Just Dandy Scrapbooking!

I totally adored the original Just Dandy collection, but this newly-released re-mix reminded me of how totally neutral it is! It has such yummy colors and textures.

Remember, when completing your pre-assembled pages, the 8x8 Grid Ruler comes in really handy.
1. Place the ruler over a photo matte and measure the size. (For example, 3-1/4x4-1/2".)
2. Subtract 1/4" from each measurement. (3x4-1/4")
3. Hover the ruler over the photo that you plan to use to ensure that the image will crop nicely down to the final size.
4. Trim the photo and adhere.

If you're still a little foggy on how this works, review this video:


Using this method resulted in a set of ten pages completed in less than two hours.

And Check out how the completed pages fell into place, accommodating subject material including a cruise, a marathon, outdoor family gatherings, and more. It scraps like a dream! I was also able to include miscellaneous alphabet stickers, thickers and embellishments from past kits in my stash! Use it . . . don't hoard it! :)

Grab your JD collection today for just $22.50 (member pricing).

Happy scrappin'!

Tricia

Celebrating National Scrapbook Day/Month!

Did you know that May 4 is National Scrapbook Day? Well, at Club Scrap, we're designating the entire month of May "(inter)National Scrapbook Month"! Actually, we're going to celebrate all things paper crafting, with dozens of fun activities. Check out the schedule of events below:

Starting on Wednesday, May 1, check out our special landing page for a calendar of Daily Creative Challenges. We've even created a separate sub-forum in the Coffeehouse, where the specifics for the Daily Creative Challenges will take place.

Be sure to join us for a little blog hop action on Saturday, May 4!

On Sunday, May 5, don't miss the Live Chat on our website from 5pm-10pm Central time. Come on over and join the fun!

Mark your calendar for these activities (and many more!) throughout the month of May. See you then!

Creatively yours,

Karen

It's A-Boat Time For A Spoiler

Maybe it's a little teensy bit early for a Cape Cod Kit Spoiler, but you really seem to like them, and it's Friday. This is my day to blog, so I figure it's now or never.

Deb and Rita are feverishly working on packaging the collection and Tricia and I have finished several cards and projects.

The papers and rubber stamps are so much fun to work with!

I've gotta get back to playing working with this kit, but I'll leave you with this Cape Cod greeting card . . .

By the way, if you're not a member about to receive the Club Scrap kit shipping on Wednesday May 1st, it's not too late to SIGN UP!

I 'shore' am glad I got to post what's in store for you this week. Hope you love it!

Kay at Club Scrap

Photo Color Swatch Challenge

My friend Jac Carney, designer extrodinaire here at Club Scrap, just posted a new challenge on the Club Scrap forum. You can read all about it HERE. I thought this idea was really cool, so I decided to play along.

It all started with a photo from 500px.com. Here’s one of the first photos I saw there: http://500px.com/photo/31676911

I not only love the colors, but the overall look of the photo., so I decided to incorporate that photo’s ‘feeling,’ too. I was in one of those ‘artsy’ moods.  I wanted to create something digitally that didn’t look like a typical layout. So I grabbed a photo of a windmill, and two digital backgrounds . . . one from Club Scrap’s Get the Picture collection and the other from Solstice (November 2009’s monthly kit). And I started playing.

I enlarged the photo, blurred it and reduced the opacity so that the Get the Picture background would show through. Then I layered the Solstice background over the right half of the layout and reduced the opacity to get that greenish-yellow glow. I mimicked the broken glass feel with a stamp image of some random text (sorry, not sure which kit it came from, I found it in my brush files!).

Finally, I added the word ‘tranquility’ in white and gave it an overlay style to blend it into the layout a bit.

The result - an artsy looking layout that's cool enough to frame:

I like this challenge ‘cuz it makes me think differently about what I create . And it reminds me that inspiration can come from all sorts of places. So head on over to 500px.com and choose a photo. Then create something wonderful and share it in the challenge thread HERE.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

-Ron

It's a Spring Chorus Blog Hop!

So, last weekend I got to hang out at the Milwaukee at Scrapbook Expo. Since I work at Club Scrap, I really do have all the supplies I need, so I rarely purchase product from other sources. However, I wandered the show floor anyway, just to check out what the other vendors had to offer. I do have a bit of a "thing" for dies and embossing folders, so I picked up a couple of new "toys".

Today's blog hop gave me a chance to play. So I grabbed my new flip-flop die and the coordinating Framelits, along with papers from my Spring Chorus Club Stamp kit, and went to work.

After using the flip-flop die to trim the Light Green, I used white acrylic paint on the floral stamp from the Borders & Backgrounds Unmounted to create a background. Next, I used the Framelits to trim the Yellow panel. Finally, I added a sentiment from the B&B and a few of the rhinestones for a really cute (and simple!) card.

I guess that's what this blog hop is all about. An excuse to get crafty, and to be inspired by what others create. So how about we get started?

Here's a master list of all the blog hop participants:

Club Scrap Creates (you are here)

Pat Huntoon: The Technique Trail

Julie Heyer: Cape Cod Scrapper
Ron Perry: Random Doorways

Roni Johnson: Ink Stains with Roni

Deb Charlesworth: Lift Bridge Cards andCrafts

Deb Weller: Deb Duz Scrappin

Jill Pechauer: Jill P's Place

Tricia Morris: The Efficient Crafter

Hetty Sanders: Craft Chaos

Kay Williamson: Kay's Keepsakes

Cathy Gray: The Artful Gamut

Anne Hunter: Crzymom's Tidbits

Jen Rodgers: Scrap Happy Sisters

Debby Hernandez: Masculine Inspirations

We hope you enjoy the hop. If you see something you like, be sure to leave a friendly comment for the blogger...everyone appreciates feedback!

Your first stop is Pat over at http://www.patstamps.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Creatively yours,

Karen

Reaching the end of your craft . . .

I drove the 100 miles from my childhood home today after doing something I'd been putting off for a while now--clearing out my mom's Wisconsin craft room.

I know it's been a while since she lost her battle with colon cancer, but the gravity of the task struck me when I first entered her untouched room. Shelves upon shelves of beautifully organized supplies, sorted by kit/collection in Iris drawers on wire shelving units awaited my attention. On her desk were three card bases ready to become greeting cards made by her hands with love. It was difficult to clear the surface. I felt so near to her at that moment, and I didn't want to disturb the memory. The passage of time has made it easier than it would have been.

Sorting through the supplies and deciding what to do with it all will be a task on my list for quite some time, but inevitably my thoughts shifted to my own craft cave at home and all of the riches within. How will I prepare for the day when I can leave it all behind in exchange for the incredible crafting opportunities that await me in eternity?

I'm not really sure that I have a point to this blog entry other than the following thoughts:

1. I really, really miss my mom. Especially today.
2. One day, someone will have to dispense with the crafting supplies that we've accumulated. I hope I don't leave him/her with too much of a mess!
3. One day, brothers and sisters will gather around a precious handmade scrapbook to remember, smile, laugh and cry. It's what we did today.

Life is short. Scrap on.
Tricia

Sneaking a peek at the Photo Keeper

It's Friday April 19th and SO close to Club Stamp shipping day on Monday! Once again, I just have to share what's in store for those of you receiving the Club Stamp Project!

Check out how this project unfolds . . .

When Tricia created a prototype of this sweet Photo Keeper Project, I'm pretty sure we all knew it had to be a Club Stamp Project sooner than later. it's like a triptych frame that holds several photos in each of the three frame locations. So, it features both display and storage qualities.

We had a lot of fun decorating this Photo Keeper while putting together the instructional Project Card.

Here are Tricia's hands, in action now....

Opened or all closed up, it's a fun project! AND, my favorite thing - there are going to be paperless versions of the project kit available right away, too!

One more little tidbit about the pic below before I go. 

Isn't the torn paper border totally cool around this rubber stamped quote!?!? Tricia just wasn't givin' up on this technique when decorating the front of this Photo Keeper. I have a feeling she'll be sharing more about that in the future!

Don't forget how easy it is to become a Club Stamp member by clicking HERE and receive fun projects each and every month!

Editor Note: link to available Spring Chorus Collection items added 6/13/13 jmh**

Enjoy!

Kay at Club Scrap

Digital 'Die Cuts'

I love die cuts! I own 1 manual and 3 electronic die cut machines and hundreds of dies & cartridges for those machines! But the truth is that lately, I do more digital crafting than paper crafting. So, I got to thinking, can you mimic the look of die cuts in Photoshop?

Duh! Of course you can! And it’s easy! (no really, it IS easy!)

Lemme show you…

1. Start with a digital stamp image. Bold images tend to work better, but don’t be afraid to experiment - you may be pleasantly surprised with the results. I’m using the ‘Viewmaster’ stamp from the Club Scrap Digital™ 'Get the Picture' Collection.

2. Grab a digital background - this will become your ‘paper’ for the die cut.
3. Place the stamp in a layer above the background.
4. Click on the stamp layer’s thumbnail in the Layers Palette. You’l see ‘marching ants’ around the stamp image.

5. Hide the stamp layer by clicking on that layer’s ‘eye’ icon in the Layers Palette.
6. Click on the background layer to make it active.
7. Choose ‘Inverse’ from the Select menu.
8. Press the ‘Delete’ key. you’re left with a ‘cut out’ of the image.

But, it’s a little flat looking. Let’s apply a bit of digi magic to make it look like a die cut.

1. Choose ‘Deselect’ from the Select menu (Ctrl-D on a PC, Command-D on a Mac); this will get rid of the ‘marching ants.’
2. Click on the ‘Layer Style’ button at the bottom of the Layers Palette (the button has ‘fx’ on it).
3. Choose Inner Shadow from the Style pop-up.
4. Apply these settings:

5. Click on the Bevel & Emboss Style and apple these settings:

6. Click OK.

You’ve now given the cut out an ever so slight ‘thickness’ so that it looks like a piece of die cut card stock. See, that wasn’t hard at all!

You can also add a bit of a drop shadow if you’d like, but not too much, since your ‘die cut’ will probably be sitting rather close to the background.

Here are 2 more examples:

From the Bright Lights, Big City Kit

It works with sentiment stamps, too!

So there you have it - an easy way to mimic die-cuts in your digital crafting! Now off you go - give it a try and create something wonderful with your digital ‘die cut.’

Thanks for stopping by.


-Ron

National Scrapbook Day

Celebrate

National Scrapbook Day

2013

Club Scrap Style!

I know it's a bit early, but I'm so excited about our plans for National Scrapbook Day, I just had to share. This year, NSD falls on Saturday, May 4. So, before you go making other plans, I just wanted to tell you we've got big fun in the works. And not just for May 4, but for the entire month!

I can't give away too much just yet, but I can tell you that if you've found yourself feeling "down" lately, due to post-PSL syndrome, we've got the cure for you!

Stay tuned for more news coming soon. We hope you'll join us!

Creatively yours,
Karen

Stencil Technique with Gesso, Ink and Gelato!

The warehouse was buzzing yesterday with the latest Club Scrap Lite kit heading out the door, and inside those sweet little pizza boxes is another fabulous stencil.

When putting together the ALSB pages for the month, I thought it would be splendid to add some of the fern images to the Dark Blue paper, but figured I'd have to find a way to make the ink pop. Enter: Gesso. It's the gesso we made together in the "Creative Concoctions Workshop" at the 2012 Retreat. Fun stuff!

Honestly, I'm a little wiped out from writing LOTS of instructions lately, so I'm going to take the more visual route to expand upon the technique article included in the latest edition of the Scrap Rap Magazine (see page 11). Kay and I snuck back into the studio again with the camera and let 'er go.

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.



And a look at the finished layout:

If you need some supplies, here are a few quick links:
Club Scrap Lite Kit
Peridot Ink
Ink Applicator
Spring Chorus Unmounted Stamps
Gelatos

Thanks for stopping by . . .
Tricia












Editor's note: links removed for Spring Chorus Stencil due to unavailability 6/13/13 jmh**

It's April Lite Spoiler time!

Monday is April 15th. Do you know what that means?  

Yeah, income taxes are due, BUT most importantly, it's Club Scrap Lite shipping day!

Here are a couple of peeks at the upcoming kit shipping to Club Scrap Lite members on Monday.

Tricia has a great set of eight completed pages ready to go into the online Scrap Rap, and we'll have a couple of new Club Scrap Lite articles for sharing there, as well.


Don't forget how easy it is to become a Club Scrap Lite Member (if you aren't already)! It truly is such a great value.

The boxes are packed and ready to go out the door. Hope you love it!

Kay at Club Scrap

Coloring Digital Stamp Graphics

Ya know, just because all of those cool digital stamp graphics are black, doesn’t mean that you have to leave ‘em that way! Oh, I know that sometimes that stark black is a great contrast to your layout or card, but it can be a lot of fun to color these puppies, too! Not surprisingly, there are a few different ways to color graphics, just like many other tasks in digital scrapping.

For this tutorial, I’ve used the same stamp image from the Get the Picture Digital Collection each time, but picked different coloring methods. Just pick the one you like best!

Fill Color
1. Choose a graphic and drag it onto a new layer in your layout.
2. Go to the Layer Palette and CTRL-Click (on a PC) or Command-Click (on a Mac) on the thumbnail of that layer containing the stamp graphic. You will see ‘marching ants’ around the graphic, letting you know that the graphic is selected.
3. Create a new layer in the Layer Palette.
4. From the Edit Menu, choose Fill and then Use a Color.
5. Select a color and click OK.
6. Hide or delete the original stamp graphic layer.
Note: It’s important to color a blank layer rather than the actual stamp graphic layer, especially when the graphic has different areas of opacity. This will ensure that you get a true representation of the color you selected.

Color Overlay
1. Choose a graphic and drag it onto a new layer in your layout.
2. At the bottom of the Layer Palette, click on the Styles button (the button has ‘fx’ on it). You can also select Layer Styles from the Layers Menu.
3. From the Pop-up Menu, Select Color Overlay.
4. In the Color Overlay Dialog, click on the color swatch. The color picker will open.
5. Choose a color and click OK.

Make a Brush
1. Open a stamp graphic.
2. Select ‘Define Brush Preset’ from the Edit menu. (note, if your graphic is larger than 2500 pixels, you’ll need to resize to a smaller size before you can make a brush.)
3. Give the brush a name and click on okay.
4. Open a new file for your layout.
5. Add a background, as you normally would.
6. Choose a color on the Tool Palette - this will be the color of your stamped image.
7. Create a new Layer in the Layer Palette.
8. Select the Brush tool from the Tool Palette.
9. In the Brush Palette at the top of the screen, select the brush you just created (it will be the last brush on the list).
10. Adjust the size of your brush, as desired.
11. Click once in the new layer to ’stamp’ the brush image.
Because you’ve stamped it in a new layer, you can adjust the size of the graphic if you need to.

So there you have it. Three different ways to color your stamp images. Try it for yourself and create something wonderful!

-Ron

Spring Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Event

OK, let me start by saying that I've had it with this so-called "Spring" weather in Wisconsin.

Rant over. I deleted the short novel that followed the comment above, because the one sentence pretty much covers it.

Speaking of Spring, you're invited to join us for a Weekend of Workshops (WOW) starting on Friday, April 19th, at 7pm.

You can order your workshop kit today, we'll ship it right away (if you like), and we'll get together next Friday night for a casual online chat. After that, you'll find a series of videos that will walk you through Kay's awesome photo easel project, Tricia's 8-pack of cards and gift folio, a series of 10 completed 12x12 pages, and a digital/paper hybrid project. You'll also be able to download printable instructions and a digital collection at that time. It's pretty awesome. Just sayin'.

The collection includes papers, fibers, unmounted rubber, Flutterbys, cutaparts, stencil and a really cool project.

Such pretty fibers!

Kay's awesome Photo Easel Project.

Those Flutterbys make me look like a genius with the sewing machine. I do NOT sew.

Then, for card-making fans. . . you can add the 8-pack of cards/envies and folio to your event.

Cards we'll make together.

And I'll walk you through the making of this cute folio. Just in time for Mother's Day!

But let's say your hubby wants to take you out on a date on Friday, April 19. No problem. Simply click on the link provided when you purchase the collection anytime after the chat, and you'll have full access to everything you need.

I'm accumulating a supply list of things you'll need from home to complete the project, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.

Printed cutaparts in the card-making add-on make life super easy, if that's what you're after.

Such a happy card.

Life is better with glitter glue.

The stencil matches up with the stamp. See that?

Couldn't help myself. Some additional card samples using the stamp/stencil combo.

I really hope to have you join us for our WOW Spring event. Luckily, the weather doesn't even have to cooperate.

Note: If you order the WOW Collection, you will automatically receive the sheet of UM Rubber Stamps.

Excited!

Tricia