October Card Swap

For October's swap, we were to make a tag and an embellishment.  I decided that I just couldn't do two Christmas items, so I made a birthday tag and a Christmas embellishment.

Card #1

I wanted to have a good layered tag with some of that great Moonlight DSP.

• Stamps: Perfect Penants
• Inks: Blackberry Bliss
• Cardstock: Moonlight DSP
• Accessories: Gold Metallic Buttons; Gray Twine; Purple Ribbon (not SU)
• Tools: Scallop Tag Topper Punch

Card #2

This simple star is not really a star at all.  Its five Christmas trees arranged in a star.

• Stamps: 25 Days
• Inks: Cherry Cobbler
• Cardstock: Whisper White; Trim the Tree DSP
• Accessories: Silver Glitter
• Tools: 1 3/8" Circle Punch; Christmas Tree Punch

December Daily Prep (Gift Albums)

I finally decided to do it! I'm going to join the December Daily craze this year.  I pulled out my entire Christmas supply stash (a ridiculous amount) and started sorting through.  Along the way, I realized that I really didn't want to do a mini album.  So I will be adding December Daily into my regular PL spreads.  I'm in the process of laying those out so check back for progress. While sorting, I uncovered two mini scrapbook albums that I forgot I had. Then I had a crazy idea. What if I made December/Christmas memory albums for my mother, grandmother, and MIL?  They would play off of December Daily, but not necessarily be chronological. What a great, if crazy and time consuming, idea! To help with the crazy, each album with use one supply collection. I might add some bling, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with too many supplies to choose from.

I started with my MIL's album. I grabbed the green Stampin' Up 6x6 album I scored on clearance last year. Her album will focus on just Arthur, hence the title. I pulled Fancy Pants' "Oh, Deer" supply collection to use. Right now, each sleeve has a base page and sometimes a border. As I complete the album, I have more paper, stickers, die cuts, and photo frames to use. I also punched out some tree and ornament shapes from the patteren paper stack.

Next up was my mother's album. I pulled the PL 6x8 black leather album to use.  Originally I was going to use this one for my own DD album.  That was before I decided to just add DD Into my big PL scrapbook. Her album uses Echo Park's "Reflections Christmas by Lori Whitlock."  I cut apart some the pattern paper to use as bases for the pockets. I still have some paper and a ton of stickers to use to embellish events. I'll probably also add more journaling spots.

Finally I tackled the 8x8 album for my grandmother. I ended up pulling the "Cozy Christmas" collection from Simple Stories to complete her album. I didn't have enough large sheets of paper, so I added in some solid colors with layered pattern paper to help fill the album.  Her cover page also features a random tree chipboard sticker and sentiment dimensional sticker from MME from my stash.  The supply collection still has a ton of die cuts, chipboard stickers, and cut aparts to use.

I may be a bit overly ambitious, but I think these will make great Christmas presents if I can keep up with them...

Arthur's Birthday Photo Board

For Arthur's 1st Birthday party, I knew I wanted to make some sort of photo board, but how?  After looking at many elaborate creations on Pinterest, I decided to scale back my intentions just a bit.  I wanted something simple with the focus on the actual pictures and not the decorations. Enter the blessed land of Michael's.  I was in the kid's art supply aisle for other things (felt or paper for apples) and found these lovely white display boards. They are meant to be for science fair projects and the like, but I thought it would be perfect for the photo board. After pulling paper, the pictures, and some embellishments, this is what I came up with:

The base layer is SU Gumball Green Coordinations and then Gumball Green, Pumpkin Pie, and Pacific Point DSP.  I made a little sign for people to write Arthur a birthday note on PL cards (not pictured). And I added some silver glitter letters for his initials.  I originally had his full name up there, but realized the pictures would not fit nicely with the entire name. So I shortened it down to just the initials. Much better!

The pictures are from our monthly photo shoots.  I love being able to see his growth throughout the first year. I even included the one day old pic for comparison. Everyone really loved this at the party. I loved that it was easy to make and the base is reusable (look for it in the fall social crafts).

30 Days of Lists -- Days 26-30

Have you heard about 30 Days Of Lists?  Created by Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry, 30 Days of a Lists is a semi-annual journalling challenge.  In March and September, they provide you with one topic a day.  You then run off and create a list.

October 2014 Paper Pumpkin

I'll admit it, I hadn't joined Paper Pumpkin because I thought it wasn't a good deal.  After hearing more and more good things about the quality and quantity of products, I finally joined last month during the 1/2 off sale.  While SU had some delivery delays due to certain overseas supply delays, I received my project last week.  And boy was I pleasantly surprised!

The kit is a fun Halloween set of burlap bags and tags.  I immediately went to town stamping and embellishing my tags.  What surprised me was the quantity of embellishments.  Realistically, you can only put 2-3 stickers on each tag, but I received 2 sheets of stickers.  Even after I finished, I still have an entire sheet left for other projects!  Plus, the stamp set comes with the same images as the stickers.  I didn't even use those stamps yet.  I started to put the bags together, but realized that I want to save them for the fall social.  I have an idea to use them for parent goody bags of candy.  Now I need to look at our number of RSVPs and possibly buy a refill kit.

Overall, I am really impressed with the new and improved Paper Pumpkin.  I have already bought next months kit, but I imagine that I will continue my subscription after that.

If you want to get in on the fun, please visit Paper Pumpkin to sign up.

30 Days of Lists -- Days 16-25

Have you heard about 30 Days Of Lists?  Created by Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry, 30 Days of a Lists is a semi-annual journalling challenge.  In March and September, they provide you with one topic a day.  You then run off and create a list.

Playing catch up a bit...

30 Days of Lists -- Days 11-15

Have you heard about 30 Days Of Lists?  Created by Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry, 30 Days of a Lists is a semi-annual journalling challenge.  In March and September, they provide you with one topic a day.  You then run off and create a list.

30 Days of Lists -- Days 6-10

Have you heard about 30 Days Of Lists?  Created by Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry, 30 Days of a Lists is a semi-annual journalling challenge.  In March and September, they provide you with one topic a day.  You then run off and create a list.

30 Days of Lists -- Days 1-5

Have you heard about 30 Days Of Lists?  Created by Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry, 30 Days of a Lists is a semi-annual journalling challenge.  In March and September, they provide you with one topic a day.  You then run off and create a list.

New Discoveries #6: 30 Days of Lists

Have you heard about 30 Days Of Lists?  Created by Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry, 30 Days of a Lists is a semi-annual journalling challenge.  In March and September, they provide you with one topic a day.  You then run off and create a list.  I've known about this for at least a year, but always found the idea scary.  How do I have time to create beautiful embellished lists everyday for a month?  I thought it couldn't be done.  But then this year as August rolled around and registration opened, I realized that I didn't have to make my lists complicated.  I didn't have to do a separate album or embellish everything.  I could add the lists to my regular PL album.  I could even prep the cards ahead of time.  That way, all I need to do for the day is write my list.  I figure that if I have time, I will embellish.  But if no, no big deal.  Here are my prepped cards using already owned PL cards (most from WRMK), some numeral stickers, and a journaling pen.

If you want to join me on this great challenge, head on over to 30 Days of Lists and register!