Weekend in Review Vol.#9- In the Bean

This weekend was spent catching up in Boston with family and friends. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to take pictures really, but I still wanted to document what I could. Above is a picture from an alley in Boston by Salem Design. I love it because it captures the city in such a beautiful way! It's getting really cold here now, and I'm hoping that we will experience a white Christmas this year.

I spent some time with the most adorable baby, my little cousin Audriana (who is already going on 4 months)! She is so precious, and I love that little hat so much- I  just had to get a picture of her in it!

And while getting in a little Christmas shopping yesterday at Kohl's, I cam across this wall art that I love- perfect words to live by! xo

December Daily 2011- Day 13

Supplies: Patterned Paper & Number Tag- Making Memories; Digital Tag- AE Studio;

Chipboard Accent- Echo Park; Glitter- Recollections; Gold Metallic Marker- American Crafts



So since there are NO RULES with scrapbooking or the December Daily project, last night I decided to focus on that day, instead of trying to catch up with days 7-12 that I haven't done yet. I don't want to get stuck worrying about catching up, because then I'm afraid I won't finish. I'm thinking that if I can try to keep up from here on out, once I get to the end and every page is done (except 7-12) then I will be able to finish those and have a complete book for 2011! So let's just hope this tactic works... *crossing fingers*

So day #13 is about the holiday cards that I mailed out yesterday morning. I took a picture of the cards in the mailbox and added one of Ali Edward's digital tags on top, along with the sentiment that is inside the cards. On the back of day #13, I used the front of my "prototype" card, to decorate my DD album and to have a keepsake of the card I created this year. I really like how it came out- simple yet effective! xo

Weekend in Review Vol.#8- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Favorite Ornament Tag- AE Studios

My, how the weekends fly by! Everything is getting a little crazed around here for the holidays and time is definitely winding down! I'd have to say that December definitely goes by the fastest (out of all the 12 months of the year- for me)! This weekend I was able to catch up with my best friend, over dinner and then the Muppet's Movie, which was pretty cute! 

I also sent out a few holiday cards, we decorated the tree and some other areas of the house. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... I just wish time would slow down a little bit, so I can catch up with everything! Well, tis the season! *smile* xo

Photo taken by: Wahkuna



December Daily 2011- Days 4-6

The overlay quote reads: "Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold

everything is softer and more beautiful"~ Norman Vincent Peale

 Supplies: December Memories Tag- Ali Edwards; Smile Stamp- Technique Tuesday;

Patterned Paper- Making Memories

Happy Friday! I'm back today to share my December Daily day 4-6 with you! Day #4 is documenting our search for the perfect Christmas Tree as described in a recent post here. I love this picture of the four of us in front of the tree we chose and knew I wanted it to be the focus of this page. Now that we are all getting older, it's rare that we take photos like this (just the four of us), so it was definitely an important memory to capture!

  

 Supplies: Four Tag- Making Memories; Christmas Tree Accent- K&Company;

Rhinestones & Ribbon- Other

On the back of day #4 I added images from the Christmas tree search and the lyrics to O Christmas Tree (which was so fitting for the occasion). The Christmas tree accent was cut from K&Company patterned paper. I inked the edges in red distress ink, then added gold ribbon strips and rhinestones to dress it up!

 Supplies: Patterned Paper- Making Memories & Jenni Bowlin;

Glitter Alpha- Making Memories

Day #5 features my "little" Christmas list. The sentiments were stamped with black ink and then outlined with a gel pen. I also straight stitched underneath each word to add emphasis.

  

 Supplies: Patterned Paper- K&Company & Making Memories;

Alphas- Making Memories & American Crafts

On the back of day #5 is another Christmas wish of mine, for a fresh new start...soon, and very soon.

  

 

Supplies: Overlay- Hambly Studios; Overlay Title- K&Company; Flowers- Prima;

Brad- Echo Park; To/From Tag- Ali Edwards



 Supplies: Picnik photo software; Alphas- DCWV & Anna Griffin; Tags- Making Memories;

Button- Pebbles Inc.; Chipboard Accent- Echo Park

Day #6 is all about my holiday cards that I posted about here, along with the process of how they were made on the back.

I'm really enjoying this December Daily process of documenting my holiday memories, and I'm already so much further along compared to last year. *smile* xo

Photos taken by: Wahkuna



December Daily 2011- Days 1-3

 Supplies: Paper Flower- Prima; Glitter Alphas- White Blossom; Sticker and Tag- Making Memories 

I've been doing a bit of catching up on my December Daily album in the last day or so. Around this time of year, the days seem to get away from us, which makes it hard to keep up with a daily project such as this one. Nevertheless, I've finished a few more pages and wanted to share them with you. The image above, is the back of my first page shown here, where I decided to document the CMA Country Christmas special that I watched on TV that night (while creating my first DD page). I collaged images I found online from the show and then added my own personal touch. This year, I've decided that I'm going to try to document 2 events for each day. The front page being the main story and the back of that page, being the second story (which could be a movie I watched that day, or a poem, quote or song lyrics that pertain to that day's story). So far it's working out quite nicely!

 Supplies: Patterned Paper- Cloud 9 Design; Rhinestone Spiral; Want 2 Scrap;

Word Stickers & Circle Alpha Stickers- Authentique; Chipboard Accent- Echo Park

DD day #2 documents the Beyonce interview on 20/20 with Katie Couric that I watched with my cousin Faithe. I'm a HUGE Beyonce fan, so I just had to watch this interview! Here I also used pictures that I found online from the interview and Beyonce's Roseland Ballroom Concert (since they spoke about it during the interview). I absolutely adore this picture of Beyonce performing that I found here. To personalize it, I added some of the lyrics from her song Best Thing I Never Had and part of a rhinestone spiral from Want 2 Scrap.

  Supplies: Patterned Paper- K&Company; Number Tag- Making Memories

The back of day #2 is dedicated to the movie A Golden Christmas 2 (which is what I watched later that night). It was the cutest Christmas movie with a beautiful love story! *wink*

Supplies: Patterned Paper- K&Company and Jillibean Soup; Tag- Jenni Bowlin

On day #3 I went to the mall for the first time this season, and Santa was already in the building! Of course they also had all of the decor up, and I couldn't help but get a picture of the winter wonderland! The title is part of the patterned paper background that I used by K&Company. I wanted the pictures to look like Polaroids, so I created the Polaroid frames in adobe photoshop and placed them over the pictures before resizing and printed them for my DD. The quote at the bottom of the page says; "Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace & goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas."- Calvin Coolidge

Supplies: Patterned Paper- American Crafts; Paper Flowers- Prima; Tag- Making Memories;

Brad & Chipboard Accent- Echo Park; Decorative Punch- Martha Stewart Crafts

On the back of day #3 I added the song lyrics for It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (which coordinates with the title used on the front of the page- and the pictures). I printed the lyrics on brown kraft paper and flicked a small paint brush (dipped in Mister Huey's holly berry ink) over the page to create little ink splatters. I also inked the edges of the page with tea dye distress ink from Ranger Inks. The bottom edge was die cut using the eyelet lace punch from Martha Stewart.

Now to catch up on days 4-7! Gotta keep the December Daily flow going! *wink* xo


Album photos taken by: Wahkuna

Weekend in Review Vol.#7- Our Christmas tree search

This weekend was full of holiday cheer! Christmas decorating is in the midst, and we also took a trip to A Quiet Place Tree Farm to find our lucky tree for 2011! We actually visited two tree farms, but the second one was the charm! We spotted our tree within 5 mins. of being there, and realized we lucked out this year with a beautiful white spruce!! Mom is totally excited, and I'm happy because it was my first time searching for a Christmas tree at a tree farm, of which I picked out (yyeeaayyyy!). While we were there, I also met the cutest little dog named Netty...she was so sweet and naturally had to be featured here on my blog! Anyway, there will be more pictures to come once our tree is up and decorated! I hope you're enjoying this festive time of year! Be back soon...xo



Photos take by: Wahkuna

December Daily 2011 Part 4- Getting Started

So yesterday was officially December 1st, and the December Daily days have finally arrived! Here are a couple images of my first page. Nothing much happend yesterday, so page one is all text with a little description of my thoughts on the holiday season and being joyful for the "everyday" blessings that we often overlook.

Today is another day, and another page...looking forward to the progression of it all. *smile*

December Daily 2011 Part 3

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!! I'm popping in today really quick to show you the progress I made on my DD yesterday. I finalized the cover (except for a possible handwritten quote I might add to the bottom) and added a shiny textured "Christmasy" ribbon trim. It looks very festive (like a trim you'd see on a Christmas tree), I like it.

And here are some of my transparent overlays to go before each page. I designed most of them on the computer, except for the chicken wire and green circle overlays from Hambly Studios which came in my DD kit. I created the overlays in all different sizes, to mix it up a little and add variation to my DD.

Here are a few close-ups:

Yesterday my mom and I were both working on our December Daily together. It was really nice to spend quality time together while creating something that we will cherish for years to come. We also did this last year and plan to make a tradition of it! I'll be back later this week to share more photos of the DD progress... 

Right now we're off to finish our shopping for Thanksgiving dinner! I hope you all are enjoying your day so far! xo



Photos taken by: Wahkuna

December Daily 2011 Part 2

December daily is finally under way (for me)! A little late, but it's happening nonetheless! I spent some time yesterday afternoon planning the outside cover of my album, and this is what I came up with. I really like it so far- I'm a very traditional Christmas kind-of girl, so of course it's red & green. As I said in my previous post here, I'm using the December Daily kit by Ali Edwards & Studio Calico and I'm loving it! I'm also using some things from last year's Christmas stash that I still have, after all, that's what scrapbooking is all about right, using up those "scraps"!

The numbers and title in the above pictures are not stuck down yet...I'm still deciding if I want the cover arranged this way, or slightly different. But the general look will remain the same- even if some of the placement changes. The background paper is already adhered to the album, so that part is permanent! BTW, I strongly suggest that if you are doing a December Daily, and you're on Pinterest, check out all the DD inspiration there, because there's A LOT! Good luck with your DD, and I'll be back soon to post more updates with mine. *wink*



Photos taken by: Wahkuna

December Daily 2011 Part 1

I can't even believe it's that time of year again, to start working on my December Daily album! I probably should've already started thinking about how I'm going to set up and decorate my album this year, but I haven't! Life always gets away from us and before you know it, you have to think fast! Luckily I took enough initiative to order the December Daily kit by Ali Edwards and Studio Calico before it was sold out- PHEW! I also tweaked the design of my pages from last year and was able to get the file to the printer earlier this week. I picked up the printed pages yesterday (for my mom and I) and now need to focus on the fun part- decorating!! The possibilities are endless and that's what I love most about this album...I'm so excited!

Unlike last year, I plan to complete my December Daily and be proud of the outcome! So I'll be back sometime soon with updates on my progress. Until then, happy crafting my friends!

BTW, are any of you working on a December Daily album too? If so, how do you go about creating your album? Please feel free to share your crafty tips!



Photo taken by: Wahkuna (via camera phone)

Happy Holidays!

Since we are now in the final days leading up to Christmas and the festivities are in full swing, I thought I would share my digital holiday card with all of you and wish you a very Merry Christmas!! Below is the card that I designed and printed to send to all of our family and also emailed (in an effort to be more "green") to more family & friends. I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful time of the year with your loved ones too!

Sentiment inside;

Wishing you

sparkle,

Wishing you cheer,

For a bright

merry Christmas

And a happy

new year!

How to Create: Homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments

or·na·ment   

[n. awr-nuh-muhnt; v. awr-nuh-ment, -muhnt]
–noun
1. an accessory, article, or detail used to beautify the appearance of something to which it is added or of which it is a part

Today I wanted to share a festive idea for homemade Christmas tree ornaments. They are really easy and cheap to make- it doesn't get much better than that!

First to give you some background on these ornaments; I was in Target with my mom during Thanksgiving weekend because we were in desperate need of a tree (not just some table top decoration). So knowing that you can usually find a bargain at Target, we headed there in search of the perfect tree. I found a tree...AWESOME! But still needed all the decor- lights, ornaments, ribbon or garland and a topper! Oh my, how much money was I really willing to spend?!? I found a package of gold ornaments (shatter-proof, perfect!) but wanted to add more color to accent a gold tree. So then we found these little knitted people ornaments in packs of 4!! They were so cute, I grabbed 4 pks. But still needed more! (You can NEVER have too many ornaments especially for a 7ft tree!) I really didn't want to spend a lot more money...so we found ourselves in the gift wrapping isle and low and behold there was a package of kraft gift tags each with a yarn tie (either red or green). They were really cute and mom had the BEST idea! She said "Why don't you use these as your other ornaments!?! You can design anything you want on them, they are personalized, cheap and serve the purpose!" She was soooo right! It was a perfect idea! So we do have her to thank for this idea...

So here we go!

Step 1- Start out with blank holiday gift tags. (Ours were $3 at Target for a pack of 12). Then figure out what you want to put on them. For my designs, I chose to use assorted holiday stamps, black, red & green ink, glitter pens and stamp markers.

Step 2- Lay out the stamps and start creating your designs. The possibilities are endless, you can stamp, doodle, add rub-ons or any other type of embellishments. They can be simple like ours, or as elaborate as you want, it's your choice! (Gotta love that!)  I stamped both sides so that you can see the design no matter how the ornament hangs on the tree. In the image above, I started out with black ink.

 Step 3- Here I wanted to add some color to the ornaments, so I used the red & green ink on some.

 Step 4- Here are the ornaments all together and I was able to personalize a few of the tags with our names, just to add a special "one of a kind" touch!

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial for homemade Christmas tree ornaments and hopefully you'll get a chance to make some your own festive holiday decor! Good luck! :-)

Season's Greetings!

sea·son

 1. a period of the year immediately before and after a special holiday or occasion.

[see-zuhn]
–noun

 
Origin:

1250–1300; (n.) ME sesoun, seson < OF se ( i ) son < L satiōn- (s. of satiō ) a sowing (VL: sowing time), equiv. to sa- (var. s. of serere to sow) + -tiōn- -tion; (v.) ME seso ( u ) nen < OF saisonner to ripen, make palatable by aging, deriv. of seison

I can't believe it's already December 1st! My, how this year has flown by! Which brings us to the matter at hand; its the first day of the 25 days of Christmas and 'tis the season for Holiday cards. I still need to work on mine for family and friends (which will probably end up being something simple), but I thought I would share this Christmas card that I made a few weeks ago...

The title was stamped onto textured card stock with black archival ink and then outlined with glitter gel pens. The snowflakes were stamped and then I added pearl rhinestones in the center.

To break up the card I added borders out of patterned paper and some gros grain ribbon with stitching & a loop/tie. The button is sewn onto the ribbon loop with green embroidery floss.

Below is the color palette;



Hope you've enjoyed the card for today, thank you for stopping by!

Holiday Spirit!

I know I'm a little late, but I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and will also have a Happy New Year!

It's been a VERY hectic holiday season for me, but with all my interest in scrapbooking and paper crafting, I thought I would try to personalize my contributions to this festive season. Unfortunately I didn't start to prepare far enough in advance this year (which I hope won't happen next year) but atleast I got a little taste for making my own Christmas creations!

I wanted to give everyone that I work closely with a little something to let them know that I was thinking of them, but didn't have much money to spend. Fortunately for me, one day I read a blog entry by Danielle Flanders at http://danielleflanders.blogspot.com/ called "Cookies-N-Cream" in her November entries and it inspired me to try and come up with my version of a festive holiday cookie present. She has a wonderful blog with great ideas that are so inspiring and unique (definitely stop in there if you haven't yet!). So here is my little take on the idea...

This is a cookie holder made with bristol board and covered with Christmas patterned paper. Inside the cookies are tucked into a festive holiday baggie and stapled to the back side of the holder. I made a variety of sugar cookies, oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip. They were the perfect treat for a workday snack!

I also successfully made some Christmas cards to send to family members. I used the Falala scrapbook pad by Making Memories to create and embellish the cards and they came out really nice but the most important part is that I had a lot of fun making them! Take a look...