New Scrapbooking Templates, You Could Be A Winner and New Freebies

 Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

Whoo hoo!  We made it to Friday and we've got great new templates, new pretty pages with new collections from around DigiLand and as usual, free stuff.

We've just put these new templates in our shop, Kreative Design Studio.  Photo Love scrapbooking templates are mega versatile templates.  I've left all of the squares on their own layer for complete flexibility.  Use the spots for papers or photos, merge where ya want and embellish on top.

Photo Love Templates

Four fabulous templates on a 12x12 format in formats, psd, tif and png.  Never tried our templates before?  We've got dozens of free ones on the blog.  Scroll through and find one that suits you to see the quality and craft of our goodies.  I've got a link for a free template more towards the end of the blog so keep on reading.

Photo Love Templates and goodies from the Sweet Shoppe

Can ya recognise the awesomeness of Tammy's pages?!  That's her's up there. ^^^^  She's mega talented.  Mine is the one below.  Tammy and I both, used the spots for papers only and she didn't even bother with photos!  Hehehe... Never let a template dictate a theme that doesn't work for you.  That is the beauty of templates.  Change them up to suit your needs.  I even blog different ways to change up templates on occasion.

I had a rare opportunity to see my brother and his wife this summer.  I hadn't seem him in 15 years!  My hubs took this pic of them at our place in Germany.  That's the Mosel River in the background.  Breath taking, eh?

Photo Love templates and Sweetest Pair from Kim Cameron Designs

Rachelle is a star, super scrapper!  She's done a double and she used our Free Falling scrapbooking kit.  You can find the kit here.

Photo Love Templates and Free Falling all from TCOT

Photo Love Templates and Free Falling all from TCOT

Andrea and Chris are showing off other ways to use those spots, which is exactly what I wanted you to see.  You could select the layers/squares you wish to use for one photo, merge those (don't forget to get rid of the shadow) and crop your photo in.

 Photo Love Templates and our Trolla Bolla Collection

I just love how Chris scrapped in that long photo!  She really took advantage of these squares and was able to show off a lot of pictures.

 Photo Love Templates and our Gnome For Christmas Collection

Rochelle also scrapped a super page with my gal Paty Greif's, Santa's Helpers collection, which is on sale for 30% at GingerScraps.

 Photo love Templates and Santa's Helpers

Aimee Harrison has two new collections out this week and they are SO fab!  This one is Jolly Ole Santa Clause and my little guy thrilled with his Pokemon stuffs.  Aimee's word art is so unbelievably fantastic.  If you're like me and not really into all of that journaling, her word art is perfect.  I often use them as titles, like I did here.  I did have to add that touch of green paper behind those deer so it stood out a bit better.  I wanted to make it look more like a present, but it just didn't seem to really add to the cluster. It made it too, busy.

 Jolly Ole Santa Clause from Aimee Harrison Designs

 Let's roll on to those freebies!

Have you taken the ride on our train of free templates?  Do ya love templates as much as I do or are you new to templates?  I've got a lot of tutorials on the blog as well as videos to get you started using templates. It is SO easy and you will save a lot of time, too.  

Free Template

This is  my page with the free template and the DigiScrap Parade's free Bold collection.

 free template from TCOT and Bold from the DigiScrap Parade

I like showing off the versatility of a collection like this.  There is a lot of pink in it, but also a lot of yellow and blue.  You can just as easily scrap up a girly page as a page for guys.

                                   Bold from the DigiScrap Parade

There is a really fun challenge group on Facebook that you may want to consider joining.  I'm a contributor there and these two templates will be available for free when you join in on the mash up challenge. If they are not up yet, give it time. They will be and they won't be available free for long.

             Free in the challenge group             free in The challenge group

The templates are a part of a pack of templates that will be available next year.  They have a nifty artistic flair to them.

coming next year to the shop

If you like free stuff and you like The Cherry's products in the Kreative Design Studio on Etsy, then head over to our group and place the link to your favourite product from the shop and you could win it.  Last time I looked, no one entered a link so you have a HUGE chance of WINNING!  Hehehe...

Join us in the group.  We'd love to see you there!

Did you see our Tuesday blog?  I did a little something different and I really enjoyed writing a blog like this.  I'll definitely do it again.  It's already got a pretty good reception.  Yay!  Thanks if you were one of those readers.

Recently, I gave out a free mini.  Did you miss it?!  Darn!  Sign up for our newsletter so that never happens, again.  We give our readers freebies all of the time.  You deserve something for allowing us into your mailboxes and absorbing your very precious time.  Thanks!

I've designed a pretty, coordinating free word art for you.  Click on the image to download.  If ya like the Choose Joy mini, you can grab it in our shop.

today's new freebie

Have you been downloading all of the amazing freebies from the Digital Scrapbooking Studio?  Click here to find out more.

Tomorrow, I'll have a free card using one of Aimee Harrison's totally gorgeous collections from this week.  You will not want to miss it!

Did you know The Cherry won an award?  Whoo hoo!  Top 100 scrapbooking blogs!  Click on the image and see the others on the list.  Consider following some other scrap-tastic blogs.

Thanks so much for hanging with The Cherry!

10 Fabulous Christmas Paper Crafts

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

I've got a different kind of blog, today.  Like many of you, I'm also a huge fan of Scrapbook.com.  I've had my gallery there for many years now and way before I started designing myself.  You can shop, get inspiration, tutorials and super ideas for your crafty projects.  Don't forget about gift ideas.  Whether you plan on making your gifts or giving a gift card or goody for your scrappy friends and family.

I chose just a few projects that I thought were fairly simple to replicate, lift or aspire to craft or scrap.  Personally, I'm a bit of a tight budget scrapper.  I rarely spend more than a few hours on a project as well.  I'm always on the hunt for simple, inexpensive and quicker projects.

I've taken each one of these projects, enlarged the image and I'll quickly walk ya through each one, giving ideas, alternatives and of course, links to help you even further.

How absolutely fabulous is this light, bright page?!  It may have felt lost if that tree weren't backed up on this simple, design paper and where the journaling is, it is plain.  Otherwise, the journaling wouldn't pop like it does now.  Consider washi, word strips, paper strips and keep building up to your desired look.  Picture placement is pretty versatile with this kind of base.  Move a bit left, right up or down and it will still look great.  Consider a mat under your pic if you think it looks too busy or your photo is not popping enough.

I love making my own cards.  I've got several blogs dedicating to making cards from older cards.  I'll share those link with you later in the blog.

Look at the simplicity here.  A large, design background, a plain mat and more design on top of that.  Check out your washi stash or use up scraps from your favourite Christmas paper.  Tiny patterns or plain will give you the best results.

Wow!  Wow!  I dig the not so traditional colour palette with this next one.  Think of all of the scraps you might be able to use up and unlike the first page, you can go a bit more crazy with your strips, word strips, washi...It doesn't have to be as calculated too, so you can save time in that department.  I'd highly recommend matting your photos so they stand out on what might be a busy background.

Inspired yet?  I sure am!  I really do love traditional scrap pages and this one epitomises one.  Don'cha just love using large photos?  Especially, when they are this nice.  Even the dog got in the shot.  Awe!

This is really a super example of how to use those papers with a large design on them.  I'm not so great at finding the right layout with them.  This page is a great example on how to use large design paper.  Staring with the largest for the base and then layering up with smaller design paper for a contrast.  The border usage is great, too.  Simple clusters at opposing corners and you're scrapped.

More fabulousness?  I'll say!  I've got a few blogs dedicated to top hats.  Tutorials and free templates so you can make your own.  Think of any occasion, not just Christmas.

Here are a few of the hats I designed.  You don't need a lot of supplies at all and you can totally let your creativity run wild.

This ornament would be a great gift idea.  You could use it as a tag as well.  Consider using a photo in the center for an alternative idea.  Just a bit of your scrap paper and few small embellishments and you'll have crafted up something super.

The basic concept is great.  Think of other shapes that would look good.  How about a tree or gift box?

This page is so super versatile.  You could place your precious pics in anyone of those spots.  Use design paper with a smaller print for the prettiest results.  Just a couple of small embellishments and really love the pocket idea.  Consider using journaling in place of one of the squares?

This card is the perfect example of how just the right embellishments and going large can make scrapping look totally awesome and not take up too much of your craft time.  A couple of layers and really fab embellishments, and your card is nearly ready.  The scalloping and stitching is the cherry on top.

I'm leaving you with two of my own Christmasy creations.  This is my invitation this year.  I will make a confession as well as give you an idea.  This started off as a quick page, where you simply place a photo in the spot.  In place of the photo, I've layered up a few papers and added my important information.  In another Christmas blog post, I re-scrapped a few pages for a nifty up cycled gift idea.  You can click here to see it.  Consider scrapping your invitations either digitally, traditionally or hybrid. It will certainly save you time if time is an issue.

Design your own cards, save money and use up those lovely scraps.  Click here to see another blog from The Cherry and use those scraps to make something gorgeous this Christmas.

I'll leave you with a few great products that will make your craft time even more enjoyable.

There are holiday deals, gift guides and FREEBIES at Scrapbook.com, too!  If you want to check out the gallery, click here.

Have you got someone on your list that could use a planner?  This one from Create 365 is really awesome AND it's in the clearance section.

If you're like me and love bang for your buck, THIS  is it!  An entire collection from Bella Boulevard and it's on sale for just 14,99.  It was nearly 50!  There are several collections at this super price.  Find the one you like best.

BoBunny is definitely a favourite of mine.  They've got these nifty wood shapes for under $5.  Paint them to match, spray, glitter or bling them up.  I've got a lot of these wood shapes and they are light and small so you can use them in most projects. Did you see how I used them in my top hat from Graphic 45?

I sure hope we've given you ideas and inspired you to get crafty.

Thanks for checking out The Cherry.

December's Train of Free Scrapbooking Templates and Your Free December Calendar

Welcome scrappy hoppers!

I just love this bi monthly opportunity to give people a taste of my products.  I've combined two blogs in one, today.  It's a bit lengthy, but I promise to make it worth your while by peppering the entire blog with freebies. Hehehe...

If you are all about the scrappy free stuffs, then you are in the right place.  We host free stuff every Friday (typically) on the blog and our Pinterest, group and page offer fans freebies nearly every single day.  Why not stay up to date and never miss our freebies by signing up to the newsletter?  Subscribers get exclusive freebies and coupons year round. 

This template is no longer free.  No worries!  We've got tons of free stuff in our scrap-a-licious group AND we'll be back for the next train, too.

This is my free template available for you!  It's a lot like me.  Bright, bold, scattered and comes in many layers.  Hehehe...Check out what I and my awesome team have done with it.  The link is further down...

Laureen liked it so much, she did two pages.

Funny how they all kept the cupcake theme going.  Feel free to change out my quirky cupcake for any other journal card or even photo you might have in your scrap stash.

Chris's page is making me hungry!  Hehehe...You are going to have a really fun page, made quickly with this template.

I'm taking advantage of my captive audience by showing off some goodies in the shop that are related to today's freebie.  Ya might just love something.

Very Merry Templates

Scrap efficiently with templates that are all laid out for you, with shadows and everything.  Clip in your favourite papers and pics, add some lovely embellishments and you've scrapped.

'Tis The Season Templates

 These templates are a super way to show off multiple photos.  We've got pages and pages of inspiration with our templates, here on the blog, in the shop and on Pinterest.

Check out that preview, above.  They are actually templates!  I've got a new collection in the shop, Gnome For Christmas.  You can see more of it in the preview below.  The nifty gifties are ready made pngs and you also get templates to make your own gifts.  Check them out here.  

Free Gnome For Christmas Cluster

Here is the link to your first freebie in this blog.  You'll get this coordinating cluster from Gnome For Christmas.  

Flourish Templates

I couldn't help, but to show off these really different templates with an artistic flair.  They are each sold separately in the shop.

Love YourSelfie

Above, is another one of our popular template packs.  I bet you can scrap up something really great with them.  I love that camera background.

Free Word Art

Isn't the little birdie just adorable?  Go grab him by clicking on the image or right here.  He's free!

Why not try your luck on winning the templates we'll be releasing next week?  How?  Pop over to our group and leave a comment in the pinned status where you find this image.  We do this for nearly all of the template packs.  Come join us and get a chance at an entire pack of free templates and all of our lovely scrappy blah, blah, blah and get an eye full of gorgeous inspiration with all of the pages the fans post.

Free Falling was previously a freebie.  I know, right?!  Did you miss?  Are you bummed?  I'd be, too!  That is why it is essential that you sign up for the newsletter.  You'll never miss out as long you remember to open it.  Hehehe...Sign up for the newsletter right here on the blog or on our page on FB.

Free Falling Mini Scrapbooking Kit

I put the kit in the shop so it's still available for fans.  As you can see, you can scrap up any kind of pics you've got with it.  No falling leaves or pumpkins necessary.  Hehehe...

Free Falling Scrapbooking kit and Hallo-What templates from The Cherry On Top

I don't know if it was a fluke or what, but for the blog, with this template, I got over 30,000 views in December!  I figured, I better leave that template live so more people can enjoy what seems to be a pretty popular, free template.

free template

With Christmas coming, I'm going to have a lot of freebies, inspiration and all different kinds of craft projects for you.  The blog is full of them.  We do digital, hybrid and traditional scrapbooking at The Cherry.

My gal Jodi from Throwing Some Scraps Around has some fabulous new templates in her shop.  I used them to scrap this page with my new, Gnome For Christmas collection.  Get the templates while they are 30% off.

Gnome For Christmas and Merry and Bright template from TSSA

This is your new December calendar.  I've been giving out a free calendar, every month, all year.  I hope you enjoyed them all.  Wait until you see what I'll have for next year!

Thanks to Throwing Some Scraps Around for giving us the goodies to make the calendars. Right click to download the calendar.

Holiday Dreaming from Throwing Some Scraps Around

That was another doozy!  I'll leave you with the link for the new free template and the list for the rest of the stops.

 

Miss Fish

Kaklei Designs 

Throwing Some Scraps Around:  http://etsy.me/2nhwGZ2

Made By Keuntje

Neverland Scraps

AnnieCDigitals

PrometheanConcepts

Thanks so much for stopping by The Cherry!  We'd love to see you around our other social spots.

Happy scrapping!