Okay. Now seriously – if you want to make something really special for mom this year (or even a very close friend, like I did) and you want to challenge your scrapbooking skills to new lengths…I’ve decided to pin some great ideas and layout challenges for your enjoyment:

Mothers Day Scrapbook Challenges and Cool Craft Ideas

Need a little more inspiration to add to your page too?

Check this long list of Mom Poems, Mom Titles, Quotes, Cards, Pages, Products and so on from Scrapbook.com

New Mothers Day Scrapbooking Kit (Digital).

If you are scrambling to make your mom one of the best mothers day gifts ever…scramble no more.

This kit AND bonus Title Pack contains everything you need.  Your mothers day scrapbook kit will include 6 scrapbook pages, 6 unique scrapbooking embellishments and 6 matching brads for your mothers day scrapbook pages!  It’s all ready to go.

PLUS if you purchase today – you also get 8 free scrapbook titles for mothers day as well.

Note: As with all digital supplies, you can use them exclusively for digital scrapbook pages and print when completed – import to an online photo album, publish them to a print on demand album OR you can also print the supplies as is and incorporate them into your PAPER Scrapbook Pages.  There are a ton of options.  This is just one more dimension to add to the mix.

Get these beautiful scrapbook elements and quotes / title today! Only $6.99 USD.

]]> http://scrapbookingdirections.com/2009/mothers-day-digital-scrapbook-kit/feed/ 0 http://scrapbookingdirections.com/2009/easier-die-cutting-with-cricut/ http://scrapbookingdirections.com/2009/easier-die-cutting-with-cricut/#comments Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:38:37 +0000 Cijaye http://scrapbookingdirections.com/2009/?p=1543 Today’s blog post is from Guest Blogger and Die Cutting Expert Cara Miller.

Her goal is to help you make your Cricut die cutting easier! ScrapbookingDirections.com is very excited to have her share her “laser sharp” expertise and we do hope to have her contribute more in the future.

BTW: Your comments below will help both of us know that you want to hear more from her too.

Here’s what Cara has to say about today’s share Step Up Your Die Cuts:

“Hi Cara Miller here. I am a scrapbooking teacher, plain and simple. I love helping folks fall in love with their Cricut in particular.

I teach classes online and in person and I have created Whispers too! A Whisper? Yes, a whisper in the scrapbooking world is set of “cheat” cards that help you use your Cricut easier…With my Whisper cards, you will feel like  I am sitting next to you “Whisper-ing” the instructions your ear.  It’s my hope that this one will help you experience Easier Die Cutting with your Cricut!

But before I get to that, let me ask you something?

Have you ever struggled with your Cricut …trying desperately to make it cut things the way you want them cut but got so frustrated you wanted to pull your hair out?   If so, you should know that you are not alone!  We’ve all been there. Did you know that you can ALSO step up your Critic cutting experience and the projects you create by combining images (if you can just get your Cricut to cut the image the size you want)?  This is where the Cricut becomes your best friend in Scrapbooking!  The more unique your projects are the more people will love what you make!  Afterall that’s why we do this right?

So how do you get there?  Well, many times the images that you see on your Cricut cartridges are a bit too simple to make your combinations conceivable and they don’t show you all of your options in the booklet…that in and of itself is the problem. Too little keys, too many functions, not enough guidance (at least not all the time).  The bad news is, this won’t necessarily change because the Cricut is built to have multiple functions for each key and there are too many options for them to share everything they can in their basic package!  It’s quite a brilliant machine really, but complex.  And I get that.

The good news is , there is a simple fix and I am going to help you get through it RIGHT NOW! You just have to think outside the box that’s all. If you are ready for it, I have the perfect whisper to help you do that!

This video Whisper I am about to share is the next best thing to having me email or post mail my own personal whisper cards to you so that  you can create the most wonderful expressions with your Cricut and take your die cutting to the next level.  With this Whipser you will fee like I am sitting right next to you whispering in your ear while you Cricut!

You just have to see for yourself what I mean.
But first things first, gather your supplies: You will need your Cricut ( The Original, Expression, Create or E2 or Imagine), your card stock, your choice adhesive(s), a mat and ruler and your favorite cartridge.

BTW:   For this video I used the Walk in My Garden cartridge but you can use any cartridge with a card creative feature. Also, I was cutting a daffodil card so I used green and yellow cardstock and my favorite inks for edging. One more thing:  I love foam dots to add dimension to my cards too – so these were also used in this video.
Step Up Your Die Cuts

Step up your Cricut Die Cuts from Cara Miller on Vimeo.

Please comment below to let me know what you think?

As of Nov 2011, Scrapbooking Directions is offering FREE promotion on our site to Scrapbookers, Card Makers, Photographers and Paper Crafters.  If you have a business OR you are trying to promote a portfolio of your work, we want to help you.

When you become a guest blogger here on Scrapbooking Directions, you can have your scrapbooking articles, scrapbooking video’s, scrapbooking instructions, scrapbooking tips and cool paper craft techniques posted here and you can even LINK that content out to your live site or gallery.

This is FREE Marketing for Scrapbookers and similar artists!

All you have to do is  contact Cijaye DePradine (site owner) – via email at cijaye @ scrapbookingdirections.com and she will guide you through the process.

NOTE: All users and their content will be held in moderation until approved. ScrapbookingDirections.com reserves the right to refuse/ remove any and all content from our website.  We will not accept submissions from irrelevant sources. **Please do not submit if your content is not in some way beneficial to paper crafters or digital artists.

We have just the solution for you!  Our sister site, Halloween Games For Kids has a great supply of digital halloween scrapbook items (titles and other graphics), printable halloween cards and printable halloween invitations READY for download RIGHT NOW.

Go ahead and get yours today!

But do have a plan in place to maximize all that you get out of this halloween scrapbook?

For instance….Have you figured out what kind of album it will be? What kind of layouts you will create? What photos would be perfect? What patterned papers, stickers, rub on’s, accents, embellishments etc you will use?

Are you good at making lists? Maybe you can try for this project and see if it helps.

My list would probably start with what photo’s I would use. Here are some that come to mind right now….

Decorations in the house
Decorations outside of the house (our neighbors go all out each year)
The kids getting ready
Us getting ready
The final halloween costumes
The houses around the neighborhood
Our kids Opening their bags for candy
Our kids eating candy
Hubby and I sneaking candy to eat (lol)
The kids taking off the face paint
OR the kids sleeping with facepaint if we are all too lazy
And every great moment in between and after

You get the point right. The goal is get what you want from the event and make the absurd best out if in the scrapbook.

So what is your plan for this years halloween scrapbook? We’d love to hear about it- please comment.

So we decided to show you OUR Halloween Fun side too. Here are our top 3 Halloween Decorating Ideas to get the fun started today….(there will be more to come as the days go by).

=========================================================================== Hanging JackOLanterns Anyone?

Find as many of these regolit lampshades from Ikea ($4.00 USD) as you can fellow crafters and get the orange, yellow and black paint out so that you can turn your lampshades into REALLY cool pumpkins for display in or even outside the home on halloween eve. They are just soooo cool! They scream Halloween don’t they? EXTRA COOL TIPS: Try hanging these shades from a string of other lights (such as white christmas lights or halloween bulbs bought at specialty stores) and get the light flowing too. Also – if you want to get the kids REALLY going – add some Glow In The Dark paint for the eyes and mouth! ===========================================================================

NightMare Before Christmas Tree Of Your Own?

Now what about this. Start looking at that pot holding the ultra chic branches for design in the house a little differently for this Halloween… Why not turn them into your own personal “Nightmare Before Christmas” tree – and get the decorated sachets or remodelled (painted in halloween colors) christmas balls up! TIP: You may also want to make your own ghosts with stuffed cheese cloth or linen and wraphia nooses around the neck….and hang those too. ===========================================================================

Try This Mini Scrapbook Album with a BIG Spookiness About It.

Your halloween mini scrapbook album could be really creepy like this one … or it could be full of fun colors and cooky critter accents. Its entirely up to you what you do with your mini album for Halloween. If you get started your Halloween Mini Album today – and you have a solid plan for that Halloween Scrapbook Album – when you get the kids ready on Halloween you will know exactly what photo’s to take, why and in what sort of modes (tones , colors, angles, fstops etc)…and all you have to do is print, crop and place them later! TIP: We have the perfect Halloween Scrapbooking Papers for your album too! ===========================================================================

Halloween Scrapbook Titles In Need?

Try these Halloween Scrapbooking Titles in that Mini-Album too! With a little cracked glass, glossy accent or 3D foam – you can take these digital images to a whole new dimension on your Halloween Scrapbook Pages! ===========================================================================

What about READY made Halloween FUN STUFF for the Kids?

On another note; if making the time to be a creative designer or decorator this halloween is NOT on your side but you still want to have fun this year – in a creative way …you may wish to consider our Ultimate Halloween Party Collection for some cool treats! Included in this Halloween Party Kit are 96 pages of Halloween Games for Kids. Over 200 pages of Halloween Recipes and Crafts for ALL AGES, Halloween Safety Tips and 3 Free Printable Halloween Cards /Invitations. All for the incredibly low price of $14.99 (before discounts are applied)!!! ===========================================================================

Happy Hallo-Scrapping Crafty Peoples… :O)

Well look no further – we have all that you need and you can get all the Halloween Scrapbook Papers you need RIGHT NOW (by digital download)! Don’t miss a moment more searching for papers – we have the perfect 49 piece Halloween Scrapbook Paper package for you! INCLUDING Halloween Brads and Patterned Halloween Flowers! FOR ONLY $3.99

Click to view larger sized image.

Get yours today and make that perfect Halloween Scrapbook Album without any further delay!

I am sure you, like myself had found 2008 a very crazy year. Mine was full of really large UPS and really big DOWNS. Every year has been really. I went through a ton of emotions with a high paced – worldwide career, a very active family and all that comes with the two great children.

I have been way less active than I would have ever liked to be on this site (let alone my other hobby sites) – (especially the more FUN aspects of the business (like this blog)).

I have done much less scrapbooking and card making than I ever expected to as well. (I think one of the last big projects I did was  a lot of Paper Bag Scrapbooks…and Mini-Cards).

I wanted to create a picaboo album for the family this year and had much of it started – then I lost it all somehow (once again) and got completely discouraged.

And so the story goes….

But here are some of the most amazing parts of 2008 that have lit the FIRE under me -  I would like to share in my Year in Review Scrapbooking post here….2008 marked….

1. A rekindled relationship with my husband (that I can’t wait to journal into a romantic scrapbook for the two of us)…we decided to work MORE on us in 2008 – since parenting, leisure & work took over in 07.
2. A new found love for my children. *They have both finally reached that age where we can hang out like friends and have fun together for much longer periods of time – without exercising discipline or life lesson training.
3. A new appreciation for being HOME ….(I recently counted 23 stamps on my passport that was issued in 2007! Which means for a min. of 1 week – 2 weeks at a time – I was NOT at home at least 23 times between 2007 and 2009). Need I say more?
4. A new appreciation for SELF…I learned MORE about myself in 2008 than I had in my entire 33 years of life! I now know what I want and don’t want from life, love and all that surrounds me…but more important I know what I want FROM myself and I am all the more grateful for that now.
5. An intense love for vacationing! WOW! I never knew how therapeutic a real vacation could be! I have taken many trips to see family and to work across the globe…but having taken 3 vacations in one year (in 2008) alone to places like Hawaii, Mexico and Disneyland…I can’t wait to take more. In fact I have committed to taking at least one VACATION to a dream destination each year. I can’t wait to start planning 2009 already!
6. A new love for my friends. After being with my husband for 12 years and having 10 years of parenting on my belt now…I finally learned how critical it is to have your friends around and keep them close…no MATTER what path your life takes. They bring you peace when you no longer feel that you get any, they bring you conversation that you can’t always have at home or around the kids (or even with the hubby…right Girls!!!), they also keep the FUN FACTOR going – even when you feel incredibly burnt out or even “stuck in the same ol’ same ol’ routines of life” – - they help you break the chains of the life you created – and remind you that you CAN and should always maintain a life of your own. Thank you friends! Thank you!.
7. A new love for dogs. I grew up with dogs…and then cats…and for many years had NO PETS…I was happy with that so naturally along the way I lost sight of how cool dogs could be. Our new family addition (Hershey)…is one of the most loyal friends I know. He loves us in a way that no human ever would. He follows me everywhere I go. He cries when I leave him and he kisses me when I cry (to movies of course). He’s 8 in human years…but plays like a puppy! He’s also incredibly intelligent and has so many dimensions to his personality it amazes me every day!
8. A new appreciation for work. I know that sounds insane on many levels…but I do love the work that I do…and I appreciate having that work in times of economic crisis. It gives me and my family a sense of security that I could never find in all of my years as a solo-prenuer.
9. A new appreciation for TIME. Time is one of those things we can never get enough of – but I now fully appreciate the time that I do have. And now – finally….I don’t have regrets with how I make use of the time. If all I want to do is sit and do nothing…then I am overjoyed to allow that to happen now. I no longer look back at that time and think of the many OTHER things that I could have done with that time. I am now at peace with how I spend it. (Why, because I have finally decided to THINK about how BEST to use the time I do have since it is so limited…and I am much better for it).
10. A new appreciation for Organization. I know that one sounds silly too…but I have more clothes and items in the home than I do space (because all I do is shop on these trips away from home). In 2008, I finally encountered that feeling of having every inch of my walls and storage taken up by something (and a lot of it JUNK!)…so one of my 2009 resolutions is to RE-ORGANIZE. From my closets and dressers to the scrapbook room, my walls and even my outdoors. I figure that an organized environment = more time, more productivity, more freedom! So…Cheers to that!
11. & A new love for fitness. So here’s the deal with this one….I am one of those people who pays for gym memberships for YEARS and never goes. I keep the membership because I know I should go and like the idea of “being able to whenever I want to”. But I make ton’s of excuses why I can’t go. (ie: Too busy, too tired, feel sick, not motivated, gyms are boring…blah, blah, blah)…but then I found the Nintendo Wii & Wii Fit! Its pretty phenomenal actually. After only 644 hula spins on the Wii Fit (Super Hula)…my abs are killing all over and I am excited to go again. I am also excited to do all of the other fitness activities that my kids have unlocked (as soon as my Mii can unlock them!). I can’t see any reason why I would make excuses for this one – as the interactivity of a Wii Fit workout – is exactly what I need to get me over the most common of issues I normally have with workouts! Wii Hoooooo! Gotta love that right!).

And that’s it friends. That’s my core list of things I appreciate after my Year in Review for 2008. I look forward to appreciating all of these much more in 2009 too.

So…what’s on your appreciation list? If you are willing to share it…please do so in the comments area…if not…it might at

Again, more fantastic page elements and design from designer digitals made this page possible. The caption, the swirls, the blue and white flowered background as well as the amazing orange flowers were all from them.

But what got me going on this page – was that I loved the caption! That’s where my true inspiration came from. I knew I had to have the perfect photo for it as well since my daughter is just so incredibly animated.  She loves taking photo’s and doesn’t care what she looks like in them.  It makes it really easy to make a lot of pages around her.

Anyhow…the photo itself was originally taken as my daughter was laying down on my hardwood floors in the kitchen.  I used the magnetic lasso in photoshop 7.0 to crop away the wood floor and then I added this insane sunset photo I took.  It certainly allowed me to stay true to the caption.