Creative Memories Traditional 411 Blog

Welcome to the Baby Blog Hop!

Thank you for joining us today for the Baby Blog Hop! 

We're going to be hopping to ten additional blogs today, visiting many of our Design Team members on their own blogs to see some projects they've created using the new It's A Boy (CAN) and It's A Girl (CAN) collections. Even if you don't have a baby, you'll find ideas for using these vibrant collections in other projects!

Let's get started with projects Melissa Ullmann from the Home Office and Member Melissa Marti from our Design Team!

I can't believe that it has been ALMOST 17 years since we welcomed our "baby" into this world! At 6 foot-1inch, he really isn't a baby anymore.  They grow oh so fast!  I had a couple of birth photos that I had not yet scrapbooked, and am so glad that I had waited, as the It's a Boy Collection is the perfect fit! 

My son not only brought sunshine to my day but to my life.  He brings the sunshine on the cloudiest of days! 

Layout by Melissa Ullmann - Creative Memories Home Office

Melissa Marti just recently gave birth to her little guy, and little does she know, he will be 16 in a blink of the eye! (Shhhh, don't tell her!) 

He will hopefully appreciate his momma's work and enjoy looking back at all of the special moments in his life...like these in her layout using the It's A Boy Digital Kit (CAN).

Layout by Melissa Marti - Design Team Member

Blogs are featuring the following 'It's A Boy' and 'It's A Girl' products from Creative Memories.

12x12 Stack Pack (containing 24 sheets of double-sided paper, 2 sheets of die-cut shapes)

12x12 Embossed Cardstock (18 sheets)

Mat Pack (60 pieces)

Title Stickers

Stickers

Digital Kit

NOW - let's get moving! Your next stop is Beth Thomander's blog...
and your first clue is the letter B!

We'll see you at the finish - over on the Digital 411 Blog.

And don't miss the Secret Surprise Promotion - going on now through April 18. Spend a minimum of $75 online and earn a Secret Surprise Pack worth over $50 with at least 4 scrapbooking products for just $15!

Baby Blog Hop

Join us on April 10-11, 2012 for a Blog Hop! 

What's a blog hop? 

A blog hop is a bit of a scavenger hunt, hopping from blog to blog. For ours, we will "hop" through our Design Team member's blogs, starting from our Traditional blog!

What will we see?

We'll see LOTS of inspiring projects - both traditional and digital - by the Creative Memories Design Team, using two of the NEW It's a Boy and It's a Girl Baby Collections. You'll have the chance to check out some new blogs that feature Creative Memories products, plus see some non-baby uses of these versatile new collections.

Are there prizes?

Why, of course! We'll be giving away one of each of the complete collections at the end of the blog hop.

How do I win?

On each of the blog stops, you'll be given a letter to write down. On the last blog, you'll be asked to enter a code, which will put you into the running for the prizes! Fill out the entry form at the end of the hop for your chance to win.

Use this image to spread the word on Pinterest!

Easy Easter Treats

The Easter Bunny is busy right now, getting all those baskets ready for the Easter holiday later this month! I thought I might just help him out with this adorable little treat bag. 

You will need a piece of Carrot Cardstock. (How fitting!) 

Cut your cardstock to measure 5" x 6". 

Roll into a tube shape, pressing the ends together to adhere.  

Add Precision Point Adhesive the the inside edge of one end of the tube. 

Add clip to hold shut until the adhesive is dry.

Fill with candy. (Jellybeans are a favorite in our house.)

Press the top closed opposite of the bottom.

Cut thin strips of green paper or cardstock for the carrot top. I used the cardstock from the It's a Girl Embossed Cardstock. Crinkle the strips and fold in half. 

Insert into the top of the "carrot".  Staple.

Using the NEW Shape Maker System with the Circle Cartridge, punch a circle from yellow embossed cartstock. Embellish with the limited edition Easter Embellishments. 

Even if it isn't to help your bunny, but just to share with friends, co-workers, or any little munchkin -- this treat is sure to be drooled over.

Hoppy Easter!

 

Candy Shop + the NEW Shape Maker System

Hi there! Gretchen here today with a layout to share using the fun (and my new favorite!) Candy Shop line and the brand new Shape Maker System!

I used the 2" Circle Shape Maker Cartridge (it comes with the Shape Maker System, along with a 2" Square Cartridge!) to make the scalloped borders for this layout. 

I punched a bunch of circles out of a couple of sheets of red Candy Shop Designer-Print Paper.

Then I just cut each of the circles in half.

And I lined them up to create a border above and below the picture. 

I cut 2 narrow strips of yellow Candy Shop Designer-Print Paper to add across the scalloped border to hide the "messiness" of where I cut the circles in half.

And voila! That is an easy way to use circles to create a fun scalloped border!

Taking a closer look at the layout, the patterned paper around the picture is actually a couple of the Candy Shop Photo Mats. The photo mats are striped with 3 "buttons" printed on the patterned paper. To add some dimension to the page, I added round Epoxy Stickers over each "button". Fun, huh??!

Supplies Used:
Candy Shop Designer Cardstock (US/CAN)
Candy Shop Designer-Print Paper (US/CAN)
Candy Shop Photo Mats (US/CAN)
Candy Shop Epoxy Stickers (US/CAN)
Candy Shop Paper Tags (US/CAN)
Candy Shop ABC Stickers (US/CAN)
Shape Maker System (US/CAN) with 2-Inch Circle Shape Maker Cartridge 

Check out this fun video featuring both of these cool new products!

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great day!
:)
Gretchen 

P.S. The Shape Maker System is SO easy to use! You are going to love it!

Cherished Springtime Memories

Can you believe that in some parts of the US (but NOT in Minnesota!) buds are starting to pop up out of the ground? One moment it's -11 degrees or even 32 degrees and a few days later the temps are as high as 74. What is happening to our four seasons?

Even though I like a good winter season, especially when there is snow around so my kids can build snowmen or make snow angles, there is nothing like spring. It's my most favorite season. I love every moment I get to open the windows allowing for a cool breeze of fresh air cleanse my home of any toxins that's been hovering around through the winter months. Plus, I really enjoy being outside, playing with my kids and tending to my herb, veggie and flower gardens. One thing I do not like is pulling weeds, but having a little one around kind of makes that a little more exiting.

It's a time for young kids to explore, touch and feel all of what nature has to offer. Lots of questions are asked about what kind of plant or weed is growing all over the yard or flower beds. I remember back in the day when I was young, I loved playing with weeds. Blowing dandelions in the air watching the fly around me. I was even more excited to pick them when they were in full bloom and put them in a vase to give to my mom. She loved when I would give them to her, but I'm sure deep down inside she wasn't too thrilled having weeds hanging out on her kitchen windowsill either. It was the thought that counted, right?

This brings me to my layout of my baby girl getting to know her spring blooms, one in particular, the dandelion. She loves to play with these pretty white fluffy weeds that grow by the hundreds in our yard.

Matter of fact, her and her brother will have a contest to see who could blow the most of the white airy flowers in one breath. It's quite fun watching them do this and can be a disappointment when they run out of dandelions. But not for me! That means less weeding for me and more admiring my clean flower beds.

When creating my layout, I went with a simple approach in my design and added layers the same or similar elements for depth and texture. I love to use a mix of collections when I create and the flowers are a prime example of that, where I used the back of paper flowers from the Divine and Enchanted collections. I also layered in large paper flowers from the Reflections collection. I love the tone-on-tone affect of using white backed flowers, giving a subtle look to the layered flowers that also pop with the blue flower beneath.

To add more depth and texture to the page, I tucked in a bunch of green leaves from the Reflections collection to create a dimensional border. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time and glad I did it for this page! It's a wonderful way to add dimension to a page and try something new.

I love combining the Enchanted and Reflections collections together - the patterns and color palette are perfect for spring and Easter projects.

Now, get ready to capture those spring moments with your love ones enjoying the flowers that bloom into weeds! Create something beautiful and cherish those memories as they happen.

 

Tell Them You Love Them All Month Long

Hi everyone! Ginger here today with a Valentine home decor idea that doubles as a way to let your family know what you love about them.

Fist off, let me say that I think my husband and I do pretty well in celebrating Valentine's Day. We often go out, exchange gifts, and plan some fun extra special time to spend together. I write him love notes and he happily goes along with whatever crazy scheme I come up with as a date activity. It's a lot of fun! Today however, my project is all about the love I have for my kids. I love showering them with a little extra affection around Valentine's Day. My mom set that tradition for me. Each year, on Valentine's Day, she would have fun treats, notes, and toys sitting by our place at the dinner table and as kids we always looked forward to finding out what she had in store for us. Occasionally we were even surprised early by a note or treat in our lunch box that day. 

And that brings me back to what I want to show you today. I had a lot of fun playing with my Creative Memories Page Frame (US/CAN) and turning it into a message board during the month of February. I started by designing a layout to put inside the frame using the new P.S. I Love You line (US/CAN). It was perfect for the type of display I had in mind and went beautifully with the sleek black page frame. I printed a couple of my favorite photos to add to the page and even decorated the outside of my page frame. 

For my frame decorations, I cut out a title with my Cricut and the Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons Cartridge (US/CAN). I used Cricut Craft Room to stretch my letters taller and to weld the letters together. I added the title to the bottom right side of my page frame. 

I added a banner made from paper hearts to the upper right side of the frame. I made these by gluing the ends of 3"x1/4" paper strips together and then inverting them and gluing the the opposite ends together. 

Last, I made several accordion circles and hearts for the bottom left side of the frame. You can find instructions on how to make these in a former blog post here.

There is just one small change to make the heart accordions, you need fold a 12"x1.5" piece of paper in half and shape like this (the fold is on the right). Then score every 1/4" and fold as you do the circle accordions. It looks a little odd now but this will give you the heart shape once you fold it up.

Now for the best part! During the month leading up to Valentine's Day, I can use a dry erase marker on the glass of the frame to write notes to my kids, telling them what I love about them or why I love being their mother. I can change it up daily so my children will have special messages from me all month long!

I'm looking forward to seeing how the kids react to their daily love notes! I hope they'll realize how special they are to me and how I cherish their unique traits.

How will you add a little love to the month of February?

Related articles

A Fast and Fabulous Valentine's Day Gift Idea

Hexagon Love

Hello! Cindy here to share my love for one of my favorite shapes, the hexagon. They are easy to incorporate into just about any project. And Creative Memories has a variety of hexagon tools to make all this creativity happen, including the limited edition Hexagon Jumbo Pattern and Hexagon Border Maker Cartridge released this month.

I like to mix up patterns using shapes, and for this layout I used the Hexagon Jumbo Pattern to use as my main background design. I cut out three different sizes to fit nicely on the page, providing a nice colorful backdrop for my photo strip.

The Hexagon Place 'n' Punch is smaller and compliments the tiny hexagons from the Hexagon Border Maker Cartridge. At the bottom of the layout, I randomly punched out three shapes using the Hexagon Place 'n' Punch and backed the cardstock with pattern paper for contrast. It's a subtle use of the negative space. I also added Foam Squares to the tiny hexagons for dimension.

I really love that you get two options out of the Border Maker Cartridges! The punched border strip and the little shapes that are collected in the cartridge are both usable in your projects.

The hexagon is a nice change from the traditional shapes we're used to using. The style is fun, graphic and really adds a punch to the design.

Here are some more ideas for using hexagons in your projects:

• try layering two or more of the shapes in different sizes
• punch photos into hexagons
• create a framed background
• create a journaling box
• fold a bunch in half to use for a border
• add interest by punching another shape within the hexagon

Did I mention the Hexagon Jumbo Pattern and Hexagon Border Maker Cartridge are limited editions? That's right! So, if you're loving hexagons as much as I am, you'll want to order yours while you can. They are while supplies last, through February 2013! 

Happy Creating! Share your layouts using hexagons on the Creative Memories Home Office Facebook page. We added the instructions for my layout in the Project Center here.

You say it's your birthday?

So, I managed to get all the holiday decorations put away. 

However, soon after I was reminded that in my house January is "birthday month." It works out to almost one every other day. 

I love to send a personal card. But, really, how am I going to create that many cards without spending HOURS on them? Hours I don't have right now; I am sure you can relate! The hours in the day are precious. 

Then, it dawned on me.

The new Happy Birthday Limited Edition Collection! 

With a few sheets of cardstock, the layered stickers, title stickers, stack pack, 12-inch trimmer, foam squares and a tape runner I managed to pull together eight birthday cards in less than an hour.

Yes, that's right - ONE HOUR! Click on the images to view larger.

     
         
         
          

This collection is so versatile; it can work for either a male or female! 

My personal favorite is the layered stickers because, they're layered, and look really fancy, but are so simple to add to a card! They add a lot of value and pop to a card.

Get a head start of the year and create a batch of birthday cards.

I feel so much better now knowing that I have the next few weeks covered for birthdays, and as soon as I have another hour, I'll be creating more to cover the next batch!!

Happy Creating!

A Fast and Fabulous Valentine's Day Gift Idea

Hello there! Aly Dosdall here again from the design team. We still have one month before Valentine's Day so I thought I'd share an easy but gorgeous and meaningful Valentine's Day gift idea. Why not create a gift album for that special someone using the P.S. I Love You 8x8 Fast to Fabulous Album (US/CAN)? 

I've created a few of these Fast to Fabulous albums (US/CAN) as gifts and I love that they're simple and easy to put together, but also look gorgeous. The album comes with everything you need: pre-designed pages, die cuts, stickers, adhesive, and even page protectors. All you have to do is add your special photos, your own meaningful journaling, and then you get the fun of deciding where to place the adorable die cuts and stickers.

Here are some pages from my completed P.S. I Love You album. (Ssshhh!  Don't tell my husband - it's his Valentine's Day gift!).

I decided to convert all my photos to black and white before printing them since they were all from different occasions and had several conflicting colors. I like the classic look and the unified feel that the black and white photos add to the album.

My photos for the above page didn't quite line up with the pre-designed photo mats in the album, so I placed my vertical photo on the right side of the horizontal photo mat and drew in some journaling lines using the Gray Dual Tip Pen (US/CAN) and a ruler.

I love that the stickers for this album have a clear background, so you can layer them right on top of your photos for a cool look and your photo still shows through.

To add dimension to your album, layer stickers over die cuts.

For even more dimension, layer die cuts using the foam squares included with the album.

Here's a tip to help in placing accents in your album: Create visual triangles that engage the viewer's eye on the page by placing three elements of similar color, shape, or visual weight in a triangular shape on the page. In other words, if you connected the dots between these elements you'd draw a triangle. See if you can spot any visual triangles in the pages above.

I can't wait to give this to my hubby! I just hope I can keep it a secret for the next month! =)

A Simple Way To Step Up Your Journaling

Do you ever struggle with what to say when it's time to journal on your layouts? Do you want to capture the who, what, where, and when but also take your journaling a step farther? They say a photo is worth a 1,000 words and typically that is true, photos alone are good at capturing the basics behind what you are scrapbooking; however, I think that just about every photo tells an even better story when it is paired with great journaling.

So today I’m going to show you a simple exercise that you can do to improve your journaling; journaling that will help you tell the story behind your photos in a detailed, heartfelt, yet still fast and easy way.

My technique is word bubble mapping. Some of you may remember this technique as one you learned in school. You start out by writing the main idea behind your layout in the center of a blank piece of paper. For my example today I’m going to pretend that I’m working on a layout about my son’s 8^th birthday, so that is what I’ll write in my center bubble. 

Next I’ll give myself a few blank bubbles around my main one to add my first memories of this event. 

Now I just quickly add the first few things I remember from this event: #1. My son’s good friend was there #2. All he wanted as gifts was Lego stuff and #3. We gave him a Cub Scout uniform as one of his presents. I could add more if I want, but three is usually a good number that gives me plenty to write about.

Next I’ll add some other bubbles around my three smaller bubbles to help me fill in the details. For example, off the "friend" bubble I’ll add a bubble about how his friend almost wasn’t able to make it to his party, but did make it at the last minute. My son was really excited that he was able to be there because they had become such good friends when they were in the same first grade class. Now they are in separate classes and don’t get to see each other often. 

I’ll fill in details about my other bubbles as well. I might even add an additional 4^th layer of bubbles to include my own feelings about each of the details.

Now I have a lot of information about the special parts of his birthday. I’ll gather it all up and write my journaling to include all the details I thought about while bubble mapping. I might even go back and add further bubbles as I think about other details I want to include.

Look at all the great stuff to journal about! Not just the basics, but details about what he was excited about. It paints a bigger picture of his special day and the memories that were made that day.

Give it a try the next time you're struggling with what to write!

Happy journaling everyone!

Ginger