Let’s share the love

This week’s link lovin’ will focus on the top 5 scrapbook-related blogs that I visit on a REGULAR basis:

1. Ali Edwards – I think no one will be surprised why Ali is on my top 5 reads. I’ve been following Ali’s journey for the last 3-4 years and her sharings not only about her passion, scrapbooking but about her family life never fails to touch my heart. She truly is an amazing person. I love how she seems so approachable and down-to-earth despite her successes in the scrapbooking world. Ali was one of the first scrapbook divas I interviewed and featured here on Mad Cropper and for that, I will always be grateful Congratulations on the new addition to your family, Ali. All the best!

2. Iris Babao-Uy — I’ve also interviewed Iris for the Mad Cropper and also featured some of her works to inspire other mad croppers out there. Iris’s style is an inspiration to me. She might inspire me enough to become more active on my craft and actually, create and produce more scrapbook layouts this year! She’s a Scrapbook Diva to watch out for. In my eyes, you’re already a diva, Iris but Internet, brace yourselves as Iris is one artist to reckon with!

3. Jessica Sprague – I love journalling. Out of all the elements of a scrapbook layout, journalling is a favourite of mine. Writing is something I enjoy doing and a skill I strive to improve on. Jessica’s inspiring classes and words of wisdom inspire me to take my writing craft to the next level. I’m so happy I found her! : -)

4. Paper Wishes by Sara — I’ve only recently discovered Sara but I immediately took a liking to what she blogs. There’s a lot of things that I learn from following her tutorials. Great writing and lots of tips and ideas too

5. Becky Higgins — last but not least is Becky Higgins. Becky is my original scrapbook hero. I love, love her. Bless this woman. She was one of the first scrapbooking divas who inspired me on scrapbooking. She was invited by a local scrapbook store in New Zealand to visit the country and I didn’t hesitate to attend her workshop. It was worth the wait..and the expense! I’m so glad Becky now blogs!

Now, this is only my top 5 but it doesn’t mean that I don’t follow other scrapbook blogs and stores. I do. I must have about 40 in my scrapbook RSS feed that I routinely visit and see what’s up.

If there’s any other blog whom you think is worth featuring here or a budding scrapbook diva that is worth interviewing, do drop me a line on christine(at)b5media(dot)com or leave a comment here

And before I go, I want to know….which scrapbook blogs do you follow…apart from Mad Cropper of course

Post from: Blisstree

Web Wednesday: Linkies!

Here are 10 of the most popular posts of 2008 as measured by the rating and entries made by our readers. Click on the links and find out why they are the most popular entries for 2008:

1. Scrapbooking can be disheartening too.

2. Mad Cropper has been tagged!

3. Learn to Dance DVD – Bloggy Giveaway

4. Journalling Idea: In the Good Old Summertime

5. Mad Cropper Contest: Random Act of Kindness Contest

6. Fireworks Layout Challenge

7. What Kind of Scrapbooker are you?

8. Mad Cropper Contest: Win $300 worth of Wasau Paper® Creative Collection Products

9. Free Download: Digital Scrapbook Halloween Kit

10.  Using Stickles on your Scrapbook Layouts

Post from: Blisstree

Mad Cropper’s Most Popular Posts for 2008

This post is dedicated to my top 10 favourite entries for the year 2008.

They are, in no particular order:

1. My entries on the Scrapbook DT calls here on Mad Cropper. I’ve received so much feedback on it from you guys that I’ll be promoting more DT calls as I receive them

2. My interview with the Scrapbook Diva, Iris Babao-Uy. She’s so talented. I enjoyed viewing her layouts. Such an amazing person! Love you, Iris!

3. Tips for the Busy Scrapper: Mini Books. I love mini-books because I am a busy person. I wear so many hats in my life that it is quite difficult to juggle them with scrapbooking. Mini-books is a good compromise and I can’t wait to start on my scrapbook projects for next year!

4. Jessica Sprague Challenge: Scrapbook your home, city or neighbourhood. I love this entry because this is a good idea to post where you’ve lived in certain points of my life. So far, since arriving in New Zealand in January 2002, I have moved houses twice not counting the first house I shared with the Husband.

5. An Awe-Inspiring Scrapbook Room. Gotta love Maisonpaige’s scrapbook room. I’d love to have a craft studio like hers!

6. Turning Your Scrapbook Layouts into Invitations and Announcements. I like to be able to do something useful with my scrapbook layouts and this is one idea I’d try one of these days!

7. The contests and giveaways I featured and/or run on Mad Cropper. How could they not be my favourite posts?

8. How to get published in a scrapbook publication. Very helpful from Scrapscene.

9. The freebies that I have featured here on Mad Cropper for the year of 2008.

10. Scrapbook It – 2009 Wall calendar. Hmm, will I have the time to do this scrapbook project?

What about you? What are your favourite Mad Cropper entries for 2008?

Post from: Blisstree

Mad Cropper’s Favourite Posts for 2008

I am pleased to announce the return of our featured scrapbookers! I know it’s been a while but I am hoping I could make this a regular feature of Mad Cropper

Our scrapbooker on the spotlight is none other than Iris Babao-Uy. C’mon, mad croppers….giver her a warm welcome to our home

She is such a gorgeous gal (inside and out!). I first discovered Iris through the scrapbook egroup that we both are members of. I’ve seen her layouts get better and better. Just be seeing what she’s created, I knew Iris was one talented lady so I’m not surprised that Iris’s work has been published in major scrapbook magazines and online sites and that she is now a designer for 5 well-known Scrapbook Stores.

You’ll drool over Iris’s accomplishments in her chosen craft. Check out Iris’s scrapbook resume! I’ve also featured Iris’s work at the Mad Cropper in the past.

Iris is also part of the much coveted Memory Makers Masters 2008. Her layout below made the cover in the January 2008 issue of Memory Makers Magazine.

Iris designs for the following: Prima Marketing, Webster’s Pages , October Afternoon , Bad Girls Kits and Scrap-n-Crop

Isn’t Iris amazing? Below is the transcript of the interview that Iris kindly granted.

1. How and when did you discover scrapbooking? Who/What encouraged you?

I started scrapbooking when my daughter was about three months old. Being a first time mom, I had tons of pictures of her and I wanted to record every little detail of her growth. Photo albums was not the solution because it only held pictures and no journaling. So I had a separate journal for my notes. That was when I discovered scrapbooking. I could combine both the pictures and the journaling in one album.

2. What are your top 5 favourite scrapbook materials and tools? Things you cannot live without?
Patterned paper, scissors, lace, pen for journaling, metal embellishment.

3. What is your favourite scrapbook/layout technique and why?
That would be layering and cutting of patterns from paper. I love the look of a layered design.

4. How do you do your layouts? Do you do them chronologically, by events or special occasions or what you feel like doing at the time?
I don’t do pages in chronological order. I am most inspired by pictures and memories so I go with that.

5. How do you start a layout? How long does it take you to finish one?
I start by editing a photo and looking for materials that go with the photo. The creative process starts as soon as I cut the first pattern from a paper. I normally scrap at night when my daughter is asleep. It takes me anywhere from two to four hours to finish a page. I never sleep without finishing a page though. I just have to finish it before I turn in for the night.

6. Where do you get your ideas and inspiration for your layouts?
I get inspiration from the pictures I take and the memories that go along with it. Visually, I like to look at patterns and colors in clothing boutiques such as their printed shirts, wall decors and painting for inspiration. My favorite here in Manila is “Ginger Snaps”. Their patterns color combinations are so pretty.

7. What is your favourite scrapbook album/layout and why?
My favorite layout is usually among my latest creations. I love it when a mistake forces me to turn it into something that will make the layout work even better for me.

About Iris

I am a scrapper from The Philippines, a wife to a wonderful and supportive husband named Bryan, and a mother to a beautiful and sweet little girl named Nicole Breanna. I started scrapbooking in 2005 after trying to organize my baby’s photos but have been left unsatisfied with ordinary photo albums. I like to give my pages dimension with lots of detail. I rarely plan my pages – I let a photo or a patterned paper inspire me and I take it from there.
Aside from being an avid scrapbooker who dreams and obsesses about patterned papers and page ideas all day, I am also a pianist and a partner in an events management company. I’m also a very active person who frequents the gym, and joins 10k marathon runs whenever I can.
I am fortunate to be currently designing for Prima Marketing, Webster’s Pages, October Afternoon, Badgirlskits, and Scrap-n-Crop. I have also been named as one of the 2008 Memory Makers Magazine Masters. I am fortunate to have some of my layouts published in Memory Makers Magazine, Scrapbook Trends Magazine, Sommerset Memories, Scrapbook and Cards, Scrapbook Dimensions, and Scrapbook Memories. I am thankful for the blessings which have come my way as an artist and will continue to be thankful for the happiness and fulfillment that I get from this craft.

Click HERE to view Iris’s layouts.

******

I’d like to thank Iris again for granting this interview. You are such an inspiration to all the Scrappers out there!

Post from: Blisstree

Scrapbooker on the Spotlight: Iris Babao-Uy

What about you? Who inspires you on your scrapbook passion? Who would you like to know more?

I am calling for suggestions on scrapbook artists I can interview and feature here at the Mad Cropper to let you glimpse on their scrapbooking world.

Hope to hear from you soon!

you know you want to….(where’s that from? Gossip Girl!)

xoxo

Person Cathy Zielski

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Post from: Blisstree

Interviewing Scrapbookers for Inspiration

Scraps of Mind is looking for you then! Get a chance to create a scrapbook layout of your favourite sweets recipe and contribute to the project.

How about making a Scraps of Mind Yummy Treats Recipe Book?

So here’s how it works:

This is open to all Scraps of Mind readers.

You create a scrapbook layout of your favourite yummy treat recipes – we’ll focus on sweet things for this project.

We will all need to scrapbook in the same format so that the overall book will look good and be consistent. So please make your scrapbook layouts in either A$ or 10 inches x 8.5 inches and in a Landscape orientation.

And Paper Scrapbookers, you’re not excluded from this. Make your paper scrapbook layout and scan it into your computer. The size should fit easily onto everybody’s scanner bed.

It would be good if you could include a photo of the finished dish in your Scrapbook layout. And make sure that you find a place on your layout to let people know who you are, either your first name or your nickname, and your blog if you have one.

Then you save as a JPG file (do not save for the web because that won’t be the best quality print out).

You can email the file to me at recipescrap(at)gmail(dot)com. Or if it’s a bit too large for your email system you can open a free account at www.yousendit.com which will allow you to upload your file to their site and nominate which email address you want to send it to. In your email make sure you give credits to the Scrapbook Designers for the products you used and I’ll include an Appendix at the back of the book.

I will then compile all your layouts into a downloadable eBook. I’ll post the link to the Recipe Book on Scraps of Mind and you and your friends can all download it and print it out.

I thought this would be a great keepsake for Scraps of Mind readers as well as being a great kitchen resource.

Now I have avoided cooking wherever possible for many years. But I still plan to have a contribution in this book. My sister-in-law and niece are living with me at the moment and both of them are divas in the art of cooking yummy treats.

So what do you think?
Would you like to be a part of this project?

Post from: Blisstree

Contribute to Scraps of Mind’s Yummy Treats Recipe Book

I was trolling through my favourite scrap sites and discovered this over at Jessica Sprague’s site. She did this during her 30-minute challenge in one of her classes last week. Isn’t that amazing? A gorgeous layout in half an hour!

Why don’t you do that to? Pick up a photo or two and create a layout with no ’special occasion’ in mind and let me know how you get on!

Supplies that Jessica used after the jump

Click for Larger Supplies:

• Striped paper: from Peachy Keen kit by Rhonna Farrer (2Peas)
• Blue paper: from Enlighten Paper Add-on by Jen Wilson (JWD)
• Scalloped paper mask: from Border Templates set by Katie Pertiet (DD)
• Scalloped border: from Festival Kit by Shabby Princess (SP)
• Grungy frame: from Split Pea kit by Rhonna Farrer (2peas)
• Negatives frame: from Storyboard Negatives set by Katie Pertiet (DD)
• Aged alpha: from Botanist Notebook vol 1 kit by Katie Pertiet (DD)
• Circle Date brush set: Digital Dates Vol. 4 set by Katie Pertiet (DD)
• Fonts: Ma Sexy (dafont.com), Palatino Linotype (Microsoft)
• Arrow: Old freebie from DesignerDigitals

Post from: Blisstree

Scrapbook Layout: This Makes Me Happy

I love, love Becky Higgins! Have I told you I love her? ScrapInStyle was fortunate enough to interview the scrapbook diva! View the interview HERE.

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ScrapInStyle interviews Becky Higgins!

Working from down under, New Zealand! I say yeah, bring on the sun! We’re approaching summer and what better way to celebrate it but with a ’summery’ layout from The Dutch Scrapper!

Born and bred in the tropics, I never thought I’d long for the sun but I do after living here in New Zealand for almost 6 years now..every ray of sunshine you get, you take advantage of it because you never know when it’s going to come out again!

Post from: Blisstree

Mad Cropper Layout of the Week: Bring On The Sun

This is a layout I found at The Look blog’s Challenge to use brads. What attracted me to it? The simplicity of the page, the tidiness of the whole thing. Not a lot of artsy-fancy embellishments, just good ol’ brads, patterned paper, journalling and of course, the photo.

Post from: Blisstree

Mad Cropper Layout of the Week: Dee