linda's paperie

layout: 7th grade portrait

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

After realizing that I have more pink than I could ever use on both my girls layouts, I started to make an effort to use it more often. This school picture was perfect to use pink paper because of all the grey in it. The funny thing about this layout is that this is the girl that really doesn't like pink. But I like how it it came together.

Supplies: pattern papers, Basic Grey. flowers, Heidi Swapp. journal spot, Linda's Paperie

layout: 10th grade portrait

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

I'm taking baby steps to get back into scrapbooking. For me that means creating an easy, no fuss layout. Enter the school portraits. I would imagine that some people don't like to scrap these because they can be boring or for some other reason. I like them because I can get in, get out and be done. Usually when I start with these layouts, they get the creativity flowing so I can move on to other topics.

While looking for a pattern paper to go with the polka dots, I came across the dinosaur paper in the scrap drawer. I think the papers go great together. And for a brief moment, I almost didn't use the paper because I didn't think it would work with a school photo. In the end, I used the paper because my girl really loves dinosaurs. I really love how it came out too.

Supplies: pattern paper: Echo Park and Basic Grey. sticker, KI Memories. die cut, Autumn Leaves.

paper organization

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:02:00 +0000

In an effort to get some motivation to start scrapbooking again, I decided to go through my pattern papers and reorganize them. I have an odd way or organizing my pattern papers. Some are organized by color, some are organized by theme and the rest are organized by manufacturer. For a while this has worked. As time went on, I realized that I was looking for papers based on what color I wanted to use. Sometimes I would look for papers by the type of theme, like Christmas, but hardly manufacturer anymore. Time for a change.

I pulled out all the folders that had papers organized by manufacturer and started to sort through them. Sorting pattern paper by color can be difficult, especially when the patterns have more than one color in it. I sorted my papers by the first color that popped into my head when I looked at it. As time goes on, I may need to reassess the system. For now, it seemed like a good starting point.

While sorting my papers, I discovered that I have a lot of pink paper. Enough to fill 3 folders comfortably. This discovery made me laugh. As the mom of 2 girls, you would think this was a normal thing but my girls don't like pink. I have decide that I am going to use more pink on their layouts. They will get over it. :)

it's my turn

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:47:00 +0000

Out of our three children, two of them love to read for pleasure. Amanda hasn't meet a book that she didn't like. Andrew loves reading as many fact books as he can, so he can later make us feel foolish because we don't know how long a bearded seal measures. Emily only has time to read the books she is assigned in school or so she says. I suppose reading A Tale of Two Cities for English class can make you say no to extra reading.

For about 2 months now, Andrew has been on my case to buy him the New Prophecy series in the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. He finished the first series last spring and was really into it. I can understand that. The series is about different clans of feral cats that are warriors, what boy wouldn't like that? I can still hear him yelling at the books about the fate all of his favorite cat warriors. So because he was so annoyed by how the last book ended, he said he was taking a break from the books. That is until his best friend started reading the New Prophecy series about 2 months ago. It is driving him crazy that he isn't reading these books right now.

Originally, I was going to buy the books for him at the same time I was going to order the AP review books that Amanda needed. Turns out that she didn't need any review books this year and in traditional fashion, I forgot about ordering Andrew's books. After several more weeks of begging, I put it on my to do list yesterday and ordered his books. At checkout, I noticed that I need to order an item that cost $3.78 so that I can get the free shipping at Amazon. I need to have free shipping so I ask Amanda if she needs anything for school when Emily says, "Why don't you ask me if I need anything?"

"You don't read," I said.
"I like books," was her response.
"Yes, but you don't read them."
"Well, it's my turn. As the middle child, I am always getting the short end of things."

Well played, Emily. Well played. I must say in my defense that she does not always get the short end of things. I do get her what she needs and so on. Just this past Christmas, she received 2 books, which she asked for by the way. And when I asked her if her if she started either of them, her answer was no. Which is why I don't like to buy her books. But now that my guilt has been activated, I ask her what does she want because I'm not buying her another book. Her response was a Webkinz. I found her a cute rabbit for $5.

It's a win for everyone: Andrew gets his books, Emily doesn't get a book and I get free shipping and a guilt free moment.

now what?

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:18:00 +0000

As some of you may have noticed, I have taken an unintentional break from blogging. I haven't had the motivation to create anything which then led to nothing to post. The process was stressing me out to the point where I had no mojo to create even if I wanted to create something.

But I have missed this little blog of mine even though I haven't made much of anything to share. This led me to start thinking about writing about other things. After so many years, writing about paper gets a little old no matter how much I love it. I had thought about starting over with a new blog and a new name. I don't know if I really want to do that. I still want to write about paper but feel that I need something more for a little variety. What that will be, I'm not even sure of yet but it will be fun to find out. :)

national craft month at my creative classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:01:00 +0000

My Creative Classroom and I would like to invited you to join us as we celebrate National Craft Month. Every year in March we say thank you to our students during National Craft Month. If you purchase any Workshop and/or Foundation Course during the month of March you will earn a free seat in any Library Course, there are over 40 to choose from. The more seats you purchase the more free seats you earn.

During the next three months we have some wonderful classes for you to choose from. I am offering Fun and Fabulous Folds 1 and Fun and Fabulous Folds 2, as well as Mug Rug Madness and The Slice: Basics & Beyond. Click here to learn more about My Creative Classroom's National Craft Month Special Event.

layout: sea world...part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:37:00 +0000

Here is the final installment in the Sea World Series. This one is a mish mash of scraps that I pulled from the orange and blue drawers.

In keeping with the Use Every Stamp Challenge, I also pulled out another alphabet set that I have had not shown any love to recently. I stamped each letter with navy ink onto white cardstock. Then, I cut out each letter.

I made my own journaling spot in Photoshop and then printed it out onto white cardstock. And I also added the dates with my date stamp.

Supplies: paper, SEI, Crate Paper, Bo Bunny. stamps, KI Memories and American Crafts. trim, Doodlebug Designs. buttons and scrap of scallop paper.

layout: snow days

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:23:00 +0000

I'm taking a break from the Disney vacation to scrap some winter photos. I made a set of journaling cards and I wanted to use them. That and I am really wanting some snow.

Digging into the stash and starting with the white snowflake paper. It's the most recent paper on the layout at a little over a year old. Then I pulled colors from those snowflakes to chose the remaining papers, pink snowflakes, yellow geometric and the grey text.

There are clear acrylic snowflakes under the white snowflakes. I always have a hard time photographing clear embellishments. The buttons are threaded with pink baker's twine.

Supplies: paper, Bella Blvd. (white snowflake), Crate Paper (pink snowflake) and KI Memories (yellow and grey paper). stickers, Crate Paper. punch, Martha Stewart. date stamp, American Crafts. journaling card, Linda's Paperie. buttons, twine, clear snowflakes, ribbon and library card.

tutorial: mickey mouse embellishment

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:58:00 +0000

I have been slowly scrapping my photos from our trip to Disney almost 4 years ago. On two of my Epcot layouts, part 2 and part 3, I made a Mickey Mouse head using 2 punches and scraps of black cardstock. They are very easy to make using a circle and heart punch.

Punch a heart and a circle from black cardstock. Each punch is between an 1 and 1 1/2 inches.

Cut the heart in half.

Trim off the narrow part of the hearts.

Adhere the pieces to the circle.

These are super easy to make and can be embellished in many different ways. If you don't have a heart punch, a smaller circle punch can be used. Just cut it in half like the heart. I like to used the heart because it leaves a small area to apply the adhesive without losing too much of the ear shape.

layout: sea world...part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:41:00 +0000

Here is another layout from Sea World. And yes, there will be a third one coming soon. ;) I found the border strip in my scrap drawer and the scraps of black and white herringbone paper were on my desk. I was too lazy to put those away.

The title is cut out with my Silhouette. The flowers are too except I embossed those before adding them to the layout.

Supplies: paper, Imaginicse, Echo Park and Die Cuts With a View. flowers, background and label, Silhouette. font, Chewy Stewy. embossing folder, Cuttlebug. border punch, Fiskars. paper trim, Doodlebug Designs. tape and square stickers.

layout: sea world

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:55:00 +0000

This layout is from our visit to Sea World in Orlando. I kept this one fairly simply. Lately, I find that I like my pattern paper to be the focus of the layout. I have a lot of pattern paper that I just love and really want to shine on the layouts. I thought the fish paper, which is a B-side, was cool and I didn't want to hide it.

Supplies: paper, Echo Park, Imaginisce and Scenic Route. punches, corner rounder, circle and tab. journal spots, Heidi Swapp. stamps, Making Memories and Stampin' Up.

Also on this layout I used two different sets of stamps; trying to Use Every Stamp this year. The first one is for my title and is an older set by Making Memories. Does anyone remember the magnetic stamps? I'm sure most of us remember the date stamp set but who got hooked on the alphabets too. I'm raising my hand over in the corner because I have 2 alphabets and a set of sentiments.

Evolution stamp set

Stamped Title

I also added the orange tab as an after thought because when I was finished, I realized that the layout needed a bit of orange on the other side of the page to help balance things out. A tab punch and a stamp set from Stampin' Up solved that problem.


a quick and easy embellishment

Everyday Flexible Phrases

Not too bad and that's two stamp sets down, many to go.

layout: epcot...part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:22:00 +0000

Here is the last layout I made from our visit to Epcot. This one uses the left over scraps from the first and second layouts. That is one of this things I like about Basic Grey the papers from different collection work well with each other. Although, that can be said for most companies. I also made another Mickey from punches and black cardstock.

Supplies: paper and stickers, Basic Grey. flowers, Making Memories and Queen & Co. journal spot, My Minds Eye. border punch, Fiskars. scallop circle, Silhouette.

challenge: use every stamp 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:01:00 +0000

Jeri from My Creative Classroom has started a new class, Use Every Stamp 2013. The class is free but you will need an enrollment key code. The code can be found in the My Creative Classroom newsletter, so make sure you are signed up to receive it! To complement the class, Jeri has also started a blog.

For the class, the instructors answered a few interview questions. One of the questions was how many stamps do you own. At the time I didn't feel like counting them, so I guessed that I had 50 sets and a bunch of single clear stamps. Today I went and counted them.

Single wood mounted: 80
Single clear stamps: 60
Wood mounted sets: 40
Clear stamp sets: 31
Alphabet sets: 20, 4 are clear
Foam stamps: 11, 9 are alphabets
Rubber cling mount sets: 6
Rubber cling mount single: 4
Magnetic rubber stamp sets: 4
Roller stamps: 3
Wheel stamps: 3
Self inking stamps: 2

Yikes! So I can see that I have more than 50 stamp sets. I can also see that I have a variety of stamp types. I also saw that about half of the stamps I own have not been used. I can see that I need this challenge. I am ready to get started and I hope that you will check out the class and the blog and join us on this adventure.

layout: epcot...part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Here is another layout of our visit to Epcot. For this one, I used scraps of Basic Grey that have been in the drawer for a while. Looking at the whole layout, I really dug into the scraps I have been hoarding. The punched cardstock are pieces that I found in the scrap drawer too. Maybe I should just stop saving every little piece of paper. I'm not sure that is possible.

I also made my own version of Mickey using some black cardstock and some punches. Not too bad, eh?

Supplies: pattern paper, Basic Grey. stickers, Chatterbox. ticket, Silhouette. punches, Fiskars and Martha Stewart. journal card, 7 gypsies.

new year...new classes

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:59:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

I wanted to update you on some of the changes over at My Creative Classroom this semester. The class categories have changed a little for this semester. Don't worry though, this change is a good thing!

The classes are divided up into 3 categories now.

Workshop Classes: These classes will stay the same as what you are used to taking. No changes have been made to the format. I have 3 workshop classes this semester, Fun & Fabulous Folds 1, Fun & Fabulous Folds 2 and Mug Rug Madness.

Foundations Classes: These classes are needed for more advanced classes. Think of the class as the 101 for the topic. These classes will open before the semester begins, all content is available immediately and they will remain open until the end of the semester. The forums and galleries remain for you to ask questions and to share your projects. Students in this class will also be enrolled in the extended classroom at the end of the semester as well. The Slice: Basic & Beyond is a foundation class.

Library Classes: These classes are some of our older or project based classes. They will not include teacher interaction or extended enrollment access (but the extended enrollment option can be purchased separately). There will not be any forums or galleries. All content is available immediately and the students only have a set number of days in the classroom. They will be offered at a reduced rate and they will remain open year round. I have 4 classes to chose from in the library, 10 Fast & Easy Teacher Gifts, Holiday Recipe Album, Card Boot Camp, and All About Pets.

I hope to see you in class this semester!

my memories giveaway winner

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:19:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We spent out weekend putting up our Christmas decorations.

Now it is time to announce the winner of the My Memories Suite giveaway.

A visit to Random.org to chose the winner:

Our lucky winner is comment #2:

Congratulations Kristin!

If you didn't win this giveaway, My Memories is offering all of my readers $10 off your purchase of My Memories Suite software! Just copy and paste this code: STMMMS75776 into the coupon/promo code box to receive this great deal.

tutorial: october journaling spot

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 21:51:00 +0000

Tonight at 11:59 pm the My Memories Suite giveaway ends. Here is the tutorial for a journaling spot that I mention before Thanksgiving. The tutorial is photo heavy.

I first chose a 4 x 6 inch layout and then selected my background paper. First click the paper icon in the menu on the right.

A window will open for you to select the color and pattern of the paper. I chose a Tangerine polka dot

Then I added a square with rounded corners from the shape menu on the left and placed that to the right side of my paper.

Then I added a scalloped circle which is also in the shapes menu. I changed the color to grey by clicking the change color icon in the Control Panel on the right.

I sent the scalloped circle to the back of the square. Next, I added a calendar. The calendar is also listed in the Control Panel on the right. The calendar is sized to fit the scalloped circle.

To fit the calendar, I moved the scalloped circle over to the left a bit. At this time I also changed the scalloped circle to purple.

You can change the look of your calendar by changing the settings. I changed the font on the Month and Year to a font from my library.

The journal spot still needs something. How about a border? I like the rick rack. The rick rack can be found in the Shapes menu on the right side and it is grouped with the ribbon.

Instead of just changing the color, I added a pattern paper to my rick rack. This time Turquoise Stripes. I also sent the rick rack to the back to the calendar and scalloped circle are in front of it.

The scalloped circle is too flat, let''s add a mat. In the Control Panel on the right, click Shapes then click Mat. I added a black mat.

The rick rack needs a mat too. You can select a color of your choice. I chose the darker turquoise stripe to be my mat.

So here is my finished journal spot. Not to bad!

For those who like to journal on the computer, you can add a text box too. You can select any font from your library. Just select Text from the Control Panel.

Now it is time to save. I'm going to save it as a jpg file. Find Share Album in the top menu and click on Export Pages.

A new window will pop up. Here you can save the file as a jpg, png or pdf. When you are done click Finish. Now you can print you journal spot when you are ready.

If you are interested in entering the My Memories Software giveaway, you have until tonight at 11:59 pm.

my memories suite giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:32:00 +0000

If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you would know that I love paper crafting. I have been scrapbooking for over 10 years and have no plans to give up paper anytime soon to go digital. Please know that I am not anti-digital, it works for many people. I would just miss paper too much; it makes me happy. Now, I have played around with creating my own printable journal spots in my Photoshop program. I really like the flexibility that I have with making exactly what I need but sometimes it can take too long to come up with a design from scratch.

I was contacted by Liz at My Memories Suite last week to review the latest version of their software. As a paper scrapper, I was unsure about participating. But I was intrigued about the possibilities of creating my own journal spots in a faster way. After playing with the software for a couple of days, I have to say I am glad I said yes. The software is very easy to use. It comes loaded with paper and embellishments to get you started. There are also several different theme packs and photo templates to start scrapbooking right away.

To get started, I explored all the features and I made this layout using photos from Winter 2010. I love these sledding photos. This layout is from the Eskimo Kiss designer template collection. Originally the photo slots were on the left side of the page, so the first thing I did was change the layout so I was working with the mirror image. Then I added my three photos.

For the title I was able to use all the fonts that I have in my collection, which is nice. I also added 3 brads near the title, those are included in the software. Also included is the piece of rick-rack that I added under the title. The layout is finished with the journaling. Not too bad for my first digital layout.

I mentioned a giveaway in my title....so I will no longer keep you in suspense.

One of you has the opportunity to win a copy of My Memories Suite, version 3! To enter the giveaway visit My Memories and have look around. Then come back here and leave a comment telling me what is your favorite paper pack or kit.

Want more entries?

Become a follower of my blog and post it in the comments. If you are already a follower (thank you if you are), post that too.
Become a fan of My Memories on Facebook and post it in the comments.

If you don't win this giveaway, My Memories is offering all of my readers $10 off your purchase of My Memories Suite software! Just copy and paste this code: STMMMS75776 into the coupon/promo code box to receive this great deal.

The giveaway will end Friday, November 30, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST so that is plenty of time to give everyone a chance to enter.

I'll have a post later in the week with photos of the journal spot I made.

bulbasaur cross stitch

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:44:00 +0000

I finally finished my Bulbasuar cross stitch pattern. The pattern can be found over at Cross Me Not. This one took me a little while longer because I thought I made a huge mistake in it so I put it aside for awhile. I didn't want to deal with the mistake. Last week, when we lost power during Sandy, I decided to get it out and fix it. Turns out there was no mistake and I was able to finish it. So silly! Next up is Charmander.

layout: blizzard

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:00:00 +0000

It is so cold here. Cold enough to snow but it isn't so I thought it would be a good time to share this layout from the 2010 blizzard. My starting point for this layout was the polar bear paper. Emily loves polar bears and this paper had to be used for her snow layout. I'm using up more stuff from the stash. Goodness knows, I have enough of it.

A close up of the snowflakes. They are hard to see in the main photo.

Supplies: paper, Imaginisce. embellishments and stickers, Making Memories and American Crafts. die cuts, background shape and ticket. brads, snowflake stamp and white ink.

layout: epcot

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:11:00 +0000

So, I finally decided that it was time to start working on the layouts from our trip to Disney back in 2009. I have been putting these off for a while now. More than awhile, it has been over 3 years. Most likely because I was overwhelmed by the amount of pictures we took. Procrastinator no more!

This is for Andrew's album. I suppose it isn't very Disney like but I am ok with that.

Supplies: paper, Basic Grey, KI Memories, DCWV. ribbon, KI Memories. border punch, Fiskars. letters, American Crafts. journal spot, Silhouette. circle punch, button and snaps.

After looking at the Disney supplies, I decided that I didn't want to be stuck using red, black and yellow for everything. As I was working on this layout, I did realize that I probably should have bought a couple embellishments. Since I didn't have any on hand I made my own Mickey.

To create my Mickey, I punched a circle from black cardstock. Then I put the button on it and them marked where I wanted to attach the snaps. I removed the button and attached the snaps. Last step is to adhere the button.

it's ornamental

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:32:00 +0000

How would you like a free class? Once a year the My Creative Classroom Faculty come together for a very special class which is our way of saying thank-you for your continued support. Register for any class starting in November and you will automatically be enrolled in It's Ornamental at no additional charge. It's Ornamental, a class taught by ten My Creative Classroom instructors, begins November 29th and is full of creative and inspiring holiday ornament ideas. Each of the classes that begin in November will also accept enrollments until at least November 30th.

I have a new class starting on November 5 and it is a sewing/quilting class!

Mug Rug Madness is a 4 week class where we will make 8 different mug rugs. Mug Rugs are fun projects that use small amounts of fabric (a great project to use up the tiny pieces of fabric you can’t throw away) and can be made in a short amount of time.

The skill level is advanced beginner and students must have experience with a rotary cutter and piecing or have basic sewing skills and knowledge. I hope to see you in class.

fall 2012 blogger's quilt festival

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:36:00 +0000

My share for the Blogger's Quilt Festival is one of the first and only applique quilt I have done. I made it for Amanda when I was pregnant with Emily, about 14 years ago. I suppose I was nesting in a big way when I decided it would be a good idea to start this quilt. It is about 80 x 100 inches, a little larger than a twin size quilt.

the light is not the greatest, it has been raining here for 3 days.

I created a template and traced and then cut out all the hearts. There are 70 blocks and each block has 4 hearts. There are 4 additional hearts in the corners of the border. Then, I appliqued the hearts to each block using a zig zag stitch on my machine. When I was making the hearts and sewing them on to the blocks, I had no set layout plan in mind so some hearts match and others don't but I still like how it came out.

The quilting is in the ditch. In the border, I quilted some wavy lines which are hard to see.

After 14 years, Amanda still uses this quilt. She likes to wrap herself in it in the winter. I'm also happy to say that the binding has held up well over the years too.

To see more gorgeous and inspiring quilts, come visit the quilt festival at Amy's blog. There are over 500 quilts to admire.

christmas card boot camp

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:31:00 +0000

Christmas Card Boot Camp started yesterday at My Creative Classroom. Christmas Card Boot Camp is more than just cards. Jeri, Shirley and I also show you fun and festive ideas for Christmas tags and bags. Christmas Card Boot Camp runs for 3 weeks and cost $25. We hope to see you in class.

layout: 5th grade farewell

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Dotterer) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:20:00 +0000

The last layout of 5th grade! But let's not confuse that with the last layout of 2010 because that is far from the truth. One day.....

Lots of stash was used here. The background is newer paper.

Supplies: paper, Echo Park, KI Memories, Karen Foster and Crate Paper. stickers, Karen Foster. font, Kevin and Amanda. border, Doodlebug Designs.