Traditional, Digital or a little of each type of Scrapbooking?

I absolutely love papercrafting and scrapbooking photos of my family and life.
 It is a joy to work with pictures, paper, accents, acrylic stamps, ribbon and many more fun products to capture my memories. But sometimes I can't take the creative mess so I use Studio j to create some digital scrapbook pages to fill out my photo albums.
One of the fun features found on Studio J (you can find this program, free, on my OBA website: Alayne.ctmh.com )is a blank page called "No Limits". This is a great place to upload 12 x 12 digital files that you create to add to your photo albums.
  If you are new to digital you might not know how to create a page from scratch. I usually use Photoshop Elements to create my "No Limits" pages. Now I have found a new (and reasonably priced) digital photo program that is easy to use and a fun way to make digital scrapbook pages. I am so excited about this software, I have found a way for you to get it too—at an affordable price. Simply go to http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software and use STMMMS58008 in the promo code box on the shopping cart page! You will get $10 off the software (reduced price of only $29.95), plus you get a coupon for $10 for the MyMemories online store.

I will be giving one of these software suites away in a random draw from anyone who leaves a comment about this program on this blog, or orders one of the my memory suites using my code (STMMMS58008 ) for $10 off. It would make a great gift for you or someone you love who loves scrapbooking.
If you have any worries about using this program or creating on Studio J remember that I offer free workshop and training in my Versailles, Kentucky home on Thursday afternoons between 1:30pm and 4pm. RSVP by calling 859.421.4423 or e-mail me: Alayneswillinghands@gmail.com.
I will continue posting pictures of my Summer Europe Trip and my beautiful grand children and will show you some of "No Limit" layouts using the new My Memory suite.
Have a great week and enjoy preserving your photos of the times and people you love.
Always, Alayne

Digital Studio J Saves the Day!

Dear Friends,

It's hard to believe that it is already September and Fall is fast approaching.
It seems like I never take time to post on the blog, but I do want to share a
 little of my special holiday with you.
My husband took me to Spain in May and we took a cruise around Italy
 and a few other countries.
Having a busy summer kept me from crafting as much as I usually do,
 but thanks to Close To My Heart and Studio J I was able to make a good
start on my memories.

 Here are the beginnings:

Always, Alayne

Eventful summer, now time to SCRAP!

Dear Friends,
How can it be August already? I am so blessed with family, friends and events in my life that I have had no time to write about them!  Since I last wrote I have had two beautiful little girls added to my family.  Amelia Rose joined our family May 10th, and Olivia Rae was born June 30th. I feel I am too young to have 5 grandchildren already and another one to arrive early next year.

Olivia

Amelia

 

I know in past posts I have encouraged you to make memories rather than scrap them.  Well, I have been following my own advice and have been enjoying the people God has placed in my life.  It has been very rewarding and many memories have been made.  Now that life has settled down a little, it is now time to scrap some of those precious times.
Please regroup, count your blessings, and join me in taking time to record your thoughts and pictures.  I will be resuming my free papercrafting times on Thursday afternoons, between 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm.

I also want to remind you that I will be hosting an open house in my home August 25th at 9:30 am till noon. The new Idea Book will be featured and you will have a chance to see (and play with) some of the new colors and fantastic products offered by Close To My Heart.
There will be a chance for you to order the new Cricut cartridge ARTISTE at my price during the open house. It is a fantastic new cartridge that has endless possibilities. This is a great time to order this exclusive cartridge which comes with 3 stamp sets and 3 sets of dimensional elements. The price is usually $100, but you can get it for  $77 on August 25.
So, I will try to be better about keeping in touch, but remember, even though I don't do a lot on the internet, I will always have time for you to come craft with me, or answer your questions on the phone or e-mail.
Have a great week!
See you at the Open House.
Always, Alayne

New Online Business Address has benefits for you!

I am excited that my friends and clients can now earn hostess rewards when they order Close To My Heart products online!  It is easy and you can order while supplies last items and get hostess rewards for them also!
http://Alayne.ctmh.com
The next workshop is Saturday March 31st at 9:30am and we will try ordering on the web for this workshop.  You can get your order delivered at home, or you can order at the workshop like we have previously. It is your choice.

I will also have a newsletter that begins early April that will have a lot more information to help you create fantastic projects using Close To My Heart products.
I have also recently made a you tube account. I am learning how to make videos to show you how to make things step by step and will try to embed them on this blog. I am apologetic for my lack of computer knowledge, but I know that even though my learning curve is large and slow to change I want to teach you how to celebrate your relationships through your creativity using special paper and products from Close To My Heart.

I have many blessings to celebrate, including a NED (no evidence of disease) diagnosis recently. God has reminded me during my times reading His Word that He gives us strength to deal with whatever comes our way.  It sort of goes through God's filter before it hits us. That makes me very thankful for my family and friends that surround me. Let's make each other accountable to celebrate these blessings every day!
Always, Alayne

Time passes quickly.....Enjoy!

Time passes so quickly, life happens and some goals get pushed aside. My blogging has fallen to the wayside during this mild, but busy winter season.
This week I spent some time cleaning out closets to help meet my goal of becoming more of a consumer not a collector of scrapbooking treasures. During the process I discovered some retired product from the Silhouette paper pack. I have been using Studio J to make some layouts of past weddings using that great black and white retired "paper". When I came accross a mini album it reminded me of friends, people, places and God's blessings.
 I am posting a few pictures of that album to encourage you to make your own album using up some of your stash, so you too become more a consumer rather than a collector of our great Close to My Heart products. Enjoy!

To start his album make a binding That is about 3 1/2" high by about 4" wide. Score at 1" and at 1/2" intervals, ending with a 1" tab at the end. You then want to add some 2 sided adhesive (like red line) to the first 1/2" scored area and every other one. You then put a piece of ribbon in the center of the spine and under the covers of the album. Leave extra ribbon to tie the book with a bow.

  Feel free to call me for further instructions or clarification since I don't have photos of all the steps. (859-421-4423) or e-mail: Alayneswillinghands@gmail.com. Enjoy capturing your special moments and blessings in your own mini album.

This cover was made from 4"coasters covered with cardstock and background and texture paper. I decorated it with a stamped image on overhead transparency plastic and a stamped Bible verse.

This shows the top of the album with the pages attached to the spine.

The desert sand color in the center of the album shows where the pages are attached to the scored spine.

Take time to journal your little album because as I started this blog entry I reminded you that time passes quickly. Today it is my middle daughters special birthday!  It seemed like only a few weeks ago that she was born, yet now she is a mom and wife and all grown up....if you don't write it down you might not remember where and when as you grow older. So do as I say and not as I do and journal.  The little babe in my arms is now 4 1/2 years old.  If it was only a few weeks ago that my daugher was born, it was only minutes ago that I became a grandmother.

So please take heed of the verse on this little album and remember that there is a time and season for everything.  Enjoy each day you are blessed with.

Always,  Alayne

January Special Rock the Block: How to....

Rock The Block:  How to....


1.    Put a number 1 -54 on the corner of each square (in pencil) so you can turn the blocks easily to find all of the puzzle fronts after the blocks are assembled.

2. Sponge all edges of the boxes with a color that goes well with the paper pack you are using. (I choose Desert Sand)

3. Choose the colors for your background of your boxes. I used the Roxie paper pack kit. Make 6 inch squares of all the colors. (Before I used the final pieces I took 6 pieces of neutral cardstock  (6"squares) and tried all the stamps ahead of time, planning the layouts. I first scored the paper in a 2"grid. Since I was making the blocks into a puzzle collage I let the patterns run over more than 1 of the squares.

4. Using the plain cardstock as a guide I now stamped (and embossed) the images I liked best onto the final background papers. I used Versa Mark ink over the ctmh colors before I sprinkled the embossing powder over the designs.

5. Using a heat gun I set (melted) the embossing powder on all of the papers. I was careful not to mix the powders, (I used clear detail, cranberry and black embossing powders) but did not heat them till all 6 pages had powder on them. It streamlined the large amount of embossing that was done to less then a half hour of effort. Notice I used a bone folder to hold the paper in place because the heat gun gets the area very hot.

6.   I didn't put as many embossed images on the paper as my original patterns  because I left room for pictures. This picture is a bit blurry but it shows how the powder looks  before it is heated.

7.Now that all my 6 pages were stamped, I planned which pictures I wanted to include on my puzzle cubes.

8.   I cut out coordinating paper to cover the box that holds the cubes. I kept the design simple, but I noticed my upline choose to add a photo to the inside of the bottom box and it looked great. She displayed it on an easle when the blocks were in use. I used a ATC gun to secure the paper to the box.

9.   I choose to cut around some of the stamped images and slide photos under the edge before I attached to the blocks. The layered effect looked good.

11.   I attached the pictures directly on the six inch papers.  They were not cut into their final size till after all pages were assembled.

12.  Next I layed out the blocks in a numbered order.  The first 6 inch pages would be placed on blocks 1 - 9, the second on 10 - 18 and so on.

13.   Using a paper cutter I made the completed pages into nine 2 inch squares.

14. I layed them out before I used adhessive and used some stickease images to fill in some of the "white" areas.

15.  It is important to make sure that the blocks are in the correct numbered order and orderly as you attach the design to the cubes. I found that it was easiest to do all the blocks facing the same way and rotating them one turn before doing the sides of the blocks.

16. When you are done, put the blocks back into the base you decorated and use as a unique home decoration or a game for family members to enjoy.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me for clearer instructions. (Alayneswillinghands@gmail.com)
 

Always, Alayne

Join me to "play" with Roxie next Saturday!

Roxie Workshop Reminder:

 Saturday 9:30am, January 21st