Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Challenge: Hearts!

Hi guys!
Can you believe that Valentine's day is this weekend? And if you have children at school, and are really on top of the ball, you probably already have your projects done! :) But for those who don't, I'd love to challenge you to make a project, card or layout with HEARTS on it! It doesn't have to be Valentine-ish but it has to have hearts! Big hearts, little hearts, one or many- please share your project with us at our Flickr group! 

Here's a layout I made for the challenge, lots of little hearts and using the new Anthology line from Studio Calico!

And a card that I made for my husband last year:
And an older layout I made with hearts as a focal point:
I was peeking through the Flickr group and these projects caught my eye! Amazing and inspiring! People, there's still time to make cute Valentine's projects! :) This is just amazing, Monika!

This is just beautiful, Alexandra s.m.! Unexpected Valentine color and I just love the texture beneath the heart cut out.

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with! :)

Ten Notable Trends at CHA

As I fought off the sleepies at LAX yesterday while waiting for my plane to board, I started a list of things that really stuck in my mind from CHA. I'm convinced that it's impossible to see everything on the floor even if one has a strict schedule and route, but half the fun is building in some wandering time anyway. I like lists of ten, so I worked on my list until I had ten items on it and then I took a little nap. I'm not too proud to sleep in public. : )

Without further delay, here is my list.

1. Hello, Pennant Banners. 

I love pennant banners, so it was especially serendipitous that I saw approximately 8 billion of them at the show. OK, OK, so maybe not that many, but it was exciting all the same.

 

October Afternoon, Making Memories, The Girls' Paperie, American Crafts, AdornIt, Jenni Bowlin, Studio Calico, Canvas Home Basics, Maya Road, Karen Foster, We R Memory Keepers

This is just a sampling. Is there a meeting where everyone gets together and decides this kind of thing?

2. Ohayo Gozaimasu, Nihon. (Read: Good morning, Japan.)

Japanese cute has reached the CHA floor. Are you familiar with the zakka movement? Part of its charm can be found in things that are two parts cute and one part kitsch. A good example of what I'm talking about can be found in the book Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo. Or, in some of these photos.

K & Company, Doodlbug, October Afternoon, Little Yellow Bicycle, We R Memory Makers, EK Success

3. Tools, Reinvented.

The show had a back-to-basics feel to me in a lot of ways, but not in a boring, humdrum kind of way. More in a "what can we do to stretch the functionality of x product or make it more exciting again" kind of way. One such example we found of this? The many new punches offered by EK Success. Just when you thought you'd figured out all the ways to punch paper, they've figured out some more.

This doesn't really do a good job representing how many punches were on this wall, but it gives you an idea. All the miniature lanterns are made out of punched paper.

4. Tools, Improved. 

Another trend we noticed was to take existing tools and make them better. (Well, maybe this isn't really a trend as much as normal business practice. But you know what I meant.) The most noticeable example of this was the new and improved hands free Slice cutting system by Making Memories.

I don't personally own a cutting system, though I have to say I was awfully jealous when Marnie WON one. I might have to get one, too, one of these days. The Slice does some really cool things:

This giant mobile was made with a Slice. I have visions of someone at Making Memories being chained to a desk while they sliced all these butterflies. I have a very active imagination. : )

5. Fabric For All

A number of scrapbooking companies (Basic Grey and Cosmo Cricket are the first to come to mind) are turning their delightful patterned papers into licensed fabric lines these days. We saw evidence that this isn't the only crossover on the horizon between the worlds of People Who Use Paper and People Who Use Fabric. Fabric was everywhere we looked—and we liked it.

Little Yellow Bicycle, My Mind's Eye, K & Company, Canvas Home Basics, Claudine Hellmuth's adorable sticky-back canvas purse, American Crafts

6. The Influence of Etsy

There were a few instances where I had the glorious feeling that if I closed my eyes for a minute and opened them up again, I'd be standing inside an Etsy shop. Companies are paying attention to the handmade movement and bringing elements of it to the scrapbooking world. EK Success seems to have really tapped into this phenomena (doesn't hurt to have Martha on your team) but there were other places that are seamlessly bridging the two worlds.

EK Success, Pebbles, and more EK Success. 

7. Staying Home

If I hear one more person start a sentence with "In the current economy" my head might explode. But in this instance, there's only one way to say it: In the current economy, people are staying home more. I saw a handful of travel lines (Making Memories always does this well) but there were far more new products devoted to or inspired by the time we spend at home. Interesting to see how current events shows up in chipboard and stickers.

Cosmo Cricket, Little Yellow Bicycle, a laundry decor sign from AdornIt Carolee's Creations (Marnie is trying to look stern about the laundry rules, not mad that I was taking her picture), EK Success, and a little more AdornIt.

8. Made in the U.S.A.

This was completely an after-the-fact observation, but I had three very interesting conversations with people about how their companies manufacture their products in the U.S. I don't know if this is a trend or not, but it was fun to learn more.

I had a great time chatting with company co-owner Ewunike Jackson and design team member Simone Pursiful of Clear & Simple Stamps. Their stamps are manufactured in the U.S. out of clear photopolymer, and they offer a huge product line. They're a relatively new and small company, but definitely one to watch. Another made-in-the-U.S.A. outfit is AdornIt Carolee's Creations; that's me with my fellow Big Picture Scrapbooking teacher Georgana Hall, the president of the company. It's a family operation—even Georgana's dad is involved; he cut the beautiful metal scrollwork that graced their booth. Finally, I learned from Studio Calico co-owner Greg Foster that their new lines of paper are printed down the road from their office. 

9. Haiti's Presence

It was heartening to see people wearing Craft Hope for Haiti logos on their nametags and lapels, and even more so when we learned that Lark Books is currently editing a book about the organization Craft Hope and was able to rush a chapter about the efforts to help Haiti through their special Etsy store (which, by the way, has raised over $27,000 since the earthquake to donate to Doctors Without Borders). 

We had a wonderful conversation with Nicole from Lark Books, who told us more about the book and showed us a preview (it will be out in August). 

We also spotted a sign at the booth of My Little Shoebox that pledged a donation of every order placed at CHA. Every little bit helps!

10. Friendly Faces and Friendly Atmosphere

Tina, Marnie and I really noticed a friendly atmosphere present at the show this year. Scrapbooking—and hobbies in general—have been shaken up a bit in the past year or two, but we saw example after example of good, solid customer service and old-fashioned friendliness. The people who love scrapbooking and aren't in it just for the money (though of course the money is important, too) are landing on their feet with a thousand ideas of how to continue introducing innovation and injecting creativity into everything they offer. That's the best trend of all, don't you think?

Stay tuned tomorrow for Marnie's wrap-up! Thanks for reading this week.

CHA Eye Candy, Day Three

Hello again from Anaheim! Today is day three and our last day here.  We've had a very busy and productive three days - talking with manufacturers and seeing many friends.  It's always a very full day and we're exhausted, but also very satisfied that we've done what we came to do. 

So, without further ado, below are our ten favorites from today. Sort of like a Ten on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, and maybe more like 11 or 12:

 

We loved these birds cut from patterned paper in the EK Success booth. We've noticed that so many booths have displayed projects and ideas that are do-able and cute and very Etsy-esque. 

And they are releasing a new line of decorating paper sheets for lining drawers or tea trays or shelves. Very vintage-y and a great way to add color to a room.

We had a great time talking with Layle Koncar at Basic Grey and catching glimpses of Kelly Goree doing her make-and-take magic. We loved the Basics line at Basic Grey:

 

Lovely neutral-ish papers in white, cream and kraft. Love the lines and graphs! And this was Elizabeth's favorite paper from today from BG's new Green at Heart line:

 

Doodlebug is one of my favorite companies (my obsession with their Frills is still very strong) and we loved their Feeling Groovy line with all the rainbows:

 
 
We loved meeting with the Studio Calico group in their new booth and the sneak peek at their new Anthology line. Their products are so unique and inspired and their design team knows how to work it:

 

 

And then right next door to the SC people was this tiny booth with a totally awesome product:

Japanese tapes in a variety of colors, patterns and widths. Very delish.

We came across a newer company with a great line of canvas and burlap products for scrapbooking and home decor, Canvas Home Basics:

 
  

(Marnie is our adorable model here. I still can't believe we're finally all here and that our time together is almost up. Trying not to be too sad about that just yet.)

And then we headed back over to the Making Memories booth to make a necklace make-and-take and found out that...

...Marnie won a Slice!  Yeah Marnie!

Then we saw this adorable Advent pennant project at the Maya Road booth and some adorable pennant stamps.  Have we mentioned how much we're loving all the pennant and garland products and projects we've seen at this show? So cute.

Then we saw the adorable Claudine Helmuth at her booth demonstrating some of her mediums and paint products:

 

She also has these packs of sticky-back canvas material that she used to make this purse. She is so creative:

We've had been such a great time here at the show and Marnie, Elizabeth and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time together. We've got a lot to do in the next several months and we're so excited about what's to come.  Here's wishing them both safe travels tomorrow as they head back to their families and catch up on their sleep.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Giveaway Day and for a CHA wrap-up from Elizabeth on Friday.

Cheers!

 

Eye Candy, Day One.

For car buffs, the Indy 500. For football fans, the Super Bowl. For kids, FAO Schwartz. For scrapbookers and crafters, the semi-annual Craft & Hobby Show. 

We had a full day on the show floor today and saw only a tiny, itsy bitsy part of all that is there.  We're really, really excited about some of the new lines coming out from manufacturers like:

Cosmo Cricket

 

How darling is that cow card?

My Mind's Eye:

Such fun, bright colors! And did you know that My Mind's Eye has fabrics too?

Margie Romney-Aslett's new endeavor - The Girl's Paperie:

Love these totally girlie and definitely boyish lines. 

So now, finally, Elizabeth, Marnie and I are all together in one room for the first time since WCS was hatched. We have a lot of catching up to do.

More CHA eye candy coming tomorrow!    

Last Minute Change of Plans

Good morning, glories!

We've had a slight change of plans at Write. Click. Scrapbook. today. You see, Jody Wenke (otherwise known as USAJody, or Miss USA, or One of the Two Awesome Jodys, er, Jodies) was supposed to be your hostess this week. You can imagine her (and our) horror to learn that her entire scrapbook area—a room lovingly and beautifully carved out of her basement—was the victim of a burst water pipe just after Christmas. While she and her husband (and their insurance company) work to repair the damage, I'm filling in with a little help from my friends! We thought it would be nice to let Jody know we understand her frustration. Those of us who have been there got together to cheer her up with our own home disasters!

12 x 12 page by Elizabeth Dillow

A few years ago, we discovered that our basement water heater had bottomed out—the second time it had happened to us (though in two different houses). During the discovery, hand-wringing, clean-up, and completion phases, I didn't take a single photo—but that doesn't mean I can't include the story in our family scrapbook. I actually did blog about the incident, so pulling the journaling straight from my blog made this a quick and easy page to create. Luckily (knock on wood)(there will be a lot of knocking on wood today) we haven't replaced a water heater since!

11 x 8.5 page by Jody Dent-Pruks

Jody documented her family's swimming pool disaster with her trademark sense of humor—and had the presence of mind to take photos of the aftermath of their collapsed pool. According to Jody, "the pool collapsed in the middle of the night (such a loud crack and so much water pouring everywhere). Insurance dithered for 7 weeks and then said no – too old, rust present, yadda yadda! Not a problem, we will just pay to put a new one in but now it’s school holidays, the weather is hot and the pool suppliers close down during Christmas and the first 3 weeks of January. So here we are, hot days, no pool and sad kids!"

Jody also documented a more dangerous, scary home disaster that occurred in 2007 when her family's shed (think detached, large garage with storage) caught fire and burned to the ground on their property (farm). Not only did it destroy outdoor equipment, but all of her Christmas decorations and many sentimentally valuable papers and ephemera from her sons' lives. With the pictures she took, she created an album to document the devastation and rebuilding process—a truly therapeutic endeavor!

mini-album by Jody Dent-Pruks

 



 
Sheds are pretty important in Australia. So important, they have their own associations!

In Vermont, Katrina deals with a different kind of challenge: spring flooding, dangerous ice, and foot after foot of snow (which might be pretty and calming once in a while, but try driving to work every day in it). Using a few photos of her driveway and neighborhood looking more like a lake, she documented a facet of her life that might otherwise have been lost!

8.5 x 11 digital page by Katrina Simeck

Emily Pitts might not have a disaster on her hands, but she sure has a house that requires a lot of special knowledge and care to live in it (which, after a long day, might feel a bit disastrous, right?) Documenting these quirks now will ensure her family will remember the experience of living there in so much more detail one day.

12 x 12 page by Emily Pitts

Instead of one disastrous occurence, Erin Sweeney documented a multitude of catastrophes on her page, where you can almost relive each and every hour of those terrible 24 along with her. You might not think you'll want to relive experiences like these, but sometimes these are the stories that become the stuff of family legend—and can strengthen a family's bond just by merely surviving it all!

8 1/2 x 11 page by Erin Sweeney

Sara Winnick decided to spin our last-minute assignment a different way: she will be prepared the next time diasaster strikes with one of these:

card by Sara Winnick

Don't you just need a card like this on hand? I know I would have felt better the day my water heater came crashing down had someone handed me a "sorry about your water heater fiasco" card. : ) 

What about you? Have you had any home disasters or other catastrophes that you're far enough removed from now to document? These debacles are part of our life's story just like the happier (and drier) moments are too, and it's worth sitting down to document them. Help Jody know she's not alone and share your story this week in our Flickr gallery! And if you don't have a disaster to document... well, now's the time to knock on wood again!

give.away.day. featuring LIBBY WEIFENBACH

Another holiday song to start our day. Channel your best Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Let's begin!

You love our site
Think it's awesome and bright
We happen to agree
So here's somethin' for free
Give.away.day.'s coming to you.

We've made our list
We've checked it twice
We know you're a bit naughty,
But mostly nice, so
Give.away.day.'s comin' to you.

We dream of scrapbooks when we're sleeping
Then make them when awake
We love to share ideas with you
And give you stuff to make.

Oh it's give.away.day.
For you today
It's holiday time
Which means we're fine
With everyone winning today.

Today we have teamed up with Libby Weifenbach. Libby is a fantastic digital designer. This season, she teamed with Tracey Howard to create a bright and festive kit, Fra-Gee-Lay. Our darling and delightful Cheryl used Libby's kit to whip up a bit of home decor magic in that amazing way that only she can:

Now we know that as December winds down, your time is precious (and running out) so we didn't want you to have to make your own from scratch.Therefore, for our giveaway today, everyone wins! All you need to do is pop on over to Libby's blog where you can download the file to make your own awesome Merry Christmas eyechart. While you are there, be sure to jot down the code Libby has provided so that you can pick up the Fra-Gee-Lay kit for $2 off! Again, for everyone.

But that's not all! Because some of us still haven't our cards done, we wanted to help a bit more. Marnie used another of Libby's kits to make a Christmas and a Holiday card for you.

Again, hop on over to Libby's blog and you can download them for free. (They are 5x7 and use a 4x6 photo that has been resized to 5x3.33. The font is Futura Md.) (And no, sadly (teehee!), they won't have Marnie's kids' pictures on them!

We hope your holiday season is bright and cheerful and that no one will be too disappointed that this giveaway is for everyone! Enjoy!

give.away.day. featuring IMAGINISCE

Let's begin with a holiday song. Channel your best Jingle Bells Tune...

Dashing through the week
Trying to stay ahead
Getting little sleep
Much to do when kids are in bed.

Make sure no one is missed
There's wrapping still to do
But today we here all insist
That it is time for you.

Oh, GIVE AWAY
GIVE AWAY
It's GIVE.AWAY.DAY.
This one's for you
Some fun for you
On this Holiday Countdown day!

Oh! GIVE AWAY
GIVE AWAY
It's GIVE.AWAY.DAY.
Just for you
Cuz' we love you
A GIVE AWAY today!

For our giveaway today, we are excited to present

imaginisce is a longtime fan favorite and has some fun lines on current release. They kindly sent a sampling of their product to our designers so that we could work some of our magic with their lovelies. Here is what happens when great product meets some amazing talent:

page by Aly Dosdall

page by Erin Sweeney

page by Ann Costen

card by Celeste Smith

 

page by Cheryl Overton

page by Sara Winnick

page by Autumn Baldwin

page by Francine Clouden

page by Cheryl Overton

hot chocolate pouches by Aly Dosdall

page by Jody Wenke

page by Jody Wenke

candle decor by Cheryl Overton

mini-album by Francine Clouden

Christmas Organizer by Melissa Kaiserman

For our giveaway today, one lucky person will receive a sampling of imaginisce paper and products and the star on the tree is that the box will also include an

This amazing little tool creates brads in three sizes, allowing you to make all sorts of lovely projects. The i-top Brad Maker family includes the i-top Brad Maker, Brad Daddy blanks and paper punches in 3 sizes; 16mm, 22mm and 28mm. Now you can customize that extra little bit of texture and sweetness that brads provide. And not only can you use it on your scrapbook pages

page by Marnie Flores

but you will also quickly discover many other fun uses for covered brads.

headband by Marnie Flores

(First, cover headband in fabric. Next, stack 6 red imaginisce flowers on top of 2 green imaginisce flowers. Cover medium brad with same fabric used to cover headband using your i-top tool. Pierce flower centers with covered brad. Adhere to headband. Wear and enjoy!)

The imaginisce team has also done some amazing things with their i-tops. (WARNING: Once you click over you will get a bit lost in the wonder, so be sure to come back and leave your comment so you can win!)

If you would like to be considered for today's giveaway, please tell us what scrapbooking product you are hoping to get this holiday season. If it is something with a link, leave it so we can see it too! Comments will close at 8:00 pm PST and the lucky number will be posted tomorrow. Don't forget to check back to see if you are the lucky number as you only have until Saturday at midnight to claim your gift! Can't wait to see what's on your lists!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's day! I'd like to publicly say "Thank you!" to the many men and women out there who are currently serving or have served our country. Your sacrifice and service is an amazing offering of yourself and does not go unnoticed around here. (Photo of the Vietnam War Veteran's Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of Elizabeth Dillow.)

I personally have a brother who has served in the Air Force and is now in the National Guard (way to go big brother, Brian!).




And my father-in-law served in the Army 40ish years ago (yeah, Boyd!).

This is a photo of Emily Pitts' great-grandfather and his buddies in WWI:

I've always wondered what I could do with my limited resources and skills to let these amazing people know how loved and thought of they are. Recently, a fellow scrapbooking friend sent me the link to an amazing organization who sends cards that scrapbookers/crafters/cardmakers have created, to people who are serving in all branches of the United States military. (Photo of Sec. 1 of Arlington National Cemetery. Courtesy Elizabeth Dillow.)

Operation Write Home is an organization with a mission "To support our nation's armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." What a cool, and might I say, simple goal, that each of us can get involved in! I encourage you to take some time to look around their website, to learn the guidelines and then write an "AnyHero" greeting to let these unsung heroes know they are thought of warmly. If you're a little more ambitious get out a few more supplies, a cup of cocoa and create a bundle of blank wintry-themed cards, blank thank you notes or blank birthday cards for the soldiers to use. This is just what I did! On Monday afternoon I held a card making party at my home where my friends and I made 50 thank you cards for our Troops who are currently serving in the military! Thanks, ladies!

I challenged my fellow WCS team members to create at least one AnyHero card to send out and they came up with some amazing cards! Thank you, Ladies!

Card by Angie Lucas

Cards by Celeste Smith

Cards by Elizabeth Dillow.

 
Cards by Sara Winnick.

Since today is Veteran's Day, remember to thank someone who is serving our great country. Heck! Throw a card-making party yourself and then go to our Flickr Gallery and show us what you've made. This is a great way to use up your extra scraps AND brighten someone's day.

While you're making these cards, remember to involve your children so they will learn to love and respect our military men and women.(These girls live in my neighborhood and joined in on the fun.)

Women in Military Service to America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery (that's Maddie and Gracie looking into the water!) Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Dillow.

If you don't live in the United States, remember that you also have amazing men and women serving in your country's military. WCS team member, Melanie Louette, lives in Canada and her community throws a Remembrance Day Parade every year in honor of their veterans. Melanie and her family attended the parade this past Sunday and she was kind enough to share her photos.

it'll end in tears

Not only the name of one of my all time favorite albums, but also how we hope the week does not end.

Most of you are otherwise occupado today with candy, costumes, and last minute decorations. (I hope you all have a safe and happy day.) In light of your pressing needs, today will be short and sweet.

Couple answers. I can hang elements off the edge and still fit it in a page protector as I often scrapbook 8.5 x 8.5 layouts. I love the look of Liz Tamanaha's pages (Paislee Press) and her bitty little pictures. But when I put them on a 8.5x11 they just didn't look right. So I began cutting my pages down to 8.5 inch squares. This means I can hang elements off vertically or horizontally, and they still fit in my 8.5 x 11 page protectors just fine. I just place them vertically or horizontally in the page protector depending on which side the stuff is hanging over. I also like the proportion of letter stickers as titles on the smaller format.

Secondly, the torn up edges are compliments of this little baby:

I'm on my second one, and I love them. (I buy them at the CK Conventions vendor fair, but I think to buy online you need a rep. Mine have been $3 each). They are about 2 inches in diameter. I just hold it in one hand, my paper in the other, and drag it down the edge, going a little back and forth as I do. (If you want more distresser-ing love, check out Bibine's blog. Seeing how she leaves all her edges torn helped me understand that it you tear an edge as you go, just leave it, or add a brad and see it as an opportunity to embellish!) Anywhere I might have before inked edges, I now distress and doodle a line around the edge. I like the little lines of color to finish off the edges.

For my last bit of imparted wisdom (hahahaha), I wanted to tell you the system I have worked out for photo/journaling storage. It took me months of trying various things, but this one seems best for me. In case you haven't yet struck gold on your system yet, here is one more to consider.

I am the one who used to write on the back of every photo ever processed. Name, date, location, and purpose of photo. Then I would put the negatives into an album also so noted. Then all the photos would go in an album. I did each roll of film within one week of picking it up. I worked fulltime and had one child and was incredibly organized back then. Now, I stay home, have three kids, and a digital camera. At last count I had more than 80 000 photo in storage. In four years. I know, I know. Too many. I tried to embed the info into each photo, but it was too big of a task. So this is what I do now.

Download photos. I download by date as I am a numerical girl. Dates work best for me as I remember numbers best.

I go into each date and create descriptive folders separating out different photo groups if there are any.

In every folder, I click through and do my best to take some out, discarding any that are blurry/out of focus/duplicates.

Create an edited photos folder. Place edited copy of these into this folder. (I do NOT delete the originals.) Here is a screen shot for all of September. (it will get bigger if you click on it)

Now, the photos are done, and I go to my typepad account. (My account lets me have three subfolders. On one I put a password and keep it private. This is the account to which I refer.) Here I add all the information I would have put on the backside of the photos. And a little more. I save the date with the same folder name as my photos. If I have time, I upload the photos. If I don't, I can anytime, as they are linked by title and date.

I have been doing this (mostly) successfully for a year now. I feel amazing relief at knowing that all my stories are someplace safe from theft, fire, and memory loss, and all my photos are safely attached to their stories. From here, scrapbooking is a breeze. Any time I am in the mood, my photos and journaling are there and waiting.

Before I got my digital camera, I loved scrapbooking. I kept photo albums for all the pictures, and I scrapbooked about 3-10 photos per roll. I thought I would love scrapbooking even more once I went digital, but honestly, I felt completely overwhelmed by the effort of making every photo (and now I had TONS more) a scrapbook page, lest it not have its story preserved.

Once I stopped trying to make my scrapbooks a resting place for all my combined photos/memories, I rediscovered my love of scrapbooking. It has returned to an art form. To a place of creative discovery where I can take my favorite photos and stories and put them together on a pretty piece of paper. Instead of a chore that caused me guilt for one more undone item on my todo list.

That's it for me. I will leave you with some Christmas cards to segue from Halloween to our new month! Be sure to check in Monday for the new month launch! I have been sneaking peeks and there is some good stuff coming. Craftyp, will you send me your address to marnie at writeclickscrapbook dot com so I may send you some Halloween paper for your efforts on the challenges this week? Thanks to everyone who worked on a layout. I loved them all. And am so proud of your efforts to record yourselves.

xo

scraps: part 1

WHOA! That was some give away day yesterday! If you missed yesterday's give away, remember to come back next Thursday for another fabulous give away!

Before we head away from the topic of mini albums, I wanted to share a little about how I store them. My mini albums have been homed in a number of places -- around the house standing up (this worked when there were just a few), on my bookshelf (this worked when they were all rectangular and flat), and in a drawer (this worked until I forgot where I'd put them). So these days my mini albums have been upgraded to a more prominent and most importantly, accessible spot.

I give you... the dining room table:

 

Those that know me well know that I'm not a huge fan of trinkets, so finding a spot for my mini albums where they would be visible, but not collecting dust, was a challenge. Because of the nature of these little books, they don't always stand up neatly, or fit together on a shelf without falling over. I decided, after searching through my containers and baskets that this pewter tray would hold them just right. I just pile them in there, mini album on top of mini album, in the center of my dining room table. Because they're contained in the tray, they don't overwhelm me. Best of all, they're visible enough that my family can actually enjoy them -- unlike when they were tucked in a drawer. The bigger mini albums (like the ones in the AC Modern Albums) are on a shelf with my regular scrapbooks.

If I can encourage you in one way today, I hope you'll make space for your mini albums where your kids and family can enjoy them. :)

Moving on...

So today we talk about scraps. Honestly, the Cosmo Cricket kit was so completely generous, that for today's post, I limited myself to using the scraps from the paper and materials I'd already used on the "I Love This About You" mini album from yesterday. Come back tomorrow for "Scraps: Part 2" where I'll post a layout (using the recipe) along with a super yummy homemade birthday gift your friends are sure to love.

Let's dive into today's projects! (Click on the photos to view larger)

Project #1: Girls' Night Invite

We all love hangin' out with our best girl friends! It just so happens that my favorite ladies don't all love to scrapbook and craft, which means most of our girls' nights are spent snacking, chatting and catching up on the latest Bachelorette gossip. :)

Here's what you'll need:
1 scrap cardstock - 8x6"
1 piece of white cardstock
1 scrap of super cute paper
1 digital frame -- I used these, by Kate Teague

Project #2: Girly Gift Enclosures

These are just fun to have around. This is a fun little project that takes only a few supplies and very little time. And yes, I know they're painfully simple. That's what makes them so fun!

Here's what you'll need:
1 piece of smooth white cardstock - 8.5x11"
This download -- Download Girly gift enclosures2
Fun little stickers like these ones by Cosmo Cricket

I was planning on sharing two more projects today, but I'll save them for tomorrow, including a layout and that delicious project I told you about on Monday which incorporates scrapbooking AND cooking. I promise your friends will love it, so please check back!

Finally, don't forget! All pages in the gallery that come out of this week's challenges (below) will be featured in tomorrow's post, and a random winner will be chosen to receive a little something in the mail from me just for participating.

In case you forgot, here are the challenges (take your pick!):

1)Create a single layout OR a complete mini album using the recipe used in the mini album above.

2) Create a single layout OR a complete mini album using the multi-photo template.

Upload your pages or albums to the gallery and be sure to work the words "recipe" in the title so I can find them.

Thanks for hanging with me this week, and THANKS again for all of your comments the other day. If you have any questions about today's post, be sure to leave it in the comments and I'll do my best to respond quickly.

Looking forward to seeing your work in the gallery!

And Happy Friday!