Weekly Warm-Up: Scrapbook Your Story

04/05/2010 at 5:00 am | Posted in General Inspiration, weekly warm up | 4 Comments
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Take a minute and think about how you’d answer the following questions:     

* What do you do each day?     

* What traditions do you embrace?     

* Which relationships do you treasure?     

* What milestones have you celebrated?     

* What fun things can’t you resist?     

The answers to these various questions are the things that make up who you are. They’re part of your story. In other words, they’re your life!     

     

Sadly, it’s often our lives as scrapbookers that we leave out of our albums, instead dedicating that time to scrapbooking about those around us. Take the kiddos for example. Sure, they’ll love seeing their lives on paper years from now, but it’s your life story that they’ll truly cherish. Trust me on this one.     

So, in the spirit of scrapbooking our own lives, we have a few beautiful pages to share with you, each taken from a section of the mondo Creating Keepsakes “Scrapbook Your Life” idea gallery, which we featured in our March/April 2010 issue.     

The Everyday     

Part of Grace Tolman’s everyday belongs to her position at a local retail store, so she created this cute page. We love how she turned her employee badge into a home for her journaling. Even though so many of us spend a large percentage of life in the workforce, it can be an easy thing to overlook when scrapbooking. Keep your 9-to-5 in mind as you’re scrapbooking your life.     

"My Night Job" by Grace Tolman, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 63.

Traditions     

Traditions don’t have to be holiday or event based. Scrapbooking a tradition can be as easy as telling the story of a repeat event, big or small, that brings you joy. In Brenda Hurd’s case, this event is making lemonade at Grandma Cole’s—a sweet moment indeed!     

“Lemonade @ Grandma’s” by Brenda Hurd, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 69.

     

Relationships     

You’re reading this blog post, which means you likely spend at least some of your time online. From that time, have you built relationships with others? Celebrate those e-connections with a scrapbook layout, just as Jing-Jing Nickel did with this happy page.     

“Panda” by Jing-Jing Nickle, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 72.

     

Milestones

You scrapbook the milestones reached by others in your life, so don’t overlook your own achievements. Whether you scrapbook those smaller, personal milestones (certifying in something, finishing a novel, etc.) or life’s larger moments (weddings, graduation, first home, etc.), milestones are an important piece of any scrapbook. For Ann-Marie Morris, it was her graduation from art school that made its way into a album.     

“Graduation” by Ann-Marie Morris, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 79.

Fun Times     

How do you spend your fun time? Don’t worry, nobody’s going to judge you here. Even if you call housework “fun,” it counts as an interest worthy of a scrapbook layout. As our reigning “Funnest Scrapbooker Ever,” Terri Davenport certainly knows what fun is. So she created this heeelarious scrapbook layout about a game of Scrabble she played with her youngsters.     

“Ifoon” by Terri Davenport, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 83.

Inspired yet? Great, because it’s your turn to scrapbook about . . . yes, you guessed it, you! What will your next “me” page be about? We’d love it if you’d share and inspire us with your ideas.

Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner, CK creative editor

Trend Talk: Ruffles

03/31/2010 at 5:00 am | Posted in General Inspiration, Hot Trends | 7 Comments
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-Megan Hoeppner, creative editor, and Lori Fairbanks, editor

Weekly Warm-Up: Incredible (not so edible) eggs using your scrapbooking supplies!

03/29/2010 at 1:25 pm | Posted in General Inspiration, How-Tos, product, Uncategorized, weekly warm up | 11 Comments
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Wait a minute! Do you realize Easter is less than a week away? Hopefully you’ve got that extra bit of spring in your step and you’re ready for an egg-xtra fun project! Megan Hoeppner and I had a blast using our scrapbooking supplies to decorate these adorable eggs. The possibilities are endless, and the results are super-way-dang (that’s like the ultimate in cuteness)! We opted not to dye our eggs before decorating them, but remember this is your creative time and you can do whatever you want!

Spot-on

These happy polka-dot eggs were easier to create than you might think. Megan first started by placing a glue dot onto her egg. She then dipped the egg into a small pile of flock, used her finger to make sure it was pressed in well to each glue dot, then gently brushed off the excess and repeated the process.

Absolutely Frilling

Ribbon is one of my favorite supplies, and ribbon scraps are perfect for decorating eggs. My orange egg was dyed using spray ink. Once dried, I adhered a large layer of ribbon around it, then a thin sheer ribbon over the top of the large ribbon. For the green and purple egg, I simply used Smooch ink, from Clearsnap, to create my green horizontal lines. Then I placed strips of ribbon in-between the lines. Finally, I tied a bow with the ribbon and adhered that to the top of my egg.

Rubbing me the right way

You can do so much with rub-ons! Megan created this fun spring scene using these yummy rub-ons from Hambly Screen Prints. The grass on Megan’s egg was created by painting small blades with Smooch ink. This same technique would be super cute on an Earth Day project, which just happens to be celebrating it’s 40 anniversary on April 22, 2010.

Speckles of happiness

This egg just makes me smile. When colors like these work so well together, it’s almost like they were two birds of a feather! Megan sprayed the egg with one color and allowed it to dry completely. Then she lightly sprayed the second color. Remember, sometimes less is more. Create a light mist affect by spraying from a distance rather than too closely.


Blooming with color

Oh my gosh! This egg is cuter than cute and definitely sprouting to the occasion. Nothing says spring like bright vibrant flowers. Add a little sparkle and the world couldn’t get any sweeter! Start by applying ink to create your petals. using a small foam square, dip one side into glitter and adhere the other side to the center of your flower. Hippity, hoppity for sure!


The write stuff

Everything’s better when it’s personalized! You can create these one-of-a-kind eggs for yourself and all your flock too. All you need is glitter glue and a little imagination.

I hope these techniques give you at least a dozen of your own incredible ideas. We’d love to see what you come up with. Share your projects with us in the Club CK idea gallery.

Joannie McBride, assistant editor

CK & Me: March 2010

03/24/2010 at 6:50 pm | Posted in CK & Me, General Inspiration | 3 Comments
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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 Comments
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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.)

Weekly Warm-Up: Memories Each Day

03/15/2010 at 3:49 am | Posted in organization, product, weekly warm up | 4 Comments
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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

March/April 2010 Issue: An Insider’s Look

03/11/2010 at 3:52 am | Posted in General Inspiration, Insider's Look, Uncategorized | 57 Comments
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Hey there! Are you as antsy for spring as I am? If so, make sure you check out the March/April issue of Creating Keepsakes. It’s got so many great ideas for spring-themed pages and techniques to try on them that you’ll be thinking warm, sunny thoughts, even if it’s still a bit chilly outside.

Here are three of my favorite items from this issue, along with a couple of tidbits from our team:

1. Stamping with a template and spray ink

Spritzing and stamping? Ooh la la! Stamping makes me happy, so I was so thrilled to learn about this technique from Liz Hicks, education coordinator for Tattered Angels. I love how Dream Team member Kim Watson interpreted the idea on her page. Want to learn more? Get step-by-step instructions in this month’s “CK Shows You How” column on page 23, and  see Liz’s video demo.

"She Has Spring in Her Step" by Kim Watson, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 26

2. Lots and lots of beautiful pages

If you need a little scrapbooking eye candy, then you’re going to love our “Scrapbook Your Life” article as much as I do—it’s packed with fantastic layouts like this one from Shelley Jaquet. I love how she fit 17 photos on her layout and that they show so many fun family activities.

"Our Family . . . Everyday Life" by Shelley Jaquet, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 72

3. Cool ribbon techniques

Jennifer McGuire always has many creative ideas for using products, and this month’s “Tools & Techniques” column is just too much fun. Check out the grass on this darling “Monster” accent—can you believe she created it by fraying green ribbon? Too clever! (You’ll find additional tips from Jennifer on getting more from ribbon in her column.)

"Monster" by Jennifer McGuire, as seen in the March/April 2010 Creating Keepsakes, page 106

Here are some fun tidbits about this issue from the team:

  • Creative editor Megan Hoeppner designed the adorable layout featured on our cover—didn’t she do a fabulous job? What you may not know is that the photo on the layout was taken by reader/contributor Brigid Gonzalez. She e-mailed it to us at editorial@creatingkeepsakes.com, and it was chosen for this cover! If you have a great photo with strong eye contact and good lighting, send it in for consideration. Your photo could end up being featured in a future issue!

  • Reader/contributor Stacy Cohen found a way to use her instant-coffee purchase on a layout about her morning fix. See the idea on page 108.
  • Editor-in-chief Jennafer Martin had a ball working with contributing writer Mou Saha on the “Spring Is in the Air” feature for this issue. “Mou had so many creative ideas and her enthusiasm for this springy topic brightened up the dreary fall when we worked on it,” says Jennafer. See more of Mou’s work in future issues of CK or on her blog.

  • There’s more than one way for your page to be published in CK. Fresh Face Donna Creedon, whose “Cheeky Grin” layout is featured on page 96, had originally posted the amazing layout on her blog, where creative editor Megan Hoeppner spotted it. It fit so well with the “Spring Is in the Air” article that we snatched it up right away. You never know when one of your layouts will be spotted by our roving talent reporters!
  • Accident or accent? After dropping an ink applicator on her page, reader/contributor Iris Uy turned the unfortunate ink spot into a really cool embossed accent. See it on page 16.
  • April Fools for photos. In the editor’s note, Jennafer Martin wrote a sidebar mentioning a couple of sites to play with your photos. “We didn’t end up publishing it, but I played with my photo on Faceinhole.com to become one of my favorite superheroes. You can be anyone you want to be by putting your head on a photo there,” Jennafer says. Try it today!

What were your favorite items about this issue? Leave us a comment by Friday, March 26, 2010, and you could be one of three lucky winners to receive a sampling of some fun, new scrapbooking products.

—Lori Fairbanks, editor

Weekly Warm-Up: Spray on Some Color

03/08/2010 at 11:13 am | Posted in technique, weekly warm up | 14 Comments
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Enough of the gray skies and cloudy days already; we’re ready for some color! It’s a good thing spring is right around the corner. In the meantime, we can always turn to color in our scrapbooking. Spray mists are all the rage right now. If you’ve never given them a squirt or if you just want to learn more about this hot topic, you’ll want to check out our March/April issue of Creating Keepsakes. Just in time for dyeing eggs, CK editor Lori Fairbanks talks about dyeing scrapbook pages (or elements of them) in the “CK Shows You How” column. In the “Latest & Greatest” column, you’ll also find this Spray Ink Review.

"Spray Ink Review," as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 49

After seeing how much fun Lori was having, I couldn’t resist getting in on the act. In my “Tips & Tricks” column, I show four fun ways to create a background from mist and around-the-house items or scrap supplies. I’m not going to give all of those techniques away here, but I will share my favorite one. I used mesh from Magic Mesh and Maya Mist from Maya Road to create a polka-dot background. So easy. So fun.

Speaking of “Tips & Tricks,” this page by Steph Devlin comes out of the column’s archives (featured in the July 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes). Steph punched circles from tissue paper and misted them with Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels to create her awesome circle flower. Talk about a textured treat!

"Balance" by Steph Devlin, as seen in the July 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 107

Want to see a little misting in action? Check out my recent “Studio 5” TV segment for a quick demo on misting and a look at some of the happiest color-adding products on the market right now. Plus, see a review of four additional must-try trends and tools.

A Colorful Question for You
The quickest way to cure a case of the winter blues is with a little color. Besides misting, what are some of your favorite ways to brighten up your designs? Leave your thoughts in a comment below, or e-mail editorial@creatingkeepsakes.com. We always love hearing from you.

Happy soon-t0-be-spring!
Megan Hoeppner, CK creative editor

Trend Talk: Bingo!

02/23/2010 at 11:15 am | Posted in General Inspiration, Hot Trends, How-Tos, product, technique | 12 Comments
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Weekly Warm-Up: Passing the Product Relay

02/22/2010 at 11:30 am | Posted in Onine Event, weekly warm up | 3 Comments
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An activity recognized the world over, the Olympic Torch Relay is both symbolic and inspiring. Just as the amazing Olympic athletes keep the fire of determination and dedication in their hearts, this relay keeps the spirit of the games aflame. Incredible, don’t you think?

Inspired by the passing of the torch, we’ve arranged a Passing of the Product Relay that’s all about recycling scrapbooking products. Do you have a product or two that could use a new home? Would you be interested in swapping said product for something else that has been on your wish list? Maybe you have an extra trimmer that collects more dust than it cuts paper. Why not swap the trimmer for that shaped punch you’ve had your eye on for so long? It’s easy to do with our relay.

How to Post Your Pass
Step 1: Visit the Passing of the Product Relay thread we’ve started on Club CK. (Note: You’ll have to sign in to the club in order to post and/or comment on others’ posts. Registration for community membership is free.)
Step 2: Enter information on the product (including a picture if possible) that you’re prepared to part with, either in exchange for another product or simply to do a little house cleaning without anything in return.
Step 3: Wait for the comments to come in. From those comments, make your product-passing arrangements.
Step 4: Once your trade/passing arrangements are finalized, remove your post or leave a comment on your post to indicate that the transaction is complete. (You can edit your original post by finding it in the thread, clicking on the “More” box in the top-right corner of your post and selecting “Edit.”)
Step 5: Ship your product(s) to its new home and, if a swap was arranged, wait for your new [to you] toy to come to you!

How to Make a Trade
Step 1: When a product catches your eye, find the blue-colored  username of the person who posted that product, located at the top of their comment.
Step 2: Click on the blue-colored username.


Step 3: In the user’s gray Profile box that appears, click on “Start conversation.” Note: If you do not see the “Start conversation” option, you will need to first add the user as a friend by clicking on “add as friend”; once that user accepts your friendship, you will be able to start the conversation.


Step 4: In your conversation, work out the product-swap details.

A Passing Example
It’s almost like we’re creating our own scrapbooking Craigslist here, but we’re making swaps rather than sales. For example, let’s say I’ve listed a collection of stamps that I’m ready to send to a new home, and I see that someone has listed a ribbon set I’m interested in. I would click on the user’s blue-colored username, start a conversation with her (or him), and ask if she’d be interested in trading her ribbon for my stamps. If it’s a go, we’ll exchange shipping information privately and make the trade.

The Fine Print
An important note: Creating Keepsakes will in no way regulate or moderate this product swap, so you’ll have to go into this using your own discretion. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t agree to a trade. We want this to be a fun way to recycle products and get “new” toys out of the deal, but we do not make any guarantees on the quality or reliability of the exchange. Please participate with the basic honor system as your guide. Thanks!

Okay, I’ve already got two posts on the “Passing the Product Relay” thread. I can’t wait to see what you have to swap. Let the games begin!

Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner, creative editor

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