Are they dirty or clean???

I can't tell you how many times I have heard this from my family...referring to the dishes in the dishwasher of course. So this was my solution:

They are magnets for my dishwasher. :) I made them using products from My Little Shoebox and some magnets. These were actually published in the For The Home idea book, but I hadn't shared them online so I thought I would share them with you all! :)

Hope you enjoyed...and if it inspires you to create a similar project, we would love to see it!!!

Have a fantastic day!

Pamela

Saturday Challenge 8/28

I work as a part-time mail carrier. I also recently did some work for the census. And one thing I can tell you--the government LOVES to use acronyms and initials.

At the post office, my position is RCA (rural carrier associate). With the census, I was involved with the NRFU (non-response follow-up....pronounced NARFOO). Every form, every task, every position--all given a different set of initials. It is almost like they have their very own language and can be a bit overwhelming to learn it all.

Of course, some acronyms and initials are better than others. I enjoy the occasional BLT. My husband loves a good PB&J. We all like to LOL. And everyone deserves a little TLC.

This week's challenge is to create something brand new and include an acronym (or initials) on your project. Can't wait to see what you come up with on this one!

More cocktail free fun!

This week is the 3rd (and final) installation of Cocktails Anyone?--our anniversary celebration kit.  You can download it for free before it hits the store!  This week I have all the embellies you need to scrap your girls night out and your sweet summer memories. I hope you enjoy!

This Week's Download:

Download at {*Link Removed*}

Stop back in next week to see what new freebie we are offering. As always, we love comments and links back to your creations.  Thanks!

A winner and another prize!

Howdy all!

Today I have the winner of our 10,000 subscriber comment contest AND a new gorgeous prize to tell you all about!  First up:  our winner.

Congrats Dani!  Please send me an email at dora@scrapstreet.com with the subject Winner! with your addy and I will get this fabulous box out to you this week!  You are going to have such fun!

And now another prize!  Our November Issue cover prize is provided by the absolutely fabulous Bella Blvd.  They were soooooooo generous gifting FOUR different lines.  Would you like to see?

How do you win?  You submit to one of our November calls.   You can find our calls in each issue.  To make it easier, we link them over in the sidebar, too.  You may submit to as many as you wish, but please use a separate email for each submission.  We need to be able to easily forward them to each writer.

How do we determine the cover winner?  Every item submitted is eligible.  Our editors will sort through the submissions and select any that have a strong cover presence.  What does that mean?  A strong design.  Take a peek at our last 12 covers here.  Those selected will be forwarded to our staff for a vote.  The winner is asked for her item, but not told she is the cover winner until the issue is live on the first of the month.  We love the suspense! 

Some hints?  (1) Make sure you take a great picture or scan.  We need to see it to love it.  (2) Remember the season.  We have a call for Food Glorious Food right now.  Any food has the chance to be published, but Easter Eggs will probably not land you on the November cover.  (3) Keep an eye on your email! (and make sure we are not landing in your spam) It always makes us so sad when a cover gal does not respond and we have to move on to our alternate. 

Would you like to have a cover designed around your creation AND win this fabulous prize from Bella Blvd?  Submissions are due by the last day of the month.  Go check out that list!


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Saturday Challenge 8/21

My youngest nephew started kindergarten last Wednesday. It was the "boys only" day. And since the next day was for "girls only", he spent Thursday with me.

I was very happy to spend the day with my little guy since we always have a fun time together. But I realized something.

He has NOT grown out of the "why" stage.

"Aunt Lori...why do you grow a garden?"
"Aunt Lori...why do the clouds look so fluffy?"
"Aunt Lori...why is eggplant purple?"

It was like that all day. The never-ending question machine. It was downright exhausting trying to figure out answers to all of those questions. I mean...do YOU know why eggplant is purple? Neither do I!

It was still a fun day. And I have to admit...he got me thinking about things I never really thought about before. It is fun to see the world through a child's eyes sometimes.

This week's challenge is to create a brand new layout with a question theme. You could make your title a question or maybe use a series of questions and answers in your visible journaling (like an interview). Get creative with it. And have fun!

10,000 reasons to celebrate!

We are so excited to announce that ScrapStreet.com Magazine has topped the 10,000 subscriber mark!  Woohoo! 

If you have found yourself here today and are not a subscriber, hit that button over on the right and join us.  You receive a free and fabulous (if we do say so ourselves) magazine that features a mix of digital, hybrid, and traditional scrapbooking.  The link and cover come to your email at the beginning of each month and you can click right to the online publication.  Nothing to download and take up space--just glorious inspiration to read and enjoy.

If you are already one of our 10,000+ subscribers--THANK YOU!  We are simply thrilled that you have chosen to join us.  We love seeing your submissions and knowing we are part of your scrapping journey.  These five years have meant more to us than we can even journal about. 

We think such a special moment deserves a huge prize.  Want to see it?

Look at all those goodies!  Huge thanks to:  BasicGrey, Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee, KaiserCraft, Jillibean Soup, American Crafts, Teresa Collins, Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker, My Favorite Things Stamps, October Afternoon, and Fancy Pants Design for contributing to this package worth over $100.

How do you win?  The luck of the randomizer.  How do you enter?  So glad you asked.  You may have up to five entries:

1.  Leave us a comment.
2.  Join as a follower and leave us another comment telling us so (if you are already a follower, tell us that too)
3.  Blog about us and comment with the link.
4.  Join our facebook followers--and comment about it.
5.  Tweet or facebook about our 10,000 day and comment about it.

There you go!  5 chances to be richer in scrappy goodies.  We will stop counting new comments at midnight Sunday, Central time.  We will announce the winner on Monday!

Thank you for being a part of our magazine!  We appreciate you!

Jack it up! {Part 2}

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

Yes.  I am back with the second half of this fun little series of jacking up our projects.  Let's review what "Jack it up" means: "Taking something already beautiful and adding the right touches to blow it out of the water!" Simple enough?

Sometimes we begin creating layouts.  We finally reach that point where we think we're finished but something just doesn't seem right.  It's okay to walk away from a layout and come back.  I'm sharing with you a layout I made a while back that I enjoyed but, again, something was missing!  So it's been sitting around waiting for the perfect touch.  This past week I finally brought it back to my crafty table and completed it.

Here it is the before:

I really liked the color palette and design of this.  I like the simple, well balanced layouts and this one seemed complete until I looked at it again.  Pretty soon it was bothering me.  So I decided to let it sit for awhile because nothing was coming to me.

Are you ready to see it jacked up?

Can you see what I did?  I added some bling, a brad and used my black pen to add some interest.  I felt like the title and the journal blocks were just floating out there.  The photo was so heavy with the black matting.  Now I'm loving the layout and am very pleased with the finished product!

What have we learned from all this?  Don't always feel like your project is finished.  Let it sit.  What else could you add to give it that final, special touch?  I suppose you can't leave it lying around forever but a month won't hurt anything!

Happy jacking up your projects!!

hugs,
Melissa

Some letters for your cocktail?

This week is the 2nd installation of Cocktails Anyone?--our anniversary celebration kit.  You can download it for free before it hits the store!  This week I have two full alphabets with numbers and symbols.  The are shiny and fun just like all good cocktails should be!  I hope you enjoy!

This Week's Download:

Download at {*Link Removed*}

Stop back in next week to grab the embellishments for this fun kit.  And keep an eye on the blog for more exciting news this week.  As always, we love comments and links back to your creations.  Thanks!

Jack it up! {Part 1}

Hello everybody!

Melissa here with a fun new phrase for you to use.  "Jack it UP!"  I've been watching way too much TLC lately.  I love the channel, don't you?  My favorite show to watch is Say Yes To The Dress and now they have the show in Atlanta!  Same show, different shop and with a little more attitude perhaps?  I learned the new phrase from Monte, the Fashion Director of the bridal boutique featured on the Atlanta show.  You may be asking yourself, "What in the world does 'jack it up' mean and what does it have to do with paper crafting?"  And I will be saying to myself, "GREAT question... I've got an answer!" 

"Jack it up" simply means this:  Taking something already beautiful and adding the right touches to blow it out of the water!  For example, on the show a customer was trying on a beautiful wedding dress.  She thought it was gorgeous but something was missing for her.  Monte added two simple embellishments to the dress and she was sold. 

We can also "jack up" our layouts and paper crafts.  I made this card recently for a challenge and thought it looked cute but something was missing:

Supplies:  Paper: My Minds Eye, Cardstock: The Paper Company, Ribbon: Offray, Sticker: SRM Press, Felt: American Crafts, Tag: JoAnns, Journal Spot: Creative Cafe

Depending on who looks at this, we can all come away with our own opinions.  Some would enjoy the simplicity (which I do and I was totally going for that) and others may think something major is missing.  I was going for simple but it just wasn't making me feel like I accomplished anything.  I didn't want to add stitching.  It was too late to put anything underneath the journal card.  Lots of thoughts swirled in my head until I had an "ah ha" moment.  Bling. 

It's a small addition.  But I think a little goes a long way.  It "jacked it up" perfectly for me!  Still keeping with the simple design but giving my card that extra "oomph" to make me feel like it was complete!

I'll be back Thursday with a layout that I went through the same process!  Come join me as we explore more about "jacking up" our projects!

hugs,
Melissa

Saturday Challenge 8/14

Are you a list gal? My mother was the queen of lists. She always kept a big notebook on the dining room table...preferably the kind that flips over from the top...and she wrote down absolutely everything. You could find the more common list things like stuff she needed from the grocery store, chores she needed to do, various upcoming appointment times and dates. But that barely begins to explain the many uses of her notebook.

If we played cards, the score was kept in her notebook. If she needed to figure out the bills, she did the math in her notebook. If she wanted to watch something on television later, she wrote herself a note. If she was baking a cake, she would jot down the time to go check on it. If she wanted to call Aunt Sally sometime during the week, that went in too. Forget DVR's, computers and PDA's. My mom had THE NOTEBOOK. *giggle*

And of course we all had to tease her about it. I remember writing the word "breathe" at the top of her list once and telling her, "you know....so you won't forget to do it."

Somehow, when I wasn't looking, I turned into a list person too. I have lists for every area in my life...a house list, a yard list, a garden list, an errand list, a grocery list. The list of lists goes on and on.

My mother is no longer with us. But if she was, I'm sure she would giggle as she watched me juggle my never-ending lists. And sometimes, when I'm writing things down that shouldn't need to be written down...I peek at my list...half expecting to see the word "breathe" lovingly scrawled across the top.

This week's challenge: Create something brand new....and include a list of some sort on your projects. Link it back here. Can't wait to see what you do.

Drop Dhadows for Digi Noobs

I have just begun the journey down the Digital path. It’s a long winding road filled with tempting digital kits and loads of freebies! When I first started digital scrapbooking I didn’t know about drop shadows.  Here is a page I created the other day. The page has not had drop shadows applied and it looks a little flat.

Since I’m no expert on the topic, I’ve downloaded a free set of styles which add drop shadows to elements from Megan Turnridge Designs. I like that these styles have different settings based on the size of the element and Megan has set the light to come in at the same angle so if you use the set it all works together.

Adding a few shadows, really adds some drama to the page, don’t you think?

The styles above are for Photoshop CS if you use a different program, a Google search should yield actions or styles that will work with your program. To install styles in CS4, simply follow these simple directions. Happy Digi Scrappin'!

May I offer you a free cocktail?

To celebrate the countdown to my birthday?  Three weeks from today, I will turn 40.  What better way to enjoy my day than with beverages?  Whether you prefer to lift a sweet tea or a sweet cocktail, raise a glass with me.

Since I created ScrapStreet as a 35th birthday present for myself, we will soon celebrate 5 fabulous years together.  Oh, the places we have been!  The changes we have seen.  The new friends we have met.  Together we have experienced sorrow, joy, frustration, growth, anger, contentment, and so many more emotions.  I am looking forward to the first day of our 6th year together!

To celebrate, I am giving away a full kit in three chunks over the next three Wednesdays.  Today, we begin with the paper pack.  It includes 12 textured papers in fun summer shades.  Download:  link expired.

Stop back next week for the next piece!  And if you are a Street member, keep an eye out on the boards for our annual Birthday Crop!  We will have a bunch of beverage fun and prizes!

Organizing Your Stash

We all do it, don't we? Spend hours organizing our stash, purging our stash, and trying to make it easier to use our stash. It's a bit overwhelming, don't you think?

A few years ago I decided to reorganize my entire room. Color really drives my scrapbook pages. I tend to pull from the colors in my photos and the products I'm using. My process is so color centric that I've organized my stash by color. As you can imagine this was a massive undertaking that took several weeks, I haven't regretted it though. It works for me!

I keep random bits and bobs by color in embroidery boxes and plastic baggies for the larger elements. Brads are in bead boxes separated by color. These containers, alphabets, and any other large items are put in IKEA Kassat boxes and stored in my Expedit. All of my buttons are sorted by color in these Target jars and placed up on a shelf where I can see them. While cardstock, sits on top of my Expedit sorted by color, I have not been able to give up sorting my patterned paper by manufacturer. I have an empty new items box that accummulates over time. I regularly go through and sort the items in it by color then add it to my boxes. I'm guilty of bribing my boys to help me too!

I do keep an assortment of brads, buttons, and other items separate to bring to crops. Recently, I took all of my spooled ribbon that was hanging on Target pant hangers off the spool and made this...

I purchased a large plastic makeup holder from the drug store for $5 and punched holes in it with my Crop-A-Dile. Then I threaded ribbon through the holes. It's in color order for now and it makes it easy to take my ribbon to crops!

I'd love to hear how you organize your supplies. What is your favorite organizational tool or tip?

I have a confession: I have always had a weakness for games and puzzles.

I was the kid who was always taking over the dining room table with jigsaw puzzles, and carrying around a deck of cards just in case anyone had a sudden urge to play Go Fish.

My love for games grew as I did. I played video games on and off for a few years, but gave them up back in the Nintendo64 days after a severe addiction to Tetris and Dr. Mario.

Word games have always been faves of mine too. Word searches, word scrambles, crosswords...all FUN!

This week's challenge is just for fun: Get inspired by games and puzzles! You could scrap about a particular game. Board games, card games, video games...anything goes. You could include some sort of puzzle on your layout. Definitely open to interpretation with this one. Just have fun with it!

Oh...and if you are like me and NEED to know about this flower game....here are the instructions:

Using the letters in each flower petal (as well as the letter in the flower center, ‘E’, form six 7-letter words. The ‘E’ should not be used as the 1st letter of these words.

Sweet Wednesday Freebie

Not content with giving you our free collaboration kit Sweet Summer Sorbet for August, this month's featured Discovery Designer (Carena Designs) has also joined in with a mini!


You can read all about Carena and see some of her lovely products here in our magazine.

Here is a layout I did using Carena's mini kit along with the rest of the Sweet Summer Sorbet minis.


You can download your copy *Link Removed* and please do let us see your creations either by linking us up in the comments or posting in our gallery!

Check out my layout!

Remember when I told you to come back to see how I used the button flowers on my layout? Well here it is! I just love it. From the misting, the bordered edges, the tags, and the flowers... so much to look at here. Hope you enjoy the layout as much as I do!


Have a wonderful day,


Nicole Martel

Sweet Summer Sorbet

Welcome to August and our first kit collaboration with one of our Discovery designers! Sweet Summer Sorbet is a collaboration between some of the ScrapStreet designers and our July featured Discovery designer Beth Rimmer.

Full of sweet summer colors and goodness, this is perfect for your summer scrapping.

You can get your copy here in our store. Enjoy!