Hi everyone :) Rachel here with my first product spotlight! I am so excited to spotlight Shabby Princess’ Sandbox collection & its coordinating SUMMER additions this week. I loved it when it first came out and I love it just as much today.

These are just PERFECT for scrapping all your summer photos and more! I love all the little doodled elements and her amazing word art pieces. And, you can grab it all NOW… because the Sandbox Collection is on SALE for only $4.75 for a limited time!  And, if you want to pick up the coordinating ADDITIONS - they are marked down to $2.75 for a limited time as well (the sale prices go away when we post our next Product Spotlight)!

Check out these AMAZING layouts by the Shabby girls!

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! Tomorrow we’ll be checking in with PROJECT SCRAP… until then, have a wonderful day! :)

rachelProduct Spotlight, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Good morning! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend… full of scrapping and sunshine moments! :o) It’s Kylie here and I’m eager to share this week’s Layout of the Week with you all!

Pumpkins by ameredith127

After working with Shabby Princess’ Family WORD WHIMSY collection for my Father’s Day inspiration post last week, I was immediately struck by this awesome layout by ameredith127. She created her very own “pumpkins” word whimsy… isn’t it AMAZING!!  So much time, effort, talent and LOVE went into creating this little masterpiece. And of course those photos are absolutely adorable – especially the cute homemade pumpkin hats! I’m also loving the grungy autumn feel to the page… it makes me feel right at home as I shiver through a very chilly start to winter. (Having just said that, I’d like to add that all the beautiful spring and summer layouts filling the gallery now, from all you northern hemisphere gals, are really warming my heart!!)

CONGRATULATIONS, ameredith127! Enjoy your Shabby Shoppe $10 gift card …sent via email. And a very big THANKS for sharing your remarkable page with us! :o) And, of course, thanks to each and every one of the fabulously talented ladies who share their layouts/creations with us week in and week out! SO MUCH INSPIRATION!!

Well, it’s goodbye from me today! But, be sure to stop by tomorrow… the lovely Rachel has a couple of Shabby Shoppe favorites to spotlight for you! :o)

KylieLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 3 Comments

Hello everyone – HAPPY Friday! :o) Kylie here with a jam-packed post… part  digi-scrapping, part hybrid project – and for the most part, all inspiration …well, that’s my hope, at least! ;o)

Mother’s Day has only just visited, and for the majority of us we are about to celebrate Father’s Day. Now, given the fact that I live in Australia, I won’t be celebrating until September, but hey, having prepared this post to share with you all I’m now going to be super organized… no excuses this year!

Thoughts of Father’s Day led me to thinking about scrapping ‘guy-style’ layouts. Sure I’ve scrapped plenty of pages for my cute little nephews but have I ever crafted one for just my husband or my dad or my adult brothers? – Sadly, I can count the pages on one hand. Yes, I admit it… I’m a girly-girl scrapper and I tend to avoid masculine layouts… I find them a little daunting. Not to mention I have a problem with reigning in all my flowers, ribbons, bows and pretty things. I’m certain I’m not alone here!

Armed with the following tips, I’m about to change all that! So… here are some ideas that will make our masculine layouts easier and more fun to put together… for all those special men in our lives:

• Need help starting? Start with your photo/s. Create a layout that is an extension of the theme or the feel of your photo. Cheeky, formal, adventurous, active, sweet…
• Design: Have fun pushing the traditional boundaries – think outside the box in terms of creativity and focus more on design rather than embellishments. Take a no frills approach! Start with simple straight lines and see where that takes you…
• Papers: Rich earthy tones are the popular choice but don’t forget about all those fresh light and bright colors. Mix your solids with strong bold patterns – try stripes, checks, plaids, spots & dots. Geometric designs are perfect! Shabby, grungy, torn edging – yes, please! And there’s no reason you can’t use more feminine colors, patterns, even florals, as accents – you might be surprised at the result!
• Embellishments: Metal embellishments add an instant masculine touch. Staples, stars, brads and buttons! Don’t avoid flowers altogether, just put more thought into their style, color and placement… and if in doubt less is more. As alternatives to pretty bows and ribbons think string, rope, knots and messy stitching. Splatters and messy rub-ons are always fun too!
• Journaling: Best not to forget that! …just as important here as on any other layout you make! Add journaling in your own style, from your own perspective. But for something a little different why not try a question-and-answer ‘interview’ style to get the man in your life to participate in the journaling… include their thoughts and emotions on the page.

Here are two layouts I put together for my sweet Dad. To help me create the perfect pages and ‘speed scrap’ at the same time I used two different easy-as-pie templates from the Shoppe’s MEMORABLE collection. I also chose no more than five papers and handful of embellishments. But what really makes the page are those clustered WORD WHIMSY titles! I selected the {dad} and {grandfather} words from the FAMILY collection. They are full of detail and make the page look as if you’ve worked on it for hours instead of just a few minutes. A little whimsy wow-factor… gotta LOVE THAT!! (I’ll add these pages to the Shabby Artist’s gallery if anyone was wondering about the kits used.)

I’m looking forward to scrapping a special Father’s Day photo now that I’ve had a little practise at some ‘grown-up guy’ pages! Do you have any tips or preferences when it comes to creating the perfect ‘guy page’? We’d all love to hear from you… add a comment if you’d like to share. :o)

Now onto the HYBRID part of the post! :o) I’m loving these word whimsies bunches and bunches – SP has kindly done all the hard work for us by creating these wonderfully-embellished title art pieces. So again, I made use of the super-cute {dad} word whimsy to create a hybrid Father’s Day card. My work area in Photoshop was 10×7 inches, to produce a 5×7 inch card when folded. I chose a couple of papers from the BAREFOOT collection and layered them as a background. On a separate work area I clipped two longish rectangle strips (my belt!) with some brown paper from the GABBY collection (I darkened it slightly!), added some AUTUMN MEDLEY stitching and a metal photo corner from ORGANIC. For my ‘belt buckle’ I chose a journal label from the BLOSSOM collection, added my word whimsy and some “Happy Father’s Day” text. I printed the main card and the belt pieces on some textured cardstock. To give the word whimsy belt buckle a shiny effect, I printed it on semi-gloss photo paper. Each piece was trimmed as required. I added holes to the belt with a hole-punch. Inked all edges and then put the front of the card together using double sided tape for the belt and 3D-dots for the buckle. Nothing too difficult at all… I’m sure even the kids would love to give this a go!

And as far as Father’s Day gifts are concerned you can’t go past the Family Man WALLET ALBUM! This is an amazing hybrid project – so special and super personalized – and ‘masculine’ to boot! And there is still plenty of time to enjoy making this very realistic wallet album for your special dad, granddad, brother, uncle, son… hey, I think I want my own too!! ;o) Some of our very talented gallery members posted their completed wallets last year for us to peek at! Let’s have another look… here and here and here and here! Awesome work girls!!

Well, that’s quite enough inspiration for one day, lol! We’ll be back on Monday with LOTW…until then have wonderful weekend… and HAPPY SCRAPPING (and/or hybrid project crafting!! ) :o)

KylieHybrid Projects, Inspiration, Uncategorized 12 Comments

Hi all! :o) Kylie here! Well, our 1st BIRTHDAY BASH has all but come and gone… for 2011, at least… and the way this year is going, we’ll be back in celebration mode before ya know it! :o) We’ve shared some fabulous goodies – all FREE – if you have missed any of our other birthday posts… you can easily find them by clicking the ‘birthday bash’ category over on the right side of the blog! Our jam-packed gift bag included: a word whimsy, a paper pack, clustered frames and an easy-as-pie layered template – all super-cute and all lots of FUN!! And, I love that they coordinate so perfectly with the AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER kit in the Shoppe. What a lovely way to extend this beloved kit – and I really can’t wait to scrap my next birthday celebration using all the new goodies (I may have to scrap some old photos – too impatient?!)

Before we pack up the decorations and turn the lights out on the 1st birthday celebrations, I’m here today to announce the ‘WINNERS’ of our celebration recipe challenge! Hosting this cheery challenge was lots of fun and going through all the entries was THE VERY BEST part! I loved each and every entry! :o) It was lovely to see so many different types of celebrations and memorable occasions … all so special and wonderful in their own way… and all scrapped BRILLIANTLY!! As always, choosing was not an easy task. We really did not go by any specific criteria for choosing the ‘favorite’ three layouts – it had to do with everything from design to journaling to overall creativity, etc. So, in no particular order… here are our THREE WINNING LAYOUTS for the ‘A TIME TO CELEBRATE’ recipe challenge… congratulations girls!!

First, we have bessysue581 with her adorable page celebrating little Kaiya’s first birthday! :o) Just look at that photo – utter CUTENESS and pure HAPPINESS!! A perfect princess party page… full of all things pretty… and lots of sparkles!

Next, we have another birthday celebration, and a celebration of sisters, all rolled into one.  15 Amazing Years by chocochoco is beautifully crafted! :o) The whole page is precious and what I love most is the journaling… such sweet and earnest words! (Oh, if I could only write half as well on my sister’s next birthday card, I’ll be doing very well indeed!)

And finally, First Dance by PrimevalPixie! :o) A gorgeous photograph from their very special day, a pic that is no doubt cherished! And the layout, to showcase such a beautiful first, is absolutely stunning – in every way… especially the journaling! (You guys really did pull the heartstrings with each and every recipe challenge layout!)

CONGRATULATIONS, girls :o)  You should have each received a $10 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe (be sure to check your SPAM folders) via email – have fun shoppe-ing :o) Thank you SO much, to everyone, for participating and joining in the challenge fun! EVERYONE did an amazing job with our little ‘scrap’ recipe. So many very, very special pages full of wonderful celebrations – both big and small…  ALL treasured keepsakes! 

Please join me again on Friday for a little Father’s Day inspiration! Thanks for dropping by the blog today and we’ll see you again soon! :o)

KylieOther Challenges, Shoppe News, Uncategorized 4 Comments

hey guys :o)  SP here this Monday morning to bring you a beautiful new LAYOUT OF THE WEEK!  When I first saw this gorgeous layout in the gallery (by the talented scrapper, Xelle)…I was taken with the ‘pretty-ness’, sweetness, and the softness of it!  The design was perfect…and the lace really set it off!  Then, I read the title and description (MY IPAD GETS YOU MAD)…and liked it even more, lol!  So cute and fun…and the pics just illustrate the page PERFECTLY!  I especially love the use of black and white photos to contrast the feminine colors of the page!  It all just WORKS…soooooo well :o)   

CONGRATULATIONS, Xelle…I hope you enjoy your $10 gift card at the Shoppe (sent via email) :o)  THANKS bunches for posting and sharing with us!

And, as always, super huge thanks to all of the amazingly talented ladies who share your layouts and lives with us each week :o)

Be sure to join us back here on Wednesday as we announce the WINNERS from Kylie’s AWESOME recipe challenge :o)  Until then…have a fun week!   XOXO — SP

Shabby PrincessLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 3 Comments