Free Cooking Inspired Digital Scrapbooking Paper and Fun Summer Designs

Welcome to The Cherry On Top, scrappers and crafters.

I've been giving away loads of free stuff for over a decade. Some of the links get wonky and I run out of space every now and then. So, if ya see something that isn't working correctly, just give me a shout and I'll try my best to get it going when I can or want to. Hehehe...

Last week, I gave away a pretty recipe card with an awesome italian seasoning recipe you may want to try. I told ya Ii'd be back with a free portion of the What's Cooking digital scrapbooking collection I designed a few years back.

Above, you can see an image of what you will be getting in this week's and next week's download. The printables are all over the blog. If ya pop back to last week, there's a link there that will lead you to the other free printables. The conversion chart is a must have. I use mine all of the time.

I've got a couple pages of inspiration and hope to be adding more from my team and maybe even some of you, dear readers. Send me an e-mail or visit our group. I just started an X account, but it's personal and I'm not sure I want to mix business with pleasure. I'm rather political if ya haven't noticed and politics and crafting really isn't a great mix for many. I'm just so sick of Facebook and no one being able to see my posts. I'll consider starting a business one on "X". Let me know if you're there?

I revamped the templates just a little so that I could put them in the Kreative Design Studio as Commercial Use. I still need to get the individual accessory templates in there. I'm yet to find mine in the chaos of my computers and EHD's. Are you the same?

Here's a look at the card. Click on the preview to get to the blog for the freebie.

We finally are getting warmer, sunny, dry weather here in Belgium. Yay! We went from 60 degrees to over 80 degrees over night. Maybe my tomatoes will turn red? I'll be sharing all kinds of garden adventures, cooking adventures and my all time favorite ... CHICKEN adventures. I've got the squirreliest flock!

I thought I'd share the pool designs I created for Plus. You'll be able to scrapbook quickly, easily and beautifully if you grab all of the summer packs. There are dozens! Type in, "summer scrapbooking" in the search and most of it will pop up. "Summer templates" will show ya some good portions, too.

Above, are my super fun quick pages which are all ready made pages. Just add your pictures and your scrapped up. Below, are the "Pool" collection papers. They are so darn cute! Pair them up with some of the templates in Plus or from your own stash, like the fun floatie template I designed.

Word art makes crafting for sublimation, scrapbooks, stickers, card and or invitation making a breeze.

I love these quotes, below. Make something fun for a pool party or as decoration around the pool.

I've typed up one heck of a wedding blog where I gave away this beautiful design. Peruse over 2 dozen digital scrapbook pages with a wedding theme! I designed an album for my niece a few years ago and created an entire HUGE collection that matched her wedding colors, which were a lot, too. Hehehe...

You can grab the Commercial Use version with all kinds of extras in my shop in Design Bundles.

Don't forget the journaling challenge I've got in the group. Add your page to the album and get these award winning digital scrapbooking papers for free. The papers have an awesome vintage, grungy steam punk theme. Cool, right?

Thanks for checking out The Cherry. I hope you're having a fantastic summer.

Happy scrapping!

A Brief History of Scrapbooking and Why You Should

Beer, Bikes, Babes And A Short History Lesson.

The Manly Side of Scrapbooking

Yes!  Of course there is a manly side.  Some of the first scrapbookers to make scrapbooking history were men and not just any kind of man either.  Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson and Rutherford B. Hayes are a few names to drop. Early scrappers would paste clippings, drawings and diary entries in their scrapbooks. Come on!  If guys like these would scrap why would any of today’s men even have to think twice? You can't use the old, "I don't have any time" excuse either. These famous males were surely pressed for time, too!

These darker, steam punk papers have a very masculine vibe. They're linked to my shop.

Read the excerpt from PBS below, to learn about Mark Twain’s contribution to scrapbooking.

“Mark Twain was a lifelong creator and keeper of scrapbooks. He took them with him everywhere and filled them with souvenirs, pictures, and articles about his books and performances. But in time, he grew tired of the lost glue, rock-hard paste, and the swearing that resulted from the standard scrapbook process. So, he came up with the idea of printing thin strips of glue on the pages to make updates neat and easy to do. In 1872, he patented his “self-pasting” scrapbook, and by 1901, at least 57 different types of his albums were available. It would be his only invention that ever made money.”

For those who were not wealthy enough to buy paper, they simply pasted over old books.  (I do that, too! It will be in an upcoming blog about custom made books.  Look for it!)  Although, that doesn't seem to be the case in the beautiful example given above.

In a Good Housekeeping article, I read how staying connected to your past can increase your present happiness. This does come as hind sight bias. Duh!  Who ever regrets maintaining great friendships?  I couldn’t agree more with Gretchen’s statement, “That’s why photographs, scrapbooks, souvenirs, home movies, and other memory prompts are so precious and so worth the effort, despite our time-crunched days.” 

I keep thinking, “Oh yes! I will remember this moment forever.” Yeah, right!  I can’t remember what I ate for dinner 2 days ago. I am always very pleased when I come across a picture that I’ve completely forgotten about and the entire scene gets played in my head like a movie. I couldn’t do that without the pictures there to help me. Don’t forget to put names and dates with your pictures because you WILL forget. I can’t think how many times I patted myself on the back for writing  dates and names on the back of an old picture because I forgot one or the other or even both!

There are several articles about scrapbooking history that you can find on-line, but I would rather live the experience and make history myself through my own scrapbooks. The people who appreciate and perhaps even those few who do not, will look through their custom made books, made with so much love and thought and appreciate them twice as much 10 or 20 years down the road. The rush of memories that will come and the ensuing smiles to follow will melt their hearts again and again. That is the power of scrapbooking.

Whether man or woman, traditional or digital, scrapbooking is not only an awesome hobby to engage in, unwind and enjoy, but the pleasure you will spread to those whom you endow with your special gift will keep the happiness going for years to come. I look over my own scrapbooks all of the time and I never tire of them. Even some of the first ones I made which were not nearly matched to the standards of my present day projects, are just as enjoyable to peruse.  

Above is my Very Vintage Collection. Find it in my shop.

With all of the different styles, techniques and options, scrapbooking is for everyone. Spending time behind the computer to do a digital scrapbook, might be just what one needs to relax and let the stress melt away. All of your materials are literally right there at your finger tips. If you like getting down and dirty with your projects, then go traditional. The market is enormous, your finished projects are very rewarding, if you are giving it as a gift, you can bet it will be greatly appreciated and the memories that will come flooding back will make you glad you did it. There are just so many advantages to scrapbooking that you may as well get started today!

Scrap Happy!