More card shares...

Just hopping on here for a quick post tonight.  As with most, I'm in still in the midst of holiday prep.  I just tucked my little ones in for the night, now I'm retiring to the basement to covertly wrap gifts and watch Love Actually!  Doesn't sound so bad, does it? ;)  However, before I get knee deep in wrapping paper, tape and tissue, I wanted to share a few more cards I've made recently.

It seems there are a number of my friends/family that are having/had new babies recently.  In order to be somewhat prepared ahead of time, I sat down to craft a few sweet greetings to welcome those precious new babes.  The cards are pretty self explanatory (I think!) and use up quite a bit of older product (does anyone recognize that OLD, OLD Making Memories paper???!?), so I won't list out all of the supplies, as I normally do.  If you have any questions about something I used though, please feel free to let me know in the comments.

Well, I said I was going to make this short and sweet, so here are the cards...

 

How cute are those little footprints?  That, along with the sentiment is a clear stamp from We R Memory Keepers.  You could easily change up the patterned paper and colors on this card to make it work for a boy.  The sentiment was stamped on vellum to make it stand out just a bit.

 

Again, switch up the color palette on this one pretty simply, to make it work for a girl. 

 

This last card features the same sentiment stamp from before, but since I was in the mood for a little coloring, I pulled out a sweet baby themed set from Lawn Fawn.

 

That's it for tonight - my movie is calling!  Hope you all are enjoying this last few magical days before Christmas!  I'm hoping mine will be a little more magical and less stressful once I can cross the task of wrapping off my list! 

 

Pebbles: Holiday Hostess Gift Set

This time of year bring about so many opportunities for giving and gifting.  With that in mind, I always attempt to have a few hostess gifts on hand, for last minute parties or gatherings.  I thought a set of handmade tags, garland and bows would make a nice little gift set, since gift wrapping is something most everyone does this time of year! 

 

For a festive approach to this project, I dug into my Pebbles stash and pulled out several of the red and green patterned papers I had, alongside some neutrals and a splash of light pink. I put my holiday punches and diecut machines to work to add 'a little Christmas' to this project, that otherwise uses not a stitch of holiday themed product. I love how all of these simple gift accessories look all packaged up in a cute reused embellishment box.  And of course, I HAD to decorate the cover too!  Gotta make it pretty!

 

Pebbles Supplies used: Walnut Grove 6x6 Paper Pad (751307) Walnut Grove Clothes Pins (747190) Walnut Grove Accent & Phrase Stickers (732119) Walnut Grove Carrie (751302) Walnut Grove Grace (751303) Walnut Grove Harriet (751294) Walnut Grove Corrugated Kraft Thickers (732122) Walnut Grove Corrugated Crimson Thickers (732123) Walnut Grove Corrugated Black Thickers (732134) Seen & Noted Checklist (751320) Seen & Noted 6x6 Paper Pad (751323) Sunnyside Sprout (751281) Sunnyside Clear Stamps (747183) Let Freedom Ring Samuel Adams (751259) Coordinating Cardstock Dark Kraft (71563) Coordinating Cardstock Leaf (71052) Coordinating Cardstock Crimson (71029), Other: Hero Arts dots, Doodlebug pink doodletwine, American Crafts buttons, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, Cricut, crochet thread, Stampin Up ink, foam adhesive, machine stitching, glitter

Here's a look at the contents of the package with the lid removed...

Paper bows seem to be showing up often in the paper crafting world.  There are several tutorials for creating your own.  I just drew up a simple pattern myself, in order to customize the size of the finished bows to fit within my box.  I added a couple simple embellishments to each one to finish them off.

 

What is a package without a tag?  There must be a place to write the 'to' and 'from'.  Again, I used some simple drawn patterns (the holly leaves), punches (snowflake) and cricut cuts (poinsettia) with pretty Pebbles paper to craft these beauties.  Add a little bit of baker's twine to the top and they are ready to add your sentiment and attach to a package or gift bag.

To make this simple but pretty paper garland, I got out my circle punch and went to town punching scraps of the different papers I had already used.  To attach them simply feed them through your sewing maching one by one.  I wrapped the whole string of them around a coordinating piece of cardstock and held it all together with one of the Walnut Grove wooden clothespins.  It makes a simple but sweet presentation, don't you think?

 

And lastly, a couple of 'for you' tags which tie all of the elements together.

 

I plan to pair this sweet little gift set with a roll of kraft wrapping paper to make the gift complete.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope your holiday season is and continues to be very merry!

 

December Daily cover and foundation pages

I have been promising pictures of my December Daily for awhile now.  So, wait no more - I am finally sharing!!!  I actually had these all set to go at the end of last week, BEFORE December AND even posted them to the gallery at Two Peas (where I was the 'featured project'(!!!) on Friday - come here to check me out).  However, I didn't make it back to the blog before we headed out of town for a busy weekend.

 

But enough with the excuses...  Here is the fun stuff!  In an effort to actually get these pictures posted and this entry out of 'draft' form, I won't bore you with lots of text, but if you do have any questions about something I used or did, be sure to leave me a note in the comments.

 

Here is my pretty little tray that I've set up to leave out on my desk during the month of December.  I've filled it with all sorts of bits and baubles, tags and tapes and lots of other miscellaneous holiday items that may come in handy during the month.

 

And here is a look at the cover of the album.  I'm using an October Afternoon Here and Now chipboard album for the base.  I believe this particular one was part of the 9 to 5 collection, but I can't find it on their website.  As you look through the album you'll see that I'm planning to use the lined notebook style pages that came with it, but mixing in patterned papers (mostly from October Afternoon's Holiday Style collection from winter 2011) here and there, as well.

Here is the inside cover.  I plan to add some text to the right hand side describing the idea and theme of the album. 

The following images show some of the decorative details I've added as a starting point. 

To label the days throughout the month, I've pre-stamped these sweet little Martha Stewart scalloped tags.  I used an Ali Edwards Technique Tuesday stamp set (I believe it's the December Daily one from 2011), to stamp the numbers, month and circular label.  These tags will get sewn into the album, as I go.

 

I am happy to report, that as of this morning, I have officially updated my album through day 4!  Don't know that I always be this caught up, but I'll enjoy the fleeting feeling of accomplishment, while it lasts!  When I get a chance, I'll be back to show what the completed pages in my album look like.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

December Inspiration: Bella Blvd Layout

Have you stopped over at the Bella Blvd blog today?  If not, then you should definitely hop on over and take a peek.  Myself, along with two other designers have created scrapbook pages inspired by this lovely holiday image:

 

 

 

 

So many elements from the inspiration image inspired me while putting together my layout. Most notably, of course, is the similarity in color scheme. I rummaged through my stash of Bella pulling items that were primarily green, brown and red, later adding in touches of sparkle and glitter.   I should also note, that while the Christmas Wishes line tops my list of Bella favorites, there is not one stitch of it on this page. That just goes to show you, that you don't always have to turn to holiday themed products to create a very holiday look and feel to your page!

 

Bella Blvd supplies used: Thankful: Burlap, Bountiful; Birthday Girl, Party Dress; Sophisticates: Petite Pieces, Tall Tags; Green High Five Alphabets, Brown-Cream High Five Alphabets; Ciao Chip: Trees, Stars & Hearts; Designer Tapes: Pony Dot; Button Market: Red Flowers, Stars, Checkers, Blues; Stick Pin Flags, Home Sweet Home; Miniatures Stickers, Family; Other supplies used: Martha Stewart snowflake punch, American Crafts cardstock (white) and foam adhesive, Queen & Co adhesive pearls, Bazzill cardstock (brown), Stampendous glittery embossing powder, crochet thread, machine stitching, computer font - Veteran Typewriter.

I adore this Martha Stewart snowflake punch.  It has been showing up on LOTS of my crafty projects lately.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but I glittered the edges of the snowflakes for a little extra fun. I love how they look topped with a big, chunky button, too!

The Designer Tape 'fringe' I created along the right edge of the page, was my attempt at referencing the texture and dimension of the pretty pine cones.

The shiny, round Christmas bulbs encouraged me to incorporate a circular design element onto the page, which in turn, provided a great spot to highlight many of the page embellishments.

 

I should also note, that while the Christmas Wishes line tops my list of Bella favorites, there is not one stitch of it on this page. That just goes to show you, that you don't always have to turn to holiday themed products to create a very holiday look and feel to your page!

 

That's it for tonight!  I'm off to get a jump start on designing my family's Christmas card.  Yeah, I'm getting started a little late, but I'm planning to keep it super simple!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

On a card kick...

Are you the type of crafter that has to completely clean up your workspace in between projects?  I must say, I resemble that description!  I love to have a fresh start with each new card/page I begin on.  Oftentimes when cleaning up my creative mess, I'm left with bits and pieces that I'm not sure how to store.  And even better, those bits and pieces are often already coordinated, as I had or was planning to use them all on the prior project.  So, what is a girl to do?  Craft up some quick and easy cards, of course! Here's a few recent cards I whipped up while in the process of cleaning up my workspace.

This first card was made with Doodlebug's baby boy line.  I can't get enough of the sweet little elephant sticker - I'm sad there was only ONE of him on the whole entire sticker sheet. :( Boo!  Good thing I have the girl version too! 

Since I know a sweet little guy who is about to turn one and also happens to have a nursery decorated in elephants, I knew I had to make him a birthday card with my beloved little sticker.  Don't you love the multicolored scallop?  That is actually a dot paper from the collection that I fussy cut to achieve a scallop border.

Supplies used: Doodlebug patterned paper, stickers (stars and elephant); Paper Studio embossing folder, Tim Holtz mini attacher;  Jillibean stamp, Colorbox ink, Other: crochet thread and toothpick

This next card is all Doodlebug again.  This time mostly from their Christmas collection from 2011.  Yep, more scallops going on here as well.  I can't help my self!  Seriously, someone needs to hide the scallop punch from me - I have a problem!  LOL!  This scallop border is actually a diecut from one of the Doodlebug cute cut sheets.  The colors didn't work for this card, so I just flipped it to the back side to use the white.  You'd never know otherwise, would you?



Supplies used: Doodlebug patterned paper, gems, Boutique button, and scalloped edge diecut Pebbles ribbon; Other: crochet thread and foam adhesive.

You can never have enough birthday cards on hand, can you?  To keep myself from having to put together a crafted greeting (because that's what everyone expects from me now!) five minutes before we walk out the door to the party, I've tried to stock up on crafting bday cards when I can.  I like to think that this one can work for either a male or female.

Supplies used: Bella Blvd patterned paper and stick pin flag; Bazzill cardstock; Doodlebug Boutique button; Other: crochet thread.

And finally, because I'm loving playing with Bella's latest Kiss Me collection, here's a lovey-dovey card.  Oh yes, and more scallop borders...  See, I told you, it's a problem!

Supplies used: Bella Blvd patterned paper, 'I love you' chipboard phrase, and flower button, Martha Steward ribbon, Stampin' Up scallop border punch, Other: crochet thread.

Well, I better sign off while my baby girl is still napping and go snap some pics of my December Daily, as promised.  Be back soon to share!

 

Togetherness, Pebbles: A Layout Share

The next big wave of new scrapbooking products won't be introduced to the craft world until after the holidays, during the winter trade show.  Fortunately, however, many companies are coming out with a mid-release collection that debuts during the time in between the summer and winter shows.  Have you seen Pebbles mid-release titled Family Ties? It is full of bright blues, yellows and greens with a multitude of stripes, dots and floral patterns.  Pretty perfect for just about any theme or subject you may want to document centered around family. 

All this week on the Pebbles blog, they are featuring projects with this new collection.  I hope you'll stop by and see all of the pretty things the team has been making. I had a page up on the blog on Monday.

Supplies used: Pebbles - Family Ties 6x6 Paper Pad (751360) Family Ties Accent & Phrase Stickers (732149) Family Ties Accent & Phrase Stickers (732148) Family Ties Phrase Cards (751358) Family Ties Journaling Cards (751357) Family Ties Stamps (747201) Coordinating  American Crafts Cardstock - Mustard; Other supplies used: Making Memories buttons, October Afternoon flag 'sticks', computer font, crochet twine, machine stitching, foam adhesive 

Isn't it funny how one tiny little stamp can inspire an idea for a whole 12x12 page? That's just what happened to me when I first saw the banner style stamps from the new Family Ties collection. The 'family' and 'cousins' word stamps were the first to catch my eye and remind me of some sweet photos I had not yet scrapped, of my son and his cousin a few years back. I just love how these stamps look stamped on white paper, cut out and attached to a little wooden stick. They make for a fun and dimensional accessory to the page.

 

 

The phrase and journaling cards that come with this line are full of fun text and clever captions.  I couldn't resist the urge to squeeze several of them onto this page!

 

Thanks for stopping by, friends!  I know I mentioned last week that I was hoping to share my December Daily cover and foundation pages with you very soon.  Hoping I get a chance to photograph them tomorrow and share them before the official start of December. In the meantime, have a great day!

 

Fall Fun, Bella Blvd: A Layout Share

When it comes to trends in the scrapbooking world (or otherwise!), it seems I'm often a little late to show up to the party!  That doesn't mean I shy away from them or won't eventually try them out, but usually I have to ponder them a bit and figure out how they work into my own personal style. 

As I'm sure you've noticed, polaroids have been popping up everywhere in the scrapbooking world - on patterned papers, journal cards and even little mini replicas that allow you to slide in and customize your already printed photos. 

I decided to give this trend a try on a fall themed page I made for Bella Blvd.  I simply cut my 'polaroid' frames out of white cardstock and mounted my photos on the underside of the frame, to make them look even more realistic. 



Bella Blvd supplies used: Thankful: Burlap, Turkey Tracks, Homey, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Blue High Five Alphabets, Gulf High Five Alphabets; Ciao Chip: Thankful, Birthday Boy, Finally Fall, Baby Boy; Designer Tapes: Yellow Chevron; Button Market: Merlot Flowers, Gulf Squares, Fruit Punch; Other: American Crafts Cardstock and twine, computer font, machine stitching

As you can see, I set aside a couple of the frames for my title/journaling and embellishment.

 

I love all of the colorful leaf images from the Thankful collection!  I fussy cut some from the Cute Cuts sheet and stitched them down the center for added depth and dimension.

 

Snuck in some more machine stitching detail, sewn on buttons, and a few strips of Designer tape to make the polaroids look as if they are randomly taped to the background.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'm heading out tomorrow to enjoy a few days of the holiday with my family.  Be back with more crafty shares very soon!

 

Pebbles, "Be Grateful": A Layout Share

Happy Thanksgiving week to all my US readers!  I simply can't believe this holiday is already upon us, though I do think it came a bit early this year!  I just dropped my little guy off at preschool for his Thanksgiving feast.  A feast of cheese, crackers, muffins, grapes and milk -- not sure that's exactly what the pilgrims were serving up on this occasion! LOL! ;)  The kids are sure to be happy with that menu, though!

I'm up over on the Pebbles blog today.  All week long in honor of Thanksgiving, they are featuring layouts, cards and projects that have an "I'm Grateful for..." theme.  When I count upon my gratitudes, my children are, of course, at the top of my list.  So, this assignment gave me a great 'excuse' to document those things that I'm thankful for about each individual child. 

I went through my recent photos and selected a favorite of each of my three kiddos and converted them to black and white.  Then I pulled out my beautiful stash of Pebbles Walnut Grove, typed up a little list of gratitudes specifically pertaining to each child and got my craft on!  Here is the end result:



Pebbles supplies used: Walnut Grove Harriet (751294), Walnut Grove Caroline (751295), Walnut Grove Charles (751296), Walnut Grove Nellie (751297), Walnut Grove Nancy (751298), Walnut Grove James (751301), Walnut Grove Eliza Jane (751304), Walnut Grove Carrie (751302), Walnut Grove Corrugated Black Thickers (732134), Walnut Grove Accent and Phrase Stickers (732119), Walnut Grove Dimensional Stickers (732118), Walnut Grove Mini ABC Stickers (732121), Seen & Noted Journaling Cards (747194), Seen & Noted Library Cards and Pockets (747192), Coordinating Cardstock Surf (71508); Other: American Crafts twine, My Mind's Eye buttons, Making Memories button.

I love, love, love the mixture of florals, colors and patterns in this collection.  While it contains many feminine details, there are just enough masculine patterns and colors that it works just great for boy pages, as well.  Look at all of this yummy color in one little detail shot!  I snuck in a few Seen & Noted Journaling cards onto the page to add some additional text detail, and in this case, an extension of the title.

Aren't these dimensional flowers sweet?  I love how they look topped with a button!

More flowers and a pretty little butterfly that I topped with a stick pin and some twine.

A closer look at the journaling - love notes to my babies!

 

Thanks for stopping by, friends!  I'll be back tomorrow with another fun fall page, this time using Bella Blvd!

 

Thankful: A Layout Share

If you are anxious to get the weekend started (who isn't?!?) then I hope you'll head on over to the Bella Blvd blog and check out Friday's edition of Saturday Sketches.  I have a page up over there today using a sketch by Becky Fleck.  I LOVED this sketch!  The multitude of 2x2" squares allowed for lots of room for many photos, patterned paper squares and embellishment!

This sketch proved to be just perfect for this series of sweet photos I took of baby girl and her Daddy.  The were having a snugly little moment and I couldn't resist just snapping away.  I love how these snapshots looks all lined up -- and I think presenting them this way, tells a story all on it's own.  But, since I like to record some journaling on nearly every page I do, I chose to document a bit more about their relationship through my text.  Bella's Thankful line was just perfect to help me capture these memories, in both colors and theme.


Supplies used:  Bella Blvd Thankful: Burlap, Our Spot, Homey, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Birthday Girl: Miles of Smiles; Brown-Cream High Five Alphabets; Ciao Chip: Thankful Icons, Stars & Hearts; Designer Tapes: Pony Dot; Button Market: Merlot Flowers, Checkers; Flags: Thankful 1; Other: computer font (veteran typewriter), American Crafts jute, machine stitching, Versamark ink, Distress Ink, Stampin Up Medallion stamp, Jillibean Soup kraft envelope, October Afternoon Sprinklers.

The wooden Market Button is a fun and unexpected touch in the lower left corner of the page.  This detail shot also shows a look at some subtle misting I did on the page background.

My initial thought was to include a little written note from my husband to my daughter.  This cute little kraft envelope is the perfect spot to hold it.  I dressed up the flap with some of Bella's Designer Tape and further accented it with a Bella flag.  It creates a fun little embellishment cluster.

 

 

I have been working on putting together a little December Daily album.  So, I hope to get some pictures snapped shortly to share.  Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you have a great weekend!

 

LCTS sketch #157 :Halloween Haunt

It's time for a another sketch reveal over at Let's Capture These Sketches.  Here's the sketch by Jocelynn Roy:

And a look at my interpretation:


Supplies used: Pebbles Trick and Treats collection: American Crafts chipboard Thickers, Doodlebug Boutique button, Martha Stewart glitter; Stampin' Up scallop border punch, Versamark Ink, EK Success black embossing powder; Other: foam adhesive, computer font, machine stitching


I dug into my Halloween photos from last year, grabbed Pebbles Trick and Treats collection, and went to town cutting loads of banners and strips to fill up the right side of the page!  I love that this page gave me the opportunity to use so many cute patterns from this collection - both the full 12x12 sheets mixed with patterns from the 6x6 paper pad.  There were lots of opportunities to layer and embellish with the coordinating sticker sheets, as well.

But that's not all, there is a little hidden surprise to the page.  Since the sketch only allowed for one photo, but the event I wanted to document had many more, I had to find an alternative.  Four more full size 4x6 photos and journaling are hidden under the main picture, in a little bitty booklet of sorts.  Take a look...

 

I'm having a little bit of a love affair with the button topped paper bows lately.  If you haven't noticed, I snuck a few on a project here or there and I'm sure there will be more to come.  I just couldn't resist making one out of this spider web paper and topping it with a button and that mini pumpkin sticker.  Cute, huh?

 

The title was done with one of my very favorite sets of American Crafts Thickers.  They come in raw chipboard making them ultra easy to modify and customize to fit the look and colors of your page.  I chose to emboss them with a shiny black powder, which makes quite a statement on the page.  A little bit of glitter on the jack-o-lantern sticker can't hurt either, can it?

 

That's it for today!  I've been busy crafting up a couple simple things for a very special party this weekend.  Shhh, my baby girl is turning one!  I'm hoping if I don't say it loud enough it won't really happen (*wink!).  Where did that year go? 

Have a great weekend!  I'll be back with more crafty shares soon!