Altenew Live Your Dream Scrapbook Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello friends! I'm excited to be joining the blog hop for Altenew's newest release, the Live Your Dream Scrapbook Collection! If you're hopping along, you probably came from Kathleen's blog and next you'll head over to Zinia's (but I'll have the full hop list at the end of the post!)

Here's a little peek at the beautiful collection:

Our Live Your Dream Scrapbook Collection is a bright and elegant line that you can use to document any occasion. From the little daily moments, you want to remember forever to bigger milestones like parties and birthdays.

All of the products in this collection are very versatile and you can use them for many different projects such as 12x12 layouts, pocket scrapbooking, cards, home decor, and much more.  

This collection contains

• 16 sheets of 12x12 double-sided patterned papers (2 of each/16 different designs)
• 2 6"x12" sheets of puffy alphabet stickers (220 pieces)
• 2 6"x12" sheets of chipboard stickers (38 pieces)
• 2 6"x12" sheets of clear stickers (31 pieces)
• 1 pack of wood epoxy buttons (20 pieces)
• 1 pack of die-cut cardstock embellishments (32 pieces)   

I just love those colors and the artsy vibe! I created two layouts with the collection + a process video. The first features the gorgeous pink fade paper and came together in just minutes!

I used the chipboard, wood buttons, alpha, and die cuts. I also added in a few stamped leaves from the Indoor Garden stamp set!

The second layout came together fairly quickly as well and was inspired by the colorful circles found in the chipboard and die cut packs.

I embellished tone on tone (one of my fave things to do!) and also added in some florals from the Just Because stamp set that I heat embossed and then watercolored with my Altenew Watercolor 36 Pan Set. So pretty!

You can check out the process here video below!

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 2/28/2019 for a chance to win. 6 winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 3/3/2019.

AND...if you'd like another chance to win a $30 gift certificate RIGHT HERE, please leave a comment on this post with your favorite thing from the new collection and I'll choose a winner on 2/28/2019!

Be sure to visit the other people on the hop for more chances to win!

Altenew Scrapbook Blog

Paige Evans

Enza Gudor

Kathleen Graumüller

Jen Schow <<<<

Zinia Redo

Bea Valint

Raquel Bowman

Sandra Dietrich

Amanda Baldwin

Maryam Perez

Svitlana Shayevich

Missy Whidden

Altenew Card Blog

Nathalie DeSousa

Kymona Tracey

Patricia Roebuck
Lydia Evans

Terhi Koskinen

Lilith Eeckels

Meghann Andrew

Reiko Tsuchida

Flóra Mónika Farkas

Virginia Lu

Kim Jeffress

Elsie Robinson

Laurie Willison

Kelly Janes

Erum Tasneem

Thanks so much for stopping by, and good luck!

10 Tips for Scrapbooking with Scraps

Hey friends! I have been having a major love affair with my patterned paper scraps - I can't stop making layouts. And that's always a good thing, especially since I feel like my mojo has been lacking lately. 

A few weeks ago, Use It or Lose It Episode 14 focused on using paper scraps and today, I posted a video sharing seven more layouts! Seriously. Can't stop, won't stop. 

I shared 10 tips for using scraps over in my Crafty Use It or Lose It Facebook group the other day and thought I would post them here as well so they have a more permanent home. I've added photos of my "scrappy" layouts throughout, so enjoy! 


1. Choose a photo that will stand out against your busy background. A photo with few colors, a black and white photo, or a photo with a lot of open space (or white space) work berst. If you want to choose a colorful photo, consider opting for lots of neutral layers or a monochromatic color scheme.

2. Make sure your eye is drawn to the subject matter. On this layout, I chose a photo with lots of white space, which naturally draws the eye, but I also added an arrow pointing to my daughters face and put the title on top of it.

3. Start with your larger scraps, add your photo, and then layer smaller scraps. It's just so much easier this way! Make sure to use a variety of patterns in different scales. Use some that are very saturated in color, and some that have light colored backgrounds. Distribute the colors around in your layers so that your layout doesn't get lopsided with "visual weight", unless that's what you're going for because we all know that rules are meant to be broken, right?

4. When layering your papers, make sure that none of the edges line up. It makes for a much more interesting and eye-pleasing composition. If you look at the layers on my layout, you'll see that I have corners of papers nestling into each other and tiny edges of papers peeking through.

5. Leave in some of the rips, tears, punches, and uneven edges. Again, it just makes it more interesting. Look for ways you can incorporate it into your design. I love little details like that. Also, consider adding in vellum or transparencies. When you add these specialty papers over your layers, you get a cool peek-a-boo effect.

6. Add in something curvy to offset all of those square edges. Your layout can get looking really boxy and I find that adding in icons or embellishments with a different shape really helps. I love using circles, hearts, and flowers. Always flowers.

8. Line things up by color. You'll find you can add in scraps in various styles and make them look good together by simply sorting them into rainbow order and lining them up. Adhere embellishments by color as well to add interest without overwhelm.

9. Add a few embellishments that will change things up a bit. Paper on paper on paper can definitely work, but it's nice to bring in another texture whether it be puffy stickers, stitching, wood veneer, or enamel dots.

10. Use a bunch of one shape. Whether you create a grid style layout (like the one above) or go crazy with a shape like I did below, this is a great way to use up your scraps. Grab your punches or dies and go to town!

I hope those tips have been helpful! I would love to see what you create using your scraps. Join the Facebook group to be inspired and inspire others - I also do giveaways and live videos there too, so you won't want to miss it. :)

Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see you again soon!

Use It or Lose It

Hello friends! Have you heard about my new YouTube series? It's called Use It or Lose and each week I'm taking a look at some of the products that lots of us have taking up space in our craft room. Do they deserve that beloved space? If I'm not using it, it needs to go. I have 13 episodes up and ready for you to check out! Here are the topics we've covered so far...

Episode 1: Wood Veneer

Episode 2: Washi Tape

Episode 3: Buttons

Episode 4: Journaling Cards

Episode 5: Ribbon

Episode 6: Paper Flowers

Episode 7: Studio Calico Documenter Kit

Episode 8: Letter Stickers + Thickers

Episode 9: Putting Together a Stash Kit

Episode 10: Eyelets

Episode 11: Rub-ons

Episode 12: Holiday Stash

Episode 13: Punches

Head over to my YouTube channel if you want to binge watch the whole playlist!

We will be talking about using up patterned paper scraps next and you won't want to miss it!