Layout to share with you

Okay this is my first post, I know I haven`t been around much but with the kids being off school I am not getting an awful lot of internet time!!!

Completed this layout today of myself, I have recently started scrapping myself, I have a new camera and the kids and I are forever messing about with it so I suddenly have a lot of photos of me for a change and it is nice for future generations to look back on pages of you...the journalling around the photo at the bottom is my roles: Mum, Partner, Friend, Daughter, Sister...and around the top is words that describe me: Funny, Creative, Loyal, Emotional, Determined. The main journalling reads "The most important job in the world to me is being a Mum but as my children are getting older they seem to need me less and less so now begins a period of rediscovery" and this pretty much sums up me at the moment.

So scrap yourself and how you feel and what you do...and think of it as your personal history for your kids or grandchildren.

I will be back soon I promise xxx

Paper piecing

Paper piecing is very time consuming but I find it very rewarding. I have spent days putting pieces together for just a double page layout and thought to myself why am I doing this. Upon completion I know why it is very very rewarding to know you have done it all yourself. No premade embellies just your own handiwork. Here is a page I did a couple of years ago for my daugther's album. There are many places you can gather paper piecing patterns examples are the internet, Colouring in books, Your own drawings etc. And once you have your shapes you can think of things to add dimension to them like buttons, wire, bling, the sky is your limit. Just remember have loads of fun doing it.

Lame doodling

As promised here is my page- no templates with my own doodling. It is far from the best doodling I have ever seen but it was fun and I got to say exactly what I wanted to say. Please try it and let me know how you went. I would love to see many more of us addicted to doodling...

Doodling

Do you like to doodle?

I love seeing pages that other scrappers have created using doodling. When I attempt it it always seems to look so lame. Now there are templates out there to help us if you are not yet ready to show your doodling to the world. It adds such a personal touch to your pages to and you can add that perfect personal touch with your own doodling. We can spend forever looking for just that perfect embellishment adding a doodle can be personal and have a lot more meaning and you can make them look as cool as you want. I encourage you to go and try some doodling on your pages here are a couple of mine using a template I do have some without a template will try and find them on my messy pc and share. But please do give it a try it is fun and your confidence will grown with practice and before you know it you will be doodling everywhere. If at first you are not 100% confident try it on a scrap piece of paper before adding it to your page when you are happy with it add it and it will also add another special element to your pages.

Buttons

Buttons are a very cheap and easy way to add an extra little something to your pages. Either through the traditional methods of sewing, gluing etc to a paper layout, they can also be used on layouts digitally.

Because we can easily accumulate so many of them - I find an easy way to sort them is by color. I purchased some very inexpensive glass jars at the local $2 shop and sorted them by colour into each jar, once i had done this i just stood them on a shelf in my studio, now they are easily grabbed to make a layout, and better still i don't have to search through a big pile just for a certain color, i just grab the appropriate jar and away I go.

Enjoy some layout both Traditional and digital using buttons.

Hugs

Sam

Journalling Series Part 1 - From the Heart

This section is aimed at journalling straight from the heart. Imagine an onion having 3 layers and the outer layer being the surface, middle layer being more intense and finally the inner layer or the core to be the heart and soul. Well journalling from the heart can be a little like an onion. Instead of just simply writing the basics about an event or person, try and get to the inner core of what you are trying to express. Whilst this can be difficult for some and others dont really want all their private thoughts on show - you can hide your journalling away in pockets, enevelopes and other ways and still be journalling from your heart.

You may be the only person in your family or circle of friends writing about the important details and feelings of events, friends and family. Whether you are writing about mistakes made, victories, feelings about loved ones or just simple everyday moments, your words will be and are priceless to you and future generations.

Sometimes your writing may seem trivial, but later you will discover that it is these simple things are those that tie us all altogether throughout the future generations. Imagine children having memory's forgotten from growing up without someone having taken the time to document the extraordinary and simple things that characterize their personality.

Get beyond the basics of WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHY and go deeper, feel the feellings of the moment, describe what really made this photo worthy of capturing, I promise you you wont be dissapointed you did so.

For me personally i really express myself from the heart, i journall so personally at times , that i have even had people comment that it make them "cry" or that it is too "mushy" - well i welcome hearing comments like that - you know why? Because i know that i have stuck the write chord, i have revealed my inner depths of love and feelings for the person in the photo. I have gone deeper, i have reached the core of the onion. I do this because i want my children, family and friends to really know how i feel, i want them to know my unconditional love and support, and that when i am no longer here, there will be no doubt of what i was all about.

I challenge you to try this, it gives you goose bumps.

Take a look at some of my pages that have heartfelt journalling, i am not afraid of geeting personal and allowing people to read this, and hopefully inspire readers to try it on there next layout.

stay tuned for the next part in the journalling series.

Hugs

Sam

Football Card

I first started out by sketching a helmet. It was really simple and all you need is something with a circled edge for the top of the helmet. Sketch with a pencil all of the designs you will put on the helmet-Even though you will be doing these details with other cardstock. I used a beige cardstock for the helmet and then chose black and red to add as details. Take a black marker and colour in the circle on the helmet and also the face guard. Take another coloured cardstock (I used red) and trace the outlines of the helmet where these details will go. From there sketch the same design on the cardstock as you had drawn on the helmet itself. After you do this, paste it down to the helmet. You can add letters (or initials) on the label on the helmet. Take a white gelpen and trace the face guard edges because you will putting black on black and need to seperate these parts.

Take a green cardstock and fold it in half, then half again so you get a square. You can paste the insides together (the sides you dont see from the card) so that it only opens the way you want the card to open, so you cant take the whole card apart. Cut a black strip of paper any size and put it off to the side. Take white cardstock and cut 10 thin strips. Paste them to the green cardstock evenly. Take your white gel pen and starting from 10, label each strip by 10's until you reach 50, then go backwards Again.

Your top numbers will be : 20, 30, 40, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10
Your Bottom Numbers will be: 20, 30, 40, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10

You can put one number on the one side of the line, the other on the other side:
Ex: 1|0 2|0 3|0 Ext..


After you are done that, take the black paper you cut and paste it in the middle of the card. Then take the helmet and paste it on the black paper-anywhere you want.

You can then take and add the title for your card, but mine went into the inside.

And voila! A simple, guy, sports card!

I just LOVE the circles on this layout! Im guilty of always pulling out my paper cutter and making everything on a layout have streight lines! Scrap-lift this fun, funky idea for a different outlook!

Organizing paper

Organizing Paper

]I love to organize. I also love paper, from notebook paper to colored cardstock to Patterned Papers. I especially love all the specialty papers available to scrapbookers now. Hence, I have quite the collection of paper at my house. \.
Recently I searched through my huge stack of Patterned Paper for I'm not sure what, and realized I was lost. I had tons of wonderful Patterned Paper that was disorganized. I had invested over $hundreds of dollars$ in my paper collection and didn't even know what I had.

Here are four easy steps to organize your paper pile.
First, label the manila file folders with color names in rainbow order. Write each name on two folders (one for cardstock and one for Patterned Paper). Rainbow order is white, cream, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and black. Add more folders if you have another color you know you have a lot of, if you want to further sort your blues or greens, or if you have a lot of holiday or multicolored Patterned Papers, etc.
Second, place one manila folder in each hanging folder.
Third, after your folders are labeled, sort your cardstock into the appropriate manila folders.
Last, sort your Patterned Papers into the coordinating folders as well. Now you should have all your papers (both plain cardstock and patterned) organized by color or theme into manila folders in a hanging file (or two or three files). So, stand up, stretch, and get a big drink of water, you're doing great and the fun part is about to begin!
Here's where you learn those organized shopper skills. Take each piece of Patterned Paper and find one or two coordinating colors of cardstock from your files. If you can't find cardstock to match, put the paper in a sheet protector and place it in Binder #1. This is the binder you will consult the next time you shop to find coordinating cardstock for all those unmatched papers. However, once you have matched a piece of Patterned Paper with enough cardstock for a one- to two-page layout, place that collection into a page protector and put it into Binder #2. Repeat this process with each of your Patterned Papers. I started with the pinks and went through each color folder of Patterned Papers. I filled three 3" D-ring binders, and had another 1" binder full of papers with no cardstock. When you are finished, your binder(s) will be a rainbow display of perfectly matched papers, all ready and waiting for your wonderful photos!
When shopping in the future, every time you add a piece of Patterned Paper to your basket, make sure to add enough coordinating cardstock to mat your photos and/or use as your background so that you're never caught again with paper you can't use. Allowing enough paper for a two-page layout is always a smart way to shop. Also, make sure you have enough of each pattern to complete your future pages, since dye lots of papers change, and papers are discontinued.

what is in a name??

A Layout as Special as Your Name


When you're pregnant, you're often on the receiving end of a line of questioning that goes something like this: "When are you due? How much weight have you gained? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? Have any names picked out?" For me, the toughest question was always the last - the name. After all, selecting a name your child will carry for the rest of his life is a big responsibility?do you go with a trendy name? A family name? Smart-sounding, classic, cute or clever? Whatever name you choose has to be adorable enough to suit a baby, yet tease-proof for a child, cool for a teen and respectable for an adult. Such pressure!
But once the choice is made and your baby is in your arms, you realize all the effort was worth it?doesn't it seem as if no other name would suit your child as well? Why not showcase the perfect name you chose (and the perfect child you chose it for) with a layout that puts the spotlight on both? Here are a few fun ways to create a layout with a focus on your child's name.
1. Definition as theme. If the meaning of your child's name would suit an entire page theme, you can design a layout with embellishments that incorporate and build on the idea. For example, my son's name, Ryan, means "the little king." With that in mind, I produced a layout based on the royal theme. [See Example 1] The castle, trumpet and banner, and the crown and scepter photo corners all reflect the "king" motif, while silver Diamond Dust paper and silver metallic rub-on on the clouds give the layout a regal flair.

2. What's in a name? Try creating a dictionary-style layout - along with a favorite photo of your child, design a journaling box modeled after a listing in the dictionary. Use the name as the main word and include its real definition, along with one that you've made up to describe your child. For instance: "Ryan, noun. The little king. A sweet, 4-month-old boy commonly known to eat, play and sleep. Loves to be carried, often insisting upon it several hours a day. Smiles and coos frequently and laughs when tickled under the chin."
3. Family ties. Occasionally, children take their mother's maiden name as their own (for example, a mother whose last name was "Lane" could chose that as the first name of her son). If that's the case with your little one, you can design a page that incorporates mementos of your family history, such as your family crest or some heritage photos of your relatives.
4. If the shoe fits . Does the definition of your child's name apply to his personality? Perhaps you can fashion a layout that tells how it does or doesn't suit your little one with photos that illustrate the point. For example, my daughter's name means "peace." On any given day, however, she is anything but peaceful! One day, I took a photo of her during a serene moment and used that as an example of what her name really means?and included a journaling box that explains how that moment was actually a rarity! [See Example 2]

5. The nickname game. If your child has a cute nickname, you can design a layout that spotlights it, as well. My friend, for instance, calls her daughter "little love bug." She could create an adorable layout with embellishments such as hearts and whimsical little bugs!
6. The name's the same. Was your child named after someone in your family? If so, a layout featuring your little one and the person whose name they adopted would be a special addition to any album. My niece, for example, has middle names that were inspired by those of her grandmothers. To highlight that connection and their closeness, I chose a photo of Sarah and her Grandma Marlene and designed a page that discusses the special bond they share. [See Example 3]

7. Tell me why. Perhaps there is another reason why you chose your child's name. Was he named after the place where you and your husband met? An admired celebrity? A favorite flower? Whatever the reason, your child would love a layout that explains the origin of his name?perhaps you could include a written explanation, along with a photo of your child and one of the person, place or thing that inspired the name.
Whether you chose one of these concepts or devise one of your own, the layout you create about your child's name is sure to be a meaningful addition to their album and be a fantastic topic of discussion for years to come.

Sketches

Hi all i am going to be posting a series of sketches on a Monday that can be adapted to fit either an 8x10 format or a 12x12 format. I hope you find them helpful, remember there is no hard and fast rules with these sketches, they dont have to be duplicated 100% they are simply a starting point to get you started.

These sketches are from www.pagemaps .com

Enjoy

Hugs

Sam

Hello

Hi There,

My name is Carolyn I have been scrapbooking for about 5 years I started when our twins were about 6 months old. I am happily married to my soulmate pete and we have 3 beautiful kiddos Kye 15, tyler and Tahlia 5. I am totally addicted to scrapbooking and love finding new techniquess and trends to put my own spin on. I dabble in card making but would consider myself a scrapper rather than a cardmaker but do enjoy branching off to cardmaking now and then. I look forward to interacting with the readers of this blog and working with the talented ladies already on the DT here. Thanks Ashley for asking me to be a part of your team.

I look forward to discovering new things with you all.

some new layouts

here are some layouts Ive done lately!

Heat Embossing

One versatile technique used by stampers and scrapbookers alike is heat embossing. With just the basics of materials, you can create many different effects on your layouts, cards or altered books. To start, you will need the following supplies:

- Heat gun (found at most hobby stores or stamp companies)
- Stamp (image stamps and/or alphabet stamps)
- Embossing ink pad, pigment ink pad or Versamark Pad
- Embossing Powder
- Tidy Tray (optional)
- Anti-static product (optional)

1. First wipe the area to be stamped with an anti-static bag (a laundry fabric sheet will work too). This step is optional, but is a good idea to do if you want to make sure no stray embossing powder granules are on the surface surrounding the image. Anti-static products reduce static on the paper, which attracts embossing powder granules.

2. Next ink your stamp with your embossing ink pad or pigment ink of choice, and place the stamp down on your paper. In order to heat emboss, you must use an ink that dries slowly, which is why embossing ink (clear or tinted), pigment inks or Versamark inkpads are great choices. Dye inks dry too quickly for this process. Also keep in mind that if you want to have a totally transparent embossing effect, use clear embossing ink, not the tinted. The tinted ink will show through. If you use different color pigment inks remember that your image will be the color of your embossing powder not the ink you used. Using different color inks can enhance the color of the embossing powder, but will not be what you see unless you emboss the tinted ink with clear embossing powder.

3. Generously sprinkle your embossing powder over the image. Pour the excess powder into the Tidy Tray or container. If there are some granules in areas that you don�t want, use a small paintbrush to swipe away.

4. Using your heat gun, heat the image until the powder melts and turns shiny. Hold your heat gun about 6 inches from the paper. Sweep back and forth over the image until you notice the embossing powder melting. Melted embossing powder is smooth and shiny, and has a raised edge. Remember that if you heat too close to the cardstock, you can cause the embossing powder or the paper itself to burn. Many times I use my scrapbooking tweezers to hold what I am embossing so that I don�t burn my fingers.

So there you have it! The basics to heat embossing! But how can you use heat embossing in your scrapbooks? You can use this technique to:

Emboss images on your pages. Just stamp an image on your page and emboss. You can also use an embossing pen to highlight an existing image on your paper and then emboss.

Random embossing. Swipe your ink pad over your paper and just emboss an area on your layout.

Change the color of metal embellishments. If you run out of a gold brad, you can easily change a silver brad to gold by using gold embossing powder. Holding the brad with tweezers, heat the top and then dip into the embossing powder. Heat again until the embossing powder is melted.

Description: On this layout I randomly embossed around the edges, embossed the letter �L� with white embossing powder, and changed the metal flower from silver to gold with embossing powder.

Make your own faux metal embellishments. You can make your own faux metal letter tiles and words just by embossing. Many times this technique works best with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) but regular embossing powders work just as well. With regular embossing powders you will need to build up more layers.. For example, if you wanted to make a circle letter tag, you would emboss a paper circle tag with silver or gold embossing powder. (Other colors would work as well). Build up several layers. Then take a letter stamp, ink it with embossing ink and push the stamp into the hot embossing powder. Leave it there for several seconds. When cooled, pull the stamp away from the circle and you should have an impression of that letter. To make the letter stand out better, either use a black Sharpie to color in the letter or restamp with black Staz-On ink. You can use this technique to create other impression images as well.

Emboss transparencies. Type a title or phrase out on a transparency and as soon as it comes out of the printer, sprinkle embossing powder over it. Carefully heat the title, making sure not to warp the transparency. The best way to do this is to have a piece of cardboard wrapped in aluminum foil. Place the transparency on that surface while heating in order to speed up the heating process before the transparency has a chance to warp.

Emboss on vellum. This works the same as transparencies.

Create a cracked-glass effect. This technique works best with clear UTEE because you need to have multiple layers of embossing powder. First, take a paper embellishment or copy of a photo and ink it with clear embossing ink. Sprinkle UTEE on it and heat. Build up about 4-5 layers (more if you use regular clear embossing powder). Once the image has cooled, crack it by slightly twisting the cardstock. When you have the desired effect, seal it with Diamond Glaze or crystal lacquer.

Create your own embellishments. Using clear UTEE or clear embossing powder, you can heat several layers and put items in different layers for artistic effects. Try floating microbeads, glitter, dried flowers, Pearl Ex in different layers for your own custom embellishment.

As you can see, heat embossing has unlimited possibilities! These are just a few of the great effects that can be made by using this versatile technique!

Hi Im Cath

Hi I am Cath...I currently own CathsCustomCreations...I make scrapbooks, greeting cards etc to fit your needs!! As my motto states "Helping build your memories, one page at a time" My web blog for sales is www.cathscustomcreations.wordpress.com and it is where I primarly go to post new things I am working on for clients. That being said, I also scrapbook for my family, as I have a 22 month old who needs his life documented...and he now has 6 full books!! hahah! I love new techniques and toys and am always up on the newest thing in scrapbooking and cardmaking!

The Container Store

I just want to put out the word for a fantastic store that was on Opera today.

The Container Store <-Click Here

It's a store thats based in the United States but offers shipping to Canada.

It's a huge store with just that-Containers.

Now us scrap booker's always need storage spaces and such, So this store is GREAT for us!
There are SO MUCH stuff that you are bound to find something that fits your need!

You can not only shop for products but you can actually PLAN a space/organize a project. Your projects are saved, and you can go through, looking at things that would be great, and add them to your project, get a total cost, etc. You can shop by categories..

You can get items for your scrap space, as well as everyday items! They even have a cute purse organizer. All you ladies know, your purse begins to take on a life of it's own. You just throw things in there and it takes FOREVER to find something when you need it. Well, your problems can be solved with the purse organizer! It's got spaces, tabs, clips.. Everything!

Above is the purse organizer.. But seriously, take a look at the site, and shop for your scrap room! Everything is GREAT priced!

You can actually search "Scrapbook" in their search tab and a bunch of products come up!!

ENJOY THE SITE!!

Birthday Deer Card

For birthdays, Id rather make my own card for the person because it's not only more personal, but it's from the heart. For my boyfriends dad, I made the card below. I got a great picture of a deer because he loves hunting. I chose two coloured cardstocks that matched the picture for the happy birthday title. The beige cardstock matches the deer, and the green letter boarder matches the trees. I punched two holes in the corners and I found fluffy brown ribbon to give the feel of deer fur. I tied these through the holes and made bows. The inside was a problem for me as I am a perfectionist. I ended up putting a plain brown ribbon across the middle and brads on both ends. I added a brown flower in the middle. On the top and botton I did a design, and then added rub-on phrases for birthdays.

Heres your challenge- Make your own cards for people. I've got a good set of 70cards I have made myself, all different types-Birthdays, Get Well, Congratulations, New Baby...Etc. Any time I need a card, I just look through my pile. If I don't have one that I think is a good fit, I create a new one.

It's a really simple thing to do. All you need is cardstock for the base of the card. You can even go out and purchase your own blank cards and add to them. Both of these ideas work!

Stephanie

Hi! I'm Stephanie, I've been scrappin' for a little while now, and love everything about this wonderful hobby, okay, so I am addicted!

I'm 24 and live in Alabama with my awesome husband Bryan. We've been married just over a year and a half so I love to scrap the little things that our future family will one day look back on and appreciate. I also love to do pet pages and capture pieces of our everyday lives that are important to us. I love clean lines and lots of color. Rubons and Patterend paper are my weakness, hmm... and ribbon, and chipboard, and stickers, lol okay I think you get the point. Hope you enjoy it here!

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