Thursday, March 17, 2011

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day With ACOT & Best Creation


Posted by JulesinParadise (Jules)

I had been wanting to scrap the pictures I took from two years ago when we traveled to Savannah, Gerogia for the city's favorite holiday, St. Pat's.  We traveled with our good friends, Steve and Dee, and spent four wonderful days in this charming city.  

The problem with scrapping the photos, particularly the ones  I took during the parade and our adventures afterwards was that I could not find the papers that would help me express what a fun day it was and how we totally submerged ourselves in "the wearing of the green" Savannah celebrates to the hilt.  Even it's fountains in the historic squares flow green.  This square was right across the street from our B and B. 
 
 
The parade lasted for hours and people gather, staking out their spot at the crack of dawn and then bbq and spend the day.  When we lived in St. Louis, there were two parades and one involved beads.  There were no beads thrown in Savannah but there was something I had only heard about, "the kissing bandits".  Women of all ages, layer on coats and coats of bright red lipstick and, as the parade goes on, they ambush the male participants in the parade and kiss them all over their faces.  It is a fun parade!

 
Our next stop (or rather stops) on St. Pat's were the numerous Irish bars that line one of the side streets.  We ate at some and we had green beer in a couple of others.  In front of one of the pubs, we met our new friend here who bestowed an Irish blessing on us. 
 
 
This trip, which took place two years ago, was such a wonderful one and so very memorable.  This past year, we stayed a bit closer to home and did our celebrating in one of our favorite towns, Dunedin, Florida.  The celebration was sponsored by the city and Flannigan's Irish Pub, a favorite haunt of ours.  I wore my Mike's Bar shirt from Dog Town (home of the Irish celebration in St. Louis) and we made some new friends who were also from our old home town...small world, what?
 
 
We'll probably be celebrating once again in Dunedin.  Hoping where ever you celebrate this holiday that you have a scrappable one!
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Jules is a retired English teacher originally from St. Louis, MO.  Besides paper crafting, she enjoys traveling, kayaking and teaching scrapbooking classes locally and nationally. 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Scrapbooking With 3 Bugs In A Rug's April Showers

Posted by averys_mom (Mandi)

For my first reveal, I got to work with 3 Bugs in A Rug April Showers.  How cute are these products?!?  And let me tell you, they’re even cuter in person!  Thanks so much to ACOT for letting me work with these great products!

Darling Daughter

For this layout, I was inspired by the colors on the backside of the Springtime PP and chose a photo of Avery standing near a hydrangea bush.  I used a piece of K&Co cardstock for my base and large piece of Springtime (backside).  I cut a scalloped circle out of Pretty Bird and adhered that to a paper doily.  Then I punched a border down two sides of Rain Boots (backside) using my Martha Stewart Swirling Lace punch, to make a mat for my photo.  

I cut “Darling” using my Cricut and the Once Upon a Princess Cartridge out of Rain Boots (backside), Pretty Bird (backside) and Elegance Core Couture Core’dinations.  I cut the tag also with Once Upon a Princess.  I finished the title off with White Sunny Thickers.  I also had some older Prima hydrangea flowers that matched perfectly (don’t you love it when that happens?) and so I added them to echo the flowers in my photo.


Flying High

This layout came together super quickly for me.  I used a Sassy Li’l Sketches sketch for my inspiration.  I cut a large piece of Chick-A-Dee (backside) and punched it down both sides using my Fiskars Apron Lace punch.  I adhered this to my Bo Bunny Powder Blue Double Dot cardstock base.  I used large strips of of  Rain Boots and Showers (backsides) vertically and small strips of Umbrella Perch, Pretty Bird and Kaleidoscope (backsides) horizontally. 

I offset my photo on a piece of Pretty Bird.  The banner pieces are from the Die-cut Shapes and I pop dotted them for some dimension.   White Sunny Thickers for my title and a small die-cut tag completed the layout! 


To view Mandi's full product review, be sure to visit our Resources Page!  Mandi did a fabulous job - and we're so happy she's a new part of our A Cherry On Top Creative Team!
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ACOT would like to welcome Mandi as one of our newest Creative Team Members! Mandi is a stay at home mom and has been married for over 10 years to the 'friend' she's known since 4th grade. We look forward to seeing more of her talents in the A Cherry On Top Gallery soon!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Scrapbooking With Lush 2 By My Mind's Eye

Posted by 4peasinourpod

If you are a frequent reader of the A Cherry on Top message board, I am sure that you have heard me moan about the lack of NAVY BLUE in the scrapbooking world.  For those of us with teenage boys that we occasionally scrapbook (when they will let us photograph them), it is a color sorely lacking in new products that are being released.  

As I was trying to choose my line for this reveal, imagine my surprise, when I saw My Minds Eye Lush 2!  (Well, I also got about 12 pm's from ACOT members, and many Facebook posts. Like I said, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and have great friends!)

Manufacturers have seemed to have gone the route of multiple colored patterns in many styles to create a line, so My Minds Eye's approach with Lush2 is very refreshing and bold. This line is a basic line.  It consists of the same patterns in four coordinating colors.... fuschia, aqua, orange and navy blue. 




'You Make Me Believe' by Pam
The papers are double sided, except for the flocked patterns.  The embellishments include brads, rhinestones, journaling pads and buttons.  This Lush line lends itself easily to monochromatic layouts, or to mix and matching colors and patterns.

Here is the layout that I cherish from this line.  It is the navy blue monochromatic layout of my son.  At 14, scrapbooking him has gotten more and more difficult.  He likes simple, so I can't put too much on the layout.  This line was perfect for him.  It is simple, it is direct, and it is navy blue. 

 

Visit our 'Resources' page to see more layouts and the rest of Pam's Lush 2 scrapbooking product reveal.  
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Pam lives in Wisconsin with her four children and husband.  Besides scrapbooking, she enjoys altering items and making gifts.  Pam is ACOT's Creative Team Coordinator.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Using Cell Phone ' Pics ' In Scrapbooking

Posted by MamaK321 (Kristianne)

As technology evolves and the quality of photos taken with our mobile devices improves, many people begin to rely on their cell phone camera for capturing quick, unplanned and everyday moments. This Creative Team reveal is a good example of the variety of camera phone qualities and different ways to utilize your pictures despite their minimal size and limited camera functions. Some newer phone models allow apps for photographic editing and effects. If you are wondering how to transfer those captured moments to your computer, most newer phones are equipped for memory sticks or pc transfer cables, while those with web access can email photos to their pc.

Best Little Valentines by Jenn Kellams

i think... by MamaK321
"I took these quick photos while walking to the middle school with my dd. I love this view... wanted to remember it just like this."

Love My Boo by Mommybruno
"I have a little Tracfone that takes terrible pics. I did switch them to black and white, hoping that would make them look a little less terrible."

Too Cute by sarahwhithers
"I take a lot of pictures of my cat Gwen with my phone since it's handy and I like that it comes with no flash so I don't get the crazy pet eyes."

farmers market by MamaK321
"...I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo of dh and dd walking down the street... memories preserved in an instant."



Giggles and Grin by Jenn Kellams

January 2011 by milmomma
"I take [a photo] everyday for P365 and have been meaning to scrap them but haven't"

Born This Way by Jenn Kellams



death by chocolate by MamaK321

Hula Hoop by Smiley-Scrap8
"My dd was at a friends birthday party and we forgot our camera."

Thursday, March 10, 2011

How To Use Glimmer Mist and Prima Masks!

Posted by ACOT Creative Team Member - Megamay:

This month I thought it would be fun to do a combo reveal/tutorial on some of the new mists and masks in the store. I was running a little low in inspiration this month, so this reveal is full of sketches and other inspirations. 
Here is the first layout that I created.

Inspired by:
The Sketch:
It was inspired by the art for this month at the Arttastic blog. See how I used the mists to sort of make four sections of colors like in the painting? This page was really tough for me because I wanted to use the bib from my first run, but I wasn't sure how to do it. I am not so great at using memorabilia on layouts, and this was a BIG one! 

I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers and got my title from the scrapping the music challenge to use the song "Chances Are".  After that, I had the mists and the photos and the title, but thought it still needed a little something, so I created these flowers. 

I started with Jillibean Soup cardboard flowers, then wrapped baker's twine around them - before adding felt flowers and some buttons. They remind me of some flowers that Sassafras Lass makes, and I LOVE them! To keep the twine wrapped, I just used a glue dot on the back - tying it would have been too much trouble.

You can also see here how my mists came out all splotchy, and the chalkboard one has sort of lines. It looks OK on this page, but I wanted a more uniform look and it just so happened that a tutorial by the owner of Tattered Angels showed up on my facebook feed the same day! 

It's a you tube video and she shows you how to get a more uniform spray you should start your spray off the side of the page and sweep it across. There are a bunch of mini tutorials on the Tattered Angels channel that you might want to check out but here is the one I am talking about: 

I have to admit, watching this made me want to run and play with my mists!

Moving on, I couldn't wait to work with this photo or these turquoise papers from My Mind's Eye. I tried out a new photoshop action on this photo that I got for free, it's called Jubilee from Paint the Moon, and isn't it adorable! I love how artsy it made the photo look!


I also used a sketch for this one, this time from Twisted Sketches, where the twist was to use a frame. I decided to make my frame by misting over one of the prima masks. 


I wanted to get a little funky here and do a couple of different overlapping mist techniques. And I made a little tutorial for you also. I started out using a template for a shaped paper (I created this template a while ago by tracing a shaped paper and cutting it out) as a mask, and overlapping the sign mask because I wanted it to look like the sign was hanging OVER the frame created by the paper. 


I used the technique from the above video and this is what it looked like when I finished misting. you can sort of see where the 'swipes' were if you look at the edges of the cardboard/paper that I put down to protect my carpet. Not that it really needs protecting because it is a total MESS anyway. thank goodness it was just a remnant from when we had our stairs recarpeted, and we still have some. I think it is so far gone at this point that I can't vacuum because it would break the vacuum! But, I digress.


After removing the mask and wiping it off on a paper towel, this is what I had:


Then I put the mask back and sprayed with another color of mist. The first mist was chalkboard, and the second was glimmer mist, so the second gave a more transparent look. The colors are very close though, so they sort of blend and keep the whole thing coordinated. 

A word to the wise, if you intend to blot like she does in the video - by putting a paper towel over your finished spray, really committ to it - can you see my hand print in the image below? There are sort of three fingers poking out from the bottom of the mask. *blush* :


So, after that, I did some more vigorous blotting to try and get rid of those splotches at the top and the hand print on the bottom. Then I outlined all the masked parts with a coordinating marker. Unfortunately my marker wasn't as good of a match as I would have liked, and the wide line around the die cut part really bugged me, so I ended up zig zag stitching over it to sort of cover up that color. 

It remains around the frame but doesnt bother me as much there. this is what it looked like after the marker but before the stitching:


Here it is with the stitching - yes I am a total freak and stopped the machine where the hanging part of the frame is, and started on the other side, to keep that illusion of the sign being on top of the background.


Then, of course, I didn't have the right color letters, so I got out some white chipboard ones. I probably should have sanded them a little first, but I didn't. The first time I sprayed them with the chalkboard mist, I went a little overboard, and the mist sort of pooled on them, and dried funny. 

The next time I tried the lightly misting in a sweeping motion technique and after 2 or 3 light coats they were totally covered.

You can still kind of see how they are not a totally uniform color, but I kind of like that.  It gives them texture. I think the moral of this story is, with mist, sometimes you just have to go with it and trust that it will work out in the end - yeah you can still kind of see my handprint, but I bet you wouldn't have noticed if I didn't point it out. 

Yes, the letters are not a uniform color, but that gives them character. And yeah, the sign masking has a little blotch in the middle right below the triangle, but again you probably wouldn't have noticed, and it gives it character.


Next, I wanted to try a resist technique. I saw a frame made out of these doily stamps on someone's blog and thought I would try a twist on that. 

First I got a piece of white cardstock larger than I needed and traced my photo onto it. 

Now, I used pencil, but it doesnt really matter, I don't think you would be able to erase it after the fact, so I traced around the photo assuming that I was going to mat the photo and cover the pencil.


Next, I stamped all around the frame with the doily stamp and clear embossing ink. I recommend the tinted though because I had a really hard time lining up my stamps. 

Then I covered the whole thing in white embossing powder. You probably could use clear embossing powder too - because the cardstock underneath is white, but sometimes with and intricate pattern like this, I find that the mist bleeds a little under the embossed part and makes the intricacies not as crisp. 

Of course, the intricate parts didn't show up that well with the white embossing either, so I don't know.


After shaking the powder off and heat embossing, I sprayed the whole thing with red glimmer mist.


Then I waited a moment for it to sink in to the paper before placing the paper towel on top and pushing it down uniformly so I didn't get any hand prints.


And this is what I had:


Then I moved on to the background. This time I stitched the patterned paper down, and stitched around the edge before doing the misting.


Then I cut down the frame, and created a sort of sign to hang over the masked part, and voila! here is what you have...


Finally, I made a card with two more misting techniques. I used a uniformly misted piece of cardstock as the back mat on this card. Then I sprayed some mist on a piece of plastic and dipped a stamp in it and used it to stamp the leaves. I am so annoyed at that bow! I glue dotted it to within an inch of it's life and it doesn't want to stay straight! ugh!


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Megamay (aka: Megan) resides in Pennsylvania with her husband and daughter.  Megan has been scrapbooking for over 6 years and loves experimenting with her art.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Meet Our March 2011 Guest Paper CT Member!

aceason
Andrea Eason(aceason on the ACOT Message Board)
Guest Paper CT March 2011

Here is an excerpt from Andrea's interview:

What's your favorite scrapping tool to use when scrapbooking? Seriously, just one? Probably my paper trimmer, best tool ever created. I use a lot of patterned papers (yes I am a paper hoarder) and usually cut them into smaller chunks to scrap with. I also matte a lot of my photos and it's essential for that!

What's the one thing you must have readily available when you sit down to scrap? Photos, organized. I usually choose paper first and then find coordinating photos so I keep a bunch of boxes with pictures organized and ready for layouts with little post-it notes indicating themes so they're easy to find. That way it's easy to get lots done in what time I have.

Name 3 musical artists you enjoy. I have a really varied taste in music and can appreciate anything except the BeeGees, who my husband loves. My recent find is Skylar Grey, I love her voice but I also have lots of dance music (think Black Eyed Peas, Keisha, Lady Gaga), pop, modern country, and of course the classics like Dave Matthews. You just never know what you're going to find.

Andrea featured Best Creation's 'Travel Forever' Collection in her reveal:

pack your bags best creation travel forever
'Pack Your Bags' by aceason

beach ballet best creation travel forever
'Beach Ballet' by aceason

Read what else Andrea had to say about being a Guest Creative Team Member and working with Best Creation's Travel Forever Collection at ACherryOnTop.com.

Welcome Andrea!

Monday, March 7, 2011

February Scrapbooking & Paper Crafting Challenges!

March is here! Now that the crop is over and you're all warmed up we present you with this awesome new set of challenges. You should rock these, judging by the gallery lately!  We've mixed things up this month and you'll find several new challenges to try out.  You know they say March comes in like a lion... keep up that scrap mojo so you don't go out like a lamb! 
Remember:

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

All About Me Challenge - By millmomma (Brittney)
Paper or Digi

AAM stands for All About Me. We scrap about everyone else most of the time. We focus on our kids, our ancestors, our parents, or even our pets, but what about us! Our kids will want to see us after we are gone, so lets give them something to see! To start it off I wanted to go with something that I feel like fits most of us here at ACOT... Are you a Dog or Cat person? Or maybe you prefer birds? Or maybe you are just not an animal person? However you feel, share it with us! This challenge is open to paper and digital.


Altered Object Challenge - By JulesinParadise (Jules)
Paper or Hybrid Scrapbooking

This month, I challenge you to use a printed napkin to create a card, tag or embellishment for a layout, card or project. I took this printed cocktail napkin and created a fabric like covering for a tag. Can't wait to see what you create this month.





Countdown Challenge - By sarahwhithers (Jennifer)
Paper or Digital Scrapbooking

For this challenge you will create a layout using a countdown method of items. I will list five different kinds of things (eg. elements, papers, photos) for you to use in your layout. Every month there will be five new items for you to use. And for this month, the theme is luck of course! I want to see a page about something that you feel lucky to have or something you are blessed to have happen. It can be anything or anyone that you find a lucky part of your life!

5 - Flowers
4 - Word Title
3 - Green Elements
2 - Papers
1 - Tag

You are welcome to use more than these items (eg. 2 tags instead of 1 is fine) just as long as you meet the required list and numbers asked for each. An example is seen below.


Grab more scrapbooking inspiration by viewing this month's complete Challenge List!  After creating your project, be sure to submit it to the corresponding Challenge section of our Gallery. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Winter Scrapbooking Crop & Warehouse Sale Fun!

Whew!!!

What a busy week it's been here at A Cherry On Top!

Within the last seven days, we've had to prepare for our local Warehouse Sale here in Saginaw, Michigan - as well as our online Winter Scrapbooking Crop!  Talk about crazy!  Who makes these schedules?

Oh yeah - we do!

 Browsing shoppers during local warehouse sale

Hopefully, we saw some of your faces in person at the sale or you had a bit of fun during the online crop.  Some of you got to do a little of both!

Crop Challenge #2 - presented by SarahA

The 2011 Winter Crop was a complete success with thousands of posts and hundreds of completed projects!  If you missed any of the fun, please take some time to visit our February Crop Forum.  You can still grab some inspiration by completing a Challenge or a 'Fast Scrap'!  Don't forget to check out the list of Crop Winners!  Who knows, maybe your name is there. 

  Clint and I during our Warehouse Sale

It's been an absolutely incredible week!  We're all exhausted, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  Think we'll have time to catch our breath before our next Warehouse Sale AND National Scrapbook Day?