LOAD in Vogue - BLOG HOP

Welcome Scrap Happy Family Members to the

LOAD in Vogue – Blog Hop

Lynnette     http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/ 

Christy       http://myscrapbookevolution.blogspot.com/
Heather     http://noexcusescrapbooking.com/ 

Lisa           http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/ 
Cathy        pikespeakscrapper.blogspot.com/ 
Dani          http://scrapperonthestreet.com/ 
Nolwenn   http://creationspapier.com/ 
Kelli          http://scrapbookgirl71.com/ 
Theresa     http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/   YOU ARE HERE!
Leslie        http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com/ 

I thought I'd share a few things that I've learned as a first timer during LOAD513 and a few things that a multiple time Loadster has to say about it.  Hopefully you will be inspired to try LOAD yourself.

Multi-Loadster says:

I´m not a LOAD-newbie anymore (this is my 6th or 7th?), but some things that I learned so far:

• don´t overthink too much, whether it´s about using the ´perfect´ supplies, design or technique. That is a great time saver right there!
• let go of perfectionism - the result may not always be as you envisioned, but that is OK.
• scrapping often throughout an extended period will help you develop your own style. And once you realize what your style is, scrapping will become faster and easier.
• making a list of topics to scrap + have pictures printed in advance makes it easier to grab & go.
• no matter how many pages you made (or did NOT make) throughout LOAD, it´s more than before you started. Life happens. There´s no guilt in scrapbooking, it should be fun!
• let go of self-imposed ´rules´: don´t scrap chronologically, mix double pagers and single LO´s, mix formats or media etc.
• it is inevitable that I´ll lose sleep during a LOAD-month because I tend to lose track of time when working on a page *LOL*
• dabbling in doing digi pages can be fun!
• it is OK if your style is clean & simple, and you don´t like too much ´stuff´ on your page.
• sometimes covering up ´mistakes´ on a page makes it look better than before.
• LOAD is a great incentive to use those ancient products in your stash!
• LOAD will make you create pages about topics you never thought about before - and they will become the LO´s you´ll love the most in the long run

WHAT I've learned from LOAD 513...

1.     Not every layout has to be perfect.  For me into isn't about perfection, it's about documenting the moments in our lives for my family today, in the future and for future generations. As the family historian, trying to find out who some of the people in the pictures from my grandparent's collection is almost impossible.  And how wonderful would it be to know not only the who, but the where, why, how they are related and so much more.

2.     You CAN fit time to be creative into every day.  Sometimes it is only 10 -15 minutes but if you are organized (which I am thanks to Tiffany Spaulding at Thescraprack.com and her wonderful Organization Challenge), prepared (photos printed, paper & embellies chosen, journaling notes written), and determined, you can really create great pages in a short amount of time.   Before the next LOAD challenge I will be even more prepared!  I will create page kits ahead of time (which I do already when I go to crops).  I will make sure to have an idea of what I want to scrap and just let the prompts take me to which kit to create that day.  Sometimes the prompts will help you tell a different side of the story than what you had originally thought of, but that is often the best way to tell the story and may just become your favorite layout.                                                  If the prompt brings to mind a something else, I'll just pull the pics and supplies and create that page.

3.     Don't get to hung up on the prompt.  If the inspiration isn't there, just create a beautiful page.  You are not penalized for not following the prompts.  LOAD is about scrapping more, not being stressed out about using the prompt given.  

4.     Scrap with what you have on hand!  Use up the stash that you have so lovingly purchased and painstakingly organized (or not).  Mix and match techniques and products, colors and patterns have fun.  I tend to be a very simple scrapper, but LOAD has me inspired to try new things.

5.     HAVE FUN! Scrapbooking should not be stressful!  This is not a chore but a happy, joyful expression of the love you have for family and friends. 

If you would like to check out my layouts from this LOAD please visit my Flicker account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresaknopf/

Want to learn more about Lain Ehmann and Layout a day?  Visit Lain HERE!

I hope you find that you might consider joining LOAD the next time it comes around, but if not hopefully you can take these thoughts and use them as you journey through scrapbooking on your own.  Maybe you'd like to challenge yourself to a layout a day, maybe not for a month but for a week?

Here's a few of prompts to get your started:

• Timeline? 
• Create a two page (or more) spread that creates a timeline. Your life, one of the kids, your relationship with your spouse or BFF.

• Create a page about a favorite activity, place or thing and have everyone in the family do a journaling block/tag about it.

• WHO? 
• Who are you?  
• Who is your child, from your point of view, from the dad's p-o-w, and/or from their p-o-w?
• Who most influenced you and why?

Have fun and happy scrapping!

Theresa

A few more cards...

Card Swap 2

 For this swap I had to create 5 cards that were all the same.  You had to use this fold of card.  So here is my take on the card.

Card Swap 3

This swap consisted of creating 3 Thank You cards.

Here is mine.

This is a clean & simple card.  Two pieces of printed paper on a cream base.  The inside is blank.

This one is just the hot pink glossy card stock ran through the thanks embossing folder on a white card stock base.  The thank you circle stamp in stamped at the bottom of the inside.

This one was created with Washi tape, a thank you stamp and white card stock.  Super simple but I just love how it turned out.

Well that is it for now.

Happy Crafting

Theresa

A few cards...

Thought I'd share my newest swap cards.  I'm currently involved in 3 different card swaps from different scrappy groups that I'm involved in.  So over the next couple of days, I thought I would share a few of the cards that I've created for this months swaps.

Swap 1
The theme this month for this swap is Seasons.  I had to create 4 cards, one each for each of the seasons of the year and the technique challenge was folding.  On the fall card I cut 4 pumpkins with my Cricut.  Sorry I can't remember which cart I used.  I folded 3 of them and adhered them to each other and to the 4th pumpkin.

Here are those cards.

Sorry it is sideways.  This is the inside of the fall card.  I created it on my Gypsy and cut with my Cricut.

 For the summer card I used a stamp set from Close to my Heart and a framlit from Stampin Up, the floral fantasy embossing folder by Cricut and some glossy hot pink card stock that I bought at Joann.

The spring card is created using a new folding technique that I learned for another swap that I'll post about later.  I "folded" the ribbon on the inside of the card.  The turtle is lifted up using a Wobble.

Sorry these are sideways, can't get them to turn.  This is the spring card.

For the winter card, I made a lollie, using some printed paper and the stamps are from CTMH.  I shortened the front of the card and used an edge punch to fancy it up.  The sentiment is actually stamped on the inside layer of the card and serves both the inside & outside of the card.  I stamped a couple of snowflakes in the top corner of the inside layer.

Sorry it is sideways.  This is the inside of the winter card. 

Hope you like them.

Happy Crafting 

Theresa

And the winners are...

The last winner of an embossing folder from the Christmas in July Blog Hop is...

Marty  with her comment.

Love the ornaments and they make such great presents! The word art is also a great idea, think I’ll try some of these. TFS

And the winner of the contest to receive a sample of each of the first three challenges is...drum roll please......

Golden Goddess Designs

Ladies, please email me at scrapsbygracie @ gmail.com with your mailing address and I'll get your prizes out. 

Week 4 - Christmas in July Blog Hop -- Anything goes

Hi, this is the last week of the Christmas in July Blog Hop.  I truly hope that everyone who has hoped along has enjoyed all the projects that they have seen.

If you arrived here from http://angiespaperpassion.blogspot.com/ then you are in the right place.
If you are starting here on my blog, please click on the icon to the right and start at the beginning.  You don't want to miss a thing.

I'm going to share a couple of items that I've already posted before but I think are worth repeating.
The first one is Christmas ornaments made with the Cricut, vinyl, floor cleaner & glitter.

Well I've gotten them all glittered and a couple of the big ones done.  I'll be finishing the little ones for all the nieces and nephews on Friday.  I'm going to glass etch their first initial on them with the the year on the back. I asked them their favorites colors, thus all the repeats of colors.  Still need to buy another box of large ones, to make a married first Christmas together ornament for my 18yr old niece, who surprised us all in July by getting married at the courthouse while in Colorado without telling anyone, including her mother until it was over. Wagging finger -- "Bad, Lishy!" -- They are having a ceremony on their 1st anniversary for the family, but since this will be their first Christmas, an ornament is in order.

The large pink one is Tay's for this year and is done in pink glitter with black embossing powder to match her room.  It was my first time trying embossing and it turned out OK, but it was harder to work with than etching so I probably won't do many more that way. Rachie's is the teal one and hers will have brown embossing for her room, but I have to go get some as I have every color under the rainbow but brown.

The Cricut is for my Scrap Happy display (the store where I teach Cricut classes), then home to my scrap area, when I finally get one.

The red with snowflakes is also for Scrap Happy and it is made with Silhouette flocked heat transfer material and has three different snowflakes around it.  I just love how it turned out.

http://www.theornamentgirl.com/how-to-make-glitter-ornaments.pdf  -- This is a link to another blog.  She does wonderful things!  This gives detailed directions on how to create the ornaments above.


This next one is more of gift idea than a Christmas item.
I created one these for my mother, my grandmother and my stepmother a few of years ago for Christmas.
Here is the original blog post:

Christmas Gifts 2009 My Cricut Wordle

Welcome to my blog. 


This is my first blog post, so please bear with me. I wanted to share with you the gifts that I made with my Cricut for Christmas 2009. 



I made my version of a Wordle , but made it with my Cricut and CDS (Cricut Design Studio) . The first one is a 12x24 that I created for my Grandmother who will be 85 this May and it has the word Family in the center with her name and Grandpa's surrounded by all the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren's names. This was a challenge and I made the mistake of using heavy watercolor paper which I had used a metallic gold stamp pad to highlight the texture of the paper. The problem with using this paper was that it was so thick that the fine details did not cut well and of course I had welded the whole thing so it was a bear to get off the mat without tearing. I used the Stone Script font and it was just to delicate for this application but I'd already jumped in with both feet so I changed it up for the remaining ones. My beautiful daughter Rachel helped to glue it down and it is by no means perfect or straight but Grandma Bernie loved it and it is proudly hanging in her living room.




When I did the second one I used just a good heavy cardstock and of course it was smaller but I did not weld the names together in CDS and just glued them down next to each other and it turned out much better. Mom loved it, although she wasn't surprised since we had already been to Christmas at Gram's house before she got hers.



Hope you enjoy them. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.



Happy Scrapping,
Theresa (whose husband calls her Gracie)

PS Answering a comment: For the second one I used a heavy textured cardstock and again used the gold ink to highlight the texture (which doesn't show up very well in the photo) and then the black background cardstock is also textured and has a bit of the gold ink on. In person it is has a great depth. I am working on creating something similiar for my family that includes a little glass etching on the frame for some depth. I will post when it is finished.

I have to update Grandma's as we have added 9 great grandchildren and 3 spouses since I did this is 2009.

I hope you've enjoyed the blog hop this month and will come back on August 3rd as I will be participating in another blog hop on that day.

Don't forget to become a follower and leave a comment to be entered into the prize drawing for an embossing folder.

Your next stop on the hop is Beth at http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

Happy Crafting
Theresa

July 27 ~ Cricut Christmas Anything Goes {a gift, home decor, LO, etc}
1~Paulette at http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/
2~Sis at http://papercraftscissors.com/
3~Maria at http://stampcutcreate.blogspot.com/
4~Laura at http://www.coolbeansbylb.blogspot.com/
5~Brenda at http://happyscrapper64.blogspot.com/
6~ Lisa at http://addictedtothecricut.blogspot.com/
7~Donna at http://carolinascreativecropper.blogspot.com/
8~ Cindy at http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/
9~Angela at http://angiespaperpassion.blogspot.com/
10~Theresa at http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/
11~Beth at http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/
12~Betsy at http://betsymcreates.blogspot.com/
13~Loraine at http://www.lorainespaperplayhouse.blogspot.com/

And the winner is...

And the winner is...Barbara Stewart!

Barbara please email me  your mailing address to Scrapsbygracie AT gmail.com.

Please consider sponsoring Dawn

I work for a wonderful company called Lifetouch.  Many of you will recognize the name.  We are the largest photo company in the United States.   The company has been around for over 75 years and  captures millions of memories each year.  We not only photograph school children and Seniors but family portraits and so much more.

One of the wonderful things about Lifetouch is that we believe in giving back and making the world a better place.  One of our projects is schools in Haiti.  This began at our local territory.  So far the groups that travel there have built eight K-8 schools.  A few years ago the Dominican Republic built a college as well.
This coming January a group of Lifetouch employees and other community members will be returning to Haiti to build a high school to bridge the gap between the elementary schools and the college.

A wonderful friend of mine who works in the same territory that I do would really like to be a part of this team as would I, but unfortunately with my daughter being a Senior in high school it just isn't in the cards for me this year.
Dawn, unfortunately, isn't able to fund her trip completely on her own either.

So all I ask is that you take a few minutes and look at her proposal.  Even if you could only donate a few dollars or even just a prayer, it would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.gofundme.com/3px6w0

Christmas In July Blog Hop -- Week 3 -- Ornaments

Hi everyone and welcome to week #3 of the Christmas In July Blog Hop.
This weeks project is ornaments.

If you arrived from http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/ then you are in the right place.
To start at the beginning of the hop, click on the icon on the right.

Thanks to everyone who is hopping along this week.

I've created a 3-d snowflake ornament using white cardstock, glue, Martha Stewart Tinsel Glitter, and the Cricut cartridge Cheerful Seasons by Creative Memories.

I used 7 snowflakes cut at 5 1/2 inches.  I folded 6 of the snowflakes in half, making sure to crease them well.  I glued 3 together, then another 3 together.  The last one got all of it's appendages cut off so all that remained was the center.  I adhered one set of three to each side.  Once it was all glued and dried and used a sponge brush and some simple Elmer's glue to cover all the sides and added the glitter.  I punched a hole through the top and added a string.  It's all ready for the tree.

Hope you like it.  Don't forget to become a follower of my blog and comment below to for a chance to win an embossing folder.

Your next stop on the hop is http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/
Happy Crafting
Theresa

This weeks blogs:

http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

http://angiespaperpassion.blogspot.com/

http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/

http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/ YOU ARE HERE!

http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

http://www.coolbeansbylb.blogspot.com/

http://singingshell.blogspot.com/

This Weeks Winner is....

This weeks winner of an embossing folder is comment #19 by 

Hrvatica: Lovely cards – they have such great texture with the embossing

So Hrvatica please email me at scrapsbygracie AT gmail.com with your name and address and I will get your embossing folder in the mail.

Don't forget that you too have the chance to win.  Tomorrow's blog hop will be ornaments. 

Happy Crafting

Theresa

Christmas In July Blog Hop -- Week 2 -- Christmas Cards

If you arrived here from Colleen at http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/  then you are in the right place. If not, then please click the Blog Hop button to the right and it will take you back to the very first blog, so you can hop along and not miss the great projects this week. 

Don't forget to become a follower of my blog and leave a comment on each Saturday's Christmas in July Blog Hop post to be entered into a drawing for a weekly prize and  a grand prize drawing.  The weekly prize will be drawn and posted the following Friday.

Be sure to comment, because we all love comments, and become a follower of each blog on the hops.  There is a prize drawing for a Cricut cartridge each week. 

Hi Everyone!

Today's blog hop is all about Christmas cards.  I've created one specifically for the blog hop and will post that one first.  I've also created several other cards this week for a card swap that I'm participating in and guess what this month's theme was also Christmas in July.  I'll share those too.

I hope you like the cards that I've created and they will inspire you to create some fun and easy cards of your own.

I've done a little embellishing on the envelopes as well and have included them in the photos.

This is the one I created for the blog hop.  It is very simple and easy to mass produce.  I used a pre-made 4x9" card.  I ran the card twice through the Big Kick using an embossing folder.   I created a small
slip in the fold to thread the ribbon through where the seam of the two embossingfolders meet.  I threaded the ribbon through and glued it.  I created the snowflakeusing the Christmas cartridge.  I stamped it with the word Joy from the Wonderland Wishes stamp set by Raisin Boat www.raisinboat.com.  I ran it through my Xyron X and coated it with Martha Stewart glitter.  I attached it with  dimensional foam, added the rhinestones and it was done.  I also ran the envelope flap through the same embossing folder.

This one is created using an ebossing folder, a stamp that came with a summer set, but I thought it looked like a snowflake, the same Joy stamp and more rhinestones and ribbon.  

This one I used glitter paper and embossed it.  It is gorgeous in real life!  The sparkle is amazing.  I used a  trim from the sewing section as the ribbon and used the same stamp set as above to create the tag.  The snowflake brad started out just plain white and I heated it using my heat gun and dipped it in some glittery embossing powder and heated it.

This is one of my favorites.  I used an 8x8 sheet of embossed cardstock and cut out the snowflake from the Christmas cartridge.  I used my Zig glue and MS glitter on the blue cardstock.  Popped up the white on foam tape and used my Fiskars punch on the bottom.   I used the positive and glittered it for the envelope.  Super simple but so pretty!

This one was amazingly simple but this is my very favorite one of this bunch.  I just love how it turned out.  I used an embossing folder that had branch and bird on it.  I roughed up the edge of the white cardstock with my Tonic paper distresser and inked the edges. The cardinal is a dimensional sticker 

This one too is simple.  I used the ornaments embossing folder. I used my Zig pen and clear embossing powder to highlight some of the ornaments.  I then cut out the ornament (sorry I don't remember what cartridge) and used MS tinsel glitter to give it a little sparkle. 

I hope you like the cards.  Don't forget to become a follower of my blog and comment to be entered into the drawing for a chance to win an embossing folder.

Your next stop is Beth at http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

This weeks blogs:

Paulette at http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

Sis at http://papercraftscissors.com/

Diane at http://dianesdribble.blogspot.com/

Lisa at http://addictedtothecricut.blogspot.com/

Linda at http://ladybuglair.blogspot.com/

Donna at http://carolinascreativecropper.blogspot.com/

Cindy at http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/

Fran at http://lovebugtimme.blogspot.com/

Colleen at http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/

Theresa at http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/  YOU ARE HERE!

Beth at http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

Happy Crafting
Theresa

And the winner is >>>>

And the winner is >>> waidc with her comment "Both are just adorable." 

She was not the first person picked by Random.org, but the first two people who were picked are not followers of the blog.

Keep in mind, to be a winner of any contest on this blog, and especially the Christmas in July blog hop, you must comment on the post AND be a follower of this blog.  You also want to make sure that your profile is set to public.

So waidc, please email me at scrapsbygracie@gmail . com with your name and address and I will get your embossing folder in the mail.

Congrats!
Happy Crafting
Theresa

PS. Another chance to win and another installment of the Christmas in July Blog Hop is coming up tomorrow!  The theme tomorrow is Christmas cards and I have several cards ready to show you.

True Scrap Kids July 27th

True Scrap Kids -- theuniverse's ONLY online, live virtual event for crafty kids ANDtheir moms.

Taking place on JULY 27th, True Scrap Kids offers classes aimed atparents and kids in our state-of-the-art webroom. Teachers includeformer CK Hall-of-Famer CD Muckosky, Stephanie Ackerman, Smitha
Katti, THE Traci Reed, and Kinsey Ehmann.

Here's a little video to tell you all about it.  





To register, just click on the True Scrap Kids link to the right. Register by July 15th and you will save $20. 

If you have never participated in one of Lain Ehmann's classes or webinars, you will not be disappointed!  She does a great job of bringing together wonderful instructors and subjects that make your papercrafting better.


Hope you and your kids or grandkids or neighbor kids will join us!

Happy Crafting
Theresa 

Christmas in July Blog Hop --Week 1 --Gift card holders

Hi and Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop!

If you arrived here from http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/  then you are in the right place. If not, then please click the Blog Hop button to the right and it will take you back to the very first blog, so you can hop along and not miss the great projects this week. 

Don't forget to become a follower of my blog and leave a comment on each Saturday's Christmas in July Blog Hop post to be entered into a drawing for a weekly prize and  a grand prize drawing.  The weekly prized will be drawn and posted the following Friday.

Be sure to comment, because we all love comments, and become a follower of each blog on the hops.  There is a prize drawing for a Cricut cartridge each week. 

This weeks project is gift card holders. 

So here are my gift card holders.

Both holders are made with the Pillow Box cut from the Easter 2010 Cricut Cartridge.  The cut is made at 5.70 Height and 5.52 Width from a heavy weight card stock.  The Santa was made with ribbed red.  The snowman is made by gluing the printed paper to heavy weight white and then cutting.

It was then scored at the two score marks.
I used Terrifically Tacky 1/4" tape to secure the side together. You could use liquid adhesive or another very strong tape.  ATG tape is not strong enough.

For the Santa suit gift card holder, I used black 5/8" ribbon and a circle clip (I didn't have any ribbon buckles at home, but you could use one instead of the circle clip.)   I used the TT tape to secure the ribbon and clip. Before you adhere them, be sure to add your tag to the clip.
The little gift package tag was made using Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2 cartridge. I used a polka dot printed paper and glittered white card stock for the bow piece.

For the Snowman gift card holder I used my Zip two-way pen and Martha Stewart Tinsel glitter on the snowmen.   I used a gauzy ribbon to make the bow and tied the tails together so it can be hung on the Christmas tree.

I hope you like them.  The are simple and fast to put together and would be great for mass production if needed.



Your next stop is  http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/ 

Happy Hopping
Theresa

This weeks blogs:
1~Paulette: http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/
2~L.B: http://www.coolbeansbylb.blogspot.com/
3~FranTimme: http://lovebugtimme.blogspot.com/
4~gonescrappin'; http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/ 
5~scrapsbygracie: http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/  You Are Here!
6~SeaSwan:  http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/
7~BetsyBoo:  http://betsymcreates.blogspot.com/