Thanks, Megan. I’m thrilled to be here talking about one of my favorite trends of the moment–confetti!

Image courtesy of A Beautiful Mess Blog

Confetti is a happy little concept that has been around forever and is typically used at parties or weddings.  Lately I’ve also been seeing it used as a design element on wedding invitations, gift wrap, cards, tags, etc. It is also popping up a lot as a photography prop and even on fingernails!

Image courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

Image courtesy of ImgFave.com

It’s fun to see something so simple and common trending because it is really easy to translate onto a scrapbook page or card. All you need is a couple of different size circle punches and some paper. You can customize the color scheme and you can also get creative with the size of the confetti pieces and even the shape. Think hearts, triangles, or squares. I think it adds an element of playfulness and a whimsical flair to any project. I’m not saying that I’m ready to give up the basics like butterflies, flowers and banners but this does add another go-to design element that is versatile enough to become one of my basics!

Image courtesy of CakeEventsBlog.com

Image courtesy of Green Wedding Shoes

Here is my take on the confetti trend.

I absolutely loved this inspiration piece where they made confetti from pictures!! This would be fun to do with the small thumbnail images I get from my printer when I print photos!

Image courtesy of Lil' Luna

If you are a digital scrapper, here is a tutorial for you on how to create confetti in photoshop!

Image courtesy of Pugly Pixel

Whether you prefer to create digitally or traditionally, I hope this trend has you inspired to create a little confetti of your own!

Thanks for the fabulous inspiration, Maggie. This is definitely a trend worth celebrating. I’m already reaching for my circle punches and scraps of paper. We’re glad you could stop by and share your view of what’s hot in scrapbooking and paper crafting.

Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner, creative editor, & Maggie Holmes, CK Dream Team designer

For the mini book idea I’m sharing with you today, I’ve left my embellishments to a minimum, just letting the papers, photos and words shine, but you could certainly add layers and trinkets and chipboard until your binder rings won’t hold another thing!

After printing off your free mini book page download, decide whether you wish to use 6×4 photos or to trim them to 4×4 as I did. Using the 4×4 photos allowed me to make my album pages have staggered sizes. Each page of the album gets progressively longer and more of the patterned paper shows.

We’re a family of five, hence the “we are 5” title, and each of us has our own page in this mini book describing what our loves were at the time these photos were taken last Easter.

It can be tricky trying to thread baker’s twine through the eye of a needle, so let me share this nifty trick using floral wire which will make your life so much easier.

And here’s a more detailed shot of a page from my mini book.

Be sure to leave a comment below to be entered to win a $20 shop credit to I Love It All, my Etsy shop, featuring subway art prints, modern typography posters, and mini books. I hope you enjoy your mini book page template and I invite you to join me on my blog where I share project inspiration and downloads.

Enjoy!

Monika Wright

To get started, look in your menu options to see if your camera will allow you to adjust the white balance settings. (Check out this article for links to the manuals for many popular cameras.) If so, you will see icons for several different options, such as automatic, daylight, cloudy or shade, florescent, and tungsten. Each option indicates a lighting condition you may encounter when taking outdoor or indoor photos. For best photo results, select the setting that best describes your lighting conditions. Using the tungsten or florescent settings indoors will especially help reduce the red cast (tungsten) or grayish cast (florescent) you often get when you shoot indoors.

Photo without a white balance adjustment

Photo with a white balance adjustment

Another quick tip is to use your flash whenever the subject you want to shoot is in front of or facing away from the light of a window or the sun—even if you’re taking pictures in the middle of the day! Because your camera takes in only enough light to expose the brightest part of your surroundings, your subject is often draped in shadows. By using your camera’s flash on subjects less than 15 feet away, the flash will add light to your subject and eliminate any dark shadows. Give it a try and see what you think!

–Kris Brunson, senior editor

Have you seen the January/February 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes? Turn to page 55 to enjoy a trendy feature about various calendar products and how they can become parts of your scrapbooks. I used a stencil to make a real calendar on my 12×12 page.

I love the fact that this stencil comes in a 6×6 size as well, making it perfect for a mini book to record your entire year.

To create a similar mini book, start by cutting three pieces of 12×12 cardstock to four 6×6 pieces each. You will have twelve 6×6 pieces. Line up the stencil on top of each piece of cardstock and trace with a pen.

This is what the traced calendar looks like.

Color the page just enough so that you can read your journaling easily. Add a 4×6 photo or a few smaller photos to the facing page. Use stickers, stamps, punches, etc. to accentuate the theme of your month. For example, I used an acrobat stamp in keeping with the fact that we went to the circus this month. I stamped musical notes on scrap cardstock and punched out a tag to mark the date of my daughter’s chorus rehearsal.

Keep in mind that if you are making your next month’s calendar at the back of the photo page, like I did, it’s best not to use brads or eyelets as the prongs of the brads and backs of eyelets will show on the next month’s calendar. However, if you are inserting your pages in sheet protectors in a store-bought mini album, you needn’t worry about using brads, stitching, etc.

Have fun creating with calendars!

Mou Saha, contributing writer

BasicGrey’s Kissing Booth

Pucker up! This beautiful line is just what you need, whether you’re telling your own love story or simply want some beautiful new pinks and reds to add to your stash.

Bazzill Basics Paper’s Love Story

Who wrote the book of love, you ask? Well, this cute book was written by our friends at Bazzill Basics Paper. It’s a whimsical line, just write for making a note for that special someone you’ve been secretly admiring. Or, use it on a layout about your favorite sweet friend. The heart buttons are just the sugar on top you need!

Doodlebug Designs’ Sweet Cakes Collection

Mmmmm…the smell of Sweet Cakes is adrift. Breathe it in and imagine the kind of happy designs you could make with this adorable line. The touches of glitter will add just a dash of sparkle, and the cute motifs will make any scrapbook page smile.

Time to Win!
Inspired yet? It’s your lucky day. We’re giving away assorted items from each of these lines, as well as various items from our Jan/Feb “Latest & Greatest” magazine column. Want your name inthe drawing hat? Simply leave a comment on this post between now and next Friday, Jan. 20. We’ll randomly select two lucky winners and one of them might as well be you.

Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner, creative editor

P.S. Congratulations to Margie S (Nihao, Cupcake!), the winner of a one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine for commenting on contributing writer Deena Wuest’s how-to blog post on ReneePearson.com! Visit http://www.reneepearson.com/rpblog to claim your prize.

P.S. Don’t forget to download CK Little Women for Free Font Friday!

I try very hard to count my blessings every day. What I consider one of the biggest blessings in my life is being a scrapbooker. I mean that!  I love how the scrapbook community embraces each other and shares our lives together. It is amazing, and I think it’s brilliant that scrapbookers just understand each other in a special way. Our unique and supportive community at Club CK inspired me to begin a series of challenges. This new monthly challenge series is to recognize the blessings in your life, and to scrapbook a life of Thanks Living.

Each month we will regularly jot down our daily blessings–a few simple words you will use to create beautiful layouts to document the wonderfulness that is your life!  You can add your daily blessings to this week’s post on Club CK, or can keep a private list if you’d prefer.

The Thanks Living challenges are posted monthly at Club CK.  Additionally, if you crave more information on how to design great layouts, the Thanks Living challenges may be the sweet treat you are looking for. Along with a great challenge, there will be a mini lesson on design each month. For example, this month we are focusing on the way to use various kinds of “lines” in your scrapbooking. All challenge and blessings threads will always be located in the Scraptivities Forum.

As a special treat, we also have a free download of journaling spots, accents, and titles you can use on your scrapbook layouts.

It is never too late to start counting your blessings, so you can join in at any time!

–Erika Hayes, Club CK moderator

Here’s a quick peek at just a few of the fun ideas you’ll discover in this special issue to help you scrapbook your year.

Winter

Snow Happy by Julie Bonner for Jillibean Soup, as seen in Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season, page 24.

Even if you don’t have snow in your neck of the woods this winter, you can draw inspiration from Julie Bonner’s cute layout. For example, bring structure to your winter layout with the clean look of grid patterned paper. You’ll discover seasonal patterns and motifs throughout this issue that will help you select just the right products for your page.

Spring

Learning to Work by Autumn Baldwin, as seen in Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season, page 42.

We’ve packed this issue with photo ideas for every season! For example, add pizazz to your spring stories by capturing everyday seasonal activities with your camera, just as Autumn Baldwin did. Using a few photos of her kids working in the garden, she created a layout her family will treasure.

Summer

U 2 R Fair Weather Friends by Amy Heller for October Afternoon, as seen in Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season, page 73.

Color is so important for setting the scene in a story. And in this issue, you’ll find over 30 color combinations to help you tell your stories. For instance, a bold, bright color combination is just the thing for capturing the excitement-filled days of summer, as Amy Heller shows us.

Autumn

Rolling with the Tide by Gretchen McElveen, as seen in Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season, page 92.

Sports are a big part of our lives, no matter the season. That’s why you’ll find sports layouts throughout Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season. Gretchen McElveen showed her love of the game with her clever football layout.

That’s just a taste of what you’ll find in Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season. Check out our sneak peek to discover even more of what this issue has to offer, and get a copy today.

Thanks to our advertisers in this issue, without whose support we couldn’t bring you all these fantastic ideas: Back Porch Memories, The Robin’s Nest, Therm O Web, Quick Quotes, Scrap Scription, Purple Lion Paper, and The Treasure Box Club.

–

Win It!

Want to get your hands on a free copy of Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season? Leave a comment telling us about your favorite season to scrapbook. We’ll randomly choose three winners and post their names on the Giveaways tab Tuesday, January 17.

Happy scrapbooking!

Kim Jackson, senior editor

Congratulations to Ashley Horton who was our latest Readers’ Pick Poll winner!  Watch for her page in the July/August 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Submissions are now open for the September/October Readers’ Pick Poll. Submissions will be accepted until February 7, 2012, and three finalists will be chosen for the voting round. Voting will begin on February 10, 2012. Check out the contest for more information.

We’ve received many questions about what we’re looking for when we select pages to appear in the magazine (and when we select pages for voting). One thing in particular we look for is journaling. Even if it’s just a couple of sentences, words add a lot of meaning to your layouts. We will rarely publish a page without journaling on it, so before you submit your page, jot down a few words.

Check out these tips on journaling:

• Look through our verb reference sheet to help you find the right word.
• Discover some all-star tips for journaling about sports.
• Be inspired by a quote or journaling prompt.
• Make a custom journaling spot.
• Try a new approach to journaling.

On our contest page we have many more tips for getting published, so check it out today and submit a layout you love!

–Erin Weed, online editor

P.S. Don’t forget to download CK Winter Words for Free Font Friday!

What about you? Do your albums also lack pages focused on you? If so, I challenge you to join me and set a goal to create more “you” focused pages in 2012.

Closer & Closer by Cindy Tobey, as seen in the January/February 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, pg 97.

“Closer & Closer” is a page I created last year about myself. I used some lovely, floral, laser-cut paper on this layout. Laser-cut papers are so intricate and beautiful, and look great on a layout in their entirety, but they also look great cut into shapes!

I layered a pennant shape trimmed from laser-cut paper below my vertical photo. I also added the same laser-cut paper over the large die-cut “38.”

Here’s how to get this look.

1.       Cut large numbers by hand or with a die-cut machine.

2.       Spray laser-cut paper with adhesive. I’m actually spraying adhesive on the front of the laser-cut paper because I’m using the back (white) side on the numbers.

3.       Add numbers to laser-cut paper. Make sure to adhere the numbers front side to adhesive side of laser-cut paper. They will appear backwards as in my photo above.

4.       Use micro-tip scissors or a craft knife to carefully trim away excess laser-cut paper around the numbers. If you use a craft knife make sure the blade is sharp so that you don’t pull the laser cut paper and tear it.

I hope you will scrapbook more pages about yourself in 2012, and maybe give this laser-cut paper technique a try on one of those layouts all about you!

Happy New Year!

Cindy Tobey, contributing writer

One of the best parts about bringing in the new year is the chance to reflect on our own lives over the past year and make goals to help us do things a little better. Where scrapbooking is such an important part of our lives, making scrapbooking new year’s resolutions is a natural fit.

Today, take a moment to think about your scrapbooking goals. Whatever your scrapbooking goals are for the new year, you’re sure to find many ideas on our blog, our website, and Club CK to help you fill them.

Would you like to get more pages done in less time?

Would you like to start journaling more?

Are there only a few pages about YOU in your albums?

Do you want to try some more techniques on your pages?

Do you want to organize your scraproom?

Come on over to Club CK, our free community site for scrapbookers, and discuss your scrapbooking resolutions!

Happy New Year!

Erin Weed, online editor