Share Sher at Showcase!

If you are a Creative Memories consultant you are either AT the national Showcase convention in Minneapolis or you wish you were... Creative Memories is offering a VIRTUAL SHOWCASE via facebook.  It's open to both consultants and customers of cM.  You can link to the FB showcase by clicking on the words in this paragraph.

I earned a FREE showcase registration and an additional $200 in Showcase travel cash from Creative Memories but commitments here at home made me unable to attend this year - frown face.

So, you - my faithful followers - can take me to Showcase with you!  Here's how:

One of the things I love about attending Showcase conventions is meeting consultants from near and far and making new cM friends and connections.  I know you'll have a chance to do this in the Market Place lines and at the meal tables (at Showcase I always tried to sit at a table of folks I didn't know to broaden my abilities to meet people and get cM info, tips and tricks for my biz).

So, if you meet someone who doesn't know about my blog, tell them about it.  Help them complete the steps to become a follower.   Send me an email about every person who YOU get to sign on as a follower at SherYourScraps because of Showcase. 

Each person who follows because you shared my blog with them will give you ONE TICKET in a special drawing for some exclusive PNG files I have put together for use with your Storybook Creator PLUS software (aka embellishments).

Are you up for the task?  Each time you get someone to follow, send an email to: cmsher@gmail.com.  Put "I got one at Showcase" in the subject.  Put YOUR follower name and email address in the message text AND put the follower name of the person you got to follow in the text of the message also.

I'll have the drawing at the end of the convention and send an email of png files to the winner!

Can't wait to hear all the Showcase news!  Do Tell....

Sew a Scrapbook Page

As a digital scrapbooker and also a sewer and quilter - I've figured out a way to use the Creative Memories Storybook Creator PLUS software to combine two of my hobbies.

Here are some samples on how to utilize software and technology to enhance your sewing and quilting but also to use sewing elements to enhance your digital pages!

If you are a public follower of my blog and would like to have a copy of the 4-page handout in pdf format, please email me at cmsher@gmail.com and I'll send it out to you.  If you'd like to become a follower, just click the "JOIN THIS SITE" button under my profile on the left hand side of the blog and complete the steps.  Following is free and so are the handouts for followers!

Happy Digi-Scrapping!  Sher

Back to School Alphabets

I know that a lot of kids start going back to school mid-August in the USA.  My college kids begin classes on August 31st. My high school kids don't go back until after Labor Day which means they still have summer until Sept. 6th!

However, just go into any store and you can tell that Back to School shopping is in full swing.  Soon you'll have First Day of School photos that will need to be digitally scrapbooked.  You may want to make a batch of alphabets in preparation of your school-themed pages.

If you are a public follower of my blog you can contact me at cmsher@gmail.com and request a copy of the 4-page handout in pdf format that I created.  The handout gives step by step instructions for how to create these alphabets.

The software used to create these letters is by Creative Memories.  It's called Storybook Creator PLUS v3.0.  The software is onsale this month (Aug 2011) for 50% off as a download.  You can click HERE to order the software online.  Because the software is a download, you can start using it RIGHT AWAY!

All of the Creative Memories digital scrapbook package downloads are available at 30% off this month (August, 2011). But you must act now.  Here's a flyer link about the Digi-WOW sale.

Digi WOW flyer

All of the embellishments used in the alphabet letters came from Creative Memories such as the pencil, crayon, ruler, pen, etc.

Memory Manager Mondays

Do you ever feel that although you LOVE the organization features in Creative Memories Memory Manager software, you are constantly falling behind in doing your part when it comes to keeping your photos organized?

ME TOO!

I've decided to start Memory Manager Mondays.  Each Monday, I'll let you know what I did with Memory Manager.  Consider dedicating just a part of your Monday to managing your photos.  Whether you need to offload photos from your camera card, run a backup, update your shadow copy, edit or journal a few photos or do a PURGE from your folders... set aside a block of time to spend as a memory manager!

Some of you may only be able to dedicate 15 minutes to this task, others of you may be able to dedicate more time.

I am not going to set a specific amount of time for myself but I am going to make an attempt to do at least something to manage my memories on Mondays.

This week I:  copied all of my photos from 2 camera cards to both windows folders and my Memory Manager memory vault.  I backup BOTH the windows folders and the Memory Vault to an External Hard Drive.  I then delete the windows folders from my laptop hard drive to conserve space.

I also ran a backup and a shadow update on my Memory Vault.

I went through all of my sort boxes and folders to make sure they were organized in the way that works best for me.

Next week I hope to begin a major PURGE... I will go folder by folder and delete any bad photos, duplicates I don't need, blurry photos, etc... so that I don't have SO much to manage.

If you would like to set aside a portion of your Monday to Manage your Memories... leave a comment below this post.  Each week, let us know what you did with your photos to better organize them.

If you are a MAC user and you use iPhoto instead of Memory Manager, you are welcome to join us.  If you have discovered any great tips or tricks or bits of advice to share with us about managing your photos, let us know - use the comments section below the Monday posts!

Here's to getting organized!  Happy Sorting, Sher

Digital Embellishment Letters with Handout

Here's something new to try with your titles.  Make an impact on your page by creating one BIG letter filled with embellishments.  Here are a few ideas.

I have created some instructions for making these big filled letters.  If you are a public follower of my blog you can request a pdf version of my 3-page handout describing this technique, email me at cmsher@gmail.com.

If you create a page using this technique, post your page to my facebook fan page by clicking THIS LINK.

Happy DigiScrapping!

Playing with Pens 4-Part Handout

I was recently going BACK 4 years to journal some album pages I'd left undone.  I needed to get them done FAST.  I didn't want to create a bunch of fancy titles and journaling boxes, so I limited myself and decided to challenge my doodling skills. 

I've always loved the Creative Memories pens.  They last FOREVER - the ink flows just perfectly, both sized tips are perfect for journaling as well as creating titles.  The pigma ink is permanent, fade proof, and water proof.  In the process  of journaling, I discovered the joy of doodling titles on a page.

I thought I'd share some of the doodle fonts I came up with.  Some are tried and true, some are sort of new.  This would be a fun challenge for a special workshop event - pens only! No sticker letters or journaling boxes.  My journaling went much faster with this limitation and the entire album was done in no time at all.

I hope you've enjoyed the idea of playing with pens and it's inspired you to journal a few pages.

If you are a blog follower and you would like a copy of the 4-page pdf handout about journaling, contact me HERE, let me know what name you're following under and request the PLAYING WITH PENS handout.

Don't forget to share a photo of your pen doodles on my facebook page. 

Digital Scoreboard Alphabet Letters with Handout

Did you ever dream of seeing your name in lights?  Well, now you can - by using Digital Scoreboard Alphabet Letters on your album page.  I was inspired to create these digital scoreboard alphabet letters when I saw Kim Mannino's pixels2pages challenge #65 about using the glow feature in Storybook Creator PLUS to make NEON LIGHTS Titles!

I was long overdue in creating  pages for my son's starring role in the Summer Stage play from 2010.  I envisioned a page with his name in lights.  After watching the Phillies win a 3-game streak over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the digital scoreboard gave me the idea to make Digital Scoreboard Alphabet letters using the tools and features of Creative Memories awesome digital scrapbook software Storybook Creator PLUS 3.0.

Here's the page I made to start off the album for my son's experience on stage last summer.

I thought the Digital Scoreboard Alphabet letters were so much fun that I created a handout and directions so you could make your own name in lights.  If you are a public follower of my blog, you can request a copy of this handout for your own personal use.  Just contact me HERE and let me know the name you are using the follow my blog and request the "Digital Scoreboard Alphabet Handout."

Please feel free to share any pages you make using this technique on my facebook fan page.  Click HERE to go to the fan page.  My fan page on facebook is for relaying and celebrating anything about the posts on either of my blogs.  In addition to this scrapbook blog, I have a craft blog.  You can visit me at my FLY THE COOP CRAFTS blog too!  Happy Digi Scrapping!

How to Save and Change Digital Borders in SBC+

In my last post about saving and re-coloring the borders you create, I made an error.  In Storybook, if you save a grouped item as content (embellishment), you cannot ungroup it when you select it from your content to re-use it in another project.

However, the way I save my borders to re-use and re-color may work for you.  Here’s how.

First, create a new project.  I choose a 12X12 page prints project.  I gave mine the title “borders.”  When I create a border, I save it in a page in my project.  When I want to REUSE a border in another project, I open my project BORDERS and copy and paste the grouped border into the other project I’m working on. 

 

Remember, SBC+ allows you to have up to 3 projects open at the same time and switching between them is very easy.  You don’t have to close and open each one, just click on the little blue photo album in the upper left corner of your SBC screen and you will see a list that says “Current Documents.”  To select another open project, just click it from the list.

Another thing you can do to save a border is to save it as a page template.  A page template is similar to a click & fill page and if you follow Pixels2Pages, a blueprint page (now forbidden).  However, you can make your own page templates and save them for your own use.  The fabulous pixies at P2P have written up some information about making and saving your own page templates for future use.  Click HERE for the writeup they did on their P2P website and click HERE for a question they answered on their Facebook page. Saving a border so that you can change its individual elements at a later time can be saved the same way. 

I actually have a LOT of borders saved right now and my one borders project is feeling a little unorganized.  You may wish to have more categories of borders and store each one in a project with a name that reflects the borders you have contained within.

 

Speaking of P2P, they will be going “off the air” for a few weeks in August to make some changes to their website, so if you need instructions from their website or from a recent challenge page they created, look it up soon!  The P2P facebook fan page will be up and running during their website downtime. Go here for their facebook page. I believe you need to be logged into your FB account for the FB links in this blogpost to direct you to the correct place.

If you want to make sure you don’t miss anything on my blogs, you can also go to my facebook fan page (called Fly the Coop Crafts) by clicking HERE and then LIKE my page.  You’ll get updates posted to your fb wall.  If you need any clarification about this post, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.  You can email me at this address.  Happy Scrapping!

TRADIGI BORDERS: Summer Travel series

Try your hand at some Tradigi Borders.  Go back to some of the traditional borders you created years ago.  See if you can create the same ones with Storybook Creator.  Then, save them and change the look of them.  Next step...put them on a digital page with some photos and add journaling.  Have fun!

Traditional Borders ReColor RePeat

Ok, so I'm nostalgic about the "old" style of traditional scrapbooking.  I mean back before we had 12X12 papers...back when we had only white pages, back when the creation of an artsy border strip was the talk of the page.  Ok, so I'm also glad we've moved on from there.  But every now and again I like to go back and do something ultra traditional.  The cool thing is that now, I can even do the ultra traditional  - but I can do it DIGITAL.

Some of my favorite borders were a one per month series created by Cindy Carlson.  I got a new border in the series every month for a year.  I made every one of them and taught them at all my workshops.  Last week, I used my very last border from my selection of Cindy Carlson pre-mades I had put together years ago.  In my nostalgia, I decided to try to re-create it digitally.

And SUCCESS... not only did I create one but I realized that once it was created, I could SAVE the border as content (embellishment) and use it over and over again.  I also realized I could change the entire color scheme of the border thus having many different borders to use.

Here is a page full of my TRADIGI borders.  I have a bunch more I want to create and I'll probably share those with you in the future.  Keep reading for some tips about how to group and re-color your borders.

To create these borders in Storybook Creator PLUS software, create a border strip.  Add squares.  Color the squares and the strip.  Cut a heart from each of the squares.  Use the cutout heart and add it to a different square.  Add a shadow or a 3D edge to make the hearts show up better.

To save a border as content, group it together and save it.  I group rather than flatten in this situation because I will want to un-group and re-color the borders in the future so I don't want them flattened into one piece.  To re-color the borders, you can SHIFT-select several elements at the same time and use the Cut and Fill feature.  OR.. you can select the entire border and use the Color Tab and play around with adjusting the hue, intensity and saturation.

Have fun and Happy Scrapping!  I'm sure I'll have more TRADIGI borders coming soon.

Border Maker T-Guide Instructions

I love the new cM Border Maker but I had a bunch of pre-cut borders (1.75" wide) that I wanted to cut.  The border maker couldn't hold my thin strip because it wasn't wide enough to fit under the magnetic arm that hold the paper in place to make the cut.

So, I devised this T-Guide system for holding thinner pieces of paper to use for cutting with the border system.

The instructions are listed in the photo below.  ENJOY!

If you are Creative Memories consultant AND you are a public follower of my blog (you can follow by clicking the follow button on the left hand side of my blog and completing the instructions that ensue), you can request a handout in pdf format to use with your customers and downline.

Adventures in the cM Border Maker System

The new border maker tool from Creative Memories is a lot of fun.  The entire system (maker, guide and 4 cartridges) is on sale as a bundle thru the end of this month.  It retails for $60 in the US.  You can order the bundle on line by following THIS LINK.

On it's own, the border maker creates some quick and easy decorative border strips to use with album pages, cards and other paper crafts.  BUT... get a little creative and start combining these strips in new ways and you come up with some fun decorations for your traditional paper crafting.

Here are a few that I created.  If you are a Creative Memories consultant AND you are a public follower of my blog, email me here, let me know what name you are following under and I'll send you a 2-page handout in pdf format to share with your customers.  Ask for Border Maker Handout.

Enjoy! and as always Happy Scrapping.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's post about how to use the border maker system with a thin piece of border strip using a technique I invented.

CM New Border Maker

Creative Memories new border maker system is awesome.  Check out the video of how it works. 

CM Virtual Digital NSD

Creative Memories Go Digital is a FB page.  It is run by Creative Memories headquarters.  This past weekend they ran a Virtual National Scrapbook Day event - THERE WAS A LOT THERE!  There were some great lessons, a bunch of challenges, and more digital embellishment FREEBIES than you can imagine.  If you visit the FB page, all of the these lessons, tutorials and events will still be there for some time.  Make sure to visit.  Although I have watched all the lessons, I am just starting to work my way through them.  Since I'm currently creating a digital album of my son's years in high school, I am taking advantage of these lessons and putting them into practice right away, page by page.

Last night I played with a technique for making folded flowers.  One page has a few typos because it was WAY later than I had planned to be up digitally scrapbooking.  I will correct the typos - no worries.  However, I thought I'd share my two folded flowers pages.  Give them a try and see what you can come up with.

I'll be posting any pages I make from my Virtual NSD lessons.  Happy Digi Scrapping!

Pages made with Digital Embellishment Borders

It's one thing to make a bunch of really cool digital borders - but then, you have to use them on a page and get it printed or make a storybook so that it can be enjoyed by everyone!

Here are two pages that I made using the digital embellishment border technique.

Happy Digi Scrapping!

Challenge 54

Over on the Pixels2Pages website, I was inspired by Challenge 54, a P2P2DO by talented pixie Kim Mannino.  These borders remind me so much of traditional scrapbooking but I didn't have to get out a single tool or tape runner to make them!

These are fast and fun and a sure bet for prettying up your pages!

Happy Digi Scrapping!

Digital Embellishment Borders

This is a new kind of digital border I invented using Creative Memories Storybook Creator PLUS.

I have a FREE handout about how to make these cute borders.  If you are a public follower of my blog, you can contact me here and I'll send it to you by email. 

Happy Digi Border Scrapping!

Spring Summer Borders Do It Digital

This week on the Pixels2Pages website, a P2P2Do was mentioned about making borders for your digital pages.  I love this idea!  I thought I'd give it a go.  I want to make some basic borders following their examples, but I thought I'd see if I could re-create the borders I'd made traditionally in the digital style.  I started with the watermelon bunting.

Although I could have created circles of green, white, red, etc.. I used a watermelon slice from a Creative Memories package, already created.  This made the border come together faster, but it would have been quite possible and even pretty easy to create the digital watermelon slices they same way I did it with tools traditionally.

I think I'm going to give my hand at some more borders.

Happy Digi Scrapping!

Borders on the Brain - DigiStyle

Okay - digital borders have got my number!  I just found a really fun way to make digital borders.  It's fast and easy and will add a sensational look to your page.

Digital borders work great when you have a lot of photos on your page and you don't have a lot of room for digital paper and embellishments. 

I've created several digital embellishment borders below.

To make a digital embellishment border, pull up a blank page.  I used a 12X12.  Select the CONTENT tab in Storybook Creator Plus 3.0.  The select the Embellishment tab.  From the drop down menu, pick a digital additions pack or a digital themed kit.

Select individual embellishments and line them up vertically.  I dragged one corner and made each one substantially smaller though I didn't make them all the same size.  I used the "bigger" ones first and spaced them out somewhat evenly.  I filled in with the "smaller" or more decorative embellishments.  You may need to rotate your embellishment to get it to fit well with the ones around it.  You may also wish to use the "order" command to direct which embellishments will show up on top of others.  Play around with it until you get it the way you like.

Once it looks good to you visually, hold down the shift button and choose each embellishment in the border until they are all selected.  Then, flatten them together.  Once they are flattened, I added a 3D edge to mine.  I used the settings, amount 80, softness 0, width 10 to get the look I liked.

I left my borders in their original colors though you could change the color of your borders or add a colorwash or even turn them black and white.  The sky is the limit for embellishment borders.

In the above borders I used these Creative Memories digital packages to create my borders:

Cheerful Zoo, Cheerful Summer, Spring Digital Appreciation, Classic Celebration and Primary Fourth of July.

Give 'em a try!  Happy Digi Scrapping.

Summer Borders Digital - DONE

Did them all digital - it was fun.  Try it.  Create some traditional borders or go back to some traditional borders you loved from long ago and try to recreate them for use on a digital page!

Don't forget - to enter you need to do TWO things!

I've received some questions about the contest.

You must take TWO actions to be entered to win.  ONE - follow my blog publicly and TWO - post a comment after the blog post about the contest.

Happy Scrapping!  Sher

BLOG GIVEAWAY - my first ever contest

Well, today is the day I will reveal how to enter my FIRST EVER BLOG GIVEAWAY! This post will give the details about entering the FREE contest, will show photos of your prize and will detail each border with instructions on how to make it.  Keep reading.

I’m giving away 4 Spring Borders and 4 Summer Borders to ONE lucky winner!  In order to enter the contest, you MUST do the following:

1.     Be a public follower of my blog (click the follow button in the left side of my blog page)
2.     Leave a comment on this post as to why you’d like to win these borders

If you are interested in other types of crafts, you can also follow my other blog, Fly the Coop Crafts.  The link is www.flythecoopcrafts.blogspot.com. If you publicly follow that blog, I will enter an additional chance for you in the spring/summer border contest. If you do choose for follow Fly the Coop Crafts, make sure to notify me by comment or email so I know to add you to the contest. 

If your comment about why you want to win is fantastic, I’ll enter ANOTHER chance in the contest for you. (total of 3 chances are possible)

If you need assistance following or commenting, please contact me and I’ll help you.  I can be contacted by email at cmsher@gmail.com.

Here are the photos of the borders (in groups):

4 spring borders

4 summer borders

How I will pick the winner.  I will enter all public followers who make a comment into a drawing bucket along with any additional chances they have earned.  When my public followers reach 100 people, I’ll draw the winning name.  The contest will end on May 30^th. 

If I don’t have 100 followers by that date, I’ll have to start a new contest.  I must have 100 followers by May 30^th to give away the borders.

How I will get the borders to the winner.  I will put the borders in the US Postal mail and send them at my own cost.  I will offer to send the borders to an international winner – contest participants do NOT have to be from USA.

BONUS:  If I reach the 100 followers by May 15^th, I will also give the winner the flower journaling box.   I will not pick a winner BEFORE May 15^th even if I exceed the 100 follower requirement.

BONUS! flower journaling box

HELP:  If you wish to ASSURE that I get enough followers to have the drawing, encourage your friends, customers, fellow scrapbookers, etc… to follow and enter.

What if you don’t win and you’d like to make the borders yourself? No problem.  Individual photos of the borders are posted below along with basic instructions.  If you are a Creative Memories consultant and would like a copy of a handout to share with your customers or downline, I will send that to you by email – you will need to request it from me by email at cmsher@gmail.com  I may also post that on the network forum.

Credits – Please be respectful. If you plan to post my borders and/or instructions on your own blog or web page, please link to my blog and give credit to me.  I think sharing and copying is an awesome thing.  I’m happy to inspire others.  Just please be respectful and give credit whenever using a photo or blog post from my blog.

What next?  Well… if this contest goes smoothly, you’d better believe I’ll want to run another contest and I already have some really fun ideas for additional borders that I can’t wait to make!

Notes about my borders.  Several of them were inspired by the creative designers at the CreativeMemories project center.  Please visit the project center for additional designs and inspirations in both digital AND traditional scrapbooking.  Also, all of my borders were made using Creative Memories tools, paper, embellishments and adhesives.  In my instructions, I have not used the correct names for the Creative Memories papers as I made these borders using my Creative Memories paper scraps -  several of the papers I used are now retired products.  Please feel free to substitute other papers as necessary.

If you don’t currently have a Creative Memories consultant serving you and you’d like to purchase products and tools, you can visit my website at www.mycmsite.com/sjenkins and click the SHOP tab to make a purchase.  If you already have a consultant, please go to your consultant’s website to make any product purchases.

Below are the borders and basic instructions (most you can figure out how to make just by looking at them but I have included some measurements that I used if you wish to be more exact).

1. Flower Brownie

•            Border strip: 12” X 1.25” (white)
•             Flowers: Friendship Maker (brown) – 15 each
•             Flower Centers:  Bubble Maker mixed sizes; variety of orange papers
•             Tips:  easiest to put dot of pen adhesive on flower not on flower center
•             Inspiration: Brownie Girl Scouts

2. Cottage Flower Border

•            Border strip:  12” X 1.25” (light green)
•             Flowers: Friendship Maker (pink) -7 each
•             Flower Centers – Pink and Green Dual Tip Pens, round tip
•             Flower Vine – Pink Round Tip Pen, Green Fine tip pen
•             Tips – every other flower is attached with the foam squares

 

3. Kite Border (inspired by cM project center) - picture is sideways

•            Border Strip:  12” X 1.25” (white)       
• Kite Squares: 1” (4 for each kite, 1 each of 4 colors)
•            Kite Background:  2.25” X 2.25” square (black) cut with Postage Stamp Rotary Blade
•             Kite String: Black Round Tip Pen
•             Kite String Flowers: Friendship Maker, use kite colors (total of 5)
•             Tips:  Next time I’d make the Kite Background 2X2 instead

4. Hummingbird Border (inspired by cM project center)

•            Border Strip: 12” X 2.25” light blue
•             Inner Border Strip:  12” X 1.25” pale yellow, cut with postage stamp rotary blade
•             Center Border Strip: 12” X .5” light green, cut with postage stamp rotary blade
•             Hummingbirds: 3 dark purple, 3 light purple (facing different directions)
•             Flowers: Friendship Maker (orange), 5 each
•            Flower Centers: hole punch, generic brand, yellow paper
•             Tips: For hummingbirds, consider bird direction if using printed paper

 

5. Watermelon Bunting

•            Border Strip:  12” X 2” gold
•             Water Melon Rind: 1.5” circles, 4 each, green, cut in half with scissors
•             Water Melon Inside Rind: 1.25” circles, 4 each, white, cut in half
•             Water Melon Flesh: 1” circles, 1 orange, 1 pink, 2 red, cut each in half
•             Assemble Watermelon slice by lining circles up on cut edge
•             Watermelon Seeds: Fine tip black pen
•             Title: Red ABC letters (retired), all caps
•             Adhere the watermelon slices to yellow background angling first 2 and last 2 upwards
•             Tips: Use current letters in Black or use White letters and outline with red fine tip pen

6. Flag Bunting (inspired by project center)

•             Cut six 2” X3” rectangles, 2 orange, 2 blue, 2 red
•             Draw a dot at the 1” mark of the 2” side
•             Lineup the corner of one corner and the dot on the cut line
•             Make diagonal cut with postage stamp blade of rotary trimmer
•             Make a second cut lining up a corner with the dot
•             Border: 12” X .5” black (mine is cut short accidentally)
•            Flag Décor: Miscellaneous stickers (cheerful summer stickers would work well)
•             Detail flag borders with stitches using black fine tip pen
•             Adhere flags to black border, curving the first and last flag upwards

           

7. Sand Dollars and Starfish Border (inspired by project center)

•             Background Border: 12” X 2”, light blue
•             Sand: 12” X 1” light brown (I used printed paper and hand ripped for white edge)
•             Attach sand to background
•             Use the petal punch to cut 4 petal punches on white paper
•             Cut a circle around each punched petal
•             Add dots and center flower design with brown fine tip pen
•             Starfish: I used tropical punch in 2 orange papers, also use star on galaxy maker
•             Tuck 2 sand dollars under sand paper
•             Mount remaining sand dollars and star fish as desired

8. Whales (inspired by project center)

•            Background Border: 12” X 3” white, cut one side with wavy rotary blade
•             Background Accent: 12” X .5” gold, cut one side with wavy rotary blade
•             Attach accent background behind background border with tape runner
•             Waves: 1.5” circles, 5 each, dark turquoise, cut in half with scissors
•             Whale Head: 2” custom cutting system circle, patterned blue paper
•             Whale Body: 2” oval ccs, same paper as head
•             Whale Tail: 2” ccs circle, same paper as head, use ccs circle to cut a bite out
•             Attach Waves to white border background, overlapping
•             Assemble whale and tuck behind waves, attach with tape runner
• Slightly lift whale head and punch 2 snow maker spouts (turn paper over to change directions of spout water)
•             Add whale eyes and spout with black fine tip pen
•             Add wave splashes with blue round tip pen
•             Tips:  This was the hardest of all the borders

HINT HINT...

I will be having my first ever BLOG GIVEAWAY.  I will post the details about it on Monday, May 9th.  However, I wanted to give you a little sneak peak.  Stay tuned.  Happy Scrapping!

The Tennis Page and Phantom Letters

Here is the tennis page I made with my Storybook Creator PLUS 3.0 software package.

One of the techniques I used was "phantom letters."  To create the phantom letters, I create a title (this time I used Fancy Text with the simple alpha set).  The simple alpha set places the letters too close together, so I ungrouped the word and separated the letters a bit.  Then I re-grouped them and flattened them.  I made the letters the same color as the background paper.  I also added a black glow and a heavy shadow.

Another technique I used was the page border.  The RED rectangle is actually a background.  I used the red paper from the Cheerful Digital Power Palette and changed the hue of the red to match the boys hats in the photo.  I then used the ADD TO PAGE option to add a large square of yellow paper - also from the Cheerful PP.  I selected the yellow paper, went to the CUT AND FILL ribbon and cut a "rectangle" which I formatted to a square shape and re-sized to cover all but the very edge of the yellow paper.  I chose the "erase the shaded area" option and cut the big square from the yellow paper, leaving only the yellow border.

The tennis ball border is something I created.  If you look back one post on my blog, you'll find a FREE png file that you can use.  To add the tennis ball border to your storybook content, click on the border, select "save picture as" and save it to the folder where you store your digital png files or your user content. 

If you need additional assistance with any of these techniques, don't hesitate to ask.  You can share this post with friend, you can comment on the blog if you like it, you can become a follower of my blog or recommend my blog to friends.  THANKS - and Happy Scrapping!