paper: pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Photo overlays are so much fun!! You can place overlays over your pictures, over a card, or just use them as an embellishment for a page. Here are five different takes on using Shimelle’s photo overlays.

For this layout I just used the photo overlay over my picture. Very simple, but helped the photo to stand out.

This layout is a little different, I did not use a photo overlay over my picture but I did use two under my picture. See the tag like overlay and the 4×4 gold one? This is how you can use the overlays as layers for under a picture.

On this layout I did two thing, one I placed the overlay over the picture and second I cut one (Wander) and made it like an embellishment to add to my layout.

Photo overlays can even be used for cards. For this card I just added some patterned paper with a sticker under the overlay and then added some embellishments on top of the overlay.

My last project is a framed art piece. To make this piece you simple get a 4×6 frame, add a piece of patterned paper right over the glass and then add your photo overlay. Embellish the frame as you like, I just layered some of the Shimelle diecut pieces and then added a wood veneer piece.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see my projects using the Shimelle collection! I LOVE the beautiful colors in this line and know you will too!

Find the photo overlays at Blue Moon Scrapbooking, scrapbook.com, or your favourite scrappy retailer.

Angie Gutshall is a stay at home mom for five children. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Brian. She lives in the country in the central part of Pennsylvania. Scrapbooking is where she captures her everyday moments on paper so her children will have something to treasure when they get older. She also loves taking pictures, baking, watching movies with her kids, and created craft projects for gifts. She shares more inspiration on her blog.

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With just a few hours of November remaining, it’s high time I share a bit more about detail about Journal your Christmas 2014. While there has never been any doubt to me that I would be running Journal your Christmas this year, as always, I just wanted to make sure all the updates and extras for this year were ready before I announced them! And I am happy to say this year, there is one very big update indeed.

(Now you see why I usually just show you my hands. Yes, I know it’s out of focus, but it’s also the last day of November. Something had to give, I guess!)

The major update for 2014 is a video element: every day there is a very short video with a 3×4 card. These are really quick! That way you don’t have to carve out more time from a busy time of the year. These are around two minutes, perfect for giving you a creative short cut if you need some inspiration or would benefit from a bit of a process to follow. I’m using my Christmas in a Box kit for these cards, but the ideas are easy to adapt to any supplies you might have on hand, and likewise you can adjust for different sizes of pockets or pages to work with whatever album you’ve chosen this year.

If you’re new to all this, things may be a little muddy still! Journal your Christmas is a project that has been part of my life since 2003, and an online scrapbooking class every Christmas since 2004. It is very near and dear to my heart, and it’s always my very favourite scrapbooking project of the year. I’d suggest reading the basics here, which includes my firm belief that you do not need much time each day to work on this project nor do you technically need to prepare anything in advance. But here are the biggest questions to make it easy:

What’s included in Journal your Christmas?
Thirty-seven days of inspiration delivered right to your inbox. We start on the first of December and run to the sixth of January, which is the twelfth day of Christmas.
Each daily email includes a full-colour, printable PDF that covers a particular topic in depth with ideas for journaling, photographing, and crafting. This year, it also includes a short video sharing the process for creating a 3×4 card for your album.
There is also a private forum to chat and share your work with other JYC participants.

What makes your classes different to others?
All of my classes include permanent access, something I have always taken very seriously. That means when you join the project, you can participate for as many years as you would like at no extra cost.

I donate £1 for every class purchase to The Girls’ Fund at Plan, a charity that helps millions of girls who otherwise wouldn’t have access to education or basic survival needs.

The PDF prompts come right to your inbox – you don’t have to sign into the website daily to view them – though they are archived for you online so if you need to go back or want to download several to work on while you’re offline for a while, that is always an option. (You may or may not be able to see the videos straight from your inbox – it depends on the device you’re using and your mail software settings, but likewise, the streaming videos are embedded in both the emails and the class forum so you can view them at the time that works best for you.)

We really embrace variety and doing what works best for you. You can just take pictures or just write words or you can create a beautiful canvas every day – it’s completely up to you and I love every way the project may be approached. That includes how many entries you will make. You can certainly add something to your album every day if you would like, but it’s not a requirement. When I started this project, I designed it with the idea that you would cover a few of the topics in the first year, then in your second year pick a few more, and so on until you had a very full album you loved that documented many years of Christmas celebration. So whether you want to create every day, just now and then, or just take notes in December then put it all together at a quieter time of year, you are welcome to take the avenue that makes you happiest!

How do I join Journal your Christmas?
Easy! Just choose your currency and click the button below for your choice of UK pounds or US dollars. If neither of those is your currency, you can still join us! Choose either and the payment will convert automatically when you make your payment.

You can pay by credit/debit card or Paypal account. If you would like your prompts to come to a different email address than the one on your Paypal account, please be sure to leave a note in the message to seller section with the email address you would like to use. (If you miss that, send me an email to let me know, with both email addresses. Orders can take up to 24 hours to process. If you haven’t received your class registration after 24 hours, just email me and I’ll make sure your registration is completed and ready for you to get started!

Can I give Journal your Christmas as a gift?
Yes! Just click to pay above as normal, then leave the email address for the gift recipient in the notes section. If you miss the notes, email me. If you’d like me to send an email explaining that the class is a gift, I’m happy to do so – just let me know your preference of being named or anonymous!

Is there a deadline for signing up?
No. You can sign up any day of the year. The class starts on the first of December, so if you want to be in on day one, that can be part of the fun, but if you sign up later, you’ll still have access to all the materials, and you can do them in order or skip around – there is thought to the order but it’s not so regimented that you can’t change it up!

As a previous participant, what do I need to do?
If you participated last year and your email address has not changed, you don’t need to do anything to join us again. (The first message sent also has instructions on how to unsubscribe if you don’t want to receive the emails this year.) If your email address has changed since last year, please send a message to this special address and include both the old and new email address so your account can be updated.

Previous participants can access the class forum any time. If you do not remember your login details at the forum, click at the top right of the forum screen to log in. When that page loads, there is a forgotten password link below the boxes. Follow the instructions from there and your username and a new password will be sent automatically. (If you don’t see it straight away, check your spam folder.)

Any other questions, please let me know. I’m looking forward to creating a very special Christmas journal this year, and I’d love for you to join me and so many dedicated Christmas journalers for JYC2014.

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Continuing the weekend with a bit of colourfully scrappy happiness, please welcome Alexsandra Gadji, Nicole Samuels, and Ida Rosberg to share their beautiful pages, with just a touch or a big helping of colour! -Shimelle

Aleksandra says: I am a huge fan of the Shimelle collection! The colors and the patterns are so inspiring and easy to work with. My starting point for this layout was the gorgeous Jemison Glitter Stripe paper. I wanted to work with those diagonal stripes, so I cut out some of them and adhered them on the cute Hurley polka dot paper. With my base done, I did what I always do. I pulled out those awesome embellishments and started to move them around. Scrapping with the Shimelle collection is a pure joy!

Alex’s first scrapbook page was about her newborn baby girl and made in turquoise in 2008. See more of her work at Colors of Alex.

Nicole says: This page was inspired by the Baxter patterned paper design. I loved the colors in the split circles and thought they would make a fun background design. I used a scalloped edged circle punch to punch out a bunch of the circles and then arranged them in a grid on my page. Since the colors reminded me of summertime, I created the page for a sweet photo of my daughter and niece on the beach. The simple “beautiful” veneer piece was a perfect title along with the vintage camera sticker.

Nicole Samuels’ first scrapbook page was about her wedding day and made in a rainbow of pastel colors in 2001. See more of her work at her blog.

Ida says: When I got this guest assignment I wanted to do something with the die set. I love a good set of dies! The set from Shimelle is very versatile and I use it often. I like to use the globe die for my title card on my Project Life spreads. This time I cut out one globe from black cardstock, one from gold foil and one from cork. Then I took the pieces I wanted from every globe and glued them together! An very easy way to make different results with the same die.

Ida Rosberg’s first scrapbook page was about meeting her husband and was made in white and blue in 2010. See more of her work at Iddy Pop.

One note about the Journal your Christmas stamps in the previous post:
At the time of this post going live, there are just a very few stamps left, I’m afraid. If you try to make your purchase and it keeps leading you back to the homepage, it may very well be that they are sold out. I will update in the morning, but for now it’s late evening here so I’m stepping away from the computer for a while! Have a lovely night and thank you for your tremendous support!

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Call it a Black Friday sale if you like, but for the last few years I’ve taken preorders for the Christmas in a Box kit and devoted lots of time and space to packing a truckload of kits in the autumn. This year I thought that was probably out of the question, so I ordered supplies for just a small number of kits and didn’t take preorders – and now I am very grateful for both of those decisions, because the supplies seem to have sat in customs decorating the place for a ridiculous amount of time – unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. They arrived late Thursday, and with a bit of help everything was packed on Friday and now they are sitting here in boxes ready to ship right now. I realise that means those of you who love to be prepared weeks in advance have already chosen your supplies, so I guess this time it’s the last minute crowd who can treat themselves! (But I promise I won’t tell if you already have a basket of supplies ready and choose to just fill it out a little with this selection!)

This year’s Christmas in a Box kit includes sixteen 12×12 patterned papers (including one with gold glitter and one printed vellum), one set of Thickers, three sets of stickers, a very full pack of die-cuts, wood veneer stars and snowflakes, chipboard stars, gold sequins, and a 4×6 limited edition stamp set.

This image just shows a sprinkling of the die-cuts, wood veneers, chipboard stars, and sequins, by the way, but the kit includes full packs of each. The die-cut pack is particularly packed of pieces!

My philosophy on putting together each year’s box is to give you enough to embellish any Christmas project you would like while not overloading you on Christmas-specific things – for a few reasons really. Because I think it’s easy to overwhelm your photos and writing by piling on so many specifically Christmas prints that it helps to step back a bit and include some smaller patterns in complementary but less saturated shades. Because sometimes you want to include things in your Christmas journal that are not specifically Christmas, like a tradition with friends or your New Year celebrations. And because you may end up with supplies left over and I don’t want them to go to waste. I try to choose things that can go right back into your collection when January is here rather than things you pack away until next December, increasing their chance of being used rather than collected!

Boxes are all ready to go to UK addresses, for £40 which includes postage. (Sorry, complete boxes are only available to UK addresses as shipping costs usually make them ridiculous to post abroad.) If you’re not in the UK, you might use the shopping list below and/or order just the stamp set to complete your own kit of supplies.

Outside the UK or want to order just specific pieces of the kit? No problem. Here’s a complete list of the kit contents, including links to those items at Blue Moon Scrapbooking so you can find what you seek, while stocks last. As things sell out, I’ll try to keep links updated to items that are similar or a selection of things that make a good substitute.

16 Papers, including one glittered and one vellum
Keller, Hurley, Hall, Winlock, Harding patterned papers plus Jemison gold glitter paper from American Crafts Shimelle collection.
Dearest, Memento, Recollection, and Full Heart patterned papers from Maggie Holmes Open Book collection by Crate Paper.
Repeat, Scissors, and Cross Stitch patterned papers from Amy Tangerine Stitched collection by American Crafts.
Afternoon Breeze patterned paper from Heidi Swapp’s September Skies collection.
Star print vellum (kits include a blue star from Crate Paper, but check out this gold star vellum from Studio Calico that’s in stock at Blue Moon)
Red chevron patterned paper (kits include Holiday Cheer print from American Crafts, but check out this red chevron and polka dot that’s in stock at Blue Moon)
Stickers, including letters
One set of Thickers dimensional letter stickers (I chose green, but love this red set which is also a good size for smaller format albums)
Small tile letter stickers (I chose an AC set including red and blue, but this pack is a total winner for a project like this)
Gold glitter stickers (I chose the Jen Hadfield circles, but they have sold out. Hearts are in stock though!)
One set of Christmas icon and phrase stickers (I chose a set with a tiny alphabet too from American Crafts, but this set would also work well)
Embellishments, all in full packs
Die-cut pack including printed pieces and white glitter shapes from Pink Paislee’s Merry and Bright collection
Wood veneer snowflakes by American Crafts
Wood veneer stars by Studio Calico
Chipboard stars in a woodgrain finish by Studio Calico
Gold sequins (I chose all gold by Studio Calico, but this mixed pack is a winner)
AND the exclusive Journal your Christmas 2014 stamp set

There are also were a very limited number of the Journal your Christmas 2014 stamp sets available on their own, to ship anywhere in the world. These are high quality clear stamps made in the UK, designed to be stamped with a clear block. The full set is 4×6 inches, and each stamp is designed so it will easily work on a 3×4 card or any larger pocket you might be using for your project. They stamp cleanly straight out of the package with a variety of dye and pigment inks, and these designs are only available here and while supplies last. Prices in the drop down menu include shipping to your location – please be sure to click the correct location to match your address so there is no delay in sending your order. Thanks!

Stamps now sold out! Thank you so much. A limited number of kits are still available, and these include the stamps.

As promised, I’ll be back with more details of the new daily video addition for Journal your Christmas 2014, though you can sign up any time using the 2013 sign up page. Past participants are welcome to join in every year at no extra cost, and messages will start on the first of December. If you’ve participated before but changed your email address in the past year, please update it on the class forum so your prompts are sent to the correct place. (It’s in the User Control Panel at the top left of the forum screen, under Profile – Account Settings.)

I’ll start putting names and addresses on these boxes and be back with you later today! All Christmas systems GO!

(Thank you for your support by taking a class, purchasing a kit or stamps, or shopping through those affiliate links. It’s greatly appreciated and makes all this possible.)

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It’s far too lovely a day to label it as just ‘Black Friday’ so how about a sprinkling of colour? Nine lovely artists are joining me this weekend to share their colourful scrapbook pages made with my American Crafts collection – three today, three Saturday, and three Sunday! Plus, I’m finally emerging from a flurry of work behind the scenes to share some other stuff with you this weekend too: Saturday morning brings the sale of (a very limited number of) Christmas in a Box kits and special Journal your Christmas stamps, and an announcement of what to expect when Journal your Christmas starts this coming Monday! (Short version: I’m adding daily video, and if you’ve never joined us before and want to sign up right this second, go to the 2013 post and use that sign up button as you’ll get full access to all years.)

But for the moment, back to colourful Friday! Today I hope you enjoy this splash of colour from guest artists Maren, Christin, and Daphne. -Shimelle

Maren says: This is by far my favorite paper from Shimelle’s collection and I’ve been hoarding it for weeks. I love travelling, I love aqua (and pink, obviously) – so this paper with a map on it was just perfect for my “Rainy NYC” photo. The yellow cab in the background adds some nice colour contrast to the bright aqua shades. I even used a manufacturer strip from another paper, it made a perfect journaling! I love how versatile this collection is.

Maren’s first scrapbook page was about a trip to the Baltic Sea and made in blue & yellow in 2014. See more of her work at My Confetti Heart.

Christin says: The idea for this page came after looking through my many backgrounds and finding one that would make the many colors in this collection pop even more by layering them and adding multiple drops of mists in all the colors found in the papers, the girly pics where chosen to I could finally use the “lovely” die in the collection.

Christin Grønnslett first scrapbook page was a double travel page from Kings Canyon, California and was made in green, brown and off-white in 2003. See more of her work on her blog.

Daphne says: I had never been to Christchurch Harbour before so I was quite surprised about the busy Mudeford Quay on a sunny Sunday in September. The more I was surprised when I spotted masses of starlings sat on lobster pots while the world went by. They just did not seem bothered at all! I even was able to get quite close to them and took some pictures while they kept on sitting and waiting. When I got the pictures printed the geometrical pattern of the lobster pots really caught my eye – and Shimelle’s papers are just the perfect fit, not only for the patterns but also for the colours. Around my photos I used several of the cameras from the collection in different sizes to reflect the easy access I had to catch the starlings with my camera. I finished off the layout with some of the cardstock stickers and pieces from the sticker book.

Daphne’s first scrapbook page was about spring flowers and made in lilac & green in 2008. See more of her work at Dapfnie Design.

See you Saturday for three more colourful creations, plus Christmas in a Box and Christmas Stamped!

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Hello! I am Erin and I will walk you through how to create this layout using a vellum photo. I love the soft look of vellum and I look to use it in my projects. Vellum can create a dreamy look to projects.

What you will need to complete this layout is Shimelle pattern paper, stamps, vellum, embellishments, and die cuts.

First print the photo on vellum. Use Photoshop Elements or another program to print the photo onto vellum. In Photoshop, I added my photo to a blank 8.5 × 11 canvas. Then use the the erase tool and erase the outer edges of the photo. Then print to printer (I used my Cannon Pixma printer). Some printers do not print well on vellum. If you have trouble printing on vellum, try taping the vellum to printer paper before printing.

Next trim 1/4 inch from sides and add vellum to pattern paper. Because the vellum is semi transparent, it can be tricky to pick a pattern paper that best for the vellum photo. Try to go with a solid area with a neutral color background. Also add a trimmed 6 × 6 square paper from the paper pad to create a center diamond behind photo.

Then add embellishments. Layer the cut file underneath the vellum and one on top. Add two photo overlays on the printed photo. Hand cut two triangles. Add card from “Goodall” pattern paper, layer underneath the photo then add the ‘beautiful’ wood veneer.

Add stamping on vellum. I used Prima chalk ink to add the arrows from Shimelle Collection. I stamped the lighter color first and added the darker color on top with a slight off set.

And here is the finished layout! I hope you have just as much as fun as I did, with the beautiful Shimelle collection.

Erin has always been creative and started scrapbooking since she was a teen. She lives in Georgia, USA with her husband and two children. She is currently on Scraptastic Club design team and the Project Life Design Team. She shares her work on her blog and shares photos of her everyday life on Instagram.

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I have to admit, that I have a serious love for patterned paper and my Silhouette Cameo. Put those two things together, and I am in heaven! There are so many gorgeous papers in the Shimelle collection, and I just couldn’t resist using them with some of my favorite die cutting techniques, and I am looking forward to sharing them with you today!

8 IS GREAT: Layer & Cluster Die Cuts
I used several different die cuts on this layout, including a tag, flowers and leaves, to layer and cluster behind my photo. I also wanted to add some different layers and dimension to my die cuts, so I mixed in a wood veneer, rub-ons and stickers.

BUSY BEING HAPPY: Use a Full Die Cut Background
I wanted to use a full die cut background for this layout, but I was down to my last sheet of Haynes patterned paper, and it had already been cut. So I decided to do an 8.5×11 format and still work with the full die cut background. The Haynes patterned paper worked perfectly for this look, because I wanted a multi-colored patterned paper behind my White cardstock.

BUDDING ARTIST LAYOUT: Create an Ombre Look on Your Die Cut
Mixing spray mists or Gelatos with die cuts, can create a fun and unique look. I wanted to create an Ombre effect on the Love background cut file, using several spray mist colors. I chose varying shades of Red and Pink and started at the bottom of my die cut background, spraying the lightest color first and working my way up to the darker spray mist. And with all of the spray mist colors out there, it’s easy to choose the ones that coordinate perfectly with the colors in the Shimelle collection!

THESE BOOTS: Die Cut on Your Photo
Sometimes when I’m taking a photo, I like to have my subject off center and include White space in the picture. And that White space is perfect for die cutting on your photo! I printed a large photo at 5×5 inches. I placed the photo on my Silhouette mat and added the title letters in Silhouette Studio. Once the word was cut from the photo, I backed it with the Earheart patterned paper.

IT’S FRIDAY, I’M IN LOVE: Use a Tone on Tone Die Cut
I love the look that tone on tone die cuts create. I used a heart shape on the Keller paper, to create a tone on tone look at the top of the layout. It adds a subtle look to my page, to balance out the busier bottom half, that includes my photo, embellishments and bright colors.

Ashley lives in the Southern US with her husband and three kids. She has been a stay at home mom for about six years, and is currently homeschooling all three children. Ashley started scrapbooking when her first daughter was born, meaning she has been creating layouts for about nine years now! When she’s not busy crafting, Ashley is usually reading… there is a close race between her scrappy addiction and her reading addiction. She also loves to cook… but doesn’t love the cleaning so much! Ashley currently designs for American Crafts, Echo Park, Hip Kit Club, A Flair for Buttons and The Cut Shoppe. Feel free to check out her blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

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Today I’m delighted to introduce a new online scrapbooking workshop: Inspired By.

I’ve worked with some of my favourite scrapbookers to break down how we translate different sources of inspiration into unique scrapbook pages, and we’re sharing that process with you through ten videos and an accompanying PDF for reference. This workshop is self-paced, so you can view all the videos now or any time!

Across the ten videos, we take inspiration from the photos we will scrapbook, a patterned paper collection, geometric graphics, party decor, mixed media art, watercolours, commercial illustration, interior design, text art, and an existing scrapbook page. Then we walk through our individual scrapping process from taking that inspiration and turning it into something we love for our albums. It’s inspiration without sacrificing personal style, and we’d love for you to join in the fun.

I’m thrilled that Nancy Damiano, Paige Evans, Stephanie Bryan, Marcy Penner, Jen Kinkade, Wilna Furstenberg, Laura Craigie, and Jill Sprott were able to join with me and each share a brand new video. That makes eight videos, and there are two from me to add up to ten. And if you like getting a bit computery with your crafting, there are also some gorgeous bonus downloads: printables and cut files designed by Wilna and Jen.

Your registration includes the ten videos, accompanying reference PDF, bonus printable and cut file downloads, and a private message board to discuss things with the contributors, chat with other participants, and share your own work. I have always offered permanent access to class materials and that is included here as well. I know it’s a tangent from this actual workshop but in light of recent things in our industry, I want to address what I mean by permanent access to materials. I have been teaching online for more than ten years and all the materials from even that very first class are still available to those participants. Yes, passwords may be forgotten or email addresses may change, but I can help with those instances and though it may occasionally take a bit of time to track things down from all those years ago, we can and do get that remedied for past class participants. (One big change last year was automating the password reset on our class forum, so if you forget your login name or password, you can get that in moments and don’t have to wait for me to read your email.) Yes, I changed formats many years ago from a set up that was more like an email group where we all chatted back and forth to using message board as a classroom set up, but all the previous materials have continued to be maintained. If I were to upgrade again in the future, that would be my plan. And in addition I have what I call my ‘hit by a bus policy’, which is a dreadfully terrible name for how I have tried to do all in my power to make sure that if something horrible happened and I went out of business or disappeared from the face of the earth next week, all my customers would continue to have access to everything for many more years than they would probably want to reference those materials. I can’t guarantee that policy will work in every way because I am most definitely not volunteering to be hit by a bus just to test it out. But this is something I have meant since the very first day I said I was offering permanent access. It makes sense for me and I’m happy to offer it, and I’m sorry for the tangent, but the notion of losing trust due to decisions made by other companies is one that plays on my mind.

Also related: yes, students from my Two Peas workshops will soon be able to access them via my own site. You will be sent an email when that is ready and I will also post here (so if your email has changed since your Two Peas days, we will be able to sort that out for you). I know it’s taking a long time and all I can say is that everything is taking me a long time right now, and Wonder Boy is worth it for me. But I can see the end of that project in sight and I’m so happy to be able to extend those workshops under my own little umbrella.

Right: back to Inspired By! It’s £10 British Pounds or $15 US Dollars. If neither of those is your currency, that’s okay – you can choose either and it will automatically convert. Check XE for exchange rates to get an idea of the price in numbers that make sense for you!

If you’re ready, click to sign up!

After you sign up, you’ll be given access to the materials, generally within 24 hours. (I try not to work on Sundays but also try to make sure process registrations last thing on Saturday night and first thing on Monday morning!) If you have made your payment and do not receive a welcome email within that time frame, please double check your message hasn’t gone to your spam folder, then email me to let me know. If you are paying from a different email address than you would like to use for the workshop access (including giving the class as a gift), leave a note in the comments of your purchase – or send me an email if you miss that step. Any questions, please do not hesitate to email me and I will get you an answer as soon as possible.

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