Stamp Some Smiles

Holiday mini scrapbook class info

I know that it is way too early to talk about Christmas, but when you are making gifts it is the perfect time to start celebrating the Holiday Season,and  I have created a class for you!  Come and create a mini scrapbook to capture your favorite holiday memories. 

This unique scrapbook is a 6″ x 8″ mini scrapbook album that has room for various size pictures and some journaling. 

It will make a wonderful gift for a friend or family member.  Or choose to keep the album for yourself!  You can add photos and journaling once you get home...or after the holidays.  It's not your typical RED and GREEN colors, so you can custom design the album for any occassion!

I find that this is the perfect time of year to offer a scrapbooking class because everyone is looking for affordable, yet unique Christmas ideas for all those hard-to-shop for people in our lives – parents, grandparents, long-distance relatives. Who wouldn’t love this little album filled with the gift of memories?  Dates and times for this class are listed below.  Let me know if you are interested in attending so I can make a kit for you.  Class fee is $10 due on the day of the class.  Pre-paid Kit fee is $15.  (for a total of $25)

Would you love to make the album but can't find the time to come to class? For just $20 you can get the kit and I will email instructions to you!  You must see this in person to appreciate just how nice it is, so be sure to check it out when you are at my October Stamp Camp.  Sign ups and pre-payments due by October 17th.

 

October Friday 23rd -1pm till 4 and/or  6 to 9 Saturday 24th - 9am till 12

November Friday - 6th - 1pm till 4 and/or  6 to 9 Saturday - 7th -  9am till 12 Sunday - 8th - 9am till 12

This is my dad, or Papa-Claus as the kids like to call him, no matter how old they get they still sit on his lap every year ever since the only grandchildren where Bobby, Mat, and Kyle.  I have proof that my kids are still into it, want to see?

LOL, okay, I can't get too close to these pics or my kids will be mortified, this was from last Christmas, and believe me, they all have huge smiles on their faces.  I am sure you have fantastic memories you could put in this book too!  I hope you can join me this month!
 

My Digital Scrapbook (MDS) Bobby's Love for skateboarding

I have to admit, I am definitely a "hold it in your hands" person. Ever since I could hold a crayon in my hand and scribble on paper I have been a paper crafting LOVER! When I young  I could sit for hours doodling and coloring! Paper crafting is my number one love. When I saw the new digital scrapbooking from Stampin' Up! called My Digital Scrapbook (MDS)I was excited, I wanted to try it, it's new and different, I didn't expect to love it. You will probably NOT see many cards created with MDS here on my blog but you CAN expect to see more scrapbook pages - because I LOVE digital scrapbooking.  Never thought I would, but I do!  Now it is all still VERY new to me.  I opened the package and popped it in and started to play without reading or following directions, that is how excited I was.  BUT, I will be getting certified and know all the quick hints and tips and be able to teach you in the very near future!(for instance, the pictures were taken in doors, from far away and are very grainy.  I am sure there is a way to fix this but I didn't want to take the time, I wanted my finished page!  LOL)

Here is my very first scrapbook page, it's Bobby and his love for Skateboarding: Click for a bigger view...

    

I LOVE IT! Here are just a few of the reasons:

REUSABLE PRODUCT
Think about it: How much do you spend to create ONE 12x12 scrapbook page. (Okay, if you are like me you make it over and over and over, this is the 6th version of this page to finally get the one I love, you spend a lot more than you should.  I will figure out how to show you all of them side by side and we will see if I end up liking one of the other ones better, but this is my favorite for right now, and this will be the one I have printed) I can RE-USE these items over and over and never run out...of the color I need, the pattern I need, the embelishments I need, the ribbon I need, the dimensionals and adhesive I need, and it NEVER costs me more than the origianal purchase price.  I can easily give this page to friends and family without ever having to create it again (You know me, can't make the same thing twice! lol)

COST
What about printing? My home printer doesn't allow me to print 12x12 (some do) but I CAN print 8.5x11 or 8x8 or 6x6 scrapbook pages on it. But if I don't WANT to print at home or I want 12x12 size pages, with the purchase of MDS I have access to professional printing services that can actually print all my pages into a hardbound book and STILL have less money invested than if I were buying the actual materials. Even printing at home the cost of purchasing the ink cartridge is MUCH LESS and LESS FREQUENT than purchasing the materials and embellishments.  The results are much better than anything I could ever get at home.  You know those alphabet stickers you purchase for $2-$3 a pack? How many times have you needed a specific color in a specific letter and realized that you've already used it? Or been left with x's (because really how often do we use the letter x?). With a digital program you can change the color, pattern, and size of an image. You can do the same with any of the images - you need a 1" butterfly but only have a 2" stamp or sticker - you won't have that problem with MDS. Shrink it to size, change it to the color you need, presto!

PORTABILITY
I went to Maine last weekend and due to bad planning (mostly because of lack of time) I ended up dragging along all my tools, embellishments, papers, cardstock, stamps, ink etc. I am not kidding you, EVERYTHING.  But with MDS all I need is my laptop and I can design away in where ever I am, even at night while hubby watches t.v./sleeps!  LOL

NO RETIRING IN-COLORS!
I still think SU has come up with some FANTASTIC In-Colors (think Pink Pirouette, River Rock, etc) and then retires it in 12 months and I am so sad! With MDS you will ALWAYS have access to even the retired colors in both solids and patterned papers. MDS has ALL of the current In-colors as well as a few of the retired ones. As new colors are released they will also be available for download. Wooooooo WHooooo!

NO MESS TO CLEAN UP!!!!!
For me this is a BIG plus. My craftroom is usually a mess because I'm not a "clean as you go" kind of gal. It has been said (by my husband) that I spread and spread until I have taken over the kitchen, sunroom and stamping room before eventually taking over the living room too!  (OMG, don't ever visit me the Saturday before a stamp camp!) But after creating this scrapbook page over and over using different colors and embelishments, all I had to do was close my computer down....no mess!  It takes me hours to clean up after any creative session, but not in this case!  

 LOVIN' IT!  Couldn't wait to share this with you, even though I don't know what I am doing yet.  If I can create THIS without even knowing what I am doing, I can't wait to see what I can do after looking into what this program can really do!  I look forward to sharing more with you!

Never too old

Here are some scrapbook pages I did when I was at Jan's retreat.  I wrote on one of the pages "you are never too old" talking about how fun it is to color eggs, it is something I don't think I will ever grow too old to do.  My kids love it too, all three of them ... from 13 right on up to 21.  Unfortunately, There are many things you are never too old for.  One of them is disappointment.  Even the best plans sometimes crumble, or have a glitch, causing sadness and disappointment. That is what I am today, sad and disappointed.  I thought I would be taking pictures today of our annual Easter Egg hunt/ Coloring session but it was canceled quite unexpectedly. 

So now I sit with baskets and baskets of filled plastic eggs that are much more cheery than my mood and hurt in my heart knowing that I can't get this time back, precious memories were missed.  My kids, my neices and nephews are all getting older so quickly.  We really don't have any "little ones" anymore.  Here is how "big" everyone was last year:

        

I am so glad that I was able to share these with you today, and this is just one more reason I love to scrapbook.  Look at those faces, such concentration, and happiness, frozen in time.  Little notes on the page that bring back the memories of that day.  No matter how old I get, or what life throws my way, I will have these books to look back on.  Happily so will my children and their families.  We can all look back and remember how much fun all of those silly little things were and how much we all enjoyed them.

Another thing you are never too old for, getting back on a bike.  I am going for my first bike ride in about 22 years.  By bike, I mean Harley.  Yes I will wear a helmet, no...it isn't what I planned to do with my day...but it will do.  Rob isn't nervous at all, I have a huge headache...I am sure this will cure it...right?

I fought against scrapbooking, just ask my friends...but now...I LOVE IT!

Ask anyone who knows me, they will tell you, I fought against scrapbooking.  Just didn't think I could.  Just didn't want to.  Just wasn't organized enough.  Just too much work.  Oh ... I had excuses, and they were good ones too.  How long can you fight something that involves things you love (paper crafting) and people you love (in photos) and memories and love?  A long time, a very long time.  Then one day I just gave in.  I tried it.  I was hooked!  I have been loving scrapbooking ever since.  May is national scrapbooking month.  I am putting together a class for you and have enjoyed every step so far.  I am still in the planning stages but this is what I figured out so far.  We will use the "On Board 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 ring scrapbook".  The class will be "A YEAR in a Day!" and we will make spring, summer, fall, and winter pages.  The book will be complete and ready to fill when you get home.  How awesome is that?!  A year's worth of memories put into a beautiful book!  I will show you how pretty the cover is once my embellishments are finished. Here is a sneak peak at one of the simple but beautiful layouts:

   

I will have embelishments for you to pick and choose to use, buttons, punches, ribbons, brads, eyelets...it will be up to you.  I wanted to give a simple base and accomplished that with this layout.

 I came up with an idea for those of you who don't want to make a completely decorated 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 with coordinating pages.  If you would rather make page to add to an existing book, you will be able to add this layout directly to a 12 x 12 paper with a few other pieces of added  cardstock. 

 

Here you can see the two page spread.  Green is the 8 1/2 x 8 1/2. 

 

Isn't that pretty?   More details will follow, but I did make 18 pages this weekend!  For me that is a huge accomplishment, I am a very slow scrapbooker.  I started on Friday and worked every spare minute I had just to pull all those pages together.  I will continue to post some sneak peeks.  Hope you had a productive and fun weekend too!

Baby Boy Scrapbook Gift

I finished the rest of the Baby Gift for the girl I work with.  This is a scrapbook for pictures of her son.  It can be used right away or when he gets a little bigger, it is more BOY than Baby.  I think she will like it, what do you think? 

I used some card stock stickers and retired scrapbook kit papers.  Here it is:

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrapbook layout of our Sweet Wesley

This is my sweet nephew Wesley. I haven't met him yet. My arms long to hold him, I ache to kiss his soft baby cheeks. I will not give anyone else much time with him when he comes to visit at Christmas, I will hog him, I just know it. These are pics of him and his daddy at the beach. They live in Key West. My sister in law Alicia was our baby sitter when my kids were young. She is a wonderful mom. My husband and daughter went to visit them in May, so I have lots of pictures to play with. (this is an older photo, he is getting so big now!) This is from a scrap kit from our last catalog. I think it might have been the hostess level kit...the colors were perfect. It is set up on a cool new display board I have, and I put a card on with a clip...that isn't part of the page, I just liked the colors and the boat so I added it on.
A big hug and hello to our family in Florida reading this, we are looking forward to seeing you all.

Button Wood Farms Sunflower page

Well here is the page I had given a sneak peek of! I saw a page with these same colors, and I believe the layout was just about the same too. I can't for the life of me find any photo's of it, I think I saw it at Convention. I searched SCS, and I even searched google for "Farm 12 x 12 Scrapbook pages". I looked for hours, it was FUN! I had no luck finding it, but saw some other beautiful things. Do you do that? Get sidetracked? You know, you start by thinking you are going to look for a specific thing, and then end up spending hours on line shooting off in a few different directions before realizing, "OH YEAH, I am supposed to be doing _______!"
Here is what I can tell you about the original....I remember it had the most beautiful pictures of horses on it...and it said "Farm".
That is all I can tell you.
It made such an impression on me that I was able to pull together these colors and build this layout. It WOWs me. I hope it WOWS you too. I am in LOVE with making pages that look just like a giant card. (gee I wonder why?) OH MY GOSH, if you could FEEL this felt ribbon, you wouldn't ever want to use anything else ... any time I need brown I am drawn to it. I just can't stop myself from using it! Good thing you get TWO rolls in the package from the Holiday mini! Interested? Email me for more information or check out the mini catalog on my Website. ENJOY the sunflowers, and that beautiful girl of mine.

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek at a Scrapbook page I made today. Erica is going to have a class for her friends and they all like scrapbooking. We are customizing a class that fits her and her friends perfectly. So far I have planned a 12 x 12 scrapbook page...and a 6 x 6 page that can also be a card if folded in half. I did a progressive page layout using the card/6 x 6, showing how it will work with an 8 1/2 x 11, or a 12 x 12.
I love doing pages this way. it is the way my mind works....if I can design a card, I can design a scrapbook page. If you can make a card, you can scrap, if you can scrap you can make a card. No matter where your interest lies it is always fun tring new things. I am so glad Erica and her friends are willing to give my class a try! I know we are going to have a blast getting together and being creative.