4 Weeks Down & Another Giveaway

Yay! I've done 4 weeks of my daily instagram photos. We are entering a new month and that means new templates and a new giveaway from Tracie Stroud Designs (read more about it below).

Right now I'm going to show you my collection of pages so far. This is my most recent one.

And here are all four of my pages laid out side by side. I'm really loving how they turned out.

Using Weekly Project Templates 1 (by me), Capture Life January, Capture Life: Mega Alpha Pack and Capture Life: Messy Krafts all by Tracie Stroud Designs.

Since we've gone through 4 weeks and that means 4 templates it's time for a new set of templates. These were just released today and you can grab them at 20% off until 2/7/13. 

***If you made a weekly page with my Weekly Project Templates 1, please email me your page (or send me a link to the page in your gallery) and you'll get a coupon to get Weekly Project Templates II at an extra special discount. :) I love seeing your pages.

Do you all remember my extra special giveaway last month? Each month Tracie Stroud is giving all of my readers a special coupon to grab the current month's Capture Life kit at 25% off. Plus she's giving away that month's kit to one special winner! So if you want a chance to win this BEAUTIFUL Capture Life: February kit make sure to enter the giveaway below. I'll be announcing the winner Saturday morning below (in the rafflecopter feed) and on my facebook page.

Here's the 25% off coupon for Capture Life: February

tsd-LIZ-feb-save

*expires February 28, 2013

For those of you doing this challenge along side of me I hope you are having as much fun as I am.

-Liz

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My January Pages & Some Others....

It's the end of the month and that means it is time for me to show you the pages I scrapped this month. I didn't do so hot this month. I managed to scrap 4 pages. One of them was a double pager....so can we say I scrapped 5 pages? Wait! I did keep up with my Weekly Instagram Pages. So that means I scrapped 8 pages. Not too bad I suppose.

Here are the pages I scrapped this past month (not including my Weekly Instagram Pages). This first one doesn't even have photos but it tells a story, a story about my 5 year old daughter.

Using mle Card's Apple Dapple Bundle and my Celebrate Double Templates.

 The next three pages are from China. This is the album I'm really focusing on this year.

Using Best Day Ever by Amanda Heimann Designs and my Sweet and Simple Album Templates II

Using Big Sister by mle Card Designs and my Recyclables 13.

Using mle Card's Big Sister and my Artsy Journal Templates.

That's all I've scrapped so far this year. I did scrap a few pages back in November that I haven't showed you yet. The templates hadn't been released yet. I work quite a bit ahead on my designing so sometimes I scrap a page and then I can't show it you for a while. I would say that's the bad part about working ahead! 

Here goes for the pages I scrapped back in November. I was working really hard at finishing up my 2011 album so these photos were all taken towards the end of 2011.

I used  Boy Extraordinary Bundle by Bella Gypsy and my Scrap Orchard  January Challenge Template.

Christmas Cheer by Tracie Stroud Designs and the Template was given away to January MIS participants (available soon in my store).

Krafty Papers Bundle by Happy Scrap Girl, Sugarberry Kit by Sugary Fancy Designs, Pebblelicious Colors Alpha by SuzyQ Scraps and my Keepin' It Real Double Templates

Krafty Papers Bundle by Happy Scrap Girl, Sugarberry Kit by Sugary Fancy Designs, Pebblelicious Colors Alpha by SuzyQ Scraps  and my Keepin' It Real Double Templates.

Hip Holiday by Bella Gypsy Designs and  my January Blog Template over at Scrap Orchard.

 How are you keeping up with your scrapping in 2013?
-Liz

Sneak Peek and Giveaway - Win 2 Template Sets!

It's Monday! That means it's time for another sneak peek and giveaway. I have two new template sets releasing this week. They both have something to do with different challenges people might doing this year. Hmmmmm.....You'll find out more on Thursday but if you want a chance to win them just enter the giveaway below. I always announce the winner on my facebook on Thursday once the giveaway has ended and you can always come back to see the winner below.

Hope you all have a great Monday!
-Liz

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DIY Updated Frames with Scrapbook Paper

I'm here today with a super fun, easy and cheap way to update your picture frames. I've had these frames and flowers hanging in my home for over 11 years. I drew these flowers shortly after my hubby and I got married. I bought some cheap frames and they've been hanging on our walls ever since. Since they've been a part of our home for so long, and I very vividly remember drawing them as a newly married wife wanting to add a personal touch to my home (which was an apartment at the time), I didn't want to get rid of them but I knew the frames needed to be updated.

I've just recently began a love for spray paint after my TV tray update. I knew I could easily spray paint the frames. 

I also have a love for scrapbook paper....usually digital scrapbook paper...but for this project I went shopping at our local scrapbook store and picked up these pretty papers.

Then I made my own photo mats by tracing the old mats on to the paper. I cut them out and then I used an exacto knife to cut the inside rectangle out.

Here they are in my hallway. What do you think?

I think they look pretty nice.

I'm so glad to still have those flowers in my home but in a more bright and colorful way. I suspect they'll be hanging in my home for at least another 11 years before I update them again.

Since I was taking photos in my hallway I snapped a photo of this too. I found this photo holder at  Pier 1 for $12.95! I thought it was a great deal and perfect way to display some of my instagram photos. I hung it up sideways in my hallway, ordered 4x4 prints from Persnickety Prints and stuck the photos in there. My girls LOVE looking at the photos and I know I'll be updating it from time to time to keep them looking.

Here's to cheap DIY projects and personal projects that make your house a home.

-Liz

Photo Mat Full Templates & Digital Doily Banners

A while back I suggested to Liz that she write up a blog post about the layouts she put together with her Photo Mats. She said she could do even better than that - she could turn them into templates! That's just what she did in this new set called Photo Mat Full Templates. All the work is done for you. These are beautiful multi-photo pages with very pretty decorations and plenty of room for your storytelling. If you already have the Photo Mats, you can use these as inspiration for making even more combinations. Photo Mat Full Templates are 20% off through 1/31.

 

This next set might also look familiar. Liz used her Digital Doilies, adding in a few new shapes, and created these fun Digital Doily Banners. The different shapes bring to mind so many different themes - winter, patriotic, birthdays; the little flower banner makes me think of summer and hanging paper lanterns. They are great for designers or scrappers.  And these are also 20% off through 1/31.

 

Here is inspiration from the team, including Liz's original layouts that inspired the Photo Mat Full Templates.

Thanks for stopping by!

Instagram Week 3 & a Tip

I've heard it takes 21 days to create a habit and I think that's true. I'm on Week 3 of my 2013 Project so I'm really getting into the groove of taking pictures every day and scrapping them every week. There was one day last week where I almost forgot to take my picture but it worked out good because I got a picture of what my life is like later on at night.....my husband sitting on the couch across from me while I work on my computer.

Weekly Project Templates 1 and Capture Life: January, Capture Life: Messy Krafts, and Capture Life: Mega Alpha Stash (all Capture Life from Tracie Stroud Designs).

This is my tip for you this week: Make sure you take pictures at different times during the day. I found that I was mostly taking pics in the middle of the day. I tried, this week, to take a few earlier in the morning and a little later at night. That way I got a better overall view of my life. While my life is mostly filled with my kids (because I stay at home and homeschool) I still have a few times (like early in the morning and late at night) that are filled with other things and I want to make sure I capture those as well.

Your going to want to make sure you watch the blog next week. I'm going to be releasing another set of Weekly Project Templates (to keep us going through February) and I'll be doing another special giveaway.

-Liz

Sneak Peek & Giveaway Time

I'm super excited about this week's new products. I have two new things for you. One of which I made out of my own digital scrapbook pages. Back in November I scrapped a bunch and I actually scrapped a lot without templates (shocking!). I've been going back and turning a lot of those into templates and I just love this set of templates I made out of my pages. Plus I also made something a little fun for you to add to your digital scrapbook pages or your digital scrapbook kits.

So if you want to win both of these just enter the giveaway below.
Hope you all have a happy Monday!
-Liz
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Crate Craft Holder - Pinterest Win!

Saturdays have become a day to show you some my home projects, usually they have something to do with scrapbooking, but this one really doesn't have anything to do with scrapbooking. I'm going to show it to you anyway because I just love it. Perhaps you can use it to store some of your scrapbooking supplies (for those of you more traditional scrappers) but for you digital scrapbookers....Well, maybe you could use it for your kids craft stuff like I did.

I actually got this idea from pinterest (love pinterest!). I saw a pic where you use an old bottle crate  to store craft supplies. Genius! I scored one at a local thrift store for less than $20 and I actually saw plenty as I was browsing. So I took my pick. I wasn't sure if I would like how it looked or if it would even really work right. I got it home, had the girls sort the stuff out and then I put it on our school bookshelf. I love it! It keeps everything nice and neat and it looks kind of cool.

So, even though this has nothing to do with digital scrapbooking, I hope you can use the idea to organize some of your other craft stuff.

-Liz

Keepin' It Real Double Templates

Liz made her new Keepin' It Real Double Templates as a tool for getting her photos scrapped efficiently as she finished up her recent yearly album. These templates are on the simple side with  large photo spots and strategically placed elements to make a beautiful presentation of your memories.  There is plenty of space for journaling, or go without text and let the photos tell their own story. You can mix and match to make double page spreads, or you can use them individually.  However you choose to use them, I know you will love the result. Keepin' It Real Double Templates are 20% off through 1/24.

P365 - The Instagram Way: Week 2

Woohoo! I've stuck to this for 2 weeks...only 50 more to go!

Here's my page for week 2 (to see my 2013 project click here):

Using my Weekly Project Templates, Capture Life: January, Capture Life: Mega Alpha Pack, and Capture Life: Messy Krafts (all Capture Life is by Tracie Stroud).

Here's a tip for this week: When I made this page and last week's page I realized that some of my instagram photos already had a white border or black border (depending on what effect I chose). When I went to do my page I liked the photos with the borders better. What to do with the photos without borders? Well, I just made my own little white square in photoshop and put it behind the photo, added a shadow by copying and pasting the shadow style (see tips here #8) to the white square and left my photo with no shadow style. That way it looks like the instagram frame. I think it makes my photos pop out a little bit more on my page.

Do you need help making a white square? First open a new page in photoshop and make your canvas size 2.93 inches by 2.93 inches (at least this is the size square I used). Just like this:

Then hit okay and paint your canvas white. You then can drag and drop that onto your digital scrapbooking page.

I'm having fun with this project and I've enjoyed seeing some of your pages. Make sure you email me the pages you made with my Weekly Project Templates 1 and you'll get a discount on the next set of Weekly Project Templates.

I've been taking my photos this week, have you?

-Liz

Digital Embossing Tutorial

I saw a page by Tiff awhile ago in the gallery and I loved the embossing look she got on her scallop. I asked her how she did it and I tried it out myself. I thought you guys might like to learn to so I made a video and also wrote up a little tutorial below. Hope you enjoy!

Here's what the finished product looks like.

Using Simple and Sweet Album Templates, 12x12 Frames, On a Sunny Day and On a Sunny Day Add-On by Kristen Aagard and Krafty Papers Bundle by Happy Scrap Girl.

Here's the video tutorial.

Now here's a quick written tutorial to help you.

Make sure you create the new layer above the scallop layer or above the layer you want to emboss. You could use text, shapes, borders, etc...

Here's where you  create a new layer.

 

Here's the paint bucket (in case you need a reminder).

Then you'll double click on your scallop layer, add your bevel and emboss, click on blending option and select multiply.

Then you click back on your bevel and emboss layer and play with your settings.

In the video tutorial I mentioned how you will lose some of the effect of your bevel and emboss layer when you flatten and save your image as a .jpg.  So what I do is I make my effect a little heavier/darker than what I want it to be. The settings above seem to work good for me. I also mentioned that there is another way to "emboss" a digital scrapbook page. I found a tutorial over on Chelle's Creation's blog that shows another way to emboss without losing any of the effect. So you can read that and then figure out what works best for you.

I hope this helps you add a little something extra to your digital scrapbook pages!

-Liz

GSO Winner!

Please join me and congratulating Sharon (Shazzbess) on winning this month’s GSO!  Sharon competed against some beautiful competition but her's was voted the Brightest by you the voters! We love the mix of patterned papers and the penciled edging on the unpatterned background in this layout using the Dec 2012 Blog Challenge Freebie. Along with the uniformity of the "sticker" style for all the paper embellishments and alphas and a great set of little boy photos, this holiday layout was definitely 5 Stars!

Thank you to all you voters! Random-dot-org selected number 21, Sweetie Pie, as the winner of $5 to Liz's store in the Vote and Win drawing!

Click HERE to leave some love for Sharon on this stunning Holiday layout!

Sneak Peek with Some Digi Pages!

My sneak peek is a little different today. I have a wonderful set of double page templates that will be released on Thursday. In fact, I made these templates for myself because I was really wanting to scrap a bunch of photos (back when I was finishing up my 2011 album) and I really love them...and hopefully you will too. I've already made two pages using them so I thought I would share those as my sneak peek. 

Here are my two pages....and there's going to be more than this in the set! So if you want a chance to win them all just enter the giveaway below.

Using Krafty Papers Bundle by Happy Scrap Girl, Sugarberry Kit by Sugary Fancy Designs and  Pebblelicious Colors Alpha by SuzyQ Scraps.

Using Krafty Papers Bundle by Happy Scrap Girl, Wonderland by Bella Gypsy Designs, Spray Dots Alpha by WM Squared Designs, My Favorite Things Alpha by AH Designs and Ziggle Designs and Summer Breeze Alpha by WM Squared Designs.

Here's the giveaway.

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TV Tray Upcycle

It's time for another little DIY project.

I was given these TV trays when I was married 13 years ago. It was a wedding gift from a friend. Since we didn't have a lot of furniture (or a lot of money) we used these as end tables next to our mattress. Since then they have been used for actual tv trays, craft projects, support for forts (if you have kids you know what I mean) and any other thing you can imagine a TV tray could be used for. I decided it was time to redo them. They had marker, paint, glue, etc....stuck to them and they were starting to look pretty battered and drab.

My wonderful hubby (who claims to be an expert spray painter) spray painted these with some off white paint. I wanted to take a picture before he started  but he was little too impatient to wait for me to bring the camera down. Actually, he probably knew I would get side tracked with one of the kids so he just went ahead and started. I got downstairs in time to snap this picture of him painting the tables. He sanded the top of the tables first, to smooth out some of the bumps, and then he painted the bottoms and the legs and left the top unpainted.

The next part of the process was mod podging scrapbook paper to the top part of the tray. I went to my local art store and picked out some scrapbook paper. I'm really loving the colors and floral patterns of these papers. They'll be the perfect pop of color in my house.

Mod Podge, sponge brush, scrapbook paper and scissors, check.

I got my kids involved (because I knew they would love it). They helped me mod podge the paper onto the trays. I used some tips from An Altered Obsession. I highly recommend reading it before you start. 

We started with one piece of paper and then added from there. I bought 4 pieces of scrapbook paper for each table but it only took 3.  I made sure the first piece was lined up with the very edge of the table. It was a  little tricky but we did it. We had to really smooth out the corners and cut and fold a little bit.

It is not seamless pattern but you hardly notice it.

What do you say?

I used scrapbook paper so it kind of counts as a scrapping project, right? You could even use digital scrapbook paper if you wanted. Either way it was fun, easy and now I have nice new TV trays that are almost too pretty to use! 

-Liz