May22

My Inspiration for Today

Posted on by
My Inspiration for Today

Yesterday was a simply beautiful day here in the Northeastern US, so I went for a walk with my camera. The most inspiring thing I found while wandering? The colors in my front yard.

flowers || noexcusescrapbooking.com

 

My youngest son and I planted a whole bunch of tulips, daffodils, and crocuses last fall, and they bloomed like gang busters this spring. Somehow, we managed to come up with a mix that really complemented the existing azalea.

I think this color combination will work great for a story about one of my neighbor’s kids, who is bold and bright and full of energy, rather like these colors.

How about you? Did you find anything inspiring?

May20

Where to Find Inspiration

Posted on by
Where to Find Inspiration

For many scrapbookers, the hardest part of creating a scrapbook page is the act of getting started. Just sitting down with paper and pen and photos can be very daunting at times. One of the easiest ways to give yourself the tiny push you need when you’re stuck looking at a pile of paper and photos and no idea what to do, is to start with a bit of inspiration.

The most obvious place to start looking for inspiration for scrapbooking is in the online galleries of stores like Scrapbook.com or Two Peas in a Bucket or Studio Calico. Browsing through an online gallery will give you tons of ideas to scraplift, from design and product use, to story and title ideas.

However, there’s a lot more out there than just scrapbook pages that can inspire you and get you scrapping.

As far as design goes, there’s tons of good design surrounding us every day. Magazine layouts, product labeling, beautiful websites–they’re full of strong structure that you can adapt to a scrapbook page.

Color inspirations are everywhere you look as well, from the front yard to your refrigerator, and every place in between. Have a favorite shirt? Use its colors and patterns to inspire a page. Love the mix of patterns and colors you see in an ad? You can totally turn that into a layout.

This vignette from Better Homes and Gardens' Color Made Easy 2014 magazine makes me want to create something with wonderful texture and color!

This vignette from Better Homes and Gardens’ Color Made Easy 2014 magazine makes me want to create something with wonderful texture and color!

How about texture? Love the way texture makes you want to touch a page? Use the textures you find on your pillows and walls and clothes to inspire your product choices and design.

Those are all visual or tactile ways of finding inspiration. You can also get your ears involved.

Yes, scrapbooking is a very visual hobby, but you don’t have to use your eyes to find inspiration.

Listen to the world around you. The things your family and friends say, the noises surrounding you while at home or work, the songs you hear while out shopping or driving or just hanging around, those are all great starting points for scrapbook pages.

Finally, don’t decide where you’re going to start. Let someone else tell you where to start. Participate in a prompt driven challenge, where someone else gives you an idea or a product or a technique to start with, and create your pages from there. Layout a Day is a great prompt driven challenge (Lain’s even got a free iPhone app for that!) but there are a ton of others out there. Rather than me listing them all here, why don’t you all add your favorite prompts/ challenge sites in the comments below? That way maybe we’ll all find something fun and new to us!

Today, I’m going to keep an eye (and ear) out for things that inspire me to create, and make a page based on that inspiration this week. Why don’t you try to do that too! We can share our creations on Flickr in the No Excuse Scrapbooking group.

(And if you’re looking for some non-standard inspiration, I love to collect things I find on the web on my Scraptastic pinterest board. Feel free to follow me there!)

 

May14

Blast from the Past: Making a Gift Card folder

Posted on by
Blast from the Past: Making a Gift Card folder

I am fighting off a wonderful case of Strep throat this week, so how about an old how-to for you? With Graduation and Wedding seasons just around the corner, this is a cute way to package a gift card or cash. If you have any questions on how to make this, drop them in the comments below, and I’ll answer them as soon as I’m back on my feet.

I made some cute little gift cards for my relatives for Valentine’s day. (With some help from my youngest.) I thought I’d show you how to make them, since they’re so easy and cute. (I wonder how many times I can say “cute” in this post?)

I used the new Green paper stack from DCWV for the ones I sent my relatives, with dotted swiss bazzill paper as the inside page. The final one you’ll see here I made with scraps when I realized I hadn’t taken any pictures of the finished product. I’ll think of someone to send it to, I’m sure.

You will also need a strong double sided adhesive, like redline, or stick-ease. I’m not sure a regular tape runner is strong enough to hold the pockets shut. (I used tombow on some we made for my son’s class, and they did not stay put.) And of course you’ll need a trimmer, straight edge (aka ruler), craft knife, and a bone folder or stylus, as well as a long reach hole punch. And stamps, stickers, or photos that you love.

Start by cutting off a four-inch strip from a piece of 12X12 cardstock. I wasn’t too concerned about how “finished” the inside would look, since I knew it would be filled with pages and candy, but that may concern you, and you may want to use something double sided.

Just as an illustration, the above items are a bone folder, stylus, and scoring blade for the fiskar’s trimmer I was using. Any of these will work to score folding lines in your paper. You want to score three lines across your paper strip, one in the middle, at 6 inches, and one at 2 15/16 inches from each end. Just run your bone folder, stylus or scoring blade down the center channel of your trimmer. I prefer my bone folder because I can be rather heavy handed, and have been known to break through the paper when using the scoring cartridge.

For those of you who are mathematically challenged, here’s 2 15/16 inches:

I hope that helped 😀

Next you’re going to cut off the top outside corner of each end. You could just fold the corner under (I’d use a glue dot to hold the corner down) but I wanted to make these as light as possible since I was going to mail these all over the eastern seaboard.

The next step may require a little help. Stamp, sticker, or otherwise embellish a 4X6 piece of solid colored cardstock, and score a line down the center (at the 3 inch mark if you need specifics). This is where my little helper came in. For any family reading this, each of your pages tells a complete story. I have no idea what the story was; you’d have to ask Simon.

Then run a piece of double sided adhesive along the edge of the flap, and tape down. Voila! You’ve got a little two pocket folder. It’s not quite big enough for school work, however. I put a piece of candy and a bookmark in each pocket after I finished assembling the card, but gift cards or love notes might work too.


To assemble, place your decorated 4X6 piece of cardstock inside the folder, and punch two holes just a bit above and below the center point. I wasn’t too exact here, I just wanted a little distance between the holes so they acted as a hinge, rather than a pivot point. From the outside, thread a piece of thin ribbon through each hole, then back out the other hole. Tie together and you’ve got a cute little package for someone special. I also added a little heart on a pop dot to the front of our valentine’s cards, but I think this pirate’s ship is pretty cute, don’t you? It’s from TAC.I hope you’ll try to make one. It would make a great holder for a gift card or cash for a graduation or wedding present as well. Have fun creating!
May8

Following Prompts

Posted on by
Following Prompts

It’s May, and that means another Layout A Day (LOAD) challenge is underway again.

One of the reasons I love LOAD is that, while there are prompts every day, there’re no rules on how you must interpret them. And for some reason, this month’s prompts are working really well with where my head is right now, so I’ve been able to easily follow along.

Maybe it’s because I got one of the harder stories told right off the bat with the first page for the month.

In the News

Or maybe it’s because I’m concentrating on the story first.

building a home || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Perhaps it’s because, when I try to do a prompt in one way, but have no photos to tell the story with, I can reexamine the prompt and do another story. (Don’t worry, that first story will be told, but I’ll put together an illustrative photo first.)

happy birthday || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Or maybe it’s because I recognize when I’ve already done a page that tells all I want to tell regarding a prompt, and have plenty of other stories to tell.

remembering mini album || noexcusescrapbooking.com

The all I have to say about that page was done a while ago, and I use it as part of my holiday decorating now.

santa page || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Maybe it’s because I recognize that prompts are jumping off points, and am willing to go anywhere the thought process wanders.

grownup? || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Perhaps it’s because I give myself time to think and remember before starting a page.

Lainie-isms || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because I realize I don’t have to choose one thing over another, or follow directions exactly. I can keep it as simple or as complex as I want, and there’s no one to say I’m doing it wrong.

turn turn turn || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Which brings us to the whole point: there are no rules in scrapbooking. Thank goodness.

May6

Quick Hello!

Posted on by
Quick Hello!

Today’s my husband’s birthday, so it’s very busy.

However, it’s not too busy to miss sharing the recipe for what we’ll be having for dessert this evening– Triple Layer Chocolate Pudding Pie.

chocopuddingpie || noexcusescrapbooking.com

 

This is part of a family cookbook I am slowly working on, consisting of recipes I’ve found or created over the years that everyone loves. There are only 5 recipes in it so far, so this project will keep me busy for years. 😉

What do you have planned for the week? Anything fun? This is the first of three family birthdays in the next ten days, so we’re going to be a bit birthday happy over here.