Christmas 2011

I really had fun doing 10 of these cards using prefolded kraft paper cards and matching envelopes by Close to My Heart. You cant see it in the photo, but there is a flap under the bottom of this card that is scallop edged and which folds up over the bottom edge of the card when closed. It helps the card stand upright better with a top fold . The paper is Elemental.

december 25: time for each other

Getting Christmas Day scrapbooked was so satisfying. This year, with a 19 year old and a 17 year old, we waited until 4 pm to take pictures and thereby had the opportunity for several poses from the two, who due to age and other lifestyle choices are not good for photos in the morning , or while opening gifts. So this year I just put the camera away, and enjoyed WATCHING them open gifts, and it was really great not to have to document the event, but to be in the event.

I got these papers from Basic Grey, Jovial, at Lasting Impressions. The neat thing about the papers, was that I fell in love with them a few months ago while browsing the Basic Grey papers online. The Jovial papers had just the nicest blend of vivid Christmas elements. So I was happy to match the cardstock stickers and papers with my photos.

As you can see, I left a nice spot for the journalling... the J word, as the ladies at Lasting Impressions referred to it. Being concise and evoking memories... not a simple task! what I usually do is pen a few sentences on a rough draft and then carefully edit and copy down... its a good idea in my case to do this sooner rather than later so that the memory doesnt fade!

I can describe our day :

11 am. breakfast: peameal bacon and eggs with waffles

12 am. opening stockings and gifts : I got a Susan Boyle CD, scented home and bath and beauty products, earrings, La Senza goodies, and a long awaited Latte machine

I gave the kids some gifts to unwrap, and also some cash rolled up with tissue paper and tinsel and stuffed into mini gift bags and mini stockings and hung on the tree

1 pm. movies on TV

4 pm . photo shoot

6 pm. turkey dinner with all the fixings

7 pm. watching a movie

9 pm. walking the dogs

10 pm. to bed for the grown ups

Time for Each Other... December 25... how fast it goes!

Kerlovich Family Christmas

We hosted our family Christmas on December 19. It was a good excuse for me to tidy up and decorate the basement rooms. Attacking the cobwebs with my new Dyson attachment was as fulfilling as hanging the lights and garlands . Blue LED light branches were the big hit amidst the more usual odds and ends in my Christmas array. Most of my family has to drive a good distance in order to visit so it is a treat when we can all be together at the same time. I had my crafting tables set up as a bar and snack area and made large 2 stars out of ice and sprigs as well as a shrimp tree which proved to be impressive for those who had not seen it before! Bobs cheese star was certainly a unique and artistic touch. The theme for this years Family Christmas was performance! Those of us who were able to contributed by reciting poetry, singing, doing magic tricks, doing a short skit, or playing a musical instrument. It proved to be an enjoyable afternoon and the meal was a hit too.
So I cant wait for next year!
As for the layout, with 20 people in my home, I had over 2 dozen photos printed to feature on this 2 page layout. I printed most of them wallet size (2x3) to cram them onto the page. I was overwhelmed by the number of pictures I wanted to include to tell the story, but quickly became ruthless in order to get on with the actual layout.
If I was better at digital layouts I might have found a better solution. I used a group picture as a large focal point, and selected what I could out of the rest. I used papers purchased on sale at the Town Scrapper and some gold metallic paper. I will journal this week by hand.

Merry Christmas 2010!

finally I can reveal : my Christmas card for 2010!

It measures over 5x7 .

It was inspired by Lorrinda Holman on Big Red Scraps!

I wasnt sure if I like the polar bear or the 2 deer better, so I made several of each.

I was very pleased with it, in particular enjoyed creating Northern Lights

on 25 cards !

there are 3 kinds of embossing on this card.

Can you spot/name all 3?

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Ms Holiday Cheer

Yes she's back!

Ms Holiday Cheer is back with a sugary sweet look on Jingle Papers.

Colours are tulip, juniper, blush and olive.

This time she is adorned with liquid glass, prisma glitter, and stickles. She is flanked by teeny buttons and surrounded by new bitty red, pink and purple sparkles.

Look how proudly she is strutting by!

Deck the Halls

I used the snowflake paper and stickease ornaments from a vintage Deck the Halls paper pack to create 3 cards . The inspiration for the circles on the background comes from page 88 of the 2010 autumn/winter idea book fromo Close to my Heart where it is shown using Mistletoe creative basics .

The branch under the left ornament is actually a swirl stamp from one of my brand new acrylix, Circle of Love (the peacock one) and the sentiment is from Ms Holiday Cheer .

I found a plastic stencil to use for the circles which just made my day . I think this design is quite versatile and a good way to showcase co-ordinating papers.

Christmas in September

This week, I made several 5 x 6 1/2" cards using lots of different papers from Close To my Heart's Winter paper packs from the last 5 years, and some odds and ends . Julia H. gave me a lot of matching Stickease that I incorporated as well. The papers aren't really interesting to me as scrapbook pages any longer, but are fabulous on card fronts! And, I have a list of cards to make for our school Social Committee.

Here is the first: Just Chillin is the featured paper pack, from the 2007 CTMH idea book!

Colours are Breeze, Desert Sand, Ocean and Vine Berry.

funky, and surprisingly, timeless!

Holidays: Our Family

The Holiday dinner we held with my cousin was a success.

Our two families can play poker, enjoy high spirits, get dramatic, discuss science, behave silly, share a musical vibe, and always appreciate each other.

I used a 9 inch square within a square layout design for the background and layered the smaller photos, journalling, and texts at the bottom below the 5x7 photo.

The title will be our family name at the top of the page in Crimson lettering.

The colours really stand out in real life!

Strike a Pose

We had SUCH a good time with my cousin and her family just before Christmas. These photos show the relaxed and happy personalities

of our kids. They range in age from 16 to 20. It is a really neat age to witness and be involved in. They are so funny, creative and free at this age.

The layout was fun to do. I started with a horizontal background of intricate and subtle designs, and added the vertical 9 inch paper with the circular design. The dark colour seemed to really ground the photos.

Home for the Holidays

Page 4: the doggies.

Rick's large Rottweiler named Zowie was having fun wearing little hats along with Lana and Prints. Rick wasnt impressed at her silly behavior. Too bad! Everyone else thought it was sweet.

For this page I switched into horizontal lines, again keeping it simple and matching the star paper to the precious page. There are a few twinkle brads on the left corner and I used circles and scallops to soften the flow. I left a white border to tie it all together. I am VERY pleased with these four pages!

Home for the Holidays

Page 3: Rick and I.

Getting Rick to smile and relax wasnt easy until he put on his RedSox Tshirt. It was a breeze after that!

He really like his new pajama bottoms too.

I splurged just a bit on him this year. He is a good guy!!

I used Game On paper (with the stars) to tie in with the checklist stars and added some tiny white chipboard stars (CTMH) . The old ctmh black stripe background and texture paper

makes it look Classic! There is a tiny bit of garden green mat on the 2 right hand photos to break up the red on black and tie into the tree colour in the photos.

Home for the Holidays

page 2: features my children and me on Christmas morning. Poor Chloe had no makeup on! but she is a sweet pea. I love my Olympic mittens from Colton. They make a heart when you cross your arms. Chloe loved her pink powder puff from La Senza.

Journalling will be completed tomorrow!

For this layout I used one of Julia's tags with a nice bracket edge to spunk things up. The rest of the lines are straight up vertical so I added a circular rhinestone embellie to soften things up . Getting the 3 photos the same size was key to making this page work. i left a little white, the same width as the edge on the bracket die cut.

Home for the Holidays

I was elated to be catching up at Alexandra's last night with a great group of Brights Grove croppers, with all proceeds going to RayJon in Haiti and now I get to share the results with you!

First issue was the choice of background papers.

I had such dark photos, with a lot of red but very dim otherwise. (Time for a New Camera Soon)

Not very joyful looking when I laid the photos in front of me.

Julia had sent some black/red/white Christmas paper and punchout diecuts to go with it, with a very modern twist that inspired me to pare down the colour scheme. It worked wonders to bolden up the photos, since on brighter more Christmassy papers the photos were dying and looking yellowed.

Once I decided on using white daisy as my background paper, I had limitless possibilities with several crimson papers, and the cute accents from Julia.

This page features Colton after opening his iphone and his new winter coat, and his immediate reactions! I used 3 of the cute tags from Julia, splitting the green semi circle in half to "punctuate" the photo, and underlaying the small Joy tag on the lower right edge of the photo.There is also some black glitter paper to add sparkle! (thanks Jen!!)

THIS WAS FUN!

Delights of the Season

My Fiftieth Christmas wish to all my family and friends is for a Peaceful and Loving Holiday.

Let the Light Shine from your Heart and your Eyes!

Hope you like my Grand Finale card for 2009.


all products are Close to my Heart.

see you in 2010!

Holiday Cheer!

For my Fiftieth Christmas Year... I sent Ms. Holiday Cheer!

This card is a spirited and sweet little number, adorned with all the trimmings.

It was a very good Christmas for all at Driftwood Ave. We are thankful for family, friends, and our health.

Peace...

Stephanie

Holiday Cheer

the second in a series... this Ms. Holiday Cheer is showing her little tushie in faded denim jeans. I used a waterbrush to dilute the ink and make a wash to fill in the jeans. The hat is done with the ever popular and easy to use Stickles product . The Rhinestone frame and Jingle Papers are both by CTMH .

I was out shopping for tombo tonight at the LSS (local scrapbook store) because I am going on a scrapbook retreat with my sister in law and good friend Peggy on Nov. 13. I got some new blades for my Fiskars trimmer, and then started to browse through the store. Lo and behold, I found 12 inch styrofoam cones on sale. So what , you ask? Omygosh I cant wait to make Tracey Mason's paper tree ( tmasonstudio.blogspot.com ) with Peggy and Bernadette at the chalet in two weeks!

It is an eclectic multi paper tree that reminds me of Tim Burton a bit with the curly tips. You can use leftover paper, it doesnt have to be Christmas themed. I am going to do mine in deep aubergine, browns and golds. I might throw in some olive green. I got 6 cones so I will share with the ladies and make a few extra for gifts. Going downstairs to sort through my papers. See you soon!

Ms Holiday Cheer

The first of some tasty little cards that I am creating . Ms Holiday Cheer really appealed to me because she is so cute sweet and happy. The colours are tulip, juniper, creme brulee, twilight and blush. I am experimenting with different products such as Fun Flock and Liquid Glass on the stamped images. All supplies are CTMH except for ribbon.

circular elements

For this layout I had 6 pictures I wanted to use, all vertical .
I starting out by using a simple background of 4 by 12 pieces and just laid them out side by side.
I wasnt going to add much, just keep it plain and simple and clean, green on green.
Then I started tracing different size circles with a pencil over parts of the layout
I added the brads onto the circles and pre-pierced the paper to make it easier to insert the brads. That looked great so then some
stickers and some stamping were added, and gone was the "Simple Clean " layout.
as if ... lol . when have i ever done a really simple layout?

Evergreen Trees

the preprinted background paper for this layout was in my stash. i added the stamped trees, from Evergreen by ctmh in sweet leaf and ponderosa pine.

Chloe looked so cute in her new yummy pajamas and matching sockettes holding Lana. I actually got a real smile out of her too (not Lana, Chloe)

we visited my aunt and uncle after boxing day while Colton played in the Toronto Jr Marlies Holiday Classic.

sometime layouts have to be uncomplicated. and that's okay with me.

Nestled among the Decorations

I have wanted to do a "decorations showcase" for a while since I love my eclectic collection of odds and ends.

I collect glass, angels, babies, butterflies, shiny baubles and anything unique. I try to get one new decoration each year. I really delight in decorating the tree . Colton helped this year with stringing up lights and ornaments.

so this layout combines that idea, with the even more important idea that my two children are the biggest blessing in my life.

Nestled among the decorations are my very best ornaments.

Their happiness means more to me than any Christmas gifts, pretty baubles and trinkets.

I cut out and mounted a few decorations with foam squares to give the page dimension.

I stamped the title and subtitle using ctmh acrylics. It took me a while to think of the right words for the title but once i hit on it I was rocking and rolling.