Oh Christmas Tree - Pretty Little Studio

I've got a super easy and, I think, super cute project up on the Pretty Little Studio BLOG today.  If you are looking for a home-made Christmas present or maybe have a spot in your house that needs an extra bit of Christmas decor, this fast and easy project is for you!  How easy is it?  My 4 year old assistant had a wonderful time helping me make it - 'nuff said!

One of the things I like about this project is that it was made from an old piece of home decor that I got for a steal at Hobby Lobby.  It was on the "we're getting ready to throw this away if you don't buy it for this super reduced price clearance aisle" and was much, much cheaper than getting an unfinished wood piece from the craft section.  

See?  Anyone who knows me knows I love good coffee; however, this wood sign did not work with my decor.  So, I had no problem applying two coats of white acrylic paint over everything as a start to my project.

All papers and die cuts used are from the Pretty Little Studio WOODLAND CHRISTMAS COLLECTION and include these pieces:

Merry & Bright Flair;

Woodland Christmas Fir Tree 8x8 Paper;

Woodland Christmas In a Pear Tree 8x8 Paper;

Woodland Christmas Peppermint Bark 8x8 Paper;

Woodland Christmas Pinecone Potpourri 8x8 Paper;

Woodland Christmas Starry Night 8x8 Paper;

Woodland Christmas Twinkling Lights 8x8 Paper;

Prancer Vintage Die Cut; and

Red Birds Vintage Die Cuts.

Here are a couple of close-ups so you can see how my assistant and I "decorated" my tree:

Want to see my tutorial for making this?  You do?  Then simply click on this LINK for the Pretty Little Studio Blog!  

Happy Four-Days-To-Go-Until-Christmas.  Hope you and your loved ones are escaping a little of the hustle and bustle and are building happy memories together!!!

Tiny Treasures - Pretty Little Studio

Today is a new Technique Challenge at the PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO BLOG, and you-know-who is up with this layout.  It's a color pop challenge with an inspiration photo that made me want to turn on the Christmas carols, make some hot chocolate, and start crafting.  Can you guess what color I chose for the "pop" on my layout?  If you said red, I did it correctly!  *smile*

I chose to create a simple grid pattern on my layout using Twas the Night Paper and Bookmark Journaling tag from the WOODLAND CHRISTMAS COLLECTION.  I really wanted my red accents to, well, pop...so I kept my background a very simple white.  To provide a little extra dimension, I made my grid on a smaller square of white cardstock which I then glued in the center of a 12 x 12 piece of white cardstock.

I am in love with the Red Circles Vellum paper included in the Woodland Christmas Collection.  I keep cutting those vellum circles out and sewing them on my papers.  I love how you can see the text of my paper through the vellum circles.

The little redbird die cut (also from the Woodland Christmas Collection) HAD to go on this layout.  Many of my Christmas ornaments have been collected over the years and are treasured by me, even though the majority of them weren't expensive at all.  They consist of things like a glittery snowman, handmade by my girls when they were teens and (I thought) too old to care about homemade ornaments; an angel made from felt and a popsicle stick by my oldest when she was in grade school; a stuffed goose, which my second daughter bought for me on a school trip to Washington, D.C. in the 5th grade rather than getting anything for herself.  And redbirds - I have several old-fashioned redbird ornaments on my tree - some chipped, but still very much loved - because they were my grandmother's favorite.  And I just know that she looks down and smiles that sweet smile I remember when I put my redbird ornaments on the tree each year.  There are handmade beaded ornaments given to me by my mother-in-law, a superman ornament that I bought for my husband the first year we were married, a Starfish ornament purchased in Charleston years ago as a promise to myself that things would get better  - the list and the memories go on.  

So, where was I?  Oh yes!  Pretty Little Studio!  Color Pop Technique CHALLENGE!  Come play!!!

Sketch Challenge Time at Pretty Little Studio

It's Tuesday and you know what that means, right?  Okay, yes, it is the day after Monday but it is also sketch challenge time over at Pretty Little Studio!  And with my fantastic WOODLAND CHRISTMAS COLLECTION, I could not wait to get started!

Here is my interpretation of this week's sketch, which can be found at the Pretty Little Studio BLOG:

Although the lines on this week's sketch travel in a diagonal from the bottom left to the top right across the layout, I decided to create lines that mimic more of a starburst pattern - pretty sure there is no need for an explanation why on that choice! *smile*

I used these sweet little Twinkling Star STICKERS that I machine stitched over.

On top of my star stickers, I layered a few sequins and larger stars that were punched from my Pretty Little Studio packaging.  I've got to tell you, only Pretty Little Studio makes packaging that is so cute I NEVER throw it out.  I consider it my bonus material - just the right size for my punches and to make small tags!

Instead of two Christmas trees, I used a couple of journaling TAGS to anchor my cluster.  My Merry and Bright FLAIR and Yule Log TAB were the perfect finishing touches, don't you think?

Have you played along and used a Pretty Little Studio sketch lately?  There's a new one every week, and their clean lines make them perfect for a layout of any size, including December Daily albums!

Christmas in July? Yes, Please!

PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO has a new Ad Challenge up that was exactly what I needed to motivate me to get started on my December Daily!  I have loved every single December Daily album I have seen for the past three years and kept meaning to make my own.  But once the holidays get here, well...things get a little crazy...and free time for this working gal is spent DOING all the things I want to record in my album.  I never seem to have the extra time to actually MAKE the album, too!  So, this year, I decided to get a head start.  And nothing beats the 100+ degree temperatures we are having out here in the Wild West than sitting in a cool air conditioned room planning Christmas projects (and thinking about the f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g 70 degree temperatures we generally enjoy during the Holiday Season.   Brrrrr!!!!)

 

So, I pulled out my PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO Christmas at Home Collection (and my Nature Walk Collection and scraps from all my other Pretty Little Studio Collections) and I got started on my December Daily Album NOW.  This year, when the Christmas season arrives, the only thing I will have to do is add pictures and journaling.  Even I can do that.  Here's to getting ahead of the game!  And here are pictures of my first three days in December - only 27 more to go...

 

December 1st:

I decided to use a blank art journaling album that I bought well over a year ago to create my December Daily.  All of the pages are made of craft paper, which provides a good base.  I can paint on each page, cover it with my patterned paper, or just leave it as is.  This smaller album has enough pages that I plan to use it for my December Daily for the next year or two and insert tabbed dividers for each year.  For my first page, I worked off a Pretty Little Studio Sketch found HERE.

 

 

I love adding little touches like these sequins, staples, and of course my "distressed sewing" complete with uncut strands left to hand down from the ends - a "technique" I picked up from the fabulous LISA WILKINSON.

 

December 2:

I mixed a lot of my scraps in non-traditional Christmas colors with these adorable deer die cuts from the Nature Walk Collection to create this page.  The inserted photo pocket page provides additional room for extra photos or journaling.  And I really love layering on top of my sleeve - especially with wonderful PLS die cuts!

 

My inspiration for this page was this week's PLS AD Challenge and this PLS SKETCH. (For those of you who like sketches, PLS has tons sprinkled throughout its blog that are absolutely perfect for projects like this!!!)

 

Let's take a quick closer look at my dear deer:

Isn't he adorable - especially with his pink twine bow?!

 

December 3:

It's another two-pager, complete with a large pocket that holds tags containing future wish lists and shopping lists and maybe a picture or two.

 

And, look!  Another deer, all dressed up and ready for Christmas!  I have to admit, I am a sucker for little baby deer holding candy canes - yep.

 

And that's it for me today.  What about you?  Have you started with any of YOUR Christmas projects yet???

Pretty Little Studio - Sketch Play

I had my Saturday all planned out earlier in the week, complete with which crafty project I wanted to work on.  But when I was browsing through Facebook, chatting with my friends, on Friday afternoon I saw a fantastic sketch on the PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO Page that had me quickly revising my scrapbook plans and frantically hunting through my supply closet for some PLS goodies so I could play along.  Want to see the sketch that had me so happy?  Okay!  Just click HERE. 

 

Before I show you what I did, I want to tell you why I like PLS.  Yes, they have all sorts of C-U-T-E ephemera - and we all know how much I luurrrrve pretty paper bits and pieces.  But, most importantly (to me), they are located in my home state of South Carolina - just a hop, skip, and a jump away from my hometown, SUMTER, where I spent the first 19 years of my life (not to be confused with FORT SUMTER, which is actually located off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina and which is famously known as the fort upon which the initial shots that began the Civil War were fired.)  Bet you didn't know you were going to get a geography and history lesson in addition to a few pictures of my layout, did you?  Anyway, how can I NOT like a company that makes me think about my hometown and my roots every time I see its logo?  So - you clicked on the link to see the sketch (you DID click on it, didn't you?) and now, here is my layout...ta-da!

 

 

 I didn't have any of the suh-weet little tags featured on the PLS sketch, so I had to cheat and create my own using my Silhouette Cameo (Repeat after me:  I. Love. My. Cameo!). 

 

 

My papers are all by OCTOBER AFTERNOON (including the slightly crumpled background paper) because they have a similar vintage kind of feel to them as PLS.  Can you tell which OA collection most of these papers come from?  If you guessed the 9-5 Collection, give yourself a gold star.  Yep - proof that you can make just about anything Christmas-y if you set your mind to it!

 

 

My banner was made from some PLS pennant flags that I am almost certain I have had for about two years.  I remember I loved them when I first saw them and so I hoarded bought several packages.  I alternated sewing around the edges of each pennant with straight and zig zag stitches.  Then I added chipboard letters for my title and glued a coordinating button to the tip of each pennant.

 

I also had a LOT of small PLS Bingo Cards (again, that hoarding planning-ahead thing) in my crafty closet.  Remember when Bingo Cards were being used on EVERYTHING a year or so ago?  Yeah, that's when I stocked up.  Then I discovered - I'm not really a Bingo Card kinda gal.  But that's okay, because I AM the kind of gal who likes to use her Star punch.  And these Bingo Cards?  They make some wonderfully bright, festive, FUN stars! 

 

See?  They stand out and create a terrific top layer, especially with pop dots behind a few of them for added dimension.

 

And they, along with a couple of OA brads, compliment my cluster at the bottom corner of my photo perfectly!  Don't you think?

 

 

So there you have it.  The project that I HAD to drop everything for and complete RIGHT NOW.  And now I have a few more plans for those Bingo Cards that I can't wait to get started on.  Be sure to stay tuned...

Christmas Day the Instagram Way

Hello everyone!I hope you had a joyful Christmas, full of good memories-in-the-making.  We had a very hectic-busy-crazy-actionpacked pre-Christmas weekend - with children coming home to roost for the Christmas holiday.  Lou and her guy came breezing through our front door first, all tanned and relaxed from their honeymoon cruise.  Then all the other his, mine, and ours slowly trickled in until we had children and pets and noise and activity filling every single nook and cranny of Casa de Chaos.  That picture at the top of this blog?  It's missing two working sons, some crazy yapping doggies, a couple psycho cats - and a partridge in a pear tree.  I baked, and last minute shopped, and wrapped gifts, and sang Christmas carols, and even sang in the church choir on Christmas Eve. 

 

Why am I telling you all this?  Because I want you to see how someone who LIVES for scrapbooking and photographing those special moments could have been so sleep deprived (and maybe a teeny-tiny bit high on sugar from all the "test bites" I had to take) that I forgot to check my camera battery - on the main camera, on the good point-and-shoot camera, and on the back-up point-and-shoot.  And guess which camera had a completely dead battery Christmas morning?  If you guessed not just one but all three, you would be correct!

But, hey, it was Christmas morning - and I was happy and all of my family was happy.  So rather than stress about it - or attempt to make everyone hold off on opening gifts until a battery charged ('cuz you know that wasn't going to happen) - I whipped out my phone and Instagrammed all the highlights. And that was okay. 

I got the new son-in-law happily modeling his new boots...

 

...while wearing the "very manly" pajama pants (with images of doggies wearing antlers) that just happened to match his father-in-law's and brother-in-law's pajama pants (courtesy of the BEST mom in the world a/k/a ME!)

 

 

Don't worry, the hubster wasn't upset in the least about wearing matching pajama pants (because, hey, they were "manly" pajama pants, after all).  But I think he was a very teeny little bit put out that now he has two people in the family who are taller than he is.  See?  Look at his feet.  He is standing on his tippy-toes because he wants so badly to be the tallest!!!

Then there was Jesse - who has the best sense of humor.  And, apparently, a thing for my Kalliebeth's sparkly, glittery hat.

 

He r-e-a-l-l-y likes to include himself in pictures.  Not a shy bone in that boy's body.  Can you tell?

 

This was the first year that the Childe got more clothes than toys for Christmas.  Considering the fact that she was trying to wear everything all at once, I don't think she minded too much.  What do you think?

 

Like her big sister, she likes sparkly things, too.  Fortunately, Jesse drew the line at trying on her sparkly skirt - but I suspect it was only because the skirt was too small to fit him properly!

 

Even my big girls let me get a pic of them in their matching pajamas without grumbling One.Single.Time.  It was truly a day of Christmas miracles - ha!

 

 

After a few hours of festivities and feasting Christmas morning, many of the adult kids had to start heading back to their homes or off to see other relatives.  Of course, I made sure that I snapped "just one more pic" before each of them left.

 

 

Until finally, finally, only the youngest two birdies who haven't yet flown the nest were left.  They were in their rooms, quietly playing with their new loot.  I turned around and the hubster was clearly "resting his eyes" for a minute. (Notice the little ball of fur squinched down next to him - apparently one of our doggies needed to rest her eyes, too!)

 

 

...and with that, I finally sat down, took a deep breath for the first time in days, and closed my own eyes for a minute or two.

 

I will be back with new projects in a few days, so stay tuned!  Until then, hoping your Christmas was all that you dreamed and wishing you a Happy New Year - full of peace, love, and crafting! 

Bringing Back the Sketch with Practical Scrappers

Happy TGIF this morning, everyone!  Over at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS, we have decided to bring back sketches - can I get a big HOO RAH?!?!  That's right, over the next two weeks we have a fun card sketch and not one, but TWO, scrapbook page sketches for you!  My layout was creating using this wonderful SKETCH by Liz Chidester. 

My family and I had a fun photo shoot this past weekend so I had lots and lots of pictures to choose from.  My papers are from LILY BEE 's Christmas Cheer Collection (Lily Bee! - LOVE these papers and don't know how I could have missed out seeing their last few collections!)  - except for the background paper, which is a leftover piece from an older Lily Bee collection.  I chose two close-up headshots of the Bebe for this layout and decided to journal about her smiles - which aren't always so frequent these days.  Her getting-to-be-a-teeneger-OMG-crazy-hormone-surging-fueled mood swings have had us both running to our respective bedrooms and slamming the door shut a few times!  So when she is happy and cheerful - I want to scrap about it! 

I liked the very muted pale background for these close-ups of my child, but I felt they kind of made the pictures get a little lost in the midst of all the busy patterns in the papers.  To help draw the eye to the photos, I simply outline them in black marker.  Yes, it IS okay to write and draw on the front of your photos - I promise!

The banners and simple Chevron-style arrows were cut out with my Silhouette Cameo (best scrapbooking invention EVER - hands down)  I decided to play with the negative space trend a little and alternated using banner outlines in place of "complete" banners.  And to add a little dimension and continue to draw the eye to the pictures, I added my Chevron arrows in contrasting patterns on top of one of the banners, both under and on top of my pics.

My bits and pieces are just that - random things from random packaging, which were hanging out on my work table just begging to be used. The Christmas Cheer title is actually from the bottom part of my Lily Bee paper - you know, the strip you cut off and throw away. My "waste not, want not" Grandmother would be so proud of me! 

And that's it for me today.  Be sure to head over to PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS to see what other fabulous takes on the sketch our wonderful DT has come up with!

Practical Scrappers - Last Minute Gift Idea

I'm up at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS today with a fun little last minute gift idea that will keep you out of the crazy parking lots and in your craft room - for a completely legitimate goodwill-to-your-fellow-man reason. 

I love sending out small personal gifts to my family and friends - and if you can't be with someone in person to share the holiday, the next best thing is a cd full of family photos, favorite recipes, video clips from your favorite moments this past year, or simply recording an "I love you" from each family member.  But rather than send a boring, ordinary cd case, why not dress it up a little?  Go ahead - add a little bling!  And pretty paper!

The very simple details for making this are on the PS Blog.  My tree, snowflake and envelope on the inside cover were all cut out with my Silhouette Cameo, using cutting files designed by my favorite, LORI WHITLOCK.  My papers were from the Holly Jolly line by MY MIND'S EYE- an oldie but a goody that I found sitting (still packaged) lonely and forgotten on a shelf in my craft supplies closet. The MME site says it's been discontinued and is no longer available, but they obviously have never looked inside my craft closet!

Here are a couple more pics:

 

...and the inside cover, which I kept simple with a tag containing a personal note.

That's it for me.  But be sure to check back Thursday, when I will be back with a fun holiday-themed layout using a sketch from one of my favorite sketch sites.  Until then...

Happy Christmas Crafting! [Only 21 days left - yikes!]

Catching Up on Christmas with BOAF

The December Birds of a Feather KIT is packed with so many Christmas goodies that I was finally inspired to finish scrapping my Christmas pictures from 2010 - and just in time, too, with Christmas 2011 only one week away! In addition to my layout of my two oldest daughters posing together, I also had fun playing with all white embellies on this layout of my youngest daughter, who was obviously excited when I took her picture on Christmas Eve! Can't you tell? I think she is wearing one of the hugest grins I have ever seen!

I used Creative Scrappers Sketch 186 found HERE. At first I was going to use letters and embellishments that were several different colors. But the more I played with the (mostly) white clusters, the more I liked the look.

If the embellie didn't start out white (like my letters and cardboard flower) - no problem! A little paint, and I had exactly what I wanted!

Happy Crafty Christmas!

Last Minute Gifts - CDs with Flair

If you are like me, you have relatives and friends who live in a different state (or maybe a different country). And when Christmas comes around, you want to send them something a little more meaningful than a card, but you don't want to go bankrupt paying for postage (not to mention standing in mile-long lines at the post office! Well, look no further! I have come up with a FANTASTIC solution! It's cute, it's easy, it's thoughtful, and best of all - it's a quick little project that you can get done in no time at all! What is it?

Well, I took boring cd cases and, using Lori Whitlock's CUTTING FILES
and Kerri Bradford's CUTTING FILES (and using Echo Park's Season's Greetings papers - designed by Lori Whitlock), I turned them into this:

My first cd contains some of my favorite Christmas carols that I am sending to an old friend who has been feeling a little blue.

Kerri Bradford's notebook paper diecut from her BECAUSE OF YOU Collectionwas just the thing I needed for my playlist.

And, of course, you can't have a Christmas carol cd without this adorable "fa la la" diecut from Kerri's THIS + THAT CHRISTMAS Collection!

My mother-in-law, who we only get to see a few times a year, has everything except...high-speed internet. She lives waaaay out in the country with a slooowwww dial-up connection. As a result, we don't often email pictures to her. So, a cd full of pictures is a gift I know she will enjoy.

I added pop-dots under the middle of the tag from Kerri's LABEL IT Collection to provide a little dimension. My little 11 year old "helper" insisted that the Merry & Bright letters from Kerri's THIS + THAT CHRISTMAS Collection needed to be outlined in white. Don't you think she did a great job?!?

Kerri's pocket from her BECAUSE OF YOU Collection and Lori's tag and snowflake diecuts from her CHRISTMAS SET 2 Collection look like they were meant to go together, don't they?

I plan to host a cookie exchange next weekend, and as a hostess gift, I am going to give out these embellished cd cases. The cds will contain the recipes of all the cookies that are being exchanged. Pretty neat, huh? And did I mention quick? And easy?

AND NOW ARE YOU READY FOR A GIVE-AWAY???

Every follower who leaves a comment between now and Saturday, December 10th, at 6:oo p.m., on my blog and any one of the following blogs (It is the season to spread love and cheer, after all) will be eligible for not one, but two drawings (chosen by random.org)! This first drawing will be for a $25 gift certificate to Lori Whitlock's STORE; and the second drawing will be for a $25 gift certificate to Kerri Bradford's STORE. So what are you waiting for??? Leave some love, see some more fantastic last-minute gift ideas, and maybe win a great prize!

SHARI CARROLL
JOY DICKSON
CORRI GARZA
NATALIE GRAHAM
CAROLYN KING
LAURA VEGAS

Happy Christmas Crafting!