In honor of the New Year

a year that is an even number I am offering up a $20.00 gift certiciate to Noel Mignon.

In case you haven't heard she has the best kits around that are jammed packed full of goodies. Her newest kit goes on Sale today so if you want it you better grab it. They sell like crazy. She also has a store for extras and tons of inspiration that can be found on the challenge blog on the Layouts blog and a tips and technique blog.
And as a bonus she has a message board.

As a thank you to everyone who has played along with our shinanigans we appreciate it.

2010 markes our 2nd year at this crazy ride.

We do have a few rules you have to follow though in order to be eligible...not many and they are not complicated...but you must follow them to be eligible for the GC. Here they are:


leave a comment with a link to you blog
and
Blog about Noel's store with a link.

That's it!

Good luck and the drawing will be on Jan 14th so you have plenty of time. :)

Merry Christmas Crap Scrappers

From us to you....Geaux SAINTS!!

Challenge #49: Decorations

Sorry i am late..i don't know where the time is going...someone slow the time switch down...okay on to the challenge
...this challenge is all about decorations...and i am not talking about christmas ornaments either. For this challenge I want you to think outside the box, look around your house, and see what you can find to make some kick ass decorations from. the sky's the limit. Here are some of the things i am thinking you can use:

Cereal Boxes, Doilies, pattern paper, old sewing patterns, brown paper bags, craft foam... ect...see where i am going with this... HAVE FUN!


GRETA




i took tissue paper, flowers, doilies and did my thing... junk it up as much as you want...my next bow i am making will go on top of my pink sparkly tree in my office and it will be lime green and zebra...fun right!!

show us what you have!!

Challenge # 48: Halloween

With halloween over now is the time to pull out the halloween papers (old or new) and make a page or mini or project..whatever floats your fancy.

Since i don't have anymore paper left from halloween except for last months kit from Noel Mignon Kits that is what i went with.

Here is your twist though...you have to use fabric on whatever you choose to create. :) and if you don't have fabric...cut up a dishtowel if you may. This idea came from the kit (sold out) because noel included 2 pieces of halloween fabric in it.


Kim

I always struggle around Halloween a wee bit as a) we don't have children so wouldn't celebrate Halloween anyway and b) Halloween is not all THAT celebrated in the U.K. full stop.
So to create anything spooktacular proves quite a challenge for me. I had to look through my Past and present Halloween projects but I have nothing at all with fabric on, so you just have to accept the ribbons as being some sort of fabric (well, that is my excuse and I am sticking to it....)

Challenge #47: Old Layouts

So remember when you first started dabbling in scrapbooking...or if you were like me you collected forever before you made your first layout...well.....we want to see your first layout or some where close to it. Now i have to admit....one of my very first layouts i still look back at because girls i can't lie....it is hysterical....i mean i was cool before i knew i was cool {eyeroll} in my mind at least.

and without further ado for your laughing pleasure (and mine too) i present to you my (greta's) ridiculously awesome tooth layout..

yep yep....here it is in all it's glory....and it still cracks me up. and yes that IS dental floss in between those fabulous cutout pictures made to look like giant molars that may have came out of the jolly green giants mouth....but hey... i was cool..or so i though {huge deep sigh}
layout was done appx in 2002 ....go ahead...be brave...show us what you got or thought you had back in the day ;) oh and don't be trying to sneak one in on us with some layout that looks all spiffy with no cutout pics or bobble heads hanging in the air or better yet....frames that were not cut out with deco scissors....cause we all know you have some layouts hiding like that :) :)


Kim

Oh my...I have to admit that my very first scrapbook pages are not as cringe worthy as my first cards - but we have to leave that for another time.
May I present to you - anno December 2004, my first official layout. I had no idea about sizes and bought a 10 x 10 ring-bound album (don't ask...) and had to cut all my 12 x 12 papers to size.

The pictures are of my Granddad as a wee boy and older (obviously) and I think you can totally see how I moved over from card making to scrapping -> look at the vellum and golden glittery paper. Surely those items must be totally illegal by now :)




so get them out girls and show off what you were *so proud* of back in the day!! we wanna see.... and i promise..we will not laugh AT you we will laugh with you :)

because i just got finished bustin a gut with that molar layout....BWHAHAHAHAHAHA

Challenge #46: Chipboard

yep yep... i know we have done this one before but ya know what....i'll tell ya what...we don't use it enough (unless it is american crafts thickers) seriously....i have like 58674639682652945729572495 thickers and use and use those but rarely i use anything else that is chipboard.... so break it out....sand it up, paint it, doodle on it, color it with a crayon if that floats ya fancy(pants) leave it raw, crackle it, ink it...whatever your hearts desire...we want to see it....

Kim

I am addicted to chipboard - I mean, who isn't?? To me chipboard is one of the greatest "inventions" to use on our scrappy projects evah!!!
On the below layout the alphas and the flower (including the stem) are chipboard and I think they make perfect accents


Greta's:

Challenge #45: Packing Materials or any non scrappy item

This month we want to see some packing materials or any item that is not a "normal" scrappy item...ya know...like bubble wrap, packing tape, masking tape, band aid's, chop sticks ;) anything that is not a standard scrappy product.

Kim

I love using packing materials on my projects. Whenever I am looking for that "one" thing to set off my layout, I tend to grab some masking tape or stamp parts of the background with the help of painted bubble wrap. In this example I used some white paint on a piece of bubble wrap and pressed it onto the background for a accented look. Additionally I write my journaling on two pieces of overlapping masking tape (which I distressed by running an inpad lightly over them)

Greta's:

Yep that is band aid's. Anyone who knows me or follows my personal blog knows i LOVE LOVE LOVE anything skully...yay for me it is the "in" thing right now because i can find all kinds of stuff...before i had to really search.

We can't wait to see your layouts..be creative..think outside the embellishment box :P be sure to link us so we can ooh and Ahh or slap ourselves on the forehead and say "why didn't i think of that". Dontcha hate when you have that moment?

Challenge #44: Unwanted letters

Ok, so this didn't exactly show up as scheduled for the 10th...the auto-post didn't work. it was scheduled, but it just didn't publish. but it's here now and i really hope you'll still play along!

Show us how creative you can get and use up those alpha's like ZZZZZ and QQQQQ which always seem to be leftover. Use them on layouts, wall-art...anything! Don't hoard them anymore...use them!!! Here's what we came up with:

Liz's
okay, these are my least favorite, imposter thickers. but i must say, this is one of my fave layouts i've done in a long time. i love tracing the letters and then peeling them up. good way to conserve the letters you actually use a lot of (like the Sassafras ones also used on here, traced and removed). and then the rest of the letters on there--well, this is a good way to use them up too!


Dana's
O.K. Total No Brainer! What else on earth am I going to do with all those "zs"!!!

My sister taking a nap with a lego man at legoland Carlsbad :)


Kim

Well, believe it or not but I rarely have left over letter stickers...honest! I use my "Z's"as an alternative to the letter "N" (meaning I flip them 90 degrees to the left or right). The other letter generally ignored is the Q - but again, I just cut the little swirl off and turn it into an "O".
So, this challenge actually DID turn into a real challenge for me :)
What always seems to be totally ignored on my sticker sheets are actually the numbers and here in particular the number "8". Don't ask - I have NO idea....
So, I took two "8's" and turned them into an embellishment on this card - not too shabby of an idea, don't you think?

Challenge #43: Embellish It!

This month we are using the pre packaged embellishments. 3 or more will do....but minimum 3...easy peasy...let's see what you do...

Greta's

This is using the June Rise and Shine kit from Noel Mignon. I am in love with this kit and have made some puurty things with it.
I used several pre packaged things on this one. Which made me want to stop hoarding all my packages and use them...i mean seriously it is not doing me any good in the wrappers right...

Liz's:
Once I started digging through my embellies for this challenge, I realized I should have purchased stock in Heidi Swapp photo corners and Love, Elsie epoxy stickers. Seriously. Anywho, I managed to use a decent handful, but could make the same exact layout 12 more times and still have more corners and stickers leftover. I do like the look of the corners as a border; maybe you could even paint yours or mist them for a different look!

The journaling is on a Sassafras chipboard embellishment and the papers are Cosmo Cricket. The Bazzill scalloped I've had since 2007 when I cut a bunch before my lss went out of business 'to keep from running out'. Yeah, like that will ever happen!

And is Greta's little Melana just a beautiful little girl or what?? Watch out!

Kim

I just adore flowers and buttons and you will always find one or the other or more likely even both on my projects. The flowers are Fancy Pants and Hero Arts (I always buy them in bulk) and the buttons are Rusty Pickle

Challenge #42: I can see CLEARLY now!

use up those sheer embellishments, transparencies or clear albums!
Show us what ya got!

KimmyS

I love working with transparenices and acrylics, especially turning them into minibooks.
The following book was made for myy Mom's 70th birthday, hence the title :)
Isn't is great how can peek through the pages and spot bits and bobs that will appear on a page further on?

Greta's COMING SOON!

Challenge #41: Good Intentions

Good intentions you ask? Let me explain..You know the altoids tins, or old picture frames that are yucky but you think aww I can make it pretty..or how about cigar boxes. This month we want you to dig something out that you have been hoarding or saving whatever you say you do, I HOARD, and turn your good intentions into a completed project.

Here's what we did:

Greta's

I have been saving these frames forever and seriously had good intentions. I made this for my best friend as a christmas gift.

Kim's

I am a serious horder of boxes and packaging, always saying "don't throw that, I can use it"...but do I ever? In this case I can finally say "YAY, I've done it - I altered a box of tampons..."

So this is what it used to look like


And this is what it looks now.


If you ever get a little box from me for your birthday you never know, it may have been a box of *wotsits" before :)

Dana's

My favorite and least expensive present idea is to buy a really inexpensive picture frame (preferably from the dollar bins at Target) to alter. I love nothing more then getting out all my acrylic paints and going to town on a frame. That way it hardly matters what the frame looks like when you buy it. Just look for a frame that is flat enough to add embellishements to and one that isn't too narrow so you can decorate it. I add patterned paper and whatever fun embellies I feel will look the best and voila!

Liz's:

i found this little number at Michael's a while back. it was supposed to be for a teacher Christmas gift. you can see how that all worked out. i have tons of these sorts of things, flower pots, old boxes, birdhouses, notebooks, ring binders, postal boxes, wooden plaques...you name it, i most likely have it.

You know the drill ladies...show us your crap and what you do with it.

Our Players

Challenge # 40: Recycle It

It's that time again...this month we want to recycle. I have to admit. I am not the "go green" type of gal but it is fun to take trash and turn it into something really cute. Cereal boxes, plastic pieces, tags off of clothing. whatever you want to recycle that is your task this month. can't wait to see what you come up with.

Greta's

This was made using a cereal box

this was made using a piece of cardboard and some leftover pieces of cereal boxes.

Liz's:
I have been collecting tags forever, and added to the stash after our Christmas toy explosion, i thought i'd finally do something with all of them. this is all about Michael (my oldest). all the things he likes. i really could have added a lot more, but you get the point. my 'canvas' was the front side of an indiana jones lego box. how's that for recycling? oh, and i FINALLY used some of those scenic route chipboard pieces!
for this project i used more leftover cardboard to create a gentle reminder for my 7 year old son. view more pics here. TIP: when stripping the top layer of paper off corrugated cardboard, tear against the grain of the ripply stuff...if it starts to tear, use a paper piercer to cut down the creases and pick off the excess paper. i'm not sure that made any sense...or maybe you have a better solution you'd like to share (cuz mine is really a pain in the butt when it tears.)

Kim
I love, yeah LOVE using cardboard as a background medium. It is cheap to come by (just rip up those pizza boxes!) and versatile to use. Peel off some of the top layer to reveal the corrugated bits, as in this example. You can create minibooks, wall-hangings, cards and layouts with the wonder that is generally dismissed as packaging...
I have also used some clear packaging to cut the background of the flowers with my Cuttlebug.


Our Players:

Challenge #39: Love is in the air

It's that time of the year again ladies...Valentines Day!

I want to know is this a "holiday" that you celebrate?
For me it is not. i don't do this day and never have. I think it is silly.
Not everyone is like me and without further ado i want to see some traditional v-day colors..red and pink....no rules other than those...break out those colors and scrap whatever may be tickling your fancy or better yet make something for someone else..maybe your significant other, a child's teacher, or just some home decor..whatever it is be sure to link so we can ohhh and ahhhh

Greta's


These are 2 birthday/anniversary books i made for Mason's teachers. i figured this was perfect and he is so excited to give it to them.
This was using 2 different kits from Noel Mignon.
One is sugar cookie and the other is Love Song (sold Out)




Dana's
Here's my additions to creating a love vibe..I took one of those dinner boxes and decorated it to hold all your special valentine notes:



Here's also a little card to inspire you to create one for your valentine sweetie:

Kim's
I don't really to V-Day either...not sure why, but hey that's how I roll :)
That doesn't stop me from loving to create with red and pink though - FAR from it. The below layout shows a picture of my MIL and myself. You always hear of woman not getting on with the MIL's but mine is ace. We are like best buddies and even go on holiday together!
The background is a package sheet from Prima by the way. In it came one of their transparencies and I thought it was too nice to throw. It has the same consistency and colour of Kraft cardstock.


Liz's:

i've had these letters laying around since the end of 2007. finally i've put them to use! it's a 12x16 canvas and the corrugated cardboard is left from a freight box from walmart. paper is making memories (fairly new). the mme and the sassafras are from last year and possibly the year before. ;) you can see close-ups of the project on my blog if you care to make one for yourself! (getting everything to stay on the canvas was the hardest part--LOTS of glue!)

Lisa's