it was just around 3 years ago that i officially became hooked on this crazy thing called scrapbooking. and so i was reflecting on all the good things that have come out of this hobby, and i must say one of the best things is the connections i've made with other scrapbookers.

thanks to scrapbooking, i've met this awesome girl, my friend linda....

(all supplies from the february studio calico kit)

...who constantly keeps me cracking me up and shares my love for the shins, the office (and jim!), the dodgers, and food.

what has scrapping brought you?

--caroline

A few weeks ago I mentioned that as part of my New Year's "things to do" list I was planning on making a book of inspirational stuff..just for me. I finally got around to starting it this week. Each time I do a new page I am going to try and use a technique that I haven't done before or a product in a different way so that it also become like a practice workbook. So this week I decided to pull out the pencil case and have a play with kids stuff - pens and pencils. Very therapeutic. I highly recommend it if you need something completely mindless to do - and I don't even think it matters if you go outside the lines. For this one, I lifted the pattern from a piece of Urban Lily paper and then just coloured it in. The texture of the cardstock made for an interesting effect. I used koo.i.noor pens to color in the chipboard letters, which was just about the easiest altering of chipboard I have ever done. The words on this page are from a Brandi Carlisle song called "I was made for you".

 

Cheers,

Amelia

I bought this cookbook at the best flea market in town...three stories of people's trash...exquisitely good time!  (One can note other flea market "treasures" in the photo;)

 

Copyrighted in 1939 and sporting a flea market price tag of $4.  A steal!!!  The funnest part of this cookbook is the "Table Settings, Special Menus" index.  Have a look:

 

 

 

I have no idea what coasting is...but there is apparently a meal to accompany such an activity!

And lookee here:

 

The lady who owned this book even wrote in some recipes...from Mildred presumably;)  My own grandmother's writing looked surprisingly similar to this...learned from lessons in handwriting:)

I purchased the book to incorporate my own favorite daily and party recipes.  The book is a 3 ring binder which serves this purpose well. 

Inspired by the Pixels and Paper Scrapbook Layouts idea book by May Flaum and Audrey Neal, I will be creating digital recipe layouts.

 

 

The canvas was formatted to fit the size of the book (9.5" x 6.5").  Once the page was completed, I resized my canvas size to 8 x 10.  This way, when I uploaded it to a photo print lab it retains the original size versus being automatically resized to the standard photo print sizes.  The photo paper used at a photo lab is perfect for a cookbook!  No worries about tearing or getting wet. 

I'm not a digi scrapper.  This was my first attempt.  It will take me some time to get use to the lack of dimension:S  But traditional scrappy layouts just aren't practical for daily use.  In the end, it was fun and easy to create:)  Btw...the artichoke spinach dip is to die for!!  I'm a dippy girl and my husband is now accustomed to being served dips for dinners on occasion...but never without the obligatory eye roll by him (I know he loves it;).  But hey...I can now make up for my culinary faux pas with a properly set table;)

Kits used from the Pixels and Paper Scrapbook Layouts CD (included with the idea book):

Authentic Me by Laura Reid with ScrapArtist.com
Flowering Horizons by Katie Pertiet
Perfect Summer
Touch of Funk

Have a wonderfully scrappy day!

Love, Tracy Austin

Since deco borders are all the rage for a while now, I thought it would be neat for us to create our own deco edges from patterned papers. You just have to look at the paper and see where and how you can create a decorative edge.

In my sample I simply followed the design of the paper and cut out a pattern. I used October Afternoon papers and a bunch of lovely Prima flowers. I stamped the flowers using October Afternoon stamp and cut it out so I can apply it as an embellishment. Another thing I did was to cut the background of the paper. I really loved this shot of my daughter but the background was too busy. By cutting out the background I was able to salvage the picture.

And (I hope you forgive me for inserting this) should you see a copy of the February issue of Memory Makers, please look at the Master's challenge. I have another example of a deco border I created there. I invite you to join that challenge too.

Thanks for letting me share!

Iris

Well, I guess the way to put yourself into labor is to create a scrapbook page about how much you are ready to have that baby! The day after I created my Ready & Waiting page, our new little one arrived.

Meet ...

Josephine Grace Peterman



She was born January 22, 2008 at 8:45 pm.
She weighed 6 lb. 5 oz. and was 19 inches long.
We are so very much in love!!!

Amy

of Winter that is. Yeah, I know. It's only January and living in northern Indiana means we have a few more months of this but I'm tired of it! It's been just down right frigid out there lately. So much so that walking to the mailbox takes my breath away. Which also means that the kids don't get out much either resulting in a little cabin fever for them and a little insanity for me. <sigh> So we spend our days indoors. Trying to entertain ourselves without watching too much tv and without getting on each other's nerves too much.

Ashlyn does a lot of playing in her room getting every imaginable toy and doll out. Her newest entertainment is to set up her dolls and then have me come take pictures. Gotta love their imagination, huh? So here is one from the other day.

I should learn to be so imaginative! But in the mean time, I'm still hoping for warmer days very, very soon!!

Greta

I'm at that point in my pregnancy where I am just ready to be done with it. I'm in the really uncomfortable stage where I'm not sleeping very well at night (rolling over is a major ordeal) and by lunch time I'm ready for a nap. I'm also very moody and emotional right now. Ugh! Hormones! So, I'm ready to be done. Ready to meet this little one inside of me.

Today, I decided to take some photos of my pregnant self and document how am feeling. I created the layout below. I'm glad I did this because I barely have any photos of myself from this pregnancy and creating this page was a good way to deal with my feelings today. I love how therapeutic scrapbooking is!

So, here I am in all my pregnant glory!


products used:
Adhesive (Beacon, Duck) • Buttons, patterned paper: Autumn Leaves • Paint (Making Memories) • Rub-ons (Three Bugs in a Rug) • Pen (American Crafts) • Stickers (7Gypsies, Cloud 9, EK Success, Melissa Frances, Sandylion) • Tags (Martha Stewart) • Trim (Karen Foster Design) • Misc.: Wite-Out tape, vintage trim

Amy

I just saw the Feb issue in Borders today - this magazine seems to be going from strength to strength. The articles were fantastic and I especially loved the Everyday Moments bit by Nic - she is soooo inspiring. Anyway to go along with the theme of the mag and just appreciating who you are in your own space and all that,  I have this layout....

Using mainly Scenic Route pp, with some AC thickers and hand stitiching. People have asked me how I do my stitching...there is no trick...just poke holes with a paper piercer and then go backwards and forwards with thread on a fairly small needle. Usually I go back over the pattern so that the design becomes more "filled in", but if you use more strands or thicker thread then that may not be needed.

Cheers,

Amelia

Is anyone else out there doing this?  I saw this on a blog (or two) and decided to give it a shot.  It's been fun.  There have been days that I just haven't felt like doing it but I've made myself and in doing that, I ended up documenting something I would have missed otherwise.  Besides actually taking a photo a day... the next daunting thing is what to do with all of those photos.  Many of them I will turn into full blown scrapbook pages... but some just don't warrant a whole page and then there's the problem of getting around to doing the pages.  So, I found these cool digital templates designed especially for this project.  It allows me to get the details down and record those pics that might get lost otherwise. 

Here's my page for last week....

This album will probably end up being just a 6x6 (although I'm doing the pages as 12x12 at the moment)... but what a cool thing... to have a day by day record of our year.  I had to keep myself in check with the descriptions... I had to remind myself that this page is just for the highlights.  Details can come on separate, more elaborate pages.

Supplies:
Photoshop CS3
Photo-a-day by Two Sisters Designs and Once Upon a Storyboard
Font - Arial

If you're doing the photo-a-day thing... I would love to see your photos and hear what you're doing with them!

Tracie

Headed to Auburn University with some friends in my photog group to photograph the campus grounds.  If you are interested in photography, I highly suggest joining or starting a photography group in your area!  It has been so very rewarding to meetup with other enthusiasts!  I for one never feel comfortable venturing off by myself to photograph areas early on a weekend morn' when nobody is around.  It feels much safer going as a group!  Here are a few from that outing that I printed in the darkroom last night:

 

Okay...the first one I printed dark with the highest contrast filter.  The sky that day was a deep dark beautiful blue.  Through the lens it had a creepy feel...so I accentuated it.  Looks like a horror flick setting;)  It was about 9 in the morning here;)

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.  Have a great day.

Love, Tracy Austin