erin terrell clarkson [etc]

Crafting for a Cause (with Scrapbooks etc) & a chance to win $$$$

For those of you who aren't familiar with it yet, I wanted to mention a cool little thing called Craft It Forward. It's a special program Scrapbooks etc. magazine launched to encourage scrapbookers, cardmakers, and papercrafters to craft for a cause and make a project to give to a charity or someone in need.

For inspiration, each month Scrapbooks etc. offers a special project and dowloadable instruction sheet at THIS LINK and asks designers to upload their creations onto the Scrapbooks etc. web site for a chance to win $500 each for themselves and their charity of choice! 

For the month of April, the project is a gorgeous Easter basket, designed by one of the most talented designers I know...Hilary Kanwischer (Seriously, go check out her blog for more Easter basket samples and tons of great designs. She is awesome!!). Here is her basket:

You can download the .pdf on the Craft it Forward website, then get busy creating your own beautiful Easter baskets to donate to charity.

Here’s some info on the giveaway:

Scrapbooks etc. is giving away $500 for you and a $500 donation to your favorite charity every month! Enter in three easy steps:
1. Create: Make any project you would like or download one of our free ideas (new ideas monthly)!
2. Share: Give it to someone (anyone) in need, then upload a photo and description of your project and who you gave it to on our website.
3. Win. By uploading, you’re automatically entered for the chance to WIN $500 for you AND $500 to the charity of your choice!

Let me know if you have questions and I hope you'll consider entering! Please share your links with me if you do. 

While I'm discussing crafting for a good cause, I have another link I'd like to share. Please check out the website Friends Of Tamara and read all about Tamara and the amazing story of her life over the past few years. Tamara teaches at the elementary school Daisy attended and two of Daisy's former teachers are helping put together a dinner and silent auction to benefit Tamara's family (you can read all about her wish for her family on the Friends of Tamara website). If you are able to donate, please do so HERE and I will be eternally grateful - as will her 5 children, I'm sure. If you live in San Antonio and are able to attend the silent auction, purchase your tickets HERE and I will look forward to seeing you that evening! Here is a photo of Tamara with her beautiful family (photo snagged from the Friends of Tamara website.):

OK, that's my long and rambling post for the day. Maybe I should post more often so my posts will be shorter? ;)

 

SCRAPBOOKS ETC. PAGE SHARE: APRIL 2011 (BRENDEN'S 1ST EASTER)

Here is a page share from the April 2011 issue of Scrapbooks etc. This page was so fun to create - mainly because the subject matter is so cute! My nephew makes the funniest little faces. This was his first Easter, and he was pretty captivated by everything that was going on.

As seen in Scrapbooks etc. April 2011 issue (page 24). SOURCES Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper. Patterned paper: Chatterbox (orange dot). Font: Pea Hart off the Internet. Stickers: American Crafts. Rub-ons: Autumn Leaves ("spring 2010"), Making Memories ("springtime is happiness"), Doodlebug Design (all others). Software: Adobe Photoshop CS5.

I used small letters in the same color as the background so the long title wouldn't overwhelm the rest of the page. I added multi-color rub-on letters to spell out the word "colorful", so that portion of the title would stand out. 

A chick die-cut fills empty space within one photo, and also adds a touch of Easter to the page. Small colorful brads mimic the look of confetti on my nephew's bottom. (Here in Texas, we have an Easter tradition of breaking cascarones over someone's head to add to the festivities, but Brenden enjoyed sitting in the colorful mess the confetti made.)

I printed the photos in a variety of sizes and colors to keep your eye moving throughout the page. First you are drawn to the oversized photo of Brenden playing with the egg, but the smaller sized photos and the addition of B&W shots add interest and draw your attention to the second half of the page. I ended the layout with another large photo to make a statement. When I have photos I love as much as the ones on this page, I tend to go pretty simple with my overall page design and let the photos be the focal point. 

Have fun if you're planning to take Easter photos this weekend! I hope you capture some great ones. Remember to take photos throughout the day and try to capture all of the excitement (and tiredness afterwards) of the many events. Be sure to take photos from different angles and get in close for fun detail shots, as well as capturing the wide shots that show the entire event as it unfolds around you.