Scrapbooking Your Man

I know many people think that the men in our lives are just too hard to scrapbook for and about. They don't like pink. They don't like frills. They don't like flowers. They just aren't that much into scrapbooking.

Well, I just got done doing same pages for a client and they happen to be of her son. A teenager even! I thought I would share some pages and tell you my tips for scrapbooking those guys.

Sports pages are great because you can just use the team colors as a starting point. There are TONS of sports related embellishments out there now as well that make it easy to dress up a layout without making it too frilly. Here is an example:

I used the school's colors and mascot and even added some memorabilia. Not girly at all :)

Here is another idea for sports pages. I used more of a general color scheme here that would work for any sport and any team colors. I used basketball themed embellishments and basketball textured paper (so cool). I even made it personal by adding his jersey number.

Here is an example of how to scrapbook your man for any occasion. This is my boyfriend's 30th birthday present from me. I definitely wanted this page to stay manly and not turn into just another birthday layout. Here it is:

For this one I used guy colors and kept my embellishments to a minimum. I just got the basics across. The bottom smaller photo has hinges on it and opens to reveal my journaling. I wanted to keep it covered in case my boyfriend thought it was too corny to share :)

Tips for scrapbooking your man:

• Keep it simple...don't over do it or he will think it's too much.
• Keep the colors to a minimum and use greens, blues, grays, blacks, and other non-girly colors.
• Use general embellishments like eyelets, numbers, simple quotes, monograms, brads, etc
• Keep your patterned paper graphic. Lines, squares, checkered, some swirls, etc. The last thing you want to use is anything floral! Keep it graphic and it will speak manliness to your man :)
• Hide your journaling if it is a private matter. You know how guys are about sharing their feelings. They don't want you sharing yours about them on a layout either.
• Most of all...have fun creating a layout for your man :) Don't get too worked up over it being perfect. Guys are usually just happy you're thinking of them...even if it is on a scrapbook page :)

Cards...My Beginning

Scrapbooking is by far my favorite paper craft, but it all started with handmade greeting cards. I started making cards about 12 years ago. Rubber stamps are what started it all. And what an addiction it was to get new stamps. Luckily when I got started, my mom was the one buying the hundreds of dollars worth of supplies :) (Thanks Mom!)

I make all my own cards for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. I could never go to the store and buy a card ever again! I love the personal touch a handmade card provides. I always put something pretty on the envelope as well. That way the recipient knows they are getting something cute inside :)

I still use stamps on some of my cards, but I love to try all sorts of mediums. I use felt, paper flowers, stitching (hand and machine), brads, buttons, and much more. Anything fairly flat that will go through the mail easily. I like to personalize my cards too. I use the person's name or their favorite color to make it even more special. My sister-in-law's birthday is on St. Patty's Day, so she always gets a green card. Sometimes I use clovers and other times I just make sure to use green.

Here are some examples of cards I have made recently for my Etsy shop.

You can link to them here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5556196

Hope everyone has a great day...spring is FINALLY here!!!

Where I Find Inspiration

Today I thought I would share will all of you one of the places I find a lot of my inspiration. It is a website called TwoPeasInABucket. It is filled with so many great resources! I love to browse the Member Gallery and see new creations by other "Peas." There is a digital section, photography section, stamping section, and of course...Shopping :) There is something for everyone! My username on twopeas is partyscrapper. I chose this name because it represents a lot of what I scrapbook in my own life. There are so many scrappers with kids, grand kids, husbands, etc. I, on the other hand, have none of these. I scrapbook about my boyfriend, my friends, my dog, etc. I wanted something that set me apart and showed my fun personality :) Check it out for yourself: http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/ and let me know what you think!

Spring Weddings

It will soon be the start of "wedding season". We have already started receiving invites and I have been making them since last November.



The thing I like about making wedding invitations is getting to be a part of something so special. I love working with the couple to get them the perfect invitation. Getting a glimpse into their lives and what they want their wedding to say about them. I have so much fun choosing the right colors and embellishments to decorate the invites with.



I recently did a fun pocket invitation with silver thread stitching which I thought was really cute. (I had to replace the photo with one of my own as I did not have permission from the photographer to use it for advertising.) The colors were so great for the winter wedding. The dark red just spoke Christmas to me and the silver thread gave it that extra something to make it stand out. The couple absolutely loved them and thought the thread looked like wire woven through the paper...so elegant. The inside paper is silver as well with a shine to it. You can't have a wedding without some sparklies :)



Here are a couple of pics of these invites:



And as always, here is the listing to purchase a sample of this invitation:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9577289

There are also several others there to check out as well. And I am more than willing to do custom work :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and weekend and I hope you enjoy the "wedding season" as it is upon us!

New Word-Name Mini Albums

I have been making so many of my word albums lately. People are just loving them :) Have you seen the Bo Bunny word albums? Mine are similar, but the great thing is...you can customize them!! I hand cut each one to spell any word from about 4-9 letters. They are 12" long, so the more letters there are the smaller each one is. They are so darn cute and make great gifts. I can't tell you how many I have given away to family and friends. I keep coming up with different words all the time.







Here are a couple pictures of my little creations:








I have made the following albums and can make many others :)

• First Names
• Last Names
• Sports Teams
• Seasons
• Holidays
• Pet's Names
• Destinations
• Family
• Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters
• Friends
• Love
• Baby

These are so great because they are so personal. And they can be given to anyone!

They do take a lot of work. I have to hand cut each letter, trace it on the chipboard, cut out the chipboard, Xyron both sides of the chipboard and adhere cardstock, cut out letter to put on ends of pages and Xyron them as well. They tend to give me paper cuts too. The Xyron machine leaves little balls of adhesive on the edges of the paper and I have to use my fingers to roll them off. I always wind up with cuts on every finger!! I definitely need to find a better way of doing this. But like everything else, live and learn.

Some tips if you ever plan on making a work album:

• I always format my wording in PhotoShop first to make sure it fits in 12". I make mine 4" tall. Each word will be different even if they contain the same letters. I format each one separately.
• Always use a sharp exacto blade. They are cheap and it makes a world's difference. Anytimem I start to notice I'm putting in more effor than necessary, I change the blade and it works like a charm.
• Try to get the chipboard as close to the edge of the cardstock so you can get three cuts out of a 12x12 piece of paper. Sometimes I tend to use a little extra and then the third piece is too short. Get the most for your money and stick close to the edges.

If you are interested in having a custom word album made, check out my Etsy shop for the listing:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9122596

Have a great day :)

SKUNK!!!!! Recipe for smell removal

What a night!!! Last night as my boyfriend and I were getting ready to head to a birthday party, our dog got sprayed by a skunk...right by our front door. Our entire house was filled with the awful smell!!! What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday night...not! I did get one good thing out of it though...a recipe to take the smell off your dog. I had always heard that tomatoes were the best at getting rid of the smell. Well, I called the vet and he gave me a little concoction to bath the dog in and here it is: 1 cup water 1/2 cup baking soda 1 tsp liquid dish soap 1 quart hydrogen peroxide It seems to have worked. I bathed him twice last night and once again this morning...and he doesn't like baths!!! What a mess! Then my boyfriend and I showered and decided to go ahead and go to our party. We needed out of our stinky house. Well, apparently the smell followed us because people at the party were asking where the smell was coming from. We decided to spare everyone from our odor and called it an early night. If it's not one thing it's another, right! I don't have any scrapping stuff to show you all today because I've been busy all day trying to get my house clean...just had to take a break :)

New Baby Albums :)

I got one of my baby albums done...isn't it just adorable!!!

I love these magnet closure albums from Pioneer...they add just the right extra touch. They come in so many themes and I just couldn't resist the baby ones. I got blue and pink in 8x8. I've only gotten the boy one done so far, but will be working on the girl one real soon :)

Here are a couple of pictures of the album cover and pages:

There is a calendar for every month of the baby's first year and can be arranged to start on the baby's birth month. There is an introductory page with a photo mat and twelve other pages with 4.25x6.25 photo mats for 4x6 photos...no cropping!!! How easy is that :)

I will post my girl album when I get it done...can't wait to work on it :)

It's also in my shop if you 'd like to take a look:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10064184

Talk to you all soon :)

Featured...Yeah!!!!

I'm starting to get the hang of this blogging thing...at least I hope so. I've been linking to others, looking into groups (and joining one-Etsy). I viewed one blog and sent them an email with some of my work and they featured it on their site...how exciting!!!

Check it out here: (Flip Flop Scrapbook)

http://tinsiders.blogspot.com/2008/03/flip-flop-scrapbook.html#links

Here are a couple pictures to show you what a Flip Flop Scrapbook is. You can always remember summer with one of these cute little albums :)




You can also check them out in my etsy shop here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9168412
and here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9146165

I love making these and have given SO many away as gifts. Now I just need to make one for my self :)

They do take a little time though. I hand cut each page to match the specific pair of flip flops I am working with. I roll each page through an adhesive machine to completely cover the entire page and then cover it with patterned paper and cut around the page. I then flip it over and do it on the reverse side. I cut photo mats for each page and embellish them. The fun part is getting to use power tools...okay, just a cordless drill, but still fun. I drill holes in the flip flops and use a hole punch to make holes in the pages. I bind them with cute, fun ribbon and they're ready.

Hope you enjoy them :)

First Post :)

Today I decided it was finally time to start my own blog. I've been checking these wonderful things out for quite some time now and decided it was my turn to share with all of you.

The main reason I have decided to start my blog is to share my passion of scrapbooking and paper crafting with others. I will post new projects, new inspiration, and new useful tips.

Just to get things rolling...here is an item I put together the other day for my Etsy shop. I am getting in the St. Patty's Day mood and thought these were really cute. I can't wait to use them on my layout for this year's party :)

If you think these are cute, check them out here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9918500

I am working on a couple of baby albums right now and can't wait to get them done. They have calendars in them to document each milestone with a picture on the facing page. So cute!! Will post when I have them done.

Until next time....hope you enjoyed my blog :)