Congratulations to Danielle, the winner of the Curiouser and Curiouser 2014 Contest held on the Scrapbook Wonderland Facebook page!

You can get more details HERE.

Here’s a quick photo of the GRANDE PRIZE (worth over $200CAD).

Curiouser and Curiouser 2014 contest prize worth over $200.

Every day the contest was running an item was added to the prize box.

Watch for the Curiouser and Curiouser 2015 contest next August!

Keep up with Scrapbook Wonderland on Facebook HERE.

Let your creativity shine!

Alice.

Bigger and better! Curiouser and Curiouser, the question and answer game is even better this year! NOW there’s PRIZES!!

Here’s how it works.

I asked a question every day in August.

These are just 3 of the 31 questions asked in August.

CONTEST! If you’ve answered EVERY question before 9 pm MDT September 2, 2014 you will be entered to win the grande prize!

Go to the Scrapbook Wonderland Facebook page, be sure to ‘Like’ the page.

Here’s a direct link to the Curiouser and Curiouser 2014 photo album. CLICK HERE.

Hurry and don’t miss out! Good luck!

Alice.

Ah-maze-ing!

I recently went to Phoenix, Arizona to participate in a scrapbook gathering with about 25 ScrapHappy members. We took a class with Stephanie Ackerman from Stephanie Ackerman Designs. This engaging woman with a unique sense of fashion and bright sparkly eyes captured my attention quickly.

I think I was hiding under a rock, because I wasn’t very familiar with Stephanie’s artistic endeavours. I had definitely heard of her, but boy was I in for an exciting surprise! Class started with a palette of paint in front of us, along with a jar of mixed media medium and a deck of 52 playing cards.

“Ooh! This looks interesting!” I thought.

Stephanie gave everyone a hand-decorated envelope of supplies.

These playing cards became the base of the heart cards we created.

Then she did the unthinkable. She pulled out old books and started ripping out pages! For real!

Rip! Stephanie tore the pages out of old, unloved books and passed them out.

Soon Stephanie had us covering the cards with book paper, playing with gesso, paint, multi-medium and then she won over any last hold-out corners of my heart… she pulled out… WASHI TAPE!

Have I confessed my love washi? Yes, I LOVE this stuff. But I’m getting distracted…

After adding washi tape to our already fun project I was totally into this. Then  Stephanie taught me a bold application method, using my fingers.

She said, “SWIPE that gesso on, don’t dab it!”

She had me attacking my project with (nearly) reckless abandon.

I was painting with baby wipes.

It seemed the crazier I went with the paints and goops the better the project looked. Awesome!

The next step involved adding words from old book pages. She recommended a large print book, because the words would be a better size to work with. She explained that we were going to read for words and phrases that inspired us, not for the story.

Then we cut them out and pasted them on another old piece of book paper so we wouldn’t lose the little bits. Later, when we chose the words we wanted to use we had a sheet that contained tons of great choices. (She’s so smart!)

Soon we had added hearts, more layers of paint… the secret is all in the layers, and ink for shadowing. The results were gorgeous!

Another  thing I loved about the class was what Stephanie called, “Open House”. We would all straighten out the cards we’ve been working on and we’d get up and walk around to admire everyone else’s projects. It was so cool to see the variations and uniqueness of each project, even though we were all taking the same class!

Confession: I think I really loved it because I’m a bit snoopy and I want to see what everyone else is doing… kind of like peeking around at an open house! 😉

The cards I created in Stephanie’s class.

I am in love with these cards!

I am in love with these techniques!

I am in awe of the genius of Stephanie Ackerman!

Here’s an individual photo of each card so you can see how the layers and details make the cards so enchanting.

If you’d like to try these techniques, and learn how to do this from the pro, Stephanie has an class! It’s called 52 Pick {Me} Up. Click HERE for details.

If you’d like to experience a smaller class with Stephanie there is a great one in the Layout A Day store called ‘A Few of My Favorite Things’. Sign up for immediate access to this class! *affiliate link

I can’t wait to use these techniques in my art journal!

Let your creativity shine!

Alice.

I have a confession. I am a selfie-girl! I’ve been taking photos of myself for years, long before this became a craze, and well before the name ‘selfie’ came along.

If you are not sure what a selfie is… where have you been hiding? LOL! A selfie is simply a photo you take of yourself, usually at arm’s length.

I was thrilled when my friend Claire Cummings shared her selfie scrapbook page on Facebook the other day. Immediately I asked her if I could share it here.

But Wait, Lemme Take a Selfie scrapbook layout by Claire Cummings

Storytelling Tip:

Use pop culture, like Claire did by using selfies and the chorus from the song #Selfie by the Chainsmokers, to capture a moment in your life, or the life of your kids. These pop culture of today will make this moment in time memorable, so make sure you use it in your scrapbooks!

Design Tip:

By splitting this page into sections Claire was able to add interesting pattern and keep a large area available for a title with impact. A simple colour scheme makes this page eye catching and will save time when you are embellishing.

A Sneak Peak at My Next Project!

I’ve been planning on creating an “Alice’s Greatest Selfie’s” scrapbook for a while. After years of taking photos of myself I thought it would be fun to gather them all up in one scrapbook. I’ve put off starting this project because I just haven’t seen a book that made me think, “This is it!”

Close to My Heart is releasing a new My Crush book called In the Pink Book. When I saw it I knew it would be perfect for my selfie collection!

Close to My Heart My Crush: In the Pink Book to order in Canada visit alice.ctmh.com

Isn’t it pretty? I love how gorgeous the pages and embellishments are for this adorable book! I’ve ordered it and I’m gathering up some of my selfies so I can get started on this project. Here’s a sneak peek of some of the photos I’ll be using.

Selfie at the Taj Mahal in India

Selfie with my boys back when they were little!

Midair selfie while flying with my husband in his plane.

Selfie time at the Colosseum in Rome.

Bonus points to me for my multi- selfie!

I can’t wait until I can share this project with you, so cross your fingers that my order arrives quickly! I’d love to see your selfies too, post one, or more on the Scrapbook Wonderland Facebook page! HERE  Please leave a note to let Claire know if you love her page too!

Let your creativity shine!

Alice.