Scrap In Style Tv Challenges & Tutorials

Reference & GO!

I used to sit and create a page without any journaling...then the time came to write something and NOTHING came. I really couldn't stand that! The last thing you want to worry about is your journaling right? Or do you ever forget what exactly you were going to write? That's happened to me before one too many times. So here is my challenge to you...let's make a book of reference. I've been art journaling and have found this to work better than I'd ever expected. I simply write a short paragraph either about a specific picture (or it can be general) in my art journal...then I write out a couple of ideas for either a title for the page OR some color schemes I think would go well with the page. I have been doing this for about a month now and have not had a problem since. I simply look through my art journal pick a journaling entry and select some papers and a picture. I sometimes don't even end up using ALL the journaling. I just choose a sentance/phrase that sparks ideas for the layout. I LOVE this. I don't have to sit idly at my computer or typewriter anymore trying to think of something clever to write. Or figure out what papers I think will go together or embellishments. It's already there in my journal! So next time you want to write something jot it down quick in your journal. And add to it, maybe print a couple of pictures and slip them between the pages ready and waiting to be made into a page. Or, even if you type out your journaling in your word processor program, its always best to get a couple of journal entries printed at once rather than going back and doing each at separate times. It gives you more time to be creative and not hassle with going back and forth to your computer/typewriter at the most inconvenient times.

Here is a page I created referencing some journaling I had written a week before the page came together.
I had already printed out some pictures I had archived in my FlickR set. I printed my journaling on a random piece of notepaper and slipped that in my journal as well. Then the time came to select some papers and I used the Urban Prep collection for this. It's SO easy to pick your papers etc. when you already have a kit put together for you :) Then I had a few moments and I grabbed the photos, the journaling and the kit and now a new page! Very easy. Especially since I take FOREVER to complete a page. This process for me, has really helped finish pages faster. AND I'm happier since I don't feel like I "hurried" to finish a complete layout.

So try it.
Seriously.
TRY it.
I think you'll love it too.
:)

-debee (drummergirl)
rock it girls!

Scrap that Scrap : A Challenge by Bernadette

Just like all good scrappers, you have lots of scraps.  No.  Not all those pretty pieces of paper and remnant alphas on your table.  And no...not all those "this piece of mag or catalog would be good on a page" kind of scraps.  I'm talking way old school.  You know...the old way of "scrapbooking" where we cut out newspaper clippings, saved postcards and gathered up all those crazy touristy maps and "This is Here" brochures about where we are in the moment.

My challenge, should you wish to accept it, is to scrap the scraps in your life.  Real articles of where you have been.  Where you are going.  Where you wish you could be.

Sounds simple enough eh?  Well here are some multi-leveled challenges for the true go-getters out there:

Level 1 - include a genuine scrap from your journey on a scrapbook page.  Just include it somewhere amongst all the pretty scrap papers, stamps, journaling blocks and other commercial grade stuff we usually use and feel free to use photos on your page too.

Level 2 - scrap a page with no "photos"--just scraps.  If your scrap is a newspaper clipping with a photo on it (or a brochure, etc) you'll obviously have pics, but no photos taken by you or printed out to scrap the page. You can use other scrap supplies (ie patterned paper, alphas, etc.)

Level 3 - scrap a page with no photos or scrap supplies.  You can use one piece of plain cardstock (any color), but everything else has to be genuine scraps from your journey.  Bonus points to folks who use those cheesy hotel pens (or the pen you swiped when you signed to charge your dinner that night at the restaurant) and include a photo of the pen as your "second page" image (remember--no photos printed specific to the page so don't use your photo of the pen on the scrapbook page).

Have fun with it.  Can't wait to see what is old become new again as you cherish your memories of doing stuff for years to come. Post your pages to SiStv and shoot me a personal message so that I know to check it out. 

Happy scrapping!

plain old file folder + bits and pieces = happy grandma!

okay, listen up all you moms out there who are just like me...you know who you are. you save every piece of work your child brings home in that giant tote under the bed. you can't stand parting with the artwork your child has created or certificates they have received even though you are going to have years and years of this stuff coming home. here's a great way for you to decrease your pile of "super job" papers and cut art sheets. the solution? easy peasy: SEND THEM TO GRANDMA!

since we moved out to arizona, our families miss out on the every day things like the little accomplishments that make school so much fun for our daughter. nothing makes my mom happier than seeing pictures of her granddaughter doing a good job, so i figured having a small piece of her school year might make her smile, too.

this project is really simple. i used a plain manila file folder and gathered a few supplies like patterned paper, ribbon, gaffer tape, alpha stickers and embellishments. then i went through my box of her work and picked out an assortment of projects - art pages, cut work, journal entries, worksheets, etc.

because we want the pages to turn easily and we're working with various sized insides, cutting the file folder in half seemed to work better. after it was cut in half, i covered both sides with patterned paper and then used gaffer tape on the edge of the sides where we'll bind the book. i embellished the front of the book with her name, the grade and year and now i'm ready to punch holes.

i lined up the two pieces in the direction the file folder originally went and then punched holes through both pieces with my cropodile.

make sure you punch through the gaffer tape as this will ensure your cover won't tear from flipping it open and closed once you bind the book.

i thought it would be fun to include a letter to grandma telling her what she could find inside. (this one is printed but i am going to have my daughter hand write one to my mom before i actually send this off to her.)

next, cut three equal strands of ribbon to bind the book. you could also use binder rings. remove any staples from the pages you'll be including inside and begin punching holes in everything. once it is all punched, begin stringing everything together.

i found it easiest to do a few pages at a time so nothing tore and i could work the ribbon easily. i waited to tie everything shut until i'd gotten all three pieces of ribbon in the book. this gave me more flexibility as i went along.

and that's it. simple and fast. you could replace the paper covered folder with one of the really cute pre-printed patterned folders that you can find at any office supply store. you could cut more folders and make dividers for each section. you could add photos from the school year. the possibilities are endless! here is what a completed book will look like:

i plan to make a kindergarten one, too...and when this year is done, it's on to a second grade book! i have enough stuff to send books to my husband's mom, too, so we're sure to have very happy grandparents on our hands soon! thanks for looking and make sure you load your projects in our gallery so we can see what ideas you've come up with!

   

get yo' challenge on . ..

hello hello
courtney delaura here

Your challenge today is ...


Step One: STOP EVERYTHING!

Step two: breath and get out a blank sheet of paper

Step Three: think of your favorite [local] places
    - it has to be somewhere easy to get to!
I know we would all like to say Italy or France
or the beach but unless you can get there in 10 minutes
don't list it.... Make a list/brainstorm some of your favorite places.

Step Four: pick up your camera
[as if I could do a challenge
without the camera involved]

Step Four: Look at your list and pick a spot

Step Five: shoot images of your favorite place

Step Six: select your top five favorite images of your
favorite place and scrap it!

Now that you have that 'brainstorm' list of favorite places,
you can visit them snap away pick your top 5 images
and scrap them...even make a little mini album - if you so
choose. This is a great refresh yourself challenge.  a positive
time of capturing things you love. how could that NOT change
a grumpy mood?!?!?


BE SURE TO SHARE.  I am going to one of my favorite places
tonight so I will be sure to share when I get home!!!

Here is my list...



until then here are some random pictures taken at some of the
places on my list!



Have a beautiful day
and be looking for Photography Design school One and Two
very soon :)

courtney

Rhi's 3d squishy pillow pages!

One of my aims in life is to bring all people who own a sewing machine, into holy harmony with it. I would suggest you begin this beautiful relationship by naming it. Give that baby an identity.
But mostly, I want to remove the fear. Sewing really is easy. I am not the most experienced, neither do I know what I am doing alot of the time, but that is the beauty in it. Its all trial and error.

I think we have established that I like touchy, feely, interactive stuffs. So for my tutorial I am introducing you to 3d squishy pillow pages! Oh yes. You know you love that name.

Supplies:

* Sewing machine

* Tee shirt photo transfers

* Fabric (I use calico to spray paint on. Its sturdier than most cottons)

* Spray Paint (optional)

* Embroidery floss

* Ribbon

* Embellishments of your choice
* Stuffing

1. Remember to protect your work surface with newspaper. Or if you are me, random university pages about female sexuality within shakespeare.
You don’t want to ruin your Kath Kidston table cloth!

2. Cut out two pieces of fabric to your desired size. One piece will be the front of your pillow, the other will be your back.

Spray both pieces with the spray paint. The lighter you spray, the better the speckled effect you will get.

Allow both pieces of fabric to dry.

3. Follow the directions on your tee-shirt transfer instructions. I like to leave a white border around my photos, but this is not necessary.

Assemble your page as you want it “adhered” down. I have placed a piece of tulle under the photo.

4. Sew your photo to the page. You can do this on your machine also, I wanted the chunky hand stitched feel.

5. Take your back piece of fabric and place right side up. Pin your ribbon handle to the fabric, with the loop hanging down into the middle of the page.

6. Place your front piece of fabric right side down, directly on top of the back piece. Both right sides should be facing each other.

You can leave the handle off and have a basic pillow. You can have uber mini ones. You can connect a whole bunch together. Add embroidered words. Have a patchwork style front.

The options really are limitless.

Link them up either here in the comments, or on the thread on the SIS forum, i'd love to see what you come up with!

Untill next time.

Peace and sparkles!

Pin together around the sides.

7. Sew around the sides, leaving a gap at the bottom.

Trim off any excess you may have.

Now turn the whole “page” inside out, through the gap at the bottom.

Much like you were creating a pouch, webisode #75.

8. Fill with your stuffing.

9. Hand sew the gap at the bottom up.

10. Hey presto! You have one 3d squishy pillow page.

You can add pins, charms, hang things from the handle.

They are perfect for gifts.

For this one I didn't use spray paint, just standard patterned fabric. And I added a pocket on the back, with a tulle shaker full of stars. I will fill the pocket with my wishes for my sweet friend.

For this little one I didn't use any photos. It is simply a hug and kiss in squishy fabric form for a long distance friend.

Negativity can be GOOD Challenge

Hey! Amber here! I want to challenge you to use some negativity to create something positivity perfect!

My favorite thing lately has been use negative space for my design. So that is my challenge to you!

A little personal tip... something I do when I create my negative space layouts. I use just 1 3x5 or 1 4x6 photo or a cluster of smaller photos and I play around with the placement of my photo/photos and just add little bits around my photo.

Here are some of my negative space layouts.

Paper-craze tutorial with Kimberly Brimhall

Hey guys KB here and today I am sharing a way to personalize your layouts and projects by making your very own paper. I get questions often on how to make your layouts look on "paper" like they do in your head.

Now I know there are ways to actually "make" your own paper by hand, but today I'll be sharing ways of using existing designs and turning them into cardstock.

Have you ever liked the pattern on a dress and thought "That would make great scrapbooking paper or I love this canvas I have painted it would be awesome as a background to a page?"
Have you ever had idea in your head for a layout but none of the papers you had in your stash "fit" that idea?
When I first started scrapbooking (and I had NO supplies) I would run into this problem a lot.

So I will be showing you how to make those ideas easier to achieve.

The first way is by scanning...you can use any general scanner to achieve this.

I chose my favorite FOREVER 21dress and two of my bandanas because I love the patterns and the colors.

1. Scan the fabric and save it to your computer in a folder you will be able to find easily.

2. OPTIONAL: edit the scan in a photo-editing software to increase or decrease the saturation level  (I used Photoshop CS3) and to resize the image...if you are doing 8.5x11 like I did you choose that.
3. Print the image onto cardstock or Matte photo paper they are about the same weight.

Now you have the pattern you love WITHOUT cutting up your wardrobe:)

The second way is by taking a photo of something you already have made.

I chose two canvases I had made previous for friends.

1. Take a photo of the "area" you would like to use.
2. Again, this is OPTIONAL: use a photo-editing software to crop and enhance the image to your desired design.

3. Print the image on cardstock or matte photo paper.

The third way is by taking a photo and making it a paper design.

I chose these buttons for my design. I love the colors and the big bold shape.

1. Take a photo of something existing or something you have staged.

2. Edit in desired software.

3. Print on cardstock.

Now you have your very own paper to make unique layouts, cards, blog headers, projects and journals. The awesome thing about this is that you are able to make whatever you'd like. So if you are looking for another paper to go with your favorite manufacturer's paper but have nothing in your stash, you can create your own.

I hope this helps in creating your own unique style, sometimes it's hard when everyone has the same paper:)

I can't wait to see your own papers...please link your pages in the comments!

Wilna's Happy birdies challenge!!! : )

Happy Tuesday to all my sis friends... and to all of you who is visiting our fabulous challenge blog for the first time!! Today I have something so much fun for you!  I set out with purpose to make something that's just. for. fun. Something that will make you smile and (hopefully) itchy to get creative!

First of all, I painted some little birds for you (as a surprise!)...  you can Download little_birds_by_wilna.pdf by clicking the link, download, and print all 6 little (happy) birds to use on this weeks challenge. And the challenge part is easy... you may

1. create a page or a card where you use my little birds. : ) or

2. if you want, use something on your page that you created yourself... or

3. you may use my birds as an example and make your own!! or

4. do your own thing entirely!!

On my blog, I have a very exciting RAK for all who participate in this weeks challenge...head over there to read the details...I really had a great time making this page... and I made a card too...if you don't have a lot of time and want to be creative, look at this:

I am so excited to see what you come up with...please link your pages in the comments section. And if you just want to chat with me, or have a question, please leave a comment.

Love and a kiss

Wilna

 

Rebecca's Name That Tune Challenge

Hi everyone!  Rebecca here and I'm so excited to share my first challenge!

So my husband and I have this funny habit of always fitting lyrics into our everyday conversations. Sometimes they are from our favorite songs, but other times it's just because the lyrics fit the situation. Either way, I find that music plays a huge role in our lives. 

For this layout, I came across a photo my daughter had taken of me doing the dishes and was inspired by The Smiths song, "Work is a 4 Letter Word."   

And every morning as I drink my cup 'o joe, this Beastie Boys lyric plays through my head

So my challenge to you is to use song lyrics on your layouts.  Maybe there is a song that perfectly captures the sentiment you want to convey.  Or maybe you want to document a guilty pleasure song or those lyrics you just can't get out of your head.  Get creative and I can't wait to see what you come up with!  Be sure to link your layouts here so that I can check them out! 

Martha's Scrappy Shadowbox

I am so excited to share my first SIS tutorial with everyone!  Sometimes I make a LO and think "heck I like that so much I wish I could hang it on the wall!", well by making a LO in a shadowbox you can do just that.  Here is an example of what we are going to make...

Supply List

Unfinished wood shadowbox, I used one that is 6" x 8" but any size will do.  I buy mine at Hobby Lobby on sale for $1.50, but most craft stores should carry them too.

Paint (acrylic) 2 colors, one light and one darker

Paintbrushes, one regular, one fan shape

Brown stamp pad

Foam pop dots

Photo and embellishments

Lace trim

Adhesive, I used my ATG gun & E6000

O.k., the first thing we are going to do is remove the glass and back from your shadowbox so you just have the frame

Now get out your lighter color of the paints that you chose...I usually paint the base color in an off white or vanilla tone.  Use the regular paint brush for the base coat and paint 2-3 coats, don't foget to get the sides too!

The beauty of adding the next color is we don't have to wait for the first color to dry. In this step you are going to want to use your fan style brush and the darker color paint that you chose.  I went with a chocolate color to give an antiqued look, but you can use any color that compliments the embellishments and photo you chose.  Pick up some paint on your brush and start applying it to the corners and pull your brush from the corner out, the darker color will blend with the base coat and give a soft effect.  If you feel the color is too dark, just blend in a little of the lighter color. Repeat this step in each corner until the desired color is achieved.

We are going to put our frame to the side as it must dry completely before we can complete the finish on it.  Now we can start the scrappy part of our project!  When you took your shadowbox apart there was a piece of wood that was the back of the box, we are going to use that as the base for our project.  I find that these are thin enough that you can even staple through them with ease and my regular ATG adhesive works great on it

The key to creating and interesting shadowbox is to add layers and dimension, this is where the pop dots come in...after creating my background with the vintage and Jenni Bowlin bingo cards, I cut out my picture, mounted it on cardstock, cut around that and mounted the picture with the pop dots, I then added embellishments like the tulle, paper flowers, and vintage tinsel.  By adding all of these goodies we are creating shadows and depth in our shadowbox...here is my finished piece before it goes back into the shadowbox

By this time your frame should be dry enough to finish it.  Once it is completely dry I like to go back and add a little bit of brown ink to give it an aged look.  All you have to do is rub a little ink into the areas where you applied the darker color, no tools are needed, I do this with my fingers so I can control how much ink goes on.

We are getting close now!  I am going to include this next step but it may not apply to the shadowbox you use as they are all made differently.  The ones I buy have 4 wood pieces that come out that fit around the edge between the glass and the backing, instead of painting these, I like to embellish them with old sheet music or patterned paper.  Lay all 4 pieces with adhesive added to them (I use my ATG gun) right side to the back of the piece of paper that you are using

Cut each piece out and they should look like this

You are now ready to re-assemble your shadowbox...once everything is put back together, I like to add a fabric and lace embellishment to the frame of the box just to draw the texture outside of the glass.  I use a stronger adhesive such as E6000 to apply this detail. 

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with, if you have any questions at all please let me know....have fun!