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In Love With Color 8/11/13

Welcome to In Love With Color! Color combining inspiration can be easily found at your fingertips here at Song of My Heart Stampers each week. Updated with the latest Stampin' Up colors, and keeping an eye on trends in fashion, home decor and papercrafting, I'll share three different color combos every Sunday morning for your inspiration.

Want to play along? Send a link to a project inspired by one of my combos to me at [email protected], and once a month I will pick a favorite to feature on the first Sunday of the month. Enjoy!

This week's color combos:

1. Crumb Cake, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral and Soft Suede
2. Old Olive, Island Indigo, Soft Sky and Rich Razzleberry
3. Blushing Bride, Chocolate Chip, Cajun Craze and Crisp Cantaloupe

How to get your Starter Kit for free

Have you been considering coming over to the dark side--I mean the demo side? Is money the only thing holding you back? Well, yeah, Lyssa, you might say, it's the "only" thing--but it's a big thing for me!

For a lot of us, even the low Starter Kit price of $99 bucks and free shipping is hard to spare right now. If we could spread it out a bit, it might happen, but not all in one whack! If that's the case, I have a little math for you to ponder today.

Yes, math... I know, I know!!

But this is easy math. FUN math--and yes there is such a thing!

Follow me! Right this way, please:

1. $100 is the Instant Income from just one $500 workshop.
2. Say you were to host a party together with me, and it hit $500.
3. We sign up you up and you put the Starter Kit on your credit card.
4. You are instantly a brand new Stampin' Up Demonstrator.
5. We enter the orders from your party under your name.
6. You pay off the Starter Kit on your credit card with the $100 you just earned.

I know---beyond awesome! But wait--there's more!

1. You get to pick out $125 worth of product in the Starter Kit for just $99 plus tax (no shipping).
2. You're still the hostess for that party even though you're now the demonstrator, too--so pick out your hostess freebies (for a $500 party it's $80 and two half price items.)
3. Your quarterly minimum of $300 is met so you'll be active all the way through January 2014..
4. You get all the perks of preordering, demo-only forums and galleries, magazine and more.
5. You are halfway to promoting to Senior Associate already.
6. You will be earning a Volume Rebate for selling more than $400 for the month, an additional 5% of your total sales that is direct deposited into your checking account the following month.
7. You have me as your totally awesome upline and mentor. 

 But wait, you say--how come I get the sales if YOU did the party?

The answer is simple--you're going to do the work!

Before the show, you and I will meet and decide on the Make N Takes and prep three super cute projects your friends will love. I'll spot you the cardstock and supplies as my welcome gift to you. We'll brainstorm on the best ways to get the maximum number of guests there so your party is likely to hit that magic $500.

At the show, you'll help me set up (I'll let you decide if you want to wear one of my black Stampin' Up aprons) and you'll walk everyone through the cards with my help (if you even need it!). I'll handle the catalog tour and telling them about the specials and you can observe.

After the show, I'll total the orders while you serve the snacks and chat with your friends. If any of them are interested in helping you out by hosting a party themselves, we'll put them on your calendar. You can pay me back for any catalogs or hostess packet materials out of your own kit when it comes.

Sound like something that really ought to be tried?

It is. You have nothing to lose.

After all, if your party doesn't hit $500:

1. You can just be the hostess like you normally would, and earn hostess goodies as usual.
2. We still had a super fun night stamping with your girlfriends.
3. I'm not out anything that I wouldn't normally be out from any party. 
4. You could still sign up as a demo and just pay whatever portion of the Starter Kit isn't covered, or ask your family to consider that your birthday or anniversary gift.
5. We don't have to tell anyone we are trying to get your Starter Kit for free unless you want to.

When I type it all out for you like this, it almost takes my breath away, how incredibly wonderful this opportunity is, especially right now with a free kit of your choice from the Holiday Catalog tacked on. I hope you do give me a call. I'm so glad I did it, and you will be, too. Total amazingness is right around the corner.

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/10/13

Hooray for Saturday! It's been a long, hot week and my family has spent hours and hours in the car, so I'm really glad it's the weekend and I can devote some time to working on my challenge pages. Are you playing along? Leave a comment and track your progress over the month of August 2013 as we try to get 31 pages done! You can do it! I believe in you!

Preserving your family's memories and tradition is important enough to take time out of our busy lives to document the wonderfuly unique and treasured relationships in our lives. Join the "bounce back" of women all over the world who know that an actual album on the coffee table is still worth a thousand pictures on the memory stick!

I've got a vintage-inspired layout for you today! So many times we only have one picture of an ancestor, maybe from their wedding day, and it can be hard to make a whole scrapbook page around one small grainy photo. Often, the quality of the image doesn't allow us to blow it up to a larger size, as well. Plus, the smallness of truly old photos is kind of a neat, special thing that future generations should see and appreciate in this digital world. So I generally like to leave heritage photos at actual size.

I used Natural Composition pre-embossed Specialty Designer Series Papers for this page, both the musical notes background and the fleur-de-lis photo mat. It's a great Crumb Cake or Kraft natural color, and when you sponge, stamp or splatter it, the ink doesn't stick to the raised embossing. This technique is called emboss resist. These papers are awesome because you can have this cool technique in your book in half the time it normally takes! However, the embossing does make it really hard to photograph the finished page--I took eight shots of this before I got one with an acceptable level of glare!

Let's talk about acid-free for a bit. Very, very few things in life are actually acid-free--no matter what the company says about it. I am not one to worry over things like that, but I recognize that many of you are, so if you are hyper-vigilant about it, make sure you put any synthetic fabrics (I used tulle and the new In Color Stretch Ruffle Trim--look at how cute it is poking out around the photo mat!) where it won't touch the actual photo. 100% cotton fabrics are fine. You would also want to put a plain cardstock layer between the Naturals Composition papers and the photo.

I used the large Swallowtail Butterfly background stamp, and the Heartfelt image from Layered Labels with Early Espresso ink... and of course, no vintage page is complete without a little help from Gorgeous Grunge! Everything else is done in Crumb Cake or Baked Brown Sugar, including the great new Boutique Details embellishments and the Boho Blossoms punch.

I had a lot of fun with this page, and I hope you enjoyed the inspiration! Have a great weekend, and don't forget to pop back in every day this month for more instant mojo-making! OOOH and don't forget to leave a comment--the blog candy contest for this week ends at midnight tonight!

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/9/13

If you're just joining us, welcome to Song of My Heart Stampers' new blog series, 31 Pages In 31 Days! Every day during the month of August, I'll be posting a single or double page scrapbook layout for your inspiration. I am running a Scrapbooking Summer School on four consecutive Thursday nights in August, and I've issued them a challenge--complete thirty-one pages in just thirty-one days, and they'll receive a bonus pack of Designer Series Papers at the end of the month!

YOU CAN PLAY ALONG with us by challenging yourself to complete thirty-one pages, too, and posting your progress here on Song of My Heart Stampers. I also have set up a 31 Pages in 31 Days Facebook group, where you can even post pictures of your pages to inspire and encourage others who are taking the challenge, too!

Each week in August will have SCRAPPER'S BLOG CANDY given away to one lucky winner from the week's comments here at the Song of My Heart blog. You can comment once on each entry with that has the cute little "31 Pages in 31 Days" butterfly banner that I created in My Digital Studio.Tomorrow is the last day to leave a comment for a free photopolymer stamp set!

Some quick inspiration for you today as I am headed out the door to the grand finale of Vacation Bible School at our old church this morning (whew! we made it!)... These are more of the Travel Journal papers from the Clearance Rack--I'm telling you, you need them!I love the updated touch the chevron punch adds to everything. I also used Cute Clips and staples to add some metallic elements in, and two types of ribbon to add texture.

I really like the new line of buttons Stampin' Up came out with, too. They're nice and flat, so they don't poke up too much off the page, and they come in the most yummy colors! This color scheme was drawn straight from the papers--Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Garden Green, Very Vanilla and Pumpkin Pie.

Scrapbooking Summer School kicked off last night and we all had a marvellous time. Many, many MANY thanks to Jane for the use of her lovely home, which we filled pretty much to capacity! I can't WAIT for next week!

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/8/13

Good morning! I've got more scrapbooking inspiration for you today--are you ready? I hope you're having fun playing along with the challenge I pose every year to the Scrapbooking Summer School enrollees... 31 pages finished in the 31 days of August! We've got all kinds of fun things going on--our own hashtag, a Facebook group, and blog candy giveaways... be sure to leave a comment on any of the official 31 Pages in 31 Days posts to enter. This week we're giving away a free Wanderlust photopolymer stamp set!

Tonight is our first class of 2013... I'm so excited!
Today's double-page spread (actually this is for next week's class) is perfect for camping or scouts. My family does neither of those things, but we do have lots of pictures in the woods or mountain hiking that will be perfect for these pages. I used The Great Outdoors stamp set to make a graphic panel along the bottom edge of my layout. I wanted it to echo the old line-drawn outdoor living "how-to" manuals, so I did it all in Early Espresso ink on the Crumb Cake background papers (part of the Travel Journal Designer Series Papers, currently on the Clearance Rack). I liked the casual addition of the Noteable Alphabet stamp set combined with my own scripty handwriting for the headline.


When I do outdoorsy pages, I like to rough them up good. This page got sanded, smudged, sponged, torn, balled up, tied together, and finally given a good going-over with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set. Love that thing!! Then I added Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive mats, with Old Olive washi tape (from the Season of Style suite) and Rich Razzleberry stitched narrow grosgrain ribbon to add texture, color and interest.
Love the kind of pages where the more you do to it the better it looks! What's your favorite kind of page? Do you like clean and simple, or big and bold? Do you tend to crop photos, or use them full size? Pull your colors from the pictures, or change them all to black and white? The great thing about scrapbooking is that anything goes! It's all about YOU and your style. I'm still developing mine... how about you?

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/7/13

Hello, everybody! And welcome back to 31 Pages in 31 Days, a unqiue challenge to get us back scrappin'! While you may not be able to work on pages every day this month, set yourself a goal to create 31 pages during August. You'll be so glad you did, when your scrapbooking mojo is back and you're happily creating once more. Treat yourself to a couple hours in the craft room!

Today's page was designed with new drivers in mind! Wouldn't this be cute to do for a "my first car" layout? What a fun way to document a big milestone like a new car, a learner's permit, or hubby's new toy. You could change out the background paper to match the vehicle, and the My Digital Studio printed stamp (from the download Certified) looks like a license. I often use My Digital Studio to print out elements for my page, or to journal. It's a great way to expand your selection of images, plus you can resize and recolor them super easy!

My background page is Marina Mist from the Polka Dot Parade papers, matted in Basic Black, with black and white buttons and a smashed bottle cap with a  1-inch circle punched stamp from Around the World in it. I just felt like I had to use the snazzy new Chevron Punch on this page, but I wanted to do something different with it. I decided to echo the chrome that will gleam from the photos on this page eventually, and punched some chevrons from aluminum-foil covered cardstock. Then I inserted them back into the punched negative from my chevron border strip. Pretty cool!

So, are you playing along? Leave a comment if you're scrapping this month, too, and if you've set yourself a challenge or deadline. There's power in numbers, and I feel encouraged knowing so many people are working towards a big, exciting goal with me! Be sure to tag your photos with the #31pagesin31days hashtag if you're posting to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, and when you search for that tag, yours and everyone else's pages will come up. Awesome way to get your stuff out there and gets lots of inspiration, too.

I feel a girly page comin' on... stay tuned for more 31 Pages in 31 Days tomorrow!

Creative Escape in a Box? Sign me up!

Use the promotion code PUMPKINDEAL to join Paper Pumpkin before August 31, 2013, and pay only $10 a month for the first two months. And YES, shipping is included! I want to get these fabulous monthly kits in the mail out to everyone to try--because once you've had a Paper Pumpkin in your hands, you'll never look back! Take the cutest stampin' project kits on the market today for a test drive this summer!

Designed for NEW crafters or BUSY crafters, Paper Pumpkins are also wonderful for new moms who need a short break, apartment dwellers with limited space, teenagers who like to personalize trends in a cute way, and the pint-sized crafters who are always begging to stamp with mom. A world of possibilities is contained in these cute little orange boxes!

Here's the skinny!

• This super-dee-duper sale price is only for the first two months of a new subscription. After that time, the price for each month's kit will go to the regular price of $19.95. You can put the subscription on hold, or cancel it at any time if you decide not to continue.
• Simply visit www.mypaperpumpkin.com to join quickly and easily online. I'll send you a squealy happy email welcoming you and inviting you to a special Facebook group where we share photos of what we've done with our kits that month! 
• You must click "Add Promo Code" and then enter the promo code PUMPKINDEAL in the "Promo Code" field when you sign up to take advantage of this sale price. Don't forget to add the code!
• Sign up before the tenth of the month, and your first My Paper Pumpkin will mail THIS month!
• Sale ends Saturday, August 31, 2013, so be sure to sign up NOW before you forget!

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/613

Welcome to Song of My Heart Stampers' new blog series, 31 Pages In 31 Days! Every day during the month of August, I'll be posting a single or double page scrapbook layout for your inspiration. I am running a Scrapbooking Summer School on four consecutive Thursday nights in August, and I've issued them a challenge--complete thirty-one pages in just thirty-one days, and they'll receive a bonus pack of Designer Series Papers at the end of the month!

YOU CAN PLAY ALONG with us by challenging yourself to complete thirty-one pages, too, and posting your progress here on Song of My Heart Stampers. I also have set up a 31 Pages in 31 Days Facebook group, where you can even post pictures of your pages to inspire and encourage others who are taking the challenge, too!

Today's inspirational layout is a sweet Strawberry Slush polka-dotted page with a really retro feel to it.Strawberry Slush is an amazingly hard-to-describe shade of hot pink with just the barest hint of coral, but it's cool rather than warm, and looks best paired with white, not cream, and aqua blues. Fortunately, we have a gorgeous array of aqua blue tones ranging from Soft Sky and Pool Party to Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay and Island Indigo! I'm loving all the turquoise shades in the department stores right now. and can you guess what color my toenails are? That's right, Coastal Cabana!

This layout is for five to six smallish photos, but you could easily adapt it to two or three by changing the mat size. I used the mat-within-a-mat technique on this page, creating one large 8.5 inch square mat and interior, then adding smaller photo mats layered on top within that framework.

I used a blender stamp from the Crazy Mixed-Up Love stamp set for my focal point, and played up the hearts from that in my border of punched hearts. My border was originally just evenly spaced "negative" punches to let the Bermuda Bay colored mat from behind show through, and I had planned to discard the actual white hearts... but then I had the idea to layer them in between, and I liked how it looked.That hard, clear shiny stuff is Crystal Effects--love it!

Scrapbooking isn't dead!

I hope you're enjoying my blog series, and I invite you to leave a comment and become part of the conversation here at Song of My Heart Stampers. Scrapbooking is NOT dead--far from it! It's evolving, and people are looking for ways to make it work for them, but I'm actually seeing a little bounce back from the digital world to return to more traditional forms of papercrafting. It's encouraging to me to see people trying new things, and if they're not working, maybe try doing old things in a new way. So if you're "still" scrapping the "old-fashioned" way--stand proud! You're not alone, and you'll find plenty of inspiration here from me and Stampin' Up.

See you tomorrow for more 31 Pages in 31 Days!

Two spots left for Christmas Club 2013!

This is the perfect, short-term club commitment for anyone who wants to send handmade Christmas cards but doesn’t feel like they have the time.  We will be meeting once a month during August, September, October and November to create 12 Christmas cards each month—4 each of three designs—for a grand total of 48 beautiful holiday cards at the end of the four sessions.

 The cards will be able to be more advanced than the ones we do in one big long day at my annual Stamp A Stack, because we’ll be able to take a little more time with them. So be prepared for some more advanced techniques and lots of Christmas bling! I will be designing a variety of styles and color schemes so there will be something for everyone.

We will be using AMAZING new products from the 2013 Holiday Catalog! Holy cow is there some cool stuff in there, like silver foil papers, new embossing folders and Big Shot dies, new double-sidedpapers, snazzy new ribbons and embellishments, new Thinlets, and of course, lots and lots of new stamp sets! And don’t worry—YES, I bought the snowflake and framelit set!!! : )

Our club sessions will be on the third Monday night of the month. The dates are August 19^th, September 16^th, October 21st, and November 18th.   Cost is just $15 per person per month for the four month commitment. If you pay in full at the first meeting, I will throw in a package of envelopes totally free and you can stamp those to match each month!!

UPDATED this year: I now have two Embossing Mate heat tool holders, for easy, hands-free heat embossing! You are going to fall in love with this amazing invention.

ALSO NEW THIS YEAR! Add $20 to your check and I will bring you a SNAIL adhesive and three refills, so you don’t even have to remember to bring your adhesive—how awesome is that?? Snail will be available individually at regular price at each club meeting as well.

 If you’d like to join me in being prepared in advance this year for the holidays, be all done with your cards by Thanksgiving, and have a fun night out once a month, call or email me today to reserve your spot! [email protected] (920) 261-3962

The DEADLINE TO RSVP is Friday, August 9^th.

 PS--PLEASE FORWARD THIS LINK TO YOUR FRIENDS!! If one of them RSVP’s, I will have a gift for you both at the first club! : )

 PSS—if you have a prior commitment for one or more of the sessions, but still really want to participate, let me know!

PSST—need more than 48 Christmas cards total? Consider signing up for two spots! You won’t be able to get them all finished in one session, but you could do all the stamping and prep work and then assemble at home at your leisure.

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/5/13 + blog candy!

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm glad you decided to pop in and join the celebration! My Scrapbooking Summer School ladies are excited that this is the week their classes begin, but the 31 Pages in 31 Days challenge is already on day five. It's not a party without prizes, however, so let's give something fun away, shall we? How about a FREE STAMP SET?

Love the fun photopollies Stampin' Up recently came out with--totally clear, trendy new photopolymer stamps that you use with our clear blocks. Just peel, stick, stamp! Our first blog candy for the week of August 5-10 is the Wanderlust travel-themed stamp set pictured here!

You already know how to enter, if you've been keeping up with us since we started, but here's a recap for anyone just joining us. Leave a comment on any post with the cute little 31 Pages in 31 Days banner logo, and your name will be entered in the drawing. You can comment once per post, so you have 31 chances at winning the four prizes!

You do not have to order to enter, but of course if you appreciate the free inspiration that comes out of the Song of My Heart stamp room and would like to show it by ordering some fabulous Stampin' Up tools for your own stamp room, well, I'm not gonna stop you! Click here to go shopping!
All righty then... my schedule is JAM-packed this week and my time is almost up, so let's move on to the Day Five  of our 31 Days of inspirational scrapbooking yumminess! This two-page spread uses my very favorite Designer Series Papers, Eastern Elegance. The page looks deceptively simple--all those square frames cut into the pieces of patterned papers were done with the new Squares Collection Framelits for the Big Shot. I loooove the new Sizzix products in the big catalog and the new 2013 Holiday Catalog! If only I had a little more time to play with all my new toys!!

Many of the frames are popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals to give them dimension and interest. I used the crisp summery color scheme suggested by the papers, of course--Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry/Summer Sun, and Whisper White. There is also Smoky Slate, a nice light gray, in these papers, but I left those patterns out for this page.

I used Crushed Curry ink and a sentiment from the Happy Day stamp set, which has several over-sized sayings that are perfect for scrapbookers. My Scrapbooking Summer School attendees will be making these Simply Pressed clay roses for their pages, as well as stamping on our fun new Canvas Creations to add texture and textiles to this layout. I can't wait for our first class on Thursday!

That's it from me today--don't forget to leave a comment here to enter to win the Wanderlust stamp set, and I'll see you back here on Tuesday for Day Six of the 31 Pages in 31 Days Challenge!

Welcome to In Love With Color! Weekly color combining inspiration can be easily found at your fingertips here at Song of My Heart Stampers. Updated with the latest Stampin' Up colors, and keeping an eye on trends in fashion, home decor and papercrafting, Song of My Heart Stampers shares three different color combos every Sunday morning for your inspiration.

Want to play along? Send a link to a project inspired by one of my combos to me at [email protected], and once a month I will pick a favorite to feature on the first Sunday of the month. Enjoy!

This week's color combos:

1. Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Calypso Coral and Pear Pizzaz
2. Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Pool Party and Rich Razzleberry
3. Soft Sky, Island Indigo, Garden Green and Crisp Cantaloupe

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/4/13

Welcome to Day Four of 31 Pages in 31 Days! So far, so good! If you're a scrapbooker or a wannabe-scrapper, you are invited to play along as my Scrapbooking Summer School attendees and I try to reach our goal of each creating 31 pages during the month of August 2013. Leave a comment on any one of the 31 Days posts and you'll be entered to win weekly blog candy!
If you're playing along and posting your page pictures to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, tag them with #31pagesin31days, and the hashtag will help share your pages and inspire others to play, too!

This single-page layout can take between one to four photos. I used a single sheet of the Epic Day Designer Series patterned papers, flipping the elongated chevron side over to the distressed polka-dotted side for my accent piece and pulling out the Calypso Coral color with matching washi tape and a tag I cut in half and used in two different places.The Epic Day papers are quite distressed-looking, so I roughed up the background cardstock and stamped it with Gorgeous Grunge. I also wiped my ink pad over the edges and then went back with a Craft White ink pad for a faux milk-paint look.

I would normally fill my entire Flourish Frame with paper, but I've noticed the trend is to use the frame but NOT fill it, so I tried that on this page by just adding a small banner from the Sketched Birthday stamp set and coordinating Big Shot Framelits. These great frames are on the Clearance Rack for dirt cheap right now... go check them out!

The really standout on this page is the strip of Silver Glimmer Paper, punched repeatedly with the Small Heart punch. It was actually just a leftover piece, but I couldn't bear to throw it away! It adds a lot of pizzazz and compliments the silver frame and brads without being TOO shiny.

Got Questions?

Sometimes people tell me they got the background, photos & mats, and layout part down, but then they're stumped as to what embellishments to add to a page to really step it up from finished to fantastic. Personally, once I've completed all the paper components and got the layout where I want it, I look to see where I can add three things: organic elements, texture, and textiles. There should always been something to rub your hand over and touch. There should always be a little bit of metal, wood, "glass" or other organic element. And there should always be a little bit of ribbon, cloth, burlap, canvas, felt, or tulle somewhere, for the textile element. I also almost always add ink, whether it's stamped or sponged or even just rubbed on the edges of the cardstock to antique it.

If you feel like your pages are lacking in pizzazz, ask yourself where you could add texture, organic elements, or textiles, or all three of them, or where a stamp or some sponging might soften edges and take the page up a notch.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog series, and I hope you'll pop back in tomorrow to see the page I created with my very favorite patterned papers in the new catalog, plus the new Squares Collection Sizzix Big Shot Framelits! If you're new to my blog, the very best way to get updates is to subscribe to get my posts in your favorite blog reader or via email. The buttons are on the top right hand sidebar. You'll be all set in about thirty seconds, and that way you don't have to try to remember where you left me! See you tomorrow!

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/3/13

Happy Saturday! Is it a scrapbookin' kinda day for you? I hope so! Summers seem to be either feast or famine in regards to papercrafting... either you have MORE time than normal to devote to it, or ZERO time like normal to devote to it. Hope you're making time for developing the creative outlet that our souls long for, whether your artistic medium is stamps and paper, or something else!

It's NOT a scrapbooking day for me, sadly! We're gearing up for VBS week at our old church, and this weekend is consumed with reunion activities for my hubby's high school class. Not sure why, but lately I feel compelled to note that Mike is seven years old than me. But anyway, I have posts set up for you even though I'm swamped, and I'll check back in at night to answer questions you might have.

I promised you an easy sports layout, and here it is. The color scheme is generic--Pumpkin Pie, Night of Navy and Garden Green--and the pennants are non-specific, so this page can be used for any time of sports and any ages of the athletes, too. If your family is into sports, Pennant Parade is a great choice, AND it has a coordinating punch, so making tons of cute banners and pennants in any color you want is super easy!

You could make the pennant handles from paper, but for a nice 3-D touch, I used toothpicks. I cut off the pointy ends with my Craft & Rubber Scissors, so there's no chance they will poke into the page protectors when I put them in my album.The pennants are accented with the new Candy Dots "brads"--such handy little things, with no backs to worry about!

This double-page layout is one we'll be working on during Scrapbooking Summer School, and I'm looking forward to seeing what headlines the attendees choose to use for their pages. I used a generic "go team," but other options would be the team name, child's name and jersey number, mascot name, or just "team spirit" or "all-stars" or "score." I'm not one to stand around empty-handed, so I usually man the Big Shot machine and die-cut their headlines for them so we can get even more pages done in a sitting. I used Typeset Alphabet dies for this one.

Got Questions?

I'm often asked why my pages are almost always shown without photos on them. The answer is two-fold. Number one, it's much easier for class attendees to "see" the layouts without cute photos of my kids in the way. To assemble the pages as I designed them (although improv is definitely encouraged!), they must be able to "deconstruct" the page into elements so they can put their own kits together.

Secondly, photos are a great distraction from actually scrapbooking! Many of my class members were skeptical of my no-photos approach when they first started coming to my events, but most agree now that they get way more done by focusing on the layouts first, and popping the photos in afterwards. My layouts are all designed with great flexibility in mind, and most pages can take anywhere from one to six photos, depending on what you need to make fit. I'll be talking more about this style of scrapbooking in future posts.

See you tomorrow for the fourth installment of 31 Pages in 31 Days! If you're challenging yourself and playing along from home, don't forget to tag your photos on Facebook or Twitter with the #31pagesin31days hashtag, and join the conversation on the 31 Pages in 31 Days Facebook Group!

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/2/13

Welcome to Day Two of my new blog series, 31 Pages In 31 Days! Every day during the month of August, I'll be posting a single or double page scrapbook layout for your inspiration. YOU CAN PLAY ALONG with us by challenging yourself to complete thirty-one pages, too, and posting your progress here on Song of My Heart Stampers. I also have set up a 31 Pages in 31 Days Facebook group, where you can even post pictures of your pages to inspire and encourage others who are taking the challenge, too!

Don't forget, each week in August there will be SCRAPBOOKER'S BLOG CANDY given away to one lucky winner from the week's comments here at the Song of My Heart blog. You can comment once on each entry in the series, so there will be 31 total chances you'll be picked as a winner--not too shabby!

Ready to see today's featured page? This "You Make Me Happy" single page makes fun use of the Bloomin' Bouquet project kit from Stampin' Up, on a versatile square layout that can accommodate a single large photo or several smaller ones.

The project kit (view it here) is supposed to be a 3-D bouquet of paper flowers, but the flowers are so cute I have been using them all over the place on pages and cards and gift items. They make fabulous "instant" party decor, too! They come with the Vintage Faceted "glass" buttons that I love so much because I can't help thinking of my Grandma Griffin and the glass doorknobs in her little old house in Minneapolis. As a child I thought those doorknobs were the coolest thing ever!

I took the Calypso Coral from one of the flowers, and lightened it up a shade by using Crisp Cantaloupe (one of the new 2013-15 In Color Collection) as my mat and in the strip of chevron-patterned paper. Additional Soft Sky and So Saffron flowers were accented with ribbon scraps (this is a fabulous page for ribbon scraps!) of Island Indigo and Calypso Coral chevron ribbon, and our new 1.25-inch Burlap Ribbon (from the 2013 Holiday Catalog).

My Crisp Cantaloupe ink pad is JUICY! So I stamped it off once on scratch paper before stamping the Flowering Flourishes stamp so it would peek out from behind my mat. Then I paper-pierced all the way around the square to add interest without busyness. Love how the piercing templates from Stampin' Up make it so easy to get nice straight lines and evenly pierced holes.
The title of this page came from a cute stamp set I just got at Convention 2013, called Hello Lovely. It's perfect for scrappers, and I'll be using it a couple more times this month, I'm sure! 31 Pages in 31 Days is off to a great start--thanks for visiting, and be sure to pop back in and see tomorrow's easy sports-themed spread!

31 Pages in 31 Days: 8/1/13

Welcome to Song of My Heart Stampers' new blog series, 31 Pages In 31 Days! Every day during the month of August, I'll be posting a single or double page scrapbook layout for your inspiration. I am running a Scrapbooking Summer School on four consecutive Thursday nights in August, and I've issued them a challenge--complete thirty-one pages in just thirty-one days, and they'll receive a bonus pack of Designer Series Papers at the end of the month!

YOU CAN PLAY ALONG with us by challenging yourself to complete thirty-one pages, too, and posting your progress here on Song of My Heart Stampers. I also have set up a 31 Pages in 31 Days Facebook group, where you can even post pictures of your pages to inspire and encourage others who are taking the challenge, too!

Each week in August will have SCRAPPER'S BLOG CANDY given away to one lucky winner from the week's comments here at the Song of My Heart blog. You can comment once on each entry with that has the cute little "31 Pages in 31 Days" butterfly banner that I created in My Digital Studio.

So, without further, ado, here's some inspiration to kick us off!

This is a sneak peek of the "Road Trip" from our first Scrapbooking Summer School class on August 8th. I think they're going to love it! I used map-themed Travel Journal background papers (from the Clearance Rack--get them while they last!), the new Around the World, Filmstrip, and Six-Sided Sampler stamp sets, the new Hexagon Punch, the Typeset Alphabet Bigz dies for the Big Shot, and stitched narrow grosgrain ribbon for accent.

The 2.5-inch circle punch was used to punch two photo windows on the right hand page, and the leftover circle was used on the left page to create a fun accent with a Ribbon Slide (also from the Clearance Rack). I am kind of lazy (ok, a LOT lazy) and I didn't want to hand-cut my arrows, so I punched them out with the Word Window punch.

Love how the Filmstrip single stamp added to my pages and coordinated with the cute camera and Polaroid stamps in the Around the World set. The Summer School participants will be able to personalize the headline to say whatever they want--the destination name, "on the road again," "Bon Voyage!" or even "leavin' on a jet plane," if they add the airplane stamp that I left off this page.

I hope you LOVE what you see during August, and I REALLY hope it inspires you to get back to scrappin'. Life is short and you have to carve out time for the things you love. If you don't scrap yet and you've wanted to get started, what is stopping you from fulfilling that creative dream? Don't hesitate to ask--I would love to help you get started!

Everything you see on my blog is available to purchase from Stampin' Up. Some things have been discontinued and are on the Clearance Rack, and I'll clue you in to that so you can go snatch them up at slaes prices of up to 80% off regular price, if you want to. There are some particular bargains for scrapbookers going on right now!

See you tomorrow for Day Two of the 31 Pages in 31 Days series!

Introducing August's 25th Anniversary Collection Stamp Set!

Stampin' Up is celebrating their 25th year in fabulous style! Introducing the seventh installment in our  "Best of 25 Years" Anniversary Collection, a special-edition series of 12 stamp sets featuring the "best of" artwork from the past 25 years, plus one exclusive new image in each set! Each month will have a different theme.

January was birthdays... February was love...March was flowers...April was butterflies...May was Brides & Babies.... June was greetings ... July was Shelli's favorites. Ready to see August's set? It's all about Halloween!

Some things to note:

• All Best of 25 Years stamp sets will include 3-5 images, including a never-before seen image, and will be priced at $14.95 (clear-mount only).
• While they are releasing just one Best of stamp set per month (with a new theme each month), ALL of the Best of 25 Years sets will be available to purchase until March 31, 2014. So if you missed a month you can still get one for your collection until that time.
• A new flyer will be released every month for each new Best of set, so head over here to see the images and get the skinny!
• You can get the Best of Anniversary Collection sets (no limits) on my shopping website: www.lyssa.stampinup.net

BONUS TIME! Stampin' Up is including a collector's card and 25-year proof of purchase sticker with every Best of set. Collect six stickers, and send it in to redeem a FREE set of your choice valued up to $14.95! Free sets must be redeemed no later than April 30, 2014. So don't forget and pitch the sticker that comes in each 25th Anniversary Collection stamp set--it's tiny--save it to add to the card later!

2013 Christmas and Holiday Collection

Christmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween project inspiration abounds in the new 2013 Holiday Catalog, beginning today, August 1st! The Holiday Catalog has it all!

Click here to see a PDF of the 40-pages of stampy goodness, otherwise known as the 2013 Holiday Collection!

Click here to browse the Holiday products and read individual descriptions in my shopping website.

Check out these favorites:

• NEW "Season of Style" This & That scrapbooking line
• NEW Chevron punch!
• NEW "Festive Flurry" snowflake stamp set with matching Big Shot Framelits
• NEW Bracket Label Punch and coordinating "Tags 4 You" stamp set
• NEW exclusive Thinlets and Framelits for the Big Shot
• NEW embossing folders!
• NEW 12x12 gold and silver foil sheets to punch, layer, or die-cut
• NEW holiday banner kits, tablesetting kits, and gift packaging galore!
• And of course... all NEW stamp sets! 

If you did not receive a hard copy of the catalog for your very own, let's fix that! Email me and I will send one to you-- [email protected]. And let's schedule a holiday-themed workshop for you this fall! It can be any specific holiday, or a blend of holiday and regular cards. We'll have so much fun!