Scrapping for Christmas...

The gifts that I love to give at Christmas are things that I have made. I always promise myself that I'm going to start early and give myself plenty of time...no pressure!  Well, that never happens, but I've been having so much fun going to the store with friends and working in the lab on my projects!! Here are three that I'm working on for this Christmas.

Even the simplest scrapbook is received with such excitement, so I decided I have to make some scrapbooks this year! I have boxes, and tubs, and drawers, and piles of pictures sitting around that I have taken of my grandchildren....I think all scrapbookers are the same!  And, with my very favorite pictures, I not only get a 4X6 developed, but usually a 5X7 as well! :0) 

This year I decided to make a scrapbook for each of my children's families using these "precious" 5X7 pictures...they would be enjoyed SO much more in a scrapbook than they are just sitting in my scrapbook room.  So, I am using 8X8 We R Memory Keeper albums, lots of cardstock and printed papers and quotes that I have printed off with the computer.  They are turning out great, and I know that they will be loved.  I didn't worry about chronological order, I just took the pictures I love and made simple layouts!!

 

 

 

Another gift I am making this year is bookmarks.  I cut 2 1/2 X 7 cardstock rectangles, punched 2X2 pictures, and adhered the pictures to the cardstock.  To make then sturdy I took them to Kinkos (Fed Ex) and laminated them.  They turned out great!!

 

 

And, my last "favorite" gift that I make every year are pocket calendars.  I just buy the little calendars at the office supply store and then alter the covers with printed papers, and stickers.  They are so easy and fun to make, and I couldn't live without mine! :0)

 





Bo Bunny Serenade Line

 Bo Bunny is turning out some gorgeous designs! I was given the Bo Bunny Serenade line to work with last month and I loved it from the moment I laid my hot little hands on it! The colors are so rich and vibrant. I had a hundred ideas running through my head for what I could do with this paper, stickers, and buttons.

I really liked the cutouts sheet with predesigned journaling boxes and phrases. That made it really easy on these layouts. I cut one of the journaling boxes in half and was able to use it on two layouts. I also loved the buttons!

This layout is an 8x8 I created to put in my mom's album. I make her 5-6 layouts each holiday. It really cuts out the hassle of trying to figure out what to get her. She loves new pages for her album more than anything I could ever buy her at the store.

I used the sticker sheet on both of these cards, as well as more of the Bo Bunny buttons!

I made these gift containers from a repurposed soup can (spaghetti if you're wondering) and a plastic drink container. This is my plan for my coworkers' and teacher Christmas gifts this year. Some will be filled with peanut butter popcorn and others with corner bookmarks, like the ones shown in this picture. The bookmarks are a great project to use up all those small scraps of paper we always have leftover, and they're super easy so it's a good project for the kids.

Unique Holiday Photos

Each year after Thanksgiving and Christmas I get a bit of the scrapbooking blahs. I have lost interest in scrapping my holiday photos.

What?

Yep. I have lost new and interesting ideas to build pages with photos that look the same every year. Opening presents, photo of the tree... and they're not the highest quality shots because they're indoors using a flash. Blech.

So in order to avoid the "same ol', same ol'" in holiday photos, I came up with a plan for future holidays-- and here are two layouts to feature the photos I've taken.

 

New Thanksgiving plan: Take photos of each person with you that day holding a sign that they wrote saying what they are thankful for.

 

New Christmas plan: find something related to the holiday that everyone can wear and take a pic of each of them wearing it. Reindeer antlers, anyone?

 

So if there's any chance you too get bored with your holiday photos, mix it up! Come up with a creative way to commemorate your holidays through photos. And think quick! You've got an opportunity to jump on this idea this week!

 

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Bazzill Basics

I have long been a fan of Bazzill Basics cardstock.  In fact, that is how I found Paper Pals all those many years ago in a room at Gladdish. I had been to Phoenix and seen Bazzill in the scrapbook stores there, and I was looking for that same, quality cardstock in a store here. That was my first introduction to Paper Pals...I was thrilled to find a store right here that carried "Bazzill Basics" cardstock!! 

And, now, along comes this beautiful holiday collection of double-sided printed papers from Bazzill. It is beautiful paper and I was so happy when Karen asked me to scrapbook these papers for some Design Team samples.  As you would imagine, it's a "perfect" match with Bazzill cardstock, and the perfect paper to use with your Christmas pictures.  In the second layout I used one of the divided photo sleeves from We R Memory Keepers.