Merry day-after the day-after Christmas, everyone!!
Well, Santa was good to me this year. I got tons of scrapbooking stuff! I got a new rolling tote to hold all my supplies in, paper and embellishments and I finally got a Crop-a-dile. That thing is awesome. And tonight I'm heading over to my friend Sheryl's house for a little crop time after her boys go to sleep, so over the next few days I'll post more pages, including my submission to Scrapdragon's "Guilty Pleasures" contest. It's so cute! (Enter that contest, the prize rocks and the deadline is Dec. 30. Plenty of time!!)
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
"Woof"
This is a layout of my puppy, Gibson, using Tinkering Ink paper from the Blur line. I made it for the manufacturer contest on Crop Addict. Check it out and enter. You must use at least 70% Tinkering Ink product and the deadline is Dec. 31. Good luck!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Photos on Etsy
I have black and white photos from the band Social Distortion's 2006 tour available for sale in my Etsy shop. Check them out for that music lover in your life. I took these pictures in Anaheim of vintage guitars, drums and amplifiers and developed them in my darkroom early last year. The photos are all 5x7, black and white and very unique. Check out all the other items in my Etsy shop, too.
http://rockthecradledesigns.etsy.com
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Creating Keepsakes Magazine Call for Pages- "Becky's Sketch" June & July 2008
Click here for all the official info.
Would you like to submit a layout for the "Becky's Sketch" column in Creating Keepsakes magazine? You can! Becky Higgins designs a thumbnail sketch and creates a layout based on it. Several other scrapbookers follow the same format and create a layout with their own theme, pictures and journaling.
I'm entering, who's with me?
"1968"
I made this 12x12 layout using a photo from 1968. I had the negatives and developed the photo, so the effect is a new print of an old photo. The picture is of my mom when she was three years old with her grandma and great aunt in Ohio. I used the horizontal layout of the photo and patterns from the fabric to choose my layout and paper patterns. The stamped words say "little grandma, aunt mary-esther & mom."
Materials used: Tinkering Ink paper (Spin from the Blur line), Hambly Screenprints paper (Victorian Motif), DCWV Brights cardstock, Hambly Screenprints paper (3/4" Graph), Tim Holtz Grungeboard (Elements: Stripes), Martha Stewart clear acrylic alphabet stamps, Marcella by K&Co Black ink, Deco Art and Plaid Acrylic paint.
Three stores in three days
I enlisted the help of Pat, my wise grandmother and avid scrapbooker to journey with me to three local scrapbooking stores: her favorite, my favorite and a new find. One disappointed us, but the other two amazed. Here's our findings:
Angel's Scrapbook Garden in Mission Viejo, CA
Garden, not so much. Compost pile, maybe. This used to be Pat's favorite store, until we walked in and found half the paper gone, replaced by the new Zutter binding system. All very well and good if you are in the market for a Zutter. Sadly, we were not. Paper Selection: Poor. Very cheap, cheesy paper lines the walls. No Tinkering Inks, Basic Grey or anything good, really. I think Target might have a better selection (okay, maybe not that bad.) The one redeeming quality was that they had Tim Holtz's Grungeboard. The lady up front said they are trying to sell the store to a new owner. Let's hope the new owners rescue it and quick!
GRADE: C-
The Red Bee in Tustin, CA
The Red Bee was my favorite store. Not only is half the store scrapbooking, it also has knitting supplies and jewelry supplies, so it's like a mini Tall Mouse crafts. The whole right side of the store is all scrapbooking supplies, including Basic Grey, 7gypsies, K&Company, DCWV and any embellishment you can imagine. Large supply of clear acrylic stamps, but kinda pricey. Tons of workshops and make-and-takes. The paper is arranged by theme/subject with matching embellishments above it. Lots of themed paper (Disney, Harley, etc.) Visit this one and you won't be disappointed.
GRADE: B
The Scrapbook Oasis in Irvine, CA
The Scrapbook Oasis was the wild-card in the bunch, we had never been there. I found it online and wasn't disappointed. Tucked away in a little industrial center by the airport, it's a small store, but has big potential. They have a large selection of clear acrylic stamps from Autumn Leaves (my fave!) and Fontwerks, and a suprisingly larger paper selection for it being a small store. They have a lot of hard to find specialty papers like the Hambly Screenprint series, 7Gypsies and tons of Tim Holtz stuff. I was very impressed. They also have a great clearance section (or maybe they were just clearing out a lot of product to make room for new 2008 stuff). The best thing about a smaller store that is well-stocked and has a good buyer (like this one) is that they will have a lot of clearance items since they need to rotate their stock so often. This store has become my new favorite and the owner is super nice. They also have a huge class area where you can drop in for free crops anytime there's not a class. And speaking of classes, they have hosted Tim Holtz and Rhonna Farer workshops. So bummed I missed those!! Get in your car and drive here now. Wait, do it tomorrow since they are closed on Sundays. Bummer.
GRADE: A-
Angel's Scrapbook Garden in Mission Viejo, CA
Garden, not so much. Compost pile, maybe. This used to be Pat's favorite store, until we walked in and found half the paper gone, replaced by the new Zutter binding system. All very well and good if you are in the market for a Zutter. Sadly, we were not. Paper Selection: Poor. Very cheap, cheesy paper lines the walls. No Tinkering Inks, Basic Grey or anything good, really. I think Target might have a better selection (okay, maybe not that bad.) The one redeeming quality was that they had Tim Holtz's Grungeboard. The lady up front said they are trying to sell the store to a new owner. Let's hope the new owners rescue it and quick!
GRADE: C-
The Red Bee in Tustin, CA
The Red Bee was my favorite store. Not only is half the store scrapbooking, it also has knitting supplies and jewelry supplies, so it's like a mini Tall Mouse crafts. The whole right side of the store is all scrapbooking supplies, including Basic Grey, 7gypsies, K&Company, DCWV and any embellishment you can imagine. Large supply of clear acrylic stamps, but kinda pricey. Tons of workshops and make-and-takes. The paper is arranged by theme/subject with matching embellishments above it. Lots of themed paper (Disney, Harley, etc.) Visit this one and you won't be disappointed.
GRADE: B
The Scrapbook Oasis in Irvine, CA
The Scrapbook Oasis was the wild-card in the bunch, we had never been there. I found it online and wasn't disappointed. Tucked away in a little industrial center by the airport, it's a small store, but has big potential. They have a large selection of clear acrylic stamps from Autumn Leaves (my fave!) and Fontwerks, and a suprisingly larger paper selection for it being a small store. They have a lot of hard to find specialty papers like the Hambly Screenprint series, 7Gypsies and tons of Tim Holtz stuff. I was very impressed. They also have a great clearance section (or maybe they were just clearing out a lot of product to make room for new 2008 stuff). The best thing about a smaller store that is well-stocked and has a good buyer (like this one) is that they will have a lot of clearance items since they need to rotate their stock so often. This store has become my new favorite and the owner is super nice. They also have a huge class area where you can drop in for free crops anytime there's not a class. And speaking of classes, they have hosted Tim Holtz and Rhonna Farer workshops. So bummed I missed those!! Get in your car and drive here now. Wait, do it tomorrow since they are closed on Sundays. Bummer.
GRADE: A-
My *new* FAVORITE product!!
I'm obsessed with Tim Holtz's awesome new embellishment product, Grungeboard. Similar to chipboard in that it's a pressed paper product, except it bends unlike anything I've seen. It won't crack or rip, even on the smallest detail, and it's extremely flexible. It takes inks, paint, sewing, hammering and sanding. It's almost indestructible and comes in cool textures like stripes, swirls and other patterns. I've added it to my scrapbook pages already, but it can be used for anything. Click on the link to see Tim's Youtube video explaining the awesomeness of Grungeboard. I have to go buy more...
Watch Tim Holtz's YouTube Video
In the beginning...
Dream, Wish, Create... has launched! I have started this blog as a way to document and chronicle my journey to break into the exclusive world of celebrity scrappers and artists. I plan to post new layouts, ideas, techniques and products *hopefully* every week, along with my submissions to contests, design teams and more. Along the way I hope this blog will be a tutorial to the inside world of scrapbooking and an inspiration to all who read it. Feel free to use any information found here for your personal use, but please give credit where credit is due. Any suggestions for topics are greatly appreciated and I welcome you all to Dream, Wish and Create.
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