New Issue and Free Kit!

Happy December!  (ok, so almost December here)  We like to get our magazine up and out so our non American gals can have their issue with their morning beverage, so we start sending it before bedtime.

Check out the beautiful cover featuring art by Mary B. Giemza.   

Fabulous designer Katia created a special kit perfectly colored to show off her gorgeous card.  It will be available later this month so watch those Wednesday freebie posts!

Ready to read?  Here is your LINK.

Ready to scrap?   Silent Night featuring Arven is free all month long!

Here are the links for the free kit  {expired}

Pop back by in the morning and meet our new staff!  We have a bunch of talented folks to introduce to you!

Tis the Season...

for lots of creating!!! :) Whether you are making decorations or gifts, it's the perfect time to include your kids in the creative process! My boys love to help out...they love to create. And it means so much more when they are part of the process. And while you are at it...don't forget to snap those pictures of your kids creating.

My son and I were making some ornaments the other day. He was SO proud of what he created, and I am so happy I was able to capture that moment. Here's a layout I made using those pictures.

I used papers and stickers from Fancy Pants Designs, and adhesive from Helmar to put my layout together. For a previous layout I wanted a bunch of circles, so I cut them out with my Slice, leaving a sheet of patterned paper that some may call unusable and throw away since there wasn't much left...but not me! :) I thought it was fantastic and wanted to use it. I just laid it on top of another piece of paper. The circle design certainly is not perfect...but I don't care. :) I just built my page on top of it.

Hope you have enjoyed my post today and I hope you take time to include your kids in your creating this holiday season! :)

Pamela

Peachy Keen Peek!

We are so fortunate to be able to work with some of the greatest manufacturers in the scrapping industry as we write ScrapStreet.com Magazine!  Ready to see what is coming up in the December issue?  Check out our peeks using the amazing stamps from Peachy Keen Stamps.

These darling projects and so much more coming in the December issue!  Almost time now!

GCD Peek

We are so fortunate to be able to work with some of the greatest manufacturers in the scrapping industry as we write ScrapStreet.com Magazine!  Ready to see what is coming up in the December issue?  Check out our peeks using the fabulous products from GCD Studios.

 

The new issue goes live tomorrow!  Are you ready for some holiday inspiration? 

Add a personal touch...

What's the fastest and easiest way to add texture, dimension, interest, and that personal touch to any project? Hand stitching, of course! It really says, "I took the time to put some extra love into this piece." Bazzill Basics Paper has had In Stitch'z products out for a while now - a piercing mat and tool, as well as floss and many different templates are available. To add to that, We R Memory Keepers has just released their brand new Sew Easy products, which include little piercing tools that you run down your paper to make the holes for you. So if you want to give hand-stitching a try, many products are out there to help you along. Of course, you can always just use a needle and thread and "eyeball" it, for that slightly crooked look that has its own charm. Here are a few projects I made. In case you're interested, I do own the Bazzill Basics piercing mat and tool and a few templates.




So I challenge/encourage you to give it a try! Who knows, down the road, there just might be a magazine pub call for some projects featuring just this kind of personal touch ;)

Wednesday Freebie Time!

Happy Hump Day All!

Today I have a layered template to share.  I began creating photo templates for myself a while back. I am a block gal and making templates made it easy to group and then scrap my pics in my preferred configurations.

Recently, I started saving my pages in layers so that I can use some of them over, too.  It is easy to use one template over and over both digitally and as hybrid pages with completely different results.  Today I wanted to share one with you.  I would love to see what you do with it!

Here is the template:

Download{here}

And a page I made with it today.  The kit is Autumn Daydream a collab made with two of my digi besties.  You can grab it in the GingerScraps store.

Natural Beauty by Dora Phillips.  Digital Supplies: Kit: Autumn Daydream (GingerScraps), Stitches: Stitched by Anna White No.4 (Designer Digitals), Template: Fall Moon Template (Freebie today!).  Journaling: Sometimes I look at you and am stunned at your natural beauty.  Even though you are allowed to wear make-up, you choose clean skin and simplicity.  You spend every minute possible outside enjoying the beauty of the world with no idea that you add to it.

As always, comments and links are totally appreciated!  Have a spectacular week!

Sticky Situation

Ah, who doesn't love the sticker?  It really is a true staple in the scrapbooking world.  Stickers were here long before chipboard and felt.  They have a timeless appeal and are very versatile!  I used a ton of stickers on my layout below!  The One Fall Day collection by Bella BLVD has awesome Autumn theme ones with bright and bold images and words.  To make an impact, group several stickers together.  Be sure to add pop dots underneath one or two stickers for dimension.

Be sure to check out this month's issue of ScrapStreet.com Magazine...my talented friends all used Bella BLVD products for a feature article.

Remember This Moment

Time flies by so quickly. I can really see it now that I have children of my own. It seems like just yesterday that I held them for the first time and now they are growing up to be little ladies. I want to hold on to these moments that feel like they are quickly slipping through my fingers like sand in an hour glass. What can I do to preserve these memories of my every day moments with my girls? Scrapbook it of course!

One of the things that I will miss as my kids get older are the feeling of their little hands holding mine. Instead of scrapbooking a picture of us holding hands, I decided to actually stamp her hand on paper and place it on a layout. This way I will always have a piece of time forever captured on a layout. What other things can you think of capturing that you'll miss as time passes by?





Happy creating!
Diana

Adding Interest to Cards

While I don't find card-making to be the easiest task in the world, I have discovered a few tips that help me along in the process. First, add dimension with chipboard and/or pop-dots. Have a clear focal point or sentiment, and pay close attention to that area. Don't forget to add little details like buttons and pins. Adding special touches always makes any project look better. And, be sure to finish a card off with a ribbon or piece of twine. It is like creating a hand-tie gift, of sorts!

Here are some examples!

Happy card-making!!

Saturday Challenge: 11/20

This week's challenge corresponds with our month-long Pirate-themed crop:

Jolly Roger is the term given to a pirate's flag.

These flags were meant as a scare tactic to approaching ships.
The message it gave was that if the pirates were forced into battle,
they would give "no quarter" (would take no prisoners).

Merchant sailors did not make enough money to give up their life for their employer's cargo. Often just this threat was enough to make ships surrender peacefully.

Jolly Rogers often featured skeletons, skulls, daggers, swords,
or bleeding hearts on white, red, or black fields.
A few showed hourglasses to imply "time was running out" for their enemies.

Each pirate had his own unique design.

Challenge:

Scrap about something that is uniquely you.
Maybe you could scrap about your hobbies, a list of your fave songs,
your fashion style, a day in your life...whatever you want.
Just as long as it shows us a peek into YOU.

We have lots of other pirate games, challenges, and fun facts waiting for you.
If you would like to play along, visit the crop section of our boards.

Hope to see you there, mateys!

Wednesday Freebie

Welcome to our Wednesday freebie here at ScrapStreet. A mini digi kit awaits you this week! In warm shades and lovely textures, you can use this for your Thanksgiving and family projects.


You can download it here and be sure to show us your creations! Don't forget if you want to be in our new Digital/Hybrid Magazine or join the Team, check out the post below... it will be such fun!

Exciting News!!!!!!!!

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership between ScrapStreet.com Magazine and GingerScraps.net.  As we roll into the new year--and our SIXTH as a magazine--we have joined forces to create a new digital and hybrid ezine called GingerScrapsStreet Magazine!

Some of you may recognize Ginger's name from her many years with us as a ScrapStreet digital designer.  Others will know her name and those of her talented Gingerbread Ladies from their amazing work in the digital scrapping world.  We could not have wished for a better partnership!

As of today, we are closing our own digital store and moving everything to GingerScraps.  You can see my LemonLove Creations available starting today.  Katey will be moving soon with a brand new designing name and a fabulous new look.  Keep an eye out for her announcement soon!
Would you like to be a part of our new venture?  We are now accepting applications for staff AND we have brand new submission calls!  Here is all of the info you need.

Do you have a passion for all things digital or hybrid? Do you love sharing new ideas and hot trends with your fellow scrappers? Are you interested in increasing your online presence reaching thousands of subscribers each month?If you are selected for our new digital team with GingerScraps, you will write a monthly article which will include selecting and requesting the work of designers, combining the work into an interesting article, and meeting your deadline. You will receive products from GingerScraps and other industry designers as a thank you for sharing your talents. It is an excellent opportunity to increase your visibility in the scrapping community while having fun.

To Apply:

Send the following to digistaff@scrapstreet.com

1. contact information
2. a short statement of why you are interested in joining us.
3. a link to your blog.
4. a link to your gallery.

Would you love to see your art featured in GingerScrapsStreet Magazine? Check out our current calls:

January Calls:
Each month we will choose one layout to grace our cover and that designer will receive a wonderful package of goodies as our thanks. All layouts submitted for our article calls are eligible. Good Luck!

Hybrid: Are you a hybrid scrapper? Submit your layouts that use any hybrid technique and tell us what you love about this style of scrapbooking!

Digital Designers: Would you like to be our featured designer for an upcoming month? A kit made by you will be the central point of our magazine and we will show off you and your work to all of our subscribers!

Resolutions: Do you have one big one or whole list of changes to make? Resolve to scrap them and share the layout with us!

Fonts: Are you an addict? Do you love to mix and match and create with typography? Show us your layouts that are in tip top type shape.

Girls Night Out: Show us anything and everything that says Girlfriend time to you. What do you do when you can ditch the menfolk and head out? Coffee? Cocktails? Creativity? We would love to see.

Confetti: Nothing says party like a handful of confetti! January starts off with a party. Toss some confetti on a layout and send it our way.

Organization: January marks the sale of organizers as everyone insists that this will be the year that they perfect the todo list. We want to see your layouts using any and all office supplies. Bonus points if you scrap in a nice todo list or calendar.

Color me WHITE: In the month that tops the snowfall across the country, many of us look outside to see white day after day. How can you make WHITE sing on your pages. Show us your creative uses of white!

Deadline is midnight November 29th ... for all calls.
Please send your work to gsscalls@scrapstreet.com.
Please send a separate email for each submission you would like to be considered for publication. Please keep the image size around 600 x 600 pixels. Thank you!

Are you ready to be a part of this fabulous new magazine?  We cannot wait to see everything you have to offer!

5 ingredient fix

I just got home from a recipe and book exchange at our church, so I've definitely got recipes on the brain. Want a great appetizer? I made the one I never stop talking about, Buffalo Chicken Dip (I also learned tonight that the buffalo wing originated in Buffalo, New York and thus, is how it got its name. Maybe not important to you, but as a New Yorker, it's quite imperative that I know).
Five ingredients!
1.) 2x8oz cream cheese
2.) 1 cup bleu cheese or ranch dressing
3.) 1/3 to 3/4 cup Frank's red hot sauce
4.) 2 cooked chicken cutlets
5.) 1/2 cup shredded cheese
Cream ingredients together, add chicken and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
Top with cheese, warm until melted.

So I admit that I've never actually seen this show, 5 Ingredient Fix, but it sure is an idea that appeals to me! I've found that more often than not, my layouts seldom have more than five ingredients -er- supplies. Okay, you got me, seldom more than two or three, to be exact!

Funny enough, the more supplies I use, the longer it takes to finish a layout. =)

So I challenge you to use 5 ingredients (or supplies) on your next layout and no more! I'd love to see if you carry this out - successful or not! Link up here or upload in the ScrapStreet gallery. 

Oh! And here is my latest 5 ingredient fix!
1.) Photos
2. Paper
3.) Letters
4.) Ghost shape
5.) Ink

A freebie! A freebie!

Howdy Digi Friends!
Did everyone have a fabulous International Digital Scrapbooking Day?  I did!  I certainly did not make it as many places as I would have liked, but the ones I visited had such fun sales!  I admit to overshopping a bit.  There were just so many pretties!

But my overindulgence is your gain, too!  I seemed unable to resist CU grab bags.  I loved the surprise of it all.  Inside one was a cute quartet of twitter birds.  I confess that I am not a tweeter.  I know.  I tried.  But I found my life was just not that interesting.  Even I did not want to know what I was doing most times so why would anyone else?

But the birds were too cute not to play with today.  So I did them up in a bit of felt and am offering them free for you this week.

Download Us {here}

They will be active for one week.  And, as always, we appreciate your kind comments!

Did you notice my new packaging?  Its a hint to big things coming!  Stay tuned!

A Handy Tip: Cricut Cartridge Binder

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous day! I have a quick idea to share with you today. Are you a Cricut lover like me? I love my Cricut machine! It has made my crafting so much easier. Over the past few years, I have accumulated more cartridges than I ever thought I would own. But I was getting so tired of digging through the cartridges and then flipping though booklets to find the image I wanted to cut. So while blog hopping, I found this awesome idea and knew I had to create one for myself. It's a binder filled with the images on the Cricut carts that I own. If you are interested in doing one of these for your Cricut cartridges, all images can be found HERE at the Cricut Cartridge Library.

I picked up a basic binder at Wal Mart. I first had to decorate the outside.

 Now, for the inside, I printed out the sheets for each of the cartridges I own and slid 2 sheets (front and back) down inside those page protectors you can buy. I love these page protectors because not only do they make the pages turn so smoothly, but since this will be a highly used item, they keep the papers from wrinkling and getting dirty.

I just love my new binder! It is so much easier to keep this on my desk than flip through all those booklets! I hope you will find this idea handy too!

Have a wonderful day and Happy Scrappin'!

Saturday Challenge 11/6

Fun with shapes!



While sorting through some of my son's old toys, I came across this box of blocks.
And I was immediately inspired!
Ok, so this may not seem like a big deal to most of you creative gals.
But...being a person who mostly TALKS about scrapping and rarely DOES...this was HUGE.

I dumped them out onto the table and started playing around with different patterns and designs.

Here are a few of the cards I created:



It was fun!

This week's challenge is to play with shapes on your projects.
Make sure to link back here so we can see what you came up with.

Have a great weekend!

And...If you haven't already, head over to the ScrapStreet boards and check out our Pirate Crop.

http://scrapstreet.com/MessageBoard/index.php?topic=64715.0

It is going on all this month and you can join in any time.
You earn chances to win prizes just by playing games and completing challenges.

Hope to see you there!

Project Team Ewan is HERE!

It is with GREAT excitement that I announce Project Team Ewan is ready for sale!  For more information on how to obtain a copy of your Project Team Ewan Class Package, click here.  This takes you to the page on blog.  For future reference, there is and will always be a tab at the top of my blog. 

I am so excited for this fundraiser because 100% of the money raised is going directly to Seattle Children's Hospital and research that will help further care for children who have congenital heart defects.  The reason why this fundraiser is called Project Team Ewan is because of Ewan himself.  My dear friend and former roommate Kirsten and her husband James found out early on in their pregnancy that Ewan had some serious heart issues.  They knew that God had given Ewan to the world for a reason and chose to go on this adventure of heart ache, joy, sorrow, grief, grace, growth and, ultimately, watching lives change.

Kirsten is a very gifted writer and has put into much better words than I ever could, the journey that she and James have been on.  She is very transparent in how she has processed learning of Ewan's condition, the birth and then, sadly, the death of sweet little Ewan Eliezer.

Seattle Children's Hospital provided excellent care as they always do.  The nurses and staff were smitten with Ewan and when I cam down to visit, I was very impressed by the loving care they gave towards all.  The tenderness, the compassion and the generosity.  Children's is a non-profit hospital running solely on donations from anyone who is willing to give.  It is my hope to give back to them what they have so selflessly gave to thousands, if not millions, of others in the Northwest.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and I hope you do enjoy the class package.  Click on the link/button above that will take you to the page with instructions.  Please let me know if you have questions.  Also... we have some AMAZING prizes to give away!  If you purchase the package during the month of November, you will automatically be entered to win one of these prizes:

One lucky winner will receive the FULL class from the very talented Kristina Proffitt and Crystal Wilkerson.  HUGE thanks to Kristina for offering up this prize.

Available to U.S. and International.

 

Wow!  Check out this amazing pack of GOODNESS!  The lovely Jen Gallacher has put together this awesome collection of scrapbooking heaven!  Yes... you could win ALL of it.

Available to U.S. residents only.

One super duper lucky winner will receive a $75 gift certificate to Janet Carr's fabulous digital shop!  Wowee!  Thank you Janet!

Last but not least.... Two Peas in a Bucket has so wonderfully offered up $50 in the latest and greatest product!  Yahoo!  Who wouldn't want some brand new goodies??

Thanks in advance all who will purchase this kit!  You are going to LOVE it and know that you are supporting a wonderful cause.

Hugs,

Melissa

Wednesday Freebie

Oops.... sorry to be late posting this! I have the kids back to school today after our Toussaints (All Saints) holiday which (for some obscure reason), saw them going back a day earlier than the school calendar shows and doing a Friday timetable on a Wednesday!!

Wednesday is normally a half day here, so you can imagine the comments on working all day doing Friday's lessons! Only in France I tell you! Running round making coffee for the builders also distracted me.....

Still here I am at last with a lovely golden alpha for you to use on your layouts, cards and other projects.


You can download it here and submit your creations to our mag, cos we love to see them.. and who knows, we may publish it in our magazine!

Pirate Crop!

Ahoy there buckos!

Come join us on the boards for our Pirate Crop, lasting all month long!
By completing challenges and participating in games you can earn tickets for the prize drawing at the end of the month!

See you there!