Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Design Your 2011 Christmas Planner


Posted by ScrapGoo(Jess):

Every year around this time I think about participating in one of the many Christmas scrapbooking "events" that go on all over the internet.  But I find the idea of scrapping a page every day of December really overwhelming, to be honest.  I already have four million things to do and although scrapping is a great stress reliever it sort of stops being fun if it's just one more thing to add to your to-do list. 


So this year I came up with an all-in-one mini album that combines a planner AND a place to put important memories and photos.  I like the idea that I can use the organizational section up until the big day and those lists will become a neat record of the past all on their own.  


But I can also use the other sections after Christmas when I add highlight photos, reflections on the holidays, and even our family card. 
I used the fabulous Echo Park Season's Greetings collection for this, with Cinch book boards and my Bind-It-All. 


Cover
- Cut two pieces of thick cardboard or book board to 6" x 8"
- Cut two pieces of coordinating cardstock to 8" x 10"
- Adhere the book boards to the center of the cardstock, cut the corners at an angle, and adhere the edges around the book board




For the front cover:

- Cut a 5.5" x 7.75" piece of the green diamond paper and adhere it towards the right side
- Border punch a 2.75" x 7.75" piece of solid red paper and adhere to the left side
- Layer a black border sticker at the left
- Find the large bracket frame sticker, add white cardstock behind it, and trim.  Adhere to the center of the page
- Cut the teal tag from the journaling tag page, punch a hole, and tie a red bow at the top. Layer on top of the bracket frame
- Add two tree stickers
- Add "Christmas" and "the most wonderful time of the year" stickers
- Insert a snowflake brad in the top of the red tag chipboard and layer onto the teal tag
- Insert a black brad into the hole of the green tag sticker, tie a small twine bow, and add this on top of the red chipboard tag
- Add the "2011" numbers

For the inside cover:
- Cut a 5.5 x slightly less than 8" piece of the plaid paper and adhere to the left
- Add the noel banner sticker to the upper left corner
- Add a ticket sticker to the bottom

Inside Pages:



**A Note About Binding** I chose to use my Bind-It-All to finish this project but you could use another binding machine or simply punched holes and book rings.  I "cheated" all of my papers to the outside of the pages to leave a little room for the binding holes.  This ensures that you don't have holes straight through your lists and photos.  Keep this in mind when completing your layouts!

-All inner pages are cut to 5.75" x 7.75"

Planning divider: Base paper is red honeycomb.  Cut the edges off a ticket sticker and fold it in half over the top of the right edge.  Add alphas to spell "planning".  Border punch two 5.75" red swirl strips. Adhere them to a 5.75" x 4" piece of the blue ornament paper.  Adhere that to the bottom of the page.  Add the black tag block.  Insert brads in the three chipboard ornaments, tie twine bows, adhere the ornaments, and tuck twine ends up over the top edge of the punched strip.





Pocket page: This page is meant to hold receipts or other important bits of paper.  Cut a 6.25" x 5.5" piece of the red holly swirl paper.  Fold 1/2" in on the left side and 1/2" in on the bottom.  Cut on the diagonal and add the swirl border sticker.  Adhere to the bottom of the page.  Add three sentiment stickers to the top of the page.

**Planner Pages Note** All the planner pages are downloaded from the Christmas and general sections on this site.  You must print them to 5" x 7", which is easy to set on your printer screen before hitting the "print" button. 


The order I used was:
- Calendar
- Master to-do list x2




- Gift list x2



- Christmas card worksheet and list



- Shopping list x2



- Notes



The Details and Memories



- For the Details divider: Cut the edges off a ticket sticker, fold it in half and adhere it to the center of the right edge.  Add alphas stickers to spell out "details". Cut a 2.5" x 7.75" strip of the green patterned paper and adhere to the right side.  Add a red border sticker. Layer the "making a list" tag, toys sticker, naughty or nice sticker, and the chipboard Santa.  Punch a small circle from the plaid paper and add the circle sticker with pop dots or foam tape. Tie a twine bow.


 
- For the card page: This page is designed to display your family card that you send out this year.  Cut a 5.25" x 7.25" mat from the advertising paper.  Adhere the long strip brad to the bottom of the page.  Add "2011 card" stickers.

**A Note About Photo Mats** Unless otherwise noted all of the photo mats on the following pages are cut to 3.75" x 5.25".  This is a perfect size to just see a small mat around photos printed to 3.5" x 5".

The following pages have room for special photos and small journaling areas to detail what goes on in your family over the holidays.  Things like decorations, what you craft or bake, and what your traditions are add to a comprehensive look into how you celebrate!

- For the decorations page: Page base is green holly paper. Adhere a red swirl photo mat to the bottom.  Adhere the plaid tag to the top, add three sentiment stickers to the left, and spell out "decorations".



 
- For the baking page: Page base is striped paper.  Adhere a red swirl photo mat to the top and tuck the green tag under it.  Adhere the subway art sticker to the right and add "baking" in red alphas.

- For the crafts page: Page base is small green swirl.  Adhere a teal photo mat to the bottom and tuck the red tag under it.  Adhere the matted "do not open..." sticker to the right.  Thread twine though three chipboard buttons, tie a bow, and add below the sticker.  Add "crafts" in black alphas.



 
- For the feasting page: Page base is red poinsettia.  Adhere a red honeycomb photo mat to the bottom and the greet diamond tag to the top.  Add the chipboard wreath to the right of the tag and "feasting" in red alphas.

- For the Memories divider: Page base is teal diamonds.  Cut the edges off a ticket sticker, fold it in half, and adhere it to the bottom of the right edge. Cut a 2.5" x 7.75" strip of red snow flake paper and adhere to the left.  Cut a 7.75" punched strip of red honeycomb paper and add to right of the red strip.  Adhere the ornament banner sticker to the top.  Layer snow flake stickers, the sentiment banner sticker, and the chipboard snow flake. 



 
- For the large photo page: Mat a 4.25" x 6.25" piece of the cream snow flake paper onto green solid paper.  Add the "merry christmas" chipboard to the top. This page is for a 4" x 6" photo.

- For the season's greetings page: Page base is red plaid paper.  Add a solid dark green photo mat to the bottom.  Layer the green flourish sticker and the "season's greetings" label sticker to the top.


 
- For the traditions page: Page base is green patterned paper.  Add a solid red photo mat to the bottom and tuck the traditions tag under it.  Add the "trim the tree", red border, and "happy new year" stickers to the right.

- For the Christmas Eve page: Page base is striped paper. Print an extra "notes" page from the printables I linked earlier and cut it in half.  Add a teal photo mat to the top and tuck the lined paper under it.  Add the green border sticker to the bottom and the "24 eve" sticker to the side.  This is your area to journal about Christmas Eve.



 
- For the Christmas Day page: Page base is green holly paper.  Add a solid light green photo mat to the bottom and tuck the second half of the lined paper under it.  Add a red border sticker to the top and the "25 day" sticker above the mat.

- For the inside back cover: Cut a 5.5' x slightly less then 8" piece of red snow flake paper and adhere to the right.  Mat a 4.25" x 6.25" piece of cream grid paper on to small green swirl paper.  Add six sentiment stickers.

WHEW!  And we're done!  Punch binding holes with your binder of choice or a Cropadile and secure your pages.  I added a large green and white bow to the top of my binding, as well as some strung beads and crystals on a ribbon.

Enjoy planning, celebrating, and remembering your holiday!


I used the following products:

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

How To Make Your Own Christmas Ornaments


Posted by ChrissyTina (Christina):


Want an awesome Christmas gift that is unique, pretty, and super easy to make?  I make these ornaments every year and give several away as gifts.  I have a stash of mica pigment powders and I can never figure out what to do with them or how to use them. 


Here's a simple techique that takes minimal time and experience.
Here's a list of what you'll need:




-Glass ornaments
-Mica Powders (like Perfect Pearls or PearlEx)
-Acrylic Medium (I used LuminArte's acrylic medium #2)
-Shot glass or other small cup for draining
-mini scoop or spoon (I cut notches out a straw and it works beautifully)


Now onto the fun!  These really are super simple to do.  Your first step is to remove the metal top and apply the acrylic medium to the INSIDE of the ornament.  Make sure you swirl around and that the medium covers the ENTIRE inside of the ornament.  Once you've done that, set it so that the opening faces down into your cup and let the excess medium drain out.  It is important that you do this step otherwise the mica powders will just puddle and clump in the bottom of your ornament.




You can tell when it is done draining when drips are about 30 seconds apart.  I usually let mine sit for 5 minutes or so.  While one is draining, you can coat the inside of your second and third ornaments and pick out the color powders you want to use.  I usually use 2 but you can use as many as 4.  Experiment with color combinations and families and find what you prefer.


Once your ornament has finished draining, it's time to add the powders.  Take your mini spoon and scoop up a small amount of powder.  Always start small and build your color.  You can always add, but you can never take away.  Insert the spoon into the ornament and sprinkle the powder as your turn the ornament.  This will help to get color all the way around the ornament.  When you are satisfied with the amount of the first color, add your second color.




Now here's where the magic happens.  Swirl your ornament around briskly and make sure your powder moves around.  If you see "blank areas", feel free to add more powder until you get the desired look you want.  After you are done swirling and adding, set your ornament back onto the cup and let it dry.  It usually takes a few hours to dry and the powder is fully set in 72 hours.


Finally, embellish and decorate your ornament as you prefer.  I chose to use ZVA Flourishes, Prima floral stem, and ribbon from my stash.


 
 
 
 
Products Used:
 

Monday, November 28, 2011

See What's New in The Digi Shoppe


Posted by sarahwhithers

 
This week we have tons of great new goodies to show you that you can find in the shoppe now! Lots of new kits from some fabulous designers! Check out what the digi CT did this week with what's new in the shoppe!
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FairyMouseMom says: "What a bright and cute Thanksgiving Kit, "Give Thanks" by HotFlashDesigns, this is! It gave a great amount of pop of colors and fun elements to be added to regular neutral-looking photographs of our Thanksgiving celebration last year! Pairing this kit with a template from Bella Gypsy Designs (Sketchology: Fabulosity) brought forth a fun layout for me. With this template I opted to add more pictures instead of papers! "

 
Also check out FairyMouseMom's other page HERE using the same kit!
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Sarahwhithers says: "For the Digi CT reveal this week I'm featuring some new products by Sweet Digi Scraps and Kollage by Kay. For the kit, Puzzle Bug, it had the perfect papers and elements to showcase my love for scrabble and word games, and the Quilt template by Kollage by Kay was great to show lots of those papers off in a neat pattern!"

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MommyBruno says: "I used two new items from the digi shoppe - templates by JennCK and a kit from Bella Gypsy. The colors in the kit went perfectly with this picture of Xander from a couple years ago, and the elements were so fun to play with! The template had lots of layers, which I like, and I didn't change much because it perfectly suited my needs."

Also check out MommyBrunos other page HERE using Grateful Hearts by Bella Gypsy!
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MamaK321 says: "I love how dark and spooky these Halloween themed kits from JennCK are. I knew they wouldn't work well with my girls' cutesy costumes so I decided to use the products with a photo-less layout and a big hunk of journaling instead. Crisdam's new Project November alpha's matched nicely with a little color tweak on the blue letters. I love how it turned out."


And also check out MamaK321's awesome hybrid place cards HERE using a template by WendyBird Designs and the Harvest Moon kit by Natural Designs in Scrapbooking!
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letumom, our digi guest CT this month, made up this gorgeous page using Believe by Hot Flash Designs.

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So head on over to the Digital Shoppe now to check out these great kits plus so many more!!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011