Stenciled Linen Album

Check out Stampin'UP!'s 30% off promotion for National Scrapbook Month.

When we create scrapbooks we are usually focused on the inside: all the pictures and journaling we add to preserve the memories. Here's a fun idea - consider decorating the outside of the album too! 

Stampin'UP! sells several different types of albums. There are some really fun Designer Printed albums. We also sell linen albums in three different colors. I used one of our Definately Decorative Stencils and some white craft ink to decorate the cover of a Navy Linen album.  The white craft ink takes some time to dry and I added several layers of ink to the cover. I really like the look and it was so easy to do.

Contact me with any questions.  Click here to see all the great Stampin'UP! albums.

Happy Scrapping
--Katie

Album Binding Options

Check out Stampin'UP!'s 30% off promotion for National Scrapbook Month.

When you buy a scrapbook you have a choice of 2 different type album bindings. One is the Ring Album Binding and the other is called a Post Album Binding.  There are pros and cons to each type.

       

The Ring Album Binding works just like a 3-ring binder. That means its really easy to open and add new pages. The disadvantage is that the binding will always be as thick as the rings (never smaller) and you can't add more pages than what the rings will hold.

The Post Binding album has a post that holds the pages together. The dis-advantage is that you need a screwdriver to take the post apart to add more pages but the nice thing is that you can add post extenders to make the album as thick as you want. I think this album looks nicer when stacked with others on a shelf because it does not have that "wedge" shape associated with the 3-ring binder. 
Click here to see the different scrapbooks available from Stampin'UP!
Contact me with any questions.

Now, just for fun. Here's a little survey.

Scrapbook of Stamping Techniques

Check out Stampin'UP!'s 30% off promotion for National Scrapbook Month.

Why do we make scrapbooks? We make scrapbooks as a way to preserve and to showcase our favorite memories. What type of scrapbooks do you make?

One way of scrapbooking is to preserve your photos chronologically.
When my kids were little I made one album for each calendar year. That was a fun way for the kids to remember events and to share them with their friends. 

Another idea is to create an album around a specific event: the family vacation album or the family holiday album. Another example of an event specific album is the Wedding Album.

There's also the "About Me" album.  My mother gave me an album filled with all her favorite photos of me as a kid growing up. Its so much fun to go through and see how I changed over time. My kids loved looking through it to see their mom as a little girl. Now that my kids are grown I'm going to sort through all my photos and do the same thing for each of them. This is the heart of scrapping - to preserve little bits of history.

And here is one more idea.  Since the purpose of making the albums is to showcase and preserve something important, I've made a Stamping Technique Album. One of the classes I teach is a Technique class.  In the class we learn 3 techniques at each session. For each technique that we learn participants make a 6x6 instruction card and a greeting card. Participants can keep the instruction cards in an album for easy reference.

The next Technique Class starts June 16th. Look for more details coming soon. Please email me if you are interested in attending this class.

--Katie

Mother's Day - Strength and Hope

Today is Mother's Day so I want to start by wishing a Happy Day to all Mothers and to everyone who  is celebrating their mother. Our oldest daughter lives out of state, but the 2 youngest live in Madison, so they came to our house after church today and prepared a lovely brunch for Dave and I and Dave's folks. His mother was delighted to be included in the Mother celebration. My own mom lives 10 hours away, but we talked on the phone and I sent flowers. It was a lovely day. 

Then I started thinking about all those folks who are unable to honor their moms, for what ever reason, and my thoughts focused on Dave's Aunt Mary. Mary was an amazing lady. She was unable to have children of her own so she and her husband adopted 3 children. Sadly, Mary passed away from Breast Cancer. She battled this illness for many years and the courage and dignity she displayed are an incredible legacy to everyone who knew her. She lived to see all three of her children married and to see the first of her grandchildren.

I'm proud to announce that Stampin'UP! has partnered with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in a 4 month campaign to raise funds to fight this disease. The Summer Mini Catalog contains a stamp set called Strength and Hope and Stampin'UP! will donate $2.00 from the sale of each stamp set (or digital stamp set) to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® is dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding clinical and translational research worldwide. For more information about BCRF, visit http://www.bcrfcure.org/.

To order your stamp set Click Here click on the words under the image of the stamps

To learn more about the Strength and Hope Campaign, click here.

Together we can make a difference.

--Katie 

Decor Elements Bathroom Ensemble

Check out Stampin'UP!'s 30% off promotion for National Scrapbook Month.

Stampin'UP! has many different product lines. Most of my posts have been about the stamping and scrapbooking products so today I thought I'd share another product line: Definitely Decorative.  This product line is stencils and Vinyl Rub-ons that can be used on walls, glass and many (many many!) other surfaces. Check out the catalog (on-line version here, or ask me to send you a paper catalog). The images coordinate with our Stamp Set images so you can decorate items with a combination of stamping and the rub-ons.

You can also buy rolls of the vinyl to use with your Big Shot and any of your dies. You can then make your own die-cut rub-ons. Can't you just see the possibilities? I'm really starting to envision some summer projects.

Check out this video showing how to use the Decor Elements Vinyl Rub-ons to create a whole room ensemble. The video was created by the Stampin'UP! home office. The demonstrator shows how to use the Decor Elements on a bathroom shower curtain and also on a glass bowl to use in the same room so the room has a coordinated look.  What a great idea!

Click here to see our line of dies and vinyl sheets

Click here to see the Definitely Decorative catalog

After browsing these inspirational sites you'll be seeing your home with new eyes. You'll start seeing wall art and decorated items on shelves.  Spring cleaning leads to summer re-decorating.  There are so many possibilities and its so much fun!

Email or call (608-220-3450) me with any questions

And remember, you can order on-line 24/7 from my website

Happy Decorating

--Katie

May Promotions

I'm really excited to announce the May Stampin'UP! sales promotions. SU has put together 2 fabulous offers in recognition of National Scrapbook Month.

First: you get 30% off of a wide selection of scrapbooking products including:

• Select stamp sets
• Select professional print products for My Digital Studio
• Special digital download bundles for My Digital Studio

Click here to see the selection of great products to choose from.  Order them on-line here

Second: the 30% off also applies to your purchase of the Digital Starter Kit. If you are looking for a business opportunity that allows you to incorporate technology and crafts then this is it!  This starter kit normally sells for $175 and is discounted to $122.50. Its a great deal even if you don't want to start a business, you can still buy the starter kit and get all the product at the discount - the kit includes the My Digital Studio Software and lots of hands-on product too. See the list of items included in the kit. This flyer lists both the regular Starter Kit and the Digital Starter Kit, but be aware that only the Digital Starter Kit is discounted.   Contact me today for more information: 608-220-3450.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.

Happy Scrapping

--Katie

May is National Scrapbook Month

Today is the beginning of National Scrapbook Month. What do you do with your family photos?  When my kids were little I really tried to keep up with archiving our family photos.  I did a good job until they got into middle school and started getting involved in sports and Scouts and church outings and ... well, you know. Life just got really busy and the photos started stacking up in boxes.  Then we went digital and the photos continued to pile up, but in a less obvious way. Now they're hidden from sight in digital files on my computer. 

May is also Tornado Season! The recent bad weather has reminded me of my precious photos and how important they are to me. Just a week ago we had a tornado warning which forced me to go to the basement. This was predicted well in advance so I did a little pre-planning and packed up all my old photo albums to take down to the basement with me. Of course we looked through all the photo albums while we were there and I realized what a loss, for me and for my kids and any future generations, if these photos were permanently lost. The severity of the damage done in Alabama made me realize that the basement is no guarantee of safety and that these items could still be lost.

The timing of May being National Scrapbooking Month is just the push I need to get started.  Here is my plan. 

FIRST: the risk is too high to have only 1 copy of the photos. I plan to use my scanner and scan the pages of the existing albums and the photos in the boxes and give copies to all three girls.

SECOND: I do have a copy of Stampin'UP!'s Digital Scrapbooking Software: My Digital Studio.  I just haven't spent a lot of time playing with it.  I want to go through the photos and make a hardbound photo album for each daughter. The cost of the software is only $79 and well worth the investment. Actually there is a downloadable version for only $39.95.

Now, my dilemna.  The 2 photo albums you see open are both non-archival. Silly me! The black and white photos are in one of those old sticky page albums with the acetate pages and the pages in the bottom album are on paper that is like construction paper - definitely not a good way to save photos.  Actually almost half the albums are non-archival. What I can't decide is whether to just re-do them in paper (which is totally fun and very appealing to me) or whether to re-do them digitally.  The cost of having a digital book printed is just about the same as the cost of the paper and supplies you'd put into hand making a book and having it digital means more than one copy can be made. Of course we can scan the hand-made one so everyone can have a "copy".  I'm trying to decide which would be more satisfying to my creative spirit.  Would love to hear your vote on this. . . leave me a comment below.

Are you are feeling inspired to start digitally scrapbooking?  You can order My Digital Studio (#118108) online from my website. Check out this page on the Stampin'UP! website to learn more about this product. I can help you with the program, and there is also training available online.

Speaking of my helping you.  Would you please take a quick (5 question) survey for me about scrapbooking.  It will help me to plan future classes.  Thanks so much.

Hopefully none of us will ever lose our family photos, but if we take appropriate action now we can ensure their safety in the case of a disaster.

--Katie