Special Guest Blogger: 2010 Dream Team Member Jen Jockisch
03/26/2010 at 5:00 am | Posted in fonts, General Inspiration, guest blogger, How-Tos, Uncategorized | 11 CommentsTags: CK Dream Team, Creating Keepsakes, free font, Free Font Friday, Jen Jockisch, Layout, layouts, paper crafting, paper flowers, Scrapbook, Scrapbooking, techniques
Hi everyone! This is Jen Jockisch. I’m a first time contributor to the CK blog, and a member of the Creating Keepsakes 2010 Dream Team. Today I have a really quick and simple technique to share with you that’s fun and easy.
I love to create flowers with patterned paper, and the flowers I’m going to show you today make great embellishments for your scrapbook pages or altered items.
All you will need is a 12″ x 12″ piece of cardstock or patterned paper, a paper trimmer or scissors, a stapler and some foam adhesive (smaller foam tabs are best).
Choose your paper, then cut a strip of paper measuring 1/4″ to 1/2″ wide. Fold either end to meet in the middle, and staple. (If you want a smaller flower, simply cut your strip before you fold, making it shorter than 12″ x 12″)
Repeat this process four times (more or less depending on how many petals you want), and layer all of the pieces together, overlaping in the center. Staple together. It may take a few staples to get your petals situated where you want them.
Place your foam adhesive on the ends of the petals and adhere to your page.
I like to punch a circle from cardstock and place in the center of the flower and add buttons, brads, rhinestones or other embellishments. If you do this, youʼll want to again use foam adhesive on the back of your circle so you don’t flatten the flower.
Finally, add stems to the flowers using ribbon, patterned paper, or other fun trims.
Thanks for reading, everyone, and have a great weekend!
-Jen Jockish
P.S. Don’t forget to download a new font as part of Free Font Friday! This week, download the CK Broad Pen font here!
Reader Pick Poll Winner!
03/25/2010 at 3:44 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 4 CommentsTags: CK, Club CK gallery, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, JanaMorton, Joannie McBride, online gallery, reader gallery, reader pages, reader poll, Reader's Pick, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking
Happy Thursday! I wanted to take a few moments this morning to announce the winner of our Readers’ Pick poll this month. A huge congratulations to JanaMorton who received 63 percent of the votes. Her super-cute “Boots On” scrapbook page will be featured in the September 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Thanks to everyone who voted, and thanks to those who share your projects with us in our online project gallery at Club CK. Keep up the great work, and keep submitting. Your layout could be the next one chosen to be a part of the Readers’ Pick poll–and it might even be featured in an upcoming issue of CK magazine! Here’s a sneak peek just for you, our blog readers, of Jana’s winning scrapbook page.
—Joannie McBride, assistant editor
CK & Me: March 2010
03/24/2010 at 6:50 pm | Posted in CK & Me, General Inspiration | 3 CommentsTags: Amanda Birchler, CK, CK & Me, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, January 2010 issue, Kelly Holbrook, Latrice Murphy, layouts, magazine, Megan Hoeppner, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, Stephanie Howell, techniques
What is it about Creating Keepsakes magazine that keeps you coming back for more? Is it the incredible creativity of the amazing lineup of scrapbookers we include every issue that has you hooked? Or is the extra motivation to scrapbook you feel after reading an issue? Maybe it’s a combination of these ideas and more. Whatever your answer is, please know that it’s appreciated. We’re overwhelmed by your passion and commitment to both scrapbooking and to CK. And nothing makes us happier than hearing about how an issue has inspired you. In that spirit, let’s check out this month’s CK & Me featured scrapbookers.
This month, we’re switching things up a bit and showing you three fantastic pages from three talented women who were all inspired by the same layout. And that impressive layout is this one by Stephanie Howell, which was featured in CK’s January 2010 “15-Minute Layout” column.
"So Much Fun" by Stephanie Howell, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 122.
This page by Amanda Birchler wonderfully illustrates how just about any layout idea can be transferred into a page that meets your unique needs. In this case, Amanda transformed a baby-themed layout into a page about an older child simply by switching out the colors and adding a few funky accents. Beautiful job, Amanda!
Latrice Murphy was instantly drawn to the stacked elements on the side of Stephanie’s page and knew she wanted to try that approach on her design. As her page shows us, you don’t have to stick to the same page sketch when scraplifting. Instead, she turned a single-page layout into this darling two-page spread. Way to work it out, Latrice!
Kelly Holbrook takes yet another approach to Stephanie’s design. In this example, Kelly translated a 12″ x 12″ layout into an 8.5″ x 11″ page. And, guess what?! She really did complete this page in 15 minutes, which goes to show you it can be done. Well played, Kelly!
Isn’t it awesome to see how three different scrapbookers created three unique pages all from the same inspirational layout! It makes you wonder how many more pages can potentially come from Stephanie’s stunning original. I’m certainly curious.
What about You?
What ideas have you seen in CK recently that you’ve made your own? Tell us about it by e-mailing letters@creatingkeepsakes.com for a chance to be featured on our blog and win a Creating Keepsakes special issue.
Thanks to this month’s talented trio for showing us how truly versatile scrapbooking is. We can’t wait to do it all again next month!
Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner, CK creative editor
Weekly Warm-Up: A Scrapbooker’s Springtime Welcome
03/22/2010 at 1:59 pm | Posted in technique, weekly warm up | 112 CommentsTags: blog candy, CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Easter, Easter eggs, egg accents, eggs, erin lincoln, giveaway, handmade accents, how to create Easter eggs, Joannie McBride, Laura Stoller, Megan Hoeppner, Melissa Frances, Scrapbook, scrapbook accents, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, technique, techniques, weekly warm up
At last, springtime is upon us. Can I get a “hip hip hooray”? This is the season for new beginnings and colorful moments. Let’s celebrate with a few new and vibrant techniques for creating egg accents, since Easter is also a part of early springtime. If you’ve had a chance to check out the March/April issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, then you know that we have an entire feature dedicated to this happy topic, complete with a dozen unique ideas (and an additional dozen online). If you haven’t yet seen the issue, consider this your sneak peek. We’re going to crack open the creative carton and take a look at a few of the egg ideas inside.
Egg Technique #1: Create a Center Attraction
Remember those hollow sugar eggs that used to be so popular? Erin Lincoln took that sweet approach to create this paper-pieced cutie. She used dimensional adhesive to give it depth.
"Easter Wishes Egg" by Erin Lincoln, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 88.
Egg Technique #2: Try It with Chocolate
Okay, so maybe this isn’t a real chocolate egg, but it sure does look like one. Erin Lincoln dry-embossed dark-brown cardstock for a look that’s simply mouthwatering!
"Chocolate Egg" by Erin Lincoln, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 88.
Egg Technique #3: Tie on Some Texture
On this layout, I colored my eggs with bits of tied yarn. Here’s how to create your own:
1. Cut an egg shape from patterned paper or cardstock.
2. Punch holes throughout the egg.
3. Tie yarn through the holes, and trim the ends for a fuzzy finish.
"Easter '09" by Megan Hoeppner, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 87.
Free Stuff
Now that you have a few creative ideas for adding spring to your pages, how about some springtime giveaways to celebrate this joyous season? Since spring cleaning is another item that usually comes with spring, we have a few projects we want to clean out of the CK office and send to new homes. The first is the darling egg-accent flip book created by our own Joannie McBride. In it, she’s created a dozen unique eggs, each with a fun texture (like the pom-pom egg shown here). See the full project on the Creating Keepsakes website. What kid wouldn’t love to keep entertained with this tactile treasure?
"Egg Flip Book" by Joannie McBride, as seen in the March/April 2010 online issue of Creating Keepsakes.
And these flowers are looking for a new windowsill on which to rest. I created them for my March/April “Tips & Tricks” column as a way to organize smaller scrapbooking supplies. (Thanks to reader Laura Stoller for the fresh idea!) Whether you use them to decorate your craft space or you disassemble them for parts, I’d love to have this spring bouquet of buttons, brads, and flower accents delivered to you.
"Flower Organization" by Megan Hoeppner, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 52.
How to Enter
Simply leave a comment on this post and state your favorite aspect of spring. From the comments received on or before Monday, March 29, 2010, we’ll randomly select two winners—one for the book, and one for the flowers. The winners will be posted under our “Giveaways” tab on Thursday, April 1 (no foolin’).
Happy spring!
Megan Hoeppner, CK creative editor
P.S. We’d love to know what you want to see in CK’s 2010 “Top 10 issue”! Leave your ideas here. (Note: You will need to sign in to Club CK to comment. Registration is free.)
Special Guest Blogger: Jaime Echt for The Crafter’s Workshop
03/19/2010 at 12:03 am | Posted in guest blogger, How-Tos, product, technique | 108 CommentsTags: CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, download, font, free font, Free Font Friday, gel pen, guest blogger, inkpad, Jaime Echt, pink, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, stencil, technique, techniques, template, The Crafter's Workshop
Well, helloooooo! [Visualize a royal wave.] Jaime Echt here, Queen of The Crafter’s Workshop. What a treat it is to be this week’s guest blogger.
I have some really fun projects to share, so let’s just dive right in. We’ve had a lot of snow in New York lately, so my Flurries template (TCW164) has been working double time. Now let me stop you right here and declare that I LOVE templates. No, not because my life revolves around designing the most fan-tabulous templates on earth, but I love them because I can create a piece of paper that has PINK snowflakes on it. Yes, pink! Come on, have you seen the playground lately? It’s a sea of pink! And yes, my little snow angel does indeed have a pink snowsuit (pink hat, pink scarf, and pink gloves), thank you very much. So yes, I do need pink snowflakes for my layout. And by golly, I’m gonna’ get them.
So here’s my “Frost Valley” layout. (Frost Valley, by the way, happens to be a very cool place to bring scouts, school kids, or even your family.)
Neat, huh? Are you ready for another one? The layout below uses my retro Sunburst template (TCW166), chalks, inks, pens, and my sewing machine! (And the remnants of my daughter’s hemmed pants.)
Once again I was faced with the desire to have my layout look exactly the way I wanted it to. And I’m a real stickler for color, so if the color is off, it makes me nuts! Thank goodness I have every gel pen, chalk, and inkpad known to humankind. Okay, not really, but I do love to use them on my layouts, like I did with the techniques that follow.
Here’s a close-up photo of my stitching. See? It’s not perfect.
And last, I journaled around the perimeter of the Sunburst design with a favorite gel pen, of course!
Comment to Win
Fun, right? So now I know you’re saying to yourself, “Self, wouldn’t it be nice if I had my own little Sunburst and Flurries template to play with?” Why yes, that would be lovely, wouldn’t it! So let’s do a little random giveaway to five lucky winners! Each winner will receive our 12×12 Sunburst (TCW166) and our 12×12 Flurries (TCW164). They’re two lovely templates to get us over the springtime piles of snow. To enter, just leave me a comment on this blog post by March 23, 2010. Easy Peasy.
Here’s hoping that the Template Fairy visits your home really soon. And brings you lots of lovely templates to play with!!
–Jaime Echt
P.S. Don’t forget to download a new font as part of Free Font Friday! This week, download the CK Magnificent font here!
Scavenger Hunt: March/April 2010
03/18/2010 at 3:42 am | Posted in Scavenger Hunt | 12 CommentsTags: BasicGrey, CK, CK March/April 2010, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Dorathy Gilchrist, giveaway, Kim Watson, March/April 2010, Mou Saha, Scavenger Hunt, Scrapbook, Scrapbooking, Webster's Pages
Hello! We hope you had a lovely St. Patrick’s Day yesterday. If your lucky leprechaun didn’t quite find you a pot of gold, here’s another chance to gain some goodies! As you read your March/April issue of Creating Keepsakes, jot down your answers to the questions below and e-mail them to us for your chance to win a lucky prize package from BasicGrey. (You’ll find more details at the end of this post.)
1. Name one of the five major idea categories in the “Scrapbook Your Life” article.
2. If you were to make a layout based on this issue’s “Seasonal Solutions” theme, what would yours be about specifically?
3. What is the contest mentioned in “Scrappetizers”?
4. How did Kim Watson make the seasonal accent on her “Egg Hunt” layout?
5. What are two items you see in the sky that could inspire layout accents, as taught by Mou Saha?
6. Who used coffee mixed with gesso as paint on her layout?
7. What product has Webster’s Pages come out with recently, as seen in “Latest & Greatest”?
8. What four products were used as masks in the “Tips & Tricks” screen test?
9. What is the common animal in the pet layouts in this issue? (Hint: Check out the index where all layout themes and pages are listed!)
10. What is one of your favorite layouts or techniques from this issue and why?
E-mail your answers to ckblog@creatingkeepsakes.com by midnight MST on Sunday, March 21, 2010. Be sure to put “March/April scavenger hunt” in the subject line. We will choose two winners by random drawing from the correct responses and post them on the Giveaways tab on or around Monday, March 22, 2010.
—Dorathy Gilchrist, associate editor
Top ’O the Morning to Ye! And Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
03/17/2010 at 2:15 am | Posted in Holidays, Uncategorized | 267 CommentsTags: CK March/April 2010, Club CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes blog, Creating Keepsakes magazine, font, giveaway, holiday, holiday layouts, holiday traditions, Holidays, Lara Penrod, luck, lucky, page title, Piradee Talvanna, quote of the day, quotes, recipe, scrapbook pages, St. Patrick's Day, Veer
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As part of the holiday, enjoy some St. Paddy’s Day fun in many areas.
Fun Holiday Fact
Today’s Fun Irish Fact (courtesy of History.com): “Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland s St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks.”
Fun Page Title You Can Download for Free
You can get your green on with this page title featured in the March/April issue of Creating Keepsakes.
Or download the P22 Kilkenny Swash font, which was used to make the title block above, from Veer for only $19.95.
Fun Scrapbook Page Topic
Even if green isn’t your thing, you can still celebrate the holiday. St. Patrick’s Day is associated with luck, so why not create a layout on why you feel lucky today. Maybe you feel lucky because you’ve learned a new skill, have a great education, have recently seen your life in a new light, or have great friends by your side. Whatever the reason, make a plan to capture those lucky feelings, just as Piradee Talvanna did with her “Thank You” layout.
“Thank You” by Piradee Talvanna, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 41
Fun Luck-Themed Quotes
Speaking of luck, check out Club CK‘s Quote of the Day blog this week for luck-themed quotes you can use on your layouts.
Fun Giveaway
Then try your luck with our great giveaway. Leave a comment on today’s blog post by March 21, 2010, for the chance to be one of five randomly selected lucky winners to receive all of this great St. Patrick’s Day product.
Fun Websites
If you’re in need of even more St. Patrick’s Day fun, check out this website to find a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in your hometown. And for a little Irish fun for the whole family, check out theholidayspot.com.
Fun Recipe
However you spend the day, don’t forget to eat your greens. Here’s a great recipe to get you started.
Corn Beef & Cabbage
1 small can corned beef 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 large head cabbage 1/8 tsp. pepper
2 Tbs. butter 1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 Tbs. flour 1/4 tsp. celery seeds
1 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 1.5-quart casserole dish. Cut cabbage up coarsely, and cook in boiling, salted water until done. Drain. While cabbage is cooking, melt butter in saucepan over low heat, stir in flour until smooth, add milk gradually, and then cool, stirring constantly until sauce is smooth and has thickened. Stir in salt, pepper, and celery seeds. Mix cream sauce and cabbage together, and mix with corned beef. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake 30 minutes.
May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck, brightened by a song in your heart, and warmed by the smiles of the people you love.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Lara Penrod, managing editor
Choose Our Cover: Winner
03/15/2010 at 7:34 pm | Posted in Promo, You Be the Judge | 6 CommentsTags: CK, cover, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Jennafer Martin, Linda Barber, Mou Saha, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks, vote, voting, Wendy Sue Anderson
You know how they say “be careful what you ask for”? Well, we asked you to choose the cover of our next Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks special issue, and wow—did you ever respond! For a week, all three cover options have been neck and neck, each barely inching out the others for the chance to win. At one point or more, each option was in the lead. What a close race!
But after more than 1,200 votes, the winner is clear: option number 2!
Ta daaaah! The scrapbook layout on this cover was made by the talented Linda Barber.
In case you were wondering who the talented scrapbookers behind the other options are, they are CK Dream Team member Wendy Sue Anderson behind option #1:
And CK contributing writer Mou Saha behind option #3:
Thanks to all of you who voted. We appreciate you input and are excited to feature the cover YOU chose for this issue, which will be on sale in May.
Jennafer Martin, editor-in-chief
Weekly Warm-Up: Memories Each Day
03/15/2010 at 3:49 am | Posted in organization, product, weekly warm up | 4 CommentsTags: Becky Higgins, CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Elle's Studio, Jennafer Martin, journaling, Megan Hoeppner, photos, Project 365, Project Life, scrapbook pages, scrapbook solutions, Scrapbooking, Studio 5
Capturing the everyday moments that happen in your life is a fun way to record meaningful memories. Whether you call it “A Memory a Day,” “Project 365,” or another clever name, one of the best parts of this approach is you can start any day, not just January 1. Take a moment today to try some of these fun ways to capture memories, including:
*take and/or share a photo each day
*journal a bit each day
*blog a bit each day
*scrapbook a bit each day.
Check out the Project Life kits by Becky Higgins and the Elle’s Studio calendars for some products to get you started.
Project Life by Becky Higgins is a great product to help you capture memories every day.
Or check out this article and video clip of CK’s creative editor, Megan Hoeppner, who shared even more ideas on Studio 5, our local morning show in Salt Lake City.
Take a minute today to notice—and capture—the important moments of your everyday life. Your scrapbooks will be better for it!
Jennafer Martin, editor-in-chief
Special Guest Blogger: Deena Wuest
03/12/2010 at 3:49 pm | Posted in guest blogger, technique | 9 CommentsTags: CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Deena Wuest, fabric, font, free downloads, Free Font Friday, mini albums, recycled, Scrapbook, Scrapbooking, technique, techniques
Hey CKers! Deena Wuest here. Just dropping by today to drop off a quick and fun project for you all.
We all look for ways to help the environment—recycling, taking shorter showers, switching to florescent lightbulbs, etc. And while these are all important steps, they don’t necessarily fall into the category of “fun.” Well, today we’re taking the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) and applying them to our home turf. And guess what? They not only reside under “fun,” but they help the environment and keep *your* green in your wallet as well! It’s all about using what you have in fresh and creative ways.
Today, we’re looking at fabric. If you’re one of those multitalented gems who not only scrapbooks but can sew up a storm, then you’ll no doubt have lots of fabric remnants in your craft room. Take a look at them with a fresh set of eyes, and put them to work in your albums or craft projects! If you don’t have fabric scraps lying around, do what I did and ask your local home-design store for expired fabric swatch books. On the day I went, the store had more than my family could carry! And they were 100% free! So we not only rescued the books from the landfill but had a blast flipping through all the fabric and thinking of the fun projects hiding within them.
Swatches come in so many cool designs, and they are the perfect size to make handmade gift bags or treasure bags. For my first project, I created a simple, long, narrow bag to hold old love letters.
Supplies: Bags: Fabric from recycled swatch book; Tag and pink button: Pink Paislee; Metal-rim tag: Making Memories; Ribbon: C.M. Offray & Son; Other: Button.
To create this bag:
- Cut two pieces of fabric in equal sizes, and sandwich the right sides together.
- Press a fold of about 0.5″ to 1″ along the top of each fabric panel.
- Run a straight stitch along the sides and bottom.
- Turn the bag right side out.
- Hem the fold along the top of the bag, if desired.
- Embellish with buttons, ribbon, or other accessories.
I have to be honest here. I can’t sew to save my life. It’s true. But if I can manage to figure out a simple straight stitch, anyone can! Don’t have a sewing machine? These projects work great using fabric-adhesive tape or any stitch-less sewing products.
Here are a few more projects I created from old fabric swatches.
Supplies: Bag: Fabric from recycled swatch book; Cardstock: Katie Pertiet; Scallop: Anna Aspnes; Word art: Ali Edwards; Binding: Zutter Innovative Products.
This little bag was created from an eyelet fabric swatch. To keep the edge detail, simply press the fold to the outside instead of the inside, and then stitch up the sides. Super simple! This bag was created to hold a mini album I carry in my purse. Not only cute, it keeps my album from getting scratched.
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Supplies: Bags: Fabric from recycled swatch book; Paper and brushes: Mindy Terasawa; Font: Avenir.
We made these little bags and loaded them with favors and candy for my son’s birthday party. Photoshop + a fun robot kit = quick and easy bag toppers. Super simple, and the kids all had a fun keepsake from the party.
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Supplies: Denim fabric: Recycled swatch book; Die-cuts: Sizzix; Chipboard accents and ribbon: Little Yellow Bicycle; Font: Avenir.
And don’t limit these fun little fabric swatches to just bags! I ran denim swatches through my die-cutting machine to create this little fabric album. What was once going to be thrown away I now hold as a treasured keepsake. How cool is that!
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Try these other ideas too!
- Use a fabric swatch as photo mat on a layout.
- Create an interactive mini album from old denim pockets. Bind and fill each pocket with a journaling tag or a photo.
- Cut a large monogram from fabric for a unique accent on a layout.
- Create fabric flowers to use on a page.
- Run fabric through a die-cutting machine (or use good-old-fashioned scissors) to create fun fabric tags.
- Create a fabric scrapbook by covering chipboard or cardboard with fabric and stitching around the edges.
- Create a fabric pocket to hold memorabilia on a page.
- Some fabrics can even be run through your printer! Just use a temporary adhesive to adhere fabric to paper first so it won’t jam. (And check your printer capabilities first.) Lots of possibilities here. Print journaling, titles, and photos. Even entire layouts can be printed on fabric.
What other fun and creative ways do you have to use fabric scraps in your projects? I’d love to hear (and see) them! I don’t know about you, but this whole recycling thing just got a lot more fun! Happy Friday everyone!
—Deena Wuest
P.S. Don’t miss Free Font Friday! You can download CK Shadowed Block for free here. Check back next week for another new font.
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