Happy New Year!

Don't forget to slow down, stop and breathe!

Club Scrap stamp and embellishments.

Navigation Blog Hop

Welcome to the Club Scrap Navigation blog hop! If you've arrived here fro Deb's blog you're in the right spot.  If you'd like to start from the beginning to see what Karen has created, please start at Club Scrap.

I was walking the aisle of my favorite thrift store here in Sacramento and came across this cute $3 frame. What caught my eye is the amount of "real estate" on the lower half. Boy, I could really decorate that with some goodies from my scrapbook stash.  I then remembered that I just had some photos printed out from our cruise in October and ta-da...a project began to emerge.

I started out by placing the frame near the center of a 12x12 Navigation print. I wanted the wheel on the print to be on the frame section so it is off center a bit. Drew lines where the opening was and cut out the center leaving a large margin to wrap the inside window. Using bookbinding glue I adhered the paper to the front of the frame and began wrapping.

I used a piece of brown cardstock 1/4 inch smaller than the frame with the back photo panel cut out to make the back neat, finished and still able to change out photos.

I added some embellishments and ribbon from the Navigation kit, some hemp string and burlap. I totally fell in love with the anchor charm and glass dome.

The frame now sits on my desk under the large wall map that has pins from our travels. 

Thank you for hopping by. May your New Year be healthy and happy! Your next stop is Cathy.

Artist Team Challenge

Wow!  Where did the time go?!  I can't believe Christmas is already here. I'm sorta running behind in Christmas crafts this year and started to panic. This month's Artist Team challenge was to create handmade Christmas gifts with Club Scrap products.  

Every year I do calendars for the family.  12x12 calendars with a single photo layout for each month. Last year, I nailed it.  A group of us attended a two day Scrapbooking Expo.  I got 4 calendars done. This year, I was lucky to have bought the blank calendars in the summer...because that's as far as I got. So, come December 1st I panicked and pulled out the binder of ALSB (Assembly Line Scrapbooking) blank pages. With every kit from Club Scrap comes a set of cutting instructions to complete pages.  I usually do 4 pages from each monthly kit and store them in a binder for another day and photos. All pages are designed with multiple photos in mind, so I did what I had to make them single photo pages.  I adhered mats together, rotated pages or added stamped images where photos would have gone. 

Here's a sampling of the pages.  I'm sure you'll recognize layouts from kits, retreats and hybrid projects.

Many holidays throughout the year, Rachel (partner in crime) and I try to come up with some creative ways to put smiles on our co-workers faces.  We usually do some form of chocolate candy bar wrap. For Christmas this year we did Tic Tacs.  There is nothing like providing patient care with bad breath! Everyone needs Tic Tacs!



A 12x12 piece of paper will give you 8 Tic Tac covers. 

1. Score paper at 2, 2 5/8, 6 5/8 and 7 1/4.
2. Put paper in trimmer with 2 inch score mark on the left.  Trim at 9 1/4, 4 5/8.
3. Rotate paper and trim at each 4 5/8 x 12 piece at 9, 6 and 3.  
4. Round all 4 corners of each cover. 
5. Apply adhesive to inside 5/8 fold.
6. Adhere side of Tic Tac holder into fold.
7. Add ribbon, secure with round title buttons. 



These circles I designed with Club Scrap stamps from Transformations, Silent Night, Watercolor Christmas and a downloaded image of Scrooge using Photoshop Elements.

 We were able to knock these little stocking stuffers out in a matter of an hour. Time to make a Santa run to the office.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.  Please see what the other Club Scrap Artist Team members have designed for handmade Christmas gifts. 

Donna  

Roni
Marya 

Josette

Debbie 

Lilian 

Anne Marie 

Watercolor Christmas Blog Hop

Welcome to the Watercolor Christmas Blog Hop!
 If you've joined us from Jen's blog, you're in the right spot.  If you'd like to start from the beginning, hop on over to Club Scrap.





 

Club Scrap partnered with beautiful watercolor designer Swarup Murthy to design a holiday collection for their members. What a huge success!  Collections includes papers, rubber stamps, a card kit, a digital scrapbooking kit and even Christmas card templates!  You can view some of my Watercolor card samples using Color Bursts in  this previous post.

 

Every Christmas my husband and I travel to Disneyland to enjoy the absolutely stunning Christmas displays that only Disney can do. As usual, I have tons of photos but limited time to scrap them. Luckily for me included in the Watercolor Christmas paper kit are the ALSB instructions for putting together 8 pages.  All the cutting and assembly instructions are provided.

 

I used the top two layouts but rotated the right page to fit my horizontal photos. I also substituted many of the tags to fit more photos.

Club Scrap papers, ribbon, tags, stamps. Queen&Co. bling. American Craft Thickers.

 

  I couldn't just stop there though.  I've been creating with the digi kit as well.

 

Fiddle Dee Dee template, Club Scrap digital papers, embellishments.

 

I whipped up a few digital tags with the Watercolor Christmas digital kit, printed them out on my home printer and cut them out. I started to get carried away with some of the tags and realized that fancy shapes were just too time consuming to cut out. With the permission of Club Scrap, Inc. I've created tags for you to download and use yourself!  Merry Christmas! 

Thank you for taking time out of your busy holiday schedule to visit.  I appreciate all the positive comments.

Next up is the talented Tricia over at The Efficient Crafter.

Cleaning My Craft Space

I finished up using most of my Navigation kit yesterday and wanted to share a few cards and layouts from this fabulous kit!  I am, however, saving the best for last.  Literally. You'll have to wait for the Navigation Blog Hop on December 30th. (I know, I'm a tease.)

I had a few tags left over from...get this...Retreat 2014 laying on my craft desk!  I was supposed to turn these into framed art but that just didn't happen.

These tags were created with the beloved gelli plates. 

It feels so good to clear off the desk and get ready for 2016!
 

 

 

 

All cards Club Scrap papers, ribbons, jewel strips and stamps. K&Co. flwers. Embossing folders.

I even got some layouts done!  If you know me, this will shock you...I am 6 months BEHIND in my scrapbooking layouts. 

Club Scrap papers, stamp, eyelet, arrows and charm. Cricut titles.

 

Please stop by on Saturday the 19th to participate in the Watercolor Christmas Blog Hop. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Washi Christmas

I'm still running short on Christmas cards!  So I whipped these simple cards up after spending some time on Pinterest. Here's the original post: DIY Father's Day Cards.  These cards also gave me an excuse to use up my Christmas washi tape. Super easy and super fun.  I also got a chance to use my neglected holiday stamp greetings. 

Club Scrap papers and stamps, K&Co. embellishment and washi tape.

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas!

Well...I thought I had enough cards in my stash for Christmas, but I was soooo wrong.  I need to bust out about a dozen more.  

Luckily, Love To Scrap! Challenge Blog is having a Christmas stamp challenge.

Papers, stamps and twine by Club Scrap. Flower by K&Co.

I just received my Navigation kit from Club Scrap and the colors worked perfectly with my need for Christmas cards.  Thank you, Club Scrap for the foresight!  The design for the card is actually included in the instructions with the Greetings to Go but I added my own little twist and holiday sentiment.

Stay tuned for more Christmas cards using washi tape. 

Bokeh Christmas Cards

Winter is my favorite time of the year.  I know many of you don't share my enthusiasm for below freezing temperatures but I LOVE IT!

I am honored to present this month's Technique Challenge for Club Scrap.  So while I was playing doing research on Pinterest for winter cards, I came across the Bokeh Technique.  Thoughts of falling snow came to my mind. What's great about this technique is it can be used for any background.  While compiling my Christmas card list, I found I still needed a few more handmade cards.  After whipping up these gorgeous card backgrounds I was able to use some embellishments that have been neglected. 

 

Start with your background mat.  Here I experiments with different techniques using ink (sponging and direct ink pad to paper), Color Bursts and Pan Pastels.  The Pan Pastels worked better for the soft look I was going for.  I haven't quite gotten the sponging technique down yet.  I still leave circles from the sponges.

Cover the entire surface with your medium.

Stamp your background image.  I chose the evergreen branch from Club Scrap Retreat 2002.

Stamp multiple times to get close up and distant images.  Heat set to dry. 

 

Now you can punch out several circles sizes (any shape actually) from paper or plastic to use as a stencil.

I chose to use the Club Scrap Holiday Ornament stencil.  Why duplicate something I already have?

Use white ink to stencil circles randomly on your paper. 

Heat set images again to keep from smearing. 

You're left with a beautiful background to embellish as you wish. 

I happen to love the look of jewels in the center of the circles.

 Moroccan Spice ribbon, Watercolor Christmas greeting.

Moroccan Spice ribbon, Club Scrap 2012 Holiday Wow greetings.

 Club Scrap Groovy Christmas greeting, K&Co. flowers.

 Club Scrap 2014 Gnome Christmas greeting, Celebrate it! snowflakes.

Celebrate it! title and stars. 

I now challenge you to grab your inks, Pan Pastels or Color Bursts and create spectacular backgrounds using the bokeh technique.

Navigation QDDL's

How lucky am I that the December's kit is nautical!  Fits perfectly into my need to scrap our last vacation photos.  

We traveled down the East Coast from Canada to Florida to marvel at the fall colors.  

The new Club Scrap Navigation digital kit comes with 6 Quick Drop Digital Layouts that I only have to add photos to complete. With Christmas approaching fast, I'm not going to have much time to get these photos scrapped.  In about 30 minutes I was able to complete 4 single pages and one double page from all the included QDDLs. I added a few details to some layouts to personalize.

I'm patiently waiting for paper kit to arrive.  I have tons of ideas floating around for the Navigation Blog Hop on December 30th.