Digital Scrapbooking for A Cure!

Wow! Now isn' this inspiring?

I love that my love for Scrapbooking can provide help to others!

Just imagine that by spending only $10.00 out of your pocket towards Digital Scrapbooking supplies...will be donated to help end the fight against Breast Cancer.

How heart warming is that!?

NOTE: "Scraps of Pink" is only available until November 07th - so you must act soon to do your part. Read more to find out how to get your 300+ Digital Scrapbooking kit!

INTERNATIONAL DESIGN TEAM SCRAPS FOR A CURE
October 18th, 2007

Raleigh, NC (Oct 17, 2007) — Viovio, a custom photobook publishing company, has joined an international team of twenty-five digital scrapbook designers in a benefit for Susan B. Komen for the Cure foundation. "Scraps of Pink" is a 300+ item digital scrapbooking kit that will be on sale in the shop through November 7, 2007. All proceeds from the sale of this kit will be donated to the aforementioned charity.

The idea for creating a kit as a benefit began with a group of friends in the Photoshop Elements Techniques forum challenging each other to improve their digital scrapbooking skills. Since October is breast cancer awareness month it was an easy decision to use their artistic talents to support Susan B. Komen for the Cure.

Please purchase your kit today and help do your part! I will also do the same!

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

This is a must see video. It is a true testiment to the 60 million thoughts a day that a mom goes through in her brain.

It has nothing to do with Scrapbooking - but I bet much of the content stands as a great reminder why its okay if you can't find time to scrap.

YOU ARE A KIND and CARING MOM who's #1 priority is your children and their absolute well being!

So salute yourself GI-JANE, SUPERWOMAN, SUPERMOM - whomever you relate to most!

You deserve an award for saying even a fraction of these things to your children on a daily basis. You will make them the best person(s) they could be!

Good for you MOM!

Most Recent Addition to My Library of Scrapbooking Books

I am absolutely fascinated by the amount of tips, tricks and techniques that were included in this book. I have been reading it OVER and OVER and OVER again for the last few days and I am ecstatic that I got such a great resource at my finger tips! I highly recommend it!

Happy Scrapping!

Danny O Bottle Cap Brads

It's amazing how small but significantly grand our world is.

I was working with a colleague last week - with whom I happened to share my website address with...and all of a sudden...he says...

"Hey! I know someone that you have to know! He's been a friend for years. He's a very well known artist - and just so happens to make Scrapbook products."

So, I get the introduction to this fellow via email. And due to my busy schedule - did not get back to him today. But...on the weekend, I was browsing through the vast expanse of isles in Michaels Craft Store, picking up project sheets - and right there on one of the sheets was this gentleman's products. So...I had to recognize the SIGNS and make a conscious effort to introduce you to him.

His name is Danny O. His products are distributed by K&Company - and they are very cool! They are mostly designed with boys in mind - which is great - because there is much less inventory of boy scrapbook products than there are girls.

But what I like most about Danny's work - is the bright colors. I absolutely LOVE brights and he does an outstanding job with them.

Here on this post I have displayed one of my favorite of his products - the "Bottle Cap Brads". Please visit his site and browse through the rest of his products and see if there is anything else you like.

I bet you will find something!

Happy Scrapping!

Scrapbooking Illinois

New Scrapbook Store Opens in Illinois


Blessed 2 Scrapbook opened at Royal Plaza, 505 S. Neil St., C. this past week.

The store serves scrapbook makers with supplies, classes and crops (group scrapbook-making sessions). Owner, Gonzales of St.Joseph has been a stay-at-home mom and has worked in the scrapbook business via trade shows and crop hosting, she said.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The store also closes for an hour on weekdays, from 2:40 to 3:40 p.m., Gonzales said."

Read more about it here:

The News-Gazette.com:It's your business: Scrapbook business expands into shop

Interested in other crafts too?

Just found a cool website (directory) that seems to have very ethical practices of suggesting valuable websites, and they link to nothing but craft websites.

But what I loved most is all of the cool ideas they have for Halloween! I can't get enough of this stuff - but what's even better is I have hundreds more ideas now for Halloween Crafts to do with my kids this year.

Thought you might be interested.

Click here to visit Craft Ideas today.

What are the double underlined links on this blog?

Someone just emailed me to ask this question...and I thought I would share...just in case you too were curious.

I have decided to partner with Amazon.com in effort to share more with my readers. Therefore - whenever you see a double underlined link - it means that Amazon.com has a great Scrapbooking product suggestion for you around that key phrase.

Sometimes Amazon will make suggestions that I wouldn't necessarily make, but I have seen that alot of you have clicked on those links and even made purchases with them...so I am happy to keep them here.

If they bother you...feel free to ignor them and not click on them, I will not be offended in any way.

Warmest regards...Cijaye

Tombstone Scrapbook Album

So, we are now days away from Halloween and we will have ton's of great Scrapbooking opportunities to play with.

We can photograph any of the following:

• The candy we buy (makes for a great edge to edge photo)
• The spooky decorations we put up
• The costumes our children put on
• The trick or treaters that come to the door (only the masked ones - unless you get their parents conscent - and are willing to email them the finished pages)
• The fireworks displays we see
• The fairs and festivals around town
• The haunted houses we visit
• The halloween dances we attend
• etc.

But then what? Is a pretty fabric Scrapbook Album going to do the job we want as a cover piece? Probably not....so here is a suggestion.

Halloween Tombstone Scrapbook
Project Details:

Why not get at least 2 large pieces of chipboard and trim them into tombstones?

A simple one with rounded corners would be best, since it would then make it easier to trim and decorate the internal pages the same shape as well.

1. Then you can punch holes along the top or the sides (and do the same, at the same place for the inside pages) and enclose them with standard office O' Rings - and tie black or even Halloween Printed Ribbon through the rings.
2. Next use a grey background paper, or gray acrylic paint, decorate the covers.
3. Print, stamp or stencil the R.I.P and "In Memory of Halloween, 2007" on the front cover - with spooky lettering
4. And then using black distressing ink - distress the edges.
5. And complete the internal pages with the same "spooky" theme.

You could also get really creative with red embossing pens and powder OR red glitter glue OR red pen and glossy accents - to create shiny red blood drops on the front cover and inside pages.

You can even glue black silk flowers to the bottom of the front cover or internal pages.

OR if you have some...decoupage glue would be an awesome finish for the covers - giving it that textured look and feel that a "spooky" tombstone might have.

Gotta love it!

P.S. My Ultimate Halloween Party Collection is a hot seller this year...I would be honored if you purchase dyour own copy too. For more Fun Halloween Ideas for Kids or more Halloween Scrapbooking stuff, please take advantage of our website specials.

At: http://www.halloweengames4kids.com/ & www.scrapbookingdirections.com/scrapbooking-products.html

Happy Haunted Scrapping!

Help! I need Scrapbooking Ideas

Hello again,

So...here's the deal...

I get a ton of emails everyday from my newsletter subscribers. They (you) ask for ideas on specific projects and not so specific projects.

And I LOVE IT!

Nothing excites me more than to spit out ideas to whomever asks for them (I thrive on brainstorming), but I am findng that I am spending so much time doing that - that it leaves less time for me to do all the other important stuff (like writing the newsletter)...

So I want to conduct a little survey here - which will require that you leave your comments (or email me) - but by doing that - I am hoping to find a way to share these ideas with EVERYONE so that my responses can become ideas for everyone.

So here is the big survey question:

"If you were able to get together and explore Scrapbooking ideas / techniques with a group of people every single month - from the comfort of your home - how would you like to get those ideas."

Some suggestions might be: over the phone on a group call (with a recording and or transcription available after the call), over the web in a chat room, over the web in a forum, or through a very exclusive membership that includes all of these.

What might your answer be?

I refuse to give up!

Okay - well that last post seems to have left me a little confused. I know you are visiting! In fact, I get approx 50 visits per day to the blog and my website even gets traffic FROM the blog.

So...that alone should tell me that some of you out there are appreciative - but maybe just a little shy.

So..I am here to say...I am not giving up.

I will continue to post to this blog and share and share and share all of the Scrapbooking Ideas and Support that I can.

I do hope you overcome the shyness someday and leave your comments. Those comments are not just for me - but for everyone...you can share your own ideas here too! You can even email a link to your friends about those ideas.

You can consider this blog your own if you like.

Just as long as you are ethical - and truly "giving" - I have no problem with you sharing the spotlight with me.

So...when you are ready...I look forward to the value you bring to this blog too.

Warmest regards...Cijaye.

Do you like this blog?

Since I just started the blog a couple of weeks ago - I have seen a lot of traffic and even had quite a few new subscriptions but what I don't understand is why very few comments have been left here?

Do you like the blog?

Do you like the ideas I am sharing?

Would you like to see more?

If so, please take 1 minute out of your day / evening - click on the "Leave Your Comments" link just below this post and let me know that you are here, you are paying attention and that you do like what I am doing. It would mean a lot to me. And will help keep me motivated to keep this blog going.

Thank you so much...Cijaye

How would you change Scrapbooking?

So, Stacy Julian is on a mission to hear some feedback on the Scrapbooking Industry and how you would change it to encourage more people to get involved with it...her question is:

"If you could change one thing about scrapbooking (and/or our industry in general) that would allow more people to embrace and enjoy this amazing hobby, what would it be?"

And I would love to give you the chance to anonymously answer it here on this blog as well.

For 3 reasons:

1) You may be one of the people who lost faith in Stacy Julian and the Big Picture Scrapbooking program earlier this month - but do have some insight on what you might do

2) By leaving your comments here - you let me know that you like what I have to share here and that you are excited to be a supporter

3) I can learn more about how to support you - the scrapbooking community - and provide ongoing value through this blog, through my scrapbooking website, through my scrapbooking newsletter and all other arena's I have devoted to sharing through.

So, please do leave your comments here.


The question again is:

"If you could change one thing about scrapbooking (and/or our industry in general) that would allow more people to embrace and enjoy this amazing hobby, what would it be?"

Blog Tipping Tuesday!

So...in effort to share more Ideas for Scrapbooking - I thought it might be nice to tell you what others' are doing. So...I am going to attempt to devote a special day to "tip" other Scrapbooking Bloggers for their great work. And today - I got lucky. Mad Cropper did the work for me.

They listed their TOP 10 posts and I have shared them with you here

Mad Cropper’s Top 10 favorite posts
by Christine on September 29th, 2007

I’ve been blogging for Mad Cropper for the last 2 years and 5 months and I thought it’d be good to list my top 10 favorite posts of all time. They are from 2005-2007:

Year 2005:

1. Mad Cropper’s Featured Scrapbooker for June 2005: Ali Edwards

2. Maximising your scrapbook online orders

3. Scrapbooking and Weight Loss

4. Mad Cropper’s Featured Scrapbooker for August 2005: Cathy Zielske

Year 2006

5. Organising your Small Scrap Space

6. Scrap Room ENVY

7. Christmas Scrapbook Idea: Recipe Box

Year 2007

8. A Scrapbook Layout of YOU

9. How to Scrap More in 2007

10. ABC Scrapbook Album: B is for Balance

Great work Christine.

Happy Scrapping!

How to Make a Halloween Wreath

This Great video on making a Halloween Wreath - spiked a brain cell somewhere deep in the hollows of my mind today on how we can adopt this as a scrapbooking idea.

I love the use of pretzels - and would love to glue one of these finished Halloween Wreath's to the front of my Scrapbook Album.

But if I really wanted to use it on a scrapbook page, I might have to revise it slightly.

So, what if in the revision, we made our own ring out of chipboard (or something less bulky), and then embellished it with ribbons and halloween treats (wooden notions, beads, brads, stickers, 3D accents etc.) and used the finished masterpiece as a frame over our children's Halloween Photos? Or over our journaling? Wouldn't that be unique?

*Of course you can still create the wreath anyhow and post it on your door! Or if you are a teacher - use it as an in class project for kids to take home.

It looks like a lot of fun to make!

Don't you think?

A Moment In Time Scrapbooking

Sometimes in our busy lives we forget to take in the beauty of life around us. We lose touch of precious moments in time. The memories fade. The "feelings" subside. And there is no longer a source for capturing life's simple moments as keepsakes.

You know... those moments - where scrapbooking can provide incredibly powerful preservation.

Like this one...the other day. My children came home from school - and told a tale that marked a pivotal moment in their lives.

My son (8 years old) had invited my daughter (5 years old - and new to the school) to play soccer with he and his friends at lunch.

Apparently one of the boys took a bit of issue with this and told my daughter she couldn't play. Well of course, she was devastated. Her heart was crushed. And her soul had taken a bit of a beating. But...as soon as my son had realized that this happened, he stormed directly over to the young gentleman who broke my daughters heart - and said "Oh, she's playing! I invited her - and she will play. And - don't ever talk to my sister like that again!".

He stood up for her!!! He became the big brother that we all dream our sons will be!

It still brings tears to my eye - even though the moment was sometime a week or two ago.

But, have I made a page about it yet? No! And yes, I am ashamed. I will do it. Especially now that I have documented this moment. But my days and nights are so busy that scrapbooking just doesn't seem to be an option.

So - it bids well as a reminder to myself and to those of you who have become loyal to my blog...

We must remember to document those moments in time for scrapbooking.

Even if we just write about them - in a journal - with the intent to scrapbook them later; at least we have our memories preserved. At least we can relive the story like it was yesterday again. At least we can call upon them when we are ready to breath a more colorful life to them!

At least we can relive the moments in time that break through the chaos of a busy life and make us stop and appreciate that which normally tends to pass us by.