Scrappin' Tracie

More Gifts I've Made

2009-08-22T15:37:00.005-04:00

Here are several more of the 12x12 frames I've made for friends and family. I really enjoy making these as gifts and so far everyone I've given them to loves them!

This is one I did for my friend Erin's son, Walker. He is really into cowboys and horses so I thought I'd take that theme.
I made this one for my sister in law to give as a baby gift.
I made this one for my friend Sarah. She just had her first baby boy!
I made this one for my cousin Shelli's son for his birthday.
This is one I made for my friend Theresa's son, Christopher.
Last but not least, I made this one for my friend Leslee's son, Brewer.

Family Album Project

2009-06-12T22:46:00.003-04:00

I have to say, this project was one of my favorites and has opened a whole new world to me! I subscribe to a monthly scrapbook kit club with Scarlet Lime. In addition to my monthly kit, I received an additions kit to make this family album. The kit was super easy to put together and a lot of fun. I can't wait to display this album on my fireplace mantel for all to see!

Baby Albums

2009-06-12T22:33:00.003-04:00

I recently happened upon Fiskars TV and saw the cutest idea ever. It was a baby album. Since I have several friends who are pregnant, I decided to try my hand at making it. I'm really pleased with the way that it turned out. The instructions for this album can be found here.

The first one I made was for a friend of mine who is having a boy. This friend is not a scrapbooker, so I made it to fit a standard 4x6 photo. I'm sending her the leftover stickers that match the ones on the cover of the album. Each page on the inside simply has a photo mat. Here is a photo of the front of the album.

I also have a good friend having a little girl. I really LOVE the way this album came out. This one is made using the instructions to a T! I included a photo of the front cover as well as one photo to show what the inside pages look like.

The left side is a journaling area, the right side a photo mat for a 4x4 picture.

These books were so easy to make. I'm pretty sure I'll be making them periodically for gifts now. Check out the link and make one for yourself!

Last Swap!

2009-06-03T22:12:00.002-04:00

Well, this is the last month for my Cricut Club swaps. Not only that, but it is the last swap I'm going to do for a while. I'm going into temporary retirement. I'm at a place in my life that I'm too busy to keep up with it and/or put the necessary effort to make them awesome. The theme for this swap is Birthday. Below is a photo of my submission. When I get them back, I'll take a pic and post it.

Boo Boo Boxes

2009-05-26T21:41:00.002-04:00

Today I made teacher gifts for my kid's teachers. I had this great idea to give them first aid kits. Of course, I had to redecorate them though!

I bought small first aid kits at Walmart for 97 cents. I covered the top with a piece of paper, embellished with a bandaid out of my medicine cabinet, and cut out the letters with my cricut. For the girls, I used my new Hello Kitty cartridge and cut out the cutest cards! Enjoy!

Cards

2009-05-25T21:26:00.003-04:00

Ok, I've decided since I scrapbook I'd try my hand at making cards. I don't think I'm great at it but I think with enough practice I can get better. I made a Graduation card for my nephew who is graduating highschool. I also made a birthday card for my father in law.

Birthday Gifts for McKenna and Tyler

2009-05-25T21:22:00.002-04:00

Here are a couple more birthday gifts that I made today. Hope you enjoy!

Birthday Gifts for Drew and Lance

2009-05-10T17:11:00.004-04:00

I made two more frames for birthday gifts this month. I think they both turned out adorable! The first one is for my cousin's son Drew. The second is for my friend's son Lance.

Cricut Club Swap May 2009

2009-05-10T17:07:00.002-04:00

Here is a preview of what I made for the May Cricut Club swap. The theme this month was Friends. I used the Hello Kitty Cartridge to make this border. I really think it looks cool. It was a lot of detailed piecing on the letters.

Miscellaneous Holiday Swaps

2009-05-10T17:03:00.002-04:00

I received these swaps back a while ago and I just haven't had a chance to post the pics until now. I LOVE these two swaps and what I got back. They are SO cute! The halloween one is especially cool. I don't really have any Halloween borders so I think these will be awesome in my scrapbooks!

Swaps, Swaps, Swaps

2009-03-25T16:18:00.004-04:00

There's been a lot of action in the swap department around here. We just got home from vacation and I received a swap while I was gone. Then I had to make two swaps really fast because they were late, then today I got another swap back.

The first picture is the swap I got while I was gone. It is a snow/winter themed swap I was in. I originally posted my contribution earlier, but this is all I got back. They are all super cute and I love them!

This second picture is the two swaps I had to make really quick last night. I joined a miscellaneous holiday swap and within that swap I joined the halloween and Christmas groups. The Christmas themed one wasn't what I originally planned to do, but I like it much better than what I thought I was going to do. It tured out so cute and love candy canes! The Halloween swap is a concept I've been considering for a while. I used the new Halloween Maker by CM and showcased each punch. I really love the way it turned out! I hope everyone in these swaps with me like my borders as much as I do!

Last but not least is the Christmas swap I received back today. It's part of the Cricut Club I'm a part of. I have to say I'm extremely disappointed in this swap. Two other people besides me seemed to put in the required effort and the other four people did not at all! Two people didn't even make borders! I spent a lot of time and effort on mine and I just wished everyone else had to. The other two that I really like are the one that say "He's Making a List" and the little detailed santa holding the list under it, and the one at the top that says "Deck the Halls" and also has the second border with the Christmas lights. I really liked those and the one I did with the Holly. Other than that, I don't really like anything else I got back.

Well, there ya have it folks! That is what I've gotten back recently! Hope you enjoy!

Birthday Gift for Ellison

2009-03-02T10:05:00.004-05:00

I had this grand idea the other day for birthday gifts. I was brainstorming ways to save money on all the gifts that I buy all year long. Most of my friends and family don't want any more toys! And clothes are hard to get at a decent price. Then you have to worry if the child's parents like it or if you got the right size. So to not stress over all of that I came up with this idea! A 12 x 12 scrapbook page frame at Michaels is $9.99 but they put them on sale for $4.99 all the time! I have TONS of scrapbooking paper and stickers and I have my Cricut to do die cuts. So why not do scrapbook pages that are framed for each child and leave a place for their parents to add a picture of them? Then it's something super cute to hang on their wall!

My friend Amy's daughter Ellison is my very first one. Her birthday just happened to be the first to come up since my idea. Below is a picture of the one I did for her. I think it turned out really cute!

Layout Using A Sketch

2009-02-24T13:28:00.004-05:00

I've done it again! Sketch #4 has been officially laid out! I have one more sketch to go to be caught up! YAY! Anyway, I looked for a while through my pictures to find just the perfect ones for this layout and I think I did! Mackenzie decided one day to help me get one of my border swaps done! Thanks girl! Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this layout!

Layout Using a Sketch

2009-02-23T13:51:00.003-05:00

I've done yet another layout using a sketch from my class. I cannot say enough about how much fun this class is and how great the girls are at Got Sketch! This layout was especially fun. I feel as if I caught the personality of my daughter to a T! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Masculine Swap - Winter Preview

2009-02-22T14:24:00.007-05:00

I joined a swap that was a masculine swap and the theme was winter generic. I made a hot cocoa or coffee (whichever you drink!) themed swap. Here is my entry.

I hope the others in my swap like what I did! I thought it turned out cute. Anyway, I will post what I get back when I receive the swap!

Anthony's Birthday Invite

2009-02-22T14:14:00.004-05:00

My son, Anthony, decided he wanted the theme of his 4th birthday to be pirates! He is obsessed with pirates lately and I think it is so cute. Anyway, I wanted to do his birthday up fun but on the "cheap". I decided since I'm a scrapbooker, I'd try my hand at making his invitations! I'm so glad I did because they turned out TOO CUTE!

First I created a little pirate boy using the Cricut Cartridge called Paper Dolls. Then I found a cute birthday invitation saying on the internet and copied it. I printed it in brown on a parchment looking scrapbook paper. Then I matted that in black and stuck on the pirate boy! It turned out so much better than I expected! Check it out....

Stationary Set

2009-02-22T13:58:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I went to a workshop hosted by a Close To My Heart consultant. It was SO MUCH FUN! We made the cutest little stationary set you've ever seen! I decided before I went to give it to someone special as a gift. I won't mention who until after I've given it to her :)

First we put together the card box. It looked so complicated when the lady showed it to me, but once I started putting it together, it was very easy. It went together a lot quicker than I expected also! After we made the box, we put together 4 note cards. That was a lot of fun and I did a little stamping for the monograms. It is something I've not really done before. After we made the cards, we lined the envelopes with coordinating paper and I put a little monogram accent on my envelopes. Then we made envelope seals. After that we put coordinating paper inside the guts of an ink pen to make a pen that matches! Isn't that adorable?

Anyway, check out the slide show below of what I made! I turned out awesome. I can't wait to get the pattern in my email so I can make more of them for gifts for my friends and family.

Layout Using A Sketch

2009-02-18T17:24:00.004-05:00

I've been at it again! Using a sketch from my class, I created a page for Anthony's scrapbook. I really like how this page gives the illusion of polaroids. It also makes it a handy way to journal or put captions under the photos. I discovered, while doing this layout, that I need more solid paper! LOL I have tons of patterned paper, and no solids.

I'm trying to catch up on my sketch layouts. I have one more to do and a new sketch comes out tomorrow! Maybe I can get that one done and posted tonight. For now, here is my latest!

Layouts Using Sketches

2009-02-17T13:38:00.004-05:00

I found a really cool blog called Got Sketch? www.gotsketch.blogspot.com I've gotten very interested in using sketches for ideas and inspiration. This site/blog uses very detailed sketches and gives lots of wonderful ideas! The also host classes and their current one is GS103. I happened to join this class in an effort to learn more about sketches, new scrapbooking techniques, and to get lots of cool ideas. I can't post the sketches I used, but I can show you the layouts I made using them. I really like the way they've turned out so far. I'll be posting other layouts I do as I get them finished along the way! This site has helped me sort of get out of my comfort zone and introduced me to a whole new way of scrapbooking. It's really easy to get intimidated by all the "stuff". But I'm sort of a minimalist when it comes to scrapbooking so I tone it down a bit. Check out the layouts below and don't be shy with your comments!

March Cricut Swap Preview

2009-02-17T13:35:00.005-05:00

I finally managed to finish one of my swaps early! My March Cricut Swap theme was Christmas. I made a very intricate, beautiful set which I have previewed here. When I get the swap back, I'll be happy to show off everything!

Kids Card Class Plus

2009-02-01T20:46:00.003-05:00

My friend Theresa hosted a super fun, super cute kids Valentine's card class. I took my kids and it was a blast. They really enjoyed it. First we made Valentine's cards. Mackenzie chose a "purse" styled card and Anthony chose a regular styled card. Theresa had provided tons of different hearts punched in many colors as well as scraps and Valentine's stickers. The kids loved decorating the cards however they wanted. After we were done with the cards, Theresa pulled out chocolate bars! The kids got to make wrappers for the chocolate bars. It was hard to keep them from eating the bars first. Anthony really liked doing the decorating. Mackenzie was just too young. She was only interested in eating the chocolate! LOL Last but not least, the kids got to decorate a goody bag to put all of their stuff in. Below is a slideshow of my kids and what they did. I'm glad they had so much fun doing this! Thanks Theresa for this class!

Valentine's Paper Album

2009-01-25T17:50:00.005-05:00

Today I attended a workshop put on by my friend and CM consultant Theresa. It was completely centered around CM's new Valentine's Paper Album. It was SO much fun! I got together a ton of pictures of me and my hubby and I made an album completely centered around us! It's nice to look back and see all the fun we had together. Also, it cracked me up to see the pictures of us when we first started dating! We looked so young!!! I love him so much. I added a slide show of my album for your viewing pleasure!

All About Anthony

2009-01-25T17:42:00.004-05:00

Friday afternoon, my son came home with a bag inside his bag that had a note on it that next week was "Learn about Anthony" week. I was supposed to put pictures of Anthony and his family and such on a poster and put a few items inside the bag that all pertain to Anthony. Well if you know me, you know I'm going to take it to a higher level :) I'm such an overachiever! Anyway, below is a picture of what I came up with. With a little creativity on the cricut and lots of internet searching and printing, I believe I came up with a poster that accurately describes my son :)

Cricut Club Swap January 2009

2009-01-23T19:39:00.006-05:00

I got my January swap back! YAY! I just love getting new swaps in the mail. I love to see how creative everyone can be. The theme for this month was "Summer Vacation". My favorite in this set by far is the Road Trip border! Look how adorable! The picture here doesn't do it justice!. The border and element I created is the blue border with the sun and popscicles on it and the large popscicle element.

Cute Snowglobe!

2009-01-21T20:36:00.006-05:00

My friend (and personal CM consultant), Theresa, invited me over this evening for a super fun weeknight border workshop. She came up with the cutest design for a snowglobe and put it all together in a fun one hour workshop! Check out my end result! I hope she keeps these weeknight things up! I like have this sorta thing in my albums....

It was so easy to put together! I asked Theresa if she minded me posting the instructions and she gave me permission, so here goes!

(The tools in these instructions are all CM. If you don't use CM, you could probably adapt whatever you do use to fit the pattern.) First we cut a circle out of the blue paper with the CM medium circle template and the blue blade. Then we cut another circle the same size out of a piece of plain vellum. Finally we cut another circle the same size out of white. However, after we cut the white circle, we used the red blade and cut it again without moving the template to give us the white "ring". We punched out three white circles using three different size circle punches and a black square using the smallest square punch. Also you have to cut the brim of the hat freehand out of the black. We cut out the arms freehand out of brown paper. Then she had given us a black rectangle which we rounded the corners on using a corner rounder punch. I think the construction is a little self explanatory using the pictures. The snowflakes are stickers and the face and scarf on the snowman were drawn with pens. It was so easy and the end result is adorable!

Cricut Club Swap December 2008

2009-01-21T13:01:00.005-05:00

I've mentioned before I belong to a Creative Memories Swap group. Within that group I joined a swap club. We make 1 border and 1 embellished element using our Cricut Diecutters. December was the first month we started with the swap and it goes through June 2009. The theme for December was "Quotes and Phrases". Below is a picture of what I got back with that swap. The one I did says "PS I Love You".

Wedding Album

2009-01-21T12:20:00.010-05:00

Last night I finally completed a long time goal of mine. I managed to scrapbook my wedding. I had professional pictures taken at my wedding and I have a professional album. However, a lot of friends and family took candid shots and sent them to me right after my wedding. There were many unusable ones, but I managed to take the good ones and put them in an scrapbook.

I used the Picfolio Max Album Kit from Creative Memories called I DO! It was a lot of fun putting this album together for two reasons. I've never used these premade albums before and it was easy to get it all together. The other reason is because I got to sort of "relive" my wedding.

Here is how it turned out. Sorry the pictures aren't the best. The pages were already in the album and frankly I didn't feel like taking them out. LOL. So unfortunately you get a little glare from the page protector. Hope you enjoy!

Welcome!

2009-01-20T22:10:00.004-05:00

Here it is! My scrapbooking blog. I've created this as a way to follow along in my scrapbooking life. I'm working on getting caught up (aren't we all!) and staying motivated. I'm using this blog as a way to track my progress and share my ideas with others.

I do traditional scrapbooking mostly. I enjoy the time it takes to put my family's memories down and I also like to collect memoriabilia which makes its way into my books. There are a few things I will do digital, but not many. My hope is that one day my children will appreciate having almost every aspect of their history at their fingertips!

I also enjoy swapping. I mostly use Creative Memories products which I get from my good friend Theresa Corbe who is a wonderful CM consultant! I'm a member of a Yahoo Group called CMOnlySwaps. They are a wonderful group of ladies who do some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen! I thoroughly enjoy the swaps we do.

I plan to post pictures of my projects, layouts, swaps, ideas, etc. I figure if nothing else this will be a good place for me to come back to for ideas, motivation, and to look at my progress.