Bah Humbug!

Yesterday was Pinterest Monday on the Scraptastic blog, and here is the page I shared, based on the pin that Rory and I chose to use as our inspiration.

It didn't turn out at all as I first envisioned. One idea morphed into another, and this was the result! 

  

I love the bold mix of patterns and colors in this kit from Scraptastic.

A little grouping of tags, banners, a doily and flair hangs beneath our family photo (minus one fireman who was on duty last Christmas):

Creating a title that fully expresses the theme of my page was made super easy by all the lettering choices in the kit.

Yes, the kids aren't always thrilled when the paparazzi (my 4 sisters and I) get out the cameras for pics on Christmas Day. It's a tradition they would rather forgo, but it's my best Christmas present. :)

Christmas Lights

Every once in a blue moon, I'll do a pocket page. It's a quick and easy way to organize a lot of photos  and yet still do that embellishing thing that I love so much! These pages were created with Scraptastic's It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year kit and add-on:

I found the contrast of dark and light papers to be in tune with my photos, and love how the black doily shows off the glittery white tree on the page above.

Below I used a some of the many stickers from the kit to dress up my page, arranging several to form a tree and embellish the journaling card.

My absolute favorite from the kit are the string of lights wood veneer pieces! Here I used perfect pearls to create colorful bulbs:

The light display in the above photos has become incredibly popular with long, slow-moving lines stretching miles (and hours) at times. We plan on bringing my dad to see them this week. I'm hoping the after Christmas wait will be much less than the before!

Cookie Exchange!

You wouldn't believe how quickly this page came together, how quickly it HAD to come together!

I had finally finished all my "work" work last Thursday night, and I could finally dig into my December Scraptastic kit. A few photos to be scrapped were culled from my photo stash; others were hurriedly printed at Sam's. At last, Friday afternoon was my chance to create! With a Pinterest Monday post scheduled for the Scraptastic blog, I had to get busy. The pin was chosen, the basic idea sketched out, it seemed doable. All Friday evening, I worked and got it done! Go me! 

Then I realized. I was working on the wrong project!!! The Pinterest post wasn't due for another two weeks. My next project was due on Sunday! It was crunch time, and Saturday was reserved for a run to pick up my son from college (about 10 hours round trip), and a Christmas/birthday party that night.

To the rescue...an old favorite, the grid design, simplified by dividing the page into quadrants. I picked out a couple of favorite papers, favorite kit embellishments and got it done again. 

Papers, doily, and Thickers are from Scraptastic's It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year kit. Tags and stickers are from the add-on. Twine and Liquid Pearls are from my stash. I love how the dimensional paint highlighted those berries:

Sampler-like, rows of candy cane and Christmas tree stickers fill in the space below each photo:

The largest quadrant on the page was reserved for a wordy title, made possible by the many lettering options that are included with kit and add-on:

When our "new" neighbors moved in across the street a few years ago, they brought with them a fabulous tradition...a neighborhood cookie exchange. We all look forward to gathering together, sharing goodies (and recipes), and catching up on the neighborhood gossip. So fun.

Whew! I still can't believe I got this done. I guess it goes to show you how easy it is to create with such a well-coordinated kit.

And the good news...that Pinterest Monday thing is in the bag. ;)

3D Adventure

This page was shared on the Scraptastic blog yesterday afternoon, so I thought I'd share it here as well.

We were on our way to experiencing another ride at Walt Disney World and I just had to snap a picture of my oldest son in 3D glasses. What a hoot! Don't let that face fool you; he's having fun. Star Tours, our 3D Adventure:

This page mixes papers from the Scraptastic Store, Gossamer Blue's On My Desk and Get Happy collections. Both have bold black and white prints, which look stunning against the other papers' vivid colors. To maximize the effect, I turned up one corner of the Be Bright paper to show the bright red underneath, as well as the sentiment "Get Happy" from the Happy Holiday Paper, which I glued to the back. Love the contrast, and the sentiment!

Here are a few closeups:

A trio of banners is held together with a Happy flair badge and grounds the title. Wood veneer stars hint at our adventure. ;)

What to do when there's a spot of emptiness on a page??? Add buttons of course. I found several in coordinating colors and they finish things off nicely.

Journaling tags hold the story of our eldest son and his off-kilter (with the rest of us) schedule.

This WAS vacation so we let the older kids determine their own schedules while at Walt Disney World. On this particular day, Brendan arrived just as 3 of our crew were ready to head back to the hotel. No worries. I, along with my eldest daughter, would accompany him through the park. We were the die-hards!

SUPPLIES: Patterned Paper (Gossamer Blue's Get Happy Collection-Be Bright and Happy Holiday Papers, On My Desk Collection-List Maker, Screensaver, Multitasker, and Daydreamer Papers), Die Cuts (Gossamer Blue On My Desk Gold foil Die Cuts), Enamel Stars (Gossamer Blue On My Desk Enamel Stars), Flair (Gossamer Blue On My Desk Badges), Wood Veneer (Heidi Swapp September Skies Wood Veneer), Chipboard Alphabet, baker's twine, and buttons.

UA Homecoming

This page was shared on the Scraptastic blog Thanksgiving Day, just as everyone was lolling around, under the influence of all that tryptophan. I thought I'd share it here for those just recovering from that and/or the Black Friday madness. ;)

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Roll Tide Roll! As this is my son's senior year as a student at the University of Alabama, and his last football season there, I was hoping it would be memorable. And now that the Crimson Tide has moved into the #1 Spot in the BCS polls for collegiate teams, I'm hoping for more. Another national title perhaps!? What a send-off that would be!

The page I'm sharing today is about a longtime football season tradition, homecoming, and one of the ways the UA students celebrate. In the Greek community, sororities and fraternities team up to create expansive house decorations. In this particular year, my son's fraternity helped put together the winning display. Hours upon hours of rolling up and glueing tissue paper went into this magnificent scene.

Here's the scrapbook page commemorating their impressive display:

All papers are from the Open Book collection...except one. Because a scrapbook page about the University of Alabama football wouldn't be complete without a bit of black and white houndstooth, I brought in a paper from American Crafts Haunted Hallow collection. Ahhh...perfect! Also from Crate Paper's Open Book collection are chipboard stickers, ephemera, and fabric brads.

Here are a few closeups of the page:

SUPPLIES: Patterned Paper (Maggie Holmes Open Book-Chapters Paper, 3x5 Paper, Full Heart Paper, Memoir Paper, Clippings Paper, and Slideshow Paper), Stickers (Maggie Holmes Open Book Chipboard Stickers), Brads (Maggie Holmes Open Book Fabric Brads), Die Cuts (Maggie Holmes Open Book Ephemera), Chipboard Alphabet, Letter Stickers, and Button.

Roll Tide Roll!