ListEn iN

May Beginner Basics

by debbie raymond

Have I got an idea for you! Adornit Sticker Paper is a hot new product that Adornit introduced at CHA. It’s a 6” x 12” sheet of adhesive cardstock that comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns. It’s easy to use—saves time and effort.

If you’re a beginner, you’ll love the price! Sometimes beginning scrappers are overwhelmed with all the “spending opportunities” in scrapping. But Sticker Paper is just $1.00 to $1.10 per 6” x 12” sheet! At that price, you could buy it in all 16 designs. It’s a perfect stash item.

In my layout I used Sticker Paper for the blue journaling strips and the green and blue thin outline strips. There are two reasons sticker paper made my layout super easy:

1. Sticker Paper is made of heavy cardstock, so it’s easy to handle. It was simple to cut the long strips – I used my paper cutter and it sliced them beautifully, even though they were only 1/8” to ¼” wide. The stiffness also made inking the edges on my journaling strips easy. (Inking edges adds a finishing touch that makes you look like you’re not a beginner! Just use a stamp pad that matches and rub the edges of your journaling strips across the pad to add color.)

2. The adhesive back means you don’t have to painstakingly put glue or adhesive tabs on each little strip. Just peel off the backing and stick it down. No glue on your fingers or temperamental glue runners to deal with. I’ve always loved little journaling strips, but they’re such a pain to cut out and stick down that lately I’ve avoided them. With Adornit Sticker Paper, I can add them to every layout (not that I would lol).

My layout brings back a memory of fun summer day with my girls, my granddaughter and her cousins. The fresh colors remind me of the ice cream we were eating. I have to tell you that I scraplifted this layout from a layout by Jenni Bowlin on her blog. I think credit should be given where credit is due!

Try some Adornit Sticker Paper today. It’ll make your next layout fun and easy.
Summer Ice Cream Cones
by Debbie Raymond
Adornit Supplies:
21838 Dotted Flower Stripes 12x12
21862 Candy Green 12x12
93098 Laughter Together Cardstock Sticker
93115 Morning Blue Sticker Paper
93118 Cashmere Green Sticker Paper
white cardstock
1. Start with a base of Candy Green. Adhere an 11 ½” x 11 ½” sheet of scallop-edged white cardstock, leaving an edge of green showing all around.
2. Adhere an 8” x 8” piece of Dotted Flower Stripes to center of layout. Trim it so the green stripe with brown dots is across the top. Cut four ¼” x 9” strips from Morning Blue Sticker Paper. Adhere around edges of Dotted Flower Stripes piece, leaving a ¼” strip of white mat showing in between.
3. Mount a 4x6 photo on a piece of 5x7white cardstock. Ink edges. Adhere to center of layout. Cut two 1/8” strips from Cashmere Green Sticker Paper. Adhere to white cardstock mat around photo, leaving a 1/8” strip of white mat showing right next to photo.
4. Make journaling strips cut from Morning Blue Sticker Paper. Write little details on the strips about the photo including “who, what, when and where.” Cut and ink edges. Adhere to right side of layout. Notice how easy Adornit Sticker Paper is to work with!
5. Adorn your page with accents from Laughter Together Cardstock Stickers. Ink edges of stickers before sticking down.

Beginner Basics with Debbie...

If you’re a beginner, I think you’ll really like Georgana’s classic challenge. Scrapping can be overwhelming if you don’t have a focus – there’s so much to scrap. This challenge will help you focus on a small slice of life, with photos to define it. It won’t be hard to go through your photos and find the classics.

For my layout, I quickly went through a bunch of photo albums and found some extra-special pictures that brought back classic memories. It was an hour of smiling as I reviewed some of my favorite photos. Because I’m a ‘word person,’ I also thought of some of the classic quotes and sayings from my life. I decided to make my first classic layout about a quote that our family had on the wall by our phone when our kids were teenagers. I put classic photos of my daughter Becky in the layout, because she grew up reading that quote every day…and it worked! The quote reads: “I am determined to be happy in whatever situation I may be – for I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions and not our circumstances.” The picture shows the quote on the wall and a happy Becky.

october beginner basics

by debbie raymond, adornit editor.

 

This month I want to encourage you to put quality journaling on your layouts. Telling your story in words as well as showing your photos is so important. For my October layout, I worked on having really good journaling. (I still can't write by hand in my scrapbooks—I hate my handwriting.) The pictures are of our front entry on Halloween night and our famous strobe light that pulsates through the big windows, scaring the heck out of the smallest trick or treaters as they walk to our front door.

The strobe lights, loud scary music and sound effects blasting on the porch, and Twix bars for treats are some of the Halloween traditions that have evolved over the years and make the holiday fun for us. Please notice the very large journaling section on my layout. In this text box I wrote about our Halloween night traditions. This is what I wrote:

If it's Halloween, then it's time to get out the strobe lights and scary music CD's. The strobe light flashes through all our big windows making the house look really spooky. We place the strobe right in the middle of the entry so when the door opens it really surprises the kids and they're very curious to know what's flashing in there. We also play loud scary music and sound effects like screaming and moaning. Scott covers the porch lights with green tissue paper for eerie lighting. We have a long sidewalk that approaches the porch so the kids have plenty of time to take it all in and get good and scared.

We always have lots of trick or treaters because the two dentists who live on our street hand out toothbrushes. All their patients come to

Bristol Road

to trick or treat. Two other reasons: our street is horseshoe-shaped so parents can dump out a car full of kids on one end and feel safe waiting for them on the other end — plus our street is on the way to the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan. I used to buy 15 bags of candy (usually Twix bars) for trick or treating, but our neighborhood has grown up, so now I go through about 10 bags.

One of my favorite trick or treat memories is when a little girl (all alone) rang the doorbell to the side door of our house — not the usual entrance for trick or treaters. I ran to that door and gave her a treat. Then she went to our front door and rang that doorbell. When I answered the door she had a look of complete surprise on her face and said, "Is this your house too?"

Beginner Basics

By Debbie Raymond

For Beginner Basics this month I want to show you a layout by our wonderful Design Team member Danielle Calhoun. This is the kind of layout I love—it is beautifully designed and looks complicated, but because of Danielle's clever use of Adornit products, it's really very simple.
Danielle is our California girl who is a great scrapbooker, but also loves art and photography. With two little girls, she always has plenty of photographs. You can tell by her layouts that she is very creative and truly enjoys the process. I can't wait to show you next week how I scraplifted Danielle's layout.

My plan is to scraplift Danielle's layout for my own scrapbook. My daughter and son-in-law are high school teachers in Las Vegas. My daughter teaches computers and marketing and her husband teaches math at Centennial High School. I'm excited to make coordinating layouts about them, using the pink and blue papers. When I get my layouts finished I'll post them right here on Georgana's blog! It'll be easy because a) I'm copying Danielle and b) the papers and stickers are pre-designed and simple to use.

OK let's evaluate. What makes this layout look harder than it is? First of all, Danielle's creative use of angles. Now me, I would have made everything straight and square…but Danielle's angles add interest and dimension. And she kicks the interest up a notch with the little jewels placed in half circles. This layout is interesting and fun to look at.

Also, notice how Danielle treated the edges of her pink sheet. She placed the scalloped sticker along the top edge—yes that's a cardstock sticker. Cool huh. She tore the bottom edge (you gotta practice to tear your paper with such a wide margin of white showing). She inked some edges with black ink—inking always adds a nice finish, and it's really very easy. Then she did quite an unexpected thing and placed the left edge right against her cardstock base. Those creative little touches add up to a great finished layout. That's what I call learning from an expert! Thanks Danielle.

August Beginner Basics

by Debbie Raymond.

This month I've spent a lot of time thinking and writing about scrapbooking for babies. One thing I've learned is that having a baby is one of the top reasons people get into scrapbooking.

For Beginner Basics, I asked my friend Michelle Kane to make a layout using papers from our baby girl album. Michelle works here at Adornit filling our internet orders. This layout shows photos of Michelle's granddaughter Addy, (daughter of Claire, my daughter Becky's good friend). This layout was quick and easy for Michelle because of our pre-designed papers. She just added her photos and matching accents and she was done!

Since you're a beginner you will especially love how easy our complete baby boy and baby girl 12x12 scrapbooks are to put together. They are called All-in-One Album Kits because that's just what they are—all in one. In addition to 24 sheets of paper, each album also has one sticker sheet and two die cut sheet; these are 12x12 sheets filled with matching embellishments. The papers are designed so all you have to do is drop on your photos and add some accents. It's simple speedy scrapbooking which is just what you need when a new baby's in the picture!

As I talk to ladies who want to start scrapbooking, they usually make the comment, "I'm just not very creative." Well, I've learned something as I've created my beginner layouts—and I think Michelle would agree. With all the beautifully designed products out there, you don't have to be especially creative to scrapbook. You do have to have photos (no one seems to have a problem with that) and the desire to have a fun hobby that is very satisfying.

I leave you with the following saying. I challenge you to print it, tape it to your mirror, and…start scrapping!

"I will work at something; then the creativity will come."

Japanese proverb

June Beginner Basics...

By Debbie Raymond.

(click on the image to see it larger)

The best advice I ever received from an experienced scrapper was this: START WHERE YOU ARE! Don't go back. IF YOU'RE A BEGINNER, DON’T TRY TO SCRAP ANCIENT HISTORY. To me, that means I shouldn't even scrapbook my photos from Spring Break. And I sure shouldn't scrap the photos and memories from my kid's childhood years. At least not yet.

I like this advice—and I pass it on to you in hopes it will relieve some of the anxiety we beginners feel when we look at the hundreds of photos we have. In that spirit, here's my layout of our Memorial Day breakfast. I used Adornit Cardstock Stickers to make it easy.

I'm excited to introduce you to our fun cardstock stickers. From two sticker sheets I got all the embellishments for my layout with many to spare for later pages. The little pictures are from #93075 Picnic Time Cardstock Sticker sheet. They are only $2.00 per set, with quotes, words, photo corners, a big circle sticker, and lots of little stickers in each set. The long stripes along the left side are 12" long, so they go right across your page. The Cardstock Stickers coordinate with the papers and ribbons in the same collection. ALSO, I love love love our cardstock Alphabet Stickers. I used the #93037 Funky Colors set. THEY ONLY COST 80 CENTS PER SHEET! There are plenty of letters on each sheet to make a title or put names under photos or whatever you need. Since I’m not in love with my handwriting I love having a little supply of different colors, sizes and styles of Alphabet Stickers.

 It was fun to put my Memorial Day layout together and not even have to make up the journaling, because the day is fresh in my mind. (Those of you over 50 will get what I'm saying lol.) I encourage you to take some photos of your summer activities and make a page today. OK, I give you permission to scrapbook spring soccer, end-of-year concerts, dance recitals, last day of school, May birthdays…but not EASTER! Eventually, when you're more experienced and can put together a page in under three hours you can think about scrapping past events.

*If you're not tired of reading, I'll tell you what clued me in to the Alphabet Stickers. I was talking to

Jan

et Parker who helps fill our website retail orders, and she told me about an email she got from a customer. It was a man—a guy scrapbooker. He was so excited because after a year of searching he had finally found out where to buy the Alphabet Stickers. He had purchased one set a year ago and had used it up without saving the packaging. He'd searched shops and the internet looking for them. I'm not sure how he stumbled onto Adornit's website. He ordered something like forty sheets, and just keeps ordering. Store owners, take a look! My favorites are Funky Colors.

p.s. I just remembered who gave me the advice to 'start where you are.' I think it was our Design Team member Robin Karren…right Robin?

FOR DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE DEBBIE'S LAYOUT CLICK HERE.

May Beginner Basics...

By Debbie Raymond.

Look at how easy this layout is! The photos are of my son Aaron and his two daughters. When we talk on the phone he tells me about the fun things he does with his daughters and I constantly comment, "What a dad!" When I saw the photos his wife Aimee snapped on a recent weekend, I knew I wanted to create a layout with that title. To make it simple I just cut apart word paper and pasted the words in a column next to my photos. That's it. Basic. Quick. A layout I'll treasure.

Did you know that Carolee's Creations was the first scrapbook manufacturer to create patterned paper with words on it and also ribbon with words? Word paper is still one of our signature products and we include a version of it with every collection.

If you're a beginner I encourage you to try a layout using one of our word papers. My layout just uses three pieces of paper – our Defining My Dad word paper,Tribute to Dad patterned paper, and Rough & Tough Stripe patterned paper. The words on the paper made it easy!

Beginner Basics...

By Debbie Raymond.

 

One thing that I love about Adornit 12x12 papers is that many are designed so you can "just add photos," making the papers very user-friendly. Almost every collection contains papers that have titles, quotes, and blocks for photos. Just adhere a few snapshots and you're done!

 I’m all for quick and easy. I decided to try a layout with one paper from our Mother Collection (21673 Mother's Life) and matching cardstock. I gathered my photos, typed up my journaling, and found a favorite quote. I "kicked it up a notch" by inking all my edges. (I used my new Hermafix to adhere everything!) I was amazed at how quickly the page came together.

 The thing that took the most time was finding good photos of all my kids and kids-in-law, changing them to black and white, re-sizing and cropping them. By the time I got to my layout, I was grateful it was almost done! I encourage you to make some of your pages the easy way--check out our website for these easy to use patterned papers.

 It's fun to be here in the design studio when Carolee is designing paper. She thinks a lot about how to make the papers user-friendly. She thinks through how women would use the papers and what they'd like the most. She hand-draws most of her art and handwrites many words. She is one of the few designers working today with original art on her papers. She also personally supervises all the products that are designed by our graphic designers.

We have a little retail store here in Hyde Park where we sell scrapbook products from many manufacturers. It's fun to hang out in the store and listen to what customers say. One day Carolee was chatting with a customer who told her that her daughters are "super scrappers." This nice mom had purchased some of our papers and accents for her daughters to scrapbook with. She gave them our Adornit Idea Books, where they got ideas for using the pre-designed papers. She told Carolee that they loved using our products. She said that at first her daughters "felt guilty" that it was so easy to make a page. But after they'd completed a few pages in a short time, they were really excited. They thanked us for being one of the few companies that makes papers that end up looking beautiful without taking a lot of time.

 Try it, you'll like it. Click here to browse our website and see the variety of pre-designed papers we offer.

Have fun looking at all 669 papers! If you want to see a bigger image of the paper, just click on it.

Beginner Basics...

I am excited for yout to meet our editor, Debbie. She will be doing a monthly column for our newsletter titled Beginner Basics. You'll have fun listening and learning from her.

I can finally say, “I’m a scrapbooker!” But I am definitely a beginner, with lots to learn. Luckily, I’m the editor here at Adornit, so I’m surrounded by experts, ideas, and supplies. If you’re a beginner too, come along and together we’ll learn tricks and techniques from the Adornit Design Team and all the experienced scrappers who work here.

Now I have to tell you my little secret and what I learned. I recently completed an 8 x 8 Family Christmas album. I used a glue stick on my whole album. Since I was trying to hurry and not be a perfectionist, I even glue-sticked my photos. I had a feeling it probably wasn’t the best idea, but, like I said, I was just trying to complete my pages.

I want to create another 8 x 8 album, so I asked our Design Team what kinds of adhesives they use. Not one of them put ‘glue stick’ on their list! Oops. Here’s what they do recommend:

For photos and papers: Hermafix tabs and runners, Tombow Mono glue runners, Duck adhesive runners, Scotch double stick tape, Zig 2 way glue penFor embellishments: Scrappy Glue, Xyron, glue dots, mini glue dots and pop dots. You can be sure I’ve stocked up on the “proper” glue supplies and plan to use them for my new projects.

A little about my scrapbooking history…last summer I painstakingly created a double layout with papers from Adornit’s Love Bug collection. I had fun, but it took me so long that even my husband (who never notices anything) commented on how long I worked on that project.

That was discouraging, so I backed off and decided to just be content with reading and writing about scrapbooking. In January, Georgana and I traveled to Idaho for a crop and workshop taught by Christy Tomlinson, a contributing editor for Scrapbooks Etc. magazine. I had a blast. We created two mini albums and a calendar. I loved the mini-album concept; it’s so doable. I caught the bug, went home and started on my 8 x 8 Christmas album. I filled it and even needed more page protectors for all my pages. I can finally say, “I’m a scrapbooker!”