Trend Spotting – Word Art for Walls

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Meredith

Creating art from words is really trendy. And what a fun trend! Whether you are browsing Pinterest, Etsy or home decor blogs you see signs, wall art and framed word images. I love this trend! Not only do our photos have meaning, but when you add words or quotes to your photo collages it can help the photos take on even more meaning. It can help tie the collage together. I have always loved letters. As a child, I loved playing with blocks that had letters, letter magnets, puzzles and books. I have always loved having notebooks and paper and pens so that I can doodle letters. So, this word art trend is extremely fascinating for me! I decided to take advantage of this trend to make some signs for my house!

Does your family have a phrase or mantra? I have recently declared a new one for our family for 2013. My girls really are adorable and they are very good kids. But they are kind of lazy. When they don’t want to do something, like clean their toy room or practice the piano, they always say that they can’t do something because it’s “too hard.” My husband and I are constantly reminding the girls that they CAN DO hard things. I find myself saying it so often, I decided to make a sign for my kitchen.

Digital Scrapbook Printable - Do Hard Things | Meredith Cardall

I hope that seeing that image on the wall multiple times every day will help that phrase stick in my children’s minds. They CAN DO hard things! When they are crying about not being able to zip their own coats, I just point to the sign and say, “What does it say?”. They respond, often in unison in a bored tone, “I can do hard things.” To which I reply, “Yep, that’s right! You CAN do hard things. So take a deep breath, try again and if you need help, ask for it. No tantrums.” (No tantrums was another option for our kitchen wall sign!)

At the beginning of the year, there was a lot of talk about what people’s One Little Word would be for the year. I tossed several around, and kept changing my mind. I had a really hard time settling on a word, so I decided on a phrase first, “Good, Better, Best.” I feel like for the most part, I make pretty good choices. But I need to focus on being “better.” So, my word for this year is “better”. I wanted to make a word image to serve as a reminder for this year, but I didn’t want to just hang the word “better” over my desk. So, I created a sign that says “Make a BETTER choice.”

Digital Scrapbook Art - Better Choice | Meredith Cardall

I really LOVE how these turned out! I was able to combine my love for fonts, chalkboards (sans chalk dust!) and Photoshop into one (or two) project(s). Who doesn’t love layering fun stuff on top of fun stuff? I bought my frames at Hobby Lobby. A very special THANK YOU to the printers at Persnickety Prints for always doing a fabulous job!

So, here is my challenge to YOU! I want you to think of one word or phrase or quote that embodies a trait or characteristic you have or want to have. Create an original* piece of digital artwork with your word, phrase, or quote that is 8×10 inches (original size). Upload your photo to an online gallery or photo sharing website. Come back here and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below! Deadline to submit artwork is Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 11:59pm EST.

*original means that you didn’t download someone else’s artwork or word-art or subway art and try to pass it off as your own. You may use digital scrapbook products or graphics to assist you in the creation of your word art.

Creating your word art with one of my products will earn you an extra entry.

Here’s the good stuff… the PRIZES!

One lucky random winner will receive the following:

1. A printed copy of their word art shipped to them for FREE by Persnickety Prints!
2. A $15 gift card to Hobby Lobby OR Michael’s OR JoAnn’s OR Target OR Walmart so that they can buy a frame for their word art.
3. A $25 gift certificate to Persnickety Prints!

Rafflecopter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Do you need a digital scrapbook kit or alpha to get you started? Here is a coupon good for 25% off your purchase in my store at ScrapOrchard.

code: QuoteIt25%4u
Take 25% off your purchase of products by Meredith Cardall at ScrapOrchard.

Offer good thru 02/15/2013 at 11:59pm EST Coupon may not be used with any other sales, special offers or discounts. When using this coupon code, please be sure that you do not have any other sale items in your cart. Using this code will revert all your sale prices back to their original prices. Only one coupon may be used per order, one coupon code per person. Must be logged in to use coupon code.

Thank you to Persnickety Prints for donating the finished print and the $25 gift certificate!

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Arise and Shine Forth

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Meredith

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Today I would like to take a few minutes and show you what ELSE you can do with your digital scrapbook supplies.

In my church, I work in the Young Women’s organization. It’s a program specifically designed for 12-18 year old girls. There are Young Women’s groups scattered around the world. The worldwide theme for 2012 is Arise & Shine Forth. At the beginning of the year, I created a poster for each of my girls, using my digital scrapbook supplies. I shared my poster with a few friends who are also in the Young Women’s organization and they encouraged me to share it. I was hesitant to share it here, but I finally decided that I want to!

Download here*

(These posters may NOT be used for any commercial project or endeavor. The graphics may not be reverse engineered. If you need to print more than 50 copies of this poster for your YW organization, please email me for permission at mcardall@gmail.com. Do not share the direct link to this file with anyone else. Do not re-post the link to this product. Please direct others to this blog post and allow them to download it directly from me. Copyright marks must be remain intact when this file is printed. Don’t worry, it’s discreet!)

These posters are 11×17. If you print them at Office Maxx on the heavy duty coated card stock, they look really good and they are less than $2 each. I also had the white borders trimmed off. If you want them to look absolutely spectacular, then print them on photo paper at Persnickety Prints. I bet this would look amazing printed on metallic photo paper!

This poster was creating using my What Friends Are For digital scrapbook kit, available at ScrapOrchard.

Digital Scrapbook - What Friends For | Meredith Cardall

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A week in my life… Is it summer yet?

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Meredith

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Hi, it’s Meredith here. This is the first in what will hopefully be a long series of weekly posts about what’s going on in my life. You all know me as a digital scrapbook designer, but I am also a wife, a mom, a daycare lady, a PTA lady, and sometimes just a cranky lady (that’s what my kids like to call me sometimes!). I used to blog every day, at least once, and I loved it. I don’t know why I stopped blogging, but I really miss it. I miss expressing my thoughts and feelings in written words. I miss simply recording what happened in my day.

Sometimes this post will have a point, sometimes it won’t. Sometimes it will have a little freebie for you, sometimes it won’t. Sometimes this post will be informative and useful for you, sometimes it won’t. This post will be duplicated on my family blog- which I haven’t written on in a very long time. What this post will be, is a chance to get to know me- the real me, in all my imperfections and flaws, as well as all the good things. So, let’s get this party started.

Is it summer yet? It feels like summer is never going to get here. My feelings about this summer remind me of when I was little kid, anticipating the end of the school year, and it felt like the more I wanted it to come, the longer it took. But in five days, after my older daughter gets home from school, I’ll probably wish it were over so I can get my sanity back. Someone please tell me that I am not the only one whose children fight all day long. It isn’t big fights, it’s petty little arguing. It could be much worse. This last week has been incredibly busy with all the usual life things, plus all the end of the school year things. I scrapped a page about this week-

digital scrapbook page by Meredith Cardall

On Sunday, we drove up to Layton- about 30 minutes from here- to attend a missionary farewell for my cousin. He’s a cute 19-year-old boy who is leaving home for two years to serve a mission where he will be teaching people about our beliefs. I really admire him for the sacrifices he will be making. He is taking two years away from his life to teach people. What an amazing thing to do! After church, we went to his parents’ (my aunt & uncle) home for lunch and to get together with our family members who live here in Utah as well as his older sister (my cousin) who I haven’t seen in almost five years! We only stayed for a few minutes, but it was so nice to be able to see family members and talk to them. Later that night, we went to my sister-in-law’s house to eat dinner and hang out. I actually took my laptop and scrapbooked with my sisters-in-law. I finished five pages in just a few hours. I think that’s the first time I have scrapbooked in months. The pages weren’t gorgeous, but they were three-year-old photos and they are done! That feels good!

On Monday, it was Memorial Day. We went back to my sister-in-law’s house for a barbeque and swimming. It was a fun day. The kids had a great time swimming- it was the first time this year. Hannah surprised us by being able to swim the width of the pool under water. Last year, she kept stopping and standing halfway across. We were so proud of her! Thomas worked with her on jumping in the pool, without being afraid. She was climbing up the rocks to get to the waterfall ledge/ jumping in spot, and fell backwards and bruised her knee pretty badly. Then, she was playing on the steps in the shallow end and she slipped and smacked her ear on the side of the pool. A little while later Ainsley did the same thing. That little monkey, Ainsley, still won’t jump in or swim. But she can starfish float like a champ!

Tuesday, was the carnival at Hannah’s school. They had blow-up slides and jump-houses, as well as cotton candy, snow cones and popsicles. I took the girls alone. It was really crowded and the lines were long, so they only were able to go on three of the “rides” as they kept calling them. The girls really enjoyed themselves, though.

Thursday, Ainsley had her end of the year preschool party. I can’t believe that she is going to be in kindergarten next year. She’s my baby! Part of me is definitely ready for her to go to school and part of me is completely dreading it. I am sure that there will be tears from me on the first day of school next year. Our little preschool group had a lot of fun at their party. One of the moms hosted it at her house and she made all kinds of fun activities and games for the kids. The kids really loved it.

While Ainsley was at her preschool party, I went to Hannah’s school for her awards ceremony. Her school has a program where the kids have to complete 11 of 20 goals (they are the same for each child) and they receive a medallion. Hannah has gotten her award each year. We are so proud of her for her achievements. Her favorite goal this year was the one where she got to give service five times because she loves to help people. Despite her tantrums and sass, she really is a sweet girl!

Friday morning, Ainsley got to go to her aunt’s house and play with one of her cute cousins. Those two play together for HOURS without coming out of the toyroom or bedroom. They are hilarious little nerds. They love to pretend to be Power Rangers- they both have Power Ranger swords. They never fight! It’s so nice! While Ainsley was playing, I went back to Hannah’s school for the 2nd grade luau. Can I just say how much I LOVE Hannah’s teacher this year? She is so cute and so sweet and so amazing! She is incredibly patient and just has the perfect personality for Hannah’s personality. Two of the second grade teachers set up a luau with seven stations and a game at each one. The kids all had a marvelous time and I think the parents did, too.

Friday evening, Ainsley came out of the toyroom to show me- in her words- “something I drew.” I looked at her ~~expecting~~ hoping to see a piece of paper with some artwork. Not so lucky this time. She drew all over her arms and legs with a pink marker. Thankfully it was a washable Crayola marker. This is why we don’t usually have markers at our house, but Grandma Ruthie sent these to us for Easter. I knew I should have thrown them away. Ainsley did draw some beautiful smiley faces and peace signs up and down her legs. And just so she wouldn’t miss out on the fun, Hannah decided to write on Ainsley’s arm. Then Hannah grabbed a yellow marker and literally colored on her arm. She didn’t draw anything, she just wanted to see what her skin would look like is she colored it yellow. Her entire arm. Usually this kind of thing would make me crazy, but I really don’t know if I care. It’s washable marker. It’s not worth getting terribly upset over.

Saturday morning Hannah’s soccer team had a double header. The first game started at 9 and we had to be there at 8:30. That’s early on a Saturday morning when I haven’t slept much in the last week. There wasn’t a break between games and they played their little 2nd grade hearts out! We have the absolute best soccer coach ever. Again, her personality is just perfect for Hannah. Nat is so sweet and lets Ainsley practice with the big girls each week. Ainsley loves the attention.

Later that evening, we headed back up to Layton for another little cousin’s baptism. He is 8 years old and is a sweetheart. I love that kid! We don’t see this side of my family very often, but I have 4 sets of aunts and uncles and their children within 30 minutes of my house both north and south. I have one cousin who literally lives seven minutes away. My husband’s family all lives within five minutes of our house. I love that my kids get to know parts of both sides of our family. They get to spend time with their aunts and uncles from my husband’s side of the family and then my aunts and uncles and cousins from my side of the family- so there are multiple generations of family all around us. I love it!

So, this post ended up being a narrative of my week, but that’s okay. It has been a long week and I think I needed to write everything down just to process it. Next week promises to be just as busy as this week, but in a different way. I am working on several projects around my house as well as work stuff, so hopefully I will actually have something finished so I can show you some progress!

I did decide to make you a little digital scrapbook freebie. I made my scrapbook page into a quickpage for you all! I hope you like it!

Download here

I hope you have a fabulous week!

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Monday’s @ Mere’s : Holiday Happenings

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Susan

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Well it is that time of year when we need to come up with some quick and inexpensive gifts. Here’s a hybrid scrapbook project idea for you!

One of my favorite things is to find something already in a fun package and make it cuter with a little personalization. I found these yummy rolled cookies that I love so much that are in a fun tin container.

I used Meredith’s cute Christmas kit “Christmas Wishes” to make a template of sorts to cover it. I used papers and elements to make a fun design. I printed it on regular copy paper because I knew it would be discarded and I didn’t want to waste my photo paper(it would have looked a lot brighter and crisper with photo paper- so if you make something they would keep I would go that route.)

Because the paper was a little shorter than the tin I printed out an extra blank page to fill in the extra inch or so and to use for the top of the tin. I cut the circle for the top with my Cricut but you could just use a pencil and draw around the lid on the back of the paper and then cut it out by hand. You could also ink or chalk around the edges to add a little pop.

I used clear tape to wrap the tin and a glue runner to adhere the top piece. I then found some cute red/white ribbon to tie around the top and finished it off with a cute glittery mini ornament.

Now I just have about 8 more to make so I will have gifts ready in a moment’s notice.

Happy Hybrid Day!

Susan C.

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Monday’s @ Mere’s Many Thanks

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Susan

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Susan here with another hybrid scrapbook project for your Thanksgiving table.

I began with the new kit by Meredith Cardall called “Attitude of Gratitude.” I loved the look of the big yellow flower element so I chose that as my centerpiece for my name place cards. I then added a name plate with each of my family members name, a leaf and the word “Thankful” to each one. I also created a little family frame picture with more of the flower/leaf elements to spice it up. I printed it on photo paper with a background paper of brown with blue polka dots from my Memory Mixer file.

I printed X2 on photo paper so the backs will be as festive as the fronts. Then I trimmed it all out.

I then cut out some 5 inch brown circles with my Cricut and adhered them all together. Then I used some black wire that I bought at Lowes or Home Depot and with my handy dandy needle nose wire cutters I twisted and twirled the wire to make some holders for the place cards.

You just make a little vertical swirl at the top and a bigger horizontal swirl at the bottom. Easy way to make pictures holders too (use any color wire)

So now I’m ready to set the table for a Thanksgiving feast with the ones I love.

Happy Hybrid Day

Susan C.

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Brand New, Again

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Susan

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Hi! It’s Susan here, with a hybrid scrapbook project for you! Don’t you just hate throwing things away that you know can be used again? Well I want to save the environment as much as the next person but I also want something NEW! I’ve found a way to do both. You can call it re-purposing or what ever you wish but I call it “Brand New, Again”

I discovered this tin box that has previously held some foam stamps that now have a new home in a glass jar so I figured it was ready for a makeover.

I used papers and elements from Meredith’s darling kit aptly titled “A Brand-New Day“ I also used the dottie alpha from Meredith’s kit “Bushels Of Fun” I printed on photo paper and then cut it to fit the tin. I used a corner rounder for the edges and used some turquoise chalk around the edges to give it definition.

Then I used mod podge to adhere the design to the tin. One thin layer on first. Let it dry then one thin layer on top to seal it in (if you didn’t seal it and you got moisture on the photo paper it would damage the image) Then I added some fun ribbon to the handle and it’s ready to load some of your own personal items or fill it with goodies and given as a gift.

Happy Hybrid Day!

Susan C.

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Mondays @ Mere’s Treats Only

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Susan

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Happy Halloween everyone. Oh, how I love this time of year. My porch is loaded with pumpkins, hay bales and soon a whole bunch of trick or treaters.

I love to have containers of candy all over the house and I decided to make them a little more cheery with some fun digital designs by Meredith. I used her kit “Treats Only” I love the look of three jars together so I filled them with candy and made the word BOO with her great black glitter alphabet on a fun orange paper.

Then I cut it out and placed on black cardstock and adorned it with some Halloween “Bling”

Placed inside with the candy and then found this fun Trick or Treat ribbon and added it to the lids. You can change this out all year long. You can make JOY for Christmas, I (heart) U for Valentines, HOP for Easter, FUN for summer.

Then I found some super fun Halloween colored gumballs and loaded them in some glass containers. I tied them with the Trick or Treat ribbon and then I found some adorable accents from Meredith’s kit. I printed them on photo paper and then punched them out with a big round punch. Added them to black cardstock. Put an eyelet in them and tied them to the jar with some black floss.

Then I needed to get my boys Halloween treats for their school classes ready so I created these two different tags to attach to them. I found as I printed them out that they were a little large so I just doubled them up on a page so I got 8 to a page. Cut them apart. Hole puched them and then attached to the bags of candy.

Now that’s a whole lot of treats!

Happy Hybrid Day

Susan C

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