American Crafts Studio Blog

Inspiration

Inspiration for scrapbooking can be found in more places that just ads in our everyday life.  I asked the design team to share their ways of saving ideas that inspire them and Amy & Wendy Sue delivered two awesome ideas.

Here's a peek at Amy's notebook where she keeps magazine clippings...

I like the mix of color ideas, sayings, and patterns.  Just looking at this gives you a great idea of how Amy's eclectic style comes together.

Check out Wendy Sue's beautiful binder of ideas...

It's easy to see how Wendy Sue can whip up such amazing pages utilizing her great organizational skills.  Such a good idea to keep a section for journaling prompts too!

When being creative is your full-time job, it can get a little challenging.  The in-house Design Team has set up a big inspiration board in the offices to keep those ideas flowing.  Everyone is encouraged contribute something that caught their eye.  Here's a peek of what they've got hanging up right now...

Lots of cool pieces up there!  Can't wait to see how these were incorporated into the new products this summer.

Do you have any tips for saving things that inspire you?  We'd love to see!

Postmarked Wednesday

Welcome to Postmarked Wednesday!  We've got two ad inspired cards for you to check out today.

Design Team member Erin created this fun card based off of a Race for the Cure ad...

 

Supplies: Dress Code Paper (34648) - Teen, Passing Notes Paper (34643) - Teen, Tiara Accents Black, Chipboard (42950) - Thickers, Tiara Taffy Chipboard (42948) - Thickers, Aqua 8.5x11 (71133) - AC Cardstock, Black 8.5x11 (71157) - AC Cardstock

She kept the clean design of the ad as well as the fresh pink and black color combo.

For my card, I used this ad as a blueprint...

Supplies: 12x12 Cardstock Grass (71053) - AC Cardstock, 12x12 Cardstock White (71081) - AC Cardstock, Sprout Accents (43327) - MiniMarks, Backyard Assortment (43342) - MiniMarks, Purkey White (43274) - MiniMarks

Hope those give you some ideas for ripping out some ads for your next cards!

Rosewood

There's no denying that Rosewood is one of our favorite fonts at American Crafts.

You've seen this font in Hickory and Smokey Joe's Remarks Stickers, Frank MiniMarks, and now in the new Rockabye Thickers.

Here's a little background info on this great font:

Rosewood, like its relatives Zebrawood, Pepperwood and Ponderosa, was created by the designer trio K.B. Chansler, C. Crossgrove and C. Twombly, and has its roots in the slab serif style. The first weight displays the simplicity typical of display typefaces at the end of the 18th century. The other weights are playful variations on this theme. The tendency toward display and ornametal typefaces began with the English Industrial Revolution. The introduction of new machines made mass production possible in the print industry, a technique meant to constantly produce new and unusual products to sell to more and more consumers. Many of the typefaces created in this time were meant simply to catch attention and to advertise products. The two ornamental weights of Rosewood reflect this tendency and never fail to catch the reader’s eye. Rosewood, like Zebrawood and Schwennel, is a bicolor font, meaning that the weight Rosewood fill can be used as a decoration for the inner spaces of Rosewood regular. {From MyFonts.com}

Because of its easy readability, Rosewood is often used on ads.  Here's a couple I spotted...

 

Rosewood comes in both a regular and a fill version.  The regular version has a fun circus feeling to it.

Here's regular Rosewood being used in an ad...

I used the numbers from my Rockabye Thickers combined with spray mist to create a unqiue background on a layout.  Start by adhereing numbers in circles around the page...


Spray paint mist over top and let dry...


Peel off the letters and you've got a cool painted background!

Supplies: Rockabye Powder (42955) - Thickers, Rockabye White (42954) - Thickers, 12x12 Cardstock Lagoon (71066) - AC Cardstock, Silver Linen (71184) - Specialty Paper, Travel (34589) - Patterned Paper Boxes, Text Ash (42982) - Thickers, Texting Journaling Assortment Black & Taffy (42534) - Remarks Books, Vacation (70003) - Flair, Cherry Buttons (8204) - Elements

Ad Inspired Week

Welcome to another fabulous week on the AC Studio Blog!  We've got some great projects to bring you with a fun new theme...

Everyday we'll be bringing you projects and ideas inspired by some of our favorite advertisements!  Ads are such a great design resource combining color, text, and images - the same bones you need for a scrapbook layout. Keep an eye out for billboards, ads in magazines, online ads, or even television ads that can be translated into your next crafty project.

Design Team member Mara-May shows us how to take a great ad design and use it as inspiration for a layout.  Here's her ad...

And here's her layout...

Supplies: Doris Spooler Paper (34729) - Craft Fair Collection, Elenore Battington Paper (34719) - Craft Fair Collection, Marge Hemingway Paper (34716) - Craft Fair Collection, Ruth Buttonham Paper (34725) - Craft Fair Collection, Passing Notes Paper(34643) - Teen Collection, Craft Fair Color Accents (43331) - MiniMarks, Journaling Book 1 Color Set 2&4 (42505) - Remarks, Every Email (78006) - Details, Craft Fair Made With Love (70024) - Flair, Medium Taffy Jewel Brads (85227) - Elements, Medium Apricot Jewel Brads (85228) - Elements, Round Dandelion (8208) - Buttons, Round Taffy (82130) - Buttons, Puffy Grapefruit Chit Chat (42904) - Thickers

She did an awesome job of using the angled design and circle accents.  I love how she kept the fun feeling of the ad in her colorful page!

I also wanted to shine the spotlight on the newest member of the in-house Design Team, Clairice Gifford!

Clairice grew up in Sidney, MT and now lives in Salt Lake City, UT.  She earned her BFA with an emphasis in Graphic Design from Utah State University and also has her AA from Ricks College.

Here's a little more about Clairice...

Reality t.v. show I would like to be on: Ace of Cakes for sure!

Favorite place to shop: Anthropologie and Hip and Humble

If you could travel anywhere it would be: Greece, Peru (to see Machu Picchu) and anywhere in Europe

Three CDs you would take on a cross-country road trip: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours, The Beatles Anthology, The Weepies - Say I Am You

The best thing about your new job is: The people are great and it's fun!

Welcome to the team, Clairice!  We can wait to see what you create!

Character Week Challenge

Congratulations to Barb the winner of last week's Spring Break challenge!  Very cool use of those Project 365 photos!  All of the layouts were incredible and it was awesome to see all those photos used on one page.  And now it's time again for your challenge!  We hope you'll join in this week using the Character collection.

Combine those papers for a chance to win a Character paper pack, set of Thickers, Flair, and MiniMarks!

Design Team member Shannon created this layout to help get you started...

Supplies: Chronicle paper (34748) - Character, Times paper (34752) - Character, Observer paper (34747) - Character, Planet paper (34745) - Character, 12x12 Cardstock White (71049) - AC Cardstock, Mini Brads Black (8471) - Elements, Mini Brads Cherry (8475) - Elements, Patchwork Black (42975) - Thickers,  Texting Journaling Book Color (42533) - Remarks Books, Sotheby's Neutral 1 (42458) - Remarks Cardstock Sheets, Precision Pen Black .03 (62311) - Pens

To be qualified to win: 
1. The layout must be posted to an online gallery or blog listing the American Crafts in your supply list.

2.  You must leave a comment on this blog post with a link to your layout online.  You also must fill in your email address when posting your comment on this blog post.

3. Layouts and links must be posted by midnight PST on Thursday, April 30.

Good luck and we can't wait to see all your layouts!

ACDT Four Product Challenge

What happens when you throw down a challenge to the AC Design Team?  They pick it up and run wild! 

The team was allowed to use Tribune paper (34751), Chronicle paper (34748), Typo Mustard Thickers (42979), and Conjunction Flair (70026) from the Character line.  White cardstock, pens, punches, and computer printing was also allowed.

Check out their awesome layouts...

Wendy took the Character logo from the bottom tab of the papers and included it in her page.  What a fun idea!

Celine used the papers for a great masculine layout.  I love the punched circles with distressed edges - a cool way to do tone on tone.

Nichole's layout is so simple and sweet.  A handwritten note in the title is the perfect touch.

Belinda even added the bar code from the bottom tab of the paper to her layout! 

Create some fun circles cut out of the backside of paper for a custom design like Erin did!

I love Amy's big title incorporating the pieces of Flair... so eye catching!

Kathy added her own cool type using colors from the patterned paper and printed right onto the background.

A word bubble takes center stage on Susan's layout... the perfect focus for to match the Character typography theme.

As you can see, all you need are few AC products to create a fabulous page!  Hope these ideas inspire you to try the four product challenge as well.

Postmarked Wednesday

Welcome to Postmarked Wednesday featuring AC Character products.  Today we've two awesome Design Team members bringing you ideas for cards. 

First up is Jill with her cool thank you card...
Supplies: Post paper (34744) - Character, Typo Peacock (42980) - Thickers, Text Accents Mulberry (42984) - Thickers, Questions (70027) - Questions

I love the piece of Flair inside the scallop Thicker!  They make a good match.

And Mel created a bonus card for you this week...

Supplies: Tribune paper (34751) - Character, Chronicle paper (34748) - Character, Herald paper (34755) - Character, Salutation (43335) - Character, Sentiment Phrases (43336) - Minimarks, Character vinyl (77201) -  Greenhouse, Character fleece (77202) - Greenhouse, Character chipboard (77200) - Greenhouse, Character bold (89127) - Ribbon

Look at her rock those MiniMark rub-ons!  She also layered together chipboard, vinyl, and felt Greenhouse pieces to create a unique accent.

All of the cards just use a little piece of patterned paper, so hopefully this inspires you to put those scraps to use!

A Hoop with Character

Looking for a fresh home decor idea using your scrapbook supplies?  Check out this cool altered hoop created by Design Team member Jen...
Supplies: Post paper (34744) - Character, Chronicle paper (34748) - Character, Times paper (34752) - Character, Ash Text (42982) - Thickers, White Text (42983) - Thickers, White Rockabye (42954) - Thickers, Conjunction (70026) - Flair, Black Fine (62001) – Slick Writer

Jen took a wooden needlepoint hope and covered the front with Chronicle patterned paper.  She trimmed out letters and numbers from Times paper to adhere to the hoop.  A little bit of inking on the edges helps them stand out.  Embellish with a couple Thickers and Flair and voila... you've got a fabulous pieces to display on a shelf or wall.

Thanks for the cool idea, Jen!

Character Week!

Happy Monday!  We're ready to kick-off a fun filled new week for you...

This week is all about the fabulous Character collection, which made its debut back in January and was a fast favorite among the Design Team. 

Letters are best known for their functionality – to create words and communicate ideas. But the Character line celebrates the beauty and versatility of the letter form – the lines, contours and shapes that make up letters themselves. We’ve elevated the alphabet to an art form and delivered it to your scrapbook. From ornate, abstracted patterns to fun, colorful collages, every design is composed exclusively of letters and characters.

Have you seen the cool papers from the Character collection?  All of the paper names have a theme... do you know what it is?

Here's a great layout from Design Team member Belinda using a variety of Character products...

Supplies: Herald paper (34755) - Character, Globe paper (34750) - Character, Planet paper (34745) - Character, Ledger (34749) - Character collection, Typo Black (42978) - Thickers, Typo Mustard (42979) - Thickers, Text Ash (42982) - Thickers, Text accents Ash (42985) - Thickers

See you back here tomorrow for a cool project from Design Team member Jen!

Spring Break Week Challenge

If you guessed that Marla's favorite product is B. Thickers you were right!  And congratulations to Tina Mayo, the winner of the Zing challenge last week!  You guys have some awesome embossing skills!

Here's another challenge for you to tackle.  This week's winner will get a vacation themed pack made up of a Travel paper pack, two sets of Subway Thickers, two sets of Subway Accents Thickers, and two packs of Flair.

We all come home from vacation with hundreds of photos to develop, so here's the chance to get them scrapped.  Create a layout with any theme that you'd like, just be sure to show us six or more photos.

Here's a page from Design Team member Nichole to get you started...
Supplies: 12x12 Cardstock Plum (71008) - AC Cardstock, 12x12 White (71081) - AC Cardstock, 12x12 Cardstock Aqua (71058) - AC Cardstock, Midge Gathermore paper (34714) - Craft Fair, Marge Hemmingway paper (34716) - Craft Fair, Faye Needleworth paper (34730) - Craft Fair, DIY (70022) - Flair Dandelion (8208) - Buttons, Travel Patterned Chipboard (77181) - Guesthouse, Bold Ribbon (89127) - Character, Patchwork Aqua (42974) - Thickers, Patchwork Black (42975) - Thickers, Typo Mustard (42979) - Thickers, Subway Cherry (42919) - Thickers, Black .05 (62321) Precision Pens

To be qualified to win: 
1. The layout must be posted to an online gallery or blog listing the American Crafts in your supply list.

2.  You must leave a comment on this blog post with a link to your layout online.  You also must fill in your email address when posting your comment on this blog post.

3. Layouts and links must be posted by midnight PST on Thursday, April 23.

Good luck and we can't wait to see all your layouts!