Scrapbooking With Basic Grey's Marjolaine Collection

Submitted by ScrapGoo

Do you have a particular type of photo that you just consistently struggle to scrapbook?  My Achilles heel is the gazillion photos I have that are outside.  Green grass and blue sky.  It doesn't SOUND difficult, but the sheer quantity of this type of picture is my hangup.  It is tough to find paper that coordinates!  

So, when I saw the gorgeous patterns in the Basic Grey line Marjolaine I just knew they would fit the bill!  It was like hitting the jackpot!  Marjolaine is a collection of cool blues and greens plucked right out of nature.  You'll have to forgive me for bombarding you with layouts of outside photos because Basic Grey made scrapping them so much easier than ever before. 

Of course they've included a plethora of matching embellishments with this collection and the quality of the double sided paper is top notch.  It's what we've come to expect from Basic Grey.  I really appreciate how many options they give us and how easy it is to layer their products for just the right amount of texture, from felt, to chipboard, to paper ribbon, to... well, just about everything!

---

One of a Kind



I went for the punch of color with this first layout.  The papers of Marjolaine beg to be used in large amounts!  Most of this layout has a patterned background.  One of my favorite things about Basic Grey, however, is that they always include several papers that are a very subtle pattern, almost like a solid, but they still have the distressing that is the signature of this company.  

They are perfect for grounding your layout so that your elements don't get lost.  I used one of the chipboard pieces for the title... something I rarely do but I really liked here!

---

Hold Your Heart



I love kraft paper.  Especially when the other papers I am using are as vibrant as these! The patterns I chose for this layout are excellent for boy pages.  But you know what's great?  The reverse sides of these are more feminine and flowery.  I can't tell you how refreshing it is to have so much flexibility in a line.  

I love the flower prints but have little use for them with my little man.  However, the stripes, plaids, and circles shown here are fun and playful without being girly!  Hooray! I also used the "neutral" paper on this layout but added depth with a mask and mist. 

---

Big Trouble



I love this shirt. It was written for my boy!  But here I was again with blue and grass green.  I'm tell you, this line saved me!  The white background adds to the fresh, bright feeling of the layout and how cute is that little felt bird!?  I *needed* to use it.  I used several of the die cut tags to back my clustered title, while offsetting its weight by adding the line in the upper left corner.  Who says boy pages can't have hearts and flowers!? 

---

Thanks Card #1



I need "thank you" cards ALL the time for the many amazing and loving things that my friends and family do for me.  And I love sending them hand made ones to show just how much I appreciate them!  I mounted the circle stickers on paper and layered them over a paper ribbon and some tags.  The chipboard front adds a bit of dimension.  I'm thinking this card is pretty enough for a gal but the colors would be good for a guy recipient too!

---

Thanks Card #2



This card is a bit more feminine.  It was nice to make something more delicate after all my boy layouts!  I really just wanted to use the light blue whispy flower pattern because it is so pretty.  And the coordinating branch was an easy choice to add on top of the tag.  The lace and pearls finish off the girly feel of this, as well as the script alpha.  And you can see that I had a bit of a love affair with the blue paper ribbon... I used it everywhere in these projects!

---

Marjolaine is stunning.  Blues and greens were already my favorites but Basic Grey hammered it home with their gorgeous patterns and embellishments.  I know I will be keeping a fat pile of it around for all my grassy outdoor photo needs!  Feminine... masculine... somewhere in between... this line is a jack of all trades.  And an antidote for those of us who can't use pink!

ScrapGoo (aka: Jess) resides in Framingham, MA with her husband, one year old son and three spoiled cats.  Besides paper crafting, Jess enjoys entertaining friends, traveling and costume designing.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing You and Your's the Best This Holiday Season -

(l-r) Michelle, Candice, Kristin, Debbie, Cathy, Brandon, Heidi & Clint

The ACOT Crew

Merry Christmas from all of us at A Cherry on Top

Scrapbooking With Fancy Pants Designs

Submitted by SarahA

I always love a new Fancy Pants release, and Love Birds was no different. The playful colors and cute designs made it easy to scrap a whole assortment of things- a birthday, an impromptu lunch date and even Halloween! This line is great for crafty projects, too and will make some really cute Valentine cards!

Halloween Cupcake

With all of the pink in this line, the first photos I reached for were Quinn's cupcake costume photos. I layered a few strips under the photos (I really can't get enough of my scalloped border punches!), added some embellishments and used the cute alpha stickers for the title. There are lots of cute polka dot patterns in this line, and with the sprinkles on her costume, they helped this page come together quickly.

 

Olivia Cake

Since this is a Valentine's line, there was plenty of red to choose from, which made it a perfect match for Quinn's Olivia birthday cake photos. When I saw the strips sheet, I absolutely had to use that fun scalloped piece, so I cut that out and based my layout around it. Another must-use part of this line was the banners on the Kissame sheet. I cut two of them and strung them across the page. The frame at the top with the date in it was from the cards sheet. I cut out the middle and added my own pieces for a fun, personalized embellie. I splattered a little Maya Mist for fun and at Quinn's request, a felt crown on her head. :)

 

Royal Lunch Break

I also loved the die-cut sheet, so I made one last layout with that by layering it on a solid sheet of red. I gathered paper to make a strip under the photo, then added another scalloped strip and used the letter stickers again. I also couldn't resist adding yet another banner from the Kissame sheet. The die-cut sheets add so much to a layout with very little work on your part!

  

Calendar

I have been wanting to make one of these Maya Road Acrylic Calendar stands since I saw them at CHA in July. I thought this line would be perfect for it because of it's wide array of colors and patterns. I painted the edges, then used Mod Podge to cover the chipboard pieces with paper. I thought of giving this as a gift, but can't bear to part with it now! Here are a few of my favorite pages:

 

 

 

 

 

 

SarahA started scrapping in June of 2007, found ACOT in 2008 and was invited to join the Creative Team in September 2009. She loves scrapbooking pictures of her daughter, her family and her every day activities.

How To Use Ric Rac and Ribbon

Scrapbooking with unfamiliar elements can be a challenge.  This week, Janell and the Creative Team give practical ways to incorporate ribbon and ric rac into your project:

The great thing about using ribbons on digi pages is that they come it so many different configurations. Straight, curly, sloppy, tied in a knot, folded, staples, made into a flower, pretty much anything you can do with ribbon in real life you can find it in the digi world. And the bonus is it's flat. I enjoyed embellishing this page with several different styles of ribbon which gave it the warm at home feeling I was looking for.Ribbon and Ric Rac are common elements found in almost every single digital kit. They add so much to clusters and layering. The digital creative team loves them so much that we decided to dedicate an entire reveal to ribbons and ric rac.

---

Mixing & matching, clustering, and layering:

In these next layouts the CT members have used ribbons and ric rac to cluster with and add pizzazz to their layouts. It's fun to stir in ribbons that are straight, curly, folded, and stitched.  

In our first layout Janell used bits of ribbon and ric-rac mixing and matching to suit her needs. 

Family Fun in the Snow by Janell

Angie our resident queen of clusters loves to use ribbons in her layouts.  Check out these beautiful 2 pagers with ribbon and ric rac galore.  I love how Angie tucks in her elements between layers of ribbon. Her layouts are so much fun to look at. 

Week 48 {digi reveal 12/9} by nun69

Ronny explains, "One thing I love about ribbons is that when used in groups the can give the effect of patterned paper but with so much more texture. I used 9 different ribbons here to replace the patterned paper I would have used to layer behind my photo. Give it a try, I know you'll love the look."  What gorgeous depth the ribbons add to this incredible layout. 

"falling" in {ribbons CT reveal} by Smiley-Scrap8

More beautiful work with clustering from Angie.  

Dec Daily 5 {digi reveal 12/09} by nun69

 

---

Using Ribbons and Ric to create your own elements:

Ronny describes her creative idea, "The great thing about using ribbons on digi pages is that they come it so many different configurations. Straight, curly, sloppy, tied in a knot, folded, staples, made into a flower, pretty much anything you can do with ribbon in real life you can find it in the digi world. And the bonus is it's flat. I enjoyed embellishing this page with several different styles of ribbon which gave it the warm at home feeling I was looking for." I really love how she made her own frame out of ribbon.  

Hanukkah 1st Night {ribbon CT reveal} by Smiley-Scrap8

Janell made a heart out of layered ribbon and ric rac for her square holiday card. 

Hope of Christmas {CT Reveal} by Janell

---

Curly ribbons and bows:

 Ronny used some pretty loops of green ribbon and added some amazing shadow detail to this fun, spirited Christmas layout.  Ronny adds, "It's easy to be creative with ribbons, especially the long straight pieces. I really wanted this photo of my kids to have a frame around it but I couldn't find a ready made one that worked. So I made my own using some ribbon, staples and a few fun embellishments. It really turned out great for the look I was going for."

Santa's Little Helpers {ribbon CT reveal} by Smiley-Scrap8

Annalies used curly ribbon and bows in this adorable layout!  Curly ribbon is so fun and a bonus when using digital, you can use all sorts of styles of ribbons and when you print them out to place in your albums they always keep their shape. 

Fo ever by Anna1972/MC-Designs  

---

Ribbons used as backgrounds or anchoring:

This layout is amazing! Don't you just love how Jennifer made the whole background out of satin ribbon.  I love the soft glow of this look.  What a super creative way to use ribbon!

Believe in Magic - Reveal 12/9/10 by sarahwhithers

Laura shares, " I have to say, I love, love, love them (ribbons)! One of the things I like to do with ribbons is make my own patterned paper. In this layout, I used ribbon and solid paper to create a woven effect by erasing parts of the ribbons above and below each other."  Ok Laura, I feel a tutorial coming on, I think we would all love to know how to make a background as awesome as this.  What a beautiful layout!!!

Waiting for Santa by Art_Teacher

Annalies also used ribbons and ric rac for the background of her gorgeous layout. I love how she titled the ric rac and made rows and rows of it. Simply beautiful!

love by Anna1972/MC-Designs

Janell shares her idea for ribbons, "I added the red ribbons to anchor the title and to stamp my journaling on. A Tip for making digital journaling looked hand-stamped is to write your journaling, then change the opacity to 80-90% and then take a distressed brush for a an eraser and change the opacity down to 30% and then erase over some of the words. It will look hand-stamped because of it's imperfections!"

"Christmas Krispy Cremes" CT Reveal {ribbons and ric rac} by Janell

---

Using Ribbon as a focal point:

Annalies took ribbon and let it stand alone, it makes a wonderful focal point and adds beauty to her "delightful" layout. 

delightful by Anna1972/MC-Designs

Hopefully this reveal article has inspired you to look at your ribbon and ric rac collection in a new light.  Happy Scrapping!

December Scrapbooking & Paper Crafting Challenges!

Hybrid Challenge - By Smiley-Scrap8 (Ronny)

Paper AND Digital Scrapbooking

Use a mix of digi kits and traditional paper supplies to make gift card holder. This can be for any occasion. For example I made two, one for my brother's birthday and for Christmas.

 

Photography Challenge - By nun69 (Angie)

Photography 

Everyone knows it is Christmas, so show us your up close and special Christmas photo/s!

Die Cut Challenge - By Dianedi (Diane)

Paper  Scrapbooking

Using your Cricut or other die-cutting machine such as the Sizzix or Silhouette, create a project you can use for decoration or gift-giving during the holidays. (frame, placecard, etc...)

There must be a least 3 elements on your project using the die-cutting machine. Please list the machine and cartridges you've used! For my project, I've created a fun place card to use during the holidays. Have fun!

Grab more inspiration by viewing this month's complete Challenge List!  Happy Crafting!

How To Scrap Beyond Kit Themes!

Posted by MamaK321 (Kristianne)

If the plethora of themed products in the digital shoppe have your head spinning, the digital CT is here to tell you to "use them all!"  Don't waste time trying to figure out if you have enough Thanksgiving and Fall photos to use with the must-have Autumn themed kit. Don't stress about planning your holiday family card photo shoot specifically to match your favorite Christmas themed kit. Even those carefree Summer layouts become a breeze when you're not worried about the Sun & Sand themed kit coordinating with your beachless staycation.

The trick is all in scrapping outside the... theme. No more will you let the theme of a kit decide your layout for you. Check out these brilliant layout examples from the Creative Team and find some inspiration to help you use all those new holiday kits in the shoppe.

---

These layouts were created using warm, crisp products dedicated to Fall and Thanksgiving.

Christmas Photos with Thanksgiving Kits by DolphinSoul


you under the Christmas tree by Anna1972/MC-Designs
 


Iced by sarahwhithers
 

---

The following layouts use festive and frosty products designed for all your Winter, Christmas and holiday pleasures.

Valentine Photos with Christmas Kit by DolphinSoul

Carissa says, "The new Jingle Bells kit by Hot Flash Designs [is] so bright and cheery, I knew I could use so many of the elements for more then just Christmas photos."



smooch by MamaK321




 

---

More twisted theme ideas to inspire you...

snow in the sun by Anna1972/MC-Designs

Anna adds, "this is a winter photo but I scrapped it with the Sumer Sprites kit by JennyCK designs. With a little imagination you can scrap a lot!"



we are by MamaK321

Kristianne says, "I went way out of the box to scrap some family photos using a pregnancy kit."

---

No themed products were harmed in the creation of these reveal layouts, though they were twisted and tweaked just a little.
   

How To Make A Christmas Album With Echo Park's Everybody Loves Christmas

by SarahA on Thursday, November 18, 2010

This album is really great for gift giving- it's quick and easy! Or, if you love it so much, just keep it for yourself and make another to give away!

First, you need to cut a 4x12 strip of paper, then score it at every inch. After you score it, fold it accordian style. You want the first fold on the left to go backwards, just like shown here:

 

This will be the binding of the book, so we will want to glue it together now. I tried to show below where to start the gluing on the back side edge:

 

Then glue the edges and fold. When you are done, it should look like this:

 

Next, you will cut six 4x4 squares from the papers. You will also cut a 4 x 2.25" piece that will cover the binding edge. You should have this  pile in front of you now:

  

Next you will start adhering the pages to the tabs on the binding piece. You just put a few strips of adhesive on the front of the tab, then adhere the pages like this:

 

Once all of your pages are stuck on the tabs (including the cover), we will cover the spine with the 4x2.25" piece. First you will want to cut a piece of twine or ribbon about 22 inches long. Put a few rows of adhesive on each long edge of the spine cover piece. Put the center of the twine at the spine of the book, then center and wrap the spine cover piece around to cover the edge. Your book should now look like this:

 

Next is the cover! I used a 4x3 piece of paper (one of the backs of a card from the card sheet), and adhered it to the cover with a border sticker on the left edge. I used stickers from the sticker sheet and some Thickers to embellish my cover. Feel free to do whatever you want here to really make it your own!

 

You can find Echo Park Paper Co. products at ACherryOnTop.com -

SarahA started scrapping in June of 2007, found ACOT in 2008 and was invited to join the Creative Team in September 2009. She loves scrapbooking pictures of her daughter, her family and her every day activities.