Exciting news!  Not only do we have the fabulous new Teresa Collins product in the store, we have a chance for you to win big!  Check out our new challenge for your chance to win this $50 prize pack.  There will be three lucky winners and you have through the end of August to enter.

Good luck!  - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* Deal of the Day: 60% off select a.favorite design

* There are 26 new digital kits in the store this week!

* Watch for Kitty's Weekly Warehouse Walk video going up this afternoon!  She gives you an up-close look at the new Teresa Collins product.

* Are you subscribed to our weekly newsletter sent every Tuesday?  Subscribe from here and get news on what's happening in the store + community, as well as coupons!

Hi peas.  It's Marcy here with a little bit about how I got the ombre effect with the Studio Calico Mistable Thickers on my "Don't Forget To Be Awesome" layout.

(If you're looking for the workshop giveaway winner from our Garden Girl blog hop, scroll to the end of this post!)

I started by placing my letter stickers on a sheet of wax paper.  I did this so that each word was on a separate piece.

Once this was done I trimmed off the excess.  I mostly just wanted a semi-slippery surface so that my thickers could be removed and placed on my layout when they dried.

From here I laid them out in different places on my page so I could get a feel for the rest of the design.

I gathered up the mists I wanted to use.  I figured I had two options.  Select multiple colors (ie. yellow, green and blue) and have them fade into each other... or select one color and make it darker as I go.  I decided it would be simplest just to stick with one color.

I keep a shipping box in my room that I use for misting (and spray painting light fixtures apparently) so I opened that up and placed my words in there one at a time and sprayed.

I had intended for my words to go from dark to light.  So the last word got sprayed lightly, the next word up got sprayed a little more, the next word up a little more and so on up.   It really is a bit of trial and error, but if you start from the lightest word and work your way to the darkest, you can always correct your tints as you go.

Once they were dry I used paper towels to clean up the drops of spray that sat on the wax paper and started laying my title out on my page.

One little side note... if you mist too much the thickers will absorb enough of the mist to come off the cardboard backing.  On my layout I adhered the word "Don't" with glue because of that.  So, if you're going to tackle this project definitely start with a light touch and work your way up.

All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out... even if it wasn't exactly like I pictured it.  So, how about you?  Have you tried the mistable thickers yet? - Marcy

p.s.  Congrats to Marshatf - you are our Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop winner!  We'll email you shortly with a link to the class. :)

Today at Two Peas:

* It's Monday!  That means there's a new batch of designer projects up from the Garden Girls.  Enjoy.

* Deal of the Day: 20-50% off select Spellbinders dies!

* Head's up!  There will be no Memory Keeping Monday today; we will resume with our regular schedule next week!

We've got a fun tutorial for you today!  Remember this layout we saw in the Garden?  Wilna has put together a video showing how she created her title using digital files and her Silhouette.  Check it out!  To see supplies for her layout, click here.

Making titles for a scrapbook page from Wilna Furstenberg on Vimeo

Hello and welcome to the weekend, Peas!  Time for our challenge round up!

Remember each challenge gives you a chance to win a $5 gift certificate, as well as earns you a badge for your Two Peas profile page.  Just click on the title of each challenge for details on how to enter, and scroll down to see last week's winners!

Weekly Scrap Challenge | Use ombre with Marcy Penner

From Marcy, "Hi there Peas. I'm here with a challenge for you this week… OMBRE!  I've been wanting to play around with the whole ombre trend lately (I'm seeing it everywhere - in decor, ads, fashion…) and using mists and the Studio Calico mistable thickers seemed like a great combo.
I wanted the title to be the focus of the page so there's minimal embellishing on the top half and some arrows and banners sprinkled on the bottom half.  I'll be sharing how I approached the mistable thickers on the Two Peas blog later in the month."  ...read more & see supplies here.

Weekly Photography Challenge | Architecture with Shimelle Laine

From Shimelle, "Hello photo-snapping Peas! Here's a new challenge for your week: consider the perspective and snap a bit of architecture!

In reviewing my favourite pictures of buildings from my own library, I realised there was a commonality: the sky! My favourite architectural pictures are those taken against an interesting sky - either the strong contrast of a rich blue on a sunny day or the drama that comes with stormy grey clouds. 

Of course sometimes that's not an option, so I looked for a couple of alternatives. Shooting architecture at night is an interesting twist. A flash won't do any good, but finding a place to keep your camera still and leaving the shutter open for a while will do the trick. To take the nighttime shot, I balanced my camera on the ledge of a bridge. Or during the day with a white glare to the sky, change the perspective to something that brings the foreground closer. In this last shot, the typical architecture is still on show, but the bicycles and the pavement give it more local flair than the flat white light of the sky that particular day.

Whether you snap a famous building or your own home, old or new, big or small… take an architectural photo this week and share it in the gallery!"

Saturday Card Sketch with Kimber 7.28.2012

From Kimber, "I purchased these little bags from Two Peas a month ago and have been trying to figure out different ways to use them on my cards. I think this is a perfect way. How fun would it be to send a friend tickets to the fair, movie or concert? Just tuck the tickets in the festive bag, tie a sentiment on with colorful baker's twine and you have a great little gift!"

Congrats to hav4boys, indyboy & sassiescrapper - we'll be in touch with you shortly on how to access your gift certificate!  And thanks to everyone who played along! - Jamie

Happy Friday, Peas!  Here's your weekly round-up of the projects and tutorial videos that went up this week.  This week Shannon gives you ideas for updating older supplies with new, Glitter Girl talks about what it means to ground a design, and Laura demonstrates putting together a cute card with an over hang.  Enjoy!

Memory Keeping Monday | Party Rock by Shannon Tidwell

From Shannon, "Hi and welcome to my July Memory Keeping Monday! I had such good luck with my layout last month I was a little nervous about what I would be able to follow it up with. I think I came up with something worthy! I hope you'll enjoy it.

This month one of our themes was ‘chipboard’. I love chipboard. It adds a fun amount of dimension without being too big & bulky. But you know me, I couldn't use just a little chipboard! I recently asked on my blog what your dream workshop would be and several people mentioned that they'd like to have one that helped them use their stash. That got me to thinking…I've got a stash…so this week I am incorporating some ‘stash’ chipboard into my layout. You can see that I'm updating it by covering it with washi tape. Now, nothing was wrong with the chipboard. I could have eventually used it ‘as-is’ but hey, at least I've used it now!"  .... read more and see supplies here.

The Adventures of Glitter Girl | Episode 030 You're Grounded

From Shimelle, "No, you're not in trouble. This week Glitter Girl takes on a question about a common design idea called grounding, something being discussed here on the general scrapbooking message board. Her adventure takes her through the creation of a new scrapbook page featuring the Everyday Eclectic collection by Echo Park and Allison Kreft.

Come along for the adventure, won't you?"...read more and see supplies here.

Finally Friday | Hello Friend by Laura Craigie

From Laura, "So, it's my favorite day of the week again! Finally Friday, and I'm happy to share a card with you guys today. I've cut this card down by 3/4 of an inch so that I could have some overhang and have it still fit in an envelope.  I've mixed up a few different Echo Park lines for the patterned papers, and the house stickers are also from Echo Park, from the So Happy Together line. The sentiment is comprised of a Pebbles stamp, and an October Afternoon banner sticker.  I also used my favorite new border stickers by Doodlebug to cover the line where the different papers overlap."  ...read more and see supplies here. 

Have a great weekend, Peas!  - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* Kristina has just added almost 400 products to our sale section, and further reduced the prices of products that were on clearance already!  Happy shopping. :)

* Finally Friday | Hello Friend by Laura Craigie

* Reminder: our Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop giveaway is still open!

Have you seen the work of Two Peas member tcochonneau?  We find Teka's style so inspiring!  We love her fresh use of trendy products and the unexpected ways she puts it to use - from a washi tape background to a block of eye-catching text made up of fonts and Silhouette cuts:

Lake Eola

On the Menu

Swing

Washi Love

Love card

b.

Doesn't she have you itching to scrapbook?!  You can check out the rest of Teka's gallery on Two Peas here! - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* A new Personal Shopper video!  I share 10 creative uses for mists as well as spray mists available and what fun products you can use with them here.

* Deal of the Day: 50% off select Helmar adhesive

* New products are arriving daily in the warehouse!

* Reminder: our Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop giveaway is still open!

We're loving the little talk bubbles we're seeing pop up in projects and products.  This icon is the perfect holding spot for a title, thought, card sentiment - even a recipe as we'll see below!  Here are a handful of projects we spied in the gallery from our talented members:

Dude by Vivian Masket

How clever! Vivian repeated the word "Dude" to help tell the story of her son's new favorite word. :)

Oatmeal Cookies by majban

Majban has shared both a cute page AND a yummy cookie recipe?!  Yes!

Facetime by 4shanna

Filling up a background with words and speech bubbles makes for one striking page.

And I couldn't resist sharing a little sneak peek of a layout Wilna Furstenberg has up her sleeve.  She's combined a handful of trends here - cameras, misting and a string of cartoon-y little talk bubbles.  You'll see it very soon in the Design Team Garden!

Here are just a handful of talk bubbles we're seeing in the store.  I think the clips and the die cuts are my favorite!

1.  Random Cardstock Speech Bubble Die Cuts  2. Digital Thought Bubbles  3. Quote Mini Album

4. Talking Bubble Paper Clips 5. Talking Bubble Sticky Notes

How are YOU using speech bubbles in your projects? - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* The Adventures of Glitter Girl | Episode 030 You're Grounded

* Deal of the Day: 30-75% off select Martha Stewart products

* We have tons and tons of new products arriving in the warehouse.  Our crew is very busy making room and putting all the new goodies on the shelves. :)

Today's edition of Get the Look is inspired by this layout from brodyn.  We love the processing of her photos, the worn and muted patterned papers, and the splashes of red.  Her whimsical layout screams "Summer!"  Here is how one might achieve brodyn's look:

1. Ticket wood mounted stamp 2. Cloth Feed Sacks paper 3. Basic Grid paper 4. Crisp stripe paper 5. Best Checkered paper 6. Sawyer wood paper 7. Kraft ticket strips 8. Red/Black shadow alpha stickers 9. Red, White & Blue Mini Flags 10. Bingo card set 11. Adventure stamps

Have a good day, Peas!  - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* There are 25 new digital kits in the store today!

* Deal of the Day: 25-75% off select Tim Holtz products!

* Reminder: our Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop giveaway is still open!

* Look for Kitty's Warehouse Walk video later this afternoon!

Each month the Garden Girls are assigned a topic for their projects.  Recently we asked them to work with the topic of "Love!"  Some chose to create a wedding card or layout, some scrapped about their significant others, while others chose a different kind of love to scrap.  Here is a small sampling of what they came up with, see their projects here!

Did you enjoy the Garden Girl blog hop yesterday?  Don't forget our giveaway is still open - and if you haven't hopped on through, do it!  You'll be inspired! :) - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* There's a new batch of Garden Girl projects up!  We love Mondays.

* Memory Keeping Monday layout + video: Party Rock by Shannon Tidwell

* Deal of the Day: 25-50% off select Bella Blvd

* We'll be announcing the CHA Summer Social prize winners on the message board.  Look for that announcement later this afternoon!

It's the 22nd, which means it's time for another edition of Gardeners' Digest!  In this blog hop from our Design Team, the Garden Girls, you'll see sneaks of what they've been up to, what's currently inspiring them, as well as their favorite projects.  You may even find a giveaway or two along the way!  Scroll down for our giveaway and the links for the hop.

Kristina is taking Nancy's Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop, as well as Lisa's Divide & Conquer Mini workshop.  She's applying the lessons from both courses to record her family's recent trip to Disney.  I can't wait until she's finished and able to share her album with us! :)

... the recent projects we've seen submitted to our CHA Summer Social challenges.  Here are just a few from our talented members!

1. Splash! by ninast  2. City Trippin by ania79 3. Hello by photochic1 4. I am Happy by kimberly.kalil 5. Flying to Barcelona by allinor 6. 31 by mommanno 

A sampling of Summer products we're currently loving:

1. Shoreline collection 2. Navy Stars album 3. Chiffon flowers 4. Index journaling cards (on sale!) 5. Bitty bags

Last week our Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop with Nancy Damiano was released!  Today we'd love to give away a spot.  You can read all about the amazing class she has going here.  Just leave a comment below with your Two Peas username by next Sunday the 29th at 11:59 pm CST for your chance to win.  If you've already purchased the class, still leave a comment!  We can either reimburse you or gift your spot to a friend.

Happy blog hopping!  Next on the hop is Shimelle.  Here are the links to the Garden Girls playing along this month.

Two Peas <<<< You are here!

Shimelle Laine

Jen Gallacher

Amy Heller

Jill Sprott

Lisa Truesdell

Shannon Tidwell

Nancy Damiano

Wendy Sue Anderson

Marcy Penner

Laura Craigie

Julie Campbell

Wilna Furstenberg

Good morning and Happy Saturday, Peas!  Time for our challenge round up!

Remember each challenge gives you a chance to win a $5 gift certificate, as well as earns you a badge for your Two Peas profile page.  Just click on the title of each challenge for details on how to enter, and scroll down to see last week's winners!

Weekly Scrap Challenge | Technology with Jill Sprott

See Supplies

From Jill, "This week's journaling challenge is to seek your “story” from the technology that surrounds you. You could gather together a bunch of recent tweets or status updates (as I did on my layout), incorporate an excerpt from a favorite blog post, or document a recent conversation in the form of a chat transcript or series of texts. You could also create a layout about the technology upon which you are dependent (check email first thing in the morning, or sleep with your cell phone nearby, anyone?), or even journal about your online “self” and the sites you frequent. 

I went with “ready-made” journaling for this page by gathering some of my Facebook status updates from the past month. Using my Cameo, I cut out the lettering, and under the negative space, I placed patterned papers, upon which I had printed the title over and over in binary code. I used a binary code converter online to enter my text and have it converted to zeroes and ones."

Weekly Photography Challenge | Hot & Cold with Laura Craigie

From Laura, "Laura Craigie here with a fun photo challenge! Take a picture that combines both a hot & cold element.  In my photos my hot tempered, and also hot from the summer heat, boy is learning about ice cubes. He was so MAD in the first picture because it was so cold, but he would not let go of it. Then he discovered he could treat it like a popsicle, and he enjoyed it till it was gone."

Saturday Card Sketch with Kimber 7.21.2012

See supplies

From Kimber, "If you couldn't tell by looking at my other projects, I love banner flags. :) I continually try to find different ways to use them. These little pre-made banners that are on the pattern paper by Pebbles was a perfect way to use this sketch. Also, a few manufactures have a pattern on the reverse side of their product info strip that is on the bottom edge of the paper. I like to use these vs. cutting them off an throwing them away. The red strip is the back of the info strip on this paper from Pebbles. So cute!"

Congrats to Frauke N, micheledutah  & hayleynz - we'll be in touch with you shortly on how to access your gift certificate!  And thanks to everyone who played along! - Jamie

Another thing the Peas mentioned they would be searching for in this summer's releases was something to fill the gap in the letter sticker market: we have great letter stickers in the larger sizes and some very useful mini letter stickers, but that middle size range can be a hard one to find!  Your wishes have come true: there were plenty of in-between letter stickers on the show floor!

These sets are from the new Snap collection by Simple Stories - and they come in a pack with multiple colours (see all the shades above), for a retail price around the five dollar mark, so these would be a great pick for your stash.  The colours look great individually or mixed together, so you'll be able to spell more before you run out of vowels.  There are two options - the font itself or smaller letters on block tiles.

Turquoise is definitely a big colour at the moment!  But colour aside, these flat letter stickers from Pebbles are a great size.  These are the biggest of all the letters in this post but they are not a huge font and will be great for a variety of titles.

Stamp company Lawn Fawn have extended their consumables to include letter stickers now as well as paper, and their font is a nice in-between size for both cards and scrapbook pages.

All the collections at Echo Park include sticker sheets with a variety of letters to match, but this sheet from their new Photo Freedom collections (designed for scrapping with pocket page protectors) particularly caught my eye.  Lots that any scrapper could use here - two versatile alphabets that aren't too small or too big and the rest of the page is packed with versatile motifs.

Then some of the best in-between letters already on the market have some new colours.  Jillibean Soup added denim, orange, kraft, black and white to their Alphabeans stickers.  (By the way, the existing colours are currently on sale at Two Peas! Find them here to grab that bargain.)

October Afternoon also added new colours to its Mini Market letter sticker line, including a lovely hot pink shade and a new woodgrain print! Both of those are definitely on my wish list, so look for those in Glitter Girl's adventures once these lines hit stores later this year.

Anything here strike your letter sticker fancy?  Or are you still searching for some letters you'll really love?

It's Friday which means it's time to post our recent class videos!  We hope you have a great weekend ahead of you, Peas!  Just click on the links below to see supplies and more detail images.

Memory Keeping Monday | Journey by Jen Gallacher

From Jen, "This month I'm focusing on incorporating chipboard into my layout design. There are lots of different kinds of chipboard: raw, sticker, alphabet, die cut. You can alter chipboard with glitter glue, glossy accents, paint, stamps and stamping ink, and by layering patterned paper or other items on top.  This layout combines chipboard stickers from several companies. Don't be afraid to mix and match products to get just the look you want.

Watch the video for the start-to-finish instructions for creating this layout:"  See supplies & challenge  here.

The Adventures of Glitter Girl | Episode 029 Scenic Solutions

From Shimelle, "This week Glitter Girl takes on those patterned papers that are beautiful but challenging, something being discussed here on the general scrapbooking message board. Her adventure takes her through the creation of two new layouts in an extended episode featuring October Afternoon papers.  Come along for the adventure, won't you?"  See supplies & challenge here.

Finally Friday | Flip Gift Card Holder by Julie Campbell

From Julie, "Need a fun way to package up a gift card? Try out this easy-to-make flip card & coordinating envelope!  I used a few elements from a Daybook by Amy Tangerine. The pages are easy to separate from the book & come in so many fun prints & patterns. (This doesn't harm the Daybook & you can still use the remainder of the pages to complete your album.)."  See supplies + challenge here.

Tomorrow we've got a new batch of weekly challenges and challenge winners for you! Also, don't forget you have a couple more days to enter the CHA video giveaways and challenges for a chance to win new product prizes! :) - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* Deal of the Day: 25-75% off select Crate Paper!

* Finally Friday card + video | Flip Gift Card Holder by Julie Campbell

Did you see?  We're running a hot, hot, hot Summer sale!  There's just a couple days left, be sure to check it out.  :)

Also, we're having tons of fun with our CHA Summer Social!  If you haven't checked out the photos from our buyer as she roams the tradeshow floor, entered a giveaway, discussed your favorite upcoming product releases, or joined in a creative challenge or two, what are you waiting for?  See all the fun here.

Today at Two Peas:

* Two new videos are up!  This week's Glitter Girl Adventure and Personal Shopper videos.  Enjoy!

* Deal of the Day: 25% off select punches & tools.

* Our CHA Summer Social continues!

Just before CHA opened, mild-mannered scrapbooker Shimelle Laine asked the Pea community 'what would be your dream product to find at CHA?' and several scrappers replied to say they were hoping for a new spin on doilies: mini doilies perhaps.  Even camoflaged doilies were fathomed.  Whilst I have not found any camo-print doilies at CHA Summer thus far, perhaps it is because they are so well camoflaged they are hard to see?  Of course, it would also be possible to drape oneself in traditional crochet doilies as camoflage.  You know, for those times when you don't want to be seen by the enemy in an antique store... or something.  Not too sure that's a winner of a product, but there are definitely still doilies in abundance in the papercrafting world, so here are a few stand-out product picks for any doily-lover's shopping list!

We R Memory Keepers has added crocheted doilies to the embellishment options of a few lines, in a pack with a variety of colours and sizes.  Here you can see their pale snowy shades in the Winter Frost collection, and above in the bright holiday tones for Yuletide, the WRMK Christmas collection for 2012.

Studio Calico brings in a new doily-inspired shape in a small size, perfect for layered embellishment or for scattering around a page.  This shape comes packaged with snowflakes and would look great mixed with that winter motif but could be far less seasonal when used on its own.  I'm thinking it could make a great match to a patterned paper with a large dot print - imagine a doily sat inside several circles of a printed. design.  Perfect for adding dimension and texture.  And you can choose any colour you would like, as they come in the wood veneers and the mistable Thicker shapes, both of which can be customised with colour or left as-is.

If you prefer your doilies in the printed variety, then check out this gorgeous paper in the Grandma's Lima Bean Soup collection from Jillibean.  It mixes all sorts of favourite patterns in small doses: text, gingham, woodgrain, newsprint, stripes, dots and doilies!  Perfect as a whole sheet, a box or cut into separate circles if you like.

Or how about seasonal doilies? Echo Park has doilies in both their Halloween and Christmas line-ups, in their Chillingsworth Manor and This & That Christmas collections.  (There is also a pretty floral doily pattern in their updates to For the Record, if you prefer something a bit less calendar-specific.)

Small doilies: check! But still on the look-out for those camo-print pretties.  I'll get back to you if they ever reveal themselves.

So... which doily is your favourite doily?

Hi Peas! My 2012 : Captured class for July went live yesterday, and this month I'm talking about using paper scraps and 6x6 paper pads in your Project Life album. I love diecutting these little scraps - it's a great way to make accents for journaling cards. Today, I wanted to share a way to convert a layered digital card file into a Silhouette cut.

Hello and welcome to the first day of our CHA Summer Social!  The show begins tomorrow, but we're kicking off the fun today!  We've got lots of fun activities lined up for you...chats, challenges, prizes, videos and more!  See it all from the event homepage.  And keep checking back as we'll be updating with more and more content as the week progresses.  Have fun!  Now we'll leave with you an Instagram Kristina tweeted from the road - our team is on their way to Chicago now!

Getting creative and scoring brand new product - what's not to love?!  You've got a chance to do both when you play along in our CHA Summer Social challenges!  We've got 10 to choose from -have fun with them!

Challenge #1 - Color combo with Marcy

Challenge #2 - Create a Fall project

Challenge #3 - Create a layout from Jill's list of supplies

CHA Summer '12 Challenge #4 with Jen Gallacher - Use Fabric

Challenge #5 - Use your favorite collection

Challenge #6 - Use this sketch!

Challenge #7 - Christmas in July

Challenge #8 - Combine 3 trends

Challenge #9 - Put it in a Pocket

Challenge #10 - A Journaling Prompt

You have a week to play along, just click on the challenge links for details.  We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Twice a year, the craft industry gathers for the CHA trade show to debut all sorts of new products and paper collections, and this summer Glitter Girl is there with one specific agenda: to find all the products that will help the Peas scrap even happier than ever!  She'll be reporting from the show with an eye for products that will solve your problems and answer the questions that come up on the General Scrapping message board, of course.  

The show floor opens on Tuesday, so look out for Glitter Girl's blog posts here this week, and keep an eye on the message board to see if you can catch her dropping in for a chat!  Until then, you can catch up with Glitter Girl in her weekly video adventures at Two Peas!

The CHA Summer show begins this Tuesday, but we're kicking it off tomorrow with our semi-annual online party!  The Garden Girls will be hosting hour-long chats with giveaways this week on the CHA Summer message board forum.  Come chat with us!

Here is the chat schedule!  

(If you're needing help with time zones, check out this site.)

 Monday: 
10 am CST - Wilna Furstenberg
3 pm CST - Jill Sprott

 Tuesday: 
9 am CST - Wendy Sue Anderson

1 pm CST - Amy Heller
7 pm CST - Laura Craigie

Wednesday: 
10 am CST - Lisa Truesdell & Marcy Penner
 2 pm CST - Jen Gallacher

We hope to see you there!

Today is the 15th which means Lisa's got a new Project Life lesson for you in her free class series, 2012: Captured!  See the July lesson on using patterned paper and picking up your scrapping pace, and check out her guest projects from Celine and Laura as well!  

Don't forget all of the helpful lessons, guest projects, discussion archives and member challenge submissions can be viewed from the class homepage.  We trust you'll have a very inspired Sunday!  See you tomorrow as we begin our CHA Online Social! - Jamie

Hello and Happy Saturday!  Here are this week's challenges from the Garden Girls!  If you're looking for our October Afternoon or Cosmo Cricket challenge winner announcement, just scroll down when viewing the blog!

Remember each challenge gives you a chance to win a $5 gift certificate, as well as earns you a badge for your Two Peas profile page.  Just click on the title of each challenge for details on how to enter, and scroll down to see last week's winners!

Weekly Scrap Challenge | Mix Up Letter Stickers with Wendy Sue Anderson

From Wendy, "For this week's challenge, use at least four different styles of letter stickers on a layout! I love mixing letter sizes, colors, fonts, and brands. There are no rules and no right or wrong way to do it. Simply choose some colors that work well with the other elements of your page and go for it!

One of my favorite new products that makes mixing and matching easy is Doodlebug's teensy type letter stickers. There are 3 different styles of lettering and 3 shades of one color on each sheet. I'll link all of the colors here - just scroll down to check them out! The Lilybee design abc stickers are another favorite of mine - I love having so many color options on one sheet - check them out as well! Don't feel like you are limited to these brands - mix and match and have lots of fun! I can't wait to see what you come up with. :)"

Weekly Photography Challenge | Bring color to your photos with Wilna Furstenburg

From Wilna, "Hi Peas… Wilna here with another photo challenge! Do you ever wonder how to spice up your pictures to get more color? Try props! Like a helium balloon or like i did in these pictures, a kite! They are cheap and readily available. and so much fun to play with.
Let's see how much color you can bring to your pictures this week!"

Saturday Card Sketch with Kimber

From Kimber, "This is an easy sketch that can be translated a million times for any theme. I used a vellum envelope for my center focal point and filled it with some wood veneer stars from Studio Calico. I LOVE how they look in the envelope. You could do this same thing with any punched or die cut shape. The wood shapes are just something different."

Congrats to rachelelynn, gooby, & jingres    - we'll be in touch with you shortly on how to access your gift certificate!  And thanks to everyone who played along!

Stop by the blog tomorrow as we have a new 2012: Captured lesson from Lisa to help with your Project Life albums. :) - Jamie

We have another batch of winners to announce; this time it's for our October Afternoon project challenge.  Thanks so much to everyone who played along and to our friends at October Afternoon for sponsoring.  We won't keep you waiting - here are the three winners of a $50 prize pack from October Afternoon:

Congratulations to jskahn, kellyshults, and kristine!  We will be in touch with you shortly regarding your prize pack.  Thank you again for playing along!

Thanks so much to everyone who played along in the challenge, and to our friends at Cosmo Cricket for their generosity!  Without further ado, here the three winners of a $50 prize pack from Cosmo Cricket:

Congrats to toomanycrayons, photochic17, & adogslife13!  We will be in touch with you shortly regarding your prize pack.  Thank you again for playing along!

It's the end of the week which means it's time to post our recent class videos!  We hope you've had a great week, Peas!  Just click on the links below to see supplies and more detail images.

Memory Keeping Monday | Over & Over by Lisa Truesdell

From Lisa, "When I'm working with more than one photo, I often turn to a grid design to make my layout come together quickly. In this week's Memory Keeping Monday video, I'm sharing some tips on how to look beyond the traditional grid to make a page more dynamic.

For this week's challenge, I'd love to see you do a grid based page! Whether you stick to orderly rows or break your grid as I've done, it's a great starting point for any layout."

The Adventures of Glitter Girl | Episode 028 Same but Different

From Shimelle, "This week Glitter Girl looks at the difference between ribbon and washi tape, something being discussed here on the general scrapbooking message board. Her adventure takes her through the creation of a new layout using washi tape as a flat embellishment and ribbon for quick and easy touches of dimension and texture.

Come along for the adventure, won't you?

Finally Friday | Sweet as Candy by Kandis Smith

From Kandis, "The new stamps and diecut combo sets are so fun to work with–and make stamping a little easier! You don't have to cut anything out! They are quick and simple to work with. Watch my video to see how to use them in this sweet summer card.

Your challenge: Use a flower stamp on a card!"

We'll see you tomorrow with a new batch of challenges! - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* Deal of the Day: 75% off select Graphic 45!

* We've restocked many of the items that have been so hot in the store - October Afternoon, Crate Paper, Elles Studio & more here!

* We're loving all the sign-ups we're seeing for Nancy's Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop!  If you haven't seen this yet, check it out here.

* Finally Friday card & video | Sweet as Candy by Kandis Smith

Did you catch this recent freebie in the digital store?  Love the way these templates make putting pages together a snap!  Check out this gorgeous page by fruitysuet using the kit:

The kit includes a layered template to be used in Photoshop, as well as a .tiff file.  Unsure how to use a layered template?  Check out this tutorial (just download the PDF)! If you're not fond of using the computer, Lisa Truesdell gives a great how-to on a way you can use a digi template with your Silhouette for paper scrappers here.  Enjoy!

Today at Two Peas:

* Deal of the Day: 25% off select Colorbox!

* My Personal Shopper video will be up early this evening!

* Did you see the Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop with Nancy Damiano that went up yesterday? We love all the excitement we've been reading on the boards. :)

A new self-paced class has been added to our library of workshops!  We've been eager to release a workshop that helps inspire you in scrapbooking your family's vacation adventures; we feel Nancy is the perfect instructor to guide you on the journey! 

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Relive the magical memories you’ve shared with loved ones as Garden Girl Nancy Damiano takes you on a creative journey documenting your family vacations. From America’s favorite theme parks, cruises, road trips to day trips – we’ve got you covered! (Note:  This workshop covers domestic travel only – we’ll tackle Europe & the world in a future workshop.)

 So whether you’re still in the planning stages of this year’s vacation or sitting on stacks of old photos, Nancy’s got a plan for you! Join her as she guides you through a step-by-step process to divide, conquer and scrapbook those vacation photos. 

Included in the workshop are 50 brand-new scrapbook pages showcasing a variety of family destinations, helpful, printable PDF's and 5 brand new videos to walk you through the ins and outs of organizing and scrapbooking your vacation.  Each video covers Nancy's approach to tackling vacation layouts, her perspective on using design in your pages and the creation of a layout from start to finish.

The lessons include:

Chapter 1: Planning & Organizing

Chapter 2: Put Your Mouse Ears On

Chapter 3: Day Trips & Tourist Destinations

Chapter 4: Beachside

Chapter 5: Round-Ups & Memorabilia

Nancy’s eye for detail and design, paired with her passion for travel and knack for teaching make this a workshop you do not want to miss!

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The content of this workshop will be available immediately upon purchase. The lessons are available for you to work at your own pace and upon purchase can be accessed in the "Workshops" section under "Classes & Events." A private message board forum is also available to ask questions for Nancy and to connect with other participants. Enjoy! 

Cost of workshop: $25 | Shop Here

There has been a lot of buzz this week as your favorite papercrafting manufacturers are revealing their newest designs - the excitement only continues as we anticipate the Craft and Hobby Show in Chicago next week!  Kristina has been busy placing orders for all the new goodies, and our warehouse team is working hard to make room in the warehouse.  As always, we'll be hosting a party to oooh and ahhh over the new releases as a community!

Join us next week in the Events section of Classes & Events for all the fun and festivities.  There will be Garden Girl-led chats, creative challenges, videos featuring the new goodies the vendors have sent us, a special blog series and as always, prizes!  Oh, and there will be a lot of shiny new badges to add to your profiles for those who have a serious love for flair.  See you then! 

Hey Peas!  Laura Craigie here to show you a quick tutorial, and share some other fun ways to include Washi tape on your cards!  Like most of us I'm just loving using washi tape, and want to put my growing collection to use more often 

1.  If there is one thing I love as much as washi tape, it's embossing folders. I love how easy it is to add texture to your projects, so I thought why not combine the two for this card.

See supplies

Well that was super easy, and turned out really cute I think.

2.  In this great example Pea Kathy Martin uses multiple washi pieces to create a fun background for her card.  I love how bold the different pops of color look. 

4.  In this Finally Friday video I show how you can make an easy frame element on your card using washi.  Just rip it and place it down in the shape you want.  Don't be afraid to sew through it either, it does not gunk up your needle or anything at all :)

4.  Then this next card by Mary-Jane is so simple, but it really just showcases the beautiful designs that washi comes in.  I would have never thought to have the pieces stand alone like that!  So simple and clever :)

5.  Lastly this lovely cupcake card by Kimber uses washi tape and toothpicks to make some adorable little flags for her card.  Endless idea for that one really, and such an inexpensive cute embellishment.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you feel inspired to use a bit more washi in projects! - Laura

Today at Two Peas:

* There's a new batch of digital kits in the store today!  Check them out here.

* Deal of the Day: 50% off select Canvas Corp.

* We'll be sending out our weekly newsletter!  Look for it later today here, or subscribe from the 'My: Account' section to get updates on coupon codes, new products and events in the community!

* Kitty's filming her Weekly Warehouse Walk video.  Look for it later this afternoon on her video series page!

The Garden Girls have been busy whipping up projects using their favorite tools.  Below are 5 projects where a handful of our design team members discuss what favorite go-to products they reach for often.  Just click on each to learn more and see their projects and supplies!

End of School Year Album by Amy Heller

Amy loves using her dies to create the foundation for this special mini album gift.  Along with her dies, she relies on her tiny attacher stapler and sewing machine.

2012 Captured - Lesson on Punches & Planning Out a Project Life Week by Lisa Truesdell

Each month in her 2012: Captured series, Lisa touches on ways to get the most out of your supplies and gives practical ways to use them in a Project Life album.  This particular lesson goes over punches!

Maxing Out a Set of Supplies with Shimelle 

Shimelle goes over ways to stretch one of the most versatile tools we all have in our supplies - a kit!  You don't have a kit?  Well, just pull one together and create one of your own.  She created 8 pages from the small kit she put together and shares them in her video.  Try a similar challenge for yourself!

"Bored" by Jen Gallacher

It's amazing the possibilities just a few basic tools offer - Jen goes over what you can do with a handful of simple supplies in her layout and video.

Sushi by Shannon Tidwell

Shannon admits she's a tool junkie.  See how she uses them in fun and unexpected ways on her funky page in her layout & video!  - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* It's Monday!  Be inspired by the new batch of Garden Girl projects that went up this morning.

* Memory Keeping Monday video | Over & Over by Lisa Truesdell

* Deal of the Day: 25-75% off select Hambly Studios (Reminder: Sadly, Hambly announced they will no longer be manufacturing product - this is your last chance to scoop it up!)

If you're a digi or hybrid scrapper you'll want to be sure to check out the July Pea Soup collaboration.  At the beginning of every month the Two Peas digital artists release a large batch of kits all coordinating in color - that way you can mix and match products and create your own custom kit.  You don't have to be from the USA to love this release, there's something for Canadians and UK Scrappers here too!  - Jamie

Hello Peas!  The Garden Girls are ready to give you a boost on your weekend crafting with a new batch of challenges!

Remember each challenge gives you a chance to win a $5 gift certificate, as well as earns you a badge for your Two Peas profile page.  Just click on the title of each challenge for details on how to enter, and scroll down to see last week's winners!

Weekly Scrap Challenge | Color combination challenge with Wilna

See supplies

From Wilna, "Hello! Wilna here with one of my favorite color combinations: Green and pink. I used it just as an accent here and there.  Come and play with! make your page with this color combo and upload it!"

Weekly Photography Challenge | Long Depth of Field with Wilna

From Wilna, "… let's crank up that f stop all the way! A long Depth of field is a measure of how much of a photo is in focus. If you use a compact digital camera, and use it in auto mode, you probably have a “long” depth of field. This means that practically everything in your photo will be in focus. On a SLR, a long depth of field can be achieved by a higher aperture… like f/11. Again… it means that everything in your picture will be in focus… from the fore to the background.  Want to play?"

Saturday Card Sketch with Kimber

From Kimber, "I used one of these kraft doillies a few weeks ago and wanted to use one again this week. There are a ton in the package. ;) I simply cut it in half and then layered them with the rounded edges towards the center. You could easily do this with a large circle of paper as well. The doily is almost 4“ wide so it fits on a standard 4 1/4” x 5 1/2" card perfectly.

I hope you will use the sketch to create a card this week and load it into the gallery."

Congrats to nikkikeith7, janesjewels, & amanstee   - we'll be in touch with you shortly on how to access your gift certificate!  And thanks to everyone who played along!

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Looking for more challenges?  We've got you covered!  Each weekly project video invites you to play along, and we've partnered up with our vendors to bring you amazing prize opportunities!  Of course, you can see them all in one place all the time from our Challenge homepage. - Jamie

The week is drawing to a close, which means it's time for our class video round-up!  Happy Friday!

Memory Keeping Monday | Summertime Pie by Nancy Damiano

From Nancy, "Welcome to this week's episode of Memory Keeping Monday. Today I created a fun summertime pie chart page documenting how we spend out summers.. Watch as I show you step-by-step how to create these little triangles and add a pop of color to your layouts.

CHALLENGE: Make a pie chart page of the things you do in the summertime or the places you travel. I can't wait to see what you create!"

The Adventures of Glitter Girl | Episode 027 Deciphering Depth

From Shimelle, "This week Glitter Girl looks at various ways to create depth through embellishment, something being discussed here on the general scrapbooking message board. Her adventure takes her through the creation of new layout with plenty of embellishment - perfect for a title page of a new album.

Come along for the adventure, won't you?

Finally Friday | Miss You by Kandis Smith

From Kandis, "Welcome to another Finally Friday! I wanted to make a vintage postal themed card. October Afternoon has some great vintage papers in their Boarding Pass paper pad–that's what I used and also some fun new stamps from Hero Arts. 

Check out my video–I'm sorry for my hot glue gun not working–it kinda made a few seconds pause in the video. Your challenge: Create something red, white, and blue!"

We'll see you tomorrow with a new batch of inspirational challenges! - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* Deal of the Day: 30-50% off select Lawn Fawn stamps

* Good news - our mistake yesterday - the free shipping at $40 promo is good through TONIGHT!

* Finally Friday: Miss You by Kandis Smith

Welcome to another Finally Friday! I wanted to make a vintage postal themed card. October Afternoon has some great vintage papers in their Boarding Pass paper pad–that's what I used and also some fun new stamps from Hero Arts.

Check out my video–I'm sorry for my hot glue gun not working–it kinda made a few seconds pause in the video.

Your challenge: Create something red, white, and blue!

Poser by Amy Tan

We can't get enough of the Studio Calico mistables in the store.  We've shown you a couple ideas using these versatile embellishments before; now it's Amy's turn!  See her ideas for playing with the cameras, clouds & alphas in her video here, and check out the supplies she used in the layout above here.

We'd love to see how you are using the mistables!  Let us know in the comments and we'd love to check out your projects. - Jamie

We appreciate the valuable feedback you share when you leave product reviews in the Two Peas store.  That's why every month we give away a prize pack to a randomly selected product reviewer.  Here is the jam-packed prize pack for July made up of 3 Unity stamp sets, 3 Authentique 6x6 paper pads, 3 Maya Road chipboard embellishment packs, Doodlebug brads & Jenni Bowlin calendar bingo cards!  Just leave a review in the store and you're automatically entered.  For every review you do, you're given another entry!  

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Congratulations to cdnscrapper - you are our randomly selected product reviewer from last month!  The June prize set of goodies will be sent to the address in your Two Peas account shortly. :) - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* Reminder: today is the last day to take advantage of our Free Shipping at $40 promotion!

* Did you see the Glitter Girl episode that went up over the holiday?  Episode 027: Deciphering Depth

* Deal of the Day: 25-75% off select Studio Calico!

* My Personal Shopper video will be up this evening!

From us to you. :)  We'll be back on Thursday - Happy 4th!

P.s.  Looking for inspiration for the holiday?  Check out our patriotic collections, Garden Girl projects and recent digital release!

Hi all!  It’s Jill here, with a tutorial for how to create the multi-colored cameras you see here, from my layout “Fifteen.” 

Step 1.  Gather your materials:  one package of Studio Calico’s Heyday Cameras Mistable Thicker Stickers, a cardboard box, and several colors of mist.  I used three of my favorite Mister Huey’s colors, Boss Lady, Buttercup, and Mint Julep. 

Step 2.  Select several camera shapes in the same style and size, and place them in the cardboard box, spacing them apart a few inches.  Here, I’ve included three large cameras and three small ones. I chose the ones with the most interchangeable parts. 

Step 3. Spray each camera with a different color.

Step 4.  When the cameras are dry, take them apart, separating them into their individual components. 

Step 5.  Mix and match the pieces to create multi-colored cameras.

That’s it!  These are definitely a snap to create. - Jill

See all the mistable products from Studio Calico/American crafts here!

Today at Two Peas:

* There's 47 new digital kits in the store today, including kits from new designers Baers Garten Designs & Truman Studio!  Check them out here.

* Deal of the Day: 30-50% off select Webster's Pages.

* We'll be sending out our weekly newsletter!  Look for it later today here, or subscribe from the 'My: Account' section to get updates on coupon codes, new products and events in the community!

* Kitty's filming her Weekly Warehouse Walk video.  Look for it this afternoon on her video series page!

Sources: 1, 2, 3 & 4

Hello Peas and Happy Monday!  Today we are looking at one of my favorite trends - ombre!  This graduation of tones in color can be spotted all over - from nail art, to hair, to home decor - and today we'll see it in papercrafting too!  Take a look at how these talented scrapbookers are creating ombre effects on their layouts:

Star Wars Love by neroliskye

Neroliskye put her watercolors to work!  Try painting on a couple scrap pieces to practice and perfect the look you want.

Sweet Like Sugar by amandaresende

This look is gorgeous all on its own, but you can certainly add pops of color and elements for a fun, playful look like Amanda did here.

OC Snaps by Nancy Damiano

Nancy has arranged columns of paper scraps in a rainbow of colors to create an interesting block of pattern, giving weight to the lower half of her page.  You can watch a video on how this layout came together here.

Ahoy by kinseywilson

There is double the ombre here - both in Kinsey's background paper and her punched circles!

A few ways of creating this look for yourself?  Try using mists, stamps, paper, paint!  Line up tints in the same hue and marvel at the graduation of color!  Have you tried this look on a project?  We'd love to see?  Just let us know in the comments below! - Jamie

Today at Two Peas:

* There's a new release of Garden Girl projects!  We *heart* Mondays.

* See Nancy's new Memory Keeping Monday video!  She's created a fun Summer pie chart on her layout.

* Deal of the Day: 50% off select Design Memory Craft products

It's been awhile since we've done a member spotlight post, and when we recently stumbled across the work of MissSmith, we knew we wanted to share her work with you!  

Play

You'll notice lots of bits and pieces in her work along with layering and smaller photos.  She mixes up the composition in her layouts, each one having a different and unexpected arrangement of elements.   She has a knack for tying the background papers and designs in with the whole of her layouts.  Here are just a few of our favorite pages:

Dancin' In the Rain

Team Armenia

A Trip to the Tower

An Ill-Fated Trip to Asia

You can see more of MissSmith's work on Two Peas here, and check out her blog here.  We hope you enjoyed her pages as much as we do! - Jamie