Welcome to Monday’s Home Matters!  I am Kat (ktanker) here to show you a neat project to bring your scrapping into your home.  I’ve been wanting to do this project for a while now.  Have you ever seen the wood blocks that spell something out?  Like LOVE or JOY?  I wanted a custom saying for my mantle.  I went to Home Depot and found a long block of wood, bought a small hand saw to cut it and a sanding block.  At home, I already had a miter box (I think that’s what it’s called)… which you can use to hold the wood while you saw your blocks.  I scrapped my phrase out in Photoshop CS4 and printed it like any hybrid project.  I collected the following supplies:

• Basic Black Craft Paint
• Medium sized paintbrush
• Cup of water
• Matte Modge Podge
• Printed hybrid page
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Fingertip Craft Knife
• Sandblock
• Pre-cut blocks or piece of wood
• Hand or miter saw and miter box

Here’s all of my supplies ready to go…

Once I had everything ready, I recruited my husband for some help cutting the wood into blocks.  It really is something anyone can do (be careful!) but he’s stronger and it goes much faster.  I cut out my letters and embellishments and used the letters to measure the blocks.  I marked the place to cut using the gray colored pencil.  Once the blocks were cut, I had to sand them.  This was actually the hardest part.  It’s rather time consuming but you can give your blocks a very polished look.  I chose to sand each edge and smoothed out all the sides to make the blocks look slightly more rounded on the edges.  It made quite a mess!  I used my paintbrush and cup of water to dampen or clean the blocks.  This helped me get all the smaller flecks of wood off so I could paint.  I chose black paint for these blocks (about 50 cents at any craft store).  Here’s my blocks while they were drying.  I laid them out on a piece of wax paper over a cookie sheet (ha ha!) to dry.

On a few of my blocks, I went over them with a second coat of paint.  I waited about 30 minutes to let them fully dry.  I used my matte modge podge as a glue and secured the letters on the front of each block.  It was tricky, you have to hold the paper in place for about 30 seconds or it will curl.  I just wiped away the excess.  I learned that you shouldn’t touch the front of the blocks or the modge podge that’s on your hands will make an ugly mark on the paper.  I let those dry another 30 minutes or so.

The blocks looked good at this point but I assume they’ll be handled some so I thought I would seal them.  I used the same type of modge podge but there is also a hard coat version which works very well.  I painted over the paper and the sides of the blocks and let that dry for a while.  I used my paintbrush and found that it put streaks (somewhat) over the blocks.  I used a thin coating and made the streaks look as even and neat as possible.  You can hardly tell they are there.  I would guess that there is a better type of paintbrush to help prevent the streaks.  This is my finished product.

There are a few other things you can do to spice up your blocks.  For example, while your modge podge is drying, add a sprinkle of glitter for some sparkle.  This would be great for Christmas or holiday themed blocks.  I have some embellishments that I plan to stick on using small glue dots to add some depth (I painted them with the same modge podge prior to cutting them out so they have the same matte look).  You could even use some glue dots or tacky two sided tape to put your blocks together for display.  This is always a good idea in my house as my husband might try to run off with the S in my saying.  You can only imagine (LOL).

Here’s a great pre-made block template by Golden Girls Digital Designs and it comes with a supply list and instructions…

I hope you enjoy decorating your home with custom made wood blocks!  Have a wonderful week!  Merry Christmas!

Good Sunday morning everyone! I’m here to bring you the Layout of the Week from last Sunday AND today. Due to crazy illnesses at our house, the computer (and Christmas stuff too) haven’t been getting any attention this past week. Anywho…today, I get the pleasure of bringing you TWO awesome LO’s from our gallery!

First up, last week’s (12/12) winner selected by Norma (yorkiemom):

I just love “the Night Before Christmas” and I guess that was part of the reason I picked Visions of Sugarplum from scrapper@heart.  In addition, the page is stunning! The photo is adorable and she made the template her own by choosing such wonderful colors and elements. And of course the greenery arrangement is to die for!

Congratulations!! Be sure to stop by the gallery and forum to leave some well deserved love for this amazing page!!

Next up, I’m bring you today’s (12/19) winner selected by Jenn (jk703):

I chose this layout by jenevang titled “2010.” I loved the whole idea of a year in one layout, and loved how she accomplished it! Such a great mix of different kits, patterns, ellies and the blocking is a great choice! There is also a summary on the bottom of the layout that will refresh the memory along with the picture of happenings in the year 2010.

Congratulations! Be sure to head over to the forum and gallery to leave some love for this beautiful page!!

-Kelli (kellig)

Good Sunday morning everyone! I’m here to bring you the Project of the Week from last Sunday AND today. Due to crazy illnesses at our house, the computer (and Christmas stuff too) haven’t been getting any attention this past week. Anywho…today, I get the pleasure of bringing you TWO awesome goodies from our gallery!

First up, last week’s (12/12) winner selected by Norma (yorkiemom):

I especially like this, Christmas Candy Box, by bydelstorp. What a great idea! Love the kit she used to make them and how she wrapped the ends with the gold ties. So creative!

Congratulations Karen! Be sure to stop by the gallery and forum to leave Karen some well deserved love for this fabulous project!

Now, I’m bring you today’s (12/19) winner selected by Jenn (jk703):

These Advent Blocks by shanellgambell really caught my eye because of the idea, and the patterns! The idea seems like one I could accomplish myself, and that was really appealing! Plus, her layout to show off her project really pops in the gallery with the bright red!

Congratluations Shanell!! Be sure to stop by the forum and gallery to leave Shanell some well deserved love for this awesome project!!

-Kelli (kellig)

Yay for another Saturday Special! Amber here {Stolen Moments} and this time around, I thought I’d take the opportunity to give you a few tricks regarding shadowing acrylic elements.. So many of the winter kits out there right now have them, and while many designers pre-shadow their acrylic elements, sometimes the angle doesn’t match with the rest of your layout, or it’s too dark or too light, depending on the other pieces of the kit you are using.. So – here we go..

You’ll notice that just applying a layer style or regular shadow to acrylic {or other translucent} elements doesn’t leave them crisp and clean underneath.. See how my 2 and the gears are grey underneath..

I’m going to show you 3 different techniques to beautify your acrylic shadows.. I’m using CS4, but between these different options, hopefully you’ll find something that will work with your program.. Before you start, make sure your elements are placed where you want them, as the angle you shadow them at is kind of permanent {without a redo} for some of these..

First option.. ctrl+click on the layer of your acrylic element to get the marching ants around it, and add a new layer directly beneath your element..

Choose a color for your shadow to be – I used 2d2316 in my sample – generally a softer color than straight black will look more realistic.. Now fill the new layer inside your marching ants with the color you’ve selected.. {I’ve hidden my element layer so it’s easier for you to see what’s going on..}

ACK! You’ll notice mine kept the dots from the original element.. No worries – some pieces will do this to you, and there is a workaround..

Undo so you have no marching ants, but you do have the new layer under your element.. Now, with your element layer selected, click with the magic wand tool anywhere outside the bounds of your element. Then use ctrl+i to invert your selection. This should give you the marching ants around your element again, but because we didn’t directly select it, the characteristics of the element {the dots} weren’t selected.. Now fill your color into the new layer inside the marching ants.. Vwallah!

Now – the rest of my shadows on the page are set at the angle -20, so I want my shadow layer to match with that.. Simply nudge your color filled layer a little bit in the direction the rest of your shadows are – in this case, up and to the left..

Obviously we can’t have that hard line there for our shadow to be realistic, so we’re going to tweak it a bit more.. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and play with the slider until you get the softness you like.. I used 6.3 here, but went back and made it a bit larger later on..

Once you have the softness you like, play around with the opacity and blend mode of the shadow layer until you find something you like.

Your final step of this technique is to get rid of the extra color directly beneath your element. To do this, ctrl+click the element to get the marching ants {you don’t have to do the workaround this time}. Then with your shadow layer selected, hit delete. You’re now left with a beautifully shadowed acrylic element! {If deleting the selection deletes your entire layer, try right clicking and choose Layer Via Cut. From there, you can delete the layer you just created with the cut.}

Second option… this one is a bit easier, but sometimes doesn’t work, depending on your program..

Without any layer styles added, duplicate your acrylic element and add your shadow to the bottom one. Then using the “fill” slider {underneath the “opacity” slider} take it all the way down to zero. This will essentially erase the element itself – and the grey underneath it – leaving the layer style there in all it’s beauty..

Just for fun, you can hide the top element to see what it looks like underneath..

Third option.. as far as I know, this only works in CS..

Add a layer style to your element. Then show the effects in your layers palette and right click on the drop shadow option. This will bring up a new menu, where you can select “Create Layer”.

You will get a pop-up box saying that “Some effect cannot be recreated, blahblahblah..” hit okay.

This essentially does for us what we labored over in the first option – creating a separate layer for our shadow.. So now, you need to ctrl+click to get the marching ants around your element, and with the new shadow layer selected, hit delete.

And one final step – with all of these techniques – is to link your new shadow layers to the elements themselves.. This makes repositioning them a breeze, and you won’t accidentally do anything to mess up the alignment. You do this by selecting both of your layers and either right-clicking and choosing “Link Layers” from the menu, or clicking the little link icon at the bottom of your layers palette.

I hope these little tutorials have been helpful to you.. Now go and conquer all acrylics that stand between you and greatness!

Here is my finished page, as well as some from our FABULOUS team!

using Bits & Bots and Retro Clear Alpha by Stolen Moments & Nikki Beaudreau Designs

by LeeAndra

using Magical Winterland by the SM Design Team and Happy Scrap Girl’s Acrylic Alpha

by Melissa – aka profiler_mar

using Bits & Bots and Retro Clear Alpha by Stolen Moments & Nikki Beaudreau Designs

A few rules to remember..

-Post your pages in the “Saturday Special” gallery and link it back to the thread in the forum. You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post.

-You have until the end of December to play along, then I’ll choose my favorite to receive an extra point.

-Remember no double dipping…your layout must be unique to this challenge.

-You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but we love it when you do!

Happy Scrapping!

Before I found the wonderful world of digital scrapbooking, I was a hoarder of paper scrapbooking supplies including many punches and templates in every shape and size. As they have collected quite a bit of dust over the years, I challenged myself to put them to good use this month. I spotted an ornament project on one of my paper scrapbooking websites at Lily Bee that was perfect- perfect because it was simple, easy, and could be completed with any die cut machine, punches, or hand cutting of shapes.

First: Select your paper and your shape. I selected a holiday paper from an upcoming release from Trixie Scraps and a scalloped circle shape from the punches that I had

ScrapMatters has many different options of shapes to select from as well. You can attach the paper of your choice on your mat shape, print it and cut it out.

Second: Punch out 7 of your selected shape and fold them in half

Third: Attach some embroidery floss/thread/string down the center of one of your shapes and tie a crystal bead at the end of one end. Then glue all of the pieces together, lining up the back sides on after another until all 7 are glued together

Voila! Instant and easy set of ornaments that can be created with any shape. I created a set to attach to my garland around the house and plan to pick up some heart and flower shapes for upcoming ornaments as well.

Another idea is to cut out your shapes and string them or sew them together to create a long garland to use to decorate around the house.

Hope that you enjoyed this short project tutorial on getting into shapes!

Hello scrappers! I am back with another exciting round of Grand Theft Layout! This week we’ll be raiding the fabulous gallery of Cinna! To complete this challenge, you’ll need to browse through her gallery and choose a layout or Hybrid project to inspire a page or project of your own. Make sure to come back here and post your layout or a picture of your project along with a link to the layout or project you chose from her gallery.

Here are some fabulous examples from my creative team!

Denim Days by Creations by Rachael and the Queen of Scrap 2010 Template Bundle.

Jan

Coming soon from Stolen Moments

Kim

Using Believe by Jen Graham and WM[squared]

Lynett

Using An Orchard Harvest by Jen Graham

Jenn

Using Love That Boy by Jen Graham and Bella Gypsy

Tamara

Love That Boy collab from Jen Graham and Bella Gypsy

Ophelia

and this stunner from Carina

turned into this, by Trista

Here’s the rules:

*Pick one of Carina’s layouts, and lift it! Feel free to twist, turn, etc. Post your layout into the Grand Theft Layout Gallery AND to this post to get one point for completing this challenge!
*You can get an additional point for using a NEW ScrapMatters product on your lift.
*At the end of December, I will select one lucky layout as the winner of this challenge, and that person will get an extra point for the month.
* Your layout MUST be unique to this challenge, no double-dipping!
*You do not have to use ScrapMatters products, but we certainly love it when you do!
and, last but not least,
*You will have until the end of DECEMBER to complete this challenge.

Happy Scrapping! I hope you are as inspired by Carina’s awesome gallery as I am.

Hi everyone and Happy Holidays! Cara here to host a Tuesday Template challenge for you – I have always loved the Tuesday Template challenge… there’s nothing like a new template!

Here’s a look at today’s template:

There are no rules for this one – just use the template, make it your own, and have fun! Download here:  http://www.4shared.com/file/f_5ZfN9Q/TT_-_CO_-_12-14_2.html

Here’s what I did with the template using 1225 North Pole by WimpyChompers:

Here is some amazing inspiration from the ScrapMatters CT:

Here is a beautiful LO from Becca1976 using LDrag designs ‘Wishing on a Star’

And one by cinna using Great Escape by WM [Squared] Designs

Here’s one by Fran98765 using Second Spring by Stolen Moments and Captivated Visions, Stitch Me Up Frames by Chelle’s Creations and Sclatters: Capture a Memory by Stolen Moments

And finally a stunner by jendavey using Just Us by Amy Stoffel

Have fun! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!!

Hello there this is Lina (aka LDrag designs) to bring you another Saturday Special!!

Today we are going to talk about partial coloring of photos!! Well one thing you have to have in mind in partial recoloring is
what do you want to emphasize!! Which means that in order for your partially recolored photo to look amazing you have to think of what kit you want to scrap with!!
So I want to scrap with my latest Christmas kit “Joyful Christmas”. The kit is basically full of red white some black and green!!
So I chose a pic of my dd from last year’s Christmas pics that she is wearing something in these colours!!
Here it is!!!

ok now! We are going to select the red reindeer hat  she is wearing using the pen tool in Photoshop. I am using Photoshop CS2 in case you need to know!!!! Of course you can do it with the
Polygonal lasso tool but I prefer the pen cause it’s more stable and easier for many people!! Which means that if you accidentally make a mistake you won’t lose all the points you have selected!
The pen tool creates a mask along the way as you click around your area! Even if you stop for any reason you just click at the last spot of your line and you can continue as you had started!!! So I start selecting the area I want in the photo!!!

As I continue selecting the area around I come to a point that I cannot see what I am selecting due to the mask!
In this case you have to go to your pic at the layers palette and you right click on the pic so that you can select ‘layer from the background’ ! You click ok !

After that you move the mask under you pic layer so that you can see what you have selected! See there is a line with the spots you have selected!
When you have finished selecting your mask then you click on the mask and hold at the same time the CTRL key! This way the mask will be activated and marching ants will run round it!!!
Then select the pic on your layers palette and then go EDIT —COPY
and then EDIT — PASTE! And now you have you coloured part in another layer!

The next step will be to go to the pic and start making the changes you wish! So I star by
running a B/W action on it!!!

See how it looks and the coloured part is in another layer!!

And this is the final after adding a quick edge burn on the desaturated pic!

Hope you found it easy and helpful!!!!

Now here is my page with this photo using my “Joyful Christmas” kit and add on

and what Jen Davey made using Vintage Noel by Amy Stoffel and A Little Sketchy Alpha by WM[squared] Designs

Now for the rules:
- You have until December 31 to complete this challenge.
- Post your pages in the “Saturday Special” gallery and link it back to the thread in the forum.
- You will earn 1 point for your LO and a bonus point if you use a new release (within 7 days of release – be sure to mention this in the forum and in your credits).
- You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products, but we love it when you do!
- No double dipping, your LO must be unique to this challenge.
- At the end I will pick a random winner to receive an extra bonus point.

I can’t wait to see what you create, thanks for playing!!!

Hugs

Lina

I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe Christmas is right around the corner! If you’ve been participating in our Quickpage Exchange over the past year, you’ve received all types of wonderful pages to fill your albums. This month, we are going to wrap up the year and prepare for New Year’s scrapping with Resolutionary from Stolen Moments. I love that this kit is all about the New Year, resolutions, and everything in between.

(MANY thanks to Dawn/Aussiegirl for this FAB ad!!)

And here is the full kit…

Amber’s kit is full of awesome elements and very versatile. It can be used to scrap about changes, goals, celebrations, and even just everyday memories. The best part? It’s 30% off through the end of December! You can stop by Amber’s shop and pick it up here and check out the forum here for full details on how the exchange works.

I can’t wait to see all of your amazing QP’s filling the gallery and forum!

-Kelli (kellig)