Changes for IFS!

Hey all, as you may have noticed, things are different looking here at Ideas for Scrapbookers. I started this blog in 2009 with a few contributors and the blog took off! I was so inspired by the different styles and projects, it made me step out of my comfort zone at time! After five wonderful years with SO inspiration and ideas from various contributors, I have decided to make IFS my own blog. I am definitely keeping all of the ideas archived for you to see and use. First I wanted to thank ALL of the contributors who made IFS what it is today!
The last group of contributors did such an amazing job with ideas and projects, I just wanted to say thank you to all of them. Please visit their blogs (and gallery) here and make sure you follow them so you can keep up with what they are doing!!

Cathy Dippolito
Cindy deRosier
Dolores Schaeffer
Gael Spence
Lesley Walker
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham

Thanks all!
Pam

What I Have Been Up to & Chickaniddy Sneaks!

Hey all. A long time no talk! :)
You know what what I love about this blog? When I set up about a few years ago, I did in a way that would give scrapbookers a break when they needed it. I guess I needed a break from scrapbooking for a bit. The thing is my mind is always racing! I found cross stitching helped that so I jumped right into a project and was working on it from one to five hours a day. Yes, crazy huh? So, scrapbooking temporarily went to the side. I didn't quit, but merely took a break. I thought I would share with you my latest cross stitch creation!

So my question to you is, how do you incorporate cross stitch into scrapbooking? I have done backstitching many times. I am not sure how to do the X's onto to paper without ripping it?

The next great thing is there is a brand new company in town named Chickaniddy Crafts created by Heidi Sonboul. I have seen some of the great designs coming up and, wow, you are going to love them. To see ALL of the new sneaks coming up, please follow Chickaniddy Crafts on facebook here. Just like the page to follow it! Today I am posting two photos of the collection banners and a reveal date banner.

Are you excited? I am! I can't wait for the two collections to be revealed!

Anyways, I hope everyone is having a great day!!

Giveaway Time!!

Happy Friday all! Pam here with a fun giveaway from http://www.heidisonboul.com/ . Did you see that Heidi Sonboul is doing classes now??? Well, she is doing TWO GIVEAWAYS today for all of June's classes! Here is what the look like.

Some have video tutorials that go along with the regular tutorial! They are great! Wait til you see em!

LEAVE A COMMENT and I will pick two people randomly to win all of June's classes! I will pick two winners on Tuesday and post them here.
Btw, Heidi's classes will start back up in September b/c she is in the process of moving. Have a great day!

VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan
 

Signature Series Blog hop with Heidi Sonboul

Happy Monday everyone, Pam here! Today is a special day because IFS is part of the blog hop for Heidi Sonboul's brand new signature series book. I remember when Heidi first told me about it, I was so excited for her and I knew she would rock the book. Well she did and you can buy it digitally or a hard copy. One of my favorite all time layouts is in there. I will give you a hint, it is yellow (make sure you look for it in there)!! There are so many other great ideas in her book. Here is direct link and there is a preview on the bottom of this post of the book cover!

To help celebrate, I created this layout with Heidi's Sunkissed Collection made by GCD Studios. If you don't have this collection in a LSS by you, make sure you ask. This collection is fun, bright and easy to work with. I like how many themes you can use with it, like this clown page. Here is my page.

Cute Clown by Pam Callaghan

This is a big book party release for the book so there are lots of places to (blog) hop to. Below is a list of all of those involved. Heidi has a giveaway at her blog here so make sure you go there to get in the running. I believe she will be doing giveways all week!!

Places to go in blog hop!!

GCD Studios

Alicia Thelin

Amanda Coleman

Angi Barrs

Audrey Yeager Christina Collins Christine Meyer Grace Tolman Heidi Van Laar  Jennifer Chapin Julie Tucker-Wolek Katrina Hunt Kelly Holbrook Lalo IK Megan Klauer Nina Yang Pam Callaghan (you are here) Rae Barthel Rochelle Spears Sara Zenger Suzanna Lee Teri Anderson Wida Miller  

Now Head over to Heidi Sonboul's new site for a chance to win the newest tool from Fiskars and her two newest collections, Special Delivery and SunKissed.

To order the book you can go here:  
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VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan
 

 

IFS on PINTEREST

Did you know that IFS is on PINTEREST and we link all of the tutorials from this list? You can follow if you like as we are expanding it. All of the tutorials are on boards on the first line which makes it easy b/c you can see the project you are looking for. They will match up with the link that I just gave you (I am still working on a few more)! You can see us here: http://pinterest.com/ifsblog/

We are ALSO working on linking more sketches, templates, blog projects, blog reader's pages, and PROJECTS/PAGES from you!! We love to see reader's pages so make sure you leave comments so IFS can visit your blog OR gallery. We love to pin people's pages, just need to know your blog or gallery!! Please don't be shy, your pages INSPIRE US, plus we love to pin!!!

Also, leave a comment and let us know what you think! And leave us your PIN BOARD link in the comment section so we can follow you too!


VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan
 

 

Welcoming Three New Contributors!!

Hey all, Pam here sharing three brand new contributors. As you know I love when we introduce new blog authors and we thought the day after spring break would be a great time! Get ready for three new fresh faces to the blog who will inspire you with their posts and ideas ;) . Each comes to the blog with different and unique styles! :))

First up is Sheila Burns. Sheila was a guest contributor twice for us and we are excited that she is going to be a contributing artist now!  Sheila had a great such a neat style of scrapping. I like the colors and techniques she incorporates on her pages. Let's get to know Sheila through her through some fun questions that I asked her and two of her favorite projects below. Don't forget to visit blog here: http://parttimepretties.blogspot.com/ to learn more about her and to see more of her awesome crafts.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. 
Currently, I am a stay at home mom whose kids (the subjects of almost all my pages!)go to school, so many days when my "home" jobs are done, I find myself wandering into my craft room! I have taught middle/high school English as well as elementary reading so you may guess that another of my favorite hobbies is reading! I mostly read novels though I love a good biography too. My kids also love reading, so we spend a lot of time at the library. I flew on a plane for the first time last year---it was worth overcoming my fear to experience new things with my family! I also love to play Yahtzee, Scrabble, and browse Pinterest! I am very happy to be part of the Ideas for Scrapbookers team so I can share my projects with you! 

2 How long have you been scrapbooking? How did you get started? 
 I have been scrapping for about eleven years. I actually went to a party where scrapbook supplies were being sold, so I started with some really fancy tools---some wavy scissors and a stencil set! My main goal then was to cram as many pictures as I could on one page. I like to think that my style has evolved since then (thank goodness!).  

3. What is your favorite thing about being crafty? 
 I do like to craft on my own, but being crafty has led me to many new friendships. About once a month, approximately 12 of us gather for an eight hour crop. I love my group and am so fortunate to know them.  

4. What are you favorite products or brands? 
This changes all the time! Right now, I love Heidi Swapp's Color Shine Spritzes. I use them often. I also have rediscovered my stamps after a long time of sort of forgetting I had them! I find I am stamping on layouts now, which I have not typically done before. 

 5. Do you have a favorite scrapbook font? Nope---I rarely use my computer when I scrapbook. I always mean to, but I forget. Journaling is something that I am always working on...sometimes I think journaling and choosing a title are the most difficult and stressful parts of scrapbooking. When I do journal, I mostly use my own handwriting.

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Next up is Tanya Ham. We feel so happy that Tanya is joining ifs as a contributor and know she will make a great part of the team. I know you will find her projects inspiring. I enjoy looking at how well put together Tanya's pages are! I really like that clean look to her pages with embellishments in just the right pages ;). Let's get to know Tanya more and please visit her blog at: http://tanyaham.blogspot.com/ for so much more inspiration! Time to get to know her better.. below are answers to some questions and two fav. projects by Tanya!

1.  Tell us a little bit about yourself. 
I am a happy wife, with 3 beautiful children - all furry and four-legged! ;)  My dogs are my kids, and very much a part of our family.  We have a Boxer, an American Bulldog and a Staffie-mix.  We live in a suburb of Oklahoma City and stay very busy with our friends and family (5 nephews & a niece).  We are very big fans of OU Football, UFC and OKC Thunder Basketball.  We love to travel, listen to all kinds of music, watch movies, and enjoy being at the lake during the summer.  I have a blog, Creative Endeavors, and also have a Facebook page for it.  It's been such a wonderful experience connecting with so many others interested and passionate about the same things as I am! 

2.  How long have you been scrapbooking?  How did you get started?
I began keeping photo albums over 25 years ago, using the old magnetic page albums.  I used office labels for photo captions or journalling, stickers to decorate and paint pens for doodling.  I like to think I was head of the times! :)  In 1998, I bought my first patterned paper and wavy scissors, and haven't looked back!  My first projects were converting all those photo albums into scrapbooks, and I've worked chronologically ever since.  My first album was 8.5x11, and that is what I have continued with through the years, almost exclusively doing 2-page layouts.  

3.  What is your favorite thing about being crafty?
For me, it's a constructive outlet.  I am such a sentimental soul, and love preserving memories (be it day-to-day, or annual holidays) in a creative, artful way.  Combining photography and art to document stories and moments in life is the ultimate way to express yourself.  I also love being able to share my passion with others, whether through a handmade card, a gift album, a blog post, or connecting with others across the world who enjoy papercrafting as much as I do! 

4.  What are your favorite products or brands?
I am a Doodlebug junkie!!  There's no other way to say it.  I get excited about every one of their products, collections and releases.  It appeals to me because of the bright, fun colors, great quality, variety and simplicity of each collection or product.  I feel like the development and use of their 12 core colors, and basing every product or collection off that for over a decade is pure genius.  Coming in for a close tie in 2nd place, for similar reasons, are Bella Blvd and Echo Park.  I gravitate toward bright colors and classic prints (stripes, dots, plaids, etc), since they are so versatile.  I also LOVE my Silhouette Cameo!  It has revolutionized my whole scrapbooking process.  I recently upgraded to the Designer Edition software, and continue to learn new features, or ways to use this amazing machine.  I have to mention a few other favorites ... Queen &; Co, Technique Tuesday stamps, old KI Memories, Lawn Fawn, My Mind's Eye and Fancy Pants. 

5.  Do you have a favorite scrapbook font?
I LOVE fonts, I have a bit of an obsession.  Some of my favorites, especially to cut with my Cameo, are Smiley Monster, LDJ Noodge and Japan.  For journalling, I recently found a new font artist (By The Butterfly), and have been using a few of hers a lot - Puppy Bellies, Yummy Cupcakes, Cutie Patootie and Life's A Beach are my current favorites.

  

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Last but not least is Sharon Fritchman. We are really looking forward to having Sharon aboard... she has a lot to offer through her techniques and style. She does stuff that I have no idea how she does it. I can't wait to learn how! You can visit her blog to see more of her projects at: http://www.thatgirlfritchey.blogspot.com/  . Let's get to know Sharon better through the questions and two her favorite projects below. 
 

1.  Tell us a little bit about yourself: 

Well, lets see, I am a wife and have been married for 23 years; mother of 2 beautiful daughters, one 18 and one 10; I am a registered nurse by day, and crafter by night!  I live in Pennsylvania and have lived here most of my life.  I really love the changing seasons and am looking forward to Spring!  

2.  How long have you been scrapbooking?  How did you get started?  
I have been scrapbooking for about 10 years.  I got interested in scrapbooking during the process of adopting our second daughter from China.  I learned about making a "Lifebook" for adopted children, and while I was making Anne's Lifebook, I became addicted to scrapbooking, and haven't stopped since! 

3.  What is your favorite thing about being crafty?  
I love being able to make things for my family and friends.  I really like giving a homemade gift from my heart. 

4.  What are your favorite products or brands?  I have always loved Basic Grey and Jenni Bowlin products, and have recently inherited a new favorite:   Echo Park!  

5.  Do you have a favorite scrapbook font? 
I like vintage looks and have always loved the typewriter font that I received when I first start scrapping:  I got this font from Lisa Bearnson at Creating Keepsakes!

We are so looking forward to having Sharon, Tanya and Sheila aboard!!

NEW Contributing Artist!!

Hey, Pam here! I love day's like today. Introducing new contributing artists is one of my favorite posts. To be able to share so much talent here is so fun!!  I am always so excited (yes I still get excited) when new people join in with the blog! Cathy and I are honored to have Sarah Routledge join the team!  We had Sarah guest design with us in September and she created the most adorable birdhouse.. you can see the posts here.  Please stop on by Sarah's blog here to congratulate here and and see more of her work: http://sarahs-scrapbook.blogspot.ca/ . Let's get to know her again and then I will be posting a few of her favorite projects.  You will see why I adore her projects sooo much!!!

My name is Sarah and I live in Ontario, Canada. I am a married, working mom to one beautiful little boy. I started scrapbooking about five years ago, and immediately fell in love with it. I absolutely love the creative process of putting together a scrapbook page. I love trying different (non-traditional) materials and new techniques; one of my favourite things to do is to make handmade embellishments. Although most of my work is layouts, I also enjoy using my scrapping supplies for other crafty items (e.g. holiday and home décor). I currently design for ScrapThat! Kit Club, Imaginarium Designs, The Paper Mixing Bowl Challenge Blog and the Scrap for Help Challenge Blog - and I am so thrilled and excited to join Ideas for Scrapbookers. You can see my scrapbooking creations on my blog: Scattered Pictures and Memories.

 

 

Thanks so Sarah for joining as contributing artist at Ideas for Scrapbookers!!

Exciting News!!!!!

Hi all, Pam here!! Can you even believe it is 2013 already. Craziness huh?

Are you ready to hear some exciting news? Cathy, who has been contributing to the blog for a few years now, and now going to be co-owner of the blog. We are planning some cool features for the future and new things!! I feel so lucky that Cathy is going to do be a co-owner... she is has been an amazing contributor over the past with fabulous designer showcase, great sketches, templates and post ideas, and an all around great help to me with the blog! So, please help me congratulate Cathy!! Here is her blog if you want to congratulate her over there as well: http://scrappycath.blogspot.com/  :) .

Now your turn, and please feel free to leave it under the comment section of this blog post. What ideas do you have for the blog? You can also email it to me at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com . Have a super week!!!!!!!!

New Contributing Artist!

Hi all, it's Pam here again. Before I announce our newest contributing artist, we must say good bye to Sara. We will miss her posts and contributions!

I am excited to announce Karen Anderson as our newest contributing artist. She was a guest artist a couple of times and now we are lucky enough to have her on the team!! As you may have seen before, her blog is packed with lots of great ideas. You can see it here. I know she will have some fabulous ideas to share and I look forward to working with her :) Let's get to know her better!

Hi I am Karen Anderson and am so very excited to join the amazing team here at Ideas for Scrapbookers.  I have been featured here a couple of times as a guest over the past few years and was blown away to be invited to become a regular contributor, thank you so much for making me feel so welcome!!

I suppose I should let you know a little about me, I live in the sunny south-east of the UK, about 5 minutes away from the beach with my husband Dave, son Jack and our two cats Molly and Lily.  I also have two gorgeous step-children; Jack and Melissa (yes, we have two Jacks in the family which can get confusing!!).

I am really fortunate that scrapbooking is my full-time job and I have never been happier.  I run Total Papercrafts, an online scrapbook supplies store which give me the opportunity to indulge my real passion which is teaching classes.   I teach every week which is wonderful as it gets me away from the computer and meeting amazing people, crafters are some of the most generous and fun people I have ever had the good fortune to teach.  If I'm not teaching or designing then I'll be working on my blog or creating YouTube videos demonstrating techniques.

I have always been creative and over the years I have loved knitting, dressmaking, cross stitch and dabbling in art.  I was introduced to scrapbooking over 10 years ago by sister in Canada who thought it might be something I’d be interested in.  Little did she know what she started when she sent me that 12x12 album with a couple of pages featuring our two children! 

My scrapbook style is busy and a bit eclectic, I like a lot of layers and techniques on my pages.  I cross over techniques from other crafts into my scrapbooking so you’ll often find a card making idea, stitching technique or a mixed media concept added to my pages – often all on the same layout!  I love the idea of clean and simple pages but white space scares me if I’m honest! I love to fill my designs with patterned paper, colour and embellishments, it just makes me happy.  I also love to create mini albums and projects with my usual technique-heavy style. 

I was asked to showcase two of my favourite scrapbook pages or projects so I thought I’d share one of each! 

The first is this single page layout featuring photos of my beautiful sister Nikki (the same one who introduced me to scrapbooking!!).  I think this highlights a lot of the elements that you’ll find in my designs – fussy cutting, layering, stamping, punching, handmade embellishments and inking.  One of the reasons I love this layout so much is that despite all of the busy elements of the page, the photos are still the main focus and your eye is drawn to them first – plus it’s a page for my sister which makes it extra special to me.

My second favourite project is this Configurations box which I altered to become a ‘book’ of things that are important to me and my family.  For example, there’s a toy car for my car-crazy hubby, a saying about turning off the lights which is a constant issue in our house and film strip & tickets for our love of movie nights.  Every little niche holds something meaningful, it might not be literal (I don’t play bingo for example) but for these reasons this is really special to me.  This was a lot of work but the process was as enjoyable as the finished project, its almost sad to finish things like this at times don’t you think?

Anyway, I hope you got to learn a little about me and understand a bit more about my style.  I am really looking forward to sharing more of my projects and ideas with everyone here at Ideas for Scrapbookers and seeing how you take these and make them your own.  I have a feeling its going to be very exciting!!

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Thanks for joining the team, Karen!!We are lucky to have you!

Here is an updated list of the amazing IFS Contributors!!
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Nancy Keslin 
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Anupama Choudary
Ina Bela
Karen Anderson

WELCOME our Newest Contributors!!

As you know I put out a call for a few new contributors and I was blown away by the talent I got in my inbox. I seriously was nervous b/c I could only add three people and there were so many great scrapbook artists and ideas! Let me say that I honestly wanted to add everyone.. but that is just not possible. Thanks for all those who sent me emails, you guys are amazing. I went over and over the applicants and chose three scrapbookers whose ideas fit what the blog needs. So, it's time to announce the new faces of the blog.

Anupama Choudary is our first newest artist. Her neat style and attention to detail really caught my eye. I know you will love her ideas coming soon! Here is her bio and two layouts she created. Also please visitg Anupama's blog here: http://www.scrapbooksfromindia.blogspot.com/

Hi, my name is Anupama Choudary and I live in India. I am married to an actor and we have two children - a girl aged 6 and a boy aged 4. I am a trained Interior Designer and did my Masters Program in Business Administration. However, I am an artist at heart and found my true calling when I accidentally discovered scrapbooking while net-surfing in early 2010. Scrapbooking is an art form alien to India and my biggest challenge lies in getting supplies shipped here. I started Once Upon A Time in 2011 to make artist-edition scrapbooks

and frames on order. Participating in online challenges and blogging have opened up my world and I now have beautiful friends from  Puerto Rico to Stockholm to Sydney! 

I started scrapping in the shabby-chic style initially but am finding myself drawn to mixed-media more and more lately. I am thankful to be a part of IFS and hope to inspire & be inspired, in turn, on this creative journey. 

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Gael Spence is our next contributor.  Her beautiful layered style and use of techniques was evident in the work she sent me. Gael has lots of neat ideas to share with blog readers. You can see her work at her gallery here at scrapbook.com. Here is Gael's bio, photo and two pages!

My name is Gaelene (Gael) Spence and I’ve been scrapping for about 8 years and love it. 

I live in Tasmania, an island to the south of mainland Australia. 

I have a wonderfully supportive husband, Ron who has just upgraded my scrap room to include lots of more storage. 

We have 2 adult daughters who are now living in Melbourne, which is an hour flight from us.

Over the last few years Ron & I have been bitten by the travel bug and so a lot of my LO feature photos from our trips. 

My style changes and it really depends on the photos I’m working with at the time.  I love to try different techniques and textures.

I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to be a contributing artist at IFS.  

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Last but not least is our newest contributing artis, Ina Bela . She creates really gorgeous cards and altered items that will really inspire you in the coming months! You can see more of her work on her blog here: http://inasplacecardsandcrafts.blogspot.com/
Next, is her bio and examples of her work! Enjoy!

 My name is Ina Bela.From Dominican Republic.
Am an Interior/Graphic Designer.
Am a reliable person.A little shy at first.Peace lover.Honest,trustful and a little bit emotional.Romantic and idealist.
Love cats,Nature,sunsets.
I enjoy the beach,music, dancing and going to the movie.
My hobbies are photography,puzzles,reading,tennis,volleyball and scrapping.
I've been doing crafts since 2010 and I love making cards most of all, things with paper,felt and foam.
Also my favs things are fashion design,jewelry design,history,architecture and anything related to design.Am a creative person.

 
Again congrats to all of our newest contributors!!

Reminder: Contributor Artists Deadline

Hi all I am reposting my original post about seeking new contributors... emails are due by the end of June 30th..

Ideas For Scrapbookers is looking for fun, creative, new contributors for the blog. We are a blog with so many things to offer: sketches, templates, tutorials, project ideas, challenges, and so much more. We love to chat and being a contributor is drama free! I love the contributors on the team, I feel so lucky to have them!!

Being a contributor is not a design team member. Contributing artists can contribute as little or as much as they like. They can also take off time without permission. It is very easy and fun because each person can get involved as they want (contributors tend to post 1-2 times per month).  Each contributor will sign up as much as they like on a calendar each month. They also send in pages for the designer showcases each Wednesday when they have projects that fit the theme. Contributing artist are allowed to promote the companies they work with, they can even use the posts they create for another site as long as it is ok with that other company/blog/etc.  Does this sound like something you might be interested in?

We are looking for people who like to contribute, have fun, and share ideas. Do you have a new idea for the blog that you would like to share? Or sketches, templates, page ideas, or tutorials? We are looking for something that you are passionate about! I am also looking for someone who would like to pin things on to our pinboard (maybe in addition to creating posts?).

To be considered for a contributing artist, please submit the following:
-Email Pam at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com with the subject "CONTRIBUTING ARTIST"
-A link to any galleries, blog, etc (you do not need a blog to be considered for position)
-Tell us what you would like to contribute. (You may also send in links to posts you have done or an example post you would do but this is not a requirement.)
-Three examples of your favorite projects.
-Anything else you would like to add is fine!

Please send in your email by June 30th. I will be announcing the new contributors by July 3rd. If you are not selected please know that you will be considered for the future. I am usually looking to add more contributors a few times a year. New contributors will be selected based on how their ideas fit in with our current goals and themes. This is not a contest. Thank you, good luck, and I can't wait to see the submissions!