Inspiration

Sponsor Giveaway | My Creative Classroom

January 24, 2012 By Nancy Nally

Today we’re bringing you a giveaway from one of our sponsors, My Creative Classroom!

My Creative Classroom is celebrating! We’ve been bringing online classes to crafters all over the world for 5 years. In celebration, we are announcing that we will be allowing lifetime access to course content on our site! Most of our classes will be offered for lifetime access! Lifetime access begins with classes taken this past fall and will include classes going forward. WOW! Now you can take a class with the instructor and then refer back to the directions in the future.

My Creative Classroom is an online arts and crafts learning center. Our interactive and in-depth courses are instructor led and filled with wonderful projects and techniques to help you get the most out of your supplies. This upcoming Spring MCC will be offering over 100 courses. From the Cricut to Tombow to mixed media to rubber stamping and scrapbooking we have something for everyone. Don’t miss out on some wonderful classes starting January 23rd, including (you can enroll in classes with links NOW!): [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Giveaway, My Creative Classroom

New & Noteworthy | Style Essentials by Echo Park

January 19, 2012 By May Flaum 1 Comment

The style essentials paper packs from Echo Park Paper started showing up on store shelves a little over a month ago, and I’m not sure how they flew under my radar, nor why I’ve not heard more about them. These days, less is more in my paper choices, and the simple patterns and useful colors in these packs are most welcome - especially with the holidays now over and my desire for over-the-top at an all time low.

I like the colors used, that the papers are double sided, and that I can easily take them and match them with any number of other brands or product lines. These Style Essentials are classic patterns, yet patterns that are also very trendy right now in paper crafting. I love that about them – and for that reason I am featuring them in New & Noteworthy. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Echo Park

Valentine’s Day Scrapbooking Paper Lines Roundup

January 6, 2012 By Melissa Stinson 30 Comments

The scrapbooking world is emerging from a barrage of Christmas projects just in time to start crafting for the next holiday: Valentine’s Day! Believe it or not, it’s time to start thinking about what paper line(s) you’re going to use for your Valentine’s Day cards, since the big day of all things pink, hearted, and mushy is a mere six weeks away! Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to shop for your supplies and make your cards without feeling rushed.

After my roundup of Christmas scrapbooking lines went live here on Scrapbook Update, I received many, many requests to do a similar article for each holiday. I can’t promise that I’ll do one for every special day on the calendar (there just aren’t that many paper lines for Talk Like a Pirate Day, you know?), but when there are enough themed lines to warrant a roundup, I’ll be sure to post them to keep you all informed!

As with the Christmas roundup, I’m listing all the Valentine’s Day paper lines that were released either at or after CHA Summer 2011 and have scoured the vastness of the interwebs to bring you representative photos of each. They’re listed in alphabetical order, and, since there aren’t nearly so many of them as there were Christmas lines, I’ll also give a little commentary on each.

Ready to start seeing pink? Let’s get going!

Basic Grey – Kissing Booth

Kissing Booth is a mix of basic patterns (I spy doilies and herringbone in the mix) and sweet watercolor images. This line uses brown as a contrast color and is one of the few cream-based collections in the roundup.

New & Noteworthy: 2012 Hero Arts

January 5, 2012 By May Flaum 6 Comments

Last month I posted an article about the Hero Arts 2012 debut, and now I am back with a closer look at some of the stamps, as well as two new projects. The new collection includes a lot of newsprint, hearts, and birds as well as a variety of background stamps, new sets with Sizzix, and stamps made with card makers in mind as well.

I think that this release finds a great balance between trendy looks and useful designs. Newsprint seems to be re-emerging as a hot trend in 2012, as are hearts. I consider both of these to be staples, so it’s nice to see some fresh looks and new takes on the classics. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Hero Arts

Organization | Tips for Redesigning Your Scrapbook Area

January 3, 2012 By Melissa Stinson 9 Comments

The start of a new year is a time that many people – not just scrapbookers – start thinking about organizing, cleaning, and purging their spaces. For me and my scrap room, this process always starts way before January. I’m an absolute wimp when it comes to cold temperatures and gray skies, so as soon as it starts to get even a touch chilly outside I retreat indoors to my warm, cozy spaces. The problem is that after I spend just a few weeks in those spaces, I start itching to rearrange them and try something new. I guess I just get tired of looking at the same old surroundings!

I started plotting and planning my scrap room revamp in late October, and then after waiting to have time to make the trip to IKEA (the closest one to me is about four hours away) I finally started the actual makeover process in early December. It took about a month of work interspersed between my regular job, family gatherings, and Christmas prep and celebration, but I’m finally finished and am thrilled that my scrapping space now looks like this!

[Read more...]