A little visit to HSN

Hi friends!
It's Cindy. I just wanted to give you a peek at the mini Smashbook that I put together about my first trip to HSN to help with the setup of some Martha Stewart Craft spots. The little Smashbook I used was a promotional one that we got at work but let it inspire you to take a mini one with you on your next trip!
Just remember to pack a small baggie with a good marker, stickers, adhesive and mini scissors. Of course any of your favorite embellies are welcome, too. In fact, a visit to a local scrapbook store can fill in the blanks of what you can use (*wink wink*).

I'll keep the words to a minimum by just letting you peruse the pages of my mini book. I had fun adding the memorabilia from the trip on a daily basis. Think business cards, restaurant coasters, tickets, badges, cut outs from food labels, etc. Oh and one cool thing to do is to sneak down to the lobby of your hotel and pull a bunch of the tourist flyers to cut out words and names. You'll see evidence of that on my cover and first page. Here we go...

Hope you enjoyed this peek. Now, go and ....

Warm Winter Wishes

Hey Everyone!  Anna here to wish you some Warm Winter Wishes.  :)  

Today I am showing you a card I created using a Fawn Lawn stamp that I colored in with my copic markers. 

I felt like it needed a little bit more so I added in my Wink of Stella glitter pen by Zig.  I love how it just adds that little hint of shimmer it needed.  I also added it onto the snowflakes.   

The paper is from Crate Paper's Bundled Up paper line.  

Thank you for stopping by today and hope you enjoy.  

Tools You Need to Start Scrapbooking -- Scrapbook Video Saturday

I can't tell you how many times I (and no doubt all of us here on The Crafting Journals) have seen someone puzzling over the scrapbooking supplies in their local craft store.  Sometimes they'll come right out and ask: "Is this thing good for cutting my photos?" "What should I use to glue stuff to my scrapbook page?" 

Some people are reluctant to even think about scrapbooking, because they believe it's expensive and they feel overwhelmed, assuming it requires a lot of supplies that are kind of mystifying.

The truth is, you really need just a few basic tools to get started. This week's scrapbook video shows you some key supplies you'll want.

If you have trouble seeing the video, you can view Tools You Need for Scrapbooking on Howcast

If you're an experienced scrapbooker, how would you change this list? What are your essential scrapbooking supplies?

When to Use Archival Products -- Scrapbook Video Saturday

In last week's video, we showed many of the types of scrapbooks available.  This week, we're talking about archival products.  How do you know if you need everything to be acid-free and archival safe? The answer is, it's really up to you. Here's some info to help you decide.

View When to Use Archival Products on Howcast

Thanks for watching, and until next time...

Scrapbook Video Saturday: Types of Scrapbooks

It's Saturday, and time for one of our videos for beginning scrapbookers. This time we're talking about one of the things I wish I'd known when I started scrapbooking: different types of albums. These refer mainly to albums you find in the craft store. You can also make your own album out of just about anything; mini-albums are especially popular to create. For today, though, let's take a quick peek at the albums you can buy, and the pros and cons of each.

If you have trouble viewing it here, you can view Different Types of Scrapbooks on Howcast.

What kind of album do you prefer? Where do you buy your albums?

Thanks for watching, and until next time….

Better Late Than Never

Happy 2014 everyone!  Elizabeth here this week. 

Those that know me know that I am always running late and I, like every other well-adjusted child, blame my mother for this not so appealing characteristic.  She taught me this behavior through example.  There was always “one more thing" to do before getting out the door and all those "one more things" added up to my never being in my seat when the first school bell rang. Seriously. Never. No exaggeration.

 

Now, in my mother’s defense, she was a very busy woman ... a family, a terminally ill husband, a full-time job, a hugely taxing responsibility at church ... I'll cut her some slack.  Nevertheless, I have since a very early age modeled her behavior perfectly ... OK, enough with the regression ... this blog is after all about crafting and not mother-issues : ).

Anywho, my perpetual tardiness not only defines my everyday life, it also runs strong and fervent in my crafting life.  For my winter décor this year, I wanted to go with something cozy.  Recycled sweaters are hot this year (pun totally intended). But because my knitting skill set is nil and I live in the south where sweaters are about as scarce as a Dallas Cowboy’s win in a playoff game, I decided to make a Yarn Pompom Garland to get the warm and comfy feeling I yearned for.  Yes, I, Elizabeth Barboza, am just now jumping on the yarn band wagon.  I know that for most of you this medium is long ago considered passé ... but indulge me ... I have other good qualities, I promise.

Here’s how I did it ...

Gathered Supplies

• Yarn – I choose three colors
• Yarn wrapper "donuts" – I made these from cardboard ... the large set is 4.5 in. with a 1.5 in. hole and the small set is 3 in. with a 1 in. hole
•  Scissors – I found thin bladed scissors worked best for getting in between the wrappers
•  Yarn needle
• Twine

  

Wrapped

 

• Step 1: I laid the “donuts” on top of each other and started wrapping the yarn.
• Step 2: I kept wrapping. And wrapping. And wrapped some more. 
• Step 3: When I ran out of yarn, I just started a new length ... no need to tie the lengths together. 
• Step 4: Once the donuts were completely covered, I stopped wrapping. Whew.

Snipped & Tied

 

• Step 5: I slipped the scissor blades in between the donut layers and gave the yarn a snip.
• Step 6: Next I cut a length of yearn for tying the pompom together.
•  Step 7: I slid the yarn length in between the donut layers (pretending I was flossing) and encircled all the snipped yarn pieces.
•  Step 8: I then knotted the yarn length a few times, making sure I got it good and tight.

Trimmed & Fluffed

 

• Step 9: I pulled off the donuts.
•  Step 10: Admired my work thus far.
•  Step 11: Trimmed the yarn ends to be even.
• Step 12: I fluffed and fluffed some more.

Threaded

• Step 13: I repeated Steps 1 to 12 until I had made 11 large white, 10 small gray and 10 small brown pompoms.
• Step 14: I threaded the needle with a long length of twine and inserted the needle into a pompom center.
•  Step 15: Next, I pulled the twine all the way through the pompom center.
• Step 16: Finally, I repeated Step 15 until I had all the pompoms on the twine.

 

I’m hanging the garland on my fireplace mantle (excuse the hints of Christmas décor ... I’m not taking my inside decorations down until after my son goes back to the dorm  ... at that point, the holiday season will truly be over ... insert heavy sigh). It should do a lot to cozy up that space.

Thanks for joining me on my better-late-than-never yarn adventure!  Hopefully it will spark a creative fire in you to warm up your winter décor with something new and cozy!

Scrapbook Video Saturday & CHA!

Happy New Year! Carla here to welcome you and finally let you in on our big news. We're proud to release a series of beginner scrapbooking video tutorials on Howcast.com! There are 24 videos in all. We'll share about one a week here on the blog, but you can view all of them any time at Howcast.com's How-to-Scrapbook link. We all know someone who's just starting out in scrapbooking, and if they haven't started, you know they want to. Send them our way for lots of tips!

Because one of the most commonly searched scrapbook topics is How to Distress Paper, we'll start our Scrapbook Video Saturday series with some ideas for giving a weathered or aged look to your paper.

Note: You may need to allow a moment for the video to buffer before viewing.  If it doesn't work for you, you can view How to Distress Paper on Howcast.

All the projects shown in our videos were completed by members of The Crafting Journals. The scrapbook page in this video was created by Virginia Haverick. In addition to all the cool distress techniques she used, I love the way she re-created the look of shoelaces using cord.  What a great way to embellish a masculine page!

Products used in this video include:

• Distress Tool: Edge Scraper, Making Memories 
• Inks:  Clearsnap® Colorbox® Chalk Inks; and Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Inks
• Stamps:  Scratches, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz® Collection; Coffee Stain, Inkadinkado®; Aged Background Block, Hero Arts®

By the way, Howcast is a really great place for an amazing assortment of how-to videos -- from taking a panoramic photo with your iPhone, to how to deal with a screaming child while shopping, to hip-hop dancing. I could seriously spend all day there learning stuff.

And when the new sewing machine arrives that Santa ordered for me, you can bet I'll be checking out the videos from my sewing guru friend Jennifer Wiese! Woo-hoo!

Meanwhile, I'm headed out of this snow-strapped Northeast to the milder climes of sunny Anaheim, Calif., and the dream destination of every crafter: CHA, the Craft and Hobby Association trade show! I can't wait! It's strictly a trade show, and I was fortunate to work it for many years with EK Success. This year, I'm going as a designer and blogger, thanks to the incredibly talented Nathalie Kalbach. So keep your eyes here Jan. 9-14 for my reports from the show on the latest crafting goodies!