Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

5 Minutes with Meghann: Papercrafting Tips and Tricks

Hello SCT fans, Meghann Andrew here! I'm so excited to be here with you for my first blog post as an SCT team member! Since this is my first post, I want to talk to you about a papercrafting technique I truly love: stamping!

I began my love for all things paper when I was seventeen, by attending Stampin' Up! workshops. It was then that my love for stamping began to take form, and I saw just how versatile and useful stamps can be! It wasn't until years later that I began scrapbooking, and I then merged the two together to create my style. It's very likely that if I create a layout, mini album or a pocket page, I'm going to stamp on it. I love that you can use different colors and techniques with the same stamp to get a different image every time.

Over the years, I've learned a few tricks to help me put my stamps to use on my projects, and today I'd love to share them with you in the first video for a new series I'm creating for the SCT blog called, "5 Minutes with Meghann: Papercrafting Tips and Tricks." This video is all about stamping, and you will learn how I get clear images from new stamps, combine different colors for my projects, how I use two different colors on the same stamp, fading my stamped images, and how I create a patterned background. It's only five minutes, so grab a cup of coffee and join me as I give you some new ideas on how to put your stamps to good use.

At the end of my video, I create patterned paper using stamps! It's the best way to have a truly unique look to your project. The process may be a bit intimidating, but by following the simple tips that I outline in my video, you can easily create a professional patterned paper, personalized for any project you want to create. With the paper that I began in my video, I created this fun layout about my daughter's favorite sweet treat, inspired by the candy-covered chocolates to use circles on my background.

Supplies | Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee, Crate Paper; Journaling tags, die-cut, acrylic, "current events" and Title Builder stamps: Elle's Studio; Enamel dots: Pinkfresh Studio; Circle stamp: Studio Calico; Font: Rough Typewriter; Ink: Stampin' Up!

Thanks so much for stopping by the SCT blog today! I hope that you've been inspired to stamp on your next papercrafting project and that you'll join me for my next "5 Minutes with Meghann" video! I'd love to hear in the comments what papercrafting techniques you'd like to see in the series!

~ Meghann Andrew

Thank you and welcome Meghann! We love our blog readers and we're sure they will love all that you have to share here too! To see more of Meghann's beautiful work be sure to follow her:

On her site: Brioche and Blessings

Instagram: @meghannandrew

On YouTube: Meghann Andrew

 

 

Find Your Mojo! Mercy Tiara is here!

Hello Monday and hello to all our SCT friends! Today our friends Tracy Banks (aka Mercy Tiara!) is here with another Find Your Mojo Process Video: Deconstruction Zone! She shares a fabulous process using the brand new Hustle and Heart collection from friend Amy Tangerine for American Crafts! Let's get this Monday started...

"Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all your pretty supplies?  Do you know what embellishments you like, but don’t know how to get them on a page? In this Find Your Mojo episode we are using a style that I call “deconstructed layouts” as a way to get your mojo flowing.  These deconstructed pages use very little to no layering, and simply involve laying out your favourite or most relevant embellishments to your story, and then gluing them down to your background page.  This is a very unique style of layout, that adds some visual interest and variety to your scrapbook album, and also takes very little time to create.  Even if this style of scrapbooking is not your forte, making a deconstructed page can be a great way to get your creative juices flowing, get a quick page out of the way, and then move on to create more pages that may be more in line with your typical style.  It’s also a wonderful way to use up leftover embellishments!  For this page, I used the wildly fun Hustle and Heart collection from Amy Tangerine and American Crafts.  In the video, I also show a few of my older deconstructed layouts."

 

Layout took 1 hour to complete and used a 3.5 x 3.5 inch photo.

Reclaim your mojo and share your layouts on social media! Don’t forget to tag me so I can check them out! Use the hashtag #findyourmojowithmercytiara so I can check out your pages! Find other episodes of Find Your Mojo with Mercy Tiara HERE!" ~ Tracy Banks

Enjoy today's process video! Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Maybe we'll share a little something, something from this collection for one reader who does!

 

 

Tools Today with Aly Dosdall featuring the WeR Stitch Happy!

Hello SCT friends! Aly Dosdall here, and I’m so glad to be back with you for another edition of Tools Today. I hope you’re enjoying your summer! One of my favorite things about the warmer weather is traveling, and today I’ve got an easy project to share with you that’s perfect for this time of year.

Check out the Hawaii themed DIY Traveler’s Notebook I made with my We R Memory Keepers Stitch Happy sewing machine! I used some of the thick Stitch Happy floss to sew the binding for my DIY notebook.

The cover of my notebook is patterned paper from the Crate Paper Oasis collection, and the inside pages are plain white copy/printer paper. I added some photos and memories of our trip to Hawaii on the inside pages.

The Oasis collection stickers, ephemera, and washi tape made the perfect embellishments to compliment my photos.

Check out the full tutorial video below where I show how I added some photos and memories of our trip to Hawaii on the inside pages! I also share a demo of the Stitch Happy sewing machine, as well as a tutorial for binding your own notebook with this awesome new tool.

Thanks for joining me today. I hope you’ve learned a bit about the exciting new Stitch Happy sewing machine, and that you’ve been inspired to create something fun with it! If you have any questions about the tool, comment below and I’ll answer your questions. Have a great day, and happy crafting friends!

~Aly

We can finally share the summer issue!

Good morning SCT friends! If you've checked in with us online over the last few days then you know we experienced a severe server crash about an hour after we released the brand new summer issue. The reason? So many readers coming to the site and downloading/viewing the new issue! While of course a server crash is a terrible issue to have, the silver lining is the reason why it happened. Excited readers. Looking back over the last year, our online traffic has grown 4 times what it was. For the small publisher out of Canada that said 11 years ago "we're going to launch a free magazine," crashing a server Friday showed that armed with an outstanding team, a very supportive industry and YOU, our amazing readers, each issue is still very exciting. While our IT team is still working on fixing the issues and we hope the server is stable, we can finally share that our summer issue is LIVE!

Download/View here!

  

This issue includes:

• 120 sizzlin' ideas for summer
• hot trends spotted - see what's on trend for the season
• the coolest card ideas - charming scenes & interactive elements
• make it mini - save summer stories on a smaller scale in a Traveler's Notebook!
• terrific titles - cool ideas from Lisa Dickinson
• meaningful journal & photo ideas
• free online downloads
• ... and an inspiration gallery that is full of stunning projects!

We hope you will enjoy all the inspiration our amazing team and contributors have put together for you in this issue! It was also our new Editor-in-Chief Susan Opel's first issue with us and she did an outstanding job!

Of course with each issue release we LOVE to give away a few copies!  Be sure to leave a comment below by July 6th and we will choose three winners! Good luck!!!

Thank you everyone for all your support as we dealt with the server issue. A great deal of hard work has gone in to ensuring the site is restored so that you're able to visit us as often as you like! If you subscribe to get the issue delivered to you and have this issue in your hands, we would love to know what your favourite part is! Leave it in your comments below. Our team always loves to know what has inspired you! For any other comments you may wish to share, please feel free to do that by emailing me directly at [email protected]!

~ Catherine Tachdjian  Publisher, Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine

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Have you seen the latest video in our Find Your Mojo series with Mercy Tiara!

Be sure to click the video below for her amazing process video where Tracy share's some fun tips and tricks for starting with a photo collage!

 

 

 

Designed with Nicole Nowosad featuring Therm O Web!

Good morning! Nicole Nowosad here again with another video for our Designed With Nicole series! Today, I am playing with the Therm O Web Deco Foil adhesive pen in three different ways to make some easy and shiny cards!

supplies: patterned paper, cardstock, Thickers - American Crafts, Crate Paper, One Canoe Two; Washi Tape - Bella Blvd; Therm O Web Deco Foil Adhesive pen and foil; Cut files - JustNick Studio, Silhouette America

Using this pen is so easy - sit back and watch just how easy it is to incorporate some foil into your project, all with the help of the Decofoil adhesive pen!

How easy was that right!? I hope you are inspired to give this a try, I promise you it is so easy and fun too!

Thanks for joining me on the blog today, I will be back soon with another video in our Designed with series next month!

~ Nicole Nowosad

Find Your Mojo: Celebrating 1 year with Mercy Tiara!

In this episode of Find Your Mojo we are revisiting some of the prompts that have been covered over the past 11 months in our Find Your Mojo process videos. We use a sketch, a photo strip, talk about using a grid, let our embellishments guide us, start with a title, and let our photos guide our colour scheme.
For this page, I used the Faith collection from Simple Stories! This layout took approx.1 hour and 40 minutes to complete and used a series of 3X3 inch photos.

Reclaim your mojo and share your layouts on social media! Don’t forget to tag me so I can check them out! Use the hashtag #findyourmojowithmercytiara so I can check out your pages!

Find other episodes of Find Your Mojo with Mercy Tiara by clicking this link!

Thank you again for joining me today! Would love to hear your comments on this episode in the comment section below.

~ Mercy Tiara (aka Tracy Banks!)