Christmas Crafting. 27 Days and Counting.

Christmas is around the corner, we all know that. I am feeling the creativity crunch. I have a lot of making to do, and only- shall I say it! Only, 27 actual days to get it all done. On Christmas Eve every gift will be tucked into a stocking or set under a tree--one way or the other. The truth is, despite my complaining, I love making gifts for my family and friends. I already love to be creative, no doubt, but there is something deep-down satisfying about creating for someone you love. I always wish I could do just a little bit more, yet once I wrap my little gift, attach the tag, and send it on its way, I feel gratified. It is a hug, disguised as a felt snowman, or a set of handmade cards, and I know my gift is perfect as it is, even though I am completely aware of all of its imperfections. You may be like me, busy with a job, and family responsibilities. Maybe, you have a few too many bills this year?  It could be that there are some challenges to your goal of keeping the spirit of Christmas glowing in your heart? I'm right there with you... Life is just not perfect. It's creative, spontaneous, accidental. Things happen. Those of us that "make things" we know all about that. We just work around it. We make it happen. It's all part of the creative story, the goofs and flaws, as well as the perfection. So, I am going to pull out my basket of craft projects, and soon-to-be-Christmas gifts, and I will (slowly but surely) send everyone a Christmas hug, disguised as a cross-stitched bookmark, or maybe a scrapbooked wreath...
Happy Christmas Crafting
Joy

a little update

hi everyone

i remember when i was a teenager people would say that time goes by so much quicker the older you get and I didn't really understand.

However, as every year passes this becomes more and more real to me. this year has gone by sooo fast

as I finished my last scrapbook I intended to take a small break. Then before you know it its summer and all I want to do is play. Then I'm starting a new job which took up sooo much time, now things are settleing down and now the holidays are here,the year is almost over, and I still have two scrapbooks to finish!

Its time to start utilizing my time a little better!

My sister and I have started a photography company Strawberry Patch Photography.  This has taken up SO much time but, it has been so much fun and I can't wait to scrapbook some of these photos we have taken!  

I'm hope to make a Scrapbook/Portfolio of our photos.  But, that wont be for a little while. :)

Right now, I'm working on some homemade Christmas presents and then the big plan is to bust out at LEAST one more scrapbook before the end of the year.  I'm determined! 

Looking back on my "new years resolution" list I have gotten pretty close to completing a lot of these goals. 

Here is a reminder of what they were...

1. Read a min. of 10 Books. --In a book club, so I'm almost there!
2. Pay off some debt! --Yes! $300 more and a CC is PAID OFF
3. Write down things I'm thankful for weekly, if not daily. (Hmm...that would be a good  scrapbooking page!) --Hm...kinda forgot about this... SHOOT!
4. Go to an NBA game. --Done!
5. Do a snowy photo shoot. --Planning on this Winter
6. Save for my next tattoo.--Getting it THIS week, pictures to come.
7. Visit Quebec City for our wedding anniversary.--Went to Europe instead. :)
8. Complete my 2009 Scrapbook.--Done!
9. Complete my 2010 Scrapbook.--Done!
10. Complete my 2011 Scrapbook.--Still to Come.
11. Complete my Europe Scrapbook.--2013 Goal. 
12. Complete my niece's Brag Book..--Done!

Think I'm doing pretty well. 

How are YOUR goals coming along?

till next time...

My Scrapbooking Story: Allison's Tips and Tricks #3

My Scrapbooking Story: Allison's Tips and Tricks #3: Cupcake Liner Flowers! 1) First things first get your hands on some cupcake liners.  I found these cute polka dot mini cupcake liners f...

Allison's Tips and Tricks #3

Cupcake Liner Flowers!

1) First things first get your hands on some cupcake liners.  I found these cute polka dot mini cupcake liners for $1 at Walmart, I had the other two at home.

2) Flatten them out.

3) Cut around the liners to make "petals".

4) Glue down the liners into each other.

 5) Place a button, brad, piece of felt, or whatever you choose in the center and Voila! Flowers!

New Page Kits at ScrapbookingStory.com!

I am happy to announce that we have begun to produce our own page kits. These page kits are especially for the beginner scrapbooker, or the super-busy crafter that would like to get pages done fast and easy! Everything you need is included. Just add your adhesive, and maybe a pair of scissors! Our first kit is "Fresh As A Daisy." It includes a cute little ribbon butterfly idea that you will be able to recreate on lots of projects! Instructions included. Only $7.99 for this one page 12x12 lay-out! Designer: Joy Marquez

The Double Layout Dilemma

Double layouts equal horror for me.  I always struggled to find a cohesiveness between two pages. I think this is difficult for me for two reasons.

First, because I'm a budget scrapbooker.  In general I struggle to spend a lot of money---on anything!  Therefore, the idea of using TWO full 12x12's of ANY paper drives me crazy!  This budget scrapbooking often leads to only having a little bit of the PERFECT paper for a double layout.  

Which leads right into the Second reason why double layout are the hardest scrapbooking for me.  Once I commit myself to a paper or an idea I have a really hard time changing my mind.  It's like when you're play Scrabble and you "find" the word "Hi" after that it's impossible to seen that 7 letter word staring right at you!  ---at least that's how it is for me. 

ANYWAYS..... In today's blog I'm going to talk about how to overcome the Double Layout Dilemma.

Here is my Camping double layout.  I have been holding onto this firework Reminisce Paper for a very long time because we always go camping over the 4th of July.  Well.... little old me didn't realize how demanding this paper would be.  It is an attention hog! Here is the way I worked through this layout...

1) Sketched the layout.  Originally this layout had the 3 4x6's on the right hand side. 1 circle photo on the right page. Plus 2 more circle photos on the left hand side.  And the title went across both pages.  

2) Choosing paper.  I choose the fireworks, of course, and the Sassafras Sunshine Broadcast paper (one of my favorites).  Since, one of my favorite things to do is mixing patterned paper I really must let the paper dictate how many photos and extra's the page can hold. 

3) Cutting Back.  I realized straight away I needed to cut the amount of pictures down.  So I got rid of the circle photos and let the firewords be the organic part of the page. 

4) Begin.  I started with the Right page because I knew it would be easier since I wanted the 3 4x6's to be stacked with means I only have half a page to deal with.  Then I started cutting. I knew I couldn't use all of the firework paper so I starting cutting out "pretty" fireworks.  Put the paper down and it worked.

5) Going with your gut. From then on I just went with my gut, looked at my product and tried to match and coordinate. :)

Another piece of beautiful, challenging Daisy Bucket paper.  I had two pieces from the Merry Wishes Holiday Lane line .  And I had some embellishments that I HAD to use because I just loved them. 

What I did was cut.  I started cutting the paper. I cut out the tree, decided to use the same design, opposing colors borders.  And just worked with the paper. 

The wonderful thing about this paper is that it's SO Christmassy!  I didn't have to do much else decoration because I like the paper and the pictures to be the star of a page! 

Then I used the embellishments the express the events of the day. 

Allison's Tips and Tricks #2!

Book Page Embellishments

A little while ago I saw some butterflies made out of page books.  I am working on a strawberry picking layout and I decided this would be a good time to make some little strawberries. 

I will take you step by step on how to create your own one of a kind embellishments.

Step 1: Get out your acid free, water based, Dual Brush markers. Choose your colors, wet them down to the strength of color you'd like. Get a paint brush and get ready to paint!

Step 2: Get an old book you aren't going to read or hit up Goodwill and buy a 25cent book that you don't mind destroying. Draw on it the shape you are looking to make for your embellishment.  It could be a strawberry, star, heart, butterfly, flower, words, it can be anything your heart desires.

Step 3:  Paint in your design.

Step 4: Completed painted Strawberry.  **Note: be careful what you use for black ink.  As you can see my black ran a little with all the water.  However, I kinda like the smudged look.  :)  it's very watercolor-ie and I like it!

Step 5: Cut out your design.  I did 3 layers.  I wanted it to be as dimensional as I felt I could make it.  I only had one size of pop-dots if I had a thinner pop-dot I would have done 1st layer as a thin layer and 2nd would be a thicker pop-dot.

Step 6: Apply pop-dots.

Step 7: Cut out design and adhearn to your layout or card when ready.

I can't wait to get these on my page!

National Scrapbooking Month!

Hi!

Happy National Scrapbooking Month! We want to celebrate!

We want to reach 100 Likes on FB! Only 13 buddies to go! Like us on Facebook, and you will automatically be entered in a drawing for a FREE Brand New, Gorgeous, Glitz Design Paper Kit!

Right now, you will receive a FREE gift with every purchase made at ScrapbookingStory.com!

This month, follow our blog, and post a comment to say "hello" and you'll be entered in a drawing for a collection of summery papers and embellishments!

Plus! We are offering a Flat Rate shipping for any size order at our shop, all month long! Great time to go in with a friend, and SAVE big on shipping costs! We'll never tell ; )

Keep on telling your stories!

Joy Marquez

ZOMBIES and Inspriation!

Hi Everyone! I'm back to working on my 2010 scrapbook.  So far I have about 10 pages papers and ROUGH idea's for the pages sketched out.  I have finished two pages and half finished my title page. 

I have been a little slow to start this book for a few different reasons. 

1) I was busy quitting my office job and starting dog walking.  It's an unexpected change but necessary!  Why necessary?  Well so I have more time to scrapbook...duh! 

2)  Sassafras Lass closed down and will now only be designing paper so I've been staring at all my beautiful Sassafras Lass paper and products and trying to decide the perfect way to use all of it. Which leads me to..... 

3) a slight inspiration block.  I want to do all of these pages perfectly BUT, completing 20 odd pages just a few months ago has left me a little out of ideas.  

LUCKILY..... I received my

I'm hoping there will be some wonderful gems I can scrap lift from Creating Keepsakes to make this 2010 album awesome!  

Here is my first page, "Happy Easter" that I'm a little disappointed in myself in.  It's very generic.  I need to push myself a bit!  

Here I have used some beautiful Sassafras Lass paper and Jennie Bowlin Studios chipboard butterflies.  I inked the butterflies yellow and then inked the sides with blues and greens. I also used American Crafts thickers letters.  I LOVE these letters!  I think the font is so adorable!  I would use it on every page is make if I didn't think it would be too repetitive. 

Here is my second page.  "Zombie Apocalypse"! 

In 2010 we went to a Halloween Zombie party. It was so much fun!  Probably a little too much fun!

When I started this page I had a totally different idea as to what I was going to do.  I was going to use all this great Glitz Design paper from the Plum Crazy line. It looked very Halloween-y and matched perfectly. But, as I was looking at the photos I noticed a lot of red makeup and I had this beautiful red Bazzill Paper and it just seemed like it was calling to me. And I saw my popsicle sticks just sitting there.  So I decided to do a fairly simple layout.  Mostly paper cut in dramatic shapes and then make a bloody-not-so-white-picket fence.  I'm very happy with how this page turned out!

What have you been working on to inspire me!?

Allison's Tips and Tricks!

Hey Guys! 


I want to thank you so many of you for donating your services to make cards for New Brothers Fellowship that is awesome!  I hear that a lot of people are receiving Rub-On's as a special surprise... lucky!  I adore rub-on's!
But, the first time I bought rub-on's I thought they were stickers and I had no clue what to do and I totally ruined it; Sayonara $2.95--nice knowin' ya! So we thought we should give a little demonstration on how to properly execute beautiful Daisy Bucket Rub-On's (as well as any other Rub-On). 


Here is a picture of what they may look like...
Step One: 
Acquire product and tools.
Product:  The Rub-On and Paper you want as background.
Tools:  A Popsicle stick--- or something similar.

Step 2: Peel off of the background

Step 3: Place where you want it on the paper.

Step 4: Rub Rub Rub.... Use the Popsicle stick to rub over all parts of the print/picture.

Finished Product!  (sorry it's sideways)

Working Break....

Hi Friends Allison here!


Long time no blog.... sorry about that.  Pretty much the only excuse is the one we here EVERYDAY.... life has been REALLY busy!  


However, in all that busy-ness I haven't taken my mind off scrapbooking.  I am eager to get working on my 2010 scrapbook.  I've been sorting through my pictures and planning how many pages I want to do and trying to come up with those cutesy titles all the cool scrapbookers do--- with little luck, I might add (I'll have to pick Joy's mind).


I have been looking at lots of pages and scrap-lifting ideas and altering them a bit for my own use and taste. 
Also, I've been more mindful of the photos I'm taking. 
For instance I've been trying to take more "interesting" photos...

  Instead of my usual face close ups I'm trying to take a different more "artistic" approach. Along with face shots though I'm make sure to take full body shots and just change it up a bit.  

The above pic is of mine and my husbands shoes at the Blazers vs. Celtics game for his birthday. --Notice that I made sure you could see the floor, crowd, and scoreboard that says TD Garden.  I'm thinking this will be the main photo in a 5X7 for my book.  

I just bought more adhesive so I am ready to start scrapping again!  Can't wait to get rolling with my 2010 book!

What have you been up to?

2009 Completed

It's a miracle! I'm so happy to be done with this scrapbook!  

It was so much fun re-living some of these memories and getting my scrapbooking groove back but, it's also a joy for my art room to be back in order! :)

Now, this last page is a bit unconventional.  The simple reason for this is because I originally planned it to be a 1 page lay out but,there were just too many cute pictures! I had to make it a double layout.  Well... you can see that the background page's are not the same color... 1 guess why.... I didn't have two of the same color!  haha... and I really wanted to complete this.  So I found the scraps of matching paper and just forced myself to make it work. 

Since this one layout is really two events I separated each event onto one colored paper.... so it seems like it's supposed to look different.  (tricky, I know. haha)

I still need to add in the journaling but overall I'm happy with it. 

This page "Brisbane" is about when my Mom, Dad, and Sister were in Australia right before my wedding. We went the the Kangaroo park and held Koalas and fed Kangaroo's.  It was a lot of fun!

I hope you enjoyed this scrapbook.  I will be starting on 2010 very soon!  Right now I'm in planning stage.  


What are you guys working on?

Give back with Card Making: NBF's Card Drive

We will send you all of the supplies required to make 6 cards for NBF's Card Drive. Post a comment on Facebook that says "I'm in!" Simple as that! Joy will send you everything you need to make 6 cards for NBF. When you return your beautiful creations before May 1, Joy will send YOU a surprise, to thank you for your help! 

Don't worry if you have never made a card before, no problem! 

Joy will include a pattern, simple directions, and copies of cards will be posted on our blog http://scrapbookingstory.blogspot.com/ 

Everything is provided, except for adhesive and your creative touch. Card design and colors may vary. Limited quantity of kits! Help us help NBF in their worthy endeavor.

Here is how easy it will be to create your card. 

Step 1: 

Fold Card in Half

Step 2: Adhere piece 1

Step 3: Adhere piece 2

Step 4: Adhere piece 3

Step 5: Adhere piece 4

DONE!   

Dont forget to add any special personal touches you'd like!

My Scrapbooking Story: Last Weeks Progress....

My Scrapbooking Story: Last Weeks Progress....

Last Weeks Progress....

Hi everyone!  Allison here!

Well, today is one of the Maine winter days.  Those days where its so cold that all you want to do in snuggle in bed, read, and watch movies. Alas, for me in my world that means cancel all previous plans and attempt to complete all my pages.

First up.... "Searching 4 Moose" 

* Something to note about me.... I'm HORRIBLE at coming up with those cute scrapbooking titles.  My titles are always very clear and descriptive as to what is happening in those pictures. --Maybe someday I'll have a better scrapbooking brain. 

! Also, I seemed to be a massive failure in journaling this time around.  It could possibly be that I was wishing I could scrapbook cuddled in bed. 

Anyways, this page is about when Nic and I went up to Rangley Lake, Maine with the goal to see a Moose. I was a long 3 hour drive and we had NO CLUE where to find moose. So we drove around looking for lake access.  But, because it was fall the lake was closed off to tourist so we sat around by the woods hoping a moose would just walk right on up to us.  It didn't. After a few hours and once it started getting dark we headed home... Then as I'm driving down a curvy road at 45 mph, out of the corner of my eye I saw something that I've never seen before and it freaked me out!  I knew it was a Moose! So I pressed the breaks and reversed and there was a mom and her baby moose drinking from a stream.  It was amazing.  AND SCARY!  Moose are HUGE!  

For this page, I took brown Bazzill paper and drew trees then cut them out. I then used a piece of Sassafras Starter paper for the background. I punched out circles with different colored paper for the leaves. And to add a bit of whimisy I used Jenni Bowlin Studios chipboard butterflies with ink and glitter. 

Page 2: Party!  This page is dedicated to all the crazy nights out in Australia. This group of friends are pretty much what we called the "Contiki" group (Sans Ben--tall guy in the back of the bottom right hand corner) We all came together in Europe.  I spent all of Europe with the crew... And the fun from Europe was then in Australia. 

For this page I used Bazzill pink paper, Basic Grey paper, and 3 Bug in a Rug rub-on letters, 

Page 3: "Australia"  This page is dedicated to Australia.  It's just photos of things that are uniquely australian.  Honeslty, I don't love this page... It may need to be re-worked but for now this is it.

What I do love about this page is the paper and this is why I haven't changed anything!  The paper I from ScrapbookingStory.com

Page 5: "Zoo"  This page is about when Nic and I were in Philips Island in Australia. We went to the Koala Zoo and there were also so many fun Australian animals.  It really is amazing the difference between their animals and ours. 

Page 6: "Pumpkin Carving." 
Nic and I came back to America just one or two days before Halloween.  I didn't want to miss the Fall activities that are around Halloween so my Mom, Nic, and I made Jack-o-lanterns.  It was so much fun!  I love getting to spend time with my parents!

Basic Grey Cauldron paper

Page 7 "Remember"

This page is very special to me.  When I was in Australia a very dear, very close, family friend passed away unexpectedly.  I wasn't able to come back for her services and I will say that I a major mistake.  I don't think I ever got to properly mourn that loss and it still grieves me to this day. It was really nice making this page and thinking about Kitty and all of the wonderful years we had together.  It's strange how someone who isn't family can become like a second mother. I will always miss our friend Kitty Goldpaint. 

Cosmo Cricket letters

Page 8: "Florida" 

This page is from before Nic and I got married and lived in Australia.  This was when he was visiting America.  My Aunt lives in Florida and in attempts to escape the cold Maine winter Nic and I went down to Florida to visit.  It was really fun.  We spent a week (or two)  going to the beach, swimming in the ocean, visiting Miami, Key West, and Universal Studios.  We always attended our friend Elizabeth's wedding.  It was a great trip!

Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type sticker letters

I only have a few more pages left! But my To-Do list keeps pushing Scrapbooking aside.  Hopefully I will get the last pages done in the next week and I can get re-organized and move on to 2010!

Stay tuned..... and Sign up for a Class at ScrapbookingStory.com!!!

Valentine's Card Crop-- Sign up by January 31st to save your spot!

What: Let’s get ready to send our Sweethearts their annual Valentine with a Card Crop!!!

When: Monday, February 6th. 6:30pm -8:30pm 

Where: 17 Powsland St.  Portland Maine

What's included?:  For $10 ALL stamps, inks, embellishments provided for a night of card making.  (You supply cardstock, trimmer, and adhesive.) –Sample cards provided to inspire you!  Snacks and Refreshments included too!

Make all the cards you want in 2 hours!!

How?: Sign up at Scrapbookingstory.com under Events: 2 Hour Card Crop.

Here is a sample of some of the stamps and paper we will be using!

Saturday in the Slumps...

Hi Everyone!


Sorry I didn't get a chance to show you the stitching I was working on.  This week has just been super hectic. 
I was able to spend the night with my big sister and my new niece. She is so adorable but, a lot of work!
I will be scrapping MANY pages of beautiful Annaka that you will get to see eventually. 


With the craziness of the week that means I had to play catch up today.  Catch up on chores, catch up on plans, and catch up on errands.  Unfortunately, I was only able to finish 2 pages.  But, I'm just happy I was able to finish them at all!


My first page is "I Pick U"...
This page is the first time Nic and I went Apple Picking.  We love apple picking it has now become a tradition for us that I hope we're able to continue throughout our lives. :)

For this page I've used Bazzill Paper for my background, and, of course---my favorite, Sassafras Lass paper. For this page I stamped hearts then cut them out and used a sewing machine to sew around the edges.  It was difficult--to say the least. But, I'm glad I tried! I'm my head I wanted this page to look a little different.  I think I'm not lovin' the orange background  but, I chose it to make you remember Autumn.  And, I think the top heart is in the wrong spot.... I may still move it.  What do you guys think?  

Moving On.... My 2nd page of the day.  I am MUCH happier with this page... "Wicked"....

This Wicked page is dedicated to the Broadway Musical Wicked.  I LOVE the theater... absolutely adore it! When I lived in Seattle my friends and I would try to go every time a new musical came out.  I think a night (or day) our at the theater is one of the most magical days.  It makes ordinary days special. 

And seeing Wicked....ah!  Leaves me speechless!  Everyone should make an effort to see it... this is a beautiful, wonderful play!

For this page I wanted to make sure I used all the green I could find!  I used Sassafras Lass paper, and Graphic 45 buttons.  I'm proud of this page, I think it's pretty!

Stay tuned... tomorrow will be the BIG work day!