August Kit Sneaks!

How about some August Kit sneaks! August's kit features new Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, Maya Road and more. Have a look see below. Then go here to sign up for a subscription so you don't miss any of the fantastic new CHA product that will be making its way into kits!



Stay tuned for the full kit reveal!

August Guest Designer Revealed!!

Today I am so excited to announce our guest designer for next month, the lovely Lisa Dickinson! I have been following her work and her blog for some time now and I just adore her style. So have a peek below at some examples of her work and read her bio to learn more about her. Her pages with the upcoming August kit will be gracing the gallery soon!


Lisa Dickinson is a graphic designer living in Colorado with her husband, Mike, and children, Hayden and Riely. Her scrapbook designs have been published in various magazines, including Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbooks Etc., Scrapbook Trends and the former Simple Scrapbooks. She currently designs for KI Memories, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Creative Charms, and is a contributor at Write.Click.Scrapbook. You can catch up with Lisa on her blog where she writes (and occasionally rants!) about scrapbooking, motherhood, running, and other random topics.


Have a peek at some examples of her awesome work. I really love her graphic designs.







Please give her a big AMM welcome by leaving a comment on this post.

July Design Team Highlights

We are nearing the end of July and a new kit will be revealed soon, full of new CHA goodies I am sure. So let's take a quick look at a few of the creations made by our design team using the July kit, "Summer Punch".

Signs of Summer by Jennifer Longenecker
Tip: Jennifer wanted her title letters from the October Afternoon alpha sticker sheet, so she painted them the same color.


4PM Blues by Karen Grunberg
Tip: Make those kit supplies stretch further by punching patterned paper strips and using a cardstock base. Imagine the number of layouts you could get out of one kit!



Beach Baby Me by Staci Taylor
Tip: Embellish your embellishments like Staci did here with the sticker from the Echo Park sticker sheet.


Everyday Naughty by Tonya Dirk
Tip: Tonya used the adorable journal cards as a design element and as the central theme for her layout.



Right Now by Jennifer Findlay
Tip: Try using pictures from the Internet to document your current faves. This is a great idea for when you don't have pictures to scrap.


Stay tuned for sneaks of the new kit!!

Techniques a'la Carte with Kat Glossop

Did you know AMM offers FREE classes? In this cash strapped economy who couldn't use some free inspiration. If you love Kat's signature style or are just looking for some new techniques to use on your next layout or project, be sure to register on the AMM boards so you can get access to Kat's FREE class. Below is a brief description of all the inspiration you will find as well as a couple layouts to pique your interest.


Encompassing all of my favorite techniques, this class aims to give you inspiration, spark an idea, and give you a pocketful of tricks for your next page. I wanted to jam as many techniques as I could into this class, so I'll be showing you four cards, each with a different technique, followed by the main project, which puts a twist on a cute little mini book.


Days 1 and 2 of this five day FREE class are already posted and it's not too late to register and join in the fun. The main project Kat mentions above will be using the March AMM kit, which you can pick up here.

Technique Tuesday with Kay Rogers

Here is a fun project you can tackle with your kids. It didn’t take long at all, and Jenna is thrilled with the results. We made magnets out of bottle caps that you can use in multiple ways. But first things first.

You need The following supplies to start. Small rub-ons, stickers, patterned papers, glue and/or glue dots, jewels, and a 1” hole punch.
As I went through my stash and found things that I thought would work, Jenna cleared the space for me. When I turned around, this is what I saw. The girl likes to be organized!


Punch the circles out of patterned papers (I used an 8x8 paper pad) and add stickers, words, bling, chipboard, you name it. When you are done, attach it to the bottom of the bottle cap.


Here’s my gal hard at work.


Here are some of the caps before adding the glue.


Then we filled them with this resin. I got the resin at Michaels. This is a job for adults only. After you pour the resin, you may get bubbles. To get rid of them, simply run a hot air gun (for embossing) over the top and the bubbles pop. You can do this for several hours after pouring in the resin.


Let the resin dry overnight. Then glue magnets onto the back of the caps.

Here’s what you can do with the caps. You could put them in a tin and give them as a gift,

Then they could be used a refrigerator magnets.



Another idea is to attach a washer to some sort of rope, and attach the bottle cap to make a necklace.


I attached this washer using Fabri-Tack to a headband. Here is the end result.


The nice thing about the necklace is you can switch out the bottle caps and add new ones to match different outfits.

If I were to do it over again, I would have flattened the caps slightly before starting. A couple of rough moments with the hammer, and I abandoned the idea. But if they were flatter, they wouldn’t need as much resin to fill, and would be both lighter and flatter.

So break out those scrap supplies and make some magnets!

Member Monday with Karen Grunberg

this week's layout of the Week was selected by Karen Grunberg. She chose the layout below by Lauren Young, also known as "lkylaurenkay" on the message boards.

"Luv 2 Swim" by Lauren Young

Lauren has been a long time member on the AMM boards. Read on to learn a little more about her and her scrappy habits!
1. How did you get started in scrapbooking? I started in 2002. I lived in Seattle, WA then and there was this sticker/scrapbooking store in the mall. I have always loved stickers and thought it was so cool to add little embellishments to tell the story of your photos. My hobby took off from there...
2. What are your favorite manufacturers? October Afternoon, Sassafras, Crafty Secrets and American Crafts.
3. What's a technique you like you use over and over again? (If any) I love to cut apart and layer patterned paper. I do it on most of my layouts and could not live without my Fiskars Ultra ShapeXpress cutting tool.
4. When is the most productive time of day for you? Anytime my kids give me a few quiet moments. I usually scrap here and there throughout the day, but only for short periods of time. Having a 1 year old and a 5 year old make it hard for me to really sit down and work.
5. How did you find AMM? In February of 2008 I was shopping around to try out a kit club. I came across AMM and loved the quality and selection of the kits and the friendliness of the Message Boards. I think it still is truly one of the nicest places to chat about scrapbooking.
Thanks Karen and Lauren. Be sure to stop by Lauren's gallery for more inspiration!

Little Something Sunday with Larissa Albernaz

Summer is the perfect time to record memories of sunny, lazy days by the beach, summer vacation, and time spent outdoors.

Combine your photos with bright, hot colors, buttons, cute elements and a splash of sunshine, the perfect ingredients for a refreshing summer scrapbooking layout.

I have used all of these elements in the layout below where the bright happy colors were featured in the array of adorable patterned papers.

The visual idea I wanted to show was that wherever my daughter goes, she always brings her own sunshine.

Supply list:
Cardstock:
We R Memory Keepers Sewn cardstock

Patterned Paper:
Scallop Die Cut Flutter by Making Memories
Umbrella Flutter by Making Memories
72 & Sunny by We R Memory Keepers
Forecast by We R Memory Keepers
Rainbow by We R Memory Keepers
Woodlands by We R Memory Keepers

Alphabet: American Crafts Honey, Delight Alphabet Chipboard

Stickers:
Expression by Pink Paislee
Green at Heart by Basic Grey

Flowers: Prima
Stickers: October Afternoon
Buttons: SIS TV
Bling: Chatterbox
Brads: Rouge de Garance
other: Embroidery floss





July Guest Designer Reveal-Jenni Hufford

This month our guest designer was Jenni Hufford and today I would love to share with you these fantastic layouts she created with the July AMM kit, "Summer Punch" available here.

"The Joy of Summertime" I adore her centered focus in this layout along with the misting and the flowers that she cut from the October Afternoon paper.


"Oh How I Love The Fact" I adore the hodge podge quilted look she used here. What a great way to use up some scraps. And could those pigtails be any cuter!


"Your Sweet Reward" This layout features some layering of patterned papers as a mat for the photo and some well-placed embellishments.



And last but not least...
"First Pick" The red gingham paper is perfect for this and I love how Jenni used the Maya Road chipboard shape as a mask and then used the space as a title spot. Adorable!



Be sure to check out the rest of the Design Gallery for this month's kit and to sign up for a subscription so you don't miss out on all those awesome new CHA goodies that will be sure to make their way into upcoming kits.

Checking in on the Challenge...

Hi there. I just wanted to pop in and share these two layouts with you that were submitted for out design team challenge this month. We already spotlighted two others and these are the newest entries.

Just to refresh your memory the challenge was to use the sketch designed by Tonya Dirk as well as to create a page about someone you have never scrapped or haven't in a long time.

"My Mom" by rebeccak



And this one by Regi.


You have until midnight tonight to get your entry posted to the gallery and the challenge thread to be entered to win a $10.00 store gift certificate and with CHA next week and new product about to start rolling in you know there will be stuff you HAVE TO have!!! You will also win a selection of AMM vintage trims to be shipped with your order! So get those entries in!

Technique Tuesday with Carole Janson

Step Up “Journey Card”
Websters Pages Magical Wishes Ever After pattern paper (or similar)

Websters Pages Postcard from Paris Tres Mazique pattern paper (or similar)
Prima Strawberry Kiss Raspberry Lemonade pattern paper (or similar)
Trim card with embellishments –
I used:
Petaloo Peony Box Blend Large White Flowers
Petaloo Celebrations Double Delphiniums White
Prima Strawberry Kisses Collection Journaling Stickers
Chipboard Twiddleybitz Fence
Kaiser Green Gems
Beads
Step 1
Trim the "Prima Strawberry Kiss Raspberry Lemonade pattern paper 6 x 9 inches, then score the pattern paper at 3 inches, 6 inches, and 7.5 inches and fold as per photo.

Step 2
Trim the Magical Wishes Ever After 3 x 6 inches and stick to the card as shown in the below photo.

Step 3
Now you can cut out your embellishments, this is the fun part I used these pieces below for my card.


Step 4
Now you can start to stick your pieces that you cut out in Step 3, starting with the back of the card and working to the front of the card, the reason for this, is so you can see exactly how the card is going to display each individual piece, making sure the front of the card flows with the back of the card.


As you put the card together you can see how it starts to take shape.

This is my finished Card called “Journey” a special card for someone travelling or moving.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I hope you have fun creating your own Step Up Cards. Thanks so much.

Member Monday with Michelle Quinn

Happy Monday everyone. Today's Layout of the Week was selected by AMM owner, Michelle Quinn. She chose this layout by Nicole Nowosad, also known as "justnick" on the message boards.

"Cutie" by Nicole


Michelle also sent Nicole a little interview so read on to get to know her a little better.
How did you get started in scrapbooking? Like a lot of people, I got my start about 11 years ago while at a home based party, creating an album of our wedding and its' preparations. After the birth of my first son 8 years ago, I found the Internet and the bug had bitten me! I was instantly inspired in a new way and as hooked for life!

What are your favorite manus? Right now, I love October Afternoon, Crate Paper, American Crafts, Girls Paperie, Echo Park and have always been a Basic Grey fan too!

Who are your favorite subjects to scrapbook? My family is the main source of my pages, although I do try to squeeze in a page or two about myself and the things I am interested in too!

How did you find AMM? I found AMM through a link on Zoe Nemburt's blog. She is an amazing scrapper, person and fellow Canadian!

Where do you look for inspiration? I love using patterns, fabric and ad images for inspiration. I love seeing other people's work, and how they mix different colour combinations and the different ways they use products!

Thanks Michelle and Nicole. Have a great week everyone!

Little Something Sunday with Jennifer Longenecker

I love making shadow boxes from the Prima Hybrid candy box template. They are so quick and easy to make. Here's a box I made that would make a cute addition to our refrigerator.


You will need to trace, cut out and score the box onto heavy cardstock, size a photo to 2.75x4, and print and cut out a digital frame to fit the window of your box (or cut the window of your box to fit your frame). I used one of the Kitschy Digital Wood Grain Frames.


Glue your picture to the inside of the box opposite the window.



Glue your box together starting with the sides, then bottom, then top. I glued the tab to the back of the box. You can do the same or just cut it off.



Glue your frame to the face of the box making sure the sides of the window on the box match up with the sides of the window on the frame. If your frame is a little wider than the window of the box don't worry it will give you a cool 3-D effect like it did here.


Now embellish your box to your hearts content. I decided to add some fringed ribbon to mimic the grass...

...and I added a flower photo corner to soften things up a bit.

Now all you need to do is add a magnet to the back and enjoy.

July Design Team Reveal

Many of our design team members are still waiting on their kits to arrive and will be uploading their projects very soon using the AMM July Kit "Summer Punch". However, here are a few layouts to help get you inspired!

First is this layout from Staci Taylor. I adore how she embellished that sun sticker that comes on the sheet of stickers from Echo Park.

Tip: Alphas in title not standing out enough on that busy background paper? Outline them with a black pen to give them more definition.
"Beach Baby Me" by Staci Taylor


Next up is this layout from Tonya Dirk. I really love the grid style design she used here with the varying sizes of pictures. And those date tags that were custom made for this kit by Pretty Little Studio make the perfect journaling spots.

Tip: Want your letters for your title to be all the same color? Do what Tonya did, color them in with markers or paint.
"Caught in the Act" by Tonya Dirk



Last but not least is this gorgeous layout from Karen. Those circles really draw your eye to the photo.

Tip: Don't be afraid to cut up those die cut papers. Karen cut out the center from the MME paper then used the center of it to cut out her largest circle, leaving just the pink border of the die cut paper to hold everything within a "frame".


Keep checking the Design Team Gallery as new projects will be posted often.