VCMP - Cards out of scrapbooking sketches!

To join in the rest of the VCMP, click the image!

Welcome, all you card-making rebels on National Scrapbooking Day!

I'm giving you permission to go ahead and go make a scrapbook page. *sigh* But we all know that Operation Write Home is all about the CARDS! Today, you're in luck. I'm going to share a fun little thing that got me into making cards in the first place! I'm so excited!

 Last week, I had another card-making party with a group of young ladies from my home town. I love working with scouts, young men and ladies' groups - they always make the very best "Any Hero" letters and cards! I always ask if it's OK to take photos of my ladies while they are working, and I love to keep little snapshots of every party I have. I thought it would be fun to make a page for my album with a few photos from last week's event!

So first, I went in search of a nice scrapbook page layout. I use lots of sketches from Pagemaps. (They have great card sketches there too... and it's their Birthday celebration this month, so please do stop by and say hello!)

Here is my page about my girls. They made such cute hero cards and wrote such nice letters! I can't wait to get them mailed off!

So, we all know what happens when you are done making a scrapbook page! You're left with a few inches of leftover papers, a scrap of ribbon, a few stickers or embellishments and maybe there is still some floss on your needle from where you did a little stitching!

I used to have a tendency to save these pieces for "later"... meaning that I ended up with all sorts of odds and ends that just kind of got jumbled in a basket together. Eventually they got mixed in with other pieces and parts that didn't coordinate, and then I just had a basket of mess that I never really did anything with. So here is your a-ha moment for the day! While you've still got this matching pile of scraps, make a quick card out of it, and be done with it!

Best of all, there is no need to go in search of another sketch or argue with your muse about ideas. Since you already went through the trouble of arranging your pretty scrapbook page, just stick with the same layout idea, or something very similar! Here is the card that I came up with, to show you an example.

I used part of the same sort of layout, putting a sentiment where my photos once were. I used the last of my scrap of ribbon and a little bit of leftover floss for stitching. To the left edge, is a scrap of marquee sign that I cut from the bottom of my journaling element. I even used up some tiny pieces of patterned paper and a leftover sticker and a few die cut stars. To be truthful, I probably had enough leftover scraps to make two cards like this.

Using scrapbooking sketches to make cards can be a fun way to challenge yourself, not only to use up your scraps, but to make very detailed, fancy cards. Scrapbook layouts are also fun to turn into cards because they sometimes give ideas about incorporating fun elements such as stitching, layering, and fancy border punches. Just put sentiments or images where the titles or photos are supposed to be, and think... smaller!

What a way to stretch your sketches!

Don't you think that you could also make a fancy card out of scrapbook sketches like this...

... or this ...

... or this?

Your scrapbook layout sketches don't have to be the 8.5 x 11" kind, but that size seems to be good for making cards because it is the most similar to our preferred A2 card size. And doesn't the one above give you fun ideas for incorporating things like staples, stitching, stamped swirls and a border punch?

If you would like to play along, I'll leave an Inlinkz thingy so you can share your creations. You don't have to make a scrapbook page, but if you do, share both! I will pick a random participant to send the last of my MFT stamps to. I've still got a bunny and an alphabet set to give away and I'll even sort through my other goodies and see if I can find some fun papers to throw in too. :)

iPad Tutorial - storing PDF files

Welcome - I've promised to give a little tutorial about using your iPad for paper crafting and the response was very positive! I'm so glad that there was interest. Today's first lesson is using your iPad to store PDF files. This can be VERY handy. There are tons of things that are available in PDF files that have to do with making cards or scrapbooking layouts. You can find tutorials, sketches, ebooks and loads of other things in PDF format on the internet! For today's lesson, I'll show how I stored several sketches, because these are the things that I use most.

Start by using your iPad to search the internet for PDF files. I'll give you a few handy links. PDF files of Operation Write Home sketches can be found here. You can find PDF files of some of Jen's awesome Deconstructed Sketches here - click on "The Deconstructed Sketch" and then "Sketches 1-40 PDF"

In this photo, I have opened the PDF file for the OWH sketches in my browser:

When you have a PDF file open, there should be a grey bar at the top of the page. It says the name of the PDF file, in this case, OWHSketches_1-150.pdf and next to it there is a button that says "Open in iBooks."
If this bar is not present, touch the top of this page and that bar should show up by itself.

Go ahead and touch the "Open in iBooks" button.

Here is what will happen next. The browser will close itself, and iBooks will automatically open. iBooks, if you haven't seen it, looks like this:

I'm pretty sure that most iPads have iBooks already installed. If you don't have it, you can get it from the App Store for free.

Here is what it will look like after you touch the "Open in iBooks" button:

Not much different, other than it is now open in the iBooks app, instead of your browser. Notice the little "Library" button at the top left, and a review of all of the pages that can be seen along the bottom. (If this action does not happen INSTANTLY, be patient. I've noticed that it sometimes takes a few seconds to move a whole PDF file from a browser or my email to the iBooks app, especially if the PDF file is very large. I would imagine that this is because it is downloading.)

When you touch the "library" button, you will be returned to a screen that shows you all of the books or files that you have stored in iBooks. No need to "save" your PDF file... your iPad will automatically keep it for you, until you are ready to delete it.

Here is what my screen looks like after I touched the "Library" button:

The "cover" of this PDF collection just looks like the first page. Now then, your screen will look different than mine because I have downloaded other things to my iPad. But your collection of sketches should show up on a "shelf" like this too. You can see that I have also downloaded other PDF files for Close To My Heart books and a few other things. Now, to keep things organized!

PDF files are on a different "page" than your downloaded iBooks. If you open your iBooks and don't immediately see your PDF files, don't panic! Just touch the "Collections" button in the top left of the screen.

You will notice that touching "collections" opens a drop-down menu of different categories. By default, there are different pages for Books, Purchased IBooks and PDF's. You can touch "New" and add as many new pages as you like. I have added a new page for "Cricut" books. (I'll do a tutorial for this next week!)

You can add, delete or move your PDF files any time by opening the "shelf" that they are stored on and touching the "Edit" button in the top right of the screen.

To move a PDF file to a different shelf just do this:

Touch "Edit"

Touch the PDF file you wish to move.

Touch the "Move" button in the top left of the screen.

Touch the collection you wish to move the PDF file to or touch the "New" button to create one.

What is the benefit of all of this, anyway? Well, it is awfully convenient for me to not have to print whole PDF files any more and store the paper in some kind of binder. That is a big savings on printer paper and ink. I also love the convenience of having all of these sketches at my fingertips any time that I want. As long as my iPad is with me, I am good to go. :)

Thank you for stopping by and please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Next week I will show you more tips and iPad tricks. 

Hugs!

Feeling Kinda Sketchy

I wanted to play along with a couple of sketches today. So I snagged the latest from Deconstructed Sketches and Stars & Stamps.

I've been playing with a new embossing folder from Provocraft called Honeycomb and a new Friskars stamp set called Beary fun. When did Friskars start making stamp sets? I guess I am behind the times.

 I'll add this one to the "no sentiment" challenge over at S&S because... there is no sentiment... :)

Also used : Martha Stewart lace border punch and a Nestability by Spellbinders.

I also used up a few scraps of paper and embellishments by Imaginisce for this one. 

These bright cheerful colors are just what I need on this cold wet windy snowy day!

Here is the best news of all for today. If you haven't seen it yet, check out this video that celebrates Operation Write Home's 2,000,000th card. Two Million. That is amazing!

Thank you for stopping by!