Go do something great today! Just try … you might surprise yourself.

But, before I tell you who won, I have to say I really enjoyed reading all your summer memories. Isn’t summer just the best? I’m so grateful I have a way to capture my summertime memories and save them forever. I know when my children are all grown, I’ll be so glad I took the time to tell our story. And I’m sure you will to. Find the time. Save your memories forever.

Okay. so the big winner is Beth.

Beth, please send me your address at at kimberly@crazydaisykits.com so we can send your fabulous prize.

Melissa, send me an email  … kimberly@crazydaisykits.com so we can get your address and send you a kit!

And everyone else … don’t forget, we’re giving away a Cricut Create and a basket of scrapbooking supplies. Go here for more information.

If you are anything like me, you take lots of photos. Seriously, tons and tons of photos!! I get mine developed online, so I have to spend some time deciding and figuring out what I want to get make into prints. It’s not always easy, so I usually end up with lots of extra prints that I don’t use. And I don’t like to waste photos! When I saw the cute little star mini album in the July kit, I knew exactly what I was going to use it for. It seems I always have extra photos of my kids doing sports. Soccer, softball, baseball, track…I always have too many prints. So I decided to make an All-Star mini to use up all those photos that didn’t make it onto layouts.

I covered the cover with patterned paper, used my star punch to create a place for my title, and did lots of inking. I also added some small letters for my title (not included in the kit).

I added a title page that will tell what this book is all about and the date ranges of the photos in the book. That way I can add photos without being stressed about journaling and keeping things in perfect order.

My kids love looking at sports photos of themselves in this little album. And it was the perfect spot for all those extras. So the next time you have extra photos lying around, consider making a mini album with them!!

Happy Scrapping Everyone!

Layouts from Katie Turner using the June 2010 Main Kit.

By Kelly Hansen

Every month we get these awesome kits in the mail. After playing around with my kit, I always have leftover embellishments. The one thing I hate to see is good product just sitting around in a little baggie. Not sure what to do with these little pieces you get in those kits????
Well, check this out! I took some ribbon I had laying around, added it to the June mini kit and went to work on some ruffle ribbon flowers.

You will need:

*needle & coordinating thread
*ribbon (about 10″)

1. With a needle and thread (or you can use a sewing machine) sew a simple basting stitch along one edge (photo above).

2. When you have sewed all the way to the end, pull the thread tight. The fabric will ruffle up (photo above).

3. Stitch the two ends together to make a complete circle (photo above). If you want, you can repeat this process with another pattern of ribbon. Adding layers is beautiful (photo below).

4. Trim off your threads and finish your flower. Dress the center of your flower up with beads, jewels or even buttons (photo below). I used all the leftover embellishments from June mini kit.

Here are all the ruffle flowers I made:

Take a look at the layout I made with these adorable little flowers. The layout is so simple and sweet!!

By Amy Kingsford

Are you one of those scrapbookers that keep your packaging from companies like Kaiser Craft and Prima, simply because their packaging (like their products), are simply too beautiful not to use! I know I am! If not, or if you’re searching for some more creative ways to use your packaging you may want to give some of these ideas a try!

Try creating your very own designer tag from a product sales tag—simply cover the parts of the tag you may not want to show (i.e. the price or the collection name by adding small elements ) and let the parts of the tag you admire, shine through! Like the Devonshire Collection tag included with this month’s Kaiser Craft stickers.

I absolutely love using my leftover plastic packaging from charms, brads, etc for mini disposable palettes. The small wells are perfect for one time use on small projects or most can be easily washed and re-used if you are so inclined.

Prima’s packaging is just as beautiful as their products and makes for great photo mats and frames. You may have to strategically place a few items to cover up manufacturer information but this packaging’s rich colors and die cut designs make it hard to throw away!

In this month’s kit Kaiser Craft’s stickers come packaged plastic zip pouches that can be easily stored in a binder. Once you’ve used up these beautiful stickers, why not put this purposeful packaging to use. There is a number of scrapbooking supplies that could be stored in these wonderful pouches or get a head start on back-to-school shopping and give them to your children to store their school supplies in!

If you only have a half of the packaging as is the case with this month’s beautiful Fabric Covered Buttons by Prima…then no worries, use them as a journaling strip or tab! The scalloped edge and bright color are sure to capture your audience’s attention and direct them to what you have to say!

There are so many uses for your packaging…hopefully these ideas will not only inspire you to use every last bit of the pretties that show up in your monthly kit, but will also encourage you to search for more fun ways to sue your product packaging in your layouts!

I’m seriously starting a Brave Girl savings fund. I am going to go to the Brave Girl Camp. I am. I am. I am.

Today’s thought from the newsletter?

By Katie Turner

Here’s a tutorial I created based on the layout I made using the sketch from Sketch Inspiration!

1. Choose your background paper. I chose to use the beautiful My Mind’s Eye Life Stories Roses patterned paper (probably my favorite sheet in the May kit!). Then, position your photos where you want the frames to be in the end. Since I used a sketch at Sketch Inspiration, my positioning is based on that. I used vertical photos instead of horizontal, though, and also used 2×3 instead of larger sizes.

2. With a pencil, mark the paper where the corners of the photos meet it. Set the photos aside.

3. Using a paper piercer or an X-Acto knife (my weapon of choice), poke small holes through the marks you created in the previous step.

4. Turn your paper over. Using a ruler or a straight edge and your pencil, connect the holes. They will match the dimensions of your pictures, so when I was finished, I had two 2×3 rectangles in the exact place I’d positioned my photos earlier — just on the back of the paper.

5. Using a scalloped template (whether it’s something like I used or a punched border you created with a scalloped edge punch), trace petals inside the rectangles you just drew.

6. There’s no particular way to go about this; the size of my template allowed for roughly three scallops on the top and bottom edges and two scallops on each side.

7. Using an X-Acto knife, cut out all parts that won’t be needed. These include wherever scallops meet — most of what you’ll be tossing will have a triangular or diamond shape. Be sure not to cut everything out; you’ll want to cut the sides only down to where the scallops begin, meaning that you won’t cut the outermost top or bottom edges at all, and only the corners of the sides, before you reach the part where the two scallops jut out toward the middle.

8. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and fold outward, using the outermost lines you drew as a folding guide.

9. Using a toothpick or a coffee stirrer, curl the petals upward. Your basic frames are complete!

10. Mat your photos on matching kraft cardstock — I used the back of the My Mind’s Eye Life Stories Pink Damask patterned paper. My matting resulted in about half an inch of kraft cardstock visible on each side of the photos.

11. Place adhesive on the kraft border around your photos and adhere to the back of your background paper, carefully matching the photos up with their frames. And that’s it!

1. I can’t imagine my life without …  my family and paper! I cannot have enough of both.

2. My least favorite chore is …  cleaning the bathrooms. I get irritated at all the scrubbing that I need to do.

3. I would love to win a shopping spree to … Target or Michael’s. They got everything this girl ever wanted.

4. My must have treat and music when scrapbooking is …  Treat- don’t do treats, I get pretty messy when eating and I don’t want to get those in my projects; Music- it varies. Whatever I feel like listening at that time, and sometimes I even prefer it to be just quiet.

5. When scrapbooking, I love to use …lately I’ve been obsessed with border punches. It seems like every project has a punched border on them. They’re just fun and it adds that extra umph to everything.

6. My favorite creative project is … right now, it has to be cards. I love that they’re fast to make and I can pile it up with however many elements I want it to have.

7. I thought I would never …  learn the manual mode in my camera.

8. My worst habit is …  spending way too much time on the computer.

9. My favorite scrappy or crafty web site is …  there’s so many to choose from but I do linger at blogs a lot especially this and this.

10. You would never guess it, but I …  had a Winne the Pooh collection when I was in college. I was obsessed with it. I had everything from shirts, to stuff toys to bags. My mother-in-law found out about this and gave me a pooh kitchen towel one Christmas. She’s very sweet.

Get to know Grace better by visiting her blog.