Ten Ways to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day (May 3,2008)

May 3, 2008 in Scrapbooking

1. Take some time to GET ORGANIZED! If you know where all your ‘stuff’ is it’s easy to jump into a project anytime.
2. Make a page for a friend. A layout celebrating baby’s first birthday will be a cherished gift for the mom of a busy toddler. At least baby will have one page in her scrapbook! :-)   
3. Try something different. Use your scrapbooking supplies to make party decorations or to create a home décor item. 
4. Go Shopping! It’s always fun to find new products!
   
5. Take some time to reflect on the importance of what you do. Not only do you have the chance to express your creativity through your artful scrapbooks, you’re also a family historian! Be proud of the work you do that many generations to come will enjoy.
   
6. Make a page for yourself. Have someone take a photo of you scrapbooking and create a page celebrating YOU, the scrapbooker.
7. Attend a group crop event. Surrounding yourself with others dedicated to your craft can be the perfect inspiration. Use my Crop Party invitation to organize one of your own.
8. Spend a happy hour looking through scrapbook magazines. Mark or tear out inspirational pages and products that you’d like to try.
9. Try a new technique. National Scrapbook Day is the perfect time to learn a new skill or technique.
10. Organize a supply swap with scrapbooking friends. A swap is a great way to clear out duplicates, papers that don’t work thematically, or excess embellishments as well as to build your stash with excess items from your friends.
11. Bonus idea. Send photos of some of your favorite scrapbooking projects to Debbie! I'd love to see what you are up to!

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A Special Birthday or Mother’s Day Gift

March 21, 2008 in Crafts, Scrapbooking

It was Kathy’s birthday this week. I put together this little gift basket of goodies for her and the “group” suggested I share it in my blog. So I gave it to Kathy and then immediately took it out of her hands to take a quick photo. I used Scrapbook paper and supplies to decorate this basket full of bathroom luxuries.

Supplies:
Coordinated assortment of:
Scrapbook paper
Press on letters
Dimensional embellishments
Ribbon
Craft paper
Tissue paper
Rub-on or clear acetate quotes or words
Fancy Soaps
Lotion
Clear Votive with colored sand
Small Basket

The concept is simple, fun to do and pretty self explanatory by looking at the photo – but I did learn a couple little tips to share with you in case you’re inspired to do the same. I ran all my “parts” through a Xyron machine and hoped that would work to adhere them to these surfaces. However, the papers lifted off the glass surface. (bummer) It needed a little extra strong glue to make it adhere! Also, I had to command it to “Stay!” I also made the mistake of buying a round bottle of lotion and thought I could wrap a band of paper around the bottle. This one lifted too. Sigh……….But I found with a flat sided lotion bottle and (yippee!) I could make that work. A lot of times the fancy soaps come in fancy wrappers that don’t coordinate with your colors. I covered the bars in craft paper before layering the coordinating papers on them. When I was out shopping, I only found sayings that I liked in acetate – but if you can find rub-on’s – they would be much easier to work with.

Hopefully with these tips, you’ll avoid some of the mistakes I made and reach success in time to put together a special birthday or Mother’s Day gift.

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Memory Album

July 26, 2007 in Scrapbooking

Talk about stretching my birthday out this year. My sister Julie and her husband Ray just made a visit to Spokane for belated celebrations of my birthday, Murphy's graduation, and Julie's birthday.  Phew! Julie wanted to hand deliver her gift to me - and now I understand why. She put together a Memory Album that ties together my quilt/design career and my family. She included quotes here and there from interviews, family gifts, photos, and more.

I'm sharing a few of the pages so you get the idea of how thoughtfully it was created.

1. Murphy and Julie's boys holding up Christmas stockings that Julie made from one of my patterns. (The photo on the right is from the pattern cover.)

2. A photo of Julie's oldest son Robert on a tricycle and the applique project I designed inspired by Robert.   

3. A photo of Julie and Ray and the quilt I gave them for their wedding in 1983. Back then, I didn't think of signing the quilt or making a label. In 2004, she asked if I would send her a signed label.

4. A photo of my dad, Richard Kvare. I dedicated my book, Quick Country Quilting for Every Room, to his memory. He passed in 1997.

5. The year of Mummford. A family photo when I gave them all Mummfords for Christmas.

6.  A Sister Page! Julie and I as little girls and a more recent photo when I gave her two quilts for Christmas.

This was such a special gift and one that I will always treasure. My sister has always been one of my greatest supporters. (Thank you, Julie!)

Debbie

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