Dear Santa...Please Stop Here

This layout is proof that I am a problem-solver.  That's right - me - a solver of problems.  Oh, I haven't figured out how to end world hunger.  I haven't even figured out how to use the various remotes that sit on our coffee table.  But - I have figured out how to create a Christmas layout when I cannot find where I decided to store all my new Christmas papers!

See, this is what happened.  My BESTIE and I made a pre-Thanksgiving trip to our favorite scrapbooking store just days before Thanksgiving.  But, when I returned home, I was trying to get my house spic and span for my mother's yearly visit to Casa de Chaos (which is aptly named, trust me).  And...I violated one of the 10 Commandments of Organization.  THOU SHALT NOT PLACE ITEMS IN A SPACE THAT IS NOT LABELED AND/OR EASILY VISIBLE.  Guess what happened when I wanted to use my nice shiny new Christmas papers?  If you guessed I couldn't find them, you would be absolutely correct!!!  Rather than waste precious time when my mojo was actually in residence, I pulled out my regular, everday papers and used them to make a Christmas-themed layout.  The only holiday items I used were 2 Christmas brads and holiday rub-ons left over from last year which were in the appropriately labeled box.  

Which papers did I use?  Well, I shamelessly mixed things up from a few different MY MIND'S EYE Collections (I'm a rebel that way), namely the COLLECTABLE COLLECTION and the SWEETEST THING COLLECTION.  And because I was playing with My Mind's Eye papers, I decided to play along with the DEAR SANTA CHALLENGE.  

Want to see a few close-ups?  Here you go:

To create this...er...cluster piece thingy...I started with a Bright-Eyed Label from the Sweetest Thing Bluebell Collection because it looked like a snowflake to me.  See, you can just see the edge of the "b" sticking out at this angle.  I wanted a little extra-layering so I put one of the Happiness decorative flower-brad combinations on top (from the Collectable Collection), although I switched out the actual brad with one from last year's Christmas collection.  My cluster thingy still needed a lil' something extra so I hand cut three tags and added "Ho Ho Ho" rub-ons to them before layering them along the bottom.  A little artfully arranged loose thread and I called this cluster complete!

Of course, I couldn't use these papers without doing some fussy cutting.  And although my stickers came from a non-holiday themed collection, they work absolutely perfectly for this Christmas layout!

These rub-on snowflakes and little splatters of mist add nice subtle layers behind this fussy cut piece, don't you think?

Even though my papers were from different collections, they coordinated so beautifully that I wanted to use them ALL on my layout!!!  See?

So - what do you think?  Was I successful in creating a Christmas look with my non-Christmas papers?

Practical Scrappers January Sketch Reveal!

 

I am so excited that Practical Scrappers is bringing back sketches! With my limited time, I find myself frequently using sketches these days, even if it's just as a starting point. Something about them kicks my creative inspiration into top gear and off I go! I love the sketch posted this month by our very own, Liz Chidester. To see it and the layouts by our other wonderful Practical Scrappers, click HERE.

 

As for my layout - I saw the sketch and immediately thought of my wooden Studio Calico snowflakes that I have had for over a year.  Why?  Because even though I love them (and just about all wood veneer shapes by Studio Calico) I don't do too many winter-themed layouts living in a part of the country where we have a 50/50 chance of wearing shorts and having the AC running at Christmas time!  But Liz's sketch and these fantastic LILY BEE CHRISTMAS CHEER PAPERS practically shouted out - winter layout, winter layout!  So I decided I could have a cold-weather layout, even if we weren't actually having cold weather at the time the picture was taken.

 

 I love that the Christmas Cheer Collection included stickers that could be used to make a banner - yeah!  *doing the I-Love-Banners happy dance* I doodled on my banner, added a little bit of machine stitching, and a few splatters of mist because - well, I really, really like doodling, misting, and maching stitching. 
 

Finally, I needed to add my title and a little journaling - a new fave of mine is combining the two into a long title, especially when I get to use a combination of different of letters - like this...

That's it for me today. Hope you have as much fun playing with this sketch as I did! And if you DO create a layout, feel free to comment and leave me a link to your blog or web gallery post featuring your take on the sketch - I would love to admire YOUR creation!