About the trip: My son’s high school marching band (he’s a Freshman this year), was chosen to perform in the Macy’s Day Parade on Thanksgiving! For months we have been planning, preparing, and practicing (lots of band practice!) and finally it’s only 10 days away. It’s our first trip to NYC and the band has planned a fantastic itinerary including: the Statue of Liberty, 911 Memorial, Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall, Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, Top of the Rocks Observatory, NBC Studios Tour… and of course the Macy’s Day Parade! So we’ll have so much to photograph, see and document. I think the Smash Book will be a perfect companion.

The Organization & Planning of the Smash Book: I broke this down into 3 parts. It is easy to get overwhelmed, so I am in need of breaking the process down and getting pieces done each day. I did a quick informal video on our Create Scrapbooks YouTube Channel about the process and will have follow-up videos with progress and a final tour of the book once I return from NYC so you can see how it all came together.

Here’s a short video of how to I am getting a travel smash book started for the NYC trip, but can be adapted to ANY holiday or vacation.

• Buy or create your own smash book. I used the International yellow version that I purchased at Two Peas in a Bucket.
• Gather your supplies. Seems simple enough, but as you know gathering what you want to use ahead of time SAVES time and keeps your focused on the task at hand.
• Plan around your trip. Usually you have at least a rough plan or itinerary that you’ll be following on your trip. I will be printing out the band’s planning agenda so I can do my smash book following it day-by-day.
• Create your book!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest updates on our video series… AND make sure to watch the Macy’s Day Parade this year and cheer on the Legacy High School marching band from Colorado!

Here’s their exclusive latest SEPTEMBER  2011 Club Scrap (traditional paper kit) goodness:

You can see ALL of their available kits, learn more about their awesome company, free tutorials, videos, and more at http://www.clubscrapcommunity.com/.

Also view the latest Club Scrap “Scrap Rap” digital newsletter with ideas, instructions, and more for your new kit here!

Remember to tell them that CreateScrapbooks.com or ScrapClubs.com sent you so we can continue to bring you fresh content and fun new products!

Club Scrap Digital – September 2011 Releases

Nowhere else will you have the opportunity to experience the luxury of richly textured traditional monthly collections like Club Scrap — after they have been amazingly crafted into a digital format. Created by the same team that brings you our famous traditional paper kits.

Orient Express Digital Scrapbook Club Scrap Kit Ingredients – purchase this kit for only $8.83 at http://clubscrap.com!

• 8 – 10 Digital Backgrounds
• Graphic Stamp images used in designing the paper and digital lines- including phrases. (around 12)
• Variety of Fibers, Metals, Organic and other Embellishments
• Digital Alphabet
• 6 Quick Drop Digital Layouts
• 6 Matching Templates in both PNG and PSD formats
• Designer built complete components. Make any fast Layout look like you spent hours! (around 3)
• See MORE of the Orient Express collection here to purchase!

Don’t forget to check out the coordinating expansion set that arrives on the 20th!
Also, the Club Scrap “Scrap Rap Magazine” is now available in DIGITAL format! Check out the great tutorials and ideas!

Club Scrap is a ScrapClubs.com and CreateScrapbooks.com sponsor – let them know we sent you over!

When: Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 11a.m. (Mountain Time).

Where: http://linqto.com/rooms/createscrapbooks (anyone with Internet access can join in and watch/chat and share their projects, too!)

What: We will be introducing and showing off the latest August 2011 Special Release stamp sets from Stephanie Barnard of The Stamps Of Life, and some fun projects created with them. Also we’ll be showing and giving away some fun kit products from My Scrapbook Nook.

You will meet, learn about, and chat with the ladies behind Create Scrapbooks! There have been a few changes, so come and get to know us and introduce yourselves!

• Terri Bradford
• Gretchen Schmidt 
• Susan Weckesser

You can come by and join us anytime – it is free, fun, and interactive. You can meet other creatives and chat, or if you have a project you’d like to share (and you have a webcam) you can interact with all the viewers, too! We’d love to meet you and see what you are working on, answer your questions, and get you inspired to create.

Come take some time off and create with us this Thursday! See you live!

Club Scrap Digital: Versailles - August 2011 Digital Kit Release

Club Scrap Digital – August 2011 Releases

Nowhere else will you have the opportunity to experience the luxury of richly textured traditional monthly collections like Club Scrap — after they have been amazingly crafted into a digital format. Created by the same team that brings you our famous traditional paper kits. Versailles Digital Scrapbook Club Scrap Kit Ingredients – purchase this kit for only $8.83 at http://clubscrap.com! 12 Digital Backgrounds, Graphic Stamp images used in designing the paper and digital lines- including phrases, Variety of Fibers, Metals, Organic and other Embellishments, Digital Alphabet, 6 Quick Drop Digital Layouts, 6 Matching Templates. Don’t forget to check out the coordinating expansion set that arrives on the 20th! Also, the Club Scrap “Scrap Rap Magazine” is now available in DIGITAL format! Check out the great tutorials and ideas! Club Scrap is a ScrapClubs.com and CreateScrapbooks.com sponsor – let them know we sent you over!

Personalized Birthday Card

What is better than giving a customized card?! I absolutely think the key to making something special is to make it personal. The beauty of making cards (or any project) from scratch is being able to really personalize it to make it just as special as the person you are giving it to!

For example, I created this card with my son’s birthday in mind… he turns 14 next week, and I recently bought some ballon paper at Michaels (the balloons have a thermal gloss treatment on them which I loved by Imaginisce), and knew I wanted to use it for this project. I also was inspired the recent June 2011 The Stamps Of Life set “daises2garden” sentiments: “wishing you…” “a happy birthday”.

(Inside of card)

Details are so important in personalization!

How I personalized this card: I stamped the TSOL sentiment onto a Studio G Ditto label sticker, used a bit of twine from a Paper Lovelies kit, and some AC Thickers to personalize it with his nickname, Bay. I also used a Simple Stories stickers sheet to put “14″ on several balloons (and the inside sentiment as well) for his age. The small flag accents (by his name and on the inside of the card) add a bit of fun and were from another Simple Stories sticker sheet, which all coordinated great!

Now, all I need to do is write a personal message to my boy and I have created a keepsake for him. I know in my heart that it means much more than anything I could buy in the card aisle. It is always fun to see what he says about the cards I make, and they get put into my Project Life album as memorabilia, too.

Giveaway this weekend!

Make a card this weekend for someone special. Share it with us on our Flickr gallery group and each card uploaded will be one entry to win a new The Stamps Of Life animals4prints stamp set. Want an extra chance to win? Make your card using any TSOL stamp set and you’ll get a bonus entry!

HOW TO ENTER: Upload your card to our Flickr gallery group here, specify in the image comments during upload on Flickr if you used a TSOL set for the bonus entry (optional), and then leave a comment on this post after you upload so I can get in touch with you if you win. **Contest ends Monday, June 27th at Noon Mountain Time. Winner will be posted here on the blog on Monday night and must contact me within 7 days to claim their prize. US Residents only.**

Good luck!

Happy Creating! - Terri

Here’s the latest fun stamp sets (June 2011 Special Release sets) – extras4kids, daises2garden, and animals4prints from Stephanie Barnard at The Stamps of Life! Check out the great explanation of HOW to use these stamps and see all the parts and pieces with ideas to create a custom image with this video from Stephanie:

A big thank you to TSOL for being a CreateScrapbooks.com sponsor! We love using their stamps on our live show to create one-of-a-kind cards and elements for our papercrafting! Join us on our facebook page here: http://facebook.com/createscrapbooks to see our live show schedule and join in on the fun.

Here’s their exclusive latest JUNE  2011 Club Scrap paper kit goodness:

You can see ALL of their available kits, learn more about their awesome company, free tutorials, videos, and more at http://www.clubscrapcommunity.com/.

Remember to tell them that CreateScrapbooks.com sent you so we can continue to bring you fresh content and fun new products!

The Stamps Of Life scream4icecream MAY Club Stamp Set

The Stamps Of Life May 2011 Special Release Stamp Sets

Stephanie of TSOL always gives such great background information on how her designs work together, the parts and pieces of each design and gives you some great ideas on how to use them on her YouTube videos each month. Here’s the video for May:

May 2011 Club Scrap Digital Kit

Kit Contents: (only $8.83!) – purchase at http://clubscrap.com:

• 12 Digital Backgrounds
• Graphic Stamp images used in designing the paper and digital lines- including phrases, Variety of Fibers, Metals, Organic and other Embellishments
• Digital Alphabet
• 6 Quick Drop Digital Layouts
• 6 Matching Templates

More images and elements for this digital scrapbooking kit:

Special thanks to Club Scrap: a sponsor of ScrapClubs.com and CreateScrapbooks.com