Happy National Scrapbooking Day

Tomorrow is May 1, National Scrapbooking Day. That's right, a special day dedicated to our wonderful hobby. Do you have plans for National Scrapbooking Day?

Wanna know what our awesome Design Team is doing on National Scrapbooking Day? Well, read on!!!!

Jess says, "I'll be heading to Calgary with my travelling partner... we have an awesome day planned with all the Scrapshotz girls!"

Denise says, "I'm not sure what the actual NSD has in store for me but our little group of Ottawa ladies will be celebrating with our monthly crop later in the month where we will be sure to enjoy good company, good laughs and good food...and some of us may even get more than 2 LOs done."

Jen says, "I ditto Jess and Lorraine's plans."

Laurel says, "I hope to scrap the day away in my craft room!"

Lorraine says, "I can hardly wait for the road trip to Calgary to the Scrapshotz crop. Friends, scrapping and shopping - it just doesn't get any better!"

 

Stephanie says, "I will be spending NSD in the bush with the Air Cadets for the spring training exercises. Our scrapping group will be doing our NSD crop on May 15th-really looking forward to that as it's usually lots of laughter, friends and good food."

 

And I will be at the Calgary Scrap Shotz National Scrapbooking Day crop, doing make n takes and demos...eating, shopping and visiting! It will be an awesome day for sure! (If you are attending the Scrap Shotz National Scrapbooking Day crop in Calgary, please drop by to say hi! I love meeting my online friends in real life!)

Oh ... and if you are needing inspiration or want to virtually spend National Scrapbooking Day with Scrap Shotz, check back tomorrow morning. Scrap Shotz will be hosting Sketch Mania!!!! Yup, Jess, our uber Sketch Master has whipped up a few sketches for your inspiration pleasure.

Have a wonderful National Scrapbooking Day!

Copic Thursday!

We're back again... playing with out favorite coloring markers! We're working on another hair challenge... as far as I'm concerned you can never get too much practice with all the hair color options available!

This week our challenge is auburn hair... but I'd like to share some gorgeous samples that have been uploaded from the past hair color challenges...

Please check out this week's challenge and link your coloring here in the comments section for your chance to win big!

Sweet Spring

Introducing a very beautiful Scrap Shotz card kit, "Sweet Spring."

This stunning card kit features the beautiful Basic Grey Kioshi line! You will receive 18 6x6 papers (4 solids and 14 patterns) in the cheerful and springy colours of Kioshi. To complement your cards, you will receive the Hero Arts You're the Best adorable stamp set with coordinated rhinestones.  A full package of Kaiser rub-ons meets your sentiment needs and completing the kit are two spools of American Crafts ribbon in a coordinating stripe and coordinating polka dot. And Copic fans, this is THE kit for you! Enjoy bringing this sweet little girl image to life and coloring her to match all the vibrant spring colours in this kit!

Here are some cards that Jen has made with the kit.

I think you will agree that this kit is fantastic!

Spotted in the Gallery!

It's me again! Hard to believe another week has passed! Before you know it summer will be here! (and hopefully then it will stop snowing...LOL)


I just had to share these two layouts from Erica's gallery... she did an amazing job with these photos of her children all dressed up ! Thanks Erica for sharing with us!

Make sure you drop by the gallery to see boatloads of talent and inspiration!

Fabulous Friday - Anything But!!!!

This Fabulous Friday challenge is Anything But from the lovely Laurel Seabrook. When our challenge isn't a layout, or a car, or an inspiration or a blueprint, what else can it be? Well, Anything But of course!

Here is an adorable bag created with the beautiful Fancy Pants About a Girl.

Laurel's inspiration was the gorgeous Fancy Pants pattern paper. She said, "...it is so pretty, when I saw it I just wanted to make a mother's day gift bag."

For the bag, I cut a front and back, adhered the pattern paper to the front. I punched the 'handle' with an oval punch. I then adhered the front to the back of the bag. To make the label I used a Nestability die, then stamped on it. I adhered the ribbon then the label. The flowers are made by punching circles, spiral cutting them and rolling them up. I used glue dots to hold them together.

So what is your Anything But project? Please link me up, ok?

Welcome to Copic Thursday! This week's challenge is coloring gold... kind of tricky as it turns out! I'm really pleased how this "golden oldies" image turned out!

For more samples and tutorials, check out the challenge HERE




Be sure to link me to your images to be entered into our draw for a free copic marker of your choice!

Meet Lorraine, Our Guest Designer

Have you met Lorraine Melin, our Guest Designer? I have been fortunate enough to miss Lorraine in person and she is warm, bubly and super duper nice! Here is my interview with Lorraine!

What name do you usually go by? Do you have a nickname that you could share?

My name is Lorraine, but also answer to Pearl. It’s a long story, and I won’t bore you with it, but even my kids and grandchildren call me that. I’d be surprised if my grandsons even know my real name.

Where do you currently live? Where would you like to live?

I live on a farm about 4 miles from town, in east central Alberta. We built our dream home here a few years ago on a ¼ section of land where I grew up. It’s a smaller house, but great for the 2 of us, as we’re empty nesters. This is the perfect place for me as it’s about a 5-minute walk across the yard and around the bush to my daughter’s home, and my grandsons!

Is your scrap area usually neat or creatively messy?

It’s almost always messy. I go in there with the greatest intentions of getting it all put away, and find something else that I’d rather do. I need to have scrappy company every now and then, just so I have some incentive to put it all away!

Can you tell us one unknown fact about yourself?

I was a Rodeo Princess in my graduating year. (A long, long, time ago!) I always loved to ride, and have always had at least one horse until a couple of years ago.

What is your favourite scrapbooking/cardmaking colour?

Browns are the “little black dress” in my scrapping. I love to put a splash of color with the brown though, and I’ve never met a color that didn’t like brown.

What tool do you use the most? Why?

I use my tweezers the most. I have eczema on my hands and I wore cotton gloves for 2 years 24/7. I had to learn to use them for everything scrappy, as I couldn’t pick up a brad without them. I just stayed in the habit.

Describe your scrappy/cardmaking style?

I didn’t think I had a style, then one night in a hotel room, Jess and I had this discussion and we pulled out a bunch of my layouts and spread them on the bed. Apparently, it’s quite obvious. In my layouts, the focus is always on the photographs; I’m pretty linear, but since I like to distress, my layouts don’t have a super clean look. I tend to embellish sparingly, but I’m not afraid to use big lumpy things either.

My cards are usually multi-layered, and like my layouts, are pretty linear, although most have some distressing on them.

What kind of camera do you use? Can you share a favourite photo?

I have a Canon Rebel xSi, which I love. Here is a photo that I took of my nephew and his new bride last month. I love it when a photo can make me smile, and this one does.

Do you use your camcorder? What do you use if for?

I don’t have a camcorder right now.

Do you have a scrapbooking and/or cardmaking tip that you could share?

I am a believer in giving everything the little bit extra, like inking or finishing the edges, because I think it shows in the end product.

Are you a morning person or a night person?

I am definitely not a morning person. I think I might be a nap person, though. I like to stay up late.

What food would you like to eat every single day if you could?

Pizza, with a side Ceasar salad, please, and a piece of chocolate cake or brownies for dessert.

What size of shoes do you wear?

8.5

Do you share every scrappy purchase with your DH?

No, but mostly because he doesn’t care. I’m sure he knows what’s coming in the door in those pizza boxes, but he asks no questions. LOL! I guess that’s why I work those extra jobs!

Do you have a die cutter machine? If so, what?

I do. I have a quickutz squeeze that I haven’t used in a long time, because it’s just easier to do everything with the cuttlebug that’s always out. I just bought a Silhouette SD in January, but I have to admit that I’ve not cut much of anything with it yet.

Please share your favourite project to date.

My latest project is usually my favourite. Here’s a card I made for a friend last month.

Thanks for the interview Lorraine! It has been a real pleasure to know you! Get to know Lorraine because she is wonderful!!!

Spotted in the Gallery!

Well I don't know about you, but I'm having a heck of a time keeping up with all the fantastic creations being uploaded into the gallery! Amazing work everyone!





Today I'd like to share this one by Claude. What a fabulous showcase of the month of March!

Are you doing a layout a month this year? If you are, link me to your layout in the comments section... I'd love to see them!

See you soon!

Fabulous Friday - Inspiration Challenge

Our Fabulous Friday challenge is an Inspiration Challenge from the lovely Stephanie.

Stephanie says, "I chose to do pick an ad for inspiration. I love the graphic clean linear look of ads. I can always find some inspiration in just flipping through a magazine. This McDonald's ad is perfect for a multiphoto layout!"

Here is Stephanie's layout. I think it's gorgeous and a fabulous interpretation of the ad; don't you?

Leave Stephanie a comment on her awesome Inspiration Challenge this week!

Copic Thursday - Coloring Blonde Hair

Hello my coloring friends! :D This week we are moving back to hair... specifically blonde hair. You may want to review the technique tutorials from our week on brunette hair before you tackle this week's challenge! :wink:

Here is a fantastic PDF for blonde hair from Suzanne Dean

And a tutorial from her BLOG

Here is a great close up view from Marianne Walker

And one more drawing

Here is the link to the original challenge on the Copic Creations site where you can see the gallery of submissions for the challenge...

After much deliberation... (and many many heads of blonde hair) I have decided that I like the look of dark blonde...

I used Y21, E31 and E33 for this one...

It's beautiful Jess! Thanks for another Copic Thursday!

On Special Assignment from our Roving Reporter

Spring is official here even if it is snowing outside my window! LOL In other parts of Canada, spring is here in all its glory. Today our Roving Reporter series continues with one of our newest Design Team members, Stephanie Schan. I have long admired Stephanie's photography and asked her to pictorially show us how to capture spring "on film." I think you'll be inspired by her photos and I hope to see some of your spring shots too!

Here is our Roving Reporter...

Spring is in the air! Yesterday was so nice, that I grabbed my camera and equipment and went for a drive with the windows down. I love spring because there are so many photo opportunities outside. So what do we look for when we’re trying to show spring in a photograph? There are many photo ops around your house that will show at a glance that it’s spring! Just a short 3 minutes from my house I saw pussy willows in bloom. These soft downy blossoms will keep for months in your house in a dry vase.

To get this shot, get in as close as your lens will allow you to focus and set your camera to a low aperature. I used f2.8 for this. If you can’t adjust the aperature on your camera, then use the “flower” icon. Also keep your ISO as low as possible to avoid grainy photos. If it’s a windy day, you may need a tripod to hold your camera still and an arm to hold the bloom as well.

What about the other obvious “spring is here” signs? Spring always means that the snow is receding and underneath is all that dull, dead grass. Try a photo of the flattened dead grass – it gives an almost monochromatic effect with lots of texture.

Look in your garden and flower beds. There are shoots of flowers popping up everywhere. You may think I got on my tummy on the ground to take this photo, but I actually set my camera on f2.8 (because I wanted a blurry background) and placed it on the ground. It took a few test shots to get it right (thank goodness for digital cameras), but I ended up with this one!

Birds are one of the first signs of spring in any country. Here in Canada, we see a robin on the lawn and we know for sure that spring is on the way. Strings of Canada geese flying north (although some are confused about direction) are another one! Here in the Ottawa area, local birders have their eyes glued to the nesting boxes along Earl Armstrong Road to see if they can catch the first Eastern Bluebirds returning to nest.

Bird photography requires a long lens to get up close (at least 400 mm) and quick reflexes on the photographer’s part to be able to get a good shot. I may take 100’s of photos of birds, and just keep one or two.

I’m sure that we could all photograph the above signs of spring in less than a day. So what about the not so obvious signs of spring? Think about it for a minute. I grew up in a small town NW of Ottawa, ON. When I was a kid, our Dairy Queen was the type that had a window that you walked up to and placed your order. We always knew it was spring when the DQ opened that window for business!

What can you photograph that would say “spring” in a more subtle manner?

How about these ideas???

summer tires on your car
sidewalk chalk
marbles
drops of rain

muddy dogs (or kids)
short sleeve t shirts
puddle boots
neighbours doing yard work
tent trailers airing out
dog hair everywhere
garage sales
Roll UP the Rim

All of these mean that warmer weather is on the way! So get out your cameras, get outside and take some photos of spring. It’s happening all around us!

Please show us your spring photos!

Spotted in the Gallery!

Well I just returned home from vacation and I gotta say, I've missed this crazy place! The first thing I did was head to the gallery to find this week's feature and the Scrapshotz girls have done some amazing work while I was away!

Jillian has been uploading so many fabulous projects this week... and this was my favorite...

Keep up the great work everyone... and if you haven't, stop by the gallery for boatloads of inspiration from all the girls!

Fabulous Friday - Chromotherapy Challenge

Today we have a wonderful Spring Chromotherapy challenge from our guest designer, Lorraine Melin.

“The world is at its finest this time of year. On this occasion we bid farewell to dirty, unsightly snow banks and the predominant colors of the season-depressing grays and browns. All of that seems to change in an instant when spring arrives. The earth rejoices in a new season. Spring pastels are an integral part of that. They symbolize the innocence and hopes we have for the new season. “© Connie Krochmal - http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/fruit_garden/105833

Let’s welcome spring with pastel colors on your project!
 

 
I love Lorraine's cards; don't you???

Copic Thursday - Coloring with Reds and Pinks

The Reds and Pinks family is a gorgeous set of colours but it can be very challenging to master these colours.


Some tips that helped me are:

The red and darker pinks react differently to the Colourless Blender than other Copic marker colours. Not all the colour is "erased" (for lack of a better word); there is almost always a residual colour.

When colouring with reds and pinks, pay extra attention to colouring TO the line of the image rather than ONTO the line of the image.

Blend, blend, blend...red is a strong colour and can overpower the adjoining colours.

There are a few tutorials that I found to be helpful.

Sharon Harnist #1
Sharon Harnist #2
Suzanne Dean #1
Suzanne Dean #2

Here are my samples.

Colours used are: E55, E57, E59, Y11, Y15, RV02, R17, R89, YR21, R01, B32, B34, B37, C00.

I started out small to get the hang of things and practice my fur colouring. I had a wee bit of trouble with the shadowing :oops:

Then I moved out to a flower and a few butterflies to build my confidence.

And here are a couple of Magnolias dressed in pink and red. Again, I wasn't thrilled with the shadows as I was getting obsessed with the reds and pinks techniques. :roll: :oops:

Here is a sample from the fabulous Lorraine!

Hair is E08, E37, E97. Dress is R24, R27, R59.


I hope to see your Copic creations using Red and Pink!

Meet the Incoming Design Team! (Part II)

Today is my interview with Laurel Seabrook. Get to know this lovely lady! Thanks for the interview Laurel!

What name do you usually go by? Do you have a nickname that you could share? I usually go by Laurel, pretty boring hey, no nickname! (ETA: Well, that just gives us the opportunity to provide you with a nickname! LOL)

Where do you currently live? Where would you like to live? I currently live in Port Alberni and am very happy where I am, both sides of our families are here or on the Island somewhere.

Is your scrap area usually neat or creatively messy? Creatively messy, love that term, mine is creatively messy but organized.

Can you tell us one unknown fact about yourself?  Hmmm… can’t think of anything too extravagant… I can wiggle my ears.

What is your favourite scrapbooking/cardmaking colour? Right now I think I use Kraft most, but I also love the other neutrals.
What tool do you use the most? Why? Other than my paper cutters, a necessity in my room, I use my Cricut and Slice. I just love die cuts, but don’t like to pay the big price for them, I like to customize my own.

Describe your scrappy/cardmaking style? Hmmm. I would have to say I am more of a Clean and Simple or graphic person. I like straight lines and not a lot of fussiness (although I do try it sometimes).

What kind of camera do you use? Can you share a favourite photo? I have a Nikon D70 with interchangeable lenses. I love it.

Here is a picture I took of my daughter in her kimono (a souvenir) while we were shopping in Tokyo.

Do you use your camcorder? What do you use if for? Yes we have one but that is hubby’s job!

Do you have a scrapbooking and/or cardmaking tip that you could share? Just do it! Make sure you add the journaling to your page when you make your page, otherwise it often gets forgotten.

Are you a morning person or a night person? Definitely morning, up just after 5am.
What food would you like to eat every single day if you could? Anything that someone else cooks! Just kidding,it would have to be seafood, I love seafood. Or hubby’s margarita chicken, now that is yummy.

What size of shoes do you wear? About 8 ½ or a 9

Do you share every scrappy purchase with your DH? Absolutely not! He knows I get free stuff from my DTs and being published, he just thinks I get a lot! Hehehe

Do you have a die cutter machine? If so, what? I have the Cricut Expression and a Slice. Love them both.

Please share your favourite project to date. My favorite project so far is my Weight Loss/Get fit journal. Here is the link on Laurel's blog.
Thanks Laurel for indulging me! It was great getting to know you better!

Meet the Incoming Design Team!

With every change of Design Team members, I have mixed feelings - I will miss the outgoing crew but at the same time, I am excited to welcome the new crew. One of the new Design Team members is Stephanie Schan. Here is my interview with her!

What name do you usually go by ? Stephanie

Do you have a nickname that you could share? Stevie is the nickname I've had since I was a small child. My family still calls me Stevie and a few friends.

Where do you currently live? I live in Embrun, Ontario (a small sleepy village about a half hour south east of Ottawa)

Where would you like to live? I'm happy here - it's a safe little town to raise our children. I'd love to have a summer home on a lake when it's time to retire, or we win the lottery.

Is your scrap area usually neat or creatively messy? My scrap area doubles as a computer desk and an office work area so it's usually a messy pile of stuff - paperwork to be filed, scraps and half finished layouts, etc. The worst pile is the scrap paper pile - I usually let that pile up until it's falling over and then I get around to sorting it .

Can you tell us one unknown fact about yourself? I have seen every single episode of Star Trek, Star Trek TNG, Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Enterprise. I even attended a Star Trek convention (but not in costume). What can I say? I'm a trekkie at heart.

What is your favourite scrapbooking/cardmaking colour? Usually in the reds. If you looked in my closet you would see that most of my wardrobe tops are reds!
What tool do you use the most? I love my ATG tape gun! Why? I can go for months on one roll of adhesive!

Describe your scrappy/cardmaking style? " clean and photo oriented " I guess is the best descriptor for my wor k although I've been known to "bling it up" too . I think scrapbooking is about the photos and I like my photos to shine rather than everything else on the page.

What kind of camera do you use? I moved up to a Canon 5D Mark 2 last fall and I'm loving it. It's a huge step up from my Canon Rebel but I keep telling myself "baby steps".

Can you share a favourite photo? This snail photo. I love working in macro!

Do you use your camcorder? Nope, don't own one. Although my 5DMk2 has HD video capabilities. I haven't explored that feature yet.

Do you have a scrapbooking and/or cardmaking tip that you could share? Never put a drink on a wobbly table - I learned that one the hard way on the weekend when my Pepsi went crashing over my cardstock and everything else on the table. Good thing I had put the finished layouts in an Iris case so they were okay!

Are you a morning person or a night person? Definitely a night person. I HATE to get up in the morning.

What food would you like to eat every single day if you could? no thought required for this one - seafood - shrimp, lobster, scallops.

What size of shoes do you wear? Well I used to wear a size 8 1/2 but now that I've had children (and put on a few pounds), I'm shopping in the size 10 aisle.

Do you share every scrappy purchase with your DH? D'uh....no (not all of it, although I don't go overboard with stuff and he knows I'm a frugal shopper anyway) He is very supportive of me in this hobby - probably my number 1 fan!

Do you have a die cutter machine? Yes! If so, what? I have a Quickutz Silhouette. The first model that was released. I am using it more and more for scrapbooking (rather than school projects for my children) as I love that I can cut exactly the size I need. I also love that I don't have to buy expensive cartridges for it.

Please share your favourite project to date. Funny story about this one - I was at a friend's house scrapbooking for the day, and I was trimming a photo so that it fit the page. The photo top is on my layout of my DD and her boyfriend called R&KJ. I was just about to toss the bottom "knees" portion in the garbage when Kelly stopped me and said "scrap it". It turned out to be one of my favourite layouts and one I submitted with my DT application.

Thank you Stephanie for sharing your talents and yourself with us! Let's give a warm welcome to Stephanie!

Spotted in the Gallery

This week, I spotted the following talented ladies in the gallery.

Look at this stunning card from Tammy.

And look at this jaw dropping layout from Brenda.

And this beautiful layout from Jillian.

Thank you ladies for sharing your work! Have YOU loaded your work into the gallery? I want to spot YOU next week!

Fabulous Friday - Blueprint Challenge

Gotta love Fridays here at Scrap Shotz!!! Today Denise is challenging you with a Blueprint Challenge. Here is her blueprint.

And here is her layout...

 
Gorgeous, don't you think?

Happy Easter!

Copic Thursday!!!

Today is Copic Thursday and it is also April Fool's Day! Today's challenge is to use everything you have learned so far and colour a fun and/or humourous image. Yes, it IS that easy! I didn't have a humorous image so I picked 2 images in my stash and applied all the new techniques I have learned.

Here are my images...(It is a bit scary to see your image up close and personal LOL! I noticed that I have coloured outside of the lines a bit...but I have really been working on shading the colouring hair.) What do you think?

And here are some adorable images from Lorraine...they are absolutely stunning Lorraine!

Before I forget, the March Copic challenge winner is







BRENDA!!!!! Congratulations and great work!

How are YOU doing with the challenges? Can you link me up?