Practical Scrappers

Time for the Fourth Round of the Layout Contest

2012-02-08T22:52:00.000-06:00

Well we've made it to round four! You all voted for your favorite layouts and we have those designers showcased today!
This week you can vote for up to 3 designers that you think should advance. The admin team here will choose two and together we'll present you with the Top 5 next Saturday! Voting and the layouts for this round will be available from 12:01 a.m. Saturday 4th until February 8th.
A special thanks to our contest sponsors!

Momenta

Valentine Cards

2012-02-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today we have some more Valentine inspiration for you, cards. Haven't found that perfect gift for that special someone yet? A handmade card made with a little extra TLC from you is the perfect way to say "I Love You". Here's some great inspiration from our design team...

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Amber Goble

Practical Scrapper Jayma

Practical Scrapper Sue

Practical Scrapper Dyane

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Fresh Face Mary Pat Siehl

Practical Scrapper Caz

Practical Scrapper Kerri

Pin It**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Challenge Me Tuesday: A Touch of Black

2012-02-07T09:10:00.001-06:00

**Next week we're featuring scroll banners; you know the ribbon like banners often seen held up by or at the feet of cherubs. Send us your projects for a chance to be part of our feature! E-mail a link to practicalscrappers@gmail.com.

Here's an example from Wow Vectors

Hello Tuesday! Today we're featuring some awesome projects using black matting to accent photos, titles, die cuts and other page elements. In colour theory, you learn that colours take on different characteristics depending on surrounding colours. Don't believe me? Try placing a small square of coloured paper on different shades and hues of background, and check out the differences.

Even if colour theory doesn't interest you too much, it's easy to see how it makes colours pop!

If you still don't believe me, check out these great pages:

Practical Scrapper Krissy Clark McKee

Stephanie Umpleby

Practical Scraper Brenda

Jessica Shurts

Practical Scrapper Sue

Libeeti

Practical Scrapper Erin

based on a Sketch by JJ Sobey for LCOM Sketches

Charlotte Brochu
using a sketch from Sketches with a Twist

Practical Scrapper Kristy

Practical Scrapper Liz Chidester

Practical Scrapper Jenny

**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Valentine's Inspired Layouts

2012-02-06T08:38:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe it is almost Valentine's Day! We've got lots of Valentine's Day projects in our Idea Central tab...and today we've got some new layouts from our designers to share!

Cupid's Cutie

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Sketch by Cherie Averill/Sassy Lil Sketches

Practical Scrapper Christa

for Momenta

Practical Scrapper Caz

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Round Four Layout Contest

2012-02-04T10:07:00.000-06:00

This week we asked the contestants to make a layout with black and white and a pop of color. The result is 11 very striking layouts - good luck choosing your favorites! We went with 11 because of some very tight races in the votes. This week you may vote for your three favorites and we will be choosing two - that means we're going down to five next week!

Donna Durand

Lynn Shokoples

Janet Zeppa

Jamilie Rader

Wendi Robinson

Julie Comeau

Denise Coulter

Audrey Yeager

Ulrika Wandler

Andrea Friebus

Genevieve LeBlanc

Pick your top three! The voting closes for this round on Wednesday, February 8th.

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Fabulous Finds Friday

2012-02-03T00:01:00.002-06:00

Hi, designer Carolina here to share some Fabulous Finds today. February's just started but I can see hearts in every blog I visit! We don't celebrate Valentine's day in Argentina, but our daughter has been going to American/International schools since she was three, so we now make Valentines every year. Any excuse to craft is a good excuse, right? So, here are the first ten fabulous Valentine projects I have found:

1.- These Chemistry Valentine Tubes by Aphra Bolyer are stunning. I love the colours, and the fact that you could use any kind of patterned paper, as long as you have a heart punch for those special touches.

2.- Teresa Kline's Card with 3 Hearts makes my heart flutter. Don't you love the colour choices and all the distressing, embossing and glitter on that card?

3.- My favourite part of Deanna Misner's "They are my Heart" layout is the big heart that looks like it's been quilted. What a fabulous way to catch your eye and then let you move your attention to the cute kids in the picture. Gorgeous!

4.- I could really use some of these Felt Heart Bookmarks Alison has shared, as I continually lose my place in books and end up reading complete chapters twice (though I do enjoy getting the extra details you can get from a second read!). They are easy to make, could be made in any colour, and would certainly make a great gift. There's even a free pattern for you to download!

5.- My daughter immediately fell in love with this Countdown to Valentine's Day Calendar created by Lindsey, and so did I. It is an easy project, but it looks totally stunning. I think I will do something similar for her birthday. Oh, my to-do list is ever growing...

6.- If you prefer a clean, graphic look for your cards, Valerie's "Love is in the Air" card is the right project to inspire you. I love the twine, the embossing, and the speech bubbles are fantastic.

7.- This "Sweet Love" layout is not only beautiful, Jessy included a fab tutorial that shows you how to make cute owls from patterned paper circles.

8.- Have you got Valentine's day decorations? I don't, and didn't even know they existed until I saw this LOVE Project by Rebecca Keppel. Now, I need to have one, how can I resist temptation when looking at such an amazing project?

9.- In need of some gift tags for those presents you are buying or making? If your answer is yes, you can't miss Suzanne Sergi's Sealed with Love Tags. My favourite tag is the one with the heart shaker box and the confetti. Which one is yours?
10.- I'd like to finish the list with another scrapbooking page, Megan Klauer's "I Love you" layout. I love all the hearts and small embellies "floating" in a vertical strip by the photo, and the way the title was arranged. Have a look!

Thank you for visiting Practical Scrappers today. There are more and more Valentine's Day projects being posted as we speak, so if you've also started to feel love is in the air and would like to see some more fabulous projects to inspire you, come back next week for Valentine Day's Fabulous Finds - Part II.

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Projects Using Flowers

2012-02-02T15:54:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the delay all, but Happy Groundhog Day to everyone!! You all ready for six more weeks of winter? Well, if the sound of winter lasting six more weeks is depressing to you then today's post will cheer you up. Spring may not me as close around the corner as we hoped, but we have signs of flowers blooming here. Today we feature projects using flowers and what a garden of them we have. From ribbon flowers to Primas...rolled die cut to pre-made; there's enough different flowers here to make a few bouquets to keep you going until spring really does arrive. Take a look at the arrangements our designers and readers have to share...

Brettaney Quinton

Details and close ups of the flowers can be found on Practical Scrapper Michelle's blog.

Practical Scrapper Kerri

Practical Scrapper Erin die cut flowers from her patterned paper, layered them with stickers from the same collection and added cork accents for a spin.

(before)

(after)

Practical Scrapper Corinna altered a digital frame with patterned paper and Prima flowers and crystals.

Practical Scrapper Kerri used her Die-namics rolled roses dies from My Favorite Things to create all of her rolled flowers on this layout. Psst...that paper is from our sponsor, Authentique, from their "Glowing" collection.

Practical Scrapper Jayma
Book Page Wedding Bouquet, flowers cut from Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Practical Scrapper Lynn

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Corrugated Elements on Layouts

2012-02-01T06:04:00.000-06:00

Monday, we shared with you some cards that have corrugated elements on them. Today, let's take a look at some layouts from our readers and designers sporting those embellies of "ripples" and "ridges"...

Practical Scrapper Corinna

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Liz

Mary Pat Siehl

Practical Scrapper Audrey

Practical Scrapper Jayma

Practical Scrapper Fern

Amber Sheaves

Practical Scrapper Jenny

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Challenge Me Tuesday: Banners without triangles

2012-01-31T00:22:00.000-06:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's challenge day here at Practical Scrappers, and here's how it works: Today we show off our designer's responses to last week's challenge, as well as feature some fun examples submitted by our readers. We then issue the new challenge for the week, and ask you to send us yours, so that we might share it next week. Sound like fun? Send us your email, with CMT and the challenge in the subject to practicalscrapperslayouts(at)gmail(dot)com, along with a link to the project and your name.

Our last challenge was to use banners with shapes other than the usual triangular shapes. It seems from the responses, that the rectangular pennant with the triangles cut from them is the next most popular shape, followed by folded scalloped circles. Honestly though, the possibilities for shapes to use in a banner are endless, so have some fun, and mix it up a bit!

Practical Scrapper Erin used Momenta die cuts and stickers joined by stitching to create the banner on this page. ( scraplift of a layout by N.Nowosad)

Kristie Taylor

Practical Scrapper Jenny

(used PageMaps current sketch)

Tina Phillips used tickets to create her banner.

Practical Scrapper Brenda

Cyndee Kawa strung hearts to make her banner

Practical Scrapper Liz

Brenda Ragsdale used scalloped half cirlcles layered with hearts.

Practical Scrapper Carolina

used banners made from scalloped circles cut with her Silhouette to embellish this

layout based on Pia's November 2011 sketch

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Fancy Pants Baby Mine Chipboard....

inspired by October Afternoon's Thursday Sketch

**Ready for the next challenge? We want to see your pages and cards using trendy black matting. Mat your photos, your title, your embellishments...get creative, and don't forget to share with us!

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Corrugated Elements on Cards

2012-01-30T09:44:00.000-06:00

Corrugated embellishments and alphabets are some of my favorite things to work with - you can find them from major manufacturers Jillibean Soup and Little Yellow Bicycle - or you can make your own! You can disassemble some cardboard, find it in other packaging, or even use a paper crimper to achieve a similar look. Today we have some card examples for you showing off this fun embellishment.

Practical Scrapper Christine used the packaging from light bulbs on her card.

Practical Scrapper Corinna made her own corrugated heart by cutting it out of a cardboard box.

Practical Scrapper Erin

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Practical Scrapper Sarah

Mary Pat Siehl

We'll see you Wednesday with corrugated layouts!

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Getting to know The Paper Bakery

2012-01-28T21:31:00.000-06:00

The Paper Bakery is one of the sponsors for our layout contest and we wanted to take a little time to introduce you to them.

"The Paper Bakery was created to make things easy on those scrapbookers and crafters out there that love projects and mixed media, but want the ease of putting them together. The Paper Bakery offers you unique project kits at an affordable price each and every month. I pride myself in putting together amazing mini albums, banners, home decor items, and MORE for you. Since I know some of you like to jazz up your project kits, I’ve started offering add-on kits that coordinate PERFECTLY with the project kit. That way, you can spruce up your kit in a snap, if you wish! I also value versatility so you can use either kit to make tons of layouts and other projects instead of the monthly kit I’ve designed."

They have a blog full of inspiration and their facebook page is full of fun too (and pssst they're trying to get to 225 fans there!) Angie Gutshall is a designer for them and for us so we thought we'd share a couple of her projects with you!

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3rd Round Layout Contest - Vote here

2012-01-28T00:01:00.000-06:00

As chosen by our readers and the admin team of Practical Scrappers here's your top 15 contestants! This week their layouts were to be based on one of three quilts that we showed them as well as four specific embellishments. If you want to check out the exact details check out the tab up top about the 3rd round. This week you may vote for your seven favorites to advance!

Janet Zeppa

Andrea Friebus

Donna Durand

Jamilie Rader

Mary Pat Siehl

Julie Comeau

Julie Koets

Lynn Shokoples

Audrey Yeager

Genevieve LeBlanc

Camilla Vitchi

Denise Coulter

Carrie Walz

Ulrika Wandler

Wendi Robinson

You may vote for 7 people to move on!

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Fabulous Finds Friday: January 27th

2012-01-27T21:41:00.002-06:00

I love this time of year in the crafty world! Seems people are revving back up after their holidays and embracing all the new ideas from CHA sneak peeks.

Here are few of the wonderful things I've spotted around the blogging universe!

1. Lowri at Papervine shows us how to use some Pink Paislee's vintage vogue buttons to create wine glass markers. Very sophisticated!

2. I found this really cool Valentine's craft for your to do with your kids! All you need is some red paint!

3. Pinterest has been the source of fabulous scrappy inspiration like this doodle from Paisley Bits.

4. Sharon Nassagar Designs have made this gorgeous bouquet..makes me think of spring and all those CHA palettes!

5. Marie shows us how to crochet the cutest butterflies for your cards and layouts..feelin' like Spring!

6. Elena made this gorgeous design on the Proper Feeding and Care of a Teenage Boy.

7. Jamie Warren's creative genius as illustrated by blue wood grain, brown accents and some awfully cute pictures!

8. Scrapping in AK made this gorgeous heartfelt layout. LOVE it!

I certainly hope you will be inspired as I was by these amazing creations.
Until next time, keep doing what you love to do!
Christa
Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Mini Album Feature

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

Mini albums come in all shapes and sizes and today we have a few to share with you. It's been awhile since we've featured them and thought it was high time. Click on their names to find more at their individual blogs.

Practical Scrapper Angie Gutshall

Practical Scrapper Corinna

Practical Scrapper Christa

Practical Scrapper Dyane

Practical Scrapper Jayma
(For family friends whose mom passed away.)

Fresh Face Designer Monika Wright

Practical Scrapper Caz To see the rest of this mini please go here

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Using Ribbon on Layouts

2012-01-25T00:00:00.004-06:00

Monday, you got a peek at some fantastic ideas on how to use ribbon on cards. Today, we share with you some fun, fresh, fabulous ideas on how you can use that ribbon stash on your layouts. Ribbon is a great way to accent color and texture to your pages. It may even be the deciding factor for the little bit of character or charm you want to capture in your layout. Take a look at how our designers and readers use their ribbon to create their flare for their pages...

Practical Scrapper Christa

Addie Otto

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Claude

Addie Otto

Practical Scrapper Fern

Practical Scrapper Claude

Addie Otto

Practical Scrapper Liz

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

CMT:Getting Krafty

2012-01-24T09:17:00.004-06:00

( scroll down for next week's challenge)
We challenged you to break out the Kraft embellishments and paper this week, and we've got some great examples to show you.

Practical Scrapper Jenny
This layout melts my heart! A beautifully soft page accented all over with kraft.

Practical Scrapper Jenny
used kraft based paper and embellishments to create a fun masculine page

Practical Scrapper Carolina

allows the bright summery patterned papers to really shine against her Kraft background

Ulrika Wandler used some of the new papers and embellishments by My Mind's Eye to create this stunning page.

Jennifer McDermott made this bright and pretty card shine with a kraft base.

Practical Scrapper Erin used yummy kraft papers from Jillibean Soup for her Valentine page.

Brettany Quinton

I love Brettaney's use of sewing and brads to create this colourful card.

Becci Manies used a kraft base for this sweet card.

Practical Scrapper Cathy
created this sweet boy page with a kraft base and lots of kraft couloured touches.

Lynn S added splashes of black and red on kraft to liven up her kraft background.

With all the great kraft products on the market, we'd love to hear about your favorites in the comments!

**Next week we'll be featuring banners, but banners made without the triangle pennant shapes. Consider yourself challenged, and submit your projects ( blog link please) to practicalscrapperslayouts(at)gmail(dot)com. Your work may just end up featured here!

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Using Ribbon on Cards

2012-01-23T09:04:00.000-06:00

This week at Practical Scrappers we are zoning in on ribbon. It's a topic we visit regularly because we know everyone has it in their stash (and probably more than we can ever possibly use!). You can find even more ribbon ideas under our Idea Central tab, where we've archived many of our old features on ribbon. Today we kick things off with cards made by our designers.

Amber Goble

Practical Scrapper Sue

Practical Scrapper Jayma

Practical Scrapper Christa

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Practical Scrapper Dyane

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Kristy

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Clean and Simple Projects

2012-01-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

***If you are looking for the layout contest please scroll down***

We're starting a new monthly feature of Clean and Simple projects. We know there are a lot of you out there looking for Clean and Simple and we would love to have you submit your projects for our February feature! This month we've got our designers up with a whole bunch of Clean and Simple ideas to share!

Fresh Face Designer Monika Wright

Practical Scrapper Angie Gutshall

Practical Scrapper Rachel

Practical Scrapper Amber Goble

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Christine

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Ann

Practical Scrapper Caz

Practical Scrapper Dyane

Practical Scrapper Sue

Practical Scrapper Michelle

Practical Scrapper Christa

Practical Scrapper Jayma

Practical Scrapper Christine (you can access a tutorial for this card by clicking on her name)

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Second Round of the Layout Contest

2012-01-21T00:01:00.005-06:00

Congratulations to the ladies who made it to the Second Round for our layout contest!

The contestants completed a layout based on one of two sketches, surprisingly this group mostly did one sketch!

You may vote once for 5 layouts this week. 10 ladies will advance thru the choosing of the Practical Scrappers Team and 5 will be "Fan Favorites." Voting closes Wednesday at 11:00 pm CST

Mary Pat Siehl

Melissa Pablo

Denise Coulter

Carrie Walz

Audrey Yeager

Genevieve LeBlanc

Sabina Galfre

Stacia Reiger

Ulrika Wandler

Helena Johansson

Jamilie Rader

Wendi Robinson

Heather Gray

Janet Zeppa

Julie Comeau

Kristin Perez

Julie Koets

Sylvia Van Der Steen

Irina Driga

Lynn Shokoples

Sheila Burns

Zahreen Sharp

Camila Vitchi

Andrea Friebus

Jessica Shurts

Donna Durand

Lynn Shaffer

Julie Rainbolt

Fabulous Finds Friday

2012-01-20T07:00:00.001-06:00

Corinna is up today to share some fabulous finds with you!
Darling birthday layout - I love all the colors.

Thankful layout - I love the tissue scrap under the photo and the cluster at the top corner.

6 cute cards - all made from the same kit.

Bow tying video.

Valentine wreath - so cute! it's teal!

2011 year in review mini album - so cool.

52 things I love about you - mini album from a deck of cards.

adorable baby girl mini album - for your Cricut users.

cool way to stamp clouds - and a free template so you can do it too.

Pin It**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Layout Contest: Group 8

2012-01-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

Zahreen Sharp

Charity Becker

Stephanie Umpleby

Sheila Burns

Tina Phillips

Tory Frail

Heidi Swartzentruber

Jennifer Decena Jesse

Addie Otto

Jennifer Reilly

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There will be one more group to vote on tomorrow for the layout contest!

2012-01-19T11:55:00.000-06:00

Layout Contest: Group 7 - One more group tomorrow!

2012-01-19T00:01:00.003-06:00

Debbie Piercy

Denise Coulter

Elizabeth Campau

Emily Cook

Melissa Pablo

Mary Pat Siehl

Lisa Hellstrom

Kathleen Hernandez

Maya Oren-Dahan

Lynn Shaffer

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Trendy Technique: Machine Stitching

2012-01-19T00:01:00.001-06:00

Get ready to be inspired to dust off all those sewing machines! I know it's been awhile since mine has been pulled out of the closet for scrapbooking (probably a year plus -- the last time we featured stitching on here). But what I love most about machine stitching is that 1.) it doesn't have to be perfect, 2.) it says handmade like nothing else and 3.) it's timeless. No matter how the trends may change, machine stitching is here to stay as long as some scrapbooker still owns a sewing machine. If you remember our scrapbooking styles feature we did almost a year now, you'll remember us talking about seeing machine stitching in the Sophisticated and Shabby Chic styles. From looking at these layouts and cards from our designers and readers you can see exactly how they fit to those categories. There is that air of handmade; timeless essence; and if you look real close you'll even see it's not always perfect...take a look!

Practical Scrapper Fern

Baby, I love you

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Stop and Smell the Flowers with You

Practical Scrapper Christa

Heidi Swartzentruber

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Carolina

Brett Quinton

Practical Scrapper Audrey Yeager

Who's ready to thread that needle and push that foot pedal full throttle? If you have a layout or card that you did and you'd love for us to take a look at, leave us a link in the comment section.

Remember: We only have today and Friday to feature our contestants in the running for our layout contest. Please be sure to stop by and vote for your favorites. Saturday we will be announcing the top 25!

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Using clustering on layouts and cards

2012-01-18T09:58:00.000-06:00

Clustering has become so popular and a go to technique for many crafters. It requires a careful eye to know just how much you need and if you want just one cluster or several on a project. It can fit in all kinds of styles from Clean and Simple to Artsy. Today we've got a wide variety of samples for you from our designers and readers showcasing clusters.

Practical Scrapper Christine

Practical Scrapper Michelle

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Brett Quinton

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Brenda

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Ann

Practical Scrapper Sarah

Practical Scrapper Jenny

Practical Scrapper Krissy

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**