Still Stamping

Start your 2012 Family Year-in-Review Photobook Now!

The sample I'm sharing today is at the end of the post and was created by a Guest Artist.  Wait until you see her beautiful page!

Why wait until 2013 to start your 2012 "yearbook"?  With My Digital Studio, you can start your album now, save it, and work on it little by little throughout the year.  Advantages:

• You don't have to get out tons of supplies and photos, work a while then pack it all away to finish another day.
• You can journal while the event is fresh in your mind, so that you can capture the feelings, a little quote, a special memory.
• You won't feel overwhelmed by the thought of getting an entire year's photos into a book with a deadline, because you've worked on it all year long.
• You'll save money by not printing photos that end up not getting used in the finished book.  You'll be using the digital version, and can pick the very best photos.

If you are a digital scrapbooker already, you may have some other ideas to share.  Write a comment and I'll add your idea to the list of "Why You Should Give Digital Scrapbooking A Try."

And if you have already been considering it, there's no better time to get started than now.  Remember, Stampin' Up! is going to let you try the fanatastic "My Digital Studio" for 30 days at no cost.  During that time, you can even get your 2011 Year in Review book done, if you are inspired to do so.

Today's share is a fabulous page from my friend Judy Jackson's 2011 In Review Family Photobook.  By creating it digitally, she was able to complete it in very little time and have multiple copies printed for her children and grandchildren.  What a wonderful keepsake for them.  I've started doing the same for my grandkids, and they love looking at "their book".

 

Jump Start your Scrapbooking with My Digital Studio

If you are like me, you take lots of pictures, have good intentions of getting them into wonderful scrapbooks, but never find the time to get it all done.  Stampin' Up! has a solution for busy scrappers: digital scrapbooking with My Digital Studio.  Here's a page I designed in a few minutes and can share on the Internet or via email, add to a slide show and burn a CD, have printed as an independent page to add to my ongoing album, or save and add to an all digital book to have printed for myself or as a gift.

The program, affectionally known as MDS, is extremely user-friendly, easy to learn and to use, and still full of features.  Plus, it's infinitely expandable; Stampin' Up! releases new images every week for you to choose to purchase if you wish. 

And the exciting news is that you can try it for 30 days...for FREE!  You read that right, FREE to try out on your own computer for a full 30 days.  This unbelieveable offer will begin on February 1, 2012.  I will have more details for you in the next few days, along with some additional samples I've created to share with you.

 

Tiny Scrapbook Brag Book

And a denim bag...  I'm still looking for Deana Smart to claim her blog candy.  Deana, you might have won this recycled denim bag!  email me or leave a comment with your prize choice and your address, and I'll send it right out to you. 

And now, on to today's project to share with you.  It's another scrapbooking special, this time a grandmother's brag book in a very compact size to take everywhere to show off a dozen little photos of those little angels in your life.  I found the tutorial on Split Coast Stampers and happened to have the key ingredient - the coin envelopes.  So I whipped up a few of these little charmers.  They're easy and fun to make, even more fun to show off.

The one at the top of the picture will be shown in detail below.  The other one is embellished with some of the butterfly punch pansies I showed you recently.  Those are another fun thing for you to try if you haven't already.  Bet you can't make just one.

I purchased some very strong, extremely thin magnetic closures to hold these books closed securely and without bulk.  Those tiny magnets really do a terrific job!  The little coin envelopes hold tags for journaling or more photos - they're die-cut with the Two Tags Bigz Die.  The body of the scrapbook is another die cut - this one with the bag with scallop top (minus the side pieces).  I love my Big Shot and use it for so many things - home decor, crafting (like the denim bag), scrapbooking, cards, gifts, it just is so versatile.

Click on any picture to see it in more detail.  As always, feel free to email with with any questions you have, or just to tell me that you enjoyed reading my blog today.

Until next time,  Happy Stamping!

 
 

 

A Sense of Time - Welcome to the Royal Blog Tour!

Hello and Welcome to my castle.  If this is your first visit go my blog, I hope it won't be your last.  Do come back and browse the previous posts soon, after the tour has concluded.  I'm honored to be a Princess on the Royal Blog Tour!  I trust my lowly offerings will be worthy of royal praise.  And, there is yummy blog candy for you to perhaps win for leaving a comment during your visit.

Today we'll be visiting an old friend of mine, A Sense of Time.  I bought this stamp set about one year ago when it was first introducted in the Spring & Summer '09 mini catalog.  I'm so glad it's still available for you, because if you don't own it yet..... you should!

Let's get started on our journey.  I bought A Sense of Time because I could see its potential as a scrapbooking  stamp set which would also be fabulous for masculine cards and collage style stamping.  So.. My first offering today is a scrapbook page made for my heritage album.  Isn't it fantastic how stamps and ink can turn ordinary card stock into your very own custom background paper?  YES!

 Mother's Day is only a couple of weeks away.  I love my Mother (she'll soon be 91 years old) dearly, and one of her loves is family history.  She gave me these two photos of my grandmothers to add to the Family Heritage album I already made for her.  I hope she'll like it.

Click on any photo to see it larger.

Next is a Father's Day card, but I think it could easily be adapted to other occasions by changing the 
greeting.  I used one of my new (soon you'll be able to buy it) embossing folder, Textured Impressions Square Latrice, a Stampin' Up! exclusive.  It's in the Summer Mini Catalog (starting May 1), and if you check back after the tour is done, I'll show you how I did the accent strip.  Colors:  Rich Razzleberry, Bordering Blue, Night of Navy.

 

I challenged myself to make a feminine card with this set, too (I think the pink makes it sort of girly, don't you?)  I have ten special birthdays coming up in the next two months, and this will be one of the cards I send.  Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Sending Love specialty DSP (which is retiring today, April 30 - if you don't have it yet, go buy it NOW!)      

I hope you've enjoyed your visit to my Castle.  Enter your comments below - I'd love to hear what you think of my projects and my blog.  Comments from visitors from the U.S. will be entered into a random drawing for some royal blog candy - your choice of a denim rag quilted purse (made with the Scallop Square Die and recycled jeans!) or one my my favorite hostess level 1 stamp sets, Holiday Best.  The drawing will be after the blog tour concludes.  Please leave an email address so that I can contact you if you win!

Thank you for visiting my castle on this tour.  Please come back and visit again at your leisure.  Now on with your journey to the next castle.  Continue down the path by clicking on one of the ruby glass slippers.

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month with Stampin' Up!

What a great way to start off your scrapbooking month -- three wonderful promotions from Stampin' Up!, all aimed at you, the scrapbooker/paper-crafter.

1.   Buy any three packs of Designer Series Paper (including the new Specialty Designer Series paper) or 12" x 12" textured card stock...... and get one FREE!  You can mix and match your packs, too.

2.  Become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator with all of the benefits that come with that title, for only $75 with a limited-time, scrapbooking Starter Kit!

3.  Buy the new Jumble alphabet stamp set (a sneak peek from the upcoming 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog) at 20% off.  See the alphabet by by clicking the link to open a pdf

Download Jumble_Alphabet_sneakpeek

With so many great offers to choose from, your scrapbooking possibilities are endless!  And as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, your personal possibilities are endless, too.  Read the details here.

And as a personal goal, I want to complete two mini-scrapbook gifts and at least 10 pages of my own scrapbook during the month of May.  What's your goal?  No time like the present to record your past.  You'll be glad you did. 

I'll be sure to share the pages I complete with you on this blog, along with tips and techniques for your albums that incorporate Stampin' Up! accessories, tools, stamps, embellishments, inks and papers.  And I'd love to hear how YOU use your Stampin' Up! products in your scrapbooks.  Please share your tips and favorite tools or techniques with us in the comments section of this post or any during the month.

Hugs & Kisses Mini Scrapbook - An Altered Art Project

My past few posts have been using the Love You Much Bundle from Stampin' Up!  You can still take advantage of the savings (20% off) on the stamp set, Candy Lane Designer Series Paper and the Heart to Heart punch.  But don't delay, this offer is only good through Jan. 31.  Click on the Shop Now button on the right - you'll be linked to my website where you'll find the details.

Today I'm sharing a work in progress.  It's done except for the photos, which still need to be resized, printed, cut and added to the pages, pockets and tags of this cool book.

This is going to be a gift for my husband for Valentine's Day.  It'll be filled with photos of us, our son and daughter-in-law, and our grandchildren. 

The theme I chose was influenced by the stamp on the cover, "Hugs & Kisses", from the Love You Much stamp set.  So all of the pictures will be of us -- hugging or kissing the ones we love.

The color scheme was very easy to choose.  It's the Candy Lane Designer Series Paper, coordinating card stock, ink and ribbon, and a few pieces from Bella Rose DSP that use the same colors. (Those are Pirouette Pink, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.)

Once the ribbon is untied, you can see how the book is put together.  It's made up of three CD literature folders made of sturdy but lightweight chipboard.  They're joined by the plain pages you'll see in the following photos, and inside each CD folder is an accordion-folded piece of card stock to which three mini envelopes or tags are attached.  There are MANY surfaces to hold photos, journaling and keepsakes.  I love the potential this book has.

Credit for the design goes to Patty Bennett, and you will enjoy seeing her versions of the book on her blog

Besides the card stock, stamp, ink, DSP and ribbon, I used the following tools:

Round Tab Punch

Scallop Border Punch

Scalloped Circle Punch

Scalloped Envelope Bigz die

Circles die

Big Shot

Scallop tags die for Big Shot (this is not yet a Stampin' Up! product but a girl can dream)

Scoring blade, 12" trimmer and bone folder

 

I'll probably add some more embellishments after the pictures are added and the journaling done.  After all, I have that fabulous new punch, Heart to Heart, that also coordinates with the Love You Much stamp set and which is just crying out to be used in a book called "Hugs & Kisses."

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this project as much as I have enjoyed making it.

   

Wishing you many hugs and kisses,

Carol

A Walk In The Park Scrapbook Page

In recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I've pulled out lots of paper and ink in various shades of PINK.  I also happen to love Stampin' Up!'s In Colors Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette, and Bella Rose Designer Series Paper is fabulous!

The first of the projects is this scrapbook page created with the Big Shot die cutting machine and Stampin' Up!'s exclusive Bigz die, Top Notes.  Notice that the frame on the upper left-hand photo was the "throw-away" part left over after I cut out the Title Box.

  And speaking of the Title Box, the Title was also created with the Big Shot.  I combined two different alphabet dies:  Simply Serif and Go Go Boots.

Host a workshop soon and I'll show you and your guests how to use the Big Shot to create beautiful pages, too.

Or join one of my clubs: Stampers Six, Scrappers Six, or the Big Shots.  E-mail me for details.

Our Autumn Wedding Day - From My Scrapbook

Remember that I told you how much I love the Autumn, its sunny, colorful, crisp days?  I was ever so lucky to have such a perfect day for my wedding on Oct. 28, 2000.  We had a very small ceremony in a lovely country church close to Hanover, PA.  But after the ceremony we went outdoors to take photos.

While my groom Michael and I were leaning against a rugged old oak tree, a leaf floated down and I reached out and caught it.  It was too funny, and of course inspired this scrapbook page.  I'm holding that leaf in my right hand on the upper left-hand photo, if you look closely you'll see it.

All of the other leaves on the page were cut out by the Big Shot and the Leaf die.  After I got cranking them out for the card I shared with you yesterday, I decided to use some of them on this page.

The Chocolate Chip ink sponged around the edges of each leaf (with the sponge dauber) add a distressed look as well as helping to set the leaves apart from the background.  They're cut from chipboard to give them body and add texture to the page.

As a quick recap:  the Designer Series Paper is "Juntos" and can be found in Celebrando Creatividad,
the Spanish version of the Fall Winter catalog from Stampin' Up!

The border is strips of the same paper stitched onto the page with my sewing machine and mustard-colored thread, using a wide zig-zag stitch.  That adds more visual interest and texture.

I still had more leaves left, so I put a cluster of them at the bottom right-hand corner of the page.  That helps balance the page and fill that space.

And there's one more detail picture I'd like to show you.  It's the Title Box, which I also made using the Big Shot.  The alphabet is the Naturally Serif Sizzlits Decorative Strip Alphabet, and it made letters the perfect size for the title on this page, don't you think?

If you have any questions, or if you want to just tell me how much you LOVE my scrapbook page, just leave a comment for me or drop me an e-mail.  I'd love to hear from you!