Top 10 (actually 14) Favorite Ornaments Mini-Album

I love Christmas.  It is one of my favorite holidays. I often find myself picking up an ornament from a vacation spot so that when Christmas comes, I can recall all those happy memories.  I realized I tell the same stories every year as we decorate the tree - some the kids remember, some they don't - so I created a little mini-album with some of my favorites:

The first thing you may notice is that it is not "traditional" Christmas colors.
I found this Envelope Album Kit by My Little Yellow Bicycle this past summer and I really loved the bright citrus-y colors and the fabulous shapes.  The colors coordinated perfectly with the Lime Twist Line from My Mind's Eye, which happened to have this cute little Top 10 journaling card that got me thinking about some of my Top 10's.

I  used Photoshop to add journaling to some wallet-sized pics of my favorites. 

The envelope format was perfect because I could make little tags that would go inside each envelope and would tell more of the story - I really like hidden journaling.  On this first tag, I just listed the dates and locations of some of our dive trips.

The tags were easy to make with a circle punch, an eyelet and some baker's twine.  The tags also gave me a place to use up some of my stickers - my fins, dive mask and snorkel are precisely that color of pink!!  

I started to go through my embellishments and realized I had leftovers from the scrapbooking layouts I had created for these trips.  I picked up the little boy and girl patches from a sewing store...aren't they sweet?  I also found a Canadian coin  from the trip to Niagara Falls.

When I was cropping the pictures and adding the journaling I framed them so that the ornament was off to the left or the right.  That way there was a dark area created by the Christmas tree that makes the white jornaling really pop!

When I first started collecting ornaments, I always tried to find an angel, however, that was not always possible - and there are some pretty amazing non-angel ornaments I would have missed out on - like the wax ornament from Germany of the baby Jesus.

I had more ornaments I wanted to include than I had envelopes...so I created more envelopes by using the MLYB ones as patterns.  I just traced them on the paper from MME - and they work together perfectly, don't you agree?

So think about making yourself a little mini-album using non-traditional colors.  Use up those embellishments, preserve some special memories and share some funny stories.  

Another Snow Baby!

I just love Jillibean Soup!  It is so easy to work with that this layout almost created itself!

I love mixing different alphas to create the title and the journaling.

The only tricky part was that I wanted to add some detail to the sweet little mittens that run across the bottom of the pages…and I kept dropping the beads and sequins!  Duh!  I pulled out my Embellie Gellie and easily picked up each piece and added a dot of The Best Glue Ever.  I waited a minute for the glue to get tacky then I simply touched it to the page and it stayed exactly where I wanted it to stay!  See how I was able to position the little red “cherries” so perfectly? 

And  the teeny-tiny gold star sequins really light up those little Christmas Trees, don’t you agree?

 

I added one last detail to the bottom right of the layout: a small silver snowflake charm attached with baker's twine.

The layout is mostly red and white so I reached for the Maraschino twine from The Twinery.  It looked good but  I thought it was a little too bright so I pulled out some of my tea-dyed twine.  The difference is very subtle but to me it made all the difference.  In the picture below I tried to show you both - the piece of twine in the center is the original and the two pieces on the outside are tea-dyed.

I really love the way this layout turned out - the difference was in the details!

Happy Thanksgiving

Last year I designed a very simple 2 page layout for the Gobble 'Til You Wobble Crop at Scrapbooks Plus and I just realized that I never posted it on my blog...so here it is:

The journaling element on the second page was designed by Louise Erekson who does all of the monthly Make-N-Takes at the store - isn't it cute?  I am afraid I do not remember the paper manufacturer - it was something I just pulled off the shelf.
Anyway here's hoping that you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Countdown to Christmas Blocks Class

Just a reminder that the registration for this class closes on Dec. 1st. Hope to see you at Scrapbooks Plus!

 Here are a couple more views:

We will also be painting one of the block faces with brown chalkboard paint so you can also use this display as a Countdown to Christmas!

Yard Sale-ing with Paul

I was recently challenged to create a layout about the first signs of spring. My favorite sign of spring is a little unusual: the start of Yard Sale Season. In Northern Virginia it stretches from Easter until Halloween.  My favorite yard sale-ing buddy is my son, Paul.

ScraPerfect Perfect Crafting Pouch, Perfect Cleaning Cloth and The Best Glue Ever

Paper:  My Mind’s Eye, October Afternoon

Transparency: Simple Stories

Baker’s Twine:  Pink Paislee

Letter Stickers: Simple Stories, Cosmo Cricket

Journaling Blocks:  K & Company

Stamps:  Hampton Arts

Ink:  Stazon

To create the title block on the cloud paper, I marked the corners of a rectangle the size I wanted the opening to be and used a craft knife to cut the “x” shape connecting the corners diagonally.  I then rolled back each flap, using The Best Glue Ever to hold the coils in place (it dries very quickly!).  Next I pierced the paper every ¼” along the outside edges of the coils and lashed them in place with the Baker’s Twine.

 

I treated the transparency with The Perfect Crafting Pouch because it is great at keeping stamps from slipping on slick surfaces.  I then stamped the banner with Stazon Ink and swiped off the powdery residue with The Perfect Cleaning Cloth.  (I also used The Perfect Cleaning Cloth to wipe away the inevitable fingerprints you get when handling transparencies!) The tight control of The Best Glue Ever allowed me to place *tiny* dots of glue along the top of the banner so I could add another piece of twine.

The transparency was layered over the letter stickers with the rest of the title and then the entire assembly was placed behind the opening in the cloud paper – Voila!

Tea-dye your Baker's Twine

I love to use baker's twine on my projects, but sometimes the white just does not work. I have been working with the 25 Days of Christmas line from Simple Stories and there is very little pure white in this paper collection - it all has a lovely aged and faded feel. I thought after I used the tea-dyed twine to create the Christmas Card in my last post I should probably show you how I made it!

 Long before I was a paper crafter I was just a crafter.  Sometimes when I was working with fabric I wanted a more homespun look, so I would tea-dye the fabric.  The same technique works for baker's twine and it is so easy!

I start by heating about half a cup of water in the microwave, throw in a Lipton tea bag, and let it steep. After a few minutes I take out the tea bag and drop in the twine.

 A quick stir makes sure it is all submerged then I just let it sit.  I usually dye a 2-3 ft length of each color at a time and I start checking after about 3 minutes.  The longer you leave it in the darker it will get so be careful.  I just try to turn the white to cream.  When I decide it is ready, I pull out each strand separately, and straighten it by pulling it between my thumb and forefinger - which also squeezes out any excess tea.  I generally just lay it out on wax paper to dry...although I have been known to put it in an oven on low heat for a few minutes if I am in a hurry! 

I took some pictures of the tea-dyed twine next to the original twine so you can see the difference:

Cappuccino

Maraschino

Peapod

 Like I said, it is a really easy technique.  I hope this will give you the confidence to give it a try.

"Don't Peek!" Christmas Card

Here's my Christmas Card for the JustRite Christmas Linky Party:

 I used "Don't Peek" from the Tiny Words Set.  That is one of the most Christmas-y of sentiments, don't you think?

I used the "Dear Santa" embossing folder from Quickutz on red Core'dinations cardstock.  A little sanding, a little inking and the background was done.  One of my current favorite paper lines right now is Simple Stories and that is where I found the little tags which are included on the front of the card.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and then framed it with  an Ornate Plate from Tim Holtz. The decorative black edge strip along the bottom is courtesy of a Martha Stewart edge Punch!

The final touch was some tea-dyed baker's twine from The Twinery.  I love baker's twine but sometimes the white is just too bright for one of my projects.  That was the case here.  I originally pulled out the Maraschino Twine.  It just didn't work with the faded old-world feel of this card, so I dug into my tea-dyed stash - yes, I keep a stash.  I ended up choosing the Pink Sorbet - surprise! 

If you like this paper line, be sure to check out my blog post from October 28th.  It gives you a peek at the Christmas Blocks class I am teaching in December.