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

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

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

What?…you don’t know how to get started with it? Well now, we can’t have that…pay attention you are about to become America’s next FLOCK STAR!

Flocking powder is made by several companies. It is a very fine fiber medium available in a variety of colors. For my lesson on flocking I am using FUN FLOCK by “STAMPENDOUS.” It’s perfect for creating fuzzy accents for your scrapbook pages, cards, or home décor projects. It can even be mixed with glitter adding a sparkling bold edge to your stamped images, die cuts or chipboard.

The simplest technique for applying FUN FLOCK is by making use of The Glue Pad by Tusienko Products and following these easy steps:

1.) Using your Glue Pad just as you would an ink pad, stamp your image on your desired project.

2.) Sprinkle FUN FLOCK on the image.

3.) Press slightly.
4.) Let dry briefly.
5.) Gently tap off excess flocking powder.

6.) Let dry completely.

This technique can be used for free hand or stencil “drawing” with a Zig two way glue pen. Filling in specific areas of a stamp by “coloring” it in with the glue pen is a great option for a touch of texture anywhere. Try it for bunny tails, flower centers, baby animals, or any other application that needs a bit of softness. You can also flock specific areas of patterned paper by employing the same method.

Another method for applying FUN FLOCK is to make use of some great products offered by several manufacturers such as Making Memories or Doodlebug. The double adhesive stickers are letters, shapes, phrases, flowers, flourishes and many more!

1.) Apply the double faced adhesive sticker to your project.
2.) Peel off top layer of sticker.
3.) Sprinkle FUN FLOCK on the image.
4.) Press slightly.
5.) Gently tap off excess flocking powder.

Die cut accents love FUN FLOCK! One of my personal favorites is QuicKutz. They are great for cards, so cute on scrap book pages and super versatile. Basically it’s the same simple process for flocking as in example one.

1.) Cut out desired accent.
2.) Cover surface with glue. (for my example I simply pressed my die cut firmly onto my Glue Pad)
3.) Sprinkle with FUN FLOCK.
4.) Press gently.
5.) Dry briefly.
6.) Tap off excess.
7.) Assemble die cut image if necessary or use as is.

To intensify the color or coverage of FUN FLOCK another technique is to heat emboss and apply the flocking to the liquid embossing powder.

1.) Stamp image or color in image with embossing ink pad.
2.) Sprinkle embossing powder in the same color as FUN FLOCK.
3.) Apply heat to melt embossing powder.
4.) When melted, sprinkle FUN FLOCK onto surface.
5.) Wait to cool.
6.) Tap off excess.

Chipboard loves FUN FLOCK. It has a chunkier nature on the page, and with its’ abundance of shapes, sizes and letters the end product can be perfectly personalized to accent any project. I have found through my quality adventures with chipboard and flocking it has a better overall look if the chipboard is painted the same color as your flocking over it. Any acrylic paint will do, but I really love the quick drying Making Memories brand. I find the same is true when using chipboard and glitter. The color naturally intensifies with the undercoat of paint!

Now that you are a FLOCK STAR, let me share a few helpful hints I have discovered along the way.

1.) I love the Craft Mat to work on with flock. It makes it easy to pick up and scoot the excess right back in the jar.
2.) Test your colors, before applying to your project. I really like sour apple green on pink, but it barely showed up. Lesson learned…test it first.
3.) When using die cut accents, use the same color cardstock as you are going to flock with, it gives a better overall appearance to the finished accent.
4.) Glue dots make fun flower centers covered in FUN FLOCK or as a dotted flocked accent.
5.) Red Tacky Tape can be used as a great flocked border or ribbon-type accent along a scrap book page, card, or project and it is super easy!
6.) EXPERIMENT! FUN FLOCK is inexpensive, comes in a big variety of colors and a small jar lasts a LONG TIME!

Hey, hey…now YOU’RE A FLOCK STAR!

I sure hope you all are inspired to add this fun and versatile product as a staple of your scrap book and paper crafting supply cabinet or tote. Hope you share your work in the Memory Zone Scrapbook Store’s gallery!
Kelly Crowl

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

]]> http://www.thememoryzone.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=158 http://www.thememoryzone.com/blog/?p=112 http://www.thememoryzone.com/blog/?p=112#comments Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:08:43 +0000 Charity Sorrells http://www.thememoryzone.com/blog/?p=112 One of my ALL time favorite adhesives is Creative Imagination’s Scrapper’s Spray. It’s the best thing since slices bread! It’s first intention…..adhering vellum without all the see-through mess. Scrapper’s Spray is a totally invisible adhesive spray.
It’s temporarily re-positionable, which means when you first spray it on, if you didn’t get it on your project at the perfect angle you can lift it off and reposition your piece before the adhesive dries. AND…it’s also photo safe!

I wanted to show you my favorite use for Scrapper’s Spray. Some people will not mess with acrylic. Mini albums, embellishments, transparencies, overlays, see-through products and so on because they don’t like the way traditional adhesive shows through the see-through products. Creative Imaginations Scrapper’s Spray is the ultimate solution.

I love to use this spray on my mini’s so I started there.
Get yourself a misc. box to spray inside of. You do NOT want to get this spray on your counter, table or floors. It WILL NOT come off. My fave…a clean pizza box i picked up at the local pizza store. And grab some Grafix Clear Craft Plastic sheets at the store. They come in a pack of four measuring 12×12. These can easily be cut down to the shape or size you like. I cut my sheet in half to make a 6×12 mini school album.

Place the paper or project piece in your box and spray the adhesive on the side of the piece you would like adhered to your project.

Gently adhere your paper/project piece to the acrylic sheet and make sure it’s lined up around the edges. If it’s not, gently pull the paper/project piece away and try again. Rub it all down to get out all the air bubbles. You will have a perfectly clear finish.

This not only works wonders on acrylic, but I also love to use it when I’m adhering paper to my chipboard mini albums. One can of spray has gone as far as making 3 large mini albums! It’s well worth the cost.

Tell me what you think. Have you ever used Scrapper’s Spray?
I’d love to hear from you!
toodles…
Charity

And if that wasn’t enough she even organized her basement for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And here is the video reveal:

Thanks for looking…can’t wait to see if this inspires anyone to do the same.  Please post up some pictures for us to see your rooms too. New or Old,Big or Little… We would love to see all your rooms. So you can inspire someone too. Lots of luck in your remodel projects.

I have to tell you …it’s been a while since we’ve played with paint! Can you say March? My how time flies…..

So here we are again and I’ve pulled out my tried but true staple….Paint! And why don’t you save a few of those negative spaces the next time you cut shapes out with your Cricut machine. You’ll find out they can be recycled by using your paint.

So…here’s what you’ll need:

* paint
* paint brush
*negative space from your Cricut cutouts
* the project you want to paint on

I had cut out some clouds for an earlier project. And found the negative space of the Cricut cuts to be very inspiring. So I pulled out my paint and decided I would use the negative space as a template on my next project.

I laid the template from the Cricut cut-out on my project and gently filled in the space with paint. If you’re afraid of getting under the template, just use a temporary adhesive {like Herma Dots repositionable adhesive} on the under side of the template and wipe it off when the paint dries.

It’s fast…it’s fun…..and darn it, some people just like PAINT! You can even use this technique on cards. And with all the shapes and alphabets that you can get on one Cricut cart….your paint template options are almost endless!

Don’t forget to show me what you’ve come up with. I’d love to see your version in the gallery!
Cheers!
charity

This tool has all the months, numbers, words, cute little holiday icons and there’s even a boy and girl icon! Too cool! You can change the ink color too {6 different shades to choose from}.

If you follow along the handy dandy PhraseMaker Key you can adjust your labels to hundred’s of different versions.

I also picked up the designer labels for my PhraseMaker Tool. The tool comes with a set of white labels for you to play around with, but they seemed to smudge very easy and I soon replaced them. If you need your labels to dry quickly, try using your heat gun for a couple of seconds before you put your projects in page protectors or even away.

I used the blank labels on the outside of my High School mini album and used the printed labels on the inside. Labels are always a trendy addition to any project!

If you haven’t tried this tool out yet, I’d say it’s a definite must try! Sometimes you never realize what secret goodies are hiding in those funny shaped tools!
Enjoy!!
charity

So remember to treat Dad like a Rock Star when Father’s Day hits. And don’t skimp on the glitter.

{oh, you want to know what I used on my project? Sure. Doodlebug sugar-coated paper for one. Piggy Tales, Quickutz RockStar alphabet, the AccuCut machine and some Reminisce. Thanx for asking! Don’t forget to share your Father’s Day cards or projects with us}
Cheers!
charity