Scrapbooking With Animal Crackers By Imaginisce

Posted by JanetM

Animal Crackers by Imaginisce is a really great line to work with...the colors are outstanding, the paper line fun and the embellishments are the perfect touches. Finding pictures to use with this line is really easy and I still have more lined up to do with it.

A Cherry On Top, you really gave me a great line to create with this month, I enjoyed each and every layout I made with the Animal Cracker line!

I knew the line was going to work great with pictures we have from going to the Ringling Museum, but it carried over to dance pictures from my daughter and ones from her childhood that I had to scrap.

I had as much fun creating the layouts for this months reveal as I did the time we spent taking all the pictures this day-

  almost. Being with them is always fun but getting the memories scrapped is a perfect way to remember the great times together.  Almost!

 

The grandchildren all love going to the Ringling Museum when they come to Florida to visit us, snd we never lack for pictures and they are really willing to get pictures taken being silly.

 

Our youngest grandson Troy is such a cute and funny little boy and this picture captured his personality and the paper line was a great one to put some fun into the layout.

 

It was perfect paper and embellishments to get these fun pictures of my daughter Rebecca and some of the girls from her acro team scrapped.

  

This line was great to use on this picture of Rebecca that I've had for more years than I should admit to.  It was fun to get the memory scrapped now for her to have.

 

The grandchildren having some fun at the playground by the beach here in Florida.

 

These pictures were probably a perfect indication of what her dates were going to be like when she got older, Rebecca at age 4 having fun with  a couple of her friends:

 

If you're looking for a great line to get some fun pictures scrapped with I think you will fall in love with all the layouts you can design with this line!

----------------------------------------------------

We are proud to have JanetM on our scrapbooking Creative Team!  You can view Janet's Gallery at ACherryOnTop.com.

How To Make Personalized Bottle Labels

Posted by Janell

The purpose of this mini-class is to show you how fun and easy Hybrid Projects are. I am going to show you how to make Personalized Hybrid Water Bottle Labels!!!


I love hybrid projects because it makes personalization so easy! Water bottles are cylinder in shape and it's easy to create  labels for parties, gifts, and other fun occasions.

Supply List:
Bottles of Water
Scissors or Paper Trimmer
Adhesive
Measuring/Seamstress Tape
Printed Digital Designs

1. Measure the space of the label with a seamstress tape.

2. Created a new blank file in PSE slightly larger than your measurements to allow for a slight overlap.

Here is a close up of one of my label designs:



3. Print and cut out your designs.

 
4. Adhere them to the water bottles and add extra embellishments if you desire. 



5. Enjoy the fun that comes from creating personalized gifts through hybrid projects

I used this incredibly cute kit by Bella Gyspy Designs called Poppy Sorbet

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Janell has been addicted to digital scrapbooking since 2005.  She currently lives in Indiana with her wonderful husband and three children.  A Cherry On Top is thrilled to have Janell on our Creative Team!

Scrapbooking In Black And White

Posted by Mommybruno

We've all worked with black and white photo at one point or another - I know for myself, I have piles of old pictures that are black and white. But why would you purposefully change a color photo to black and white, you may ask?

Well, there could be several reasons. The colors in the photo may be clashy or garish. Or perhaps you want to use a color on your layout that wouldn't match the colors in your photo. Sometimes the change to black and white can be cosmetic, to cover up a flaw in the photo.  Maybe you want to set a certain mood on your page that would be enhanced by a black and white photo.

Here are some layouts our Digi Creative Team came up with to showcase black and white photos.

---

 
Squirrel Crazy, by Art_Teacher (Laura): "Our reveal this week was to only use black and white photos. One of the best things about them is that you can get rid of distracting color backgrounds and draw more attention to the photo's subject."


 
Advice: Attitude, by FairyMouseMom (Egle): "By only using a black and white photo, I decided to keep this layout more of a monochromatic theme of blacks/whites/grays...with just a slight pop of color with the striped paper strip used underneath the dots on the left hand side."

 
 
Watching You Grow, by Smiley-Scrap8 (Ronnie): "This week's reveal is black & white photos. I thought, what a better way to show off my ultrasound photos which only come in black & white. My favorite part about using b&w is that you can scrap with any colors you want, the brighter the better. I'm never afraid that the paper and elements will swallow the photos because there is such a strong contrast."


 
So Thankful For You, by Mommybruno (Cassandra): "In this particular layout, I changed my photo to black and white because I thought the colors were distracting (what color is my grandpa even wearing, LOL!). By removing the color I've made sure the focus stays on my grandparents."


 
Luv My Furbaby, by sarahwhithers (Jenn): "I love using B&W cuz I think any color always looks great with them."


 
Just "Gourd" Friends, by Art_Teacher (Laura): "Black and white photos really pop on a colorful background, and I especially love the feel they give to Halloween photos!"


 
Keep Your Face Toward the Sunshine, by FairyMouseMom (Egle): "With this layout I chose to use the black background and added the pop of color with the embellishments and font color I used."


 
Storytown, by Mommybruno (Cassandra): "This series of photos had a terrible yellow cast to them that I couldn't fix, so I changed them all to black and white. This way I don't look so orange, LOL! With older photos like these, black and white can be your friend."

 
  
True Love, by Art_Teacher (Laura): "One of my favorite ways to use black and white photos is on heritage layouts. It brings a remember when feel to the layout. These photos are only 25 years old, but they work better with today's digi designs when they are black and white."

 
 
Love Blooms, by Digi Guest Fong33 (Sandra): "This is one of my favorite pictures of my mom and dad when they were dating in Hong Kong before they immigrated to NY."


 
Grundy Love, by Mommybruno (Cassandra): "I changed the photo to b&w because the yellow wall behind Grundy was really bothering me. But he has such cool eyes, I didn't want the whole pic to be without color - so some spot coloring here. (I made a copy of the photo layer, turned the copy b&w, then erased the parts I wanted in color. Merge the two layers together and voila!)"

 
 
Advice: Goal, by FairyMouseMom (Egle)

Black and white photos offer flexibility to the scrapper. They coordinate with any color paper and elements.  They have a timeless look and they can help to keep the focus on the subject of the photo instead of the noisy background. So the next time you're getting frustrated trying to match papers with pictures, maybe it's time to take the color photo right out of the equation!

-----------------------------------------

Special thanks to our Digital Creative Team for their contributions to this article.  You can view more project ideas and scrapbooking tutorials by visiting our Resources Page.

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!

---------------------------------------------------

 

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. 

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!

-----------------------------------------------------------

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!

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.  

-----------------------------------------------------

 

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.

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."