Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge (Day 11): District #3 Technology

The Hunger Games District #3: Technology.

I'm back with Day 11 of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge!  I think I only missed a day since I pre-posted my blog posts in this series while I was on vacation.  I do find it funny that the day I get back and go to blog that my computer at home gives me fits and now I see that the next Hunger Games District is Technology!  I can't post photos to my blog from my home computer, so I'm posting this from the office.  I love that technology gives me all sorts of freedom - like being able to post in advance on this blog; but I find it extremely frustrating when technology doesn't work like it should - ie. the uploading photos thing on my home computer.  I definitely have a love/hate relationship with technology.

In The Hunger Games Series:  "District 3's main industry is electronics. They specialize in televisions and explosives. Before the rebellion it was one of the richest districts in Panem. In Catching Fireduring the victory tour, Katniss notices this is one of the districts along with 8 and 4 that shows the most happiness to see her, suggesting that they are one of the more rebellious districts. It is implied in Catching Fire that their citizens lived in abject poverty, as they were one of the first districts to start an uprising. Most of its inhabitants work in factories and are very well adept with engineering. The bread from this district is bite-sized square-shaped rolls." - (source Wikia.com)  District 3 specializes in electronics. Most of its inhabitants work in factories and are very adept with engineering. Some people think of District 3 as weak, but their intelligence provides many benefits. Its tributes tend to use this to their advantage. In the 74th Hunger Games, the District 3 tribute managed to create a mine field cobbled together from the starting plates. One of the previous victors to come from District 3, Beetee, won his games by setting a trap that electrocuted many of the other tributes. He was chosen as a Victor to compete in the 75th Hunger Games, where he attempted to use the wire that came from the Cornucopia to destroy the force field surrounding the arena using the lightning that came in a certain hour. It was Katniss, however, who finished the job before being collected by the hovercraft. Their district bread is a small, square roll. The other Victor chosen to compete in the 75th Hunger Games was a woman named Wiress. She and Beetee were commonly known as "Nuts and Volts" because they are considered strange. Wiress's throat was slit by Gloss, a District 1 tribute in the 75th Hunger Games. - (source wikipedia.com)

 

Here are 10 Links to Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking Blog Posts and Layouts related to scrapbooking and technology:

1. Paperclipping's June Challenge: Technology.  I made a layout including dozens of photos of all the technology buttons around our house including remote controls, camera controls, and phones, it is called "Button, Button".

2. Use Your Computer For Journaling in Advance. This post describes how I sometimes get a batch of photos back and type up the journaling on the computer before I go about scrapbooking the photos; I get the journaling locked in so that when I'm ready to scrapbook the story is already told and all I have to do is add it to the page.

3. Backing Up Your Scrapbooking Layouts Online.  This post describes how I use Shutterfly, Flickr and this blog to back up my traditional scrapbooking layouts so that they are stored "in the clouds".  I also show how I made digital photobooks with photos of my traditional layouts so that hundred of layouts can be shown in a tiny 8x8 Shutterfly book.  Here is a link to my shutterfly fly photo book made up of traditional pages: Click Here For Katie's Stories and Scrapbooks Book.

4. Handwritten Journaling with Computer Made Titles and Journaling Blocks  Sometimes finding the alphabet letters to create a title on a traditional layout is challenging, it is frustrating when there is not enough of the letter "E" for example.  Sometimes, to circumvent this problem of  finding letters for the title on a scrapbooking page, I type the title on the computer and underneath it use the underline feature to create journaling lines so that the title is all done in computer font but I can still do my journaling in my own handwriting.

5. How Blogging Has Replaced Tetris as My Computer Addiction.  Just a silly little story really about how I used to be a video game wizzard and now I'm an almost daily blogger; I really should print this out and include it on a scrapbook page.

6. Using iPhones and digital cameras for Video Scrapbooking.  I've been trying out different ideas with using videos in my scrapbooking, just recently I made a bunch of "note to self" type videos on vacation so that I can access them later when I scrapbook the trip.  While I love scrapbooks and photos, there is something about videos that bring you back to the time and place much more quickly and accurately and I always notice little things that were long forgotten when I watch the videos.

7.     Using Pinterest to Get Ideas for Project Life or Scrapbooking Mini Books.  I have several Pinterest boards set up to inspire me and give me ideas for scrapbooking including for Project Life, mini books, scrapbooking sketches, scrapbooking embellishments etc.  In my mind, Pinterest has become my scrapbooking magazine and I love it so much since I don't have to rip out paper pages and store and sort them, they are all on Pinterest which I can access from my iphone anytime and anywhere.

8. On Learning Digital Scrapbooking.  I've been half-heartedly learning digital scrapbooking for years, but I don't think I'll ever become a full digital scrapbooker since I am inherently technology challenged and I look at my scrapbooking time as a relaxing, almost meditative time, and computer issues just seem to clutter up that peace.  I do, however, use computers for so many aspects of my scrapbooking, like this blog, digital cameras and photo editing, computer journaling, visual inspiration, and googling just about anything to research scrapbooking related issues, either techniques or content for my page or story.

9. Using iPhone photos on a traditional scrapbook layout.  I took photos with my iphone in the mirror while my daughter and I played hairdresser so the photos include the image of me holding the iPhone, I also used the photos in a way that looked sort of instagram-ish with the way I used random bits and scraps to frame the photos.  I'm pretty sure that some day these iphone and instagram photos will be "so retro."

10. Instagram & Facebook Scrapbooking Here is a page I made about instagram and Facebook and how these online trends have become such a part of my daily life.  Have you scrapbooked about your relationship to technology?

One more thing on me and District #3 Technology & Electronics, I think that I am electrically charged since I am always making lightbulbs explode out when I flip a switch on or off and since way back in the day, circa 1986, I was "Miss Electra" at the Bangor State Fair!  They'd have me hold long flourescent bulbs and they would light up, they'd light torches from my hand and my hand would be on fire, and they'd have me shake someone's hand in the audience so that they could get "the shock of their life."  I also played the role of "Christine the Rubber Girl" and I would contort in a coffin while they put 16 metal blades through it - and yes the blades actually went all the way through and I'd have to make sure they didn't get me, fortunately I still have all my fingers and toes. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of my side show days, but I remember those days quite vividly. 

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The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series Day 6: District #8 TEXTILES

 Welcome to the Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge from District 8: Textiles!

According to the official Hunger Games movie website (thecapitol.pn), the following jobs are offered in District 8:

• Teacher
• Factory worker
• Weaver
• Dress maker
• Designer
• Warehouse manager

So lets use these occupations and the concept of wearing uniforms be the inspiration for the scrapbooking layouts we make for this part of the challenge.

The two layouts at the very bottom relate to textiles in that the school pictures layout shows my kids wearing school uniforms and the other layout is inpsired by the recent trend in scrapbooking to use lots of patterned paper on a scrapbook layout to mimic a quilting pattern (that layout was a scraplift of a Bella Blvd. layout from CHA 2012).

Here are some more examples of my past layouts which could be categorized under the District 8 Theme:

Quick recap of how these layouts are related to the theme of textiles starting from the top left: 

1. Chevron Pattern which is very trendy in the fashion world right now.

2. My holiday outfits for Christmas 2011.

3. Scrapbook Layout using the multi-patterned papers on one page mimicing a quilt which is trendy in the scrapbooking world this season.

4. My son at school in his uniform.

5. My fashionista daughter and her love of retro clothing.

6. My daugher dressing her favorite doll who happens to be named Baby Buttons.

7.  Our Halloween 2011 costumes (or uniforms).

8. The Connection between my Daughter Allison Grace and my Grandma Grace, my grandma was a high school home ec - sewing and cooking teacher.

9. Another school uniform layout including pictures of my daughter with the same uniform but taken during different school years.

Please create a layout using the theme of textiles, uniforms, or even make a page about Project Runway; if you choose to make a page, please leave a comment with a link.

If you wish to support this blog and see some scrapbooking / sewing related product, please click on the affiliate links:

 

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Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games Triology's District 8 specializes in textiles and has at least one factory where Peacekeeper uniforms are made. Two people from District 8, Bonnie and Twill, escaped during one of the uprisings and informed Katniss of the theory that District 13 still existed. It is implied that security is strict in 8, and the citizens are desperate for hope. District 8 was also one of the first districts to rebel, as Katniss saw on Mayor Undersee's television. In the third book, Katniss visits a hospital in District 8, which is later bombed by the Capitol. The leader of District 8, Paylor, becomes President of Panem after President Snow has died and Katniss has assassinated President Coin. Even before she became president, Paylor's soldiers were apparently loyal to her, ignoring Coin's orders when she commanded. None of District 8's Tributes are mentioned much in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games other than Peeta finished off the female tribute in the 74th Hunger Games." (source Wikipedia) 

DIY Circle Garland Scrapbook Embellishments in 5 Minutes

Scrapbook embellishments on a string were a trend at CHA 2012, I'll show you how to DIY these trendy scrapbook embellishments in five minutes. 

 

I noticed lots of circle, butterfly and other types of garlands on a string at the most recent Winter CHA 2012 from Studio Calico, Dear Lizzy, and others, take a look: 

 

These images are on my Pinterest Winter CHA 2012 Board with the hyperlinks to the sites; photo credits are #1. Studio Calico from Scrappy Jedi's blog; #2. Studio Calico hearts on a string, #3 Jennifer Larson (I think she might have made these herself); #4.Flutterbys from the Neapolitan Collection from Dear Lizzy by American Crafts; #5 & #6 Etsy shops.  Cute embellishments with lots possibilities, but I feel like these are something I can make myself and take a look at the video and these pictures - it is easy - seriously so (sew) easy.

I also have heard and seen online scrapbookers say that they love these embellishments but that they don't know how to or wouldn't want to take the time to make them.   Angie Lucas mentioned these pre-strung banners on the Paperclipping Roundtable Episode #100 CHA, Baby! at about 34:30 minutes into the show; the Paperclipping Roundtable panel talked about how the triangles, circles, or banners were pre-strung and either wrapped around the card like the ones from Studio Calico or attached to a 12x12 paper like the ones from Dear Lizzy.  Its true that these embellishments are cute and already made; but I'm here to tell you that you can make your own circle garland embellishments from your patterned paper scraps in less than five minutes.  You can!  These tools will help:

 

I am not a technique driven scrapbooker but these are so easy and fun to make, I couldn't resist. Give these embellishments on a string a try and leave a comment with a link to your project, I'd love to see what you make!  Or if you do opt to buy the new pre-made embellishments, leave a comment to let me know why.

 

 

5 Minute Video for DIY Circle Garland Embellishments for Scrapbooking, Gifting, and Birthday Parties:    

"Pin This" & Layout #5 of 7 in my CHA 2012 Bella Blvd. Knock Offs

Scraplifting via Pinterest: 

I saw a message board thread on Two Peas in a Bucket about the Pinterest version of something and the real life version of something - like Cookie Monster Cupcakes - and I thought I'd do a Pinterest Version / Real Life version of my own for the Bella Blvd. inspired layouts I've been making this week.

This this the inspiration for my #5 Layout by LAURA VEGAS (CLICK HERE FOR HER BLOG) for Bella Blvd.:

Here is my scraplift of the Silly layout:

The Scraplift:  I had some paper that was very similar to the pink and white background paper; Bella Blvd.'s paper seems to be woodgrain and mine was zebra stripes, but they "read" the same for scraplifting purposes.  I do wish I would have printed my journaling by computer, but I did it with a Sharpie directly onto the yellow cardstock and I just went with it, but I think the original looks much better.

The Story:  "After a Ski Lesson and a day of skiing, Allison announced "Now I  KNOW I can do anything."  Yes You can Girl!"  Title:  "She has newfound confidence."

Supplies:  Pink and White Patterned Paper is from a Recollections "All Girl" paper pack, letter stickers from American Crafts, DCWV, and October Afternoon, border punches from Fiskars; Aqua striped paper from Echo Park.

 

Winter 2012 CHA Bella Blvd. Scraplifts

Last week, I posted that I'd have my CHA Bella Blvd. inspired scrapbook knock-offs up on Sunday {here's a link to that blog post}; we got back from a ski vacation and I've been busy getting back to my daily routine and haven't had a chance to blog until now.  So here are three pages inspired by the Winter 2012 CHA layouts from Bella Blvd.:

1. Button Heart Layout. 

Scraplift: I have tons of buttons but don't often use them on my scrapbook layouts so it was fun to have a purpose for some of these mismatched buttons. 

The Story:  Since many of the CHA layouts have only one photo, I picked a photo that was very meaningful even though it is not a perfect photo; it is the first photo taken of our whole family - it was taken in the garage - actually here in my home office / scrapbooking room since we had a little crib set up in here- on the day we brought Allison home from the hospital.  Allison is now 8 years old and I didn't do a lot of scrapbooking when she was a baby since I was very busy, so its fun to take out these old photos and scrap them now.

Supplies: I used some DCWV baby themed patterened paper, random buttons fastened to the page with adhesive dots; the red polka dot paper is from Echo Park's basics pack, and the letters were from a dollar bin at Target - they didn't stick particularly well so I machine stitched them to the page.

2. Paper Strips and Buttons Layout.

Scraplift:  I loved the design of this page since it uses a big square of patterened paper and lots of patterened strips to give the page a solid base and the diagonal random buttons were a fun addition but don't feel too random, the design of this layouts allows for a lot of stuff on the page, but also allows for photos and jouranling space.

The Story:  "The school photo process - what a detail ordeal - not only did they get the orders wrong both times, but we had to do re-takes of both kids - but both kids were picture perfect cuties."  The back story is that Mac's hair was so long in the first photo that we got him a hair-cut and had a retake done and Allison's photo pose was weird so that while the photo was cute, the amount of space her head took up in the photo was so small you could barely see her face.  So both had to get re-takes and both times the processor got everything wrong about the  photo packages - and there were about a zillion photo package options, it was seriously confusing and even though the pictures were done in October, we still don't have Mac's package straightened out so that's still on my to do list!

Supplies:  KI Memories patterned paper and Bazzill cardstock, random buttons and epoxy stickers and brads, Sassafrass adhesive border stips. 

3. Horizontal Thirds Layout.

Scraplift:  The original page used a dark blue patterened paper base with a tight design, I didn't have something that worked exactly so I used two different Echo Park papers and stitched them together with the middle strip.

The Story:  "CHA 2009:  As a scrapbooker, it was a total delight to take an entire week off work and go get totall immersed in the world of my hobby and to learn about the industry and all the players.  So total interesting to get an upclose peek into this subculture that I spend so many hours in."  In the photo are Tina Cockburn (Simple Scrapbooks & Write.Click.Scrapbook.); me; Angie Lucas (Simple Scrapbooks & Ella Publishing); Diva Danielle (she had a podcast which I'm not sure is still around or not); Lain Ehmann (Simple Scrapbooks & Layout A Day); & Tami Morrison (Funnest Ever Scrapbooker from Simple Scrapbooks & teacher at Big Picture Classes).

Supplies:  Echo Park patterened paper, QuicKutz die cut letters, sharpie marker, and random other odds and ends.

That's all for now and now that I'm back to my regularly scheduled blog programming, I'll have the rest of the seven Bella Blvd. inspired scrapbook layouts up one per day for the rest of the week.

Plus I'll have my Project Life Album pages up soon and the travel scrapbook I made during our recent ski trip; and I'll be participating in Ali Edward's Day in the Life tomorrow - which also happens to be my son's 10th birthday - but I'm under strict order that we are not to celebrate (not sure what to do about that command). 

Cheers.

 

CHA Bella Blvd. Knock Offs - Starting this Sunday

Just a little reminder - I'll be posting a "CHA 2012 Bella Blvd." knock off layout a day for seven days starting on Sunday February 5, 2012.  Here's a peek at some of my layouts:

And if you are so inspired to create a CHA knock off layout, please leave a comment with a link and post your layout in the Flickr CHA Knock Offs Group.

12 Thing I Loved in January 2012

This is sort of a Katie Nelson {otherwise known at "Katie the Scrapbook Lady"  - I generally love all Katies but Katie Nelson is an extra special Katie} style Round- Up, but I'll have my official round up on the blog next week; in the meantime here are 12 things I loved in January 2012:

1. Project Life.  I need to post my weeks from January - that post will be up sometime next week - but I must say that I am completely loving  Project Life and, specifically, the Clementine Core Kit - it is eye candy, love it.  I also love seeing everyone else's Project Life Albums - it is creating a real commonality and community amongst scrapbookers and crafters.  I love seeing how different and how the same people's lives are.  Love it.

2. The Eureka Optima Lightweight Vacuum.  It was an impulse buy for me as we already have two or three other vacuums in our house, but I thought it would be awesome to have an "upstairs" vacuum and it is.  Totally awesome.  Not only that, it is very easy to use and my kids love using it so they actually beg to let me let them vacuum.  Mac did both of the cars this week and he loves to vacuum my very messy floor in the scrapbooking room - he seriously loves it and always make a little comment that goes something like: "Wow Mom, you must really be working at scrapbooking because I just vacuumed in here two days ago and this place is a mess!  Just look at all this stuff!"  And he happily vacuums up the tiny little bits of paper and thread and those things from the self adhesive tabs.  So awesome, this vacuum was a bargain and it is a work horse, I love it.  Highly recommend, especially if you are a bit like me and believe you can never have enough vacuums.

3.  The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco.  This is actually a favorite for my husband, he read it cover to cover (I guess - he actually read it on his ipad - so what is that? cursor to cursor - I don't know) and plans to give it a second read.  He wants me to read it, so its on my "I'll read it within 2 weeks list", I first heard about it on Tim Conley & Izzy Hyman's podcast The Foolish Adventure, so I was familiar with some of the concepts, but apparently it deserves an actual sit down read - maybe the weather will be nice and I'll take the ipad into the hammock for some quality reading time (need to carve out a few hours sometime soon).

4. My Canon Point and Shoot Camera.  I have it with me all the time and I love the self timer feature and it took thousands of pictures on a recent ski trip that my family took and that thing stood up through snow maker machines - even though I wouldn't necessarily recommend using it in snow maker conditions - I couldn't resist getting those photos and it was and is totally awesome.  Love it.  I should say, it is actually my daughter's Canon - I bought a new one for me but it didn't have the self timer feature - but the new one is pink & hers is red so I think I can probably convince her to trade with me - and the pink one has less buttons so I think she'll love it more, both are great cameras - I just happen to adore the self-timer feature.

P.S. The red one (Canon PowerShot A3100IS) is actually slightly larger than the pink one (Canon PowerShort ELPH 100 HS) in real life.

5.  Covergirl Concealer.  Not only do I enjoy the commericals with Ellen and Sofia Vergara from Modern Family, but it is awesome and I think it works better than any other concealer I have ever used.  And you don't have to mess with that wand thing.  I love it.  It is the first time I have ever thought a concealer actually worked well without looking weird.  It is awesome. 

6. Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project One Sentence 5 Year Journal.  How clever and it is so cute.  I bought one a couple weeks ago but haven't written in it yet because I was midway through January - I think I'm going to put it in my nightstand drawer and write in it everynight before bed.  Totally do-able and totally awesome and it is cute to boot. 

When I was searching for the Happiness Journal link, I found this 5 Year Mommy Memory Journal - what an amazing concept, I wish I would have had one when I first had my babies - all in one place, just one line - so simple and clever and totally do-able for a new mom.

7.  The Schwinn Eliptical Stepper.  Our Nordic Trac broke about a year or so ago - it literally fell apart while I was using it - but I did put some serious time on it so I'm not complaining; but when we went to buy another stepper the Nordic Trac steppers seemed too big and too expensive, the Schwinn had less features, but was smaller and half the price.  Its is holding up really well and between my husband and I it gets 2+ hours a day of use.  If you actually use a stepper, go for quality - but it is nice when quality comes at a bargain price. 

8. Blue Ultra Fine Tip Sharpie Markers in boxes of 12.  I used to only buy the black ones, and then I bought the multicolored ones - but there are certain colors that I seriously never ever used - who needs a pastel yellow sharpie?   So I bought a box of the blue ultra fine tip Sharpies and I love them and use them in my scrapbook journaling all the time, its a nice alternative to black and I love this bold but happy shade of blue.

 

9. Judy Blume books, specifically the Fudge Series.  I remember reading and loving Judy Blume books when I was in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades and I've been reading the Fudge series with my son and he absolutely loves them.  Judy Blume really knows how to connect with a young person's mind and feelings; and its a nice reminder to me of how it feels to be that age - it is a good communication starter for me and my almost 10 year old and it also provides a nice way to laugh together at something simple and good and something that doesn't have some sort of screen attached to it.  Judy Blume wrote some seriously entertaining and quality books for young people.

10. Stacy Julian's books on scrapbooking and her class Twelve at BPC.  I have been cranking out the layouts this past month and I think a big part of my creativity spike can be attributed to Stacy Julian's Twelve Class; and I have owned her books since they came out, but I still refer to them now and again and they are still inspiring when I pick them up, every time.  If you wish you were scrapbooking more or would like to start scrapbooking, these resources will get you there.

11. The CHA Hexagon Trend.  I am loving all the hexagon patterns that were shown at this year's Winter CHA 2012 in Anaheim, California.  I think all scrapbookers should own some hexagon nesting die cut shapes, or if you can't commit to the hexagons - I think I will always love the circle nestie die cut shapes, I don't think circles will ever go out as a trend - circles are awesome and timeless as a design element for scrapbooking.

12. Anything Hello Kitty Themed.  Hello Kitty was popular when I was a kid so it is so awesome that Hello Kitty has made such a comeback for my daughter's generation and also awesome that she also thinks Hello Kitty is so cute; its a girl thing - and its cool to have a thing like that's just for us girls.  And we've been bike riding this month since Allison got her training wheels off on Christmas Eve, this bike bell would be pretty cute - right?

Ok that's my January Things I Love List.  I am thinking that I'll print this out and include it in my Round Up Scrapbook Notebook.  Do you do the Scrapbooking Round UP? 

Next Up on Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking's CHA Knock-Offs: Bella Blvd. at CHA 2012

I just pinned a bunch of the new Bella Blvd. layouts from Winter CHA 2012 {click this to see}.

I have started the scraplifting process and made seven of what I called "half-baked" scrapbook pages, I have basically started the page by setting up the base of it: the cardstock and the patterned paper and machine stitching where applicable. 

My next step will be choosing photos, placing them and then I'll go about finding the embellishments and letter for the titles and I'll probably do the journaling last.  This doesn't mean that I can't start with story ideas, however, I like to look at the page and get a feel of it and that will usually spark a story idea.  So even though it seems like story comes last, it doesn't really, story is usually the beginning. 

I'll be posting the finished pages, one a day for seven days, starting on Sunday, February 4th. 

I might even do some ustreaming - especially if anyone is interesting in playing along in a virtual crop?  Leave a comment to let me know if you are interested and if there is interest then I'll schedule one (rather than just turning on the video camera and hitting record which is my normal method).    {click here for the link to the Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking Ustream Channel}

You can also leave a comment with a link to your page on your blog or you can upload your page to the Flickr Group: CHA 2012: THE KNOCK OFFS FLICKR GROUP.

Ok, happy scrap-lifting crafters.

Meantime, check out the Bella Blvd. bargains on Amazon:

CHA Trend: Hexagons

Scrapbook Pages inspired by the Winter 2012 CHA Trends using older scrapbooking products: 

Hexagons are a definate trend at Winter CHA 2012.  I have long waited for a quilt trend in scrapbooking and have always wondered why we didn't see more triangles, diamonds, and hexagons and other quilt like shapes in scrapbooking since patterned paper is so much like patterened fabric.

We have seen triangles over the past couple of years, but the triangles have been used in the context of banners rather than quilt patterns.  This year, quilt like patterns for scrapbooking are definately in - I'll give a crafty "whooo hooo" for this trend.  But my dilemna?  While waiting for the new products to roll out, I wanted to make some hexagon and quilt like layouts that mimic the new trends.  I have made layouts with handmade hexagons using old patterned paper scraps:   

While it is sort of fun to hand cut shapes, I prefer using nesting dies so I went in search of hexagon shaped nesting dies but only found octagons.  I figured they'd be just as good.  I did make a layout with the octagon shapes, I used the dies to cut both patterned paper and photos.

It wasn't until I got the octagon shaped dies home and started arranging the octagon patterned paper pieces that I realized that hexagons are inherently more awesome than octagons.  Why?  Hexagons fit together and octagons do not (there are little squares left in the gaps).  Hexagons remind of us honey bees, where as octagons remind us of stop signs.  I have hexagon nesting die cuts on my scrapbooking shopping list.  In the meantime, if you have any good links to how to make homemade hexagons, please leave a comment.

Top Ten Links to Winter CHA 2012 Updates

 

I'll call this a "CHA Break"  - I'm tuning in from the office, don't tell the boss {wink}.  Are you a scrapbooker sitting at home watching CHA from the sidelines like me?  Do you want to follow along and see the latest and greatest?  Here are some links to the places I go online to see all the latest CHA action:

1. Twitter:  Type #CHA or #CHAShow into Twitter  and you can see posts from people there, they are posting instagram photos and lots of other great links.

2. Pinterest:  Search for Winter CHA 2012 and instead of searching for pins, put this in as a search for boards and there are several boards on Pinterest.  Here is link to mine:  Katie's Winter CHA 2012 Pinterest Board Link.

3. Play along and enter CHA themed scrapbooking contests at the Two Peas in a Bucket CHA Winter Online Social.

4. Check out the CHA Sneak Peeks at Scrapbook.com.

5. Catch all the latest update from Nancy Nally's Scrapbook Update's CHA Page and Interactive Sneak Peek Table, the table is really awesome if you are looking for something by a particular manufacturer or release date.

6. The Official Craft and Hobby Association CHA Site.

7. Videos from the CHA show floor from Noell Hyman with Paperclipping.

8. You Tube has lots of videos from the show - try typing in CHA Winter 2012 into the search and then modify your search to get the most recently posted.

9. Shimelle Laine is there and has been posting lots of pretty pictures.

10. Paper Crafter's Corner has ongoing CHA updates.

Hope you have fun watching from the sidelines like I do, if you know of any other great CHA links, please post them in the comments.

Even More Winter CHA 2012 Scrapbook Knock-Offs

Here are three more CHA 2012 scrapbook layout knock-offs:

My sweet husband surprised me on Sunday afternoon and offered to take me to the craft store and even gave me twenty bucks to buy this Nestabilities octagon die cut.  I wanted to get a hexagon shape, but my local store didn't have them, I guess that's what on-line is for, right?  He also offered to buy me a new 3 ringed binder - I got the red Pioneer which I love; I do not recommend the DCVW red leather-like 3 ring binder (it works fine but it smells really weird), the Pioneer album is a beautiful dream and it smells nice.

Here are the 3 Winter CHA 2012 Scrapbook Knock-Offs of the day:

1. Nikki Sivils layout titled "Noah" using the "Noah" line:

The Lift:  This one was simple, a piece of cardstock, strips of multi colored patterned paper and some QuicKutz letters.

The Content:  Nikki Sivil's page was about her son so I decided to make my page about what my son was up to during last summer.

Supplies:  My background paper is KI Memories and the strips are Little Yellow Bicycle and the QuicKutz dies are from the Marigold line. 

2. October Afternoon Beautiful layout by Stacy Kingman using their Walk in the Park Line.

The Lift:  I had some blue and white flower patterned paper that was similar enough but I didn't have a whole 12x12 sheet of it so I decided to use it as a mat for the 5x7 photo.

The Content:  I also liked the sentiment but didn't want to copy exactly, so I scrolled through my "word up" Pintrest Board and found this sentiment.

Supplies:  QuicKutz letters in Metro; Papers from DCWV, October Afternoon, KI Memories and assorted random bits; the butterfly punch is Martha Stewart and the Butterfly embellishment is from the Dear Lizzy line from American Crafts.  The tickets were some raffle tickets left over from our neighborhood block party.

3. The Hexagon / Octagon Trend is being seen in so many of the releases for Winter CHA 2012; I don't think the original layout is a CHA release and I think the original might even be a digital page but I'm not for sure.

The Lift: The original page used hexagons to form the entire background - here's the thing about hexagons:  they provide complete coverage; where as octagons will leave those little squares inbetween the octagons; I think this difference accounts for hexagons, rather than octagons, being the new trendy shape this Winter CHA 2012.

The Content:  I have lots of photos from a trip we took in October to a farm, many of which had lots of background so that the subject matter of the photos were small, perfect for diecutting into shapes.

Supplies:  Random embellishments, Nestabilities Octagon Die Cuts; Jenni Bowlin ticket, October Afternoon stickers, Martha Stewart and Dear Lizzy Patterned Papers, cardstock. 

The photos from CHA 2012 are starting to show up on the internet - if you have any good links to CHA related photos or videos, please leave a comment with the link.

3 More Winter CHA 2012 Scrapbook Knock-Off Layouts

Get out your square punches and your scissors scrapbookers, its time to lift the latest from Winter 2012 CHA. 

 I admit I am totally addicted to Pinterest, I can't watch tv or do the stepper anymore without having my iphone in hand with the Pinterest app on.  Lately I've been watching the sneak peeks and product releases for Winter CHA 2012.  Since I'm not going to Anaheim, I've been having a CHA knock off party with my scraps.  Click Here for a link to my blog posts about the first three CHA inspired layouts.  I'm kind of on a roll and last night I kicked out three more.

1. Lift of the Handmade Collection from Lily Bee Design. 

The Lift:  The original layout "patchwork" uses a patterned paper with the quilted squares already made; but I made my own. I used a simple square punch, I think I used a size slightly larger than the size of the squares on the "Handmade" paper.  Ok, isn't it just a bit funny that the pre-made paper is called "handmade" but comes already assembled.    

Subject of Page: I took three photos of my kids from each of the last three leap years (2004, 2008, and 2012) to see how quickly they've grown on one page - I love this sort of progression on one page.  I created the banner at the bottom of the photos with various punches and hand cut scraps. 

Supplies:  The label stickers are from October Afternoon and the papers are a mix of American Crafts, Martha Stewart, Dear Lizzy, DCWV, and KI Memories; all of these papers and embellishments and tools used are at least a year or more old.  I think these older patterned papers look new again using the new trends and it was just plain fun to mix them all up in a quilt pattern.

P.S. My daughter's shirt in the 2004 photo is a quilted shirt.

2.  Lift of the Jenni Bowlin JBS Mercantile February Peeks.   The original layout "Backyard Botantist"  is by Briana Johnson.

The Lift:  Here is how I created the triangles from square punched scraps:  I punched a bunch of scraps and then hand cut them in half and arranged them on a piece of cardstock into the quilt like pattern:

Subject of Page:  The original page was about a boy in the backyard which made me think of what my boy does in the back - or more correctly - sideyard; he plays secret agent man and sometimes he'll have stashes of actual treasure.  This photo shows him with his very own "briefcase full of cash" - insert your best Dr. Evil meniacal laughter here.  So I thought the colors of the papers reminded me a bit of money and pyramids have long been associated with money so I turned the layout upside down and used the valleys as mountains so they looked more like pyramids.

Supplies:  Second verse same as the first - these supplies are older product cut with a square punch, one of the papers was actually from a soap packaging from the health food store - I love repurposing actual papers from real life.  I think some of the other papers are My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey, and GDC Studio, but I could be wrong - all of these papers are from scraps, very old scraps.

3. Lift #2 of American Craft's Dear Lizzy Neapolitan.  The original layout is "All Smiles" by Kimberly Congdon.  I didn't intend to scraplift another from the Dear Lizzy line but they made an adorable video and it is just so pretty and seems to be a bit different than the rest of the releases this Winter CHA - it seems soft and happy and it is very easy to work with - at least the knock off version of this line.  (wink).

The Lift:  I hand drew on the back of a piece of patterened paper the pattern for this and then hand cut the pieces.  My pattern came out in the reverse of the original layout and I had some problems with the corners and had to post-trim the papers at the top and then that made the top of the cardstock all wonky, so I did the border punch across the top (which is also a bit wonky), but in the end I like the imperfect-ness of my layout.  If you were trying to recreate this look, I would recommend more precise cutting if you want a more perfect look, but if you don't mind wonky, cut away.

Subject of Page:  This was admittedly a "fluff" page - a pretty photo of my child with not much journaling, but it is fun and pretty and will go in an album about her with lots of pages that do include lots of journaling and stories, so this will most likely be a nice visual rest in that album since I also don't do a lot of technique heavy one photo layouts.  And I love how the sunburst cut of the pattern papers make it feel happy and like it is shining; it reminds me of how my daughter used to sing "This Little Light of Mine" which I should maybe have journaled about on the page, but for me at least that memory is triggered with this page.  And Allison loves to play with those big flowers and for a time she was making lots and lots of them and decorating everything with them, so using those flowers triggers that memory for me too.

Supplies:  Embellishments are all from scrapbook yardsales so I have no idea where they originally came from; the border punch is a very old one from Fiskars, papers are an older Dear Lizzy line, DCWV, KI Memories, My Mind's Eye, and cardstock.  The letters are American Crafts.  And yes, I actually tied all those little bits to the page which was probably the most time consuming part of making this page, but the "stick" from those epoxy buttons was really gone so I really needed something to make sure they didn't fall off the page.

Do you want to join in the CHA Knock-Off Fun?  I have created a flickr group for exactly that, here is the link:  FLICKR GROUP: WINTER CHA 2012: THE KNOCK-OFFS

If you add a page to the flickr gallery, please leave a comment here so I can be sure to click over and check it out.  Now go make a page!

 

 

Seven 7 Gypsies Inspired Layouts: #1 All 50 States (Chevron Stripes / Triangles)

My family made a goal of seeing all 50 states before my kids graduate from highschool; so I imagine this layout as a title page in a themed 12x12 scrapbook that I will at some point put together. 

Mostly, this was a playful page for me.  I made the chevron stripes by punching patterned paper with a square punch and then cutting them on the diagonal to create triangles and then arranging them and pasting them down into the chevron stripes.    I saw this idea on Pintrest as a pattern for a vintage quilt.  It is fairly self explanatory - just start playing with those triangles and you'll see - or leave a comment and I'll do another post with a step by step.

So how is this connected to 7 Gypsies?  It is not one of the most inspired by 7 Gypsies layouts - it was actually one of the last pages I made in this series, but one that I had the most fun with so I wanted to post it first.  But looking back the colors are in the theme of 7 Gypsies - especially the black, taupe/neutral, and white/creme; and there is some hot pink in the new Trusseau collection by 7 Gypsies and I've seen lots of polka dots in the 7 Gypsies lines over the years, so I think it qualifies as 7 Gypsies inspired.  And the typewriter number stickers - which I picked up at the scrapbooking yardsale recently - look very 7 Gypsies to me.

Winter 2012 CHA Scrapbook Knock-Offs

These three layouts were easy to put together, used only older supplies, and were inspired by the Winter CHA 2012 scrapbook sneak peeks:

Ever watch a morning show after an awards ceremony?  They usually have a recap of who was the best dressed and what they wore, and then, a few days or weeks later, they'll have a show about how to get the designer looks on the cheap or from the knock-offs.  Sometimes they will even have the audience guess which look is more expensive and which is the bargain.  I like these shows because they show how you can be fashionable without having to spend a lot and/or without having to buy the new stuff but by repurposing your old stuff.  Now apply this concept to scrapbooking. 

I've been watching the Winter 2012 CHA Trends and Sneak Peeks and Scrapbook Layouts on Pinterest and through Nancy Nally's site with a most awesome chart of the new releases {click here for a link to Scrapbook Update}.  Nancy's chart is interactive and easy to use so you can browse by manufacturer or by release date.  I love seeing the new trends and I've been noticing lots of circles, hexagons, chevron stripes, and other quilting patterns.   I love adapting my old supplies to the new trends so I feel like the thrifty and smart bargain shopper by using what I already have; and it is a fun creative challenge to look at your old supplies in a new way.  If you've never practiced the fine art of scraplifting, I recommend you give it a try - it is a more creative and fun exercise than you might imagine.

I scraplifted some of the sneak peek layouts for the Winter 2012 CHA scrapbooking releases.  Here are  my Winter 2012 CHA Scrapbook Layout Knock-Offs:

1. Lift of the "Jumping With Style" layout from the new American Crafts' Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Line. 

 2. Lift of the "You 3" Layout by Kelly Goree from the new Basic Grey's PB&J Line.

3. Lift of the "Baby Zack" layout by Laura Vegas with the new Bella Blvd's Baby Boy Collection.

If you are not going to CHA but are aware of it, how do you deal with all the excitement of the new scrapbooking releases of CHA (the Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show)? 

{Week 1} Learn Something New: DIY Chevron Stripes

 
I am starting a new weekly series on my blog called "Learn Something New".   I find that I'm more creative in general when I'm learning something new. 

 
I plan to post once a week with a new Scrapbooking Technique.  Even though I've been scrapbooking for years, I'm not an especially technique driven scrapbooker.  Therefore, I have a lot to learn.  So if you are like me and want to learn something new or if you are a beginning scrapbooker, tune in every week for a new scrapbooking technique, then create something using that technique, and then leave a comment with a link to your project. I saw this tutorial at the October Afternoon Blog and gave it a whirl.

 

Journaling:  "We talk a lot about the Big Questions of Life - about how the universe was created and about God.  And we talk about How Your Attitude Determines Your Life!  If you think you can, then YOU CAN!  Love, Mom."

Supplies:  The cute little tags came from my local scrapbook store Whim So Doodle and are from Jillibean Soup, they are called "Soup Labels" and the version is "Homemade 6 Bean Soup" a $1.00 - and the best part is that the sheet of 9 labels was only one dollar!  They also remind me of the many labels I love from October Afternoon which is where I found the idea for the chevron stripes - so I don't think any of the supplies are from October Afternoon, but it seems like their kind of stuff, and I love their stuff.  

 

5 Ways to Jump on the Learn Something New Bandwagon:

1. Learn Something New Every Day Book

2. Pick the Brain - Grow YourSELF

3. Scrapbooker ElinJanne's Learn Something New MiniBook

4. Scrapbooker Shimelle Laine's Learn Something New Class

5. Shimelle's Learn Something New Flickr Group

4 Great Scrapbooking Sites for Learning About Scrapbooking :

1. Big Picture Classes

2. Paperclipping

3. Ella Publishing

4. Bite Sized Scrapbooking

(Also I thought I saw Nancy Nally's Scrapbook Update having a link to this October Afternoon Tutorial today - but I can't seem to find it now to link it here - if you have a link please leave it in the comments).

6 Great Quotes about Learning Something New:

* You learn something every day if you pay attention.  ~Ray LeBlond

* You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity,he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.  ~Clay P. Bedford

 * Each day learn something new, and just as important, relearn something old.  ~Robert Brault

*  No matter how one may think himself accomplished, when he sets out to learn a new language, science, or the bicycle, he has entered a new realmas truly as if he were a child newly born into the world.  ~Frances Willard, How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle

* Anyone who stops learning is old,whether at twenty or eighty.  ~Henry Ford

* When the student is ready, the master appears.  ~Buddhist Proverb