Happy Birthday!!!

OK so it's not really a post for a Birthday... but this card from Denise got me in the Birthday spirit!

I just love fun bright colors on a Birthday card and this one fits the bill! Gorgeous embossing and a great cupcake to finish it off!

Spotted in the Gallery!

Today I wanted to highlight a layout from our newest Scrapshotz member... Laurel! The photo is amazing... I love the colors and those inset photos are the perfect touch!

Thanks for joining us Laurel... I hope we'll be seeing lots more of your work!

Stickers and Rub-ons

We all have them, right? Probably more than we care to admit to anyone too! LOL

I recently packed up some scrappy supplies to bring with me on vacation to scrap. I tried to choose items that I do not normally reach for, be it due to my laziness or poor memory, or both! Two of those said items are stickers, specifically alpha stickers, and rub-ons. I love both products but I just seem to forget to reach for them when I am in the midst of creating. And when the nearest scrappy store is 3+ hours away by car, I find myself finding new ways to use these scrappy staples.

Below are a couple of layouts from today (I guess I was feeling extra creative today!)

Firstly, I used some less than perfect pictures that captured our summer family vacation rituals, cropped out the distracting elements and then put them all together in a snappy collage. Then I used some leftover scraps of BasicGrey's Offbeat collection to frame my photo collage.

At that point, it still seemed unfinished to me...and I still had the full BasicGrey Olio Book which matches the Offbeat collection. My first thought was to place a rub-on in an "empty" area on a photo. But divine intervention by my youngest took over! As I was getting a glass of iced tea, she decided to "help" me put on the rubs that I had cut out of the book. Well, if I'll be darned, I really liked that tone on tone look! It adds some interest and texture to the otherwise "neutral" paper. So I finished rubbing on the rest of the vines!

On top of the vines, I put some rubs on cream cardstock and fussy cut the images. These images were adhered ontop of the rub on vines. Below is a detailed look at this technique.

With my other layout, also using the Offbeat collection and shown below I layered rub-ons right on top of each other and I also grouped elements together.

Here is a close-up of the layering and grouping; there are 7 rub-ons used.

These same techniques can be applied to stickers. In the close-up photo below, I used some of the left-over Thickers numbers and alphas from 3 different American Crafts remarks books. (And I have to say it felt fantastic to use up all those sheets!)

I hope you will give these techniques a try and if you have tips to share, please post them here!

August and summer is in full swing!!!

And Scrap Shotz is in full swing too. The Summer CHA show just finished and we're all waiting excitingly for all the new goodies to come into the store. I'm sure Sandy has lots of new stuff on the way. Make sure you check back often to make sure you don't miss a thing.

Also, Tuesday August 4th is 10% Tuesday. Help Scrap Shotz clear the shelves to make room for all the new CHA arrivals. Just use the code "tuesday10" and receive 10% off almost all regular priced items all day.

Let's not forget, today is Reveal Day too!!! The August Kit is "Rockin' Summer Spirit" and is just perfect for those summer photos.





This kit is really special for us. It features a brand new company for us, all the way from Australia called Ruby Rock-it. Their "Kindred Spirit" line features beautiful cheery colours with lots of versatility. This kit really ROCKS!!!

Here is some of the Rockin' layouts and projects that our fabulous Creative Team created with this beautiful kit. Make sure you check out the Scrap Shotz Gallery for the full reveal.


Cari

Heather

Jen

Laura

Virgina

Summer Time

It seems that in my life when summertime hits my scrapbooking time gets put on the back burner. Truth be told, I'd rather be outside enjoying the warm weather, playing with my kids, going camping and on vacation than sitting down in the basement (although when the weather is really hot, it's awfully nice to sit in that cool basement). I take far more photos in the summer and have so many stories to tell so while I'm out making those memories, I can be sure that I'm busy giving myself umpteen hours of scrap-worthy material for all those long, cold winter nights that seem to come far too soon and last way too long. So instead of feeling discouraged that I haven't scrapbooked all summer, I remind myself that I'm just getting myself ready for winter.

in Central Park, New York City with my 10 month old son last week

What memories are you busy creating this summer?

Spotted in the Gallery!

Well since we are officially in "wedding season" I thought I'd share a gorgeous card that would be the perfect touch for that special bride and groom! Jillian made this stunning monochromatic card... be sure to pop into the gallery and leave some love!

Keep Giving Gifts

In the summer, I like my life to be uncomplicated and carefree! My family and I are lucky to be included in several fun events with friends and to show my appreciation to the hosts/hostesses, I will often give a small gift card instead of a homemade gift like jam or antipasto. But a gift card itself seems a bit boring, yes? So I challenge myself to create some interesting and fun items to house the gift card.

Here are a few that I use quite regularly...and if you have a few that you could share with me, I would greatly appreciate it!

One of my favorites is to tuck the gift card into a paper purse. If I have some smaller items to include, I safely store them in the purse too - so items like lip balm or a sparkly pen come to mind.

This purse was created as a Christmas gift but you could easily swap out the snowflake for some gorgeous paper flowers and gems. And to make the purse a tad more special, I top stiched the edges of my paper. (Supplies for this project include pattern papers by Black River Designs, Cuttlebug snowflake die and Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Frost, Pearl and Irridescent Gold.)

Sometimes I mail my thank you card with the gift certificate to the host/hostess. Here is a card that can be converted into many uses. There is an oversized paper clip book mark in this library pocket inspired card but there is also a Chapters/Indigo gift card clipped with the paper clip.

The supplies for this card/bookmark are Bazzill cardstock; Chatterbox (pattern papers, chipboard accents, alphas, brads); twine (source unknown).

And lastly, here is a card with an inner panel to house the gift card. An extra piece of paper tacked down makes the perfect pocket for the gift card and a special note.

Supplies for the card are Basic Grey (pattern papers, alphas); American Crafts (ribbon); Autumn Leaves (chipboard journal spot); Cuttlebug butterfly die and Glitz Designs (black gems).

There are lots of creative and fun ways to package a gift card - I hope you will share with me your secrets!