The Last LO of 2008

I managed to scrap one more LO before the clock strikes midnight. :)

We took this group photo with my new camera on Christmas Day.

Credits:

Dear Santa (recolored) by Cecile Designs

Snow border from My Feet Are Cold! by Britt-ish Designs

Font: Note this

Now I can go get ready for New Year's Eve dinner! :D See you all next year!

Last Christmas Ornament (for this year..)

Finally, this idea of a circular ornament has been put into practice. Better late than never! :)

I cut out a circle from a used cardboard box (instant mashed potatoes :)), printed out the 2 sides on normal paper and Mod Podged them for finish:

Credits:

Template by Winkasheart

Dear Santa by Cecile Designs

Font: Handwriting- Dakota

Then I glued the two sides to the cardboard with Mod Podge and was ready to use another of the marvelous gifts my adorable husband gave me for Christmas: the crop-a-dile (the big bite, too!):

Hole punched, ribbon, and the ornament is ready to be hung.

A little note: pictures are straight out of the camera (the new one, of course!!) - I took them when it was dark (as usual).

In our family, the Christmas season ends on January 6th, and it's sad to see most of our neighbors have already pulled down the Christmas lights!

I'm really moody today because my parents+grandmother left today, and who knows when we'll see each other again.. :-( But we spent a beautiful, perfect Christmas together and I feel so blessed and lucky.

Christmas Pastime

Here's the LO I did to match this one. I lifted a LO by Yzerbear91 (Melissa) for a challenge at SM.

Credits:

Holly Jolly Holiday by Polka Dot Plum

Treasured Memories Wordart from My Toes Are Cold! by Britt-ish Designs

We had lots of fun playing cards with my parents and grandmother this holiday, and I'm sad they're leaving tomorrow. They've been here 12 days and time has flown by too fast.

The snow has melted completely, but I believe we will see lots more this winter. :)

White Christmas

I was afraid we might not have snow for Christmas, but we indeed had a very white Christmas! :)

I did a LO for the Grand Theft LO challenge at ScrapMatters: I lifted this LO by sarahtawisha and came up with this:

Credits:

My Toes Are Cold! by Britt-ish Designs

Font: CK Cursive

It snowed a lot last week and it lasted for Christmas, but now it's almost all melted away..

Merry Christmas!

My wonderful husband gave me a beautiful SLR camera for Christmas - better than I could ever dream!! So soon I hope you'll see much better pics from me. :) In the meantime, this is a pic a took last night with my old camera.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve already!!! Time is just flying by so fast! I've been really busy the past week since my parents are visiting and we got ready for Christmas buying a gorgeous 7.5 feet (fake) Christmas tree - it's gorgeous! I have yet to take some good pictures of it, though.

Our evenings are usually spent playing cards with my parents and grandmother, and we get some good laughs out of it! I did a LO with pictures of me and DH, and will eventually do a 2nd LO with pics of my parents+grandmother.

Credits:

Template Inspired by Kate by Britt-ish Designs

Holly Jolly Holiday by Polka Dot Plum

Font: FG Bonnie's

So now everything is ready for Christmas at our house: we have the most gorgeous tree with a few cute presents underneath it (the calendars I ordered from Artscow have arrived - very pretty indeed! - and are wrapped). I got highlights and a new haircut yesterday. We have plenty of snow outside so we will have the most perfect white Christmas. :)

We will have a nice fish dinner tonight, then Midnight Mass, and tomorrow morning, presents, and a lovely Christmas lunch!

Merry Christmas to all!

Check Out This Giveaway!

I don't have time to blog in these busy days before Christmas, but you gotta check out thw giveaway on Lou's blog! She's giving away $150 worth of Cosmo Cricket!!!

Almost Holiday

-8 days to Christmas!

I'm done with exams and major commitments, so it almost feels like I'm on holiday!

I've been really busy getting ready for Christmas, though, so I've gotten close to zero scrapping done lately! I managed to whip up this LO yesterday while I was proctoring an exam:

Credits:

Green paper from Christmas Whimsy by Polka Dot Plum

Hanger from Hang in There v. 2 by Britt-ish Designs

December 13th Alpha by Cuppycake Designs

Font: Note this

I don't exactly love this LO, but I cannot figure out why..

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Yes, -10 days to Christmas, and we finally put the lights on our little tree this weekend. :) We also finally wrote our Xmas cards... They've been ready for weeks, but the task of writing them somehow seemed daunting and we only just got it done. :)

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Finally my super-busy schedule has relaxed a little and I was able to do a couple of ornaments this weekend.

For the first one I used Candied Christmas by Brianna Cox:

and I prepared 2 different sides for the tree ornament:

For the second one, I used Holly Jolly by Polka Dot Plum:

and I prepared these 2 sides:

I printed on photo paper, cut out the tree shapes with normal scissors and stuck them together with Mod Podge. If you use normal paper, you'll need the ornament to be more sturdy, so you can cut out a tree shape from cardboard. Here are the ornaments:

I still need to punch a hole in them so I can hang them, but I don't own a good puncher yet and I'm hoping to find one in my stocking this year! :)

-11 days to Christmas!!

At Last

Yes, at last!! This isn't only the title of the only LO I've managed to scrap this week, but also what I'm thinking right now!

At last the end of the week is near and I've almost done most of the things I had to do this week. And at last I've managed to find some time for me this week to scrap!

So here's what I did for a Word Up! Challenge at SM (we had to create the title using a different alpha for each letter), At last:

Credits:

Almost Forks by April Staker (some recoloring)

Alphas:

a - Little Vixen alpha (recolored) by Britt-ish Designs

t - Spotty Dotty alpha by Misty Cato

l - In Print Black Alpha - Designs by Tater

a - It's Only Natural alpha (recolored) by Vicki Stegall Designs

s - Razzle Dazzle alpha (recolored) by Britt-ish Designs

t - Gridworks alpha by Misty Cato

Font: Note this!

I like how this one turned out!! I did some recoloring (there was no orange/red originally) and it really changed the feel of it, I like it much better. This was my present for DH's birthday this year. You should be able to read the story if you click on the picture to enlarge it, anyway, I decided to get him this because it's something he really needed and even though we've been putting off buying it, he really deserved it because he's been so patient (so this explains the title!)! :)

I have still a lot of work to do this week, but finally I'm seeing the end of it! :)

-14 to Christmas: two weeks!!!!

LOs with Candied Christmas

I couldn't resist, so even though I should be working at my project for school, I ended up playing with Bree's new kit, Candied Christmas!

I did a 2-pager for the Saturday Special challenge at Scrapmatters.

I used her new kit Candied Christmas, and her Flutter By Me Stamped Alpha.

Here's the detail of page 1

and page 2

I really love the colors of this kit, and pulling up last year's photos made me even more impatient! :) -18 days to Christmas!

In the Mood for Christmas

I'm all in the mood for Christmas these days.. And Christmas is really almost here! -19 days, and I know they'll fly by (I have a busy schedule ahead for the next 10 days with the end of the semester approaching..).

Bree has a new Christmassy kit out: Candied Christmas!!! Go check it out at ScrapMatters!

The colors are absolutely gorgeous!

Christmas Tag/Ornament

I did another Christmas hybrid goodie for a challenge at Sugarplum Paperie on personalized treats.

I created a star tag that can be used to accompany some cookies and then can be used as a Christmas ornament.

The only problem is, it took me forever to assemble it!!!!!!!! :)

I printed the star shape twice on normal paper (so the ornament is double-sided) and I took a piece of cardboard from a frozen pizza box (I peeled off the printed part so it wouldn't show under my star paper).

The cutting process, however, was painstaking, because I wanted to make sure no cardboard could be seen. I wish I found a quick way to accomplish this step! :)

I used mainly scissors, and occasionally the craft knife to trim the inner angles.

Anyway, once I cutted everything nicely

I glued the paper to the cardboard with my loyal Mod Podge.

While it dried, I resorted to make a hole so the star could be hung. Since I have no paper scrapbooking experience, I don't have any fancy instruments either (no cute hole punches for me..), so I simply used the 3-hole punch I use for school. This took me some extra time because I wanted to make sure I centered the hole properly on the star. Luckily, no damage occurred!

Finally, I brushed the star with Mod Podge for finish. The tag can be tied with a ribbon to a bag of cookies (I didn't have a bag sorry!) and once the cookies are eaten it can turn into a nice Christmas ornament:

I really love the final result!

Another Thanksgiving LO

I did a LO for the Roadmap to Scrap challenge at ScrapMatters.
These were the instructions:

1. Any number of photos--arranged in a row
   
2. One solid piece of paper
   
3. One strip of paper
   
4. One ribbon, used as many times as you'd like
   
5. Ten of the same kind of element
   
6. Journaling
   
7. Word art as your title
   
8. Cluster around your title
   

So, after the Turkey cake, here's the actual Turkey we had for Thanksgiving. :)

Credits:

Papers and ribbon from Abundantly Blessed by Andilynn Designs

Felt leaves and wordart (recolored) from Thanks Indeed by Britt-ish Designs

Chestnut by Sailor and Lula

Font: Note this

It was really, really yummy! But I am biased because I love chestnuts.. :)

TOOT!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy and Lauren have chosen me to be on the CT for Polka Dot Plum! I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I *love* their designs and being on their CT is a dream come true!
OMG I cannot believe it yet!!
:D :D :D {making the happy dance} :D :D :D

First Birthday LO

I scrapped the first LO about DH's birthday. I did it for a template challenge at SM and I used the new Thanksgiving mini-kit by Britt, I love it!

Credits:

Template by Haynay Designs

Thanks Indeed by Britt-ish Designs

Font: Note This

I'm so tired, and it's only Tuesday! Adjusting to the regular schedule after Thanksgiving break is tough.. ;)

More Cards!

During this Thanksgiving break I've been having some good hybrid inspiration, and I did 2 more cards!

Credits:

Template by Winkasheart

Dear Santa by Cecile Designs

Font: Handwriting- Dakota

Here's the printed out version (I brushed it with Mod Podge too):

I actually like this so much that I was thinking about making an ornament out of it, to hang somewhere in the house!

And here's the other card I did

Credits:

Very Merry add-on by DeCrow Designs

I used the add on by DeCrow Designs to the gorgeous collab kit Very Merry by Britt-ish Designs and DeCrow Designs.

I really love the colors and elements in that kit!

Hybrid Xmas Card

I did another card for the It's In the Cards challenge at ScrapMatters.

Here is the digital card I prepared:

Credits:

Template by Kari Stamps

Funky Stems and Very Merry Add-on by Britt-ish Designs

Fonts: Eutemia, Existence

I used the add-on to a gorgeous Christmas kit by Britt (in collab with DeCrow Designs) that I really would love to have: Very Merry. I haven't received my coupon from SM yet, and unfortunately the 40% discount for Black Friday has expired, but I hope I might get it either today or tomorrow (30% off) since the kit is $6.95 and I'm getting a $5.50 coupon. It's such a gorgeous kit!!!! I really hope I can snag it!

Anyway, here's the actual card:

I really love the colors!!

I used Mod Podge to finish the embellishments and to glue the papers together and the snowflake; I used glue dots to stick the little brads and the big one, so they have some 3D feel. I did not brush the Mod Podge over the papers, and I really love how the elements stand out since  Mod Podged them!

A Call and Black Friday Plans

Polka Dot Plum is having a CT call!!!!! Check it out here.

I would love being in their CT.. I've been drooling over their kits, especially the seasonal ones!

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed until next week!

DH and I are on a terribly low budget this year, so we don't really have any Black Friday plans (except we have to buy a futon/sofabed/air mattress for when my family comes to visit us for Christmas!) so it looks like we won't have much fun tomorrow..

There's a lot of scrap sales on the web too, and I hope I get my coupon at ScrapMatters (YEAAAH I reached my 60 points so I get a $5.50 coupon) in time for the sales.. Fingers crossed!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so happy I get to stay home for this long holiday! I have quite a lot of work to do, but it's just good to be home. :)

Yesterday was DH's birthday! Here's the card I prepared for him (not my best hybrid production, I must admit..):

Credits:

Template by Scrappy Kate

You Say It's Your Birthday add-on by the ScrapMatters Design Team

Funky Stems by Britt-ish Designs

but I'm quite happy I went for some experimenting for the inside of the card:

Credits:

You Say It's Your Birthday add-on by the ScrapMatters Design Team

Template for pop-up by Claire Skeps

We celebrated with a nice dinner and a beautiful Thanksgiving themed cake:

Credits:

Shabby Fall and Harvest Spice by Shabby Princess

Got a Date Strips and Funky Stems by Britt-ish Designs

I did this for the Grand Theft Layout so I scraplifted this LO by One Happy Mama.

When I saw this cake at the store, I simply couldn't come home without it!! This turkey is just too cute! :)

I scrapped this page quite in a rush, but I love how it turned out! Especially, I love the flowers + buttons!

One month to Christmas!

Wow: -1 month to Christmas! I'm so excited!!

I'm actually happy Thanksgiving is almost here, so this means I can put up the Christmas decorations soon! ;)

I finished the calendar! Here's the cover I prepared.

Credits:

Welcome home by Erica Zane

Funky Stems by Britt-ish Designs

Today however was a pretty bad day for us! We had a (minor) car accident: DH was driving, and an elderly lady backed up from a driveway directly into our car!! :-(

Luckily, the damage is minor (we are so glad she didn't hit the side of the car, but only the fender), and our car is really old, but still we were so upset!

Tomorrow is DH's birthday!! I did a card tonight but it didn't really turn out very well.. :-S I'll post pics tomorrow!

Almost done!

I did the missing 2 months for the calendar so I'm almost done now! I just need to finish the cover.

For the month of October I used a LO I did previously and replaced the pictures with a photo of us. I just loved this LO too much and I thought it would be perfect for an autumn month.

Credits:

Green paper from BeautyFall add-on and template by Scrapmuss Designs

Other papers and 2 leaves from Autumn Sweetness add on by Cécile Designs

Leaf from Beautiful Blessings add on by Haynay Designs

Razzle Dazzle Alpha (recolored) by Britt-ish Designs

Finally, May is done too. I did this one from scratch!

Template Inspired by Ashley by Britt-ish Designs

Orchard Blossoms (some recoloring) by Amy Sumrall

Font: Eutemia

If everything goes as planned, tonight I'll finish the cover and place the order!

November

I'm so glad this week is over!!! I'm SO tired and finally tomorrow DH is coming back home! It has been a long week indeed.

Tonight however I scrapped another page for the calendar and I have only 2 months to do now!!

I did this LO for the Word Up! challenge at ScrapMatters (we had to use words from  a given song in our page).

Credits:

Ice Garden collab kit at Digital-Crea (some recoloring)

Funky Stems by Britt-ish Designs

Fonts: Scriptina, My Own Topher

For the calendar, I obviously replaced "Love you more" with "November" and I also took out the buttons- they're a bit distracting I believe. I was uncertain whether to leave them in the LO above, but I left them in in the end, maybe only because I lost some time recoloring them.. :-P I'm still not sure whether I prefer them there or not - another good reason why I'm eager for DH to come back, because when he's not home I don't have anyone to ask suggestions for my pages to! ;)

April

I was tired last night, but I did another month for my calendar!

I lifted jemenifer's On the First Day of Christmas (so I did this for the Grand Theft LO Challenge at ScrapMatters). And I also double-dipped partecipating to a challenge by Sugarplum Paperie on using repeated elements! :)

Credits:

Whimsy Doodle by Amy Sumrall and Sugarplum Paperie

Little Bits by Sugarplum Paperie

So now I'm left with 3 months to do!! Yaaay!

I'm loving the weather here this week. We've been having lots of snow, and I just love it! Walking from the parking lot to work yesterday morning was magical, and I couldn't stop smiling! :)

It looks like it'll be the same this morning, because some fat snowflakes have started falling, and I'm about to get ready to leave.

Calendar

Christmas is near so it's definitely time to work on my Christmas gifts. I decided a few months ago that I would prepare a calendar for our parents and my grandmother, so I can give them something that I really like, done by me especially for them, and I can even have fun in the process of creating it! I will have it printed so I only have to prepare the figures I want for each month.

Until today, I'd been stalling because I couldn't really imagine what I wanted the calendar to look like.

But now, I finally figured it out: each month will have a LO with a picture of us (so both our families will be pleased! :) ). I've already found 7 LOs that can work and made the assignments to months.

But that left me with 5 months still to do, and not very many decent pictures of us (I already scrapped the best, and I only want to use pictures taken in the last year or so..). Anyway, now the goal is near and I feel it will be ready soon. I'm actually liking it very much!!

Tonight I realized I needed a page for the month of December, so I pulled up last year's pictures and I sadly discovered that there is only one of me and DH together, and it's out of focus! :-/

So I tweaked the picture a little, kept it smallish, and did a LO I'm *very* pleased with. (While I was at it :), I did it for the template challenge at Scrapmatters - we also had to journal at least 5 sentences).

Here it is:

Credits:

Template by Jeni Hopewell

Christmas Future kit by Linda Cumberland

Glittery stars and hearts (recolored) from About A Girl by Scrap'It Designs by Brianna Cox

Pinned and Dated (recolored) by Fei-Fei's Stuff

Font: My Own Topher

Of course, there is no journaling on the version that goes in the calendar, only a pretty alpha writing "December".

8 months done, 4 to go! :)

This week we've had quite some snow, and cold weather: winter is finally here. I love snow and I had forgotten how beautiful it is at night when there is so much light because of the snow. I really love to live here!

Wordart

I did a LO for the Saturday Special challenge at Scrapmatters. We had to do a wordart for our LO. I believe I never did one before, and I don't usually put wordarts in my LOs, but I love how this LO turned out!
I actually spent a lot of time getting the colors right, and then the wordart flowed out pretty quick and natural.

Credits:
Template Inspired by Ashley by Britt-ish Designs
Summer Lovin' collab kit by Ellie Lash and Pineapple Plantation Designs (some recoloring)
Font: 1942 Report

The orange doesn't have anything to do with the colors in the picture, but I tried it out and liked it, and could not force myself to take it out! ;)

Deer LOs

This weekend I worked on 2 LOs about the unusual morning visits the deer paid me last week. :)

I used the beautiful kit Welcome Home by Erica Zane, which is given as a gift to all subscribers at ScrapMatters! :D

I did the first LO for the Tuesday Template challenge:

Credits:

Welcome Home 

and template by Erica Zane

Heart border from Abundantly Blessed by Andilynn DesignsFont: FG Bonnie's

and the second LO for the Roadmap to Scrap challenge, these were the instructions:

1. 1 Edge to Edge Photo
   
2. 1 Frame
   
3. Stitching
   
4. 1 or more Fasteners (paper clip, staple, etc.)
   
5. 1 or more Ribbons
   
6. a Brush or Stamp
   
7. 1 Element of your Choice (choose wisely…there can only be one!)
   
8. No alphas
   

I actually started scrapping this page first, but when I got to instruction #8, "no alphas", I realized I needed to do a 2 pager, since I cannot do a LO without alphas! :)

Credits:

Welcome Home, deer brush from Woodland Fantasy Add-on by Erica Zane

Green ribbon, safety pin (both recolored) and frame from Peace and Quiet by Andilynn Designs and Britt-ish Designs

Font: CK Cursive, My Own Topher

We got the first snow of the season here today, and more is coming. The streets aren't white yet, but everything else is, and it looks like it won't be long before the streets get white too.

Autumn LO

IF YOU'RE HERE ON THE BLOG TRAIN, SCROLL DOWN! :)
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I did a LO for the Tuesday Template challenge at Scrapmatters. In addition to using the template provided, we also had to scrap about some of our blessings.

So I did a LO on the beautiful colors of autumn. We love living here!! :)

Credits:

Green paper from BeautyFall add-on and template by Scrapmuss Designs

Other papers and 2 leaves from Autumn Sweetness add on by Cécile Designs

Leaf from Beautiful Blessings add on by Haynay Designs

Classic Date Stamp, Bead-aholic alpha (recolored), Razzle Dazzle Alpha (recolored) and string from String Theory by Britt-ish Designs

Font: Note this

It took me forever to arrange every single leaf, but I love the result! :)

Deer Walk

IF YOU'RE HERE ON THE BLOG TRAIN, KEEP SCROLLING! :)
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I lifted a beautiful LO by Nathy and I did a monochromatic LO. I love how it turned out!!

Credits:

Parisian Love Collection by Cinnamon Designs

Ribbon from Pretty Grungy by Scrap'it Designs by Brianna Cox

Swirly Alpha by Andilynn Designs

Last Halloween LO

IF YOU'RE HERE ON THE BLOG TRAIN, KEEP SCROLLING! :)
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Here it is:

Credits:

Black paper from I'm A Dreamer, Halloween paper from A Halloween Nightmare

Add-on, Date Stamp Classic by Britt-ish Designs

Yellow paper and cat sticker from Jeepers Creepers Add on by Jeni Hopewell Designs

Wordart pin by Mandi Nickell 

Fonts: My Own Topher, Cold Night for Alligators, CK Rugged, Nightmare

Lazy Weekend

IF YOU'RE HERE ON THE BLOG TRAIN, KEEP SCROLLING! :)
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I'm feeling lazy this weekend, so spending it scrapping sounds perfect to me! :)

I did 2 LOs with Bree's new kit, Pretty Grungy.

The second LO I did has 3 versions of the same picture of the previous LO, but with some different blending techniques applied. I did it for the Saturday Special challenge at SM.

Generally I don't scrap much with grungy kits, but I love this one by Bree and I love these pages I did!