Guest Blogger: Dream Team Member Cindy Tobey
04/09/2010 at 5:00 am | Posted in fonts, guest blogger, How-Tos, product, technique | 16 CommentsTags: bird nest, Cindy Tobey, CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, font, fonts, Free Font Friday, free fonts, guest blogger, How-Tos, Paper flower, product, spring, technique
Hello! It’s Cindy Tobey here, a member of the 2010 Creating Keepsakes Dream Team. Don’t you just love spring? I sure do! There are tiny buds forming and starting to bloom, bunnies are hopping from yard to yard, and my favorite, the chatter of birds outside. I’ve stopped by today to share a layout and spring themed accent that I hope you’ll enjoy!
Handmade paper flowers are all the rage right now, and I’ve used the same technique used to make spiral flowers to create a sweet little bird’s nest for my page below.
Climb by Cindy Tobey. Supplies: Patterned paper: American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, Crate Paper, Hambly, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Jillibean Soup, and My Mind’s Eye; Stickers and paper border srtip: Doodlebug Design; Journal tag: Jillibean Soup; Ribbon: SEI; Felt: Prima; Leaves: Bazzill Basics Paper; Font: Century Gothic; Adhesive: Beacon and Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Other: pom poms.
Step 1: Cut a 4″ circle from patterned paper. With a pencil, sketch a spiral onto the back of the circle. Cut along the sketched line.
Step 2: Roll the paper to form a nest shape, securing with adhesive in just two or three spots as you go.
Step 3: Use liquid glue along the bottom edge of the spiral to secure it to the base. Note: The base is the center of the paper circle that you cut into a spiral.
Step 4: When the glue is dry, take the palm of your hand and push down on the nest gently, to slightly flatten it. Work the edges of the nest with your fingers to get the desired shape.
Step 5: Finally, glue pom poms into the bottom of nest.
Tip: Use whatever you have on hand for the bird eggs. Buttons or beads would work great too! You could even add dots with a marker to buttons or beads for speckled eggs!
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning this technique and will give it a try! Thanks for reading, and happy spring!
Cindy
P.S. Don’t forget to download today’s font as part of Free Font Friday! This weeks’ font is CK Weez. Download it today at Creating Keepsakes.
Celebration Pages in Honor of the Closing Ceremonies
02/26/2010 at 5:47 pm | Posted in fonts, General Inspiration | 5 CommentsTags: celebrations, Cindy Tobey, CK, Club CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, creativity, Deena Wuest, Idea Gallery, Jamie Waters, Jennifer Davis, Kelly Noel, Kelly Purkey, Kim Arnold, Lori Fairbanks, Olympics, reader gallery, reader pages, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking
Hey there! I hope you’ve enjoyed the 2010 Winter Olympics and our Olympic-inspired scrapbooking ideas these past two weeks. In honor of the closing ceremonies scheduled this weekend, we’re pleased to bring you celebration-themed pages—layouts that rejoice in and commemorate happy events, accomplishments, and relationships. Take a look at the following categories, and then scrapbook a layout celebrating something wonderful in your life.
1. Firsts and milestones. Many first-time experiences are happy events that mark a significant moment of your life—your first day at a new job, your first car, or your first home, for example. Smaller firsts may also be meaningful to you and worthy of mention on a scrapbook page, such as your child’s first day at school, the first spring flower in your garden, or your pet’s first successful attempt at a new trick.
“Our First House” by Kim Arnold, as seen in the "Super-Fast Pages with 4" x 6" Photos, Volume 2" special issue
2. Birthdays. Commemorate your special day with a scrapbook page. And yes, that’s your birthday too—not just the kids’ birthdays!
“Happy Birthday” by Cindy Tobey, as seen in the June 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes
3. Weddings, anniversaries, and engagements. Keep these important celebrations fresh in your memory with pages highlighting the most memorable images and happenings from the event.
“The Perfect Day” by Kelly Noel, as seen in the June 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes
4. Babies. If there’s a baby in your life, then chances are good you also have thousands of photos of the little one on your computer. Choose your favorites to create special pages that document how tiny and sweet your baby is.
“Elsie, 4 Weeks” by Jamie Waters, as seen in the June 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes
5. Accomplishments. Scrapbook your successes—from goals met to obstacles overcome. Possible topics include graduations (from preschool to college), promotions or raises at work, sports achievements, and more.
“Mike’s Graduation” by Kelly Purkey, as seen in the February 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes
6. Your favorite things. Remember to celebrate the little things as well by recording what makes you happy right now. Your favorite song, your favorite color, the funny nickname your two-year-old has for the dog. Make a list and scrapbook it. Include photos if you have them, or make the layout design all about your words, like Deena Wuest did on her page.
“100 Things I Love” by Deena Wuest, as seen in "Get Creative with Type"
7. Very good days. Record the everyday happenings that make your life happy. Maybe the moments special to you are starting the day with a favorite breakfast, taking an evening stroll with a friend, or spending time in your garden.
“Thursday Morning Waffles” by Jennifer Davis, as seen in the February 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes
Whatever celebrations you choose to scrapbook, we hope you’ll share your happy pages with us by posting your celebration pages on our idea gallery at Club CK.
—Lori Fairbanks, product editor
P.S. Don’t forget to download your free font as part of Free Font Friday! This week, you can download CK Lounge Act here.
Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: An Insider’s Look
02/10/2010 at 11:44 am | Posted in Insider's Look, organization | 61 CommentsTags: Autumn Baldwin, Cindy Tobey, CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, creativity, Dorathy Gilchrist, Erin Bayless, giveaway, Glitz Design, Jennafer Martin, Lori Fairbanks, organization, Romanoff Products, Scrapbook, scrapbook organization, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, Simple Scrapbooks, Stacy Julian, technique, techniques
Hey there! Did you pick up your new CK special issue yet (it’s only $5.99)? The Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks organization issue focuses on all things organization in a variety of scrapbooking topics. We hope it will give you great ideas for whipping your scrap space into shape and arranging it in a way that’s both beautiful and functional, along with tips for organizing layouts, albums, crops, and more.
Here are three of my favorite things from this issue, along with other tidbits from our team:
1. “Design Solutions” column
This issue, the “Design Solutions” column helps you organize your layout designs for stunning pages. I love seeing the difference a little design tweaking can make on a layout. It’s like the seeing the big reveal of a makeover show (but better, because you don’t have to watch the 45 minutes building up to it). Here’s the before and after of Autumn Baldwin’s layout called “That’s Love.” Notice the difference a few pieces of patterned paper placed in a visual triangle makes on her “after” layout.
Before
After
2. Colorful vertical files
Storing paper vertically makes so much sense because of the space it saves and how accessible the paper is when it’s stored this way. Romanoff Products made vertical files more fun when they introduced their colorful vertical files. A few other features about these files make me happy: they’re very sturdy files that would do just fine sitting on a tabletop or a shelf, they fit perfectly in Ikea’s Expedit bookshelf, and they have a little lip to make them easier to handle.
And sure, they look great as-is, but what’s a scrapbooker to do when she sees such a lovely blank canvas? Embellish it, of course!
The rub-ons I used on the pink file are from Glitz Design. Check out some of their other rub-on designs that would look awesome on vertical files. Imagine these great gold dots on the orange files:
Or this black damask print on the green files:
3. Inspiration frame collage
I love this variation of the inspiration board using a collection of old frames. I snagged these from our design team when they were cleaning out their photo props. You could pick up similar frames for a song at your local thrift store. Check out Club CK later this week for information on how to put old frames to work as dry-erase boards, corkboards and magnet boards for use in your scrap space:
Here are some fun tidbits about this issue from the team:
- We were super-exited to work with Stacy Julian on her “Creative Album Organization” article for this issue. “When we were planning this issue,” says editor-in-chief Jennafer Martin, all I could think was that ‘Stacy Julian’s philosophy would be PERFECT for this issue.’ She’s not only a talented scrapbooker but she’s also so motivating. She encourages scrapbookers to find a system that liberates them from the stress that often accompanies chronological scrapbooking.” We hope this issue will help readers feel the empowerment that Stacy brings and also enjoy a little touch of Simple Scrapbooks in this issue.
- The rooms featured in the “Creativity under Cover” issue were shot at the homes of several CK staffers. Some of the furniture was already in place, while other pieces were brought in and propped especially for this article shoot.
- Speaking of the “Creativity under Cover” article, our team was thrilled with the illustration for the article opener. Look closely at how many scrapbooking items the artist wove into the illustration—check out the umbrella stand, the vases and all the items in the armoire. So clever!
- Several members of our team use the solutions featured in this issue in their own scrap spaces. For example, associate editor Dorathy Gilchrist uses the towel hanger and media storage boxes from the “10-Minute Tricks” column as well as the ottoman, hanging accessory bag, and sweater hanger from the “Creativity under Cover” article.
- Love flowers? Our contributors sure do! All three party themes for the article “Stop, Drop & Crop,” were originally submitted as floral themes. Cindy Tobey graciously agreed to transform her items into a jungle theme—we’re delighted with how it turned out!
- Creative director Erin Bayless commented: “My office was overrun by storage units and cabinets that we were planning to photograph and feature. I had only a little path to my desk! Someone even asked me if I had just moved into my office on account of all the boxes.”
What were your favorite things about this issue? Leave us a comment on this post by Friday, February 19, 2010, and you could be one of three lucky winners to receive a sampling of fun, new scrapbooking products.
—Lori Fairbanks, product editor
Valentine’s Day with the CK Dream Team
02/09/2010 at 11:30 am | Posted in General Inspiration, Holidays | 6 CommentsTags: Cindy Tobey, CK, CK Dream Team, color palettes, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, dogs, Dream Team, gifts, Holidays, Kim Jackson, Laura Vegas, pets, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, Suzy Plantamura, Valentine's Day, valentines, Wendy Sue Anderson
Yesterday, Megan Hoeppner showed you how to spread some Valentine’s Day cheer with quick and easy valentines. Today, with some help from a few of our CK Dream Team members, you’ll discover fabulous ways to celebrate the love in your life through scrapbooking and sharing photos. Whether you’re into romance or not, these fun projects are sure to make your heart happy.
While Cindy Tobey made her gorgeous “Love” page to commemorate Mother’s Day, you can easily make this layout to celebrate your family on Valentine’s Day. Her color combo makes for a beautiful break from the traditional—simply combine red, pink, and black with vivid splashes of turquoise and green.
Speaking of colors, Wendy Sue Anderson’s super-pretty “Love Birds” page puts a new spin on a romantic tale. Yellow for Valentine’s Day? Absolutely!
Always up for a challenge, Suzy Plantamura proves that Valentine’s Day is a great reason to scrapbook not only your family and friends but your pets too. There’s no better day to recognize those who show you unconditional love. (And take note: Suzy used yellow too.)
Feel like being extra-crafty this week? Laura Vegas’s adorable handmade photo holders will add some Valentine’s Day pizzazz to your desk. Plus, they make great gifts.
Whatever your reason to celebrate this Valentine’s Day, challenge yourself to make scrapbooking and photo-sharing a part of your holiday.
Thanks for stopping by!
—Kim Jackson, senior editor
Let Holiday Cards Speak on Your Layouts
12/08/2009 at 4:00 am | Posted in Holidays | 2 CommentsTags: Becky Higgins, Brittany Beattie, cards, Cindy Tobey, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Deena Wuest, holiday, holiday cards, Holidays, Jennifer McGuire, Layout, photo card, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, tags
At this time of year, folks who don’t consider themselves crafters come out of their shells. Before you know it, you have an array of holiday cards and letters arriving from them in your mailbox. I remember how during the holidays when I was young, my mom would string together the greeting cards we received and hang them on the walls. The cards were so beautiful that we didn’t need much more decoration than them and our tiny tinsel tree.
Cards today, like modern holiday decor, are as beautiful as ever. Don’t let their artistry and the memories they bring end with the season. Add charm and life to your scrapbooks by including holiday cards on your layouts. Here are a few ideas from the December 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes.
“Christmas of ‘08” by Becky Higgins, as seen in the December 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes (page 46)
Include an actual copy of your family’s holiday card on your layout, as Becky Higgins did.
"Merry Christmas" by Brittany Beattie, as seen in the December 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes (page 66)
Use a small tag meant for packages as a page embellishment. This cute skiing-penguin scene would be a great addition to a story on a snow-themed Christmas layout. You can add an embellishment or two to the tag to give it more dimension, like Brittany Beattie did.
"Wishing You Peace" by Jennifer McGuire, as seen in the December 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes (page 110)
If you don’t have room to include an entire card on your page, use only a particular accent, such as the pretty felt flower from this card by Jennifer McGuire.
"Uncontainable Joy" card by Deena Wuest, as seen in the December 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes (page 81)
Use the photo from your holiday card as one of your main pictures on a layout. The oh-so-adorable child from this card by Deena Wuest would make any page stand out, with or without the text printed on the photo.
Whatever your card preference, be it homemade or store bought, take a break and let your cards do the talking for you on your pages this season.
—Dorathy Gilchrist, associate editor
December CK: An Insider’s Look
11/12/2009 at 4:00 am | Posted in Insider's Look | 287 CommentsTags: Ali Edwards, Amanda Probst, behind-the-scenes, Brenda Peterson, Brittany Beattie, Cindy Tobey, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, December, Deena Wuest, Dorathy Gilchrist, Erin Bayless, holiday, Janice Barfuss, Jennafer Martin, Jennifer McGuire, Jill Marie Paulson, Joannie McBride, Julie DeGuia, Kayleigh Wiles, Kelly Goree, Lara Penrod, Lori Anderson, Lori Fairbanks, Maggie Holmes, Megan Hoeppner, Neko Carrillo, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, Suzy Plantamura
Working on the December issue of the magazine has had me in the holiday spirit for the last several months. (We started working on the issue in July!) Now that holiday music fills the airwaves of Salt Lake City 24/7, that holiday feeling is getting even stronger.
That’s why I couldn’t help but do something festive for our inside look at the December issue of Creating Keepsakes—and the 12 days of Christmas continually came to mind. But rather than spread out this post for nearly two weeks, you get all 12 gifts in one post—a sneak peek at the 12 favorite layouts from our editorial staff. To add even more festivity to the post, you can always listen to this while you enjoy reading the reasons we love each layout so much!
Oh, and be sure to check out all the exclusive online articles for December we have waiting for you here. You can even enter to win a free advent calendar personalized with your own family members!
Without further ado, here are our team’s favorite layouts from the December issue.
“Holiday Home” by Ali Edwards in “Studio A”
“This layout from Ali Edwards makes me want to capture every holiday detail in my home—and I’m going to!” —Joannie McBride, assistant editor
“Ornament a Day” by Amanda Probst in “Monthly To-Dos”
“Amanda Probst has a great eye for fonts, and I can’t stop looking at her title treatment on this layout. The colors stand out. The fonts look great together and are readable but unique. It’s so clever how she uses a snippet of conversation to frame her title and photos on the left page of her layout.” —Lori Fairbanks, product editor
“Happy” by Jennifer McGuire in “Tools & Techniques”
“I love Jennifer McGuire’s simple design, nice color scheme and great photos on this layout.” —Janice Barfuss, art director
“She Says” by Lori Anderson in “Computer Tricks”
“This layout is so sweet and sassy. I can’t get enough of Lori Anderson’s adorable pictures and cute use of type.” —Neko Carrillo, senior designer
“Kitschy” by Cindy Tobey in “Tips & Tricks”
“The tree accent is so unexpected. Cindy Tobey made kitschy work for her! I love it.” —Erin Bayless, creative director
“A Few of Our Christmas Favorites” by Deena Wuest in “Festive Techniques for Trimming the Tree”
“Deena Wuest’s clean and simple design balanced with the clever tree made of photos is so fresh, festive and innovative.” —Jennafer Martin, editor-in-chief
“Playing with Snow” by Suzy Plantamura in “Mandy’s Challenge”
“Suzy Plantamura’s title treatment is so clever—she cut her letters by hand and then stamped on them with the letters ‘S,’ ‘N,’ ‘O’ and ‘W,’ respectively.” —Brittany Beattie, online senior editor
“January” by Kelly Goree in “Instant Gift Albums”
“I love how the design of this layout fits so many photos without sacrificing room for embellishments. Plus, each accent Kelly Goree used enhances the feel of the photos.” —Lori Anderson, online managing editor
“Christmas Bliss” by Jill Marie Paulson in “Seasonal Solutions”
“I like Jill Marie Paulson’s simple design with the focus on the photo.” —Brenda Peterson, editorial assistant
“Christmas Morning” by Julie DeGuia in “Seasonal Solutions”
“I like how Julie DeGuia fit so many photos on her layout and still kept it clean. I always take hundreds of photos on Christmas and then wonder how to scrapbook them all.” —Lara Penrod, senior editor
“Roll with It” by Kayleigh Wiles in “Reader Gallery”
“Kayleigh Wiles’s page has great flow despite how the focal point is in a small space. Plus, the beautiful script at the bottom adds charm to the flow.” —Dorathy Gilchrist, associate editor
"2008 Review" by Maggie Holmes in "Scrapbook a Year's Worth of Memories in One Night"
“Maggie Holmes managed to capture an entire year’s worth of memorable events on one layout while still creating a clean, easy-to-follow design—not always an easy task. I love how the white space balances out the fun patterns and whimsical details while still keeping her photos the focus.” —Megan Hoeppner, creative editor
—
Prize Giveaway
What would this holiday celebration be without a gift? Leave a comment by Monday, November 16 at 9:00 a.m. EST, and let us know what your favorite layout is from the December issue for a chance to win this prize package or other December-related goodies.
—Brittany Beattie, online senior editor
Announcing Our 2010 Dream Team Members
11/04/2009 at 4:00 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 60 CommentsTags: Adorn It - Carolee's Creations, Advantus, American ArtClay Company, American Crafts, Anna Griffin, BasicGrey, Bazzill Basics Paper, Bella Blvd, Bisiou, Bo-Bunny, Buttons Galore, C.R. Gibson, Cindy Tobey, CK, Clearsnap, Close To My Heart, Colorbok, Core-dinations, Cornish Heritage Farms, Cosmo Cricket, Creating Keepsakes, Creative Memories, Deena Wuest, Die Cuts With A View, Dimension, Doodlebug Design, Dream Team, Duncan, Dyno Merchandise, EK Success, Elmer's, Eyelet Outlet, Fancy Pants, Fiskars Americas, Glue Arts, Glue Dots International, Graphic 45, Hambly Screen Prints, Helmar Adhesives, Hero Arts, iLovetoCreate, Imaginisce, Inkadinkado, It Takes Two, Jen Jockisch, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Jillibean Soup, Karen Foster, Kim Watson, Krylon, Laura Vegas, Little Yellow Bicycle, Maggie Holmes, Maya Road, McGill, Megan Hoeppner, Pebbles Inc., Piggy Tales, Pink Paislee, Prima, QuicKutz, River City Rubber Works, Sakura, Sandylion, Sara Winnick, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, Scrapbooking, ScrapGirls, Scrapper's Guide, SEI, Singer, Sound Easy, Spellbinder, Stampendous, Stampin' Up!, Susan Weinroth, Suzy Plantamura, Technique Tuesday, The Crafter's Workshop, Therm O Web, Unibind, We R Memory Keepers, Wendy Sue Anderson, Zva Creative
With our December 2009 issue already out and our January 2010 issue right around the corner (can you believe that?), it’s time to announce our 2010 Dream Team. This talented group of 10 women will bring you fresh designs in every 2010 issue of our magazine, as well as act as stellar magazine representatives at various events and activities.
Let’s get to their names and faces (and a few get-to-know-you questions), shall we? Drum roll, please . . .
Congratulations to the following 2010 CK Dream Team members:
Cindy Tobey1. How long have you scrapbooked? 12 or 13 years now.
2. What is your favorite technique? Stitching, either by hand or machine. A close second would be painting.
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? Buttons or decorative brads. It would be so hard for me to choose just one type, though.
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? Junk mail, catalogs, home decor, book covers, clothing tags . . . everywhere, really.
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? This is always a hard question for me to answer. Organized, quirky and ever-changing.
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? The creative process. I love that I’m preserving family memories, but it’s the process that keeps me coming back. I LOVE it!
1. How long have you scrapbooked? I started paper scrapbooking in 2000, shortly after my first daughter was born. I was actually one of those people who swore I would never try digital scrapbooking. Ha. Can you imagine? It was five years later when I realized I was drafting every layout on the computer and using it to design and print my text. Piecing everything together manually turned into the last step, as if it were almost an afterthought. Finally, when my toddler ate half a layout and repeatedly date-stamped his shirt, I reluctantly walked through a Photoshop tutorial. I completed my first digital layout in 2005, and I was completely and utterly in love. I still thank my then-destructive two-year-old son for helping me find my passion.
2. What is your favorite technique? I don’t know if it’s officially a “technique,” but I love using bold typography on my layouts. The fact that you can create art using just letters and numbers is so fascinating to me. Honestly, I get excited over the placement of text. (I’m still not sure if I should be alarmed by that or not.) While I love fonts and have over 1,000 of them on my computer, I use the same journaling font on around 90% of my pages. At first, I seriously thought I needed a support group. I’ve since embraced it and actually found that using the same font provides a sense of continuity in my albums. Hmm. Who knew?
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? Interesting question. Since most of my layouts are digital, I am going to claim the “digital brush” to be an embellishment. Brushes add so much to a layout and can range from graphic and bold to soft and subtle. I love the flexibility and freedom they provide. You can adjust the color, size, opacity and blend mode. You can combine them, delete portions . . . the list goes on. It’s complete creative control. I love that!
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? Everywhere. While I love to be inspired by clever design found in advertisements, books, billboards, movie posters and CD covers, I also find myself being inspired by the small things. An unusual color scheme found on a candy wrapper, the texture of a blanket or a spoken phrase heard over the radio have all sparked scrapbook layouts.
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? Simple. Clean. Graphic.
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? I love the fact that this amazing hobby allows me to combine my passion for my family with my passion for design. I love that it provides a creative outlet where I’m free to try cool, new things, to experiment and to play. But mostly, I love what it allows me to leave for my family. It’s more than documenting what they wore for Halloween or what they received for their birthdays. Granted, that’s important information. But even more so I want them to know how much they are loved. I have always considered each layout to be a “love note” that just happens to contain a sprinkling of life events. To me, that’s what scrapbooking is all about. And that’s why I love it.
1. How long have you scrapbooked? 6 years.
2. What is your favorite technique? Anything using foam adhesive. I love the depth and dimension it adds to pages.
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? The one thing I can’t do without is patterned paper. I love mixing different colors and patterns and finding funky combinations.
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? Home-design blogs and ads on Nick Jr. (Seriously, there is some great stuff there.)
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? Layered, fun and a little whimsical.
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? I like that I’m not only doing something I love, but I’m actually being productive by documenting my family’s story.
1. How long have you scrapbooked? Nearly five years. I started when my little boy was six months old. I wanted to journal his life in a creative, meaningful way.
2. What is your favorite technique? Coming from a fashion background, I love stitching and using fabric. Paper crafting and creating my own embellishments also make the list.
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? Alphas, definitely alphas.
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? Fashion, craft world, photography and interior design.
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? Feminine with a touch of whimsy.
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? I love that it satisfies me on so many levels: my need for a creative outlet, my love of writing and my interest in photography. Above all, the most important reason is to leave a legacy for my children.
1. How long have you scrapbooked? I have scrapbooked for about 14 years now. I started a year before my oldest daughter was born.
2. What is your favorite technique? Collaging is a technique, right? I love to collage my layouts together–whether it’s making photo collages or just arranging my photos and patterned papers into a collaged look to fill up the page. It’s like piecing together a puzzle, and I just love arranging things until they fit together to my liking.
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? This really isn’t fair to all the other fabulous embellishments out there, but I would have to pick ribbon. The majority of my layouts have ribbon used in one way or another. Since ribbon can be used in so many ways, I never get bored with it.
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? My main inspiration comes from either my photos or product. Great photos can be the starting point for so many layouts. If the photos don’t inspire me, then most likely product will. I’m very product driven, and I will often create layouts just because I want to use certain products or papers, without even knowing what photos I am going to use. So my layouts have been known to start with photos or end with photos. Both ways work for me.
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? My style is definitely clean and linear, with a lot of straight lines. I gravitate toward bright, fun colors, and I love to use many photos on my layouts. I’m also a big fan of embellishments, and I love to find the perfect amount of fun “stuff” to complete my layouts.
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? I love that I’m recording memories and events. Just by looking at their scrapbook albums, my girls will always know what happened in our lives. But I think what I love most about scrapbooking is the creative release it gives me. I spend most of my days doing mundane, everyday things over and over. So I feel my happiest when I get some creative time every day to play with paper and embellishments and to have something pretty to show for my time at the end.
1. How long have you scrapbooked? I started back in high school and have been hooked ever since!
2. What is your favorite technique? Right now my favorite technique is color misting. I love to use masks, stencils and anything I can get my hands on that will combine with the color mists to make a cool effect!
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? My first answer would be patterned paper, but I guess that isn’t really an embellishment. Assuming I can’t use patterned paper, I would say chipboard. You can do anything with chipboard and customize it to work with any layout.
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? Everywhere! Seriously, I am always thinking in creative mode, and I see everything around me—nature, fashion, type, ads, magazines, home decor, photography, etc. Somehow it all mixes and combines in my head and eventually translates into what I create.
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? Eclectic for sure. I love to mix things–different colors, different patterns and different mediums. I hardly ever use items made to match. Instead, I use bits and pieces from different lines and manufacturers. Combining everything together is where the magic happens for me.
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? I love two things about scrapbooking. I love that I’m capturing and recording our family story. Our lives pass by so quickly, and I can’t imagine not having all my albums to look back on. The second thing I love is the creative process and the fulfillment and joy I get from scrapbooking. It just feels great to pull all these beautiful products and mediums together to make something that is so unique and meaningful to my family and me.
Sara Winnick
1. How long have you scrapbooked? I’ve been scrapbooking since my daughter Anna was born in 2002–seven and one-half years!
2. What is your favorite technique? It’s impossible to choose just one! I have a thing for clear embossing, but I also love piecing together various elements to create cool titles.
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? Only one? It’s a toss-up between chipboard hearts from Heidi Swapp for Advantus and Flair from American Crafts.
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? Real Simple magazine never fails me. 🙂
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? I love bold colors and stripes, so I often use them on my pages.
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? I love creating new pages, but there’s nothing quite like flipping through old layouts remembering. I scrapbook for so many reasons, but to remember is the biggest reason I love this hobby.
Susan Weinroth1. How long have you scrapbooked? Since 2004.
2. What is your favorite technique? I love to machine-stitch and sew little tidbits to my pages.
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? Hmmmmmm. That’s tough! I’d probably have to go with rhinestone brads from American Crafts–they are a current favorite of mine!
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? Home decorating magazines, various favorite websites and storefront displays.
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? Clean and colorful with a few fun twists thrown in!
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? I love that scrapbooking has become my “job” and that it allows me to stay at home with my toddler-aged son, while at the same time allowing me to preserve my family’s photos and memories.
Suzy Plantamura1. How long have you scrapbooked? I’ve been scrapping forever. I made scrapbooks in high school with memorabilia, cards, schoolwork, etc. The only difference was they didn’t have any pictures! Once I had Sophie (who is now ten), I started scrapping the way I do now, with lots of photos and journaling.
2. What is your favorite technique? Anything that includes markers–I love hand journaling, doodling, adding borders or coloring in stamped images. Markers are so much fun!
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? Probably ribbon—I can’t seem to make a layout without it.
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? I don’t spend a lot of time getting inspired. As soon as I see pictures and products, I feel ready to go! When I make the time, I find inspiration everywhere! Catalogs, magazines, books, posters, nature, fashion, home decor–it all speaks to me! If I really wanted to get inspired, I would blog hop more often. Again, time prohibits my ability to do this, but there are so many online resources available to inspire us scrappers!
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? I’d like to say whimsical, but I don’t always feel that from my pages. But I try! My mathematical mind wants things neat, tidy and aligned, but my creative side wants things messy and artistic. I struggle to balance the two. I wish I could scrap more freely without any constraints!
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? There is nothing I don’t like about scrapbooking. I like every little bit of it–from starting with buying products to taking the photos to designing the pages. It’s all soooooo fun! There’s nothing more fun to me than getting a new box of products (especially if they’re free!) and sorting them all and organizing them. It’s pure heaven for this girl!
Wendy Sue Anderson1. How long have you scrapbooked? Forever! I remember helpling my mom when I was a little girl. We used rubber cement (yikes!!) to glue school papers, birthday cards, etc. into a big, green scrapbook. I made my own high-school scrapbook in a magnetic photo album (yikes again!). After I married, I discovered Pebbles in My Pocket on my lunch break one day. I’ve been scrapbooking (safely) almost every day since then!
2. What is your favorite technique? I love machine-stitching on my projects. My parents bought me a sewing machine as a college graduation gift. It’s my favorite scrapbooking tool!
3. If you were allowed only one scrapbooking embellishment to use on a layout, what type of embellishment would you choose? Hmmm, I would use buttons. Or ribbon.
4. Where do you look for design inspiration? Everywhere: catalogs, magazines, websites, blogs, picture books, shampoo bottles, junk mail, the grocery store . . .
5. How would you define your scrapbooking style? Clean, simple, cute, consistent.
6. What do you like most about scrapbooking? I really enjoy being creative, but I think my favorite part is seeing my kids enjoy the pages in their scrapbooks. I’m glad they’ll always have a record of the cute things, fun events and interesting family stories from their childhoods.
***
We’re thrilled to have each of these talented gals on our CK Dream Team for the coming year. They have already brought so much to our magazine and are sure to inspire you in the year to come.
Thanks to Our Dream Team Sponsors
To get their CK year off to an awesome start, we sent each of these gals a lovely welcome gift provided by our 2010 Dream Team sponsors. A great big thank-you goes out to the following incredible companies:
Adornit – Carolee’s Creations, Advantus, American Art Clay Company, American Crafts, Anna Griffin, BasicGrey, Bazzill Basics Paper, Bella Blvd, Bisous, Bo-Bunny Press, Buttons Galore, C.R. Gibson, Clearsnap, Close To My Heart, Colorbök, Core’dinations, Cornish Heritage Farms, Cosmo Cricket, The Crafter’s Workshop, Creative Memories, Die Cuts With a View, Dimensions, Doodlebug Design, Dyno Merchandise, EK Success, Elmer’s, Eyelet Outlet, Fancy Pants Designs, Fiskars Americas, GlueArts, Glue Dots International, Graphic 45, Hambly Screen Prints, Helmar Adhesives, Hero Arts, iLoveToCreate, a Duncan Enterprises Company, Imaginisce, Inkadinkado , It Takes Two, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Jillibean Soup, K&Company, Karen Foster Design, Krylon, Little Yellow Bicycle, Maya Road, McGill, Mimi Collections, Pebbles Inc., Piggy Tales, Pink Paislee, Prima, QuicKutz, River City Rubber Works, Sakura, Sandylion, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, ScrapGirls, Scrapper’s Guide, SEI, Singer, Sounds Easy, Spellbinders, Stampendous!, Stampin’ Up!, Technique Tuesday, Therm O Web, Unibind, We R Memory Keepers, Zva Creative
A New Contributing Writer
In addition to announcing our Dream Team, we have a talented new contributing writer to announce. Mou Saha, a wonderful member of our 2009 Dream Team, has joined our writer roster. We’re delighted to have her working with us in this capacity next year! Congrats, Mou!
A Note from You
Now, please join us in welcoming our newest creative crew by leaving a comment. You’re welcome to suggest ideas you’d like to see them cover in the year ahead, or you can simply give them a happy e-hello. Either way, we know they’ll love hearing from you!
Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner, Creative Editor
Scavenger Hunt
10/21/2009 at 5:00 am | Posted in Scavenger Hunt, Uncategorized | 13 CommentsTags: Amanda Probst, Cindy Tobey, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Dorathy Gilchrist, giveaway, Grace Tolman, Heidi Sonboul, Megan Hoeppner, November issue, Pam Callaghan, Rita Shimniok
Fall is in full swing and we hope ya’ll are enjoying the cooler days and beautiful colors, not to mention gearing up for all the fun holidays. Since next week is the big candy haul, we’ll warm you up with a different sort of hunt.
Pick up a copy of our November 2009 issue, filled with sweet ideas and technique treats. Find the answers to the questions below, and email them to 
ckblog@creatingkeepsakes.com. Be sure to put “scavenger hunt” in the subject line so we can find your entry. We’ll choose two winners to receive one of this week’s adhesive grab bags. (One less thing to ask Santa for later!) We’ll announce our winners on Monday, so be sure to check back to see if you’ve won!
1. What fun photo trick did Amanda Probst use to make the accents on her “A Leaf Hunt” layout?
2. What did Rita Shimniok adhere to her stitching in “Leaf Collector”?
3. Last Thanksgiving Megan Hoeppner made this with her ‘table scraps’.
4. According to Pam Callaghan (“New Hairdo”), what fun effect comes from cutting your paper image while the watercolor is drying?
5. What ‘real life element’ did Grace Tolman use to help title her layout “Muddy Maddie”?
6. According to the “Cool Things” column, this look is back in style.
7. How did Cindy Tobey create the yard line feeling in her layout “It’s All about the Dance”?
8. What is the go-to look of the season?
9. Heidi Sonboul used these two punches to create the fun shapes in “Colorful Leaves”.
10. List three tips given to create great heritage layouts.
Grab your issue and start hunting! And don’t get lost along your way!
Dorathy Gilchrist
Associate Editor
An Insider’s Look: CK’s September Issue
08/18/2009 at 9:39 am | Posted in Insider's Look | 556 CommentsTags: Back to School, behind-the-scenes, Beth Opel, Cindy Tobey, CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, fall trends, giveaway, Kelly Purkey, lens, Maurianne Dunn, photography, Scrapbooking, September, Suzy Plantamura, Tamron
Welcome back for this month’s edition of “An Insider’s Look.” The September issue of Creating Keepsakes was so fun to put together because we all love the back-to-school theme—it’s such an exciting time of year with the new pencils, new classes, and even new schools. I’ll be heading back to school this fall to start a graduate degree, so this issue makes me even more excited than normal! It makes me want to go shopping for new school clothes and notebooks, but I have so many fun insights to share with you about this issue, so let’s get started.
Let’s start with the cover. This fun layout by Cindy Tobey has many techniques you can try on your pages. Make a number 2 pencil into something fun. Here, Cindy transformed the pencil into a branch by adding leaves and a cute owl. She also explains how she created the chalkboard effect on her blog. Check it out, and try it on one of your school layouts.
Sometimes, we call on our talented contributors to create more than layouts for us. On page 69, you’ll see this adorable art on the opening page for the article “Moving up a Grade.” This was created by Suzy Plantamura.
Next, I hope you loved Kelly Purkey’s article “Hot Fall Trends” as much as I did. It’s exciting to see some of this fall’s hottest fashion trends applied to scrapbooking. Beth Opel collaborated with Kelly to decide on which trends to feature. Then our graphic designers decided they would like to photograph a pair of brand new shoes for the opening page. It didn’t take Beth long to agree to provide the new shoes for the shot. They’re now happily sitting in her closet, waiting for fall to come.
Last up this month, I’d like to tell you a little more about the Tamron lens (AF18-270mm VC) that was featured in “Cool Things” this month (page 122). It’s the world’s first 15X zoom lens, and it’s a great all-in-one lens if you’re looking for the perfect complement to your DSLR camera (for Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras). It also features Vibration Compensation, which is an anti-shake mechanism. This allows you to take blur-free photos up to 4 stops slower than usual. Just think of the shots you can get from sunrise to sunset!
Here’s the most exciting part: Tamron is giving away one of these lenses (valued at $629) to a lucky CK reader! If you’d like a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post with what you loved about the September issue of CK or how you would find the Tamron lens useful in your photography. Check the “giveaways” tab at the top of the blog on Friday, August 28 to see if you’re the winner!
-Maurianne Dunn, Associate Editor
Weekly Warmup: Add a Little Sunshine
06/16/2009 at 1:12 am | Posted in weekly warm up | 2 CommentsTags: Cindy Tobey, CK July issue, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, gallery, reader gallery, reader pages, scrapandpapercorner.com, sunshine
“I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.” -Johnny Nash
I’m not sure about you, but here in the western US, we have been experiencing record amounts of rain. So much, in fact, that I feel like last week I went to bed in Utah (a desert!) and woke up in Seattle. If you too are experiencing a “low pressure, wet pattern” (as described by our local weatherman), why not add some sunshine to your scrapbook pages and escape the drizzly blues?
On page 65 of this month’s Creating Keepsakes issue, Dream Team member Cindy Tobey shows you how to add a little sunshine to your projects. Her article is filled with fun, beautiful, doable ideas that any scrapbooker can try. Be sure to check out the article today and leave us a comment letting us know which tip you may try—better yet, leave us a link to your layout! We’d love to see the sun shine! 🙂
In honor of Cindy’s article, I’ve selected a few layouts to share from the Creating Keepsakes online gallery. Each of these layouts cheered me up with their bits of sunshine and I hope you’re inspired by the designs as well.
Worth Protecting by imzadi481
This adorable page by message board member imzadi481 made me smile. The expression on the little girls’ face is priceless and the summer colors and sunshine element in the corner make me want to cover myself in sunscreen and head to the beach.
5 Things by Anke55
All I need is a fruity drink and my sunglasses! Looking at this layout makes me think of the blue sea and tropical treats and flowers. Anke55, this is an inspiring layout!
destination by 2jamscrapper
The fun clouds and sunshine with the bits of green thrown in drew my eye to this fun layout by 2jamscrapper. The swirls on the patterned paper are an added bonus! Love it!
Glimpse by kayleigh
And finally, this layout by message board member kayleigh has me dreaming about a summer sunset. The graduation of colors in her title has me longing to view a glorious sunset over the ocean.
Be sure to check out the blog tomorrow for more picks from our gallery—this time ones you can vote on for publication!
Happy sunny days and sunny inspiration!
Lori Anderson
Senior Editor, Creating Keepsakes
P.S. Congratulations to the winner from our An Insider’s Look: CK July’s Issue: Guillauma who left this comment: “Love the summer ‘ambiance’ … and Jennifer McGuire’s ideas, always clever. Thanks for the great inspiration every month.”
Please follow the instructions from our Giveaway tab to redeem your prize. Congratulations!
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