Hidden Embellishments!

Hey everyone! I've got a quick tip for finding some fun "hidden" embellishments from your Elle's Studio part of the kit this month. At the bottom of your patterned papers, you'll find these barcode strips that have the name of the manufacturer and paper information:

But don't throw them away after you trim them off!  If you flip them over, you'll find these little hidden gems:

Look at all those fun extra embellishments you can use!  I was able to use almost all of these on my 2-pager this month.  I cut out the Kraft colored scalloped border and used it below my photos. I used the "XOXO" red strip and used it on the left side of my 2-pager.  Then, I cut out some of the little banner looking titles and put them on my photos and one below my title for added detail:

The end result:

Don't forget to look on the backs of those barcode strips! You just may find some little hidden treasures for your pages there! ;)

- Jenny

The ScrapRoom Sketch for April... and Our March Winner!

Hey, can you cut a sort of squarish shape?  Like, maybe not even a square, but maybe just a rectangle because you got distracted by somebody yelling about a big white priority mail box that just landed on your porch?  (Yes, those kits are shipping soon!)  Either way... a square... a rectangle... or even just something sort of like that gets you *this close* to having our sketch done this month.  And if you feel like piling on the details and layers?  You can do that, too.  Enjoy - we did!

April Sketch by Tammy Harp

"Swing Fun" by Melanie Call

"Church Egg Hunt" by Jennifer Moore

"Torrey Pines Sunrise" by Theresa Sovacool

Whether you follow the sketch exactly or flip it around... whether you use one photo or more... we want to see how you've been inspired by the sketch this month!  Give it a try for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to The ScrapRoom Store.  Just link up your take on our sketch in the comments below. 

And speaking of The ScrapRoom Store, we have a lucky winner again this month!

The March Sketch Challenge winner was randomly chosen to be Michele with this fun layout capturing that moment her son finally conquered two wheels.  That's a big moment for lots of kids - way to be in the right place with your camera, Michele!  *big love*

"2 Wheels" by Michele

Congratulations, Michele! Please email Tammy at admin@scrap-room.com with your real name, address, and the name of the contest you won. She'll get your prize to you right away. Happy shopping! Don't forget to link up your sketch layout for your chance to win a shopping spree next month. Good luck, and have fun with it!

- Theresa/Savi

April Kits & Our Guest Designer Are Here... And That's No Joke!

Normally I'm not a fan of April Fool's Day... could be I'm the second most gullible person on the plant.  (For the record, my mother is the first most gullible person on the planet... remind me sometime to tell you the astronaut story.)  But this April Fool's Day is awesome!  Not only do we have our April Kits to show you... but our Guest Designer has been revealed, too!  So let's dig into the goodies, shall we?

FOTM Kit:  Teresa Collins He Said/She Said, Elle's Studio You & Me, Studio Calico Here & There, and Crate Paper Maggie Holmes

Doubleshot Kit:  My Mind's Eye Unforgettable and Echo Park Paper Brothers

Project Life Kit

Embellishment Kit

Patterned Paper Kit

Bazzill/Cardstock Kit

Stamp Kit

And I know you can't wait to see who our Guest Designer is this quarter... but first, before you go check out our Ideas Gallery to see who it is...  Take a look at this beautiful layout using the April Doubleshot kit.  Do you recognize her style?  Take a guess before you look in the gallery!  Hint:  She's never been an astronaut.  *giggle*  (Sorry, mom!)

"Us" by TSR Guest Designer

- Theresa/Savi

Sneak Peek #6: Elle's Studio You & Me (FOTM)

Love by TSR Designer, Melanie Call

"We are super excited for this beautiful line which contains pinks, blues, kraft, and chalkboard!!  This collection is perfect for you and the ones you love." -- Elle's Studio blog

Sneak Peek #5: Echo Park Paper Oh Brother (DS)

My Boy by TSR Guest Designer

"This collection is designed for that special relationship between siblings and brothers. This collection works well for teenagers and toddlers alike." -- Echo Park Paper blog

So did you catch that?  Yes, that's right... we've got an awesome guest designer here at The ScrapRoom for the next quarter!  Do you recognize her style?  Can you guess who it is?  We're all super excited to have her on board with us, and we think you will be, too.  Now reveal day is just a smidge more exciting, if that's even possible.  *big grin*  You'll get to check out more wonderful pages in the gallery and find out who our new designer is.  And then... come back on April 3rd for an interview and get to know her better! *squeal*

Sneak Peek #4: Studio Calico Here & There (FOTM)

Project Life "April 2012" by Aphra Bolyer

"Pack a bag, grab your camera and hit the road with the Here and There Collection. Playful, hand-drawn patterns and icons display the details of treasured adventures in an organic color palette, including burnt orange, deep blue and crisp, apple green. Go Here and There and everywhere, satisfying your creative wanderlust." -- Studio Calico blog

Sneak Peek #3: Teresa Collins He Said/She Said (FOTM)

"Rock the 'Stache" by Jennifer Moore

"I had in my head that I wanted a line that was youthful, ageless and fun! I wanted a collection that was for both girls and guys. The collection is so versatile. I love the richness of color." -- Teresa Collins

Sneak Peek #2: My Mind's Eye Unforgettable (DS)

"Hobo" by Theresa Sovacool

"Unforgettable is vibrant, sweet, romantic, and trendy all rolled into one.  Unforgettable is made up of pinks,yellows,blues and browns and is the perfect mix of geometric and floral." -- My Mind's Eye Blog

Sneak Peek #1: Crate Paper Maggie Holmes (FOTM)

"Loved" by Melanie Call

"We are so excited to have collaborated with Maggie to bring her style and Crate Paper's together. She has a vintage, eclectic and oh so very cute style that we know you are going to fall in LOVE with. Maggie is an amazing scrapbooker and photographer that shines through in all of her beautiful layouts and projects. We are so thrilled to welcome Maggie into the CP family and hope that you enjoy her new collection" -- Crate Paper Blog

April's Mix-It-Up Challenge!!

Good morning TSR fans!!! It is Tuesday, and it is time again for another super, fun, fantabulous challenge, and I will NOT be playing along with this one. Nope...it gives me a certain uneasiness...the heebie-jeebies to be exact. This month's challenge is to mix lines...scary, right? I have tried and tried again, but can not master this art. And yes, it is an art! Take a look at what a few of our girls did with this challenge...

My Guy by Melanie

Egg-a-riffic by Lan

If you would like to try your hand at our Mix-It-Up Challenge this month, leave a comment IN THIS POST with a link to your layout by Thursday, April 28th. Your name will then be entered into a random drawing to win a $5 gift cert to our TSR Store!!!!

Happy Tuesday and get scrapping!!

Product Spotlight--Studio Calico State Fair

Happy Friday!!! And boy I can't begin to tell ya just how happy I am that today is Friday...Whoot! Whoot!! As I promised I would show off some of out Design Team's most colorful layouts this month, and I do not think you could choose a more colorful bunch than our projects created using Studio Calico's State Fair. I know...it is kinda intimidating. None of the colors really match, the patterns are BOLD, and some of the patterns are kinda vintage-ish and some not...what to do, right? Well, take a look at what our girls did...

It's Your Birthday by Melanie

Happy Hikers by Jenny

The Fair by Melanie

Navy Pier by Jenny

Mail Time by Lan

Pretty fabulous, right? And some of the girls admitted to having a bit of trouble with this line. Here are a few pointers...

1. It was created by someone...they know what they are talking about! Meaning...this line was created to go together, and as you can see, it does. You sometimes just have to let go of what you think you know and throw caution to the wind, and just CREATE!!
2. Use it in small doses...chop it up!! Sometimes when I am faced with BOLD, COLORFUL papers I create layouts with strips. See Melanie's layout The Fair.
3. You can never go wrong with a grid layout!! This line is just perfect for Aphra's sketch this month. Again it is in small doses, but it a more uniformed, organized fashion. See Jenny's layout Navy Pier and Lan's layout Mail Time.
4. And when in doubt, you can ALWAYS make a card! See Melanie's card It's Your Birthday.

Hope this helps...try something new! Give it a try!

I would also like to invite you to our Spring Online Crop going on NOW in our Message Board. There are challenges, giveaways, and LOTS of fun to be had today and tomorrow. Come on...JOIN US!!

DT Inspiration with Sarah!

Hi there! Sarah here with a quick tutorial for you. Don't you just love the April Double Shot Kit? I can't get enough of it! I created this card from the cardstock and patterned paper from the kit and the brad from the embellishement kit. I added a few rubons and some twine from my stash and had this card done in no time.

See that flower above in the lower right? It's very quick and easy to make and I will show you how. All you need is a pair of scissors and maybe a cirlce punch (I used a 1 1/2 inch punch), but handcutting circles works just as well. I am going to show you how to make it using some cardstock scraps I had because it is a lot easier to see the cuts on the cardstock. I used the Prima Madeline paper on my flower above though.

Step 1: Punch three circles from paper.

Step 2: Scrunch and crinkle two of them in the palm of your hand.

Step 3: Using your scissors make cuts as shown by the pencil lines below to make four "tabs". Don't cut through the middle. Cut each of the three circles like this.

Step 4: Using your scissors cut around each tab to round the courners and add a notch to the middle of the cut as shown below.

Step 5: Use the uncrunched circle as a base and adhere one of the crunched circles on top of it. I found glue dots work best for this.

Step 6: Cut the tabs apart on the remaining crunched circle.

Step 7: Overlap the four cut pieces in the middle of your flower making them slightly smaller than the two circles .

Step 8: Using a paper piercer poke a hole through the center and adhere a brad through.

As you can see our circles are not perfect at the end so it doesn't matter if handcut them or use a punch. Cutting is probably better too since then you can create any size you want. I also handcut some leaves from the green cardstock included in the double shot kit to make some leaves.

Enjoy your flowers! ~ Sarah

Awe Come On...Give it a Try!

Good morning ladies and HAPPY FRIDAY!!! I am here today to share my huge accomplishment...I used stamps on a scrapbook layout!!! This has really been a HUGE challenge for me in the past. And I'm saying on my scrapbook layout, but the fact that I used the stamps at all is really the accomplishment. Almost every time I commit to using my stamps, I end up trashing it...I have trouble working them in! But this time I challenged myself to show the stamps off! In the April kit this month you get these wonderful, beautiful babies...

And I created this...

FUN

So I used the oh so bright and beautiful Gertie by My Mind's Eye...yum! And to make the clear and crisp images from my stamps, I practiced. For me that is key...practice! I do use StazOn Ink which is perfect for stamping intricate images, and I just stamp on a scrap piece of paper until I work up the nerve to stamp on my project. And as far as placement, it's random...really. In this month's kit you also get a nice assortment of the Gertie brads. And to show them off, I stuck them in the centers of my doilies.

So, I challenge you today ladies to use your stamps. Believe me if I can do it, you can too!! Thanks for stopping by!