Contest Winners Will Be Announced Thursday!!

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! :)

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!

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!

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

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

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

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!