Want to win a big Cosmo Cricket prize?

I'd love for someone who reads my blog to win this prize! Go to the blog Life as Lou and leave a comment there. If you win, come back and let me know! :) Good luck!

April Calendar Page

It's finally done! April's page has been designed and one of the six is complete. I've got 1/2 of the eggs cut out for the other pages. At least now I know what I'm doing and can finish it rather quickly. Yay!

This is last year's page. This was fast and easy!

Here's this year's page. I was debating between 2 designs and decided I didn't like either one. I came up with this one today. It's going to work out just fine!

Needed a break...

Debby from www.debbysdares.blogspot.com found this on Black Belting Scrapping's Blog. Try copy it to your blog and see how many movies you have seen.

"Supposedly, if you've seen over 85 movies, you're supposed to be in need of a real life... Who decides these things? Here's a list going around of 239 random films that have a broad appeal. How many have you seen?"

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Carbbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 6

(x) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
() White Noise
() White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 12

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 14

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 21

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(x) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 25

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) King Kong
Total so far: 29

(x) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 34

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 37

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 41

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
( ) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 44

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
(x) My Boss's Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Rush Hour 3
Total so far: 50

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
(x) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 69

( ) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Spider-Man 3
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
(x) Shrek 3
Total so far: 76


( ) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old
VirginTotal so far: 80

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(x) Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
Total so far: 87

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
(x) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 90

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 93

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 95

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 96

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x)Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far:102

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( )Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
grand total 106

My husband has seen about 20 more of these, but then again, he hasn't seen all the cartoon ones or chick flick ones I checked off. :)

December Calendar Page

I'm really working hard to finish all these calendars so we can mail them before it's too late! Here's December's first. 5 more to go and then I can go back and do April... I decided to do the easy layout -- no time for the detailed one! That'll have to be next year. Maybe I'll be more proactive and start next year's calendar in January!!!

This is last year's. It was a great way to use up lots of the left over Christmas paper I had.

This year, I went simple and am using up brads and eyelets.

See you later today with April!

Happy Scrapping!

Heather Q

November Calendar Page

Ok -- I've gotten one done. Hopefully I'll be able to get the others done before I go to bed. I've cut all the feathers and photo mats. I just need to do the body, neck, head, and feet of the turkey, put ribbon on the mats, and ink the edges of the mats and the calendar page. I can do that in the next hour, right? (uhhh.... well, maybe I'll get most of it done before bed at least)

Here's last year's page. Very quick and easy

This year's page. (Those aren't feathers -- they're leaves! I cut them out using the Cricut machine.)

Now, back to work until bedtime! Happy Scrapping!

Heather Q

October Calendar page

I've finished one October page completely and have all the pieces ready to stick together for the other 5. My goal is to finish all the October and November pages before bed tonight... Chick flicks on the tv and not cooking tonight! My fingers are going to be glued to my desk by the end of the evening, I'm sure!

Here's last year's -- the easiest one!









This year I went a bit more detailed. I was inspired by a layout done by Faith at http://www.candysweetpapertreats.com/ . Mine isn't nearly as extravagent, and I couldn't sell my work on ebay like she does, but it gave me a great idea. Thanks, Faith!

Thanks for looking!

Heather Q

September Calendar pages

I've been working quickly, trying to get these done in time to ship them later this week.

Here's last year's quick and easy page. Leaves were cut using the Cricut machine, and then run through the xyron for adhesive. Slapped them on the page while on the floor of the airport, waiting for my flight... very last minute last year!!!

This year, almost everything was cut using the Cricut "Stretch your Imagination" cartridge. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the acorn is 3-dimentional using foam tape.

Thanks Chris for letting me use your Expression machine and your cartridge to get all the to the right size!

August Calendar page

Here's August -- man do I have a lot of work to do so we can mail these this week!

In last year's, I included little slips of paper that had ideas of fun things to do in the summer. I used repositionable adhesive so they could take them out and look at them. Unfortunately, the adhesive didn't last until August. Mom and Dad said around March they started finding little orange slips of paper on the floor that said things like "walk on the beach." Doesn't work very well in Minnesota in March.

This year's calendar -- using up a lot of my little bits of ribbon!

July Calendar Pages

Ok -- I know I haven't posted in a long time. First it was illness, then it was holiday busy time. Here are the July pages. I'll post August shortly.

Here's last year's July page. Quick and easy! Used up lots of buttons when making six of them, too!

Here's this year's page. Very simple. The fireworks are done in "foil and rub" or glitter glue. (One of them is white glitter glue -- shows up fine on the page, but not so well in the picture...)

June is Busting Out All Over!

Ok, I know it's November, but I finished my first of 6 June calendar pages tonight. This weekend, I'll be in a hotel room while my husband is at a conference, so I'm going to craft all weekend. Hopefully I'll get a bunch done. So, I'm going to put all the pieces of this page in my suitcase and finish the other five this weekend.

Let me show you last year's page first. Very simple. I picked paper from a coordinating pack -- the little circles on the squares are actually from patterned paper, not any stickers or stamps or anything, but that could be easily done for those of you who are recreating these. Photos can be placed over the poem, on the big rectangle, or within the little squares.

Here's this year's calendar page. The blue paper is actually hand painted with acrylic paints. It's supposed to look like water, but looks kind of like sky, too. The picture has a dark tint to it because the flip flps are on shiny paper and the flash reflected off of them, so this is with no flash -- just the basement lighting. To make that sun, cut out a circle. Cut it into fourths. Cut one of the fourths into 4 equal pieces to make the rays. Then stagger them behind one of the fourths to make the sun. To make the flip flops, cut out the shape of an 8 (I used the cricut machine and did the "blackout" feature). Then cut two slits near the middle. Thread the ribbon through the slits and wrap around the back. Photos can be placed on the water or next to the flip flops.

Happy Scrapping!

May calendar page finally complete!

So, it's been busy around here. After recuperating from the retreat, my parents came for a visit. Then I had a few days feeling under the weather.

Finally, I've finished the May page. Where's April you ask? I'm saving that one for last. I have an easy page idea and a difficult page idea in mind. I'll decide at the end if I have enough time for the difficult page.

Here's last year's page. I recommended photos placed on the little pots or right over the quote, if they had enough photos to fill that whole space.

Here's this year's page. Photos can be placed around the flowers -- the petals have been left loose on the outside edges so that photos can be tucked under them.

Did you notice at the bottom of my posts now you can rate the pages? Did you like it? love it? gonna try it yourself? Let me know! :)

We have a winner!!!

I used a Random number generator from www.random.org. Congratulations Tona!!

Here's the copied/pasted results:
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 1
Timestamp: 2008-11-06 01:19:10 UTC

Thanks to everyone who came to check out my blog page. I'll be updating with more calendar pages soon! (Going scrapbooking on Saturday -- hopefully I'll finish at least 2 months worth!)

Tona, I think I have your address from Fiskateers. I'll PM you if I can't find it.

Happy Scrapping!

I voted! (and then scrapbooked it!) + a RAK

I voted today. Did you?



Then I came home and scrapbooked about it. (but I covered my candidate's photo with a sheet of striped paper because I don't want my blog to turn all political -- it's about scrapbooking!)








Now for a RAK. Leave a message here saying you voted for US President and I'll enter you in a rack to win a set of 4 scrapbooking fibers from a kit I bought at Sam's club this weekend. If you submit a link to a photo of an "election inspired craft project" I'll enter you twice. If you are one of my international friends, leave me a message about how your country votes or otherwise chooses a new leader in order to be entered.

One winner will be chosen randomly to win the prize. Entries must be received by midnight tonight, eastern time zone. Winner will be posted sometime tomorrow.

PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME WHO YOU VOTED FOR. THAT IS YOUR PRIVATE BUSINESS AND I DON'T WANT TO OPEN THAT CAN OF WORMS!

My retreat

It was a great retreat! One of the hardest things about moving is not knowing anyone when you get to the new place. Because we always move for my husband's job, he gets to meet all the people, and I get stuck at home by myself until I get a job or find new people to scrapbook with. I made up for all my missed social time by absorbing it all at the retreat.

A friend of mine who lives on the other side of the state invited me to this retreat. She's been telling them about me for months, so they felt like they knew me a bit already. They were so welcoming, and after just a few hours I was really a part of the group (with teasing and everything).

I was very impressed with the work and style these ladies have when they scrap. It was inspiring to watch them finish page after page of beautiful perfection!

Since I spent much time being a social butterfly (and a nosy scraplifter!), I didn't get as much done as I would've liked. I also brought WAY too much stuff and spent too much time searching for materials and setting up for the projects. I did manage to get 18 calendar pages done (6 of each, Jan, Feb, and March -- see below), several components of my Christmas cards, 2 pages, and 3 cards. I also borrowed my friend's cricut expression machine and cartridges to cut out several pieces for other calendar pages. Hopefully, all that work will make everything else flow smoothly and quickly. So, while I didn't come home with as many different completed projects as I would like, I did come home with a lot ready to go and some stored up social time to last me for a little while.

So, now -- here are some great pictures of the campground where the retreat was located:

Sunrise -- yes, I got up that early the first morning!

Moon over my cabin

Autumn on the lake

Chirpy the chipmonk -- such a camera flirt!

March Calendar pages

Here are my March Calendar pages from last year and this year.

This is last year's calendar page. 4 smaller photos can be matted on the 4 parts of the kite, or one big picture can be placed there. It's hard to see in the photo, but the words in the bottom left say "fly a kite." The "fly a" is in orange, in a cursive style font, in case you can't make that out in the photo. This was a great way to get rid of scrap paper and ribbon.

This calendar page is even better for using up scraps of paper. Photos can be placed in the upper left, over the rainbow, or in the same pocket as the gold.

So, those are the pages that are done so far. I'm going to skip April because I'm still deciding on the design for that one. I'm down to 2 options. One I think is prettier than the other, but will take a lot longer. The other one will be easy, but messier (uses lots of paint). So, I'll probably save April until the end when I can decide if I'm running out of time. Just wanted you to be aware that the next month I post will be May instead! :)

February Calendar Pages

So here are February's pages!

This is last year's page. One of the black frames is a pocket to insert a photo.

This year's page is a great way to use up some supplies. The "wrapper" on each chocolate is made from brown mulberry paper. Each chocolate has been decorated with either glitterglue or with the foil and rub set I bought a long time ago. There's a great big space on the top left to put a photo. They could also put a little photo over one of the chocolates.

Calendar projects

Last year, I made calendars as gifts for family members. They seemed to be the perfect thing. No "junk" that would clutter people's homes, not a huge amount of money spent (I used up a lot of items in my stash that I needed to clear out), a handmade item that doesn't need to be a major addition to someone's decor. Just a wall calendar. But it was set up to be a Scrapbook, too. Anyone who wanted to add photos could slide the pages into a 12x12 album, and ta-da! -- a finished album.



This year, I've had many scrapping friends tell me they're thinking about making calendars, too, and would I be willing to share what I've done.



So, I'm going to post my calendar pages here on the blog, one month at a time. I'll show both last year's example, and this year's example.



In my designs, I try to set up the page so that it can be "just a calendar," but also have room to add photos if they choose. I make 6 of these, so it's a long, complicated process. I think I'm getting better at it this year.



So here's January from last year. I suggested that photos could be placed over the poem (automatic photo matting) or above the poem or above the little tags.






Now here's this year's calendar. The hat is actually a pocket -- the photo can slide right behind the hatband. Or a photo could be placed on the cheek of the snowman.

Lots of people ask where I get my ideas for these. I really try to make my calendar pages more of a "paper piecing art" than a scrapbook layout, so I look at Ebay for paper piecings (search the premade pages and sort by highest to lowest price -- you'll find the really good ones) or greeting card fronts work well. This calendar page's inspiration was actually from a garden flag.

Hope you enjoyed the January editions. I'll be posting more sooon because I finished through march at the retreat -- but I've got to run and pick up my husband now.

If you're looking for a great group that does paper piecings, check out this blog: http://www.candysweetpapertreats.com/ They do amazing paper piecings and auction them on Ebay. I got some great ideas from them for the October page. If you're a blogger, check out their contest, too! Great prizes for adding a link to their blog!

BTW -- the retreat was EXCELLENT!! What a great group of women! They did some amazing work, and were so much fun to spend time with. I hope to see a few of them here on the blog, since they wanted to see the rest of the months that I didn't finish yet, too! I'll post more and add pictures in the next couple days.

Happy Scrapping!

Off to the retreat!

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.... can't you just hear the song in your head?

Well, in my head, the remainder of the song's words have changed.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.
Bringin' too much stuff -- the car is full.
Already I'm so panicked I could cry

Cuz I'm going
off to Scrap Camp
Don't forget to grab
the Ott-lamp

Oh geez, what have I forgot....

Ok -- enough music. Checklist:
Clothes -- check
Toiletries -- check
Sleeping bag and pillow-- check
food -- check
Scrapbook supplies -- check (I think I've got everything I'll need)
Knitting -- check
Computer -- as soon as I post this, it's going in the bag!

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'm pretty sure I will!

I promise lots of posts of completed projects when I get back!!

Fall at its finest -- Just had to share some pics

I had to share some pictures of fall from Michigan.

The colors here are BEAUTIFUL!!!

Sneak Peek Christmas Card

So, the photo doesn't do it justice... The gifts are done in 3 dimentional stencil paste, the mat for the sentiment is mulberry paper. But, this is the basic design for this year's card. I'll be making at least 60 of them this weekend. (I decided this year to keep it relatively flat and lightweight after last year's torn envelope catastrophe and the previous year's extra postage difficulties.)

(This is my sample card -- the actual cards will have the gifts further to the left.)

Finally ready to show you

I've finally finished reorganizing my scrapping space and am ready to show you the pictures! Well, ok, I have one stack of stuff that still needs to get put into my ScrapRack, but the rest is done. And really... I will take care of that stack, now that I have a clear desk to use and have found my extra ScrapRack organizing pages.

See, my bookshelf is so organized,

there's actually EXTRA SPACE on it!!!

That's my 1st ScrapRack on the top -- what a lifesaver.

Want your own? Go to http://www.thescraprack.com/

Here's my supply corner.

Notice the 2nd ScrapRack.

That's the one that's got room to spare,

and I need to add that small stack of stuff I told you about.

Just LOOK at my desk!! You can SEE it!!!

Next, I need to spend the next 3 days packing for my retreat! Now that things are where they're supposed to be, I'll be able to find them to pack them.

Organization is so important. It helps me see what I have so I don't get duplicates and as well as remind me what I have so I can use it!!

For now, though, it's time to clean the rest of the house before my coffee wears off!

Look at this mess!

So, I've been doing a lot of quick challenges, as well as preplanning for a retreat I'm attending next week. All this has left a giant mess in my craft "command central." It's so bad, that I'm stuck in my tracks trying to get ready for the retreat. Just looking that direction overwhelms me. So, it's time to clean up. Everything back in it's place. Then I'll be able to find it so I can use it -- isn't that the point of all that organizational equipment I bought?





I thought maybe if I posted on my blog the "before" pictures, that I'd be more motivated to get it done so I can post the "after" pics.





So, here ya go:

My desk before:

My supply area before:

Wish me luck!

World Card Making Day

Whew -- just under the wire! It's 11:45 as I type this. I did make a card today for WCMD. It was quick and simple, but cute, nonetheless. I'm really trying to get rid of stuff I've had sitting in my collection for years. So here you find the 5+ year old "Boo," the 5+ year old confetti, the 5+ year old embossing powder (to make the web) all on scraps of black and orange from my scrap binder. Talk about prudent! Not a dime spent, no supplies to replace (except 5 glue dots and about 3 inches of adhesive tape, but that doesn't count).

I would've done more card making today, but we spent the afternoon getting new cell phones. I played most of the evening with all the new features. So much fun!!! It's got all kinds of new bells and whistles... Maybe I'll take a page from Angela's scrapbook over at Fiskateers and give my new phone a name. Any suggestions?

Hope you a great WCMD!

The Power of One

Yesterday, I had the incredible opportunity to witness history in the making. I got to witness the man I hope will soon be president speak to a crowd in my new city. It was a very inspiring speech. And it reminded me to get out there and start doing things for my community, my country, my world.

So today, I'm going to ask everyone reading -- are you registered to vote? If not, HURRY -- time is almost up in most states! You can't make a difference if you don't participate. And this is a year to participate. This is the year that it WILL matter whether or not you went to the polls and marked, punched, checked, poked, or otherwise indicated your choice. Because this year, it's not just about who wins the election. It's about what the people of this country do from the bottom up. It's time to get the American voting public active and energized. We've got to change this attitude that someone else will do it. I know you're only one vote. But they all add up, darling! And even if my vote can't singlehandedly change the outcome, they'll know where I stand.

And yes, this year, I think I'm going to scrapbook the experience. I'll make sure I get that little sticker that says "I voted," and I'm going to journal my reasons for my choice. Hmmm... off to look for page ideas on that one...

In the meantime, enjoy a few musical selections, designed to get you up and moving!

I resisted

Yesterday, there was a major event displayed on my television. It was 14 hours worth of televised shopping on two networks. I stayed up late. I got up early. I recorded each hour. I even watched some of them more than once. I hung out in a chatroom all day, discussing the products shown. I received 5 phone calls, and too many emails, regarding the products. And I didn't buy a thing.

Nope. Nothing. Nada. Not a single item.

A couple things caught my attention. Did you know that you can get a 13x19 inch printer at a decent price? That was news to me. We definitely don't need a printer, but when we finally do need one (or I win the lottery) I will be checking out that big size. The deal of the day was pretty interesting. It was a hybrid kit, including digital and paper scrapbooking pieces. I don't digiscrap yet. I looked long and hard at that one, but finally decided against it. One of my favorite designers had 3 brand new kits on. They were great products, but I already owned about 1/2 of each kit. Some of the kits had paper that was very cute. Some had well-coordinated embellishments.

A few months ago, I sold several items that were previous kit components at a yard sale. For pennies. I don't need any more stuff that I don't use. Since then, I've been trying to be prudent in my choices and spending habits. It was pretty interesting that I was sent this link yesterday: http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-happened-to-creative.html I looked at my piles of stuff I already own. Kit after kit I've purchased and used only some (if any) of the contents. So as I watched, I forced myself to think about the kit. Would I use all of it? Do I own any of it already? Can I think of photos I ACTUALLY have that would work with that kit? How would I store it? How long would I store it? Would I feel like I'd been creative after using that kit? I must say, my answers to these questions left much to be desired. Ordering any of those items would not have been prudent.

So, I'm on a mission today. I want to pre-plan some pages that I'll be taking to a retreat next month. I want to use up some things that came with previous kits I've purchased. Let's get this stuff off my shelves. Wish me luck!

Starting a new blog and tip #1

Ok, I finally did it. I started a blog. We'll see how far this goes. What I really want to do with this blog is to share strategies and tips for scrapbooking prudently (i.e. cost effectively, carefully, etc.) and still have beautiful pages to be proud of.


Here's my first tip: Have a scraps binder with page protectors for each color. Put any piece bigger than 2 fingers inside the appropriate page protector. (Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Black, Brown, White, Metallic)

$ = old 3 ring binder, page protectors, labeled with a permanent marker.
$$ = new 3-ring view binder, pretty page slid in the view sleeve that says "scraps" (decorate yourself with your great skills), page protectors, dividers or tabs
$$$ = expandable file with 11 tabbed sections

As you can see, I used the cheapest method -- page protectors with a permanent marker.

No matter which method you choose, make sure you USE IT! Save the scraps, but also go to them when you need to fill a small section or need inspiration for a new page. When paper piecing, or punching shapes, you'll save yourself money by checking your scraps first!

Here's a quick and easy card, made completely from scraps:

Now you try it!