Learn More about True Scrap 6: An Online Scrapbooking Event

Whether you’re signed up for True Scrap 6 (an online scrapbooking event) on October 18 or not, you are gonna want to check out this fantastic instructor interview series. Over the next two weeks, all eight instructors are going be meeting with us live to share their scrapping secrets, challenges, inspiration sources, and more via Spreecast!

Here’s the schedule (All times are Pacific, all interviews will last about 30 minutes). NOTE: Each Spreecast has a different link. Check here and follow the link to that day’s event:

9/29 Monday – 11:30 AM Pacific Katrina Kennedy
http://www.spreecast.com/events/true-scrap-6-instructor-katrina-kennedy

9/30 Tuesday – 10 AM Pacific Kelli Crowe
http://www.spreecast.com/events/true-scrap-6-interview-with-kelli-crowe

10/1 Wednesday – 12 Noon Pacific Nichol Magouirk
http://www.spreecast.com/events/true-scrap-6-q-a-nichol-magouirk

10/2 Thursday – 2 PM Pacific Tracy Banks
http://www.spreecast.com/events/true-scrap-6-q-a-tracy-banks

10/3 Friday – 10 AM Pacific Noell Hyman
http://www.spreecast.com/events/true-scrap-6-q-a-noell-hyman

10/6 Monday – 9 AM Pacific Jen Gallacher (Join ME!!)
http://www.spreecast.com/events/true-scrap-6-q-a-jen-gallacher

10/7 Tuesday – 10:30 AM Pacific Layle Koncar
http://www.spreecast.com/events/true-scrap-6-q-a-layle-koncar

10/9 Thursday – 12 Noon Pacific Donna Salazar

http://www.spreecast.com/events/true-scrap-6-q-a-donna-salazar

Come to any or all of these free chats! And yes, a replay is available at the same link. 

P.S. If you are not familiar with Spreecast (www.spreecast.com), it’s a fun and FREE web-based platform that enables live chat. You can create an account with your Facebook log-in, and then subscribe to Lain’s profile (http://www.spreecast.com/users/lain) to be notified when new events are scheduled.

 Click HERE to learn more.

I'll be chatting more about my "Mood-Based Scrapbooking Class" that I will be teaching plus some other things I've been up to these days. I can't wait to share more information so be sure to mark you calendar for each of the interviews.

Setting Up My New Scrapbooking Craft Space

My goal for this week: get my creative space in order. It has been almost six months since I've had my space up and fully functioning. It went from this:

To this temporary space at our rental:

To this in our new house:

 (previous owners photo)

To this while they were replacing the brown shag carpet:

To this early set up:

Now I'm tackling things like:

* not having a closet
* low bonus room walls
* change in wall color

None of these are bad things. They just present a new challenge, as well as, a new opportunity to put my designer brain to work. I'm looking forward to taking some items from my old space and bringing them into the new space. Stay tuned for the complete reveal soon!

In the meantime, you can find my entire scrapbook/craft space room tour HERE. You can also watch a video of the tour HERE on my Youtube channel or below:

Make It Meaningful: 15 Minute Halloween Decor Jars

I really love decorating for Halloween. It's one of those holidays that transforms your home and makes it seem a little bit more magical. With the release of new Halloween paper collections starting in the fall, I start brainstorming about how I can add a little something new to my home decor.

Today I've created this for the amazing 30 Minute Crafts blog, which you can find HERE. A project like this takes only 15 minutes to create. Gather all the supplies and then simply decorate the jars with the stickers and papers that you've chosen.

For this project, I used the new Echo Park Paper "Arsenic and Lace" collection. This is a much more sophisticated Halloween collection making it easy to create an apothecary feel for your home. Here's a peek at this fabulous collection:

To create these jars I simply purchased two jars (one clear class and one painted) from Michael's. Then I used the paper and stickers from the collection to decorate the jars. I also filled the glass jar with black jelly beans. I liked their reflective quality. Adding a few black gems make the project sparkle a little bit more as well. Want to create your own spooky set-up? Look for jars, boxes, and containers that you can easily alter with paper and stickers. A little bit goes a long way. Let the paper and embellishments do the work for you. This project came together in just a few minutes and looks truly magical.

Looking for this collection? Consider shopping the links from my blog links. A small portion of the sales from my blog helps to pay for the projects I share here on the blog.

If you're interested in other paper crafting projects I've created, search by "Make It Meaningful" in the side bar. You can read more about this "Halloween Countdown Tutorial" project below in this blog post HERE.

Suggested Products (click photos for product information):

 

Free Halloween Printable

Are you ready for a frighteningly fun Halloween? I sure am. I'm wondering how many trick-or-treaters we will get at our new home. Apparently our neighborhood has the endearing title of "Ghost Town" because at one time very few people lived out here. I think that's a fairly appropriate title for a neighborhood during Halloween; although, with the amount of building they are doing out here I don't think they can call it "Ghost Town" for much longer. More like "Party Town."

To help get you in the Halloween mood, I'm sharing a FREE Halloween printable today. You can download it from my online store HERE.

(Download HERE)

If you're looking for additional printables, you can find them HERE as well.

You might like this fall one I created, which is perfect for displaying September through November:

(Download HERE)

Witching you a "Happy Halloween."

New Scrapbooking Die Cut Videos Now Available to View

I'm happy to share that I have a few new die cutting videos to share with you. These super quick videos highlight how to use specific "Designer Die" and "Designer Die and Stamp" sets from Echo Park Paper. It helps you get a better picture of how these die cuts and stamp/die sets work. Here's a few of the videos you can watch:






And here's a peek at how the dies look on a few projects:

It's been part of my job at Echo Park to help pick dies and stamps that you would love from our fabulous Echo Park and Carta Bella collections. Our designers are incredible, and I'm excited to see their designs come to life in these new product lines from both Echo Park Paper and Carta Bella Paper. You can view all of these products HERE.

You can find all of these products HERE on www.idiecut.com, or HERE on Simon Says Stamp, or HERE on Scrapbook.com.

Want a Sneak Peek of My Upcoming True Scrap Workshop?

I just finished up the video for my True Scrap 6 workshop "Mood-Based Scrapbooking." I'm excited to share with you some ideas for putting together your own moodboards and then using them to create layouts.

Here's a tiny peek at one of the pages I created for this class. I'm happy to say there are several layouts I will share with you in this workshop:

Want to learn more about this exciting online event? Be sure to check out all the details HERE.

I'm not the only instructor teaching at the event. Industry giants including Layle Koncar, Nichol Magourik, and Noell Hyman are just a few of the amazing teachers included in this event. You can find the entire class list HERE.

Finding My Groove Again

I didn't realize; although, I somewhat suspected that when we decided to put our house up for sale back in March that our lives would change and change drastically. What I didn't realize is that from March when we first began prepping the house to sell to even now in late September, that I would have trouble keeping up with it all.

It's almost like pregnancy. You forget all the stress moving causes.

From the insanity (and complete blessing) of selling the house in 10 days. To a very crazy move in just three weeks during which I was both sick and working long hours. Then there was the mad dash to find a place to live, to miraculously finding a month-to-month rental in the form of a townhome in our city.  And then the thoroughly exhausting and overwhelming search for a home continued with us trying to decide between building and buying. And even when we settled on this dream home, realizing that there were some repairs and updates that needed to be made before we could fully move in. To date, we still have boxes and furniture in our storage unit. I do have my appliances back in my house, but half my kitchen is still boxed up. It's been a crazy, crazy time for us; and while I'm thoroughly grateful for all the blessings we're received I have also been very overwhelmed.

On the work side of things, there were lots of big changes as well. Two Peas closed their doors, a sad day for all of us Garden Girls. I stepped back from some of my other freelance work as I tried to make a temporary office work for me. I also learned that my book title had been pulled. And Echo Park and Carta Bella Paper's demands became greater as I worked to help with product development for the companies' new die and stamp lines. And in the middle of all that, I just could not find my creative groove. I think I lost it somewhere amongst the boxes waiting to be unpacked in my scrapbook room.

It's difficult to feel creative in the middle of chaos. And because I'm so affected by things like change and chaos, it was even more difficult than I imagined it to be.

We're getting there. Soon (or at least I hope soon) I will be able to put my scrapbook room back together. I can actually cook in my own home and do laundry, which are neither of my favorite chores but I'm ready for the return to a routine again.

What can you expect from me in the future? I'm still working behind the scenes to relaunch my 2Peas classes. I have a few extra and NEW items in the works that you will be able to download and access as well. I'm pretty excited about them. I'm also in negotiations with some great companies to provide you with some some exciting new things. Looking for a way to interact with me? Be sure to check out my True Scrap 6 class HERE, which I will be teaching in October.

As far as design work, my new office has enough room to set up a better filming studio. That makes me all kinds of excited. I thank each of you for subscribing to my Youtube channel. I am working to get more how-to videos and vlog entries up on my channel. In the meantime, check out the Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine channel HERE and the Echo Park Paper channel HERE as I film many of their videos as well.

I'm ready for my creative juices to begin flowing again so I'll be ready to tackle some new things. Stay tuned as I find my groove again.

Free Scrapbooking EBook from Popular True Scrap Instructors

Looking for inspiration from professional scrapbookers? Wondering what the "pros" do when they hit a creative block? Want to know more about some of your favorite designers? 

This volume has it all! With short, informational profiles from nine of your favorite scrapbooking instructors and designers, "Profiles in Scrapbooking" will give you ideas for busting through your own scrapper's block, for simplifying your creative process, and for falling in love with memory-keeping and scrapbooking all over again. Perfect for newer and more experienced scrapbookers, "Profiles in Scrapbooking" is a jolt of creative caffeine for crafty souls.

The True Scrap 6 Instructors serve as co-authors to this fabulous book which you can download from Amazon:

Download HERE.

(NOTE: You do NOT need a kindle reader to read this book. You can use your computer or E-Reader of choice.)

This book is FREE for a limited time ONLY. Get yours today!

Want to learn more from professional scrapbookers? Consider joining us for True Scrap 6, an online scrapbooking event. This event already has 200 registered and is growing every day. Be sure to sign up before the event is full! I'll be teaching a class on using moodboards as inspiration for your layouts. 

You can find more information HERE.

 Here's a little peek at my upcoming class:

Scrappin' Madge Birthday Blog Hop

Welcome to a very special blog hop for a very lovely girl. To celebrate "Scrappin' Madge's" birthday, a few bloggers are each sharing a fun birthday project. I'm sharing a birthday mini album I created with the Carta Bella Paper "It's a Celebration" collection. Here's a look at what it looks like:

Want a peek inside? Be sure to watch the video below or HERE on Youtube:



Want a chance to win some exciting prizes? Be sure to hop along on the blog for your chance to win (visit Madge's post first to see the prizes). Please leave a comment on every blog as part of your qualification to win!


Here's the blog hop in order:

Scrappin Madge: www.thescrappinlounge.com

Rhonda M. Bewley Ratliff: www.flowersbyrhonda.blogspot.com

Jessica Douglass Wilson: www.craftinandstampin.blogspot.com

Jennifer Gallacher: http://jengallacher.blogspot.com/

An'Jenic Gibson: http://anjenicgibson.blogspot.com/

Linsey Rickett: http://linseyrickett.blogspot.com

Jenny Johnson: http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/

Angela Corcoran:  www.crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com

Sarah Biswabic  www.sarahbiswabic.blogspot.com

Rhonda Helm: http://craftingwithblue.blogspot.com/

Bev Code: http://beeceecreativity.blogspot.com/2014/09/scrappin-madges-birthday-celebration.html

Dawn Marie: http://kraftychick.blogspot.com

Amy E.  http://www.scrapthissavethat.com/

Rhonda Emery: http://www.scraphappenswithrhonda.blogspot.com

Melissa Fromm: www.frommtheheart.blogspot.com

Tammy Smith: http://lifeupdownandsideways.blogspot.com/2014/09/scrappin-madge-birthday-blog-hop.html

Jessica Kephart:  http://homespunelegance.blogspot.com/

Be sure to visit each blog to see a fun birthday project. You won't want to miss out on the ideas these girls are sharing!

Want a Peek?

Want a peek at the flooring we've had installed? Here's a few before and after shots. A more thorough blog post is on its way, but hey I had to share:

BEFORE (previous owners' photos):

AFTER:

 

Despite a minor setback with the fridge leaking and warping the kitchen floor, we're getting there. After three weeks of having this in my garage, I'm VERY happy to be betting my house back:

Later today we're hoping eliminate this cobalt blue wall in our front room:

Stay tuned!

Make It Meaningful: Thanksgiving Placecards Tutorial

In today's tutorial I wanted to create some Thanksgiving place cards with the charming "A Perfect Autumn" collection from Carta Bella Paper.

"Best Decorations" Award from www.partypail.com

The paper in this collection is printed on heavy-weight, textured paper, making every project a bit more sophisticated.

Step 1: Cut each of the patterned papers you wish to use into 3 1/2" x 5" rectangles and then fold in half. Because the paper is double-sided, you can use which every you side you like or use both by creating two rectangles from the same paper.

Step 2: Using the "Designer Tag Set 1" Designer Die from Echo Park Paper and a manual die cutting machine, cut several tags from kraft cardstock.

Step 3: Rub the edges of each of the die cut tags with brown stamping ink.

Step 4: Type up each person's name that will set at your Thanksgiving table onto cream cardstock. I used a font called "Vintage Typewriter" at 14 pts and printed it out on my computer in brown ink. Use scissors to cut out each individual letter from each person's name.

Step 5: Rub the edges of each of the letters with the brown stamping ink pad. Then mount each person's name on one of the kraft die cut tags.

Step 6: Mount each of the brown name tags on the right side of each folded place card. (NOTE: longer names may require a smaller font to fit on the die cut tag shape.)

Step 7: Add one of the stickers from this paper collection to the place card, tucking it behind the die cut tag.

Step 8: Thread twine through a button and mount on the tag. To keep the twine from coming undone, add a tiny bit of clear glue to the knot of the bow. Once dry the bow will hold its shape.

Here's the completed place cards again. You can use any themed paper collection to create place cards for a special event or a party. Look for tools that will help the process go quickly such as premade stickers or designer papers. Manual and digital die cut shapes can also make quick work of any project like this.

Did you enjoy this project? While you can always use items you already have on hand, if you're looking for these products, consider shopping from the product list below. Purchases made from my links help subsidize the cost of sharing projects here on my blog.

Looking for additional "Make It Meaningful" projects? Simply search on my blog side bar to find additional paper crafting projects under this heading.

Suggested Products (click the photos below for product information):

A Perfect Autumn Collection Kit	A Perfect Autumn 6x6 paper pad	A Perfect Autumn Chipboard Stickers	A Perfect Autumn Brads	A Perfect Autumn Stamps
A Perfect Die Stamp Set	A Perfect Autumn Pumpkin Dies	A Perfect Autumn Frame

InLinkz.com