Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

Pocket Scrapbooking Wednesday with Gossamer Blue!

We are always thrilled when our friends from Gossamer Blue join us each month!  With the popularity of pocket page scrapbooking, the Gossamer Blue Life Pages Team just does it right.  Today we wanted to share some examples of the September 2014 Life Pages spreads from some of these talented ladies. The wonderful thing about pocket scrapbooking is the flexibility and ease of use. Each team member has their own unique style and it's a delight to see how they interpret their life's events each month.  

 Layout by Nicole Harper

 Layout by Keisa Campbell

 Layout by Kasia Przybyt

Layout by Jina Jean

We highly recommend mixed up your page sizes in your albums as Jina Jean did with an 8.5" x 11" format. This keeps things fresh and exciting and keeps the creativity flowing!  Thanks ladies!

Would you love to get your creative juices flowing with the September Life Pages kit?  I don't think there is anyone saying no!   Gossamer Blue would love to send a kit to one lucky SCT reader!  Have a look at this amazing kit...

Full of beautiful products and wonderful sentiments to document a great month.  For an opportunity to win this kit, just leave a comment below by October 24th!  Good luck and THANK YOU Gossamer Blue!

Last month we featured the August Life Page kit and we have a winner... 

What a beautiful kit! I really want to get started on this. PL seems like something that would be right up my alley. thanks for the chance to win a fabulous kit! :)  -  Posted by: Jennifer Scull | August 27, 2014 at 10:26 AM

Congratulations Jennifer!  Please send your mailing information to us at [email protected] and put "Gossamer Blue winner" in your reference line!  

Enjoy a wonderful Wednesday friends!  We have Jennifer McGuire, cardmaker extraordinaire, joining us tomorrow so be sure to join us for Card Cafe Thursday!  See you then.

~  Catherine

(pssst, in case you want an idea of what we're up to behind the scenes this week...

that is not one, but TWO pallets on the way to Crop & Create Cornwall for our big event this weekend!  We still have a few spots open in classes or if you are in the area, come and shop in our two fabulous stores!)

Pocket Style Wednesday with Nicole Harper...and a giveaway!

Hello to all of the pocket page fans out there...this month I wanted to share an idea for how to fill a pocket or two when you may not have enough content. It seems like a 'cheat' at first, but I actually love the cool factor that it adds!

"And as I've said before...simple is key to pocket pages."

If you use a cell phone at all, I have no doubt that you check the weather, listen to your favorite tunes, check Facebook, etc. These are all tidbits of your daily routine that are EASY to add to your projects! In the image you can see the photo I printed of my lock screen (Pharrell Williams' song 'Happy' was on repeat that whole week, lol), as well as the weather report for an unusually cold 'spring' day. The cool thing about both of these captures is that they record the date + current happening all at the same time.



I use an iPhone, so in order to capture an image on it I just do a 'screenshot' by pressing the round 'home' button and the on/off button on the top of my phone at the same time. You will hear the camera shutter sound and it automatically saves your image to your camera roll. From there, I just email it to myself and print from home. I know that with other cell phones you can do the same thing...just check your manual. 

As simple as it sounds, it's a fun way to capture that playlist/weather report/status update while filling a pocket or two at the same time.

And as I've said before...simple is key to pocket pages.  :)

~  Nicole Harper

GIVEAWAY!!!

Our friends at Gossamer Blue would LOVE to share an August Life Pages kit with one lucky SCT reader! With products from Traci Reed, Elle's Studio, Teresa Collins and Heidi Swapp, you are sure to LOVE this kit.  To enter to win the Life Pages kit shown above, just leave a comment below by September 19th!!!  Good luck!    

We also have a winner of the July Life Pages kit....

FABULOUS page Nicole - THANK YOU for sharing your pretty pocket inspiration and great advice on letting the papers do some of the work :)   I have never tried Gossamer Blue before but I would love to get creative with this fab kit. I've been over to their FB page and left a big THANK YOU, sending SCT a big THANK YOU for the chance to win too!!!    Posted by: TracyM #6773 | July 31, 2014 at 07:41 AM

Congrats Tracy!  Please send your mailing information to us at [email protected] and put "Gossamer Blue winner" in your reference line!  

Thank you Nik for the inspiration and Gossamer Blue too for this fabulous prize on Pocket Style Wednesday!  We would love you to stop by and give Gossamer Blue a hearty "SCT thank you!" on their Facebook page.  They would love to hear from you!  

~  Catherine 

Pocket Style Wednesday with Nicole Harper...and a GIVEAWAY!

Hello again, SCT readers :)

This month, I wanted to stress the simplicity that pocket pages can be...I hear while teaching classes that people feel obligated to fill each pocket with a 'work of art'. There are times when I feel crafty and would agree, but I am a big proponent of allowing pretty paper to stand on it's own too!



In this pocket page that I made using the July Gossamer Blue kit, I used (2) 4x6 photos and pretty  much let them stand on their own. The other photo didn't need much embellishing, so I just slipped it in the pocket and added an arrow clip. There were so many paper patterns that I loved in this kit, that I figured: 'why not let them stand out'?!


All I added to the printed cards was journaling + some spray mist...the green card looks exactly as it did when I removed it from the packaging (other than the rounded corners), because I loved the pattern. The one pocket that I did spend some time on was the lower left with the pie chart card. Gossamer Blue includes FREE cut files (and printables) with both the Main Scrapbook and Life Pages kits, so all I needed to do was load the pie chart file into my Silhouette and I was off and running. It took about 10 minutes to add the bits of patterned paper behind the cut pie chart, but I love how it turned out in the end.

So remember: don't stress out over filling every pocket with a masterpiece. It's 100% ok to just let the 'pretty paper' shine on it's own.  :)    ~  Nicole Harper

GIVEAWAY!!!

Lori Gentile, the owner of Gossamer Blue (and a super sweet lady!!!), would also LOVE to share a Life Pages kit with one lucky SCT reader!  This kit includes exclusive cards and products from Crate Paper, October Afternoon and Pink Paislee!  Some of these products were used in Nik's layout above.  (enabler alert:  right now if you subscribe to  either the Life Pages kit or the Main kit in July, you'll receive a free paper pack worth $8!)  

To enter to win the Life Pages kit shown above, just leave a comment below by August 14th!!!  Good luck!    

Thank you Nik for the inspiration and Gossamer Blue too for this fabulous prize on a Wednesday!  We would love you to stop by and give Gossamer Blue a hearty "SCT thank you!" on their Facebook page.  They are 11 fans from 3,000 so let's help them get there!!!  We know that Lori and her team would love hearing from you too!  

Have a wonderful day my friends.  We are hard at work on the fall issue and you are going to LOVE it!!!  We'll share some behind the scenes sneaks soon ;)

~  Catherine

Pocket Style Wednesday with Nicole Harper!

I am a simple gal at heart.
I love pretty paper. And color. And words.
The pocket page I chose to share with you today has all of those things, and makes me smile when I look back at it.
This is a win-win in my book. :)




Made with the June Gossamer Blue kits, I love that this spread occurred in January...but doesn't feel like 'winter' at all. I fell in love with the Jillibean Soup die cut 3x4 cards, but decided to use them as more of an embellishment by pairing them with my $2 gold Sharpie marker that I picked up at Staples. They come as a nice bright white in the package, which I prefer because then you can mist/paint/ink/stamp/emboss them any color you like. More bang for your buck that way!

I can't stress enough while teaching about pocket page layouts that it is perfectly OK to just fill a pocket with pretty paper...no need to stress or over think how to fill each spot. The top left 'daydreamer' card is an example of this: I just used a phrase stamp + some drops of gold spray ink to add some color, because I absolutely loved that card...if it were bigger, I would frame it and hang it on the wall! The Chic Tags sheer alphabet and Evalicious puffy stickers were fun to add some interest, and something I am not able to find locally so I love that they were included in my kit this month!

As promised...simple.
Pretty paper + color + words.
This one makes me happy.
:)   

~  Nicole Harper

Nicole Harper will be joining us at Crop & Create Cornwall and Thunder Bay with this amazing "Family Ties" class!  Are you coming?

Pocket Style Wednesday with Nicole Harper!

Hi Pocket Page SCT Fans!!  This month, I wanted to share a few ideas that I put to work on one of my projects for the May Gossamer Blue gallery. Sometimes things don't always go as planned, but that's never a reason to toss it and start over. I often have one idea in my head, but when it doesn't translate well to a project...I work around it. :)



This page started with the sad photo of me welcoming in 2014 with the realization that I needed reading glasses, lol. I sifted through the bits of the May Gossamer Blue kits that were strewn about my desk and zeroed in on the ones that were the same melon color as my sweater. I LOVE the transparent diecuts that Heidi Swapp designed for Pink Paislee...and used 7 of them on this page. They are perfect for layering and adding subtle touches of color, which was perfect since my other photos were black & white.



I discovered the clear stickers from the Simple Stories DIY line while away at Crop&Create in Moncton this Spring, and picked up a set. I was happy to see them in this kit as well, since so many of the phrases are 'me' lol...they paired well with the transparency pieces, and i layered a few on the OUTSIDE of the page protector.



For some reason, that photo in the top right corner didn't print quite right to 4x6...but photo paper is expensive and I refused to toss it! I added a melon colored border and some random elements to the right side where the print border was off, and you'd never know. ;)

The 'total' transparency die cut was actually 'totally'...but I snipped off the '-ly'. I always remind people in class: 'just because it came in the package that way doesn't mean you have to use it that way'! It's totally OK to snip and cut to better suit your needs.

In the end, I loved the color combo of teal + melon + black...it looks pretty sleek, even if the gal in the bottom photo wasn't feeling quite so spry.  ;)

Hope to see some of my friends and meet some new ones at Crop & Create Cornwall (registration now open!) and Crop & Create Thunder Bay (registration opens June 7th!) 

~  Nicole Harper

Did you see Nicole's pocket style article in the Spring issue?  If not, just click HERE!

 

Pocket Style Wednesday with Nicole Harper!

Hello again, SCT fans...I'm eager to share another pocket page layout with you this month!!



One thing that I can't stress enough about working with pocket pages is adding detail + interest without adding bulk to the pockets. This is tricky sometimes, but with a few tricks that you can always reach for you'll be filling those pockets in no time! Stamps are a HUGE part of the process for me, especially layered onto photos. My favorite inks for this are the Brilliance metallics, but I am eager to try the new Color Theory inks from Studio Calico, as they are reportedly awesome for this specific purpose.

I used the March Gossamer Blue Life Pages kit for this layout, and couldn't resist using the FREE cut files that are included with it (how cute is that gold fox?!).



I used my scissors to cut the Y-O-U from one of the 3x4 cards included in the kit, and layered it onto another. Then I just ran it back and forth in my sewing machine haphazardly.  It adds a fun texture with minimal bulk. A few labels, my Tiny Attacher (I never do a page without it!), some epoxy shapes and a few die cuts added more detail. I colored the insides of the letters in the top row (left card) by twisting the lid off of my very favorite spray mist and dabbing a paint brush into the mist. This is a SUPER EASY way to get a watercolor effect without the mess ;)

Hopefully this helps with ideas in adding interest to your pages without buckling those pockets...if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask!! Also, if you are within driving distance of Winnipeg, I would LOVE to meet you at Crop & Create on April 4-5 to share more ideas/insight into pocket page scrapbooking :)

~  Nicole Harper