NEW CLASS: Simple Scrapbook Pages

Scrapbooking can be fun, easy, and SIMPLE. Join Nicole for Simple Scrapbook Pages, a new class that will help you navigate the world of scrapbooking. Discover design principles such as visual triangles, page anchors, and rule of thirds for well balanced, beautiful layouts. Take a journey through Nicole's personal scrapbooks and our store's library of examples to find inspiration for your own albums. You'll leave with a new knowledge of the craft, guides to help you conquer your photo library, and a completed two page layout. 

Benefits of taking this class:

• Select photos that best tell your story, while learning how to edit, resize, and mat.
• Discover different supplies and tools for your style and budget. 
• Tour the store with your instructor. 
• Learn how to pick colors, papers, and embellishments.
• Discover design rules and how to use them to quickly create layouts. 
• Create titles and add journaling.
• Learn how to use stickers, die cuts, and bling to form embellishment clusters. 
• Add texture and interest with different stamping, inking, and misting techniques.
• Create a two page layout with help from an instructor.
• Determine your next project, explore personal goals, and leave with the confidence to create clean and simple scrapbook pages.

Class Includes:

• Two hours in the Crop Room with an instructor
• A kit full of patterned papers, cardstock, and embellishments
• Exclusive scrapbooking guides and information packet
• Tour of the store and help shopping for future layouts
• Access to tools and supplies while completing your two page class layout
• Tips, techniques, and design rules, as well as all the scrapbooking knowledge you can fit into two hours
• 15% discount in store the day of class

Don't miss this informative, empowering class held on Saturday, March 12th. We can't wait to help you preserve your memories for decades to come! Three ways to register:

• Register online by clicking here
• Call us at 920-983-0033
• Visit us in store (Click here for directions)

Product Spotlight: Jet Setters State Stickers

Calling all scrapbookers! We can't wait to share today's product with you. It's a best seller here at Creations Galore and one of our favorites. 

Document your trip or state pride in style with these dimensional stickers from Reminisce. We carry the entire Jet Setters collection; therefore, you will easily find the state you're looking for. Pair it with coordinating papers for the perfect layout. 

Don't forget to grab this month's coupon before visiting. In January, all stickers are 25% off. Click here to download the coupon. Simply print it off or show it at check out via phone or tablet. 

Photo Idea: Look Up

Grab photos of your favorite venue, unique lighting in your home, the weather, + more by simply looking up. Don't miss the small details. For additional scrapbooking and photo ideas, click here.

Scrapbook Idea: Finding The Christmas Tree

Do you put up your tree on a certain date each year? Visit the same tree farm? Don't miss an opportunity to scrapbook your family traditions. For more scrapbooking ideas, click here.

Scrapbook Idea: Documenting Home Remedies + Rituals

Tis the season for colds. While no one is a fan of illness, don't miss an opportunity to document the moments that make your family unique. 

• Special home remedy
• A specific blanket or spot on the couch that's comfort
• Movie or TV show you watch every time you're feeling under the weather
• A meal or food, like mom's homemade chicken soup

Event Recap: NSD Overnight Crop

In honor of National Scrapbooking Day, we had an overnight crop with a storewide sale and stayed open for 30 hours! It's our favorite holiday, and we know how to celebrate.

The sold out crop lasted a full 30 hours with at least 8 ladies staying overnight along with us. Call us crazy, but lots of pages were made, fun was had, and food was eaten. It was a great time. Here's a look at this year's event:

Friends gathered to create, and new friends were made. We take pride in being a place for like-minded individuals to gather together and create. It's the perfect atmosphere to gain a friend or ten. All ages and backgrounds came together for this event. 

There was a nice mixture of both scrapbookers and card makers. It may have been National SCRAPBOOKING Day, but we don't turn away paper-lovers of any kind. 

The NEW Fuse Tool from We R Memory Keepers was the focus of Friday night's demo. Nicole shared eight projects, took answers, and showed off this great tool - Alter page protectors and make pockets and shaker cards. Crop attendees were given a chance to try out the tool for themselves.

We did not go without food. Snacks and coffee were always available, with a delicious dinner, breakfast, and lunch. Paper Crafters need fuel to keep going!

Prizes were also in abundance. We gave away new products from our favorite manufacturers, such as We R Memory Keepers, Heidi Swapp, Project Life, and American Crafts.

Thanks again to everyone who attended the Crop or shopped the NSD Sale. We couldn't do it without you. Here's a personal note from our manage Lori about the weekend:

"I came in a bit early this morning (Monday) to start the clean up from our 30 hour scrap and to prepare for six other women who were coming in at 10:00 to scrap today. On my way to work I thought how nice it would have been to stay at home, wishing my back wasn't giving me problems from sleeping wrong and making the list in my head of all the things that needed to be cleaned up and put back together at work. None of those things brought a smile to my face. (Not the normal me!) As I turned on the lights and walked through the store, I didn't hear the sound of laughter and singing, the ladies talking about various happenings in their lives, or the sweetness in meeting someone for the first time and making a new friend. As I took care of the garbage and picked up scraps of paper and embellishments too big for the vacuum cleaner, I realized those pieces were the leftovers of pictures and memories that were cut to fit the perfect spot on pages of remembered times - birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, loved ones who are no longer with us. It brought a proud moment and a smile to my face that Creations Galore, the place I call home six days a week, is a very special place. That's why we are here."

Yes it is. We hope you'll join us for an upcoming crop or class. You can learn more by clicking here.

Layout Tuesday: You're A Star

Hello Paper Crafters! We're here today sharing a layout using drama themed stickers from Karen Foster Design. 

Our layout came together quickly using the 12x12 Performance Collage patterned paper, matching American Crafts cardstock, and Show Business Cardstock Stickers. We used a small portion of the patterned paper, adding border strips of black cardstock. Our favorite white pen was used to add faux stitching. 

The stickers were great for embellishment clusters and the title. The two spotlights included in the package were added to the top of the layout. We added a black line with a ZIG Writer to anchor them to the page. 

A few lines for journaling, and this layout is complete! 

*The photos used on this layout were taken by Megs Colleen. You can find more of her work here.

Document It: Bad Days

Here at Creations Galore, we're passionate about memory keeping. That means the good, the bad, and even the ugly. Our lives are composed of highs and lows. In our personal experience, we've grown more during those low periods of time. They have help shape us; therefore, we believe they sometimes need to be included in our albums. 

Here are three examples of how our Creative Genius, Nicole, documented a few of those days...

Flooding, broken shoes, a broken handbag, a smashed computer screen, a soaked phone. If anything, this reminded me that I'm human and every moment isn't always a pretty picture. Life is real. It comes with days you wish you could start over. But you make a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and get over it. 

People, people, people. Dealing with death and helping a loved one cope is hard. How do you scrapbook THAT?! I added a quick snapshot from an important dinner, some hidden journaling, and a quote that perfectly described the moment. That sentiment from Elise Blaha Cripe explains that overwhelming feeling while still expressing an important message: We press on.

Do you remember when that happened?! Oh man, that was rough. If Aaron Rodgers participated in Project Life, it would look just like this. His bad day was my bad day. In our house, we live and breath football. Sundays are devoted to naps, food, and Lambeau Field. Naturally, the high and lows of our passion end up documented.

Now it's your turn. Don't always pass up the less than perfect moments in your life. Use scrapbooking as a way to not only preserve memories, but to help heal and vent. 

Document This: Scenes of Home

We love memory keeping and find it our responsibility to encourage you to document both the large and small moments in life. Sometimes we can be so focused on taking photos of the exciting events that we look over the daily items that make up our lives. That leads us to today's prompt. 

How often do you document the simple pieces of your home? We've gathered a few examples for you today, as well as some questions and ideas to help you record your story. 

• What are your favorite parts of your home?
• Photograph your dinnerware in the cupboards or displayed on the kitchen table.
• Where does your family eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
• Take a picture of your nightstand, bookshelf, or desk.
• Do you have an antique, piece of furniture, or other item that tells a story?
• What makes your home unique?
• Photograph the front door, your street sign, or mailbox.
• How do you use your home? Does the dog curl up next to the same window each day? Do you always relax in the same chair? Does your child have to use a stool to reach the sink?

Now that you've taken the pictures, it's time to print them out and get them into an album. Create a mini album of your house, construct a one or two page layout, or add pictures randomly to your pocket scrapbooking or Project Life spreads. Tell your story. 

You can see all of the Document It posts here.

Free Crop Space

It's time for the kids to head back to school, allowing moms everywhere to rejoice. That also means piles of photos from summer happenings and another school year of sports memorabilia, art projects, and school photos. Therefore, we're offering FREE use of our Crop Room Monday through Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM each week during the school year.

This FREE offer includes:

• Six foot table to yourself
• Comfy chair, drink holder, and garbage can
• Use of tools, paper cutters, die cutting machines, and punches
• Use of stamps - Simply bring your own ink and stamp cleaner
• The ability to shop the store throughout the day
• Access to extension cords and power outlets for electronic cutters and laptops
• Internet access (please see an associate for the password)
• The ability to bring in food and drink of your choice, order in from an area restaurant, or leave for a food break
• All the fun and crafting you can fit in!

This offer starts Tuesday, September 2nd. Stop in once a month, once a week, or every day. To reserve a table, visit us online here or give us a call at (920) 983-0033. We look forward to having you use our Crop Room... Let's get crafty!

Layout Tuesday: Celebrating Law Enforcement

Every Tuesday on the Creations Galore blog, we bring you a new layout to inspire you to create. Today's layout comes from the Karen Foster Design website, made by Maryfrances Fabbri with their latest police themed collection. 

The layout documents a trip to the jail and is a great reminder of those serving us at home. We love that it's as much of a documentation of the day as it is a tribute to police officers in the community. 

When it comes to the design of the layout, we can't get enough of the three squares of red patterned paper that ground the stickers she added. It gives them structure and a purpose rather than floating around the layout. It also creates a visual triangle, a design element that we encourage you to produce on your own layouts. Rather than a block section of journaling, Maryfrances added a small strip to each photo with a simple caption.

Thank you for the wonderful inspiration, Maryfrances! You can see more pictures of the layout here.

LAYOUT SUPPLIES
Defending The Public Cardstock Stickers
Law Enforcement Collage
Police Badges Patterned Paper

Layout Tuesday: Hello Love

Good morning, Scrapbookers! Today's layout inspiration comes from the Studio Calico gallery using We R Memory Keepers' Inked Rose Collection, and it's STUNNING.

Evelyn's layout is so beautiful, and her use of the WRMK collection had us stop in our tracks. She used square risers to pop up several elements of her layout, including stickers. We can't get enough of the dimension and movement on the page. In addition to stickers, she cut out butterflies and triangles from the 12x12 papers. 

You can see more pictures and details about her layout here. As always, here are a few of the products used on the page. Stop into Creations Galore for more inspiration and to see the full Inked Rose Collection. 

Thank you for the beautiful inspiration today, Evelyn! We can't wait to try out a few techniques on our next page. 

Embossed Stickers

Inked 12x12 Double Sided Paper

Orange Wash 12x12 Double Sided Paper

Butterflies 12x12 Double Sided Paper

Pink Wash 12x12 Double Sided Paper

Inked Rose 12x12 Paper Pack