Digital Scrapbooking Shaped Mini Album and Templates from The Cherry On Top and it Wouldn't be Friday Without Freebies

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

We've been on quite a roll getting new, fun goodies into the GingerScraps shop for our guest spot there.  We got another month to guest and we're crossing our fingers that we'll get a permanent position.  I've been blogging away with all kinds of hybrid projects for you and I've got several more lined up for you over the next weeks.  

Julie from GingerScraps deigned a jaw dropping page and I contacted her asking if I could share it around because I loved the concept.  She explained that it was really difficult and time consuming for her to design and asked if I would be interested in designing similar ones.  Of course, I was!  Here is my first go at a shaped album/page.

As usual, we've got a lot of page inspiration, tips, tricks, challenges, coupons, freebies...so keep on reading.  Take a deep breath...relax...try to just sit and enjoy today's blog and put all of those holidays worries aside for just a few minutes.  I'll try, too!

My first step to tackle these designs was to hit up the good ole Internet.  I perused shaped book images and began sketching.  It didn't take me too long how to figure out how to get the letters merged to the pages and I was so grateful for my traditional scrapbooking knowledge.  It made the process a lot easier and probably helped me to discover the hybrid potential for these templates.

This particular template is actually FIVE different templates if you play with it like I did.  Follow along with my process and get a lot of use out of your new templates.

I piled up all kinds of papers and turned Jo Cee's embellishments into stickers for a more realistic effect for my messy desk look.  I quickly made some Polaroid style frames.  (If you don't know how to do this you can do it two different ways.  One way is to just use my pngs from another template where I provide these.  A second way is to pull in a piece of paper, square or resize it to your desire, double or duplicate that layer and size it to represent where your picture will go, then slide in your photo and crop it over that layer).  Boom!  You're done!

An option you can use is to just change your papers all around or change them entirely.  I changed around my ellies for the next page as well, but kept the rest the same, deleting that "top" page and everything that went with it.

Same thing...move around your papers or change them, add or subtract more "stickers".  Copy your sticker layer style to save time and paste it on to all of your new stickers for consistency.  Ditch that second page!  You see, I've provided you with all kinds of photo spot ideas for all of the pages.

Don't be afraid to keep it simple!  If you choose a fabulous skit, like this one from JoCee Designs, it's just about all you need.  You can also find it in the GingerScraps shop.

I'll be back tomorrow with a full tutorial on how to do the next step, hybrid style!

It's going to be so fun to hold your mini album in your hands!

You'll also love how fast and easy it is.

Check out the digital pages my sweet ladies designed with Scrapbook Templates.

Fabulous products from the Sweet Shoppe

I totally recommend using a style for those rings.  After doing so, I did need to use my eraser tool for just the perfect look.

Goodies from Laurie

LouCee Creations

D's Designs

Take a peek at Cindy's pages.  First she did this one, but felt that a wooden background would give her page a more realistic feel.

Goodies from the Sweet Shoppe

What do ya think?!  Personally, I love the contrast.  To me, it looks like a totally different page.  Isn't it amazing how much impact your background can give your entire page?!

Magical Princess Party from Clever Monkey Graphics

Yes!  I went back to Tracey's collection, again.

 Boy, Oh Boy from Clever Monkey Graphics

A cutting machine will help with those white spaces.  Another photo in the "O" might look cool, too.

Tomorrow, I'll have several tutorials and all kinds of photos and tips.

If you truly wish to make these templates yours and at an incredible discount, I put a discount code on this blog and it's good for the rest of the month for a one time use.  There is also a free template on that blog, in case you missed it.

Here are some new pages I got from the ladies this week.  They are so beautiful!  This first one is from Cherry Scraps and it's our Celebrate Winter templates.  A huge shout out of thanks to all of you who purchased them.

GingerScraps December Buffet Goodies

These next few pages are with our This is Christmas templates.

Ooh, La La's Silver Bells

This is our Tinsel Toes template.  They are my favorite holiday pack in the GingerScraps shop.

Very Merry is another great pack of templates.  I teamed it up with gorgeous goodies from Aimee Harrison Designs.  Aren't these colors so fabulous?!  The designer collections at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio are amazing!  You can save 30% until December 29th on this collection!

You might recognize the work of HeartStrings Scrap Art?  The template and the collection are all from Bryony and can be found at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio.

Last week we rolled the train of free templates. I hope you downloaded our free template?

Goodies from the Sweet Shoppe

Free Template

I've got the last challenge of the year up in the group.  It's in the form of a free template.  Do all twelve challenges by the end of the year and get ready to go shopping because if you do it all correctly and tag me before January 1, 2020 you'll be qualified to choose something from my shop.

Free Template

Free Cluster Frame

I'll be giving out pieces of this kit all around our social spots.  Not everything is shown here.  There's even more!  Make sure you're hanging here, the group and that you're signed up for the newsletter to get all of the pieces.  We're starting Christmas Day!

12 Days of Christmas Freebies Starting Dec. 25th

Thanks so much for hanging with The Cherry.  We'll see ya tomorrow.

Happy scrapping!

A Zoo-per Mini Album Scrapbooking in a Shaped Book with a Zoo Theme Tips and Tricks

Welcome Savvy Scrappers!

I purchased this Bo Bunny shaped book a little while ago because I just had to have it. It's perfect for my numerous zoo trip pictures. I actually had to add a few inserts so that I could put a few more pictures in it. I thought the colors were really nice, natural, soft. So, I kept with that feel when I chose my embellishments.

I made, what I thought was a mistake throughout the book. Gluing everything right side up when I thought it was suppose to be upside down. However, when you stand the book up and flip the pages, it all comes out great. Wheew! Hehehe...

Tip: Burlap is great for a natural appeal and also a fantastic way to recycle an old potato bag.  I'm so pleased to read how many readers also like economy scrapping. Many of the embellishments are from Karen Foster. They matched perfectly.

I have to toot my own horn a little when it comes to the flowers above. Hehehe... I was trying to use paper flowers and fabric flowers, but none of it looked right. It seemed out of balance. Then I started toying with this natural string and there they were! I used a 3D Dot to keep it all together. It was very easy to construct. Pull colors from your photos and use them on your embellishments for cohesion.

This page was done in a snap. The only thing I did was add the photos, dark brown ribbon, Safari sign, giraffe patterned circles and zebra. Done! Scrapbooking in small albums goes really fast and ya don't have to use a lot of materials.

I have to admit, that I found the shaped pages really tricky to work with. There is not a lot of space, but it forces you to think more creatively. I chose gold as an accent color to add pop and warmth. This page is still growing on me.

My favorite part about this page are the colors. Green, black and white. I never thought of that combination, but it really works here. Animals prints are ideal for zoo themed scrapbooks, right?

Another challenging shape to work with. If I had just the right giraffe picture, there may have been no challenge what so ever. Hehehe...

Tip: Circles are perfect when space is of the essence.  I still can't believe I got 4 pictures on this very small page. 

Ah, back to square! Now, I can go crazy again. Well, this is not such a crazy page, but more simple. I think this elephant must have modeled for Karen Foster. Don't you? Hehehe...

This hippo page was so cute, I didn't want to cover it.  It was also a more difficult page to layout. If I had some smaller pictures it may have been better. How do you like those 3D eyes? Just a little more fun added to an already great book.

1,2,3 and finished! Tip: A little backing on part of the picture help make it stand out without taking up all of that precious space. Not a lot of room for embellishments.  So, I went tall and skinny and small and round for balance.

Above is one of my own pages.  I traced around the cover of the book and added a little more color around the edges. Keeping with the biological feel with natural twine and grass like, fun fibers.

The page below says it all, A Good Time. Belleware was a beautiful park/zoo. Liam cried for 30 minutes at the top of his lungs, on the way home. "Ik wil niet naar huis! Ik wil niet naar huis!  Ik wil niet naar huis!"Hehehe...In a flash, he was a sleep and when he woke up, he continued the shouting, "Ik wil niet naar huis!" Hehehe... (I don't want to go home.) 15 years later and we still laugh like hell at that story.

I made a glittered edge and glittered around the holes for some much needed bling. What appears to be grass is actually part of a picture of a tree that I cut out with small scissors and turned upside down. It now serves as a pocket for my very large mascot shaped tag with more fun fibers.

That's a wrap for today's blog. I hope you all have a great week and may you create something beautiful if not with paper then perhaps with words. 

Thanks for your visit. Make sure ya do it, again.

Happy scrapping!