Making Memories

Layout by Leah

Hi everyone, it's Leah! It's been awhile since I posted so I thought I'd show you a page that I made yesterday using photos from a recent trip. In March, I went to South Africa and taught classes as part of scrapbook road show organized by Scrap Shack Designs. I had a great time and the country was so beautiful, but I am just now starting to scrapbook some of the photos that were taken. This page was made using the Fifth Avenue papers, trims and colorboard stickers - I love this collection! Have you made a page using Fifth Avenue? Post your page in the gallery and link it here in the comments. I would love to see it!

I also made the flowers on the page using the Slice and the Basic Shapes card. This little machine is so cool! Once the flowers were cut, I did a quick machine stitch around the edges using black thread.

 

Before I go, I wanted to give you a couple tips today. Are you a frugal scrapbooker? I like to think that I am. I try to save my scraps of paper and leftover embellishments. I save my large scraps of paper in hanging folders but for smaller pieces I use Ziploc bags. For my long strips of scrap paper, I put those in a Ziploc bag too but to keep those a bit more organized, I used my sewing machine to stitch columns in the bag. For the scrapbook page I made yesterday, I layered a few of these strips of scrap paper.

 

I also like saving my scraps of ribbon and I usually save pieces as small as 5" which I can tie onto a longer piece of ribbon stapled onto my page, like I did for this page. If I really love the ribbon - like this black gingham ribbon in the picture with the jar - I'll save pieces as small as 2" which I can fold and staple on a page. For storing small scraps of ribbon, I use the Making Memories embellishment jar because the wide mouth and shallow jar makes it easy to grab the scrap that I need.

Well, that's it for now - have a great weekend and enjoy Mother's Day! If you have time, drop by my blog and say "hi". And if you're looking for something fun to watch plus scrapbook related, I also have some silly scrapbook videos there. Also, if you want more information about the products I used on my page or the Slice, visit Making Memories website.

Leah

Design Challenge - Eight Photos

Our challenge for today has to do with lots of photos - eight photos to be exact. I love doing layouts with just one or two photos. But once in a while, it's nice to put a lot of photos on a layout. Whether it's to make your photo pile a little smaller. Or to make your layout more meaningful or tell a story more effectively. There are lots of times a layout just calls for lots of photos.

I created this layout using the New Noteworthy collection. I love the bright colors and fun embellishments. I wanted to use the scalloped circle from the journaling notebook, but I felt like I needed a bit more color. So I used tracing paper to trace right inside the scalloped edge of the paper, and then used that to cut out the turquoise pattern paper to fit inside. This added just the right amount of color I was looking for! I also used a small strip of the turquoise pattern paper that was left over from another project. I had cut it using my scalloped scissors and couldn't bear to throw it away. I love when I can use bits and pieces from other projects!

 

So get out those photos and take the challenge - eight photos, that's all you need. And when you're done, make sure you share it with us by posting a link to your blog.

To learn more about the new Noteworthy program visit Making Memories website.

Laura Vegas

One trick that I use when using lots of photos on a layout is to crop the photos all to the same size and then arrange them into groups or line them up. The eight photos I choose to use really didn't match or go together. They were all taken at different times in different places. Once I cropped each one down, it eliminated any excess background clutter and clashing colors. Each photo was cropped 2.25 x 3.5 inches. After I matted two at a time on white cardstock. This same effect can be in Photoshop or a similar photo editing program by making collages and then printing them as one piece.

Great Spring Idea

What do you love most about spring? Besides the nice weather, I love seeing flowers start to appear. Walking outside and seeing flowers wherever I go, makes me happy. We have a local annual tulip festival that I attend so I can savor all the beautiful flowers.

Here is a great idea from Andrea Wiebe to help you enjoy beautiful flowers inside your home. Andrea took an empty can and covered it with paper, she used Making Memories Garden Party and 5th Avenue paper collections. She then decorated it with buttons and ribbon. This is a great project for you to create with your kids. They will have a blast creating their own little project.

 

For more project inspiration, visit Making Memories idea gallery.

Photo Swap

A great way to get inspired is to swap photos with a friend and scrap a layout for them. Sometimes just having a fresh face laying in front of you is enough to get your creative juices going. We challenged Wendy Anderson and Laura Vegas to a photo swap and this is what they came up with. They both used the New Noteworthy program by Making Memories.

This is what Wendy created for Laura:

 

This is what Laura created for Wendy:

 

 

Your challenge today is to team up with a friend and swap photo. You'll be amazed at how fun and inspiring it is.

For more inspiration check out the idea gallery on Making Memories website.

As most of our fine readers know, when you multi-task, details can fall through the cracks.  The task of running and maintaining this blog belongs to two people at Making Memories, both of whom also handle many other activities within the company … and also at home.    Translated: we do not have the opportunity to conduct background checks on all of our guest participants – something that has obviously come back to haunt us in an embarrassing and startling way.

Please let us state outright: under no circumstances do we condone any illegal activities.  Had we been aware that last week’s guest designer had a criminal background, we obviously would not have featured her work.  If we could turn back time, we certainly would; unfortunately, we posted her submission based on the timing of its arrival, the nature of its design, and absolutely nothing more.  Our mistake.

We started inviting guest designers to our blog at the request of our readers.  In the multiple surveys we have hosted, in an effort to find out what you wanted to read, the response overwhelmingly favored putting the spotlight on other designers who rarely get acknowledged for their talent.    Our trusting nature, however, has proven flawed – it opens us up to submissions from people who do not deserve the spotlight. However, we do not have the resources or often the ability to conduct background checks on each participant.

We like to think that ours can be a forum where others’ work can shine. However, we can not imply that we sponsor them, or that they work for us, or that we are affiliated.  We just knew that we had a venue to share with others. Deep in our hearts, we would still rather operate as trusting people and feature submissions that we receive; sadly, however, until we can find a way to conduct said checks, we will likely have to discontinue that practice.

In the meantime, please know that the reason we were not able to address this problem over the weekend came from personal circumstances:  one of us has been out of town (and away from a computer) on vacation. The other one of us was celebrating her two children’s birthdays and had not been online – and instead hosting back-to-back events for an eight- and an eleven- year old.

Please do not let our oversight reflect on the entire company. We are sincerely sorry to have disappointed any of you.  We so enjoy working on this blog and hope that you will give us the opportunity to earn back your trust.  We also would sincerely appreciate any suggestions and insight, as always, as to how we could improve this site to make it more enjoyable for you to read.

Thank you for all of your time and understanding.  We are here to answer any questions you may have. 

Sincerely,

Jenny Weston and Kelly Mooney

Inspiration From Joey

 

I've noticed that flowers are a huge inspiration in the scrapbooking industry. You see papers, ribbons, stamps, and embellishments in every shape, color, and form. Flowers are happy and pleasing and extremely universal because they can be used all the time.

Making Memories has an incredible variety and assortment of flowers so this month's challenge focuses on them. I wanted to create something that did not use paper - just fabulous embellishments from several different programs.

My page is very simple here, with a line of colorful, layered flowers. Sometimes, that is all you need, a punch of color to make your page your own.

Joey

To see Making Memories collection of blossoms, visit our website.

Guest Designer - Joscelyne Cutchens

Today we are happy to have Joscelyne Cutchens as our guest designer. She joins us from the beautiful island of Honolulu, Hawaii.

This is how she created the page, "I used a ruler and paper piercing tool to pierce every other hole in a tic-tac-toe grid, leaving a space on the bottom-right side where the glitter chipboard bracket would create the line.   Since I had this picture of me with a black and white polka dot shirt, I chose two black and white polka dot paper flowers (5^th avenue blossoms and buttons) to create a visual triangle, with my picture being the third side.  I stitched the buttons with embroidery floss onto the flowers and used glue dots to adhere them to the page and then sewed the grid on to the paper with pink embroidery floss."

I used my computer to create my journaling. The font I used was “1942 Report.” I wanted the other pictures on the layout to be cohesive and not battle for attention, so I converted the three supporting pictures to black and white and printed them to fit the grid.  For the small pictures I printed them at 1” x 2” and trimmed them to look like Polaroid’s."

Make sure to check out Joscelyne's blog for more sample ideas.

Design Challenge - Music Lyrics

Music.  It can stir emotions that are deep down inside us.  It can make us laugh.  It can make us cry.  It can make us remember things we thought we’d forgotten.  It can transport us to a different time.  The influence music can have on our emotions is amazing. 

This morning I was listening to one of my favorite Pandora stations when I heard the song “Miracle” by Celine Dion.  As soon as I heard it, the image of each of my little babies came into my mind and I knew I had to create a scrapbook page.  This was one of those pages that actually came together pretty quickly – I know it’s fairly simple – but it’s exactly what I wanted.  The words are perfect – except that I have four little miracles, instead of just one. J 

I used lots of Noteworthy product on this page –  paper, chipboard letter stickers, flowers, trims, journaling book pages, and buttons.  Of course, I had to do a bit of machine stitching, and the buttons are stitched on by hand.  The lyrics are printed directly onto my background and the title is an older sticker from the Defined line.

So now, I challenge YOU to create a page that includes lyrics.  You don’t have to include the whole song as I did – it can be one line or even just a title…just include song lyrics somehow.  If you take my challenge, leave a comment and a link to your page – I’d love to see what you come up with!

To see more inspiring ideas visit Making Memories website.

Wendy

 

Making Memories is coming to Impress

On May 3-4 Making Memories will be at Impress Rubber Stamps in the greater Seattle area. Free make n takes will be provided all day at all three locations. Check their website for locations.

A free goodie bag will be awarded to the FIRST 25 people at each store plus a 20% discount on all Making Memories products.

 

Making Memories will also be teaching a 5th Avenue mini album class taught by Gail Pierce-Watne, Making Memories' Director of Product Design, and Audre Mathis, Making Memories' product designer. To register for these class call 206.901.9101.

If you have even been to a Making Memories event, you know that tons of prizes will be provided. A card making contest, using Making Memories product, will be at each location. Making Memories will be the judges and awarding prizes.

Contact Impress for additional information. Impress has been "impressing others with paper craft products and ideas for 21 years - they love helping other create cards and invitations for those important moments in our lives."

For more information about other Making Memories events, visit Making Memories website.

May Day Baskets

After a long winter, it is great to see flowers blooming and the grass getting greener.  This project, created by Suzonne Stirling, is a perfect way to celebrate a nice spring day. May Day is just around the corner. Take a few minutes to create this project to display the beautiful flowers around you. Suzonne used Making Memories Noteworthy collection for her project.

1. Attach a piece of double-sided tape to the corner of a sheet of embellishment paper (the reverse side of Noteworthy "Polka Dot Stripe"), secure it to the middle of a papier-mache cone (found at stores like Jo-Ann and Michaels) and wrap it around the cone diagonally, until covered.

2. Using the top of your cone as a guide, trim the excess paper from the top. Then trim the edge on the front (so that it forms a point). Remove the paper from the cone and set aside.

3. Cut strips from the border of a sheet of Ric Rac Ledger paper and punch small holes along the edges.

Attach one strip around the top edge of the papier-mache cone form. (Tip: To make the border run evenly around the top of the cone, cut small slits in the bottom of the border. This will allow you to shape the paper to the cone.) Attach the other strips of the Ledger paper underneath what will be the front edge of the embellishment paper.

4. Wrap the embellishment paper around the cone (and over the Ric Rac Ledger border at the top), matching the edges, with the bordered edge of the embellishment paper ending in the front of the cone. Secure it in place with glue or double-sided tape.

5. For the handle: Make small holes in the sides of the cone, then punch a small hole in two ends of a piece of trim. Push a Noteworthy Jumbo Circle brad through the hole in the ribbon and the cone and secure inside the cone. Repeat on the other side.

6. To embellish: Make a tag using Green Floral paper and stamp or write "Happy Spring" on it. Tie an additional piece of trim to the tag and knot it. Trim the ends of the ribbon. Glue it onto the top edge of the cone.

Fill your cone with vintage millinery flowers or fresh flowers (just keep them somewhat small in size and be sure to put them in floral tubes to keep them fresh).

Hang on the doorknob for May Day.

To see the entire Noteworthy collection, visit Making Memories website.