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The Fall Issue is Ready!

Sep 1st, 2010
by Michelle Vocke.
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This incredible Fall Issue is jam-packed with more than 100 pages of inspiration, projects and tutorials! Listed below are some of the incredible layouts, cards, ATCs & projects you’ll find in the Fall 2010 issue:

  • 70+ single page scrapbook layouts & 10 double page layouts.
  • 30 crafting projects and gift ideas and 15 fun cards.
  • 8 fabulous step-by-step tutorials.
  • Incredible studio and room makeovers featuring beautifully crafted organizational furniture from The Original ScrapBox.
  • See how Creative Options helps our Design Team put the “fun” in functional storage.
  • ScrapCessories products are used to solve organizational and storage problems.
  • My Digital Diary shows you how to create a reflection that can add a little extra magic to your next digital layout.
  • Learn the Anatomy of a Layout using elegant, chic and stylish Teresa Collins.
  • Be “In the Know” – find out what drives Jenni Bowlin to create vintage inspired products with a fresh twist.
  • Create a lovely lace frame using Beacon Adhesives and Glue Arts.
  • Outside the Scrapbook Aisle features a variety of projects created using Vintaj natural brass.
  • Discover A Cherry on Top.com – fantastic layouts and an exclusive Free Harvest Haze Kit.
  • Make your own decorations with Retired…Let’s Do Lunch chipboard houses. You don’t want to miss the Halloween House Tutorial!
  • The Stamp Spot features projects using stamps from The Stamping Studio.
  • Read about how Judi Kauffman’s family planted the seeds for impressive crafting career.
  • Create a festive fall centerpiece using Paper Accents.
  • Fabulous hybrid projects featuring PaperStreet Supplies
  • Find hidden treasures with Secret Storage Books
  • Unique ephemera and paper kits from Gauche Alchemy. Plus coupon for 50% off!
  • Sweet Peach Crop Shop offers monthly kits with a perfect mixture of current trends and classic styles.
  • Two sketches from Layout Blueprints come to life with products from Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker.
  • Heartmade features beautiful handmade flowers by Milky Supplies.
  • See lovely layouts created by our fabulous readers and submit to Page Calls for the Winter Issue.
  • Download the Scrap n’ Art Freebie Kit “It’s Great To Be Grand.”
  • Win a fabulous prize package donated by our generous featured manufacturers.

Be inspired, save time, help the environment, save money, and most of all, have fun! Simply click here to subscribe to Scrap n’ Art, the best digital format paper-crafting magazine available.

We’d love having you as a member of our community—and we know you’ll love every issue.

Join us today… hundreds of fabulous ideas are just waiting for you!

Posted in: Site News & Updates.

Martinis Anyone?????

Aug 29th, 2010
by Cathleen Smith.
2 comments

The last time I was at Archivers, I found the most adorable chipboard mini album from Creative Imaginations. The name of the album is “Amber“, and it was perfect for highlighting a few of the martinis made from recipes shared in the Scrapitudes® Martini Club. Papers and embellishments from GCD Studios and Echo Park made this little mini even more fun!

I printed the names of the martinis on white cardstock using one of the downloadable fonts from kevinandamanda.com. They have tons of free scrapbook fonts and bunches of other fun tidbits of information – and Amanda’s got a great scraproom! Anyway, one thing led to another, and I added some bling, ribbon & Stickles for the cutest little mini yet!

You can see more photos on my blog {HERE}. Have a great week!

Posted in: Altered Items, Cool New Stuff!, Just for Fun, Tips & Tricks.
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Just because, take two!

Aug 26th, 2010
by byondbzr.
9 comments

You may remember my post from a few weeks ago where I talked about a crop I was attending with my WTTS girlfriends. I shared little flower treat bags that I made for girls who weren’t able to attend the crop. WELL, the weekend for our gathering came and went, all too quickly like they always do! I can now share what I made for all my friends in attendance.

As you may know, I have been on a flower-making kick. Rather than just handing over bags of flowers, I wanted to come up with a cute way to display them. The idea of a “Flower Bar” came to me and I knew I had to do it! In order for it to work, I knew I would need to make containers for the girls to take their flowers away in. What better than actual take away boxes, like you get at a Chinese restaurant? I loved the idea and got to work immediately on personalizing them.

I went with black and kraft boxes, so I needed two distinct color combinations. For the kraft, I used Jenni Bowlin Studio “Coupon” paper from the Red/Black Line Extension II. The black boxes were screaming for pink, so I used paper from Teresa Collins  Chic Bebe Girl line. I love how they turned out!

The day of the crop arrived, and I was so excited to see my friends! After all the hugging and saying hello to the girls,  I snuck off and set up my flower bar display in a different room. (Yes, I’m a tricky one, gotta keep your eyes on me!) When I was done, I called the girls in and held my breath, hoping they would like it…….AND…….AND…….

Everyone loved it! I think I picked the right color combo to match each of their tastes as well.  You may wonder why I would go through so much work, for something kind of silly, and I believe I answered that in my last post. These girls are special to me. We laugh together, cry together, vent about our tough days, and ask each other for advice. I may not see them often enough, but I will always love them and count them as best friends!

Here are pics of the display, before the gals tore into it. (The flowers were gone in minutes, I swear!)

Posted in: Articles.

Croppin’ For Our Troops

Aug 25th, 2010
by Ami G.
4 comments

For the past two years, I have participated in a very worthy cause called Croppin’ For Our Troops. Croppin’ For Our Troops was founded by Lynn Spencer and Margaret Gungsley in March 2008. They also co-founded the North Carolina Foothills Chapter of the Blue Star Mothers of America. Blue Star Mothers of America is a nationally recognized non-profit organization that supports our troops, honors our Veterans, and supports the families of deployed soldiers. They received their Charter for the Foothills Chapter in July 2008. Since the chapter has been in existence, they have sent care packages for Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, and of course Christmas. The community is super at supporting the cause by donating items for the care packages. The biggest expense is shipping. Last year’s Christmas shipping was over $1,500.00.

A yearly scrapbook crop is held to auction items to help raise money for care packages and shipping costs. This is where the awesome scrapbooking community comes in. You can help by donating items you’ve made, such as cards, handmade crafts, or scrapbook supplies/embellishments. You can also donate items for the care packages directly. For more information, see the Croppin’ For Our Troops Blog.

Today, I’d like to share a few cards that I’ve donated for auction this year. It was so much fun making them, and I love that some of my work will go to help such a worthy cause! Again, please visit the blog to learn more about how to donate, where to send your items, and much more!

Posted in: Articles.
Tagged: ·

“Photo Mechanic” Product Review

Aug 25th, 2010
by certifiedscrapaholic.
1 comment

“Photo Mechanic” Software by Camera Bits
by Candy Rosenberg 

If there were a contest for the most pictures taken at an event, my daughter would win.  She is a professional photographer at 17 years old and is phenomenally talented.  My dilemma is always on how to view all these large number of photographs in a short amount of time and be able to do light editing to prepare for printing for scrapbook pages and projects.  I have found the solution!

 

Visit Camera Bits at www.camerabits.com

Camera Bit’s “Photo Mechanic” photo software was the perfect solution to my dilemma.  Photo Mechanic allows me to browse images as thumbnails in a contact sheet display window.  This allows me to move through the images quickly, and the thumbnails are large enough to see the photo easily.  I can open any file containing images right inside the software allowing me to move around my computer simply in one window with one piece of software.  This makes me very happy.

Here is a shot after opening my photos from the Chicago CHA show.  I can easily view, delete and rotate images as needed right here quick and easy.  I can then select the ones that I like and print out a contact sheet or email to family and friends. 

 

I can also upload images right inside the software with the built in uploading feature.  This allows me to take photos from multiple cards and load them all up in the software for viewing and create galleries that can be shared online.

 

 This software was built for professionals, but it is quickly finding a home on many ”family historians” computers such as myself, as the features are truly remarkable allowing me to save time and most of all frustration of taming the photo monster in my computer.

One great feature that I discovered is tagging the photos with metadata and keywords.  This makes the images “searchable” for later.  A little extra time upfront makes for a joy finding images later. 

Here is a summary of what Photo Mechanic can do:

Import
The first step of working with your photos is to get your photos copied from your camera’s storage card (e.g. flash memory or compact hard disk) to your computer’s hard disk. Photo Mechanic offers a way to streamline the copying process while providing additional options such as batch captioning.

Edit
You can quickly rotate, preview, copy, delete, tag, watermark, rename, resize, and add IPTC metadata to photos both individually and in batches. Adjust capture dates and times, change a files resolution, or embed an ICC profile into your JPEGs. Lock previews and pan them around together to compare details efficiently. Manually arrange photos in an arbitrary order, including across multiple folders.

Annotate
Photo Mechanic makes it easy to add common “IPTC” (or metadata) information (like Caption, Keywords, Contact Email(s) and Rights Usage Terms) to a single photo, or groups of photos at once. Reduce time and improve accuracy when captioning files by using the Code Replacement feature.

Output
Create web galleries, print contact sheets, transfer photos to an FTP server or upload them to online services like PhotoShelter, Digital Fusion, Amazon S3, ExposureManager, Flickr, Gallery 2, SmugMug, and Zenfolio. Send photos to your clients via E-mail, or archive your keepers by burning them to CDs or DVDs.

This software is a keeper, now back to taming my image monster!

Posted in: Product Reviews.
Tagged:

Tattered Angels

Aug 24th, 2010
by crazyblue.
2 comments

A few years ago, Tattered Angels took the papercrafting world by storm with the introduction of Glimmer Mist. From there, they cranked out stamps, masks, different sprays and embellishments of all kinds – and I love every single thing. 

Some people are a bit hesitant to try Glimmer Mists because they are not sure about the “mess.” To tell you the truth, I never worry about a mess, (you can come over, but DO NOT go into my crafting space!) but for those who do, there is a very simple solution.  Just grab a regular cardboard box and use that as your spray area. I use one that is about 2′x2′ and 1′ deep. It’s big enough for a 12×12 layout or altered item. I just put the item in the box, tip the box up so that I am not spraying directly down, and spray away. The box traps and absorbs the mist, so there is no “mess” to worry about. When I’m done, I just put the box back under my bed.

Well, now that we’ve taken care of that problem, let’s continue. For those of you with a fancy for Spellbinders dies, Tattered Angels can really be a lot of fun. Because the dies cut and emboss, there is a bit of a lip on the dies that makes them perfect for misting!  I like to use Watercolor paper for this technique because it absorbs the mist easily and there is very minimal warping.  Here you can see that I cut out a Spellbinders Beaded Oval and a heart and am about to mist over it with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in “Pink Bubblegum.” 

After the mist dries, you can add further embellishment with stamps, rub-ons, etc.  On the oval, I added some Melissa Frances rub-ons.  I also misted a Spellbinders Crown Circle with “Frost” and “Midnight Blue” Glimmer Mist. 

There are so many options, just think of all the different shades and color combinations!  With the new products from Tattered Angels, there will be even more amazing looks.  Check out their new “Chalkboard Glimmer Mist, Glimmer Glam, and Glimmer Glaze” on their website. They also have a cool Printable Color Chart that shows you the colors of each Glimmer Mist.

Posted in: Articles, Demos & Tutorials, Product Reviews, Tips & Tricks.
Tagged: ·

More Ideas, or Scrap That Idea, part II

Aug 23rd, 2010
by JenniferZ.
1 comment

Teri did a great introduction to Scrap That Idea products in her August 9th post.  Since I am so in love with the variety of products they have, here are a few more ideas on how to use their fabulous kits!

This was made with “Live, Laugh, Love” by A Work in Progress – Designs by Vicki and Pea Smashtastic font.

This layout used the kit “Beautiful” by Sweet Blossom Designs and an alpha from the kit “It’s the Tooth Fairy” by Stacey’s Scraps.

If you haven’t checked out Scrap That Idea’s site yet, hop on over and take a peek. You will be sure to find something that strikes your fancy.

Until next time, happy scrapping!

Posted in: Digital Scrapping, Layout Ideas.

Better Black and White Photos

Aug 19th, 2010
by Nicole P.
1 comment

Several methods can be used in Photoshop Elements to convert your photos to black and white. The easiest is probably to use an action, however, the tones of the final result are for the most part subjective to the writer of the action.

I have seen many people use the de-saturation technique and this is a valid process. Very simply, open your photo is PSE and select CTRL+U. When the box pops up, slide the saturation back to -100.

What you get is a photo desaturated of color. Basically a muddy grey photo. This is fine in some cases, but I can show you a better way to customize your black and white conversion.

Open your photo in PSE. Click the icon to create a new adjustment layer and select gradient map.

From the drop down menu, select black and white. Click OK

Create another adjustment layer and select levels.

A box will pop up to adjust all of your input levels. Move the sliders around. I could go into details and explain it all, but to make it short and easy, just play with it until you get the a look that you like.
Click ok.

Create another adjustment layer. Select brightness and contrast.

Same deal here, slide those numbers around until you get the look that you like. Every photo will be different.

When you are happy with the results, right click on your original layer and click merge visible.

That’s it. You’re all done. Here is a side by side comparison.

Big difference, huh? Have fun and happy scrapping.

Posted in: Demos & Tutorials, Tips & Tricks.

Stamping on Canvas

Aug 18th, 2010
by Michelle Vocke.
2 comments

We paper crafters are always looking for different ways to use products and supplies. Stamping on canvas is a wonderful way to create unique cards, gifts, and home décor projects. I like stamping on canvas because I love the look of the images when applied on texture.

You can use stamps on canvas tote bags, aprons, and scraps of canvas. You can also stamp images on stretched canvas to create artwork or signs. One of my favorite things to do is stamp on scraps and use the images to create cards.

In the card below, the flower image I stamped on canvas was from the Insightful Meadows set by Ippity by Unity Stamps. Ippity is an opportunity for stampers and paper crafters to earn money selling an exclusive line of Unity Stamps. These stamps are unmounted, pre-cut, on foam, and made of deeply etched red rubber. These unique stamp sets are available to Ippity members only.

My Friend Card

When stamping on canvas, I like to use StazOn ink. Rusty Brown was the perfect color to coordinate with the Jenni Bowlin Studio Town Square Collection and Vintage Style Sew-On Buttons.

If you haven’t seen the Ippity by Unity opportunity, be sure to check it out. Not only do they have exclusive stamps, they have patterned paper packs, too!

Posted in: Articles, Gifts and Cards, Just for Fun, Tips & Tricks.
Tagged: ·

You Are Right Where You Should Be

Aug 15th, 2010
by Cathleen Smith.
2 comments

This saying is included on one of my most favorite stamps from Unity Stamp Company.  Combined with some wonderful product from Hambly Screen Prints, I was able to create this layout memorializing my youngest son’s experience at Taido Karate Camp this past summer.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m not a big fan of journaling. I prefer telling the story by using photographs – you know, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Here, I relied on Unity and Hambly to help me convey my message. I really love the emphasis that Hambly’s Urban Chic frame added to my photo. And, Hambly’s Kraft Cardstock Alphabet added the perfect vintage touch.

The Unity stamp (from the Where You Should Be collection) completed the message that I wanted my layout to portray. I used Copic Sketch Markers to add a little color to the stamped image, and pulled out my sewing machine (a recent birthday present) to add the zig zag stitching just for fun.

Then, because I just love Hambly’s overlays, I cut a strip from Doily Decor and added some pleats using the overlay and several different ribbons from Cosmo Cricket’s Everafter collection.

And, there you have it. Few words, but a really powerful message. Love to you, my darling son!

Posted in: Just for Fun, Layout Ideas, Tips & Tricks.
Tagged: · · · · · · · · · ·

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