Saturday Challenge 7/31

Are you a cat person or a dog person? I admit...I am both! And it doesn't stop there. Over the years I have had personal attachments to hamsters, fish, and even a hermit crab. I guess I just have a soft spot for pets of all kinds. Well...maybe not-so-much for the big hairy tarantula my husband had for a while. *shudder*

My current flock consists of 3 cats, a dumb but lovable black lab, and a 9 year old dachshund who I'm positive is smarter than some people I know.

I have been really busy lately and I feel as though I've neglected my brood just a bit. So this week I made sure to pay some extra attention to each and every one of them. Though they weren't exactly thrilled about some of the attention they got. My dachshund absolutely HATES bath time...but is forgiving. One of the cats, however, is not. I am still looking over my shoulder after treating her for fleas...her least favorite activity. Well, do you blame me? Cats can be vengeful!

This week's challenge is dedicated to pets/animals. You can do a layout about a specific one. Or maybe just add some cute little animal accents to your projects.

Link your creation back here by Thursday night for a chance to win a prize.

Good luck and have fun!!

CHA Wrap Up!

Hello again!

It's Melissa here with a post wrapping up our Live from CHA week!  It is a bittersweet evening as I sit here typing away because while I miss my bed at home and maybe miss not having to live out of a suitcase - this has been such a great few days being with some fabulous women and seeing so much scrappy goodness! 

Our very own Stacey rocked the cookie serving for the Parisian Anthology party in the Pink Paislee booth.  Our dear Pamela worked so hard sharing the beautiful My Little Shoebox lines and Helmar goodness.  The rest of us had a great time bonding and enjoying the "Disneyland" for scrapbookers everywhere.

In person, looking past these doors would make any papercrafter become light headed with giddyness!

Rhonna Farrer was at the Pink Paislee booth promoting the House of 3 Parisian Anthology line.  I wish I had a copy of the photo to post of Stacey being the best cookie girl ever.  If I get one, I'll get it in here!

Doodlebug's booth is always so cute and check out Little Yellow Bicycle!

We are all fans of Jillibean Soup and the new lines coming out did not let us down!  Their booth was pretty stinkin cute as well.

And finally, I am pleased to say we have converted some new gals to the Silhouette!  We got to play with the heat transfer material.  The gals at the booth were so fun and patient.  If you didn't know this already, I LOVE the Silhouette and could have sat at their tables playing all day long!

Wait!  You know you always see people in the same type of headshot?  Plain background, same smile, perfect hair.. well...  maybe you haven't seen a great bathroom shot.  It's not just any bathroom mind you.  It's a marble bathroom.  Say hello to some of your ScrapStreet girls in a photo you may have never thought you'd see us.

lots of hugs,
Melissa

Use your stash!

Hello Scrappers!

A few weeks ago, I needed some flowers for my layout but I didn't have any that matched the layout! So do you wanna guess what I did? I decided to use my stash to make my own! If your like me, you probably have a bowl of beautiful ribbon that you never touch... So why not challenge yourself this month and create your very own flowers! I also topped the flowers off with a few buttons. You know those buttons that you can't use on your layout because of the loop in the back... use those on your flowers! Don't they look fun? I love how they turned out! I simply used the mini staple by Tim Holtz to staple the ribbon on a die cut circle in the form of loops and swirls.



Check back on Tuesday 8/2/2010 to see how these flowers were used on an awesome layout! I can't wait to share it with you :)

Have a wonderful day!

Nicole

Wonderful Wednesday Freebie

Welcome to our Wednesday Freebie here at ScrapStreet! Despite all the CHA fun going on for many of our staff, we haven't forgotten you at home. We have a pretty Quick Page for you this week in PNG format so you can use it in most photo editing software!

In soft kraft and autumnal shades, you can use this page for just about any type of layout to express your affection for someone or something.



You can download it link expired. Be sure to show us your creations with it.

Live from CHA!!

Hello everyone!

Melissa here with several of the other ScrapStreet gals.  We are here in beautiful, hot and humid Chicago for the Summer CHA show!  It is my first CHA experience and let me sum it up to you in one word - HEAVEN!  This is exactly what I want heaven to be.  Scrapbooking supplies with scrapbookers from all over the country.  Yes please!

We have met so many wonderful people and have looked at beautiful line after beautiful line of brand new product.  Want to see some of the goodness that I've been seeing?  Okay!

Here is a display table at the Pink Paislee booth.  Let's all say it together - "ooooooh, aaaaaaaah!"

Oh my gosh!  How did he get in this photo??

Pretty Cosmo Cricket...  Beautiful, right??

We stopped and had a chat with Jenni Bowlin...

Look at her beautiful new paints with Ranger!!

Are you drooling yet?  I was not only blown away by the beautiful samples made by the designers but also the product that is coming out.  There is something for everyone and each manufacture went all out.  Some of our favorite stops were Websters Pages, My Minds Eye, Ranger, Silhouette, Bella Blvd... the list really does go on!

Here are a few more photos:

Some gorgeous new Lily Bee.

Super cute Bella Blvd!

Tomorrow is another day and we'll continue taking photos!  There is so much more to see.  This is just a little peak at the mecca of CHA!

hugs,
Melissa

How many times have you heard the phrase "Christmas in July!!" this month? Usually, by the end of July, I have heard it at least a dozen times. More often than not, it is associated with some "used car blow-out" or "mattress sale extravaganza!!" Just as I was thinking to myself that I haven't heard it much this year...I turned on the radio and heard Jingle Bells playing. Yep...the radio station was doing a whole weekend of Christmas music to celebrate Christmas in July.

I admit it...while I was driving around in my car all day in 100+ heat...the thoughts of Christmas and winter and cooler days were very enticing. So I listened. For about an hour. That is all I could handle. There is just something not right about listening to "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" while beads of sweat roll down your face.

Still, it got met thinking about Christmas and how awesome it would be if I were already working on homemade Christmas cards and gifts. Wouldn't it be nice to have everything DONE when the first of December rolled around?

My summer to-do lists are always a bit long and scary so I don't realistically see this happening for me. How about you? Want to get a head start on the holidays this year? Well...here is a bit of inspiration to get you started.

This week's challenge: scrap a Christmas card or Christmas-themed layout. Link back here by Thursday night for a chance to win a prize.

Merry Christmas!! You know...the July version.

Photoless Scrapbook Layouts

I seldom do photoless scrapbook layouts. In fact, I have done only 3 since I started scrapbooking in April 2008:


In all these three layouts, I wasn't able to find photos that would best fit the topic I want to scrap. I opted including memorabilia on the first two layout: a journal of how my dear hubby proposed to me (enclosed in the envelope in my "The Story" layout) and my credit card (in "Hey, Big Spender" layout). On the other hand, I placed the lyrics of the song that my father used to sing to me when I was little in my "Daddy's Song" layout. Notice also that I used an ephemera card, cutouts of images of people and animal diecuts that I felt would still draw attention to my layout eventhough they are photoless.

Creating photoles scrapbooks can be a fun challenge. Why don't you try creating one today and share it with us?

Have fun creating,
janis

7-21 Freebie!

Happy Wednesday!  I was doing a bit of computer cleaning (how does it get so crazy in there?) and I found this pack of papers that I started and then never completed.  It happens to me sometimes.  I get inspired and then my "must do" list of designing tops my "want to make" list. 

After finding the 4 lonely papers, I needed to decide what to do with them.  Tossing them was so not an option.  I love the colors together!  I decided a quick freebie was the way to go.  Here are 4 papers and 10 elements ready for a quick scrappy page! 

The link is here: Freshman Fun.  I hope you enjoy!  As always, we love comments!

TWINES ON CARDS

I'm not really a cardmaker, but from time to time, when I feel inspired I whip up some to give to friends abroad.

I have seen some great cards on galleries online where twines are used so I decided to try and use it on my card too. I think they give instant texture on your project - - and I'm all for texture fun!!!

Here's my card (as inspired by the colors of Color Combos Galore Challenge 151):

Supplies: Papers: October Afternoon, Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker, Cardstocks: Couture Cardstock, Button: BasicGrey, Chipboard Alphabet: American Crafts, Sticker Alphabets: Doodlebug Design, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Transparency: Hambly Studios, Stickers: Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker, Pen: American Crafts, Other: twine. Tools: Diecutting machine, Embossing Folder: Provocraft (Cuttlebug), Border Punches: Martha Stewart Crafts, Fiskars.

Hope you like it!

Have fun creating,

janis

Defining story through photography

I think as a Scrapbooker (and I think most of us can relate) I am always trying to improve my photography skills. This summer I’m “taking the bull by the horns” determined to learn more about composition, lighting and the ins and outs of my camera. Armed with determination and an amazing teacher, Karen Russell - I’m well on my way. I am loving every minute of it and trying my best to soak up as much as I possibly can.

One of Karen’s ideas on improving your photos is to go through your photos often critiquing them to determine what you did correctly or what perhaps you could change compositionally about your photos to improve them. In doing this I discovered a few areas that I need to improve on but one of the main areas I am trying to improve is story telling.

So what do I mean by story telling? Simply can I look at the photo and know what the story is all about before I have to read a paragraph of journaling? So now that I know my “goal” how do I implement it? Well simple – when I look through the view finder of my camera I am no longer looking for the “cute cheese” but rather looking for the story.

Here are a few photos that I took recently of my family – can you tell what the “story” is from the photos?

What stories do your photos tell? I challenge you to capture some shots this week focused just on "story" and hey if "cheese" comes along with it - that's even better right :)

Have a super week!

Jen

Wednesday Freebie at ScrapStreet

A fabulous mini kit to help make those June Bride wedding photos especially pretty. all created at 3600x3600dpi @300dpi so 12 by 12 and fit for printing at home.

You can rescale these of course and make up a lovely guest book for the wedding breakfast guests to sign.

Have fun whatever way you use them

GET THEM HERE

A little shabby + a lot of chic = Inspiration

Hi all, it's Ilene here to share some very inspiring stuff with you. I'm sure you'll agree when you're through reading my post :)

Not long ago, I ran across THIS article, that was in the NY Times. Personally, I love the shabby chic look and this little Victorian cottage made me want to go make some art magic. The article was about Sandra Foster, who turned a Catskills hunting cabin into the romantic Victorian cottage she had always wanted. Make sure you take a look at the article for some gorgeous, unbelievable inside pics of the tiny little place.

Here is the magical little place:


Now, let's apply it to scrapbooking. Some time ago, I saw a magical little altered house by Stacy Cohen. I've long loved her work, and this house was not an exception. Stacy is a very talented artist and her BLOG is always full of eye candy. If you're in need of some more inspiration after this article, be sure to check it out! Stacy is also one of the new Prima flower girls, so a huge congrats to her :)

Stacy was gracious enough to share some picture of her gorgeous work of art as well as give us some tips.






And here are some thoughts from Stacy on how she achieved this tiny masterpiece:

I've always had a fascination with dollhouses and miniatures, so when I stumbled upon a plain little wooden house at my local hobby store, I knew it would make the perfect dollhouse. Here’s what I did to create my little “Home Sweet Home”:

*I first painted the entire house with acrylic paint.
*I covered the outside and some of the inside walls with Prima patterned paper.
*I made the bed and the chairs out of the packaging from Prima flowers, then I added little pearls and rhinestones.
*I glued buttons onto the roof and I added Shimmerz paint and glitter to the chimney.
*I made the curtains out of fabric and made the rods out of pieces of wooden dowels.
*I made the bedspread and the pillows out of fabric. I used Fabri-tac to hold them together.
*I made the bed skirt out of lace.
*To make the lamp shade, I took a strip of paper and created tiny pleats, then I glued the ends together. I added a little rod and stuck it into a gold button base.
*I glued a stack of white buttons together to make the bases for the table. For the table tops, I covered chipboard circles with patterned paper.
*I sprayed the downstairs rug and the bedspread fabric (originally beige) with pink Shimmerz Spritz for a little extra color and shimmer.
*I printed out a tiny copy of our family photo and put it in a mini metal frame to hang on the wall.
*I computer printed the "Home Sweet Home" sign and put it in a frame to hang on the downstairs wall.
*I scanned the covers of Creating Keepsakes magazines and printed out tiny versions of them to put in the basket.
*I put a few mini flowers in a vase that I "borrowed" (shhhhhh . . . don't tell) from my daughters' dollhouse.

I can't tell you how much fun I had creating this little house!! I'm ready to move right in!


Don't you love Stacy's idea for how to get those miniature scrapbooking magazines? Oh, I can think of so many ways to apply that technique!

Well, that's it for today's post. I hope you're inspired to try a shabby chic project yourself. You could apply this to a LO, or a mini album, or even your own little altered cottage. Not everyone has a real miniature Victorian Cottage to decorate, but we can all channel that desire into a scrappy project and dream while we do it. Thanks for reading and a HUGE thank you to Stacy for sharing your talent with us! Keep it up girl!

Dig them out!!!

Hello everyone! I wanted to post today to encourage you to dig out those supplies you haven't used in a while! They are still good...no matter what people say. :) Last night I pulled out some punches..yep, the hand-held old-fashioned punches! One of them was really old...probably owned it before I even started scrapbooking. Of course, one of them was newer (the border punch) but still rarely used. Punches sometimes seem out-of-date but I am here to tell you that you can still use them and make fun, fresh projects with them! Here's the layout I made:

What tools or products have you dug out of your stash and used lately? We want to see!!! Share your links in the comments section. :)

Hope you have a fantastic day!!!

Pamela

ScrapStreet Team Member

Supplies for "She" layout:

Cardstock, Papers, Chipboard: American Crafts, Pearls, Sequins: Prima Marketing, Ink: Stampin' Up!, Pen: Sakura, Floss: DMC.

Tools: Punches: Martha Stewart Crafts, Stampin' Up!, EK Success, Stamps: Unity Stamp Company.

7-7 Freebie

Have you picked up our free magazine kit for July yet?  It was inspired by my daughter who at almost 11 is all peace, love, and recycling.  You do not want to forget to put a can in the bin at my house.  She also loves glitter, so I added in a bit of sparkle.  You can get it free all month in our ScrapStreet Store.

For a bit of extra fun, I created an add on to complement the kit.  Take a peek:

This extra slice includes 2 word art, 3 stickers, 3 glitter badges, and a flower with tied ribbon.  It is free for you this week!  Here is the link: Worldpeace.  Enjoy!

I hope eveyone has a super scrappy week!

chat

a little wrinkle in my ribbon...

Wrinkle ribbon has become a popular item in my craft room and in almost every project that I create these days. Recently I began playing with different techniques to incorporate it in projects rather than just tying it in a bow. So today I bring you a little step by step guide to making ribbon flowers.

I began by using adhesive felt, which can be found in your local craft store. Using the Sizzix die, cut the felt into the desired size.
Remove the backing from the felt piece and you are ready to apply your ribbon.Wrinkle ribbon has the perfect amount of wrinkle and softness about it that allows you to wrap it around the circle, beginning at the center, to give it depth and layers with ease.If you choose to add beads, rhinestones, etc. to the center simple apply a little craft glue or thread them through the center.Just add felt leaves and it is ready to make the perfect addition to your next project!To create a layered flower, as in the blue flower in the first photo, simple repeat this process on two or more different sizes of circles and thread together. You can also try felt or fabric strips instead of ribbon. Mix it up!

Thank you for joining me and hope you enjoy using these in your next project.

Andrea

I can't believe it is July already.

This year is flying by so fast, isn't it?

This week's challenges are in honor of America's birthday.

1. Create a birthday card.
2. Use stars on a project.

Link your creation back here by Thursday night for a chance to win a prize. Make sure you link to your direct project (not just your blog) and make sure you mention ScrapStreet to be eligible for the prize!  Have fun!

Banner Craze

Scrapbooking has had many trends over the years...think owls, butterflies, and vintage images. One that is hugely popular right now is the use of banners on layouts and cards. Something aobut those little triangles that bring pure joy.

Actually, I think people either love or hate the trend. I definitely fit in the love category! I can't get enough and think it is the perfect way to top off a layout. You can find banner triangles in sticker packs or in chipboard sets or you can make your own. Use actual string to hang them from or put buttons in between like I did on the layout below.

Whichever you chose, it is sure to add some delight to your next project!





Happy Scrapping!