New In Digital Scrapbooking -

Posted by nun69

 

The Digi CT is bringing you some awesome inspirtaion to close out 2011 with style and ring in 2012 with a BANG!

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For this double-pager Laura made a layout for her sister-in-law, she wanted a winter/Christmas kit with pink in it, because of her sweatshirt.She thought Theresa Hernandez's kit "Frolic and Play" went so well. 


Even though the pinks aren't exactly the same, she says it is a beautiful kit, full of so many fun, whimsical elements! Laura also used SAS Designs' P365 Templates and one of Bella Gypsys awesome Sketchology Templates:

Check out Laura's {Art_Teacher} gallery for more fabulous LO's

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Angie also did a double pager featuring Bella Gypsy Designs: Country Christmas kit that was just right for her Dec Daily Pages 2011. Check out all the other Christmas kits that are in the digital shoppe for more inspiration!

Check out Angie's {nun69} gallery for more Christmas inspiration

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Ronny was so excited to see this new Hanukkah kit by Amy Teets in the shop. Hanukkah is half of her family's  winter celebrations each year and she is usually left to scrap those photos with a snow kit or any kit that is mostly blue. Ronny says "It was a nice treat to get to scrap this special photo using the perfect papers and elements for the occasion":

Ronny also did her Christmas card this year with kits from Bella Bypsy Designs. Ronny says "Seeing as we send cards to family and friends that celebrate a range of holidays I chose to focus on spending time with family, regardless of what is being celebrated. Here is our fun, festive card featuring Holly Jolly by Bella Gypsy Designs":

Check out Ronny's {Smiley-Scrap8} gallery for more fun and inspiring projects/layouts

K & Company Smash Book Ideas

Posted by megamay (Megan):

 

Have you seen the new Smash Book product? 


People have been talking about it, and it sold out with lightening speed when it first came out. If you are like me, though, you looked at it and thought - "cute, cool, but what would I really DO with it?"

The video was cool - showing how you could use it for an idea book - tearing things from magazines and gluing them in on the fly. That's pretty cool, and I LOVE the idea, but I know myself. That's not something I would do. 

Sure, I run into neat ideas, but I wouldn't carry a big book like that around with me just to collect ideas. I have a busy life, and I have enough stuff to carry already. If I am going to tote something around with me all the time, it needs to either be REALLY small, or have a major purpose in my life. 


Plus, I don't tend to be the messy artsy type of person. I like lists and grids and orderly things. When I look at a blank page where I am supposed to put my ideas, I get intimidated.


I heard about some people using these books as mini scrapbooks - taking them on vacation. That's an awesome idea and that's one that I would use, but I didn't have any vacations planned where I would want something like that. 


I do however have this almost obsession with all types of journaling books. I make lists ON PAPER. I keep buying books to keep my lists in, but they never seem to work out. Most recently, I bought the tiniest notebook I could find, so I could carry it around and write down my scrapbook ideas. But I lost it because it was so tiny - lol! AND it was hard to write in. 


So, I kept looking at and coveting the Smash books stuff - not only for the book, but for the awesome adorable extras. Finally I noticed the calendar inserts. Now THAT is something I could use! I keep a calendar online but, call me old school, I still like to have a visual in front of me, with the basics on it. 
I also keep making lists, and I love crossing stuff off, but I kept having to re-write most of it from day to day, week to week, because I was using post-it notes. Soooooo, I came up with the idea to use a smash book as a planner/list keeper/idea book. ONE thing that I can keep all my stuff in! 

Here's how I did it:

I used the fabulous Fabric Smash tabs, to separate sections of my book. When I saw these, I just knew they were perfect for me. Fabric is so much more durable than paper. And tabs stick out! I knew this book was going to go through a LOT with me. 

Here are the tabs that I created. Calendars: I left 2 facing pages per month. You only get 4 calendar pockets in the pack, but I expect this book to last me at least longer than that. So I left enough pages for 12 months. Then put the next tab on - the 'Scrap lists' tab. 


I keep lists of ideas for tutorials, challenges, altered items, things I want, things I need - etc. But those lists don't change a whole lot, so I only left about 4 pages for that. Next is non-scrap lists - i.e. projects around the house that I want to do. 


These are not to-do lists! That will go with the calendar pages. So I only left a couple of pages for that too. My next tab is blog and recipe ideas. Kind of a weird combo, but I don't do a lot of cooking even though sometimes I collect recipe ideas. So I combined those things and only left a few pages. 


The final tab - inspiration/quotes - is the biggest section. This is where I will do things like the smash book video showed - pasting ideas, drawing things, etc. There is plenty of room there for another tab or two also. I just didn't know what else I would need yet. 


Always time to evolve!  


One thing I thought of that I might add is a workout/diet tracking section. It IS new years - with resolutions and all!

Calendar section

This is what my calendar section looked like when I first created it. I had these lists on a piece of paper, so I just copied them over. I was worried  that there might not be enough room on these two pages for all my to-do lists for a whole month, so I planned to use papers tucked into the calendar pocket, and postit notes to expand the space. 


FYI- I found that the glue in the pen wasn't as strong as I wanted for my calendars, so I added some of my ATG glue, and some of the blue tape on the corners. I don't know if that was necessary, but I didn't want to take any chances.

This is what my calendar page looks like now at the end of the month:
You see that I didn't quite run out of space! I have some papers in the pocket with 'daily' to-dos. (Sometimes while Im at work I make lists of little chores that I want to get done that day - 'laundry' didn't make it to the more permanent smash book page because COME ON - there is ALWAYS laundry to do! right?! I could take up a whole page with just writing laundry and crossing it off!


FYI - that pen is FABULOUS! it is just thick enough - love it! and I .... lost it! The next time I place an order I am totally ordering a new one. I was so bummed when I lost that pen!

Scrap lists

Here is the start of the scrap lists page:

and here's what it looks like now

 

Non-scrap lists

Here is the non-scrap lists page. This one didn't change much this month because it was the holidays and I didn't have much time to think about stuff around the house. Also, I think I need to do something about this page, it's kinda hard to read the writing. I might put a layer of gesso or something on it. I don't know yet.

 

Blog/recipe ideas

Here is the start of the blog and recipe ideas page. Pretty lame huh?

It got a little more interesting though. One of the things I wanted to do on vacation was revamp my blog. I didn't get around to that because I didn't feel like sitting on the computer, but I DID make some plans for blog features that I can post each month. 

 

Inspiration and Quotes

Here is the 'after' inspiration and quotes page. I guess I didn't take a 'before' picture because there wasnt really anything to see. But now there is! One day at work I did a little drawing. I also wrote down a couple of card sentiment ideas. Then made a list of ideas for the new Paper Crafts card call for summer themed shaped cards. and there's a little magazine clipping too! 

And finally, here is the back pocket where I stuck all the little extras so that I would have them when I need them. (the only thing that didn't fit in there was the roll of tape.)

Here is my 'after' picture of the front of the book. not much interesting there. but it is darn cute right? I keep looking at the flower embossed design and thinking about coloring it in and glittering it up or something, but I can't bring myself to mar all that gorgeous kraft - ness.

So, I guess this reveal/tutorial is sort of a review and a pep talk. This book is great quality and oh so cute! The 'extras' are amazing and there is just so much that you can do with it! You probably aren't going to use it the same way I did, and if you do make a planner - you might have different sections or more pages in the recipe section. 


The point is that you can really make it into anything you want, and you don't have to be all 'artsy' and just paste magazine photos of inspirations in it. (not that that isn't a great idea!) 


The designs on the pages make it less intimidating to doodle. After all, there are already some designs on there, it isn't just a blank page looking you in the face. All the pocket and paper slip add-ons are perfect for adding stuff in after the fact, in case you don't leave enough pages for one section. I have totally done that before with similar projects. With this one I planned ahead to stick in papers and post-it notes, so it wasnt really any pressure deciding how many pages to use for stuff. 


I didn't even use the plain pocket add-ons yet. I figure that they will definitely find a home in my inspiration section, and maybe in the list areas if I need expansion, but right now, I didn't really need them - I have the calendar pockets and so much space!


I used a couple of the stickers for a similar purpose - to draw attention to something and to add space. I used one of them to cover up something that I didn't need anymore with a comment that I wanted to draw attention to. 

Products used in this reveal:

Hybrid Stocking Stuffers & Decorations

Posted by milmomma (Brittney):

From Christmas carols to snowmen and snowflakes, the weather is changing and the season is upon us. We are all so busy with so much to do. 


The tinsel has to be hung and the cookies baked, but remember to take time to make something for you! Since I love to make hybrid things, I made some decorations for me and stocking stuffers for my kids. 


I even included a gift for my son's girlfriend that moved away.

I had a blast with the KaiserCraft train and some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. It was my first time using the mist, and my best advice is to cover every surface within a 3 foot radius. 


I made a mess with mine at first. After gluing down my papers I had to sand the edges to get them smooth, but I love the distressed look it gave them. I had to add some Prima Flowers and pearls to make some bling and give it some detail.

I also switched up the KaiserCraft Tree Album and turned it in to a tree to hang for my wall. I wanted to keep it simple and keep it toned down so it would stick out on my wall and the train would really stand out.

For my kids I wanted to use some of my fun Pinterest ideas and make some stocking stuffers that were more than just some plain candy. I made some snowman bars, some snowman kisses, and peek-a-boo snowman gum. I even covered some little notepads to give with some fun pencils. It was fun to decorate them with my punches and love.

I also had to come up with something special for Hannah, my son's girlfriend who moved away. I still had KaiserCraft's Present Album to decorate. I decided to use the Tattered Angel's Ink. It looked like nail polish with its little brush but turned out to be awesome to get in and around the edges of the album. 


Though I would have to say my hands were red for a few days after I got it done. With the pictures from last Christmas' photoshoot on one side and T'was the Night Before Christmas story on the back, it only needed some small details like some recycled cardboard and lace to finish it out. 


We gave it to them before they left so they would have some decorations for when they got back home.

Thank you everyone for looking and reading about my fun Christmas Decorations.

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-Products Used-

   

Pinterest Inspiration -

Posted by SarahA

Has your sister been ignoring your calls? Have your online friends disappeared from your facebook news feed? Your neighbor hasn't been seen in days? Well, that's because they're all checking out the crafty goodness at Pinterest! 


If you didn't know, Pinterest is an on-line pin board where you can save all of the awesome ideas you see floating around the www. You can also follow people and see what they pin, then repin it to your own board. 


This month, I decided to show you a few of my favorite pins and how I turned them into scrapbooking projects. Check out what inspired me below!


French  Toast Cupcakes
My favorite food is French toast- I'd eat it for every meal if I could. When I had a French toast cupcake with maple frosting at my local bakery, I knew I had to try to make them myself. I searched out a recipe, then pinned it on my Treats pinboard for later.  


After I made the cupcakes, I was sure to take a photo to scrap it. They were really that good! :) Next time you pin a recipe, make it, then scrap it! You could include just a photo like I did, include the recipe, or show your family enjoying it. Papers, die cuts and stickers from the Crate Paper Farmhouse line are just perfect for scrapping your food and recipe photos like I did here. And how could I not add some bakers twine to this layout?! 


If you're interested in the recipe I used, it is right here.

Library Time
I repinned this fun piece from someone else:

I really liked the color palatte and wanted to use it on a layout. Taking it another step further, I also tried to re-create the placement of each color. In my layout, you'll see a dark brown strip at the bottom, mimicking the COFFEE title on the print. 


The brads on my layout are also in the same position on my layout as they are on the print coming out of the coffee pot, and the light colored background is the same. I also used a large amount of bright pink on my layout, just as the largest item on the print is bright pink.  There are words on the top right of the print, so I added a quote to my layout in the same spot. 


You really can look at prints, posters and ads you might find on Pinterest and get just a little or a whole lot of layout inspiration!

Christmas Ornament
I saw this ornament on Pinterest and knew it would be perfect for a first Christmas ornament for my nephew:

I took the top off a plain glass ball, then used a Prima Branch to fill the ball with.  The stars were larger than the opening, but they bent slightly to go in, then went back to their normal shape right away.

I basically followed the instructions on the House of Smiths blog. I printed a small photo (depending on how large your ball is- I printed mine at  2x2 - but would recommend doing it smaller than that), then adhered it to a piece of paper from the Crate Paper Peppermint line. 


I printed out a little tag and adhered that to the paper, too. I then rolled it up just enough to fit inside, then slid it in. Once inside the ball, it unrolled itself and I was able to use tweezers to reposition it as needed. I felt it needed a little more pizzaz, so I slipped in a few strands of green tinsel as well. Here's a view from the side:

And the finished ornament:

Your Sweet Little Story
I had to save my favorite for last. I found this quote as a print on Pinterest, and I just knew I had to use it on a layout with the baby when he was still brand new. The original source of this print was not on Pinterest, and I can't find it, so I can't give proper credit, but isn't it the sweetest thing?

I liked the colors, too, so I used the yellow and grey scheme on my layout. You can't go on Pinterest and not see a chevron or herringbone print/fabric/craft/home decor piece because they are hot, hot, HOT right now! I used a paper from the Crate Paper Random line for the background and some yellow paper from My Mind's Eye's Good Day Sunshine line.


I first printed out the quote (the font is Channel and is very similar to the font from the Hallmark logo), then cut apart each word. I spent some time arranging them into a heart shape, inked each piece and then accidentally dumped all the words off when I went to sew on the buttons.


That turned out fine, though, because it gave me a chance to splatter a little Charcoal Maya Mist behind the words filling in a little of the empty space. I then glued the words down and that was that! There are tons and tons of quotes on Pinterest, so the next time you need a title or saying, they can be your first stop. 


Who knows, maybe you'll even be further inspired like I was with the colors, and your layout design will be a snap!

I'm also now hosting a Pinterest Inspiration Challenge each month, so keep your eye out for some other fun ideas from Pinterest from me and the others who play along. I'd love to see what inspires you!


Products used in this reveal: