Another Christmas Layout - October Afternoon Very Merry

It's a Christmas miracle! I made two layouts at the last crop! This was a picture I snapped of Parker and Emma right before Christmas (and right before she lost her two front teeth!) when they were dressed up for church. I would have loved this for my Christmas card, but of course I'd already sent them out by then, argh! I used October Afternoon's Very Merry collection, some Bazzill ribbon and embossed cardstock and Tombow permanent adhesive. I am getting braver on my bow tying and hopefully getting better!

Krusty Klaus - Crate Paper's North Pole Collection

*This will be featured in the Nov/Dec 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes*

Here is a layout I made this weekend using Crate Paper's North Pole Collection. I have been wanting to make a layout about this goofy Christmas Eve tradition for a long time. On Christmas Eve Krusty Klaus visits my husband's family bringing gag gifts for all. He wears a moth eaten suit, dirty work boots, goggles and is generally just pretty crusty! This year he even brought reindeer poop (Cocoa Puffs). Last year Emma figured out Silly Santa was Grandpa, but had to explain to Parker how she figured it out - Grandpa is always missing, it looks and sounds like Grandpa etc...lol. You can find this cute collection from Crate Paper at That Scrappy Girl. Other goodies I used were some Bazzill ribbon, Making Memories mini abc stickers, Tombow permanent adhesive and a Martha Stewart border punch. And a lot of pop dots - I put behind the ornaments, the blue strips of paper and the main photo.

Eco Friendly Holiday Project - Creatively Green

Here is a Christmas vase I made for today's post on the Creatively Green blog. I used a plastic chip container, Making Memories Mistletoe paper and sticker, and some braided ribbon. It was a very quick and easy project - I used glue dots to attach the paper to the plastic and a glue gun to adhere the ribbon.

Be sure to keep stopping by the Creatively Green blog each day until Christmas as there are daily giveways and a lot of great projects!

Let It Snow Ornaments - Midnight Oil Scrapbook Designs

Here are a couple ornaments I made using the Show Off Acrylic Mini Album. I sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Marshmallow), let dry and then added snowflakes and stickers. It is hard to tell from the pictures, but the snowflakes are covered in glitter. The size of these ornaments is 4x6 and were super easy to put together. I used my Cropodile to punch holes in the top to make the hanger.

We are having a little more snow here, but nothing like what is happing out East. Family is supposed to be flying out of DC tonight to come back home for Christmas - we are crossing our fingers!

Noel Sign - Scrap Within Reach Carnival Ride

I love to alter all kinds of items, one of my favorite is paper mache. It is easy to work with - you can paint, ink, leave plain, do about anything to it. I also love to snag them after the holiday season when things are marked super low. This sign probably cost me $1-$2 tops. I used the Carnival Ride Collection from Scrap Within Reach. I used paint, sand paper, crumpled the papers and also used my favorite ink Clearsnap Chesnut Roan to give this project a distressed look. I added some twine and buttons and some sparkly snow glitter (also an after holiday purchase). I am in the process of getting out all of my Christmas decorations and will be setting this project out as well.

Creative Cuts and More Mega Recipe Blog Hop - Day 2

Welcome to the second day of the Creative Cuts & More Mega Recipe Blog Hop which features the Apron Holiday Treats Recipe Kit. There are 24 designers who will be showcasing wonderful pages and yummy Holiday Treat recipes. As part of the celebration CC&M will be having a great sale. For the next six days, they will offer 20% off the entire store. But act quickly as this sale will end on Nov 14th. Make sure you enter this code recipebloghop2009 during checkout. As a continuing part of the celebration, CC&M will be giving away one of these awesome kits. Here is the twist – go through the blog hop and leave comments for each designer. After you have finished the blog hop, return to the Creative Cuts and More blog and instead of leaving a comment, you need to share a recipe to have a chance at winning the kit. Share the recipe on your blog and link it back and get another chance to win the kit.

A little bit about my Apron Kit album I created. I am a simple crafter and an even simple baker, so I kept my project and recipes just that...simple! I put all the recipes on tags, which tuck into the pockets of the apron. I took a picture of how one looks in the apron pocket and then took pictures of each recipe outside of the apron, so you can see the recipes better (click on the picture if needed for a better view) If your recipes are more complicated and need more space, you can always use the back of the tag. This kit was very easy to use and I completed in only a few hours. The only extras I used were a few brads, a couple more pieces of ribbon, some ABC stickers and a Martha Stewart border punch to make the ruffle. My favorite recipe in this book is Granny's Fudge. I used to spend a lot of time with my Great Grandma (Granny), I was even named after her, and she would often let me help her make this fudge. Now head on over to Lisa's blog to see her cute Apron Kit album. If you started at my blog first, please head to the Creative Cuts and More blog to start at the beginning of the hop. If you get lost, I have also listed the blogs of everyone at the end of this post. You can also see who was on the blog hop on Day 1 and used the Treasured Family Recipes Kit, by reading my previous blog post.

Die Cut Diva http://www.diecutdiva.com/

Pam Smerker http://paperaskew.blogspot.com/

Nathalia Castellon http://funkyphreshpapierkreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Lusk http://dawnanewday.blogspot.com/
Stephany Zerbe http://stephzerbedesign.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Hansen http://www.jenniferhansenscrapgallery.blogspot.com/
Lisa Somerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/
Lila Holgate http://lilascreativecorner.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Kazan Clark http://nunutoolies.blogspot.com/
Rachel Hope Baird http://www.hopestampseternal.blogspot.com/

Ellen Sosnoski http://www.closeyourears.blogspot.com/
Cecilia Stricklin http://http://www.thethreadgatherer.blogspot.com/
Cambria Turnbow http://www.cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/

Angie Pearl http://www.gemstonecreations.blogspot.com/
Laura Davis http://www.adayinthelifeofthepaperpoppy.blogspot.com/
Noelle Reese http://http://www.noellescrapsalot.blogspot.com/
Holly Brown http://http://www.glitterstampsandink.blogspot.com/
Rachel Sztonyk http://www.gingerbreadgallery.blogspot.com/
Deb Felts http://www.withastampandasong.blogspot.com/
Jen Johnson http://www.justmejenifer.blogspot.com/
Amber Hillman http://www.ambersantics.blogspot.com/
Carla Mayfield http://www.paperpastorale.blogspot.com/
Cindy Lawrence http://www.onehappystamper.typepad.com/
Chris Dickinson http://www.chrissyd723.blogspot.com/
Die Cut Diva http://www.diecutdiva.com/

Is It Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas?

It is at The Scrappy Shack! They have all kinds of seasonal die cuts in the store, including this fun All I Want For Christmas diecut. It is actually an entire circle, but I cute off part of it so that it would fit onto my paper holder. I plan to hang this up for Christmas cards this year. Ours generally just end up piled up on the counter, so although I got a WEE bit crazy with the bright colors, shiny stuff and stickers on this project :-), I think it'll do the card holding job just fine! (Papers, gems, sequins, stickers are Doodlebug and the paper holder is Creative Imaginations.)