January 2010

CHA Recap

January 29, 2010 at 5:08 pm , by Brittany Hopkins

The SBE team is back from CHA and filled with scrapping inspiration. (There’s nothing like going to California in January to get midwesterners rejuvenated and ready to focus on their favorite hobby.) We saw so many new products that we love and can’t wait to buy, I wanted to stop by and share some of my favorites.

I’ve always liked Bella Blvd.‘s products, but their new chipboard letters and accents might be my favorite thing they’ve done.

More and more scrapbook manufacturers are delving into fabric. I loved this AdornIt line when it was paper, and it’s just as cute in fabric form.

I’m fascinated by Clearsnap’s Smooch, and the new colors are so pretty!

BoBunny’s layered accents are an easy way to add dimension to a scrapbook page or card.

Cosmo Cricket‘s releases were adorable, as were the projects in their booth, such as this watering can filled with paper flowers.

I am totally on board with the butterfly trend, and I love this elegant (glittered) die cut paper by Anna Griffin.

BasicGrey‘s new releases are at the top of my must-have list, but these sweet canvas accents were my favorite.

And this sheet from October Afternoon is my Favorite Paper Ever. I loved everything in their Thrift Shop line, but this paper showing a map of central London (where I studied abroad) has stolen my heart. I’m debating between framing it and hanging it on a wall or using it as the title page in my London album. Either way, it’s a must-have for me!

What new products are on your must-have list?

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Kathy Ireland Launches Craft Line

January 25, 2010 at 12:39 am , by Brittany Hopkins

The first day of the Craft and Hobby Association trade show was today. The SBE staff will be posting photos and info about new products.

Kathy Ireland, former model and recent Dancing with the Stars contestant, is launching a line of crafting products in conjunction with Belagio Enterprises. I had the opportunity to speak with her about the product launch while she was at the Belagio booth today at CHA.

“I just love scrapbooking,” Kathy said. “You can’t get much more personal than a scrapbook—it’s the best gift you can give someone.”

Throughout our conversation, Kathy emphasized her mission of “finding solutions for families, especially busy moms.”

“Busy moms have so many unfinished projects,” she said, so she designed her line of rub-ons, ribbons, and appliques to be “easy to use, but also have something for more sophisticated crafters.”

When asked if she had any advice for scrapbookers, Kathy said, “It’s not about perfection, it’s about passion.”

A close-up of some of the ribbons.

An overall shot of the ribbon display.

A few of the rub-ons designs.

Some more rub-ons.

Glow in the dark stickers.

More ribbon.

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Scrapbooks etc. Calls

January 22, 2010 at 1:47 pm , by Brittany Hopkins

Did you see our new calls? Michelle posted them over on the Challenge Blog. We’re looking for pages and projects for our October issue, and we can’t wait to see what you submit!

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Second Sketch

January 20, 2010 at 2:51 pm , by Brittany Hopkins

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

There’s something about Wednesdays that makes me feel like scrapping. So I thought I’d share another never-before-seen sketch today, in case you’re looking for something to jump-start your scrapbooking.

“School is Cool” by Janna Wilson. August/September 2009, page 118.

I love how this layout uses two standard-size photos. And even though the original page has a school theme, you can replace the apple accent with any embellishment.

Also, my apologies to those of you who couldn’t see the sketch in the previous post. We think we’ve figured out the problem, but if you can’t see either sketch leave a comment and let me know!

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New Sketch

January 18, 2010 at 1:06 pm , by Brittany Hopkins

Sometimes when we’re putting together the Pattern Pack for each issue, we have more sketches we want to share than room in the magazine. These leftover sketches eventually end up in our Sketches section of the site, but I thought I would start out the week by sharing one with you.

Lil Engineer by Heather Melzer, February 2010 page 124

What kind of sketches do you use the most? 12×12? 8-1/2×11? Two-page?

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2009 Year in Review

January 7, 2010 at 10:14 am , by Brittany Hopkins

To celebrate the New Year (and look back on 2009), I challenged myself to step out of my traditional and hybrid scrapping comfort zone and make a digital year-in-review page.

SOURCES Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. Fonts: Century Gothic (journaling), Elephant (“2009″). Digital elements: New Year brushes (border brush) by Rhonna Farrer, ScrapbooksEtc.com Quick Collage 103 (template).

I’ve seen a lot of emails where people ask how to create a color background with the Quick Collage templates. Here’s how:

1. Open the Quick Collage template and duplicate the template layer. 
2. Place your photos as you normally would (click here for instructions), making sure the photo layers are above both template layers.
3. With the bottom layer selected, choose the color you would like the background to be. Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill in the transparent area with color.

Do you have any other photo collage questions? Or have you made any year-in-review pages for my challenge?

~Brittany

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Make Your Own Owl T-Shirt

January 4, 2010 at 4:01 pm , by Michelle Rubin

Back by popular demand, here’s a post from our old blog about a T-shirt iron-on I made:

Good morning! In the November/December editor’s letter, I promised to pass along the secrets to creating your own owl-emblazoned T-shirt.
Well, the only secret is that it’s really easy! I just made a simple design on my image-editing software and then printed it out on an iron-on transfer.
The super cute owl came from the Woo Hoo digital kit by Holly Brooke Jones on the Two Peas in a Bucket Web site.
In Photoshop Elements, I used the shape tool to create two circles. Then I placed the owl in the center like this:

Then I printed it on the transfer, cut it out, and followed the directions to iron it on. It’s pretty easy. Just remember that if you’re putting your design on any other color than white, you want to use the iron-ons specified for “dark T-shirts” so your colors are accurate.
Have fun!

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Wavy Christmas Tree

January 4, 2010 at 3:19 pm , by Michelle Rubin

Now that the holidays are winding down, you may be looking for some ideas for those Christmas pages! On page 100 of the February issue, Lisa Storms made a great page about her Christmas tree and used photos of the tree to spell out her title.

Another cool feature about this page was the Christmas tree she made out of patterned paper. Here’s how to make your own!

Cut two large triangles from patterned cardstock, one slightly smaller than the other.

Punch both long sides of the triangles with a wave border punch.

Layer the triangles and machine-stitch them down the middle. If desired, pop up the top layer with adhesive foam. Embellish with gems and nested stars punched from cardstock.
Design: Lisa Storms.

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Happy 2010!

January 4, 2010 at 10:26 am , by Michelle Rubin

Hey, gang! We’re all back in the office today fresh from the holidays and ready to start blogging in the new year!

Now that we’re getting used to our new blogging digs, we’ve got a bit of housekeeping to do. Look for some re-posts from the old blog, as well as some new stuff from teh new issue. And please be sure to let us know what you want to see on our blog!

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