Hello 2013!

You know what that means... my annual calendar post. This is one of my favorite projects every year. I get to enjoy the calendar every day and at the end of the year, I have a fun mini-album to enjoy.

Wishing you a blessed 2013!

Citrus Twist Sketch Challenge

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying this holiday season. Even though I haven't touched my December album for days, I decided that I needed to do some scrapping.

I was instantly inspired by the Sunday Sketch at Citrus Twist, so I decided to run with it. October's kit, Blue Sky had the perfect papers and embellishments to use with my photos.

I used machine stitching to add dimension and used a combination of embossed and wooden stars. I love the soft and subtle look this creates. You may click on the photos to enlarge.

How fun is this roller stamp (Amy Tangerine) that came with the kit - love it!

It feels great to get back into a scrappy groove. If you're needing some inspiration, check out Citrus Twist - every Sunday a new sketch is up on their blog. They also have fun and fabulous tutorials during the week. It's cold and rainy here, I might as well have some fun getting creative. Enjoy this last weekend of 2012!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve! We've had a busy December so I haven't had much time for crafting. I just wanted to share a few holiday photos.

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas, with love! ♥

Home for the Holidays

I chose this simple sentiment for my December album cover page because we are actually staying home for Christmas this year. While I will miss our long-distance family members, I am truly excited about being home. Last night we sat around the campfire, drinking hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows. We played a fun game - "Christmas Box of Questions", and sang Christmas carols. We then watched, "It's a Wonderful Life" - the kids were a little freaked out by the black & white, but really enjoyed the movie. These are the kind of memories that I hope they will look back and cherish always.

For the cover page, I started out with a sheet of paper from a Simple Stories Snap album. The title was cut on my Cameo using two different fonts. The photo of our front porch was printed on vellum. I love the soft look it creates and the fact that you can still see the patterned paper underneath it. A couple of patterned papers under the words add some dimension and a playfulness to the page. The photo was stapled with a Tiny Attacher and a few stamps and embellishments were added to complete the page. One of the chipboard page dividers that came with the album was used to create the backing.

If you're creating a December album, leave a comment - I'd love to see what you're creating! Thanks for stopping by - Happy Holidays!

How I Scrap "Less Than Perfect" Photos

In August, my son started middle school; I won't get sidetracked with emotion, I'm here to talk about photos. :) The start time for middle school is very early and I couldn't get my camera to cooperate with the bad lighting. After all, it was 6:45 a.m. and my brain wasn't functioning properly at that point. So I took less than perfect photos and converted them to black and white and suddenly those same bad photos looked pretty good!

I sat the photos aside waiting for some inspiration. As I started looking through my stash, I found Citrus Twist's September kit and knew it was a perfect match.

The Thickers from the kit were the first thing that caught my eye because of the color and stitching. It reminds me of stitching on backpacks. I also loved the scalloped circles cut from book paper. I folded them in half to mimic clouds and stapled them to the page with my Tiny Attacher. The title needed to pop, so I used a torn out piece of paper from an old book and used my Fiskars punch to create the notebook paper embellishment. I love the little CT arrow stamp, so I took two colors of Zing embossing powder (white and charcoal) and made a pattern to highlight the journaling.

Sometimes bad photos happen, but rather than tossing the memory aside, embrace it, scrap it, and be happy that it's documented.

Fun Christmas Card

After celebrating a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family, we arrived home safely last night and I was in the mood to create!

I decided to make a Christmas card using Crate Paper's Sleigh Ride 6x6 paper pad from Cocoa Daisy's Christmas add-on kit. I love the look of square cards, so I trimmed a piece of cardstock to create a 5x5 square. I trimmed a piece of patterned paper to 4.75" and attached it to the card, adding machine stitching to the edge to frame it. I then took several pieces of patterned paper and cut little strips to create my tree. I began with a piece 2.75" for the bottom row of the tree. Reduce each row by 1/4" to create the graduated tree. To create the rolled piece, I simply wrapped the paper around a pencil and rolled it up. A little strip of adhesive on the edge holds the roll in place.

A small piece ribbon was used to create a tree skirt. I simply glued the little rolls down from largest to smallest and added some My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland enamel dots to mimic ornaments. (I'm truly obsessed with these little dots!) I took a piece of raw chipboard and used VersaMark and Zing embossing powder to create the star for the top. The adorable "joy" stamp is from Citrus Twist's December Daily kit and I think it's the perfect little touch to complete the card.

Creating little paper rolls is a great way to use a mix of patterned papers (esp. scraps) and get lots of impact! This sweet card makes me smile, I'm not sure I'll be able to give it away! Thanks for stopping by, happy holiday crafting to you!

December Album 2012

One of my favorite things about the holiday season, is preparing my December album. There are so many "December Daily" kits offered, that choosing can be a little overwhelming. This year, I chose Citrus Twist's December Daily kit along with Cocoa Daisy's Christmas add-on because they complimented each other perfectly.

I have to share the lovely presentation with you from Trina at Citrus Twist. Even the Grinch couldn't resist digging into this treasure! I'm sure that tag will make it's way into my album! Be sure to click on the photos so you can see it up close. :)

Check out this fabulous stamp set that came in the kit...

Once I touched the pretties in the package, I couldn't resist the urge to get started on my album. This year I decided I wanted to add lots of bright colors to my album cover, this adorable Crate Paper was the perfect starting point. I decided it would be fun to make the album cover look like a gift, so I wrapped the patterned paper with washi tape. With just a few more touches, I ended up with a simple and festive album cover.

Sketch Inspiration & Fall Layouts

A few months ago I created a Pinterest board for scrapbooking sketches. One sketch I pinned was by Cherie Averill via Sassy Sketches. I'm not sure this site is still in existence but thanks to the Internet and Pinterest, this sketch is still floating around the web.

Thanks to my friend Steve for taking these adorable photos at the pumpkin patch. I typically use a sketch as a starting point and end up doing my own thing. On this particular layout, I followed it exactly because I love the design. I did make a 2-page layout as you can see.

I was on a roll with fall photos and ended up with two more layouts. I used the banner stamps from Cocoa Daisy's Nov. kit Navy Pier to create this cute little banner.

How adorable are these little leaves created from Cocoa Daisy stamps and a Kaleidacolor stamp pad - so fun and cute! I also got crafty with my sewing machine and did a zig-zag stitch to frame the layout.

All of the layouts were created using Cocoa Daisy's October kits Aspen Grove and Switchback.

Feel free to share some of your favorite sketch sites, I'm always on the hunt for great inspiration! Thanks for visiting!

Crop Challenges from CD

Last weekend was the fall crop at Cocoa Daisy, and once again, it was a fun-filled event. Lots of laughs, inspiration, and of course, challenges.

Here are a couple of layouts I completed from the challenges. First up, is a sketch challenge. I put my Cameo to use and love the results.

The next layout was created for a challenge thrown out by Miss Bossy Scrapper. What a hoot - this anonymous design team member would give random orders throughout the whole weekend so that by the end of the crop, we would have at least one layout completed. I used Miss Bossy Scrapper (Little Miss Bossy) as my inspiration for the title, Little Miss Artist.

There are several more challenges I hope to complete this week. It's not too late to join in, the challenges will be up until Nov. 4th.

Thanks for stopping by; Happy Halloween!

Cameo Creation #2!

I promise, I will stop counting after this! There aren't enough words to express my excitement over this machine. :)

This layout was created for Cocoa Daisy's Lotsa Layers Challenge by Mandy. I used several different fonts for the number nine and just love how it turned out!

Such an easy layout and it took just a few minutes to set up. I'm not kidding when I say that the Cameo has rocked my scrap world! ♥

First Cameo Cut!

In case you've been living under a scrappy rock and have no clue what a Silhouette Cameo is, let me tell you... It is the most amazing cutting system for crafting, ever! I dug my heels in resisting the hype, after all, I already own QuicKutz, and a Cricut - why would I need one more cutting system? As fate would have it, Studio Calico offered a bundle package that was too good to resist, and to make it even more enticing, they have a class to teach me how to get the most out of my machine.

I watched a few videos and downloaded a few Kerri Bradford files in anticipation of my machine's arrival. Here is my first layout using the Cameo. I used Kerri Bradford's, Beautiful World files for the title and Citrus Twist's October kit. To highlight the individual letters, I used Zing Embossing Powder.

The thing I love about the Cameo is the fact that I can see everything on my computer screen before I make the first cut. I can't believe I took so long to come around to this technology. I'm so excited with all the possibilities it brings. If you've been on the fence about buying one, jump on over, you won't regret it, I promise! :)

Scraproom Makeover

As much as I loved my space, I knew I needed to make a few changes to make it more functional. After days of back-breaking work, the transformation is complete! I now have space for my daughter to craft with me, a spot for my sewing machine, and a designated space for my new Cameo!

It feels great to have a space that truly works for me now. I hope it's many years before I have to move one piece of furniture in here again. Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the makeover as much as I do!