A Fun Twist on Christmas Cards

If you haven’t sent out your Christmas cards yet, it’s not too late! I got a late start on mine this year and probably would not have gotten around to them at all if it hadn’t been for my “fans” asking about them. You see, it’s all about the photos, people.

These days, more and more families are sending photo cards. They are my favorite cards to receive because I love to see pictures of friends and family and its fun to see how people have changed throughout the year. I keep all of the picture cards I receive every year. I make a collage of them on a 12×12 page (or two) and stick them in the back of my scrapbook for that year.

A few years ago I was inspired to try a new twist on the photo Christmas card. It’s a scrapbook page card and it was a big hit. Every year now, I create an 8.5 by 11 (standard paper size) scrapbook page of photos from the year and add a little greeting. It usually takes me one full evening to create the card and then I take it to a color copy center and run off however many I need. I keep the original in a separate album that holds all my yearly Christmas cards.

I’ve been surprised over the years how many times I’ve found my Christmas card stuck to the refrigerator of different friends and family even months after Christmas. They keep it up all year until they receive a new one. It’s nice to know that they appreciate all the hard work and love that went into making it.

I’ve also convinced some of my friends to make scrapbook page cards for their own families every year. And you know what? Those are the ones that stay on my fridge through the whole year.

Here are some examples to hopefully get you inspired to try something new!

2006 Christmas by Rachelle Powers

2006 Christmas by Lucy Matthew

2008 Christmas by Rachelle Powers – This card was created entirely digitally using Photoshop Elements 6. I downloaded a Christmas kit by Katie Pertiet from www.designerdigitals.com

Happy Crafting!

Rachelle is an all around craft-alholic with a major in scrapbooking.  A mama of three, she is very busy staying home all day.  She also blogs every hilarious thing her children say here, http://happyhothead.livejournal.com/ and other family happenings here, www.powersalaska.blogspot.com

December Daily Album

This season, I have been inspired to create a messy little mini book to document the twenty-five days of December leading up to Christmas. The intention is to take a picture or two every day and write a little bit of documentation to go along with it. The pictures and journaling do not HAVE to be Christmas related; obviously some of the most memorable parts of your day will be about everyday ordinary happenings. This is just a little glimpse into your family life AT THIS MOMENT. What a wonderful thing to look back on years from now!

Ali Edwards is the design inspiration behind this idea and scores of scrapbookers from all over have converged on this project with vigor! At about the same time that I decided to do this project, I got my hands on a Christmas-y kit from Fancy Pants Designs which contained gorgeous holiday themed papers, cut outs, rub-ons and ribbons. It is aptly called the Happy Holidays Kit. And it looks like this…

Yummy, eh? I used this kit to help create my little book. I also used a wide variety of products that I had on hand to complement the Fancy Pants Designs products. I loved the idea of using up scraps that were lying around. How very green of me!

The above pictures show the cover of my album and a couple of the interior pages. You can sort of get an idea of how the pages are just thrown together and there is plenty of room for a photo or two as well as some quick journaling. I love how you can see other pages peeking out from behind. The torn notebook paper on Page It was literally torn out of a cardstock notebook that I’ve had forever. I used several of its pages in this album; all embellished a bit with my Fancy Pants Holiday kit. My album is 8 inches by 8 inches with all sorts of different sized pages inside to add to the “messy” look. You can see all the pages I created, here.

Do you want to see some more fabulous inspiration for a December Daily album? Check out Ali Edwards’ blog post where she shares her personal album here. And check out the flickr group where other crafters from all around the globe have uploaded photos of their own albums.

Fancy Pants Designs products are available at local scrapbook and craft stores everywhere.

Happy Crafting!

Rachelle is an all around craft-alholic with a major in scrapbooking.  A mama of three, she is very busy staying home all day.  She also blogs every hilarious thing her children say here, http://happyhothead.livejournal.com/ and other family happenings here, www.powersalaska.blogspot.com

Living a Better Life

When my husband and I decided to start our family, we both knew that we wanted me to be able to stay home with our kids. Being a stay at home mom has always been my dream. Mostly because I hated getting up early to go to work. Oh how naïve I was back then. But going from a double income with no kids, to a single income with another mouth to feed was certainly going to be a challenge. Aside from several drastic lifestyle changes we made, I found another source that was and still is of immense help to me and my family.

Living a Better Life is a website designed to help you not only stretch your coin, but to enjoy more fully those things in your life that you already have. Their mantra is “One of the great secrets to living a better life is that it’s not about being able to spend MORE money! It’s about enjoying and managing what you already have…BETTER!”

I love the sentiment behind that. We should be more content shouldn’t we? I certainly benefit from that reminder now and again.

The Living a Better Life free membership program gains you access to a vast array of money saving tools and techniques, all only a click away. Their ezine offers money management classes, budgeting and debt worksheets and a newsletter with great articles all for free. Because who wants to PAY for this stuff when they’re trying to save money, right?

Want to know how to find cheaper gas? Want ideas for budget friendly family fun? Want to look for cheap health, dental and car insurance options? There are coupon lists, money saving tip contests and even a blog for frugal family recipes! OH, and a newsletter.

I look forward to my Better Budgeting newsletter as often as it comes. They have featured columns for frugal parenting, home and gardening and CRAFTING. I try to be impartial but I’m so not. But that’s okay, we all have our weaknesses.

If your family is looking for ways to save a few bucks and manage your lifestyle more, let’s just say responsibly, you should really take a peek at Living a Better Life. I think you will find their tools of great use to you and your family.

Rachelle is an all around craft-alholic with a major in scrapbooking.  A mama of three, she is very busy staying home all day.  She also blogs every hilarious thing her children say here, http://happyhothead.livejournal.com/ and other family happenings here, www.powersalaska.blogspot.com

Pumpkin Designs

Here comes Thanksgiving. Is it just me, or did we JUST have Halloween? I’ve done my best to be organized and prepared but things are still sneaking up on me. With little to no time left before Turkey Day, I’ve been kind of scrambling for some new crafty holiday décor for my house. Something easy and NOT time consuming.

I had first gotten the idea for this first project from an article in Better Homes and Garden magazine. They had taken a plunger type apple corer and taken holes from different colored pumpkins, squashes and gourds and basically injected them into each other, making a colorful polka dot affect. I thought it was lovely and I fully intended to do it. I bought all the colorful gourds and such then searched high and low for a plunger type apple corer. I never found one. So I set my colorful gourds in a bowl where they sat, looking nice and festive but I still wanted polka dots!

Eventually the idea popped into my head to paint the polka dots. Not only do I have a plethora of paints on hand, but this way, I didn’t have to clean out the pumpkins, a task which I am not fond of anyway.

So out came the paints and a few little brushes and twenty minutes later (as opposed to HOURS I’m sure) I had my polka dot pumpkin. I made a little flowery one too. I got lots of compliments on these (which are all I ever want anyway). Wouldn’t you know it though? I attended a pampered chef party the following weekend and low and behold, they sell plunger apple corers. I bought one. Now I’ll be prepared for next year.

Since I didn’t have to murder all my colorful gourds and fill them with holes, I added to my collection then went to my abundance of sticker alphabets to create this little welcome display. I found this idea on a crafting website but I can’t remember the name of it. That’s a bummer because I really want to give them credit for this idea. Through trial and error (my stickers wouldn’t stick and my rub ons wouldn’t rub on) I finally adhered the letters using Modge Podge which is a decoupage type medium available at any craft store. Having a big Thanksgiving dinner? Use a gourd with alpha stickers for place cards!

These pumpkin-y projects were fast, easy and fun to create. If you need some last minute décor to spice up the place before a get together, either of these will take you twenty minutes or less.

Happy Crafting!

Rachelle is an all around craft-alholic with a major in scrapbooking.  A mama of three, she is very busy staying home all day.  She also blogs every hilarious thing her children say here, http://happyhothead.livejournal.com/ and other family happenings here, www.powersalaska.blogspot.com

Making Memories

One of my very favorite scrapbooking supply companies is Making Memories. They always have the most appealing assortments of papers and embellishments for crafting cards and scrapbook pages. They also have the most innovative tools and storage solutions and that’s great because I seriously need all the help I can get. I have a LOT of stuff in my crafting area. Too much stuff generally suffocates my creativity so I’m always looking for ways to organize my supplies that also look great. Right now I’m loving the Desktop Carousel.

This spinning wonder organizer has six drawers with metal handles and magnetic closures, six sides with metal label slots and a total of ten compartments. It’s perfect for keeping those tools you use most often within reach on your desk. And it spins! Did I mention it spins?

More organization! A fairly new trend in scrapbooking and card making is the utilization of clear stamps. These stamp collections come packaged all together on a sheet of clear plastic where they live by “clinging.” These sheets of stamp collections can get hard to sort and store as collections grow. And by the nature of my hobby, my collection has been fruitful and multiplied. So I was ecstatic to learn about the new Clear Stamp Storage Binder that Making Memories has developed.

A three ring binder in a fabric covered box. HELLO! Yes, this is fabulous. There are perfectly sized sheet protectors inside and all you do is slip your sheet of stamps right in. The binder box stores vertically or horizontally and has a metal label tag on the spine so you can organize your collection by theme. I am LOVING this thing.

Of course, Making Memories is not only about organization. They are about papers and stickers and buttons and bows and ribbons and clips and bling and whew, I need a glass of water. Their newest line of all things scrapbooking is called Paperie and it is very, ooh la la. Inspired by French design, this collection is whimsical and soft and elegant.

Using mostly products from the Paperie collection by Making Memories, I created this two page layout of my daughter, Jordan and my niece, Abigayl. We lost sweet Abigayl tragically a few weeks ago so this layout is very special to me. I found the Paperie designs to be the perfect complement to the story I was telling here.

My Cousin by Rachelle Powers. Cardstock: Bazzill Basics. All patterned paper, alphabets, ribbons, clips, pearl brads and chipboard: Making Memories. Butterfly: K&Co.

Check out more design ideas at Making Memories inspirational website. Look for all these great new products at your local scrapbook or craft store.

Happy Crafting!

Rachelle is an all around craft-alholic with a major in scrapbooking.  A mama of three, she is very busy staying home all day.  She also blogs every hilarious thing her children say here, http://happyhothead.livejournal.com/ and other family happenings here, www.powersalaska.blogspot.com

What’s Your Style?

As with most things in life…clothes, hair, cars…everyone has their own style when it comes to hobbies like scrapbooking. From cluttered to streamlined, funky to simple, there is more than one way to preserve your memories. There are some amazing scrapbooking experts in the industry, all of whom have their own personal style and are worthy of “scraplifting,” an industry term that means, well, copying. In honor of our celebrity style issue, I will hence forth refer to those copy-worthy masters as scralebrities. I’ve outlined a few of the many styles that define the current scrapbooking trends. If you are like me, you gravitate towards different styles depending on your hormone levels. Let’s take a look at what’s out there.

Style #1 Classic – An organized and appealing style, a classic design is a no fail option for getting your layouts finished quickly. A classic layout is made up of blocks of pictures and blocks of words paired with classic colors and patterns. Lisa Bearnson, the founder of Creating Keepsakes Magazine is a perfect example of a classic style scrapbooker.

All Aboard by Carly Geagel. Cardstock: Unknown. Patterned paper: Basic Grey Mellow. Train: Queen and Co. Buttons:Basic Grey Alphabet: American Crafts Thickers. Arrows: Basic Grey clear stamps.

Style #2 Clean - This simplistic and streamlined style is perfect for getting lots of photos on one layout. There is not a ton of products to detract from the pictures which makes the story of the page easy to follow. This style works particularly well with two page layouts which can easily become overwhelmed with too much “stuff.” Scralebrity to copy? Becky Higgins.

ALASKA ADVENTURE by Rachelle Powers. Cardstock: Bazzill Basics. Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye. Large letters: Paper Loft. Small letters: Holly Lane. Other: Orange circles are my own creation using Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.

Style #3 Funky - Lots of colors and layers are involved in this fun style. Use a lot of photos or just a few and create a strong design statement with fun, bold colors and techniques. Look to industry new girl, Elizabeth Kartchner for inspiration.

Don’t Rock the Boat by Rachelle Powers. Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. Patterned papers, embellishments and alphabets: Carnival Kit by Robin and Sweet Shoppe Designs. Corner rounder brush: Jessica Sprague. Font: CK Jolly

Style #4 Less is More - This particular style focuses more on the pictures and the words rather than all the fun products and embellishments. With an emphasis on the story and the memory, these pages often evoke strong emotion and meaning. Ali Edwards is your go to girl for pages of this style.

AND FLY by Rachelle Powers. Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. Patterned papers: Embrace Life Kit by Sande Krieger for Memory Makers, Fonts: Century Gothic and Impact by Microsoft and CK Becky by CK and Becky Higgins. First stamp: stamped moments brush by Katie Pertiet.

Style #5 Whimsical - While appearing to be put together very half-hazard, these types of pages are fun combination of pictures and paint and embellishments all layered and placed without any apparent order. With an emphasis on fun and whimsy, they make great girly pages. Artistic and funky guru, CD Muckosky has lots of examples to share.

These Three Sisters by CD Muckosky. Products unknown.

Style #6 Digital – Digital pages are simply that. Create your pages layer by layer on the computer using software such as Photoshop. Digital embellishments, papers and alphabets can be purchased at online digital scrapbooking stores and then saved on your computer. Freebies can be found just about everywhere too. The great thing is, no matter how many times you use a digital supply, you never run out! Have your pages printed at your favorite photo printing shop. I love Jessica Sprague for inspiration on digital designs. She also teaches classes on her website! For another form of digital scrapping, check out How Fast They Grow for predesigned pages where all you do is plug in your photos and words and have the finished product sent right to your door.

Family is Everything by Rachelle Powers. Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. Green paper and acrylic alpha: Meredith Fenwick. Brown scallop paper and flourishes: Sande Krieger for Memory Makers. Journaling block: Katie Pertiet. Font: Ali’s writing by CK.

Style #7 Stamped – Stamping has long been a crafting craze. The variety of beautiful stamps and inks make it a perfect complement to the scrapbooking industry. Use your stamps for cards, tags and creative scrapbook pages. Stamping and scrapbooking expert Jennifer McGuire has got this technique down pat.

Greek Beebs by Rachelle Powers. Cardstock: Bazzill Basics. Vine Stamp and Alphabet stamps: Stampin’ Up!

Style #8 Old School – Most scrapbookers have an album filled with this style. It’s probably the first style that any of them ever mastered. It involves slapping down photos and stickers in any fashion and then topping it all off with a few magazine clipped phrases for emphasis. I should mention that these clippings are not safe for your photos and should be removed asap. Want an example of old school style? Ask your nearest scrapbooker friend if you can look at the first album they ever created.

Happy crafting!

Rachelle is an all around craft-alholic with a major in scrapbooking.  A mama of three, she is very busy staying home all day.  She also blogs every hilarious thing her children say here, http://happyhothead.livejournal.com/ and other family happenings here, www.powersalaska.blogspot.com

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