Scrapbooking Your Christmas Card

My very first blog post ever was this one where I posted about using your Christmas card as your design inspiration for a layout.  I've always really loved how this layout turned out and thought it was a perfect way to end my yearly album.

But this year I decided to create my own Christmas card digitally which you can read about here.

When it came time to scrap this year's card I realized that I didn't want to recreate it with paper.  I'd spent so long on it digitally that it just didn't make sense to start over.  So I chose to use an actual card as the main element in my layout.  Those of you that read this blog much know that I typically scrap double layouts.  But since this is for the last page in my album I could do a one pager.  Which worked perfectly.

I cut a mat for the card and just stuck it right on top, as I would a picture.

For this mat I used a border punch.  I wanted the straight edge left on so I was careful not to punch all the way to the corner.  For more info on how to use a border punch see here.  The red mat on the red background paper didn't have quite the pop I was looking for so I added a white layer underneath the red.

Things still seemed a little too monochromatic for me so I added a thick white ribbon.  This ribbon came off a package that was sent to me.  I loved it so I threw it in my color bin and it was just waiting for me when I pulled out my white tub for this project.  Love that!

I hate dealing with frayed edges of ribbon at the edge of my page so I usually wrap the ribbon around to the back and tape it down.  I use adhesive on the front as well to hold it in place, but the tape on the back seems to work best for me when I'm trying to keep it from snagging the edge of my page protector on the way into the album.

For a little extra something I added this cute gem Christmas tree.  It gave this simple layout just the right amount of sparkle.

So quick and simple!  Gotta love that! And I have a way to remember my Christmas card always.  Perfect!

Picture the Holidays Layout

Scrap-lifted myself again.  I've decided to make all my "Picture" layouts the same in design.  So here is my latest version.

Once again I made a collage of the photos I took during Picture the Holidays.  You can see more about this on my previous posts about Picture Summer and Picture Fall.

This year instead of scrapping Christmas as I've done in the past I chose to just use this layout.  So I used some Christmas papers and elements on my page.

Like this adorable sleigh and Santa.  :)

I added an embellishment to the collage. And another just above the journal block.

I used part of Tracey's original email as my journaling and only used one line of my own that addressed the struggles we had this month.

Christmas Countdown...Again

After posting my last Christmas Countdown Calendar a friend asked me if I'd make her a Countdown Calendar too.  I, of course, agreed!

She decorates with more traditional Christmas colors.  It's hard to see in this photo but the background paper has Christmas words and phrases in very subtle red tones.  So perfect!

I also decided to add a larger patterned paper border behind the title box.  I backed both the text box and the mat with a very tiny amount of dark green.

This cute little elf was the perfect way to bring green into the calendar.  He is from the same Cuddly Christmas Friends collection as my other characters.  All are from my friends over at SVGCuts.com.

I tied some red and green ribbon and then added this adorable white fringe.  Loving it!

I then added a bit more green around the edges of the numbers.

Same process, totally different results! Love how easy these things are!

Christmas Countdown

UPDATE: Scraplifters Anonymous has moved and changed names. You can find this same post at http://scrapinspired.com/2010/11/christmas-countdown/, along with lots more scrappy fun stuff on my new blog ScrapInspired.com.

Christmas is my favorite holiday, BY FAR!  Every year I start to get really excited as the time to decorate draws closer.  In my home we always decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving.  This year I stumbled across the cutest Christmas countdown project I've seen.  And so easy!  I created the entire project, start to finish (including drying time) in under 2 hours.  Love that!

And I so love this!

I saw it over at Eighteen 25 where they are blogging about advent countdown calendars all week!  It was so adorable I knew I had to make my own!

I bought a clipboard at Michaels.  It was so easy to take the clip off which allowed me to cover the entire base.  But I think that the original one looks cute too even though the paper only goes up to the clip.

I cut the paper to size, rounded the corners (with my corner rounding punch), and used a hole punch on the paper for the screw holes.

I've never used Mod Podge so I did a bit of google research before starting.  I saw several recommendations to spritz the back of the paper with water to keep it from getting wrinkles or bubbles.  So that is what I did.  Lightly sprayed the back of the paper with water, then spread a medium layer of Mod Podge on the clipboard only.  Then I lined up the paper on the clipboard and used my fingers to spread it as flat as I could.

I allowed the clipboard to dry for 20 minutes before coating the top with a sealer coat of Mod Podge.

I printed the title at a font size of 50 in a text box sized 2.75 by 4.75.  I used the free font Elise from KevinandAmanda.com.  I added some sparkly brads and gradient jewels just for fun.  FYI, I did Mod Podge the mat onto the clipboard.  When I tried to Mod Podge the title, the ink smeared everywhere (even though it had been drying for 30+ min).  I had to pull off the white paper, reprint, and glue it down again.  This time I didn't Mod Podge the top of the title.  :)

I've been dying for the chance to use these adorable svgs from SVGcuts.com.  This is the reindeer from their Christmas Cuddly Friends collection.  SO CUTE!  I love using SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) with my Cricut.  Who needs cartridges when you can get svgs as adorable as this?!?  I pieced that reindeer together and then Mod Podged it to the Clipboard.  Once it dried for 20 min I coated the top with Mod Podge as well to seal it.  After it had dried I added a gradient gem to his nose.  Love it!!

I printed the numbers in the font Clingy (also from KevinandAmanda.com) at size 230.  I used 8.5x11 sheets of cardstock, put the page in landscape mode and added two columns.  I made the right and left margins as tiny as they would go then centered my text.  That way I could just cut the page down the middle.  I did end up cutting 1 in off the top to leave more room for my title and reindeer.  I used my corner punch to round the bottom corners as well.  If you'd like to download my word file click here. UPDATE: You must visit my new website and use the link from there to access this file. I'd love to see you over at www.ScrapInspired.com!

For a bit of color I took a red ink pad and ran it along the edge of each number card.

On the 10 card I added a cute little Mrs. Claus from the same collection as the reindeer.

On the 1 I added Santa, from the Christmas Cuddly Friends collection as well.  They are all so cute!!

To top it all off I tied a bit of ribbon to the top of the clipboard.

And here is my final product.  I can't wait until Dec 1st when I can put it out!  I am so in love with this Advent Countdown Calendar!

Try one out!  If you do leave me a comment with a link! I'd love to see yours!

Delving into Digital

I would call myself a hybrid scrapper.  My final product is always on a paper base.  I use embellishments, ribbon, buttons, etc.  But my laptop finds it's way into every layout too.  I edit photos before printing them, and sometimes use photoshop elements to create a collage.  I almost always type my journaling.  And when I use my cricut it is with SCAL and not cartridges.

But today I made a jump.  I made a fully digital item.  I know...alert the presses right?!?  I've been seeing and hearing more and more about digital pages.  And lately the hosts at Write.Click.Scrapbook that blog about digital have been catching my attention.  Then yesterday I stumbled across a blog hop with MANY free coordinating Christmas digital kits and something happened.  I started downloading everything in sight.

And so today, after a week of dealing with one sick child, and one extremely whiney tantruming child, I decided it was time to take a Mommy break.  So while the boys were napping I was scrapping...digitally.  I wanted to start small so I began working on a design for our family Christmas card.  I found a design I loved at shutterfly.com but wanted a different size card.  So, like I often do, I scraplifted.  :)

Here is my inspiration.  But I didn't want to just use their design...I wanted to play with my new digital elements.  And practice some of the techniques I've been learning about.

Here is my version.  It manages to do what I always want to do at Christmas.  Tell a little about our year without the long additional letter.

The gray boxes will hold pictures eventually.  Still need to do our family photo shoot for the year.  I gotta say, I really like how it turned out and I love that I did it myself!

Maybe you too are itching to try something totally new!  Well I say, take a break from the things that are weighing you down and JUST DO IT!

Begin at the Boots

I love Christmas...I do not love Christmas layouts.  Recently I finished 3 Christmas layouts.  This one I LOVE.  I love the layout, the color combination, the journaling, all of it!

I decided I wanted to use this sketch for my Santa layout.  I picked the red patterned paper and spent quite a bit of time deciding what color cardstock I wanted to use.  I finally went with this gray.  It's not your typical color choice for a Christmas layout, but I love that.

The layout inspiration came from a layout done by Autumn Baldwin at Write.Click.Scrapbook in their July 2010 Gallery.  As you can see I stretched the layout across two pages.  I even made some changes from my original plan. I had thought I would do a large journal block with a small photo on the right page, but I ended up switching that around.

To understand the title you would need to read the journaling.  I talk about how my boys want nothing to do with sitting in Santa's lap.  They are only barely willing to sit at his feet with Mama and Dada.  I enjoy the look of placing the pic off center on the mat.  I find that visually pleasing.

I decided to use some photos of the boys at the Christmas party...the part where they enjoyed themselves.  :)  I chose to make one circle red and add the year in it.

I wanted to have fun with the shape of my journaling tag.  So I repeated the shape found on my patterned paper.

Using my SCAL software I combined an oval with a rectangle to create the shape.  I then used the shadow function to make a slightly larger one out of the patterned paper.  I printed the journaling onto the shape using the technique blogged about here.  I added some gems and ribbon for visual interest.  I always like to tie my title into my journaling in an interesting way.  I think it makes it more fun to read.

I'm so glad that I found a way to have fun with a Christmas layout.  All it took was finding ways to take a twist on the traditional layout by tweaking the color combo, the title, and the journaling.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas in July Part 2

This weekend my friends and I gathered at my house for a 3 day crop.  It was the perfect time to finish up my Christmas layouts.

Every year I give my boys an ornament that represents something about their life at that point.  I decided to document their ornaments up until this point.

Instead of using strips of patterned paper I decided to emboss strips of vellum.  I love the texture that gave!

I used this adorable Christmas tree SVG I downloaded from the internet.  I wish I remembered where I got it so I could give credit.  I love it.  It is a layered SVG.  I cut the bottom layer in this green paper with dots which I thought looked like lights on the tree.  I cut the top layer out of vellum.  It's very subtle but the Merry Christmas in vellum does not over power, but still gives a nice look.  I then topped the tree with a gem.

I added a few gems to the corner of the mat on each of the large photos.  Love the bits of bling that adds.  I also tried out my Tattered Angels glimmer mist on the strips of vellum.  It made them curl a bit, but I managed to get them to lay flat...mostly.  :)

One of my favorite little elements is this string on the ornament.  When I was opening a package of product recently it had this sequined string attached to the packaging.  It was way to cute to just through out so I tossed it into my embellishment jar.  It was the perfect touch on this little ornament.  Love it!



While I LOVE Christmas I don't really like doing Christmas pages.  I completed three Christmas layouts this weekend.  A major accomplishment for me.  :)  And I actually like them!  An even bigger accomplishment!  I'm glad I got the opportunity to be a part of Christmas in July.

Christmas in July

How can we even begin to be talking about Christmas yet?!?  But over at the Fantabulous Cricut Blog they are doing just that.  And since I have not yet scrapped all my Christmas photos, why not play along?

I made this layout of photos from this year's Pre-School Christmas program.  They sang Rudolph.

I drew my inspiration from this layout.  I loved that one photo was bigger while the others were smaller in the series.  I did some re-adjusting to my layout, but created a similar result.

I used ribbon to create strips of pattern beneath the large photo.  I also pulled the colors from my son's shirt.  It is still definitely a Christmas page, but I liked the contrast of the blue with the green.  Gave the page a nice twist to the traditional Christmasy colors.

I cut my title and reindeer with my Cricut.  I then used a hole punch to get the small red nose.  I continued the ribbon onto this page to bring the two pages together.

It's kinda fun thinking about Christmas in July!

Pretty as a Picture

I found my inspiration for this layout from our Christmas cards.  I took these pictures of my family back in December, and loved the way the card came out.  I really wanted to capture the essence of the card in my layout.

For the layout of the pictures I used a sketch created by Donna Jannuzzi from her 6 weeks of sketches: week 4 challenge.  Check it out at www.ellapublishing.com  

When I saw the sketch I just knew that it was perfect for these photos.  Using my Cricut and the Sure Cuts A Lot program I created a pattern of branch cutouts.  I cut the red cardstock and then layered it on top of white paper to mimic the look of the card.  I then cut a strip of white cardstock and placed it across the edges of the red and brown papers to finish it off.   I must say I'm pleased with how it turned out.