It's starting to look a lot like Christmas

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but

Christmas music is playing the radio.

There are a couple houses in our neighborhood that have their lights up already. 

People are freaking out about their Christmas shopping.

And the November/December issue of Creating Keepsakes is out!
{and yes, it is the last print issue ever but i am still not ready to address that}

So I thought I would get in the spirit and share a Christmas layout from this issue. 

This layout is in an article about "keeping it real" during the holidays. 

When we do Christmas with my husband's side of the family, ~2/3 of the gifts given are more like inside jokes than they are real presents. 

It makes opening presents quite entertaining because you never know what to expect.

Last Christmas my brother-in-law was the brunt of a lot of these gifts.

So I had to do a page about it!

Supplies: Patterned paper (Die Cuts with a View), Die cuts (Chic Tags), Chipboard (Bella Blvd), Foam alphas (American Crafts), Brads (We are Memory Keepers), Stickers (Fancy Pants), Bling (The Eyelet Outlet)

*****

Here are a couple close up pics of the page. 

I cut the very top of the layout off accidentally when I scanned it. 

So here is what the top of the page actually looks like:

Well merry {early} Christmas to ya!
And happy Monday!

:)

gretchen

Muddy Mess

Hi!
This morning I thought I would share the layout that I had up on the Creating Keepsakes blog a couple weeks ago!
*****Have you seen the new November/December issue yet?! Well there is a fun feature in there called “Scraplift Challenge.”
In this article traditional scrapbookers are challenged to scraplift digital layouts and, in turn, digi scrappers scraplift traditional pages.
What a cool idea, right?!So I decided to give it a whirl!
I remembered a cool layout in the September/October 2013 issue that I had bookmarked and decided to scraplift it.
It is the “Favorite Photos” layout by Mandi Buchanan on page 27 of the issue.
Hers is a digital Halloween layout and I loved how she lined up her photos and used white space.

Favorite Photos by Mandi Buchanan from Creating Keepsakes September/October 2013

Using her layout as inspiration, this is the
traditional layout I made:

Supplies:

Patterned paper: Elle’s Studio, Creative Memories, Simple Stories

Cardboard letters: Jillibean Soup

Chipboard embellishment: Little Yellow Bicycle

Brads: Simple Stories

Tape: Bella Blvd

Punch: Elle’s Studio

Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

Font: Courier New

Pictures printed by Persnickity Prints

Of course my page turned out a bit different than the original. Obviously mine is not a Halloween layout. Hey, her design is super cool and versatile enough to use for all kinds of pages!
I am a journaler so I added some journaling to the page.
I still tried to leave a lot of white space though!
And I added my title above all the pictures instead of mixing it between the photos like Mandi did.
Scraplifting is fun because it gives you a jumping off point but then you can add your own personal touches to your page!
*****
Here are a couple detailed shots of the layout: 

Well that was fun!
Try giving this kind of scraplifting a whirl if you ever get stumped!
And Creating Keepsakes is full of all kinds of great ideas, traditional & digital, for you to scraplift! 

Thanks for stopping by today.
Have a great one!

:)
gretchen

Fall trip

OK I have another layout to share from the 

Creating Keepsakes

"Mixed Media Scrapbooking Vol. 2". 

This one is all about a mountain trip I took last fall. 

Supplies: Patterned paper (DCWV, Bella Blvd), Ink (ClearSnap), Stickers (Bella Blvd, Fancy Pants), Chipboard (Little Yellow Bicycle), Bling (Little Yellow Bicycle), Buttons (Bella Blvd), Plastic Embellishments (Queen & Co.)

My assignment was to do something interesting with ink pads.

So I made these fun flowers with a cat eye ink pad!

I've made these before with an ink pad from one of my Noel Mignon kits.

And I have a tutorial on how to make them on {this post here}.

I added a mix of bling and buttons and stuff to make a fun center for each of the flowers.

*****

And a couple more close ups for your viewing pleasure!
:)

Oh man, that trip was a whole year ago!

Time flies!

OK happy day y'all!

:)

gretchen

Lost & Found

Good morning!

OK for some reason I am just now getting around to sharing a couple layouts I have in the latest special issue from Creating Keepsakes. 

This issue is "Mixed Media Scrapbooking Vol. 2"

I made this layout about finding our dog who had been missing for a whole week!

Supplies: Patterned paper (DCWV, Imaginisce, Creative Memories), Stickers (Bella Blvd, Jillibean Soup), Chipboard (American Crafts, Studio Calico), Bling (Little Yellow Bicycle), Brads (Basic Grey, Bazzill), Glitter (ClearSnap), Tape (KI Memories), Plastic embellishments (Queen & Co.)

*****

The technique featured in this layout is how to jazz up brads with a little glitter. 

Basically I just added an adhesive dot to the top of a brad and then rolled the brad around in glitter. 

And a sparkly brad is made!

Then I combined the sparkly brads with bling, fun plastic embellishments from Queen & Co., & some plain brads to make a giant heart to hold my journaling. 

Here are a couple more detailed shots of the layout. 

OK I'll share another layout tomorrow
And happy Monday y'all!

:)

gretchen

Guest posting

I am posting over on the Creating Keepsakes blog today.

Here is a little sneak of the layout I have up over there. 

I did a little scraplifting for this one.
I took a digital layout from the Sep/Oct issue and scraplifted it tradition-style.

Go check it out and tell me what you think!

:)

gretchen

Puppy love

So I know I haven't really talked about the fact that Creating Keepsakes will cease to have print issues after the November/December issue. 

**sigh**

I am still in denial.

So let's not discuss it yet and talk about happier times instead!

:)

*****
How about that fabulous cover on the September/October issue??!
:)

I thought I would share one of the layouts I have in this issue.

This layout was in the digital version of the issue and was in a feature about creating unique titles. 

Supplies: Patterned paper (Fancy Pants), Cardstock (Creative Memories), Chipboard & Tape (Bella Blvd), Journaling/die cut tags (Chic Tags), Foam "Thickers" (American Crafts), Borders (Fancy Pants, SEI). 

*****

I cut the "love" out of a piece of denim. 

I have to admit that this was not the easiest title I've ever made.

But I do love the look of it!

If you want to try something like this, I recommend choosing your title wisely.

"Love" was a relatively easy word to cut out.

But there are some letters that are probably tricky to cut and I would not have wanted to cut many more letters!

Here are a couple more detail shots of the page. 

And that's that!
*****
OK come back tomorrow because I have a cool post to share and it will involve a GIVEAWAY!!

:)

gretchen

FYI

2 things:

1) Last week I had a post up on the Creating Keepsakes blog showing a more detailed look at my half-marathon album published in CK's latest special issue called "All About Albums".

My mini album is a 6x6 2-ring binder album that I am using to keep track of the half marathons I have run.

19 half marathons I have run! 

The most recent page I added was a half my brother & I ran in Birmingham this past February. 

Supplies: 6x6 paper pad (DCWV), Patterned paper (Elle's Studio), Die cuts (Bella Blvd, Elle's Studio), Chipboard (Basic Grey)

*****

Now do me a favor and go check out the full post with many more details over on the CK blog {here}.

And (secondly) while you are over there, go leave a comment on {this post} for a chance to win some loot from My Mind's Eye, Elle's Studio, and Pebbles!

:)
Happy Tuesday to ya!
gretchen 

Sept/Oct issue of Creating Keepsakes

I made the cover!!

Well I am not actually on it...not my face anyway.

I mean that I made the layout on the cover!

So go get a copy!

:)

And have a happy Friday!

gretchen

Any Project Lifers out there??

Well then check out {this post} over on the CK blog for a chance to win some of the latest Project Life goodies on the market!!

All About Albums

This is the newest special issue from Creating Keepsakes!

It's got great inspiration for mini albums, 12x12 and 8.5x11 albums, Project Life albums, and more!

And you can win a copy!

Go to {this post} over on the Creating Keepsakes blog & leave a comment.

Good luck!

:)

gretchen

Higher Place

Good morning and happy Monday!

I've got another layout to share with you from the July/August issue of Creating Keepsakes!

This layout is in the "Music of Summer" article that features all kinds of music-inspired pages. 

This layout is about a spring break trip my husband took with some friends in college.

"Higher Place" is a Tom Petty song that kind of became the theme song for their trip. 

So it became the title for my layout!

{click to enlarge}

As seen in the July/August 2013 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Copyright Creative Crafts Group.
Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

Here's the left side of the 2-page layout...

And here is the right side...

Since this is supposed to be a "manly" layout I tried not to get too fancy with the embellishing!

But I did use some chipboard leaves and brads to add a little interest to the layout. 

And I hand-stitched a border around the title & journaling block. 

Supplies: Patterned paper (Bella Blvd, 7gypsies, Basic Grey), Chipboard (Bella Blvd, Cosmo Cricket), Stickers (Bella Blvd), Die cut photo corners (Sizzix), Brads (Basic Grey)

*****

Have a great day!

:)

gretchen

Confession time

Hey!

My post for Summer Camp over on the CK blog is up today.

I've copied the post below but make sure to check out the CK blog because there is also a challenge, a free font, a sketch, and a chance to win a mini album from Basic Grey!

*****

Don’t throw tomatoes at me, but I don’t do Project Life or the pocket scrapbooking that is all the rage right now. 

That is shocking, I know! 

Confession: I have started a couple of times but didn't make it longer than a month. 

Fail! 

:) 

I am doing something a little bit different. 

Instead of having a huge Project Life album (or several) for the year, I am doing something much smaller. 

I have created a mini-album titled "Bits & Pieces of Life". 

This is a cool burlap album from Little Yellow Bicycle! 

I am including some of my favorite pictures from throughout the year. Instead of trying to document every day or every week, I am using this album to highlight some specific moments/events/happenings from the year. 

This I can do! 

:)

So here is a page from the album. 

A few weekends ago we made a road trip up to Chattanooga to hang out with friends and ride mountain bikes. 

This is a weekend I wanted to highlight! 

{click to enlarge}

Along the right side of the 2-page spread, I created a border using a cute bicycle stamp from Bo Bunny Press. 

I stamped the bicyles with brown ink and then added a little bling to the bicycle tires to jazz up the image a bit. 

Supplies: 

Mini album (Little Yellow Bicycle)

Cover: Patterned paper (Simple Stories), Cardstock (Bazzill), Flair (Simple Stories), Ribbon (My Mind's Eye)

Inside spread: Patterned paper (Simple Stories), Die cut tag (Chic Tags), Bling (Bo Bunny), Stamp (Bo Bunny), Flair (A Flair for Buttons, Etsy), Ink (Stampin' Up!), Pen (American Crafts)

*****

Have a great day!

:)

gretchen

Fun happenings!!

A couple of fun FYIs for ya...

Summer Camp has started over on the Creating Keepsakes blog!!

There are all kinds of challenges & contests & giveaways & projects to {hopefully since I made one of them} inspire you. 

The fun will take place all week!

Check out {this post} to get all the details!

*****

And another thing...

Bella Blvd is revealing all of their new releases debuting this week at CHA. 

You can see all the new lines over on the blog and of course there are chances to win all the new stuff before you can even buy it!!

Today the awesome new "Snapshots" line is revealed.

  

I am pretty excited about this new line!!

Go check it out {here}.

:)

Happy day!

gretchen

Who says you can't go to summer camp as an adult??!

Oh it can happen!
:)

Join us on the Creating Keepsakes blog for a week of challenges, prizes, merit badges, and lots of inspiration from the CK Dream Team.It all starts at 8:00 am (Mountain Standard Time)
on Monday, July 15, 2013.Hope to see you there!
:)
gretchen

A Day in Mexico

Hi!

And good morning!

I've got another layout to share from the 

July/August issue of Creating Keepsakes. 

{now available!}

This is the cool sketch from this issue's "CK Sketches" article.

I love a good sketch! 

And this is the layout I made...

As seen in the July/August 2013 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. 

Copyright Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

Here is a bigger view of the left page of the layout...

And a bigger view of the right side...

I used lots of little stickers on this one. 

And how cute is this chipboard sun??!

I couldn't resist!

Supplies: Patterned paper (Bella Blvd, Creative Memories), Cardstock (Creative Memories), Chipboard (American Crafts, Bella Blvd), Stickers (Bella Blvd)

*****

Hmmm, I  kind of wish I was spending a day in Mexico today!

:)

Have a good one wherever you are!

gretchen