Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

Old, New, Borrowed, COOL with Kelly Goree and a giveaway!

Thank you for stopping by today and letting me share this month’s edition of OLD NEW BORROWED COOL! I am positively giddy that today is the first day of MARCH! I have to admit to a bit of seasonal blues so year my attitude does a complete 360 because the beginning of March means the coming of SPRING!

And with the beginning of Spring and the desire to remove the remaining “funk” of winter has come a massive de-cluttering/purging at my house. Things are being eliminated mercilessly here there and everywhere. You should SEE the bags of boys’ toys, clothes and whatnot that has made its way out of my home. There are so many benefits to this purge I can hardly list them all but let’s start by saying, Mama’s sanity has improved, the house looks better, we can find things….and perhaps my favorite – rediscovering old treasures! Yes! My favorite find has been old photograph cds from when the boys were small. I have spent quite a bit of time the past couple of weeks completely getting lost in these old photographs. They made me laugh, cry, smile. But above all, it reminded me yet again why I love doing what I do and re-committed me to making sure that I get all the memories I can down on paper. I had missed so many and this month’s ONBC layout was just the start to capturing them.

Now before I share my project, please let me once again recap the premise for this blog series. Each month I'll bring you a new post that incorporates something OLD from my stash, something NEW that I might have just picked up and something BORROWED from wherever I can get it to create something COOL to share with you! It's just that easy.

This month’s final selections were:

OLD: The Jenni Bowlin Studio Bingo card (Oh, how old that is!) as well as these precious photos of my boys taken almost five years ago! FIVE! I know. I can’t believe it either. They were some of those that I was “saving for just the right layout” and then they never got put on paper. So glad to fix that now!

NEW: Yummy BasicGrey – Hey Boy!, Fact, and Fiction! I am totally loving the colors and patterns in these BasicGrey lines and I’ve been itching to use them since I got them! The added punch of orange to the green was just what I needed/wanted to make this layout sing.

BORROWED: I have to admit, after over a year of “borrowing” things, I’m starting to get more desperate…er – CREATIVE…in my choices. Ha! This time it was the sweet little Irish Blessing I found on the internet that started my journaling and set the tone for the page.

COOL: A full-color, super fun layout five years in the making that celebrates my little leprechauns!

 

Supply List: BasicGrey patterned paper (Hey Boy!, Fact, Fiction), brads and alpha stickers; Bazzill cardstock; Jenni Bowlin Studio Bingo card; Queen & Co. twine; Zig pen; Colorbox (Clearsnap) chalk ink; Stampin’ Up! scalloped border punch; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L adhesive; Century Gothic & Loki-Cola fonts (dafont.com); Silhouette Cameo Electronic cutting machine.

Okay, so you know what time it is now – CHALLENGE TIME! Jump up right now and grab your stack of “I’vebeensavinguntiltherighttime” photos from your stash regardless of how old they are and start putting them on paper! If that doesn’t motivate you, how about scrapping something seasonally inspired? Let spring or St. Patty’s Day be your guide like it was for me here. And as always, link me up so I can see the masterpieces that you create! Happy Scrapping!!

Thank you Kelly!  Love those photos and LOVE this challenge!  C'mon SCT friends...rise to Kelly's great Old, New, Borrowed, COOL challenge!  We're sure you have something old hanging around your scrap space.  In fact, why don't you share what the oldest thing in your scraproom is  :)  

 

Remember to join us TONIGHT at 9:00 p.m. EST here for the full reveal of our Crop & Create: Delivered kit!  We have only a very limited quantity available so be sure to join us.  We have a few fun surprises too!

AND since you know it's Friday and we love to celebrate Friday's...we have a fabulous giveaway from our amazing friends at amazing Xyron!

The 5" Creative Station makes papercrafting a dream!  Beth Kingston used it on the projects show showed this week and knew one lucky SCT reader had to have one!  Leave a comment below by March 7th to win it!  Please also be sure to stop by Xyron's facebook page and thank Beth too!  She will love hearing from you! 

Enjoy your Friday SCT friends!  We are busy wrapping up the final details for the spring issue and for CardMaps Vol. 3 (order here)!!!  Lots to do today!

~ Catherine 

 

Old New Borrowed Cool February and a Giveaway!

Hello! It’s time once again for another edition of OLD NEW BORROWED COOL! I’m so excited it’s FEBRUARY and the season of LOVE. I have to tell you, I’m a huge romantic. I am a sappy movie freak. I cry at anything remotely sentimental and to say this is one of my favorite holidays would just not even begin to do it justice! I just LOVE “love.”

Once the Christmas holidays are over, I’m always eagerly awaiting the next decorating theme and it makes me infinitely happy that it’s VALENTINE’S DAY! To be truthful, I have décor galore for this holiday, but the one thing that has always eluded me is the “perfect” wreath for my front door. Everything premade I’ve ever found hasn’t been substantial enough or the right color or some something wasn’t quite right. So I set on a hunt of my beloved Pinterest (no, folks, she still hasn’t tired of Pinterest yet!) to find one I liked that I could possibly replicate. There were plenty of beautiful ones, but the one I fell in love with was THIS ONE. It made me swoon and judging by the number of people that have pinned it, it isn’t just me! The bonus was, it looked (fairly) easy to do myself! And that’s just what I did. Follow along with me and I’ll show you just how to make one for your own, too!

Source:  http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2012/02/valentine-wreath.html

But as always before I get into the heart of this post (Hee. “Heart” – get it?!), I want to briefly recap the premise for this blog series. Each month I'll bring you a new post that incorporates something OLD from my stash, something NEW that I might have just picked up and something BORROWED from wherever I can get it to create something COOL to share with you! It's just that easy. 

First I started gathering what supplies I had on hand and then made a list of what I needed. So from my stash I pulled:

OLD: A mixture of crazy felt in lovely (hee, I did it again!) Valentine colors. Those aquas are my faves! Some pretty satin ribbon, also in aqua, and a bit of baker’s twine from My Mind’s Eye.

Then I could tell I would need some of this:

NEW: A styrofoam wreath form and a bit of raffia. Do you remember when we used raffia in scrapbooking ALL the time? It’s been so long, I had to get more!

BORROWED: The idea of the “perfect” wreath as well as my friend Jen’s pinking shears. She sews. I don’t! Oh! And I snagged a little trick from our friends in the stamping community, too – stay tuned for that!

And now we’re going to create something COOL!

COOL: This absolutely gorgeous, beautifully colored, full of love and happy VALENTINE’S DAY WREATH!!

Now I know that some of this wreath is pretty simple or self explanatory but I want to show you a few things that might make it easier for you as you create your own.

The first thing I ran into was that the foam wreath form that I found wasn’t round. Well that was okay with me as I really did prefer for it to have a flat back to hang better. But I did want a bit of a curve on the front to make it more “wreath-like.” Here’s where that stamping technique comes in – sorta! Stampers love to take Styrofoam and make it into gorgeous accents for their flower stamps and the like. And they can create that by “shaving” the Styrofoam. I did that with my wreath, but I just didn’t use the shavings – but you could if you wanted! I simply took this hand-held cheese grater and ran it along the outside and inside edges of my wreath to remove the sharp edge. You can do this as much or as little as you like.

Once I had that done, I wrapped my wreath in satin ribbon. You can use any ribbon of a decent width, really, but I am sappy and like satin! Just a word of warning, it takes close to TWELVE yards of ribbon to do a 16” wreath form! Simply secure the ends with your trusty glue gun and you’re good to go!

Then it was time to make my roses. Roses might look complicated, but truly they are quite easy, pretty quick and here’s your warning: They can be ADDICTIVE! Just follow along with this diagram and you’ll be making your own roses in no time!

1. Cut a rough felt square.

2. Remove the corners to create a sort of circle (perfection is not necessary here – the more irregular, the better the flowers look usually!)

3. Cut circle into a spiral.

4. Wrap spiral onto itself starting with the thin outside edge.

5. Roll until you get to the center.

6. Secure the center tab under the rose with hot glue to secure.

Now you’re ready to make oodles of these and glue them onto your wreath any way you desire!

Add a bit of raffia through the roses and tie a pretty ribbon at the top. You’re almost there!

All we need to do now is to make those sweet hearts.

I simply cut a heart template from paper – the old school way by folding it in half and cutting until I got one I liked! Place it onto two layers of felt and cut out. I wanted a decorative edge so I used pinking shears. Stitch around the perimeter of the heart and then stuff with cotton balls before you close it up. It’s that easy! Finish buy stringing them with twine and across the middle of your wreath and you’re done! Don’t you love it!?! It already graces my front door and I’m so ready for Valentine’s Day now!

May your Valentine’s Day be full of love and lots of fun crafty projects! I’d love to see whatever you make! Link me up here and have a wonderful FEBRUARY!

Now, even though we had a surprise giveaway yesterday, that does not mean that we have forgotten that today is Friday ... So, we have another giveaway for you!  Yup, that's how we roll around here!

Can you guess what this week's giveaway is?  We gave you a bit of a teaser earlier this week. 

You guessed it!  This week's giveaway is Doodlebug Design's Lovebirds cardstock paper pack.  What a perfect collection of paper to create cards for Valentine's day!

If you would like to win this fun prize package, just leave a comment below before Thursday, February  7th at 6:00 p.m. EST!  Good luck my friends!

See you back here tomorrow where we will announce the winner of the iPad Mini Giveaway!

Have a fabulous Friday!

~ Jen

Director of Customer Happiness

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• like us on facebook

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• watch our YouTube videos

• join us at a Crop & Create event (so much fun!)

 

 

Old, New Borrowed, COOL January with Kelly Goree!

Hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I’m so thrilled to welcome you to the first edition of OLD NEW BORROWED COOL of 2013! Did you catch that?! 2013! I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love the start of a new year. I’m always full of hope for new beginnings, changes, excitement and hope. I am absolutely determined to make 2013 a good one. Scratch that. A GREAT one!

I thought a quite a bit about what I was going to do for this project. Just last year I had done a resolutions page that I loved but I wanted “more” for this year somehow. All that thinking brought me once again to Ali Edwards and her One Little Word. In her concept, the “little word” is to be your talisman or reminder all year through about what you really want to devote your time and focus towards. I need that. Boy, do I need that. (Focus is one of my issues! J) A couple of years ago I picked the word “change.” And trust me it was a year of change. With 2012 being a bit tumultuous for me and my family at the end, I was looking for a word that would both focus and inspire me.

And I finally settled on: HAPPY.

Happy. When I got to thinking about it, it’s what I really wish for most for both me and my family – to be Happy. Once upon a time, many moons ago, I was known for having a sparkling personality. My nickname at one of my very first “grown up” jobs was “Ms. Sunshine.” And while I know that most still think of me that way, the issue is that I don’t think of myself that way. So I want to bring the HAPPY back for 2013! That means (among other things) doing things for ME, surrounding myself with things that inspire, looking for the pretty or the good wherever I can find it. And in this layout, as my first project for 2013, I did just that!

But as always before I get into the heart of this post, I want to briefly recap the premise for this blog series. Each month I'll bring you a new post that incorporates something OLD from my stash, something NEW that I might have just picked up and something BORROWED from wherever I can get it to create something COOL to share with you! It's just that easy. 

For this layout, I wasn’t concerned about photos or products or anything else for that matter. I just wanted to find and use things that made me happy. I dug deep into my supplies and pulled out anything that just called to me – all those things that I’ve just been waiting to use - and then used them. And at the risk of sounding like a pre-teen girl (which isn’t all that bad!), I picked things like polka dots, butterflies, hearts, hot air balloons, banners, pink, glitter, aqua and yellow (my favorite colors), zigzags and more. I think if I could have thrown the kitchen sink on there, I would have! I think all that was missing was the unicorn and rainbow! When it was all over this is a bit what it looked like….

See what I mean?! It finally shook out to this:

OLD: BasicGrey Kioshi and What’s Up, along with some fantastic Doodlebug glitter alphas, some Pebbles, Inc. flags and Making Memories butterflies.

NEW: Teresa Collins patterned paper (I am in LOVE with this line – and yes, I know you’ve seen it before but I can’t help it. It makes me HAPPY!), My Mind’s Eye Sweetest Thing line (with yummies like brads, 3-D stickers, etc.)

BORROWED: The idea to use One Little Word as the focus of this scrapbook page from the talented Ali Edwards (AliEdwards.com)     

COOL: This fun NON-PHOTO layout that is nothing if not HAPPY!

Supply List: Bazzill & BoBunny CS; BasicGrey & Teresa Collins PP; BasicGrey banner; My Mind’s Eye brads, washi tape and 3-D stickers; EK Success punches; Making Memories butterfly clip; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3-L; Doodlebug glittered chipboard alpha stickers; envelope; black pen

I sincerely hope this project has inspired you and that you just might consider a One Little Word or a NON-PHOTO layout of your very own! I’d love to see it or hear about it if you do! May 2013 be a spectacular – and HAPPY – one for you and yours!

 

 

 

Old, New Borrowed, COOL December with Kelly Goree!

I’m so happy to welcome you to DECEMBER and this month’s edition of OLD NEW BORROWED COOL! I must say I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it’s already the last month of the year and as such my last blog post here at Scrapbook & Cards for 2012! I can only hope that you have enjoyed this series of mine even half as much I as have doing it with you.

I thought quite a bit about what this final project would be and it just seemed fitting that it take the form of a December Daily album. For those of you that are unfamiliar with one, a December Daily album is meant to document the daily activities of the month of December – all those wonderful holiday traditions that we have – and get them down into one place. And while it may have been someone else’s idea once upon a time, I have to give credit to the awesome Ali Edwards for inspiring me to give it my first try several years ago.

Now that said, I have two confessions. (Yes, I know. It’s just not an ONBC post without one of my confessions!) The first is that I absolutely despise scrapbooking the Christmas holidays. I know I’ve done it tons of times and yes, I know that it might *seem* like I enjoy it, but the truth is…well, I don’t. I generally speaking just not happy with the pictures I take because of poor lighting situations or I get bored with the same old holiday papers, or whatever the case it at the time. I’m just putting it out there because it’s true! I’m sure at least *some* of you feel the same as me, right?!

The other confession is that while this will be my third (attempt at a) December Daily, I have never managed to complete the entire album! I’m trusting you all to keep me accountable this time! But the beauty of a December Daily is that by doing a little something every day, you keep from getting overwhelmed with the larger picture. And when it’s finished (and we WILL finish, right!?!) you’ll have a wonderful keepsake that will be treasured forever. So let’s dive in….

As always before I get into the heart of this post, I want to briefly recap the premise for this blog series. Each month I'll bring you a new post that incorporates something OLD from my stash, something NEW that I might have just picked up and something BORROWED from wherever I can get it to create something COOL to share with you! It's just that easy.

This month's final selections were:

OLD: Bits of things I’ve pulled out like Making Memories Metal number brads, BasicGrey metal bookplates, Studio Calico label stickers, miscellaneous envelopes and more. These photos give you a true picture of how I work – just dump a bunch of stuff that looks good together onto my work station and start shuffling!

NEW: The beautiful Pink Paislee album binder, Echo Park’s This & That paper, some BasicGrey Aspen Frost, and the kitchen sink (Okay, I’m only kinda kidding about that!)

BORROWED: The amazing idea to do a December Daily album. Thank you, Ali Edwards, for making me look forward to documenting the holiday season!

COOL: A beautiful record of how my family spent the 2012 Holiday Season so I get to relive it over and over again.

Supply List: Echo Park PP & stickers; BasicGrey PP, bookplate & alpha stickers; twine; Ek Success circle & snowflake punches; Fiskars star punces; Bazzill cardstock & brads; Pink Paislee binder & tabs; Smooch iridescent spray; Folk Art acrylic paint; Mod Podge

Since this is my 3rd December Daily (and I swear I’ll finish it this year!), I wanted to include a small introduction to this holiday season like I have in years past. I love the look of white on white and since the interior of the album was a kraft that wasn’t in my desired color palette, I choose to cover the inside front and back cover with white cardstock then scattered snowflake punches as if they were falling from the corner. I have also found that sealing not only the outside cover but inside cover is so important, especially if they are going to be handled for years to come.

I have to admit I cheated just a bit when planning this page. Day 1 is always about the tree so I used a few tree accents on these pages in anticipation. Let’s call it instead – good planning! ;)

As I said just a bit ago, for our family the first day of the holiday season is all about getting the tree up and decorated. While you might find me blasting the tree at any given moment prior to the decorating (I’m not alone in this, am I?!), once it is up, I am mesmerized just as I have been since I was a little girl. I love the twinkling lights. It just is a truly magical aspect of Christmas. I’m so glad that my boys feel the same way and often I’ll find them just staring at it like Carson is doing here. I finished this spread with some journaling and a title and that’s that! All done!

I sincerely hope this series has brought some inspiration to you and got you crafting in some way, shape or form yourself. I also hope that you have the most blessed Holiday Season. Here’s to a spectacular 2013!

(To see all the Old, New, Borrowed, COOL challenges for 2012, visit our website HERE!)

Old, New, Borrowed, COOL with Kelly Goree!

Hello, there!

Welcome to NOVEMBER and this month’s edition of OLD NEW BORROWED COOL! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween and are looking forward to the full swing of the holiday season right around the corner! For me, the holidays are all about being with family and friends. I truly enjoy spending time with those I love and I especially like finding little ways to make our time together extra special.

I come from a tradition of wonderful southern cooks and any family event is cause for a feast that could feed the entire town. Unfortunately, the cooking gene has passed my generation (or at least that’s the excuse I offer!) so I prefer to give my contribution in the form of holiday decor! And one of my favorite things to do is to not just set but “create” ¬our holiday table. I look for unique and different items for my centerpieces and such, so when I found a pattern for these beautiful favor boxes, I knew I had something perfect to show my family just how much I love them.  These sweet boxes can be used for both little favors or as I used them here – to write notes to each person at your table letting them know just why they are special to you. They are super-easy to create and will add a bit of extra pizazz to your holiday table.

But before I share the results of my creative process this month I want to recap once more the premise for this blog series. Each month I'll bring you a new post that incorporates something OLD from my stash, something NEW that I might have just picked up and something BORROWED from wherever I can get it to create something COOL to share with you! It's just that easy.

This month's final selections were:

OLD: Bits of different Studio Calico lines in an array of fall colors plus an assortment of punches

NEW: The gorgeous Pink Paislee Portfolio collection

BORROWED: A super-simple pattern found online to make paper boxes

COOL: These beautiful favor boxes for your holiday table that contain little treats and notes for those you love.

Supply List:

• Studio Calico & Pink Paislee PP
• BasicGrey alphabet stickers & brads
• Zig pen
• My Mind’s Eye washi tape
• Doodlebug twine
• Marvy Uchida & Stampin’ Up punches
• Colorbox/Clearsnap ink

The boxes start out as 6×6″ squares of double sided cardstock that are scored 2″ in from all the edges.

Fold along all the score lines.

Then score on the diagonal in the four corner squares.

Fold the corners in on themselves to form the box.

Open the box back up and add adhesive in the corners. Fold box back up and press the folds to secure.

Create the box top in the same manner as the box bottom starting with a 4″ square of double sided cardstock. Score in just under an 1″ all the way around and then again on the diagonals. Fold in the same manner as the box bottom until the top is formed.

Trim a 12x 1/2″ strip of scalloped paper and add it as embellishment around the bottom of the box top. Trim off any excess.

Trim a 1”x9” strip to add for your title or name. Notch the ends into a banner shape and adhere to the top of the box as shown.

Punch a label shape if desired and adhere to top of box with washi tape.

Add a flower embellishment (this one was made from punched scalloped circles) and twine to center of label.

Finish project by either enclosing candy in your box or sweet notes that show your loved one how much you love them.

I hope you enjoyed this addition of “Old New Borrowed Cool”!  And now for my challenge to you – whether you create these little boxes or not, do something in some way to let those you love know how much you care. Send a card, pick up the phone, give a hug – anything – to spread the love this holiday season.  Here’s to November!

Old, New, Borrowed, COOL with Kelly Goree!

Hello, there!  Thank you so much for joining me again today for the October edition of “OLD NEW BORROWED COOL!” I’m so happy to be back especially after just returning from an amazing Crop & Create event in Ottawa! What a fantastic time! It was the perfect start to what is probably my favorite month of the entire year. October’s weather is just divine. It’s still warm enough in the day to be comfortable but the evenings are cool enough to call for a sweater or a jacket. It’s also early enough that the rainy season hasn’t set in and the puffy cloud days just make me happy. And then there are the leaves and the beautiful color of all the trees as they start to turn. Oh, and Halloween! There’s that, too! Oh, Fall, how I love thee!

However as much as I adore all the beauty that is this season, if I’m really honest, the shorter days and longer nights as well as the falling leaves can leave me a bit nostalgic and melancholy. October is my own personal month of reflection. I say who needs New Year’s for that!?

Not too long ago it was my mom’s birthday and I never (read: EVER) know what to get the woman who has everything. But it came to me as I was walking down my hallway and I passed one of her favorite pictures I have ever taken of all three of my boys together. The original photo was taken six years ago and we both love it so much that it still is in a place of prominence in both our houses. How cool then, I thought, to recreate that photo for her so she could have something a bit more updated. Haaaa! I laugh at myself now because those of you with multiple children know just how hard it is to get a good photo of ONE child much less three (or more) at the same time! But I kept attempting and finally persevered!

When I saw my final shot, my heart just stopped. I couldn’t believe that these beautiful boys were mine and even more how much they had changed in a few short years. Gone were all traces of baby cheeks and in its place were handsome strong features.  How did that happen?! I’m still in awe but ever so grateful to have both photographs because I know in another few years, I’ll think the same things about this new one that I currently do about the old one. And it was then that I decided I needed to scrapbook these photos together. I didn’t want to focus on the older photo, but I still wanted it part of the page – more as a reference to how far they have grown and how I love having them together. And it was from these thoughts that this month’s page was born!

But before I go any further I want to recap once more the premise for this blog series. Every month I'll bring you a new post that incorporates something OLD from my stash, something NEW that I might have just picked up and something BORROWED from wherever I can get it to create something COOL to share with you! It's as simple as that.

This month's selections were:

OLD: (in the back row from left to right) BasicGrey’s Paper Cottage + some Scenic Route (Oh, how I miss that company and their fun, gorgeous papers. I have had this batch in my stash for I can’t tell you how long and if feels so good to pull it out and put them to use!) I also threw in some older American Crafts Thickers (not sure if those will get used but they match divinely) and some My Mind’s Eye Stella Rose brads.

NEW: (in the front row) The gorgeous (seriously, I swooned when I saw it) new “Tell Your Story” collection from Teresa Collins. The aquas and orange-y peach had me at “hello!”

BORROWED: (Is it considered borrowing when you beg for some to take home and have no intention of giving them back?! No?! Drat!) Well, I’m still going to say I “borrowed” these adorable stick pins from the talented Stephanie Hart. I met Stephanie at the awesome Crop & Create event we had in Ottawa this past weekend! Stephanie made some of her Whimsies for everyone and they are the stinkin’ cutest things ever! I HAD to have that aqua camera for my own! You can see Stephanie’s goodies at her website www.mylittlebitofwhimsy.com.

COOL: This nostalgic layout documenting how incredibly fast time passes - especially once you have children.

Supply List:  Patterned Paper: BasicGrey, Teresa Collins and Scenic Route; Cardstock: Bazzill; Brads: My Mind’s Eye; Alpha stickers: BasicGrey; Pins: My Bit of Whimsy/Stephanie Hart; Pen: Pentel; Washi Tape: Pink Paislee; Punch: Fiskars; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Electronic Diecut machine: Silhouette

I hope you enjoyed this addition of “Old New Borrowed Cool”!  And now it’s time for my little challenge. Get a little nostalgic yourself. Pull out some of those old pictures that are personal favorites that you have never scrapped and get them into your albums. I promise that you will enjoy the walk down memory lane and it will bring many smiles to your face and warm your heart as the air starts turning cooler!

Happy Creating!