Song of My Heart Stampers

Scrapper's Sketch of the Week: 11/12/09

This sketch is perfect for those times when you have a GREAT piece of DSP and it is not a full sheet, or when you have DSP that is so cute on both sides that you can't bear to glue it down. Cut the paper into strips of four varying heights and adhere them to the page as shown. The circular mats and photos then make a great contrast to the horizontal lines.

Don't have a good circle cutter? Check out Stampin' Up's Circle Scissor Plus on page 191, and call me today to schedule a time to come over and play with mine for a bit!

Happy birthday, buddy!

Well, despite being about the pickiest eater on the planet, my man Dan has made it to year eight. He is so big and strong and I have no idea how that happened, since he apparently subsists on air. He can knock me over in a squeeze that's more a wrestling hold than a hug, strangle me in a paroxysm of joy with his after-school greeting, dampen half my face with an over-exuberant kiss that leaves me mostly makeup-less. He can break my heart and make it bust with pride in the same day. He can drive me up a wall one moment and make me melt into a little mommy-love-puddle the next.

 

I am the mother of an eight year old boy. I had no idea eight year old boys were so precious. Did you?

Happy Birthday, Baby!

I can hardly credit it, but my little baby girl turned six years old today. I enjoyed snuggling with her in the warm bed this morning at 6:47 a.m. and reminiscing about how happy we were at that very moment six years ago. I am so blessed.

In Natalie's honor today, I have a "blast from the past" for you--girly themed scrapbook projects from my past six years of stamping! The page above celebrates cupcakes and being three. Glitter and sparkles were a MUST! The cupcake wrapper is also made of vertical strips of Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon.

Nest is one of my favorite scrapbook pages of all time. I made it soon after Natalie got her diagnosis of SPD. I created this red, black and white layout for a contest (didn't win), so unfortunately I no longer have it in my possession to take a better photo of it.

BONUS TIP: The technique on the letters is negative emboss--something I invented as far as I know--where you heat emboss with embossing powders just like normal, only right before heating, you use a pencils or stylus to scrape off some of the powder in a pattern such as the flowers I drew here. Stripes, swirls, whatever--then heat set the powder. It adds marvelously unique texture to any embossed project.

I spent a likewise very long time on this page, also for a contest, but it did "win" in that it was put on display at the Stampin' Up National Convention in 2008. It's hard to tell in the photo, but there is a lot of texture here with the stitched photo frame, chipboard flowers, brad, paper crimping and more... I stamped, used rub-ons, chalks and even the gel pen on this page!

And finally, here's a quick little mini photo book made from a single piece of 12x4 DSP. Watch for a photo tutorial on this, coming soon!

Big Shot mini matchbox scrapbook, and ornament idea

I love getting little unexpected gifts, and if they come in a tiny and cute little box, so much the better! Think you have no need for a box-making die because you don't need any party favors right now? Think again! The Stampin' Up Matchbox die is perfect for making someone's day, and that is something we can all do, regardless of whether or not we have a wedding or shower coming up.

To make this great little matchbox with its surprise mini scrapbook inside, simple run your favorite DSP and cardstock through the Big Shot and fold into the matchbox. SU's great design makes it so the "drawer" needs no adhesive when put together correctly. The lid just needs two mini glue dots or a dab of Tombow Multi. Easy! The cut a strip of neutral cardstock the length of the box minus 1/4 inch, by 12 inches long. Score every two inches and fold into an accordion. Adhere to the bottom inside of the box with Sticky Strip.

Decorate both the box lid and the mini srapbook as desired. These are perfect for those little bitty school photos that for whatever reason are smaller than wallet-size (who came up with that genius idea, anyway?). It's also great for writing a list like "10 reasons I love you" or other similarly mushy love stuff. \

BONUS TIP: Add an ornament hanger to your matchbook and you will have a fabulous, one of a kind Christmas ornament to hang on your tree. Write your blessings, favorite Christmas traditions, or special holiday memories from years past.

Leadership '09 12x12 pages

I finally got my Orlando Leadership Convention pages scrapped at the all day crop last Saturday. What great memories of a fantastic time with my extended SU family, having four days of fun in Orlando in the middle of January!! I am really looking forward to conference in Phoenix this coming January. Got my flights booked and my hotel room reserved--just waiting on registration on Wednesday and I'll be all set.

 

Yes, the top spread has pictures of food. One of the perks of this smaller conference as opposed to convention is the fantastic sit down lunches served on real china with linens and waiters--and it was all served so prettily I just had to take a picture.

This Soft Subtles page above was just a bunch of fun pictures of Florida stuff. Those orange flowers were amazing, just draped everything in gorgeous color. I had to take a photo of the lobster deliery card--what a hoot. And who makes a "speed limit 7 mph" sign?
 

This pink and black quilted page chronicles the intense shopping we did, the door prizes some of us won, and the new products we got to be the first to try out! It's kind of hard to see, but each photo has a different ribbon wrapped around it.

For our yearly Manager's reception, Stampin' Up rented an island at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure theme park and we had the whole place to ourselves--no lines for the rides, no wait for the fantastic food, those handsome super heroes--all to ourselves! My group all had super hero caricatures drawn (free)--you can see my reaction  on the left hand page of this Bold Brights spread--mine was so embarrassing I couldn't look at it! And then at the end we got Spidey lunchboxes with a free stamp set inside.

For a slide show of all my Manager's Reception photos and Leadership news, click here. I don't think I have laughed that hard since I was a little kid. I loved the colors in these photos and was happy to use one last sheet of Kiwi Kiss DSP from the Hoppy Memories kit (now available only through MDS) along with a background color I have NEVER used before--Only Orange. It was a fun page to do.

Vote for Allana's pages!

My friend Allana is a contestant in an online scrapbooking contest which ends at midnight tonight. I just voted for her, and if you'd like to go and see her pages and the other entries as well, here is the link: Allana's page

Voting takes just one click! Good luck, Allana!

Scrapper's Sketch of the Week: 10/22/09

This week's sketch is designed for those occasions when you only have one good picture of an event, and a couple of poor ones. It's hard to make a scrapbook page when you are limited by unfortunate photos!

Use your best picture in the place of honor right above the headline, then use the smaller photos, cropped to 2.75 inches, on the remaining mats. The five satellite pieces measure 3x3 and the large central photo mat measures 6x6. The circles can be any sort of punch or embellishment.

TIP: you can use your larger punches to punch photos out, too!  

Scrap A Stack Club--still time to join us!

We had a great time at the first Scrap A Stack club last night! If you missed it, there is still time to sign up and get in the hostess rotation. As a little added incentive, I am going to show you all three of the 2-page 12x12 spreads we did, instead of one or two like I normally would, just to tease! If you want to consistently turn out great pages like these, learn new design concepts, fun new layouts, and great color combinations, with punch art and all the latest and greatest embellishments--sign up today! 

The top page is made with the luscious Cottage Wall papers and Rich Razzleberry cardstock, the Pretties Kit and polka dotted grosgrain ribbon. The DSP is so gorgeous with the whimsical flourishes and flowers, we didn't do a thing to it--just let it shine.

 The above page used four colors, which is a lot for me! I tend to stick to three or monochromatic shades. We all liked the cheery twist on the fall colors, though, and the Flower Designer Brads took everything up a notch.

This last spread is a little blurry and I apologize. We made 3-D pumpkins with the Wide Oval punch, cutting stems and the word "thankful"on the Big Shot with Sizzlets and Embosslits. Leaves from Autumn Days stamped in Soft Suede on the same color cardstock added interest to the "ground."

All in all it was a great evening, and the only thing missing was YOU! Come on, you know you want to!

Little girls all in a row

Haven't posted an MDS page in a bit, so while I am waiting for the UPS man to arrive with my order today, I will share a few pages from a project I am working on currently.

Love the vintage look of this one. It's so easy to turn photos black and white with a single click. I never realized how much I was going to enjoy that feature of my new My Digital Studio!

Don't forget to check out the My Digital Studio blog carnival that I am participating in all month. You can click on the link on the lefthand side of my blog at any time, or click here to start your tour!

My Digital Studio Blog Carnival begins this weekend!

Welcome to my "ride" at the My Digital Studio blog carnival! For those of you who are unfamiliar with a carnival, it is similar to a blog hop in that you will be visiting several blogs and getting inspiration centered around a theme--in this case, the amazing new My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up. However, it differs from a hop in that a carnival goes for a whole month and the links will stay active the entire time--unlike a blog hop where you must complete the circle in the weekend allotted or you miss out!
The little green badge on the left hand side of my blog will take you to the master list of blogs anytime you want, for one entire month. So we hop you enjoy this carnival by members of Stampin' Addicts, and learn a lot about the versatility and ease of My Digital Studio. And don't forget to check out the CARNIVAL CANDY at the very end of this post!!!
My first project for you is this 12x12 scrapbook page page featuring my adorable baby boy.

The colors in this photo were perfect for a little boy page, so I drew inspiration from that and started with a blank 12x12 page. I used polka dotted Bashful Blue DSP for the background and layered Real Red cardstock on top. I made circles of varying sizes and used elements from the Happy B-Day Simply Scrappin' Kit for embellishments, along with some round buttons and Bashful Blue eyelets. Everything got a drop shadow so it looks realistic for printing. A little zig-zag stitching for some added texture runs down the side of the page, as does a photo corner punch layered in one corner.
I put Dan's name and the journalling in with a text box--MDS has fully functional text editing, using any font you have on your computer--such an awesome capability! I changed thecolor to Whisper White to suit my color scheme. I also changed the color of the Bona Fide "stamp" seal to match my Brocade Blue cardstock circle, and added the "it's all in the details" (which is a rub-on in real life) in white under the title. I just love how EVERYTHING is customizeable with MDS.
Last but not least, I edited the photo right there on the page to zoom in and fix the red eye that mars the actual physical copy of this photo. MDS has really great photo tools built right in, so there's no need for additional photo-editing software.

I had a lot of fun with my second project! First of all, I chose a stamp set that I don't even physically own but have always liked, called True Friend. It is always cool to be able to play with "stamps" you don't have! When I got these cards the way I wanted them, I printed them out on Whisper White cardstock on my home printer (nothing fancy). It did a fine job for this project, since it is not vital that the colors be exact matches. I recommend Stampin' Up's printing services for the pages and albums, of course, but for just fooling around at home, you can still do fun stuff even without using a professional print service. 

Next I mounted it on a card base, then added my ribbon and embellishments. This type of project--half computer-generated, half "real life" generated--is called a "hybrid." I also added Crystal Effects to the butterflies and sprinkled them with microbeads. I LOVE the finished look--no one would ever guess that it was not a real stamp under there or that I had printed out that DSP background!

One last tip for ya and then I'll let you go on to the next ride at the carnival--you can open a blank page or card in MDS, add some "stamps" in any color you want, then print it out on cardstock. I love this big heart from the set "Always" which I do not own although it has been on my wish list for ages. The circle "friend" image is another great stamp from "True Friend." I printed out a sheet full, and because they come in to the page "true to size" just like a real life stamp--they fit exactly in the punches for which they were designed, like this 1 & 3/4 inch circle. WOW WOW WOW!!! Love that!

Enjoy the next carnival attraction! Here are the other participants.

DMDezigns
HowManyCats?!)
Yapha
Willysgirl
Hollylogic
Lyssa
Lilysinkpad
JulieA
lovetostampandscrap
Melina Stamps!
BroncoMom
Britney
S1itcher46
Kelli
Scrapbookmamma

Ready for some CARNIVAL CANDY? Last week I had an anniversary blog candy give-away of one of the adorable Stampin' Up reusable shopping totes and it was a hit! Leave a comment on this post naming at least one thing you learned about MDS from this carnival (any of the stops, not just mine) and your name will be entered to win one of the bags! Good luck!