Oooooh! So exciting! Digital Scrapbooking Day is ALMOST HERE!!!! There’s going to be an awesome SALE, NEW GOODIES, and a really awesome drawing for totally amazing prizes! The party starts November 6th…. so mark your calendars and check back SOON!!!
Archive for October, 2009
Get ready for the DSD PAR-TAY!!!
Saturday, October 31st, 2009Some pretty darn adorable Frankenstein cupcakes!
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009These little guys are just too darn cute! Now, I can’t take the credit for coming up with them… I saw them in a Halloween idea book that we had when I was a kid and made them for the first time when I was back in junior high. I’ve made them for several Halloweens… and they’re always a big hit!
Here’s what you need:
-1 cake mix (I prefer chocolate)
-Water, oil, eggs called for on the cake mix box
-Colored ice cream cones… you want the green ones specifically, but they usually come in a pack with 3 different colors (the mix makes over 24 cupcakes in the ice cream cones, so plan accordingly)
-Chocolate frosting
-Black icing for piping
-Smarties candies
-Sweetarts candies (don’t get the small ones that come in the wrappers like Smarties because you want them slightly larger than the Smarties… the ones in the movie theater type candy box are the perfect size)
Prepare the cake mix according to the mix directions. Place green ice cream cones in a muffin pan - 1 for each muffin slot. Fill the cones with the cake batter… I think about 2/3 full. Don’t fill them any higher than the picture below, or they’ll explode over the top of the cones and run down the edges (I know, it’s happened to me… haha). Then bake according to the mix directions, checking them around 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven when toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.
Now, prepare Frankenstein’s bolts… here’s what you need…
Grab a Smartie and pipe some frosting onto one side… then place a Sweetart on top and set aside. Continue until you have enough bolts for all your cones (you need 2 bolts for each of these cuties).
Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, ice the tops with the chocolate frosting. Then use the black icing to make their faces and add some stitches on their heads. Then apply more black icing to the back of each bolt and apply them to your cones.
Now, these are pretty hard to transport… so I recommend if you’re bringing them to a party that you leave the bolts off until you get there. Or you can assemble them completely at home and bring your black icing along to attach any bolts that may have fallen off during the car ride. 
You can use the pink cones too! Frankie needs a girlfriend! hehe 
The little girls will love the pink ones…
Have a fun, spooky, and safe Halloween!!! 
Photographing your scrapping projects…
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009I have had a couple requests to “share my secrets” on photographing my projects. Let me preface this by saying that I am not a professional photographer… just a girl who is interested in learning more about photography (and desperately hoping for a DSLR… *sigh*).
So, THE single most important thing about photographing your projects is LIGHT. Not that nasty artificial light, but NATURAL LIGHT. I always photograph my projects during the day so I can use natural light. I have a lot of windows in my house… so I use that to my advantage. I always photograph next to a window on the north side of my house. This lets the sunlight in without the sun pouring directly into your window (because the sun is shining on the south side of my house). At my last apartment, there were hardly any windows so I actually photographed outside on a picnic table in open shade…lol. Oh, and TURN THE FLASH OFF!!!! My camera’s on-board flash is awful and makes for harsh, ugly shadows and blown out images.
Next, try to make the presentation attractive. Move any ugly/distracting items out of the way. I like to photograph my projects against a white background so it doesn’t detract from the image. I just buy a big white poster board and use that as my backdrop… easy and cheap.
Now get your camera out! You do NOT need some expensive, fancy camera… you just need to know how to use your own camera! I don’t have a DSLR, so I can only help out the folks with P&S cameras. I have a Canon Powershot A570IS… and it has been an awesome little camera for me and I’ve learned so much about photography just by using this little point-and-shoot camera. What I love about it is that it has the manual modes on it too… so I can learn about aperture and shutterspeed and all that jazz. But usually for my hybrid projects, I shoot on the Portrait setting (you know, the little symbol on your camera that looks like a person’s head) and then set it on Macro mode (on most P&S cameras it’s denoted by a little flower icon). Macro mode is what will let you get up close to your subject and will also help you get the subject in focus and blur the background…. like so:
One of the annoying things about a P&S camera is you can’t really CHOOSE where the camera will focus… so I get close to the detail I’m photographing, slightly depress the shutter release and my camera shows a red box around what it’s focused on… if it’s focusing on the wrong spot (like something in the background instead of the detail I really want to capture) then I change positions slightly and see where it decided to focus the next time… once it focuses on the detail I want, I press the shutter release all the way and take the picture!
Play with angles… sometimes a straight-on pic is what you need, but when you get up close and you’re capturing the little details, don’t be afraid to tilt your camera a little to add a little interest to the image.
I always do a little editing in PS when I upload my pics… usually boost the color and brighten the image a bit.
So, I think that’s it!
December Daily Album… 2009!
Monday, October 26th, 2009I’ve followed Ali Edwards’ blog for a while, and my favorite project she does is the December Daily Album. Around the beginning of November, she starts assembling an album for the month of December… and in December, she takes at least one photo each day and scraps a page for it in the album. She has just posted her first part of the 2009 album here… and you can read more about the project here. I love this idea and the way it will preserve your holiday traditions!!! I started my album last year and only got as far as the cover because my husband fell ill with appendicitis and needed surgery… then he got a bad infection after the surgery that landed him in the hospital again. ANYWAYS, this year I’m determined to do it and see it through to the end! You start your album ahead of time and simply add in pictures and journaling in December.
I started thinking about my album back in August (I know, I’m insane). I combed through Two Peas in a Bucket and searched for the perfect albums…. and came across these My Edgy albums in colored chipboard and acrylic. I can’t seem to find them on Two Peas anymore… but did find them at scrapbook.com…. and unfortunately, they are double the price I paid for them at 2Peas. 
Anyways, I mixed a brown chipboard My Edgy Album with a clear acrylic My Edgy Album. There’s also pink, green, red, etc… For this project, you’re supposed to have 25 pages, and I’m a little short, but I’m going to add more mixed pages in, maybe even mount a picture or two onto heavy cardstock and punch holes in it and add it in.
For this project, I decided to use Zoe Pearn’s Little Joys kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs… I love the yummy colors and adorable patterns! I also used a few papers by Miss Mint at Peppermint Creative… the damask patterns from her Jingle Bell Rock Paper Pack. I printed the papers on 10×10″ cardstock through MyPicTales for 50 cents per page.
See how cuuuute Zoe’s papers are?!?
I also bought some colored cardstock and some gorgeous glitter cardstock at Joann’s to match…
I already decorated my acrylic cover and started on the first page. When working with acrylic albums, I’ve found the best adhesive for your papers is a spray adhesive like Craft Bond. Don’t apply the spray to the album, just to the back of your paper. I used Glue Dots to adhere the embellishments.
Embellies!!! My favorite part of scrapping… ahhhhh! Sooo pretty! I’m going to use an assortment of trims, ribbons, mini jingle bells, Prima flowers, Making Memories stickers, and some handmade felt embellishments….
I’m so excited for this project! Wanna’ make one with me?
Arrrrggghhh!! Thar be a new kit!
Saturday, October 24th, 2009I’m so excited to bring you this totally awesome pirate-themed kit in collaboration with Ziggle Designs! We had a real blast creating it and I know you’ll love scrapping with it! My daughter is being a pirate for Halloween this year… and this kit is going to be perfect for scrapping those pictures! It also works great for scrapping beach and even bathtime pics…
If you purchase the Buccaneer Bay kit this next week, you’ll get the coordinating Buccaneer Bay Quick Pages absolutely FREE! Simply add the kit to your cart and the QPs will automatically show up in your cart for FREE!
And for an even SWEETER deal, with any $10 purchase, you’ll receive The Good Earth - a new, gorgeous collaboration from the Scrap Orchard and Sweet Shoppe Designers - for FREE! Make a $20 purchase at SO and you’ll get the kit AND The Good Earth Quick Pages for FREE!
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