Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
I haven't forgotten......
Happy Monday :)
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Scrapfit - a way to stay in shape with your LOs
Here's my version of Workout #1:
The challenge was to use water & ink on your layout. The photo is me in Eleuthra, Bahamas during our honeymoon. I'm standing on a rock cliff above the bay. I'm not sure if you can really tell in this photo, but I've inked the edges of the pages. From a sustainability standpoint, I re-used some scraps of paper for my journaling, and re-used scraps of paper for my palm tree.
This challenge is due on the 14th, but stay tuned for their 2nd challenge for the month of August!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
A 'green' cleaner for your rubber stamps!
www.sbwire.com/news/view/29407
Great idea!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Great mini article on Going Green with Scrapbooking
Go green with your scrapbooking
Mykl Roventine
It seems that "going green" is all the rage with other parts of our lives...but can you really go green with a paper intensive hobby like scrapbooking?
Sure you can.
Recycle. Not the big green can in your garage, but recycle the scraps of paper from other projects. Save all the used bits of paper left over from today's layout to use again tomorrow. Don't throw out any paper that's big enough to use as a photo mat or journaling box.
Reuse. Turn scraps and leftovers from other parts of your life into scrapbooking material. Why buy buttons when you can reuse REAL buttons from an old shirt? Use interesting art from junk mail and magazines in your scrapbooks. Just remember to use archival safe paper for your backgrounds and anything that touches photographs. Better yet, only use copies of photos, not the original, for cropping.
Reduce. Simplify your scrapbooking supplies to avoid waste. Pick a few favorite colors and stick to them. Use up all your old supplies before buying new. Use digital mats to highlight photos you print yourself.
More Info: Here's some tips on environmentally friendly scrapbooking from the tree experts at Abundant Forests.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
August PageMaps Sketch Challenge!
Here's my version of the sketch:
The contest allows you to use the sketch how you see fit. In other words, you can rotate it, or use another size besides 12x12. I reused some little shells that I had picked up at a thrift store a long time ago, and that is really the only repurposed material on the page. I'm just trying to use up my supplies - I have way too much! I also broke out the sewing machine and sewed a border around the page, and I decided to journal as a border.
I had won a gift certificate to A Cherry On Top and bought some gold Glimmer Mist. I never used it before, so I decided to give it a go on this LO. The 3 black circles I cut from scraps and then sprayed them with the Glimmer Mist. Cool stuff - here's a close up:
I also like my pop dots, so I added a little dimension as well:
I hope you like this LO. If you have some time before 8/16, you can also join in on this challenge. Click here for the challenge.
Happy Scrappin'!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Great idea - go green with your magazines
Vivien Hughston
SF Scrapbooking Examiner
Scrapbook Trends Magazine
offers online subscriptions, and the prices are hard to beat! An all access pass
to their 5 publications (Scrapbook Trends, Cards, Simply Handmade, Bead Trends,
and Idea Books) is just $9.99 a month, or $4.99 for individual publications. And
for an additional one time fee of $24.95, get access to all the back issues.
With this selection, any crafter will be more than satisfied.
Take
advantage of the benefits of digital: saving space, growing a digital library of
favorites only, and saving money (a six month subscription to all the
publications is $245). Though you may miss the flipping through pages, there is
the option to print and you can save the prints as pdf files to keep with the
green concept.
Some key features of the menu bar: DOWNLOAD
OFFLINE VERSION which allows access to the issue without the internet, VIEW
THUMBNAILS OF ALL PAGES to quickly scan through the issue, ADD A NOTE for note
taking, ADD A BOOKMARK, and ZOOM which allows a close up of the samples for
better viewing.
Try out a month’s subscription and gain access to 5
publications; there is nothing to lose but $9.99. Simply contact Scrapbook
Trends to cancel anytime to avoid future charges. If you choose to continue and
opted not to get access to back issues, try contacting Scrapbook Trends (within
a reasonable amount of time) to see if they will add the pass to your
subscription. They were kind enough to extend the courtesy to me and absolutely
love the access to previous issues, especially the Idea Books!
Go green
with online magazines, hope other publications follow in line with this digital
move.
- have fun with everything!
A quick tip: download the offline
versions and print (hardcopy or pdf file) to create your own personal favorites
library.
For more info: Visit Scrapbook Trends and subscribe now!
https://scrapbooktrends.securesites.net/subscribe_online1.htmlFor me, it would be very difficult to get rid of hard copy magazines. However, if I was ever to get rid of my magazines, I have several options:
1. Put them in my recycle bin
2. Donate them to the library
3. Donate them to my local hospital
4. Freecycle them
5. Donate to a thrift store
Just an option for those of you looking to save space and save some trees!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Cool site to check out!
I just discovered a very cool site to check out. It's a scrapbook store in Colorado (too bad I'm in FL) and everything they sell for scrapping is environmentally friendly! Here's the site:
www.creatively-green.com
Here's a little bit about them:
We specialize in creative, alternative, handmade art and craft supplies with a conscience. As a family owned business, it is our mission to bring you unique, non toxic, and safe alternatives without compromising on quality.
They have their own paper line and handmade embellishments too! Their prices are very fair as well. Pop on over when you have a chance - they need some DT members too!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
New blog is up!
I know I haven't been good about blogging lately - just a lot going on. I've resurrected my scrapping business and my core areas are scrapping for others and making gifts. In that respect, I have started a business blog, which is:
www.rememberwhencreations.wordpress.com
Please check it out & follow me there, too! I promise to start some 'green' scrapping projects soon!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Paper Piecing - A Great Way to Use Your Scraps
Friday, March 27, 2009
Reusing a cereal box!
I then chose a color scheme for my 'new' magazine holder & traced my template:
Stay tuned for the rest!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Yeah! Another manufacturer goes Green
It's easy to reduce, reuse, and recycle with our adorable
Green Woodland Stack! This eco-conscious collection comes with 24 designs, all
printed on 70% post-consumer recycled paper that is also acid- and lignin-free!
Our darling designs include a forest of playful woodland creatures including
a watchful owl, quizzical bear—even a mischievous skunk! This collection is
perfect for adults and children alike. Stack contains 48 sheets.
Let's support this manufacturer for doing something right!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Featured Etsy Artist!
I rescue, recycle and re-purpose vintage items,
making them beautiful once again. Nothing pleases me more than spending my
weekends on the road, scouring antique shops and estate sales in search of that
one perfect item. I utilize antique jewelry, lingerie & dresses, textiles
and hardware. I re-purpose vintage lace and brocade fabrics along with imported
glass beads, rhinestones and various interesting bobbles I stumble upon on my
many journeys. Every item I offer is made with tender care. I use high quality
materials to produce the best product for you.Look at some of their great products:
Greighday has some really unique products in her store. Visit her by clicking the link above and you might find that perfect gift for an upcoming birthday or Mother's Day. And remember to support local artists and crafts people. Buy handmade - be unique - save the Earth.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Storage Ideas
- Priority Mail Boxes: Use Priority Mailing boxes and make your own vertical paper holders.
- Shadow Boxes: Take two old shadow boxes/knick knack shelf units and use all the little openings to hold the numerous little items for scrap booking such as ribbon rolls, stamps, stamp pads, little containers of eyelets, sequins, buttons, and beads.
- Flat Ware Trays: Use a divided silver ware type basket to hold felt tip markers and ink pens and most used scissors are stored in old coffee mugs.
- Cigar Boxes: Use cigar boxes to store items like paint sample chips and tiles.
- Parmesan Cheese Containers: Use old parmesan cheese containers for ribbon/fiber storage.
- Tiny Bags: Use the little bitty ziplock bags that extra buttons come in on new clothes to store Ink Blending Tool foam pads. They're the perfect size and don't add bulk in storage, but keep the foams separated so the inks don't mix.
- Garage Storage: Use the little storage bin thing that holds screws and nuts and bolts.
- 3 Ring Binders: Use an old binder with inserts for stickers so that they are easy to see.
Any other ideas for items around the household? Please share!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Other ways to save the Earth
What other ideas do you have? Share them with everyone by posting a comment!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
GoGoGirlz Featured Etsy Seller!
We are two CRAZY ladies that have been creating together on-the-go for
about 4 years. The G in the word "GO" is from my friends' last name and the O is
from mine. And, yes, we were young girls when Go-Go boots and mini-shirts were
latest trends in the 1960s. Today, we are still always on the go as chauffeur
moms to school and sports activities. Our favorite places to go are to the craft
shows, craft stores and to "craft paradise" -- that quiet place where we can
escape to, and create without interruptions of "Mom, take me here -- Mom, take
me there".
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Recycled Fish!
A box of Rice Chex can go a long way! All I did was use one of my templates & trace the fish on the box. Then I traced the template on red & blue scraps of paper, cut everything out, adhered them using 3-in-1 Adhesive (that stuff is the best!), and voila! Two little fish to adhere to your card or scrapbook page. Plus, if you want, you can further embellish them. The edges of my fish are chalked for a little dimension. If I was using these instead of selling them, then I would add some of those little googly eyes. For now, these little buggers are for sale at my Etsy store:
What have you come up with using cereal boxes? I want to know!
Stay tuned for my 'new' magazine holder!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Gear up for presents!
When I talk about 'green' scrapbooking, I'm really doing the Earth an injustice. I'm limiting myself to just one little niche in my green endeavors - scrapbooking. What about the rest of the paper craft genre?
Even though it's only February, the holidays are here before you know it and everyone is scrambling around purchasing, buying, purchasing, buying, blah, blah, blah. So if you take some time now, you can be ready to MAKE some gifts come November. Here's what you can start saving:
- Cardboard - think of all the things that arrive in the mail or some type of cardboard packaging you get when you purchase something. Start breaking it down and putting it in a safe place. There are many projects we can do with this stuff.
- Tins and powder drink containers - we are big drinkers of Gatorade in this house. Every 10 days, I'm trying to do something clever with the container. Hold onto a few of these - I'll show you what we can do with them.
- Paper bags - some stores are going back to these instead of plastic. Throw a couple in the closet and we'll get creative with them.
- Shredded paper - are you shredding all of your confidential information? Good - you need to. Now bag some of that stuff and I have some ideas for it.
Stay tuned as next week I'll show you some project ideas with these materials.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I love all things recycled!
This Etsy seller took a broken Coleman Lantern Chair and turned it into a fab tote bag! Here is a link to her store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=26639
I know this has nothing to do with scrapbooking, but I just love all things recycled and I want to promote our earth-friendly artisans!
Monday, February 9, 2009
New Uses for Toilet Paper Rolls!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfiLIG0gd74
I feel the need to save some rolls and make a mini album for the blog. What a great way to reduce waste & reuse an item!
Have any you made? Send them to me and I'll post them here!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Recycling in Scrapbooking
Recycling is the process of turning waste materials such as paper and plastics into a new resource.
- To recycle, save recyclable items and send or take them to a recycling facility. The facility will process the materials so it can be used in new materials.
- The craft of scrapbooking involves a lot of paper products, including cardstock, patterned paper, and packaging. Often scrapbook items are sold in plastic packaging as well. Learn what items can be recycled in your area.
- Set up a spot in your scrapbook area for placing items that can be recycled. In my scrapbook area I keep a trash bag for recycling papers and a trash can for non-recyclable items. Sort paper and other recyclable items as you are scrapping.
- When opening a new product, divide the paper and plastic aspects of the product. Sort and place any recyclable items in the appropriate recycling containers.
- Support recycled products. Write to the scrapbook manufacturers asking them to consider using recycling materials in their products.
We have a few manufacturers who are on board and are offering recycled papers and products while trying to reduce the waste in their packaging. If we collectively have a voice and let the manufacturers know that we want more enviro-friendly products, they will listen to us!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Use for yogurt cups!
You can see where I have squeezed out all colors of paint on the left side of the board. So, in an effort to try & keep it a bit neater and not have lumps of dried paint on it, I decided to put my yogurt cups to use. Our county does have a recycling program, and trust me, I fill up our bins as much as possible. The beauty of using the yogurt cups is I can use them and wash them out & still throw them in the recycle bin.
If you are in a part of the country that doesn't have a recycle program, then you can keep a bunch of them & use one for each color that you paint with. Stay tuned for more uses of yogurt cups!
Friday, January 30, 2009
What are you doing this weekend?
and register in her site & join a group of ladies for fun, challenges and lots of scrapping! YMBD is giving away bucks to their store for completing challenges. Bucks are the same as gift certificates, so you can buy gifts for you or another scrapper!
Come on over - the fun starts at 7pm tonight!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Recycling Ribbon
- Christmas or other gifts received throughout the year
- Clothes you no longer want
- Gift Baskets
- Thrift Stores!
I'm sure you can come up with some other ideas - share them with us by posting a comment!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Another Vendor Goes 'Green'!
Queen & Co. has decided to reduce their carbon footprint by reducing their packaging. Check out these very cool little buckets that their product will come in - can you image the uses for that??
Click on this link to read more about it: http://www.scrapbook.com/blog/view/135575.html
They also have some very cute products coming out, which are featured at CHA this coming week. Of course, all of us 'green' scrappers are trying to reduce, reuse and repurpose, so we might not buy 1 of everything, but it doesn't hurt to support a company that is greening itself, now does it?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Repurpose your scraps!
All I had to do was outline them in a white pen, add a brad and adhere with a foam dot. One less little piece of paper floating in the landfill........
What have you done with your scraps?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
New uses for bottlecaps
My husband loves his IBC Root Beer, and I love the bottlecaps! I am designing a Word Book for my niece, Allison, and I had a few bottlecaps lying around, so I decided to incorporate it into her book.
After adding the rub-on, I simply adhered the circle punch to the bottle cap. You can use a glue dot or any other strong adhesive.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Use an old map!
Tip #2 - Do you have any old maps laying around? Or maybe you picked up a map from your last vacation. Don't throw it out - use it in the following ways:
- a background paper
- matting your vacation photos
- cut out the states or countries you visited & use it as an embellishment on your page!
Monday, January 12, 2009
While on vacation this week....
Tip #1 - Donate your leftovers! It's very easy to start filling your scrap space with lots of papers, ribbons, flowers, embellishments, stickers, etc. etc. Try cleaning out your stash at least quarterly, find everything you absolutely don't love, put it in a bag, and take it to your local child care center, or even your child's school. These places LOVE free stuff, and it will definitely be put to good use!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Save Money on Your Scrapbooking - Go Recycled!
In our financial crisis, many of us are looking for ways to cut costs and curtail our spending. This is definitely a possibility in scrapbooking, if you think outside the box a bit. Let's talk about storage first. Here are some ideas for uses of household items to aid you in organizing your scrapbooking:
Jars - we all have empty jars of sauce, baby food, jelly, peanut butter, gravy -whatever you have eaten! Now, I know most of us wash them & throw them in the recycle bin, but what if you can use them for storage? See my post: http://scrapwithjan.blogspot.com/2008/12/scrapbookcraft-room-challenge-pt-ii.html
Wash them out with warm, soapy water and let them dry. Voila - pretty storage solution for flowers or ribbon!
Priority Mail Boxes: Instead of recycling them, they are very sturdy & make great paper holders! You can use them 'as is' or cut out a 'magazine-style' holder to see your paper. Use your scraps to make them pretty!
Nut & Bolt Organizer: Sometimes the man in your life may have something to repurpose. You know those cool metal or plastic boxes that have all the little drawers in them for different screws, nuts & bolts? Why not clean it out, maybe repaint it in a pretty color, and use it to organize your alphabet stickers or brads or buttons or other embellies? I'm on the lookout for a used one (hopefully for free) that I can use in my scraproom.
Silverware Tray: Do you have an extra one of these lurking in the attic? You can use it to organize your colored pencils and pens!
Cigar Boxes: How about these? Are they hanging around too? Use them to store scraps of paper or ribbons or other embellishments. You can also either decoupage them or paint them to match your room.
Yogurt containers: Eating yogurt is huge in my house. We each consume at least 1 a day. Of course, I wash them out & recycle them, but I had an abundance of glue sticks and didn't know what to do with them. So, I took a bunch of paper scraps, some modge podge & now I have a nifty holder for my glue sticks. I have also used another one for a set of alphabet stickers.
** I am on vacation & unable to download photos right now. Please stay tuned for pictures starting the week of Jan. 19th! Thanks for understanding! **
What ideas do you have? Share them with me! Together, all our small steps can make an impact on Mother Earth.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
K & Co introduces 2 new eco lines!
K & Company has introduced two eco-friendly paper lines and a tree donation program! I was very happy to stumble upon this on their website:
http://www.kandcompany.com/shop/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=90
This link will explain their 2 paper lines and their Plant A Tree program. Let's face it - scrapbooking, at its very core, starts with paper. And we use A LOT of it. By supporting these 2 paper lines from K and Company, we are reducing paper, packaging and fuel.
Even though I pledged not to purchase anything new this year, my fingers are itching to get my hands on some of this paper and try a layout. How about you? Have you used either paper line?
Saturday, January 3, 2009
My Great Find
Friday, January 2, 2009
So what's this Goin' Green all about?
The question begs - what does make you happy? Or what makes you happy in the crafting world? Easy - creating! I was watching everyone else make things & never had time for me and my projects.
What else am I passionate about? The earth - saving it. We Americans (yes, it's mostly the Americans) that have caused alot of the problems the earth is experiencing. I will start another blog on everyday living green, but let's get back to scrapbooking. I am all for preserving memories and journaling our life's events. So, how can I (and you) do that without always buying, buying and buying, and throwing away packaging, and Styrofoam bubbles, etc. There has to be a better way, and that is what this blog is all about.
A few times each week, I will post my "greening" techniques and I want to learn from you too! Add an RSS Feed on your favorite homepage so we can interact and share ideas, techniques and thoughts on our green adventure.
On another note, I am developing a very cool product, which will contain a minimum of 25% earth-friendly components. Stay tuned for more details, but don't rush out to buy your Valentine's Day gifts yet, you may just want to see what I have in store for you!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
Now - it's time to get back to scrapping! Have you seen Becky Higgins Project 365? This project is about taking a photo each day in 2009 & documenting your everyday life as opposed to whipping out the camera for special moments. You can read more about it here:
http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2008/12/understanding-concept-of-project-365.html
I may not purchase the kit (I have WAY too many supplies to use), but I am definitely going to take a photo each day of something relevant to my life and what is happening around me. My first photo (haven't downloaded it yet) is the Christmas tree all lit up before I took it down today. I think I am going to incorporate a journal into this project so I know what I was thinking and feeling at any particular moment.
Please click on the link above and read through the whole idea & concept of Project 365. We can share our lives together!
Helping You Create Meaningful Memories