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?

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...