Loving the April Kit!

I am having so much fun creating with the fun and lovely April kit! When you have a few minutes, head over to the gallery and check out the layouts the team is posting! The papers are fabulous and the embellishments, well, I love them so much it was hard for me to use them at first! Finally, on "blink", I really put them to use!

I used a sketch from the Pagemaps Blog contest and lots of wonderful papers and embellies from the April kit. I added some ruffles, my new favorite addition, with cupcake liners (blue) and crepe paper (pink), things you probably have in your home right now! If you are concerned about them being acid/lignin free, you could spray them with archival mist, or make sure they don't touch your photo. For a finishing touch, I used embroidery thread in the corners. I can't wait to see all the fresh, springtime layouts and projects you will be making with your April kit soon!

tip of the day.....

I love dimension.  Here is a quick tip to help you create your own dimensional items.

1. first you will need to shapes that are the same, (I had these flowers already punched glittered and ready....) you will also need pop dots (mine happen to be foam)

2. anything you want to embellish you dimensional item with.

3. put your pop dot on the back of your front flower, then adhere your top item to your lower item.  I put mine at an angle so you could see the bottom flower. 

Another option is you can also put it directly over the top of the other item giving it a 3-D look.

These fun and quick!   Enjoy!!

Struggling with Layout Titles

Because I don't scrapbook with a subject in mind, I often have trouble thinking of a title. Even when I have scrapped with a subject in mind-I have a hard time coming up with the perfect title! So, for any of you that find yourself in the same boat-here is a great list of places that can offer you a bit of creative help:

The Perfect Title

Scrap Sayings

Scrapbook Creations

Witty Living

Enjoy!!

April kit fun...

Oh boy...Spring is in the air! This April kit makes me happy! The papers from Cosmo Cricket and Fancy Pants are sure to put you in the mood for Spring. All the papers work so well together and are so versatile for your little boy or girl.

I took the alphabet paper from Cosmo Cricket and cut out the letters to spell "Mommy." I cut a small flower from another sheet of Cosmo Cricket and rhinestone bling in the middle to add some sparkle. Used the pop dots to give dimension to the letters and that's it!

This kit is a must for all your Spring and Easter layouts! Have fun with it and I can't wait to see what you create!

Check it out here.

Happy Scrappin'!

Jennifer Y.

Scrapbook Circle Design Team Call

We are excited to announce that we are looking for new members for our design team!

Our current design team ladies have been absolutely wonderful and amazing and we are sad to see them move on, but sometimes change is good.

Here are all of of the details for the design team call:

What’s in it for you?

• Our monthly kits of newly released scrapbook supplies delivered to you!
• Exposure on Scrapbook Circle’s gallery, blog and community
• A chance to share what you love with others
• 25% off any extras you want to purchase (shipped free with your kit!)

What do you do if you are chosen?

• Complete 4 layouts each month using the kit of the month
• Post weekly on our blog
• Participate daily in our forums/community
• Commit to a 6 month design team term
• Participate in our online crops/challenges
  
• Promote Scrapbook Circle where you feel it is appropriate (blogs, forums, etc.)
  

How do you apply?

Email the following to lisa@scrapbookcircle.com:

• 5 images of your favorite layouts you have created
• Link to your blog (if you have one)
• Short bio including why you want to be on our design team
• List of other current design teams you participate on
• List of any scrapbook forums where you regularly participate

All submissions are due by Wednesday, April 8.

We will announce the new design team members by Wednesday, April 15. The new DT members will start with the May Kit.

We are excited to see your work!

A Banner with Kit "Leftovers"

I love "March Madness" (which refers to the NCAA Basketball tournament). Since my alma mater is still in the tournament, I just had to make a banner to celebrate. Wanting to use blue (for UNC Tarheels) and orange (for basketball), I turned to my scraps from the Nov'08 Scrapbook Circle Nov.2008 kit.


I cut out chipboard triangles and used buttons, HS alphabet, and cupcake liners from my stash. The orange felt is leftover from a 2007 SCircle kit! Banners are a great way to use up some kit leftovers! Who knows, I might even use my April kit (before I do any layouts) for a Spring or Easter banner! See Lisa's post below showing the fabulous and fun April kit and some terrific layouts!

Loving Our APRIL Monthly Scrapbooking Kit!

Can you believe that April is almost here? We are so excited to share our April kit with you.
We are including paper from Fancy Pants on a Whimsy and Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday. We absolutely LOVE the paper from both of these lines. You get 10 sheets of patterned paper! All of the paper is double-sided.
The reverse sides of the paper are just as wonderful as the front sides. Don't forget to pick up you April paper add-on so that you won't have to decided which side of the paper to use.
Here are a couple of layouts I've done so far with the kit. I LOVE the versatility of the kit. It's perfect for both pretty girl pages AND boy style pages too. Lots of options with the double-sided paper. Can't get enough of the puffy American Crafts Alphabet. So fun!

We have just a few April kits that have not yet been reserved by subscribers. If you want to be sure to have one of these lovely kits, you can reserve one now by signing up for a subscription HERE. Single kit purchases will be available on April 1st for any of the remaining kits.

tip of the day.....

journaling!  Oh, I know not everyone gets very excited about this part of your layout but it's key!  I know sometimes I get stuck, what do I do?  I ask whoever the layout is about some questions such as:

What do you remember from this day? --a lot of times they remember things that I didn't even pay attention too.

What was your favorite part?

Would you want to do this again?

With their own journaling it makes the albums even more special.  Enjoy!

Card kit clubs

I have been in a wonderful card 'club' for years now. I really like how easy and stress-free it is, so I thought I'd share how we do it.

One lady is 'in charge' and she chooses the deadline date and e-mails all of us with the 'theme' if there is one and the date. We all need to reply so we know how many of us are 'in' for that go round. Each go round is optional -- just depending on if you have the time to participate or not. Then, she replies with the final number of participants for that round. Normally it is about 12. Then, we each make 12 identical cards. On or before the specified date, we get them to her and she disperses them back to all 12 of us -- only now we have one of each of the 12 types of cards! I now live in a different state and my friend in charge is kind enough to mail me my batch of cards. I LOVE getting that package in the mail!

It is great because I only have to be creative enough to come up with one card design, and then sit and watch a movie while I punch out 12 copies of that card. Then, magically (ok, not so much magic, but an organized friend) I get 12 fun, different, exciting cards!

I have a huge box of cards now ready to use for all sorts of situations.

Scrapbooking Children's Favorite Stories

Countless memories are built during the formative childhood days. If there's an excellent means to record them down in some ways, it'll be scrapbooking.

True, we can't possibly capture every single event, but we can definitely scrap those more memorable ones onto pages.

If you've decided to scrapbook together with your kid, besides guiding them with little prompts on the journaling, you'll probably need some neat ideas to pull in those best memories.

Here's various hot-selling "stories" that you and your child can scrapbook about:

A) Story of the Birth of Baby

Kids love to read stories about themselves as babies. Having pages surrounding your child's birth will make him or her feel how much he or she is wanted by the family.

- Photo of mommy pregnant with the baby.

- Who waited for the birth?

- Who came for the hospital visit?

- Weight, length, doctor, hospital details.

- Feelings of parents about the birth of your child.

- Funny stories that happened.

- Documenting baby milestones.

- What's your kid's favorite bedtime stories?

- Photo of your kid's favorite toys.

As there's a chance that there's no photos taken during the birth, a good alternative would be to do a page on significant or historical events that happened on the day or year of your kid's birth. How to source for such information? Visit www.dmarie.com/timecap to pick up such data.

Another idea is for your kid to do a page on his or her name and birthday. Record down your kid's feelings about his or her name. Why did you and your husband come up with such a name? What's the meaning of the name? Find out what famous people share your kid's name. Find out what famous birthdays share your kid's birthday. What's the best birthday party your child had?

B) Story of Family

Family members are among the most influential people that influence a child during the growing years. Having your child scrapbook about the family will reinforce the importance of family connectedness in his or her life.

- What does your child like about each family member?

- Does your girl or boy like being part of the family? Why?

- Does your kid like being the first-born, middle-born, in-between or baby of the family?

- What does your child like about his or her grandparents?

- What are the family chores that your kid handle?

- Does your kid have a favorite pet? What does your child like about the pet? Get your kid to draw a picture of the pet.

- Funny incidents that took place in the family.

- Typical day at home. What's the daily activities that take place?

- List of fun things your kid did with the family like sporting events, camping, and picnics.

- Favorite family vacations. Where did you go and what did your kid do?

- What's your kid's most memorable memories about the family?

- Record the cultural heritage of the family.

- Suggest that your kid draw a family portrait.

C) Story of School Days

School is where the child will improve his or her fine-motor, language, art, math, problem-solving, expanding ideas and social skills. Many unforgettable memories will be formed here and your child would want to scrap these days.

- Favorite subject at school. Why?

- Favorite teacher. What does your kid like about this teacher?

- Describe a typical day at school.

- Describe the items in your kid's backpack. Photo of those items.

- What does your kid like about his or her school?

- Where does he or she usually hang out?

- List of fun things your kid do with his or her classmates.

- What extracurricular activities or clubs do you kid join? Since this is a personal choice, why did he or she choose it?

- Who does your kid usually sit with at lunch?

- Who are your kid's favorite classmates? What do your child like about them?

- What are the memorable field trips?

D) Story of Friends

Friends are crucial in the development of a kid's growth. By scrapbooking the theme of friendship, he or she will learn the importance of friends, and to dwell on the positive aspects of friendship.

- Who are your kid's best friends?

- What do your kid like about them?

- What do your kids usually do when they are together?

- Where are the places your kid love to hang out with them? Why?

- What are the qualities your kid admire in his or her friends?

E) Story of Dreams

Children has the amazing ability to daydream, imagine and dream big! You might want to encourage your kid to explore all the different possibilities. You'll probably have to give more guidance about journaling future jobs, things they want to achieve, homes and the lifestyle they want to lead.

- What does like your kid want to become when he or she grows up? Why?

- What are the duties included in the job?

- Who are the famous/ordinary people with the career your kid admires? Photo of these people?

- What are the qualities of the people with the career your kid dream of?

- What kind of home your kid want to live in the future? Draw a picture of the dream house.

- Does your kid want to be married in future? How many kids your child want to have? What are the qualities your kid look for in his or her partner?

- List of top ten things your kid wanted most to do in his or her life.

- What does kids imagine he or she will be doing during free time?

- If your kid can have superpower, what does your kid want it to be? Why?

- If money is no object, what would you child want to do with the money. Why?

These are some of the common themes you and your kid can cover. There's many more. But these ideas will be a leaping pad to more ideas.

Happy scrapping childhood stories!

About the Author:
Fion Lim is the creator of everything-about-scrapbooking.com. She enjoys scrapbooking as a hobby and finds pleasure in sharing scrapbooking ideas, tips and techniques with beginner scrapbookers through her scrapbooking site

A little "hello"

When I saw these little birdies from the Pebbles So Tweet collection in the March kit, I couldn't help but think how cute they would be not only in a layout but perfect for fun everyday cards.

I used the stickers and also cut out the trees and tiny bird from the patterned paper in the kit. I used pop dots to add dimension to the trees and that was it! This was a quick and easy way to use the scraps I had left for the March kit and a nice way to brightens someones day!

Have a great week!
Happy Scrappin'!
Jennifer Y.

Real-Life "Embellishments"

The other day I was thinking about how scrapbooking has changed. Once upon a time it was little tid-bits of found objects from real life memories and adventures (ticket-stubs, a wrapper from a gift, dried flowers, bits of fabric from a dress, etc.) and how now we are more apt to use pre-made embellishments that may "fit" with the sharing of the memory but not from the the memory or event that actually took place. I want to try to do better about fitting in a little of the real-life stuff now and again too...one easy and fun way that I thought of right away was to share Zoey's handprints using paint on a layout.

To make prints, prepare a flat surface. Next, put acrylic paint into a paper plate. Then, have your child place his or her hands in the paint and then on your scrapbook surface, one at a time.
After the paint dries, you will have a permanent record of your child's handprints and have captured a moment in time quite literally.

What a sweet keepsake and a fun one too!

Photo Gift Idea

As a scrapper, I love to give people memory-keeping gifts like mini albums. Sometimes though, you just need something a little quicker and easier; or you may not have photos of the person (or their family) to make the album.

So, here's a cool find for "the person that has everything" that I saw on Photojojo: Reasonably priced Re-Stickable Wall Decal Photo Frames:
$20 for an 8-pack seems pretty reasonable and what fun they could be! Wall Words are certainly popular right now, so why not Wall Frames (no nail holes!) I think I know just the friend who will receive a set of these for his birthday!

tip of the day....

A fun technique to remember when scrapbooking is cropping your pictures.  When cropping your pictures show only the most important parts of the picture.  This not only makes your layout more visually appealing but also leaves more space for photos and journaling.  

journaling ideas

Most of the time, our layouts are about the photos. That is why we scrapbook, right? To show off our lives and our kids through photos -- preserving history. But, occasionally I find it fun to do a layout http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifof journaling only. It might seem boring, but in years to come, I bet I will spend more time looking and reading these pages than glancing at those photo pages I spent hours on.

However, I don't have time to sit and fill up a 12x12 page with journaling? So, what do I do? Copy and paste, my friend. How many of you blog? How many of you are on facebook? How many of you right e-mails to friends or family members? Take some of these and copy them into a word document. Print them out onto acid-free cardstock and make a layout of them!





This is a great way to use up those random letters that you have left over from all those alphabets -- I use up paper that I might not ordinarily use for a photo layout. When people are looking through my scrapbooks, these are always the pages they stop and read. I'd never submit any of them for publication -- I maybe spend 15 minutes on a page -- but they are preserving history! And, that, my friends, it what this is all about!

Love to Stamp

I love the idea of stamping. All of the images available and different styles. Problem is-I have a hard time figuring out where to use them! Especially when it comes to my LO's. I stumbled across these fabulous ideas from Kim Hughes. (If you don't know who Kim Hughes is-she makes some of the cutest stamps ever)

Create your own custom embellishments. Stamp on a tag, panel, button.
Stamp on your photo. How about some flourishes for instance?
Stamp the title.
Stamp a frame.
Stamp journaling accents.
Stamp a background with a Backgrounder or Scrapblock to visually break up the space.
Stamp a Scrapblock on cardstock to create your own patterned paper to use.
Stamp on ribbon.
Stamp on die cuts or chipboard to personalize it.
Stamp an accent quote.
Stamp on chipboard, vinyl or felt letter stickers.
Stamp a flourish on the edge of your design.

To read the full article, click here. if you want to check out her super cute stamps go here. And if you get the feeling you must have some, you can purchase here.

HANDMADE "FELTIES"

I am so amazed at all the awesome talented scrapbookers out there...I am constantly looking for new embellishments to adorn my pages! But after discovering Etsy.com I am really paying close attention to all the handmade items out there.

These are the goodies that came in my mailbox yesterday...

Aren't they the cutest?? The talented designer is Ms. Megan Klauer. You can find her here. I met her through the Design Team over at Pink Sketches. I was browsing her blog and simply fell in love with her designs. Simple things like hand made goodies can turn my inspiration around...plus they make me happy!!

Hope your day is great! Happy Scrappin'!
JenniferY

Ideas for Mini Books

Have you ever wanted to get started in on creating a mini book but just couldn't come up with a theme or an idea for what the subject would be? A while back I stumbled on this awesome list compiled by Charity Hassel (a fellow scrapbooker) of possible ideas for books and circle journals and I just had to share...you are bound to find several that will make for a great book!

- things/people that bring you joy)
- Motivation (what motivates you)
- Family Recipes- Music (that motivates you, that you love, that reminds you of something, etc.)
- Favorite Color
- Favorite Vacation Spot
- Simple Pleasures
- Life Lessons
- Love Lessons
- Friendships
- How you spend your time
- Being a girl
-the 5 senses

- Favorite season
- Who you’d like to meet, alive or dead
- Quotes that move me
- Travel tips and techniques
- What Makes you happy
- girl talk
- The girl in the mirror
- My gifts
- Words to live by
- Things I’ve always wanted to know
- Favorite books
- Why I like being a girl
- Dreams
- My hero
- Inspirational teachers
- My favorite things
- Favorite moments
- Proud moments
- Self Portrait
- My hometown
- Hometown Travel Guide
- Most Memorable Moment
- What Make me Giggle
- A-z about me
- Finding your inner strength
- My circle of friends (about or among)
- Gratitude
- Where I’d like to travel
- What makes me blush
- All About Me
- Classic Ads
- Of Days Gone By
- IF (questions for the game of life
- each participant chooses a different question)
- If I were Queen for a day
- If I could go anywhere
- inspiration (photos, stories, quotes, etc.)
- Betcha Didn’t Know (things that most people don’t know about you)
- where I come from
- My First Dream Come True
- My Pet Peeve (lighthearted)
- Your Favorite Book
- My Country, My Home
- Hobbies
- Obstacles
- Flowers
- Poetry
- Lullabies
- Fables
- Pockets/Purses (what’s in the bottom of them)
- Women/People/ Person who’s influenced you-Your Favorite Photo
- Gal Pals
- My most prized possession
- My collection(s)
- My favorite texture(s)
- My favorite joke
- Things I want to do before I die
-Influence
- My name
- Ode to Joy-Attitude of Gratitude
- Favorite ______ (you complete the theme)
- A Time to Remember- Lessons Learned
- The Power of Inspiration
- Creating- Truly, Madly, Deeply
- The Magic of Life- Heart & Soul
- What Matters Most
- Treasured Moments
- Reality Isn’t What It Used to Be
- Proud to Be An American
- Dancing With Age
- Gift of Words- A Day in the Life . . .
- Silence- Love Spoken Here
- Outside My Window
- My World And Welcome To It!
- Quiet Wonder
- Garden of Delight
- Simple Pleasures
- Planting An Impossible Garden
- Love Lessons
- Soul Prints
- Beyond Motivation
- Gardens of my Life
- Best Advice (Given & Received)
- The Fabric of Life
- Poetry _________ (you complete the theme)
- True Words- Audacious Wisdom
- There's No Place Like Home
- Elements of Me
- Nourishing Tradition- What's Cookin?
- The Power of Age
- Life's Seasons
- Wish Come True
- It's Love!
- Romancing the ____ (you complete the theme)
- First Impressions
- Journeys In My Life (travel related) or Where I’ve Been and What I’ve Seen
- How I Feel About Me, Now Lessons I’m Learning In My Second Half-Century
- What I Know Now…. Life Lessons from Strange Places
- Why I Don’t ……..??
- What I Know Now That I Wish I’d Known When I Was 20?
- Celebrating the Woman I’ve Become
- The Value of Values
- Favorite music
- Pieces of Me
- laughter
- what makes you laugh
- Art Inspires!
- pockets or tag journal
- Holidays of the Heart (favorite holidays or celebrations)
- You've Got a Friend
- Who or what helps you through life's bumps?)
- (what keeps you . . .) Forever Young at Heart
- Of A Certain Age- What's the Good Word? (a powerful word for you)
- Whim & Whimsy
- The Power of Inspiration
- The Circle of Life
- Gratitudes
- Mama Had a Dancing Heart
-Love Spoken Here
- Things I Know Now
- Life Recipes
- Words: Their Gifts & Truth- One Wish
- The Journey: Then & Now- Our Hometowns: Their Place in History & Sights to See- Life’s Definitions
- Life’s Journey: Who Are You?
- Wind Beneath My Wings- Lessons Learned . . . the Lighter Side
- Inner Music: What Makes Your Heart Sing
- The Many Hats of Life
- It Was a Very Good Year

Many of these would also make great starting off points for scrapbook layouts too!

Jen

Bookmarks from Kit Scraps

I found a wonderful tutorial for making these cute little "corner bookmarks": Stamping Mathilda. I pulled out my March kit scraps and had fun using them. The little decorated paper strips on the bottom of the Jilliebean Soup patterned papers make cute "flat" embellishments, as well as the stickers. Since they are bookmarks, I wanted to keep them flat. You can personalize them with a monogram or add a stamp for an occasion (Easter, Mother's Day, etc.) Put them in a gift book or on the corner of a card as a little something extra. Fast & easy!

tip of the day....

I did this tip of the day last month, but then I got to thinking not everyone has a die cut machine.  So here is a way to create your flower WITHOUT a die cutting machine, and if you have smaller pieces of paper that won't fit in your machines.

1. trace your flower on your paper. (make sure that there are bigger and smaller ones.) I traced 8 flowers on this flower.

2. cut your flowers out.

3. crumble up your flowers.

4. distress with ink on the edges and the folded parts.

5. start to glue the flowers together with the larger pieces on the bottom.

6. Once your flower is layered up, glue your desired center.  This time I chose a jewel....

This is such a fun technique and you will be surprised how often you will use it.  Enjoy!

Using PP as embellishments

This idea is nothing new, I know, but I wanted to just blog about using PP as extra embellishments in our layouts. Sometimes there is a pattern that is too big or bold or busy to be used as an actual background for a layout. In these instances, cut it up and use the images as embellishments.

I did this with the flower paper from Pink Paislee from the March Kit. I think it turned out great. I love the way it just jumps out against the black paper. Here are some pictures.




I finished it off with a bow of tulle and one of the decorated brads that came in the march kit. There are so many ways to turn PP into embellishments! Have fun and happy scrapping!

A Peek into the Future!

We believe that part of the fun of subscribing to our kits is having a new surprise pack of scrapbooking goodness delivered to your door each month.

But we also think that it's important that you have a little idea of what is coming so that you have something to really look forward to.

We have shipments from our CHA orders arriving almost daily and thought we'd let you have a peek at what we having coming in our next 3 kits!






Ready to create? I know I am.

March Kit Goodness!

Having lots of fun with this bright and fun kit! A fun way to do journaling...use those number stickers and make a list for your journaling! Check out what I did using this idea for my layout below...

Happy Scrappin!

Jen

March Kit Rocks!

Well, if you see the post below, you have at least one chance to win one of the fabulous March kits! Today, if you join the 4th Anniversary Party over at Willow Traders, you can participate in challenges and be entered for another chance to win a kit! And I have to tell you, if you don't win a kit, you should consider buying it because this kit ROCKS! You can see new projects being added to the Idea Gallery every day.
Yesterday I used the Inspired Blueprints Sketch #11 to do this layout of my sister walking her dogs.

I wanted to use the word "love" from the Pebbles sticker sheet, but it was just a little too blue for my layout. So, I took my sanding block and ink and distressed it a bit. Be sure and show us your March creations! Post them to the Photos section of the Scrapbook Circle Community!

Want to Win a FREE March kit?

We've started a Facebook group and to celebrate we're giving away a FREE March kit.

To be eligable, you just need to join the Facebook group anytime today or tomorrow by 10:00 p.m. (March 2nd and 3rd.) Everyone who joins will be entered in a drawing for the kit.

Visit our Facebook Page here.

Can't wait to see you on Facebook!

(If you're already paid for your March kit and you win, we will refund your payment!)

tip of the day....

I tried a new technique to me for this layout.  I cut my pattern paper to the size I wanted adhered the pattern paper to the wrong side of the cardstock.  Then I sewed it on.  Next I CAREFULLY took my x-acto knife and cut along the edge of the stitch to give it a torn look, and it exposed the pattern paper below.  It's REALLY easy and gives a fun look.  **One thing if you don't have a sewing machine you can always glue it and do the same thing....**

ENJOY!