Christmas Card '08: 1 Picture Layout

I am calling this a 1 picture layout even though they are actually 2 pictures. The 1 picture is our Christmas Card from this past Christmas and the card itself has 2 pictures.

I thought it would be nice idea to scrap our annual Christmas Card so I started with the most recent and will work my way back to the other 3 I have.

I didn't use traditional Christmas colors on this layout just because the card itself wasn't. I stayed in the same color scheme.

The 12x12 paper is something I found in my stash (not sure the brand) and has the Merry Christmas already on it and I just went over it with silver Stickles. I put the card on a blue 8x8 paper that looks like the night sky and I tore the edge with my Fiskars paper edger (geez, is that even the name for it?).

The sled and snowman are Jolee's and I thought were cute to use since the card includes my son with both of those items.

I typed up my journal on the computer, glued it down (glue dots) and smeared the silver Stickles all over it for a nice shimmer. I placed 2 brads on it as well. The poinsettia's on the upper corner are Making Memories flowers with brads. And the ones in the lower corner are stickers by Reflections (I believe that is a Michael's brand).

I hope you like it!

Making Memories are at CHA!

Making Memories, one of my all time favorite brands are at the CHA (Craft & Hobby) show this week!

They are giving away the coolest set, Just Chillin'. This is a set that is on my new wish list for the year! I hope I win it!!!

You can visit their blog here.

New Scrapbooks Etc.

My new Scrapbooks Etc. magazine came in the mail mid last week. I curled up on the couch with my post it notes in hand to mark my favorites and of course there are tons of pages flagged! It is a great issue filled with Valentine ideas as well as new items.

2 advertisements for new items that caught my eye and made me a bit giddy are:






DCWV (Die Cuts With a View) has incredible paper stacks and accessories and for the New Year they are introducing 15 new themes!


My favorites here are All About Boys, Green Stack, La Creme, and Kitchen. I can't wait to see what coordinating accessories and embellishments they have.





I saw this advertisement and started to laugh. I thought about some friends in my myspace groups because a lot of them use stitching on their layouts and I am sure a lot of them hand stitch them.

I love the look but there is no way I would get a needle and thread out for a layout.

But look here what Prima has put out.... paper already stitched! How awesome is that?!

Just from looking at this the papers are very pretty and I can't wait to see them up close and maybe add a few to my shopping basket :)

ScrapnWin - I won!

I joined this great website called ScrapnWin. Basically you pay to upload your scrapbooking layouts and they hold contests based on all the layouts posted for each month.

The first time I uploaded just one layout and it was my favorite one I had just recently done and it was entered in the December contest. Earlier this month I received an email notifying me that I won 1st place! I was really shocked. The only contests I have ever won were hosted on myspace and were just with "from my stash" prizes.

For this contest I won $8 cash (yes I know not the 'grandest' prize, but it was based on how many entries there were and since this seems to be a fairly new site, there weren't that many), a $20 gift certificate to MyKI, 10 upload credits to their site and a certificate of accomplishment.

Let me tell you my favorites of the prizes was the certificate of accomplishment! I got it and I want to frame it! :)

I uploaded another layout this month but it seems they changed the rules, the most comments a layout gets determines the winner. I don't know if I am liking that new rule so much, only because all the people I know won't want to be bothered with doing that. Oh well... at least I got to win once :)

It is a great site and I do recommend it, so for all of you scrapping followers I have go join and have fun!

Creative Cafe CHF Giveaway!

Creative Cafe is going to the CHF show! Sorry I am going to miss it! I have never been to a craft show like this and wish I get the opportunity one day :)

Check them out here and see the freebee's you can get!

Enjoy!

Shop'g: 2 Picture Layout

Another layout done this weekend... feels good to get another one done.

These were pictures from almost 2 years ago.... in 2007. And yes I even take my camera food shopping! You never know when there will be a Kodak moment :)

I had purchased that adorable shopping cart embellishment a long while ago. It is from Jolee's and I knew I would be able to use it at some point and it worked perfectly in this layout. I have gotten a lot of compliments on it, but let's thank Jolee's for it! Oh and that little brown shopping bag with the loaf of bread is also a Jolee's but an older item I had in my stash.

I liked the color combination on this. I hardly ever use yellow and I was happy this worked out. I did my journaling with my Dymo Caption maker. I still haven't gotten used to the placement of the little stickers but in time I am sure I will. I used my Fiskars Side Circle Punch for the date and I used a sticker by Remarks which was clear. And a little ribbon and colored staples finished it off nicely.

I hope you like it!

I Got It!

So when I put my mind to it, I do it or should I say " I Get it".

One of my goals for this New Year is to try Heat Embossing. I knew nothing about it until a gal on one of my myspace groups posted a tutorial and hey it looks fairly simple!

I went out to Michaels today and went on a well deserved shopping spree and picked up a heat tool by Marvy Uchida.

The picture here is a bit deceiving because let me tell you it is pretty big! Almost the size of an old fashioned curling iron or a girls little friend **blush** :)

There were tons of Embossing Powders to choose from, metallic, non-metallic, sparkly, etc. I have no clue right now which I choose but I know I got, red, blue, green, silver, gold and black. Now this is one thing you need to know about me, I can't just get one color, I have to have them all! I hope I like this technique because I have enough supply now to last me a good while.

I can't wait to try this out and show you what I have done.

School Layouts

My son started Nursery school this past Fall and as any parent would say, it was a bitter sweet milestone.

3 Picture Layout:

I took tons of pictures of his first day of school but I only choose a few for the layout: getting ready to leave the house, he shows off his new CARS school bag, at school he waits outside of his classroom holding Papa's hand, and in class his desk with his name on it. He is on the Elephant team and shares his desk with two other classmates in the AM class.

I used this really cute 12x12 green paper that had chalk drawings in each corner but due to the amount of pictures I was using, I ended up covering 2 of the corners. The other 2 corners, I went over the chalk drawings with yellow stickles for some extra brightness. I used a scalloped piece of black paper in the center, almost like a chalkboard. I used my new Dymo Caption Maker to give some extra facts that I could not fit on the journal card. I used chipboard school embellies from K&Company and Soft Spoken. The yellow apple straight pin is something I found on Oriental Trading and I finally got to use it!

2 Picture Layout:

His first school photographer picture was a very exciting day! When I picked him up from school and asked him how his pictures went, he told me he said "CHEESE" with a huge grin on his face. I was so happy and anxious to get the pictures. About a month or so later, we received the pictures and I was surprised not to see the big Cheese grin he told me about!

I wanted to do a layout featuring his school picture as well as his class picture. It is something I am hoping to do every year. The background 12x12 paper is phrased with classroom sayings. I matted each picture on white and punched the corners out of the mat and picture to a scalloped corner. I also antiqued the edges of the mat in a silvery gray. I wanted to do something different with the journaling, so I literally ripped out a piece of paper from a mini notebook I have and I used a distressing tool to make the paper look worn. I antiqued the edges in a light blue. I took a piece of journal paper that looks like notebook paper and did the same, distressed and antiqued the edges. I stamped the apple on and used stickles to outline it. A pencil and crayon stickers were perfect for a little extra. I had an apple altered paper clip that was made by a fellow scrapper to make it look like it was holding the two notebook papers together. On the journaling I listed all the names of his teachers and classmates in the group photo. A nice memory for the future.

The other two chipboard embellies are from K&Company and Soft Spoken. The 'Nursery' title, I used a piece of white scrap that was leftover from the mats of the pictures and I used rub-on letters. And I have to say those rub-on letters are adorable and were a dollar store find!

I hope you like them!

The 1st for the New Year: 1 Picture Layout

So why wait to get started? Ok, well I did wait 4 days into the new year to do my first layout! lol...

This is what I did and I am really happy with it.

I finally got to use the Making Memories Noteworthy Collection Ava RicRac Ledger Paper that I got a few months back. I was hesitant to use it because it has pink details on it and scrapping for my son never requires any pink but this time I made it work. This was the perfect picture for this paper. So I ran with it... pinks, purples and a brick red to make it a little more masculine. The journal sheet is from the Making Memories Noteworthy Collection as well.

The chipboard letters in "Work" and "Play" are from K&Company Marcella's Anastasia's line and they are purples and browns, very pretty and they have been in my stash for quite sometime now and never knew how to work them into a layout - this was the perfect time! I put those down with 3D-dots. I cut out "All", "&" and "No" using my Jasmine Cricut Cartridge and used black stickles on them for a little sparkle.

Over the photo I have a clear frame that is from Miss Elizabeth's (a dollar store find) as well as the purple circles I scattered around.

The flowers are paper and I put little purple buttons in the middle of them... I like the way it looks :)

The picture is adorable... I took my son to work with me last year in April and he sat at my desk with my cell phone to his ear and "typing" on my computer! It was just too cute and too funny!

I hope you like it and I hope this layout will set the tone for the 74 to come.

Goals for 2009

Happy New Year!!

In 2008 I set out a goal to complete 75 layouts in the year and unfortunately I wasn't able to meet it. I know people who have done hundreds of layouts and I couldn't get a few done. My life is a bit hectic and the time I have to scrap I end up crashing in front of the TV.

This year, I plan to keep the same goal of 75 layouts and I am hoping I can pass that goal. I have pledged not to get involved in myspace swaps (other than box swaps because I love those), like tag swaps, etc. If I need tags, I can make my own, I have never used something someone else has made (no offense). I think if I do not join these kinds of swaps, I will have more time to do layouts for myself.

I even have a pregnancy scrapbook to make for a friend which I have not started yet. It is also on my to-do list. It will be an 8x8 album which I have never done. I am pretty nervous about this. No one has ever asked me to make them anything before and I don't think my work is that great that I should be sharing it! But I am honored and will try my best at it.

Some pictures that I have floating around that I never got to in 2008 are:

- making pizza

- 1st day of nursery school

- school picture

- Christmas 2008

- playing with Cars

- birthdays (I have yet to scrap any of my sons 3 birthdays!)

... and all of the 2009 pictures that will be taken.

And all of these are of course of my son. I would also like to try to do some more adult layouts of my friends and my husband. I even have a nice new 12x12 album waiting for such layouts!

I would also like to try embossing. I don't know much about it. I think there are 2 embossing techniques (please correct me if I am wrong), dry embossing and heat embossing. I see a lot of layouts using this technique and right now I know nothing about it but I hope at some point in this new year, I can learn about it. Any help and advise would be greatly appreciated!

And lastly in this New Year, I want and desperately need to get re-organized! My scrap supplies are in such chaos! I am running out of room and unfortunately just keep buying and buying more with no where to put it! So I am hoping to come to a happy medium with my 'stuff'!

Wish me luck!