Workshop: Valentine Cards!

To have a successful card-making workshop, here are a few simple tips:


Begin with chocolate. Cookies are a sure winner, but I supplemented with Dove Dark Promises and Reese's Peanut Butter Hearts, which are also crowd pleasers.



Provide directions. This will eliminate the risk of "creativiphobia," or the fear that one will lack the supply of creativity on demand (this is found in no known dictionary).


Inform your workshop attendees that you will only be taking pictures of their hands, not their faces. This may or may not make them feel more comfortable with the fact that you're taking thousands of pictures while they work.



Have plenty of card samples out for the attendees to see. Encourage them to display their cards as they finish them, because watching your progress as you create one card after another is a very, very satisfying practice!





The Valentine Card project is called the Be My Valentine Featured Project. It makes 32 cards and can be purchased for $42 from my website. Directions for the project can be downloaded for free here. If you'd like to be added to my list for notification of future workshops, email me at Marianne241@gmail.com

The Husband turns 30!

Last weekend was quite the celebration at our house! The Husband, known to many of you as Scott (known to me as Scooter, Scottie, and a host of other names that I will keep off of the internet, thankyouverymuch), turned the big 3-0 on Saturday! He's officially out of his twenties and on his way to becoming a mature adult.... in theory.

Here he is, reflecting on his past decade of growth while watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars on TV...


To celebrate, I bought him tickets to see Eddie Izzard in Oakland at the Oracle Arena. We've been fans of Eddie's since first seeing Dress To Kill:


His historical references and comedy based on foreign languages, British humor and American naivete might sound a bit mundane, but he is the smartest and wittiest comedian I know of, and we had a blast!

But before Saturday's night out, we had Scott's family over for pizza and Coldstone cake. I had double-booked myself and didn't have much time to get ready for our guests, so shortly before they came over, I threw together this birthday display on my Keepsake Display in the kitchen:


I used several different leftover items from past projects to put this together. The background paper and star magnets came from the Wishes and Dreams Display Accents. The "30" came from the White Swirly ABC Monogram Stickers, and the green mat and blue photo mats came from the Jewel Storybox. I grabbed some leftover pictures of Scott that I keep in my Photo Power Sort Box, and stuck it all up there!


The thing I like best about the Keepsake Display is that it's magnetic. These items weren't stuck on with tape- they're all put on using magnets (the exception is the "30" which are stickers, so those are stuck on). This means that I can move things around, take it all off and put it all away when I'm ready to change it, or transfer it all into my 12x12 scrapbook album in any layout I'd like. I keep all of my past displays inside (the front is a door that opens up for storage inside!) and I pull different ones out all the time. It's my favorite display in the house!

Happy Birthday, Scottie!

Page of the Week: Football!

I found myself in a state of confusion last night. I've been a long-time Green Bay Packer fan, and therefore a fan of Brett Favre. With Brett playing for the rival Minnesota Vikings this season, it's been an odd year for Packer fans. Last night, with the Packers out of Superbowl contention, I actually found myself rooting for the Vikings in the NFC Championship game vs. the Saints. When the Saints won in OT, my heart hurt for Brett Favre, who lost the NFC Championship game two years ago in his last season as a Packer.

This is all to say that I have football on the brain these days, so here's a sporty layout for you to enjoy:
Courtesy of the CM Project Center

Ingredients:
Primary Football Power Palette Additions
Fine-Tip Pen - Black
Round-Tip Pen - Black

Tips:
Cut a white photo mat to measure 4-1/2" x 3". Add journaling. Drag Round-Tip Pen along edges of journaling piece to ink distress. Add color blocking to page by adhering photo mats diagonally behind journaling piece.

Add photos and stickers as shown.

Finished Size:
12" x 12"

Project Designed by:
Jenny Dammann, Creative Memories Design Team

Featured Project: Valentine's Day Cards


click image to view larger

My favorite holiday has always been Valentine's Day. I have a lot of single friends who roll their eyes at me, but to me, it's not just about being in a relationship. When I was little, on Valentine's Day, my mom would have cards and chocolate or little presents for me and my siblings. Somehow I always forgot that she did that, so each year it was a very pleasant surprise!

Now I like to give Valentine cards and chocolate to my friends, my co-workers, whoever I know I'm going to see on that day or during that week. Because single or attached, who doesn't like getting gifts?

Valentine's Day isn't just for couples, and I fully look forward to sending these cards to my friends and putting them in my co-workers' mailboxes. I had a blast making them. The kit comes with step-by-step directions for making 32 cards, which includes 24 mini cards (3x3), 6 medium cards (4x4), and 2 lunchbox cards. The best thing about these featured projects is that you don't have to stick to the directions if you don't want to- I have a friend who wants hers to be larger, so she's using the designs but modifying the sizes.

My Valentine's Card workshop is on Wednesday, January 27th at 6pm. I'll need to order card kits this week, so let me know by this Wednesday if you'd like to attend! The card kit is $42 and includes all the materials for the card, including this Sweetheart Maker:


Or if you prefer to make the cards on your own at home, that works too! Email me at Marianne241@gmail.com for details!

What exactly IS a Power Palette Layout?

On New Year's Eve, you may have seen my Facebook post that said this:

"I did it! 156 photos scrapbooked in an album in less than 4 hours, using the Power Palette Layout method. This is so cool!

It's true, although I can still hardly believe it. While I was at my parents' in Wisconsin, my dad and I pored over 1,000 photos of my niece, Kira. My dad is an uber-excited grandfather who takes hundreds of pictures every time he sees his granddaughter, but he has never taken those photos out of their comfortable home in iPhoto! I think we all know at least one person like that (perhaps it's you... come on, I won't judge).

Over the course of 4 hours, I put together a 30-page album with 156 of these pictures. It's called the Power Palette Layout method, and it's a very precise and structured, assembly-line process of putting together a whole album at once. Each layout is a little different, so it doesn't necessarily look like you put it all together at once.

There are a lot of details and rules to follow (yes, rules!), and I'm not going to cover all of them here, so consider this the condensed and illustrated version.

First, all of your blank pages (12x12 size) and Power Layout Guides are spread out on a table. Not sure what a Power Layout Guide is? It's a 12x12 plastic sheet that comes in the Power Layout Kit, which you will need in order to participate in this workshop. I can fill you in with more details if you ask!


Then, all of your pictures are placed onto those guides and pages, so you can see what you're working with. During this time, you can weed out unnecessary or duplicate photos, and place the pictures on the page in the approximate place you'd like them to stay.


After doing this, you will need to crop some of your pictures. You can crop some of them into circles or ovals, or simply crop some extra inches off that aren't needed, as shown here.


Next, you'll choose the paper from your Power Palette that you'd like to use. The paper comes in 12x12, but we'll be trimming it so that one piece of paper is used for two pages. This saves you paper (and therefore, money) and eliminates the problem of having a heavy album from background paper (or "wallpaper") on every page. When you put your cropped pictures on top (you can mat some along the way, as you'll see here), this is what the page looks like.

Doesn't it look like there's a full sheet of paper behind? There isn't- it's a wide strip and a thin strip. The techniques I'll be teaching at the workshop will show you how that's done so it's quick and easy (and requires no rulers for measuring, don't worry).

Add a couple of stickers in the blank spaces....


... and VOILA! A layout is complete.


But not just one layout. THIRTY layouts. Since you'll be doing this in assembly line format, before you know it, your pages will be DONE. And you will be astonished. No lie.

So what are the tools involved in a Power Palette Layout workshop? Well, here is what I used:



You might have some of these already, but if not, there are a few ways we can handle it. You'll need to purchase the consumable products, which include just the Power Palette (that's the set of pages and stickers, which you'll see in the top/center of this picture, in pastel colors), and a tape runner. All of the other tools can be borrowed from my supply, although if you're planning on doing ANY scrapbooking after this project, I will recommend that you purchase a couple of tools that are essential. And listen... once you complete a full album in 4 hours, you WILL want to do another!

Here are my workshop dates:

Thursday, February 11th @ 6-10pm

Tuesday, February 16th @ 1-5pm

Thursday, February 18th @ 9am-1pm

Saturday, February 20th @ 1-5pm

Are you ready to try it?? Comment here or email me at Marianne241@gmail.com to view your Power Palette design options and book a spot! Your order will need to be placed 2 weeks before your workshop, and I will help you figure out what you need. Each workshop is limited to 4 people. However, if you have at least one other friend who would like to try this with you and you'd rather do it at your own house, I will come to you, and we can set a date of your choice. Just let me know!

Happy Scrapping!

Page of the Week: Happy New Year

I'm in love with this layout!

Created by Renee Stranne for the CM Project Center

The best part is how easy it is to assemble. Just follow these directions:

Fine in 2009 Layout Idea

Ingredients:
Primary Power Palette
Primary Paper Buttons
White Ruled Paper
Calendar Month Titles
black pen

How to Create:
Use White Cardstock as the base for the layout.

Cut purple patterned paper to measure 8-1/4" x 6-1/4". Adhere 3 sides of it to the cardstock leaving the right side free of adhesive (for hidden journaling). Adhere to the center of layout.

Print 12 photos to measure 2" x 2". Adhere to purple paper as shown.

Using month title stickers, place on layout as shown.

Add Primary Paper Buttons as shown.

Add paper corners, and Swirly Black ABC/123 Stickers for title as shown.

Cut lined paper to measure 5" x 8". Using black pen, journal on paper. Add a tab to the far right hand side of the journaling block. Tuck behind purple patterned paper.


Finished Size:
12" x 12"

Do any of you have a favorite New Year's page that you've added to your annual albums? Mine are different each year, so I definitely think I'll be adding this layout as the final page of my 2009 album. What are your plans?