks on a layout in my scrapbook album!

 

There are so many ways props can work as journaling in your photos. If you’ve done something like this or feel inspired by this post to do something in the future, I’d love to hear from you. Your creativity certainly inspires me! Thanks for stopping in today, and make this an amazing week!

Cheers!

~ Megan Hoeppner

www.meganhoeppner.com