Our New Home

When we put our old house on the market I made a layout titled Designed to Sell.  I wanted to honor my new house too so the other day I put together this.

This is another layout design from Ella's book Double Page Design.  I'm telling you, totally worth the $5.99 for this book!

There are LOTS of pics on this layout.    The photo of the house is 6x6 and then the pics of each room are 2x3.   

There was space for 12 photos around the main house pic but I only had 11 so I added some cardstock.  The round sticker and date completed the 12th block.

Lately I have been hand writing my journaling way more than usual.  But it just seemed easier.  :)  I did use a ruler to help keep my writing straight.

I cut these many half circles with my cricut (2 in by 1 in).  I knew I wanted to use a particular sticker set about moving so I chose the papers based on the colors in those stickers.  Totally love the before and after arrows!

If I'm honest this 3D embellie was the whole reason I created this layout!  I just love it and had to make a layout about the move.  :)

I had a lot of fun with this house SVG from SVGCuts.com.  The best part is it was free!  You can download your own here.  I also had some fun with embossing.  Had to try out my new Christmas presents!  :)

To add a little bit of dimension I used pop up dots on two of the half circles and matted them with a larger brown circle.


Ok, I'll admit it, this layout is totally not my normal style.  :)  It's a little busy for me.  But I don't believe in going back and doing pages over so it is what it is.  AND I'm not sure I could make anything with this many pictures with that many bold colors look clean and simple!


I may not be completely in love with the layout, but I am 100% in love with this house!


Come back on Monday to check out my new project!  I'm so excited to share this!!

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!

Back to School "Schultüte"

I am having so much fun participating in Big Picture Scrapbooking's "Big Idea Festival."  It's free and it's awesome!  Check it out!

On the first day Elizabeth Dillow told us about the German custom of giving new first-graders a “schultüte,” which is a paper cone filled with school supplies and little gifts to celebrate the first day of first grade. Much like a May Day cone, it can be easily made at home with just a few supplies—but what a terrific gift to be remembered for a lifetime!  I couldn't wait to make one for my son who starts kindergarten tomorrow.  I also made one for each of our two neighbor boys that are also starting kindergarten.

I filled the cones with fun goodies for the boys.  M&Ms, gum, stickers, markers, pencils, silly bands, and a mini notebook.  Fun school like things to keep at home.

To make your own back to school cone round off the edge of a 12x12 piece of paper.  I just cut it free hand, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Take coordinating cardstock or patterned paper and cut with a border punch.  Make the strips around 2 inches long so that you can arrange them along the rounded edge.

Turn the main sheet over and adhere the cardstock strips along the rounded edge.

This is how it will look on the front side.

Put adhesive on the back side of one straight edge.  Wrap the paper into a cone and seal with the adhesive.  Now you have your cone.

Use any punch, stickers, or SVGs to decorate your cone.  I chose SVGs from the Back to School digicart from SVGCuts.com.  I also made a tag with each boy's name on it.

The business of the patterned paper makes it a bit difficult to see the embellishments, but I still think it's a lot of fun.

Punch a hole on each side.  Cut about 24 in of ribbon and string through the holes.  Tie a knot to keep the ribbon from pulling through.

Here is the finished cone.  But not quite done yet.

Now for the fun...adding the goodies!  :)  Such a quick and easy project that I know will bring smiles of joy to those that receive it!

Garden of Goodies

The Fantabulous Cricut Blog is hosting a challenge this week that glorifies the wonders of summer food.  I figured this was a perfect time to scrap some gardening photos.

I found my layout inspiration over at Write.Click.Scrapbook.  Their August gallery is all about using 4x6 photos.  I specifically drew inspiration from this layout by Donna Januzzi.

I stretched the layout across two pages and added a few 2x2 photos so that I could highlight some of my garden goodies.  I originally intended to use 2 of the smaller photos, but ended up using 4.

I utilized some wonderful SVGs that I bought over at SVGCuts.com.  These are from their Veggie Garden sets 1 and 2.  The vegetables and title all came from these digicarts.

I flipped the cherry tomatoes and wrapped them in and around the cage.  I wanted them to look more like tomatoes growing on the vine.

I utilized ink and subtlety patterned paper to give the veggies texture.  In this 4x4 block I originally put two 2x4 strips.  But then decided to move the squash and pepper into that space.  To highlight the sizes of the various vegetables I added a small patterned square next to the pepper.  I loved how it turned out!

I'm so glad I took some pics of my veggies as they grew.  I loved that I could add that touch to my garden layout.

I have had these wood grained stickers for years.  I felt like the earthy words were very fitting for this layout.  I decided to us them as a border around my pictures.  I added buttons, and just for fun put in one red one similar to the one red tomato.

Gardening was good for our family.  Not just because we had healthy veggies to eat, but also because it gave my children a project and a connection to this amazing world we live in!

Eggcelent

I don't know how often I have completed an Easter layout so soon after Easter.  But I had a strong desire to try out these Easter egg SVGs so I got to work pretty quickly.

I chose to adjust the color on the egg hunting photos to draw attention to the eggs.  I also didn't want the colors on the boys pajamas to clash with the color of their Easter outfits.  To find out more about how to do this see my previous post here.

When I bought the egg SVGs I was excited to get to scrapping, but I was getting ready to move so I had to put the scrapping on hold.  I created this sketch to keep on hand until I was able to scrap again.

I scrapped this layout during my weekend crop here at my home.  My friends and I like to give one another challenges.  I was challenged to incorporate a large circle into my layout.  I decided to alter my original sketch and put the eggs in a large circle.  For a bit of fun, I stuck a little bunny in the corner.  I wanted it to look like it was hopping away after leaving the eggs.  :)

I drew my color inspiration from the boys green and purple Easter outfits.  There was so much going on in the middle, the outside edges felt blank.  I decided to doodle with a white pen and a purple sharpie around the outside edge of the photos.

LOVE LOVE LOVE these eggs.  You can find them at SVGCuts.com.  They are fairly simple.  Just two layers.  I chose to make the background layer from patterned paper, and make the top layer with white cardstock.  They were so much fun to do.

I finished off the layout with chipboard letters.  I've been working really hard to remember to add dates to my layouts.  So once again I used a purple sharpie to add the date and another little doodle.  I stuck a few gems on for a little bling.

For a fairly simple looking layout this took a bit of time, but I had a lot of fun doing it.  It was eggcelently fun!  ;)