Making Memories

Blossoms, Blossom, Everywhere

One of my favorite products from Making Memories are the blossoms.  I just love them so much and am always looking for excuses to put them onto my layouts and cards.  Both felt and paper blossoms make me so happy, and I love how there are so many different colors and patterns to choose from.  The colors are fun and fresh, and they coordinate with several lines of patterned paper.  Best of all, there are so many included in one box of blossoms, I know that one box can go a long way.

For my layout, I decided to try making a background of blossoms.  I used a chipboard heart to serve as my base, and using glue dots I individually adhered blossoms all over the heart.  I decided to mix both felt and paper blossoms for texture, and used several patterns and colors to add interest to my page.  I ensured that every square inch of the heart was covered, being careful to maintain the shape of the heart along the edges.  I added buttons to serve as the centers of my flowers, and completed the look by embellishing with photos, a journaling tag, some ribbon and a hand cut title.

After completing this page, I still had several buttons and flowers left over for other projects so I decided to try this technique on cards.  For one card, I painted chipboard hearts with paint and adhered matching buttons to the tops.  On the other, I adhered blossoms on a card in the shape of a heart to mimic the look I have on my layout.  The result is a colorful greeting for someone special.

What different ways can you think of to use Making Memories blossoms and buttons?  Be sure to share your projects by posting a link to your blog.  Have fun.

Jill Godon

Stretching Your Supplies

I'll admit that I can be a pretty frugal scrapbooker.  I am always thinking of ways to get the most use out of my supplies because it means that they will last me longer, which is always a good thing when you're afraid to run out of some favorite items.

If you are feeling frugal, try stretching the use of your embellishments by cutting them in half.  This may sound funny at first, but you'll be surprised at how embellishments can still maintain their visual impact when half of them appear on a project.  Take the Making Memories blossoms for instance.  You'll double their quantity by cutting them in half, and they can still look interesting on a layout if you make them appear as though they are tucked behind other page elements.  On my layout below, I placed my cut blossoms along a the edge of a photo.  It appears as though I tucked full blossoms underneath my main photo, but in reality only half of a blossom exists in each spot.

 

I duplicated this look on a card by placing the blossoms along the edge of ribbon.  The blossoms still maintain their impact, and I used half the amount that I needed to.  The total amount of blossoms I used for both my layout and card is five and a half, which means I still had several blossoms left over for other projects.

You can try this technique with several other items such as buttons, ribbons, chipboard shapes and rub-ons.  If any part of an embellishment will be placed under other page elements, preserve the hidden piece by trimming it off so that you can save it for another project.  You'll be surprised at how long one package of embellishments will last you.

If you want to learn more about the supplies that I used on my projects, check out Making Memories website.

Jill Godon

Party Light Cubes

Today we are happy to have Simone Collins as our guest blogger. She created a wonderful tutorial for creating party light cubes. Take a look. You will love it.

Thanks Simone for sharing this with us! Check out her blog for more great projects.

If you want your video posted on our blog, email me at jweston@makingmemories.com

Old Product + New Product = Great Project

We have been getting a lot of requests from our readers asking for projects that mix older products with new ones. Apparently you are a collector of scrapbook product just like me and need some help using up some of the older stuff. Wendy Anderson was kind enough to create this project for us today. She used Making Memories new Noteworthy collection (my personal favorite) along with some older metal embellishments.

To create this page, she used some paper scraps and adhered them to the top and bottom of her page. You After that, she basically just adhered her photos and embellishments to the page. She used the following embellishments:

Washer Words

Flower Charms

 

Ribbon Labels

I love how she used the wide ribbon with the smaller ribbon label so the ribbon can be seen underneath the metal embellishment.

The metal embellishments help to add the finishing touch to any project. So now it's your turn. Grab some of your older product along with your favorite new product and create a page using both of them.

For more ideas using metal embellishments, check out Making Memories website.

Jenny  

VBlogger Post from Jennifer

How would you like to learn how to create an altered canvas project? Jennifer Harrison has submitted a video to show us how. Take a look.

Thanks Jennifer for your submission.

If you have a great project that you want to share, email at jweston@makingmemories.com.

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

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.

Inspiration Everywhere

You know when you are walking in a store and you see a design that literally stops you in your tracks? No? Well, that is how inspiration happens to me. It is either big, big…no light bulb going on for me, it is more like a floodlight! I love, love wonderful design and typography and when I see it, I will typically buy the product. My children still complain of the awful tasting tortilla chips that I used to buy years ago because I loved the design of the package and the sensitive use of typography. The product didn't last but I do believe that I used the package color combination in a couple of design projects.

I also let endorphins bring inspiration to me. I run. I have run for about 20 years and some of my best ideas have come out of nowhere in the middle of my long runs. I am not talking about a two-three mile jog, I am talking about after five or six…I get the best ideas. One time I actually saw a complete design for a poster that I had to do appear before my eyes and it was one of the most successful projects that I have every done.

I do know that whether it is called inspiration or endorphins or just being around design and studying about it for as long as I have, I can rely on my subconscious to let me know deep down inside when something is new and fresh and wonderful and it is a physical sensation that I never tire of.

Gail

Chasing Butterflies

Spring is just around the corner and lately I find myself inspired to create layouts with bright colors and fun embellishments.  I can't think of a better way to say good-bye to winter than to dig into some cheery scrapbook supplies!  This page is a tribute to our visit to the local butterfly conservatory where we encountered several species of butterflies.  Although I am terrified of these insects, I won't hesitate to incorporate them into my scrapbooks.  What a colorful way to brighten any page.

For my butterfly , I used my Spring foam stamp set and stamped the butterfly images onto light pink cardstock using Scrapbook Colors Paint.  While the paint was still wet, I shook some pink shimmer over my stamped image to add some sparkle.  Once they were dry, I cut my butterflies out and embellished them with buttons.  To add depth to my page, I adhered the butterflies to my layout using foam squares and completed the look with gem stickers, to highlight a flight path.

I love how versatile foam stamp embellishments can be.  You can re-create the look using any shape or color you need to suit your pages!  Shapes can be embellished with gems, buttons, ribbon, rub-ons, stickers, flowers - the possibilities are endless.  Experiment with your foam stamps today and have fun.

Jill Godon

Combining Old and New

I love combining old and new product together and that was my aim for this page. I used the Funky Vintage collection and combined it with the Noteworthy. With Making Memories' collections, the color schemes often match with previous collections and that makes it a pleasure to work with. The layout of this page is very simple. I used torn strips of paper as the main "embellishment."

This week, take out some of your older paper and try combining it with some new stuff. You'll love what you can come up with.

Enjoy!

Wilna

Garden Party Layout

The new Garden Party line of papers and embellishments couldn’t be more refreshing on a grey winiter day in Seattle. Just one look at the adorable little yellow chick, the soft juicy colors of the papers, and the gingham and polka dot patterns was enough to warm the air in our home. I can imagine these papers proudly framing beautiful bright photos of kids coloring eggs or dressed in their Sunday best…or, pictures of my dog wearing fluffy Easter Bunny ears. Poor Drake tried to pull those ears off his head quite a few times before finally accepting that Mom was going to make him leave them on long enough to get just a few cute pictures. It’s funny, wearing sunglasses while riding in the car on a trip to the beach doesn’t bother him a bit. I guess he’s got to draw the line somewhere

Jennifer

 

Love Layout

I just love the new "Love Story" collection and knew it would be perfect for some photos of a friend and her husband that I had recently taken. My favorite paper by far is the die-cut, scalloped edged circle paper. I really wanted to use it for this layout, but wanted more pink. So I trimmed out the inside of the circle so that I just had the red scalloped circle border. I then used the inside I had cut out as a guide to cut a large circle from the pink solid paper. Once I had adhered the pink circle on the base of my page, I adhered the red scalloped border using tiny pop-dots to give it just a little extra dimension.

 

After designing this layout, I thought it would be more impressive to add this to a frame, rather than just handing her a layout (since she doesn't scrapbook). When I told her about my idea, she thought it sounded like a great gift that she could give to her husband for Valentine's Day. So I pulled out one of my 12x12" oak frames, and spray painted it black and added the layout. Such an easy, fun idea that will look great hanging in their house.

Instructions:

1. Trim away inside of scalloped circle die-cut paper and use it as a guide to cut a large circle from the pink paper. Adhere both to center of white cardstock base.

2. Trim away edges of 4x6" photos to fit under scalloped circle and adhere one on either side of layout in the middle of the page.

3. Cut a piece of red pattern paper, and 2 strips of scalloped edged paper and mat them together on white cardstock. Adhere to center of layout.

4. Staple black and maroon lace trim to layout.

5. Flatten metal rim heart using Tag Maker, and adhere to page. Add dimensional sticker and word fetti stickers.

6. Add names or initials to layout using chipboard letters.

7. Add a few heart mini brads to trim and a clear defined "love" sticker.

And as I bonus, I created a card to accompany the gift.

 

Things I Love Album - Week Four

The last two sections in our love book are “places” and “things.”  The pages in these two sections follow the same basic scheme as the “people” pages in the first section – you can refer to last week’s challenge to see the details. 

I love the flexibility of being able to tweak things exactly how I want to include them in this album.  My first “place” page is actually entitled “home,” but I decided to take a bit of a different approach.  Instead of a photo of my actual home, I wanted to broaden the concept of home – thus the photo of the keys and the quote.  The other “place” and “thing” pages include titles, photos, and embellishments from the LOVE STORY line.

One of the pages in this album is actually a pocket page.  I am including the pocket page in the “things” section of my album.  The “thing” I’m including on my pocket page is a collection of love letters.  I’ve written love letters to each of my family members and placed them inside envelopes.  Now the envelopes are tucked into the back of the album and they can read them anytime they want to.

If you have been joining me in the weekly challenges this month, you will now have a special album filled with all of the people, places, and things you love.  Place it somewhere you can look at it often.  I am sure t will bring you much joy and happiness as you look through your album and think of all the things you love and have to be grateful for.  And if you haven’t been joining me in the challenges, I hope you’ve discovered some ideas you can incorporate into your own scrapbook pages.

   

If you have specific questions, please feel free to contact me or check my blog for more ideas.  And be sure to post your pages in our gallery!

Wendy

Love Story Layout

To many, February is known as the month of love. It's reminiscent of hand-written love notes, flowers, chocolates, and heart shaped sugar cookies packed with pink buttercream frosting and sprinkles. It's a time when we focus our attention and love on others to let them know we care.

Why not create a layout to help you keep the notes and memories that you either give or receive. This layout was created by Wendy Bertz.

This layout is easy to create. Just follow the instructions below:

1.  Trim Kraft Paper to 9 1/2" x 12" and adhere to Love Story 12" x 12" Scalloped Square patterned paper.  At seams, adhere 1/4" strip of red cardstock.

2.  Cut Postcard out of Love Story 12" x 12" Postcard patterned paper and attach using brads from Love Story Mini Brad Value Pack.  Trim right side of postcard with a small piece of the Scalloped Square patterned paper.

3.  Attach a variety of Love Story Ribbons over Postcard with staples.

4.  Using Making Memories Tag Curler, attach Love Story Tag to red ribbon.

5.  Place title along top of ribbon and bottom of Postcard using Love Story Sticker Chipboard Alphas.

6. To finish layout, attach Love Story Pebble Clip to top of Postcard and tuck a special note to the one you love under the postcard.

Love Story Layout

Everybody is always telling us that they love our little Nathan. He just has this personality that is impossible not to love! He acts so grown up and has the funniest little voice. Every time he talks he makes us smile. He is also very friendly and is quite the little charmer.

When I saw this photo I immediately thought of doing a page about the fact that we all adore him. The journaling reads, "Can't help but love you - your smile, your voice, the sweet things you say, your tender heart!!" I also hung my page out in our kitchen area on the wall where we can see it and enjoy it during the Valentine's season.

So, come on and join me and do a page about someone in your life that you can't help but love. The new line of Valentine's products are so much fun and so cute!! I also pulled out one of the older valentine's products - the large chipboard heart. I still love these. I painted it with the pink lipstick paint and then gave it a light top coat of rose petal specialty paint. I can't get enough of this metallic pink paint! I use it on everything lately. Have fun.

Instructions:

1. Paint chipboard heart with pink lipstick paint. Once dry give it a light second coat with the rose petal specialty glaze.
2. Attach 6x6 piece of white eyelet paper to right side of page.
3. Attach chipboard heart over white paper.
4. Attach photo to left side of page overlapping the heart.
5. Cut two pieces of ribbon to about 6 inches and attach underneath photo.
6. Place striped sticker behind chipboard heart and attach two brads to heart.
7. Attach to page at the right of the photo.
8. Attach word fetti to right side of photo above heart.
9. Cut one side from jigsaw frame and paint the edges with pink paint.
10. Attach it under the photo and use marker to write caption.
11. Attach jigsaw parentheses shapes to left and right side of page.
12. Apply rub-ons to top of photo.
13. Use marker to journal on the large chipboard heart.

Hugs,

Maggie

Things I Love - Week Three

This week, we’re going to create pages about all the people we love.  I decided to use three random photos of each person.  Each page will be different other than the number of photos.  Each page has a patterned paper background – some pages will have two patterns for the background.  Every page will have a large cream cardstock block with machine stitching around the edges.  Each page has a name spelled out with stickers or chipboard letters.  Every page also includes several various embellishments from the LOVE STORY line.

Another great option with this post-bound album is that you are able to re-arrange the pages inside – I have more “people” I wanted to create pages about than “places” or “things,” so I simply put more of the blank album pages behind the first tab and fewer behind the other two tabs.

I am opting not to include journaling on these pages…I want it to be more of a picture book…I’ll save the journaling and stories for another album altogether. 

I am sharing the first two “people” in my album here.  If you’d like to see more of my “people” pages, you can visit my personal blog.  Start taking or gathering pictures of the places and things you love for next week’s challenge.  Be sure to upload your “people” pages to the MM gallery!

Wendy

Ribbon an Oldie but Goodie

We all have tons of ribbon in our scrapbooking stash, right? I love using ribbon because it's an easy way to add the perfect touch to any project. I love the color and texture that ribbon adds. After using it on a project, I have a hard time throwing ribbon away, even if only a tiny piece is left. Keisha created this page as a way to use some of those smaller pieces of ribbon.

 

Things I Love Album - Week Two

This week, we're focusing on the divider pages for each section. The album I chose to use has three tabbed sheets included, so I decided to go with it and choose three categories in which to separate my album. People. Places. Things

Begin by cutting a piece of patterned paper to size (about 8 ¾” square).  Because I always like to add some type of stitching to my projects, each page has with a 3 ½” square of cream cardstock sewn somewhere on the page (each page varies, as you can see).  Next, cut a piece of coordinating paper (about 1 ½” high x however long the word is) for each category title. Round the corners and then use the little heart brads to secure each title to the background page.  And finally, each page has an additional embellishment near the top of each square.  The first page (people) includes a heart clip with a piece of ribbon tied on.  The second page (places) simply uses a dimensional sticker.  The final section page (things) has a dimensional tag with another dimensional sticker layered on top and a ribbon tied through.

 

To finish each divider page, add the same subtitle to each tab.

If you’re working on this challenge, be sure to upload your pages to the MM Gallery or post a link to your pages in the comment section below.  To prepare for next week’s challenge, start gathering photos of all the people you love!

Wendy

Things I Love Album - Week One

I am so excited to host the designer challenges for the month of February!  Every Thursday this month, I’ll be presenting challenges for you – all based on the creation of a mini-album focusing

on things you love.  This week, we’ll start with the cover of the album.  I used a 9” x 9” album, lots of LOVE STORY papers, stickers, ribbons, chipboard, brads, and other embellishments from this line.  I also used a few other various letter stickers.

Let's get started.

First, take apart the album by unscrewing the posts.  Cover the front of the album with patterned paper.  Cut a separate strip to go across the spine piece (with the holes for the posts).  I used a piece with scalloped edges for this part.  For the next step, I glued a strip of ribbon along the crease where the cover is already scored to allow it to open. 

Next, cut out the window. Simply flip the album over and use a craft knife to cut out the paper that is covering the opening.  Be sure you have a cutting mat underneath before you begin cutting.  Use a hole punch tool to punch a hole in the back and front cover so you’ll be able to tie a ribbon through to keep it shut.  Finally, add the chipboard corners to the right top and bottom corners.

Now, go to the stack of papers you removed from the album when you took it apart.  Find a regular sheet (without tabs or pockets).  Place it directly behind the cover so you can see which portion will show through.  Mark it lightly with a pencil.   Remove the cover.  Now you can embellish the portion that will be peeking through the window.  Add a sticker frame, a dimensional heart sticker and a rub-on word.

I always like to add a little something to the back cover of my albums as well.  This time I cut a chipboard label holder and added a rub-on along with my name and the year.

If you have any questions, please post them here or feel free to e-mail me (wendysueanderson@hotmail.com).  Next week we’ll be creating the dividers for each section of our album.  If you’re joining me in this challenge, please post a link below and share your cover with me!

Wendy

Layout by Jennifer

Valentine's Day holds a special place in my heart. It was the day my husband and I had our first "fight" as a couple. I went all out, sewed felt hearts on expensive wool socks, showered him in delicious candies, and made a special tribute present to commemorate our first few months of dating. He greeted me with, "I bought you a rose, it's in the fridge."

Thankfully our Valentine's Day celebrations have improved greatly since that first one, and I look forward to getting in the spirit a little more each year. I love the new Love Story line of papers and embellishments- they make it so easy to create an eye catching layout that celebrates the special connection with your loved ones.

Jennifer

5th Avenue Eye Candy

How about some good ole eye candy for a Monday? This eye candy comes from our 5th Avenue collection that starts shipping at the end of this month. You'll love this program because it's so easy to use and it's great for all types of occasions.

Here are some of my favorites from this line including beautiful trims, epoxy brads, journaling books, and die-cut papers.

And, here are some great samples to get your excitement going.

Layout from Keisha

Check out this great layout from Keisha using MM's Fresh Anthology line. She used the instant setter and slot punching tool. She used those tools to apply her brads and create notches to slip a tag and journaling strip under.

If you want to make it for yourself, here's a quick how-to:

1. Cut ledger paper to 10" x 9" and attach to background paper.
2. Add ribbon cut to the width of ledger paper. Use instant setter to apply brads. Then use stapler to staple ribbon project.
3. Cut a 3" and 2" circle to add to project.
4. Use instant setter to apply snowflakes and brads.
5. Add 4" x 6" photos.
6. Add notches with using slot punch (with the crescent punch) and slide journal strips and tag under.

Great Idea from Wendy Bretz

I know you are busy, so today we are featuring a great idea that doesn't take a lot of time to create. Today's idea comes from Wendy Bretz.

Here are some instructions to create this page for yourself.

1. Trim white cardstock to 9" x 9" square.
2. Adhere 8 1/2" x  3" sheet of polka dot Audrey Noteworthy paper, small strip of Kraft paper and stitch using sewing machine.
3. Print journaling on a plain transparency and title on white cardstock.
4. Using Making Memories Tag Maker, create tag, overlap them and adhere to the right-side of layout.
5. Trim Noteworthy Glitter Die-Cut and align along top and bottom of black tag.
6. Add photo, white brads, and Noteworthy Pebble Clip.
7. To finish, add digital sewing (twopeasinabucket.com) to border.

More Holiday Page Samples

Here are some additional ideas for all of your Christmas photos.

Enjoy!

Multiple Photo Challenge

I think this season is so special because it's about traditions and family and a time to ge generous with our hearts. I don't know about you, but I tend to document everything about the season, from the time we set up our tree to the time we take it down again and everything in between. In the end, we have so many Christmas pictures and not enough time, space and entergy to scrap them all.

My challenge to you today is to come up with innovative ways to scrapbook all of those pictures. For this challenge, I made a little mini book on the page. When I inserted it into a page protector, I made a slit through the plastic so that the mini book could easily be paged through. On this page I used 10 photos!