Make Your Own . . . .

We all love the look that epoxy stickers give to our layouts & cards, but using them all the time can get expensive.

So today's Shoppe tip might help get you the same great effect while saving you some $ . . .

We'll show you how to make your own!

Here is your secret weapon . . . . It's called "Aleene's Paper Glaze"


You can use this on ready-to-go flat printed stickers to give them some depth & dimension or try it like we did with punched paper pieces to perfectly match your layout.

Just squeeze it out onto your chosen item, then let it dry & harden . . .

(drying time depends on how thick you coat your pieces)

On this "Cute as a Button" page, we coated simple circles and then punched holes thru it to resemble matching buttons . . . .

This product is also WONDERFUL to use on beach & pool party themes or on bathtime pages . . . It leaves a "wet" look on water splashes & bubbles!

Or you can use it to just highlight certain features here & there, like we did on this wedding layout . . .

So grab yourself a bottle of this handy-dandy stuff and make your own expensive-looking embellies!

Soon you'll be adding a touch of glaze to glimmer up whatever you're working on . . . .

Challenge Yourself

Today we'd like you guys to challenge yourselves . . .

Grab 2 or 3 co-ordinating sheets of patterned paper & see just how many layouts, cards, & altered projects you can make!

I used 3 sheets of these papers from Daisy Bucket to make 6 layouts (plus I have a tad bit left yet for a card!)

Now, of course I added some basic cardstock to each of these and did some Cricutting, Sizzixing, & stickerizing, but I got alot of pages finished.

This technique would be perfect for putting together a themed album quickly.

These pages are all 12x12's so just think how far a couple sheets of paper would go if you were making a smaller sized album!

Here's a closer pix of each of them for you to view (just in case you want to lift any ideas!)

(For some reason the greens photographed in different shades, but all of the pages were made with the same bright, lime green stock)

Hope you all find some of these color-blocking techniques helpful & useful for

your upcoming layouts.

Thanks for visiting . . . Please stop by again soon!

Graduation Pages

First of all, we'd like to share another award we found in our email this morning . . .

Thank You to Amanda W. from somewhere out in blog-land!

She wrote " I love the chalk tip on your blog. I used to use mine so long ago, but mainly for shading. I never would have thought to use them on photos or even printing my pix out on stock! Thank You!"

Well, you are very welcome Amanda W. . . . glad to help!

Now then . . . . on to our Graduation Pages for today.

We're gonna share a really easy layout that can be completed in about 20 minutes.

You don't always need themed papers for you pages.

Sometimes, simpler is better . . . .and more elegant.

We used just black cardstock & some metallic gold paper for this page along with just 1 photo and the invitation.

We cut the info from the inside of the invite and mounted it below the invitation.

Then of course, there's the Senior Portrait with the name cards that always fall out and get lost . . .

And if you have an empty corner, add some something simple to enhance the main items ~ not over-power them.

On this page, I laid a plastic stencil down and globbed on a thick layer of glue stick.

Then I covered the glue with gold embossing powder & melted it with my heat gun.

In the center is are some plain white petals with a brad.

It's simple but very nice . . . AND inexpensive!

Didn't spend more than 2 bucks on this one!

So hang onto those invitations and programs & make sure to add them into your memory books. You'll be glad someday that you did!

Chalk Art

Today we'd like you guys to get another item out from the bottoms of your scrappin' totes and put them back to good use.

We're talking about the pallettes of dry decorating chalks that we all started out with.

They seem to have been replaced by the cat's eye chalks lately. But unlike the cat's eyes, these are MUCH more forgiving.

If you make a mistake with these, all you need to do is erase it with a white eraser and start over again . . . . can't do that with the inky kind!

Now most of us use these for shading & highlighting our die-cuts and photo mattes, but today we're gonna show you how to colorize your photos with them.

And all you need is a very basic supply . . . . cardstock!

You'll want to cut a sheet of cardstock to your desired photo size, choose your photo, & set it to print black & white.

You can choose either smooth or textured.

If you print on the textured kind, your photos will have that canvass-y look to them.

Then all you need to do is start coloring in the areas you want to highlight . . . Easy as that!

Here is my finished page of my daughter's graduation . . .

And a couple close-ups of the added embellies . . . .

Here's another way to use your chalk sets . . .

Get out your favorite stamps & emboss them.

Then give the images a dusting of chalk . . .



And you've got a really inexpensive, different style of embellishment for your pages & cards.

So go look for those lost, forgotten chalk sets you know you've got around somewhere and try something new on your projects.

You'll be pleasantly surprised at how it looks!

Quick & Easy

It's time for another Quick ~n~ Easy project . . . .

We've made this one even quicker & easier cuz we've done all the work for you ~ the designing, the measuring, the cutting ~

All you have to do is pick up a kit & glue it together!

So here ya go . . .

Another cute, cute page layout perfect for spring or the special "Tweetie" in your world!

We used some of the new "Pink Lemonade" paper from On The Dot in these kits. There's more on the shelves if you'd like to turn this into a 2-pager, along with other co-ordinating papers & tags in a few different color schemes.

And if you've been thinking about these Mother's Day pages, don't wait to sign up too much longer . . . there are only 3 more seats available!

Saturday, May 16th .. .1p - 3p . . . call The Shoppe to register 706*321*0202

Thanx for joining us today . . . . Stay tuned for more ideas, tips, tricks, and other scrappin' goodness.

****HINT**** we'll be hosting a Blog Give-Away soon, so be sure to check back often for that!

Mother's Day Project

We just finished up our sample pages for the Mother's Day Make-n-Take at The Shoppe, so we're gonna share some close-ups of it today.

The sun is brightly shining this morning and that makes these pages even prettier!

A double page spread for your albums using Daisy D's papers (~or~ this would be a wonderful gift in a shadow box!)

A peek at the scallopped photo matte . . .

A giant-sized vellum butterfly . . .

A sweet, sweet poem for your mom or even for yourself . . .

And a pix of some of my tulips this Spring just cuz they match these pages so well . . .

This class is scheduled for Saturday, May 16th from 1p - 3p at The Shoppe.

Please register for class as seating is limited.

$15.00 class fee includes all supplies to create this gorgeous layout!

If you're visiting our blog from afar, and would like a class kit, please contact us!

We'll ship ya one!

The Scrapbook Shoppe . . . ph# 706*321*0202

email . . . thescrapbook@bellsouth.net

Thanx for visiting us . . . Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Blast from the Past

Today we're gonna post about a product that was popular way back when in the scrappin' world. Some of you seasoned scrappers may remember this & maybe even still have some in your stash . . .

It's a "hard-ware" type of embellishment called Magic Mesh. It looks just like the name says . . . mesh-y.

It's got a self-adhesive backing, making it easy to attach to your projects ~or~ add more hardware to it to bring it out even more!

I used some behind the 3 smaller photos on this layout with paper from Cherry Arte and then added some staple bars to the 4 corners for even more of a rugged, out-doorsy feel.

It's perfect for those "man" pages we sometimes get stuck on (cuz most guys don't want flowers or bling on their stuff) . . . It's Man Bling!

These little rolls of goodness are available in an assortment of colors - not just metallics.

So try something new on your pages and cards and tags . . .You'll be pleasantly surprised how they turn out.

We've got a shipment of this stuff on it's way to The Shoppe now . . . just in time for National Scrapbook Day . . . so be sure to stop by & grab some!

Hand-made Paper Embellishments

Today we're gonna share a different kind of embellishment that you can use on your pages, cards, and home decor projects.

They can be fun & cute or beautiful & elegant depending on what you need.

We're talking about Paper Casting . . . That pretty much means making your own paper.

We used this technique to make some sturdy little embellishments for our pages & cards.

On this Callaway page, these items are the butterflies . . .

Here's a close-up . . . .you can see much more detail.

Aren't they the cutest?!?

And here we added one to a simple card . . .

So let's get started & show you how to make these!

Here's the secret weapon that we used . . . . Plastic Candy Molds.

They come in all kinds of designs & sizes. Choose one that you like or pick up a multi-pack like this. You'll find them in the cake decorating & candy making dept.

You'll also need a couple of common kitchen tools . . . a blender, a spoon, & LOTS of paper toweling.

First thing you need to do is gather your scraps of cardstock and choose a color theme. Next - tear them into small chunks into the blender. (This is a good time to put the kids to work!)

Then you'll want to add enough water to cover the pieces . . .

Let this stand to soak for a minute or two.

After that, turn your blender on high speed & pulverize it all.

Add more paper if you need . . . it takes more than you'd think!

What you want is a mooshy-gooshy, bloppy-ploppy mess!

Spoon out your paper pulp into your desired mold . . . .Note: You'll want to pile it up into a good mound!

Using the paper toweling, push the pulp down into the mold very tightly and soak up as much water as possible . . . the more water you take out now, the faster it will dry and harden.

After that, just set them aside to dry. It may take 2 - 3 days but you can speed that up a bit by placing them outside in the sun.

Now, I'm a bit impatient. When I get a notion in my head, I'm the kind of person who wanted it done yesterday.

So I tried a hairdryer - that was taking forever & would have burned it out .

Then I had the bright idea to put them in the microwave . . . not so bright!

Only 30 seconds & it melted the mold.

So . . . after your embelly is dry & hard, just pop it out of the mold. You can then use as is, or try painting & inking them or even chalk them! Afer all, they are made out of paper!

These are some leaves we created . . .

HINT ~ If you want some graduated coloring, start with your lightest color of stock, mold a few pieces, then add some darker colors of the same family to what's left in the blender.

These little crowned pieces remind me of those pastel after-dinner mints . . .

And this is a page using the leaves from above that I scrapped for a customer who walked in with the most beautiful heritage pictures.

I'm very proud of how this one turned out! Lucky customer!

So, I hope you all will find this post a useful one.

It's a great way to use up alot of little scraps that are laying around.

It's probably not something you'll make very often, but it sure will add a nice touch to whatever you do use it on.

Have a Safe,Happy, & Blessed Easter!