Countdown to Christmas

Last year I made a lovely countdown to Christmas for the kids to open each day.  Mocha ate the first one.  I had to make some replacements on the fly and they just weren't exactly what I wanted. So I started over this year with a new concept.


 

This year I added some new items that are experiences rather than toys or candy.  I also found some fun items in the dollar spot at Target like headphone cord keepers and computer screen cleaners.

  

I was afraid the kids wouldn't be into the countdown this year.  Lizzy learned the tooth fairy is mom and Simon has known for a while.  Lizzy was every bit excited about the countdown as she has been in previous years.



Simon was even jazzed to open his day.  They drew watching the How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Grinchie treats.



Lizzy especially loved her Grinch float.

Christmas Texas Style

Sadly Felicia's Scrapbooks has closed.  My final class was Texas Christmas cards.  I liked this one so much that it became our Holiday party invitation.  I pulled out the Deadbeat Designs Texas Christmas tree.  It's embossed in gold on vellum.  The background behind the card is stamped sheet music.  I used some baker's twine to hold it all together.




 

Supplies:
Stamps: Deadbeat Designs (Texmas Tree) Hero Arts (music background)
Ink: Versamark, Distress (fired brick)
Paper: Papertrey Ink (vellum, pure poppy, vintage cream)
Other: Baker's Twine, Ranger (gold embossing powder)

On the second day of December...

I still have Halloween to share.  Sad.  I know.  However I really liked how these Halloween cards turned out this year.  I promise it is the last of my bleated Halloween. I used Distress stains, some glitter card stock and a couple of cool Sizzix dies.

This card was created with fired brick and wild honey distress stains.  I put them directly on the paper.  I finished by cutting the bats from the Sizzix bat strip die.

 
 
I used ink on this card and sponged it on the entire surface.  I used the technique of flicking water on it to finish the background.  The die cuts all came from the Halloween Silhouettes die.  The glitter paper made it a little tricky to cut out all those details but they turned out really great.




My last card was made with concord grape and faded jeans distress stains.  I stamped the clouds in versa mark and heat embossed with clear before I added the distress stain.  I really like using the stains with embossing resist.  I also finished the background with perfect pearls mist in pearl.

 

I have some Christmas cards to share and my countdown to Christmas for this year.  So far Mocha has not been able to eat it but we'll see.  She's a crafty little dog.

Where does the time go????

I know I have been away for a very long time.  I have a very good reason though.  I had resigned myself to subbing for another school year.  I had planned crafting projects and things for my Etsy store.  Then on a whim I applied for a teaching position at a private school.  Much to my surprise, they interviewed me and hired me.  I am now teaching second grade.  I love it but it has been very time consuming to set everything up!  It seems like I looked up one day and Halloween was already here.

In other sad new, my LSS, Felicia's Scrapbooks is closing after six years.  I have loved teaching at the store and I will miss it greatly.  She has personal reasons for closing but I am sure if more people chose to buy local rather than from the big box store, she would be able to stay open.

Speaking of Halloween....I have a Halloween project to share. I created at Halloween banner using the Reminice line and lots of Sizzix goodies.  It looks really nice hanging on the mantle above the canvas I made a couple years ago.

Scrapbook Thursday--ala Lizzy

Lizzy has been hard at work in the scrapbook room again. Today we are sharing her Puppy Love layout. I wish I'd had some of her talent when I was seven!

Shabby Tea Room #124 Oh So Pretty In Pink

I adore the challenges at the Shabby Tea Room.  I love all things shabby.  I loved going to the various tea houses and having our own teas with my mom.  The challenge this week is pretty in pink.

I came up with a thank you card with one of my favorite flowers--a peony.



I turned a short piece of lace into the lace bloom and dyed some seam binding for the side.



I have fallen back in love with heat embossing.  Specifically for the resist qualities to it.  I started my card by heat embossing my simple sentiment and then I was able to rub off the ink as I built the background.

July at The Paper Mixing Bowl

The July recipe at the Paper Mixing Bowl was strawberry shortcake.

I don't usually have Fourth of July pictures to scrapbook.  I seem to forget to get the camera out and usually we are just watching or shooting fireworks and they just don't photograph well for me.  I thought these pictures from a summer birthday (rocket themed) we attended would fit the bill.

 
I used several of the "utensils" from this recipe.  I made a banner for the title on the lead page.  I strung the banner on a piece of twine.  I am really loving all the banners out there right now.  I also used star shapes cut from various patterned papers and included my journaling on a star.  I worked with contrasting patterns and created a couple of die cut stars out of corrugated cardstock that I pained cream.

 
I rarely find scrapbook layout sketches that include a second page and our lives are too busy to fit on just one page.  I find it easy to allow a great sketch become the lead page and the second page a complimentary page. 

For this second page I blocked my photos in the center of the page.


Then I pulled some of the elements from the first page with star die cuts from the various patterns.



Supplies:
Paper: Bazzil (Red) October Afternoon (Rocket Age) Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream)
Tools: Papertrey Ink Dies (banner builders, stars) Stampin Up! punch (notebook border) Fiskars (bracket punch)
Other: Papertrey Ink (button twine) Deadbeat Designs (alphabet) Slice (Basic Shapes 3)

Lady In Red---Scrapbook Thursday

I loved the photos our friend took so much that I had to find multiple ways to scrapbook them.  I'm not sure I'm finished yet.  There's some of me and Fletcher that might make their way on to a single page layout. 

This layout is the Lizzy pictures.  Simon pictures were here and the family pictures are coming up.





There are a lot of details on this layout.  I used up a ton of gems!  I cut a heart out by hand and then placed the gems around it to achieve this look.



I think vellum is making a comeback.  I have always loved the look of vellum.  It's a softer, more elegant look.  There is a trick to using it, both because of it's drying properties and transparency.  It's worth the extra steps though!



I used more gems here.  This time I pulled out my bling template by Bazzil.  It's a swirl shape with holes to place the gems through.  I use for stickles too!  It's a go-to tool for me lately.



I cut the title with my Slice.  I bought a bunch of cartridges when they were clearanced out to $2 at Michaels a couple months ago.  I wanted to jazz them up a little so I ran them through the Xyron and covered it with chunky black glitter.

Dessert at the Paper Mixing Bowl

I found out some fun news today when I finally got around to checking the internet after our annual pilgrimage to Misouri. This layout was chosen as a dessert at the Paper Mixing Bowl for the June challenge.



I orginally posted the layout here with all the details.  I loved how it turned out and I'm glad at least one other person liked it too!  I'm hoping to steal a little time away this week to attempt the July challenge!

50's Day--Scrapbook Thursday

Aaah 50's day.  It seems our school has a lot of dress up days!  I somehow was roped into making a poodle skirt on the fly (no pattern, no sewing skills) for this year. This layout was pretty simple.  The title is cut from a Slice cartridge and the records were made with nestabilities.  The kids didn't even know what a record was. They thought they were DVDs (we don't really have CD's for music).

Two!--Scrapbook Thursdays

Sometimes pictures say it all for you.  I try to keep my layouts focused on the pictures and the journaling.  This picture of Lizzy is one of those pictures that really don't need any journaling.



I like to use big pictures when I want to put just one picture.  I know white space is all the rage and I like some white space but I've seen a few that has one little 3x3 picture and all card stock. Just not my style!



I kept the embellishments simple too.  A title cut from the Slice and covered in glitter...



Some pre-made chipboard hearts and ruffle ribbon.

Family Photo Shoot--Scrapbook Thursday

Here are the family photos to go with the layouts of Simon and Lizzy.  Some of the photos are repeats but this layout will go in the family album and the other two in their albums.





I pulled out the Bazzil bling template again.  This time I used gold liquid pearls.  If you haven't checked out the new colors of pearls available, it's worth a look.  They have more rich colors and brights than before.



I also used lots of ribbons on this layout.  I love to bunch the ribbon on a strip of scor-tape to make a no-sew ruffle.  The rosette trim is from American crafts and is a stunning look on a layout.



Seriously, if you don't have the bling template and some liquid pearls, run out and get some!  You won't be sorry.



I have been on a mission to use up supplies I already have.  I inherited a lot of stickers.  I had pretty much stopped using stickers but Mom had a ton that were really cute.  I find that if you add to the sticker it helps make it less flat and stickerish.  I used this great title and added some brads to bring it up to the next level.



I have been adding lots of layers to layouts lately.  I think it's a trend right now but I'm happy to jump on that wagon as it makes for beautiful layouts.

Layout By Lizzy

Occasionally I can scrapbook without Lizzy at least starting something.  Most projects she doesn't finish but she's 7.  I'm well beyond 7 and have boxes of unfinished projects.  Usually she wants to draw or use paint (mostly paint!).  This time she asked to make her own layout.  She found some leftover pictures from a layout I had done and asked if she could use them.  She remembered her trip.  This is the layout she made.  Not bad for a first attempt.



She wanted a key because I had some out.  She's obsessed with my key embellishments and often steals them.  I asked her what the key was for.  She said, "you know the key to Silver Dollar City".



I love that she journaled right on the background page and added doodles.  Her journaling says: Hope you had (fun).

Scrapbook Thursday--Paper Mixing Bowl

I stumbled across a fun little layout challenge blog--The Paper Mixing Bowl.  The June challenge is Shish Kebab.  I decided to make a layout about my husband.  We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary earlier this month.  I pulled a picture from our wedding and a more recent picture of the two of us (we are rarely photographed together). 



My background paper was created by modge podging some 7 Gypsies tissue paper to to a piece of 12x12 white paper.  I sponged some Vintage Photo ink around the edges.  One of the challenge elements was to use book paper, newspaper or paper with script.



My gear piece behind the pictures was made with a piece of metal sheet that I ran through and embossing folder.  I wanted to bring more of the charcoal element to the layout so I pained it with black acrylic paint and then used a damp brush to create the texture.  I added some additional metal with the watch piece in the corner.



Using tape of any kind was another challenge element.  I didn't have the just right paper tape so I made my own with tissue paper, scor-tape, stamps and ink.  I really like how it turned out.  I'm getting a lot of mileage with my recent Deadbeat Designs purchases.



The journaling portion was to be about a special guy in your life.  I journaled about Fletcher and how we've grown.



Supplies:
Paper: Bazzil (white) Quick Kutz (metal sheet) 7 Gypsies (Collage Tissue Paper--Life)
Tools: Provocraft (clockworks embossing folder)
Stamps: Deadbeat Designs (Alpha 2, cracks)
Ink: Ranger (Distress Ink :Vintage Photo, Tea Dye; Archival: Jet Black)
Other: Unknown (ribbon, twill tape letters, acrylic paint) 7gypsies (pin in journaling block) Jolee's (pocket watch)

Thirty! A Scrapbook Thursday

I haven't put much about me in the scrapbook.  I guess I thought it should be about the kids but with losing my mom this year, I realized a little about me along with the kids is important.  I don't know that I will go back and add every event but going forward I want to add more.  Maybe I'll make a little book about me or something.  I know I wish I knew more about my mom other than how she was as Mom.

On to my layout...





When I turned 30 my entire family made the trip down to celebrate.  They usually don't get to come because it's Thanksgiving and my dad works then.  It is also the very worst time to travel.  The roads are very crowded and so are the airports.  I know because I've made the trip a few times.



I have been a little flower-making happy lately.  I love the effect inking white paper vs. using colored card stock gives.  The center of the daisy is a trick I picked up from Mr. Holtz during his Chemistry 101 class.  I have not been pleased with my distress stickles.  I thought they were blah and disappointing.  Turns out I was the problem.  They are designed to be spread out.  The effect becomes more a chunky glass like glitter rather than a sparkle (like stickles).  I am head-over-heels now and working on picking up all the colors now!  I love this center better than the sparkly stickles center (I made one of each to compare but Lizzy claimed the other one).