Christmas Spirit

Hello again!  I know it's been awhile, and it may be awhile before I'm back with the holidays quickly approaching!  However, I needed a break from the hustle and bustle the other day so sat down to make a quick card while my hubby made dinner.  I grabbed this sketch from Mojo and went to town with it.  Am quite pleased with the end result.  What do you think of this color combo, Pool Party with Basic Gray and Going Gray.  My tree is embossed with white embossing powder for a nice raised and shiny finish.  I wish I had time to make many more of these. 

Here is the inside.  Like it?  Well, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends.  See you in 2012!

~Kristin

Joyful Christmas Wishes

Running out of time to make Christmas cards so this just might be the last ones I post.  I hope you like them!  This first one is made with the sketch from Splitcoast Stampers.  The main liberty I took with it was to tilt my main image a bit, just for interest.  I've used the tiny jewelry tag for the first time and the "joy" is from a 2005 stamp set called Small Script.  I think I've mentioned that I don't get rid of stamp sets! 

Also showcased on this card is the newer red Glimmer Paper.  This is the first I've cut into it and I love it.  Also love that the Glimmer Brad matches so well.  On the inside I have stamped my biggest "Merry Christmas" in versamark, covered with Heat 'n Stick powder then coated in fine red glitter!  Looks awesome! 

Here's another one... this time I used the Mojo sketch below.  I haven't played along with Mojo for awhile, but this one was nice and simple and worked great for my Gifts of Christmas set. 

Lots of accessories on this one:  Snowflake Sizzlit, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint on the dove, Petal-a-Plenty emossing folder, new Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon and a new Wisteria Wonder dotted brad!  Lots of fun stuff! 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope your holiday planning is going well.  I don't even have a tree yet or any decorations yet.  We'll get there!  Having our football season go 15 weeks has really put me behind. 

~Kristin

A few Christmas cards

Why do I do this?  I finally sat down to make some cards a few weeks back but didn't write down the sketch challenge I was using.  Oh well, it's been so long ago now it doesn't matter, but I'd at least like to show you the sketch.  Maybe with these two versions you'll get the idea!  I had many more in my mind but those didn't happen- not enough time in a day.  These both put to use the old Felt Flurries that SU offered a few years ago.  I had some of the bigger ones left and thought I'd use them up (still have some left!)  This first card is Ol Olive, Soft Suede and the snowflake is Riding Hood Red. 

This one is Sahara Sand, Vanilla, Old Olive (ribbon) and the Riding Hood Red snowflake.  And YES, my sentiment is crooked.  That's what happens when you are suddenly rushed to finish a card.  Didn't take the time to use my Stamp-a-Majig like I usually do. 

So I hope you are having better luck with your holiday shopping and decorating than I am.  I am totally behind and frustrated about now!  Our high school football season just ended this past weekend (our beloved Cats lost a very hard fought game in the State Finals 42-48) so that has put everything on the backburner until now.  Yikes! 

Anyway, I am already thinking ahead to January and planning a Birthday Card class for possibly January 27th.  Pencil it in on your calendar if you are interested (you locals lurkers) then watch for more details after the new year. 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kristin

Old Friend

Have a few quick Christmas cards for you before I head on out of here.  Anyone remember this cute old set?  I don't own it and don't remember what it is called, but I sold one to a friend a few years back and she didn't mind me stamping a few images to play around with...  just now getting around to doing that! 

Here's another with the same set.  Using a sketch I found, but not sure where right now.  Gotta run.  Have a State Championship football game to attend!  GO CATS!

~Kristin

A Matter of Moments

I hope you've had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with family, friends and food!  We have had a nice time with family, a big WIN for our high school football team who will now be playing for the state title, and even winterized our camper... so now I'm ready for bed.  But first I'll share this layout I did last week.  I'm happy to say I've gotten 18 pages done this month.  That might be all I get done with Christmas coming up, but more to come in January I'm sure!

I used Sahara Sand, black and Crushed Curry.  Kept this one fairly embellishment free with the exception of some ribbon and a few stamped images from an old stamp set called Shore Thing.  Here's the fun sketch I used from Let's Scrap:

I'll have some Christmas cards for you soon.  Have gotten 4 done recently but no time to photo yet.  Thanks for stopping by! 

 ~Kristin



3...2...1...JUMP!

Just what you wanted to see, right?  Another scrapbook layout!  Well, too bad... (:P)  I'm slow as molasses and took more than a few hours to finally get rolling on this one, but once I got started it was moderately fast.  Choosing the perfect layout is always the toughest thing for me, but Let's Scrap helped make it easy again with their amazing selection of great sketches! 

I was happy to use a Simply Scrappin' Kit by SU to pull this together.  It is called Creative Lisence and is a few years old but a great one none-the-less.  I also used a few other components like the Headline Numbers stamp set, the Scribbles Swirls Sizzlit and Big Shot, and out of desperation for some bright orange letters, some ancient STICKERS!  I know!  But I still have a ton in the stash and sometimes they are just the easiest thing to grab.  The orange isn't perfectly Pumpkin Pie like the other orange in the layout but I'm OK with that. 

I hope you like my interpretation of this sketch!  It was so fun to work with.  I wasn't sure how on earth I'd manage a title page like that with all the scrolly background etc... but it all worked out with some paper piercing anda  combination of stamps and stuff.  Would you like to see another great sketch in action??  Go visit Lisa Henke HERE for her amazing layout! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Oh wait, I almost forgot to mention, THIS LAYOUT was selected by Let's Scrap as their IOTW (Inspiration of the Week I think)- isn't that amazing?!  I can't believe it.  Might be the first honor ever for a scrapbook page by yours truly!  I've proudly displayed my new badge of honor on my sidebar.  Anyway, see ya soon!

~Kristin

100%

Another scrpabook layout for you today.  I joined up with my pal Lisa Henke for a virtual scrapbook night and between making chocolate cookies with my daughter, this is the only spread I got done.  I am LOVING the sketches from Let's Scrap- they are unique and involve multiple photos which is more realistic for scrappers like me than one picture spreads.  Check them out!

I did my title with my brand new printer- was my first experiment with printing with it and I'm happy with how it turned out, although I wish I would've thought to adjust the color close to Soft Suede instead of black. 

Some of the SUO supplies I used on this one include:  Autumn Traditions DSP, circle punches, Early Espresso twine, jumbo eyelets and a few vintage brads.  Oh, the spiral punch and dotted scallop ribbon border punch too. 

Thanks for stopping by again today!  ~Kristin



Aviary Christmas

OK, OK, here's a card finally!  My desk is all cleaned off and neat so I had to make a card today before getting back to my scrapbook table for the evening.  I decided to try my hand at the Pals Paper Arts sketch and used the Paper Players color challenge while I was at it.  Thought I could probably use a few more Christmas cards and love finding non-Christmas sets to use and experiment with.

The embossing is done with the new Pewter embossing powder from the Holiday Mini.  Until I see it side by side with Silver I'm not sure I see a difference.  Poo!  Like my holly leaves?  Made them myself!  Started with the large oval punch then punched chunks out with a 1" circle punch.  Then flipped them over and, while on the squishy mat from the Crafter's Tool Kit, drew lines with a pencil, making sure to go over them a few times for the embossed look.   Actually turned out better than I expected!  My sentiment tag is 4 pack sizzlit set called Lots of Tags.

Here's a quick peek at the inside.  I had this vanilla piece that was a bit too short so added a few layers of dotted scallop trim and some more Ridinghood Red taffeta ribbon to finish it off. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  And thanks to Paper Players and Pals Paper Arts for the great challenges!
~Kristin

Nature Lovers

Now you know why I haven't posted any cards lately...  more where this came from too.  This is entirely SUO.  Used the Heart to Heart punch, Rich Razzleberry ribbon (narrow and wide), scallop border punch and corner rounder plus Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper. 

See you soon with more pages and who knows, maybe I'll do a card one of these days.  ;) 

~Kristin

Bath Time

Hope you weren't looking for a card today... I'm on a roll with my albums while my table is all set up in the family room!  I am happy with how this layout turned out.  I've been relying heavily on magazines to come up with layout ideas- even if I morph several ideas into one... and even if my magazines are from 2007!  

For this layout I used the pawprint sizzlit "Pawsitively" which cuts and embosses at the same time while going through the Big Shot.  I used the old alphabet called Mod Alphabet.  Patterned paper is from the DSP pack, Thoroughly Modern.  Also added some chocolate felt ribbon, silver brads and an epoxy brad, all SU.  Only non SU product is the hard to see rub on that says Precious Moments, which coincidentally happens to be the only thing I regret about the page- it didn't rub on nicely and just doesn't work for me that well. 

Here's the whole spread together.  You can click on it to see a larger version. 

Thanks for stopping by! 
~Kristin

Scrapbook Smorgasbord

Instead of dragging these out into four different posts, or not showing them at all I'm just loading up these four layouts all into one post.  Hope you don't mind!  I've been kind of stuck doing some layouts with no-so-great pictures lately, but now that my mom is gone I feel stronger than ever that I want the stories in my albums even with so so pictures.  Besides, what great practice for your creative skills... imagine the potential of pages with GOOD pictures!  LOL.  Most everything is SUO on these pages, with small exceptions here and there (like dotted ribbon on this first layout).  I won't post many details but you are welcome to ask if there is something you want to know.

So glad you visited today.  I've got a few more layouts finished or nearly finished that I will share in the next few days.  Have a great day!
~Kristin

Live Right- a scrapbook layout

So here is one of my favorite layouts I've done lately.  Love the colors and the use of the newsprint and the layout designs.  I scoured magazines to find layouts that I would tweak and use for this page.  If you're a long time SU fan you won't believe the colors I used here:  Bermuda Bay (no surprise), Taken with Teal and Mint Melody.  Does anyone else still have some of that color laying around?  I am such a hoarder.  LOL! 

Here's a closeup of my title.  It was the result of a creative brainstorm.  I stamped this sentiment from Inspired by Nature on the page, then cut out these letters with my Big Shot, temporarily glued them to scrap paper and stamped on top of them with the same stamp.  Then I just lined them up on top of the words on the page so the words kind of pop through the title.  A layered look that would be so much better with larger letters and font.  Turned out cool anyway. 

So glad you decided to stop by.  I'll get back to cards one of these days, but for now I'm on a scrapbook roll! 

~Kristin

Sweetheart & a Boy with dirt

Hello and Happy Veteren's Day on this 11.11.11!!  I'm home alone tonight- kiddos out partying with friends- so I'm enjoying some quiet scrapbook time again.  I'm still working on some old pictures from 2004.  Trying to fill in a one-year gap that I found in my chronological scrapbook.  I adored this dress and hat on my then 2 year old.  I love these pictures, but I wish I had my nice Canon camera back then!  My journaling tag is hidden behind the main picture on the top.   

Here's a closeup of the chipboard title which is inked (letters) and covered with paper (heart). 

Since my Sweetheart page was not a double page spread I wanted to do a facing page to balance it out and it just worked out that next in order was this group of pictures of my son.  He was such a livewire as a little kid- FULL of energy!  I always wanted to use the title that I saw somewhere "Boy:  Noise with dirt on it!" so I did here.  He's not dirty in these pics, but anyone with a son knows this title applies anyway!  :)

And finally, here is a card my daughter did all by herself last week!  She used a sketch from somewhere on the internet... I'll see if I can find it. 

Thanks for stopping by!  I've got more pages to show you in the near future!

~Kristin

Bedtime Stories

A few scrapbook pages for you. Running short on time... back with some details soon.

~K

A Variety of Thank Yous

Good morning!  I'm super busy preparing for my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack this Saturday, but decided to take a few minutes to post these thank you notes I made for my daughter to send for her birthday thank yous.  She needs a few more but this is all I had time for recently.  The Clean & Simple sketch FTL 163 came in handy.  I intended to just whip out 6 or so cards all in the same design, but you know me, I just couldn't do it.  Desgining is most of the fun so they all ended up different. 

 The Floral Fusion sizzlit is new to me so I first made a ton of these flowers with an old 6x6 pack of designer print patterns in Almost Amethyst.  The others shades of purple include current In Colors:  Concord Crush and Wisteria Wonder.   

... with the new dotted designer brad and ruffled ribbon in Wisteria Wonder, oh and the Striped Embossing folder too!

...with the new mini silver brad, and Framed Tulips embossing folder.

... with the new-to-me sizzlit set: Lots of Tags, sentiment from Build-a-Roo.

...also new-to-me, the Designer Frames embossing folders, retired Floral background and some Dazzling Details glitter glue on the tiny white flowers inside.

Here's the sketch!  You should try it too!  Which one do you like the best?

Thanks for stopping by today!  Trick-o-Treat tonight for our household- I guess at 10 & 11 I might have a few more years of this.  Trying not to say "ugh".  :)  Actually, I don't mind it if the weather is perfect and there is no last minute running around scraping up costume parts... but there is zero hope of that.  LOL!

~Kristin