Friday, July 23, 2010

Create Calendar Inspired Scrapbooking Layouts

Jenn says, "You don't have to showcase the entire month for a calendar layout.  You can focus on the days in which something memorable took place.  My month wasn't very eventful aside from t he spontaneous trip I took home to visit family, so I did just that.  It is still a great memento of the month."

The Month of June by Jenn Kellams.  
 

Ronny says, "I've admired many pages like this in the gallery but until now have never tried one. I have to admit, it was harder than I expected. Choosing just one photo per day (we usually take many) and then choosing paper for the empty squares, then to make it all look good together, wow. But all the work was worth it, I love how it came out and it feels great to have a whole month done in one layout."

June 2010 by Smiley-Scrap8


 Janell focused on the wonderful events of one fabulous week in her layout -
 
1 Beautiful Jamaican Week by Janell
 
 
Looks like the Creative Team had a great time creating calendar inspired layouts.  Read the rest of the 'I Love, I Love My Calendar Girls' article at ACherryOnTop.com.


Thursday, July 22, 2010

CHA - Summer Sneak Peeks!

cha sneak peeks
CHA Sneak Peeks

The CHA Summer Show will be held next week in Rosemont (Chicago-land) Illinois!  We're excited to be able to 'shop' for all of the newest in scrapbooking and paper crafting.  If you're curious to see what some of the manufacturers have been working on - check out our CHA - SUMMER 2010 Sneak Peeks!  

Sus and the Creative Team have been scouring blogs and manufacturer sites to grab glimpses of upcoming lines from some of your favorite manufacturers!  Take a look and let us know what you think!

Kristin and I will be sure to share as much as we can with you as we power shop the days away!  Be sure to 'LIKE' ACOT on Facebook before next week.  You don't want to miss out on any of the fun surprises!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Scrapbooking Product Review: Boardwalk By Little Yellow Bicycle

pam bennett
Scrapbooking with Pam (aka: 4peasinourpod)

Here's what Pam had to say about the 'Boardwalk' collection from Little Yellow Bicycle:

'The variety of colors is incredible, and yet they all work so well together.  It makes it easier to scrap summer pictures, as the colors in the papers are not competing with the colors in my photographs.  In any other season, I can change my photos to black and white, but for summer photos, the vibrancy and intensity of the colors seem a part of the experience.  Therefore, I almost always scrap in color.  These papers are an amazing compliment to that!' 

lyb mini album
LYB Mini Album by Pam 

Pam states the colors are a little muted compared to summer releases by other manufacturers.  The amazing embellishments even include Canvas Wave Stickers!

ten things
'10 Things' by Pam 

View Pam's complete review on LYB's 'Boardwalk' release HERE!  You also wont want to miss Angie's Mini Album Class that will be held during our Summer Online Crop!

Product Preview:

lyb boardwalk canvas stickers lyb boardwalk decorative die cut lyb decorative edge tablet
 

 

 

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Scrapbooking Product Review: Making Memories' Panorama Collection

laura fiore
Scrapbooking with Laura Fiore

The sun is shining, the skies are blue and the water is warm!  It's time to preserve all of those fun summer memories!  Laura lets us know what she thought of working with Making Memories' Panorama Collection:

'As always, Making Memories pulled out all the stops when it comes to embellishments for this line, so I was very excited to see how I could use them! If you know anything about me, you know I'm going to find a way to use these products in a variety of ways...I'm not much for theme scrapping, so I put together a few layouts to show just how many fun ways they could be used!'

My Hawaii
'My Hawaii' by Laura Fiore

Laura went 'green' by altering the 'Panorama Treasure Box' - making it into a great storage keepsake for a mini album:

storage box
'Storage Box' by Laura Fiore

View Laura's complete Product Review on our Resources Page at ACherryOnTop.com!

Product Preview:

panorama treasure box panorama masking tape panorama floral paper

Monday, July 19, 2010

How To Make 6 Scrapbooking Layouts in 70 Minutes!

jules
Scrapbooking with Jules (aka: JulesInParadise)

It's incredibly nice when you have hours, days or even weeks to ponder and plan a scrapbooking or paper crafting project.  However, reality isn't really keen on 'nice'!  Usually we're working on a specific project or a gift idea that just needs to get done.  Today, Jules shows us how using Making Memories' Pitter Patter Collection turned her time crunch into productive time well spent!

mamas boys
'Mama's Boys' by Jules 

Jules says using coordinated lines like Making Memories' Pitter Patter collection makes creating projects quick and easy!  She gives us step by step instructions on how combining already coordinated elements like patterned papers, embellishments and stickers can take the stress out of planning when you just don't have time. 

i am dad
'I Am Dad' by Jules

We all love to stretch our creativity, but occasionally it's ok to give yourself a break.  After all, that's why many companies create so many coordinated collections.  View Jules' amazing reveal HERE!

Product Preview:


Friday, July 16, 2010

The Creative Team Puts The Spotlight On You!

Hold on to your hats! The creative team has chosen some truly creative and beautiful layouts from the ACherryOnTop.com Gallery to highlight this month. To be honest, this has to one of the hardest things we have to do as a ct member. The gallery is always so full of great layouts, it can be impossible to choose just one.  Enjoy!

*Glimpse* by pne123

Jenn Kellams says, "I chose this layout for a couple of reasons. I simply adore the use of white space, and the clustering is perfection. These photos capture a sense of fun and happiness and the layout she made showcases that marvelously. I also love the placement of the date and the way it was done (the heart gives a great bit of pizazz) along with the journaling."

Roadtrip by m1218p



Sara (Keling) says: "I just love how Marci has created this adorable scene - it looks like it was cut out with a die-cut machine! And then, to twist it on it's side... brilliant! It's also great to see her use so much journaling and her font choice is just perfect!"

Keep Smiling by wheeliegirl


Mama321 (Kristianne) says, "I love the sentiment of this eye catching layout, with the simple design and warm colors."

You can view the entire Spotlight on our site!  Remember, often our design team additions are recruited from those of you who have submitted to our Gallery

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Scrapbooking Product Review: Block Party By Bo Bunny

angela
Scrapbooking with Angela (aka: Bluejeans7)

Preserving the celebrations in life just got a little brighter with Bo Bunny's 'Block Party' collection.  Here's what Angela had to say about working with this line:

'The Block Party line is totally my taste!  I love the patterns on all of the papers and of course I love that the papers are double-sided.  The colors are awesome and will work with so many different kinds of photos.  There is also many different types of embellishments to pick from: chipboard stickers, rub-ons, buttons, flowers, 3D cardstock stickers, layered chipboard stickers, cardstock stickers, jewels, stamps, journaling die cuts and brads!'

Angela used the 'Fireworks' and 'Party Dots' patterned paper along with chipboard pieces and rub-ons to create this fun layout in a flash:

100 Goofy
100% Goofy by Angela

See what else Angela has to say about Bo Bunny's 'Block Party' collection by reading her complete article HERE.

Product Preview:
block partysummer bash rub onblock party shin dig

Live Chat TONITE With Webster's Pages Design Team!

Websters chat

Please Join Us In The Cherry Loft on TONITE - Wednesday - July 14th at 9pm EST; 6pm PST.
  • Quiz the designers of Webster's Pages with all of your scrapbooking and paper crafting questions!
  • Have some laughs and maybe get *sprinkled* with ACOT Bonus Points or a goodie from Webster's Pages!
We'll see you TONITE in The Cherry Loft Message Board forum at 9pm EST; 6pm PST!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Scrapbooking Product Review: RetroGlam by We R Memory Keepers

kimandasmo
Scrapbooking with Cindy (aka: Kimandasmo)

Our 'flashback' week continues with We R's RetroGlam line!  Cindy gives us the 'skinny' on what it was like to work with this new paper crafting collection and shares some 'far out' project ideas!

Cindy says, 'If you have been following some of the new trends in scrapbooking you will notice that this shape is starting to pop up in more and more papers. I love it. It is very versatile and fun and WRMK did a really great job with the size of the octagon on this paper. I chose to cut mine as corner accents as well as a border for my pictures to give this layout a little bit more than just a plain square shape. After I cut the borders for my pictures I placed them on a black strip for a little splash and added a glitter brad ( I love these) in the opening of each cut-out octagon.'

pierced
'Pierced' by Kimandasmo
 'For this layout I did a little strip tease. I cut strips from the 4 squares on the back of  the Sidney paper, and pieced them together at varying intervals for the bottom half of my page. I then added a border strip from the Marta paper to the top and bottom of my new design to finish it off. On the title block in the upper corner I used some of the buttons from the embossed stickers:'

together
'Together' by Kimandasmo 

You can view Cindy's complete review HERE - and be sure to do yourself a 'solid' and take a look at the new RetroGlam collection at ACherryOnTop.com. 

Product Preview: 

oh happy day jacqueline marta glitter paper

Monday, July 12, 2010

Scrapbooking Product Review: Sun Kissed by Bo Bunny

megamay
Scrapbooking w/Megan (aka: Megamay)

Retro, Psychedelic and Colorful!  Incorporate Bo Bunny's 'Sun Kissed' collection into your paper crafting projects and they will turn out to be like totally far out and groovy.

wish big
'Wish Big' card by Megamay

Here's what Megan had to say about working with the 'Sun Kissed' line:

'It just seems that every new Bo Bunny release is better than the last, and I can't get enough! This one did NOT disappoint. At first I was a little scared by the bright colors, but as it turns out, that just made it so much fun to work with these papers. Just looking at these papers makes me happy. It isn't often that I can say that I truly LOVE each and every creation in a reveal, but with this one I do! I really love it that Bo Bunny threw some purple in with the standard summery colors of yellow, orange and green. It just makes it all so fresh and different!'

You can view Megan's complete review HERE!  Also, be sure to check out all things Bo Bunny at ACherryOnTop.com.

Product Preview:

sun kissed adventure
sun kissed cut out

Friday, July 9, 2010

Join Us For Our Summer Online Scrapbooking Crop!

Summer Crop

Mark Your Calendars for our next online Crop and join us for fun, games, challenges, classes and prizes, all weekend long!
August 6 • August 7 • August 8

The weekend will be full of challenges, fast scraps, BINGO, classes and games. There will be plenty of action, both for the paper ladies and for the digital crowd. 
Make sure you clear your calendar and check back here as we update this article with information as it becomes available. We will add classes, challenge and fast scrap times, as well as links to BINGO games. Can't wait to see you there!


Online Crop FAQ

What is an Online Crop? An online crop is a huge event hosted by our Creative Team members incorporating scrapbooking, classes, games, challenges, classes, PRIZES, chatting with other members and all around FUN!  For more informaion read this article.
When is ACOT's Online Crop?
Our crop begins Friday, August 6 and ends at Sunday, August 8, 2010. All times are Eastern Standard Time. Specific times and class schedule to be announced soon.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

New Scrapbooking Challenges & Contests for July!

Remember:
- only one LO per challenge will enter you into the points drawing
- LOs cannot be entered into more than one challenge category
- *please* only enter LOs that meet the specific challenge instructions

Ad Inspiration Challenge - By MamaK321 (Kristianne)
Paper or Digital Scrapbooking

Ad inspiration is about taking ideas, such as colors, patterns, title or keywords, theme, font styles, and element placement, and using them to create your own layout. You can break the ad inspiration down to a basic sketch, copy a prominent design straight from the ad, or you can alter a design to fit your own layout. Most ads are 8.5x11" but you can adapt the ad to fit any size. Remember, this is not a sketch and you are not required to follow every detail. You can use either one or both pages of this ad to inspire your layout. The key is to really LOOK at the ad and find the pieces that INSPIRE you!

 
Color Challenge - by Art_Teacher (Laura)
Paper or Digital Scrapbooking

July always makes me think of the colors red, white, and blue, of course. However, red and blue look fantastic with other neutrals besides white. Try red and black, or blue and tan, or the combos I used in my example layouts: red and brown and blue and brown. For this challenge, I want you to pair either red or blue with a neutral besides white (grey, black, brown, tan, cream, etc.). You may use other colors as accents, but at least 75% of your layout should be your red or blue + neutral combo.





Die Cut Challenge - By Dianedi (Diane)
Paper  Scrapbooking

Using your die-cutting tools, create a layout that contains all of the colors: red, white and blue! Your layout does not have to be a patriotic theme!

Please indicate which die-cutting tools such as a Cricut, Silhouette, Sizzix or other you've used. At least 50% of your layout must be created using your die-cutting tools! Have fun!



Digi Do-Able Challenge - By Smiley-Scrap8 (Ronny)
Digital Scrapbooking
Welcome to another edition of Digi Do-Ables!

Check out the template based on a layout by ncokely/Nancy in the Digi Shoppe and use that template to create your own layout. Flip it, change it, or just use it as it is, it's up to you!

Here is the template:



Example Layout:

Faithbooking Challenge - By Keling (Sara)
Paper or Digital Scrapbooking

JULY FAITHBOOKING CHALLENGE - Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus


Journaling Challenge - By Jenn Kellams (Jenn)
Paper or Digital Scrapbooking

For the month of July, I would like for you to challenge yourself with thoughts of "2nd Chances". Journal about something you would like a 2nd chance at. It can whimsical, serious, life altering, playful. The sky is the limit! I chose to journal about something fun and wrote about a "2nd chance to Europe!"

 

Need more inspiration?  There are over 20 DIFFERENT July Scrapbooking Challenges posted by our Creative Team!  We'll do what we can to make sure those lazy days of summer aren't so lazy after all!  Be sure to post your submission to the appropriate Challenge/Contest section of our Gallery before the July 31st deadline!  We can't wait to see what you create!