Thursday, July 31, 2014

August Sneak Peek #6


Our final sneak peek before the website updates tonight - Echo Park Paper's Simple Life will be the second line featured in our August Doubleshot Kit. Echo Park's designer, Ashley Horton, has created an adorable layout that shows off the great color palette. Be sure to check the website tonight for the full reveal of all of our August Kits at www.scrap-room.com.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

August Sneak Peek #5


Finally... the Public Library line from October Afternoon is available for us to play with and will be making an appearance in our August Flavors of the Month Kit. I've always been a "Library Girl" myself, and I'm looking forward to playing with this product line to create a long overdue layout about my beloved Book Club. Maybe I'll even scraplift this eclectic design from October Afternoon designer, Mou Saha.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

August Sneak Peek #4


Now, if this layout doesn't scream "SUMMER," I don't know what does! :) Brought to you by designer Wendy Antenucci and featured on the Simple Stories blog, this fun summer line by Simple Stories, Good Day Sunshine, will be in your August Flavors of the Month Kit!

Monday, July 28, 2014

August Sneak Peek #3


Today's sneak peek gives you a glance at another one of the four new lines in our August Flavors of the Month Kit. Today's layout, pulled straight from the Elle's Studio blog, by designer Adrienne Alvis, shows off the new SHINE! Collection. And yes, that fun sheet of instagram-friendly paper will be coming in your ScrapRoom kit!

Sunday, July 27, 2014

August Sneak Peek #2


Sneak Peek #2 is from Fancy Pants owner, Jodi Sanford and was featured on the Fancy Pants blog. You're going to love the bright color palette with a pop of black, and this line will be making its appearance in our August Doubleshot Kit.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

August Sneak Peek #1


We're kicking off our August Sneak Peek week with a look at a pretty layered layout by Echo Park Paper's designer, Jen Gallacher. Today's sneak shows off the new Capture Life line by Echo Park Paper. Yep, your kit will feature some bokeh!

Friday, July 25, 2014

Simple Stories DIY Project Idea Sheet: a new printable for your weekend!

Today, I'm linking you up to a great downloadable Project Idea Sheet from Simple Stories, using the DIY Collection featured in our July Flavors of the Month Kit. Simple Stories is one of my favorite manufacturers, and they continue to supply the scrapbooking world (and our monthly ScrapRoom kits) with great products and loads of inspiration. They have recently started releasing Project Idea sheets to accompany their new product lines. Project Idea Sheets are Simple Stories' version of our Recipe Cards. They include 2 projects - a 12x12 layout and a Pocket Page Spread, as well as a list of tools and products needed to create the project along with step by step instructions. (Sounds familiar, huh?)

Below are photos of the layouts featured on the DIY Project Idea Sheet. If using your July Kits, you'll need to make a few adjustments to the actual papers and tidbits used, but you'll be able to recreate the general look and feel of the layouts below by following the printed directions on the Idea Sheet below.



August Sneak Peeks will begin on the blog tomorrow!

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Daily Inspiration: Layout of the Day!


Layout of the Day by designer, Brenda Carpenter, showcasing the Bella Blvd Family Forever layout kit from the July Flavors of the Month Kit. Such a gorgeous quick-and-easy layout to feature a large photo or a photo collage!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Embellishing with Alphas

Now that it is summer, I have had a bit more time to spend on my Project Life spreads, which means that I like to use more embellishments. This month's kit included the Simple Stories Under the Stars papers. However, there weren't really any embellishments to go with these papers, so I grabbed a pack of Thickers (Hardcover Chipboard) from my stash.  Adding the alphas didn't take much time, but it was just enough embellishing to satisfy me.

July Fourth


If you click on the above photo, you can see that I trimmed down two of the cards for journaling blocks and then added them to striped 3x4 cards. To surround the journaling and add a bit of dimension, I used apostrophes from the Thickers sheet. I was excited to finally use some of those.

I added the date to my title card. The small letters are not from the Thickers pack; they are Jillibean Soup Tiny Alphas in brown. The wood veneer stars worked well on this card also. The Thickers filled the open space nicely. Done.


I could have stopped with the title card, but I had plenty of Thickers and stickers. Since the pictures on the left side show how I decorated my mantel for the holiday, I added the word Home surrounded by brackets to the beige card. I felt that the space was adequately filled, so I moved on.


The next card had a spot that looked like it was for journaling or adding a date, but I had already done both of those things on other cards. To fill the space I added the 2 since the card was right next to the picture of my boys. My favorite part, though, was the asterisks that I embellished the flower centers with. I think that's the most I've ever used asterisks from my Thicker packs. Ha ha!


Normally, I would journal on the large 4x6 card on the right page, but I had already done that on two of the 3x4 cards. This was the only 4x6 card that I had left that would work for this page. I was a bit stumped. First, I tried to find an ezra photo that I could cut down and add, but I didn't have any left. I took out the other kits to see if any of the other embellishments would work here. When I found the "smile" sticker, an idea came to me. Another title style card.


So, the next time you are creating your Project Life pages and feeling like you don't have quite enough embellishments, dig in your stash of alphas. That may just do the trick.

Thanks for stopping by today.  See you soon!



Monday, July 21, 2014

Daily Inspiration: Layout of the Day!


Layout of the Day by designer, Brenda Carpenter, featuring the My Mind's Eye Ashbury Heights layout kit in the July Flavors of the Month Kit!

Friday, July 18, 2014

Weekend Inspiration: Scraplift the Sketch!

For starters, let me just say that I'm sorry I'm not super-consistent with the "Off-Topic With Tammy" posts on Thursdays. Some weeks I truly can't think of anything interested to write about and hate to ALWAYS throw out recipes, although I do spend a LOT of time thinking about cooking and cooking (and eating!). I'll try to think of some other topics to include along with my favorite recipes. :)

For a quick and fun layout this weekend, use your July ScrapRoom Kit (or any lovely products from your stash) and scraplift this month's sketch, brought to you by Becky Fleck from www.pagemaps.com.


from Brenda Ragsdale, using the Simple Stories Under The Stars layout kit in the July Doubleshot Kit. 
(I'm not much of a camper myself, but I LOVE this outdoorsy line!!!)

from Rochelle Spears, using the Teresa Collins Daily Stories layout kit in the July Flavors of the Month Kit.

What will you create with the sketch? I think I just might carve out an hour to do a little scraplifting this weekend myself. I'm feeling INSPIRED!!!


Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Daily Inspiration: Layout of the Day!


Layout by Brenda Ragsdale, featuring the Bella Blvd Family Forever layout kit in our 
July Flavors of the Month Kit.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Project Life Inspiration: New Sketches!

Hi friends.  It's been a while since I've posted any new Project Life sketches. Partly because I tend to use the same ones over and over in my own pages. This month, however, I came up with a couple of new layouts, so I made sketches.  Here's the spread.

July '13 


Title Sketch



Filler Sketch



Both of these sketches were inspired by the chipboard pieces in the My Mind's Eye Ashbury Heights kit that came in the July Flavors of the Month.  I have a lot of these small chipboard pieces in my kits and my stash, so I wanted to figure out a way to really highlight them on my cards.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you use the sketches!


Monday, July 14, 2014

Daily Inspiration: Layout of the Day!


Layout of the day by TSR Designer, Rochelle Spears, featuring the Teresa Collins Daily Stories layout kit from the July 2014 Flavors of the Month Kit.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Off-Topic with Tammy: FRIED RICE!

Hey All! I've got another family favorite recipe to share with you today - FRIED RICE! I just discovered this recipe last year, and I find myself pulling it out quite frequently to feed the crew. I usually add shredded pork, but it would be equally delicious with any leftover meat, like chicken or steak - or just by itself. My favorite thing about this recipe though, is that it is best made with leftover rice, so every time I make rice in my rice cooker, I always make an extra 3-4 cups and make Fried Rice with the leftovers the next day. My boys love it! It's also easy enough that your kids can make it - even your kids who have been uninterested in learning how to do much for themselves in the kitchen beyond pb&j sandwich-making.

This photo was actually taken by oldest son, who since he started living on his own has started to get tired of frozen pizza and was open to learning a few easy dinnertime dishes he could make himself. I recently taught him how to use a crock pot and rice cooker to create some quick and tasty meals. He sent me this photo last week. If he can do it, your kids can too!

FRIED RICE:
3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best)
1 cup frozen peas & carrots (thawed)
1 small onion, chopped
2 t. minced garlic
3 T. sesame oil (MUST be sesame oil to get the right flavor)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce

On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the peas/carrots, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to the side, then pour your eggs on the other side and stir fry until scrambled. Now, add the rice and soy sauce and blend altogether. Stir fry until thoroughly heated.
(NOTE: To be honest here, I never thaw my frozen peas/carrots. I just throw them in the oil frozen and cook them a little longer. And, I often times, instead of chopping up a fresh onion, I just throw a handful of frozen onions in the pan as well. It's just quicker and easier... Furthermore, if I don't have the peas/carrots mix, then I'll use whatever smallish veggies I happen to have on hand - frozen corn or any mix - this recipe always turns out delicious!)

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Daily Inspiration: Layout of the Day!

Ooh, la la... I took a few days off from the blog to celebrate the Holiday weekend and get the July Kits out, but we're back today with a little "Daily Inspiration" from one of our talented designers featuring the July Flavors of the Month Kit - which should be arriving at your doorstep any day now!

This layout by Brenda Carpenter, featuring the Bella Blvd. Family Forever layout kit in our July Flavors of the Month Kit, just screams summer fun! Grab a couple of summer photos and get ready to duplicate it as soon as you get your July Kits!

Friday, July 4, 2014

July Doubleshot Kit

We're wrapping up our July Kit Parade with our July Doubleshot Kit, featuring the Simple Stories Under the Stars and Bella Blvd. Summer Squeeze paper lines and products. Our Doubleshot Kit gives you a "little bit more" paper and embellishments to coordinate with each line so you can really jazz up your layouts - or create an extra page or card! See the full list of Doubleshot Kit contents HERE.
July Doubleshot Kit
Simple Stories Under The Stars
Bella Blvd. Summer Squeeze

Layout created by Rochelle Spears, using the Simple Stories Under The Stars layout kit in the July Doubleshot Kit. Visit our Doubleshot Kit Idea Gallery for more great layout ideas!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

July Project Life Kit

We're taking a closer look at our July Project Life Kit today. Our monthly Project Life Kit features products designed for pocket scrapbooking - 4x6 and 3x4 cards, along with smaller and flatter embellishments and journaling and labeling pieces. Each month, we give you (4) different lines that include enough products to complete at least a 2-page spread with each line (generally more). When possible, we try to coordinate the Project Life Kit lines with the lines in the Flavors of the Month Kit and/or the Doubleshot Kit to give our customers maximum flexibility! Click HERE to view the detailed list of the kit contents.
July Project Life Kit:
Bella Blvd. Summer Squeeze
My Mind's Eye Pretty Things
Simple Stories Sn@p HER
Simple Stories Under The Stars

Here's an example of a 2-page pocket layout, created by Aphra Bolyer, using the My Mind's Eye Pretty Things cards and embellishments in the July Project Life Kit. See more great pocket layout ideas using our July Project Life Kit by visiting our July Project Life Idea Gallery!