20% Off Queen & Co. and Topline Creations Products

All Queen & Co. and Topline Creations scrapbooking supplies are currently available from my online scrapbooking store Everlasting Scrapbooks at 20% OFF.

Here is a quick look at some of the beautiful products that are now available at 20% off from these two manufacturers.

Queen & Co.

Felt Fusion

Sprinkles Brads

Chic Charms

Jewels 50 pack

Topline Creations

Runway Monograms
Hot Fudge Scrapbooking KitsPhrasezChipboard Shapes

Finding Your Muse

Every scrapbooker has one of those days now and again when it's impossible to create a decent page. As hard as you try, you can't get the pictures to look good on the page. Another situation is finding yourself in a rut. If every page starts looking then same, its time to take a break and get over your scrapbooker's block-find some new inspiration.

Inspiration is all around in the world. Turn on the television to check out your favorite celebrity's latest fashion, and this may lead to a new color scheme for one of your pages. Read a magazine and you may see a cute way of placing photographs and text on the page together. Billboards, advertisements, movie posters, and simply the scenes of your neighborhood can all become sources of inspiration if you look at the world with a scrapbooking eye.

Pictures are not the only things that can inspire a new page idea-words have a way of working themselves into your pages as well. A funny or moving quote can be used on a page as an embellishment, or perhaps a catchy phrase can become the theme and title of your layout. In any case, you may just need a break from the visual arts for awhile. Some of my best page ideas come to me when I'm doing something totally unrelated to layout design, such as reading. Take a break and walk away from your scrapbooking space. Perhaps a simple the change of scenery will motivate you to get back into the groove of creating original pages.

Friends can be a good source of inspiration as well. Ask for advice on your layout or, if they scrapbook as well, browse through some of their albums. You don't have to flat out copy their ideas, but perhaps a few of the elements you see on some of their pages can be put together to create a page of your own. You can also achieve this by browsing through scrapbooking publications such as magazines and books. Again, you don't have to create exactly what you see, but the mark of a good designer is the ability to make a technique his or her own.

The best source of inspiration should be your photographs. Pull colors from those in the pictures, and use the number and sizes of the pieces to determine what kinds of layouts are possible. Use your subject matter to inspire you as well. Children and pets work especially well for this, and with a little determination, you'll be back in the cropping chair again in no time.

Author: Tom Ambrozewicz is one of the pioneers in using breakthrough audio technology on his web sites. You can read, listen to professional narrator reading to you or having MP3 file ready to download if you hate printed files. Check spectrum of scrapbooking tips on http://www.ask-how.info/scrapbooking

New Products from Basic Grey, Queen & Co. and Cosmo Cricket

I have added some new and exciting scrapbooking products to my online scrapbooking store Everlasting Scrapbooks. The new scrapbooking supplies are from manufacturers Basic Grey, Queen & Co. and Cosmo Cricket and include products such as rub-ons, 12x12 paper, paper pads, felt, die-cut shapes and tags and monograms.

Here is a sample of some of the new products now available.

Basic Grey Infuse Collection - Custom-brewed from only the finest ingredients, Infuse collection is satuated in a color blend of garden green, hibiscus pink, and coffee bean brown. Immerse yourself in our rich, new house blend.

Basic Grey Infuse 6x6 Paper Pad

Basic Grey Infuse Die Cut Shapes

Basic Grey Infuse Mini Monograms

Queen and Co. Felt Fusions -Self-adhesive felt embellishments add dimension and texture to any craft or done decor project. Versatile 1-yard strip. Easy to use on fabric, cardstock, metal, wood and plastic.

Queen and Co. 2.7 inch Flet Fusion Floral - Hot PinkQueen and Co. 1.6 inch Felt Fusion Vine - BlackQueen and Co. 2.7 inch Flet Fusion Star/Swirl - Red

Cosmo Cricket Cogsmo Collection - Fun and fresh, the Cogsmo Collection from Cosmo Cricket is sure to please the boy in your life. This bright color pallet along with hip and happy designs makes boy projects a hit all over again whether it?s birthdays, summer afternoons or video game playing.

Cosmo Cricket Cogsmo Cardstock StickersCosmo Cricket Cogsmo Cogs 12x12 Double-sided paperCosmo Cricket Cogsmo Journal Cards

Scrapbooking: Computer-Aided Scrapbooking

There are infinite options for scrapbooking. It is just up to you on how beautiful your scrapbook will look when finished. Older generations have done theirs using the basic art materials available even to schoolchildren. But now in the digital age, computers will change the look of scrapbooks. Today, it is almost impossible to achieve anything without the use of computers. If magazines are not available to make up for a desired text to go along with the concept, graphics editors can do everything. The only requirement is the skill to do it.
Computer is the best tool for scrapbooking in the 21st century. How can computers aid in pre-designing each page of your scrapbook. Here are the pointers on how to use the best-known scrapbooking tool.
USE COMPUTER SOFTWARE:
Third party scrapbooking softwares commonly used around have ready-made pages to choose from. If the designs are satisfactory, why buy from books stores if you can print your own? Of course, the printing itself may cost, but using softwares, the designs can even be enhanced. These image-ready applications are very user-friendly and designed for people who don't have too much skill in primitive graphics design.
HELP YOURSELF WITH POPULAR GRAPHIC ARTS EDITOR:
If you find other ready-made designs from applications too impersonal, then you can do your own with the aid of graphic arts software. You can scan your old picture or take a shot with digital camera, make layouts from different backgrounds, combine multiple photos from your collection, and adjust how it will look on your page.
Graphic Arts Editors have built in good fonts to choose from. In this case, you can use any to satisfy your design liking. For professional outcome, this is only applicable to those who have the skill to use the editor. People whose works are inclined to digital arts have the advantage for creating very modern scrapbooks.
Graphic Arts Editor can enhance photos, correct lens errors, clean dust/specks, blur and sharpen images, change the color and many other corrective measures.
PRINTED FINISH
There are ways of accomplishing scrapbooks with the aid of computer printers. You can start a semi-finished scrapbook with bordered boxes for photos, or you can do a complete printable scrapbook with no more mess. In other words, you can print a designer page or the complete digital scrapbook.
What comes along is the choice of paper to use. Specific inkjet paper with varying thickness, surface and texture can be accommodated by branded printers. The scrapbook can be printed double-sided or one-sided.
RESOLUTION
When complexities started with computers, the most important aspect in doing printed materials with computer starts with resolutions. If the user is not so familiar on resolution behavior seen on screens versus the printed output, then it is the time to start asking an expert and have some background info on how it can affect the print from the start of the layout. For people with background on graphic arts, this is still not an average issue. It is a very crucial one in order to have the best print using a specified appropriate paper.
In conclusion, scrapbooking must adhere with modernization. The greatest advantage of using computer as basic tool is the capability to back up the file and keep it for future printing. Or even if you have done a conventional scrapbook, computers still can manage the scanning and reproduction of scrapbooks.
Article by: NICHOLAS TAN

Making a Kusudama Rose

Today I came across this blog Paper Craft - All About Papers where the owner Fernanda Gomez creates amazing things from paper like teacups, animals, clothing and beautiful flowers using origami, twilling and paper molding.

As soon as I saw the flower above I wanted to know how to make it, luckily Fernanda has posted instructions on how to make this Kusudama Rose. There wasn't any other instructions for her other other paper pieces, hopefully more will be posted one day! This is definitely one blog worth looking at to see some some amazing paper crafts.

Now once I get some time up my sleeve I am going to attempt to make this beautiful Kusudama Rose to add to my own scrapbooking page or paper craft project.

My Angel Scrapbooking Layout Instructions

Here is another beautiful layout for you to create using products from GCD Studio. I love using GCD Studio products, the colours for each collection match perfectly with each other, and their papers, ribbons and embellishments are all made using the highest quality products. I love the way all their patterned papers match with the cardstock, and also the self-adhesive ribbon and self-adhesive chipboard make it so much easier to complete quick and easy scrapbooking and paper craft projects.Materials:
1 sheet Whoop De Doo cardstock
4 sheets Whoop De Doo patterned paper
Whoop De Doo rub-ons
Whoop De Doo chipboard
Black glitter letter stickers

Instructions:
Use your cardstock as your base. Trim one piece of patterned paper to 8 3/8x7 inches and adhere to the cardstock.

Trim the second piece of patterned paper to 10.5x3.25 inches and adhere it to the cardstock.

Trim the third piece of patterned paper to 10 7/8x2 inches and adhere it to the cardstock.

Trim the fourth sheet of patterned paper to 3.25x9.5 inches and adhere it to the cardstock. Embellish with the chipboard, rub-ons and letter stickers.

Aussie Scrapbooking Product Challenge

I am currently a sponsor for Aussie Scrapbooking, which is a great site to visit to get lots of inspiration for your scrapbooking projects and to find out about the latest happenings in the scrapbooking industry.

This month I am sponsoring their August Product Challenge, and the winner will receive this great scrapbooking pack from GCD Studios.

To find out whats involved to win this awesome prize pack read this August Product Challenge post at the Aussie Scrapbooking website.

Melanie