technique | Creating Keepsakes Blog

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
Tags: 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.

Special Guest Blogger: Mandy Douglass

04/02/2010 at 8:10 am | Posted in fonts, General Inspiration, guest blogger, Holidays, How-Tos, product, technique, Uncategorized | 5 Comments
Tags: American Crafts, CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Dear Lizzy, Easter eggs, eggs, Fiskars Americas, free font, Free Font Friday, gift bag, guest blogger, holiday, how-to, Mandy Douglass, photo tips, photography tips, ribbon, ribbon technique, technique

Hey all my favorite CK Readers! It is me, Mandy Douglass! I don’t know about you, but I am so excited for this upcoming Easter holiday weekend. Now that I have two little boys, it just keeps getting more and more fun each year. I love easter egg hunts, easter baskets, easter bunnies, and those little peeks from the tulips that will soon turn into beautiful flowers.

Last year was the first year my son, Bryson, could start to understand the whole easter egg hunt idea. So today, I thought I would share a photo tip and a ribbon tip with you from this fun new page I created about his first hunt!

The Race is On by Mandy Douglass. Supplies: American Crafts.

Photo Tip:

Bryson was just learning to walk, and he really didn’t have enough balance to pick up eggs, so crawling was his only way to get those funny looking round things! I thought this photo was perfect to use on my layout, because it captures his perspective on the easter egg hunt. There weren’t a lot of kids around to “race” him for the eggs, but the faster he got them, the more excited he was. I challenge all you CK readers to get down in the grass this weekend and get some true perspective photographs!

Ribbon Tip:

Next is a fun tip a friend taught me a while back. I often find it hard to punch through a page or get a knotted ribbon to stay in place without gargantuan amounts of glue! So here are a few steps to show you how to get that cute ribbon knot to stay in place and avoid getting sticky.

First cut a piece of ribbon about 3″ long. Then staple it to the area of the page you would like the ribbon to be.

Then simply tie the knot (I usually only tie one knot and it stays in place).

Then cut off the remaining ribbon.

Simple, huh!

Bonus Gift-Bag Topper Tip:

I decided to use the same technique on some cute treat bags for Easter. (Not only did I get a cute bag out of it, but it also gave me a great excuse to open those Cadbury Mini Eggs that have been staring at me for a week!)

To make the bag topper, I made a simple flap using Sizzix’s scallop square die cut, then I folded it in half. I added some darling egg paper from the Dear Lizzy line by American Crafts and stapled the decorated flap to close the bag and keep the ribbon in place.

Last, I made a cute little tag using a Quickutz oval die, some scallop scissors by Fiskars, and Dear Lizzy Dimensional Sticker. Then knotted it all in place!

Such an easy way to do lots of Easter treat bags.

“Hop” that you all have a great holiday weekend!

Mandy Douglass, CK contributing writer

P.S. Don’t forget to download today’s font as part of Free Font Friday! This weeks’ font is CK Day Dream. Download it today at Creating Keepsakes.

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
Tags: CK, Club CK, Club CK idea gallery, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, decorated eggs, Earth Day, Easter, eggs, flocking, flowers, Glitter, glitter glue, Glue Dots, incredible, ink, Joannie McBride, Megan Hoeppner, paper crafting, ribbon, rub-ons, Scrapbook, scrapbook supplies, Scrapbooking, spring, technique, weekly warm up

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

Weekly Warm-Up: A Scrapbooker’s Springtime Welcome

03/22/2010 at 1:59 pm | Posted in technique, weekly warm up | 112 Comments
Tags: blog candy, CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Easter, Easter eggs, egg accents, eggs, erin lincoln, giveaway, handmade accents, how to create Easter eggs, Joannie McBride, Laura Stoller, Megan Hoeppner, Melissa Frances, Scrapbook, scrapbook accents, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, technique, techniques, weekly warm up

At last, springtime is upon us. Can I get a “hip hip hooray”? This is the season for new beginnings and colorful moments. Let’s celebrate with a few new and vibrant techniques for creating egg accents, since Easter is also a part of early springtime. If you’ve had a chance to check out the March/April issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, then you know that we have an entire feature dedicated to this happy topic, complete with a dozen unique ideas (and an additional dozen online). If you haven’t yet seen the issue, consider this your sneak peek. We’re going to crack open the creative carton and take a look at a few of the egg ideas inside.

Egg Technique #1: Create a Center Attraction
Remember those hollow sugar eggs that used to be so popular? Erin Lincoln took that sweet approach to create this paper-pieced cutie. She used dimensional adhesive to give it depth.

"Easter Wishes Egg" by Erin Lincoln, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 88.

Egg Technique #2: Try It with Chocolate
Okay, so maybe this isn’t a real chocolate egg, but it sure does look like one. Erin Lincoln dry-embossed dark-brown cardstock for a look that’s simply mouthwatering!

"Chocolate Egg" by Erin Lincoln, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 88.

Egg Technique #3: Tie on Some Texture
On this layout, I colored my eggs with bits of tied yarn. Here’s how to create your own:

1. Cut an egg shape from patterned paper or cardstock.

2. Punch holes throughout the egg.

3. Tie yarn through the holes, and trim the ends for a fuzzy finish.

"Easter '09" by Megan Hoeppner, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 87.

Free Stuff
Now that you have a few creative ideas for adding spring to your pages, how about some springtime giveaways to celebrate this joyous season? Since spring cleaning is another item that usually comes with spring, we have a few projects we want to clean out of the CK office and send to new homes. The first is the darling egg-accent flip book created by our own Joannie McBride. In it, she’s created a dozen unique eggs, each with a fun texture (like the pom-pom egg shown here). See the full project on the Creating Keepsakes website. What kid wouldn’t love to keep entertained with this tactile treasure?

"Egg Flip Book" by Joannie McBride, as seen in the March/April 2010 online issue of Creating Keepsakes.

And these flowers are looking for a new windowsill on which to rest. I created them for my March/April “Tips & Tricks” column as a way to organize smaller scrapbooking supplies. (Thanks to reader Laura Stoller for the fresh idea!) Whether you use them to decorate your craft space or you disassemble them for parts, I’d love to have this spring bouquet of buttons, brads, and flower accents delivered to you.

"Flower Organization" by Megan Hoeppner, as seen in the March/April 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 52.

How to Enter
Simply leave a comment on this post and state your favorite aspect of spring. From the comments received on or before Monday, March 29, 2010, we’ll randomly select two winners—one for the book, and one for the flowers. The winners will be posted under our “Giveaways” tab on Thursday, April 1 (no foolin’).

Happy spring!
Megan Hoeppner, CK creative editor

P.S. We’d love to know what you want to see in CK’s 2010 “Top 10 issue”! Leave your ideas here. (Note: You will need to sign in to Club CK to comment. Registration is free.)

Special Guest Blogger: Jaime Echt for The Crafter’s Workshop

03/19/2010 at 12:03 am | Posted in guest blogger, How-Tos, product, technique | 108 Comments
Tags: CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, download, font, free font, Free Font Friday, gel pen, guest blogger, inkpad, Jaime Echt, pink, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, stencil, technique, techniques, template, The Crafter's Workshop

Well, helloooooo! [Visualize a royal wave.] Jaime Echt here, Queen of The Crafter’s Workshop. What a treat it is to be this week’s guest blogger.

I have some really fun projects to share, so let’s just dive right in. We’ve had a lot of snow in New York lately, so my Flurries template (TCW164) has been working double time. Now let me stop you right here and declare that I LOVE templates. No, not because my life revolves around designing the most fan-tabulous templates on earth, but I love them because I can create a piece of paper that has PINK snowflakes on it. Yes, pink! Come on, have you seen the playground lately? It’s a sea of pink! And yes, my little snow angel does indeed have a pink snowsuit (pink hat, pink scarf, and pink gloves), thank you very much. So yes, I do need pink snowflakes for my layout. And by golly, I’m gonna’ get them.

So here’s my “Frost Valley” layout. (Frost Valley, by the way, happens to be a very cool place to bring scouts, school kids, or even your family.)

Neat, huh? Are you ready for another one? The layout below uses my retro Sunburst template (TCW166), chalks, inks, pens, and my sewing machine! (And the remnants of my daughter’s hemmed pants.)

Once again I was faced with the desire to have my layout look exactly the way I wanted it to. And I’m a real stickler for color, so if the color is off, it makes me nuts! Thank goodness I have every gel pen, chalk, and inkpad known to humankind. Okay, not really, but I do love to use them on my layouts, like I did with the techniques that follow.

Here’s a close-up photo of my stitching. See? It’s not perfect.

And last, I journaled around the perimeter of the Sunburst design with a favorite gel pen, of course!

Comment to Win

Fun, right? So now I know you’re saying to yourself, “Self, wouldn’t it be nice if I had my own little Sunburst and Flurries template to play with?” Why yes, that would be lovely, wouldn’t it! So let’s do a little random giveaway to five lucky winners! Each winner will receive our 12×12 Sunburst (TCW166) and our 12×12 Flurries (TCW164). They’re two lovely templates to get us over the springtime piles of snow. To enter, just leave me a comment on this blog post by March 23, 2010. Easy Peasy.

Here’s hoping that the Template Fairy visits your home really soon. And brings you lots of lovely templates to play with!!

–Jaime Echt

P.S. Don’t forget to download a new font as part of Free Font Friday! This week, download the CK Magnificent font here!

Special Guest Blogger: Deena Wuest

03/12/2010 at 3:49 pm | Posted in guest blogger, technique | 9 Comments
Tags: CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, Deena Wuest, fabric, font, free downloads, Free Font Friday, mini albums, recycled, Scrapbook, Scrapbooking, technique, techniques

Hey CKers! Deena Wuest here. Just dropping by today to drop off a quick and fun project for you all.

We all look for ways to help the environment—recycling, taking shorter showers, switching to florescent lightbulbs, etc. And while these are all important steps, they don’t necessarily fall into the category of “fun.” Well, today we’re taking the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) and applying them to our home turf. And guess what? They not only reside under “fun,” but they help the environment and keep *your* green in your wallet as well! It’s all about using what you have in fresh and creative ways.

Today, we’re looking at fabric. If you’re one of those multitalented gems who not only scrapbooks but can sew up a storm, then you’ll no doubt have lots of fabric remnants in your craft room. Take a look at them with a fresh set of eyes, and put them to work in your albums or craft projects! If you don’t have fabric scraps lying around, do what I did and ask your local home-design store for expired fabric swatch books. On the day I went, the store had more than my family could carry! And they were 100% free! So we not only rescued the books from the landfill but had a blast flipping through all the fabric and thinking of the fun projects hiding within them.

Swatches come in so many cool designs, and they are the perfect size to make handmade gift bags or treasure bags. For my first project, I created a simple, long, narrow bag to hold old love letters.

Supplies: Bags: Fabric from recycled swatch book; Tag and pink button: Pink Paislee; Metal-rim tag: Making Memories; Ribbon: C.M. Offray & Son; Other: Button.

To create this bag:

Cut two pieces of fabric in equal sizes, and sandwich the right sides together.
Press a fold of about 0.5″ to 1″ along the top of each fabric panel.
Run a straight stitch along the sides and bottom.
Turn the bag right side out.
Hem the fold along the top of the bag, if desired.
Embellish with buttons, ribbon, or other accessories.

I have to be honest here. I can’t sew to save my life. It’s true. But if I can manage to figure out a simple straight stitch, anyone can! Don’t have a sewing machine? These projects work great using fabric-adhesive tape or any stitch-less sewing products.

Here are a few more projects I created from old fabric swatches.

Supplies: Bag: Fabric from recycled swatch book; Cardstock: Katie Pertiet; Scallop: Anna Aspnes; Word art: Ali Edwards; Binding: Zutter Innovative Products.

This little bag was created from an eyelet fabric swatch. To keep the edge detail, simply press the fold to the outside instead of the inside, and then stitch up the sides. Super simple! This bag was created to hold a mini album I carry in my purse. Not only cute, it keeps my album from getting scratched.

—

Supplies: Bags: Fabric from recycled swatch book; Paper and brushes: Mindy Terasawa; Font: Avenir.

We made these little bags and loaded them with favors and candy for my son’s birthday party. Photoshop + a fun robot kit = quick and easy bag toppers. Super simple, and the kids all had a fun keepsake from the party.

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Supplies: Denim fabric: Recycled swatch book; Die-cuts: Sizzix; Chipboard accents and ribbon: Little Yellow Bicycle; Font: Avenir.

And don’t limit these fun little fabric swatches to just bags! I ran denim swatches through my die-cutting machine to create this little fabric album. What was once going to be thrown away I now hold as a treasured keepsake. How cool is that!

—

Try these other ideas too!

Use a fabric swatch as photo mat on a layout.
Create an interactive mini album from old denim pockets. Bind and fill each pocket with a journaling tag or a photo.
Cut a large monogram from fabric for a unique accent on a layout.
Create fabric flowers to use on a page.
Run fabric through a die-cutting machine (or use good-old-fashioned scissors) to create fun fabric tags.
Create a fabric scrapbook by covering chipboard or cardboard with fabric and stitching around the edges.
Create a fabric pocket to hold memorabilia on a page.
Some fabrics can even be run through your printer! Just use a temporary adhesive to adhere fabric to paper first so it won’t jam. (And check your printer capabilities first.) Lots of possibilities here. Print journaling, titles, and photos. Even entire layouts can be printed on fabric.

What other fun and creative ways do you have to use fabric scraps in your projects? I’d love to hear (and see) them! I don’t know about you, but this whole recycling thing just got a lot more fun! Happy Friday everyone!

—Deena Wuest

P.S. Don’t miss Free Font Friday! You can download CK Shadowed Block for free here. Check back next week for another new font.

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
Tags: Brigid Gonzalez, CK, CK Shows You How, cover photo, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, creative editor, creativity, Donna Creedon, giveaway, Iris Uy, Jennafer Martin, Jennifer McGuire, Kim Watson, Liz Hicks, Lori Fairbanks, Megan Hoeppner, Mou Saha, reader pages, ribbon, Scrapbook, scrapbook layouts, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, Shelley Jaquet, spray ink, Stacy Cohen, stamping, Tattered Angels, technique, techniques, Tools & Techniques

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

Layout Design: Using Contrast Effectively

03/03/2010 at 3:50 pm | Posted in General Inspiration, How-Tos | 6 Comments
Tags: CK, contrast, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, design, Dorathy Gilchrist, January 2010, Jennifer McGuire, Judy Nieusma, Laina Lamb, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbook Tips & Tricks organization issue, Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks, September 2009, technique, techniques

In places with four distinct seasons, March can be a funny month. One day it’s as cold as Christmas, and the next finds you wanting to sack the jacket. As winter turns to spring, we appreciate warmth because we know what it’s like to be cold. Contrast, if not the spice of life, is certainly one of them.

Using contrast to “spice up” a layout can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of a design. Below are three examples of layouts whose colors and other page elements are designed with beautiful contrasts in mind.

Light on Dark

"An Aunt's Work Is Never Done" by Judy Nieusma, as seen in the Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks organization issue, page 81

Tips

Use light colors for your text and accents against a dark background.

Use both a large and a small font size in your title or other text.

Use straight lines and round accents together.

Dark on Light

"Island Boy" by Jennifer McGuire, as seen in the September 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 47

Tips

Place brightlycolored photos against a plain white or neutral background. The beautiful colors will grab your attention and draw you into the picture.

Let the title stand alone so it stands out against a plain background.

When the subject of a photo is very simple (i.e., not “busy”), use an assortment of accents in a variety of shapes to add texture. Allow some element of the accents, such as color, to be the same as in the picture so the accents meld into the photo rather than distract from it.

Light and Dark

"Mr. Monopoly" by Laina Lamb, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 50

Tips

Make one layer of your background dark and the other light, arranging your layers based on other colors in the layout.

Draw attention to a focal point in a layout with only two or three main colors by adding a multicolored accent piece next to the focal point.

Combine straight lines, curves, and zigzags on a layout.

Enjoy experimenting with contrast on your layouts! If you have a favorite trick you use when adding contrast to your pages, feel free to share it by leaving a comment below.

–Dorathy Gilchrist, associate editor

Weekly Warm-Up: Melt the Ice

03/01/2010 at 1:00 am | Posted in Holidays, How-Tos, technique, weekly warm up | 1 Comment
Tags: CK, Creating Keepsakes, Creating Keepsakes magazine, glue, heat embossing, iron, Kim Jackson, Mou Saha, Scrapbook, scrapbook pages, Scrapbooking, spring, technique, techniques, weekly warm up, Wendy Sue Anderson

Welcome to March, everyone! You know what they say: if March comes in like a lion, it’ll go out like a lamb. Since most of us are still digging out from February’s snowstorms, we can certainly hope that warm, sunny days are right around the corner. In today’s weekly warm-up, we’re going to focus on techniques that are sure to heat up the last of your winter layouts and coax all that ice to melt.

Heat Emboss Accents

Turn up the heat on that last bit of wintertime fun by adding heat-embossed accents to a sledding, skiing, or snowboarding layout. Wendy Sue Anderson embossed her stamped title in addition to her accents on this adorable layout.

“Sledding” by Wendy Sue Anderson, as seen in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 27.

Iron on Designs

Next, fire up (okay, plug in) your iron! If you’ve ever ironed on patches to clothing or bags, then this technique is for you. Mou Saha applied an iron-on rhinestone-heart design to canvas to accent her darling “Valentines” page. Look for iron-on flower designs to add a little spring to your layouts.

“Valentines” by Mou Saha, as seen in the February 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 78.

Create Hot-Glue Art

You’ll want to reach for your hot-glue gun for this next irresistible idea. On her “Forever Friends” layout, Mou Saha drew a simple shape using a low-temperature hot-glue gun, and then she painted over it. Try drawing some fluffy clouds or four-leaf clovers for a March-inspired look.

“Forever Friends” by Mou Saha, as seen in the February 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes, page 79.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get warmed up with some ice-melting techniques! Try one of these ideas this week, and upload your completed layout to our gallery. We can’t wait to see what you create.

— Kim Jackson, senior editor

P.S. For step-by-step instructions on these layouts, check out the January 2010 and February 2010 issues of Creating Keepsakes.