BOO!

Happy
Halloween
To you all!!


I hope you have a "boo"-tiful day!

Hello There. So, it's Tuesday but this post is early for tomorrow's Work It Wednesday. I won't be around much tomorrow as we will be celebrating a birthday in my family. So, I thought posting early is better than not posting at all.

With Halloween coming up on Friday I thought this week's post should revolve around the Halloween theme. The idea is to go back and take out one or two photos from every Halloween you've celebrated in your family and compile them all together in an album.

You could make it as simple or as complicated as you want. Here's one I did and I kept it all pretty simple. Each year has a title page where I foam stamped the year and added one photo of all my girls together in their costume. There are two pages that follow each year's title page and they just show the girls costumes in a little more detail, house individual photos, or house journaling about that year.

It's fun to look back at how they've changed over the years and the different costumes they have worn. So, give it try. Pull out photos you have of Halloween's past and make something with them.

Enjoy!
Amy

P.S. you don't have to have kids or costumes to do this. You can do this with any tradition, event, or Holiday that you celebrate every year. Give it a try.

And the creative award goes to....

Isn't she cute? This is Carma - Hi Carma! I had to throw this photo in just for fun. Carma was just one of the many talented scrappers who attended the crop.

Carma wins the creative prize of the day. Not for her scrapbooking, card-making, or paper crafting which, I must note, are award winning in and of themselves, but for her ability to stretch her creativity and be resourceful.

As we were packing up and hauling things out, Carma was faced with the dilemma of how to carry her goodie basket. Her hands were already full of scrapbooking items. Her solution? Creatively, she used her head.

And, really, isn't she cute? She just might start a trend. I just may show up at our next crop with a basket hat on my head too.

Smiles,
Amy

Work It Wednesday - October 22nd

Here's another great idea that came from the some talented scrappers at the crop. Tracey Allen and Cindi Hooks were making these...

What are they? Well, they are the most brilliant idea ever! They are gift card holders. Here's a shot of the inside and then I will try to break it down as to how they made them. Please note, I've yet to make one myself so I'm going only by how I think they were made.

From what I understand you make the inside by taking a long standard envelope, fold it in half and then cut the ends off. Add adhesive, in a small amount, down the center to hook the two sides of the envelope together. Then, using a large circle punch, punch out half circles from each end.

Then using a long strip of cardstock or thick pattern paper, fold so that yours looks like the photo. (The outside appears to be folded in a matchbox style). Adhere the folded envelope into the fold of the paper and then decorate as needed.

Like I said before, I have yet to make one, but it looks easy enough to duplicate from the photos. I know I will be making many of these for future gifts and since Christmas is just around the corner I thought this was a good idea to share.

Thanks to Cindi and Tracey for letting me post their designs. And, here's a shout out to Christy Parker who shared the idea with them. Thanks you guys - I think the three of you just inspired a whole bunch of people.

Enjoy!
Amy

another canvas

Here's another canvas kit from the crop -

We still have a few kits left. Everything is pre-cut and packaged so all you need to do is look at the photo that's included in the kit and assemble. Quick and easy!

spooky things...

Since we are on the topic of spooky things you can make, here's a quick little post about one of the canvas kits we had for sale at the crop.

These little mummies are extremely easy to make. We've painted the canvas black for you and the eyes are pre-punched so all you need to do is rip paper, ink, and assemble. Can't get much easier than that.

We have just a few kits left so if you are interested, stop in and grab one quick.

Itsy Bitsy Spiders

Here's another fun idea that came from our crop. Patti and Debbie had been to a stamp camp and made these little cuties and then brought them in as a gift for me and Judy. We both instantly feel in love with them and you can pretty much bet that I'll be making a ton of these for my co-workers and kid's friends this Halloween.

As far as I can tell these little creatures are just made out of different punches. The legs are the big whale of a punch photo corners (sold at Judy's) and the rest can be made by using a variety of circle punches. To finish it off you need a York Peppermint patty for the center.

Very easy! Very Cute! Thanks Pattie and Debbie for sharing these cute little gifts - can't wait to make some of my own!

And, I love the above picture of Patti. I was bummed that it was a little blurry but I love it anyway and wanted to share.

Patti and Debbie, thanks again - these itsy bitsy spiders make me smile!

Work It Wednesday - October 15th

Today's Work it Wednesday is based off of the photo above and I'm sharing it with permission from the lovely Julie Knowlton. Julie was at our crop on Saturday and shared this layout with us. There were several things about it that caught my eye.

First, and my main point for Work It Wednesday, is the photo focal point. By taking several shots from one view point she was able to place them side by side on her layout. The overall result turned into a beautiful panoramic photo that extends from one edge of the photo to the other. Such a great idea and a perfect way to add some visual interest to your design.

Second, check out the cool title. (if you can't see it good enough as is, you can click on the photo and it should enlarge for you.) I'm really not sure how she did it, I forgot to ask, but I love the way the letters change color from top to bottom. Very cool.

So, there it is. For today's Work It Wednesday try the cool photo technique. And, really, with all the leaves and beautiful color around, this is a great time of the year to try it.

Amy

P.S. - Thanks Julie for letting us share your layout.

Congrats!

Here's something fun. At the end of our crops we have a layout contest that is peer judged. Everyone in attendance can vote for their favorite layout. This years winner was Windy.

Windy's layout was not only well designed, it also served a great purpose and it was great to get a little back information about it as well. I overheard Windy saying how the layout was really hard for her to do because she doesn't normally work with the color pink. It looks great though and is a wonderful tribute to her Aunt and the combined efforts of others in the fight against breast cancer.

Congrats Windy on winning our layout contest!

P.S. Thank you to all who have responded to the survey questions below. If you are just now checking out the blog, and you were at the crop, please check out the previous post. We'd like to hear from you.

Questions for you!

Calling all Judy's croppers!

If you spent the day with us on Saturday, we have some questions for you. We'd like to know your thoughts on our event. I've listed some questions below and you can either respond directly by posting comments on the blog or send us an email at judysscrappin@yahoo.com. (I will be sending emails out as well, but we don't have emails for everyone who attended so I thought posting here was my best option.) We really would appreciate your responses, it will help us prepare for future events and better fit your needs and wants.

Over-all....
1- Was our crop what you expected it to be?
2- Do you feel it was a good value for what you got in return?
Class Questions...
3- If given the option, would you rather have a lower crop fee and no scheduled crop classes or do you like having the class and class kit as part of the days events?
4- In place of having a crop class would you prefer several hands-on work stations showing different product uses and techniques?
5- If you like having the crop class, would you prefer something other than a mini-album class? And if so, what would that be?
Other Questions....
6- Did you feel like you were well fed?
7- What is one thing about our crops that you really enjoy and would like us to continue?
8 - What is one thing you don't particularly like and could do without?
9 - If you've been to past crops, what are your thoughts on the new location?
10- We opened the crop up to more scrappers this time, do you feel it was the right number of people for the space or do you prefer a smaller group?

Thanks!
Amy

Wow!

The crop is over. It's Sunday night, and frankly, I'm exhausted. I told myself I wouldn't even post until Monday or Tuesday, I just wanted to take a break and regroup. However, I can't resist. I have to share a quick thought.

The crop was good. I think the new space was comfortable and worth the change. It was great to see past attendees again and to meet several new ones as well. But my thoughts just keeping going back to one word - WOW!!! I am blow away by the talent, creativity, and passion of those who attended our event.

Thank you to those of you who came and shared your love of scrapbooking with us. And, for those of you who are reading that weren't able to make it, don't worry, I have lots to share this week and have permission from several talented scrapbookers to share their work on the blog. I'm excited to share and highlight so check back as I will post something daily.

Thanks again to all those that attended!
Smiles,
Amy

P.S. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the crop and in a day or two we will be sending out an email survey. We are always looking to improve and appreciate your comments, good and bad.

Ready, Set, Crop!!!

We are just a few short days away from our crop. I'm not sure about you but we are pretty excited about it all. This is a fun time for us to connect up with you and just have fun. And so, without further delay, here is the map to the new location.



If you have questions, need directions, or anything at all please email or call the shop. I'll be checking emails until Friday at 4pm and then it's best to call the store if you need anything.

See you soon!
Amy

Product

We've featured house mouse products before, stickers and cards and such, but how about some stamps - aren't these adorable?

Updates

My apologies for not updating our blog more. The crop is next week and I've been focusing on doing my best to make it fabulous. I will have a few new product posts next week. And more crop information that includes a map and parking information - we're in a new location this year, so if you're coming to the crop please check back here in a few days.

Until then though, I figured it's been awhile since we've posted a layout. Here's just a quick two page spread that incorporates a ton of photos.

I did this layout for an upcoming publishing assignment and you need to know, I was out of my comfort zone. I vary rarely use more than 4 or 5 layouts on a page so I was pushing myself to get in 9. It was fun though to try something new. And, while it has a lot of photos, it is simple and easy to understand the theme and easy to read the journaling. Both of which are important to my personal scrapping style. If you want to try doing your own photo collage layout, here are some things to think about....

1- To keep photo collages looking orderly, make a path for the eye to follow. On this layout the eye path was done by placing the numbers in a clock-wise pattern that gave the eye both a starting and stopping point.

2- Vary the shapes and sizes. There is a lot going on in this layout. To keep the confusion to a minimum I varied the size and shape of the photos. This keeps my layout visually interesting and allowed for me fit more photos on the page.

3- Limit page embellishments. Because there are so many photos in the collage, there wasn't a need for much else. Using a lot of embellishments or even pattern paper as the background would have caused too much visual competition. So, to keep with the theme, but not compete with the photos, the page embellishments are kept to a minimum.

Enjoy your day!
Amy

Work It Wednesday

Here's a quick little idea for you all. It's not a new idea, it's a just a great idea and worth repeating. It is Work It Wednesday so here's a fun way to use up your stash.

Decorated canvases make great home decor items. It's really easy to do, you just need a canvas, some scrapbooking supplies, a little imagination, and some sort of adhesive. I love Decoupage so that's what I used.

The one shown above is a quick one I did using alphabet stickers to spell out one of my favorite quotes. Mine is very simple, almost plain but I like it that way. You can make these canvases in all different ways, you can paint them first, junk them up, add photos, buttons, or whatever you'd like.

For those of you coming to the crop we will have some Halloween Canvas kits available for purchase. And, if you aren't coming to the crop, don't worry they will be available for purchase in the store after the crop.

Enjoy.
Amy