Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

Find Your Mojo with Tracy Banks (aka Mercy Tiara!)

Join designer Mercy Tiara as she shares the next in her "Find Your Mojo" series exclusive for SCT and shares how she let's her photos guide her colour scheme!

"In this episode we are choosing a colour scheme from our photos! For this layout, I used the City Sidewalks kit (Winter 2016) from SCT Magazine. The photos in this layout are deep and warm, with lots of browns and burgundy, which can be challenging to scrap with all the soft pastel colours in scrapbooking products this winter. Although the City Sidewalks kit has lots of those trendy soft pinks and blues that I love this year, it also has some beautiful warm patterns. Taking the lead from my photos, I started with these warmer colours and went from there." 

Thank you Tracy for the next in this series! You can see more process videos in Tracy's "Find Your Mojo" series here!

Planner journey with Lindsay Bateman - the finale!

Wow!  So here we are....

We have reached the 12th month in our planners.  The month of December.  A year almost complete. It really is amazing when you look back at all of the moments and memories we have made in these little albums. I hope you have enjoyed these posts as much as I have had in both creating, writing and sharing them with you all.  

Before I begin, there is a little back story to my pages this month.  More like a REAL LIFE back story. You know, when you have all these amazing plans in your head and are ready to take on December like a warrior?  But then....ALL of your plans get derailed because your entire household comes down with a massive cold and flu? Including myself?  Yep...that was our December. As the days passed....so did our opportunities and we just did not get to doing most (if not all) of what I wanted to accomplish.  However, you know what? It is OK. I documented what I could and I am really happy about that.  If anything the sickness that plagued our home almost made me relax a bit more and enjoy the simplicity of the season.

So therefore, my planner this month ended up just being a home for the memories I did get. I decided to just stuff what I could within this month.  Even if it was not full, or perfect, or missing a ton of what I had planned. I put in what I could and I am still very happy with the result.

I am sharing this story with you because I just really want to reassure you all out there that sometimes we just have to work with what we have and not let it discourage us from what truly matters at the end of the day.  Oh well if we missed a few days.  Oh well if it's not in order....oh well if we have blank spots!  Just enjoy the creative journey.  And keep going.

I think this is especially important to take into consideration as we are on the brink of closing 2016 and welcoming 2017.  This is the time of year to open those blank journals, planners and notebooks.  Sometimes we have huge plans for our documenting and life happens and somehow it falls through the cracks.  I really want you to know that if you find this happens just keep going!  It is ok.  We have all so been there.  I can reassure you that I probably will be there again many times too!  But we will keep going together!  Enjoying this creative journey and process :).

So here is where my planner took me this month.

'

I really focused on including the photos I did take this month....honestly there were not many! Again..that is OK.

I chose to use my Typecast Typewriter to add an almost full page of journaling. 

I love how quick this tool is to add journaling and notes onto my pages.  I pretty much summed up our month of December here so that on my remaining planner pages I could just place in my photos and embellish on the remaining pages.

I had purchased the Ali Edwards December Daily kit this year and had full intentions of creating my album!  However, that did not end up happening as I had planned so instead the pieces from the kit made excellent additions into my planner.  I really love how gorgeous they all look inside.

These next few days I might take a bit more time to add in a few extra notes, photos and memorabilia.  However, I am content with what I was able to complete and am ready to look forward to January 2017 with a fresh and renewed focus!

I am looking SO forward to beginning a brand NEW planner.  Definitely one of the best parts of a NEW year!  I hope that you are inspired to also join in and use a planner to document and remember your 2017.  It is such an amazing way to capture life.

Thank you again for joining me each month so I could share a little bit of my heart and passion with you all.  It has meant the world and more.

Happiest 2017 to you all.

XOXO

~ Lindsay Bateman

WINNERS of our "12 Days of Holiday Giving" event!

Good morning SCT friends! We've come to the end of our 8th annual "12 Days of Holiday Giving!" and we're excited to share all the randomly selected winners today. We certainly gave our random integer friend a workout as we had over, are you ready for it, 8,600 comments! THANK YOU! Thank you not only for stopping by to leave a comment each day, but thank you for all your kind comments for our team's beautiful projects. We also loved seeing all your comments on our partner's Facebook pages and they LOVED seeing you visit! 

Are you ready to see the 12 lucky winners? Then let's go...

Day One: Project from Megan Hoeppner and prizes from Janome, American Crafts and SCT!

Wow, what a SCT week for me!! I received my Creative Planner in the mail, subbed to the hard copy of the magazine (after years of downloading it --- about time isn't it LOL) and now this. What awesome generosity by all :) :) Posted by: Moira OReilly | December 11, 2016 at 07:35 AM

Day Two: Project from Nancy Damiano and prizes from Paper Smooches, Simple Stories and SCT!

Two of my favorite companies... along with Avery Elle and the adorable cards you made!!! So cute! Posted by: Karen Page | December 14, 2016 at 07:04 PM

Day Three: Project from Marla Kress and prizes from Doodlebug Designs, Stampin' Up! and Pinpaper Press

Love that Doodlebug calendar. So fun! Thanks for another chance to win such an awesome batch of scrappy loot! XO  Posted by: Aurelie | December 12, 2016 at 03:00 PM

Day Four: Project by Nicole Nowosad and prizes from Jillibean Soup and Taylored Expressions

Lovely project, Nicole - it's a great idea for a unique hostess gift for the Christmas parties!! Thanks for the chance to win some nice holiday 'gifts' for today's day 4 celebration!! 🎄Posted by: Maryann Somerville | December 20, 2016 at 12:42 PM

Day Five: Project from Melissa Phillips and prizes from BoBunny, Fancy Pants Designs and a one year subscription to SCT!

Amazing 3D trees. Thank you for sharing. They look so festive. Thank you to BoBunny for the dots and more dots paper package with all the goodies. Big thanks to Fancy Pants for the awesome Merry and Bright collection package. Super pumped for a chance to win a years subscription for Scrapbook and Cards today magazine.The 5th day of Christmas here at SCT is a good one. !!  Posted by: Donna Roman | December 14, 2016 at 04:54 PM

Day Six: Project from Sheri Reguly and prizes from Pebbles and Your Next Stamp

Super cute cards!!!thanks for the chance to win!! Posted by: Sarah Crossley | December 18, 2016 at 08:04 AM

Day Seven: Project from Virginia Nebel and prizes from Pink Paislee, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L and Gossamer Blue

Hello! What a beautiful card, that is something I really wish I had more time to try my hand at. It's so personal and heartwarming to receive something handmade. Love these prizes today and am so very appreciative of the vendors, SCT and the opportunity to win! Posted by: Mandy Elliott | December 16, 2016 at 11:46 AM

Day Eight: Project from Vicki Boutin and prizes from Close To My Heart and Heidi Swapp

Vicki, you have done it again! Another amazing project! Thanks for sharing! Thanks also for another day of great prizes! Posted by: Jaime Spyksma | December 19, 2016 at 05:17 PM

Day Nine: Project from Stacy Cohen and prizes from Lawn Fawn, Cocoa Daisy and Scrapbook.com

Oh my! This one got my heart pumping wildly! I LOVE Lawn Fawn, they come out with the cutest stuff. And Cocoa Daisy is great I have drooling over their kits for ages. BUT then to see the nested sets too! WOW. I have a couple of the nested sets which is perfect for spreading the giving by giving to my friends who don't have the ones I have. Keeping my fingers crossed!!! Posted by: Lisa Hughes | December 21, 2016 at 04:02 PM

Day Ten: Project from Emily Pitts and prizes from Crate Paper, CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and an SCT Delivered Cup of Cheer card kit

Emily - WTG making a lovely garland even when your crafty supplies are packed! Turned out great. And thanks for another chance to win, SCT. CAS-ual Friday stamps are new to me, but Crate Paper has been a favorite for a while. Happy Holidays to all! Posted by: Cynthia Baldwin | December 19, 2016 at 02:16 PM

Day Eleven: Project from Lisa Dickinson and prizes from Fun Stampers Journey, Therm O Web and a one year subscription to SCT!

What a great idea to use large letters on gifts. I think I'm going to pull out my Cameo tonight. Day 11 and SCT you are still coming with great prizes. Thanks for introducing us to new ideas and the opportunity to win such wonderful prizes. Posted by: Kimberly Hartwell | December 22, 2016 at 02:12 PM

Day Twelve: Project from Jennifer McGuire and prizes from We R Memory Keepers, Stamp-n-Storage and Pinkfresh Studio!

Awwww...that snowman is so adorable! I love him so much I want to hold him, and hug him, and call him George! LOL! The last of the prizes...what can I say....totally amazing! Posted by: Jennifer Stahr | December 22, 2016 at 12:15 AM

Congratulations ladies!!! Please send your mailing addresses AND telephone number to us at [email protected] and put "12 days WINNER" in your reference line. Your prizes will all ship directly from the manufacturer in the new year, including any prizes from us! 

Again, thank you for joining us for our annual holiday event. As much you love the inspiration and prizes during these 12 days, we love putting this all together for YOU! If you didn't win this time, we have many, many more giveaways planned for 2017. 

Thank you all for a great year and be sure to check back here on December 31st as not only is it my birthday and I would love to celebrate that with you, but I've got one large prize package to say goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017. You won't want to miss it!

May your holidays be filled with love, laughter and warmth with friends and family enjoying many memory filled moments. And be sure to document them as we have a whole year of inspiring ideas coming your way in 2017.

Love to you all from the SCT team! xoxo

~ Catherine Tachdjian, Publisher, Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine

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Have you joined our brand new yearlong online class SCT365 starting on January 2nd? All the details here!

 

 

 

"12 Days of Holiday Giving!" DAY TWELVE! The Grand Finale!

Good morning SCT friends! Thank you for joining us today for DAY 12 of our 8th annual "12 days of holiday giving!" How fast have these 12 days gone? We have loved seeing you here each day and not only have we loved seeing all your comments but we have loved seeing all the comments you've left for our generous partners too! We've hope you've enjoyed all the wonderful holiday projects our team has shared and gathered a few ideas along the way. Today we are wrapping it up with an ultra cute DIY project from Jennifer McGuire and more amazing prizes! 

"My favorite part of the holidays is making handmade gifts. These gifts don’t have to be time consuming - just something fun and thoughtful. 

This year my 4-year-old daughter wanted to help. She *loves* crafts! Together we decided to make pom pom snowman. And they are easy! You can either use large store-bought pom poms, but we decided to make our own using pom pom makers. This is something we can do together and they don’t take long at all. We tied two pom poms together, with one being slightly smaller than the other. 

For the scarf, we used a long and narrow strip of felt and cut a little fringe at the end. The eyes are black gems. (Easy, huh?) For a quick nose we used a triangle piece of orange felt. All the embellishments were added with a hot glue gun. You could also make a top hat if you want!

We are making lots of these. Some will sit on top of jars of candied pecans for neighbors. Others will hang off gift bags for teachers. A few may make it on to some trees! 

I hope your holidays are blessed and that you have a wonderful new year!"

~ Jennifer McGuire

"12 Days of Holiday Giving!" Day 12 GIVEAWAY!

Are you ready to sing our favourite song for the last time in 2016...nice and loud friends! "On the 12th day of "SCT's 12 days of holiday giving," SCT gave to me"...get ready as this is good...

From our friends at We R Memory Keepers:

"We R Memory Keepers is excited to give away one of our new Typecast Typewriters to one lucky SCT reader! This retro typewriter allows any modern maker to quickly add journaling to any layout, card or project. With unique colors of ink available, all projects are easily customizable to fit any style. Check out the entire Typecast collection on our website, www.wermemorykeepers.com." 

Next, from our friends at Pinkfresh Studio:

Happy Holidays! The Mix is an on-trend set of basic and essential papercrafting embellishments from Pinkfresh Studio! With several releases throughout the year, The Mix is designed to give you all of the embellishments you need in current trends, styles and colors. The Mix offers unlimited versatility for adding the finishing touches to your most precious memories. The Mix products are sure to become the products you reach for over and over again.

 

Our final prize today is from Stamp N Storage!

"Are drowning in a sea of paper? Keep your favorite paper and card stock organized in this Stamp-n-Storage Paper Holder.
With twelve removable slots per Holder, there's enough room for larger stacks of paper too! You'll be inspired to create many projects once your paper is organized in one of these...especially after you see the rainbow of colors it makes! Today's winner can choose from the 12x12 or 8.5x11 size too! Happy Holidays SCT fans!"

What a way to finish off this event! A Typecast typewriter (featured as a Top 10 item in our winter issue!), a fabulous new collection from Pinkfresh AND paper storage! Thank you so much to our amazing partners today for all of these fabulous prizes and a BIG finish. For an opportunity to win today's prizes please leave a comment below by midnight EST, December 23rd. On December 24th one winner from each day will be randomly selected and announced right here! 

Thank you very much for continuing to let our companies know just how much you appreciate how they come together to celebrate with us! Please visit their Facebook pages one more time to give them a big thank you from SCT! 

We R Memory Keepers on Facebook

Pinkfresh Studio on Facebook

Stamp-n-Storage on Facebook

If you are just joining us, please be sure to stop by our previous 11 days to see all the projects and prizes we have for you! To make it easy, here are all the links:

Day One: Project from Megan Hoeppner and prizes from Janome, American Crafts and SCT!

Day Two: Project from Nancy Damiano and prizes from Paper Smooches, Simple Stories and SCT!

Day Three: Project from Marla Kress and prizes from Doodlebug Designs, Stampin' Up! and Pinpaper Press

Day Four: Project by Nicole Nowosad and prizes from Jillibean Soup and Taylored Expressions

Day Five: Project from Melissa Phillips and prizes from BoBunny, Fancy Pants Designs and a one year subscription to SCT!

Day Six: Project from Sheri Reguly and prizes from Pebbles and Your Next Stamp

Day Seven: Project from Virginia Nebel and prizes from Pink Paislee, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L and Gossamer Blue

Day Eight: Project from Vicki Boutin and prizes from Close To My Heart and Heidi Swapp

Day Nine: Project from Stacy Cohen and prizes from Lawn Fawn, Cocoa Daisy and Scrapbook.com

Day Ten: Project from Emily Pitts and prizes from Crate Paper, CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and an SCT Delivered Cup of Cheer card kit

Day Eleven: Project from Lisa Dickinson and prizes from Fun Stampers Journey, Therm O Web and a one year subscription to SCT!

 

From all of us here at SCT we hope you've enjoyed our "12 days of holiday giving" event! We sure have had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing the list of all the winners on December 23rd! Good luck!

Happy Holidays! 

"12 Days of Holiday Giving" DAY ELEVEN!

It's no secret I'm a fan of all things typography, and this year I'm bringing that love of fonts to my gift wrapping. Instead of the traditional gift tags, I'm putting my Silhouette to good use (as well as putting a dent in my scrap cardstock stash) and personalizing my family's gifts with monograms!

I love the modern look of these bold letters, and they are the perfect way to jazz up basic wrapping paper. The clean and simple look doesn't even require a bow, which is bonus for me as our cats seem to think the bows are put there solely for their entertainment.

If you've got multiple same-letter names in your family, you can always spell out the full name in a pretty script font, or use a 3-initial monogram. And titles like Mom, Dad and Grandma will work too!

Bigger, blocky fonts work best for this application and some of my favorites include Clarendon, Zhafira, Intrique Script, John Hancock and Chunk Five. And if you don't use them for gift monograms, these fonts are great for scrapbook page titles too! Enjoy!

~ Lisa Dickinson

"12 Days of Holiday Giving!" Day Eleven GIVEAWAY

We're so excited by this Day 11 giveaway and are pretty sure you'll be delighted too! Joining us for the first time is a new partner to SCT this year, Fun Stampers Journey. If you follow Richard Garay and his team on social media then you'll know he is the hardest working guy around. Travelling the globe to bring some amazing, innovative products to you! We also have our wonderful (and generous!) friends at Thermo O Web joining us today with a huge prize package of amazing products! Let's get today's party started...

"Happy Holidays! Create a beautiful gift box that will impress friends and family. With an elegant poinsettia, ribbon and background pattern, your present is sure to stand out. One lucky winner will receive the Treat Box, a Poinsettia Steel Rule Die, the Whimsy Wallpaper Stamp Set and the Rock Candy Satin Ribbon from Fun Stampers Journey!"

"Today's winner will receive all items shown! This includes our: 4 colors of Deco Foil Watercolors, Deco Foil Holiday Collection of Red, Green, Gold, Iridescent and Deep Blue along with our Deco Foil Stencils, Deco Foil Adhesive Pen, Foam Adhesive and Adhesive Remover! We’re thrilled to be part of this fun celebration and wish all the SCT readers a Happy Holiday! We hope you’ll stop by our blog to learn about our Festive Friday celebration too!"

And finally, a little suprise from us! We have another one year subscription to give away starting with our brand new winter issue! 

Thank you to Fun Stampers Journey and Therm O Web for these amazing prizes! For an opportunity to win please leave a comment below by midnight EST, December 23rd. On December 24th one winner from each day will be randomly selected and announced right here! We can hear the drumroll starting now!

Thank you very much for continuing to let our companies know just how much you appreciate how they come together to celebrate with us! Please visit their Facebook pages today to give them a big thank you from SCT! 

Fun Stampers Journey on Facebook

Therm O Web on Facebook

Thank you again for joining us today and every day! If you are joining us for the first time, WELCOME!!! Be sure to visit each of our past 10 days for all the fun starting on Day One!

Tomorrow is our final day and just you wait until you see what we have in store for you! It's EPIC!

 

"12 Days of Holiday Giving!" DAY TEN!

 

Happy Holidays dear SCT friends! Emily here today for the final days of the 12 Days of Holiday Giving. Hasn't it been grand? The giveaways have been amazing!

My husband and I decided to shake up our lives this holiday season and pack up everything in our house to replace the flooring on two levels. Most of our life fits in the garage! I thought it would only take a couple of weeks, but we're just now getting moved back in 5 weeks later! I didn't think about my holiday decorations being inaccessible. Nor did I consider my crafting supplies would be packed! This left me in a pickle, but with the help of some lovely glitter paper from Doodlebug Designs, some baker's twine, and a couple of lengths of felt balls, I was able to create a Christmas-y garland for our living room mantel. Thank you Pinterest!

In the past, I'd always trusted my hand cutting skills. Now that I have a Silhouette, I always use it to cut out letters. My Silhouette was packed. :( Happily, I can still use scissors pretty well. I simply cut the 12x12 sheets into 4"x6" rectangles and eyeballed each letter (the W was cut from a 6"x6" piece) for one of my favorite holiday phrases. I'd kept out my Crop-a-dile from We R Memory Keepers and was able to punch the holes to hang the letters on the twine. I pulled some things from around the house that didn't get packed and made a nice mantelscape. It will work quite well until I find the Christmas boxes next week. I'm pretty sure I'll just be adding the stocking holders and maybe another few glittery things though, I really love how this turned out! I am going to make another garland with the leftover paper, perhaps a FA-LA-LA?

~ Emily Pitts

"12 Days of Holiday Giving" Day Ten GIVEAWAY!

We have a great day planned and while 10 lords a leaping could be fun, we have a better idea of fun with two amazing companies joining our celebration today! Oh Crate Paper, be still our hearts! This fun Snow and Cocoa line was a great part of our winter kits. The soft colours with a vintage flavour sure made it a hit! Let's get to today's fun giveaways... 

"Enjoy the festive delights of the winter season with Snow & Cocoa by Crate Paper. Capture winter adventures with icons of snowflakes, cheerful snowmen, and cute trees. Send snowflake kisses in a pleasing palette of pretty pinks, frost blue, and sunny yellow. Create beautiful projects with a host of coordinating, versatile embellishments. Experience the wonders of winter with a Snow & Cocoa prize pack! Happy Holidays SCT readers!" ~ Crate Paper

  

"Merry Christmas from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps! If you're dreaming of a white Christmas, or pink or blue or any other pretty color, we've got a prize package of dies that will help you create a flurry of exciting cards, tags and more!

Noel Fri-Dies, a set of 3 wafer thin steel dies consisting of 3 lovely word dies that cut 5 individual words. The first letter of each word is detached so you can space it as you'd like. This set will work with nearly all of our holiday collections but specifically coordinate with Autumn Blessings, Lovely Blessings and Lovely Snowflake stamp sets, all sold separately.

Flurry Fri-Dies is set of 3 gorgeous snowflake dies designed to be used independently. These beauties will coordinate stylistically with all of our snowflake stamp sets, sold separately, but are larger than any of the stamps in those sets. Each flake is approximately 2 inches. For use in most leading die cut systems. Made in the USA." ~ Michele, owner, CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

For our final prize today we have a little love to you from SCT! We have our brand new SCT Delivered Cup of Cheer card kit to offer! Each of our quarterly card kits come with an exclusive 3x4 stamp set, a coordinating die, a few other exclusives too and many of your favourite papers and embellishments!

You can see the complete kit here:

Well how is that for Day Ten on a Monday? What a fun way to start the week! We hope you love each of these giveaways and these amazing companies we get the pleasure of working with! Be sure to leave a comment below by midnight EST, December 23rd. On December 24th one winner from each day will be randomly selected and announced right here! Super easy!

Thank you very much for continuing to let our companies know just how much you appreciate how they come together to celebrate with us! Please visit their Facebook pages today to give them a big thank you from SCT! 

Crate Paper on Facebook

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps on Facebook

Scrapbook & Cards Today on Facebook (by being here that is thanks enough but if you don't "like" us already, we hope you will!)

Thank you again for joining us today and everyday! If you are joining us for the first time, WELCOME!!! Be sure to visit each of our past 9 days for all the fun!

And with that SCT friends, have a wonderful Monday!

We LOVE print and know you do too!

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