Hi everyone! Denise here with a quick project for you. With the start of the new year, I’ve been trying to organize and backup my photos (so important!). I decided to make photo CDs to send to the Grandparents and family out of state, using the Hopscotch kit to make a CD sleeve. If you normally shot photos in Camera Raw, it’s a good idea to convert the photos to JPEGs when sending the photos to family.

The final folded dimensions of the CD Sleeve are 5″ x 5″. The open dimensions are 6″ x 10″. In the picture below, you can see the two flaps that are .5″ each used to glue the sides together. To start, I opened a Hopscotch patterned paper and changed the canvas to 6″ x 10″ and using guides mark the two vertical folds for the flaps .5″ in from the sides. Also set the guide for the horizontal fold at 5″.  The border, ribbon and blue paper were added and masked at the middle fold. The card, flowers, buttons, tape and tags were added, sized and rotated to compose the cover. An Outer Glow was used instead of a Drop Shadow, my personal preference for hybrid projects.

The file was flattened and printed to a heavy weight matte photo paper. Trim the edges and fold the .5″ flaps in, and also the middle of the sleeve. Trim a small corner off the top and bottom of the flaps at a 45 degree angle to aid in folding (see photo below). You can also punch a half circle in the back of the CD Sleeve. Using a tape runner glue, fold the flaps in and glue, fold the sleeve in half  and you’re finished.

I hope this project inspires you to send photo CDs off to family members and to back up your photos! Happy scrapping everyone. :)  We’ll see you back here on Monday – have a great weekend!

DeniseHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 8 Comments

Hello Shabby Shoppe-rs!!  It’s Beckie here with my first post of the year!!  Well I don’t know about you, but I am soooo excited about project scrap!  I’ve tried to commit myself to several other projects through the years, but unfortunately none have seemed to work out for me :)  I got through December 4th of my December daily album last year, LOL!  I tried P52s before (one layout per week for the entire year) and couldn’t stick with that, either.  I guess I’m just a “free spirit” when it comes to scrapbooking!  The pressure of feeling like I have to scrap something specific seems to stifle my creativity.

But one two-page layout per month?? I can TOTALLY DO THAT!  And so can you!  The templates provided by Shabby Princess will ensure this is the quickest, easiest “project” I’ve attempted yet! And you want to know a little secret?  I’m not usually a template scrapper.  There, I said it.  I truly enjoy the entire creative process of pulling a page together from scratch.  But I gotta tell you – it takes time to work out the kinks on a page design and create a finished product that I totally love.  But Scrapping with the Shoppe templates each month for the template challenges has allowed me to develop my own techniques for personalizing templates and I’m learning that I CAN still enjoy complete creative freedom using a template as the basis for my page design.  And with SP’s exciting project scrap announcement, I thought I’d share a few ideas!

1. Use the template as-is. Using a template EXACTLY as it is created is a great option!  It’s a sure-fire way to create a visually appealing layout in the least amount of time.  One basic tip: I often select a template that contains the same number of photos I would like to scrap.  If necessary, use a template that has more photo spaces than what you require and fill one or more photo spots with patterned paper or journaling!

2. The basic rotate. This is a close cousin to the “use the template as-is” option :), but with a twist.  Literally!  Just take the original design and rotate it!

{The template above is from Easy as Pie Templates:: Heartland.}  I only had to re-position the journaling and the orientation of the design elements on the tag in the upper left corner, and voila!  It looks like an entirely different layout. :)  This is a GREAT way to create a two page spread!  rotate the template so the second page is a mirror-copy of the first and you’ll have a visually pleasing design that will come together in no time.

3.  Re-size it. This is the easiest “down sizing” you’ll ever do!  Simply select all the layers in the layers palette (de-select the background papers) and use CTRL + T  to transform them (in photoshop be sure to also hold down the SHIFT key while you drag the bounding box to keep all shapes in their original proportions).  Shrink them down as much as you want!  don’t like it?  CTRL + Z will un-do!  If you’re a fan of white space, this trick is sure to be your favorite :)

Template above is the free template from Template Challenge 5!

4.  Repeat it and re-size it! Have a lot of photos you want to include?  Duplicate the template design!  You’ll most likely need to shrink the original design just a bit before you do.  The quickest way to do this is to:

• Select all items (excluding background papers) in the layers palette, and either right-click and “duplicate”, or drag the selected items down to the little “create new layer”  icon, which looks like a little post-it pad with the corner turned up.
• Once the layers are duplicated, BEFORE you click anything else, click on the little “link layers” icon at the bottom of the layers palette.  It looks like a link of chain.  This will make it easy to just click on one item and drag the entire set of new layers as a whole.
• Now simply click on any of the new copied layers and drag the group around as a whole until you have it positioned where you want it!

The template above is one of my favorites, created by Nicole for Template Challenge Three!  I had to reduce the size of the design slightly, then I even decided to rotate the whole design to have a horizontal stripe instead of a vertical.  I hope you’re starting to get the idea here!

One thing I’ve found is that I prefer to “tinker” with my templates before I’ve started creating my page. This keeps things split into two distinct processes:  establish the design and then fill it in.  It could get a bit overwhelming trying to re-design the template at the same time you’re working to customize it with your own papers, photos and embellishments!  So play with the template itself and determine the layout you’d like to create and then start adding in your custom elements.

And finally, let’s not forget the most basic type of template customization:  adding or removing elements.  If you’re a minimalist scrapper, delete extraneous embellishments!  Like clusters?  Add FIVE flowers where the template has ONE!  Just remember that a little planning and work up front on the layout of the template will make the page building process much easier!

Well that’s all I had for you today! I can’t wait until the end of the month to see the first project scrap layouts hitting the gallery!  And I’ll be looking for even more inspiration from all of you to learn even more ways to “trick out my templates!”  :)  Be sure to check back on FRIDAY as Denise inspires us with a fun hybrid project!

BeckieInspiration, project Scrap 2011, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized 18 Comments

Happy Monday Shabby Shoppe Blog Readers! It’s Anna here with another edition of Layout of the Week. I love choosing because it means I get to spend time in our inspiration gallery looking at the fabulous eye candy everyone creates. Remember if you post your layout in the gallery you could win $10 in Shabby Shoppe goodness too!

Who is our winner this week? She just started posting on January 10th and already has 28 beautiful layouts in the gallery. I love her sweet simple style!  I present the fabulous skaashley and her fantastic layout summer.

It’s so cold and dreary in my neck of the woods that her layout really brightened my mood!  Sweet little Rachel looks as if she is having the best time in her kiddie pool! Thanks for cheering me up skaashley!

I hope a $10 Shabby Shopping spree will brighten your day as well!

Stay tuned for Beckie’s Tips and Tricks post coming this Wednesday!

AnnaLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Hello & Happy Friday to everyone!! :o) It’s Kylie here again with a Food Friday post! Yummmm!

I think it’s always a great idea to have a few “base” recipes that you can play around with. Sometimes I feel like keeping things plain and simple and then other times I might have a craving for a particular flavor or texture or might have something in my pantry that needs using up , know what I mean?!! – so I get a little creative and ADD to my base recipes! A friendly warning: It pays not to be overly adventurous when it comes to flavor combinations and other additional ingredients that might in fact throw out your baking proportions, unless you are prepared for what just might turn out to be a ‘failure’ or not quite what you were expecting. Although, a cooking failure is not always a bad thing!! LOL! I guess it’s a bit like scrapbooking – sometimes it’s best to keep a page nice and clean and other times you just want to add cluster after cluster and embellish to your hearts desire! Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t! That’s the great thing about this form of creativity – you are pretty much only limited to your imagination – same goes for cooking!

 Today I’m sharing a chocolate brownie recipe with a twist. And because most of you are experiencing the chilliness of winter, I have included a rich Hot Chocolate recipe that’s super decadent! With both of these recipes, you can just stick to the base recipe and be just fine, or you can add my suggested ‘extra’ ingredients, or go nuts and add your own!

 My Choc-Cherry brownie recipe is, I guess, like a simple brownie version of the classic Black Forest Cake. It makes a very moist, extra chocolately dessert when served with a spoonful (or more!) of whipped cream and a sprinkling of grated chocolate. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 300 g (10oz) dark eating chocolate, chopped
• 150 g (5oz) butter, chopped
• 1 ½ cups (330g, 11 ½ oz) brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup (110g, 3 ½ oz) plain flour
• ¾ cup (140g, 5 oz) Choc bits/chips
• ½ cup (120g, 4 oz) sour cream
• 200 g (7 oz) pitted cherries (fresh or canned or preserved)

 Directions

• Preheat oven to 180C (356F)
• Grease 19-21cm (7-9in) square cake pan, line with baking paper.
• Stir butter and dark chocolate in a saucepan over low heat until smooth. Allow to cool.
• Stir sugar and eggs into cooled chocolate mixture. Add sifted flour, choc bits and sour cream. Mix well.
• Pour mixture into pan and spread evenly.
• Top with cherries.
• Bake 35-40mins.
• Cool in pan before cutting.
• Serve with cream & chocolate curls.

 Tips and other suggestions:

• You can use fresh cherries – any variety is fine, or canned black cherries, or, I think morello cherries are the best and add a nice sour note to cut through the richness of the chocolate.
• Absorb excess juice from cherries prior to adding to mixture by leaving them to sit on some absorbent kitchen paper towel while preparing other ingredients. This will prevent the finished product from being excessively moist.
• If you want to add a ‘kick’ to your dessert, soak the cherries overnight in some Kirsch liqueur, cherry brandy or your preferred liqueur. Again, drain off excess moisture with paper towel prior to baking.
• The cherries will slowly sink into mix as it cooks – this is normal.
• If you want a firmer more manageable product to eat as an ‘everyday’ treat, instead of a dessert, do not add the cherries or any other ‘juicy’ fruit to the base recipe. Instead you could add nuts or dried fruits, marshmallows, etc. as per the more traditional brownie recipes.
• For this recipe my extras are the dark Choc bits and cherries. Other flavor combinations could be, but really aren’t limited to:
  • White Choc Bits (140g or 5 oz) and fresh or frozen raspberries (200g or 7 oz)
  • Candied orange peel (50g or 2 oz) and pistachio nuts (140g or 5 oz)
  • Dried cranberries (110g or 3 ½ oz) and macadamia nuts (140g or 5 oz)
  • Walnuts (200g or 7 oz)
  • Milk Choc bits (140g or 5 oz) and strawberry & vanilla flavored mini-marshmallows (about a cup)
  • (Please note for the extra ingredients: measurements may need to be varied, so please use your own judgement as well as your own personal preference! And coarsely chopped pieces are best.)

 Now, if you want an extra chocolate hit, you can also make this Hot Chocolate drink to serve with your brownies, or you can simply make it on its own. I like to use dark chocolate and add some spices too – but you’re welcome to go with whatever type of chocolate you prefer and the spices (especially the chili) are optional. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 330 ml (11 fl. oz) milk
• 330 ml (11 fl. oz) pouring (single) cream
• 300 g (10 oz) chocolate of choice (dark, milk, white or any combination of the three)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

 Directions

• Combine milk, cream & spices in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.
• Add chocolate and stir continuously until melted and smooth.
• Strain.
• Divide among 4 heatproof cups and serve with marshmallows.

This hot chocolate is very rich and quite thick to drink so I recommend just a small mug at a time. And the marshmallows are optional, of course!

I have created two recipe cards as a FREE download. I used the Shabby Shoppe French Toast recipe card templates and a collection of Shabby Princess digital kits (see the TOU in your download for more details). Please feel free to add these two new cards to your home recipe collection, and ENJOY!! :o)  You can CLICK HERE to download them, or simply click the preview below!

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading through today’s recipes and have fun making them! And even more fun devouring them!! :o)  (Sorry to all those that may have made a NO-chocolate New Year’s Resolution! Just close your eyes and wait for LOTW!! :o) Enjoy your weekend and we’ll be back here on Monday with another gorgeous Layout of the Week post! Until then, take care and Happy Scrapping!!! :o)  And, if you missed it – be sure to check out SP’s launch of PROJECT SCRAP (posted yesterday – scroll down)!

KylieFood Stuff, Free (not desktops), Uncategorized 8 Comments

Hi everyone :o)  SP here…and I am SUPER DUPER excited to launch PROJECT SCRAP (twenty eleven)!!!!  YAY!  I posted about it last week…if you missed that one – you can SEE IT HERE!

WHAT IS project scrap?

It is what I call an attainable goal, lol :o)  I have often wanted to join in the various projects that challenge you to take a photo a day or scrap a layout a day (oh my!  lol)…or even a layout a week – what a great concept, huh?  Unfortunately, with my schedule (and many others, too…I would suspect) – that is just a little too ambitious for me and I know I would be setting myself up for failure (something I try to avoid, lol)!  What has always appealed to me the MOST about these kinds of challenges…is the MOTIVATION that comes along with doing something as a group and by way of established guidelines and criteria!  These are the elements I need in order to follow through :o)  The ‘accountability’ of being part of a group is very inspiring to me!  So, I decided to come up with my own ‘project’…but one that I consider practical and realistic in terms of the numbers, lol!  As a result, PROJECT SCRAP was born :o)  Now, I just hope that you girls will JOIN IN THE FUN and together, we will SCRAP 2011!

So, here are the basics…

As you can see…this is not an overwhelming project – it is one of those goals or resolutions that you can actually achieve, lol!  In a nutshell…you take TWO PHOTOS PER WEEK.  These two photos can be of or about ANYTHING you want!  Remember, this is YOUR book/album…so there are no ‘themes’ to follow, etc.  Just try to think BIG PICTURE and what you would want to remember in a couple of years, five years, twenty years.  That will be different for each of us.  I’m sure that MY album will be full of little everyday moments as well as events, holidays and milestones (or at least that is my hope and plan).  Yours might be themed as a BABY ALBUM…a HEALTH album…a SCHOOL YEAR album…a PHOTOGRAPHY album and so on (you get the point)!  You might even want to do one album per child, etc.  This project can and will be whatever YOU make it!

So, once you have decided on a ‘theme’ or direction for your album…you will want to be sure and take your TWO PHOTOS PER WEEK (yes, I plan to ‘say’ that over and over again as it is the basis for everything else, lol)!  Then, we get to the SCRAPPING portion of the project!  At the end of EACH MONTH, you will create TWO scrapbook pages!  Best of all…we make this part super easy for you, by providing you with simple templates!  I’ll be honest…this portion of the project kinda follows my own scrapbooking style, lol…hey, what did you expect…it’s the only style I know?  LOL!  As many of you already know…’my’ style of scrapbooking is TWO PAGE LAYOUTS!  However…I am not talking about matchy-matchy pages.  As I have mentioned before…when I take pictures – I take LOTS AND LOTS of them…and often have a difficult time choosing just one or two for a page.  So…I scrap ONE page with lots of photos along with some journaling, etc…this is generally what I refer to as my ‘fun’ page!  Then…the opposite page (could be left or right side, doesn’t matter, unless the layouts lend themselves better to one side or the other) almost ALWAYS features just one LARGE photo from the same day/event/memory/photo session/etc.  I do this for several reasons.  For the most part, my albums really are like my ‘photo albums’, too.  I do not often print out individual photos (unless I am gifting them or inserting in a frame, etc.)…so I like to have a nice and BIG photo from each group of photos…something that shows all of the details!  My ‘fun’ page often features lots of photos…and all kinda small…so for me, it is important to incorporate this large PHOTO as well :o)  Also…I figure if I am going to pay for the page/album – I might as well get my money’s worth and have some portrait size photos in there, lolol!  I don’t think you will regret working with this ‘style’ :o)

Alright…let me stay on track (at least a little!).  The END GOAL is to have a BEAUTIFUL and ready-to-print album at the end of 2011.  At that point, you will have at least TWENTY FOUR completed pages along with a cover (I’ll share this toward the end of the year) - all ready to go!  HOW GREAT IS THAT?!  By creating this album gradually…you take all of the stress out of it…and you do not miss any of those important moments throughout the year!  Of course, you can add MORE pages if you like.  You might even wish to create special layouts/spreads for birthdays, sporting events, holidays, etc.  I will probably do that myself :o)

Best of all…you are up-to-date.  Well…if you are like me – you are already WAY BEHIND in your scrapping (I still haven’t finished our son’s baby book, lol).  I know that feeling, trust me…you feel like you will never catch up…or even worse – that you are FORGETTING all of the important ‘stuff’!  I’m with ya!  So…let’s start catching up together!  Or should I say, let’s STOP GETTING BEHIND together, lol!  I love knowing that at the end of this year…I will be ready to print an album with all of our best moments of 2011 – that is a refreshing feeling to me!

So…a few words about the templates!  Since we are taking TWO PHOTOS PER WEEK…of course, one of the templates will ALWAYS have spots for EIGHT photos!  Then, the other template will always have ONE LARGE PHOTO SPOT…to feature a special photo for the month.  This can be one of your eight photos (just larger)…or you can choose a ninth picture to highlight here!  Both pages will have places for journaling and a title, etc.  Please keep in mind that these templates are just a starting point for your creativity…you can make them your own by adding more or taking away.  A NOTE:  for this project, I plan to keep the templates somewhat simple.  After announcing this project last week…I have had quite a few emails asking me to have the templates simple and PHOTOS only (no embellishments/papers/etc.).  And, I LOVE that idea (truly, and many of my albums are just that, photos on a white background)…but I also know that many of my scrapping friends will prefer to have ‘scrappy’ style pages.  So, I am hoping to compromise and bring the two styles (clean/simple and scrappy/shabby) together!  Again, you can delete some of the layers to have a super simple style…or, you can add embellishment clusters and anything else you can think of!

I’ll share the templates at the end of each month and we would LOVE to see your ‘spreads’ in the Shoppe’s Gallery!  In the next few days, I will be setting up a special gallery just for this project…so please be sure to post there, so we can all be inspired by everyone’s ‘take’ on the templates!  Then, at the end of the year (or early next year) – I would LOOOOOOOOOVE to see photos of everyone’s printed albums!  How fun will that be?!

THE MAIN THING TO REMEMBER…BE SURE AND SCRAP YOUR PHOTOS MONTHLY…do not put the scrapping portion off until the end of the year…that is the point of this project, lol!  SCRAP NOW and gradually throughout the year, so that you do not have to do a BUNCH of work at once to pull it together :o)

A few words about PRINTING (a very few, lol)!  I know that lots of you have been curious about this particular aspect of the project…and trust me – I understand completely…printing is a big deal and can be complicated and pricey!  I just wanted to let you know that as we get closer to the end of the year – I will DEFINITELY be sharing some printing tips and suggestions.  This will include various labs and album companies, etc.  I think it is a little premature for me to go into all of that just yet…as prices, offerings, sizes and companies are bound to change throughout the year.  So, when we get closer to the end of the project…I will be sure to do a special post just on the process of printing and creating an album!  IF you have never had any pages printed…or if you have never had an ALBUM printed…you are in for a treat!  There is nothing like seeing your work all nicely bound up in a book (trust me, lol)!  And, best of all – your children feel like STARS when they see themselves in a ‘library book’ lol!  It’s so wonderful :o)  Of course, you also have the option of just printing your layouts individually and inserting them into a traditional album!  We’ll get to all of that, promise…but didn’t want to address it all just yet!  For now, let’s focus on having fun taking pics and scrapping!

How about some templates?  LOL!  Obviously, there are no examples for you at this time, as the month is not over and we are all still taking photos :o)  But, I wanted to go ahead and show and share these with you NOW…so that you have some idea of where your photos are going!  In future months, the templates will not be shared until the very end of the month :o)  I love these…they were a collaborative effort by myself and Kylie and I can’t wait to scrap with them!  Just click on the preview below to download the templates (in layered PSD and TIFF formats)…or simply CLICK HERE!

Project SCRAP ~ bundle ONE is now available for purchase at the Shabby Shoppe…CLICKING HERE will take you straight there!

PLEASE NOTE: if you participated in project SCRAP 2011 right here at the Shabby Shoppe’s BLOG…you do not need to purchase this product. Be sure to check your hard drive before purchasing :o)

 Alright…I think I have covered everything!  Of course, throughout the year, I will be sharing more ideas and suggestions to help you make your 2011 album the best it can be (not that you need my advice, lol)!  In the meantime, keep taking pics and having fun with it!  Speaking of which, we are having our BIG family Christmas this weekend (yes, I know…a little late, but that’s just how everyone’s schedules worked out lol) – so I plan to take lots of photos for my album :o)

We’ll be back tomorrow as Kylie shares a favorite recipe with everyone :o)  xoxo –SP

P.S.  Please leave a COMMENT if you plan to join in the fun with us – I would love to have a little ‘roster’ going :o)  THANKS!

Shabby Princessproject Scrap 2011, Shoppe News, Uncategorized 142 Comments