Scrappy Happy Hour Replay

Hi friends! It’s spring (or so I’ve heard, the days just blur together lately) so I thought I’d share of our lovely spring weather. This white stuff knocked out the power to most of the state last night.

We just got power and internet back so I wanted to hop on and share a replay of yesterdays live-stream.

This is the left side of the double page layout.

This is the right side of the 2 page spread.

We made 2 scrapbook pages and 4 cards.

It was fun to chat and visit. This might be a nice friendly video to have on in the background as you craft.

I used a variety of supplies here. It’s really more about using what you have that will work than having exactly what I have. Many of my supplies are older and discontinued. I’ll try and list out the supplies you can find now tho. If available, affiliate links used.

• ATG tape runner
• Cheap ATG refills
• Distress Oxide Inks
• Sizzix locker die/sticched slots (that I put the library card in)
• Sizzix tab dies
• I also mentioned the store Rubber Stamp Tapestry for peg stamps, mini ink pads (Versacolor was the pigment ones I mentioned) and the stamps for the inside of your card if you want the recipient to know they can reuse it. They are a wonderful family run business!

That’s all for today! I had a pretty lazy day with the internet down, I sewed my first cloth face mask because they are saying we should wear them in public now. I haven’t been to the grocery store in 3 weeks and I don’t want to be shamed for not wearing one if I have to venture out for food tomorrow. Jason went last week and said only a few people had masks on but I bet most do now. I must finish this blog post and check out student work from my online classes as I was unable to check in today due to no internet, thanks for being patient (I have awesome students!) Oh and if you want to join any of my online classes you can use the coupon code: NOFOOLING to get 50% off for the month of April so you can learn some new skills while you are safe at home. Just click “add coupon” on the checkout page and enter the coupon code to get the deal. All of my courses have lifetime access for one low price, except Critique Club which is a monthly membership group. Have a nice weekend and til next time happy crafting!

Make Pretty Dimensional Elements with Scraps!

Hi friends! Today I have a quick tip for making page titles and embellishments using stuff you probably already have!

This is the year title on the scrapbook calender I made my parents for Christmas. All you need is small scraps of craft foam (aka fun foam or foamies) something with texture like a rubber stamps and a heat source like a light bulb or heat tool. You can also use pigment ink like I did for a more dramatic effect. Watch the video to see how!

I hope you are enjoying the last few days of 2018 and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s Crop! A Halloween Page Scrapped LIVE!

Hi friends! Today, with help from my niece Sarah, I did my first live tutorial on YouTube! Here is the 2 page layout we made!

DCF 1.0

DCF 1.0

I had a great time. I love how people could ask me questions as we cropped, in fact it was a lot like a real crop, sharing, chatting and laughing as we crafted! If you missed it live you can catch the replay here! It seems like a few minutes were cut off from the beginning of the show, not sure why, but the folk who were there live got to see, basically it was me matting the photos, no biggie.  Don’t worry, this will not replace the short edited videos, this is just something new I have added to the mix! I hope you enjoy AND you make something right along with me. Let’s make this like a real crop!

Video!

We are planning on doing a live watercolor class next Friday at 12:30-1:30pm Eastern Time if you want to pencil it in. I think that day and time will work well and if you can’t make it live you can always catch the replay:) Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss it! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Friday Night Scrappin! {Yeah, I know how to PARTY!}

Hi friends! Tonight I want to share a scrapbook page I just finished:

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Page 

I really like how it came out. I like to do a highly decorated page like this and then use the same papers to make other photo heavy pages from the same time or location. Sometimes to fit more photos in I will use the 4″x6″ divided page protectors. The metal embellishments I am using are from ButterBeeScraps. They sent me a large assortment to play with. AND they gave me a 15% off coupon code to share with you: frugal15 It’s good for 1 week, they ship worldwide and ANYONE can use the coupon code on all items except grab bags. 

Here is how I set them out on my workspace, I think it is a good idea to lay out all of the options you have for a page before you begin. It makes scrapping really fast because you don’t have to go looking for things.

BTW if you like seeing pics of my projects in process you can follow me on Instagram, I post a pic of my desk most days. Yes, it’s thrilling I tell you.

I had a mix of metal and resin embellishments to work from. I always look at the shape and design rather than color because you can use acrylic paint or alcohol ink to modify that. Also the thin metal filigree pieces and be altered with wire cutters, see how I made the page corners?

So easy to alter!

Here is a list of supplies I used to make my page:

• Scrapbook Paper & Stickers: K&Co
• Adhesive: ATG tape (paper) Helmar 450 (metal and resin embellishments)
• Resin Cameo & frame
• Square filigree
• Long filigree
• Bee Charm
• Silver butterfly
• Rhinestones
• Resin Rose charm
• Wood letters
• Pen,  inkpad (for edging)

I was really impressed with the quality of the embellishments from ButterBeeScraps. There prices are low too and even better with the 15% off coupon code frugal15, but don’t wait, the coupon expires 9/5/15! I am really excited to use some of the items I did not get a chance to use on this page in some jewelry and wine glass charms! What would you make?

Don’t be afraid to alter! Ink checked the cameo frame from silver to bronze and a few rhinestones made the wooden letters pop!

Altered wooden letters.

The only other thing I wanted to mention today is to create the way you want to. I realize that my scrapbook style might be a little to “fru-fru” for some but I love mixing patterns, color and texture. That’s what is great about this hobby, you can do it anyway you like! I want to thank ButterBeeScraps for sponsoring this post and giving my readers the awesome coupon off their already low prices (seriously, do not wait, use code frugal15 to grab what you want now because the coupon is only good for a week!) Please note, the grab bags are not included in the coupon because they are crazy cheap. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Saturday Scrapping Easter Pages!

Hi friends! I hope you are having a good weekend. I mentioned earlier today on Facebook that my craft room had hit critical mass. I had several orders for upcoming workshops and framing jobs arrive this week and lots of things to finish up and package for the Made in Maine Expo I am getting ready for May 2nd and it was all just there congesting my basement! So I tackled it this morning! I organized and sorted things, checked framing orders and unboxed goodies. I put away the Jenga pile of supplies that towered precariously at the end of my table that built up over the past 2 weeks and rewarded myself (and my family) by ordering pizza for dinner! I’d love to say my table was still cleaned off but I can’t be sure, my daughters saw my new chalk marker test paper and they had to use them so I might be out of black cardstock and chalk markers now and there might be a new pile of art on my table but I’m not going to worry about that. Besides, a well used art room can’t be clean all the time 🙂 I did take some breaks to enjoy this beautiful warm sunny spring day. We played catch with the kids and we all enjoyed the weather. I took some time earlier this week to scrapbook some photos from Easter, it is my favorite holiday to scrap because of the beautiful spring colors which are welcome after a long winter.

I love the pastel colors! This year instead of snapping pics of my kids hunting for eggs (in the snow…) I got a few shots of our kids and my nephew at my parent’s house. I usually forget to take pictures but I used all the photos I took on this two page layout. I have a few time saving techniques I like to use to create quick layouts. Today I will share them in this video:

Video!

This video is sponsored by Mixbook, save up to 50% on your photobook order with the coupon code YTINF50

Supplies:
Photos
Kraft cardstock
Scrapbook Paper (Pebbles by American Crafts)
Doilies (Papermart)
Chalk Marker (White-CraftyCroc)
Black journaling pen
Raveled Rose Trim (Dritz)
Hot glue and ATG tape
Die cuts (Anna Griffin, Sizzix)
Paper trimmer and scissors
Buttons

Here is a closer look at the pages:

I hope you enjoyed this project. Don’t worry about perfect pages, enjoy the process of making the memories and print the photos so you will always remember the day. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

How are Your Memory Keeping Plans Coming Along?

Hi Friends! I love all of the options for memory keeping and scrapbooking there are right now. People are sharing pictures and updates on social media, digital scrapping, journaling, using pocket pages and even day-planners to record their memories. I am a traditional scrapbooker. I tried the pocket pages but found them more useful for organizing my pictures and for putting pics in my scrapbook that I don’t feel I want to do a page on. I love social media for being able to have access to photos that people have tagged me in or shared with me (I download them and print them small in photo collages due to their size) but I have never been comfortable posting personal info on Facebook or other networks. I have been scrapbooking long enough that I can look at a new system and pretty quickly know if it will work for me or not.

This 2 page layout was made using a sketch provided in the Memory Keeping 101 course at Curious.com.

 

I had the advantage of starting scrapbooking when it was a fairly new trendy hobby and there was not much choice and quite frankly it made it easy. You got a stack of photos from the developer, you had cardstock, stickers, adhesive and an album. Maybe you local store had a rack of patterned paper to choose from if you were lucky. We borrowed ribbon and buttons from our craft stash but that was about it. Now there is an overwhelming amount of choice. Choice can be paralyzing. Do I try digital? Do I try Project Life? What if I buy supplies and don’t know what to do with them? How do I get those darn photos off my phone anyway? And everyday there are more options for memory keeping from apps, to cloud storage, to planners and other crafty goodies (last weekends CHA show unveiled a staggering amount of new memory keeping and scrapbooking gadgets) so where do we start if you are a beginner? I had the chance to take the Memory Keeping 101 class taught by Studio Scrapping at Curious.com a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to see if it could really demystify the memory keeping options out there today:

I made a layout and altered a journal prompted by the course. They talked a lot about memory keeping apps that you could use with your smart phone, it was interesting to know what was available. I don’t use a smart phone and quite frankly I spend so much time on my computer for work I want to be tech free when I enjoy the hobby of scrapbooking. I edit photos and print them on the computer but that’s it for me. Still, for a modern memory keeper it could be perfect.

I altered this notebook following instructions from the course.

 

I think this course is best for a beginner (hence the name Memory Keeping 101) or a traditional scrapper who wants to know about the techie options for memory keeping. I can see how journaling apps can make things easier. This is not a “How to scrapbook” course. It is an overview of memory keeping options.

The teacher is well-organized and you can even download the class syllabus before enrolling to see if the topics she covers will be up your ally. You can access that during the free preview by clicking the attachment icon on the screen.

This is typically not a class I would take but, then again, I am not the target audience. I have a scrapboking style that I enjoy and works for me. This is more for the folks that are not happy with what they are currently doing and want to try something new or who need a starting point. If you are interested in the class you can check it out here and watch the free intro video and see if it is for you. If you end up buying the course you can get a $5 credit towards your next class at Curious by emailing support@curious.com with the words: thefrugalcrafter. Don’t forget to sign up for curious so you won’t miss any special deals or daily free classes! I don’t think it matters whether you use a pad of paper, an app, a planner or a good ol’ scrapbook as  long as you record your story before you forget! If your new years resolution was to start memory keeping give it a try! This blog post was a partnership with Curious.com and I was compensated for my time to take the course. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Preserving Old Newspaper Clippings

Hi Friends! I had my fist day of Jury duty today, I got picked for a civil case in February but I have to report back on Friday to go back in the juror pool for potentially more cases. I am having some anxiety, I  don’t mind being on a civil case but I have a really hard time listing to crime, I can’t even watch crime shows, my stomach is in knots about it. And to add insult to injury they will not let you knit in the court room or bring in a cup of coffee. On the plus side I did make a new friend today, a fellow knitter who works at a yarn shop I didn’t know about. I might check out their Wednesday night knitting club. See, you gotta stay optimistic and look for the silver lining. On to more pleasant things I made my dad the perfect Christmas gift this year, a scrapbook of scanned newspaper articles about his side of the family:

I was a bit overwhelmed when I started this project but I printed out pages as I scanned them so I had something to show for my work, also that way if I did not get everything done at least I had something done but I did manage to scan all of the important stuff. I scanned the clippings at 600dpi and printed them larger so they would be easy to read. I used the curves/levels tool in Paint Shop Pro to reduce the yellow and increase the contrast making them look newer. If you do not have Paint Shop or Photoshop try GIMP it is free and works really well. That’s it for me tonight. The jury selection really tired me out (probably the stressing that I would be put on some horrible criminal case was most of it) so I am going to relax with some tea and TV. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

BoSox Scrappin’ and Post-Turkey Day Chattin’

Hi friends! I wanted to do a bit of fun scrapbooking yesterday and thought that I would turn on the camera when I did. Little did I know that the these of the video would be scrapping with only paper and photos and tips for using both. I made this 2 page layout in under 30 minutes:

Meaningful pages do not have to take a lot of time or cost a lot of money to make. In fact I think using the supplies you have on hand is best for 2 reasons: Less choice so it is quicker and less money because you shop your stash. If you are about to do some scrapbook shopping keep my tips I share throughout the video in mind so you can make wise pattered paper choices. I’ll type more tips out for you below as well. I hope you enjoy this chatty video:) Grab some photos and it will be like we are cropping together!

Since I talked so much (and so fast, sorry about that guys) I wanted to write out my tips and specific items I mentioned in case you wanted to find out more. First, here are the supplies I used on the page:

• 2 sheets 12″x12″ cardstock (kraft colored)
• 2 sheets patterned paper (stars and dots from a $5 CratePaper/American Crafts 12″x12″ pad on sale at ACmoore)
• 3 sheets of patterned paper from a Heidi Swapp/American Crafts pad (also a $5 deal at ACMoore)***This paper I refer to as “embellishment paper” because it contains a lot of elements that can be cut out to use as journal cards and embellishments. (not to be confused with the embellishment paper that Making Memories used to make) I save all of the unused parts of this papers for future layouts, it is really handy because it coordinates with the other papers in the pad. Look for paper pads that have these “embellishment papers” in them because they make scrapbooking cheap and easy!
• X-Acto knife and metal ruler/scissors
• Dry Adhesive & foam tabs if desired
• Brown ink pad if you like the look of inked edges.

Tips for embellishing with patterned paper:
1. Use a natural background like kraft, black or white.
2. Choose papers with patterns of different scale, notice the star print is small and the dots are medium.
3. Choose paper that has journal blocks, cards, banners and tags that can be cut part giving you many ways to use one sheet.
4. Save leftover scraps from your project together in a page protector and you have a future layout ready to go!

Tips for photos {I print mine from home!}
1. I use generic HP02 ink cartridges (6 color set is $5 on amazon and works as well as the $40 HP ink) and Canon Pixma paper, also purchased on amazon for about $12/100 pack 8.5″x11″
2. Print your photos in a collage. I used Paint Shop Pro to arrange these because they needed corrections (they were taken with a low-end camera phone) but for most printing I use the free ipiccy online software.
3. Print dates and titles in leftover areas of the page (if you have any) not only will it help you remember but it is also another page element for no extra cost!
4. If you are printing at home you can use dye based ink to ink edges or rubber stamp on your photos BUT avoid using photo-polymer stamps on your home printed photos because they may bond with the slick photo paper.
5. Store your photo collages in 8″x11″ page proctors (cheap at the office supply store) right in your scrapbook until you are ready to scrapbook them, that way they are organized, you can still flip through and enjoy them and if you never scrap them it is not the end of the world. You have them printed, yeah you! You win the day!
6. This is an organizing tip. Download photos every month from your phone, camera, tablet and Facebook (download any photos you are tagged in and want to keep, they will not be the best quality but they are memories and you should print them, they will look OK if kept under 4″x4″.) Then print out a bunch of photos at a time every couple of months OR upload them to a photo lab to have them printed. You can even have them uploaded to Target or Wal-Mart and pick them up in an hour. There is no excuse, you can do this:)

Biggest tip!!! Don’t worry about being perfect, just capture the memories and have fun. There is no wrong way. Your way is perfect! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

 

My First Time Working With a Scrapbook Kit!

Hi Friends! Do you ever get in a creative rut? Maybe you have trouble coming up with fresh new ideas with the same old supplies. I go quite a while between buying scrapbook supplies and stores where I live never have the new stuff so when Edith at Scrapbooking With Me Boutique asked me to be the guest designer for September and use the new kit I jumped at the chance. BTW they are having a Labor Day sale through Monday, prices reflect the discount, no coded needed:) Here is the layout I made with the kit featuring new 2014 My Minds Eye Paper and die cuts, stamps, stencils and more:

On the video I will show you all the techniques for making these pages, we will make a page start to finish using the contents of the kit plus white cardstock, adhesive and 4 colors of gelatos from my stash:

Here is a close up on the page we made in the video:

And the other page:

If you are looking for a way to inject some fresh inspiration into your scrapbook pages check out the Scrapbooking with Me September kit. You can also visit their facebook group too or check out their store in Vinemont, Alabama. Here is a look at what you get in the September kit:

 

These scrapbook pages came together really quickly (for me) and I love the way they look! No work, all fun. I think I will have to try kits again and I hope you do to! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!