Croptoberfest 2011 RECAP

Croptoberfest came and went about 10 days ago.  My November workshop is right around the corner.  I did a little recap of the event.  It was a roaring success.  The November preview products were a BIG hit - LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of prizes were won - many pages were completed.  Albums and calendars were finished up in time to give as holiday gifts this season.  Border and page ideas were copied.  Storybook 4.0 updates got loaded onto computers, we all lost a lot of sleep - it was AWESOME!  Here are some highlights...

The paint chip chain link tutorial from the photo above can be found here on my craft blog.

I put tags on bags and gave them to my guests as part of their gifts.  I will have an upcoming post called "we're talking tags" in November.  Check back, you won't want to miss that one!

I included two Reflections additions packs in my guests goodie bags.  Then, I displayed ways they could use the projects in a traditional scrapbooking style.  You can find more detailed posts about the lessons I taught using these two items by clicking SPRING AND SUMMER or AUTUMN and WINTER.

I also taught a lesson on the Autumn Additions pack that many of my attendees had purchased when they came to my September workshop.  I made up a bunch of designs to show how several of our cM tools are used.  I posted a lesson on that as well.  Click here for the Autumn Additions post.

After a lesson about the new border maker tool, I challenged my croptober attenders to CREATE their own design using the Create It paper pack that Creative Memories provided for us to utilize at our event.  There was a vote and several attendees won prizes for their ideas.  Here are some of the favorites and winners.  Aren't these gals talented?  LOVE IT!

A big hit at the event was the Chocolate bark.  I made two varieties.  The first I call Halloween bark.  I found this recipe. but I found the directions a bit tricky so  I slightly adapted how I made the bark which I found much easier.  It was a sweet and salty sugary treat.  The Halloween bark is the one made with white chocolate.

I made a second bark recipe adapted from this one.  The dark chocolate bark wasn't quite as sweet.  It was the one I preferred.  I made it in the same way as the Halloween bark.  I did a little blog post about it and included the recipe over at my FlyTheCoopCrafts blog.  Check out the Halloween bark here and the Dark Chocolate Pistachio Bark here.

My attendees are an awesome bunch - they work hard, but manage to have a lot of laughs and a lot of fun.  And did I mention there were A LOT of winners?  Thanks everyone for attending and happy Croptoberfest!

Friday Freebies Fall Fun

Here are some great fall freebies from Creative Memories.  Click here to down load them to use with your digital scrapbooking - LIKE the Facebook wall for cM and you can stay notified of all of their freebies and exciting news!



Happy Digi Scrapping!

Friday Freebies - Halloween Alert!

Go get 'em -

These are available FREE for digital scrapbooking from Creative Memories.



Click here to get yours.

Happy DigiScrapping -

Tool Time - Scallop BorderMaker Bunting

I LOVE Buntings! - Banners! - whatever you call them, I love them.

So why not love them on a page.  I've made some before using triangles and watermelons.  See that post here.  But - today, I'm showing you a new way to use the Border Maker tool.

Here's the Border Maker tool.


You need the Scallop Stitch Cartridge for this lesson.  It will be in stock on Oct 26, 2011.  Make sure to grab one as soon as it's in stock.  It's my favorite cartridge.

To see other posts I did about the border maker try this post (border maker designs) and this post (T-guide for the border maker).

Step 1.  Load a paper into the border maker and cut one side with the scallop stitch cartridge.

Step 2.  Use the rotary trimmer to cut off part of the paper.  Use the straight blade.



Step 3.  With scissors.  Cut apart the scallops between the two stitches at the bottom of each scallop bump.

Step 4.  Line pieces up across a page.  Add stickers, ABC letters or use a dual tip pen to write a letter on each scallop flag.  Use this design as a title for a page!  Show me what you made - or post your ideas on FB to share!  Here's a link to my FB blog page.

Variations - What about a rainbow scallop bunting?  Make a bunch of flags in different colors and make many many buntings.  Cut a few buntings and share them with a friend. 

Easy - Cute - Try one!  Happy Scrapping!

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Autumn Additions - Designs Galore

This lesson features the Autumn Additions pack recently released by Creative Memories.  Autumn/Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love the colors in this pack.  Here are some ways you can use the Autumn Additions pack in an "old school" style for your traditional album pages.  The papers and stickers in this pack lend themselves to just about any fall seasonal page you would want to create.

Page 1 in this lesson shows the elements included in this pack.  The traditional pack costs $9 (US) and you can purchase this pack by clicking here.  It is available as both a traditional and digital additions pack.

I've used this pack to create borders and journaling boxes.  Here are some borders created by cutting apart the 12X12 papers and adding stickers to the border designs... 

This next border design creates a scene all of its own. 

I've used the Tag Maker to cut the tombstones in this border.  The tag maker looks like this.


To purchase the tag maker click here.

I love using the tag maker to create tombstones!  The possibilities are endless.  I did another post about making tag maker tombstones out of paint chip swatches to create a Halloween bunting you can use to decorate your home for the season.  Check out the Tombstone Tag Maker post here.

I've also used the border maker to create the picket fence.  The border maker looks like this.

Here are a few more border designs and also some ideas for making journaling boxes.

I used the leaf maker to cut out leaves for this design.  The leaf maker is on sale for 50% off the original cost. (now only $8.25 - WOW)  You can't beat the price.  Get it while it lasts by clicking here to purchase the leaf maker.


This next page shows one last border and journaling box.

The next page shows borders made using the Creative Memories tearing tools.  Check them out here.

There are three tearing tools from Creative Memories.  Here's what they look like.

This one's my favorite.  They only cost $10!  To purchase this one, click here.

Here's another one.  It's called the WAVY tearing tool.  Purchase it here.



The last tearing tool is the newest.  It's called the Nancy O'Dell gratitude tearing tool.  See it below.

Click here to purchase the gratitude scallop tearing tool.

I hope these designs have inspired you to make pages using the Autumn Additions pack.  Here's a link to purchase Autumn Additions Traditional.  I also hope that you will share these designs with other scrapbookers so they too can see how to use this seasonal pack to decorate their pages.  There is a handout for the lessons found in this post. 

IF YOU ARE A PUBLIC FOLLOWER of my blog, you may request a handout by contacting me here.  PLEASE, one request only one handout per email, PLEASE signup as a follower BEFORE you make the request.  PLEASE state your follower name in the email when you request it.  Thanks!  And Happy Scrapping!

NEW Halloween Freebies from Creative Memories.

Go get em - just in time for your pumpkin pages!

Reflections Autumn Winter Croptoberfest 2011

This year, Creative Memories has provided two exclusive additions packs for use at Croptoberfest events.  Between them, they span an entire year in seasons.  I'm using these packs to teach a variety of traditional scrapbooking lessons at my event.  See the post about the Spring Summer additions pack here.  What's an additions pack?  Well, see for yourself, I've done a post about that as well.  Click here to see the post entitled "Anatomy of an Additions Pack."

This lesson uses the Autumn Winter version of the Reflections Croptober Additions to teach mostly "old school" traditional style scrapbooking.  By "Old School," I mean the method of scrapbooking where you cut apart paper, tape it back together, utilize crafty scrapbook tools, add borders to pages, etc... That doesn't mean that the Autumn Winter pack can only be used in the "old school" way.  Use it for "new school" scrapbooking by adding full sheets of 12X12 as your background and matting photos with photo mats.  If you read the Anatomy of an Additions pack, you'll see that Additions packs are well suited to whatever method of scrapbooking you prefer.

Page 1 - the pack itself.

Because this is an exclusive Croptoberfest pack, you'll need to contact a Creative Memories consultant to get hold of one.  If you don't already have a consultant, click here to visit my personal website.  Otherwise, get in touch with your own consultant who will be very happy that you called!

Let's get started.  Page 2.  The basic borders.

Want to make these borders?  You'll need a few tools.  First, the circle maker.  It looks like this.



To purchase a circle maker, click here.

Next up - the Place N Punch tool.  There are two, the one used on page 2 is the Postage Stamp.  It looks like this.

To purchase the Place N Punch, click here.

These borders are pretty simple.  You'll want to keep a plethora of simple borders in your brain bank.  I use borders like these over and over again with different papers, colors and themes.  There are little ways to change them up and make them look different but all in all, a fast and easy solution for adding a little decoration to a traditional page.

More Borders?  Okay - on to page 3.

I've still got flowers blooming in my yard and we're into October.  The fall flowers aren't as bright as the ones in summer, their colors are slightly dulled but they are blooming just the same.  Use this pack to capture the late bloomers in your yard by making a flower border like the one on the page above.  To create the flower border, I used two tools.  The first is the Place N Punch Blossom.  This is the tool that made the bigger of the two flowers on the border.   The Blossom punch looks like this:

To purchase the blossom Place N Punch click here.

There is another tool that could be used in place of the Blossom Punch and that's the Scallop Maker.  It looks like this.

To purchase a scallop maker, click here.

The smaller flower is made using the friendship maker.  It's one of my favorite shape makers.  I use it all the time.  It's small and inexpensive.  If you don't have one, I'd definitely recommend this tool.  The friendship maker is a two for one punch giving you a heart AND a flower all in one.  It looks like this.

To purchase a friendship maker, click here.

Another thing I did on the flower border was to attach some of the little flowers using foam squares.  I love foam squares.  They are pre-cut raised mounting stickers (two sizes come in one pack) that add just a special little element of dimension to your design.  The foam squares look like this:

These are a must have!  I love them.  Purchase foam squares here.

What's next?  Sticker borders.  These are just like the ones in the Spring Summer lesson BUT... I've gotten a little more creative with my cutting...  Scissors provide the difference.  Purchase a pair of cM scissors to keep with your scrapbooking supplies.  This is what they look like.

Check out the way I mounted the stickers and then cut out the sticker shape in the borders shown on the next 2 pages.

You want more tools?  This lesson uses more advanced tools than the Spring Summer lesson.  I love tools.  Buy once, use over and over.  Nothing beats a good tool.  There are the basics, aka must haves... and there are the ones you want to add to a holiday wish list.  The border maker system is a great wish list item.  If you ask for one, make sure to ask for ALL of the accompanying cartridges.  Maybe your Creative Memories consultant will have a special Open House bundle that includes the entire set.  The border maker tool looks like this (only one cartridge is pictured here).

Click here to purchase the border maker.

By the way, want to see some more ways to use the border maker system?  I did an entire lesson about it.  It's a fun and fool-proof tool.  Get your consultant to demonstrate the tool for you so you can use it correctly and effectively.  Here is the lesson about the border maker.  I also figured out a way to use the border maker with THIN border strips.  I call it the T-Guide method.  I did a post about the T-Guide method as well.  Click this link to go to the T-Guide post.

Check out the border maker borders I made with the Autumn and Winter Additions Pack.

Another great tool for the holiday wish list is the Rotary Trimmer.  The $30 (US) trimmer itself, with the straight blade is a must have for cutting border strips.  But the EXTRA blades are just plain fun!  If you don't already have them, add them to your order form at Croptoberfest or check with your consultant to see if there will be a special bundle on this trimmer and ALL of its extra blades.  The rotary trimmer looks like this:



The rotary trimmer can be purchase here.

Got enough border ideas?  Try some journaling boxes.  Check out the next page in the lesson.

And, don't forget.  Consider cutting out some of the larger designs to help you use your paper more sparingly.  I love the peacock!

Well, that's the end of this lesson.  If you'd like a handout in pdf version that includes all the pages shown in this lesson, contact me here.  PLEASE remember to do the following to make the request: 

1.  ONE handout per email.

2.  SIGNUP as a PUBLIC FOLLOWER ("join this site" on left hand side of blog or "join by email" on right hand side of blog) BEFORE you make the request! List your follower name in your email.

3.  State that you are a follower when you make the request.

4.  This pdf file is about 12 megabytes.  If your email can't handle that, find another email address to use to make the request.

5.  DO NOT sell this handout

6.  DO NOT post this handout to scrapshare sites

7. PLEASE keep my credits on the handout when you share with friends, customers, etc...

8. Enjoy... it gives me great pleasure to share with you : )

Happy Scrapping!  Sher

Anatomy of an Additions Pack

Anatomy of an Additons Pack

Creative Memories offers packaged sets of products called Additions Packs. 



Above is an example of an additons pack - the SOCCER additons pack

An additions pack consists of 4 pieces of 12X12 double sided paper.  One side is a big design.  The other side is a coordinating patterned paper.  The four papers are made up of two each of identical two-sided papers. 

There are also 8 photo mats.  A photo mat is 4.25”X6.25” in size.  It is also double sided.  One side is usually a pattern, the other a solid.  The eight photo mats are made up of 4 sets of 2 identical pieces.  A photo mat can be used as a paper backing frame for a 4X6 photo.  It can also be cut up and used other ways. 

Next, there are stickers.  Often, the stickers are the weight of a light piece of card stock so they are easy to peel off and control when you stick them.  The number and size of stickers vary.  Finally, there are titles, sayings, quotes and headings.  These are also stickers.

An additions pack either coordinates with a power palette (aka power palette [PP] additions pack) or it is a stand-alone additions pack such as a season, a sport, a holiday, etc…

All of the parts of the Additions Pack COORDINATE with one another – I tend to prefer things that coordinate rather than match… and yes, I do see a difference between those two things. 

There is usually a color theme which includes 4 – 6 colors.  Within those colors there are patterns and solids.  Typically you can mix and match the products within a pack pretty easily to create very cohesive designs.  If the additions pack is a PP additions pack, it will fall into the same color scheme used with that PP – again, same color scheme means it will coordinate, not MATCH…

Additions packs can be traditional or digital.  Digital additions packs have all of the same elements of a traditional pack, but the digital items do not run out.  For instance, you can cut hundreds of squares from the same digital paper without ever running out.

Also unique to a digital additions pack is that you can alter it.  By using it with SB+ software, you can change the colors of the existing pack to create many, many additions themes of your own. 

In a traditional additions pack you usually have one of each sticker.  Digitally, you can use a sticker over and over again and multiple times on the same page or element.

See my post about Reflections Spring and Summer Additions for a sample of very simple Old School traditional uses for the pack.

An additions pack can be used to create “old school” designs or “new school” designs.  With “old school” traditional scrapbooking, you often cut apart the bits of your pack to create borders and journaling boxes and other little bits and bobs.  In the newer methods of scrapbooking, paper is more often used whole – as a background paper and photo mats are used whole to back photos.  You use more supplies on fewer pages when you use an additions pack in a “new school” way.  New school scrapbooking can be simpler in some ways because you aren’t spending a lot of time cutting apart and re-creating.

The designs can be simpler like this one below (from the cm project center)

or can use big elements but me more involved.  There is a lot of product used on the one page below.

With digital additions, the new school method is similar to its traditional counterpart where an entire paper is made into a background and whole items are added to it.  With old school scrapbooking, a lot more of the “white page” shows and it usually contains more photos and often journaling done right on the page itself.  In the new school method, one or maybe two photos are featured on the page and the supplies themselves capture a lot of attention.  There is typically less journaling and it’s usually done on a journaling box or the page contains only a title.

The page above is a digital page - from the cm project center.

Some scrapbookers are very tied to one method of scrapbooking or another  - I tend to do a bit of both.  The ease of putting a very pretty paper on the page as a background, adding a photo-matted picture and a journaling box with a few sentences can be quite appealing and satisfying in its simplicity.  However, I do love cutting apart, taping up, playing with tools, etc… so I like the old school method as well.  I think there is room for both methods in your life AND your albums. But whatever makes you a happy scrapbooker with loads of completed albums is definitely the right way!

Additions packs cost about $9 (US) – so they aren’t too pricey.  If you can’t afford an entire power palette, you can buy just a few PP elements and add an additions pack as you see fit.

If you’re a Creative Memories consultant – you probably understand all this about additions packs, but your customers may not.  Give them a little lesson on what’s included in an additions pack.  Show them different methods for how to use them – old school and new school.  They’ll appreciate you for doing so!