USTREAM Today: August Layout Week!

 

 

Today is Thursday, which means we have a show! I'll be using papers from the My Mind's Eye "Cut & Paste" collection to make two 12"x12" layouts.

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon show, I'll be scrapping a trip to the theater and focusing on memorabilia. We'll find cute and creative ways to house all out extra memorabilia like tickets and playbills on the page.

 

In the evening show, we'll be scrapping pictures from a birthday without using too many themed embellishments. The bright colors in the papers will give us a bright enough background.

 

 

Here are the supplies I'll be using:

 

 

 

 

 

We have USTREAM every Thursday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time this afternoon and then again this evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.

 

See you later!

 

Kathryn :D 

Summer Reading

 

 

You know I haven't been updating my blog this summer. The question is, what have I been doing instead? I did have a wedding, and a class to plan, as well as some major cleaning in the basement.

 

I've also been doing a lot more reading lately, which is good, because I think my Kindle was getting lonely. I thought I'd post about some of what's been on and off my nightstand this summer. I used to post about what I was reading a lot more on here, so I thought I'd try to get back to that.

 

 

 

Tropic of Night

by Michael Gruber



Book one in the Jimmy Paz trilogy.

Tropic of Night is a magical realism detective novel. Set in Miami, Nigeria, Siberia and the Northeast USA, this is one convoluted murder mystery. It was really interesting, though. I loved the Miami setting and it was cool learning more about West African religion. I recommend it highly, but with the warning that it falls on the graphic side of violent and does have some truly creepy moments. Not a light read. The first book in a series, but the plot is completely wrapped up in this one book.

 

 

 

The Coroner's Lunch

by Colin Cotterill

 

Book one in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series.

 

The Coroner's Lunch also has one foot in the murder mystery genre and the other in magical realism. The setting is Laos, circa 1975, just after the communist revolution. The main character is a 72 year old coroner whose investigations into his patients' causes of death unravel vast conspiracies. It was a really interesting take on the whole "death investigator" genre, and I enjoyed learning and reading about the early days of Lao Communism. The first book in a series, but the plot is completely wrapped up in this one book.

 

 

 

Lilith's Brood

The Xenogenesis Saga

by Octavia Butler

 

This is a three-book series.

 

 

Lilith's Brood is a science fiction trilogy by Octavia Butler and set in the near future. Humanity has been stopped from complete annihilation during our final world war by a group of aliens. In this setting, Butler examines what it means to be human, as well as meditates on colonialism and race relations. Definitely a series I wanted to talk about when I was finished.

 

 

 

Sharp Objects

Dark Places

by Gillian Flynn

 

 

 

 

Two other books I polished off this summer were Sharp Objects and Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Her third book, Gone Girl, is also in my "To Read" pile. I read both Sharp Objects and Dark Places all in one night (one night each - I don't read that fast). I had to know how they ended before I could move on with my life! I didn't particularly like the main characters - I wanted them to do well, but I wanted them to do it far away from me - but the stories were masterfully woven and I didn't lose interest for one single second.

 

 

Next on my "To Read" pile is Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I've heard good things about the book over the years, and with a movie coming out I figured I'd better get on it!

 

 

What did you read this summer? Tell me what your favorite books were!

 

Kathryn :D

I've Been Shopping!

 

 

Ever since I saw the new blue Big Shot at CHA-W 2013, I have wanted it to be mine. It was such a pretty blue! Normally I don't fall for that sort of cosmetic-only change to a machine, but my Big Shot has been acting a little sketchy lately (I really put my machines through a lot of abuse, honestly. I even wore out one Big Shot Pro already. Someone should seriously consider reporting me to the Department of Die Cutting Protective Services.) so I think it's time for it to be retired (i.e. donated to someone who will be nicer to it).

 

 

So here's a picture of what the new blue Big Shot looks like:

 

 

Also, I'm not sure, but I think these people might come with it in the box. I hope not, though, or the basement is going to start getting really crowded.

 

 

 

In other shopping-related news, I have started hunting down my CHA-S 2013 purchases. It's going to take me a while to track them all down, but I'll get them all in the end!

 

We finished both versions of the "Picture This!" album last week so this week's USTREAM shows will be using Crate Paper's "The Pier" collection to make a fun summer journal. It will be a really fun book with pockets and other goodies jammed into it. Really interactive!

 

 

 

 

We have USTREAM every Thursday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time this afternoon and then again this evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.

NEW VIDEO: Collection Commotion Available Now!

 

It's finally finished!

My new self-paced online class, Collection Commotion: Theme Albums, is available now!

Look how pretty it is! I'm so happy with how this class is coming together.

You can purchase the class through my website: Collection Commotion.

I filmed a little trailer for the class with more sneak peeks of the content. You can watch it down below or over on my YouTube channel at this link: New Class.




 

Today is Thursday, so have USTREAM from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time this afternoon and then again this evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time. We'll be working on the portrait frame version of the "Picture This!" album.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.

See ya!

Kathryn :D

MPIX Review + Class Update

So, I've been a bad blogger this month. What can I say? July ate my brain! I keep waiting for things to settle down and be normal, which doesn't seem to be happening. Mostly I have no excuse.

One of the reasons I haven't been posting much (or answering emails, or sleeping, or eating, or pretty much doing anything outside my scrap room) is I've been putting all my spare time into getting the Collection Commotion: Theme Albums class finished. We're right on track and ready for its debut on Thursday, August 1, 2013!

Look, the manual even has a cover now - we're getting close, y'all!

Look how pretty it is! I'm so happy with how this class is coming together.

You can pre-order the class now: Collection Commotion.

You can see one of the class layouts on the manual cover. Here's some sneak peeks at bits and pieces of the other layouts:

Speaking of photographs, I've been researching online photo processors lately, and I have a recommendation for you: MPIX.

I did a lot of research on online photo processors, paying particular attention to what professional and very serious amateur photographers had to say about them. It seemed to me that MPIX received the most positive reviews overall (aside from services only available to professional photographers with a business license) so I ordered a bunch of 4"x6" prints from them.

The Good:

The color and detail are excellent! I am just as satisfied with these as the prints I get from my Epson R1900 with genuine Epson inks.

Photos are printed on quality paper with a luster finish, my personal favorite for the best combination of color saturation and no messy finger prints.

Prints are available in a huge variety of sizes - perfect for Instagram photos, Project Life, mini albums, home décor and other scrapbooking projects: 3.5x5, 4x4, 4x5, 4x6, 5x5, 5x7, 6x9, 8x8, 5x15, 8x10, 8.5x11, 8x12, 10x10, 9x12, 10x13, 12x12, 10x15, 5x30, 11x14, 10x20, 12x18, 12x24, 16x20, 16x24, 20x20, 20x24, 20x30, 24x36.

Fast shipping. I placed my order on Wednesday, July 24 at 1:30 PM Eastern USA time and the prints arrived on Friday, July 26. MPIX is in Kansas and I am in the Washington, DC Metro Area. That is really fast, in my opinion. Shipping was $7.95 for 306 prints.

Amazing packaging. Photos were stacked and wrapped in plastic, then covered in foam and taped to a piece of cardboard. This cardboard was then shrink wrapped so the photos would not shift or be damaged during shipping. Everything was then placed in a cardboard box for shipping. I was amazed at how carefully the prints were handled.

The Bad:

4"x6" prints cannot be ordered at the same time as odd-sized photos - you must place two separate orders: one for 4"x6" and one for anything else. You must also upload your photos twice if you want sizes other than 4"x6" - once to the 4"x6" side of the site and once to the other.

I assume this is to streamline the ordering process so it's super quick and easy to load your cart with the most popular size. Not the worst issue in the world - just something to be aware of. The most annoying part about this for me was the double uploading. That could be time consuming if you have a lot of photos to upload.

Value:

Prints are $0.19/print for 4"x6" which makes them more expensive than other online and drugstore photo processors, but I thought they were an excellent value given how much better the quality was.

I'll show you the prints side-by-side with the same prints from my Epson on Thursday during the shows. We have USTREAM every Thursday afternoon from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time and then again in the evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.I'll show I recently ordered prints from the wedding

See ya!

Kathryn :D

I'm still here!

I know, I know - I haven't posted in a while.

 

 

A bunch of stuff has happened recently, though!

 

First of all, there was Layout Week. Which on my end is like four weeks of work between getting everything scrapped, filmed, edited, posted, shipped, etc. So we finally got the last of the prizes mailed off from that and Layout Week 2013 is officially over.

 

 

Then my sister got married! And she only gave us two weeks notice! So that was a mad scramble of planning, shopping, Spanx and the like. But it was a great wedding. Here's a pic of the happy couple:

 

 

 

Of course, this means that I now have a wedding album to scrap. That gave me the idea of creating a class around my process for scrapping large theme albums like weddings and vacation albums, so I have been working on that since I got the photos. I'm hoping the class will be ready by August 1, 2013, but don't hold me to that.

 

I'm, calling it Collection Commotion: Theme Albums. It's got everything I do from organizing photos, to how I edit myself & arrange my albums. I finished the written materials, and now I need to finish the videos. There's A TON of video to edit, as this class will be packed with samples, so don't be surprised if you don't hear much from me until the class is posted.

 

Here's a little sneak peek for you:

 

 

 

Today is also Thursday, so that means we have USTREAM today and more fun with the Picture This! Camera Album.

 

Classes are this afternoon from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time and then again this evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.

 

 

 

 

So far we have had four classes on this album.

You can check them out at the following links:

Picture This, Part 1

Picture This, Part 2

Picture This, Part 3

Picture This, Part 4

See you later!

 

Kathryn :D

NEW VIDEO: Picture This Class Update!

I'm having so much fun with the "Picture This!" album series over on my USTREAM Channel! The camera looks gorgeous and the whole thing is coming together so quickly and beautifully!

For this project, I am using the Bo Bunny "Mama Razzi 2" collection.

 

 

Here's a look at the front cover:

I love how much it looks like a vintage camera! We'll be binding the album so it looks like a wrist strap.

This approx. 5"x8" chipboard + wood grain album is available in my shop now!

 

 

Click here for a more in depth discussion of the "Picture This!" album and a supply list: Picture This!

 

 

I also filmed a quick video with all the pieces of the album that have been completed so far. Check it out on YouTube here or watch below: Picture This! Album.




Classes are Thursday afternoons from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time and then again this evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.

So far we have had four classes on this album.
You can check them out at the following links:
Picture This, Part 1
Picture This, Part 2
Picture This, Part 3
Picture This, Part 4


Remember, there is no class this Thursday, July 4th, due to a holiday in the United States.

Kathryn :D

WINNER: Layout Week Challenge Five

All good things must eventually come to an end, I'm afraid.

I have the winner of the fifth sketch challenge to announce today, and then Layout Week 2013 will officially be over. I had a blast, though, and I hope you guys did, too.

 

 

Here's another look at the sketch from challenge #5:

 





This sketch is great for two 4"x6" or 5"x7" photos,
OR for one larger photo and lots of journaling (or a big title + journaling).

 

 

Here is my take on the sketch:





This style of layout is very versatile - it works great for multiple large photos, photo + lots of journaling (or a big title) + you still get to use plenty of fun patterned papers and embellishments.

Here's another peek at the prize - one of my camera albums + an EK Success Punch:



 

 

 

The winner of these great misting supplies, as chosen by Random.org, is:

EMMA

Check out her winning layout below:

I love how she layered the circles and rings on this page & this is such a sweet photo!

 

 

 

Congratulations, Emma! A big "Thank You!" to Emma and to every one who joined in the fun and shared their layouts with us this week. I had so much fun looking at all your awesome creations!

 

 

Have a great weekend, everyone, and enjoy the holiday!

 

Kathryn :D

WINNER: Layout Week Challenge Four

Layout Week 2013 may be over, but the fun continues!

I have the winner of the fourth sketch challenge to announce today.

Here's another look at the sketch from challenge #4:

This sketch is a great way to combine horizontal a vertical photos.

Here is my take on the sketch:

There are a lot of bright photos in the background paper and the photos, so I used kraft cardstock and more neutral patterns in between to create some breathing room.

Here's another peek at the prize - clay and molds from Martha Stewart Crafts:

This clay is so fun to play with, and the molds are so versatile.

The winner of these great misting supplies, as chosen by Random.org, is:

KRYSTAL

Check out her winning layout below:

I love how these bright papers and fun patterns compliment these super fun photos of a day at the amusement park!

Congratulations, Krystal! A big "Thank You!" to Krystal and to every one who joined in the fun and shared their layouts with us this week. Remember, you still have one more chances to win, so get scrapping!

Today is Thursday, so I have two live classes on my USTREAM channel. In both classes, I'll be decorating pages in the Picture This! camera album. This album is looking pretty slick already, and I am excited to keep working on it!

Classes are this afternoon from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern USA time and then again this evening from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern USA time.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.

See you there & check back here tomorrow for our last Layout Week 2013 winner!

Kathryn :D

WINNER: Layout Week Challenge Three

Layout Week 2013 may be over, but the fun continues!
I have the winner of the third sketch challenge to announce today.


Here's another look at the sketch from challenge #3:





This sketch is perfect for a layout with minimal patterned paper.

Here is my interpretation of the sketch:

I wanted this layout to have both shiny elements + food elements (because he's trying to eat those chocolate roses). I use glitter Thickers, Heidi Swapp Color Shine and Enamel Dots for shine & Lillybee "Sweet Shop" accents for the food. 

Here's a peek at the prize - it's some great misting supplies from Heidi Swapp:

That's a 12"x12" sunburst mask from Heidi Swapp, some of her mistable banners + two bottles of Color Shine!

 

 

The winner of these great misting supplies, as chosen by Random.org, is:

 

 

CANDY

 

 

Check out her winning layout below: 

This is one of my favorite color combinations for a layout: orange + blue. I love how Candy used it here!
It really captures the energy of the sporting event she is scrapping.

 

Congratulations, Candy! A big "Thank You!" to Candy and to every one who joined in the fun and shared their layouts with us this week. Remember, you still have two more chances to win, so get scrapping!

 

See you tomorrow with another winner!

 

Kathryn :D