Saturday, October 30, 2010

Resistance and Acrylic Paint

Hi everyone. Nancy here with a quick tutorial on using acrylic paint as a resist medium.

You will need acrylic paint (I like to use white) and a brush, water based ink pad (I like Tim Holtz Distress Inks), your stamp or stamps, paper towel and water.

To start, paint your stamp with the acrylic paint.

and stamp your project.
Then, using your inks, begin to color your project.
You can color over your stamped image. Continue adding color till you get the look you like.

Dampen a paper towel with water. Do not use a baby wipe as they tend to be too wet.
Gently wipe the ink off your paint, revealing your original stamped image.
And embellish as desired.

Have fun.


Thursday, October 28, 2010

DIY Scavenger Hunt by Cindy!

Our family went camping recently. I thought it would be a lot of fun to have a scavenger hunt while we were there, so I dug through my scrapbook supplies to see what I could put together. It was so fun and easy that I'd like to share it with you.

I started with a kraft-colored bag and a die-cut tree from BasicGrey.



I wasn't happy with the pattern on the tree, so I gave it a quick coat of brown paint. When the paint was dry, I gave it a light spray of suede Glimmer Mist. I gathered the rest of my materials: a few scraps of Crate Paper and BasicGrey papers, the ColorBox chalk ink in chestnut roan that I can't live without, and an EK Success leaf punch.



I cut the orange paper into a rectangle slightly smaller than the bag, and then cut the sky paper slightly smaller than that. I cut an random undulating shape on one side of my green rectangle. I inked the edges of all the pieces and then cut out the center of the orange rectangle to save to punch out leaves and make a tag. I added the tree, then punched and inked around 50 leaves and added them to the tree and ground. I adhered all the pieces together and gave it a couple of coats of mod podge before adhering it to the bag.



I wasn't sure exactly what items we would find at these particular campgrounds, so I made a very generic list of items to find, added the orange paper and adhered it to the brown. I added a rivet at the top. After a few coats of mod podge had dried, I attached the tag with a random scrap of ribbon. Here's a closeup of the tag:



We had so much fun on our scavenger hunt! Here's my son Trevor (age 4) showing off the items in his bag:



I hope this inspires you to create your own scavenger hunt!


(CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CINDY)


Introducing Our Featured Artist for Oct. 29!

Happy Friday and glad you are here to see our featured artist for this week! Our artist for today has a great idea to share about a DIY scavenger hunt! I love this idea so much :) This artist has a wonderful style and shares her beautiful work here. You will see she does an amazing job of using many photos on her page and combining that with a graphic style! I really enjoyed checking out her gallery! It's time to meet our featured artist for today, Cindy!



Hi! I'm Cindy deRosier. I have an MA in Education and taught 4th/5th grade for 11 years. I am currently a stay-at-home mom to Trevor, age 4. I've been scrapbooking for as long as I can remember. As a young child, I used to glue pictures onto binder paper and decorate them with construction paper shapes I cut out. Around 1998, I discovered the scrapbook industry, such as it was at the time. I couldn't believe that there were all these beautiful papers and other special things that would forever replace construction paper and rubber cement on my pages! I absolutely love scrapbooking. I've always loved photography, art, and memory keeping, and it makes me so happy to combine them all. I consider my scrapbooks to be my greatest treasures and hope that someday Trevor loves them as much as I do.

You can see more of my work here: http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/82838.html

You can also find me on the Fiskateers message board (Cindy), and at Scrap A Little where I'll be a Guest Designer in November.



Check back in a few minutes to see Cindy's neat post :)


Hand Made Date Reminders

I know how much trouble I have remember everyone's birthday and anniversaries so I created these two fun paper date reminders to help me.



I created the first one out of a Rolodex!  I covered the divderers with coordinating papers and add a bit of emblishements. The rolodex left plenty of room to add more dates over time.


I created the second one my tracing a large tag on to different cardstock papers and attached them togther with a ring clip.   I also made the lined paper on the printer to write all my dates down.  This one is very easy and fun to make!!!


Both of these make great gifts!!!

Happy Scrappin!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Designer Showcase: Pumpkin Projects!

Can you believe it is almost Halloween? Time sure flies! Today I am sharing some neat pumpkin page ideas with you from the contributing artists!

Nancy created this adorable Hocus Pocus mini album! Check out how cute she decorated the inside! She did an amazing job :)



Dolores created this adorable pumpkin page using a digital kit "Glow" by Kristin Cronin-Barrow! I love the frames, flourishes and leaves, so pretty!



Heather created this cute page using Cosmo Cricket Nutmet line. The papers and embellishments she used look so good with these festive photos!



Lastly, Cathy created this amazing pumpkin mini album. Check out how cute she decorated each page! She did a great job scrapping all of these super cute photos!


I hope you have a great Halloween and don't forget to get out those pumpkin photos to scrap!


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Ribbon and Squares Sketch!

If you are like me when you get outside to take a beautiful fall walk you can't resist taking lots of pictures! My husband and I took a great walk last weekend with our dogs and I as usual I'm the shutterbug. I decided a wanted to put several of the pictures on one layout, at least 5 photos. As a result I decided on a simple grouping of squares divided by ribbons. I wanted the ribbons for color and texture. Here is my layout simply titled "Autumn".


Each small square is 2" x 2" and the rectangles created when I combined two small squares are 2" x 4.25" . I could have easily added more photos to this arrangement but I wanted to incorporate some pretty patterned papers as well. Here is the sketch:

The ribbon is 1/4" wide. If you have paper scraps you have been hanging onto this would be a great way to use them. Enjoy scrapping!




Monday, October 25, 2010

Perfect Pumpkins

I love pumpkins! This tutorial is for making perfect pumpkins for all your Halloween and Autumn scrapbooking layouts this year. These are super easy to make. You can stamp or journal and make them any size you want; sooooo PERFECT!


First, cut out/punch circles and ovals…I used 2-inch circles and 2.5-inch ovals in 2 different oranges.



Second, I chalked the edges and stamped one of the ovals in the center.



Third, overlap the ovals and circles to your desire and add some swirls for the leaves. That’s it!



Here is an example using perfect pumpkins.



Enjoy!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Happy Together Template/Sketch

I have one last template/sketch that I made this month to share with everyone! It's another one that I made for my design team work. I ended up flipping the sketch horizontally when I made the my paper layout. Here's the sketch preview. If you just want to save the sketch, right click on it and then click on "Save As".


This is the paper layout that I made. All of the supplies I used are from the Saturday in the Park kit from Scraptastic Club.


This time around I also made a digital layout from the template! In this version, I did not flip it. I used it as is. I used supplies from Kitschy Digitals available at Jessica Sprague's website.


If you're a digital scrapper and you would like the layered template that I made in Photoshop Elements, you can download it by clicking the link below.

http://www.4shared.com/file/ehO3OYuK/HL_HappyTogether.html

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Contributor Appreciation Day - Sara and Lisa

Today I am rounding up the blog anniversary week! I am honoring two more contributing artists. If you missed it, you can see day 1 and day 2 of contributor appreciation days. I hope you have enjoyed this week and I can't wait to do it again next year ;)


The first contributing artist I want to share, has been with the blog for a few months and has shared so many cool ideas and pages! She joined the team on June 21 and I feel blessed to have her talents and her friendship as well! I have gotten know her and I am so glad we are friends! So, it is time to share the artist, Lisa Blastick!


Lisa has this amazing talent to use so many COOL elements on her pages. I love how neat and unique every single one of her layouts looks! I am always amazed when I see a new layout by her. You can check out her gallery here to see what I am talking about. It's time to highlight some of the fabulous posts that Lisa has created!
  • The first post by Lisa was how to create a paper dress mannequin. Since Lisa is so good at making her own embellishments, I am so glad she shared how she created this! You can see the post here.
  • The next idea she shares about is how to use those old plastic templates in a unique and current way. You have to see this post here to know what I am talking about!
  • Lisa created a post on how to make paper buttons. This is such a great way to use those scraps and create your own embellishments, you can see the posts here!
  • Next Lisa shows us how to create your own flower doily! This flower tutorial is so creative. I never thought about creating my own flower out of doily! You can see this post here!
  • I love this tutorial on making your own paper fence! Again another great way Lisa shows how to create your own embellishments and you can see it here. ;)
  • These handmade tombstone are just perfect for Halloween! You can see how Lisa made these creative embellishments here.

Thank you so much for being such a great contributing artist, Lisa. I am so thankful and honored that I can share your gorgeous pages and neat tutorials on the blog :)


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Our next contributor is a super sweet and super creative contributor! She has only been with us a few months, but it has been so nice building a friendship with her (and I am so glad to call her a friend). She first was announced on June 28! I just knew she would bring so many great posts and ideas to the blog.. so who is this? It's Sara Zenger!


Sara always brings with her such well designed pages that have unique elements and fun, bright colors. I love looking at her gallery and blog. You can see her gallery here and her blog here. Sara is also a design team member for Practical Scrappers and for Scrapfit! There you can see more of her projects! I feel so lucky to have her as a contributor on the blog! It's time to highlight fabulous posts from Sara!

  • Sara shows us how to create really neat cardstock flowers! I love how she layers pieces on top of each other! To see this great tutorial, click here.
  • I love this next demo about circle punches and creating a border. It is neat the way she folds the paper to create and connects the circle to create such a cool look! You can see this tutorial here.
  • This next tutorial is sooo cool because it features how to do fake stitching. This is especially useful for those who don't have a sewing machine or don't want to get it out! You can read about it here!
  • Sara created a demo about how to make tissue paper flowers. The flower turned out so beautiful! If you want to learn how, click here!
  • This tutorial on rolled paper frame is something I have never seen before but the results are so cool! You can read all about it here.
Sara, thank you so much for taking the time to create and share so many cool things and ideas. I am happy that you are a part of the blog and feel lucky to have you! :)



Friday, October 22, 2010

Reader's Pages!!

Are you enjoying this week's blog hop and contributor appreciation days? I sure am and don't forget to check back tomorrow for our last two contributors being honored!!

Today I am showcasing some of my favorite things to feature: reader's pages! I love getting emails from people using ideas, templates, or tutorials. It makes me smile!


Up first is a fantastic page using my latest template: Flourish Frame Template! You can download it here. Francine D. created this amazing page using the template and I love the way she used patterned paper for the swirlie frame! The color palette she used is also perfect for this photo! This is so beautiful, check it out. You can also visit her blog here for more inspiration!!



Up next are a few pages by Libeeti! She sent in her page after seeing the Designer Showcase: Pages With Nature post on Wednesday. This first beautiful page features a technique that Libeeti described here, "I stamped the green leaves with acrylic paint and colored some green leaves also with acrylic paint (red and orange). The big brown and orange leaves are foam, and I added stickles on them. I think it matches perfectly the outdoor photo of my eldest, 3 years ago, on a trip we took." This turned out be such a great "nature" page. You can also visit Libeeti's blog for great posts here.


Libeeti also created a couple more nature pages for sharing! Check out these beautiful pages and how well they showcase nature!!





Thank you to Francine and Libeeti for sending in your beautiful pages!!

Would you like to be featured on this blog? Simply use one of the templates, techniques or other ideas on this blog. Send me an email at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com and I will feature your projects!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Contributor Appreciation Day - Dolores and Nancy

Hello everyone, are you having a nice Thursday? Today we are celebrating two more contributors for the blog! If you didn't get a chance please read day 1 to see who we honored! As I stated before, I love to honor these hard working contributors! So please leave a comment to help me celebrate these contributors :)

Up first is a super talented scrapbooker! She has always been so sweet and so helpful! I am so happy to call her my friend! She began contributing on Jan. 31! I am so glad she has been with the blog for so long! It's time honor Dolores Schaeffer!


She creates beautifully, graphic inspired pages that always have that extra something! I love the way she always uses punches and die cuts for the perfect pages! I so want to go over and scrap with Dolores! You can see her absolutely gorgeous pages on her blog here or her gallery here. Dolores also creates the most beautiful templates, you can see them under the right- hand side bar under "Contributor's Template." It's time to honor Dolores by sharing some of my favorite posts by her! Check these out :)

  • I am absolutely in love with the Swirl Heat Template that Dolores made! It fits the photos so well and so very creative. Check out her post here!
  • In this next post, Dolores shares her creativity with punches! If you haven't seen this post yet, just check it out here. There is some great inspiration in this post!
  • This next post using letters as frames is a brilliant idea! I love that she put the photos inside the letters! You can see the post here.
  • Dolores shared with us a NEAT kaleidoscope page idea! This is seriously creative, so you have to check out her post!
  • Next, Dolores shares how to do easy paper weaving. This post and page turned out so neat! See her post here.
  • I adore this Ribbon Template that Dolores created. I think it is so versatile and you can use for so many themes! Click here for link to download template!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Dolores for being such a great contributor and sharing so much of your talent with the blog!


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Next up is a very talented and super sweet artist! I have gotten to be friends with her over the past few months and she is always so helpful with the blog. She was introduced on April 20, 2010! I am lucky to have her come on board.. So, here is the artist, Nancy Keslin!


If you check out her blog, you will see that she always uses lots of super fun patterns and colors on her pages! I always know when I am looking at a page by Nancy because she has such a beautiful distinct design style - check out her blog here and her gallery here! She also designs for Sassy Lil' Sketches and they are lucky to have her as well! Time to share some of my favorite posts by Nancy! :)

  • One of her first posts was packing for a crop! I thought this was such a useful post b/c some of us never know what quite to pack. This has also been a very searched post :) You can see it here.
  • I love this post on chipboard alchemy! This is such a clever way to use those chipboard pieces. You can check out the technique tutorial here.
  • Nancy shares with us even more chipboard fun!! I love all of the ideas for chipboard, Isn't she creative? Check out the original post here.
  • Here Nancy shares with us how to use UTEE and puffy paint! Oh so clever, you can see original post here!
  • This next idea is about distressing! Nancy shows us a great way to distress paper.. click here to see her neat post idea!
  • Nancy shows us how to color with pencils which gives it that airbrushed look. I especially love this b/c I have never tried to apply with q-tip! See post here!

Nancy, thanks you sooo much for being such a vital part of the blog! We all appreciate you sharing your artwork and techniques with us!


Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Blog Hop Winners and Designer Showcase!

Today is the day when I announce the winner of the two RAKS! The first RAK was guessing the number of visits that the blog had in one year! The real answer was 74,043 visits! VICKY (please note originally when typing out this post I typed in wrong name) guessed closest at 75, 636! Congrats VICKI please email me at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com and I will send you the $25 gift certificate to scrapbook.com.
ETA: I missed someone's guess, MARLENE MURPHY (at 74,385 visits guess- which was actually the closest) and she will also win a $25 gift card to scrapbook.com! Please email me at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com Congrats MARLENE MURPHY and VICKY
.

Vicki said...

1. 75, 636 visits

2. Butterfly Photoblock Template

Happy Birthday. Thanks for the chance to win.


Marlene Murphy said...

74,385 posts.

Two Curves, because I now you like curvy lines.


Next was the wishlist giveaway up to $30 at scrapbook.com! I wanted to know what you thought was my favorite templates. Here are my top 10:
1. Sunshine page template 2
2. Curves and circles photoblock template
3. Fan flower template
4. Beach template
5. Flourish page template
6. Postage stamp template
7. Curvy photoblock template 2
8. Scallop page template
9. Die cut flower template
10. 4th of July template

Since so no one guessed 1, 2, 0r 3, Beach Template was the winning answer! PRECIOUS MEMORIES SCRAPBOOKING & MORE and LOR guessed that. So, I went to random. org and randomly picked the person assigned to 1. PRECIOUS MEMORIES SCRAPBOOKING &MORE! Congrats to you!! Please email me at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com and I will let you know how to add your wish list and when I will be sending off your prize!

Precious Memories Scrapbooking & More said...

Sorry for the 2 deleted comments I wasn't sure if 2 comments needed to be made or 1 so I combined them into 1 - didn't want to be disqualified.

Happy 1st Blog-aversary!

My guess is gonna be 87,256 visits.

I love the reader reveals - gives inspiration to every scrapper wether they are a beginner or an advanced scrapper. I also love your templates!

I think your fav might be the BEACH Template

Great blog, I am glad I found you!
Staci


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Next onto designer showcase: pages with nature! This was a fun week. I asked the contributors to either use nature on their layout (such as leaves, feathers) or to feature layouts with nature in them!

Dolores is up first! She created three stellar digital pages with nature on page and about nature! The first page features so many cool "outdoor" items! She used the digital kit: Pumpkin Spice by Jenn Barrette to create her amazing page.


Dolores' next page features a super fun outdoor photo as well as nature type elements! I love how this page turned out ;) She used the digital kit: Bewitching by Kristin Cronin-Barrow to complete her page.


Her last page displays a gorgeous fall setting and beautiful fall elements! What a great page! She used the digital kit: Splendiferous by Jenn Barrette to create her digital page.



This next page is Cathy! She shares with us super fun apple picking nature photos and a really fun design! Cathy used one of the apples to stamp a journal spot. Love this technique.



Heather created two amazing nature themed pages! I love all of the neat elements on the first page which really gives it that outdoorsy feel! The second page featured some yummy things to eat from nature. Two great pages ;)




Lastly, we have a gorgeous butterfly page by Nancy! Butterflies are one of my favorite animals (well, bugs that is) and I love how she scrapped these gorgeous creatures!



I hope you have a chance to scrap some nature pages soon!!