Lucky Us!

Happy Leap Day! I totally forgot this was a Leap Year until I started typing out this post. That made me curious and I went to the web to remind myself why we have Leap Years. Here’s what I found: Although most years of the modern calendar have 365 days, a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours. Every four years, during which an extra 24 hours have accumulated, one extra day is added to keep the count coordinated with the sun's apparent position. How cool is that?!

The layout I want to share with you though is in celebration of the next holiday in March – St. Patrick’s Day. I know all dog owners say it, but I really do believe we have the best dog and we’re so lucky to have found her. Of course, she leads a pretty pampered life as well! I pulled out some photos of our favorite dog, Baxter, in her shamrock bandana. Because I chose to use a busy patterned paper as my background, I thought my photos would show better if I matted them. I actually did a double mat on the photo on the bottom. I like how it turned out. That's my tip: don't forget about photo matting. It's an oldie, but a goodie!

Lucky Dog {Lucky Us} by Moanica Caston. Patterned Paper and Chipboard Embellishments: Cosmo Cricket; Cardstock: Bazzil; 3-D Shamrocks: Recollections; Bling flourish: Recollections; Fabric tape: Basic Grey; Alphas; American Crafts Thickers.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Moanica

Jazzy Scrapping Events, All Day Crop - Michigan!

Join the scrapping ladies of Michigan for a fun 

ALL DAY CROP

Saturday, March 3, 2012

10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Lunch and Dinner                                           Snacks & beverages

Hourly Drawings and Prizes Galore

 

The University of Michigan-Dearborn

Fairlane Center

19000 Hubbard Drive

Room 120

Dearborn, Michigan 48126-2638

$45.00

Contact: jazzy_events1@yahoo.com

Be Mine

Hello Everyone, Barb here. I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day...filled with laughter, love and lots of pictures! To help you get in the mood to scrap those photos, I am sharing a Valentine's Day layout today. I am terribly behind on my scrapping, the photos I used are from our Valentine celebration in 2009! Oh, where does the time go?? Anyway..back to the layout. This is a digital layout, using the Yours Truly digital kit from Shabby Princess. I like to create double page spreads, so that is what I did on my computer. Have a look...

  

 Be Mine by Barbara Walker. Supplies- Digital kit: Yours Truly-Shabby Princess

Creating a double page spread is very easy. When I open my photo editing software, I simply create a canvas that is 12 x 24. That gives me the space I need to drop in two 12 x 12 pieces of paper. Once that is completed, I design and scrap each page as I normally would. Creating a layout this way makes it easier to view on the computer or television, when I want to share my layouts with family and friends. When I am ready to print, I 'cut' the pages apart, using the appropriate tool in my photo editing software.

I challenge you to scrap your photos, digitally or traditionally...whatever your preference. The main thing is to get your photos off of your camera and your hard drive and get them into a format where they can be shared and enjoyed!

Be sure to check out page 10 of the Dec/Jan issue of Espire Magazine...there are some digital freebies in there for you! For even more inspiration, click on the digital links in our mast head. And if you scroll down a few posts and you will see a lovely digital Valentine freebie that you can download and use right away.

I really hope I've inspired you today. Now go create something beautiful!

Bingo Cards & MS Word

We've all seen the cute little Bingo cards used on layouts, handmade cards and altered items. Like journaling notes and tags they are great additions to your projects. I wanted to use a Bingo card on my layout but didn't have one that was just right for my page so I decided to make my own.

I love using my computer to create and this was an easy way to add an element without running out and purchasing anything from the store.

Friends & Books by Tena Ellison. Supplies - Patterned Paper: Echo Park Paper Co.; Distress Ink: Ranger- Tim Holtz; Pearl Ampersand: Basic Grey; Tiny Type Sticker Letters: Cosmo Cricket; Date Stamp: K & Company; Flower Punch: EK Success; Bingo Cards: Tena E.

Here's how I made my own Bingo cards:

• First I opened a new page in MS Word
• I clicked on Table from the menu bar then clicked Insert Table
• After choosing the number of columns and the number of rows I wanted I clicked OK.
• Next I adjusted the table columns width and the column row height to the size I wanted. I used 1/2 inch for the column width and 1/3 for the column height for my cards.
• Next I highlighted the entire first row in the table then left clicked the highlighted area and then clicked Merge cells. This gave me the header space for the top of my Bingo card.
• After adding the numbers in the rows, making sure to leave my "free" space, I customized my cards by adding colors to the grid-lines using the Border and Shading feature in Format. My card is now ready for printing.

I saved the table as a template so the next time all I have to do is change my header and my colors as needed. I now have an endless source that I can customize to fit any project and it was quick & easy.

Happy scrapping and remember your computer and office software are great tools for creating too!

Love Is Kind

As we prepare for Valentine's Day tomorrow, and we celebrate romantic love. Let us also remember, thank and honor our other loves; our friends that share kind words when we need that extra support, our aunts and mothers that encourage us through our growing pains, and our grandmothers and great-grandmothers that always let us know that we are loved!

In honor of those people in my life I created a downloadable card and digital stamp entitled "Love Is Kind." They can be printed and used as a thank you card or as a journaling tag on a scrapbook page. (Just click the images to download the graphic.)

Happy Valentine's Day! Enjoy!

Straight from the Heart…

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14^th is just around the corner. While most non cardmakers will be crowding the card aisles, we will be home putting finishing touches on our handmade cards. I love that I have that option, flexibility, and desire. It takes all of those characteristics to create on any level, but to create for Valentine’s day is so much more special. While you are expressing your love, you are also creating straight from the heart. I had that “Straight from the Heart” feel in mind as I created this card to share with you.

I Love You Card by Karen Jiles. Supplies- Patterned Paper & Ribbon: Bo Bunny; Cardstock: CTMH; Journaling Spots: Making Memories; Heart Stickers: Recollections; 3-D sticker: K and Company; Heart Pins: Little Yellow Bicycle; Vintage Ink: Tim Holtz.

As Moanica shared on Sunday about her love for embellishments, I admit I have that addiction too. My card if full of them. They really add so much to handmade creations.

Tip: Add journaling spots to your cards. Journaling spots serve more purposes than just journaling. I added them to the inside of my card to give the card a border effect. Two were added to effectively balance the card. This is a fun and instant way to add flare to your cards. Note that the journaling spots that I used were packaged as a spiral bound book and are shown below. They come in several collections and are awesome to create with.



Enjoy your Valentine’s Day!
Karen