SWEET stuff...

This February kit is FANTASTIC and I love all the blog posts this week from the design team showing off its versatility! One thing I love to do in most, if not all my layouts, is to show dimension. Whether it be with alpha stickers and embellishments or simply using patterned papers with cute shapes. I took the hearts from the Fancy Pants collection, cut them out and used my very favorite foam square adhesive for added texture.

Be on the look out for information regarding our 2nd Online Crop...the "SWEET CROP." It will be full of lots of games, challenges and prizes! We have a great theme and should be a lot of fun!

Only a few days till the the February kit is ready for purchase! Mark your calendars! It is a perfect Valentine's gift to give yourself!!!!

Happy Scrappin'!
Jennifer Y.

Good Times @ CHA

Jennie, Diana and I just returned from a fabulous trip to Anaheim where we attended CHA and got to check out all of the new and exciting scrapbook products.

We spent long days and late nights checking out all of the beautiful scrapbook goodies and then put them into our next several kits for you.

Here's a look at what we got to enjoy while at the show. I thought I was taking so many pictures, but I missed so many great photos. Diana also took pics and I've included a couple of her pictures too.

Pink Paislee. Love the booth and really liked all of the product samples.
Cosmo Cricket. The Girl Friday and Snorkel lines were favorites!
We found a fun new company named Jillibean Soup. Finding companies like this is one of the great reasons we like to go to CHA.
Heidi Swapp has a cool new invisibles product. It comes in 12 X 12 paper sheets and an alpha. It's an embossed product with a resist coating that you can ink and paint and the color won't stick to the embossed texture. Very cool! Here are Heidi's samples of what to do with the product.
Pebbles Inc. had some really great new product. We were pleasantly surprised.
Fancy Pants really amazed us. All of their designs were top notch.


We stopped by the Unity Stamp booth where the really friendly ladies showed up new stamps and new packaging and we even got to choose a free stamp. Cool!
Sassafras also had some great new product. One of our favorites was there adorable felties.

We also loved My Mind's Eye new Penny Lane line.
We were feeling the force when we met up with these characters.
The entire convention center building was evacuated Monday morning because of a possible small fire. Luckily we were only outside for a few minutes.
We wandered a little from the scrapbook section and in desperation for a place to briefly sit and rest our feet Jennie and I ended up sawing some wood. Interesting.
We had such a great time scouting out the BEST products for you! Can't wait to show you what we bought!

Layout Using the February Kit

I've been having so much fun with the February Kit from Scrapbook Circle! There are so many awesome embellishments in this month's kit...some of my favorite being the little decorative paperclips from Making Memories and the small transparencies from Fancy Pants. On this layout I actually stitched three of the transparencies onto my layout over patterned papers...I really love the look! The hearts I actually cut out from one of the beautiful (double-sided) patterned papers from the kit and adhered them to my page using 3 dimensional adhesive.

Can't wait to see what you all come up with using this sweet kit!

A quick card with the February Kit

I needed a card for a friend who had a baby girl last week. The Feb. kit "Will You Be Mine" had some beautiful papers and embellishments for me to use. I loved using the MM carstock stickers & Doodlebug glitter frills - such a quick way to embellish the card with sweet sentiments and the baby's first initial! "Happy New Baby" is a Stampin' Up stamp, but everything else is from the fabulous Feb. kit!

Online crop!

Yes, you read right!  We here at Scrapbook Circle will be having another SWEET online crop scheduled February 5-7.  Stay tuned for more details!  But make sure that you mark your calendars because the prizes and game will be fun!

Will You Be Mine?

We're so excited to share our February kit, "Will You Be Mine?" with you!

There's so much in it, I thought I'd take a bunch of pictures so you could get a good look at all of the goodness.
I just couldn't resist this Valentine Card paper from Fancy Pants. They could be the cutest valentine's I've ever seen.
Do you love this robot as much as I do? Plus you get the full 2 sheets of Making Memories stickers which has both an alpha and lots of words too!
Each kit comes with a full Fancy Pants 12 X 12 transparency of little frames. Perfect for layering over photos and creating beautiful journaling spaces.
These black alpha is gorgeous. It is covered with a velvet, textured pattern. This gives great dimension and softness.
Aren't these felt paper clips from Making Memories just so fun?
We also love these pins. They will make the perfect finishing touch to your cards, projects and layouts.

Ahhh...a new adorable Jenni Bowlin bingo card. Plus the red paper on the left is covered in individually white glittered hearts. One can never have enough glitter!

The Doodlebug stickers come covered in glitter. All of the work is done for you! Just peel and stick.
Are you ready to play?!?

Tempt your loved one's tummies with these tasty treats that say I love you!

Valentine's Day is another reason for me to eat sweets! I have a major sweet tooth:) If you like to make treats for Valentine's Day-here are some yummy recipes for you.

Valentine Kisses: Makes 4 - 6
Ingredients:
6 cups Krispy Rice Cereal
1 Package Of Marshmallows
3 Tablespoons Margarine
Vegetable Cooking Spray

Utensils:
Microwave Oven
Large Microwave Safe Bowl
Funnel Sprayed With Cooking Spray
12" Square Of Aluminum Foil For Each Child
1" x 11" Strip Of Paper Per Child
Waxed Paper
Mixing Spoon

Directions:
Label each strip of paper to say "A Kiss For You!" Follow directions on cereal box for making treats. Allow the mixture to cool until easy enough to handle. Have children mold it in the funnel. Place on waxed paper to cool completely before wrapping. Wrap kiss and strip in aluminum foil. Give as a gift to a special someone.

Gingerbread Valentines

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 tablespoons vinegar
5 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon each of ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves
1 package red hots candies
1 jar silver ball candy decorations

Directions:
1. Thoroughly cream shortening, sugar, and salt.
2. Add egg, molasses, and vinegar. Mix well.
3. Sift together dry ingredients. Add to molasses mixture, mix well.
4. Chill about 3 hours. Roll out, ¹ inch thick, on lightly floured surface.
5. Trace children's hands onto paper and cut out with scissors. Place paper hands on dough and cut around with a knife.
6. Place on greased cookie sheet and let children decorate their own hands.
Use red hots for fingernails, silver balls for rings, etc.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for 6 - 8 minutes, cool on wire rack. Makes about 15
hands.

Loveable Cookies

Ingredients:
1 20 oz. Roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough, chilled
1 16 oz. Can pink frosting
Powdered sugar
Heart shaped cookie cutters - 1 small and 1 large

Directions:
Prepare sugar cookies according to directions on the package for rolled cookies. Cut hearts in dough using a cookie cutter. Use knife or smaller cookie cutter to cut out a heart in the center of half the cookies. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 - 9 minutes. You can bake the baby hearts, too, for 5 minutes only. Let cool. Spread each big solid cookie with frosting and top with a cutout cookie. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Personalized Valentines...

A quick idea for those that don't receive Creating Keepsakes Magazine...
I am always trying to think of new ways to make my son's Valentines cute! Not that I don't like superheros...but something a little more creative and personable. Well, this year I don't have to think of anything at all! I found this awesome and super easy idea by Candice Stringham in the current issue of Creating Keepsakes.
It is as easy as taking a picture of your child, using your favorite punches... Here she used the a scallop and square punch, a little adhesive and your done! You can even have your child get involved by letting them place the picture on the Valentine candy!
With just a few weeks away I hope this give you a little inspiration for your Valentines and gets you ready for the February kit from Scrapbook Circle. It looks yummy!
Have a great weekend and happy scrappin'!

A Sweet Treat For You

This was a project that I did for a little Valentine Treat last year and I thought I'd share the "how to" with you all too! It's really quite simple and super fun...I have a feeling that I'll be making more this year using the February Kit from Scrapbook Circle as well!

Supplies:
6" x 7" piece of cardstock for candy cover2 1/2" x 6 1/2" piece of cardstock for belly band (optional)Scoring tool
Sticky Strip (adhesive)
Ribbon (about 30" needed)
Big Hershey™ bar
Scissors
Hole punch
Additional cardstock for decoration
Embellishments
Instructions:
1. Score 6" x 7" piece of cardstock at 2 3/4" and 5 1/2" on the 6" side
2. Score cardstock for the belly band at 2 3/4" and 5 1/2"
3. Apply adhesive to the 1/2" strip on front cover
4. Turn cardstock cover so the inside is facing up and add adhesive to the bottom of the 2 3/4" wide outer panel
5. Fold the thin tab, then the 2 3/4" panel over the middle panel to create a pouch and stick together by applying pressure
6. Punch a hole in the middle of top part of your pouch. Choose your punch according to the ribbon size being used
7. Finish decorating the pouch

History

Today is historic. Every Inauguration Day is historic. And I felt the urge to scrap a little history today. So I used my son's Haiku poem, a few of my thoughts & a photo of today's newspaper. The January kit had just the right subtle patriotic colors, with stars from the November kit and a couple of Unity stamps. If you'd like to read the journaling, you can view it in the Scrapbook Circle Community. Hope you and your family have been able to soak in some of the history today.

tip of the day....

The biggest thing I want you to REMEMBER is to make sure that you are making your memories to scrapbook!  Enjoy it and sometimes you don't need to have that camera with you to make your memories.  Today my kids and I enjoyed a beautiful day riding our bikes, we went to a fun lemonade stand and enjoyed freshed squeezed lemonade.  I know my kids will remember this day and so will I it was wonderful!  And you no what?  No camera!  And no I'm not beating myself up about it, I enjoyed it!  So REMEMBER you don't always have to have that camera with you to make your memories, enjoy the journey!

February Sweetness

The lovely February kits are packed and ready to go! More pictures will be coming soon, but here are a couple of sweet photos we just had to share.

Mixing It Up!

I am still amazed at the versatility of the January Kit U Rock! With the last of the kit lingering on my scrapbook table I decided to use the remaining card stock and patterned papers for this layout, "Sweet Country Baby". I have been wanting to scrap this picture for awhile now. I can't take credit for the photo...it was done by a friend of mine Natalie K Photography. I just love the way she captured my daughter in this picture. Although a few lollipops were used to get that smile!! The colors in the photo were perfect with the Collage Press Paper and the Kraft Card stock this month.

But you know how I love to mix it up and use any embellishment I can get my hands on! I wanted a rustic feel to this layout, so I started pulling pieces from previous kits, embellishments that I hadn't used in awhile, pulled out my Heidi Swapp Distresser, Sandpaper from this month's kit and went to town! I gave my butterfly rub-on some dimension by cutting it out from the card stock and bending it on the ends for a little lift!

I also used a few felt embellishments for added color and texture. I'm loving the felt right now!! I also added a few stitches with my sewing machine around the edges of the card stock and circle cut out. Also, I love layering pieces and titles of layouts are no exception! Layer your titles and find new combinations that work well together rather than using all the same sticker letters or chipboard letters...Mix It Up!

See what you have in your stash that will work great with any of the past kits and current kit from Scrapbook Circle...I think you will be surprised what combinations you can come up with and how you can make your old embellies look new again!

Have a great weekend and Happy Scrappin'!

Decorative Folding Card

I created this little folding card (making a few changes) thanks to a wonderful tutorial given by Katy Myhre and thought that it would be perfect for giving to a friend with either some special photos included on the blank inside pages or I even thought about adding some little tea packets like the one that Katy shows on her blog. For the tutorial on how to make this project click here and you will be able to download.

Stamping on Layouts

Did you make any "crafting resolutions" this year? A Photo a Day? A Project a Week? I have a few and one of them is to use stamping on my layouts more often. I have so many stamps and I need to use them! Diana gave us a fun January challenge "Ones" and I used a new Unity stamp for the background of this layout:

I used items from the January kit "U Rock" except for the ONE stamp (in 3 colors... okay, so I fudged a little), the mini alpha. and the CI circle rub-on (that's my "go green" element - using something old from my stash).

I also used quite a few Unity stamps on my "Jan. Blog Header":

The papers are from "U Rock" and the stamps are from Unity. I also used an alpha. from the Nov. kit, as well as Stickles (from Dec. kit) to accent the stamped border.

This year I plan to use my stamps to make my own embellishements, backgrounds, borders and journaling blocks. How about you? Please share any ways you like to use stamping to enhance your scrapbooking!

tip of the day....

Hello everyone!  Hope that you are having a fabulous day!  I LOVE to scrapbook, I love to look at other peoples pages and read the story behind them.  When I was a little girl my mom had BOXES of pictures and slides, I really enjoyed pulling them out and asking her who was in them and what their story was, I guess that is what really drives me.  I want my stories and memories to be told through my pages.   With that in my mind here is my tip for today....If you have grandmas, grandpas, your parents, whomever you want to interview in your family,  find out THEIR story.  

Here are 10 questions that might help you to get started:

1. When and where were you born?

2.What is your first memory as a child?

3. What was your childhood home like inside & out?

4. What did you do for fun as a child?

5. What was your favorite thing to eat?

6. Who were your best childhood friends?

7. What pets did you have a s child?

8. Did you participate in sports as a child?

9. What things did you hide from everyone else as your treasures?

10. What were your chores as a child?

I hope that these get you started and that you find out some interesting things of your family.  Enjoy!

Keeping it SIMPLE

I scraplifted this layout from MY BIG IDEA book from Stacy Julian. I LOVE how simple it was. She was able to put so many photos on it, yet it wasn't overwhelming. The trick is the outlining with the black marker. I simply used my ZIG marker and free-handed a thick black line around each photo, going outside the edges on purpose. Then, I flipped over the marker to the thin side and just started drawing lines over my thick line. I like the result. I finished it by added a title and just a few accents colors in red. Hope you like it, and remember, sometimes it is best to just KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Friday Funny....................

Since we've all been getting back into the swing of things after the Holidays, I thought it would be fun to post something lighthearted-something good for a laugh. So without further ado
Evolution of A Scrapbooker by Nicole Humphrey

"Cut a picture? You've got to be kidding!"

"Well those sure are cute pages. I'm not that creative." "You have IDEA BOOKS? Let me see."

"I guess I'll need an album, some adhesives, and paper."

"Oh, and I'll also need some templates, stickers, die cuts, and one of those trimmer things."

"I can't get my page to look exactly like the one in the book!"

"You mean I have to write in my album? I will need some pens. What should I write?"

"I finished my first page. Do you like it?"

"You know I have a ton of zoo pictures, and Jr. needs his school pages done; I need another album and some more paper."

"You have printed paper? And precut paper? I'll take one of each!"

"NEW STICKERS? I'll take some!"

"NEW DIECUTS? I'll need those!"

"A NEW TOOL! I NEED THAT!"

"A NEW IDEA BOOK? GIVE ME THAT NOW!"

"Wow - even bags and binders to get my supplies organized? I definitely need those!"

"Sorry honey, you'll have to make dinner - I'm off to a crop!"

"Clean socks are in the dryer!"

"HOLD IT! I HAVE to get a picture of that for the scrapbook."

"Would you please wear this shirt? I have the cutest paper to use in my layout and it will match perfectly!"

"YES, I came up with the idea myself."

"YES, That is my own handwriting."

"YES, I make time to scrapbook."

"Honey, we need to add a room to the house for my scrapping room."

"Life is crazy. I just need to crop!"

Tax Time: "Yes, scrapbooking in a medical deduction - it's my THERAPY!"

Having fun with Cards...

There are so many awesome projects and layouts that are coming from the January Kit "U ROCK!" When I first saw it I thought it had somewhat of a grunge feel to it, which in my opinion you can scrap so many different ways. I fell in love with the Prima Youth Epoxy Stickers and wanted to do a card set that might appeal to the "younger/hip" crowd! Although I always consider myself hip no matter how old I am!! (ha!)

I do have to share a really cool item I found at Hobby Lobby and incorporated it into the letters of the card. Has anyone seen this? It was so fun and super easy to use. Although the picture doesn't pick up on the texture as well as I would like. It actually gives anything you want a soft velvet texture! Totally cool product! All you have to do is apply a liquid adhesive to whatever you would like to embellish and sprinkle on the flock! The little jars are really cute too!

If you haven't picked up the January kit yet it is not to late...check out the awesome gallery to see all the great ideas!

Happy Scrappin'!