Holiday Gift Card Box Tutorial and Video

Happy Tuesday!

Our entire staff will be meeting soon to reflect on 2013 and brainstorm for 2014. We value your thoughts . . . can you take a second and complete a brief survey? We didn't want to pester you with an email today, so I'll just pester you here.

Click here to take survey.

Thank you!

And to thank you for your time, here's a fun little bonus project just in time for gift giving season!

Here's what you'll need:

(I used supplies from the Hopes and Up, Up & Away Collections, but I can imagine this in a year's worth of CS kits!!)

• 6.25x10.75" Outer Case Paper
• (2) 4.5x6" Outer Case Panels
• 1x6" Spine Panel
• 5x8-3/8" Card Pocket Paper
• 1.5x12" Envelope Band
• 2.25x4" Postage Stamp Pocket
• (8) A2 envelopes
• (4) 8.5x11" Papers
• Stuff to decorate eight cards
• Corner Chomper
• Ribbon Closure
• Adhesive and Tape
• Score-Pal
• Scissors

1. Score the 6.25x10.75 Outer Case Paper horizontally at 4.75 and 6". Round outside corners and fold along scorelines to form the case.

2. Round corresponding corners of the 4.5x6" Outer Case panels with the 1/2" setting on the Corner Chomper. Sandwich ribbon closure between the panels and outside of the case before attaching. (Don't be like me and forget to do this.) Nest the 1x6" Spine Panel to the outside spine.

3. Score 2" from each outside edge of the 5x8-3/8" Card Pocket Paper. Make four vertical cuts along the scorelines, stopping at each intersecting score. Fold along scorelines, place adhesive on the outside of the four corner tabs, and fold into a box shape. Attach to the right side of the case.

4. Score 1/2" from one long edge and both short edges of the 2.25x4" Stamp Pocket Paper. Cut at an angle through the intersecting scorelines. Fold to create three flaps and adhere to the inner box.

5. Wrap the 1.5x12" Envelope Band vertically around eight A2 envelopes; secure with tape. Place adhesive on the back of the band and attach to the inside left cover of the case.

6. Score each 8.5x11" paper vertically at 4.25". Trim horizontally at 5.5" to create eight card bases. Decorate notecards with elements from the collection including the 8.5x11" Club Stamp print, Greetings to Go cutaparts, etc. In fact, I didn't even use a single stamp to make my cards today. That was nice, because I'm doing lots of stamping for tomorrow's blog hop.

7. Repeat.

But really. Wouldn't a video be helpful? Kay was kind enough to film the card case-making action. Take five and check it out.

I liked this project because of its simplicity and usefulness. Spread some Club Scrap joy this season to your friends, family and teachers. They'll love it!

Creatively Yours,

Tricia

Retreat Memories 2010 & 2011

Every year Club Scrap hosts wonderfully creative Retreats in Wisconsin!  

In 2010 and then again in 2011, I made that trip and both experiences were beyond my expectations. 

I was blessed this year with the chance to go again and I grabbed it. This will be my first August Retreat and I am so excited to reconnect with old friends and meet new friends from the Club Scrap Community.

Here are some of my fondest memories from October Retreats 2010 & 2011.

2010 Roaring 20's Theme Night

2010 Workshop with Tricia

2010 Visiting GHM (Gotta Have More) Club Scrap Warehouse Shopping

2010 Pajama Party and hanging out with friends

2011 Kay's Workshop

2011 Trip to Club Scrap Warehouse for Champagne Shopping

2011 Receiving gifts during a workshop

Thanks for taking a stroll down Retreat Memory Lane with me.   

I encourage you all to make the trip to Wisconsin, it is truly a once in a lifetime experience.

I have been blessed with 3 once in a lifetimes.

Julie

ALSB'd layouts used:

Layout 1 - 2010 Retreat kits in review

Layout 2 - 2010 Connections Retreat kit

Layout 3 - 2010 Retreat kits in review

Layout 4 - 2010 Connections Retreat kit

Layout 5 - 2012 By The Numbers Retreat kit

Layout 6 - 2011 Girl's Night Out kit

Layout 7 - 2012 Bon Appetit kit

Layout 8 - 2013 Up Up and Away kit

Yet Another Possible Spoiler!!!

Shhh . . . don't show this to Tricia since I'm probably in hot water yet from last Friday's JR Stencil Spoiler excursion, but I just had to show you this little project. It could possibly be a model/prototype/essence of something like an upcoming Club Stamp Project. When you get as excited about Club Scrap paper crafting as I do, it's difficult to keep it to yourself.  Just sayin'.

Here's me . . . lifting the lid off of a handmade wrapped box with my left hand while I take a photo with my right hand.

Take a peek at the little surprise inside. The art hangs down from the inside of the lid. Cool, huh?

I haven't seen a project like this before, so I'm thinking it's a Kay original! It has so many possibilities -- different sized box, other stuff hanging from the lid, etc.

The Love Bites Unmounted Rubber Stamps will aid in my crafting long after Valentine's Day. See how I used the stamp collection images for the inside of this project? It was great for Valentine's Day but will sit out year 'round. I used the awesome Up, Up & Away Stamps on the outside of the box.

Mum's the word to Tricia . . . but I'm pretty sure she's going to like it. Off to hide. Maybe she won't notice.

By the way, hope you had a nice Valentine's Day!

Thanks for looking,

Kay

Stencil Spoiler Alert!

Wow, the beads are blowing off the Club Scrap shelves, what a great bead sale! I am sad to see them go, but will certainly keeping using them in my projects. Club Scrap still has some great seed beads still available in past month's Embellishment Cups, great for paper crafting!

Speaking of using beading in papercrafting......what do 'ya think of beads stitched on this NEW COOL STENCIL???

I grabbed the Cruisin' Embellishment cup from my own stash and put it to work while creating a stenciled card for the upcoming Up, Up and Away! Junior Rap. I just love this stencil and can't wait for the Junior Members to receive it soon. Hey, it's shipping soon, but you still have time to add the Feb Junior Bundle to your March Club Scrap Kit shipment - our new fun way to save some cash on shipping!

The stencil is really fun on its own and will be great for pages and cards, but it's also great for embellishing.

I had to make more than one card using this stencil...stay tuned to the Up, Up & Away! Scrap Rap coming on the 15th for more details!

Have a great weekend! Hope you find some time to be creative!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kay at Club Scrap :)

Facebook Banner Fun (and a Spoiler!)

Hi there, everyone! Ron here with another Thursday digi-idea.

When Facebook updated their site a while back, they added the ability to have a banner on your home page. Many members just upload a photo to display in the banner area, but some folks (both companies and individuals alike) have gotten a bit more creative with their banner. So how about a quick tutorial on how to create your own cool banner?

Okay, before we look at how to create your own banner (or 'cover photo' as it's also known), you need to know that Facebook has published a list of things that you can't do with that banner:

You can't…

• Use it as an ad.
• Include your contact details – i.e., no website address, no phone number, no email, etc. 
• Include pricing or purchase information – i.e., ’40% off…’ or ‘Get yours now at our website…”
• Reference any “user interface element” – i.e.,  you can’t ask for, mention or even use a graphic to point to Like, Share or any other Facebook feature. Facebook even makes special mention that you cannot encourage or incentivize people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines.
• Include calls to action – i.e., ‘Get yours now’ or ‘Tell your friends.’
• Use an image you do not own or have the rights to use, that is false, deceptive or misleading.

Despite the things you can't do, you can still create something that's fun! And don't worry about that last bullet - If you wanna use some elements from a Club Scrap Digital™ kit, Tricia said it's okay - you have the right to use them - just as long as it's for your own personal use on your own page. So no making cover photos with CS® parts and start selling them to make extra craft money!
Let's start with the size: 851 pixels wide x 315 pixels high, 72 ppi and less than 100Kbs in size. (I'm using Photoshop, but these steps should be similar in whatever program you're using.)

Now since all of the CS® digi components have a resolution of 300 ppi, it's a good idea to change the resolution of your file to 300 now - makes working with those pieces a bit easier. Don't worry, we'll change the resolution back to 72 when we're done! To do this, go to Image -> Image size and change the resolution to 300, the pixel width and height will change automatically.

Now here's a 'template' that I created for the Cover Photo. You'll notice that it has a red box in the lower left - that's where your profile photo will actually cover part of the banner, so you'll probably want to leave that area blank with you design your cover, since it will end up being hidden anyway. In Photoshop, I keep that red box as a separate layer - you'll see why later on.

Now that we've gotten the tedious stuff out of the way, let's get creative! I'm using February's Up, Up, & Away digital kit for this (yes, I got permission to post a spoiler today!).

1. Pick a background, any background. I chose the blue one, just 'cuz I like blue, but you can pick something else if ya want.

2. Drag it on to the Facebook canvas - in Photoshop, if you hold the 'Shift' key down while you drag, it will automatically center itself.

3. I want to give it a little more visual texture, so I'm going to add one the overlays - cool, huh?

4. Time for an embellishment - I added this really cool steampunk balloon (believe it or not, Jac constructed this out of digital elements - she's so talented!).

5. And maybe a ribbon and bow - with shadows, of course! (but that's another lesson for another time)

6. One last embellie, I think - a word balloon (see, I'm keeping a balloon theme here, folks!) from the Comics kit with "Up, Up & Away" inside - positioned so that it looks like the profile photo is speaking :)

7. Remember I said that I'd do something with that red layer? Well, it's time! I'll turn it white and add a fuzzy shadow all around so that the profile photo will 'glow' just a bit.

Once you're happy with your banner, save it in the program's native format (that would be a PSD file for Photoshop users) so that you can use it as a starting point later to build a new one. Then merge the layers and change the resolution back to 72, and save it as a JPG (you might need to reduce the quality of the JPG to make sure it's less than 100Kb in size). Last step - log-in to Facebook and go to your home page; click on the 'change cover' button and upload your new creation!

That's it for today - now go and create a Facebook Cover of your own - I can't wait to see what you create!