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.
Happy New Year! (and Free Font Friday)
01/01/2010 at 4:00 am | Posted in fonts, Holidays | 170 CommentsTags: Amanda Johnston, CK, clear mount stamps, corner punch, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, fonts, Free Font Friday, free fonts, goals, holiday, Jing-Jing Nickel, journaling, journals, Kelly Purkey, Lara Penrod, New Year's Day, Pam Callaghan, patterned paper, Sande Krieger, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, stamp set, Stampin' Up!
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" by Pam Callaghan, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes.
travel more,
"Downtown" by Kelly Purkey, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes
achieve something big,
"Paris Marathon" by Sande Krieger, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes
work on a talent,
"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.
"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 CommentsTags: American Crafts, CK, Cosmo Cricket, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, dafont.com, Doodlebug Design, fonts, fontsquirrel.com, FontYukle.com, free downloads, free fonts, Lori Fairbanks, Making Memories, rub-ons, stamps, stickers, weekly warm up
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.
Scrap the Super-Fast Way! (Plus Free Font Friday)
09/25/2009 at 3:51 am | Posted in Promo | 6 CommentsTags: 4 x 6 layouts, 4 x 6 photos, Beth Opel, CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes idea book, Creating Keepsakes magazine, discounted price, downloads, free downloads, free font, Free Font Friday, free fonts, idea book, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, scrapbook shortcuts, Scrapbooking, special issue, Super-Fast Pages with 4 x 6 Photos
Hooray, it’s Friday! Welcome back, blog buddies.
Have you ever seen a juggler in action? They’re mighty amazing. The routines usually start pretty simply, with just a couple of balls, rings or clubs, but then before you know it, the performer is balancing an enormous stack of trays and plates on his nose while jumping rope on roller skates!
We all probably feel like jugglers some days, working madly to keep everything in the air while making it all seem effortless. We’re constantly on the lookout for time-saving strategies that will help us achieve impressive feats with a minimum investment of hours or exertion.
We’re juggling when it comes to scrapbooking, too—striving to document our memories in a beautiful way, yet needing to finish pages as quickly as possible. Well, friends, meet your new secret weapon: Super-Fast Pages with 4 x 6 Photos, Vol. 2.
Available for pre-order now, this fabulous special issue contains ONLY layouts made with uncropped 4″ x 6″ photos. What could be easier? Pick up your photos from the developer and get right to creating. Plus, if you order before 9/28, you’ll get the early bird benefit—10% off the retail price!
- Our Santa Visit Gone Bad by Allison Davis
Chapters are organized according to number of pictures on the layouts, so you can select a design that works perfectly with your photos.
Fresh by Emily Spahn
In addition, we’ve included tons of shortcuts to streamline your process even further.
The Birthday Girl by Suzy Plantamura
To make it even more irresistible, get a load of these bonus features:
- Clever ideas for displaying 4″ x 6″ photos
- Cool products to jazz up your pages
- Fun formulas for fast albums
- A whole section of sketches for recreating some of the dazzling layouts
See what we mean? This is your go-to resource for gorgeous pages in a snap. So get on over to our online shop and order yours today!
And don’t forget about our free font! Today, in a response to a request on our Facebook page, we’re giving away CK Cursive. Simply click on this link to download it.
Have a wonderful weekend, all you scrappy maniacs!
Beth Opel
Online Senior Editor, Creating Keepsakes
Weekly Warm-Up: CK Summer Camp Kick-Off!
07/13/2009 at 9:07 am | Posted in weekly warm up | 9 CommentsTags: Beth Opel, challenges, CK, CK Summer Camp, Creating Keepsakes, free downloads, free fonts, giveaway, prizes, Scrapbooking, weekly warm up
Goooooooooooood Morning, CK Blog Friends!
We’re feeling exceptionally chipper today, since we’ve been looking forward to this week for a long time. What’s so special about today? It’s Day 1 of our CK Summer Camp!
In our July magazine issue, several of our camp counselors led you through challenges based on different aspects of summer camp, such as icebreaker, arts and crafts class, and campfire stories. Check out the article on p. 57.
This week, we extend the fun for five full days online. It’s totally free to participate, and registration is optional, but if you haven’t registered yet, you have until tonight (July 13) at midnight MDT to do so. Just head here and you’ll be eligible for all the prizes and perks. Even if you miss the registration cutoff, you can still participate in the classes and breathe in all the fresh, crafty air.
So what can you expect?
- 5 random daily winners of our “Snack Packs,” filled with scrappy goodies
- A weeklong crafty contest with fabulous prize packages
- Daily challenge classes to spur your creativity
- Free fonts every day
- And lots of other cool extras!
Check in at the CK Message Board each day for announcements and instructions. You’ll find all the Summer Camp classes and information here.
Spread the word—tell all your friends, and make this week a summertime scrapper’s delight!
Beth Opel
Senior Writer, Creating Keepsakes (and CK Summer Camp Director)
Party Time!
05/02/2009 at 3:30 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 79 CommentsTags: blog candy, CK, Creating Keepsakes, downloads, free fonts, Megan Hoeppner, National Scrapbooking Day, NSD, Scrapbooking
Hip hip hooray! It’s National Scrapbooking Day (NSD)! Can I hear some cheering? Some hootin’? A little hollerin’? This is our day, friends! So, let us unite and celebrate all that scrapbooking is about—making connections, preserving memories, creative self expression and, of course, delicious products.
Today’s holiday is brought to you by the letters N, S and D. Sure, there’s the obvious reason for this (it’s the acronym for the name), but there are other good things behind these letters. Let’s break this thing down.
N: New Stuff
With giveaways on our blog every other hour today (from 9–5, MST), several of you will have new goodies to add to your stashes before the day is through. Yes, these giveaways are for today and today only, so I’m glad you stopped by to participate in our celebration when you did. Plus, everyone walks away a winner with our free downloads (below). Sweet!
S: Savings
There are many deals and NSD promotions going on today. I’m going to give you the scoop on where some of those can be found.
D: Downloads
It wouldn’t be a scrapbooking par-tay if we didn’t offer cool favors, so we’re offering plenty of free downloads. Let’s get to them, shall we?
FIND FREE FONTS
In honor of NSD, you can download the following fonts for free by clicking here:
1. CK Anecdote
2. CK Newsclips
3. CK Terzini
BE A COVER GIRL
See what it’s like to be a scrapbooking cover girl by adding your amazing layouts to our drop-in covers, available here.
MAKE A NOTE
This colorful assortment of journaling spots are yours just for stopping by today. Click here to download them.
NSD GIVEAWAY #1
Now, let’s get to our first giveaway. In order to enter, I need you to download one of the magazine covers, drop in your own layout and post the personalized cover image somewhere on the internet where I can see it. This can be your blog, your FB account (as the profile image in case I’m not already your friend, or you can add me as a friend, which would also be nice), the CK online gallery, Flickr, anywhere. Once you’ve got your cute cover image up, please leave me a link to where it is in the comments section of this post. From the links I receive today (and today only), I will randomly select three winners to receive the following prize package:
The package shown above includes: the complete (and beautiful) Lovebirds collection from SEI; a copy of Snippets: Mostly True Tales from the Lighter Side of Scrapbooking and an autographed Snippets bookplate (signed by author Lain Ehmann); and a copy of Stacy Julian’s super popular book, Photo Freedom.
I can’t wait to see your easy, breezy, beautiful covers, girls (and guys). 😉
Thanks for coming to the party, my fellow NDS celebrators. I’ll see you back here again later today (11:00 AM MST) for another post and some more giveaway action!
Cheers!
Megan
P.S. Check back next post (later today) for an exciting challenge announcement. It’s called “CK & Me” and I think you’re going to like it. 🙂
Subscribe to feed- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
Creating Keepsakes Blog 