Scrap In Style Tv Challenges & Tutorials

lisa's recycling challenge

hey everyone... this is lisa :)

lately i have been all about using "found & recycled" stuff in my layouts.
i think it gives them a unique look & also helps me to be "green".

here are some examples:
on these two layouts, i used pages from an anthropologie catalog...

and in the second one, i also made a little paper flower from an old dictionary.


so, my challenge to you is to use a catalog, junk mail or something that would have ended up in the trash in one of our layouts.

post your links here (or in the fashionista challenge forum), and i will pick someone at the end of the month to win some cool vintage goodies!

Canvas Journal Tutorial

Hey ya’ll! It’s Stacey here and this is my first SIS tutorial.

Today I’m going to show you how to make these:

A fabric lined, hand painted canvas journal. Not only is it a piece of art but as it is a journal you can also fill it with your daily art.

Supply List

9x12 canvas pad

Paint (several shades of base color and one neutral shade)

Baby wipes (paper towels)

Glimmer mist

Modge podge (or other sealant glue)

Stamps

Heat gun (optional)

Kraft paper or other asst. art paper to fit inside of journal

Misc. ribbon or décor for outside of journal Instructions:

This is a very simple project and I’m so excited to share it with all of you!!!

First of all we will "decorate" our canvas panel. You can buy the canvas in panels of 9x12 “notebook” style or you could easily cut your own canvas into custom sizes.

For this example I have painted the canvas with different shades of green   

After letting the base colors dry I have spread a coat of a neutral color (antique white) over the entire surface and then rubbed into the crevices and then off of the surface of the canvas with baby wipes (you could also use wet paper towels)

Then I sprayed the entire surface with glimmer mist

In order to dry the glimmer mist quickly I use my heat gun ( I actually did this with every step but you need to know that if you use it during the painting steps the paint will “boil” under the heat gun and create an entirely different surface texture)

Once I had my base established I covered the entire surface with a repeated stamp to create a pattern for the canvas

After you are happy with your canvas you need to seal it with modge podge or another sealant by covering the entire surface of the canvas.

To line the journal you need to cut a fabric panel a bit larger than your canvas

Sew all four edges of the fabric inside to create a lining for your canvas making your fabric panel just a bit larger than your canvas

Center the canvas on your fabric panel to create even edges all around.

Sew canvas to fabric

Once the canvas and fabric are sewn together fold in half and attach a tie closure to the front/back edges,  or you could also sew the ribbon in between the canvas and fabric but i like the look of the ends sticking out

For the pages of the journal I typically take a large roll of kraft/packing (non-acid free) paper and cut it down to smaller squares, I also use large sheets of handmade paper from art supply stores or you can actually cut any scrapbook/art paper to size

To bind the paper to the canvas, center the paper, and then I sew it down the center. I don’t sew all the way from the top that way the paper doesn’t perforate to easily, however if you want detachable pages I would suggest you sew from the top of the page to the bottom

And there you go!! You’ve made a journal!!

Below are some different examples of the same project using different canvas and/or paper techniques:

In this journal I added a mixture of cardstock and random office papers in with the kraft paper -

For this journal I used a crackle medium to add texture to the canvas surface and then I cut words from an old book to make a random quote and I added a strip of ribbon instead of a tie closure

For the paper in this journal I used 2 large sheets of handmade paper from an art supply store and cut it down into fourths, I added shape to the outside edges of the pages by using scallop scissors. Also instead of lining this canvas with an over sized panel of fabric I used a piece of coordinating sheet of felt for the lining.

 

For this journal I painted a 2-toned base and then randomly stamped several shades of pink and blue bubble wrap to add dimension. I also added random text from a book, a rub-on, and a cotton lace tie

For this journal I used texture medium and a paper doily to add the faux lace pattern and instead of sewing in a tie closure I sewed the lace all around the journal.

How many candles are on YOUR cake?

Good Tuesday morning, everyone!  I'm thrilled to offer you a quick & easy challenge--because, come on...who has time to do layouts that take eight hours to create? 

I recently celebrated my birthday--actually, it wasn't much of a celebration as it was a sobbing display of "How can I be THIS old?"--and as the day went on, I thought a lot about my scrapbooks and how I don't really scrap events anymore, but rather feelings and emotions about our daily happenings.  SO...here it is, Becca's "You say it's your birthday!" challenge:  DO A BIRTHDAY LAYOUT!

It can be any size--12 x 12 or 8.5 x 11 or whatever suits your fancy.

You can use any paper or stickers or die cuts and for you digi SISters, the same goes.  ANYTHING goes.

You can use photos from your last birthday or from your eighth birthday or it can be your child's day or your spouse's.  The best thing is that you don't have to go out and stage a photoshoot because seriously...we all have WAY too many birthday pictures already in our files.

And because we had my little dude's birthday party here this past Sunday, I haven't even had a chance to do this challenge myself BUT I did hire a babysitter and I'm headed out the door with The Beach Bum as well as our newest collection The Classic in-hand and I WILL be creating today! I can't WAIT to see all your layouts--please be sure to post them in your gallery and link them up so I'm sure to see them!

Happy Scrapping!

xoxo, Becca

ATC Backgrounds

I'd like to share how to create two diffterent backgrounds for ATC's.  These could easily be adapted for layouts as well!

Paper Strips

Mark different pieces of printed papers at 1 inch intervals with a scoring blade or a smooth ended thingie (I'm not sure what to call it, but I believe it's for embossing...it's in the picture ;).

Cut with pinking sheers.

Using a glue stick, attach each strip onto a piece of 8 ½ X 11 (or you can use 12 X 12), overlapping each piece.

Cut into ATC sizes (2 ½ X 3 ½) and embellish as desired!

Stained Glass Look

Cut a piece of black cardstock to 2 ½ X 3 ½.  Cut a piece of printed paper to 2 ¼ X 3 ¼.

Randomly cut up the printed paper piece, like a puzzle!  To make attaching these pieces to the black cardstock a gazillion times easier..as you cut up the printed paper place on your workspace “back in place/order”.

Glue your printed paper pieces onto your black cardstock.

Embellish as you’d like!

Here are the two backgrounds as finished ATC's...

Luck Be A Diva...

So okay, I know I am not the only one who had these large dreams of someday being a rockstar...or movie star...or having a hit musical on broadway.  Come on now.  Surely I am not all in my lonesome with thinking that I was going to be the next big thing to hit the airwaves and tv stations.  I know, I know.  Nevermind I can't sing, act, dance, or pull white rabbits out of my hat....nevermind I can't be a contestant on HGTV's Next Design Star (although seriously, I can decorate my butt off.)  Who cares that I would have had my own feature show on the Foodnetwork, because I watch Ace Of Cakes like its a religion and even if they come out a bit flat and lopsided the first go round, I so know I can cook and bake the pants off in round two.

So, yeah, I was a Diva in my former life and still fall asleep at night dreaming of how I woulda rocked Hollywood...and Bollywood ( I channel my inner international supah stahs ever now and again).

For this challenge, I challenge you all to scrap your INNER DIVA.  I want to know what you wanted to be, who you wanted to be, how many stages you wanted to grace, the scandals you imagined being in and the  rumors, glory and fame you aspired to.

I want to see glitter, glamour, and all in between.

I want to see your dream come cross on paper. 

After all, scrapbooking is about the memories.  Scrap those memories of those big dreams!

You wanted to be a singer? Scrap it. You wanted to be the next Nikki on Young and the Restless, scrap it. You wanted to open up at the next big Rock The Vote or just have people flipping lighters and screaming your name? Scrap it.

I want to see the inner diva come out in your pages. I want to see your dreams of stardom.  And don't tell me you have none, because even if only for a second, everyone has a dream.  :)

Stylin Behind The Lens

Hey Everyone! Amber Ulmer here.

I'm so stoked to be doing my first tutorial!
We seem to be in the crafting mode so I'm going to keep that going.
We are girls right? We love to have things that express our personalities right? I love having custom made accessories! Totes & makeup cases made by sweet friends have always inspired me to try this sewing thing. So I finally did and covered my camera neck strap! I want to share that with you so you can create your own!

We have our supplies... Sewing machine, fabric scissors, iron and pins, denim needs(if you are stitching directly onto the strap, I suggest these), thread... and of course a favorite fabric and embellishments if you wish.

First, you'll want to lay out your strap and place it where you want it to be on your fabric, leaving room at the top and bottom of strap for folding the seams in.

Then you'll want to cut down your fabric so it's easier to work with and measure with your neck strap. For cutting the length, make sure to leave enough room to fold the seams in as well. And now iron your fabric so it's nice and wrinkle free.

Next you'll take your strap and lay it on the cut fabric piece and fold the 2 sides in and pin them down to iron the seams down. I would make sure to leave enough room to have some of the fabric to reach and cover the leather pieces at the end of your strap slightly. Just for extra room. Rather have more than not enough. Right?

 

Now, we need to fold in the long sides of the fabric and iron the seams down. It might take a couple tries to get the amount folded in right. Keep in mind that when doing this, you will need to leave about a quarter of an inch extra once the camera strap is covered because you will be stitching it together to close the neck strap inside

Here is what I mean about leaving a quarter of an inch when you have the camera strap inside

You’re kind of creating a sandwich with the camera strap here.

 

Then you head over to your sewing machine, or if you don't have one, you can even hand stitch it if you have some extra time! See, anyone can do this!
You place the strap in the machine like shown. I tried the other way first & it was too bulky. So try it this way. Now just do a straight stitch up the side slowly and making sure that your 2 pieces of fabric you are stitching together are even and the camera strap is fitted snuggly inside. Stitch up to just before the leather pieces of your strap. I hand stitched the rest of the way up on mine.

Now, you can customize your strap even more if you want to add a button or any other embellishment on the ends like I did here. I found some cute buttons to give the fabric a little more retro feel. You can do flowers or any other "stitchable".

And there you have it. A cute, personal camera strap... all your own!

Download the PDF instructions here!
Download strap_tutorial.pdf

Pick a number...

Hello. It's Nitty.Gritty.Jody bringing you a challenge today. First of all, Happy month of July! Where do the summer months go anyway? It never ceases to amaze me how quickly June, July and August fly by. I love laid-back, lazy days. Even though I never seem to sit around and relax all that much. It still feels good to not have to keep up with a hectic schedule- just 4 busy little kids and a husband who works like crazy in the summer!

So, do you need a challenge? I've got one for you, but unfortunately, my own ideas are not down in layout/project form yet, but I promise I will have mine done very soon. I'm so in love with the latest Girly-Girl Collection and have plans to do this challenge with some of it...so fun! How can I not scrap with this stuff?! Did I mention I love it?!

So about this challenge. Go ahead. Start thinking of a number. But not just any number. I want you to have to do a little bit of math homework to figure your number. You see, I know people scrap their age quite often, or even their kids' age/birthdays, so that's not the number I want you to pick. I think a fun challenge {and remember, I'm preaching to myself here too} is to think of a number that maybe slips past you but would make a really great page to record. I know, I sound like I'm talking in circles, so let me give you some examples of what's actually running around my brain as I'm thinking this through.

In my own laundry space, I have probably 9 jugs of Tide Laundry detergent right now. I have probably 34 rolls of toilet paper and I know I have more than 10 bottles of Bath & Body Shower Gel {different flavors, of course!} stocked up to keep my family clean. Call me obsessive-compulsive if you like, but part of me just loves a good sale. The other part- you're right. I way overstock. As if I can't just run to the store and buy more laundry soap. Yes, I know I can, but I have this thing about keeping a big stash on hand. How fun would it be to make a random layout about some of these items and why I have so many of them?! Right?

Okay. Maybe you're not a neat freak and that layout or mini book sounds boring. Still, I bet you can come up with some fun numbers you've never scrapped. What about the number of times you say "no" to your toddler who tries to turn on/off your tv/radio/dishwasher in a single day?! Or maybe some of you have been dating or engaged and you're counting the days you've known each other or how many days left until you're married. Go ahead. Scrap that exact number right now!

I know that you have some really fun math equations just waiting to find their way onto a scrap page. How many times did you log onto SIS in the past week? Make a little atc card about it. How many cups of coffee do you need to get through your day? Or week. Or is it Coke or Pepsi that's you're go-to beverage? Make a little card and have some fun with the random numbers that show up in your life once you actually stop and think about them a bit.

I bet more than one of you has a thing with shoes. Or purses. Or trolls. =) Count the number of items you have in a collection...or maybe even just count the number of sippy cups you own. Right now. Maybe it is just a little random number, but I promise it will be a fun memory to hang onto. I just may scrap the number of months I have been pregnant in my lifetime...and as I enter my third trimester with baby #6 right now, I assure you it's a big number! Just have fun brainstorming and who knows what number may pop up in your own mind. As usual, come back here and post a link to your layout/mini/atc you create and I will check them out myself. Have fun...and now to all of us...happy scrapping!

Clear albums: Simplified

I have a confession.

I know that clear albums are all rage these days and I have even bought a few...well, several actually.

But I have not used them. In fact when it comes right down to it, I am scared to death of them!

I mean, you can see everything! I can't hide any mistakes. When you turn the page, you can see the ugly back of some of the stuff I used on the previous page. There is no room for error! And that makes me really nervous.

So you can imagine the horror I felt when I opened my Girly Girl collection and saw that it contained a sheer scalloped Maya Road album! I think I broke out into a cold sweat.

(I might be exaggerating a little here, but play along with me anyway.)

But I was not going to let this little album get the best of me! I took it upon myself to figure this thing out and make it work for me.

And I think I have done it! I think I have figured out how to make clear albums simpler and less intimidating. That is what I want to share with you today. I want to walk you through an easy way to create a clear mini-album.

Step 1: Gather supplies (duh!). And don't be too jealous that I am using the Girly Girl collection full of Basic Grey and Pink Paislee and Making Memories. Don't worry, you can get yours soon!

(The Maya Road sheer album measures 4" tall by 8" wide, including the scallops)

Step 2: Cut white cardstock into strips measuring 2 3/4" tall x 6 3/4" wide (that is just about the right size to fit easily into the center of each page of the album without intruding on the scallops). I wanted to keep my album simple & uniform, so these strips were to be the foundation of each page of my album.

Step 3: Start building your pages! Using the white cardstock as the foundation for each page, I added pictures, journaling, & embellishments without letting anything hang off the cardstock (no going outside the lines!).

Step 4: Add pages to your album. Once each page is complete, center it on each page of the album, and stick it down!

Notice how I made the white cardstock the foundation & added everything on top of it. Notice too how nothing is hanging off the edges. Here is the back of that first page:

Aaack! Scary! But when I added the next page to the album, I covered up all that I did not want you to see:

Simple enough, right??!!

Here is the completed album and a few more pages from the inside:

(I used a Crop-a-dile to punch 1 hole on the right side of each page & then tied ribbon through the holes to add a closure to the album)

I really hope this makes creating a clear album really easy!

I would love to see what you can make! So I have a little deal for you...show me the album you make out of your Girly Girl collection by Sunday July 13th, upload it in the SIS gallery (link me up via private message), I will draw 1 winner from everyone who sends me a link, and send them a RAK of goodies. And I send good RAKs if I do say so myself! Deal??!!

Happy scrappin'!!

Gretchen

Close your eyes...and imgaine your childhood bedroom.

Good Morning everyone!

aw here…bringing you this week’s challenge.

For the challenge this week I am asking that you reflect a bit.

Get nostalgic.

Close your eyes and remember when you were a kid.

Doesn’t matter what age – just a kid.

Imagine yourself lying on your bed.

Open your eyes.

What is around you?

What was that bedroom like?

What did you adorn your walls with?

A teen heartthrob?

Did you have a shelf full of basketball or soccer trophies?

Were there stuffed animals all over your bed? Which ones? Which was your favorite?

Did you have to share a room with a sibling?

Were you neat? Messy?

Did you have a TV in your room?

What movies did you watch over and over?

What toys were scattered all over the floor?

What clothes were hanging in your closet?

Take some of these thoughts and run with it.

What originally started as me describing my room turned into all sorts of memories flooding back.

I even filled a journal entry up with more ideas using the same concept.

You could even just describe one aspect of the room.

What was the comforter like?

Describe it so vividly that if someone else were to see it they would know that’s the one you were talking about if they saw it in a store.

What tapes were in your stereo?

Go back and try to the best of your ability to vividly describe everything (or some things) in your childhood room.

If you have something FROM when you were a child (like a toy or a quilt for example)…photograph it and scrap it.

As an added bonus – use something child like on your page.

I used a scratch and sniff sticker and a view finder insert…along with rainbow brite, hello kitty and Mario embellishments.

If you choose to accept this challenge (villian laugh goes here) please make sure you link it up here OR put aw's Childhood Bedroom Challenge in your title.

I can't wait to see them!!!!

(Honest and truly)

aw

Specially for your ATCs!

Hi ladies id Lucy here today with you:)
I'll show how to make an easy cover for your ATCs and collection of cards.
I know many of you are in atc swaps so I decided to show you an alternative to keep these little pieces of art safe.
The good thing about it you can make in a short time and you can have it on your purse with you!
I hope you like it.

SUPPLY LIST
A piece of cardboard or chipboard not so thick.
Papers and embelishments.
A piece of string long enough to go around your cover for about 3 times.
A button with a hole in the midle and some beads(optional)
Plain white paper it can be from your printer
Liquide glue or double tape adhesive.
Punch hole or crop a dile
A trimmer with folding blade or a bone folder
and a metal ruler

Step 1-2-3&4

Cut a strip of card board with 12”x 3” or 30,5 cm x 7,5 cm
Then you’ll mark where you have to fold.
You can see the measurements on the pic.
Left side in cm and right side in inches.

After you mark it just pass it trhough your trimmer to make the folding lines or with a metal
ruller mark with a bone folder.Leave it on the side to embelish it later.

Now you want to make some pockets to hold your ATCs.
So just get 10 sheets of plain paper cut it on the same high as your cover for example
11cm or 5 inches tall
Ten cut the paper with 21 cm or 9 inches long so you can fold your pocket in 3 parts to
make the envelopes.

Steps 5-6-7 & 8

After you had fold all pockets it’s time to put them together.
You will need first to close them all.I like to do this part with the double tape adhesive.
Add a strip of tape closing the pockets.

Now lets attach them.
Using your glue or tape make a strip right in the midle of the paper.add another pocket
on the top.Keep doing it untill you have done them all.
You want it to looks like an acordeon.

Steps9 &10

Now you can cover your chipboard and embelish it.Just like you cover a regular chhipboard shape
or mini album’s cover.
Attach your acordeon inside using a stripe of double tape in the midle.
Just like you did with the pockets.
Make a little hole on the top flap of your cover to close it.
Pass a string doing a knot inside to keep it in place you can use beads on the edge..
Make sure your string is long enough so you can go around about 3 times.
Then to close it and go with the string around the button.
And here it is a cute alternative to keep your ATCs in place.

You can make one for every Swap you make:)
I hope you like it and if you have any questions I’ll be happy to help you:D