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!