Happy New Year!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!! Here is wishing 2012 is a great one!! Now on to the January challenge over at True XOXO Scrapbooking. The Challenge this month was the number 1. Here is my One layout,

I have one Patterned paper, transparency, doily, mist, felt swirl, sticker, metal snowflake, border, ribbon, rubon, paper clip, flag, chipboard snowflake, button, one word title, ticket, pearl, journaling spot, tag, snowflake, baker's twine, and brad.
Closeup -You can see how I added the baker's twine to the snowflake.

Two TaDa Creative Studios Projects

We had a great Christmas, spent time with family and friends, the kids loved the stuff they received but there is one holiday story that I just have to share. We open our presents on Christmas Eve we always have well after dinner we started to open presents when there was a knock at the front door and to EVERYONE'S surprise Santa Claus was on our doorsteps. Hubby invited him inside, the kids didn't know what to do they were sooooo surprised they wouldn't move. Finally I got them to go by the door and get a picture with Santa.

Then Santa handed us a cookie jar filled with cookies, wait aren't WE supposed to leave Santa cookies. Oh well it was a terrific surprise, thanks SANTA!! By the way the hat my daughter is wearing is a christmas present she had just opened and she loved it and barely took it off for the next 24 hours.

I pulled out the Bountiful Blooms collection from TaDa Creative Studios to create this card. Papers used Ivy League, Mini Mes and Snippets & Clippets. Stamped a sentiment on the Journaling block added rhinestones to the flowers added stitching and used a Spellbinders Large Classic Inverted Scalloped Square on one of the papers.

This card is for the Create:Blog the challenge was to create a new year card. I used another TaDa Creative Studios collection this time the Abode a la Mode collection. I used the Hoop Dee Doo paper for the base of the card, then created a flag from one of the Tag-a-ma-jigs, the purple strip is also from the Tag-a-ma-jig paper and finally created a shaped piece for the sentiment from the Jumpin' Java paper. Add some stickers and you have an easy New Years card.

Oh Christmas Tree

OUR REAL TREE
This year we made a totally different Christmas tree than any tree we have had before. Everything on our tree is new this year, except for the actual tree. We got all new Pink/Purple bulbs, homemade bulbs with ribbon, snowflakes, ribbon and beads, even a new star.

Baker's Twine Christmas Tree After decorating our house this holiday season and moving our real Christmas tree upstairs I decided we needed a small tree downstairs and instead of going to the store and buying something I chose to make one instead. So I bought a styrofoam tree to decorate. At first I thought about using some ribbon but I chose to use Baker's Twine instead. The Green and Red Baker's Twine is Martha Stewart twine. I started with the green roll of twine at the bottom of the tree and used a pin to Temporarily hold the end in place while TIGHTLY wrapping the tree, after wrapping then I went back and glued the twine to the tree. I stopped when that roll was empty and then switched to the red. However I wanted a border between the twine and decided on the large ball trim in Red and White then the White Sequins on top of the ball trim to add a touch of sparkle to the tree. I topped the tree with a pretty Prima White Poinsettia.

One last tip: I didn't wrap the Baker's Twine all the way to the bottom of the tree because I didn't want it to unwind off the tree so I added another string of sequin which was the perfect finishing touch. Its a very easy project its just a little time consuming because if you don't wrap the twine very tight you will see the styrofoam tree beneath.

Closeup of the ball trim and white sequin's on top.

Closeup of the Prima Poinsettia, isn't it sooo pretty.

A side view of the top of the tree showing how I attached the flower to the tree. Insert a decorative pin to the top of the tree and attach a glue dot to the pin and the flower finishes the tree and doesn't mess up all the hard work of winding the Baker's Twine. I punched a 1" circle to cover the top and added some rhinestones to the top, you only see it from the side but I wanted it to be finished from all sides.

I hope you enjoyed my Baker's Twine Styrofoam Christmas Tree. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!
Lisa

How much scrapping??

How much scrapping was I able to complete last week ummm NONE. That's what happens when you put up the christmas decorations, do some christmas shopping and then get sick for the next 4 days, throw in wrapping presents and all the normal activities and that equals no scrapping time. I got this first layout done the first weekend of Dec and its based on a sketch from Let's Capture These Sketches, mine is a lot different from the sketch but its because my photos were to big, I saw the sketch on Tara's blog and completed it for her challenge #3. The bowling paper is from Moxxie, Alphas are American Crafts, Pink Paislee and My Mind's Eye, the other bits & pieces are from all over, I have Crate Paper, Cosmo Cricket, Webster's Pages (chipboard button), Sassafras, Jenni Bowlin, Jillibean Soup and Hambly.

Detail/Close-up shot of bowling title.

Authentique
I don't think I have ever taken so long to complete a layout before. I found the Authentique Dec sketch and printed it out to work on it, Started on Saturday by picking what photos I wanted to use and deciding on what Authentique papers and then Sunday I completely cleaned EVERYTHING off my scrap table which is in the basement so we could put up the christmas tree and all the other decorations. Monday there was still remnants of christmas stuff on the table so I decided to do some christmas shopping then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I just felt horrible and barely had energy to pick up the kids from school. Friday I was feeling better but still not 100% so I decided to wrap up christmas presents instead of scrapping. On Saturday I ran to my local CVS to get a couple smaller pics printed came home and discovered the photo machine was NOT working properly and the colors were OFF. Went back on Sunday to reprint the pics for them to say the machine still wasn't working (seems like someone doesn't want me to finish this layout). Finally was able to get the pics printed, yeah!! I was able to get a little bit accomplished but I kept getting interrupted, so finally on Monday when the kids were back in school I was able to carve out some time and finish. So this layout took well over a week from when I started it but actually working on it was a different story.

I used Authentique's Splendid line paper:Renown and Brillance (back), Tabloids (Timepiece journaling spot), Alphas from the Journey line Petite Type Circle and the fussy cut flowers are from Journey line Promenade paper.

I fussy cut the flowers from the Promenade Paper from the Journey collection.

I spritzed the Renown paper with Sprinklers from October Afternoon color Robot Blue, loved it.

TaDa Creative Studios
I took the wonderful, fabulous Frozen Tozen collection and created a zoo layout about one of our family’s favorite zoo animals the Polar Bear. We love going to our local zoo and never miss the Polar Bear exhibit. When you think of Polar Bears you think of snow so the two just seemed to work great together.
I started off untraditionally by choosing the Side Swipe Fringe Benefits Cardstock in Macintosh. I love the Fringe Benefts its a nice heavy duty cardstock and I had so much fun bunching and curling the side and creating this fun edge. The edge will stay how you leave it too. I want to use them all the time. Add of course I used the Snippets & Clippets as well, because I’m not able to create a TaDa layout without them.

After the cardstock I took to punching, lots of punching, circles, scalloped circles, snowflakes to make the border no paper was safe from punching.

Then I layered a couple snowflakes and added some stickles on top to make them sparkle. One of the snowflakes was topped with one of the wonderful vinyl stickers.

A day of Cards

I created this first card for the December challenge over at True XOXO. This month our inspiration was a photo/layout. I was inspired by the journaling strips that were on top of the photo, however I was inspired to create a card this month and not a layout. So I started by using a Tim Holtz embossing folder, the Bingo card and embossed a gold piece of paper from GCD Studios. To complete the Bingo card I included 5 brads and made a Bingo. The Thankful for you strips were from Bella Blvd's One Fall Day Collection - it was a 12 inch strip that I cut apart and then attached on top of the Bingo card. I felt I needed a touch of white so I added the doily behind the bingo sheet. I'm very happy because I think I FINALLY can tie a good bow, Thanks to the you tube video I watched. The base paper and the bingo paper were both in my scraps pile, which is what I love about making cards.

I created this card for the Crop Stop Challenge #47 Be Thankful. After creating the card above the flowers from this three bugs in a rug paper was calling for me to use them. So I fussy cut the flowers and then added the notebook paper from Pink Paislee. The metal butterfly is from Making Memories, the thanks tag is from a card that I had received from someone else over a year ago and added the turquiose gem in the center of the flower and 3 pearls at the top.

The challenge this week at The Paper Variety is to include an ornament on your project. So I was looking thru my christmas papers and I saw this journaling tag with an ornament on it and decided I was going to use these papers and stickers from Echo Park. I added silver ink to the papers as a final touch.

Another week closer to Christmas

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with hubby's family and I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving as well. However, Thanksgiving weekend did not equal scrapping time. I'm not sure why but every time I thought I could sit down and scrap 5 minutes later I was interepted for one reason or another so this first layout was sitting on my table for days just waiting for me to get a chance to actually scrap. Memorable Seasons has a great sketch this month from the Nov happy hour sketch, but you have til the end of the month to complete it and be eligible for a prize.
Earlier in the week I was interested in scrapping these photos and I couldn't find where I had put them, luckily when I saw this sketch I knew it would work with these pics. Glad I found them!
I pulled out Best Creations travel collection and then added Making Memories Passport collection papers and Rubons from October Afternoon Boarding Pass and the sticker is from Crate Paper.

I saw this sketch from Creative Scrappers Sketch #183 and it was the perfect starting point. These photos are from Disney's Lion King show in the Animal Kingdom park. I had no idea what papers I wanted to use and ended up choosing a number of old supplies that I have had for ages!!! The base paper is from Stemma and was a halloween paper, the cardstock block I embossed with a cuttlebug folder and the script paper behind that is from Bo Bunny's Cambridge collection. The strip under the photos was in my scrap pile and its from ages ago its DCWV, the black scallops was a scrap from a Pink Paislee die cut piece. The only thing that is not ancient on this layout is the Foam Thickers that matched so perfectly and the buttons are from Graphic 45, and they are the only Graphic 45 items that I own. I also inked and distressed all the papers.

PRIZE TIME
I received another great prize over the Thanksgiving weekend. This prize was from the Scrapping Nook in Sept and Oct they had a Bo Bunny contest and I WON. This prize is soooo fun, look at all these wonderful goodies. I received this adorable apron, the measuring cups and spoons, spatula, the nice reusable bag, the leather purse plus of course actually scrappy products too. The Bo Bunny Sweet Tooth Collection pack and matching chipboard plus a number of other goodies too. I love Bo Bunny products but somehow I don't have any of these goodies so that's a great bonus.

My daughter showing off the Bo Bunny apron, isn't it cute??

This week's projects

Sketchy Thursdays
For the December GDT Challenge at Sketchy Thursdays I took the very minimalist sketch and added to it to create this layout focusing a wonderful weekend spent creating tons of baked goodies with the kids, myself and grandma and how Thankful I am for this special time.

This layout is a mix and match layout, as I usually stick with one manufacturer not so on this one. I started with a cardstock base which I spritzed with some Glimmer Mist color Sand. I pulled out an old Scrapdango kit which featured the Lily Bee Catching Fall papers and Maya Road tag. Then I added the canvas border which is from Pink Paislee Sweetness line. The Pinwheel flower is Crate Paper, the Farmhouse collection I believe, the title is American Crafts Amy Tangerine line, the ribbon I have had for YEARS and I have stickers from My Mind's Eye, Crate Paper and the Family Traditions sticker is Lily Bee. The last detail for this layout was inking and distressing of all the papers.

A closeup/detail shot of the title.

Sketch Inspiration Sketch #246
This was a fun sketch to play with I pulled out some pics of my son at the Orchard that we visit in the fall. Then I choose the playful Bella Blvd One Fall Day Collection with its great bright colors and patterns. I fussy cut the acorns, the pumpkins, the sign and the leaves at the top. I also completed this layout for the Recipe challenge over at Memorable Seasons. The recipe was
* a scalloped edge
* 2 photos
* at least 3 leaves - they can be any kind
* a banner
* a pinch of sewing/stitching

So after fussy cutting the leaves I strung them on the Baker's twine to create a banner. I added stitching onto the leaves of the acorns.

A closeup/detail shot of the fussy cut pumpkins and sign.

Creative Scrappers
So happy to have finally tackled another wedding layout, I think I'm up to 6 completed wedding layouts now and I've been married over 12 years. When I saw the Creative Scrappers sketch #182 it just screamed to me make a wedding layout with all the flowers, bling, and the big doily in the sketch. So that's what I created. I pulled out my papers that I have saved to create my wedding album which is Basic Grey's retired Bittersweet collection. I added lots of Prima flowers, mixed with a Webster's Pages Pinwheel Florettes and Maya Road Fabric Flower with the large bling center (Ornate Botanical Blooms). The bling is a mix of Zva Creative and KaiserCraft and I topped the "O" in limo with a shimmering heart from Making Memories.

A closeup/detail shot of all the fabulous flowers and bling.