20 Minute Page: From Start to Finish by Sharon!

This is how I created this simple scrapbook page using negative space, machine stitching, and stamping. . . . in under 20 minutes!



I began by finding an old sketch that I hand-drew about 2 years ago.



I used a square punch to crop my photos and patterned paper.




I picked my acrylic stamps, (I used Fancy Pants acrylic stamps and block) and used my Versa Fine sepia ink pad.



I placed my cardstock on my Inque Boutique 13 X 13 inch foam stamping mat to get an even, stamped image every time. I pressed (don’t rock) my stamp firmly on the page. I adhered my photos, patterned paper and embellishments on top of my stamped images. I decorated my stamping with burgundy Stickles and a brown ink pen. Next, I machine stitched around the border of my page.



I used a zigzag stitch to give my page some texture.



(Make sure you do not stitch on any adhesive, or your needle may get jammed!)


To ensure that my stitching did not unravel, I pulled my first and last stitch through the cardstock to the back side of my page, and adhered the stitches with tape.(I used terrifically tacky tape.)



To add some dimension, I inked and misted the negative space. (I used color box creamy brown chalk ink and a little “sand” glimmer mist.) Finally, I chose my quote from one of my favorite children’s books “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch - - - I still can’t get through reading the book to my daughters without crying! So go ahead . . . get out your stamps, sewing machine, favorite photos, a great book to quote, and start scrapping your next negative space page!


(CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SHARON)

Introducing Our Featured Artist for May 14th!

It's one of my favorite days of the week, Friday! Today I am feeling really blessed that I have wonderful blog contributors as well as fabulous featured artists! Today I am sharing a super talented scrapbooker with you all! :) Her gallery is one that I love to browse for inspiration! I like how each of her page is unique and refreshing! For instance take a peek at this page, it is SO fun!! I knew I had to ask her to be on the blog! Let's get to know Sharon!!



Hi everyone! My name is Sharon. I am a wife, mom, and a cardiology nurse by trade. My husband, 2 daughters, dog, and I live in Nazareth, PA. It's a great place to live and raise a family! I started scrapbooking 7 years ago when my husband and I adopted our second daughter from China. I got interested in scrapbooking when I learned about "Lifebooks" and adoption, and haven't stopped since. My favorite subjects are my daughters, Katie and Anne. My oldest, "bio" daughter, Katie, recently turned 16, and got her drivers permit, but if you live in PA, don’t worry . . . she’s just driving in parking lots for now! Whew! My youngest daughter, Anne, is in first grade and is a real joy. And speaking of joy, my husband and I celebrated our 20th anniversary in March of this year. I can’t believe how fast time flies! I have never been on a design team, I don’t have my own blog, and I have never been published, so it was quite a surprise and an honor when Pam asked me to be a featured artist on her blog. Thank you so much, Pam!

Don't forget to check out her beautiful gallery here: Fritchey

Sharon has some great tips and ideas to share, so check back in a few minutes!

Using Deco Scissors

Have you ever looked at most of your earlier scrapping stuff and thought, "Now what can I do with this?" Well, I looked at my deco scissors and thought that same exact question. I know a lot of us have seen many cute decorated edge papers. I don’t have many lss around here anymore to buy those papers. Here is what I did. I took my deco scissors



and a piece of scrap paper.



After I was done, I added the nicely decorated paper to my 4x6 page to get this finished outcome.


You know the ideas are endless here with the scissors. My next thing is to try making a frame with my deco scissors.

Designer Showcase: Pet Pages!

It's Wednesday and time for more designer themed pages! Today we are focusing on pages with pets. Did you know that it is estimated that 62% of U.S. households own a pet, which is about 71.4 millions homes! Wow! If you are not from the U.S., let us know what the stats are in your country.

We own four wonderful pets. There are two LARGE dogs: a Great Dane named Daphne (yes, from Scooby Doo) and a German Shepherd named Gabby. We also own two cats: Mia and Freeshia.

Up First today is Cindy! She is sharing an adorable pet page with us! I love the flowers going down the side! And her dog is so cute!



Next are two pages by Sarah! She created these neat layouts about her adorable cat and dog! The designs on these page are so fun!!




Dolores created two adorable pages about her dogs! I am loving the neat accents she used on her pages. She has beautiful dogs as well.




Heather created this next page about her cute dog! What a sweet way to scrap this! I like all of the negative space on the page, really looks great ;)



This is a page I created about my cat Freeshia and her blue eyes! I used the flower photo block template on this. You can find it here.



I hope you are inspired to scrap your furry friend! Do you want to share your pet projects with readers? Send me an email at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com and I will feature your page!

Kit Clubs

Some of you may have heard or read about various "kit clubs". For those of you who don't know what that is, today's post will give you some information on kit clubs.

...so what is a "kit club"? Well, it's a monthly subscription to a kit filled with coordinating cardstock, patterned papers, and embellishments. The kit club matches products up for you, so you don't have to go searching for all the pieces that go together. Also, they deliver it right to your door, so you get a package of scrapbooking products on a monthly basis.

Each kit club varies in price and products, so shopping to see which one suits your style is probably best. Also, some kits will allow you to purchase a subscription of each kit, which will lower the monthly cost of each kit. As for shipping charges, these will also vary according to every kit club.

Here's a list of some kit clubs I have spotted:

1. Paper Posies - http://paperposies.com

2. My Creative Scrapbook - http://mycreativescrapbook.com

3. Color Me Daisy - http://colormedaisy.com

4. The Sampler - http://www.scrapbookingsuppliesrus.com/theSampler

5. Swirlydoos Kit Club: http://www.swirlydoos.com/news.php


6. The Paper Tree House: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104783196233602&ref=ts

7. The Sampler: http://www.scrapbookingsuppliesrus.com/theSampler

I, for one, am a fan of kit clubs. It saves me the time from having to match and coordinate products. Also, it saves me from taking a trip to my local scrapbook store because it's delivered right to your front door.

For those of you who do subscribe to a kit club, feel free to share which ones you love and why in the comments below.

Hugs,

sarah

Freebie Heaven!

I thought it would be fun to post about where to get great freebies for paper and digital scrapbooking on the web. There are many designers and bloggers who make freebies!

First up, I'd like to share the best sites to download photo actions. Actions are a series of changes you can apply to your images with one click! Here's an example using Coffee Shop Color Pop Action...


Here is a list of the best free actions I've found on the web. Some of these are from sites that offer additional actions for purchase if you are interested in that.

Coffee Shop Actions
http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/

The Pioneer Woman's Actions
http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2010/03/pioneer-woman-actions-for-photoshop-elements/

Paint the Moon Photography
http://paintthemoon.net/blog/first-class-freebies/

Next, I'd like to share a super site that gathers and links freebies from all over the web into a gigantic list. You may have seen their automated comments here on the Ideas for Scrapbookers blog. The site features digital scrapbooking freebies, printable paper scrapbooking freebies, cutting files for Sure Cuts a Lot and other programs, tutorials, scrapbook challenges, and even recipes!

It's called Craft Cave freebies. This link will take you to the front page where you'll be able to choose which category you are interested in.
http://www.craftcrave.com/

For example, today they linked to this super cute digital template.
http://lindsayjanedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/05/gotta-grab-it-at-gotta-pixel-new-wheels.html

This adorable alligator .svg file for die cut machines.
http://theladywolf.blogspot.com/2010/05/alligator-svg.html

And much, MUCH more.
The best part about it? The site is updated daily! So you'll get to see new content each day. Happy downloading!

Two Reader's Pages!

Happy Saturday!! Hope you are all having a great day!

I am featuring two reader's page I know will inspire you! The first fabulous page is by Frank! He used my newest template Flower Die Cut Template, you can download it here. I love how he made it fit into an 8.5" by 11" page, that is SO cool!! It is also neat how Frank used all solid paper for the die cut instead of the petals I used ... it creates a cool look! You can read more on Frank's blog here.




Next up is a page by Rene! She created this gorgeous Mother's Day page just like our post on Wednesday about Mother's Day projects! She did such a gorgeous job combining colors on a black background. This turned out sooo pretty!! I am loving the stitching and the flowers as well :) Don't forget to check out Rene's blog here.



Thanks Rene and Frank for submitting your 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 you projects!!