February Challenge

Be Positive by Tere
March Guest Design Team member Tere used papers she got last year as a prize from an online crop for the February "10" challenge. She used 10 wire hearts (which she has had forever), 10 beads, and the title "Be Positive" also has a total of 10 letters.
Tere made the butterfly by folding 2 flowers in the middle, each flower makes one wing, then she glued on beads to form the body.

Now it's your turn. How will you answer the Challenge? See all the details below in February Challenge. You could be a member of our Guest Design Team too.

February Challenge

Perfect 10 by Kathy

I wanted to use the "10" prompt in a little different way - I kept thinking I wanted the title to be the Perfect 10 - I thought about doing a layout of myself (LOL). I thought what better perfect 10 then the 10 fingers and or toes of a newborn. But, of course I didn't have any great pictures of 10 fingers or 10 toes - so I went with these two pictures of Madeline's perfect fingers and toes!

Now it's your turn. How will you answer the challenge? See all the details below in February Challenge - and get your submissions in soon.

Looking forward to seeing your take on this challenge.

The Wall that Heals by Megan


Design Team member Megan did this layout for the February Challenge.
She said she originally tried to use only 10 photos, but ended up liking it better with 12 photos. So she used the number 10 for the layered accents. For the layers on the stars she used 10 larger gold star sequins, 10 small silver sequins, 10 stars punched from red/blue pattern papers, and 10 black brads.

Now it 's your turn. See all the details in February Challenge below. We'd love to see your take on this challenge.

February Challenge

You are the Sonshine of my Life by Monica
For the February Challenge Guest Team Member Monica created this layout of her son. In response to the "10" prompt she used 5 buttons and 5 stars for a total of 10.

She said she really loves how this layout came together. She had bought a Making Memories baby boy pack and it made scrapping these pictures easy. She did include other products as well. She also can't believe that these pictures are almost a year old. She and her son were enjoying a lazy holiday at home. She snapped so many cute pictures that she had a hard time choosing which ones to scrap, so she did a two page layout to be able to use more pictures.

Now it's your turn to take the challenge - see all the details below in February Challenge. We can't wait to see and post your project.

February Challenge

Because of You by Robin Design Team Member Robin submitted this 2-Page 8x8 Layout for the February "10" Challenge. She used mostly scraps from a Best Occasions paper pack. Robin cut 10 squares from a couple of strips of paper & used 10 purple gems in the squares to add a little more sparkle.

Now it's your turn. Take the "10" Challenge - see all the details below in February "10" Challenge.

Can't wait to see your project with the "10" prompt!

February Challenge

Cooper's Birthday by Danielle




Design Team Member Danielle has contributed "Cooper’s Birthday". Her layout was done using nine 3x3 squares and one 10x10 square equaling 10 squares.

How cleaver! I bet you thought there were only 9 squares!

Now it's your turn. Check out all the Details in February 10 Challenge below.

We can't wait to see what you will do with this prompt!

Keeping up!

My goal is to keep this blog moving. I hate when I go to a blog and it is the same thing I read a week ago. Soooo, my goal is to have something new everyday. So, if you come everyday - you won't miss anything. But, if you miss a day - you never know what you might have missed. If you scroll down you will be able to see 2 to 3 days worth of posts. You can also click on the "Older posts" to see earlier posts.

Or, you can rely on the labeling system that I have designed for this purpose. All the labels are listed on the sidebar - under "Recent Comments". So, if for instance you missed a Frugal Friday - just click on the label - Frugal Friday and it will bring all of them up. If you missed one of the DT's layouts - you can just click on their name in the labels and it will take you to all of their projects. If you want to see all the layouts - just click layouts!

Also, in order to keep this blog moving daily I need a lot of projects to post - that's where you come in. Anytime you submit a project that is in response to the Monthly Challenge - it will be posted. If you submit a project that is in response to a current - or former Frugal Friday Tip - it will be posted. And, if you have a Frugal Friday Tip - send it and if it is chosen, it will also be posted.

So let's see those projects - and let's keep this blog moving!

February Challenge

With Love Card by Rachel


Our February Guest Design Member Rachel submitted this card for the February 10 Challenge.

The heart on her card is made with 10 "patches" of paper, and then cut out using a Spellbinders die and her Cuttlebug. She inked each square with CTMH Chocolate before adhering it to a base panel, and then inked the edges of the heart after it was cut. The red panel is also cut with a Spellbinders die, and then run through the D'Vine Swirl CB embossing folder. She used her ink dauber and gently rubbed Chocolate over the swirls to give them a little more definition, as well as distressing the edges. The sentiment is embossed with the With Love CB embossing border folder, and then inked the Chocolate. She pretty much inked every single piece, since she loves the look distressing adds to a project.

Now it's your turn - see the details in February 10 Challenge below.

Can't wait to see what your 10 project will be.

February Challenge

Favorite Color by Joni

Joni said "I used 10 paint swatches that I picked up (for free) at the local hardware store & I attached them with 10 brads (I can't believe I matched all the colors so closely....) --- I did use my color wheel to make sure I had the colors in the right shade & in the correct order.

I love this layout...one of my faves that I've done lately."

Now it's your turn - Check out the February 10 Challenge details below.

We can't wait to see what you create.

January Challenge - Winners

Congratulations to the following January Challenge winners:
Tere for her 2010 Calendar

Wendy for her Silvermist layout

Congratulations to both our winners. Both Tere and Wendy will be given the opportunity to be on our March Guest Design Team.

Thanks to all who participated in our January Challenge. Be sure to check out the February Challenge. We can't wait to see what you will contribute.

January Challenge Entries

Below are the January Challenge reader entries. The winner will be announced on February 1st. The winner will be given the opportunity to be on our March Guest Design Team. It's still not too late to get your entry in.

The January Challenge is to use something you received for Christmas in your project. It can be a tool or a supply. Please send a picture along with a description as to what Christmas gift you used to Scrappinpsycho@live.com. This challenge ends at midnight today.

Check back tomorrow to see who the winner is - and what the February Challenge is.

January Challenge

Family Wall Hanging by Kerrie

Kerri received this lovely wall hanging from her Secret Santa over at Aussie Girls Gone Scrappin! She had to put it together and decorate it! These are a few pics of her boys and her.

Now it's your turn to submit your Christmas Gift Challenge. See the details below.

January Challenge

Wacky Hair by Monica
Last year for Christmas I asked for the Making Memories Slice. I used it once or twice right after getting it but haven't dug it out since. I decided to take it back out. I cut out the orange square that my title is on with the Slice. I also used a Pagemaps sketch for this layout. This is on of my favorite pictures of my son from this summer. His daddy got his hair wet and was spiking it all up!!

Now it's your turn! Let's see those Christmas Gifts being put to work! See all the details in January Christmas Gift Challenge - details below.

January Challenge

Wall art by Rachel
Rachel has contributed this for the January Challenge. She has had these frames hanging on her wall for a long time, and the saying is from a Fortune Cookie fortune that she haf taped to her "everything notebook." She used her new Slice cartridge (Fonts: Essentials) to cut out all the words. She also fussy cut flowers and attached two to the glass on each of the word frames. It's a subtle touch, but it really makes the whole project have more oompf!

Now it's your turn - see the details in January Christmas Gift Challenge below. Can't wait to see your project!

January Challenge

Calendar by Tere

Tere made this calendar using her new Bind It All that she received as a late Christmas present from her husband. She was so happy when she finally got it, but then It was there just looking pretty but it had never been used. :) Everything else is from her stash. She used papers she had had for a long time, and some scraps from a kit she got in November.

Now it's your turn. See the January Christmas Gift Challenge details below. Can't wait to see what you've made with your gifts.

January Challenge

SilverMist by Wendy K.
Wendy used her Cricut Color Ink that she bought with her Christmas money. She said it was a fun way to add a title! The more she uses her Cricut, the more she loves it! She used the Storybook cartidge which is perfect for all her girly pages.

January Challenge

Tis the Season by Brittney Aldous
Brittney says "I am so lucky to have a man in my life that respects and encourages my scrapbooking hobby. He even purchased so many scrap goodies for me from two peas in a bucket, for Christmas (I love those wishlists!). In this layout, I received the Prima pearls and the Pink Paislee alphas. He's definitely a keeper!

Now it's your turn. Your January Gift Challenge project must be recieved before Midnight on Sunday.

Don't miss the chance to be chosen to be on the March Design Team - see all the details below in January Gift Challenge.

January Challenge

U R Fabulous and Ort Farm - by Kimmarie

Kimmarie says " My mom bought me a paper pack from We R Memory Keepers, Tiffany. I love this pack because it came with all the pattern paper, letters and little extras. The white scallaped cardstock is DCWV. I just love these pictures that I took of my 9 year old daughter, Victoria. Her big sister, Sara, curled her hair for fun and I couldn't resist taking a bunch of pics with her hair like this.


Ort Farm

I bought this paper pack with my Michaels gift card that I got for Christmas. DCWV Farmer's Market. This is a simple layout I did with a picture of a momma pig feeding her young when we visited Ort Farm 2 years ago. I used my Cricut to cutout the title and the journaling sticker was given to me in a Christmas swap.

Now it's your turn. Entries must be received by midnight tonight... See details below in January Challenge.

$$Frugal Friday Tip$$

Memoribilia on your Page by Megan B

My tip is to use your memorabilia on your pages. They can be used as design elements or as accents. If you are worried about your pages being acid-free, then be sure to spray your memorabilia with acid neutralizing spray. Other fun memorabilia types to use on your layouts could include plane tickets, emails, movie stubs, menus, drawings, programs, maps, receipts, clothing tags, shopping lists, stickers/labels etc. Use your imagination and see what you can find around you that helps complete the story you are telling with your pictures. The best part is that these items are usually free and have the appropriate logos or names already on them.

On the Neuhaus layout, I punched the circles from a box that the chocolates came in and added them to my layout as accents. The pamphlets that came with the chocolates showed what types of chocolates were included in the box, so I glued it down at the top, then popped the circles up with foam squares so the pamphlet would easily tuck behind the circles to keep them closed in my page protector. The smaller squares were actual tags that were wrapped around some other chocolates we purchased from the same shop, and the green ribbon with the name “Neuhaus” on it was the ribbon that was wrapped around the box to keep it closed.

On the Kinder Egg layout, I used the actual foil wrapper from the chocolate egg and the actual paper that came folded up inside the egg with my toy car. I wrapped the foil around a piece of cardstock to keep it sturdy, then cut it down to the size I needed. The paper with the smart cars on it was glued directly onto an orange piece of pattern paper to help it stand out and coordinate with my layout.

If you use this frugal tip - please share it with us.

If you have a Frugal Friday Tip you'd like to share - please send it along with pictures to scrappinpsycho@live.com. and we may post it here.

Also, check out the January Gift Challenge - deadline is Sunday. See details below.

Meet our Second Guest Design Team Member

Christmas 06 by Monica Young Monica is from Southern California. She has been scrapping for about 5 years, but has always loved being creative doing different crafts. She was introduced to scrapping when her friend showed her some pages she had done and it inspired her to start a wedding album.

She is married to her loving husband Joseph. She has an adorable and active one and half year old boy Daniel, the subject of most of her scrapping recently. She is a part time 2nd grade teacher and loves that she can stay home with her son as well.

Monica keeps her pages pretty simple and likes to use sketches to help get her pages started. She scraps late at night once the house is nice and quiet. Her favorite embellishments are buttons and ribbon!
Make sure to come back and see what Monica contributes for our February Challenge.
Time is almost up for our January Gift Challenge. Be sure to get your project submitted before the deadline on January 31st. See all the details below

Meet one of our February Guest Design Team Members!

Guest Design Team Member - Rachel Rachel was chosen to be a Guest Design Team Member for February as a result of her December Challenge entry: Celebrate the Season.

Rachel lives in Northern MN. Her first intro to paper crafting was Quilling, and she taught classes at a local Stamping store. The owner of the store offered her a job one day when one of her existing employees announced she was leaving to be a stay-at-home gramma!

From there, Rachel was introduced to stamping and the ENORMOUS world of papercrafts that she had been completely unaware of until that point! She was fortunate enough to work with some VERY talented ladies who showed her the ropes and who still serve as inspiration for her. She is also a CTMH Consultant, and tries to spend time every single day working on her papercrafts. She works from her home, and her office is the same room as her scraproom, so that's not very hard. The hard part is waiting until she is off the clock before she starts to play!

We are super excited to have Rachel as a part of our Design Team for February and can't wait to see what she will contribute.

Now, it's your turn. Submit your entry to the January Challenge - and you could be chosen to be a part of our March Guest Design Team. See all the details below. Hurry, time is runnig out!

January Challenge

Sweet as Candy by Kathy




I used my new candy stripe chipboard letters, that I bought myself for Christmas, for the word CANDY. This is actually my Grandson at 3 years old.

The gumdrop and plaid papers are actually OLD 8 1/2 x 11 sheets from my Stash.

I love how this turned out!

Now it's your turn - see the January Challenge details below.

Hershey's Nugget Purses by KimmarieI received a gift card for AC Moore for Christmas so I decided to go and buy me some new goodies. While I was blog hopping, I came across a cute little/big project, depending on how many you make. I found a tutorial on how to make Hershey Nugget Purse http://site.scrapbookexpress.com/blog/?p=4204 by Kay. These little Valentine Treats are just too cute! I made 86 total, so my little treats weren't as detailed as Kay's. Most of them are put together except for adding the Hershey Nugget inside. I am waiting for my daughters to sign their names inside so I can seal them up. They will each give them out to their classmates instead of Valentine's Day cards. My husband told me that I must have too much time on my hands. I just laughed and said, "what else am I going to do at night while I watch tv."

Now it's your turn! See the January Christmas Gift Challenge below!

$$Frugal Friday Tip$$

Mr. Slicey Tin by Rachel
Rachel's Frugal Friday tip: alter or repurpose something un-scrapbook related.

Rachel's Frugal Friday tip also meets the January Christmas Gift Challenge.

She found this tin for a dollar at Walmart during the Christmas Clearance sale. It came with cookies in it, but they were horrid so they went into the trash! Another frugal tip were the flowers. Prima flowers are usually two layers thick, so she seperated the layers to make two flowers! Twice the bang for the buck! Have fun on your retreat!She loves these types of tins for either storage or for gifts during the year.

She decorated this one in an evening with her New Slice cartridge, Fonts: Essentials which she got for Christmas this year. She has been cutting up a storm!

Your mission is to repurpose something with scrapping supplies - or scrap with something you received for Christmas. See the details below in January Christmas Gift Challenge. Send your projects to scrappinpsycho@live.com . Can't wait to see your project.

Hey! We need your contributions

If you have anything to contribute - either to the Christmas Gift Challenge or an example of your use of a Frugal Friday tip or a Frugal Friday tip you'd like us to post - please send them to scrappinpsycho@live.com .

The Christmas Gift challenge does not have to be the use of a gift from Christmas 2009 - it can be any past Christmas (or just a gift). I know lots of you got some great scrappy stuff or a tool you'd love to share!

Do you have a Frugal Friday tip you think we need to know? Send it along with a description and pictures. Or - do you have a project which used one of the Frugal Friday tips (go to label Frugal Friday tip). We'd love to see them - and post them for everyone to see.

Can't wait to see what you have to share!

January Challenge

Zebra Frame by Kimmarie
The following is a layout and frame I made for my daughter (she is pictured on the left).

For Christmas, Sara, my daughter, gave me some zebra pattern paper which was nice, surprising and not my style. lol I thanked her of course only for her to tell me that she bought it for "me" so I can make a frame for the layout I made for her over Thanksgiving weekend. She also wants me to make another frame to match for another layout I did of her and her cousin Daryl. Sara has her own scrapping style, but doesn't scrap much, so when she asks me to scrap pictures for her or something like this frame, I pretty much have to go with the papers and embellies she wants and try to do my best with them. I painted the inside and outside of the frame pink and added some bling and hearts where the seams are. Sara's bedroom theme is zebra print and pink so she was very happy with the project.

Thanks for visiting us at SOS. Now it's your turn to share your creations with us.
See all the details in January Christmas Gift Challenge below...

$$Frugal Friday Tip$$

Using household items on your layouts by Kimmarie

Kimmarie's Frugal Friday Tip is to find non scrap related products around the house to use on your layouts.

Her first layout, Adorable, uses washers from her husband's work room. She adhered the washers to the tags with glue dots and then tied ribbon through them. She feels it adds a little edginess to the soft colors.

On her second layout, Happy Birthday, she used a bottle cap. She smashed the bottle cap and topped it off with a letter "E" for Emma and the number 2 for her age. She states she has actually used bottle caps on a few different layouts and people usually show a good reaction to them and they are fun to work with.

For her third layout, Miss Independent, she wanted to do a journaling block behind her daughter's picture, so she decided to make the picture flip down.
She used a suspender clip instead of a basic scrapbooking clip to help fold the picture down. She just clipped it on to the picture and tied on some ribbon.

Have you used any household items on your layouts? We would love for you to share them with us. Just send an email to scrappinpsycho@live.com and put Frugal Friday Tip Household Items in the subject.

Do you have a frugal tip you'd like to share? Send your tip along with a description and pictures (if you have them) to scrappinpsycho@live.com.

It's not to late to get your Scrap Challenge in. See details below in January Christmas Gift Challenge.

January Challenge

Merry & Bright by Megan
This layout features a gift Megan received for Christmas this year (the ring) and she used her Cricut Expression (gift from last year) and the SCAL (Sure Cuts ALot) program to cut out some text for her title from a font she had on her computer. The title was cut out in red cardstock, then glittered with stickles after it dried she adhered it to her layout, and traced around it with her white pen. She also used some paper from a non-Christmas themed stack to create the layout base. The other items she used for this layout were stickles, brads, gemstones, holly and berry buttons, clear definition stickers, stamps to create the labels, and a border punch. She has had the clear definition stickers and holly buttons for a LONG time in her stash, so she was excited to be able to use them on her layout.

Now it's your turn. Check out how you can submit your project and be eligible to become a Guest Design Team Member in March. See the details below in January Christmas Gift Challenge.

January Challenge - Joni

Acrylic Album by Joni
After I took these photos of my son on a "wall of graffiti", I knew they'd look really cool in an acrylic album where I could "show through and share backgrounds". But in my illustrious stash of mini-books, I did not have an acrylic book that suited my needs. So, I just did nothing with my idea (except whine to my husband, I guess...lol!).

For Christmas, he had stopped by the local scrapbook store and bought me a few things, including 12x12 sheets of ACRYLIC!!! (thinner than regular acrylic books, but thicker than a transparancy). They were around $2 per sheet, I think.

I used one and cut it to 12x6 to make the 2 inner pages for my book and just used deco scissors on the edge. I used Chipboard scraps for the 6x12 back cover and smaller front cover. I used LOTS of rub-ons and transparancies. Also, notice the "swirl" on the first acrylic page (at the top)? It's an acrylic stamp...dh bought it for me too (it was only $1, so I figured that's about the normal price of an embellishment anyways, right?).

On the acrylic pages the photos are back to back (so one photo is directly behind the photo on the front that you can see). Joni has more details on her blog.

Now it's your turn to show us what you have created with your Christmas Gift - see the details below in January Christmas Gift Challenge.

Mini Album by Kimmarie

Kimmarie said she was so happy when she was told that the January Challenge was to use something she got for Christmas.

She got the DCWV Christmas paper pack from her girls last year. Over the year she has made holiday layouts and ornaments that she handed out for gifts this year. She learned how to make this mini album from her cousin Kelly. After that she was hooked! Recently she worked a vendor fair and made a bunch of mini pop out albums. A woman requested her to make one for Baby's First Christmas and she wanted it red, white and green. Kimmarie knew right away what paper she would use. The problem was finding embellishments that were for Baby's Frist Christmas (also the woman didn't want too much inside so they had more room for pictures). Kimmarie's local stores didn't have anything for Baby's First Christmas so, she used her Cricut and cut out some words and used some embellies.

Kimmarie plans to make a tutorial on how to make one of these fun pop out mini albums check back later for more details.

Now it's your turn - send your Christmas Gift project today. See all the details in the January Christmas Gift Challenge post below. Can't wait to see what "Santa" brought you - and how you scrapped it!

January Challenge

Pretty Women by Danielle

Here is Danielle's layout for the January Challenge. She received a Cricut Expression for Christmas. She used it to cut out the climbing vine on the side of her page. She said she can see a beautiful friendship forming with her E.

Now it's your turn - check out all the details in the January Christmas Gift Challenge below.