Advent Calendar for years to come

When Emma had her sale this summer I bought a Kaisercraft Advent calender with hopes of having it done by December 1st for the kids to celebrate the season with .... well I'm not horribly late - just tardy as per my predictable self!  I finished it today - December 3rd!

 

I wanted this calendar to be unique, and timeless.  First I painted all the parts to the box white.  And put the boxes together with Ranger Terrifically Tacky double sided tape.  I wanted to use my favorite Christmas paper line Jovial by Basic Grey.  I created a fireplace with texture paste and gelatoes using a Prima stencil.  I wanted some lighting in the shadow box of this calendar, so I used a flameless tealight and some sticks as logs in the fireplace.  I also used a Tim Holtz mini lantern and his Woodlands collection tree and wreath.  I coloured the tree and wreath with Glimmer Glaze in Dirty Martini.

 

 

I kept the boxes simple and without too much decoration - so I inked them and put faux stitching on the edges.  I Mod Podged each of the boxes for durability for years to come.  Flowers on the tree are Prima, and the twine is Doodlebug.  The star on the tree is Teresa Collins.  The stockings are Debbie Travis garland!  I replaced some of the numbers with Tim Holtz bingo markers.

 

 

 

 

A trip to the dollar store to fill the boxes with trinkets, toys and the odd chocolate.  I can't wait to see the look on their faces for years to come when I haul this beauty out with the Christmas decorations!  I loved the process.  Although the building stage could have used more instructions ... and by more I mean ANY!  This kit came only with a photo of the finished product, nothing else. 

 

 

Let me know what you think - be kind become a subscriber and leave a comment.

 



 

 

 

 

Seasonal art journaling

I can't believe it snowed on October 12th, good grief!  And if that wasn't bad enough ... my kids were EXCITED about it, they wanted it to stay!  Are you kidding me?!?  I would like to move to a place where the temperature is a consistent 24 degrees.  So I did an art journal page about my experience  that day ... I called it:

Snow is a 4 letter word

 
 


My second journal page started out as a sunrise or sunset, not sure, but then I added in some flowers and ... well lollipops - why not, Halloween is right around the corner, and what better goes with sunshine than lollipops hahaha!

Sunshine and Lollipops

Let me know what you think,

April Challenge

Are you ready for some My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose?  That is the featured line over at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking for the month of April.  Melissa and I were given identical paper this time and asked to come up with our own take on the Scrapbook & Cards Today Calender sketch for the month of April.  I'm really liking how this turned out.

I chose a sepia photo for this paper line as it is just begging to be distressed.  I used the Sew Easy to stitch along the left side of my layout. Used a Tattered Angel;s stamp for the journaling box.  I am just loving the new Tattered Angel's glimmer chips, and chose a dove for my embellishment.  My title is Basic Grey stickers from the Capella line.  The "&" symbol is a thicker that I used Distress Stickles on (peeled paint) and then used clear embossing powder over - but I used too much Versa Mark ink - I was in a hurry so the clear embossing looks rather dull and not shiny ... but I like the way it turned out.  The flowers this time are made with leftover scraps and the George cartridge on my Cricut topped with a Prima centre and a Making Memories brad.

The journaling reads:

A rate moment when you two are getting along.  Vanessa is always putting the choke hold on you Nigel. January 2011

Remember all month long at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking all My Mind's Eye will be on sale 10% off. 

Valentine's Day projects ...

OK, so if scrapbook paper sits in your stash for two years, does that make it Vintage?  I had allmost all of the entire collection of Basic Grey's Bittersweet still untouched.  I had done a layout or two and I think maybe a card or two as well.  But for the most part I hadn't used this collection for anything.  I promised my sister that I would help her make a Valentine card for her man on Sunday, so I thought I would pull out all the valentine papers and embellies that I tend to collect and rarely use.

That being said, I made two cards (six actually, as I made three of each design - I find it easier to make multiples of the same card when I am designing it) and a layout.

The layout I'm calling LOVE ROCK; and the photo is of some "shiny rocks" as my daughter calls them.  They were part of a centerpiece to a wedding I went to years ago (Julia & Rob).  I had put the rocks into my daughter's sand box and photographed them ... anyway, not a very exciting photo, but was a neat shot.

I tried a minimalist approach to this layout - my husband says it's missing something ... I dunno, I think it's done.

I glimmer misted an American Crafts rose ribbon - it started out white ... I love glimmer mist!  Of course more stitching on this one too!

Let me know what you think!

Baby Boy - Layout featuring - Curio by Basic Grey

Hello everybuggy!  I've been watching too much Treehouse TV again methinks!

Anyway, I did a fantastic layout on Tuesday night over at Candace's place.  This photo is one that my best friend Jennifer Carroll took for me of my son - this was his first photo shoot!  She is simply a fantastic photographer - look her up at her website here. 

I used Basic Grey's Curio line for this page and a little bit of Bo Bunny's Cambridge line and a couple of their Chiffon Rose trims.  Some Prima flowers (and the packaging from the flowers).  Some Webster's Pages trim.  Tattered Angel's made the key, and some Dew Drops (love these little beauties) by Robin's Nest. In the corner I stamped with a Tattered Angels stamp and then I used a piece of dollar store trim with some Distress Ink for the honeycomb effect.  I had seen that honeycomb effect done on another layout somewhere and LOVED it.  Last but not least I used two of my hand-made corsage pins.  OK, in the fourth photo I am showcasing my stitching again ... you may have to look hard, but it's there!  Love my Husqvarna sewing machine!!

Lemme know what you think!  Leave a comment - you don't need a Google account to leave me a comment.