Crafting for a Cause

Since volunteering to be one of the newest blog authors for Scrapbook Royalty, I've spent a significant amount of time looking at old posts and marvelling at all the money raised for a number of charities.

So I'm announcing today...

I HAVE BEEN INSPIRED!!!!

I've literally just sent an email to a few of my friends to discuss what we want to do, when, and what cause we want to focus on.

I hope to one day soon send out details for a Charity Wings affiliated event in Chicago!  

Click here to learn how you can host your own Charity Wings affiliated event.

Latin Webzine

As if I wasn't busy enough, I've also been lucky enough to be invited to host a column in the web-based magazine, Latin Webzine.

My first post (with accompanying blog) will be up soon, and I'll be sure to share a link to it once it's posted.  Here's a little teaser on the step-by-step project that will be showcased this month - paper tamales!

I'm really excited to take on the challenge of showcasing Latino-centered scrapbooking projects.  As a Latina scrapbooker, I often have to create my own embellishments to add that special touch to a culturally/ethnically specific page or project.

So sign up to subscribe to the magazine - it's free!

Scrapbook Royalty Blog

I'm super excited to share some news!!!

I have happily joined the Scrapbook Royalty/Charity Wings family by volunteering to become one of their blog authors.

This California-based non-profit organizes crops for charity across the United States. Scrapbook Royalty is supported by generous individual donations, corporate sponsors, and a 100% volunteer staff and committee of devoted scrapbookers.

Those who know me personally know that my 9-to-5 job is based in the field of public service.  Outside of my direct scrapbooking for clients, I spend most of my time rallying volunteers for various events that I may or may not coordinate.  So, clearly, this is a perfect match for me!

As a Chicago-based blog author, I hope to eventually coordinate some events and/or giveaways so join the blog to get the latest updates.  I'll do my best to double post here.

Check out my first posting!

Kid-friendly Halloween card

It's been awhile since I posted any new projects, and I do apologize for that!  One of my favorite holidays is coming - Halloween.  Now that everyone's kids are back in school, I know that you are just itching for some off-school fun, right?

I'm surrounded by many adorable little people amongst my family and friends, and I'm proud to say that I have more godkids than most people will have.  Six and counting :)

So I started to think about how many of my godkids are busy doing homework and praying for some fun time.  For many of them, that means the TV or computer.  Though that is great in moderation, I know that as the weather gets colder, their parents are going to start going crazy for new indoor activities.

That's why I decided to think through some easy card-making options that kids of almost any age can do!

Another camping delight

To my extreme pleasure, the mini scrapbook I made for Emma at camp was a huge hit.  I recently got to see what she did with it and was beyond impressed.  I was not only happy that she actually received it, but I also loved to see how we now both had a piece in the look of the book.  It's now something we both helped make.

I loved her reaction so much....that I knew I had to do a similar book for another friend's daughter who had recently gone to her first sleep away camp.  Knowing she would eventually get home sick, I wanted to help occupy her little mind.  This book is very similar to Emma's book, but it's a little different of course.

Here are some quick pics...I promise to crop them later!

Hope she likes it!

Ballet camp surprise

I am lucky to have befriended my friend's teenage daughter.  She is the cutest little thing and is very serious about her dancing.  She was actually asked to take part in a month-long camp and is amongst the youngest (if not THE youngest) members in the camp.

Her mom told me she journals her dance training experiences.  I assumed it was about the actual experience of it all, but I soon learned that it was about the technique.  She jots down what she's learned, what she was told to do differently, and any routines that she wants to remember.

This beautiful girl is only 13 and already has incredibly disciplined, great study habits.

So I wanted to send her a little something to jot down the fun moments.  I decided to make her a min-album from supplies I have in my workroom (I've vowed not to buy a single scrapbooking supply this month except tape as needed).  So far so good on that goal!

Here is my quick little book for my little dancer, Emma....

I had to split her name into the two syllables for the front and back cover because my pre-cut letters were too big for the cover.  I hope she gets it!  LOL!

Can't wait to send this out tomorrow.

How to scrapbook photobooth guestbooks

A while ago now, a friend of mine asked me to make a scrapbook/guestbook for a photobooth at her daughter's Bat Mitzvah party.  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do this as the size of the photostrips and their layout can be pretty limiting.  On top of that, I had to add a journalling block for guests to leave notes.

After playing around for quite some time, I've learned how to plan out the layouts so that each two page spread is different than the others.  Here are some examples from a wedding album I just did.  The color scheme was orange and white and the look was to be a modern/clean finish.

I honestly was perplexed at how I could justify the invoice when I thought I was going to be limited to flat orange and flat white papers because nothing could be too girly.

After searching through multiple stores and playing with embossing folders and die cuts, I was able to create some pretty options.

This is what started with:

I didn't use everything here, but it was good to see that I had collected some fun options.  The specific color of the orange was difficult to match and I found myself layering oranges to add a little depth and texture at times.

Here are some of my favorite layouts from the album.  These layouts are pre-made and I assemble the album on-site (hence no photos or notes).  Long strips mat the photo strips and the square strips mat the guests' notes.

I loved this leaf die cute....It was perfect for a clean, non-girly embellishment!

I have to learn how to take better photos, but I found this really cool textured orange background paper.  It has embossed orange swirls that matched the burnt orange embossing powder I had for the kissing couple stamp.

I can't even begin to take credit for this background.  A friend of mine once helped me with a large album and we were running out of fun layout options until she came up with this!  Each of the orange stripes are actual cut out strips of different colored orange paper and then glued to a flat white page.  It really helps to add a little texture to the page and the look is super cool.

I reused the super cool orange embossed swirly paper in a new way.  Using a nesting die cut of circles, I created new white swirls.  Makes it look like bubbles!

Even though I wasn't asked to help preserve the invitations, programs or menus, I knew they would start and finish up the album beautifully.  The invites had these pretty orange branches with leaves (much like the die cut used in the image above).  I'm pretty sure this pretty full leaf die cut will be used for future projects!

Baby Shower gift - Mommy Notes

This weekend, my cousin helped host a baby shower for her best friend, Lupe.  Lupe, a few months ago, hosted a great baby shower for my cousin.  So I knew that I had to do a little something to thank her for being such a great friend and to congratulate her.  What better way than to add a quick and easy scrapbooking element to her party!

I decided to make an album where her guests could jot down mommy notes for this first-time mama. 

I didn't have much time to complete the project, so I needed to keep the layout simple and clean.  I also was FORCED to try to work in gender neutral colors because Lupe and her husband didn't choose to find out the sex of their baby.  This, of course, killed me!  I have so many adorable baby boy and baby girl papers and embellishments!  I also was told that I had to absolutely stay away from pastels because Lupe despises them.

You can already begin to imagine my panic!  LOL.

Anyway, I decided to stick with yellows and greens (she lives in WI and is a Packers' fan) and to try to keep it on the antiquey side.

From what I hear, the album was a huge hit and the guests filled it up with some great advice.  Here are a few pics.

Sorry for the awful pics...I was in a rush to get it to my cousin for the shower, so I didn't have much time to play with lighting and placement of the album for better quality pics!

A fun and unexpected way to say Thank You

A couple of weeks ago, I ran into a dilemma - how to properly thank someone who was about to do something wonderful for me. 

Who was this amazing person - my friend Melissa.  She is my boss's wife and an incredible chef who was amazingly gracious in hosting our entire team for dinner a la Mel.  I knew it was going to be incredible, and I have expected being banned from coming to help early.

As she is one my active blog readers (of my original blog), I knew that I needed to do a little something of the scrapbook variety to show my gratitude.

Now, if you're an avid scrapbooker like me, then you know that there are some topics that are seriously lacking pre-made embellishments.  Some of the areas that are still waiting for new tools and stickers are cooking, adoption, specific ethnicities and cultures, etc.  So what was I do to for Chef Mel?

Well, I started by doing a search in old idea books, favorite blogs and Scrapbook.com.  I found my source of inspiration on the Scrapbook.com website.  The link to the original posting can be found here.

I thought this original post was so cute, but I wanted to take it a bit further - especially since I love mini scrapbook albums. 

So rather than a handmade thank you card, I decided to make a mini thank you album.  I'm also thinking of doing something familiar for my mom's Mother's Day gift.

Here are the great pictures Mel took of my mini-album (she's not only an amazing chef, she also takes the best pictures!).

Accessories are great!

I have several favorite blogs that I keep tabs on. I believe in the sharing of techniques and learning from other people's creativity.  I can only hope to one day provide the same sort of inspiration.

Little Birdie Secrets is one of few sites that I go to on a regular basis for inspiration and learning.  A full listing of my favorite scrapping blogs can be found on the right hand side of my blog.
 
Today, I couldn't resist sharing a simply adorable and simple way to use a girl's favorite accessory as an embellishment - the purse!

A step-by-step instructional can be found at Little Birdie Secrets' website.  I can't wait to try my own version of this!

In honor of Earth Day 2010

If you are as old as I am, then you probably also have a stack of floppy disks laying around the house that you've wondered how to recycle without compromising the data you stored on them.

Considering most computers don't even have floppy disk drives anymore, the release of the data is probably not as scary to anyone.  However, knowing that some of my disks had some personal data, I've still held onto quite a few wondering what to do with them.  Call me paranoid.

Well...I think I've come up with a solution!  I'm going to use my scrapbooking tools to destroy the disk safely and to use the data part in a craft.  I'm going to show you all how to make flowers out of your old disks!

First you take your standard disk like this one:

Then pry off the top metal part.  This is pretty easy to do, it's not very thick metal.:

 

Now for the hardest part....open up the disk.  This takes a bit of force.  As long as you hold onto the plastic casing alone, the inside data ribbon will be just fine.  So pop it open like this:

 

I haven't quite found a use for the casing, so I'm putting it to the side for now.  Perhaps one of my readers will have a better  idea for me.

With the round data ribbon, I use scissors to cut petals all around.  To make sure that no one could restore the ribbon (I told you I'm paranoid), I've gone in and cut out some sections to give it a little dimension.

 

 

Lastly, I used pigment ink to give the ribbon some color.  Please note that the ribbon does not soak in the ink, so it does take some time to dry.  I left my first flower out to dry for at least a night.  I would recommend playing with the different types of inks to see what works best for the look you want.  You could try acrylic paints, alcohol-based inks (not sure what that would do the ribbon), maybe even a little distressing!

The idea is to not be afraid to try something new to get a fun look.  To finish it up, I embellish the center with paper or bling.

I'm going to play around with a few layouts and these floppy disk flowers to showcase how you can use them for your next scrapbook project.

Why is this blog different than my other blog

When I first starting blogging, my intention was to use it to reach some personal goals.  I thought the blog would be a great way to keep on my task with my scrapbook room organizing and my personal projects.

However, it turned into a way for me to not only share techniques but to also to vent about situations in my personal life.  I've celebrated the positives, I've cried about the heartbreaking stories around the world, and I've vented to release anger.

Well, a colleague actually recommended I try making a blog that is just focused on scrapbook techniques and past projects.

So stay tuned for fun...