and use it as inspiration for a scrapbook layout?

You can find these images all over the web in photo galleries, home decor sights, and magazine ads. They come from graphic design used in blogs and web pages too. Ever looked at a package you just purchased, or greeting card and  found your creative juices tingling at the end of your fingers?

You don’t have to be limited to perusing the scrapbook magazines for inspiration {even though I’m hopelessly addicted to every page between each cover and would NEVER tell you to not buy one}.

You can use any inspiration you find attractive and interpret it to a project of your own. Say for instance this photo….

I was inspired by all of the plates on the wall and turned it into this…

Hopefully if you haven’t already discovered the would of Graphic Design as inspiration, you will be seeing things in a whole new perspective from now on. Happy discovery!

Charity

I found the cleverest idea to stick in a backpack or as a teacher appreciation gift… Handmade Notebooks. But these are not your average notebooks. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Zutter Bind it All & wire
  
• empty cereal {or other cool} boxes
• heavy duty paper cutter
• notebook paper or copy paper
• scrapbook paper & stickers

You take your favorite cereal or product boxes and cut them down to just the right size {This will be based on how big the box is or your favorite part of the packaging design}.

After you have your front and back box covers cut down, put them in your Zutter Bind It All and add your holes. Trim down the inside paper of your choice to the same size as your covers and run that through the Bind It All also. You’ll have to do this in small quantities with the paper.

Before you put the whole thing together, you can cover the inside of your covers with scrapbook paper and embellish as desired.

Here’s the finished project!

Hope you’ve enjoyed this one. And feel free to share your ceral box creations with us in our gallery!

So the weekend started with the early opening of The Memory Zone Scrapbook Store and many took advantage of this, getting their first fix of some NEW products.  After a quick shopping spree they were rewarded with a pack of money to head to “Vegas” with.  When they arrived at the Knights of Columbus Hall…VEGAS is what they got…Marlene greated them, all DECKED OUT, with a Dice Necklace, some more ”casino cash” and directions down the strip to their assigned hotel for check in.  Each table was assigned a Vegas Hotel Name, making locating your seat or group easier.   Quickly they all unloaded the cars, with many trips, and set up shop.  All were delighted to be at an 8 foot table, which is quite a bit of space until you see what all they bring in…the funny thing is, many brought extra tables to set up.

All of our meals were catered by Christo’s and the food was fabulous, which is what I hear from folks everytime they visit Vegas… This proved to be a GREAT set up…Barb didn’t have to do dishes and I got to mingle this year, we were not trapped in the kitchen!

Saturday we filled the day with demonstrations and make & takes.  We featured several new product lines…3 Bugs in a Rug new products - Snips & Snails, Happy Bird-day, Butterfly Kisses, & Home Grown.  We also rolled out BoBunny’s New Class Kits - Life is Good Beach Word Book, Paw-sitively Word Book, I Love My Dog Word Book, Heart & Home Word Book, Friends To The End, Boys Will Be Boys, and Play Hard Layouts. We introduced many to the Bazzill In Stitch’z Line, Fiskars Border Punches, Crafter’s Workshop Templates, Glimmer Mist and MORE!  I have to say, it was GREAT walking around after a demo or make & take and see folks using the technique or products that they had just learned about!

Saturday Night we brought in some FUN Entertainment….3 black jack dealers and tables for folks to take a chance at their luck.  Many were hesitant….ok ALL were hesitant, but easily persuaded when more PLAY MONEY is dangled in their faces, the hesitance stemmed from fear…no one knew how to play Black Jack, but no worries, Mike, T.Jay and Michelle our special guest dealers were gracious at teaching and before long they were all placing bets like they had been gambling for years!

All weekend the girls were collecting PLAY money….to be able to buy auction items…I am NO AUCTIONIER!  But we had a great time!  The reviews were wonderful and I appreciate all the feedback.  We did vote on the Theme for a next retreat and DISNEY wins.  Be sure to watch for us to make an announcement about future retreat opportunities.

On a more serious note….

Many of you are aware that each year we have a FUND RAISING event at our retreat.  We have been known to raise money and donate to many different organizations including National MS Society, Pediatrics Chrones Research as well as specific individuals that are facing tragedy or life threatening situations.  This year we chose the Twellman Family as our benefit recipient.   Nick Twellman is a 16 year old boy who is facing MANY MANY challenges right now. You can read about Nick and his family by visiting www.caringbridge.org (enter nicktwellman) in the search, no spaces, …Michelle, Nicks mom is a customer of ours, she loves scrapbooking her family, but right now, she is just praying that she will have years with her son to continue to take pictures that she will someday be able to sit down and scrapbook again.   Please pray for the Twellman family as you pray for all those special people in your life today.

In summary…every year, we do our best to put on what we think is the BEST DARN Scrapbooking event around and based on the feedback, I think we nailed it!  Thank you!

We’re seeing it as the new trend in scrapbooking/papercrafting,

reduce~ reuse~ recycle!

Using the packaging your scrapbook supplies came in for your projects. Some companies are taking extra steps to make their packaging useful.

Take for instance packaging from a Reminisce line. When I opened the 3D stickers I found a very cool “No Parking” sign on the inside. The wheels in my head started turning and I automatically start thinking mini album. I was lucky enough to have two sticker packages with the same design and now I have my front and back covers.

I cut all the pieces down to the size of the no parking signs and altered the front cover to get the desired look for my theme. I was even able to run the sign through my printer to add some extra title work. {note to self: let the ink dry before you start working on your project or the ink will smear} I then used my Bind It All by Zutter to bind everything together. Now how easy was that? A cute mini and I saved the environment too! My kids would be proud.

Want to see more of this project… check out the TMZ gallery!

Toodles!
charity

If you haven’t picked up a copy of Ali Edwards idea book…..

“Sharing Your Story
Recording Life’s Details with Mini Albums”

I recommend you should. If you’re like me, you ADORE making mini albums. If you’re not like me, you don’t know where to start! From the very beginning Ali Edwards shares in UN-overwhelming detail the who , what, where, and when of mini’s. You can start with Record-Keeping, Memorabilia or Collections. You can be creative with Gift Albums, Collaborative Books & Books for Kids. There are other areas covered in this idea book as well. And if you still have questions before you get started on your own mini….Ali covered that area too with “Tips and Solutions!”  With questions answered like, “How do I fit multiple photos in my album?” or  “I’m not sure how to fit everything I want to say. Any Advice?” how could you go wrong!?

I decided to cover the 2008 year with a Seasons mini album. I started with an All My Memories 4×4 album and a couple of sheets of coordinating double-sided paper to help keep the theme/style flowing. I gathered photos from throughout the year and journaled about our events. Simple enough to get a whole years-worth of living in a compact, creative solution! You can start your new year off making a few of these mini’s for family and friends for the next holiday season. And by keeping your ideas “mini,” they will be easy to keep up with or quick to finish!

Toodles!
Charity

Yes, it’s true!

And February 21st TMZ will demo Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and those lovely Screens they’ve created to use along with their product.

Design Team Member, Kelly Crowl, has shown you how to use Glimmer Mist on previous posts. But wouldn’t you love to come in and see it up close and personal? We’ll be showing you how  Glimmer Mist Screens work, and how you can even use other masks along with Glimmer Mist to add a little spice to your projects. Come in to see this finished layout and see this technique in person February 21, 2009.
Hope to see you there!
Charity

Faye says, “In this book I share my solutions for what to do with photographs that capture and communicate details of our daily lives- the photos that reflect how we live, who we are and what we value.”
The thing I love about Faye Morrow Bell’s book is that she reminds you about your heritage of scrapbooking, The Basics. Paper, adhesive and photos! You can go a long with with these things and some story telling too. Does the journaling need to be long? NO. But if you’re up to the challenge, this is a great idea book for getting started.

Faye also has a way with sparking the handmade bug inside every scrapper. You DO NOT need to be artsy to run with her ideas. Faye encouraged my  need for incorporating oddball items into my papercrafts with her Marine Corps Marathon Mini-Book. I love to grab goodies from the desk drawer and use them in my handmade mini albums. She made a simple mini album using the Basics and a few extras. You can see more pages from the mini HERE.

I can’t wait to get started on my own version of Faye’s Altered Books! I picked up an art book from the discard pile at the library for this one.

Stop by the The Memory Zone to pick up your own copy today!
Toodles!
Charity

CHA starts January 26th and I am sorry to say we are not attending, but no worries, we are already flipping through flyers, catalogs and NEW products, making sure we find a GREAT assortment for you.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner if you have not been in lately, we really have some GREAT Valentine’s products available….I would say my favorite right now is the “Heart Attack” line by We R Memory Keepers….it is so fun!  We we also have the Making Memories-Love Notes, Reminisce-Be Mine,

Well, I just wanted to make sure you all new we were still here, working hard, every day to make sure we can continue “Bringing you more, than just a scrapbook store!”

Rhonda

So we have the countdown going at my house, 9 days until we go to Sesame Street Live! I think I am more excited to go than Mikey. I was debating on if he would sit through the whole thing. I tested him by taking him to see “Bolt” at the movie theater. He did excellent! He consumed a whole bag of greasy popcorn and sat in one spot. So on to the show we go!

So as a scrapbooking mama, I am clearing my SD card to get some awesome photos to scrapbook. EK Success has lots of cute Sesame street embellishments and papers you can find at The Memory Zone. But what I am most excited about is the NEW Sesame Street Cricut cartridges that arrived this week. I was lucky enough to get to try it out at the CHA convention back in July. Super cute die cuts, perfect for the layouts I will get to design after the show.

If you aren’t familiar with the Cricut or Cricut Expression, stop in at the Memory Zone for a demo. If you have a Cricut machine and need some pointers, check out our calendar for some fun classes.

Stay tuned for a preview of the Sesame Street Cricut cartridge and my layouts following the show.

by Heather Wolff

1. To scribble aimlessly, especially when preoccupied.
2. To kill time.

v.tr.

To draw (figures) while preoccupied.

n.

A figure, design, or scribble drawn or written absent-mindedly.

I’m not sure that the definition is “SPOT ON” when it comes to scrapbooking.  I like to think that I am totally occupied while I have my scrapbooking products sitting right in front of me.  There are so many HOT Trends when it comes to the world of scrapbooking, and “Doodling” is becoming one of the HOTTEST!  Why? You might ask.  Because it is easy!  Anyone can do it…and I mean ANYONE!  I tend to be drawn to the techniques that are simple.

Doodling can be as simple as your own handy work or hand drawn dash and dots, made using a photo safe, archival pens and more.  My favorite way to add doodling to a page is using these wonderful templates made by The Crafter’s Workshop.  Wow!  It seems like not so long ago that they had only a few to choose from and now they have so many that it is hard to choose and more releases expected to ship in January.

Why do I like these templates so well?  For one thing there are so many different designs to choose from.  Some are themed while many are versitle enough to use anywhere.  They are inexpensive, reusable and can be used in conjunction with each other for additional designs.  But wait, don’t limit your self to just doodling with pens.  Use chalks or water colors for a more subtle look.  Inks and Glimmer Mist can be a great medium as well.  And if you have ever seen any of The Memory Zone Designers Work, you will notice they use them for stitching templates, as well.

Be sure to check out entire selection of Doodling Templates in store or online.  For even more information on The Crafter’s Workshop Templates take a peak at what they have to say. Then grab some templates and get started….and HAVE FUN!

by Rhonda

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