Get to Know Ruby Rock-it – a CK Event Sponsor

Posted on 05/21/2013 by creatingkeepsakes

Stacy Croninger

Hi,

Ruby Rock-it has generously donated product for use at CK Events and they want you to have the opportunity to see and play with their latest product: Carnival King.

This bright, fun line of papers also includes cards perfect for Project Life scrapbooking.

A fun Project Life layout using Carnival King.

Would you like to win this package of paper? Then leave a comment by noon MDT on Thursday, May 23 and we’ll choose a winner.

Important contest note: We apologize, but due to increased shipping costs Creating Keepsakes is no longer shipping prizes outside the US. But we definitely don’t want our international winners to walk away empty handed. If your shipping address is outside the US and your comment is selected, you’ll receive a one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine. If you’re an existing subscriber, your subscription will extend. Thank you for your understanding.

Thanks for stopping by! You probably want to go to Ruby Rock-it’s web site so you can see their other products too.

Posted in Contests | Tagged , , , | 36 Comments

Scrapbook How-to: Paint Circles and Splatters

Posted on 05/21/2013 by creatingkeepsakes

Stacy Croninger - Digital Managing Editor

Hi everyone,

How’s your week going? Need a technique idea to get your creativity flowing today? This idea is quick and easy and can be adapted to any layout’s theme or color.

In our recent publication, Scrapbooking Boys & Men, Elizabeth Gardner used inks to create a custom background. Her inked circles used deep shades of blue to bring swirling water to mind as well as a scattering of droplets and buttons to continue the water theme. Let’s take a look at the layout and how to recreate the background using supplies you have on hand.

Thrill Seekers by Elizabeth Gardner as seen in Creating Keepsakes' Scrapbooking Boys & Men

The first step is to trace a circle on your background paper. Elizabeth found a plate the size she wanted so look around your house to find the perfect sized circle for your design.

Draw large circle onto page.

Then she took her spray ink, unscrewed the lid, and used the tube to lightly trace over the circle she’d drawn. To add more movement to the design, draw several circles with ink, using the original circle as a guide. On Elizabeth’s layout, she used spray ink but you could also use paint.

Unscrew top of spray ink bottle and use tube to lightly paint over circle.

Finally, use the tube to drop ink spots randomly on your paper. The closer you are to the paper, the smaller the drops so vary the height that you drop the ink for a variety of sizes.

Splatter droplets of blue ink to simulate water.

And there you have it! A custom background in a matter of minutes. The great part about this technique is you can change the ink colors to match your photos or theme.

If you are looking for other masculine layout ideas, make sure to get a copy of Scrapbooking Boys & Men. You’ll find color, design, photo, and technique ideas to capture the moments with the men in your life.

Have fun creating!

Posted in General Inspiration, How-Tos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Creating Keepsakes’ Team Share Their Thoughts on the Digital Issue

Posted on 05/20/2013 by creatingkeepsakes

Stacy Croninger - Digital Managing Editor

Hi friends!

Have you had a chance to read the May/June Creating Keepsakes digital issue? What have you enjoyed the most? If you haven’t taken advantage you should – it is FREE as part of your print subscription. But I digress. I wanted to see what other people liked so I asked the Creating Keepsakes team. Here’s their responses.

Sandy shared this: “My favorite feature looking through Creating Keepsakes Magazine digitally is the linking aspect. I can go to websites to learn about about so many different products quickly without having to remember the web address, Google search, or type in the address. It’s pretty seamless. Also, the more I explore the settings, I am finding I can turn off settings and customize how I like to look through it.”

Next up is Neko with this: “I love how easy it is to register to win prizes and get downloads, (e.g. the Beautiful Blooms sweepstakes page.) So many pretty downloads and amazing prizes in each magazine issue!”

Active links are highlighted in yellow. Click it to go to the web site.

Joannie’s feedback was: “I love how gorgeous the layouts look in the digital issue. So clear and vibrant, and you can actually read the journaling!”

Natalie’s comment was: “Everyone loves reading a print copy of a magazine, but I think it’s fair to say that when there are links to videos or tutorials it can be a pain to stop what you are doing and follow that link on your computer or smart device. The digital issue of our magazine lets you easily click between links while reading your favorite feature!”

And Megan shared this: “When it comes to our digital issue, a feature I fancy is the ability to increase my page size and zoom in on the layouts. I’m always interested in how our incredibly talented contributors do the things they do on their pages. This level of detail is helpful when I want to better understand a technique or get a closer look at the journaling. Borrowing a phrase from Mazda, I’m all about the zoom zoom!”

Kerri’s love: “I love that I can easily download the magazine to my iPad at any time during the day. It’s with me whenever I have a free moment during the day to check out the fun inspiration.”

Download the free iOS app to read your digital issue.

Jennifer’s favorite is: “I love that I can have an entire year of issues (and then some) available via the free app on my iPad.”

And mine? Well I’m with Joannie – I love how beautiful the layouts are online. But I also love that I have so many options for finding inspiration. If I’m creating at home, I grab my iPad and bring up the layout in my digital issue for reference. When I need to enjoy the feel of paper, my print issue is waiting and ready, but I really don’t refer to it as much as the digital issue. And at work, I flip through the pages of the digital issue on my computer. I love that I’m not limited to one way to read and gain inspiration.

So I have a challenge for you – try the digital issue. There’s so much content, it’s beautiful, and it’s FREE with your print subscription. If you don’t have a print subscription, you can buy a digital subscription or one issue. If you have problems accessing the digital issue, I’m here for you – email me at scroninger@creativecraftsgroup.com.

Have fun reading your digital issue!

Posted in General Inspiration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Download this Week’s Free Scrapbook Font: CK Gala!

Posted on 05/17/2013 by creatingkeepsakes

Each Friday, the Creating Keepsakes team is bringing back one of our most popular fonts and offering it to you free of charge (see the terms of use here) for you to download and use on your layouts and projects. Be sure to download your free font this week, because the current font will be replaced with a new font on Friday.

Download this week’s free scrapbook font: CK Gala!

Available from noon (MST) today, May 17, 2013 – noon (MST), Friday, May 24, 2013.

For instructions on how to download fonts and for trouble shooting, read this.

To read the Terms of Use for the CK fonts, read here.

Enjoy!

Posted in fonts | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One More Look at Scrapbooking Boys & Men

Posted on 05/17/2013 by creatingkeepsakes

Stacy Croninger - Digital Managing Editor

Hi everyone!

Did you enjoy seeing a few of the projects from Creating Keepsake’s latest publication Scrapbooking Boys & Men? Did you miss a day or two or is this your first day to join us this week? Well you’re in luck – I’m going to review the projects we showcased this week and introduce a fun contest.

On Monday, we showed you Laina Lamb‘s layout The Time of Your Life where she used music lyrics to form her journaling.

The Time of Your Life by Laina Lamb, as seen in the Scrapbooking Boys & Men special issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

On Tuesday, we looked at color with Maggie Holmes‘ layout The Very Best Daddy. In this layout she shows how metallic gold and soft pinks can create a layout any man would want to appear on.

The Very Best Daddy by Maggie Holmes, as seen in the Scrapbooking Boys & Men special issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Wednesday brought us a layout from the Hey There, Handsome section that includes tips for getting great photos of your men. Autumn Baldwin‘s layout – Not Very Big is a great example of changing your perspective to capture movement in your photos.

Not Very Big by Autumn Baldwin, as seen in the Scrapbooking Boys & Men special issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

And that brings us to Thursday. Kim Watson shows how to make a rough and tough background by adding texture to your paper. Her layout, Gonna Hold Tight, uses color and texture to create a uniform and masculine feel.

Gonna Hold Tight by Kim Watson, as seen in the Scrapbooking Boys & Men special issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Have I convinced you that you need to run out and buy Scrapbooking Boys & Men? We’ve only shown you a small part of what you’ll find in this publication, including pattern and color inspiration, photo tips and tricks, journaling ideas, as well as techniques and products that make the perfect, manly layout. Plus, there are projects you can make and give to the men in your life.


Now for the contest. Pinterest is a great place for inspiration and we want to help you build your creative resources. You’ll need a Pinterest account, so if you don’t have one hop on over to Pinterest and set one up. Now, here’s the plan. We want you to pin the images from this week’s look at Scrapbooking Boys & Men. You can either repin one of the images in this post, the combined image above, or go to our Pinterest boards and pin from there (Hint: Look in the boards for each layout’s designer).

You have until Tuesday, May 21 at midnight MDT to pin projects and then we will randomly draw one winner for this amazing prize package that includes paper collections from Echo Park Paper (Boys and This & That: Charming Collection), BasicGrey (Oxford), and October Afternoon (Sasparilla). The Sasparilla collection also includes buttons, die cuts, journaling cards, flair, chipboard, stickers and trim. The Charming collection also includes chipboard pieces. Plus, we’ve included a copy of Scrapbooking Boys & Men.

Important contest note: We apologize, but due to increased shipping costs Creating Keepsakes is no longer shipping prizes outside the US. But we definitely don’t want our international winners to walk away empty handed. If your shipping address is outside the US and your comment is selected, you’ll receive a one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine. If you’re an existing subscriber, your subscription will extend. Thank you for your understanding.

Have fun pinning and thanks for kicking off the launch of Scrapbooking Boys & Men with us.

Posted in General Inspiration | 23 Comments