Easy Does It

This is a technique that I really love to do. It will work with any patterned paper that is white inside when you tear it. It's simple to do and provides a great new look to your layouts. Simply, select the chipboard shape or letters of your choice.
They can be store bought, handcut or made with a die cutting system. For the examples below I used Making Memories chipboard letters and handcut the little fish.

Next lay the chipboard on your work surface the way you'd want it to look on your layout and secure it into place using a little double sided tape.

Place your patterned paper over your chipboard where you'd like the image to appear and gently go over it with sandpaper and slowly remove the patterned part of the paper until you can clearly see the letters or shape below.


Remove the chipboard from your work surface and take off the double sided tape. Your chipboard is ready to be used again and again.

Finally, for a little more definition I outlined my letters and shapes with a thin black marker.

Make Your Own

Let's face it letter stickers are expensive. You wind up using them for the title of one layout and the next time you want to use them it never fails that you've already used up one of the letters you need.

One of my favorite techniques is making my own letters. It's easy. No one else is going to have the same look and they always coordinate with my Layout.

I simply draw my letters onto a piece of patterned paper or cardstock and them cut them out.

The look is always unique and I always have just the letters I need. If this seems to time consuming - do what I do- draw them then wait until that evening and cut them out while watching TV.

Another little hint is to use a hole punch and make a hole in the those hard to cut letters - the center of an "O" for example.

The simple block letters add to the "Kindergarten" feel in the Layout above.. and
the word "Road Trip" in the Layout below really adds to the Freestyle I was hoping to achieve.

After !!

As promised here's an after photo of how I remade some of the Scraproom items I've found at Yard Sales and Thrift Stores found in the following post:

http://ourgirlamy.blogspot.com/2007/05/scraproom-thrifting.html

I spray painted the cabinet with the new enamel spray paint. I think it's still a bit splotchy..but, all in all I would use the paint again. The light cream color is perfect for my scrapping room. My albums are so happy in their new home.

The steel file boxes were all also given a facelift with coats of spray paint. To one I added polka dots by first sticking round stickers also found at a yard sale for a quarter in random places before spray painting and then removing them once the paint was nearly dry. Another one of the boxes I used strips of blue painters tape to make the stripes. The large box holds all of my
8 1/2 x 11 specialty papers each in it's own file folder. Mulberry papers, Vellum,
Transparencies etc. The striped and polka dot boxes each hold photographs!

I think they turned out as pretty good looking and I love having my things more organized and easy to access!

This Means WAR!

I've got nothing today but ants! I'm not sure if they are tired of roasting in the Georgia sun or if the drought has caused their migration, but thousands, no hundreds of thousands, no make that millions or nearly microscopic ants have taken up residence in my house. Now before you start thinking that my house must be a pig sty I need to tell you where we've found these invaders. Yesterday they were in my oldest sons dresser. In a room where no food is allowed. They were in between every fold and in every pocket in every drawer of clean laundry. 9 loads of laundry and a good vaccuuming and they were gone... until this morning when my husband found them..in our master bathroom.. he took the RAID approach and they were gone ...only to reappear two hours later and two stories lower in the basement on the bookshelves!
Did I mention that they sting or bite or do whatever ants do when you are trying to wipe out their existance? After the 2nd bite I declared war. I think they took me seriously and have called for reinforcements.
:::sigh:::
Does anyone know how to get rid of this army? It's really cutting into my scrapping time!

Anyway- don't forget to check and see if you've won a Summer Paperbag Album. I've only gotten 2 addresses so far... so 6 winners haven't contacted me yet! Those of you won didn't win on the first drawing - read the post below any unclaimed kits and I'll keep drawing names.

Lastly ..I've been so busy planning ant warfare strategy that I hadn't heard about the hysterically funny woman who has become famous overnight because of an Ebay auction she posted selling Pokemon cards her kids snuck into the grocery cart.
Thankfully, my dearest friend told me about her and her blog and if it can brighten my insect filled day.. I know it can brighten yours. It shouldn't be missed by anyone whose a parent:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D130144061675%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/

WINNERS!!

WOW! I can't believe 40 people entered- I wish I had a kit for each of you. Thank you for your interest. Don't fret if you didn't win - I plan on having more giveaways soon!!

I wanted to be very fair when selecting the winners and thought about all kinds of ways to do it. Finally, after much debate I ended up printing out the comments where everyone posted that they would like a kit- then cut them all apart, folded them in half and put all 40 papers into a bucket.

Next, I had my son remove 8 slips. Don't worry there was no peeking- he was still in bed half asleep and didn't even open his eyes!!

The winners are:



Congratulations!!

Please email me with your name and address so I can get your kit in the mail asap!
My email address is cantstopcroppin@aol.com

**edit** if I haven't heard from all the winners in a week- I will do another drawing for the unclaimed kit(s)- so keep checking!

My Favorite Adhesive

Love, Love, Love this glue. I use it for EVERYTHING! It's self leveling so it doesn't leave bumps. It's clear. Dries quickly and the best thing about it is that if you use to much or accidently get any of it where you don't want it.... :::drum roll please:::: all you have to do is rub and roll your finger around on top of it
and the excess forms a little glue glob that you can simply pick up and throw away.
Seriously, this stuff rocks! It's strong enough to hold metal and plastic embellishments and a bottle lasts forever! No longer do I worry about tape runners and running out or going off track. No longer do I have a zillion little square paper backs to pick up and throw away. It's the bomb.

Shake it up!

Hello to all newcomers! Thanks for visiting my blog! A big, big thanks to Lori McDonald from BelovedKeepsakes.blogspot.com for telling her readers about my blog!
I sure appreciate it and am thrilled to have more readers. The more the merrier!

Oh, before I forget if you haven't entered the random drawing for a Summer paper bag album kit be sure to do so in the comments section of 8/22's Entry before Midnight EST. Sunday night.



I learned alot doing this layout. I used a sketch that was featured in Scrapbook,ETC. magazine as inspiration. To make the cool design I first drew out the curves I wanted to use on a piece of 12x12 chipboard that came with a shipment of paper.
I traced a bowl to get the round area then freehanded the rest. Once I was satisfied with the shape I cut it out and then traced it onto the back side of the patterned paper. I love the fresh and funky design and plan on making more templates of cool shapes to use on future projects. My tip of the day is to shake things up. Take a
chance! Not everything has to be square and perfectly spaced. Draw a shape and let things fall where they may... it's a lot of fun and you'll be amazed at the results.

Freebee Alert!

Got to love a good Freebee! Yesterday at Walmart I bought two of these Electrasol diswasher tablet tins. They are the perfect size to alter to hold a mini album.
The lids are even hinged and attached. Better yet, I don't think they fall under the category of $$$'s spent on scrapping supplies after all a girl has to wash dishes doesn't she?

**Don't forget you have until Midnight EST Sunday night to enter for a chance to win one of 8- Summer Paper Bag Album Kits- see blog entry below for details**

CONTEST !!

Last summer I created this paper bag album for a class I was to teach!
I ended up not being able to teach the class and have 8 kits all
ready to go. Enter your name in the comments section for this post and
on Monday the 27th I'll do a random drawing to pick winners of the kits.
Good Luck!

Cover- You'll have to get creative and find a solution for the 6 in 2006 unless you are as far behind in your scrapping as I am and are just now doing 2006 pictures!

The white paint pens used for the doodling isn't included in the kit..but, can be purchased at any Arts & Crafts store.

The metal looking star accents were made by covering chipboard with silver duct tape and then cutting out the hearts with a die cutting system. To give them the stained glass effect I added doodles to them using permanent markers. (markers not included)

The circles were made by dipping pieces of PVC pipe into acrylic paint and then using them as you would a "stamp". PVC pipe is included in the kit...paint is not.

These are the pull-out pages that slide into the open ends of the paper bags.

Scrappy McGuiver

I made a dozen of these suckers. They are part of a grand plan for table decorations for the oldest son's Eagle Scout reception. The pattern for the knife came from a Klutz book about Mini-books. The red part of the knife is covered in red duct tape.

If you haven't checked out Duct tape recently it comes in a bunch of great colors and has lots of good altering and scrapping possibilities!!

I made the scout emblem using ink jet shrinky dink "paper". Fun, fun, fun. If you haven't tried it .. I totally recommend it. I felt like a kid.. peeking in the oven window watching it curl and shrink- flashbacks of Easy Bake Oven days for sure.

Personally, I think my favorite part are the brads that look like real screws. Why oh why do things like that make my day?

Anyway- I didn't have to run to the store for a thing... guess I was "Prepared".

Soda Can Scrapping!

Okay- I admit it.. I love how this turned out. I altered a Composition book for my 14yr. old using soda cans. Fun and easy- plus he really likes it! The soda cans were easy to work with and I found them to be thinner and not nearly as sharp as they used to be. I pierced the can with metal scissors and then made perfect 2"x2" squares using a paper trimmer. Imagine the Layout possibilities for those difficult teen pages. Hand cut titles. Frames. Borders. Fun!