Guest Blogger: Dream Team Member Cindy Tobey

04/09/2010 at 5:00 am | Posted in fonts, guest blogger, How-Tos, product, technique | 16 Comments
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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.

Happy New Year! (and Free Font Friday)

01/01/2010 at 4:00 am | Posted in fonts, Holidays | 170 Comments
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I can’t believe the new year is already upon us. Where does the time go? If your life is anything like mine, then 2009 flew by before you could take in all that was going on. The year had its ups and downs—the expected and the unexpected. It was full of change—some of it good, some of it not so good; some of it by choice, some of it not by choice.

As I contemplated the past year, I decided my main goal for 2010 is to make more of life’s changes be determined by me. Not just changes in circumstances, but changes in me. Stampin’ Up! makes a stamp set entitled “Define Your Life.” I love this set, not just because it makes great scrapbook pages and cards (which it does), but because its title speaks to me as well. I, probably like most of you, feel I can use a little more definition in my life.

This year, I’m determining to define my life. To define what I want to be, where I want to go, and how I’m going to make that happen. To not just let life happen, but to make it happen.

It’s said that in order to achieve your goals, you have to write them down. I’m going to take a little spin on this theory and create a Define Your Life journal for myself, with a 6″ x 6″ page dedicated to each aspect I want to be, do, or learn over the next year. I’m not worried about creating every page right now. I’ll be adding to the journal as the year goes on.  I’ll still be working on scrapbooking the events in my life, but I’m hoping that having these other types of pages will remind me to actively work toward making my life what I want it to be.

Maybe you’d like to spend more time with family,

Ready, Set, Bump scrapbook page

"Ready, Set, Bump" by Pam Callaghan, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes.

travel more,

 
 
 

 

Downtown scrapbook page

"Downtown" by Kelly Purkey, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes

 

achieve something big,

Paris Marathon scrapbook page

"Paris Marathon" by Sande Krieger, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes

work on a talent,

garden scrapbook page

"How Does Our Summer Grow?" by Jing-Jing Nickel, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes

or just delight in the little things this year.

details scrapbook page

"Delight in the Details" by Amanda Johnston, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes.

I’d love to hear from you about it. How do you keep motivated to make positive changes in your life, and how do you document those changes? Drop me a line in the comments section of this post, and let’s keep each other motivated to make 2010 the best year yet.

May this new year bring everything you hope and dream it will.

To help some of your dreams come true, two lucky winners will recieve a selection of Stampin’ Up! clear mount blocks, a stamp set, and either a package of patterned paper or a corner punch. Simply leave a comment on this post, and two lucky winners will be drawn on January 5th.

Happy New Year!

—Lara Penrod, managing editor

Free Font Friday

As you celebrate the new year, enjoy this holiday treat to you as part of Free Font Friday—a free download of the CK New Year’s Day font.

Weekly Warm-Up: Fonts for Holiday Pages and Cards

12/07/2009 at 4:00 am | Posted in fonts, Holidays, weekly warm up | 11 Comments
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Have you seen the January issue of Creating Keepsakes? Our new “Scrappetizers” column in the printed magazine is so fun! If you’re a font fan, you’re going to love the CK Font Find. Each issue, we’ll show you a cool font that’s inexpensive or—better yet—free. In the January issue, we featured the darling Glengary font by Nick Curtis, available from MyFonts.com for $7.95. Be sure to download this cute accent our design team created for you using the Glengary font!

If you’re looking for more great fonts for your holiday pages and cards, I’ve selected a few of my favorite free finds for you. Just click on the links to download these beauties. I’ve typed out a greeting in each one so you can see how fantastic these fonts will look on your projects.

This Renaissance font is available from FontSquirrel.com.

Here’s Ballpark, also from FontSquirrel.com.

Thaleia is available from Dafont.com.

Quentin Caps is from Dafont.com, too.

You’ll find Kingthings Christmas at Dafont.com as well.

Gloucester MT Extra Condensed might already be on your computer. If not, you can get it from FontYukle.com.

While we’re talking about great holiday fonts, be sure to consider stickers, stamps, and rub-ons—there are many wonderful options! Here are some that will look super on your holiday pages.

Doodlebug Design offers the Crushed Velvet Shin-Dig Alphabet stickers in Ladybug.

Making Memories sets the holiday mood with the Mistletoe Glitter Alphas.

Cosmo Cricket brings joy with the Jolly By Golly Alpha Rub Ons.

American Crafts spreads holiday cheer with the Ginger clear acrylics stamp set.

What lettering products and fonts are you using on holiday pages? Leave us a comment so I can check out your favorites, too!

—Lori Fairbanks, product editor

P.S. Check out the Giveaways tab to see if you were one of three lucky winners to receive an autographed copy of 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges by Elizabeth Kartchner.

Weekly Warm-Up: Terrific Trims and National Scrapbooking Day!

05/04/2009 at 12:47 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments
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img_2057Ah, May! We’ve reached one of the most beautiful months of the year. Just makes me want to frolic about amongst the flowers. Here in Utah, the lilacs have reached their peak—those lovely, fragrant harbingers of warmer days ahead. Isn’t it wonderful when you can actually adorn your home with vases of bouquets without having to visit the florist?

I think that scrapbooking’s equivalent to fresh flowers just may be ribbons and trims. Their colors and textures add such vibrance and femininity to your projects. For today’s warm-up, let’s play with our stash of trims. Check out the June issue of Creating Keepsakes (p.41) for some inspiring ideas from Jennifer McGuire, and get festooning!

And who can forget the most significant day of the year for us scrapbookers? Quick! What were you doing Saturday? Were you catching up on chores, rooting for a long shot in the Kentucky Derby, shuttling kids to practice . . . ? Or were you part of the hoopla and excitement of National Scrapbooking Day 2009?

What? You missed it!? Well, never fear. You can still get in on some super cool goodies. Head here for:

  • Free journaling spot downloads
  • Free classic CK font downloads (3 of ’em!)
  • Free download to create a CK cover featuring YOU!

Enjoy!

Beth Opel

Senior Writer, Creating Keepsakes

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