Friendzy Friday with Carolyn!

A few weeks back we did our flower pot make 'n take and we had made a matching card that we gave away to one of our lucky scrapbook friends. This was an idea that I had found online somewhere (I am sorry I can't give credit where credit is due because I have no idea where I saw it).

I have done my own tutorial for a version I created to show you how you can make your own!

To start, you need to cut a piece of cardstock that measures 3 1/2 x 9 inches. This is the base of the card (the pot).

With the strip in your trimmer horizontally, score at 2 inches and at 5 1/2 inches.

Trim the edge of the 2-inch section with a scalloped edge punch.

Here is what the card looks like from the side.

To make the front look like a pot, measure 1/2 inch in from each side along the fold and make a pencil mark.

Place the card base into your trimmer with the 2 inch flap at the top and the fold along the bottom. Place the score line and the pencil mark on the cutting line of your trimmer. Repeat on the opposite side.

This is what the pot will look like when you have cut both sides.

Ink the edges of your pot and tie a ribbon around the entire card. The only way that the card is being held together is with the ribbon.

Cut a piece of cardstock that measures 2 1/2 x 4 inches. Layer a second piece of cardstock on top that measures 2 1/4 x 3 3/4 inches.

This will slip into the pot between the back and the front.

Cut or punch out flowers using pattern papers and adhere them to the top of the card. Stamp or write your desired sentiment.

When you insert the card, the flowers should overlap the top of the pot slightly.

This card will fit into a standard size envelope!

May Key Tag Days!

Free Paper Pack Giveaway!

It is that time again! The months seem to just fly by. This Friday, May 29th and Saturday, May 30th we are hosting our May Key Tag Days!

This month we are offering a FREE paper pack with a minimum $20 purchase. With our store busting at the seams with awesome products, this is a perfect opportunity to pick up some great new supplies and receive a FREE paper pack at the same time.

Take advantage of this special promotion by stopping into our store, making your minimum purchase and showing us your Two Scrapbook Friends pink Key Tag. It's as simple as that! If you don't have a key tag yet, not to worry. Just pick one up when you stop in the day of the sale!

The sale runs Friday from 10-8pm and Saturday from 10-5pm. See you there!

A Little Inspiration!

Last week we posted a challenge that Karan posted on our forum. Not only is she a talented designer, but she is a talented sketch artist too.

I love using sketches as a tool to create amazing layouts. They are so flexible and give you a starting point. I especially love them in black & white. You have a blank canvas with no preconceived ideas.

Sometimes my layouts turn out exactly like the sketch and sometimes you can see the basic design, but I have added my own ideas and it ends up totally different.

Here is the layout that I designed from Karan's sketch. Papers are from Basic Grey and Prima, chipboard letters are Pink Paislee, sticker letters are Rose Moka, ribbon is from Making Memories and the flourishes are cut from cardstock using our die-cut machine at the store. I added a touch of bling and a bit of ink to finish it off.

We encourage you to take the challenge and use these sketches to get your creativity flowing. If you have never used one before, you will be amazed at how easy it is. During our Summer Survivor contest there will be a new sketch each week. Practice with this one and then get yourself registered and join in the fun. It is a great way to get your mojo flowing!

A New Challenge Contest......Scrapper's Island!

We have something new and exciting starting on June 4th.......do you have what it takes to survive Scrapper's Island? Do you have what it takes to out crop, out scrap, out create your fellow scrappers to be our sole scrapper?

This is a weekly challenge contest that you can sign up for. It will run from June 4th until July 30th. A new challenge will be posted every Thursday at 8pm (when Survivor was on TV). You will have 1 week to complete the challenges and voting will take place every Thursday by all registered forum members.

Along with each challenge, a sketch will be issued to help you with your entry. The challenges will start off simple and increase in difficulty as we go along. This is a great way to get your scrapbooking done as well as challenge yourself.

In order to to be a participant in our Scrapper's Island challenges, you must be a registered member of our forum with a minimum of 10 posts. The entire contest will be run through our forum. There is a special section set up with all the rules and guidelines as well as a place to register. You must be registered by June 3rd in order to participate.

At the end of the 9 weeks there will be one person remaining who will be named the Two Scrapbook Friends Scrappin' Survivor!!! This participant will receive a special prize and will also be a guest designer along with our Two Scrapbook Friends design team during our next term.

Take the challenge.......visit our forum today and register!

Hello everyone! This post is a little late, and I am sorry for that. It has been a little busy at the store and I didn't get on my computer this morning before I came in.

This week we decided to change things up a bit and the Kit of the Week is a card kit. They are 'super cute' with lots of 'embellies' and cute 'deets' ....oh, what I mean to say is they are really nice with lots of embellishments and cute details. There are 5 cards in the set and they will fit in standard envelopes.

You be the judge! Stop in and check them out in person.

Friendzy Friday With Shelby!

At our National Scrapbook Day Crop we asked Shelby if she would mind giving a tutorial on how to make 3-D flowers out of circles. Here it is!

Step 1

~ Using a Cricut or circle punch, cut out 7-9 circles. How many you use will depend on the diameter of the circle

~ Double sided paper works best but cardstock would work as well

Step 2

~ fold one edge of the circle in to form a point

~repeat on the other side

Step 3

~ decide where you would like to place them on your project

~arrange petals tightly beside each other to ensure you have the right amount

~ use adhesive to stick in place (tip * using repositionable adhesive will allow you to perfect the placement)

Step 4

~ for the center of the flower use buttons, bling, flowers etc and use glue to attach.

Flowers can be made in any size and add wonderful dimension to layouts and cards.

Thanks for asking me to contribute!

Shelby

Sketch Challenge From Karan

Karan, our design team coordinator, has posted this sketch challenge on our forum. You can find it under Design Team Challenges.

I have recently become addicted to sketches. I use them for layouts and cards. They are a great starting point for me.

This challenge is purely for fun. If you haven't tried a sketch before, now is the time. When you are done, upload your creations to the forum. If you need help with that, simply email us an image and we will upload it for you.

This is a great opportunity for you to get familiar with our forum. We have a great challenge coming up....starting June 4th. If you haven't registered on the forum yet, now is the time. In order to participate in our summer challenge, you need to have a minimum of 10 posts on our forum. If you need help with this, please contact us and we would be happy to guide you along.

Go ahead.....take the challenge. Joanne and I are!

We hope everyone had a great weekend. The extra day off was great for Joanne and I. We were able to catch up on some stuff around the house and spend some extra time with our families.

It is a short week, but it will be packed with lots of new things! We will be launching 4 new workshops, revealing a special summer scrapbook activity on our forum and also a new Kit of the Week.

Every little boy I know goes through the phase of loving tractors, dump trucks, excavators and garbage trucks. This layout is perfect for preserving those memories. This layout was created using products from Karen Foster, including themed papers and stickers.

We obviously don't own one of these 'mighty machines' but somehow I have quite a collection of photos to choose from. Hopefully you have the same. Be sure to pop by and pick up you kit, or call or email to reserve.

New My Minds Eye

My Minds Eye has done it again. This is going to be one of the hottest collections of the summer. It is called Breaking Free and each collection comes with 2 double-sided pattern papers and all sorts of matching embellishments.

These images are just a few images from the 20 collections that are available. Be sure to check this out!

Dew Drops

These new LARGE CLEAR DEW DROPS are great for accenting cards, scrapbook pages and other paper art! They are a cinch to glue on. Each package contains about 30 dew drops that are approx. 1/2" in diameter.

Tiny Dew Drops from Robin’s Nest. These lovely little drops look like glassy water drops of color. Adding this 3 dimensional bling to any project, is sure to make it standout and shine!


Here is a sample of how you can mix Dew Drops with other embellishments to make a real impact on your page.

Imaginisce Stamps

The new Teacher's Pet and Wild Things Snag 'Ems stamps by Imaginisce have arrived. These clear acrylic stamps are super fast and super cute. They are 2x2 and only $1.50 each! You better 'snag 'em' before they are gone.

These are irresistible!

Prima Bling Now In Stock!

Prima Crystals and Pearls are one of the most popular products in our store. We just received a shipment and we are all stocked up. Here are a few images for you to view. They are available in several colours.

Here is a sample of Karan's work. She is a big fan of the Prima products.

Friendzy Friday with Laura

Playing with Chipboard

Chipboard comes in so many shapes and sizes, as well as colours. But sometimes it's fun to play with it just a little bit more! Here are a few techniques you can use to tweak the chipboard piece you add to your next layout.

1. Crackle paint it - Using Tim Holtz's Distress Crackle Paint. On this piece I used a couple of thick coats of crackle paint and tied a little tool to it, as I thought it went well with my tool and builder themed page.

2. Wrap it - wrapping fibres around your chipboard piece can help create a specific theme. I used this black fuzzy fibre on a Halloween layout, Glue Dots work great to hold the fibres in place..

3. Paper covered - adhere patterned paper or cardstock to your chipboard accent with a liquid style adhesive (such as Tombo's Multi Liquid Glue). Allow the glue to dry, then to achieve nice clean lines lightly sand the edges. You can then ink the edges to add more visual depth, if you choose. This helps coordinate your chipboard to your specific layout colours.


4. Stamp it - random stamp single or multiple images onto your chipboard piece for a custom look.
5. Ink - ink only the edges of the chipboard accent to create a look that is simple and effective.


6. Paint and more - paint your chipboard piece with a paint such as, Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber, allow to dry and further embellish it with Stickles and Alphabet stickers, to create a title or focal point.


7. Emboss it - simply turn your chipboard accent upside down and press it into your Versamark Ink Pad, then flip it back over and sprinkle it with embossing powder (Gelatins make yummy smelling embossing powders) and heat set it.

8. Glitz it up - cover your piece in liquid style adhesive, then sprinkle with glitter (such as Pixie Stix) and allow to dry completely. To keep the glitter contained to your chipboard piece and off the rest of your layout, cover the entire piece with Glossy Accents and allow that to dry.

9. Mist it - This is probably the easiest way to alter chipboard. Mists come in lots of different colours. All you do is spray the chipboard and voila! The more you spray, the deeper the colour. This technique is very effective and super easy to do!

Doodlebug, Basic Grey and Maya Road

We have been busy unpacking and getting more new products out into the store. Here are some of the new arrivals:

Cute totes from Doodlebug!

Lots and lots of chipboard from Maya Road! This stuff is great with the mists from Maya Road and Tattered Angels.

Along with the new paper lines from Basic Grey, we also received the new bling, bling rubons and mini stamps. These are getting alot of attention and are going fast. Be sure to come in and check them out!

Lime Rickey and Wisteria have arrived!

Both of these lines have arrived and are on the shelves and ready to go. Here are images of Lime Rickey for your viewing pleasure.......

These are the clear stamps....very yummy!



Buttons and brads.....you can never have enough of them.

Another fabulous card kit......makes 8 cards with envelopes.

Chipboard letters and shapes.

12 x 12 sheet of element stickers.

And of course.....all the amazing papers!

Although we have ordered extra for our store, we are sure that both of these lines will disappear quickly. Be sure to come in and check things out.

TSF May Product Challenge

During National Scrapbook Week we ran a number of challenges on our forum, and one of the most popular was Karan's product challenge. Everyone had so much fun with it, we thought we would run another one.

Here is how it works! Karan has put together a kit with product from our store. It sells for only $3.99 plus tax. You must create your layout/project using the product from this kit. You are welcome to add anything you like from your own stash, but you must use all the items included in the package (even if it is only a small piece of each item).

You will have until May 31st at midnight to submit your layout in person, or upload it to our gallery. A winner will be selected by our design team.

As a winner, you will receive our next product challenge kit FREE, as well as a $10 gift certificate to our store. This is the perfect opportunity for you to get involved, get pages done for your album, win FREE stuff, and have a lot of fun doing it.

Project kits are available at the store while quantities last.

Hello friends! We hope you had a great Mother's Day. It was a little chilly outside, but the sun did come out late in the day.

This weeks kit is perfect for those sunny days at the park! There is room for lots of photos and it is embellished with cute die-cuts from the Hello Kitty cartridge for the Cricut. We have prepared for the demand, but these are guaranteed to go fast. Be sure to pick up yours before they are gone. Don't forget you can email and reserve one too. Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the moms out there.......Happy Mother's Day from everyone at Two Scrapbook Friends.

We hope you have a wonderful day doing whatever it is you do!

Remember to take photos.

Friendzy Friday with Patti!

Sorry ladies! I was so absorbed in our Make 'n Take, I forgot to post our Friendzy Friday. Patti did a great tutorial on one of the Fiskars border punches. We just replenished our stock and it is available in the store.

Take it away Patti.......

If you are anything like me you love your Fiskars border punches and will use them every opportunity you get. For this tutorial I am using the Ribbon Border Punch.

When I was creating my last layout an idea hit me. Why don’t I try to use some of my ribbon stash too? So, I decided to grab my Fiskars, “Leave it to Weaver Border Punch” to achieve a simple but effective look

A piece of paper, fiskars punch and ribbon(s) of your choice

Punch holes across the paper in any direction you wish,
Remember there are NO rules!

Thread the ribbon through the holes – skip holes for an even
different effect. Use two ribbons, colours for a ‘braid’ look

Last but not least, use up some stash items, let your imagination
run wild and have fun.

Lots of Happy Moms!

Yesterday was make 'n take day at our store......and wow, was it busy. We had lots of happy moms visiting us to make our flower pot project for themselves and for gifts for their moms. We also had lots of little people making flowers for their moms too.

It was a great opportunity to take some time out of your busy schedules and come in and create something beautiful. It was wonderful to see!

My favourite story of the day was from a lady that had come to the plaza to get her hair cut. She saw a woman leaving our store with her finished project and had to come in and see what was going on. She had never scrapbooked before, but just loved the idea. She sat down and did the make 'n take, but she couldn't give it to her mom because she lives out west. She decided that she was going to give it to a random stanger as an act of kindness. What a great idea.

Everyone who came to do the make 'n take was able to! We were so happy that we didn't run out. A big thank you to Lori, who helped us do more cutting part way through the day.....you were are big help!

We do have a handful of kits left. If anyone is interested in purchasing them, please contact the store. They are only $6.

Make 'n Take Day is Today!

Visit us today from 11am-4pm and again from 7pm-9pm for our Flower Pot Make it & Take it project. The cost is only $6 and it would make a great gift for Mother's Day (this Sunday).

Yesterday was my day off and I had seen a card that I wanted to try to make. I wanted it to match the flower pot.

The base of the card is a flower pot and the insert goes in the top of the pot, allowing only the flowers to show once it is assembled. Although this is not part of the make 'n take, I thought I would share.

I made a few extra cards so I thought we would give one away. Anyone who comes in to do the make 'n take will be entered into a draw to win one of these handmade flower pot cards.

By the way, I went out shopping for more materials yesterday. There is no possible way we are going to run out. We should have plenty of supplies so everyone can enjoy this cute project.

See you at the store!

Update on Products

Our store is finally back in order and the shelves are packed with lots of new products and also re-stocked with lots of items that had sold out. Here is an update on our products......



We R Memory Keepers has amazing albums and we can barely keep up with the demand. We are still waiting for our shipment of the 3-ring style to arrive, but we did receive a large shipment of the post bound style. This album comes in 15 different colours and we have them all! Page refills for the post bound and the 3-ring are back in stock as well.

At ScrapFest, our make 'n take table was very busy and many friends were able to use the ink blending tool for the first time. We sold out at the show, but we are now re-stocked. Be sure to come in and check this out. We will be using it for our Make it & Take it project this Friday.

One of the newest cartridges for the Cricut has arrived at our store. Life is a Beach is an amazing cartridge that includes a font, as well as all sorts of images and titles for your tropical/summer pages and projects.

Each letter expands and gives you all sorts of options using the feature keys on the keyboard.

Here is a sneak peek of the back of the box.....but remember that is only a small sample of what this cartridge can do.

The very popular Fiskars swivel blade and craft knife are also back in stock. These are 'must have' tools for any scrapbooker.

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists have hit the shelves at our store. Karan has been using them on layouts and have our customers in a frenzy! There are many uses for this product and we promise to have some classes and demos in the near future! One of the easiest things to do is to instantly change the colour of chipboard with a simple spray. Once you try this product you will be hooked.




Basic Grey's Lime Rickey and Wisteria lines have also arrived along with their new bling, stamps rubons and card kits. They have not been unpacked yet, but we hope to have them available on Friday!

Be sure to pay us a visit and see all the new products plus the inspiration around the store.

May Calendar Page!

Here is our May calendar page! It is on the shelves and ready to go. The die-cut word is also available, so don't forget to ask for yours.

If you haven't started your calendar yet, now is the time. We have all of the months back in stock.

Make It & Take It Update!

We have been receiving alot of phone calls regarding our Flower Pot Make 'n Take this coming Friday.

We are thrilled that our friends like our project and we want to make sure that we give you every opportunity to join in the fun.

We have secured more materials and we have also opened up another time slot to accommodate everyone.

The make 'n take will run this Friday from 11am-4pm and again Friday evening from 7pm-9pm. We can accommodate 4 people at a time during the daytime slot and 2-3 people at a time for the evening session (due to the sold out pizza crop).

Our goal is to share this project with as many of our friends as we can. The make 'n take will run as long as we have materials. We hope you can join us.

NSW Forum Challenge Winners

We want to send out a big congratulations to our National Scrapbook Week Forum Challenge winners. Our Design Team, along with the Two Scrapbook Friends, posted challenges on our Forum each day during the week leading up to National Scrapbook Day. We actually had four amazing women that completed all 36 challenges - Sharlene, Laureen, Shelby and Sharon! Wow!!! Sharlene won the random draw in the category for most challenges completed, but we are also giving a prize to Laureen, Shelby and Sharon. Anyone who is that energetic deserves to win something!


The winner for completing one challenge from each Design Team member and the Two Scrapbook Friends is Shanah and the random draw for anyone who participated is Lynne! Congratulations friends! You may pick up your prize from our store at your earliest convenience.

We hope everyone had a good time participating in our challenges and we look forward to more fun on our Forum in the near future!

Make It & Take It At Two Scrapbook Friends!

Join us to make one of these amazing little flower pots for only $6.

We are running another make it & take it project this Friday, May 8th from 11am - 4pm. It is a drop in format and we will be able to accommodate 4 people at a time.

You don't need to bring anything with you, we will provide everything you need.

This will a perfect decoration for your scrapbook room or maybe you have a special mom you would like to give it too.

We hope to see you on Friday for this amazing project.

Beginner Workshop

Are you new to scrapbooking? Do you want to get started, and don't know where to begin? We have just the workshop for you.

Join us on Thursday, May 14th at 6:30pm for our Beginner Workshop. This is a one night course that will give you the confidence to make pages on your own. You will receive basic instruction on how to use the 'tools of the trade', learn the 'lingo' and also complete your first double page layout. All you need to bring with you is 6-8 photos.

If you know someone who is wanting to get started in this great hobby, pass this information on to them. Registration is required. Contact the store at (519)746-6672 for more information.

NSD Draw Winner!

Congratulations to Carolyn Puscan! She is the winner of our National Scrapbook Day draw!

She is going to have lots of fun creating pages and products with the new Zinnia line from My Little Yellow Bicycle.

She has won the complete collection including tons of embellishments, stamps and all the papers.

Happy Scrapbooking Carolyn.

Kit of the Week!

This coming weekend is all about MOM! Karan has created this beautiful kit using scalloped journal paper, a bingo card, flourishes, flowers, buttons and more.

Be sure to make room in your child's album for a page just about you or dedicate a page in your album for your mom. If you really don't want it to be a mom page, you can eliminate the mom title and make it your own. That is the beauty of our kits, they are very flexible. Whatever you decide, be sure to reserve a copy before they are gone.