Ice Escape

ICE '09 CANCELLED

2009-03-24T18:09:00.003-06:00

Just a quick note here, if you've been a regular follower of our blog you probably have noticed the lack of activity here the last several months. Back in January the ICE team had to make the hard decision to cancel ICE '09. unfortunately the economy is not doing so great and being a new event to the community we just didn't feel we could continue on with this years event without the certainty of the numbers we needed to make the event a success. We sent out emails to our loyal customers, vendors and a notice went out to all our Newsletter subscribers. We want to thank each of our supporters of ICE '08 and those who were prepared to support ICE '09. We were very sad to have had to come to this decision ourselves. We will keep this blog "open" for the time being, with the possibility that the ICE Team will have any new news of future events.

Thanks!

Heather, Tracy & Nancy

From our Home to Yours

2008-12-18T13:45:00.003-07:00

I wish I could send all my cyber friends a personal Christmas Card, but since that it just impossible I will share it with you here! So have a Very Merry Christmas, from the Hillman Family!

This year I went with a photo card, because I had these amazing beautiful family portraits my dear friend, Tara, took for me at my sisters wedding last month. I made the card myself in photoshop using two freebie downlaods from www.faithsisters.com (a girls gotta love free!). The canvas was made 4"x8", since I was unable to find a local place to print this size on a blank card (there's lots of really great pre-made photo card templates out there these days) I merged 3 cards onto a 8x12 canvas and had prints made at Costco. You still have to cut them apart, and buy your own envelopes, but hey, at least I can say my card this year was semi-homemade!

EnJoy!

***HeatheR***

2008-12-17T14:02:00.011-07:00

The week before Christmas
My ICE Chicks gave to me….
A shopping list!

friend sent me this cute project http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1096807?cat=all&what=keywords&si=list and challenged me to come up with my own version. Well who am I to not take on a challenge. Besides it was way cute!

First I loved the idea. I am a notorious list maker, but somehow my lists never seem to make it to the store with me, this way I have a nice handy place to create my shopping lists and keep it in my purse so its handy at all times. I loved the tin in the original, but unfortunately I don’t have a tin like that in my stash. So I put on my thinking cap and came up with this…

A CD Jewel Case! It is thin, sleek, and small enough to keep in my purse without much an issue. The clear plastic is great to showcase a fun design, but keep it safe from tearing and getting ruined by use. Plus if your like me you probably have a couple hanging around the house, just screaming "alter me", and if not you can easily go buy one at any discount, drug, or electronic store!

This is the front of my list organizer. I found this great quote on a stamp recently. I think it’s just perfect!

I love the idea of doing a themed organizer for Christmas, or any other occasion that requires a lot of planning…but I am just getting a little sick of Christmas- and I wanted to use this year round, so I stuck with this WeArememoryKeepers line called White Out. (LOVE LOVE LOVE this line BTW)

Inside on the left are 2 staggered pockets to hold various receipts, business cards, notes etc. I highly recommend sewing the pockets on if you plan to use this feature much- that will help keep your paper from popping off and the receipts from getting stuck in stray adhesive. (I would have sewn mine, but I lent my sewing machine out and well it hasn’t been retuned, I digress…)

Next on the right side I used some coordinating papers to create a background. Then I cut some notebook paper to make my list notebook. Using my cropadile I carefully punched two holes through the paper “pad” & the back of the Jewel case. Then thread a ribbon through to hold all the pieces securely. This will eliminate bulk inside the case so it will shut, and help hold the pad on without the background paper always falling out due to the weight. This also makes replacing the pad paper a cinch! WARNING…. This was a little difficult with the cropadile since the clearance on the hole punch is not very wide, I ended up having to break off a small piece of plastic to get the 2nd hole in. I recommend using the Big Bite…and if you are considering purchasing one of these tools ( I LOVE my cropadile) I suggest getting the big bite for this exact reason (and the longer reach).

Lastly I tied a ribbon around a shorten pencil and threaded through one of the holes. This way I never lose it! Keep your eye out for extra small pens for this. I recently saw some cute sets at Michaels’ in the stocking stuffers bins. Or you can be like me and steal a pencil out of your kids stash, cut it down to size and wala! When the case is closed the pencil fits perfectly along the spine.

EnJoy!
****HeatheR***

A funny for you

2008-12-11T11:59:00.003-07:00

This poem is just too cute not to share. Thanks Jackie, CTMH rep. and ICE Cool Chick for sending it to us!

Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree.
I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me.
Could it be cardstock or chipboard or lace?
Or a Cricut, I said, with a smile on my face.
And that's when I heard him,
"Hi Santa, " I said
"You know....good little girls should be in their beds".
"I know I should Santa,and now I've got caught.
But I was just so excited To see what you brought."
"Well, let's take a look in this room where you work.
He shook his head quickly,And left with a jerk.
I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear.
"You've got enough crap,
I'll see you next year!"

~Author Unknown

Guest Designer: Scribbles

2008-12-09T19:15:00.009-07:00

This weeks Guest Designer is local artist Becky Wright and her company Scribbles. Her personalized HAND PAINTED signs are amazing! You can learn more about Scribbles at http://www.freewebs.com/scribblesigns/

Scribbles
FUN, unique, personalized, hand-painted, character signs!
You name it, you design it, I "Scribble" it!
scribblesigns@aol.com

I started "Scribbles" because I bought a sign and decided I would never spend that much on a sign again so I figured out how to make them myself. My daughter wanted a sign for her room so I painted her name and a "TinkerBell" because I thought it would add a little somethin' somethin'. My friends saw them and wanted some for themselves and then their friends did the same. It's just taken off from there.

Holiday Reminder

2008-12-08T17:21:00.007-07:00

Christmas CountdownBonus!

See I told you I’d get a few of these thrown in, too bad I’ve gotten a little side tracked by the season…. Oye.

When I came across this poem a couple years ago, it has become a great reminder at the beginning of each season to not to forget the real meaning of the Holidays. Every year I search my PC for the poem, (because as I’ve changed computers over the years and never seem to store the file in a place I can find and remember it…) And read it hoping to take its words to heart. Every year I say I’m going to print it all pretty and make a wall hanging to hang up to help me remember each and every day, and every year I don’t…till now.

******************

1 CORINTHIANS 13 - A CHRISTMAS VERSION

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,

but do not show love to my family,

I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime,

but do not show love to my family,

I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity,

but do not show love to my family,

it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata

but do not focus on Christ,

I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn't give only to those whoare able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust,

but giving the gift of love will endure.

Merry Christmas and lots of love to you and yours!

Author Unknown

************************

First I typed the poem out in Photoshop, using several fonts for added artistic interest.

For an extra touch I used a gold fine tip pen and a gold glitter pen to go over some of the bold text to give it a metallic and special feel.

Then I used a plain ‘ol mat I bought at Wal-Mart for .97 I was surprised to find that the beveled mat was actually 2 mats, so you could get 2 signs out of 1 if you were making several, and wanted to be a bit more frugal. I just covered the Mat(s) in scrapbook papers,& added a few embellishments.

Instead of framing it (which would be lovely also) I used my cropadile to punch 2 holes and made a ribbon hanger.

I hope that this poem will help you too to remember that the holidays arn't just about the gifts, the decorating, and even all the "good" things we do, but to remember to give the best gift of all to those around us; love. I know all to well how easily you can get wrapped up in doing things, even things for church, and charity, and selfless acts for the less fortunate and hurting, but sometimes its best to remember that you need to save some of yourself for those who matter the most.

Have a Blessed Season!

EnJoY!
***HeatheR**

What's in a name?

2008-12-05T12:21:00.007-07:00

Only 3 weeks left to Christmas…
The ICE chicks said to me…
EEEK!

A name sign is a great gift. There are many ways to make a name sign, you can use a first name, or a surname, it can be elegant, or fun and playful. There is so many ways to go about making a name sign also.

This example was made by Cool Chick Jennifer Smith. She used a plain wood board for the base, painted and lacquered it. Then using a Cricuit she cut the last name from paper, & used additional papers to create a background. She used modge podge over the top of the sign to keep all the elements safe, added some ribbon and placed the sign on an easel. Cute!

This sign was made by Cindy Kinickerbocker. The cute stamped people represent the recipients family & makes for a unique gift. The stamps are from Stampin’ Up! Called “All in the Family” (if you are interested in purchasing this stamp please contact us at info@iceescape.net and we will be happy to get you in contact with Cindy) After creating the base with stamps, paper, ribbons, and a small tag with the families name, she framed it in a long black frame to finish it off. Super cute!

And lastly is this fun name sign. It was made on a simple board that was painted. Large letters spell out the child’s name and fun coordinating embellishments and pattern paper finish it off. This sign included a hanger on the back to hang on a wall.

You can find plain board ready to create on at you local craft store or Home Improvement store. Unique frames can be found at any discount store watch for the long frames usually used for matted collages.

If you have a personal cutting system such as the Circuit or the Silhouette you can cut letters for your sign from paper or even Vinyl. Depending on the size of your sign, premade monogram letters, chipboard letters, and stickers work great to create a name sign. Or check your local scrapbooking stores, many stores offer free workrooms with a Varity of diecut alphabets available!

EnjoY!
***HeatheR***

Easy cute Christmas tags

2008-12-02T13:43:00.004-07:00

Today I wanted to show you some really easy, cute Christmas tags you can make to go on your gifts.

Start with cardstock and cut out a tag. These are about 2 1/2 by 4. Cut a strip of paper to go across them. You can then cut out a printed or stamped circle image with words or a circle object of some sort would work great. I used a 2 inch circle punch for this. Then cut out a matching (or not-whatever your preference) 1 inch circle for the middle.

Then glue the pieces together, punch a hole in the top and add ribbon. Here are a couple of examples of the finished product.

These are quick and easy for both kids and adults!

Nancy

Popcorn Fun

2008-12-01T13:11:00.007-07:00

On the fourth week before Christmas
My ICE chicks gave to me...
something a little corny!

These little popcorn treats were a HUGE hit at the Christmas show. You could use any type of popcorn, Here we used bags of microwave popcorn adorned with papttern paper wrapped around as a band and ribbon, but you could make popcorn balls, or attach it to a jar filled with pretty specialty popcorn, or even make a cute gift including a oversized bowl, flavoring sprinkles, and of course popcorn. The special part of this gift is the poem...of course.

Yet another super easy and cheap gift that's great for teachers, co-workers, neighbors and fun!

EnjoY!

***HeatheR***

Wishing You A Very Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T08:58:00.002-07:00

We at ICE want to wish you and your families a very, very Happy Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving, I like to do some fun activities with my kids. We might to try a new recipe, or try our hand at a fun little craft project. A couple years back the girls and I made some cute little turkey themed napkin rings. We used the Quickutz turkey die for the front, then used brown chalk ink around the edges. We then cut a strip of paper and formed it into a circle and glued to the back to make the ring for the napkins. We then labeled each napkin ring the names of the turkey who would be sitting at that place sitting. :)

This year we plan to make place cards for everyone to then write what we are thankful for. We're going to make them cute, so I can use them in my scrapbook layout later! :)

Do any of you have any Thankgiving traditions or fun projects that your family does? If you do, we'd love to see them. Please e-mail us at info@iceescape.net

***Tracy***

Sittin With Santa Layout

2008-11-25T07:36:00.006-07:00

It's that time of the year! The Christmas Season is upon us. With Thanksgiving this week, the official Holiday Season is under way! ICE got in to the Christmas spirit early getting ready for the Canyon County Christmas show last week. We had so much fun meeting so many of you who are now planning to come to this year's ICE event. And reconnecting with old friends and some of last year's ICE participants!

I'm sure many of you have many fond Christmas memories. I very clearly remember going the the mall every year and visiting Santa. This is a tradition I've carried on with my own children. Sure, when they were little we had some years with tears and screaming. Then they turned to years of shear awe and adoration. Now my kids are older and pretty much know how the whole thing works, but they STILL love going to visit Santa. And, faithfully Santa comes every year to grant their special Christmas wishes.

Two years ago my youngest daughter was seven. I knew my years of her "Believing" were numbered. So, off to the mall we went all dressed up in a pretty dress to visit "The Big Guy". Here's the scrapbook layout with the picture:

Some of you, who visited us at the Canyon County Christmas Show, picked up your own Santa layout like this. I wanted to post it on the blog so that you could see how it all goes together. It's pretty quick and easy assembly:

1. Attach the thinner long red cardstock strip horizontally about mid-way down the background cardstock.

2. Vertically attach the thicker red cardstock strip to the left side of the background cardstock, leave approximately 1/2 inch from the edge.

3. Add the Christmas themed patterned paper strip on top of the vertical red cardstock centering it so a little bit of the red shows on the side.

4. Add the circle of stripped glitter paper slightly overlapping the vertical strip. The circle should be positioned more toward the top of the layout, so that you'll have room for the tag at the bottom.

5. Attach your photo mat. *Please note: Photo mat can be positioned either vertically or horizontally - what ever orientation your photo is will work. (mine just happens to be vertically).

6. Add photo to photo mat centering it to show red around the edges.

7. Add photo corner triangles to the left side of the photo

8. Add thin strip of striped patterned paper to the bottom of the tag. I left some space at the bottom of the tag, and didn't put the stip all the way to the bottom edge.

9. Journal on your tag

10. Add ribbon to your tag

11. Position tag to the bottom right of the layout.

Viola! You are done!

For those of you wondering about the super cute frame featured in the picture above. It's from Creative Memories. Contact your favorite consultant if you want to pick one up for yourself.

If you're wondering how I cut the circle. I have to tell you about my very favorite scrapbook tool. My Curvy Cutter by EK Success! I picked mine up at Archivers. I love circles on my layouts! I also love using it for cutting rings, and other fun accents. This little baby makes circle cutting so easy, and you can cut in several different sizes. There are other templates besides just circles too.

Now get out there and create some new Holiday memories with your family. Then take a ton of pictures, and when you get a chance share some of your awesome layouts and Christmas projects with us here at ICE!

****Tracy :) *****

Christmas Countdown

2008-11-24T19:40:00.005-07:00

OK almost caught up (please don’t let me mess you up there is really only 4 weeks left till Christmas- but I got behind on my blog posts!)

On the fifth week before Christmas
My ICE Chicks gave to me
A countdown to Christmas Eve!

This little Countdown has become a family Tradition in our House. Not only has it given us lots of memories, but its so dang cute and super fun to create.

TINS: You can find these little Tins at Michaels and I have seen them at Target also in the wedding supplies. (Look in the favors section). You can get a whole bucket of tins (30 in all) for 19.99 and if you happen to have a coupon…(who shops at Michaels w/o a coupon anyways??) I decorated each tin differently. It really helps to use a line of paper for this project that has several designs- I used the Figgy Pudding line by Basic Grey here. If you use a 2” circle punch it is the perfect size to fit your background paper in the tin lids. Use some clear drying liquid glue to Adhere most of your papers and embellishments. Use stickers, or stamps, or die cut numbers to label all of the tins. Glue magnets to the backs of the tins and wala! I chose to only do 12 days because doing 24 days would just be too much for me to handle….but hey if you’re up for the challenge… :0)

BOARD: This is a cookie sheet…yep a cookie sheet! There are all kinds of shapes and sizes out there. Use a cropadile or Big Bite to punch holes to thread your ribbon, this will really dress it up and make it look much less like a cookie sheet! LOL I use mine on an easel, but you could easily add a ribbon hanger to the top through a ribbon hole to hang on the wall.

TITLE: On this countdown I used cut letters and shapes from my Silhouette and used a good liquid glue to adhere them. (most cookie sheets have a non stick coating that can make some adhesives not work too well) On other countdowns I have made before I have used chipboard letters, which gives the finished project a nice dimensional effect. Stickers also work well and would make the project much easier if you don’t have a personal die-cutting machine.

FILLERS: There is a lot of fun ways to use your countdown. You can fill the small tins with candy or small trinkets. Some ideas are mini makeup, earrings, necklace’s, bracelets, rings, stickers, hair accessories, toy cars, legos, tea light candles, sample perfumes, etc. You can also get creative and hide a puzzle piece(s) each day to slowly put together that will reveal a secret or prize at the end. (you can easily make your own puzzle or write a message on the back of a small puzzle before breaking it apart). You can have scavenger hunts with clues each day or even a clue to where you have hidden something bigger that won’t fit in the tin. Or my favorite (and what we do at our home) is each day have a special family activity. I write these on strips of paper and the night before place a paper in the tin. (this way I can pre-plan and no one peeks!) I do things like…
*Go caroling * Take a winter wonderland walk * Bake cookies * Play a board game * decorate the tree* read the Christmas story from the Bible* Build a snowman* have a movie night (pick a favorite holiday movie pop some popcorn and enjoy!) * play a board game* Do something kind for someone less fortunate (we’ll bake goodies and secretly drop them off at someone’s home, or go buy some toys to donate to toys for tots)* Read a Christmas book by the light of the Christmas tree* Visit Santa* Go Ice Skating* Go sledding* etc etc…
I usually incorporate things we would be doing anyways into the calendar. Like if I know we are going on a special outing I’ll keep it secret and use that. Or when we get ready to bake cookies for the neighbors I’ll use the “bake cookies” one, and when we do traditional things like picking out the tree and decorating it or visiting the live nativity I incorporate these events into the calendar. My kids love opening the tin each morning and finding out what special activity we are doing that day. It really helps to bring us focused on spending time together as a family and enjoy Christmas rather than being frazzled!

EnjoY!
***HeatheR***

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas....

2008-11-22T19:13:00.004-07:00

Hello from the Canyon County Christmas Craft Show! Isn't our booth just too cute... it was fun to bring a little tropical sunshine to the dreary day (if you haven't figured it out yet- our theme for ICE '09 is a tropical theme...

"Escape to a Scrappers Paradise"

The show has put us in the Christmas mood, and has us thinking....

Would ICE be the perfect gift for you? We'll be happy to put a peep in someone's ear. Just send us an email to info@iceescape.net and tell us the email address you'd like us to send your Christmas wish to and we'll take care of the rest!

Or maybe you know someone that you'd like to give ICE to as a gift. We'll send you a certificate and even wrap it (with a few extra fun goodies thrown in for good measure)! Remember, ICE is on SALE $20.00 off PLUS the chance to win your spot for free!

And don't forget about our Lay-A-Way program, it makes ICE affordable by just paying a little at a time!

MIA,Craft Show, & Christmas Fudge

2008-11-21T10:38:00.005-07:00

I know I’ve been MIA. It has been crazy around here! ICE has been gearing up for the Canyon County Christmas Show! We have been cutting and gluing our hearts out! WE have lots of fun stuff in our booth to sell and to inspire. If you’re local come visit us and say “hi!” We are offering a free make-n-take, and a great basket to giveaway filled with all kinds of scrappin goodies. Sign up for the Scrapbookers Escape, ICE ’09 and get free gift wrapping, some scrapping goodies, plus the early bird discount and a chance at winning a spot for free! Now it just can’t get any better than that! Sign up for yourself or give it as a gift! Tell your hubbies and loved ones what you REALLY want for Christmas and send them down to see us!

What: Canyon County Christmas Show
Where: Idaho Center
When: Thursday November 21, 11am-9pm, Friday 22, 11am-7pm, and Sunday23, 11am-5pm
Make sure to stop by and tell us you are an ICE blog fan!

So I’ve gotten a bit behind on the Christmas inspiration posts… I digress… I had good intentions, life just seemed to get in the way! But do not fear I have lots of goodies still yet for ya! So be on the watch, I’ll be posting some fun ideas and maybe even a bonus idea or two soon!
So here it goes, Christmas Inspiration countdown late but, better than never, week 6!

On the sixth week before Christmas

My ICE Chicks gave to me,

more cheap ideas using candy!

I think these candy bars are just the funniest (is that a word) They are great for neighbors, teachers and coworkers!

The poem reads….

(to the tune of Jingle Bells)
Dashing through the malls
with groceries yet to buy;
lessons, work and housekeeping,
life is so crazy! Why?

Bells on our phone ring,
the machine will take the call,
We have no time for family or friends,
it drives us up the wall.

How are you? How’s your life?
we really want to know.
We’d love to chat and hear the news,
but please don’t talk to slow.

How are you? How’s your life?
We really want to know.
hope you’re ready for Christmas,
Now maybe it will snow.

A day or two ago,
we thought we’d make a treat,
for all our special friends-
a Christmas gift to eat.

Our intentions were top notch,
but our schedules would not budge,
Hence here this year’s edition,
of homemade Christmas fudge!

EnjoY!
***HeatheR***

Card Box

2008-11-06T20:14:00.016-07:00

On the seventh week before Christmas
my ICE Chicks gave to me…
a box full of Bella’s for you to see!

I have to say I think this is my favorite of all my holiday projects this year. I have had so much fun making these! You can find great and detailed instructions on how to make your own Card Box from the original artist (I wish I could claim to be so creative!) at http://jackietopa.typepad.com/Stationary.pdf

Here is the box closed. makes a cute gift all by itself no need for wrapping paper!

Pull off the lid and opens up a whole stationary kit to go! There’s a place for everything here… a pen, a notepad to keep birthdays or addresses in, a mini pocket to hold stamps, the back pocket holds standard size cards and envelopes, the front pockets can hold many things; here I used them to hold an array of mini note cards and some matching gift tags.

Is this not just the cutest thing???

Then I had an idea…

How about a box to hold some pre stamped Bella’s, sentiments, embellishments, and basic cards ready to be adorned with the perfect Bella and saying for any occasion that arises for the need of a card!

A Pocket full of Bella's

The recipient can embellish their finished card with some coordinating ribbon from thse cute tags. Another idea would be to include some mini colored pencils to color the Bellas with inside this pocket.

a mini pocket with several setiments to choose from for any occasion.

Notebook & matching pen

Everything the Build-A-Bella Box holds. Including Cards ready to be adorned with Bella & a fun tag with instructions for the recipient.

Have fun, as you can see you can be creative with your box. The pockets can hold a multitude of things. How about a gift wrapping box, with the essentials such as mini scissors, curling ribbon, gift tags and cards? Or a teachers survival box with a persoanlized notepad, "Good Job" stickers, and a stash of emergency chocolate? If you come up with a creative twist on this card box let me know... post a comment!

Enjoy!

***HeatheR***

Vote!

2008-11-04T08:25:00.006-07:00

Since today is election day I am feeling very patriotic and would like to inspire you to vote! We can sometimes forget what the women before us went through to give us the right and the privilege to vote.

I received this story in an email and do not know who to credit, but it is worth sharing.

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE:

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the right to vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic".

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night bleeding and gasping for air!

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because- -why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But theactual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.' Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought for so hard by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

Happy voting!
Nancy

2008-10-31T15:29:00.014-06:00

On the eighth week before Christmas
My ICE Chicks gave to me…
a bunch of ornaments for the Tree!

You can have so much fun with these clear ornaments. They make a great gift all by themselves or a perfect addition to any gift to give it a personalized finished touch. I created a few examples of some ideas but really anything goes, be creative!

The best part about creating these ornaments is you can personalize them. You can use a name, a monogram, the year, or any other settlement you’d like. Here I added a name with shimmer stickers to a ball filled with iridescent filler. Just stuff the filler inside the ornament and “fluff” using a paper piercer. ***TIP*** a paper piercer is a must have tool when making these ornaments-just be careful they break very easily!

Here I filled my ornament with punched snowflakes . On the outside I used another snowflake with glitter and toped it all of with lots of fun ribbon.

I had many people ask me how I made these glitter snowflakes (also seen in week 1’s candy tin idea). Here are the step by step directions….

Punch snowflakes from cardstock

Pour glue out generously, ( I used cheap-o Elmer’s glue for this project and just a lid from a storage container). Dip snowflake in glue, you want good coverage but wipe off any heavy globs.

Place on scrap paper and heavily glitter. Wait a couple minutes and carefully pick up. (tweasers work great for this.) If you missed any spots re-dip in glue & re-glitter.

Then place on wax paper to dry. If your fingers took off any glitter in this process sprinkle a little more on. Let dry over night. You will have a beautiful dimensional snowflake to embellish with!

This ornament is probably one of my favorites. It is stripes of patterned paper rolled up and placed inside! Mix and match coordinating colors for a interesting look. I also found that papers with small designs and solids work best.

Cut a strip of paper ¼ of an inch thick. Using a paper Piercer tightly roll the paper around piercer. Drop in ornament, don’t worry the coils will loosen after shaking the ornament around a bit.

Rub-ons are a great way to embellish an ornament. Be Careful not to use any rub-ons that are very big. The curve of the ball makes it somewhat difficult to get a good image especially if the rub-on is large or has straight lines. I suggest if possible cut the rub-on in sections and piece together.

A small tag and special ribbon is a wonderful touch to this simple yet elegant ornament.

This is another favorite idea. Fill your ornament with ribbon! Its pretty and it’s a gift within a gift! For that scrappy friend make a whole set of ornaments, each can hold things like buttons, brads, bling, and so on!
wrap a label tag around the front with ribbon and personalize it with a special message!

enjoy!

***HeatheR***

Harvest Surprise

2008-10-28T20:01:00.007-06:00

This week's Inspiration Tuesday project was created by a wonderful crafty freind of mine -Tricia Smith. Tricia surprised me the other day with this super cute harvest themed gift that I thought was so stinkin' cute and clever, I had to share.

First, the adorable card is very cute! Notice the pumpkin on the card was created with three ovals. Then there is also the super cute pumpkin decoration that I received as my gift. The pumpkin is made by covering a roll of toilet paper with fun harvest colored fabric! How cute is that?! I didn't dare deconstruct it too much, but I did take a peek to see how she made the pumpkin. She placed the roll of toilet paper in the center of the fabric. Then folded and tucked the fabric into the center of the core of the toilet paper. For the stem she rolled up some craft colored paper with one end rolled up tighter at one end. The, she added fun pipe cleaners that appear to have been wrapped around a pen or pencil to give it curlies.

Hopefully my sweet gift will inspire some of you to possibly make your own harvest surprise for another lucky person. Thank you Tricia, my wonderful friend!

Tracy :)

Thanks a latte!

2008-10-26T21:41:00.005-06:00

On the 9th week of Christmas

my ICE Chicks gave to me...

A cute mug to hold coffee!

Better a little late then never right? Sorry for those on pins & needles waiting for the next Christmas inspiration project, my hubby & I spent 6 lovely days aboard a cruise ship visiting the Mexican Riviera…and as much as I love creating and sending you all great inspiration…I didn’t miss the computer one tiny bit; and I’ve have had a hard time getting back in the grove! BUT, I didn’t forget you…so even though week 9 is a little late, you can be glad to get doubly inspired this week (week 8 will be up in a few days!)

This project is for all the Bella fans! I created this darling coffee mug using latteabella (why of course!).
You can usually find these create-your-own type mugs at your local craft store, discount store at the holidays. I also found them (very reasonably priced) here… http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=26/2154&mode=Searching&erec=2&D=coffee+mug&Ntt=coffee+mug&Ntk=all&Dx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=0&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sd=Color+Your+Own%21+Dad+Artist+Travel+Mug
***TIP*** when you create your mug watch how many layers of paper you use, although different brands may vary-but my mug had less space at the top of the mug than the middle/bottom, so ended up having to change my design to get it to fit inside.
Use the original insert as your guide to cutting your background papers, you will need to have everything curved so that once inside it all lays flat and has nice finished edges (this includes any strips of paper used in the design)

To make any gift *WoW* add special touches. This is simple with handmade gifts because you can use the same supplies to create additional coordinating gifts. Here I created a pocket for some coca, a baggie of mini marshmallows with a cute topper, and a gift tag. Wrap this all up with some cellophane and you look like you spent a fortune! This is great because you can customize the gift to the recipient’s likes and personality too!

Enjoy!
***HeatheR***

Guest Designer - Courtney

2008-10-21T10:43:00.000-06:00

Our guest designer this week is Courtney Holgate. Courtney joined in a "Trading Faces" swap with the Idaho Scrappers, where she did a layout with pictures from Heather.

Thank you, Courtney, the layout is amazing!

Imagine the pressure that I felt, after signing up for a Trading Faces swap for the first time, getting Heather, one of the most admired scrapbookers and photographers in the group, as a partner. I knew instantly that I had to really bring it in order to do the super cute pictures of her daughter Abby justice.

After going through my stack of designer paper to see what jumped out to me, I decided on a couple of sheets from Phoebe by Basic Grey.

Sometimes I find that designer paper with large elements is difficult to work with since you don't want to cover up the large portions of the paper. I mean, that's the entire point of the design paper right? So working with this paper and the enlarged photograph of Abby, I decided to cut along the large flowers of the patterned paper and layer them over the photograph and the title block. After cutting the flowers out with an Exacto knife and sliding the picture or the title block underneath the cut out portions, I used a little pop dot to add a little dimension to the over all layout. This technique aloud me to use the enlarged photo+title block+designer paper, without loosing the large elements of the designer paper that I loved so much.

After trying to think of something a little more cleaver, I finally decided on "Beautiful Ballerina" for my title, creative I know. I thought for sure I had a Making Memories rub on in white of the word "beautiful" but after rummaging through my stash all I was able to find was black. I decided that, instead of going to the trouble of hand lettering or rubbing on each individual letter of the word, I would just use the black rub on and go over it with my whito Signo Uniball pen. I love that pen! This is an easy tip to turn rub ons white or just add a little white accent here or there.

Once I finished the title page, assembling the second page was a breeze, something I was a little stressed out about since I typically do one page layouts. I chose another sheet from the Phoebe collection with a similar pattern, repeated the cardstock used on the title page and decided on two 4x6 pictures, and a 5x7 picture (the 5x7 was my favorite out of the bunch that Heather sent). The two 4x6 photos were adhered on the ends of a 6.5x12 sheet of fushia cardstock, then the 5x7 was matted on a piece of yellow cardstock and I tied some ribbon around it. Since the 5x7 was my favorite photo, I wanted it to stand out a little more, so I popped it up with pop dots when I added it to the layout.

Once the basic aspect of the two layouts were finished I decided I needed to jazz it up a bit. I added pearls in the middle of the large flowers on the title page as well as on the corner of some of the photos. I also added some Prima flowers on the second layout to give it some umph.

Even though this was a real challenge for me, I really enjoyed creating these pages for Heather and Abby. I hope she enjoys them as much as I did!

Sonic Box

2008-10-17T21:00:00.001-06:00

On the tenth week of Christmas
My ICE Chicks gave to me
an altered box that was FREE!

This weeks project is so fun! its perfect to give to anyone, but I especially love to give it as a neighbor gift. Its so cute and clever the recipient would never even know it was recycled!
In this tutorial I am using a Sonic drink holder. however you can adapt this to any drink holder or bottle holder. I have been known to save boxes from the fancy root beer, wine coolers/beer, or those yummy Starbucks frapachinos you can get at the grocery store. (they all break down flat for easy storage till your ready for your project too!)

You will need a drink holder, pattern papers, embellishments, & ribbon.

First you will use the box as a template. just lie on the backside of your Paper and trace, then cut. After you have all your pieces cut our go ahead glue them on. Then the fun begins…embellish! Have fun, I like to tie ribbons at the handle, and then add bits and pieces of whimsical all around the box. ***TIP*** if the pattern paper you choose does not work with the craft color of the box you can paint the exposed parts.

After your box is altered and embellished as desired, you can fill the pockets with all kinds of goodies. Here I made a pasta theme, with some sauce, noodles and wooden spoons. However, there are TONS of things you can do, make a family night box with candy, soda, popcorn & a movie, or fill with handmade cookies and candy (my favorite neighbor gift) or how about a mug with coca and a book? Be creative!

Enjoy!
***HeatheR***

You've Been Boo'd!

2008-10-14T18:11:00.000-06:00

Fall is such a fun time of year, the leaves turning colors, the crisp cool air, and little monsters creeping out to play. Yes, Halloween is on the way! have some spooky fun by leaving a little surprise on a neighbor or friends doorstep, the trick is to not let them see you! Leave a treat and the poem below with the picture and watch how fast the boo travels!

I used this candy tin that I saved to make a extra fun surprise. ***TIP*** take a double look at that tin, box, bottle, or container before you throw it away. You never know what might end up being the perfect shape and size for your next project!

Thanks to the great inspiration over at splitcoast stampers for this spooky Frankenstein idea, and Angie at http://www.chicnscratch.typepad.com/chic_n_scratch/page/2/ I really enjoyed looking at all her cute monster creations!

Just cover your tin with green cardstock. Add a strip of hand cut hair, punch some eyes using a 1 3/8” & 1” circles. Pop a nose up using a 1” circle punch and lastly hand draw some cute stitches and mouth. Fill with candy!

This cute monster can easily be adapted to many types of bags, buckets, and baskets. he would be super cute made just out of a small green paper gift bag.

Now add these instructions and print out this cute sign and have a great time giving out some boo’s!

It all started with a little BOO
A knock upon the door and off they flew!
Halloween is almost here, the leaves are flying by
The pumpkins are ripe, there’s a moon in the sky!
We came by the light of the moon
to bring you this fun surprise.
Put your BOO sign in your window,
and pass on the fun! You have been BOO'd!

Instructions
Please keep it going by following these directions:1. Enjoy your treat.2. Place the BOO sign on your front door or visible in a window.3. Within 2 days, make 2 copies of this note, make 2 treats & 2 BOO signs.4. Secretly deliver to 2 neighbors/friends without a BOO sign.5. Keep an eye on nearby front doors to see how far and fast it spreads by Halloween

Enjoy!

***HeatheR***

Too funny

2008-10-13T10:38:00.000-06:00

OK so I am a crime show junkie.

My daughter was watching Sesme Street this morning and I heard the familiar "chung chung" from Law and Order, I had to investigate. Oh My heck this is just too funny...

so for all you Law and Order fans out there I give you.... "Special Letters Unit"

And for you CSI fans here is "RSI, Rhyme Scene Invesigation"

Enjoy!

***HeatheR***

Teacher Jar

2008-10-10T10:17:00.001-06:00

On the eleventh week before Christmas

My ICE Chicks gave to me,

a gift jar for a favorite teacher!

This play on words is a fun and clever idea for teachers, male or female. With a gift so easy and simple you can even spread a little cheer to other staff at school, such as the Librarian, PE & Music teachers, Principal and more!

“thanks for making me a smartie”

You could also add dumdum suckers to you jar and say
“thanks for making me a smartie, and not a dum dum”

Teachers will get a kick out of how clever and cute this simple and cheap gift is. All you need is a jar, smartie candies and a tag. You can decorate your tag to fit your teachers personality, here I added lots of bling with glitter in a fun stripe pattern to mimic the smarties. I used sticker letters for the thanks and smartie and the rest was hand written (have your child write it for an extra special touch).

Lastly I added a fun monogram with shimmer stickers and a ribbon to pull it all together.

enjoy!
***HeatheR***

Put it in writing!

2008-10-07T10:56:00.000-06:00

I am not a very good journaler, but a few things have made me really think about how important it is to write things down. My daughter was here visiting a couple weeks ago and we were talking about things from her childhood. There are so many things that I have forgotten and wish that I could get back. She had an imaginary friend at one time and for the life of me, I cannot remember the name that she had given him. I just know it was something she made up.

A week or so ago, my sister pulled out an old photo album of my moms and brought it over. We don't know who many of the people in the album are or where many of the locations are that are in the pictures. So, what do we do with these pictures? No sense in keeping them, with no one to tell us who they are. Of course now we are really curious and would love to know about the photos. If they were important enough to take a picture, develop, and put in an album, then I am sure they meant something to my mother. I now am learning to at least write on the back of pictures, and make sure I know what pictures they are before it is too late to find out.

Along with this album, there were many things that I could see were my mothers own style of scrapbooking and remembering. She had newspaper clippings of many events and copies of things such as my high school diploma and pictures that my daughter had drawn for her. The one thing that really touched me, was one of the napkins from my wedding that she had saved. She didn't write anything about these items, but it was nice that she had saved them.

I also found some old letters from various family members. I have decided that letters(anyone remember when we used to write actual letters?) are the best journaling ever! The old letters told so much about what was going on with the writers, and in their own handwriting!

I have so many reasons(excuses) for not journaling; I don't like my own handwriting, I will do it later, I don't want to waste time and paper to just print out one journal at a time, and so on and so on. I have decided that I am going to make a concerted effort to keep a book of some sort and just start writing things as I think of them or as they come up when I am talking to family members. I am also going to at least write down the main points when I am doing a layout, even if I just write in on a piece of paper, tear it out, and put it in with my layout.

If any of you have a great idea to help those of us who are not very good about "putting it in writing" please let me know.

Nancy

Halloween Patties

2008-10-05T20:13:00.000-06:00

Are these not the cutest things you’ve seen?!? When I saw this DARLING idea from casegj on splitcoast stampers I knew I needed to make some up for myself!

These are made using the same concept as the Peppermint Pattie Tin gift idea.(from last week, week 12)
Supplies: scallop punch, a ½ inch circle punch a standard hole punch, a corner tab punch, and a white pen.

Enjoy!
***HeatheR***

Peppermint Pattie Tin

2008-10-03T17:28:00.000-06:00

On the 12th week before Christmas,

My ICE Chicks gave to me...

A tin full of candy!

Each week ICE will be bringing you a inspirational gift giving idea as we countdown the weeks to Christmas! (I can't believe we are less than 12 weeks away already!!) Make sure to keep checking back each week to find ideas for teachers, co-workers, neighbors, friends and more.

First I do have to have a small disclaimer here, although I am a creative & crafty person not all ideas here are original. There are so many awe inspiring ideas out there from amazing crafters all over the country and the world. As I find ideas I'm inspired, some of those inspirations may end up here.I will give credit where credit is due when I can. However ALL projects shown are handmade and created by me, Heather, unless otherwise noted

Of course ideas here are for YOUR inspiration, so feel free to CASE away! (Copy And Steal Everything) If you post your creations on a blog or web I just ask that you acknowledge where your inspiration came from, a link to my blog is always nice too!

And lastly we really do enjoy hearing your comments. let us know if this project inspired you! if your project is posted on a blog give us a link we want to see too! If you have any tips, tricks, or additional ideas tell us! Just click on the comments at the end of each post and follow the prompts. Its easy, I promise!

This weeks gift is so easy, cheap and so so cute!

These cute patties are all the rage in the stamping world at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/

You will need a circle scallop punch (mine is Stampin' Up!), a 1 3/4 circle punch, chocolate peppermint patties, pattern paper, & embellishments.

After punching 2 scallops per pattie, embellish the front as desired (I went with a snowflake theme with lots of glitter & bling!). Use adhesive to adhere one scallop to the back of the pattie and one to the front so you have a little sandwich.

Like this!

Now do it again about 15 more times!

After all your patties are dressed. You can house them in a cute tin, the one here is recycled from my scrapbooking stash (it originally held chipboard). There's lots of way to display your patties from diecut boxes & bags, celophane, to altered recycled items like crystal light containers!

Have fun!

Enjoy!
***HeatheR***

Little Memories Are Important

2008-09-30T21:58:00.000-06:00

From time to time here on ICE we like to feature guest designers. A few weeks back Nancy's daughter Jessica shared her amazing Brazil album. Even Heather's cute daughter Abby shared her cute little Santa card. Today's guest designer is Tracy's youngest daughter Mikayla.

This summer Mikayla got to go on a trip with her grandparents. She's lucky because her grandma is also a scrapbooker! So, thankfully the entire journey was well documented in both megapixels and in very detailed journal entries.

When Mikayla returned, she got together with her Mom and Grandma and worked on creating a vacation album. What a great treat to get to create and share special memories all at the same time! Mikayla loves her cute little album that is still a work in progress. Here are some of her favorite pages:

This layout about her Grandpa is her very favorite. She did it all by herself without any help from Mom!

What special times are your kids documenting, or are you documenting for them? As I look at some of these amazing pictures of her grandpa playing the guitar for her, or getting a big hug from her grandma, I realize how lucky she is! Memories like these are precious, I'm sure when she's older she'll realize it even more. Then maybe someday her kids will get to scrapbook with their grandma too!

Recently, one of our ICE particpants (thanks Tara!) shared a great idea with a scrapbook group we belong to. She got from reading Ali Edwards' blog: http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/. The idea is to document a week in your life. I love this idea! I'm taking the challenge to document every day things like routines, gas prices, grocery lists, photos of the kid's rooms, the dogs, the dirty dishes, all of it - our life. I'll share my completed layout with all of you in a few weeks. In the mean time, would anyone else want to give it a go? We'd love to see your completed layouts too!

Thanks for the Candy!!

2008-09-24T16:27:00.001-06:00

I won my first blog candy!

Lara at http://youwantthecookie.blogspot.com/

sent me the greatest package filled with so many fun goodies!Just look and see how she spoiled me...

What's Blog candy from a fellow bellaholic without a darling Bella card?

And look at all these other darling cards she sent me...

WoW! Thanks a ton Lara! I can't wait to try out my dips, I think the carmel one will end up at next weeks Monday Night Football game!!

***HeatheR***

Bella Sweet Bella

2008-09-23T17:42:00.000-06:00

I have recently become obsessed...Bella obsessed to be specific! What's a Bella you ask? A super darling line of stamps that are just too darn cute for non-stampers even like me to resist for long!! I have been having a blast coloring and creting these fun, whimisical, and stylish gals (and her fellas)

You can find Bella and all her friends here:

http://www.stampingbella.com/

" bikeabababella"

Theres tons of ways to color, decorate and embellish your Bella. One of the most popular (and most expensive) is a wonderful brand of artist markers called Copics. However recently a friend shared this wonderful tutorial on how to use BIC & Sharpie markers (read cheap) to obtain the same look.

http://afterhoursstamper.blogspot.com/2008/07/video-tutorial-how-to-get-copic-like.html

Well I was hooked! I ran out and bought myself a huge set of BIC markers (the sharpies are still on my wish list) and got started coloring. It is sooo addicting! I created this "at a glance" color sheet so I could see exactly what the color looks like (the caps are far from the real color!). And one small tip, invest in a couple Prismacolor markers from Michale's in the art section for skin tones (brick beige is perfect) becasue the BIC markers are WAY too dark for skin tones.

Here are a few of my recent bella creations...

" wish-I-looked-so-cute-on-a-bikeabella"

"cosmobella"

"daintybella"

Be on the look out, your sure to be seeing more Bellas here on the ICE blog from me in the future!
***HeatheR***

Tell the Story

2008-09-16T20:07:00.000-06:00

Most of us remember that fateful day 7 years ago like it was yesterday. I know I do. I had always wanted to create a LO in my album with my thoughts and memories of that pivital day in history. But it was one of those things I put off for "someday". Eventualy I did sit down and create this page.

I've always been facinated by my grandparents accounts of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their stories make the history so much more personal and so much more real. I am glad to have spent the time to add my personal touch to the story that is now part of our Nations heritage .

Even though 7 years have passed its never too late to get your story down. It may not be a LO about 9-11, but any story that you've been putting off for "someday" I urge you to take the challenge and make "someday" this week.

As always we'd love to know if this challenge has inspired you to create. Share your projects with us by e-mail to info@iceescape.net or post a comment with a link to your blog!

***HeatheR***

It's Heather's Birthday!!!

2008-09-11T10:42:00.000-06:00

ICE's very own Heather Hillman is celebrating her birthday today!

****Happy Birthday our wonderful friend!****

Tracy & Nancy wanted to send you some love and post your birthday cards.

(You'll get the real things soon).

we wish

Heather a very, very Happy Birthday!!!!

Vacation!

2008-09-09T10:52:00.000-06:00

Well summer is over and everyone surely has vacation pictures they are working on. We had an attendee at ICE 08 (who just happens to be my daughter) that had just taken a trip to Brazil and had an awesome album she was and still is working on. We are highlighting her as our guest designer this week. Thank you for letting us show off your album Jessica!

Nancy
----------------------

When I wasn’t dancing to Ice, Ice Baby (still in my head by the way) I spent the majority of my time at ICE working on a small album of pictures I took while on a trip to Brazil. I literally have 650 pictures from the trip, so it was really hard to figure out what I wanted to do with all of them. I finally decided on making a small album of my absolute favorites, and then a 12X12 with the rest that I wanted to scrap.

The amazing gift bag we got at ICE had so many perfect things that I used! The felt and paper flowers were a staple for me all weekend. I used them in several different ways, but my favorite is on this page.

I first inked around the edges with different shades of brown, then layered a few types of flowers. I topped them off with buttons, brads, bling… anything I could find! They all turned out unique and fun. Here are a few pictures of the pages I have finished.

I wanted to do this book with a sort of theme. I used the paper and embellishment line, Urban Rhapsody from K and Company. This line along with all my goodies from ICE, just really gives the look I was going for!

I am working on a page now using the flower embellishment transparencies with the 3 colors. The album is a work in progress, I still have a long way to go. It’s one of those times when you really love your pictures and want every page to be perfect!

Jessica

The apple dosn't fall far from the tree

2008-09-08T18:23:00.000-06:00

A group of my scrapbook friends are working on a "Cards for the Troops" project. Our goal is to send 500 Christmas cards for service memebers to write in and send back home. So my daughter wanted to help, I stamped the image for her and she had a blast coloring it.

Pretty cute eh? (OK so Mom helped cut and mat papers...) I think we have a future scrapbooker in the family!

Card handmade by Abby, 4 years old

Happy Birthday Dawn!!

2008-09-05T10:07:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to our great friend Dawn!! I hope your day is filled with lots of love hugs and scrappy surprises!

Scrapping Our Other Family Members

2008-09-01T22:58:00.000-06:00

I have a confession to make. I’m in love with another man. He’s so handsome and sweet. He loves to cuddle on the couch, lets me control the remote, and even does everything I tell him to. Okay, so his eating manners leave a lot to be desired, and he has this thing where he drools after getting a big drink of water. He doesn’t wipe his feet before he comes into the house (and trust me he should), but one look into his gorgeous brown eyes, my heart melts and all is forgiven. The best part of my new little love affair, my husband doesn’t mind. In fact, he was the one that introduced us and invited him to come live in our house.

Here’s a picture of my newest love, our Yellow Lab named Cash. Cash joined our family in March, and he has been a wonderful addition.

All of my life we’ve had animals. Always dogs, a few cats, some horses, and even a bunny, lizard, hermit crabs, and some fish in there somewhere. It’s amazing how these creatures become such a special part of your family. And with so many wonderful pet themed scrapbook supplies, it makes it easy to create great layouts to include in the family album.

In December we lost a very special member of our family, our Cisco dog. Cisco had been a member of our family for over eleven years, and losing him was very hard on all of us. A few months before his death I created this layout hoping to capture the “essence of Cisco” the sweet, gentle, and ever faithful wonderful dog that he was.

Cisco’s sister Meesha is still with us. She’s soon approaching her 13th birthday, so documenting memories with her now is very important. Meesha has such a fun personality. We call her “Princess” because that’s how she acts. She loves attention and loves to be spoiled. I created this layout to capture her princess personality.

My youngest daughter was even inspired to create her own scrapbook page about our “Princess”

Our family also has a Lizard name Leo that belongs to my oldest daughter. A layout documenting their story has yet to be created, it’s on my long list of “to-do” projects. I was pretty excited when I found some adorable lizard embellishments at a local scrapbook store in town, so I’m looking forward to creating something fun.

I also need to scrap the photos from my youngest daughter’s goldfish’s funeral where I have the sweetest picture of my oldest daughter consoling her younger sister.

Fellow ICE organizer Nancy, also has a little love affair going with a very cute short little guy. I’ve gotta admit, she has great taste in furry guys! The other great thing about Nancy, is that she has a huge supply of great pet themed scrapping goodies that she shares!

Here’s Nancy’s cute little guy

What about you? Share your pet stories, pet layouts, or even ideas you have for future pet layouts you plan to create.

Flocking

2008-08-26T18:09:00.001-06:00

All of us at ICE want to send our deepest condolences to all who lost homes in the horrible SE Boise fire last night, and to Dr. Mary Ellen Ryder’s family. Please know that our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with all those directly and indirectly involved.

For those not local here is some info..http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-aug2508-major_fire.117ce9e5.html

I recently had the pleasure of scrapping a friends photos. A group of scrappy friends each year swap photos and let someone else scarp their pages. It’s a fun swap I look forward to doing every year.
I wanted to find a way to scrap her photos that would display the many senic and detail photos without overwhelming the page. In the end I ended up with a fairly simple layout. I needed something wow.
I remembered these fun flocking powders and stickers by Doodle Bug, I’ve and wanted to use them for ages. (always gotta find a great way to excuse scrap shopping right?) So I headed to Just Scrappin and picked up my flock & stickers, I was so excited to play!

The flocking was SOOOOO fun. Much like glitter, but fuzzier. I used some cool swirls and layered them with some star rub-ons and a few fun felt flowers. It didn’t take away from the simplicity of the LO, yet it gave it that umph it needed to wow.

Here are a few tips on how to use this new unique technique.

Flock is much like glitter. You can use it on anything “sticky”. Doodle Bug makes some great double sided stickers that make creating super easy. but you can use liquid glue to color in areas, or draw your own patterns.

After your adhesive is down place your project under a sheet of scrap paper, and pour out the flocking liberally.

I found with using the stickers, by using a finger and gently rubbing the flock ina circular motion into the sticker gave better coverage and a smoother even application.

Tap off the excess flocking onto your scrap paper. The paper will be useful to help funnel the flock back into the container.

Next I took a darling Bella image (one of my new obsessions check them out at www.stampingbella.com) and used a liquid glue on the cuffs of her boots, hat and on the little fuzzy balls. The glue I used (SU! crystal effects) leaves a slight raised effect . Add the flocking and I had a neat dimensional effect.

Flocking comes in many fun colors, and I already have ideas galore running through my head. I think this will easily become a favorite technique on my scrapbook pages and cards alike.

***Heather ***

Back to my childhood

2008-08-12T10:14:00.000-06:00

I remember going to a birthday party when I was young and we cut out and baked shrinky dinks. It was so much fun! I had not thought about them much in many years, then saw an article on them in the last scrapbook magazine I got. I thought now that would be fun to make my own embellishments. I bought a package of the materials and then cut out some using my Big Shot.
I had a bunch on a sheet and took markers to give them some color.
I also stamped some onto the material and then cut them out.
Then I stamped on some that I had cut out already.
Following the instructions, I put them all on a baking sheet and in the oven they went for a couple minutes. It was fun watching them curl up and then shrink back down.
Even though the instuctions show you how much they are going to shrink, it is still amazing to see them after they are heated, and how small they really come out to be.
I had a lot of fun doing this project and have lots of materials left to do more. Now if I have a special layout I am working on and need an embellishment to go with it, this will be a great way to get one. I just have to remember to make them much bigger to start with!

Nancy

Favorite Photos Album

2008-08-05T20:29:00.000-06:00

When your going through your pictures deciding what to scrap, do you ever come across a really special picture? You know what I mean, the one that makes you go tap someone on the shoulder and say "Hey look at this one. I just LOVE this picture!" Then, your scrapbooking creative juices start kicking in, and you start thinking in your mind what you can do to make that picture really stand out on the layout. You start to calculate the dollars and dollars of scrapbook supplies you might spend to create a masterpiece worthy of supporting that special picture. Or you may dig that extra special patterned paper out of your stash, that paper you've been saving for something really special.

I'm sure you can relate. We all have them - Our Favorite Pictures. A few years back after hearing the suggestion from a fellow scrapping friend, I started a "Favorite Pictures Album". I must admit, this is my favorite album. The one I break out first to share with family and friends. The one my own family enjoys the most.

My first step was to decide what size album I wanted. I knew I didn't want a 12 X 12 album, thinking that would be too big, since most of my layouts would only have one photo. I also thought that, for me, a 6 X 6 would be too small. So, just like Goldilocks, I found the album that was "Just Right!" I selected a 8.5 X 11 album with a landscape (horizontal) orientation.

Selecting the album was probably the hardest decision in this process. From there, all "rules" from my other family albums were put aside. In this album, the layouts aren't chronological, I don't do double page spreads, and I don't even journal on all the layouts. I just find that photo that "speaks to me" and I scrap it! Simple and easy as that! At first I started off simple getting used to the new orientation. I found it so fun to whip out a quick layout in a matter of minutes.

Then I got to thinking more about this album, and a way to make it even more special. I decided that in this album I'd take the opportunity to tell my kids how wonderful I think they are, what I think is special about them, or give them words of advice. I direct the journalling right at the subject, saying "You, we, us" Where as in my other albums I tend to summarize and journal in the 3rd person. I also decided that on this album, even though I hate my own handwriting, I'd write some of my own journalling. Have you ever ran across a note or letter handwritten by a loved one. You know how it makes you warm and fuzzy inside, and makes you think of that person, actually "feel" that person - I wanted to do that here. So someday when my kids look back on this they'll be able to feel Mom's love.

Sometimes, when I create a layout all I have to do is just enlarge the photo to 5 X 7 and plop in down onto some beautiful patterned paper! I love how quick some of these layouts go!

I hope this blog entry inspires you to maybe consider making your own Favorite Photos Album! If any of you out there have a similar album, we'd love to see your layouts too! Please e-mail them to info@iceescape.net. Also please share your comments, ideas, and feedback on our blog or message board!

Happy Scrapping!

Tracy

WINNER, WINNER, WINNER!

2008-08-05T17:34:00.000-06:00

Ok so I am a bit forgetful. just blame it on a zombie like state I lived in for a week or two after ICE '08.

I offered a prize for comments on this blog entry, http://iceescape.blogspot.com/2008/06/life-after-ice.html and sadly I forgot all about it. So a girls gotta live up to her word right-better late than never I say.

So guess what? Everyone who posted a comment to that post...YOU ALL WIN! Yeah! I have to go shopping (oh darn) but be watching your mailboxes!

Make Your Photos POP

2008-07-29T15:49:00.000-06:00

If you’re like me I see all these amazing photographers out there who have this modern, intense color, edgy look. Have you wondered how to get such amazing pictures? How do they make the colors so vivid,? How do they get that edgy look? Well today I’m going to teach you how…well with the help of a GREAT photography blog and tutorial I found.

The look I’m talking about is called Lomo Photography. Most of you are like me and saying Lomo…what? Ok , Lomo is a type of camera. It was manufactured in Russia, and wasn’t a very good camera. It created pictures with a strange vivid look and a characteristic vignette. However over time this camera has somewhat become legendary for the look it produces, which is now known as Lomo photography.

Well someone (sorry don’t know who to give the credit to) came up with a way to reproduce the Lomo Photography look using Photoshop. ( I love digital!) Here is the link to the step by step directions…

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-make-digital-photos-look-like-lomo-photography

Now when I came across this tutorial a few days ago, I was more than excited to try it out and see. I was a little unsure if I was going to get all the steps to work since I unfortunately don’t have the full version PhotoShop but rather only Elements. So if you’re like me and can’t afford 800.00 to get the good PhotoShop (you can get elements for about 80.00) I’ll also leave you with a few tips.

Tips for PSElements Users:
*When you get to the step to create your vignette you will find the “levels” under layers +adjust layers

* when creating the “s” you will need to go to enhance, +adjust color curves, + advanced options.

* When creating the new layer you want to make sure to check the box group with new layer. You will want to adjust your opacity to 40 (or whatever works for your photo…see examples) BEFORE applying your paint bucket (and make sure you have the black color selected for the paint bucket beforehand also)

*Make sure to merge your layers THEN go back into layers, + adjust layer, + hue & saturation

* When doing the unsharp mask I totally bypassed all the color lab, and channel stuff everything you need is under enhance, + unsharp mask.

Here’s what I came up with….

Before

After applying the Lomo Photography technique. This was my first attempt at this, I almost wonder if my vignette is a little too thick- but since its the first step in the process I wasn't going back LOL!

Before

After
My second attempt at the Lomo technique. I may have done a slight less opacity so my whites poped a bit more, but I didn't learn that lesson till attempt #3.

Before

After
Attempt 3. I learned that when doing the paint bucket layer that 40 opaticy can be too much especially in photos whith a lot of white. In this photo I only used a 15% opacity and I think it worked much better. In addition to the Lomo technique I also cropped the photo for tighter & cleaner look.

I think lesson I learned was this toturial ROCKS! However if your unexperienced in PhotoShop (like me) take time to play (the edit button can be your friend!) However don't feel traped to all the exact levels and numbers stated, every photo is different, if it needs something different-go ahead you have creative licence.

I challenge you to try this out. Send me your before & after pictures to info@iceescape.net and the ICE team will choose a winner- plus we'll post your creations here with all the due credit!

****Heather****

Guest Designer!

2008-07-22T19:24:00.000-06:00

Inspiration Tuesday Guest designer, ICE Vendor'08, Becky Robers of Stampin' Up!
Card:
Cardstock: River Rock & Chocolate Chip, Ginger Blossom Designer Series Paper
Stamp Set: Year After Year, All Holidays
Accessories: Blender Pens, White Gel Pen, Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, corner Rounder

Explosion Box:
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla, Ginger Blossom & River Rock Designer Series Paper
Stamp Set: Year After Year, Fast & Fun Notes, Little Flowers
Accessories: Vanilla Wide Grosgrain, Vanilla Grosgrain, Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons, Stampin’ Dimensionals, 1” Circle Punch, 3/4” Circle Punch, ½” Circle Punch, ¼” Circle Punch, Boho Flower Punch

The pattern is on the Score Pal Website http://www.scor-pal.com/dec_magazine/index_files/Page327.htm

Becky Roberts
Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Manager
(208) 629-8702
yasou@cableone.net
Blog: inkingidaho.blogspot.com
http://www.beckyroberts.stampinup.net

Coffee Creations....

2008-07-15T18:48:00.000-06:00

ICE is all about inspiration and this is Inspiration Tuesday, so I am thinking that I should be doing something here that will inspire you. I have been racking my brain to come up with a project and take pictures of each step and so on…as has been on this blog many times. But that so isn’t me! Then I think “wait, this is my time on this blog, I can do whatever I want here..I can break the rules” (ah, we don’t really have any rules, but you know what I mean, where you just think you should be doing something a certain way.)

I don’t consider myself to be “off the top of my head” creative, or as “scrappy” creative as both Heather and Tracy. I really have to think to get the creativeness out! This is why it takes me so long to scrapbook a page or do anything remotely creative. I have to say that lately I have been much more into decorating my house than scrapbooking so I thought of something that mixes the two. I promise, if you stay with me here, I will inspire you to do something!

This started with my addiction and love of coffee and decorating my new house. I tend to ramble sometimes so forgive me if I do. Do you think some of this rambling could be caused by too much caffeine?

So, yes, the addiction and love of coffee…besides my many trips to the coffee shops, and along with my own espresso machine, my wonderful husband gets up every Sunday morning and drives to the nearest Starbucks to get me a latte.

What is really amazing is that my husband does this for me. Not so much that he goes and gets something for me, but this is a very macho man that I speak of. Just to imagine the words “Grande Vanilla Latte “coming from his mouth is almost unthinkable. But somehow he always comes home with right drink!

My house decorating…I was in my house for 6 months before a single decorating idea finally came to me…..then it kind of started snowballing….I have lots of ideas for the house, but it is one piece at a time and many times something that I just run across, and think, that would be perfect for that spot.

This is what happened with my cookbook holder. Now, to anyone that knows me…this is funny because cook, I do not! Ah, but the cookbook holder was so cute and I had the perfect spot for it. It just needed to be painted to match my red and black, coffee, with a few flowers, themed kitchen. Now of course as you can see, I could never cover up the top part of this with an actual cookbook of all things! Besides whatever went on here it had to match everything else!

Here is where the ideas started coming out. I had to make something to go on the cookbook holder. I have never done an acrylic album before, but oh wouldn’t that look good with a coffee theme?! And the book was just the right size. I actually have some of these prints on my kitchen walls, but downsized them for the book. I considered putting recipes in here, but then thought, why bother? Here is what I ended up doing.

I am very happy with how it turned out, and you can still see the top of my cute cookbook holder and it is not sitting there looking empty. Best of all, everything matches which is the most important thing. I used rub-ons, and different embellishments. My book did not have any tabs on the pages so I made some of my own with cut out coffee cups. As an after -thought, it would be fun to cut out these cups in acrylic and paint them instead of just using a picture.

If you are still with me, I am sure you are inspired by now….either to make your own acrylic album, decorate your house, make a run to Starbucks, or possibly to tell me to just get to the point!

Nancy

Inspiration Tuesday Is Back! Elements of Design.

2008-07-08T16:27:00.000-06:00

The ICE Team is back on track after taking a small break after our last event. That also means Inspiration Tuesday is back!! Many of us have been wowed the past several months while ICE's own Heather has provided us with some super cool projects and ideas. We're now expanding Inspiration Tuesday to other members of the ICE team, as well as featuring talents from some special guests! Don't worry Heather will still be inspiring us with her amazing ideas on a regular basis as well.

I'm Tracy, one of the ICE coordinators. Today is my turn to share some inspiration with you! Some of you joined me for my beginner class at ICE in May. For those of you who came, you know we had a lot of fun and I think I learned as much from you as you may have learned from me! One big part of my beginner class is where I discuss elements of good design. I find that even seasoned scrappers benefit from this information, so I wanted to share it on our blog as well. Many of these things you may already know, but it's at least a good reminder. Who knows, you may actually learn something new.

Top Five Elements of Design

1. Identify the Theme or Mood You Want Your Layout to Convey:

Take a look at your pictures, your journaling or memorabilia – what theme or mood comes to mind? Maybe it’s birthday party pictures the convey a mood of fun and celebration. Or maybe it’s heartfelt journaling that coveys a much different mood. By Identifying the theme or mood, it will help get the creative juices flowing and you can then move on to paper and embellishment selection. We'll talk about this more when we talk about Color and Pattern.

In this layout, that a friend of mine scrapped for me, she did a wonderful job conveying a girlie, soft, Mom & Daughter theme with the papers and embellishments she chose. She showcases these pictures of my daughter and I beautifully!

2. Choose a Focal Picture:

If you are scrapping with a grouping of pictures, choose one from the grouping to be your focal picture. It might be what you consider your favorite out of the bunch. Or it may be the picture that best conveys the mood or theme of the photos. When designing your layout, treat your focal picture special, do something to make it stand out. You can double mat the photo, crop other photos smaller, or accent in a creative way.

In this layout I emphesized the focal picture by adding an arrow:

3. Use Color and Pattern to Emphesis Your Theme:

Now that you’ve identified your Theme or Mood and have your focal picture, select colors that will compliment the focal picture, and colors and/or patterns that will help to convey your theme.

In this layout with pictures of my kids on the trampoline, I wanted to convey the theme of fun and motion. I used playful and bright colors and added fun wavey paper to give the feeling of motion.

4. Use Repetition to Convey Theme and Enhance Photos:

Select elements to add to your page that repeat the theme. Elements can be stickers, pre-made embellishments, shapes, or even colors & patterns.

In this layout, I used girls basketball accents to enhance my theme:

5. Flow & Balance:

Flow: Design your layout to make it easy for the eye to follow through the design. Our eye is used to traveling from left to right, so an easy way to layout a page is to start with your focal picture and add other photos or accents going to the right.

Balance: When designing a double page layout, try to be careful to not overload one side of the layout making it appear heavier than the other. Remember larger accents have more weight, and smaller accents appear lighter. You can balance a large photo with maybe two or three corresponding smaller photos. You also want to balance your colors. Your design will be more appealing if you use color choices on both sides of the layout. So if you add a splash of yellow to the left side, balance it out with a splash of orange on the right.

When you view this layout, your eye easily follows from left right by starting with the focal picture and placing the photos on the right in a linear pattern. I added balance to the layout by using the same papers on both sides of the layout. I also balanced the weight of three pictures on the left side, and four pictures on the right by adding the circle behind the focal picture to make it stand out more and give it more "weight".

Now remember everything I shared with you here are guidelines. Do they need to be applied on every layout you scrap? - NO! But if you think about, and follow some of these guidelines, it might help get your creative juices flowing, and you might find that you like the end result of your layouts more.

What about you? Can anyone share any layout or ideas they have either applying the design prinicples above? Or do you have a design principle that you use that you find makes your scrapping better. Send us an e-mail at info@iceescape.net, or post a comment on the blog. Who knows, I may have a surprise for some lucky person who shares.

Lesson Learned!

2008-07-02T16:04:00.000-06:00

Wow! The summer is just wizzing by! Don't worry the ICE team hasn't melted in the summer heat! We took a small break and spent some time focusing on our families, but are now back into full swing! We are excited to get the ball rolling on next years big ICE Escape weekend and will be announcing details soon!

I have had a chance to get a bit of scrapping done the past couple of weeks, I didn't know how much I have missed playing with scissors and paper!

I thought this would be a fun LO to share. Most of us with wee ones spend quite a bit of time at the park throught the summer trying to keep the kids entertaned and keep our own sanity! Also along with summer is spending time with family & friends. As scrappers there is usally a camera or two always in the mist to capture great shots so they can grace our pages in our albums.

On this outing to the park with my sisters kids I thought it would be fun to get a shot off all the kids on the slide. How cute right? WRONG! We sent the oldest down first, then the younger ones, but the slide was too steep and everyone was getting squished. By the time we got to the 6th kid, they were screaming and crying. But hey it made for a pretty funny picture and LO!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!!

***Heather***

ICE praise

2008-06-05T07:59:00.000-06:00

We love to hear from you! This is an email we got yesterday from one of our ICE '08 participants:

Hi Ladies,

I just wanted to take a minute and thank you all again for everything you did for the ICE Escape; as a vendor and a cropper I had an AWESOME time and I can't wait for next year (as a vendor and a cropper)! And the goodies were very cool too! Just to show you how much fun I am having I've attached photos of a layout I just completed using mainly the product we got at ICE. (I used CTMH cardstock and a stamp set for my titles, but if you notice...I even took one of the paper flowers we got and covered one of our chipboard letters with it). I am loving playing with everything!! I really hope to be able to participate again next year and look forward to whatever else you bring us this year!

Jackie

Thanks Jackie! We are so thrilled you had an awesome time too, and we LOVE the LO's! What a clever idea with the chipboard and the flower! Thanks so much for sharing with us!

Do you have a LO, story, or praise from ICE to share? We would love to feature it here, email us at info@iceescape.net OR post in in our new up and running message board under ICE Escape '08

http://www.iceescape.net/messageboard/

life, after ICE

2008-06-03T13:53:00.001-06:00

Can you believe it? ICE is over? It seemed like months of waiting and then it was all over just like that. I had a blast! And I can't wait for the next scrapbook escape weekend! (even if it has taken me a week and a half to recouperate!)

Remember the power LO I created right here on the blog? Well here it is finished, one of the ONLY things I accomplished the whole weekend.

So, how about you? Did you accomplish a lot at ICE? Post a comment and tell me how many pages you got done at ICE. (there may even be a prize or two involved!) No matter if it was just a card or a bizzillion pages let us know!

Make sure to keep an eye out on the blog for some fun photos from our scrappy weekend to be posted and more information on the Message Board!

Since summer is underway here at our house already I will be taking a break from Inspiration tuesady. but don't be too sad, I'll pop in here & there with LO's, projects, ideas and ICE news as I get the chance between chasing and keeping 3 kiddos happy.

Happy Scrapping

Heather H

Come Join the Fun This Weekend!

2008-05-23T08:33:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that a whole year of planning and planning has finally come to this day! I woke up this morning so excited! Today is the first day of ICE!!! Yay! Heather, Nancy, and Tracy are heading down to the Double Tree Riverside this morning to get set up. Then we'll be welcoming all you lucky ladies who are registered croppers. Get ready ladies - you are in for some big WOW! Some big spoiling, and most of all some big fun!!!

For anyone else in the Treasure Valley who wasn't able to sign up for the crop. Please join us for fun on Saturday. Come on down at 9:00 to hear and meet Chatterbox's own Melody Ross. Then classes begin at 10:00. We have amazing classes, and it's not to late to still sign up for most! You can even sign up at the door. Also, be sure to check our our amazing vendors! There will be fun make-n-takes, great ideas, and great products! Since the weather isn't the greatest this weekend, grab a girlfriend and come on down to say hi. Vendor shoppers will have their chance to win a brand new HP PhotoSmart Printer and other great scrapbooking goodies!

If you do come down, be sure to say hi!

Tracy, Nancy, and Heather

Power Layouts, packing for a crop

2008-05-13T16:04:00.000-06:00

I’m so excited! ICE is less than two weeks away! Now its time to start thinking about what to bring and start packing my crop bags ! For a weekend of scapping at an event like ICE I want to be as productive as possible without bringing my whole scraproom, to do that I create Power Layouts. What’s a power Layout you ask? Well read on….

The first step, pick out your photos.

I chose pictures I already had preprinted. However if you are choosing pictures from your computer that have yet to be printed you may want to first chose a sketch so you can print your pictures in specific sizes.

Look for a sketch or idea

This step can be optional, Depending on how much time you want to dedicate to creating your power LO’s. However the more decisions you make prior to the crop the more time you have create at the crop. Choosing a sketch prior to picking out your papers & embellishments can help you decide what to bring.

When choosing a sketch I look at my photos and ask myself these questions… how many photos do I have? How many are Horizontal? Vertical? Am I willing to discard or crop any photos? What is my focus for my LO? Do I have one strong photo with supporting photos? Or, are all my photos important & need equal balance?

For me the first thing I turn to is my Idea book. (want to know more about creating your own idea book? take the class! click for more info:http://www.iceescape.net/vendors.html )

Found the perfect one! One thing that helps me decide on a sketch ,is to grab two sheets of 12x12 cardstock (or whatever size paper you will be using) and lay out my photos and even embellishments & paper to check and see if a sketch will work.

Pick out papers and cardstock

This is the fun part! First I usually turn to my stash to look for papers that work with my photos. When looking for paper I keep in mind, theme, & color. If I don’t have something in my stash then off to the scrapbook store I go! Make sure to take your photos with you when shopping, it will help you pick papers that coordinate not compete with your photos.

Pick out matching embellishments

Again first check your stash, you never know you maybe have that perfect item already. However sometimes a trip to the LSS is just unavoidable! Manufactures make it easy to pick out paper & embellishments with collections and lines. Many lines not only have several coordinating papers, but also matching embellishments, ribbons, rub-ons and more. But beware don’t get too caught up in buying everything they have to offer in one line (unless you plan to create several pages with it) it can be expensive and leave you with a lot of leftovers. Pick & chose carefully what will work best for your photos and the vision you have for the finished product.

Titles, & Journaling

Again this is somewhat an optional step prior to the crop. By pre-choosing a title I can decide what type of media I will be using to create the title (stickers, chipboard, digitally cut, printed etc..) If you are planning on doing your journaling on the computer by pre-typing & printing it out will have you one step further to having a completed LO at the crop. ( a sketch is helpful to decide on how much space you have to journal)

I had to do a little research on my favorite scrapbooking sites to find the perfect title for my LO. Since pumpkin patch pictures seem to be a yearly tradition I wanted something different than the usual “pumpkin patch” title. After finding a couple ideas I jotted them down, I also added a few more things to my stash of embellishments after seeing some inspiring ideas on the web.

Now if your like me you will usually WAY over pack. but that’s OK. I’d much rather pack too many things than not enough!

Pack

Now to pack your crop bag. There are several ways to organize your power Layouts. two of the most cost efficient and easiest are to reuse sacks from your scrap store or use extra large ziplock bags.

My personal favorite is an accordion style paper holder. There are several dividers to organize several power layouts. Its nice and sturdy to keep my paper from bending and its easy to transport and slip into my crop bag.

I don’t recommend including your larger items with your paper and photos, such as punches, paint, or large boxes. For these items I either stash them in various pockets of my bag or in one large box. And I keep a tool box for all of my basic supplies like adhesive, pens, chalk inks, and more.

Ok now you have just under two weeks to get packing for ICE. One of the greatest things about creating power LO’s is getting excited about cropping. Now that I have all the items picked out for my next LO I’m really itching to create it! Make sure to drop by my crop table and say hi, I’ll surely be working on this LO sometime during the weekend!

All I ever needed to know I learned from Karate...

2008-05-09T18:55:00.000-06:00

Integrity:
It has been a word I’ve been thinking a lot about today. It reminds me of when my son was in karate and they would recite…

“Integrity, doing what is right even when no one is looking”

I would like to think I have lived my life with Integrity, sure I may have failed from time to time but overall its something I have strived for. Not only has integrity been an important aspect of my charter I have tried hard to maintain that throughout ICE.

As I was thinking about Integrity and the journey my son made through 4 years of karate I decided to take a little time to reflect and enjoy the album I created for him. I thought it was appropriate to share here with you, because this album also uses the KISS method of scrapbooking. (Which I shared in the last Tuesday Inspiration)

I created this album a couple of years ago, but decided to keep it simple. And you know, I’m glad I did. The pages showcase each and every belt my son worked & earned all the way through his black belt. Each page tells the story of the belts, what they represent and the student’s journey to black belt.

These pages won’t make it into any scrapbook magazine, or even be CASED . But what is really important is they are scrapped in a way that Honors the pictures, the person, and the sport. When I wanted to go look at those pictures they were easy to find and easy to enjoy, not stashed away in a box in my never ending “I’ll get to that someday pile”. I think so many people (especially new scrappers) get overwhelmed by what’s out there and the intense creativity of scrapbooking.

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s day weekend. Remember scrapbooking is preserving our memories but most of all a hobby to be enjoyed. Don’t let the daunting task of starting a huge project keep you from starting, whether it be a KISS project or a piece of original & unique art be true to who you are, and get those photos from boxes and into albums!

K.I.S.S.

2008-05-06T16:25:00.000-06:00

Recently I had the pleasure of helping my friend create a special wedding album. We knew we wanted to include as many pictures as possible while still maintaining a classic look.

This is where KISS comes in Keep It Simple Sister! Not only did the KISS method help us finish the album in a timely manner (without going too crazy) but the book has a timeless feel to it that won’t overpower the priceless pictures.

Our first step was to go through the hundreds (literary) of pictures and decide which ones to use. We chose to use a collage look to showcase the majority of the photos and then chose a favorite photo to highlight.

This resulted in a hybrid album (part digital, part traditionally scrapped). The digital was created in Adobe Photoshop using their “scrapbook pages” function. This is a great function that is already set up to drag & drop your photos into the pre sized boxes.

After the initial work of choosing the photos (which took the most time), & creating the digital LO’s , the actual album only took us about 3 hours to put together..all 20 pages. Now that’s the quickest album I’ve ever put together

You can apply the KISS method to any type of pages. I have to say this is probably one of my favorite LO’s I’ve ever created, and it is the most simple and quickest LO too.

My challenge to you is to create a KISS LO, and we want to see it! Make sure to share it with us at info@iceescape.net

Create Art!

2008-04-29T16:48:00.000-06:00

This has to be one of my favorite creations…maybe ever! I found (and fell in LOVE ) in love with WeRMemory Keepers new White Out line at Just Scrappin’ in Meridian. When approached to make a special something for a special someone I knew exactly what I was going to use! This project was a “by the seat of my pants” kind of project, each piece was uniquely made and evolved as I created, I never really had a vision to start with I just went for it!

I cut out 5 tags out of the White Out Line and then I started to create. Everything used to create my tags was from my personal stash. I enjoyed “throwing out the rules” and just getting lost in art! When creating art like this layers is really key. usally I’m a less is more scrapper, but in this case when I was finished I would stand back and ask myself what else can I put on there, the more the better!

Durring the summer I scout the garage sales for frames and fun items to alter. I found this frame for a whopping .25 (It did have a ugly picture in it-but it was the frame I was after anyhow.) After pulling out the original picture I used the backing to be my guide and base to create on.

Since the frame was longer than my 12x12 paper, I sliced my paper and pieced together on the base cardboard. I did carefully plan where to slice the paper so that the pieced together part would be covered by a tag in the end.

This first tag uses a large Scrapworks photo corner painted then sanded (so to have only the dots painted) attached to chipboard to create a fun & trendy arrow. A Queen & Co. charm that reads “be daring” and lots of fun plastic confetti flowers from Queen & Co. lastly stapled ribbons to the top of the tag.

The second tag was probably the most difficult to put together. maybe because it was the last tag I created, but this one really threw me for a loop. Gladly it all finally came together in the end. Using a junkitz felt flower popped on top of a MAMBI transparency flower. A Making Memories label framing “be Yourself” a rubon from TLC. Punced holes and a soft sheer peach ribbon added to the tag.

The third tag was my favorite to create! Luckily the paper already provided most of the art work. I just layered prima flowers, dusted with glitter in the corners, added a little bling, a great quote rubon, and the darling butterfly was a sticker from doodle bug that I used liquid glue & more glitter to add bling. A sheer dot ribbon tied topped off the tag. (I purposely created different ribbons at the top of the tags to add interest to the finished product)

Tag 4, I used some Doodle Bug paper frills inked with a tangerine chalk. Prima Flowers, Queen & Co. Brads with the words “Be Happy” , an acrylic heart by Heidi Swap with more chalking around the edges and a pretty v shaped ribbon at the top.

And lastly the 5th tag used a coordinating paper form the White Out line as a strip edged with a mini rick rack. More rick rack to make the flower stem. A flower cut from another paper from the same line. The centers of flowers were given an epoxy dimension with crystal effects. Making Memories eyelet word painted and sanded quoting “be an original” (see a theme here? It really wasn’t intentional it just happened that way! I Love art!) And a double looped ribbon stapled to the top.

After I spaced the tags (double checking with the frame edge) I used pop dots to adhere to the black base cardstock.

using a staple gun staple the art back into the frame (making sure to pull out all the old staples first). Also don’t forget to sign the back of your art work as handmade and original!

Trash To Treasure

2008-04-23T10:35:00.000-06:00

Happy Earth Day!

I thought it would be appropriate to have a fun project that reduces, reuses, renews! Today we are going to be taking Trash and turn it into Treasure!

First you will need a can with a pop top lid (very important) I used a soup can. And a Pampered Chef Smooth Edge Can opener. This can opener is important for this project because it doesn’t cut the lid off, but rather pops the original seal of the can. Keep reading to see why this is a necessary step in this project.

You can purchase this awesome can opener from ICE’s Pampered Chef Vendor Christina Dennis. Just email her at max_memories@yahoo.com to order yours today!

Use the can opener on the BOTTOM of your can

Wash can, and dry thoroughly (and yes, I did clean my sink just for this picture!)

Pull off the label; this will be a great template for later

using the label as a guide cut your pattern paper to size

Glue all the edges down well (when using anything round like this it is important to use glue on all edges, otherwise you’ll get bubbles.) And adhere around the can.

*tip*
for a cleaner look, Line up all the raw edges in one place (in the least noticeable spot either in the back-behind the pull tab or in a spot that will be covered by embellishments.)

Continue to embellish the can as desired (everything for this project came from my scraps…more earth friendly )

For the lid I found a circle lid that was the right size, or a circle punch would work well also.

Cut out a notch where the tab is on the can so the circle can slide underneath (I just eyeballed it)

Add some ribbons to the pull tab and a cute tag

You can add all kinds of fun gifts, I found these great lotions from Bath & Body Works that fit in just perfect. A gift card and some crinkle paper .

Stuff the can with your goodies, make sure the gifts you want the recipient to see first to be put in first and the crinkle paper last. (yes this is my son helping me with the pictures, I don't usally wear Tshirts with motercycles on it...)

Take the lid that you cut off the bottom, put some hot glue around the edges and glue it back to the bottom of the can.

Now your recipient will have a darling gift that they will have to pull the tab at the top to get to. they will wonder how you got a gift in the can, and think you are just the most clever person ever!

ICE has other earth friendly projects on the blog, check out the toilet paper roll gift bag and Heather’s ideas on organizing & storing scraps.

Big Ideas

2008-04-15T21:10:00.001-06:00

This Tuesday I'm sharing with you one of my favorite scrapbooking tools. My Inspiration Binder (aka the brain)

I created this binder a couple of years ago after seeing a friend create an inspiration album. I thought about what exactly I wanted and need to organize my ideas and I came up with this. I seriously rarely scrap without it.

I have several sections in my book such as sketches

LO's I Love

Quotes. Titles & Poems

I also have sections on Tips, Tricks, & Techniques, Projects and cards, scraprooms, and digital scrapbooking.

Much of my inspiration comes from scrapbooking magazines. As an avid suscriber to many magazines over the years I just decided I no longer had the space for them all. So as I look through my magazines when I find something that inspires me (being a LO, color scheme, quote, techniqe photography idea...) I cut it out and paste it into my binder under the appropriate tab. This has made it SOOO much easier for me to find ideas, cut down on space, and have a portable idea file to take with me anywhere (and belive me my book is passed around quite a bit at the crops!)

This is a LO by Ali Edwards from Creating Keepsakes magazine. I put this LO in my inspiration bider becasue I liked how she incorperated a lot of photos yet kept clean and simple lines.

This is the LO I created using the inspiration from Ali's LO. Although my LO has a completly different look and feel to it, Ali's LO gave me a jumping point to start my LO.

Want to create a Inspiration Binder of your own? You're in luck! Coming to an ICE Escape near you, is a class on this very subject...yep its even going to be taught by yours truley! The class and details will be up on the website http://www.iceescape.net/ by the end of the week!!

Inspiration Tuesday

2008-04-08T21:09:00.000-06:00

Happy Tuesday to you! Before I introduce this week’s exciting Inspiration project I have some winners to announce! Thank you, to everyone who shared their scrap spaces with us. Here are our favorites…

April wins the prize for the “most improved” How can you not be inspired to scrap when everything is so neatly organized an put away? Congrats April!

Tara most defiantly wins the “prettiest scrap space” we Love the soft colors and open space (can you say J-E-L-O-U-S!)But our favorite has to be the beautiful wall art of Tara’s grandmothers scissor collection.

And the most creative (and cheap) scrap organizational idea goes to Christina. She got this Paper Towel Holder (yes I said paper towel) at Wal-mart for 10.00, added some binder rings and page protectors and she has a great way to organize her stash on her desk. It’s not only pretty to look at but its clever and best of all Cheap! great Job Ladies!!

Since organization has been the theme here at ICE , I thought I would share one of my favorite organization ideas. How many of you out there struggle with storage of your digital picture disks? I know I did, I originally kept the disks in jewel cases, until I had way too many to handle. I needed something that was more space friendly.

I found these great 6x6 albums through Stampin’ Up. I particularly liked these albums because they were 3 ring binder style and it would hold my disks more flat and be easier to take in and out as I needed.

I created a text file with all the contents of the disk including date, who, what , & where. After printing out on white cardstock I glued a paper CD sleeve to the back to hold the disk. This all is slipped into a page protector. When I have pictures printed I make a small mark next to that line, that way I know at a glance which pictures have been printed (and hopefully scrapped!).

One of my favorite things about my new system is that I now have all my digital pictures located in one place, its so easy to find exactly what I’m looking for. Now a girl can’t just leave an album plain and boring can she? I decided to add just a simple touch to the binder not only for looks but also to include information about what dates each album held.

First I wrapped & tied ribbon around the bind.

I punched the tag out using a Marvy punch and black Bazzil cardstock.(out of scraps of course)!

I added the dates on the tag with my favorite white Signo pen

With a little Crystal effects I glued a small button & felt flower to the edge of my tag.

Punched a hole with my cropadile

And lastly tied it to the bind with a bow.
Super easy, yet beautiful & functional!

April Fools Day Fun & The Early Bird Is Back!

2008-04-01T09:44:00.000-06:00

幸せな一日エイプリルフール！私たちは国際的なアプローチを取ることを決めた今日のブログです。本を読むことができますもし、あなたのためには、実行中の組み合わせ抽選会で楽しい賞を受賞した。コメントを投稿してください。最良のエイプリルフールの日にいたずらをしてプレーさせるのどちらか、あるいは再生させることにしてあげる。

Konnichiwa! No your computer isn't acting up. The words above are in Japanese. If you can figure out what they say and follow the instructions, you're in for a fun prize!

Early Bird Is Back!
Also in honor of this crazy day, we've decided to get a little crazy ourselves. If you received today's newsletter you already know. ICE has decided to bring back Early Bird Registration!!

No it's not a joke, and we may be crazy...But, for two weeks only we're bringing back the Early Bird Registration rates! That's right, from April 1st - April 15th ICE wants to save you some cold hard cash. Has Uncle Sam been good to you? Take part of that tax refund and treat yourself to a weekend you'll never forget.
Use coupon code "earlybird" at checkout to get $35.00 off your spot.

Here's some more April Fools day fun!

Can you unscrable these April Fools Words?

1. aorifpllso
2. fasip lrool
3. rlailfoops
4. lro siolfpa
5. iplra soolf
6. ora iollfsp
7. ofas oipllr
8. splorflaio
9. sllarpfooi
10. slooflirpa

Here are some fun (harmless) tricks to play this April Fools Day:

Switch the salt with sugar and then watch your family's and friend's faces when they try their food! Just make sure they have something they eat salt with, and that you've cooked some extra food.
Ask your victim, er.. friend to put a quarter on a piece of paper and, without removing their finger, trace the coin with a pencil. Repeat the "test" with a few fingers. After that's done, get the victim to pick up the quarter and roll it along the bridge of their nose. Then quietly snicker behind their back as they walk around with a black line along their nose. Don't use a permanent marker that's just not cool.
If you have a sink with a sprayer put a rubber band around the handle when nobody's looking. This automatically keeps the nozzle in spray-mode. Make sure the nozzle is pointing up and outward. The next person to use the sink will get a splash! (Tracy's daughter did this to her last year)
If your milk comes in a cardboard container, add a few drops of food coloring. It's a harmless April Fool's joke but the results are pretty colorful.
Take the ball out of the computer mouse. Wait till someone tries to use the computer and watch their reaction.

Nancy's Scraproom

2008-03-30T19:40:00.000-06:00

I am pretty organized, but want to get nice shelves and cabinets for my space.

I have a large space with nice tables...you can see the tables are a bit messy.

I have all my paper sorted by color.

I love all of the space I have to scrap and I have organized all of my paper, embellishments, ribbon and albums. I can find everything easily and it is nice to spread out and be able to leave my stuff out to work on. I really want some pretty shelves but I am still deciding what I want and other things in the house seem to come first!

Heather's Scraproom

2008-03-28T10:32:00.000-06:00

Here it is, as promised,Heather's scrapspace. I think the best way to discribe it is "a work in progress" These are the Before & After Pictures of my space. I say space because I don't really have a room. I share 1/2 of the back living room with my kids, 1/2 scrap space 1/2 kids TV, couch and whatever else they drag in there on a daily basis. Although I'd love a room all to myself, I kind of enjoy this set-up this way I can enjoy being with my kids while I'm working on the computer and scrapping away. But believe me I'm counting down the days to either a bigger house with a room to call my own or for one of those kids to grow-up and move away so I can take over their bedroom!

This is the "before" picture of my space. Although it dosn't look to bad here (these pictures were taken after we recently moved in, so its relatively clean) but belive me the clutter and large work area were recipe for disaster to keep clean! I really disliked how everything even when clean was not "pretty" to look at. Especially since I had to share my space with the livingroom.

This is my before desk and work area. I LOVED my old kitchen table. It was huge and had lots of room to spread out on, but that was the problem, it was too large for the room, and becasue I had lots of room to spread out I did, resulting in massive piles of stuff...

This is my new desk...well what it can look like when I allow it to get messy. (I told ya we'd share the good, bad & ugly didn't I?) The good thing, I have very little space and if its messy I can't scrap so it dosn't usally stay messy for long!

This is my new space. I started it last fall, it is most definatly not exactly where I want it, but like I said its a work in progress. One of the first steps to re-doing my space was purging. I realized I had so much stuff over the last 10 years of scrapping that there was just so much I wasn't using and didn't need. So I donated much of it to a local womens shelter, and then sold the rest on Craig's List. This was key to orginizing my space, although it was hard to get rid of so much stuff, it really helped me to see what I had and no I actually USE it!

I wanted my space to not only have function but also form. So items that were pleasing to look at were keept on display and the rest was filed away into boxes or drawers. I have my collection of Prima flowers at the top of my shelf along with baskets and jars holding my ribbons, idea books, pencils and such.

I reporposed an old entertainment Center to house the majority of my scrapping stuff and my laptop and such. With a new coat of paint (ok about 20 coats) my old entertaimnet center has become my favorite piece of scarpbook funiture. I loved that the shelves were deep enough for my 12x12 items and they didn't hang over the edge (a huge pet peve with my bookshelves). The top holds all my 12x12 albums, then my photo boxes with misc. supplies, tools and embellishments, my cardstock on the left and pattern paper on the right, two 12x12 drawer towers, and right in the middle my laptop, work station, printer, idea books, sillouette etc.

My scrap desk is directly across for my shelf, this makes it easy to go back and forth between my PC and my scrapbooking projects.

I found photo boxes on sale at Michales 3 for 5.oo, I'm still in the process of finishing them but I spraypainted the bottom 1/2 and recoverd the lid in a plaid paper (by Chatterbox) that matches the paint and mood of my room. These boxes hold everything from Punches, Paint, Flowers, Brads, & Eyelits. (I'm going to get them all labled as soon as I finish recovering the rest of the boxes!)

I house all of my cardstock & Pattern paper in Steralite totes. each tote hold well over 500 sheets of paper, I have 2 totes for cardstock & 2 for Pattern papers. I like to orginize my paper by color becasue that's how I scrap, and it works best for me.

On the bottom of each side I ahve 2 12x12 towers. These towers are made by Iris and each hold 6 drawers. On the left side the towers hold themed items such as Christmas, Fall, Spring, Summer, Boy's, &Girls. In each of those catagories I have sub catagories such as in Fall I have school, Thanksgiving, ect. On the Right side 3 drawers hold my huge chipbard collection (I know I'm addicted) 1 drawer each also holds, letters, words, and tags.

So there you have it, Heather's scrap Space...now I want to see YOURS! And don't forget the ICE challenge...

Its that time again, time to open the windows let the fresh air in and get that Spring Cleaning done! This months challenge will hopefully help you do just that. Maybe your pretty organized already, maybe your scrap area looks like a tornado hit, maybe your family would like to eat on the dining room table again, no matter what kind of space you have we want to see & hear about it. Simply take a photo of your space or great organization idea (we LOVE cheep stuff made scrappy and useful!) and email it to us at info@iceescape.net its that easy! We’ll post our favorite pictures to the blog. Make sure to check the blog for additional tips and details how to vote on your favorite spaces. We will have categories in messiest, most improved (before & after pics needed), prettiest/most organized, and best organization idea. And to make you all feel better we’ll go first, check out the blog for pictures on our scrap spaces-yep the good, the bad & the Ugly!

Easter 365

2008-03-26T20:28:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know its Wednesday. Sorry guys, somehow Easter and Spring Break has me a bit turned upside down. I’m sure you other moms out there can easily relate! Anyhow I know you’re all on pins and needles for this weeks Tuesday Inspiration so without further a due…

Our albums not only house our priceless photos and memories, but also tell a story about us. Our albums will become the legacy of who we are. Not just our names, birthdates, and holiday traditions, but our dreams, our thoughts, our opinions, our struggles and our faith. If we only scrapbooked the happy good times that really wouldn’t leave the reader a very clear picture of who we are, don’t we want future generations to know what was really important to us, that we were real people with real lives and not just some picture of a stranger staring back at you?

With Easter on our heals, I thought it appropriate to do a IT on scrapbooking your Faith. For many, faith is something important in their lives, and it should be recorded. For me I want my children and my children’s children to have a glimpse in my soul to know where I stood in my Faith and the importance it is in my life. I have chosen to create a “Book of Faith” this is an album just for that, recording my thoughts about my faith and relationship with Christ. For you a whole album dedicated to the subject might not be appropriate, maybe consider just one layout, or maybe even a mini album.

Create LO’s without pictures… Here is a layout I did after I finished a several month long study on the book of Leviticus, I wanted to record what I learned through the study.

One of the great things about this album is I enjoy doing random pages about topics maybe not typical in my regular albums. I also enjoy trying different techniques and stepping out of my box when creating these pages. Since the page is usually more about the subject & journaling I find freedom to do unique things that I maybe wouldn’t try in my regular albums.

You may want to consider creating a layout or two, or maybe start your own Book of Faith documenting who you are, what is important to you ,and leave a legacy.

Winners!!

2008-03-22T21:07:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to the winners of the St. Patty’s Day Games! I went with the unofficial, unbiased, unaffiliated, random number picker of a local ten year old. LOL

The winners of the Shamrock Find are…

Cindy and Lorrie!!

Great job ladies for playing along and finding the hidden shamrocks. You have won a darling stamp set by studio G, found at Archivers, and a Gift Certificate to Just Scrappin’!

Next we have the Lucky Comments Challenge, and the winner of a 50.00 ICE Gift Certificate to be used towards ICE registration is….

Trina!!

And Another 50.00 ICE Gift Certificate towards ICE registration, just for being great and joining the ICE newsletter goes to…

shaykessler!!!!

Congratulations to all of our big winners! Everyone please send us your snail mail addresses so we can get these prizes out to you! You can email them to info@iceescape.net

Keep watching the ICE Blog & Newsletter for more fun contests and prizes!! Thanks everyone for playing along!!

Holiday Traditions

2008-03-21T06:29:00.000-06:00

I love holidays! I love the special things we do to celebrate that brings our families together, and help to build memories for our kids. Our family has a few traditions that we have incorporated over the years to make the holidays more special. Tonight we're doing our family tradition of dying Easter eggs. I think I love dying eggs as much as the kids do. I guess it's the creative side of me coming out to play. On Sunday many of those dyed eggs will be consumed and eaten at our annual family gathering at my husband's granmother's house. I'm in charge of the deviled eggs every year, and the family members are happy to eat the discolored eggs where the dye soaked through on a couple. This is also the annual grandkids egg hunt. As the grandkids are getting older, it ws discussed that this event might end this year, but we've decided to still keep it going strong - much to the delight of my almost twelve-year-old who insists she's not too old to hunt Easter Eggs, especially for the ones that have prizes inside!

So, we want to hear from you. What are your family traditions for the holidays? How will you be spending Easter this year? Or even tell us about other holiday's traditions. Do you think you'll keep these traditions as time goes on? How have your traditions changed over time? Oh - and if you have a cute scrapbook layout documenting a tradition - we'd love to see it!

Got Photos?

2008-03-18T17:15:00.000-06:00

If you’re like me you take lots of photos. Especially now that I’ve gone digital, whew! It’s not hard to take 300 pictures at one birthday party when you have an empty camera card, full battery, and willing (or sometimes not willing!) subjects! But then when it’s time to sit down and scrap those photos I can easily get a bit overwhelmed. There once was a day that I felt I needed to scrap each and every photo, thank goodness I have let those reigns go! But it still can be a daunting task to figure what photos are page worthy and how to fit as many of those photos on one LO as possible; all the while still leaving room for journaling, papers and creative elements (I mean what is scrapbooking without all those elements but just a photo album right?).

One thing that I have learned to help me with this task is sketches. I Love, Love , Love sketches, and hardly can create a LO without at least consulting my “idea book” (watch for more info on my idea book coming to an Inspiration Tuesday soon!!) One thing I look for in a sketch if I have many photos to scrap is number of photos, orientation (vertical or horizontal photos) and a LO that fits the theme & mood of the look I’m going for.

I got thios great sketch from www.pagemaps.com in the Aug. 2006 Archives

I chose this sketch because it incorporated lots of photos, plus let me highlight a favorite photo and still had room to be creative. I wanted to create a 2 page LO so I used the original sketch for the left side of my LO and flipped it 90* for the right side. Now one thing about sketches is that you have creative license to alter the sketch in any way you choose, a sketch for me many times is just a jumping point for my LO to start, once I have photo placement then the real creative fun can begin!

This sketch uses several small cropped photos, this is a great way to incorporate lots of photos onto a LO without overpowering your page with pictures. You can of course manually crop your photos with a trimmer to get the correct size, but unfortunately this method will tend to cut away much of the photo. So the way I prefer to get the photos the exact size I want without losing much of the original is to digitally crop the photo in Photoshop. After I crop my photos I copy & paste them into a blank canvas sized 8x10 for printing. Don’t forget to set your canvas resolution at a min. of 300, flatten all your layers and change it to a JPG before printing. Then it’s all ready to send it off to your favorite developer!

After you print your collage 8x10 photo you’ll want to cut apart the photos and arrange them on your LO. In this case since I was doing a bock-pieced look, I just used some white cardstock for the bottom layer. This way I don’t waste my nice bazzil cardstock or pattern paper. (*tip* I like to save the white cardstock inserts from my 12x12 album page protectors for this)

After my pictures are laid out and adhered to my white background cardstock, the fun can be begin. Now I can finish the page using my Pattern papers, embellishments, title & journaling.

2008-03-17T08:19:00.000-06:00

Top O' the Mornin' to Ya!

In honor of todays holiday the ICE chicks have a few fun things for you! There have been 3 shamrocks hidden in the blog, send us an email at info@iceescape.net when you find it and we'll randomly pick 2 names for a PRIZE! Whooo! Dont'cha just love FREE stuff??

Also as a fun little game we are giving away some GREEN! Tell us what makes you lucky and we'll randomly pick 1 winner to win a $50.00 ICE Gift Certicate! Yep you (or a friend if your already registerd) can get 50.00 off your ICE Registration!! All you need to do is just post how lucky you are right here in this posts comments (see link at bottom of post)

And last (but certanly not least!) if you haven't signed up for our great newsletter yet-make sure to do that TODAY! (go to http://www.iceescape.net/ and click on the newsletter button on the left side of the home page) Everyone who is signed up for the newsletter will go into a random drawing for yet another $50.00 ICE GIFT CERTIFICATE!! Again, if your already signed up pass it along to a friend, cropping is always more fun with another "chick".

Oh and watch out soon for our details on how to become a ICE VIP, "Cool Chick" Details will be announced in the upcoming newsletter along with the next ICE Challenge, enter and win an awesome prize from ICE!!

You only have till Friday 3/21 to enter, check back here on sturady to see who the LUCKY winner's are!!

You Must Have a Little Rain to Make a RAINBOW

2008-03-14T08:44:00.001-06:00

Can you belive it? March is almost 1/2 over! Where does the time go? As most of you know, St. Pattys day is just around the corner (March 17th to be exact). And while looking for a unique cookie recipe for the school bake sale, I came across this fun recipe at http://www.allrecipes.com/ . I thought it was perfect with the upcoming holiday and the rainy gloomy days we have had as of late. I have to say my kids had a blast making these cookies, and so I thought I'd share with you. Maybe you too can make a batch to brighten up somones rainy day, or get out of that green shamrock rut for St. Patrick's Day and make some bright cheeful rainbows instead!

Rainbows
Submitted by: DARBYANNE
Yields: 30 servings
"A 4-colored cookie dough that is shaped into a log and sliced to form rainbows."

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
assorted colors of paste food
coloring
4 tablespoons prepared vanilla
frosting
1/4 cup yellow decorator sugar
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extracts. Gradually add the flour and salt. Beat at low speed until well blended.
2.
Divide dough into 10 equal sections. Combine 4 sections of he dough with red paste-type coloring until smooth. Combine 3 sections of the dough with green coloring until smooth. Combine 2 sections of the dough with yellow coloring until smooth, and combine remaining dough with blue coloring. Wrap each section of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3.
Shape blue dough into an 8-inch log. Shape yellow dough into 8x3-inch rectangle; place on waxed paper. Place blue log in center of yellow rectangle and fold yellow edges up around blue log, pinching to form seal. Roll to form smooth log. Roll green dough into 8x5-inch rectangle. Place yellow log in center, pinch edges of green to seal; roll smooth. Roll red dough into 8x7-inch rectangle. Place green log in center, pinch edges of red to seal and roll smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
4.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease or line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5.
Cut log in half length-wise. Cut each half into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
6.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8 to 12 minutes. (Do not brown.) Cool on cookie sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks and let cool completely. Pipe small amount of white frosting on bottom corner of each cookie to resemble a cloud. Sprinkle with yellow decorating sugar. Let stand until frosting is set.

Enjoy!

2008-03-11T20:29:00.000-06:00

Last year, my son came home from Kindergarten with an interesting assignment, build a Leprechaun trap. Now honestly I had never even considered trying to catch a Leprechaun, or building a trap to do it, so the challenge was on.

Legend has it that Leprechauns are elf like little old men who wear a top hat, and they are known to be pranksters and like to tick the unexpected. If you catch a Leprechaun he will offer you his pot of god as bribery to let him go.

After a little research we found a Leprechaun trap can be made any way you chose. Although the more creative the better, Leprechauns are attracted to the color green, rainbows, anything sparkly, money, & four leaf clovers.

After building our trap using a shoe box, lots of fun pattern paper (from moms scrap stash of course), a small bucket and pennies we were ready to set it and see what would happen.

The next morning (which just happened to be St. Patrick’s day of course) we all were quite surprised to find that we didn’t catch a Leprechaun but we came close! He left us some treats and some tricks too.

He turned our milk green and our muffins green too, but they sure tasted good with our Lucky Charms!

And maybe this year we’ll build a better trap and maybe just catch that sneaky Leprechaun!

Spring Forward

2008-03-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

Just a friendly reminder to set your clocks ahead 1 hour tonight!

My sweet friend Gwennie made this darling clock. She hand made it using a plate, clock kit, brads & pattern paper, isn't she just clever??

February Layout Contest Winner!!

2008-03-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

We got some super great entries for the layout contest last month. It was very hard for the judges to choose a winner. Congratulations to Angie Jackson from Nampa Idaho! Her adorable layout features two special someones!

Contratulations Angie!! As the winner of the monthly challenge, you win a fun package of spring time goodies: Chipboard embellishments and letters, matching brads, shimmery pink flowers, and some fun spring time paper. (by the way, we picked up these goodies at World Class Scrappers in Boise)

Due to other business focus, our March newsletter and challenge announcement is coming out a bit later this month. We have a great challenge idea in store for you though, so get ready and you can win a prize too! Thank you to everyone who entered!! All entries were fantastic. Here are our other two favorite entries submitted by Lorrie and Jessica:

And the winner is.....Drawing for Early Bird Registration's Free Spot to ICE

2008-03-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

To make the drawing easy for us, and fair for all of you, we made a list of everyone who signed up during Early Bird Registration and. We then assigned each of you a number.

We then threw all the numbers into the "ICE Bucket" and drew a number.

And the winner is.....

Are you ready.......

Someone super lucky.....

Someone getting a full refund back on their Early Bird Registration.....

Congratulations to....

STARR THOMPSON!!!! From Star Idaho!!!!

Favorite Photos

2008-03-04T15:45:00.001-07:00

Ok I think I must have one of the cutest kids in the whole world (I’m not biased at all). Its lucky he’s so darn cute because on some days it’s his only saving grace. LOL When I saw this picture I knew it needed to be showcased, although it’s not the best photograph the expression is priceless, and just looking at it makes you smile.

When creating this LO, I wanted to keep simple lines and a lighthearted “boy” approach. I wanted the photo to be the main focus so I blew it up 8x10. By using several pattern papers the LO has a complicated look, but rest assured it’s really quite easy! Don’t have a boy? You can adapt this LO using any of your own pattern Papers and coordinating embellishments to showcase one of your own special photos.

Supplies:
Adhesive, Trimmer, scissors, 3 coordinating Pattern papers (Bo Bunny Shabby princess line used), 2 sheets of orange cardstock (bazzil ), 1 sheet of navy Blue Cardstock (bazzil) 1 sheet of green ric-rack edged cardstock (bazzil), red, yellow, & green cardstock (bazzil) –scraps are great, Ribbon, navy button,3 star chipboard shapes, Quickuts Revolution Diesel Alpha and swirl emboss folders, Azurite, Dark Moss, & Lipstick red chalk inks (colorbox).

Cut 3 1/4 off the striped pattern paper, you won’t be using this strip so discard to your scrap pile. Cut another 3 inch strip and Adhere it to the left edge on the right side of your LO. Use the remaining stripe paper and adhere to the right edge of the left side of you LO.

Next chalk the edges of your pre-cut rickrack edged green cardstock in dark Moss. Then adhere centerd on the right side of your LO.

Cut 2 strips 5 ½ x 12 out of the dot paper. chalk edges using Azurite

Cut your star paper 7 ¾ x 101/4 adhere to the right hand corner of the right page. Over that Adhere the dot pattern paper to both sides of LO, about 1/3 of the way up.

For the title we will be using a fun tool, the Quickuts Revolution. You can find the Revolution and its dies at World Class scrappers in Boise where Quickuts are always 30% off!!

First you will need to cut your carstock 4x4 to fit in the Revolution.

Place your magnetized letters on the plate. your cardstock and the shim, turn the crank and wala! A title-yep it’s that easy!

Next is the fun part. Using the swirl embossing folder, place your die cut letters inside the folder, and run it through the revolution..and wala…embossed swirls on your letters!

Arrange title to span across both sides of the LO. for a little extra fun I added a small button for the period.

Next cover your chipboard stars in cardstock & chalk

Tie a ribbon in the centers

Cut out a few extra stars out of the Pattern paper and then adhere along with your photo.

And there you have it, my Mr. personality. isn't he cute? Now go capture your Mr (or Miss) Personality and get a special page scrapped!

Contest Winners Will Be Announced Thursday!!

2008-03-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

Okay ladies. We know you're all anxiously awaiting the announcement of the winner of last months layout contest, and the winner of the Free Spot to ICE from Early Bird Registration. We'll have an announcement on the blog first thing Thursday morning. Good luck to all of you! :)

2008-03-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

Every Girl Loves a Sale!

www.iceescape.net

Hurry before the clock strikes Midnight!!

Top Ten Reasons Not to Miss ICE

10: No whining kids (or Husbands!)

9: One weekend to finally get caught up - whatever that means!

8: No schedules! Sleep in if you want, stay up as late as you want, even take a nap if you want to! How long as it been since you got to do that?

7: Reconnect with a good friend, sister, neighbor, anyone!

6:No chores, no meals to cook, no errands, no responsibilities!

5: Because you deserve it!

4: Get excited about scrapbooking again. Get back in the groove and renew your passion for the hobby you love.

3: A weekend to celebrate YOU and all the things you do!

2: Dedicate the ICE weekend to get that project done, quit saying someday, and do it!

1: 'Cuz Girls Just Wanna Have FUN! FUN! FUN! (need we say more??)

You're a VIP!

2008-02-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late getting the Thursday "Cool Talk" post up this evening. I was working on a project with my soon to be nine-year-old daughter. Like millions of nine-year-old girls out there's she's crazy for Hannah Montana, so we're having a Hannah Montana/Rock Star Birthday Party. We worked on these fun invitations tonight and had a great time. She's quite a little scrapper.

Well, the VIP badges got me to thinking. Thinking about YOU! :) I'm so excited for ICE because, if for just one weekend out of the year, you get to come and be treated like a true VIP. We, as women, it seems tend to always take second place. We put the kids first, out spouse first, our jobs first, volunteering first, even cleaning the darn house first! Sometimes we just have to step back and put ourselves first and spoil ourselves a little! That's what we plan to do at ICE - we plan on spoiling you, celebrating you, pampering you, and renewing your spirit. We picture tables of old friends sharing stories and memories laughing, crying - whatever. We picture that one women who's been so overwhelmed because she hasn't had a chance to complete that big project leave with a sense of accompishment and pride because she's finally done. We see the new scrapper meeting new friends, learning new tricks, and getting excited to continue on with more projects. We look forward to the seasoned scrapper sharing some neat ideas, winning a contest, and maybe taking a class to even learn something new.

With only two days left until Early Bird Registration is over - here's your VIP pass! We hope you take advantage of the savings and sign up. Also encourage some of your friends and family to come join you at ICE. I'm sure you know someone who deserves a break, deserves to be spoiled, and deserves to be a VIP for a weekend!

Oh - By the way, I loved reading everyone's wish list from last week! This week, share your favorite way to pamper yourself! For me - it's getting a pedicure! Ahhhh! Spring's coming, I need to get in and get one I think!

So for this Leap Day - Leap on over to the website and save the money for Early Bird Registration while you still can! Then start packin' your bags and planning your projects 'cause ICE will be here before we know it!

We'll see you there! :)

Don't throw it out, fix that Photo!

2008-02-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Many of us have them, pictures that aren’t exactly great. Sometimes a special shot doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it to, or its an everyday photo that’s extra sweet. Whatever the case, don’t despair , with a little tweaking in a photo editing software sometimes you can take a not so great shot & turn it into a a good portrait or at the very least a scrapable photo.

There are many types of photo editing software programs out there and likely your PC and/or camera came with one. Not all photo editing programs are the same, but most will get the job done if your just looking for basic editing capabilities. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements. It is a smaller (read much cheaper) version of the full Photoshop. Most photographers and digital scrappers (including me) find Elements to work just fine for them.

In Photoshop you will find almost all your editing options under the enhance tab. When editing photos one of first things I change is contrast. You will usually find this under the lighting button. By bumping up the contrast on your photos you immediately get more vibrant colors and deeper tones in your photograph. And if you ever swap out a color photo to Black & White use contrast to get those deep blacks and crisp whites that will make your photo really pop!

Sometimes if the lighting is overexposed (like in my photo) or underexposed using the contrast in conjunction with the brightness will help you achieve the look your going for.

Hue & saturation. What bright & vibrant colors in your photos? In Photoshop under the color button select Hue & Saturation. Use the sliders to enhance the colors or bring out a new hue. You can change the master color to a color like blue and using the saturation slider to deepen or lessen the blues in your photo. use a dominate color in your photograph and bump it up for a wow look. Just remember many times when using H&S less is more. But as with most things this is not an absolute- you’re the artist! I promise you once you start playing with this feature you will be so addicted!!

In this LO I used the Hue & saturation to add color to my photos to get this neat effect.

Diffuse Glow, another one of my favorite tools. I find the glow filter under the filters and Distortion tab. This effect is awesome especially on Black & White Photos (which can easily be done using the black & white button or filter) but can also work beautifully in color too. You can choose the intensity, & grain to achieve the look your going for. In this photo I kept a high amount of grain along with the glow to give my photo that edgy look.

And don’t forget about the crop button! I use it all the time. To clean up my photos from loose cropping & distracting backgrounds. Play with it a bit crop in unexpected ways by going in super close or setting it at an angle-you’ll be surprised at how a picture can take on a whole new look with this necessary tool!

And in case your wondering, these photos are of my lovely sister, her Husband, & 3 kids. They actually celebrated their 10 year anniversary on Valentines day and decided to renew their vows with a wedding that they never had. (10 years ago they were married in our Mom’s living room with only days notice!)Now you all can say “AWWWW How Sweet!”

Time to start some "Cool Talk" on ICE

2008-02-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

We've been thinking of other ways we can use our blog as a tool of inspiration. So, starting now and every Thursday we're going to do a "Cool Talk" segment. Topics will range from all kinds of things. Blurbs so you can get to know the three of us better before, ideas to inspire your scrapbooking, inspire you in your personal life, feature a "cool" idea- project- store-product-whatever, or just something to make you laugh. Our goal is to start some communication, chatter, and such before the big event in May. Then you'll be fully inspired, ready to scrap, and might even recognize a name or two when you get there. Please participate in the discussions by posting in comments on the blog, or if you'd like you can e-mail us.

So, for the first segment let's talk about wishes - scrapbooking wishes! :) This is a two part discussion:

A - The Genie List: If money, time, circumstances were no object, and the scrapbook genie appeared to grant you three wishes - what would you wish for? Would it be a special talent? A big ticket item? Something wild and out of this world? An ambition finally realized?

B - The Possible List: THEN give us a wishlist of three wishes that could possibly actually happen, a more realistic list. What product are you dying to have? What class are you wishing you could take? What talent do you wish you had? What trip, event, etc would you love to be able to do? What scrapbook celeb would you want to meet? Tell us all your ideas, you never know, one of your wishes just might be granted at ICE. :)

Here's my (Tracy's) list, I'm sure Nancy and Heather will post theirs soon too.

"Genie" Wishlist:

1. More time to Scrap! Don't you wish that scrapping time went by as slowly as other time. What happens when you start scrapping? That clock seems to go into warp speed. Then, for me, three hours later you look down at your finished layout and wonder how the last three hours went by in the blink of an eye! :)

2. The ultimate scrapbook room designed, decorated, and organized by someone else, or at least someone to help me do it. I'm not good at that kind of thing, but admire people who are. I have probably 50 scraprooms bookmarked with the thought of "some day".

3. Dishes that washed themselves, laundry that washed, folded, ironed and put itself away, floors that vacuumed themselves, dust to never accumulate, bathrooms that was always sparkling clean, weeds that never grew, and while I'm at it a personal chef. Just think of all the scrapping time I'd have! :)

"Possible" Wishlist:

1. A weekend at ICE (of course)

2. A cutting system, I have yet to take the plunge into the Cricut or Silhouette or other cutting system

3. A really good photography class to be able to use my Digital SLR camera better

I can't wait to read your responses! Have fun! Get ready... Make A Wish!

Counting Down to Early Bird

2008-02-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

10 days & counting! If you haven't signed up for the Treasure Valley's Greatest Scrapbooking Event yet, there are only 10 days left to get in while its on sale! And remember, all Early Bird Registrations will go into a drawing for a chance at a FREE spot at ICE! Yep, thats 3 days of cropping, shopping, freebies, prizes, games, and so much more for FREE!

Visit http://www.iceescape.net/ and click on the cute Birdie to get registered!

Top 10 Reasons to Not Miss ICE
10: Three days of no whining kids (or Husbands)!

Magnet Board

2008-02-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

This week’s Tuesday Inspiration is such a fun project! I have to give credit to my friends Tricia & Tracy for this great idea! We are going to make a personalized magnet board, not only is it easy but its very time & cost effective! ( how can a scrap project get any better??)

Supplies:
You will need a Trimmer, Adhesive, Scissors, Ruler, Cropadile , 12x12 (or any size really) metal sheet. I found mine at Craft Warehouse for 2.99 Three pattern papers (Making Memories noteworthy collection used), Coordinating Cardstock (Bazzil), Clear buttons (Stampin’ Up!), Chipboard Flowers (Making Memories), Wide Ribbon (Offray), Ink (Colorbox chalk Ink Rouge, Azure, & Chestnut Roan ), magnets (I used small round ones & magnet tape), *optional* Monogram Chipboard letter (pressed Petals), small tag, sticker letters (Chatterbox), paper flower (Prima) & ribbon (offray).

Adhere your 12x12 Pattern paper to the board. (I used just plain Mono & it works great just make sure to get all the edges glued down well so you don’t get any lifting)

I trimmed a pre-cut scalloped circle Pattern Paper in ½ & chalked the edges in brown. Then adhere to one edge of your board.

Chalk the rest of the edges of your board. Although chalking/inking is not a necessary step in this project I love the defined look it gives, and how it makes my paper “pop”.

Generously apply adhesive to the FRONT side of your chipboard flower. Then place it on the BACK SIDE of your cardstock (if your using a textured cardstock or a pattern paper this is very important!) & cut out.

Use a pencil to trace your button to the BACK SIDE of your pattern paper. Using a good clear adhesive (mono works fine if you rub the back of your paper with your fingernail to get an even glue line, or a clear liquid glue also works great. )

Adhere your button centers to your chipboard flowers

To make your flowers into magnets, glue a round magnet to the back. Use a good bonding glue for this step or your magnets will rip away from your chipboard with use. I recommend something like the Stampin’ up Crystal effects of even hot glue. **TIP** Some magnets will leave a smudge on your paper. To avid this paint the magnet with clear fingernail polish before gluing to your chipboard. Making sure to let the polish dry for 30-45 minutes before using on your board.

Measure in 1 inch from the top and 2 inches from the side, on both sides

Use Cropadile to punch 2 holes. (I love this handy little tool! You should have seen how giddy I was the first time I tried it on a metal sheet! Its so fun!!)

Use about a yard of wide ribbon, thread it from the backside of the board and tie with a knot. repeat on the other side/hole.

For an extra special touch I also added a large monogram letter for the recipient .I covered the letter in Pattern Paper then flipped over and added a long strip of magnet tape. This tape comes in a roll and can want to curl up on you, the adhesive backing it has doesn’t hold very well, so I suggest also gluing it down with a good bonding glue.

I embellished the letter a bit with a ribbon & tag with my friends Name.

Now your boards ready to hang! This makes a great gift for just about anyone. you can customize the paper & magnet embellishments to fit the recipients likes. You can also make the board like a completed LO, and all the recipient needs to do is change out the pictures! Or make a calendar grid and the magnets as numbers so you can have a perpetual calendar! the possibilities are endless!

Happy Heart Day

2008-02-14T12:55:00.001-07:00

I know, for some, today's holiday wants to make you gag. But I for one really enjoy Valentines Day. Not for the mushy love stuff but for the fun kid stuff, valentines cards, boxes, & candy! As a scrapper I get giddy thinking of pulling out my stamps and scrap stash to make one of a kind unique cards for my kids to pass out...WRONG! They won't have anything to do with a homemade valentine, I have lost the battle to Spongebob, Ninja Turtles, & Dora-sigh!

BUT this year was different! I had all but given up hope to create valentines for my kids that didn't include some sort of cartoon character, until I suggested to my oldest son that we buy this fun "pop rock" candy and make some cool "rocker" valentines to go with it. To my udder amazement he said "yeah". Now this wasn't just a blah "yeah" but an enthusiastic "yeah!" Woohoo!!

Well as some of you who know me well, know that Photoshop has not always been my friend. I'm slowly learning the ropes though. I wanted to create a Valentine that would be "cool" enough for a 10 year old boy to pass out, and this is what I came up with. I was pretty proud of myself I have to say. maybe I'm getting this PSE thing down! Double Woohoo!

Oh Scrap!

2008-02-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Oh Scrap! We are talking about scraps this week! You know you have them, they are overflowing and your sure that they are multiplying when you’re not looking. And if your like me, I just can’t seem to part with them whether they be barley small enough to get a punch out of or as big an almost full sheet of paper. But with a bit of organization and planning you can make great use of those scraps!

I organize my scraps in totes and 12x12 page protectors.

You can find these totes at most discount stores, they are cheap & they work great. I also have seen people organize their scraps in expandable folders or in hanging files which are also is a great ideas.

Because I have so many scraps, I organize them by color. I have 1- 12x12 page protector for each color in cardstock and in pattern paper and one extra protector for “multi” colors (for when I just can’t decide on what color it belongs to!)

One way to help keep your scraps tidy is to trim your scraps into squares/rectangles before filing them away. Because odd shaped and jagged edges have a tendency to catch onto other papers.

Also try to get in the habit of putting your scraps away at the end of a project. Or at least dedicate a spot to accumulate your scraps like a bin and when its full (OK overflowing) spend some time getting them put away-because when your scraps are organized you will get the most out of them and actually USE them!

And lastly I keep my scraps right next to my desk so they are at my fingertips when I need them. This way I opt to reach for my scrap bin before cutting into a new sheet of paper.

Scraps are great for making cards, photo mats, journaling blocks and so much more! I challenged myself to make a LO out of scraps only (minus the background paper). And what would Inspiration Tuesday be without a project to inspire? So lets get started!

Supplies:
Trimmer, scissors, adhesive, & pencil, 1 sheet of red cardstock, heart template (bazzil pre-cut cardstock heart used-or just try free handing a heart), sticker letters (American Crafts Thickers), chipboard brackets (Maya Road), White acrylic paint, & lots of scraps in a pink/red color theme.

First lightly trace your heart onto your background cardstock

After selecting several papers out of your scrap stash start tearing them into small squares. pay special attention to leave white core on all the sides.

When you think you have torn enough squares, tear a few more just for good measure :0)

Start gluing your torn squares to around the outline of your heart

Mat your photo using additional scraps. It is important to ground your photo with a busy background.

Do some journaling and trim to strips (unfortunately when using a printer its is difficult to use scraps)

Adhere your sticker letters, love title (more scraps from a Reminiscent paper) hand cut heart (out of scraps of course), painted chipboard brackets, journal strips and photo. And there you go, LO created out of scraps! Doesn’t it feel great to use up some of that great paper?

Here’s another LO using the same heart/scraps concept. In this LO I created 2 pages and added more journaling.

Now its up to you to take the scraps challenge! Go get those scraps organized and use them! And if you have a great tip on how to organize & use scraps. Post a comment and share it with us!

February Contest Challenge!!

2008-02-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here it is! The February Challenge! Create a layout about someone special in your life. The layout can feature anyone special to you - Your sweetie, your children, parents, grandparents, a good friend, or even a four legged furry creature. There's a catch though, you have to create the layout based on this sketch!

Submit your completed layout by March 1st to info@iceescape.net and you could be a winner of some fabulous prizes!! We'll be looking for: Overall appearance, creativity, craftsmanship, and how well you feature your special someone.

Here's our very own Tracy's take on the sketch. Her special someone is her daughter Hailey, the aspiring rock star dressed in her Halloween costume from last year.

Good Luck and Have Fun

January Contest Winner!!

2008-02-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Jessica for winning January's contest! We loved her creative title and great use of paper snowflakes, flowers & doodles.

However we loved all our winter LO entries. Thanks to everyone who inspired us this month with their work! We wanted to showcase more of your great tallent so here are our favorite 5 winter LO's. ladies if you see your LO here please send us an email to info@iceescape.net with your address so we can send you a fun prize too!

Snow Fun by Cindy

Baby It's Cold-by Angie

Snow Friends by Caralee

Snowboarding by Brittany

Ditch Day by Jennifer

And the winner is....

2008-02-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

The winners from the Inspiration Tuesday "You've Got Mail" Drawing are April Peterson, Michelle Cline, & auntsu57! Congratulations ladies! Watch out for a special ICE delivery soon!

****On a side note I have heard its been a bit difficult to find the target dollar spot mailboxes. I did find some similar mailboxes made by Provo Craft for sale at my LSS Confetti's,(Kuna Idaho) and I have also seen a chipboard version by Creative Imaginations. If you stumble across some mailboxes let us know by leaving a comment!****

Ice Escape

ICE '09 CANCELLED

From our Home to Yours

A funny for you

Guest Designer: Scribbles

Holiday Reminder

What's in a name?

Easy cute Christmas tags

Popcorn Fun

Wishing You A Very Happy Thanksgiving

Sittin With Santa Layout

Christmas Countdown

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas....

MIA,Craft Show, & Christmas Fudge

Card Box

Vote!

Harvest Surprise

Thanks a latte!

Guest Designer - Courtney

Sonic Box

You've Been Boo'd!

Too funny

Teacher Jar

Put it in writing!

Halloween Patties

Peppermint Pattie Tin

Little Memories Are Important

Thanks for the Candy!!

Bella Sweet Bella

Tell the Story

It's Heather's Birthday!!!

Vacation!

The apple dosn't fall far from the tree

Happy Birthday Dawn!!

Scrapping Our Other Family Members

Flocking

Back to my childhood

Favorite Photos Album

WINNER, WINNER, WINNER!

Make Your Photos **POP**

Guest Designer!

Coffee Creations....

Inspiration Tuesday Is Back! Elements of Design.

Lesson Learned!

ICE praise

life, after ICE

Come Join the Fun This Weekend!

Power Layouts, packing for a crop

All I ever needed to know I learned from Karate...

K.I.S.S.

Create Art!

Trash To Treasure

Big Ideas

Inspiration Tuesday

April Fools Day Fun & The Early Bird Is Back!

Nancy's Scraproom

Heather's Scraproom

Easter 365

Winners!!

Holiday Traditions

Got Photos?

You Must Have a Little Rain to Make a RAINBOW

Spring Forward

February Layout Contest Winner!!

And the winner is.....Drawing for Early Bird Registration's Free Spot to ICE

Favorite Photos

Contest Winners Will Be Announced Thursday!!

You're a VIP!

Don't throw it out, fix that Photo!

Time to start some "Cool Talk" on ICE

Counting Down to Early Bird

Magnet Board

Happy Heart Day

Oh Scrap!

February Contest Challenge!!

January Contest Winner!!

And the winner is....

Make Your Photos POP