Oldies and Goodies

Hi, Erin here today to talk a little more about using old products and new products. Last week we looked mainly at combining papers and embellishments in a mix match fashion. This week, I want to show you how to use up some older stuff, and make it new using fun new products.

I chose to dig through my rarely used chipboard, and pull out some pieces from Fancy Pants Designs. You may even have something similar in your collection.

Chipboard is one of those staple products that can always be altered to look updated and modern. Even printed pieces of chipboard can be given a new look by either peeling off the printed layer, or by recovering the print with paper or paint. In this case, I'm giving the surface of the raw chipboard new life with one of my favorite new trends; washi tape.

Any colour combo goes, you could even repeat the same pattern over and over again.  Just line each strip up side by side, and go right to the edge. You can trim off any tape that goes over.

The next step is to take your craft knife and cut out any pieces you wish to use. I chose to remove the small inner frame and shaped tags, but to leave the smaller shapes in the bottom, so it created a polaroid type frame. Cutting is very easy, as the tape is thin, and you can see the indent of the lines where you should cut.

I dug through my pile of old Christmas papers to find a paper that worked with the patterns of washi tape I used. Wouldn't you know I had a red and white polka dot that matched exactly! ( October Afternoon).

Add to that a smattering of old and new embellishments, and you've got a page that can comfortably fit in your album with this year's pages.

New embellishments used: 

Wooden Shapes : Studio Calico ( covered with Tim Holtz Platinum Distress Stain)

Alterable Chipboard Stars: Pink Paislee (Coloured with Distress Stains)

Snowflake Die Cuts: Maya Road

Something old, Something new...

If you're anything like me, when you get new scrappy goodies, you dive right in, often forgetting the many treasures you already own. I'm going to share with you just a few approaches on how to incorporate some older product onto your pages without making them look dated.  Don't worry, I know you've got new stuff you're dying to use,  we're just going to sneak a bit of aging stuff in, in order to clear a bit of room for the next trend.

Patterned paper- If you're used to using lots of solid or neutral backgrounds for your pages, dig through your older papers, and pick out some that can be used as solids, and keep them nearby when working on new pages. Often, you can slip them in with a new collection. On this page, I used the reverse of an older My Mind's Eye paper ( green dot) paired with a new sheet from The Amy Tangerine Ready Set Go Collection. You can always slide in scraps of those older papers too, as decorative border strips, as I did with a piece from Sassafras Lass.

Letters- Maybe it's because I love letter stickers so much, but I think even the craziest fonts or colours will work somewhere somehow. Don't forget about the basics you already own, and don't be afraid to use several fonts to make up a title if need be. I used an older sheet of Candy Shoppe letters from Doodlebug Design Inc, to make this simple title.

Embellishments- I added a few stickers from Crate Paper Story Teller collection and some flags from the October Afternoon Sassparilla Collection. These are still newer products, but were being neglected since I had newer things to play with. The really old bits include the metal framed tag and chipboard apple from American Crafts. The key to making everything work, is to keep a balance between the older items, and some newer trendier items or techniques. In this case the wooden shapes I coloured with Distress Stain, and the stenciled background help to keep the page feeling current. 

Trends are cyclical, and it seems everything old is new again. So don't discount your older embellishments and papers, you may be surprised at how well you can incorporate them with the newer treasures you've just brought home. 

Have fun mixing it up!

Erin

Tanya's Surprise Box Part II

Remember my surprise box from Tanya this month?

One of the items in the box was a Simple Stories 12x12 memorabilia pocket (pictured bottom left box, top left corner).  I was wracking my mind trying to come up with an unconventional way to use this outside of my scrapbook.

In our home we have a lot of papers/notes that need a home from time to time.  For example permission slips, or fund raising forms the girls bring home from school.  There are also checks that need to be deposited, and letters/cards to be placed in the mail.  Because my fridge is stainless steel, I can no longer use magnets to simply tack things onto the front of the fridge.  We found a solution in the form of our garage access door.  It's not pretty but it works as far as tacking papers that need to be returned/mailed/signed/deposited, etc to it with magnets.  It works, but drives me crazy to look at.

Enter Simple Stories memorabilia pocket, ribbon, pins, and stickers.  I used more of my mystery box items to create this...

A cute little pocket to hold all the 'stuff'.  I simply use magnets to hold it to the door and voila, no more eye sore of a door every time I leave the house.  Cute and functional.

Erin's Surprise Package- Part 2

Well it's no surprise now that I got the fun Halloween collection by October Afternoon to work with this month. I am still surprised though that it took October Afternoon this long to come out with a Halloween line. This is right up their alley! Did I mention that the collection is the perfect mix of whimsical vintage inspired images and some great pattern and textures too? Great for photos of little goblins as well as big ones.

Everything you see here, with the exception of the trim, some distress ink, 2 little googley eyes, and Helmar adhesives all come from the Witch Hazel Collection.  I sliced into the witch's hat to hang it over the corner of my photo, and cut the cat in half so both his head and tail peek out from both sides of the photo. I love the orange letter stickers that come in the collection pack too- definitely a fun font for a Halloween page! All I did to create the title was use the labels from the pack, and layer my title letters on top.


Are your goblins ready for Halloween, and are you all done scrapping last year's photos?
You've got a few days left!

Erin, LCOM Marketing Team Member

Toil and Trouble...

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon's blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.

 - William Shakespeare ( Macbeth)

Well my three little guys are probably a pretty far cry from the three witches in the play Macbeth, but they did work pretty hard making those Jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. Besides any title with the word "trouble"  in it is a pretty sure bet when it comes to my little goblins. 

I had the opportunity to work with the new Halloween line Witch Hazel from October Afternoon. A great surprise to find in my box for the month! I love October Afternoon, and think it's about time they created a  line for Halloween...

  24 awesome patterns!

( Watch for them very soon in the store!)

To make this concoction you will need: 

1 Sheet Bazzill Cardstock ( Bright Orange)

1 sheet Gleam of Moon

3 parts Camomille Oil

2 parts Star Thistle

Witch Hazel Alpha Stickers

Witch Hazel Shape Stickers

3 parts Miscellany

a dash of white Uniball pen, 

a smidge of Black Sharpie

Tim Holtz Distress Stain

...assemble with Helmar Acid Free Adhesive, and journal to taste.

Happy brewing!

A Box Full of Surprise

Are you a little like me when you shop for scrappy goodies?  I have a tendency to want only the newest items I can find when there are always great 'older' gems still to be had.   If you've been following along for the past week you know that the Marketing Team were all sent 'surprise packages' to work with this month from the sweet Tanya.  Here is a photo of my surprise box contents.

I knew that this would be the perfect month to scrap this photo of the lovely Nicole and I that I've had sitting around for a few months now.  Seeing as they are both pieces of the same puzzle.  I titled the layout "Just By Chance" as I believe that's truly how we met.  Winnipeg is not all that big of a city.  You've heard the phrase 'six degrees of separation'?  Well in this city it's more like two.  Somehow though, it took Let's Capture These Memories to bring us together.  It has been so wonderful getting to know this girl.  She's funnier than most, sweet, and more loyal than ever to her group of girlies.  I thought it would be fitting to use Tanya's package of goodies to document this new found friendship.

I used the tag to record my jounaling

I added a little mist, a doily, and some Lilybee alphas to complete the layout.

So what about you?  Any 'oldies, but goodies' laying around your scrap room that you could be pulling out to create your next layout?  As always, I'd love to come and have a peek if I've inspired you to create.  I encourage you to come back next week to see what else I was able to create with this fabulous box of goodies.

Supplies used:
MME - Kraft Funday 
MME Cardstock stickers - Dolled Up & Howdy Doody
October Afternoon - Patterned Paper
- Paid in Full 
- Dictation
Love My Tapes - Narrow,white

Welcome Back

Welcome to the weekend!

If you're anything like me you are feeling just a little more tired than you have been for the past two months.  The start of the new school year always seems to arrive too quickly, and feels like a whirlwind of activity, with countless forms to be filled out and returned, and a the usual school newsletters, and other pertinent information to be reviewed.

For the past few years I have been making cards to send along with the girls on the first day of school.  My hope is that a simple card will help their new teacher to feel valued and appreciated as he/she takes on a new set of students for the next 10 months of the year.

This year I created super simple "Welcome Back" cards using Lily Bee Design Double Dutch collection, and my hexagon punches. 

Rather than my usual habit of creating one-of-a-kind cards, this year, I decided to stick to the same design on all 4 cards changing it up just a bit between the two colours.  
Simple, yet cheerful.

Supplies used:

Lily Bee papers

Creative Impressions ribbon

October Afternoon buttons

 Some of the items are from my stash, like the white trim, and office supply tags, but the rest can be found in the shop.  

Speaking of the shop.  Have you noticed the Echo Park collections in there? 

So Happy Together, 

Chillingsworth,  

For The Record 2 - Documented & Tailored, as well as 

Very Merry Christmas 

have all been added and are ready for purchase.  Hope you get a chance to head over there and grab some for yourself.

Enjoy your Saturday, and happy creating!

Another "kit" layout!

Hello again, it's Nicole back again today and I am sharing another page I made with my self-made "kit" from Let's Capture Our Memories!

If you can recall, I picked out $25 worth of goodies from th estore and made up a kit for my projects this month! Most of the items are still available - and some on sale - so hope you will check it all out too :)

Here is what I bought:

1 ea.	Elle's Studio / Lil' Snippets: Hello Summer
1 ea.	Elle's Studio / Lil' Snippets: Noted
1 ea.	Elle's Studio / Love This Moment Stamp
1 ea.	Bella Blvd / Baby Boy - Momma's Boy
1 ea.	Bella Blvd / Baby Girl - Daddy's Girl
1 ea.	Bella Blvd / Baby Girl - Pretty in Pink
1 ea.	Bazill white cardstock
1 ea.	Crate Paper / Paper Heart - Delivery
1 ea.	Twinery / Honeydew
1 ea.	Maya Road / Sparkle Silver Twine
1 ea.	October Afternoon / 9 to 5 - Girl Friday
1 ea.	October Afternoon / 9 to 5 - Paid in Full
1 ea.	October Afternoon / 9 to 5 - Steno Pad
1 ea.	October Afternoon / Mini Market / Orange & Creme
1 ea.	evalicious / Shoot Smile Snap Badge Buttons
1 ea.	Bella Blvd / Baby Girl - Minatures
1 ea.	Bella Blvd / Baby Girl - Snuggly Safari Here is another project I made using it: I know that initally, I thought that people would think I am nuts picking the pretty pink and girly papers from Bella Blvd and then mixing other brights in.. fact is, it only takes a paper or two to tie the colours together! I used the striped paper in a thin strip to show all the colours and then chose other papers for the page to make it more masculine! My favorite thing in the kit is the stamp - I love getting something I can re-use often and this stamp will get used I tell ya!! Here it is stamped with black on the pink Bella paper. Love the Evalicious buttons too :) I added in the mini October Afternoon Alphas and some Bella Blvd letters in red from my stash that I had picked up at LCOM before ! :)  Love that font! That's it!! This page was a quick one to do as I had everything I needed in the kit! Would be great to get this and bring along on a vacation with a few photos and some adhesive - and a trimmer :)

It's a Kit!

This month, I put together a kit for myself full of goodies from the store!
It has some Bella Blvd Baby girl, Crate Paper, and October Afternoon in it. Even some Maya Road twine and some fun Evalicious badges too ! (psst...there are some new ones in the store too !! Yay!)

Here is a picture of my "kit" all ready to be dug into!

Here is the first page that I created with this mix of manufacturers:

 I really Love the Evalicious badges and knew I wanted to add some into my kit:

 Look how pretty that sparkly twine is too ! just the right hint of sparkle to the page.

 I did add in some Bella Blvd. chipboard from my stash that I had already picked up from LCOM before. The summery shapes are perfect to mix in with these lines! You could use any chipboard - the baby girl ones that co-ordinate with the paper are in stock!!

 of course, there are more Elle's Studio tags on here too - can't get enough of those!!! Perfect for adding little bits of journalling on your pages.

and I just love the Bella Blvd Baby Girl stickers too!!! Not just for baby pages either!

You can create this kit for yourself by heading over to the store now and checking out!

Hi everyone! I am very excited to be back again for another term at Let's Capture Our Memories as a designer and co-ordinator!

This month, I will be working with some Lily Bee Designs product - all found in the Let's Capture Our Memories store! I have been dying to dig into these supplies and share with you!

First up is a page I did using one of my favorite things - little bits and pieces - I know this is not a new or unknown thing - but you really can do a lot with some little bits of paper to give them texture and depth!

I started off with this paper from the store from the Handmade line:

It was screaming for me to chop it up - not only is there tons of different patterns, but multiple colours too!

I love that! Here is what I came up with when pairing this paper with one of the Lily Bee basics papers (polka dot one side, grid the other):

 I tried to add some texture by stitching the squares and adding a few buttons to them.  I also used some of the papers from the Bag of Bits and layering some foam squares under them:

 I added a few little flags that I made by stitching some folded paper together onto a sewing pin and clipping the ends to a pennant flag:

There is lots of Lily Bee Designs available in the store - check it all out HERE

Supplies used:

Lily Bee Design - Handmade collection

Lily Bee Design Index cards

October Afternoon buttons

Cosmo Cricket Tiny Text stickers

American Crafts thickers

Welcome...

Kate Vickers back to the LCOM Marketing Team!

I am a wife and mother of 3 small children, ages 7, 4 and 2. I live in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. I have scrapbooked seriously for about 6 years now, but I have been interested in arts and crafts since I was old enough to hold a crayon. My scrapbooking style is kind of eclectic and a bit cluttered. 

My other passion is horseback riding, and I'm in my 25th year of riding! I owned 2 of my own horses, both thoroughbreds, but I don't have a horse of my own right now. I competed in Eventing, Dressage and hunter/jumper. My oldest daughter has started riding and loves it as much as I do. We will buy another horse someday, but for now, we just ride other people's horses.

My real job is part-time freelance Web Project Manager, Designer and Developer. I have my own small business – Vickers Media. I have also been lucky to be able to do freelance work for some other major Canadian marketing firms. My specialty is open source content management systems like Joomla and WordPress. What I love most about my job is that I make my own hours and I still have a lot of free time to do the things that I love, like spending time with my family and scrapbooking!

Check out a sample of Kate's work:

look at the detail on that ribbon!!

Welcome Kate back to the team!

Let's talk versatility

So, this month, I though I would take a different angle at my assignments. I browsed through the LCOM store and there was SO much I wanted to get - and sadly, I couldn't!!! But, there were ways for me to get some of the things I really wanted and not break my budget either!

The main thing I got was a couple paper pads - nope, not 12x12 - 6x6. Really, the main difference is that the patterns are smaller in size - but really - I don't think it makes a difference!

Here is a page I created using just a 6x6 paper pad + 1 other 12x12 sheet for a base for the layout:

You can tell that the patterns are smaller -but I think it fits! Check out closer up and see.

 The patterns on the papers work just as good smaller as larger!! If you didn't know... I bet you wouldn't even know it was made with a smaller sized paper!

 and i just have to say that these are my new favorite letters from American Crafts:

*** and they come in a bunch of different colours too ***

I chose a couple lines by My Mind's Eye from the store to work with - but there are 6x6 paper pads by all these manufacturers in the store right now:

Echo Park

My Mind's Eye

Pink Paislee

Simple Stories

Tim Holtz

other supplies:

October Afternoon - buttons

My Mind's Eye - brads

I have another project to share with you this week using the smaller size- come back and check it out! :)

Of course, make sure you check out what is NEW at LCOM this month!

My favorite sons

When you first look at the October Afternoon - Farmhouse line, you might think it is pretty girly.

Well, sure.... it is! BUT, it is also a classic collection good for boys too ;)

There is a great blue doily paper - perfect for boy pages - and a lot of others if you ask me!

I added in some alphas from another October Afternoon line - this time Sasparilla!

The woodgrain is WICKED cool!

 What I love about the October Afternoon products - are all the great little embellishments they have!

I am a sticker freak - and used quite a bit - the diecut sticker sheet, buttons, little flyers and even some of the Flower Sack die cut shapes too!

Supplies used:

October Afternoon Farmhouse

October Afternoon diecut sticker 

October Afternoon buttons

October Afternoon little flyers

Miscellancy pack /Flower Sack die cut shapes

October Afternoon Sprinklers

It's almost a new month - and we say good bye to our leaving Marketing Team members, Susan, Wendy and Shannon - who have all done a great job inspiring us all for the last 6 months! How fast that time went!

Stay tuned to see what is in store to inspire you in April :)

While you are waiting, why not check out what is NEW in the store this week!!!!!

My Life - Farmhouse style!!

This month, I am playing with the super pretty collection - October Afternoon's Farmhouse!

This collection is so pretty, there are so many different things you can do with it! I started this page with a little misting using my Sprinklers that I picked up at the LCOM store in just a few different colours.

On this page I used Red Wagon, Cactus and some glimmer glaze from Tattered Angels.

My Life

by Nicole Nowosad

 I used lots of little pieces on this page - mostly from one sheet of this paper from the store:

Not only is there lots of pretty little bits, but I love the "B" side of the paper too :) So, I chopped it up and placed them all over the misted cardstock background:

 I used quite a few pieces from the Farmhouse miscellany pack along with the paper and

my shape sticker sheet

I also added in some of the October Afternoon buttons, Marashine twine from the Twinery and some Cosmo Cricket tiny type and doilies too :)

Hope you will check out the Farmhouse in the store !!!  Make sure to check out what's NEW and what's on sale in the store!

Farmhouse is in the HOUSE!!

Have you seen October Afternoon's Farmhouse in the store???

It is a super pretty collection .. lots of possibilities for this one - and the colour combo in the collection is one of my personal faves!

I actually started this page with a different farmhouse collection -

this time Farmhouse by Crate Paper for the background cardstock.

 I used a few different papers from the OA farmhouse collection for this page:

Clothesline (banner), Button Box (doilies), Faded wallpaper (it really looks like ol' school wallpaper)

here it is all together!

2011

by Nicole Nowosad

I used some pieces from the Farmhouse miscellany pack along with the paper and

my shape sticker sheet. There are such pretty items in each one - butterflies and some have a lovely vintagy feel to them. I also added in some of the October Afternoon buttons, and an Ormolu tin tag from my stash (but, omg, have you seen the cute ormolu stuff in the store!!!)

Also, you can see I used an Elle's Studio and Maya Road kraft tag too

I love the miscellany pack for all the bits - and the perfect way to attach these is with the Tiny Attacher.

(which is seriously my new BFF) ;)

Hope you will check out the Farmhouse in the store !!!
Make sure to check out what's NEW and what's on sale in the store!