Advent Calendar

A few weeks ago, I came across a post by Amy about Advent Calendars. I loved reading all the comments she received and they gave me a few ideas. We don't have an advent calendar for Christmas. We have always just counted down in other ways (cotton balls on Santa's beard, tearing off numbered days on a chain, etc.). Then Leah sent me this link from one of my favorite crafting sites. It has a great tutorial for making your own advent calendar. So, I became inspired. Yesterday, I went to Hobby Lobby and found all the supplies that I needed. I got busy on it when I got home and even stayed up to midnight working on it. I finished it this morning. I have to say that I am pretty happy with my end result!I changed up a few things from the tutorial. First, I found these little plastic cases used for holding jewelry-making beads and such. They came 6 to a pack for $1.99 at HL. Unfortunately they only had 3 packs of those on their shelves. So, I bought 2 packs of the larger size that you see on the right. They came 4 to a pack for $1.99. I decided that maybe those can house some larger goodies or whatever. The lids come off easily so I hinged them at the top with some transparent scotch tape. I didn't use velcro on anything. I used the ATG to glue down most everything except the cardstock onto the canvas....I used hot glue, but I'm not sure how well it's going to hold. I will probably need to be on the lookout for some stronger adhesive to use to hold the cardstock/boxes to the canvas for longterm. The most time-consuming part was putting the strips of paper inside of these clear little boxes and getting them to stay. The letters and numbers are Autumn Leaves Scribbles. I stamped them onto pattern paper, cut them out, put them on black cardstock and then cut them out again. I think the black behind everything really makes them "pop". I was going to paint the canvas but decided that I liked the contrast of the white with all the black and other colors. I am still debating whether or not to put a ribbon on it to hang on the wall or if I want to just sit it up on the table against a wall or in holder of some sort. I am planning to put some things in the containers such as candy and trinkets, but I'm also going to do slips of paper that say things like "make cookies together" and "watch a Christmas movie" or "drink hot chocolate". Some things I plan to do as gifts won't fit, so I'll do a note to send them on a scavenger hunt for the gifts. I can't wait until December 1st now!

Anyway, just wanted to share. I have several ideas for some crafts this year for presents and such. I'm so in the mood to make the stuff now. I guess I need to get through Thanksgiving next week first! Have a great weekend!

What A Great Day

I met Leah and we drove over to the VBC for the Simply Southern Scrapbooking Convention. It was very exciting to be doing something like this and we really had a good time. We kept laughing at ourselves in the first class because it felt as though we had never scrapbooked before in our lives. We had a hard time trying to keep up, I think it was mainly because we weren't used to being instructed on what to do. We tried to follow directions to the T, forgetting that we could actually be creative. Anyway, the first class, we made a cute accordion album. I need to get it finished with pictures added in before I can post it on here for you to see. Here's a picture of Leah, me, and our instructor, Angelia Wigginton.We had a break before our next class, so we met our hubbies and went out to eat for lunch. That was enjoyable too. And let me just throw in that I had the BEST salad with Ranch dressing while we were there. I think I finally satisfied my craving.

We got back in time to explore the exhibit hall for a little while to see what all they had to offer. Would you believe that I only spent $2 on some chipboard letters? The next class was a lot of fun too. It was making a transparency album. I really learned some cool techniques that I plan to try out soon. We felt pretty rushed trying to get it all in within the hour allotted, so again, I have to finish the album before I can post it. Here is another picture of us with the instructor, Michelle Cochran-Wells.Later that night, we headed over to WH for our monthly craft night. Annessa got to tag along. We decided to wear funny hats since it was October. Here's a picture of us with our funny hats on:I didn't get any scrapping done. Can you believe that?! I instead made one of those flannel blankets that you tie the edges. I also talked quite a bit. But it was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone. By 11 PM, Annessa was begging to go home, so we did.

Scrappiness

I have been scrapping this week. I think I'm finally back to my ole scrappin' self now. Here's a couple that I have done so far. You can see more over in my gallery at Scrap in Style TV.This one I did for the Scrapjacked challenge-Dina Wakley. I love how she did those circles with the patterned paper and had to totally lift that. The PP was from the October kit from Sweet Pea Scraps.And this one I did for the Unpubbed challenge. Leah was the famer over there. How cool is that?! Go Leah! I used more of my August kit from Sweet Pea Scraps here. I love that kit!

Weekend Recap

Leah came over on Thursday to scrap a while. After several hours, I think each of us only accomplished the completion of two layouts. Here are the ones I did:The first I did using my August kit from Sweet Pea Scraps and one of the PageMaps sketches. The second was a Scrapjack-inspired layout.

Some Scrappyness

I am so glad to be feeling a bit back to my normal self. My enerygy level keeps picking up and I haven't been sick quite as much. And I have even had the urge to be creative and scrap some (Thanks to Leah)! I did a couple layouts on Thursday night and then some on Friday morning. Here are the two I did on Thursday.I thought that maybe scrappin some pictures of snow would help cool things off since it has been at least 100 degrees everyday for the past week. This was the biggest snow we had back in January...not much huh?And then this layout was from October 2006 when our ladies at church went to the beach for a retreat. I love going out to eat at all those wonderful seafood restaurants.

Here are my Friday layouts. I experimented some using 8.5 x 11 paper and I really liked it. It's been a while since I have done any of the challenges, so I thought I'd try to do some.The above layout was using the Pencil Lines Sketch #46. And this one was from the OLW challenge to use the word Balance.And then finally this was one of the Scrapjack dares. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I used kits to do all of these layouts. Mostly used my July and August kits from Sweet Pea Scraps. I got so much in them, I still have a ton to use! I also used some stuff from SiStv kits.

Happy 12th

Happy 12th!

Yesterday marked 12 years that Daniel and I said our "I Do's"! I can't believe how quickly time flies. I'd love to have all those pictures scanned in from over the years to give you a great walk down memory lane, but I just don't. I will show you this layout again that I did a while back. It has a picture of us from our wedding and then one from my birthday last December. We had a great date on Saturday night....No Kids! We went out to eat and it was very nice. He doesn't usually get over here to read my blog, but I'd like to tell him again Happy Anniversary and that I love him so very much! He's the best!In other news, Friday night Crop was a lot of fun! I had some sinus stuff going on but it didn't stop me from getting out. And let me just say......I loved working with those kits from Sweet Pea Scraps! It made it so easy to get some layouts completed. And speaking of.....here they are for you to see. I'm currently working on October 2006 and then I am trying to do some from 2007 as well so I don't feel so behind. The first two are from Oct. 06 and the last three are from Jan. 07.Hope you all have a great week!

Feeling Scrappy

I have not scrapped since our last monthly crop on July 6. This is so unusual for me because I normally do at least a page or two each week. But when you have next to no energy, something has got to go. And for me, it has been scrapping, along with cleaning, laundry, blogging....just about all my normal daily activities. But, last week I have began to start feeling more like myself. I'm trying to get caught back up with my chores. And, I had the chance to get online with Leah and scrap a little last Thursday (OK...so it was actually the week before). Nevermind that I am just now getting it posted. It took me a while to figure out what to do first. But like riding a bike, it all came back to me. I was able to do two pages, mostly with my kits from SiStv. Here they are (sorry so blurry):And then last week, I went online hunting for a new kit to purchase. I found this one that I really liked from Sweet Pea Scraps:
When I sent in my order, I got an email asking if I wanted the July or the new August kit. I told her that I wanted this one...the July kit and didn't even know what the August kit looked like. So she sent me an email back with a link to show me:And I so totally fell in love with it too. Those are my colors! So I went ahead and signed up for the 3-month membership and she shipped both of them to me. I got them on Friday and I love them. I am so into kits now. Makes it so easy to scrap.

And this just in! Leah and I signed up for a couple of classes over at Simply Southern Scrapbook Convention which is coming to town the first weekend in October. How fun!

This Friday night is our monthly crop and I can't wait! Guess I'm feeling scrappy again!

Skyped

I skyped with Leah and Heather this Friday night. I did my layout for the OLW Challenge. The word this time was MY. Here is what I came up with:
Hope everyone has a great week!

Father's Day

Last year, I bought a 12x12 frame at a Scrapbook Store in Tennessee. I created a layout to go in it and framed it for his Father's Day present. He took it to work where it has been ever since. A few weeks ago, I swiped it and re-did a layout for this year. We gave it to him Saturday night. This is what it looked like with and without the frame:

Weekend

Guess what was waiting on me when I got home Friday?
My premium membership kit from SIS TV! And let me just say how much I love all the goodies I received!
I am truly madly deeply in love with the Anthologie album! That thing is so big and smells so good (love the leather smell) and it is just so neat looking! I can not wait to fill it up with pages! And the Kelli Crowe collection just plain rocks! So you know I had to break into it that night. Leah and I skyped and scrapped together until nearly midnight or later (can't remember now!). Here are two pages I did using the kit:

I also did this layout for the Scrapjack challenge last week. I was pleased with how it turned out even though I was afraid to cut the paper.

Getting Scrappy With It!

As promised, here is a quick post to show some of the recent layouts I have done. As you may or may not have known, Friday night was our monthly scrapbooking get-together. Six hours of scrap and I proudly finished a whopping 2 layouts! I guess you can tell I talked quite a bit while I was there. The first layout I did was for OLW. The word this time is "Stop" and when I saw it, the song by Vanilla Ice popped into my head. You know, "Alright, Stop. Collaborate and listen. Ice is back......" So this is what I came up with:
I found me some Love Elsie at the LSS on Thursday and was so excited to use it. I used a Pencil Lines sketch for this one.
On Tuesday, I worked the polls for the constitutional ammendment for our state. There were only 2 questions so we weren't expecting too many to show up to vote. The other ladies I was volunteering with told me to be sure to bring something to do so I wouldn't get bored. So I took my office chair and the same bag of supplies that I took Friday night. I sat it up so that I could sit at the table and do what I needed to do when a voter came in. Then when no one was there to vote, I just spun around and had my stuff all laid out on the table behind me. I had put together several "kits" of patterned paper, cardstock, and matching embellishments for Friday's crop so this is what I had to use. It worked out great! And I was able to get so much done....10 pages! So without further ado, here they are.

This one I did for the Unpubbed challenge.
Used some Hambly rub-ons here:
I use so much of this Magnolia paper by My Mind's Eye. I love the colors.
Had fun using the pink and brown for this layout of pics I took when Leah gave birth to Natalie in October.
And another one....
This turned out to be one of the simplest, but one of my favorites. I think I paid $1.20 for the ecru/black sheet of paper when we went down to Scrap Etc. last month. And the title is done in blank chipboard that I rubbed with my black ink pad. Just love it!
Annessa said that this was her favorite. I used Ronda's technique for the "Goofy". I was pretty satisfied with how it turned out as well.
This is another fav mostly because of the picture (Get a load of Andrew's expression-it is where I got the title from), but also because of the cool cut-out I added. One of the ladies that I was working with has a hobby of cutting intricate designs from paper with tiny scissors. She cut this out while we were there and gave it to me to use on a page. I thought it fit perfect with this Bohemia Paper. I inked it a bit for a little more definition to it.
This one was a simple one. Another pretty paper I picked up at Scrap Etc. and the MM metal plate was given to me by my SIL on Friday night since she does not have boys. Worked out great for me....
And lastly, here is another one of my favs. I did this one for the Pencil Lines DT search. (BTW, I need to send in two more layouts...any suggestions?) I love these colors! I just can't get enough of them. Check out Andrew once again...Now you can see why Leah and John had to do their "Andrew faces" too! The title says, "A Family Affair". You might not see the "A" because it is a HS ghost letter and is looking rather ghostly. I put rub ons on it to help it stand out, but it is still getting lost. Oh well.
So there you have it. 2 layouts from Friday night and 10 from Tuesday. Are you scrapbook paged out?

Online Crop

On Friday night, I participated in an online crop over at Pick of the Patch. Leah and Heather(who has updated her blog) skyped with me while doing this layout. I only lasted long enough to complete this one and then I had to go to bed. I stayed up too late on Thursday night. This was a challenge to use 1 sheet of cardstock, 2 photos, 3 patterned papers, 4 ribbons, 5 flowers and 6 brads.

More Challenges

Here are two layouts I did this past weekend when Leah was here. The first was for a challenge over at The Goodie Box and the second was the Pencil Lines sketch done by Jessi that I have been wanting to get done for a while now!

Two Challenges

This challenge was for Unpubbed, Your 15 Minutes:

Scrapjacked # 9-Ashley Wren

Here is my take on the latest Scrapjack challenge: