Where has time gone?

Seriously?  I'm still shocked that it's August...let alone the NINTH of August!  Wow.  Does that happen to you too?  I guess we've just been trying to cram in as much as we can before school starts again, and then when I have free time I've been working on my latest quilt...not scrapbooking.  BUT I do still have stuff to share with you.

So first...last week I had a new sketch up on the Fancy Pants blog:

And here's a sneak of the layout I made using the sketch:

You can view the whole thing and the post here.  :)

And then I still haven't shared a layout I made for CHA.  It uses the new Merry Little Christmas collection from Fancy Pants.  Yep, Christmas.  ;)

And here are some close up's:

And as for my next sketch for the blog...I DO have it all sketched out.  I just need to do it up on the computer and take pics of the prize.  So that to come soon.  :)  

Thanks for stopping by today!!

I hope you have a wonderful day!  Enjoy it.  :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Hi all!!  I just wanted to drop in and wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!

And here's a few Christmas cards too.  :)  You know, you still have time to make a few last minute cards if you need to.  ;)

To find out more about these cards, all using Fancy Pants and Scor-Pal, go here to the special blog hop post on the Fancy Pants blog.

Well, once again, Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Journaling Prompts Tuesday

• Traditions.  This is the time of year for traditions, tell us about yours. (Don't just think Christmas day, for example, we always drive around looking at Christmas lights the week before.)  What traditions have you kept from your own childhood?  What traditions have died out? Or is there a new tradition you want to start?
• What is the meaning of Christmas?  Why do you celebrate?  Don't be afraid to include your faith in your scrapbooks.
• How do you decorate (both inside and outside)?
• When does the Christmas music start?
• When does the tree go up?
• Who has the most Christmas spirit in the family?  Do you have a family grinch?
• How has your celebrations changed over the year?
• Do you enjoy this time of year or is it just too busy and product heavy?
• Who do you celebrate with?
• What's the best part of Christmas?  Answer this yourself or try asking family members and recording it.
• What's the worst part of Christmas?  Answer this yourself or try asking family members and recording it.
• What parties are you going to this year?  Do you host one?
• Do you always visit Santa?  How about comparing Santa pics or letters over the years.
• Do you do the elf on the shelf? Make a collage of pictures of your elf.
• Do you take Christmas pictures every year?  Once again, you could compare them from over the years.
• Do you mail out Christmas cards or letters?
• Create a "signs of Christmas" layout, with pictures around your home or city that indicate it's Christmas time.  
• Who wraps the gifts?  What other roles are played at Christmas time?
• How do you do gifts?  Does everyone get one from each person or do you draw names?
• Do you travel or stay home?
• Handmade Christmas...what have you made yourself?
• If you have multiple celebrations, compare them.  (For example, we celebrate with my in-laws and also with my parents.  One is controlled and "in order": one person opening a gift at a time, clean up after each gift, etc. while the other is just complete exciting chaos.)  
• Do you make a big meal?  Is it always the same or do you change it up?  Try including recipes.
• If you have a busy calendar this December, scrap it to show just how busy you were.  
• How do you keep the focus on what is really important this time of year?
• Don't just stop at taking pictures of people opening gifts...take pictures of the mess afterwards.  :)
• Do you dress up or keep it casual?
• Do you clear out the old to make room for the new?
• How does your city celebrate?  What does it look like?  
• Is there snow on the ground and does it look like what you typically think it should for Christmas or maybe it's a non-traditional beach Christmas.  
• Do you do cookie exchanges?  (Those are some fun photos!)
• After the kids have their Christmas breaks, are they ready to go back to school or dreading it?
• Does this time of year make you miss someone special?
• What's something you need to remind yourself or someone else every year?  (i.e. Keep it simple, focus on what matters, we are blessed, we can't have/do it all, etc.)
• Share some Christmas memories from your childhood.  
• What are the colors of Christmas?  
• What are the smells of Christmas? 
• What are the tastes of Christmas?
• What are the sounds of Christmas?
• What are the feelings of Christmas?
• Create a list of gifts given or received and scrapbook it.
• What happens after the celebrations are over?  Do you crash? Do you return/exchange gifts to the store or maybe shop for what you didn't receive?  
• What Christmas movies do you see every year?  Is it just you or does the whole family watch them?  
• Do your kids believe in Santa?  If not, did you tell them or is it because of something else?
• If money was no object, what would you want to receive or give this year?
• Are you an angel-topper or a star-topper (tree).
• Real or artificial tree.  Why?
• What would make this Christmas the best ever?
• What are your "firsts" this Christmas?  We are great at scrapbooking our firsts for babies, but it stops when they grow up.  But we are still experiencing firsts, did you have any firsts this Christmas?

As always, shout it out if you have more suggestions and I will add them to the list!!!

Thanks for stopping by!  

And have a fabulous day!

Home For Christmas

I know, I know...it's not even Halloween yet and I am here today talking about Christmas.  :)  Well I know that I am not the first, Christmas cards have been popping up everywhere.  I can't wait.  I try hard to wait until after Halloween to listen to Christmas music, but I must admit, I've already snuck a few songs in.  ;)  I realized that I never scrapped last year's Christmas photos.  And the fabulous Home For Christmas collection from Fancy Pants was sitting right there on my desk, so I pulled them out.

So here's a new layout:

I must admit...this was one of those layouts that did not come together super quickly.  I was never happy with what I made so I would take parts off and keep trying again.  Over and over again.  We all have those layouts.

Anyways, here are some close up's of my layout:

And then I also made a card using the same collection.  I used my sketch here, 225c.  THERE'S STILL TIME TO PLAY ALONG WITH MY SKETCH CHALLENGE!!!  Entries must be received by midnight tomorrow night to be eligible for the prize.

Here's my card:

Well thanks so much for stopping by today!
Have a fabulous day!!

A Christmas Layout :)

Hi everyone! I have a new Christmas layout to share with you today! :) It uses the awesome Nordic Holiday collection from BasicGrey. Actually, it was a 6x6 pad of paper. I thought of fun ways to make a 12 x 12 layout with a 6 x 6 papers.

I just sketched out that design and then used it as a template to cut my pieces. This is the kind of layout that is great at using some of your scraps. :)

Here are some close up's:

And in case you've missed it...BasicGrey is doing their 25 Days of Christmas celebration here. (Hint: there's freebies!)

So that's all for today! Hope you have a wonderful day!

A Christmas PAPER Table Runner

Last week I had a post on the Fancy Pants blog and I have just been dying to share it with you here too! :) By the way...I have been LOVIN' all the projects on their blog lately, you should definitely stop in for some inspiration!

So...for my project, here is what I did:

1. I cut a bunch of 2x2 squares from some of my favorite pieces of paper from the fabulous Saint Nick collection.

2. I then laid them out in a design on top of a piece of canvas fabric. (For my end points, I just cut my squares in half, making triangles, to use on the edges)

3. I cut the canvas around my design, leaving a small canvas border.

4. I then ran my piece through my sewing machine, to make sure all the pieces stayed down and to give it more of a quilted look.

5. Then I covered it with a sealer.

And this is what I got:

And because of the sealer, I am able to wipe it off if need be. And if I need to iron it, I just flip it over and iron on the back (you may want to use a lower setting on your iron...I didn't, but better to be safe than sorry).

I really am so happy with the way this turned out! This was such a fun, easy project! Maybe I will try curtains next! :)

Thanks for stopping in!!

Random Thought Thursday (and a wreath!)

So, can you believe it is December? And how many people do you think are saying that today? :)

So...my random thought for today is this...

I SUCK AT CRUTCHES! :(

Which should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, because I am CLUMSY with a capital C! I can trip over nothing. I am just lacking in this department. Sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to not be such a klutz. I will never be called graceful. But I am ok with that. Really it's a shock that this is the first time I have ever needed crutches!

Anyways...moving on...

I know many people wait to decorate til it is actually December. So if that is you...perhaps I can inspire you to make your own decorations. Those are always the best.

Today I am sharing a wreath I made:

All the papers and embellishments are from Fancy Pants Designs...they are from their fabulous Saint Nick collection. :) The wooden wreath comes from Say It With Letters.

I just punched a bunch of circles, crumpled them up and glued to my wreath. :) Then added a few embellishments on top.

Here are some close up's:

I will be sharing lots more Christmas stuff soon. Thanks for stopping in today!

Have a happy first day of December (it's my brother's birthday today!)

Challenges

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping in today! So I have some challenges to share with you. The first is not scrap related, but life related. It is the reason I haven't been on the computer as much and why I didn't have a post up yesterday. I hurt my leg. :( Well...my knee specifically. I tore my Meniscus. So I have spent the past several days on the couch with my leg propped up and if I must admit....a little doped up. I have crutches...and I hate them. Can't really figure them out well. My computer and my scrapbook room are both downstairs...so it makes it difficult. I still have assignments to do this week though, so I'll have to figure out a good way to do this.

Anyways...

The new challenge is up over at Once Upon A Sketch! I do hope you play along with us! :)

The challenge:

Journaling Criteria: Write at least 2 sentences on what you look forward to in the next month. December is a festive month so your journalling could be about the Christmas season, the holidays, the presents or if you do not celebrate Christmas what does December bring for you that you look most forward to? Note:You layout DOES NOT have to be about Christmas! It can be about anything December brings.


You MUST combine our journaling criteria with this sketch:

My Layout:

I changed it up a bit and incorporated a lot more pictures on my layout. :)

I used BasicGrey's Nordic Holiday collection. I used a 6x6 pad of paper, and then some fun chipboard.

Here are close up's of my layout:

The prizes:

You won't want to miss the prizes you can win...lots of good stuff!

1. The winner of this challenge, as chosen by the Design Team, will win a spot on our Design Team for the month of January. As well as that, the winner will also receive a AUD$20.00 voucher (plus FREE shipping) to spend in the store at Handmade By Suzanne!

2. One RANDOM lucky person will receive this prize from Handmade By Suzanne:

Tim Holtz Alterations Embossing Folder Set (Collage)

3. And one lucky person will win this..

A set of My Mind's Eye 6 x 6 paper pads in 4 different collections.

See!!! Lots to win! :)

I really hope you play along with us this!!!! You have until Dec. 14th to upload your entry here. Can't wait to see what YOU do! :)

Have a FANTASTIC day!!!!

Christmas Cards

YEAH!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this time of year...LOVE it! I love the Christmas music! I love the Christmas movies! I love the joy that seems to be in the air! I love Christmas. We've got our trees up, the decorations up, and the lights up outside...so it's really feeling like Christmas! :)

I also enjoy making Christmas cards every year. :) Today I am sharing a few with you. They use the AWESOME Cozy Xmas collection from The ScrapCake.

Thanks for stopping in! Enjoy your day!!

December Daily

(If you are stopping in for my Friday Spellbinders series...it will return next week!)

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping in today! If you are coming from the Fancy Pants blog, welcome! If not, you may want to check out the Fancy Pants blog today because we are sharing December Daily albums. :) I told myself I wasn't going to make one this year. They always take more time and work then I think they will. But in a spur of the moment decision, I decided to go ahead and do it. So today I am sharing the whole thing with you.

Process

• I cut 16 pieces of kraft cardstock at 4.5" x 6".
• I then cut .5" off each piece leaving a tab section at .5" x 2". So each piece is 4 x 6 with a tab.
• I decided I wanted to splatter paint all over my pages. (I must admit, I was kinda frustrated that day and I was splattering kinda hard..a bit much, but it helped me take my anger out).

• I had these covers...don't really know where they came from, but I bound it all together to form my book.

So that is what I started with.

This year, I am doing things a bit differently than in the past. I am choosing to focus mostly on journaling. This year has been a tough one for me, a very different year then the previous years, and I just think this is more what I need. I may occasionally add a small picture to a page, or more likely add a picture every now and then simply by punching the binding holes in it and placing it directly in the book as is in between the pages.

Here is my completed album, ready to add journaling and the occasional picture. It uses the fabulous Saint Nick collection from Fancy Pants.

I am actually really excited about this now...now that I had decided to make it more of a personal journal for me, rather than worrying about filling it with all the Christmas-y details of this time of year. We'll see what it really ends up like. :)

Anyways, thanks so much for stopping in today!!!!! We hope to set up the tree and get the decorations out! Yeah for Christmas time! :)

Have a wonderful day...and if you are heading out for Black Friday shopping...good luck! :)