Pick Of The Patch

Sabine's Quote of the Week

The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and
richness to  life that nothing else can bring.

-- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Dramatist and Poet

Flowering Friday Challenge - January 30, 2009

Well, January is coming to a close and maybe you've been sticking to your goals and resolutions for the New Year. If you have, HUGE kudos to you and keep up the good work. If you haven't maybe it's time to remind yourself about what you hoped for this year, the goals you set for yourself or the resolutions you made just 30 days ago.

I know many of you have also chosen a word for the year, a word that sums up a change you want to make or a focus for the year. I did that too. I chose PLAY. So why not scrapbook your Word of the Year, or your goals or your resolutions. It might help you to stick to them and it will give you a chance at the end of the year to revisit them and see how you met them.

So that's your challenge this week...scrapbook your word, goals and/or resolutions. We'd love to see them in the gallery.

Gallery Pick of the Week - January 29

Oops, I was supposed to post this yesterday, but somehow I had the dates mixed up. Luckily I figured it out, or I would have forgotten my daughter's birthday tomorrow and celebrated a day late.

This weeks pick goes to Kelli - and with Valentines fast approaching, this is a wonderful project and a great way to store all these sweet little love notes our kids will be bringing home soon.

Thanks for sharing this with us Kelli. To see more of Kelli's work, please visit her gallery right here.

 

Cards 101

New to Scrapbooking?  why not begin by getting to know some basics and put those basics to work on cards.  Cards take a lot less time to create and they are a great place to practice techniques and skills.  These 3 cards would all be suitable for a beginning Scrapbooker/Cardmaker to do.  These cards are basic.  The embellishments are basic and the design elements are basic.  When designing a card or a scrapbook page try to remember the "rule of the thirds." This rule simply states that your page should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts.  Basically you are dividing the page into 3 lengthwise segments and 3 horizontal segments. Your compositional elements should then be placed along the imaginary lines and/or the intersections.  Each of these cards follow that basic rule.    Each of these cards uses stamping in one form or another, to create an element.  They also incorporate small lenghts of ribbon and hand cut elements or elements made by using a paper punch. Using simple elements such as these can keep your costs down while learning how to make cards/pages.  You can practice placement of elements without fear if you are working with inexpensive hand cut elements ... You can also begin to experiment with layering, depth and texture.  Finally, these cards are all a standard size.  they are 5 1/2" by 4 1/4". Keep this in mind when purchasing cardstock ... simply purchase 8 1/2" by 11" cardstock, this will give you two cards from one piece of paper and it is less expensive than buying a piece of 12x12 cardstock.  

Red and White any time of the Year

As we approach the white and red Valentines season...and just come out of the white and red of the Christmas season...you might have some white and red supplies left over....the next two pages demonstrate that you can use white and red any time of the year... and these are two ways to use them....white on red and red on white....

 

 

Monochromatic pages

Monochromatic colors are all the colors (tints, tones and shades) of a single hue. Monochromatic color schemes are derived from a single base hue, and extended using its shades,tones and tints.

Wikipedia

Remember when Bazzil Monochromatic Cardstock first came out? I loved it and bought every available paper pack there was. I still think monochromatic pages are fabulous. All the colours coordinate (of course) and it gives the pages a certain feeling. And if you add a few spots or embellishments in a contrasting colour, it will make your page pop like no other.

Here are some pages from the POTP Gallery that are a great example of monochromatic:

By Erica:

 

By Lois:

 

By Rae:

 

By Brenna:

 

By Leigh:

 

Why don't you give it a try? Make sure to post your layouts to the gallery for us to see. Have fun :)

Gallery Pick of the Week - January 21, 2009

I am so happy to see the gallery hopping again. Thanks to everyone that is starting to share their work with us again. Like a bunch of you, I loved Sharly's The Beginning of the Obsession layout. It is so full of boyness, which we rarely get to see. The bright photos with the grungy papers, random stitching, and the load of great soccer embellishments really made an impression on me. Thanks Sharly for getting back to your scrapbook table, creating this gem and sharing it with us.

Out with the old.....

and in with the new! With CHA just around the corner, we all need to make room for all the new products that are being released. There is a lot that (I think) I must have - for sneak peeks of what's coming out, please visit the POTP message board to see all the new goodies.

If you are like me (and I know you are) you have enough supplies to last you a lifetime. But that doesn't stop us from buying the latest and greatest.

So, I decided that I will make a great effort to use up my 'older' supplies before I can purchase new stuff. You should try it too - because you know what - the older supplies still make for great pages too.

 

Way too much FUN!

I find that when you don't have enough time to commit to a full scrapbook page that making cards fills that creative spunk I have without dedicating hours to my scraproom away from the rest of the family.  All you need is a few scraps...some bits and pieces and odds and ends...and you can put together any card. Like scrapbooking...no way is wrong. Have fun.....and don't forget to get stamps and send the cards away to family and friends...or to someone you know who needs a "pick me up."

 

Using some scrapbooking glitter and some white ink....you can create a sentiment of love for the star in your life.  I just used a glue pen and make a huge squiggle on the cardstock and sprinkles glitter. Clear off the access and ink the edges of the card in white. Using an acrylic star...ink the edges of this and add some paper flowers with glitter centres.  Add a rub on saying and you are all set. Just make sure you put the adhesive for the star under the flowers!

 

The next card is a three fold card.  Using the left side for overlap...I added a premade scalloped boarder on the overhang...added a circle of "I love You's" and put a heart over top to represent the LOVE.  I added an "i" and an "u" to complete the sentiment.  A little red inking and we were done.

 

Enjoy your creative moments to the fullest....even those moments captured in your busy lives.

PS...sorry but the photos seem really distorted...the actual size of the cards is 6 x 6 inches. If you click the photo in the blog it will show up in another screne more true to form.

Sabine's Quote of the Week - January 17, 2009

In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong;
honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like
dead leaves when their time comes.

-- John Ruskin (1819-1900) English Art Critic