December's Demo Day card

Demo Day is one week earlier than usual for the month of December.  Join  us on Saturday December 10th from 11 - 4 pm for Demo Day! 

If you have not been in the past few months, I highly encourage you to come on out and make some great projects.  Lines at each table have virtually been eliminated since we have changed up our seating arrangements, so no more waiting to get at your favorite project tables.

Here is the card we will be making at my table.  It is quick and easy and the blue/silver/white combination is perfect for winter (which may eventually get here even though several of my daffodils bloomed today).  This is a great card for Christmas, Winter, or just the holiday season.  You could also use it just to say "hi" to a friend.  I will have a few different sentiments on the table, or you can skip the sentiment all together if you like.

I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I look forward to seeing you on Demo Day!

Cindy

Snow Fun with Gina A!

I LOVE Little Yellow Bicycle papers and products - the papers always have such a nice texture/weight to them and the designs are always beautiful BUT I have to admit I wasn't happy to see SNOW THEME paper already!!! I'm a gal who does NOT like winter weather, snow, etc. so I decided to do this layout with a little play on words to show my dislike of snowy weather. I love how my simple layout looks special using the LYB papers and some lacy ribbon. Notice how I highlighted the 'N' 'O' in SNOW on my "Winter is SNOW Fun" title! Even if you don't like the cold wintry weather, you probably have some snowy photos like I did so have some fun creating!
Gina A.

Ice Skating!!

Oooooo la la, I am loving me some of that Winter Twig line, new from Little Yellow Bicycle!! The many, many shades of blue in these papers are fab--you have got to see them for yourself! I chose pictures from my daughter ice skating and really appreciated that she wore a blue hoodie that day to coordinate oh so well with the papers. (that girl is so thoughtful! heehee) I used a border punch on the left side and some glorious blue glitter paper from Best Creations on this layout also. These pages screamed for bling and so bling it is....lots of blue bling! Hope to see you in the store soon. Lisa H. :)

Cherry Blossoms!!

I fell in love with this awesome kit from Echo Park called Country Drive; the papers were so darn adorable!!  The papers that jumped out the most were the pink  and green ones from this kit and I remembered some fun happy pictures we took of our dogs in the front yard in the spring.  I just love how this layout turned out....so springy!!  The finishing touches on these pages were lots of bling, pop-dots, liquid pearls, buttons and ribbon.  Hope you like this layout and it gives you inspiration to scrap some pictures of your pets, or your kids, or just the beautiful cherry blossoms in the spring!!  See you soon!  Lisa H.

The 3/50 Project - Pick 3. Spend $50.

The 3/50 Project - Pick 3. Spend $50.

**All it takes is just one person to start a trend...will that person be you?

When you think of the community that you live and shop in, there are 3 very important things you need to consider.
1)  What 3 independently owned businesses would you miss if they disappeared? 
Is it us - Scrapbooks Too?  What about your mom n' pop grocery store that you "just run into" occasionally for those last minute items?  How about the cute little clothing boutique where you bought your favorite outfit?  Or the cool little pet supply store on the corner where you got those awesome toys that your animals just adore?

2)  Did you know if half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue.  Imagine the positive impact if 3/4 the employed population did that!

3)  Are you aware that for every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures.  If you spend that money in a national chain store, only $43 stays here.  If you shop online, nothing comes home!


The 3/50 project idea is to commit $50 each month to locally owned businesses, total. Maybe that means rethinking where you currently invest your money, opting to pick up that birthday card or pair of jeans in a locally owned business instead of the big box you’ve been going to. Or maybe it means eating out just once a month because you realize slamming the brakes on all spending stalls economic recovery. It’s just that simple.

This Project isn’t an “all or nothing” campaign that insists consumers stop shopping in chains or franchises. Instead, the message is about balance-—of the money you currently spend each month.  We simply ask you to redirect an affordable $50 back to the locally owned independent businesses that have been forgotten of late. Just as there are things in a locally owned store that you can’t find in a big box, there are also things in a big box you can’t find in a locally owned store. We simply need to think about where our dollars are best invested, consider the greater amount of revenue local businesses return to the community, then purchase accordingly. Otherwise, local economies suffer irreparable harm - as we have seen lately with lots of empty buildings and stories on the news.

For more information please click on the following link:
www.the350project.net/home.html

New class!

Join me Saturday December 3rd from 12 - 3 pm for an all new class!  This one is Christmas and Winter themed.  We will be making a total of 8 cards (2 of each of the 4 designs).  We will be coloring with Copics, heat embossing, and having fun making some great cards.  We will be doing some detail cutting, so please bring SHARP scissors.

Here is a list of Copic colors in case you wish to bring your own:
B32, YG23, YG17, C7, C5, YR65, R29, R89, R37, Y19

Other items that you can bring if you own them:
Distress inks and a sponge dauber for each color:  Antique Linen, Vintage Photo

This class is available as a kit if you cannot make it in person.  Please let the store know you need a kit when you call to register.

This is my last class of 2011, but don't worry because I will have more classes for you in 2012.

I look forward to seeing you soon!
Cindy

Winter Memories with LYB

Winter Twig from Little Yellow Bicycle is the perfect line to get me in the mood for a snowy winter! I took so many pictures of Blizzard '10 that I have not finished scrapping them all. This layout has 13 (Yes, 13!) photos with 7 of them hidden in the "Large Photo Fold Out" from Creek Bank Creations. I simply mounted the fold-out onto my layout and covered each flap, front & back, with paper and/or photos. A short length of baker's twine and a brad serve as the closure. Easy, fast, and utilizes lots of photos!

Also I used several pieces from the Journaling Cards. One is a hidden pull-out journal card. I cut two of the circular journaling spots in half using them as decorative elements instead of journaling. The Chipboard Words are always one of my faves as it makes titling such a breeze. I added a snowflake from the Paper Snowflake Kit and bling to the titles for an extra wow-factor. I am almost hoping for another such blizzard this winter. I love that it keeps my family home and serves as great cropping days!

Some Amazing Layouts from Jessica Mannarino

Hi Everyone,

We saw some fabulous layouts today from one of our wonderful customers, Jessica Mannarino.  I love how she uses paint and sewing on her layouts.   Jessica used a snowflake stencil on this layout then lightly coated it with paint.



Jessica keeps her sewing machine handy.  I love how she stitched a star and then inked it up.

The simple stitched frames on this page really makes the page pop.

 Here she used paint to make the cardstock look like wood planks and finished it off with some sewing.

Faboulous Customer Creations

Some stamps just beg to be colored.  Annabelle Kratz made these stunning poppy cards in a rainbow of  colors.  She used Copic Markers to get great shading on her flowers.   To get the perfectly matched bows, she colored her white ribbon with the Copic colors of her flowers.

Laura shared some of her wonderful cards with us!  We always love getting her samples.  Even what looks like a simple card has layers of details.  This Christmas tree card is a great example of that. 
Laura used clear buttons and backed them with papers to give a sibtle look of color.   All of the button centers are either threaded or topped with a pearl.

These two Laura cards were made completely from paper with no stamping.  The ribbon and threaded buttons add that perfect finishing touch.

Paulette Hall took our wreath class last year and has discovered how much she loves making these wreaths.  I love how she has started making these for different holidays.

My English-major daughter might not be pleased with all the exclamation points I use when describing these journals but I just can't help being excited about these fun products!!! If you haven't gotten SMASHED yet this summer, take some time this Fall to play with these journals and embellishments. It's a great way to get started with scrapbooking or to take your scrapbooking to another level. And remember, once you try something new your creative juices are bound to flow through your traditional projects too!

Happy Scrappin!
Gina A

Gina A. is getting SMASHED!

So how much fun are you having with your new SMASH products??? I'm having a blast playing with my SMASH book and embellishments AND my new Fancy Pants journals and I wanted to share some of what I've been doing!!!

Yes, these books are great for use as straight-out journals but I'm using mine as mini scrapbooks of sorts. I started with the blue SMASH journal and decided to use it for my annual "summer" mini book this year. What's fun is using the pre-printed pages as starting points or "prompts" for journaling or page ideas. If you look through these books however and see pages that don't scream "YOU", remember you can just rip them out or cover them up as I've done! Here's some examples of "before and after" shots from my SMASH book.

Yummy's !!

While visiting Ocean City with friends this summer, we popped into the cutest darn shop called Yummy's. And, you guessed it....it sold nothing but yummy confections. I was so taken with the adorable decor and bought quite a few cupcakes (as to not be rude, of course!!) The pictures from that day turned out so fun so I thought I would make a layout about it. The new line from Three Bugs in a Rug called (appropriately) Bake me a Cake was the perfect choice for these pictures. I used the hot pink dot as my background papers and then used 3 different papers on the pages. I used a Martha border punch to make the blue border on the far right nad the sticker sheet that came with the line also. Using smaller photos (2x3inches) on a lot of the pics helped make this layout so fun and you can have those printed right here at Photo Scraps while you wait. I used aqua ink with my home printer to jazz up the journaling and I think that makes it all the more adorable. Hope you like it! Lisa H.

The perfect Christmas tree!!

Sorry my design team entry is a tad late this month....I have been just a bit busy with the Silent Auction, which by the way raised a terrific amount of money!! Thank you to all our amazing customers who participated in this great cause last weekend.  We will continue to sell pink rubber ducks, pens and mints for the rest of the month of October...all for Breast Cancer Awareness month, so please check those out the next time you are in the store.
Now, back to my layout.....I just LOVED this line by Little Yellow Bicycle.  The "word" paper I used as my two background pages was my absolute favorite!!  Mixing and matching several other decorative papers from this line is my go-to plan on most layouts.  Completing the pages with ribbon, bling and an adorable tree stickpin finishes it off.  Hope to see you soon!!  Lisa H.