$$Frugal Friday Tip$$

Adding Color by Wendy

Design Team Wendy submitted this Frugal Friday Tip: Something I always keep on hand is plain white and cream cardstock. They are basic scrapbooking supplies that I can always use. Sometimes I've got the perfect color in mind for a layout, like the one here, and I am out of that color - now what do I do?! Here's the answer: I take that white or cream cardstock (that I always have on hand) and add ink to it to create my perfect color in place of that cardstock that I didn't have. For this particular layout I used textured paper and just rubbed my ink pad directly overtop of the paper. It was very quick and easy and gave me the matching color I was looking for. There are many other ways to add color. You can use a sponge, stipple brush, or texture brush/sponge. Each technique will give a different look. Give this a try the next time (you think) you don't have quite what you are looking for!

If you use this tip - please share your project at Scrappinpsycho@live.com and we'll share it with our readers.

Do you have a Frugal tip to share? Submit your tip and a picture (if possible) to Scrappinpsycho@live.com and you could be our next Frugal Friday Tip.

April Challenge

Make a Wish by Robin

Design Team Member Robin did this LO using the attached sketch from the http://www.thescrappiest.blogspot.com/.

It's not too late - you still have time to win a spot on the Guest Design Team. Just submit your project for the April Challenge to scrappinpsycho@live.com - see all the details in April Challenge below.

Guest Design Team Member

Meet Brittney our Guest Design Team Member for May

My name is Brittney, I'm 24 from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When I was asked to be the guest designer for May, I was beyond thrilled. I mean, what a treat! I started scrapbooking about 4 years ago. My inspiration is definitely my boyfriend Josh and my dog Brodie. They're good sports, too - always willing to pose for a photo (or seven!). Currently, my favorite thing to do on a layout is some hand-stitching. I love the texture that it adds, and not to mention that I just love the way it looks!

I love to travel (although I do get homesick after about two weeks), so I have more than enough vacation photos to scrap. Because of this, I tend to make a mini album or two for each vacation, and then I display them proudly for everyone to flip through when they come over. I'm leaving for another vacation in June, and I can't wait to share with everyone what I come up with!

Here's a layout that I made about a week ago showcasing my dad's trip to Rome! I used some yummy Studio Calico and October Afternoon papers, as well as some American Craft's Thickers.

Be sure to come back in May to see what Brittney offers to the May Challenge!

Spring Cleaning Challenge

Prize!

Design Team Member Kimmarie has generously offered this brand new Stampin' Up Pun Fun stamp set as a prize for the Spring Cleaning Contest. The prize will also include a 6 x 6 paper pack from Stampin Up.

The Spring Cleaning Challenge will continue through April 30th. Then we will post BEFORE and AFTER pictures of all the submissions and let our readers vote on a winner. It's not too late to get your BEFORE and AFTER pictures in. Just follow the instructions in Spring Cleaning Challenge below. In order to be eligible to win the prize - you must submit both a before and after picture of your cleaning project.

April Challenge

The April challenge will be to either Scraplift (copy) someone else's project or use a Sketch. We would like to encourage you to scraplift a project that someone has posted here at Scrap Our Stash - but that is not necessary.

The lift or sketch can be from anywhere - a magazine, another blog or gallery or wherever you find inspiration. The only requirement is that you "credit" the original scrapper or the sketch artist if possible.

If you would like to find inspiration here at Scrap Our Stash - just click on the label (in the right hand sidebar) either by card, layouts, altered, or by a particular person's name.

Just complete your project and email a picture and a brief description to Scrappinpsycho@live.com . If you have a picture of the "original" work or sketch please email it along with your project and we will post it along with your project. If you can not submit a picture of the "original" work - please send as much details as you can regarding the original scrapper.

As always, we encourage you to Scrap Your Stash - but it is not required this time.

Come back often to see our Design Team, Guest Design Team and other Readers contributions. Who knows, maybe one of the April posts will be your inspiration piece.

Looking forward to seeing your projects!

A winner will be chosen from all entries and be offered a spot on the Guest Design Team for the month of June. All entries must be received by 10:00 PM on April 30th to be eligible for the Guest Design Team Challenge.

April Challenge

Altered Tin by Kimmarie

Design Team Member Kimmarie chose to lift past Guest Design Team Member Rachel's Altered Tin. She said, "I love altering! I had a couple of Stampin' Up tins laying around so I decided to alter one. I used all Stampin Up patterned paper, chipboard and rub-ons. I also created some cards and tags to store inside the tin. I adhered the paper with Zip Dry glue. This glue is fantastic, adheres to everything."

Now it's your turn to accept the challenge - check out all the details in April Challenge below.

April Challenge

Snow Cute by Kathy

This is a lift of Julie Bonner from Two Peas - it was just too cute not to lift!

Now it's your turn. Check out the details for the April Challenge below. Hurry this ends on the 30th.

April Challenge

Be Me by Joni

Design Team Member Joni lifted Design Team Member Tere's layout. Joni said, I loved the big heart shape and the masking, so I started with a large chipboard circle & misted using a piece of lace cardstock as my mask. I also lifted the idea of doing a layout about myself, using a smaller photo.

Now it's your turn to take the April Challenge. Check out all the details in April Challenge, and find out how you could win a spot on the Guest Design Team.

Special Spring Cleaning Challenge

Announcing our Spcecial Spring Cleaning Challenge. I'm sure as spring approaches,(we hope) that everyone is ready to Spuce up their scraproom, studio, closet, corner, drawer, tote or whatever you may have that needs tidying up. So let's do it together.

The plan is to take a picture of the BEFORE and then get busy! If you choose you can send pictures of the progression of your cleaning project - or you may choose to send an AFTER picture. Starting March 1, I will post the BEFORE pictures as I get them - on completion or midway through when I receive another picture from you I will post it also. So we can all see how everyone is doing.

We will also use this as a place to ask and answer organizational type questions or vent frustrations or share successes or accomplishments. Just put your question, vent or accomplishment in the comment section. The rest of us will attempt to answer your questions and share your joy or pain with you by commenting.

Take that BEFORE picture now - or before you begin the challenge. Send your pictures and your goal to scrappinpsycho@live.com .

Your mission if you choose to accept it is to take a picture of the BEFORE and then get busy!

This challenge will end on April 30th. Then all the entries will be posted for our readers to select a winner of the Stamp it Up prize pack, so generously donated by Kimmarie.

Catch Up Sunday

I can't believe April is almost over, which means Scrap Our Stash will have completed its 5th month. Time sure does fly.

This week Monica and Roxanne submitted their After pictures for Spring Cleaning Challenge. Also, Kimmarie generously donated a Stamp N' Up set and paper for the Spring Cleaning prize. The contest will end on April 30th. Then we will post all of the contestants who posted both their before and after pictures - and let you our readers pick a winner. So, if you haven't gotten your pictures in yet - it's still not too late.

So far the April Challenge has been almost exclusively lifts. This weeks contributors were Wendy, Rachel and Kimmarie. It has been interesting to see how one person's layout can inspire us to do something "all our own". The challenge continues through the 30th also. Jump on board - you could win a spot on the Guest Design Team.

Our Frugal Friday this week was a quick tutorial by Rachel on how to change the color of your bling to match your layout. This is a great way to use up your stash!

Exciting news. Starting May 15th we will be having a Sketch Challenge in addition to our regular monthly challenge. Design Team Member Robin will be creating a sketch exclusively for Scrap Our Stash each month. We will post Design Team members examples of how they used the sketch - and then will challenge our readers to complete a layout using the sketch. Each month winners will be chosen and given the opportunity to serve on our Guest Design Team. I'm really looking forward to this. I love using sketches for inspiration.

Have a great week - be sure to get your submissions in before the April 30th deadline. Looking forward to seeing your projects.

Later,
Kathy

$$Frugal Friday Tip$$

Matching Bling by Rachel

Here is a great way to take plain bling that you have in your stash and turn it into a colorful creation to match your layout.

So you have a color you want to match and some ink (or permanent marker).

Apply the ink to the bling and wait about a minute. Dab the excess off and then let dry. Add the bling to your layout!!

April Challenge

By Kimmarie

By Laurie

Design Team Member Kimmarie used Guest Design Team Member Laurie's project as her inspiration. She said, I love working on Pop Out albums, some of you call them "smoosh" albums. I made this one of my 3 daughter's first day of school. Most of the products used are form Rusty Pickles's Pirate Princess Collection. I love doing these albums with paper kits. I find it hard to put different company pp together so I always use a kit when working on something like this. tfl

Now it's your turn to take the challenge. You can either Lift someone else's project - create your project using a sketch. Check out April Challenge and see how you can become a Guest Design Team Member.

Also, don't miss the Spring Cleaning Challenge - check out all the details below.

April Challenge

Journal by Rachel

Guest Design Team Member Rachel scraplifted former Design Team Member Danielle's BFF layout and created a new journal to log her visits when she goes Geocaching! Rachel said, "The cover is from the box that my Bind It All came in and the papers are Pink Paislee Queen Bee. I loved using the strips ofpaper and using buttons as accents"!

Now it's your turn. Check out all the details in April Challenge below. Find out how you can become eligible to become a Guest Design Team Member.

April Challenge

Princess by Wendy

Design Team Member Wendy submitted this Lift of Design Team Robin's layout. She said, "My layouts rarely go flower-less and I find it hard to create balanced layouts with 2 pictures. I was thrilled when I found this frame to use. I was looking for an overlay but this was better! It started out plain green and I stamped the polka dots on it. The paper is from the way back part of my stash so it felt good to use that too.
Now it's your turn to accept the Aprl Challenge. See all the details below.

April Challenge

Choices by Kathy

This is a lift of a layout of the same name by Debie T from Two Peas in a Bucket. She is one of my favorite scrappers at Two Peas. When I saw this layout I loved it - and then when I read the journaling about looking forward to choices she will be able to make when purchasing clothes, when she looses weight - I knew this was what I needed to do with this Before picture I had Niko take.

I don't normally lift the title or the theme of the page - but on this one I just couldn't resist.

Catch-Up Sunday!

We've had a great week here at Scrap Our Stash.

Looks like this week's contributors were all scraplifters! On Monday we posted reader Christine's scrap lift of Kathy's Biker Babes and then on Wednesday we posted Guest Design Team member Laurie's lift of Danille's BFF layout. Then on Saturnday we posted Guest Design Team Member Amy's lift from Elizabeth Kartchner's book 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges.

Once again it was interesting to see the similarities and differences in each scrapper's interpretation.

On Tuesday and Thursday After pictures were posted of Design Team Wendy and Kathy's scraprooms. Quite an improvement over the original Before pictures. Both rooms are ready for many hours of creative scrapping!

Our $$Frugal Friday Tip$$ this week was actually recruited from a message board post on Two Peas in a Bucket. Pinky was generous enough to send a great idea of how to create faux stitching on your layouts. No more dragging the sewing machine out - or trying to thread a needle! If you actually use a Frugal Friday Tip to complete a project, we'd love if you would share your project with us. Also, if you have a frugal tip you'd like to share, please email the tip along with pictures to scrappinpsycho@live.com.

Our April Challenge to either scraplift someone else's project or use a sketch for inspiration continues until the 30th. This has been a fun challenge for the DT members, we'd love it if you would submit your project for posting. Check out the April Challenge post and see how you can be eligible to become a Guest Design Team Member.

There are still a few Spring Cleaning Challenges that have not submitted their After pictures. Hopefully, we will be able to share them soon. If you would still like to take part in this challenge just check out the details in the Spring Cleaning Challenge post below.

Things have been rather slow as far as hits and new followers this week. Hopefully, things will pick up soon. If you have not become a follower - please consider signing up. We'd love to have you follow us, and this will help prevent you from missing anything new on the blog.

Thanks for stopping by - please come back daily to see what's new.

Have a great week!
Later,
Kathy

April Challenge

Rainy Day by Amy

Here is Design Team Member Amy's April Challenge LO. She scraplifted Elizabeth Kartchner from her book 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges.

Now it's your turn. Please share a Lift or a layout in which you used a sketch as your inspiration. You could become one of our next Guest Design Team Members. Check out all the details below in April Challenge.

$$Frugal Friday Tip$$

Faux stitching by Pinky

Faux stitching is so fun and looks great on any page, I would love to share this technique with you.
*Picture 1*
If you don't have a sewing machine or don't want to drag it out, this is the perfect solution.
Just take your pattern tracing rotary wheel (inexpensive in any craft shop)
*Picture 2*
run it back and forth along the paper until it leave an even indentation.
I would do this 2 or 3 times for ribbon and 1 or 2 times on paper.
After you can visibly see the dots, take your handy craft pen (any color will do) I used my sharpie fine point, and run it along the stitching lines.
You can tell the difference between stitching and faux stitching BUT only when you are very close!
*Picture 4*
Perfect for ribbon, paper, any crafty medium!
You can find my video tutorial here
And many more tutorials, tips, and ideas on my blog


Thanks for sharing the crafty love with me today!
~Pinky~

Now it's your turn to try this cool tip - we'd love to share your results. Just send a picture and a brief description to scrappinpsycho@live.com and we'll post it here for everyone to see.

Do you have a frugal tip you'd like to share? Email the tip along with pictures to scrappinpsycho@live.com. Your tip could be our next featured Frugal Friday Tip!

Also, don't miss our April Lift Challenge - see all the details below.

April Challenge

The Train by Laurie

BFFs by DanielleGuest Design Team Member Laurie submitted this layout for the April Lift Challenge. She said, she really liked the strips of patterned paper Danielle (previous Design Team Member) used in her layout to add interest to a neutral cardstock background.

Would you like to share a lift or a sketch - just check out April Challenge below for all the details.

April Challenge

Harley Davidson by Christine

Biker Babes by Kathy

Reader Christine submitted this layout. She said "I completed this page when my sister was visiting. It took me all day, she had done one like this and since Ryan had a Harley jacket when he was younger, I wanted to do a page like this too. She made me stick with it and although it did take me one full day to do it, I am glad she was here to coach me and keep me motivated. I love that it has both boys in the picture and especially Dan with a smile on his face, he was obviously not yet a teenager ;)

Now it's your turn. Check out the April Challenge below, and see how you could become a Guest Design Team Member.

Catch Up Sunday

Here it is Sunday again, man how time flies. I hope you've done more scrapping this week than I have. It wouldn't take much to do more - just more than 1 page....

Our April Challenge continues... The Challenge is to either scraplift a layout ( this is the nice term for copy) or use a Sketch for inspiration. Both are my favorite ways to at least start a page. I really thought we'd have more takers on this challenge.

All you have to do is complete a project by either lifting someone else's work, or by starting with a sketch. In either case - this is just a starting point. In some cases you may want to make it almost exactly like the inspirational piece - this is pretty much what Stephanie did on her Best Friends layout - or just use it as a starting point like Joni did on her layout Lights up. Either way is perfectly right - remember there is No wrong way to scrap.

Sketches are done the same way - either as close to the original sketch as possible - or totally different. Both Monica and Marti followed their inspirational sketches pretty closely. This is not required - there have been times when I've looked at someone's completed layout and their inspirational sketch - and had a hard time seeing them as anything alike. Sometimes it's just a matter of how you lay out the pictures or where you put the title. Once again - there is no wrong way!

All this to say - we'd really love for you to accept the challenge. Each submission is posted to the blog for all to see, and you could be chosen to become a Guest Design Member here at Scrap Our Stash! What've ya got to loose?

Try it you'll like it! I double dare ya!

The Spring Cleaning Challenge continues. Check out those super neat rooms of Laurie and Christy. Both did a great job of finding a place for everything.

It's not too late for you to join in the challenge. Just send a before picture, (go take it right now), and then take the challenge to get your scrap space "clean". This is not limited to just scrap spaces either. How about that tote that you keep threatening to re-organize or maybe it's just your ribbon. Whatever this challenge means to you - we'd love to share in it with you. This may be just the motivation you need to do what you know needs to be done!

Looking forward to receiving your pictures. Just check out the April Challenge or the Spring Cleaning Challenge below for all the details.

Have a great week - and check in regularly. There will be something new everyday!

Later,
Kathy

April Challenge

My Best Friend by Stephanie

Guest Design Team Member Stephanie had this to say about her April Lift project.

I've never scraplifted before. Maybe it comes from being a student and being told over and over again "do not plagiarize!" Most likely, it's because I can't even follow a sketch let alone copy something! To be honest, I think I was being taunted by a layout that can't even talk! All jokes aside, I realized that this book I bought, How to Scrapbook Your Adult Years, was the best $2.00 I've ever spent at a booksale. That's where I "stole" my layout from and you can compare the two and see how well I copied them. This was a fun challenge and it truly was a challenge!
HOw about you - now is your chance to Lift (copy) someone else's project - or maybe you'd rather use a sketch for your inspiration. Either way, we'd love to see what you create. Your project may get you a place on our Guest Design Team. Check out all the details in April Challenge below.