Thanks to everyone who entered our February Maya Road Chipboard Contest! We had some great entries!!The winners of the Maya Road Chipboard Contest are:Yazziegirl (Kerry) for All things grow with love:

And third place goes to eyesforscrappin for Precious gift:

Congratulations, everyone, on a job well done!!

In this video, I will show you some techniques for making your own backgrounds. Please watch it and come back to the forum to ask me any questions you have.

I cannot get enough of the houndstooth print in this kit!! I love it so much - it’s perfect for funky little accents! TFL!

As you know I’m a technique geek - only regarding scrapbooking of course Every time I get my Designteam kit I think about something as a technique I can use with the layout to show you.

Here is my layout *Newly Wed*

So, where is the technique you might ask - it is here:

See the crackled look on the Cherry Arte Paper? I cut a piece of this paper and on the darker swirly surface of the paper I added Ranger’s Crackle Accents. It is a 3-dimensional gloss medium which crackles once it is dried. You can use it on paper, stickers -almost on everything. It took about an nour to dry. The paper crimped a bit but after I glued the paper down to two pieces of square chipboard it flattened out.

I like the look of this- it makes it look like an vintage wallpaper. If you use this technique don’t forget to link your layout here! Wishing you all a great monday!

Nat Kalbach

Since apparently Easter baskets are not a common occurrence over here in France, we made our own this year. I found a pattern for making paper easter baskets, and it was really simple to make! Here’s my basket using the March Muse.

I found the pattern HERE . It’s perfect for using with a 12×12 piece of cardstock, since the pattern calls for a square piece of paper. And all that holds it togehter is a brad on each side of the basket - so easy!! For my handle, I cut two strips of cardstock, taped them together (since a single 12″ strip seemed a little too short), glued the ribbon to the top, and then attached them to the brads on each side.

It was a fun craft for the kiddos too - here are their easter baskets (they used a 12″ strip of cardstock on theirs, but I preferred mine to be a little longer):

Don’t just see the world in black and white!  Scrapmuse is featuring Cherry Arte’s His and Hers line of patterned paper in our March kit, and we are looking for layouts and altered projects featuring black and white plus an accent color. 

Contest dates:  now until April 20, 2008

Requirements:   A theme of black and white with another accent color must be a prominent part of the design.  Using kit items are not required, and you may use any combination of cardstock, papers, paints or whatever catches your fancy!  Layouts (8 x 8 or larger) and altered items will be accepted.   Any theme is welcome so be creative! 

Maximum 3 entries per person, please. Items must be loaded into the Scrapmuse March Contest Gallery by midnight (MST) on April 20^th, 2008.  

Winners will be announced no later than April  25^th, 2008 in our forum.  Designs will be judged by our current design team. Contest is open to US, Canadian and International Scrappers.   

The goodies: First prize: $25 gift certificate from Scrapmuse storefront.  Second and third prize: $15 and $10 prize packs from Scrapmuse’s storefront  (International winners may have a gift certificate substituted for the prize pack, depending on location and shipping costs). 

We can’t wait to see your creations in the gallery!!! 

When I saw the first pictures of the March kit I instantly thought that those papers are perfect for romantic layouts. The black and white papers with some splashes of red are wonderful compliments to tell your Lovestories. You can not only use them for wedding layouts but also for layouts that are showing you and your spouse back then and now.

Here is the gorgeous layout from Cat - the butterflies and stitching resembling the butterflies she still has in her stomach according her gorgoeus husband and the connection they both share. I love how she attached the swirl rub on to the cut out butterfly.

I used the red and white polka dot paper for the background and a photo of my husband and me in Yosemite to reflect the happy feelings I have thinking of all those journeys we did together.

In this layout I used the paper with a photo that reflects a tradition my husband and I build up. As my husband is American and we can’t always spent Christmas with our families we invented the tradition to go to an Indian Restaurant on Christmas Eve.

The wordings on the Cherry Arte paper  can be used for a lot of layouts that reflect your relationship. See how I incoporated them on my layout here. The Hambly Brick Overlay actually inspired me to this layout.

Val used a wedding picture and actually scrapbooked her wedding for the very first time- and boy did she do a wonderful job! The paper is so timeless that it can be used with wedding pictures from different years. I love how Val used the gorgeous 7 Gypsies Metal Border along with the ribbon.

Also Donna used the papers adding red for a wedding layout. I love how the red is repeated in the ribbon of her wonderful wedding bouquet.

The wedding layout I created with the paper has a pretty modern yet elegant look. It shows how  versatile those papers and embellishments in the kit are.

This Kit is amzingly versatile and I can’t wait to see your romantic, lovestory telling layouts!

Have a gorgeous weekend and fun with your kit!

nat

is a man named Geoff Pratt.  Geoff is a close friend and family member who also happens to be a mixed media artist and graphic designer.  Most recently he has been working on illustrations for t-shirts, sold in stores such as Hot Topic and Spencers.  I could not WAIT to give him a kit to play with!

Without further adieu, here are his projects.  I hope you are as inspired as I am by this fresh, very funky, outside-the-industry perspective.

Bomb

[untitled]

[untitled] - details

TUPAC (this is my FAVORITE!)

Heart

In honor of spring, basketball season, and really any excuse we can come up with ;)  We are hosting an online crop on Saturday March 29.

From 10AM to 10PM EST, Saturday March 29th - right here at www.scrapmuse.com

We’ll be having special sales, prize giveaways and challenges throughout the day.  As well as a very special technique session hosted by Nathalie Kalbach.  Stay tuned for more details and a firm schedule of events!  Save the date for cropping with us!

I’d like to re-introduce, Catherine Matthews-Scanlon, as one of our Special Guest Designers. Although she stepped down from doing our Newsletter, she very graciously offered to help us out as a Guest Designer this month, and I tell you - we are so wow-ed by her artwork and projects.

Here’s a little peekie:

Look for more of her work in our newsletter!