Hey guys…SP here today :o) As you probably already know (from THIS blog post) – we are slowing the blog down a bit here at the Shabby Shoppe :o)  So, this isn’t really a ‘good-bye’ post…just one to say that we’ll still be here (busy designing, hopefully!) – just not as often!  Our hope is to continue to inspire…with occasional fun and interesting posts and content! We won’t post unless we have something worth-while to say (well, at least in our minds, lol)! Of course, we’ll always share news of NEW PRODUCTS and FREEBIES here…and anything else that might be of interest! As much as I love to cook and bake – no doubt that I’ll be back with foodie posts in the future – as well as crafting and hybrid when I can!

Also – as I mentioned in the last project SCRAP 2012 post…we are bringing a brand new (and really awesome) project SCRAP bundle to the Shoppe soon…so stay tuned to the blog (and our newsletter) for more information on that! I plan to check-in every now and then with everyone…for my own motivation as much as anyone else’s, lolol! Seriously – I have enjoyed the project so much for the past two years and am excited to keep going with it…and hope you are as well!  And again, while there will not be monthly posts for it anymore…that doesn’t mean we can’t all keep on track :o)  So, good luck with it and I’ll be excited to share my pages with you in the coming months (and certainly hope to continue to see yours in the gallery as well) :o)

I promised myself I wouldn’t ramble on too long…so, I’ll wrap it up :o)  More than anything else…I wanted to say THANK YOU with all my heart to all of our wonderfully sweet, caring, creative and beautiful blog friends! Also – a huge thank you and lots of love to the crazy talented Shabby Artist team…the blog wouldn’t have been much fun without them, lol! You all have brought us so much joy – and inspired us to create and craft!  We have ALL grown so much during the past couple of years – and you will all be missed!  YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!  XOXO…and sincere wishes for a blessed, happy, healthy and creative 2013 :o)  See ya soon-ish!  Shabby Princess :o)

~*~

Hi everyone!! Kylie here as well!  I wanted to drop by and add to SP’s message with my own short, sweet and very heartfelt “bye-for-now!”…how could I not?! ;o)  It’s been my absolute privilege to work with Shabby Princess and the entire Shabby Artist team.  It really has been a true joy managing the blog over the last little while…I’ve loved every single second of it!  The whole Shabby Shoppe community, well it’s just like one big family…the encouragement, the inspiration, the SMILES…so many smiles!!!  And that special (and often rare) feeling of community, well it’s all thanks to SP and her beautiful and generous spirit…all the amazingly-talented past & present team members that have shared so much with us all – Beckie, Nicole, Kathy, Lu, Anna, Trish, Karen, Denise, Rachel, Jenelle, Kim, Casharina, Rosy, Amber, Elisabeth, Emily, Aubrey and Lindsay…and all our loyal blog followers and forever-fabulous gallery members.  It’s been a FUN and memorable journey – all learning and growing together in digi-scrap-happiness!!  So I guess it’s time for me to sign off (before I get too carried away, and to be honest, a little teary!).  I’m looking forward to seeing you all in the gallery from time to time and commenting on your gorgeous creations…and ya never know, I may just pop by with a blog post or two throughout the year…and I can’t wait to help SP with lots of awesome NEW goodies for the Shoppe!! Yay!!  …and on that note - HAPPY SCRAPPING, my dear Shabby Shoppe friends and bye for now!! K :o)

First let me take a little time to THANK all those that participated.  Thanks, thanks, thanks!  And it must be said – ALL the gorgeous gals who scrapped challenge no. 30…absolutely ROCKED IT!  It was so fun to see all the different versions too…tinkering is always the FUN bit!!  There were pages with a special little photo and lots of story-telling, a large photo with just a few precious words…pages flipped, extra pics…and everything inbetween!  Versatility plus!! ;o)  Thanks so much for uploading your beautifully scrapped pages to our inspiration gallery…we loved each and every entry!

Now for our random winner…and this time, the lucky number was 23!  That means that Sheri B‘s amazing layout A Name of Honor was chosen.  (Picked with the help of random.org…ahhh ‘Miss Random’ you are a lifesaver…I could never have picked a favourite from all those wonderful entries without help.)  Sheri B’s page is a memory-keeping treasure, not to mention wonderful scrapping with the perfect choice of papers and elements for these old family photos.  And how cool to convert the template to the 8.5×11 size!  Perfect!!

Congratulations Sheri!!  You will be receiving a $25 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe in your email box (be sure to check spam folders) this morning…have fun shoppe-ing and thanks for joining in the template challenge fun!

This was our last monthly Easy-As-Pie Template Challenge on the BLOG…but, that’s not to say we won’t have more in the future!  They are far too much fun not to, hey!!  They just won’t be popping up every single month like they have been the last few years.  So with that, I just want to thank everyone who has played along over the years!!  It’s been our absolute pleasure to bring them to you!!  So many templates, so many beautiful and unique pages scrapped!!  Just remember to keep an eye out for the next one…SP is sure to give everyone plenty of notice :o)

Thanks for stopping by today!  We’ll return tomorrow for a short and sweet “bye for now” post.

This is my Grandma when she was about 17 years old.  She was the Drum Major for her high school marching band!  She was my inspiration!  Because of her example, and this super cute picture, I learned how to play the clarinet and joined my high school marching band!  I have always loved this picture! :0)

I remember this picture hanging up on Grandma’s wall.  I LOVED to go there to see the pictures of my Mom as a little girl, and as she grew!  What a blessing it is to me to have these pictures!  This one is one of my favorites!  Sitting next to her, on the left, is my aunt- her older sister.  Aren’t they both SO cute?!

This one is pretty special to me, too.  This is my Dad when he was about 2 years old. :0)  I LOVE this picture!  Another one of my favorites!  He says he doesn’t remember anything about this picture.  He was told that a man just came around his neighborhood one day with this horse and some props and took pictures!  (That would be SO much fun!  I can think of a couple of girls at my house who would LOVE to have an opportunity like that!)

Next up is inspiration from the team!  I’m SO happy they were willing to help me with this post!  I love their layouts!  Prepare to be AMAZED!

WOW!  Huh?!  Lindsay’s page is SO elegant, perfect for that photo!  The picture is of her Grandma and Grandpa at their wedding in 1954.  And, look at the clusters!  Just BEAUTIFUL!  Aubrey said she didn’t have access to her family photos at the time, so she asked her neighbor for some of theirs – what a wonderful idea!  Love the page she made with them, too!  The stitching reminds me of a baseball diamond! Clever!  Her choice of papers and colors – oh, and that banner – they’re PERFECT for baseball photos!  Baseball was such a major event at that time, and I love to see pictures of it! :0)

Here’s more eye candy for ya, huh?!  Kylie really outdid herself here!  LOVE.  THESE.  PAGES!  What can you say about Kylie’s AMAZING clustering?  I always go back to her pages for inspiration – and she NEVER disappoints!  These are layouts of her mum.  In the first one, her mum is with her brother.  They look SO cute together!  (This picture reminds me of the one of my mom and aunt.)  In the second one, her mum is grown, and just beautiful!

And, last, but certainly not least, Kylie’s Great Grandmother!  Just GORGEOUS!  That picture is just enough to melt ya, isn’t it?  Love the layering, love the colors!  Thank you so much, ladies! :0)

To see these super cute layouts in more detail, go to the Gallery!  The girls will be uploading within the next day or two!

Do you have any pictures of your ancestors that have been passed down to you?  Do you have old family stories to write up?  I would LOVE to see how you’ve scrapped them!  Please upload to the Gallery for all of us to see! :0)

Okay, this is where I sign off…  It has been so incredibly wonderful to be a part of this team.  I have so enjoyed sharing bits of my life and knowledge with you!  While it is a bit sad for me to be signing off for the last time, I am quite proud of SP for making a decision that will be better for her and her family – family is everything!  SP is an incredibly talented and amazing woman – as you all know! :0)  I am very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this team – and I will be sticking around the gallery.  I wouldn’t dream of leaving that!  Hope to see you all there, too!  Bye! :0)

For a limited time, Yours Truly will be on SALE for just $5.96 !  Just look at all these goodies!

This kit has SO many fun elements, and the team has put together some simply fabulous inspiration pages to showcase it!  So let’s take a look!  First off is my page.  I thought the pretty pinks, whimsical hearts, and ribbon-wrapped frame would be a great way to show off one of my very favorite photos of my daughter as a tiny newborn!  Plus, everything (and I do mean everything!) I had for that girl was pink and brown, so this page really represents my baby “color scheme” I had going on when she was little!!!

Next up is Amber’s sweet page! I adore that cluster she’s got clipped together at the base of her pictures, the mix of the horizontal & vertical striped papers, and those black scallop border strips, which really helps to make all the pretty colors she’s put together, as well as those darling photos of her daughter pop!  Alongside, we have Casharina’s beautiful layout!  I love the way she created a vintage feel to her page by using black & white photographs along with the personalized vintage Valentine.  And the layering in her title work is pure perfection with those pastel word strips along with the fun heart-filled alpha that comes in Yours Truly!

Aubrey has created such a fun page centering around a brave sherriff and a beautiful damsel who live at her house!  She has wonderfully documented one of the biggest joys of childhood ~ imagination ~ with heartfelt journaling, a pretty layering of stamps, scallops, & that awesome fringe bordering, and a perfect scattering of little hearts!  Lego’s amazing page shows the wonderful versatility of this kit!  By adding a few paint splatters and those great pencils, she has turned the focus onto a love of art, and beautifully scrapped these great pictures of her budding little artist!  I love the pen outlines around just a few of the circles on the colorful polkadot paper, and her stamped title work.  A page that is perfectly fabulous, as usual!!!

Next, Kylie brings us a page full of utter and complete cuteness!  Look at the cheeks on that girl!  Awesome.  Now, not only is the layering of papers and elements amazing and perfect on this page, but she has creatively used the little birdies perched in that fabulous tree to tweet out her title!  Very clever!  This page also showcases that great chalkboard paper, which if you remember from Emily’s Inspiration post here, is quite the popular trend right now!  Emily has shared a great page celebrating 15 years of marriage!  I love the circular design of her page – especially the ring of hearts and buttons “hugging” her & her sweetie!!!  And she has used my very  favorite paper for her background ~ isn’t that heart paper the cutest?!?  Love it!

Our next page is from Kim, who has inspired me with her totally cute title work!!!  She has also done a great job of showcasing the cool stamps that come with this kit!  And I love the sets of three hearts that are tacking her papers together ~ very cute ~ just like those kiddies of hers!!  And finally, we have a very special page by Rosy.  This page is simply beautiful ~ not only for it’s well-chosen and perfectly placed elements, but for the sentiment that tugs at the heart of every person who wants to hold on to the childhood of a little one who is dear to their heart!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this little pre-Valentines Day sweet treat of eye candy! Thanks so much girls, for ALL your inspirational pages!

….and, don’t forget about the Yours Truly Expressions if you are looking to add a lil’ extra sweetness to your pages, cards and projects!  This beautiful word art set is also on SALE (for a limited time) for only $1.85!

And now I guess it’s my turn to “sign off” from the blog!  Thanks so much for letting me share a little of myself with you all!  This has been a fun adventure and I look forward to keeping up with you all in the gallery!!!  Have a fabulous day!  And join Amber tomorrow for a very special inspiration post!

This weeks winner is melo0531 with her page Kinder Grad.

This page just stood out to me in the gallery with the tilted frame and sweet picture!  I loved her beautiful cluster in the corner!  It was so masterfully done!  I also love the color scheme she picked – it totally matches up with Kim’s Color Study post last week.  Congrats melo0531!

Congratulations melo0531!  Have fun shoppe-ing with your $10 gift certificate, which has been emailed to you!  (Don’t forget to check your spam folder if you don’t see it!!!)

Since this is my last post I’d like to say that this has been a wonderful experience and I am so proud to have worked with this wonderful and talented group of ladies!  I will miss working with them, but am glad for even the short time I was in!  I still look forward to seeing your pages in the gallery :)

Hello everyone :o)  Shabby Princess here with you today for the final project SCRAP 2012 post!  YAY – we did it – ANOTHER YEAR scrapped :o) If you have been following along – you are FINISHED with all of your monthly 2012 layouts/spreads (isn’t that wonderful?)!  Now, it’s just time to get the album covers completed…and the albums/books printed!  SO FUN :o)

So, before we get started…if you are new to project SCRAP…THIS POST is a great place to learn more!  Also, if you click on the PROJECT SCRAP 2012 category (on the right side of the blog)…you can ALWAYS easily find ALL posts related to the subject!  It’s your go-to place if you want to keep up with everything in 2012!  And, as this is our final post for project SCRAP 2012 – I wanted to remind you to be sure and download all of our free templates soon as they will be removed in the coming weeks (they will be available for purchase in the Shoppe after that). Anyhoo, as a quick little reminder… here is the project in a nutshell:::

So – back to the COVERS – you have THREE options!  I sooooo love all of these!  Kylie and I put these together and I truly cannot choose a favorite!  I love the first option because of the envelope style – it adds a lot of interest…and the opportunity to have fun with papers!  Then, I love option two because you get a glimpse into the year with all of the photos on the front!  And, with option three…I just love the simplicity of it!  So, I give up – good luck choosing, lol!  Here’s the good news though – you can download ALL THREE and then see what works for YOU :o)

::::If you wish to download ALL THREE COVER OPTIONS – CLICK HERE (or you can download them individually below)::::

Now…let’s get a little more up-close with the three cover options :o)  AND, share some inspiration! Here is COVER OPTION ONE:

::::CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD (or simply click on the preview image below)::::

And a couple of examples that Kylie and I put together! Again, I love the envelope style here…the side ‘flaps’ really draw your eyes to the title block…and then all of the embellishments add dimension and interest…and soften the whole look!  Of course, Kylie and I both chose to embellish with flowers…but you could easily use any elements here!

Now, for COVER OPTION TWO…

::::CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD (or simply click on the preview image below)::::

Again, on this one – I love the addition of the photos – as they offer a little sneak peek into the year :o) But, you also have the opportunity to have fun with embellishments – love that :o)  It’s a great mix!  I chose to add a photo from each month on my cover…and Kylie opted to add interest with papers!  Really like both looks here :o) As I say (all too often, lol) – that’s the beauty of templates…you are in control of the final look – it’s all about a starting point – then you get to be creative and have fun :o)

And, last (but far from least) – we have COVER OPTION THREE…

::::CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD (or simply click the preview image below)::::

Now, if I choose to go with another one of the cover options for MY 2012 album – I can assure you that THIS ONE will still be worked with at some point…as I absolutely ADORE it! It’s super simple – but has LOTS of room for creativity and extras!  As you can see…Kylie and I added a few extra elements…but the covers still have that open and simple look – thanks to all of the ‘white space’!

So, there you have it…all of our NEW and FUN cover options :o)  And, while time got away from me and I didn’t get to finalize and print my album before this post – I want to direct you to last year’s ALBUM COVER POST as it offers TONS of information (and photos/inspiration/tips) about printing and more :o)  So, BE SURE TO CHECK IT OUT HERE as I’m sure you will find it helpful as you wrap up your project SCRAP 2012 albums/books!

Of course – we would LOOOOOVE for you guys to share your final covers AND printed albums with us in the project SCRAP 2012 INSPIRATION GALLERY!  I know I personally benefit sooooo much from seeing all of the inspiration!  So, join us and let us see YOURS :o)

Kylie and I…and the rest of the team would like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU for joining us for another year of project SCRAP :o)  We all love and enjoy it just as much as you guys…and we depend on it to get our year scrapped, too (believe me, lol)! Even though we will not be featuring regular blog posts on any upcoming project SCRAP years…Kylie and I still wanted to continue it on our own – and offer you the tools to do so as well :o) Sooooo, we have been working on a new project SCRAP bundle (it will be bundle 3) for the Shoppe (hope to have it in the Shoppe within the next week or two…so stay tuned)! It is definitely my fave so far…we really worked hard to make it unique and fun and practical…and we hope you love it as much as we do!  Be sure you are signed up for our Shoppe newsletter…as I plan to offer the new bundle at a HUGE discount for a very limited time when I release it!  You’ll want to be sure you get that newsletter so you don’t miss out :o)  We are doing that as a THANK YOU to all of you ladies who have scrapped along with us over the past two years!  I’ll tell you that I HOPE to check-in every now and then throughout the year to share some of my pages and to help motivate you guys (here at the blog)…just no promises on how often or when, etc. :o)

With that…I guess we are officially ‘wrapped-up’ for project SCRAP 2012 :o)  It’s definitely bittersweet to end another project – but mostly…just a wonderful feeling of completion – I hope you all agree!  HAVE FUN SCRAPPING…and many thanks for joining us :o)  Have a WONDERFUL weekend…XOXO — SP :o)

Now I have to say that when I saw what this year’s color was, I was really excited to scrap with it.  And I gave some thought to what might be fun to do with Emerald that would be a little different.  Here’s where my wandering thoughts led me…

The color wheel.  What is a color wheel, you ask?  The basic color wheel is made up of twelve colors.  There are the three Primary colors: red, yellow and blue, which when mixed together in different ways make up all the other colors on the wheel.  Then there are three Secondary colors: orange, violet and green.  Remember learning about those as a child?  Yellow and blue make green.  Red and yellow make orange.  Blue and red make violet.  Finally you mix a Primary and Secondary color to get the six Tertiary colors.  But really just taking a look at the color wheel makes a lot more sense!  Here is one example.

Now my whole reason for talking about the color wheel is to show you a way you can develop a color palette for a layout.  We’re going to look at color schemes that come from the color wheel and make those the inspiration for our layouts.  We’ll use blue-green as the starting point because Pantone’s Emerald is a blue-green.  Ready to see our color schemes??  Here we go!

Our first color scheme uses Complementary Colors.  These are colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.  So for us today, we’re going to use blue-green and red-orange.

Complementary colors give maximum contrast.  This is because they don’t share any of the same colors.  For example, yellow and violet are complementary and violet is made up of red and blue (and not yellow).  Complementary schemes have an energetic feel.  Sometimes it can be a bit tricky to find the right balance though.  Here is what I did using Emerald and its complementary color.

Up next we’re going to look at an Analogous Color scheme.  Analogous colors are any three that are side by side on the color wheel.  Today we’ll use green, blue-green and blue.

Analogous color schemes are pleasing to the eye and are supposed to be able to create different moods.  As I read about this type of scheme, it was usually recommended to let one color be the dominant color while the other two colors add depth.  I’m not sure if I got that 100% right in this one, but here’s my analogous layout!

Our last color scheme for today uses Triadic Colors.  These colors are equidistant from each other on the color wheel (they make an equilateral triangle).  Our triadic colors are blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange.

Triadic colors give variety to a color palette because they aren’t close to each other on the color wheel.  Some of the color schemes could come off as a bit gaudy, but used the right way, they have interesting impact.  Here’s my take on this color scheme.

I asked the Shabby Team if they’d like to try these color schemes out themselves, and they have more inspiration to share with you!!

What I love most about this post is that we started with one color, Emerald, and the layouts that were created are all so different!  Thank you everyone for all these beautiful layouts!  If you want to see theirs in more detail, check out the gallery, where they will be uploaded soon.

Here’s where I usually say “that’s all for today”, but instead I must sign off a bit more permanently.  This is my last post before the team blog posts end, and I have so enjoyed my time here and sharing a love of scrapping with all of you.  Thanks for being such a great community of scrappers!  I’ll see you in the gallery!!  Bye bye!

Fashion Color Palette #1

Fashion Color Palette #2

Fashion Color Palette #3

Fashion Color Palette #4

Here are a few of my favorite blogs!  Watch out…you can really whittle away time on these!  Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

J’s Everyday Fashion Blog

Putting Me Together 

Lilly’s Style: Pinterest

Carah Amelie

Thank you so much for stopping by today and checking out my last post for SP!  Although it has been short, this experience has been a creative and inspirational highlight that I will not soon forget!  Let’s keep supporting one another in the gallery! Love~Em

I love the way that she has muted the colors on this page to give it a soft, elegant feel and really make the photos shine – and pretty photos they are!  The simple embellishing give this page (made with the beautiful template from our Blog Template Challenge 8) the perfect finishing touch!

Congratulations jltanner!  Look for your $10 gift card to the Shoppe in your e-mail!

And now I guess it is time for me to say good-bye to all of our blog readers.  I have been honored to take part on this team and blog in the past year and a half and I have totally enjoyed it all!  …but I guess this isn’t really “good-bye” as much as “see you in the gallery”!

Join Emily tomorrow for some very fashionable inspiration!

Hi everyone!  It’s Kylie here…and I’ve dropped by to let everyone know that we have revised our current Easy-As-Pie Template Challenge 30 due date, in light of SP’s recent news.

The NEW DEADLINE for this challenge is SUNDAY, 27 JANUARY…that’s one week away!!  We will now announce the template challenge winner on January 31st.  For more information about the challenge guidelines and to get a look at some gorgeously-scrapped INSPIRATION from our Shabby Artists please visit the original post – HERE!

We’ve had some AMAZING entries uploaded to the Shoppe BLOG Challenges gallery so far! – Thanks heaps ladies!  And, for those thinking about participating, we truly hope you DO join us for our last template challenge, well, last one for awhile.  An EASY-AS-PIE template is always a great way to get that special page scrapped…and have a whole lotta’ fun along the way…plus everyone has a chance to win!!  (Just make sure you stop by the ORIGINAL POST and add your comment/link to complete your entry!)

Thanks all!  We’ll be back tomorrow…until then, enjoy your weekend and HAPPY SCRAPPING! :o)