Monday, December 28, 2009

Merry Christmas

This layout is of our Christmas tree this year.  I took a picture of the tree with the presents under it before the kids and dog woke up Christmas morning.


The background paper and green photo mat came from a paper stack I bought at Michaels called Winter Wodland by Creative Imaginations.  The tree and flourishes are flocked.  The red paper came from the holiday paper stack by Die Cuts With a View.  I used the Cricut cartridge Winter Woodland to cut out the photo mat and backing. I used Christmas Red Stickles on the red photo backing and photo corners which I cut out using an EK Success corner punch, an then inked with gold ink.

Along the bottom is a border embellishment by K & Company, which I backed with some beautiful green lace.


I had some tiny red ribbons in my stash that I added to the flocked tree along with some bling.


I found the picture of the Santa on the internet.  I added lots of stickles to it.


The felt poinsettias I found at Michaels.  I added some red and green stickles to it.  I took some gold wired ribbon and twirled it around a pencil and then added it to the layout. The large red snowflake came from Target, and everything else I found in my stash.


Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas Cookies

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I had a lovely holiday and what made it so special was my family.  I am so fortunate that my  family lives near me and we are able to be together.

I finished this layout today and while I was working on it I thought of my kids when they were younger and decorated their special cookies for Santa.  My mom found the recipe in a magazine 55 years ago, and the cookies have been made every year since then.  My kids are  older now and do not help with the decorating, only the eating.

I used several different  papers on this layout; We R Memory Keepers, Merry & Bright, Die Cuts With A View Glittered Christmas Stack and K & Company Christmas Deluxe Stack. I also used several Cricut cartridges.  I used the George and Basic Shapes cartridge to cut out the large circle, then used the Cricut Design Studio to cut out a frame to go around the circle.

I used Joys of the Season cartridge to cut out the word Christmas


I used Winter Woodland cartridge to cut out the word Cookies and From My Kitchen for the pink matting.

and
Christmas Cheer to cut out the candy canes, and then added Stickles to them.  I used Xmas Red, Lime Green and Pink.

The scalloped die cut is from We R Memory Keepers.  I added some aqua velvet ribbon by Flair Designs, and some flat backed colored pearls, and then placed I red doily on top which I inked. 


All of the embellishments are from my stash. Most are by Jolees, Bazzill and Recollections.  I also had a big bag full of buttons and found the gingerbread men in there along with the gumdrops.   Some I have had for ages and it felt good to finally use them.  I also added some gingerbread men by Me and My Big Ideas.

 
The family traditions embellishment is from Bazzill.  I think I bought it 3 years ago.  I was delighted to see that it went with my layout.




 Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!  Now what should I work on next??

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas


From my home to yours, wishing you the happiest of holidays and a very Merry Christmas!
Peace and joy to all.

-Debbie


Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Snowy Trails

Here is a layout I just finished up today.  My daughter took these pictures in the winter of 2007.  We had a light snowfall and as I was standing at the sink washing dishes I looked outside the window and saw these four people riding their horses down our street.  It was such a lovely sight.


I used several different papers on this layout.  My Mind's Eye Sweet Dreams, Fancy Pants Christmas Magic   and Die Cuts With A View Holiday Collection.   I used my Cricut Design Studio along with the George and Basic Shapes cartridge to cut out the photo matting.  On the top section of the layout I used a transparency from the Fancy Pants Christmas Magic Collection.



I found these two beautiful trims at Hanock Fabrics.  I added some gold bling and red flat back pearls.


The border at the top of the page is a sticker from the Fancy Pants collection.  I added some flat back pearls to the snowflakes.


The glitter flourishes are by Making Memories. The snowflakes are K & Company.  The birds are Martha Stewart stickers.




I added more gold bling here along with some red stickles.


The trees at the bottom of the page I enchanced with some gold bling, red flat back pearls and green and turquoise stickles.




Wishing all of you a happy holiday!!
-Debbie

Icicles

The weekend brought records amounts of snowfall in Maryland.  The area where I live had a total of 24".  We spend most of Sunday digging out.  End result, 7+ hours in the cold shoveling snow - a bad cold.  I have been home from work the last two days sick.  Am I ready for Christmas? No!  Shopping is done, however I still need to wrap presents, clean the house and finish baking cookies.  I am having my family over for Christmas Eve dinner, and back again on Christmas day. I wanted to share this picture of some icicles I took at the side entrance of my house. 

Unfortunately the forecast for Christmas is sleet. It is suppose to start out with sleet then change over to rain.  Here's hoping that the sleet starts early in the morning, so that my family will be able to make it over to celebrate Christmas.

Happy Holidays!!!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Feeding Frenzy

I found myself again looking through boxes of old pictures and came across one from 2000.  We had several bird feeders on our deck and made sure in the cold weather that the birds had plenty to eat.  I was fortunate to get a picture of several birds feeding.  Most of them are cardinals, and one of them is a  woodpecker feeding off a suet cake. The picture is not of the best quality since it was shot through the sliding glass door, but the end result is a real treat!

The paper I used is from the new paper pack by Me and My Big Ideas, and I also used some paper from My Mind's Eye Organic pack.  I used one of my favorite Cricut cartridges, Storybook to cut out the picture frame.  I also used Mini Monograms for the scalloped circle and George for the circle within the scallop circle. The title is Quickutz mini Studio alphabet.

I added some bling to the scalloped circle, as well as to the snowflake paper.  I used some large scalloped scissors to cut the border at the top.  Finished it off with some inking.

I love the large snowflakes on the page.  I found them at Target in the Christmas decoration section.

The greenery and red sprays I found at Michaels amongst the Christmas decorations.  I love how they look, but oh what a mess with all the glitter.  I added some Martha Stewart branch stickers, as well as some cardinals, pine cones, which I added some snow and holly leaves, again all by Martha Stewart. I have a large collection of buttons and found small snowflakes which I added some bling to the centers.

 


Happy Holidays!!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!


We have been hit hard here in Maryland with a major snow storm.  It started snowing last night around 9:00 and today at 4:17 pm it is still coming down hard.  It is hard to tell just how much we have accumulated.  There has been a lot of drifting.  The forescast was calling for 14 to 24 inches.  It is in the low 30's and very cold outside.   Here is a picture I took of my deck. 

Here is another one I took from my bedroom -

I have spent all day baking Christmas cookies, wrapping Christmas presents and working on a layout.
I am not looking forward to tomorrow, since I know the better part of it will be taken up by shoveling snow.
For now, I'm staying inside where it is warm!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Layout of the Week - A Cherry On Top

Another of my layouts has been highlighted over at A Cherry on Top.  My Dashing Through The Snow layout was chosen as layout of the week!!  I'm so excited.  That makes two layouts highlighted in one week!!


Here is the link to A Cherry On Top:  http://www.acherryontop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=303&t=219605

A Cherry On Top December Creative Spotlight Article


I received a pleasant surprise today.  One of my layouts was featured in the December Creative Spotlight Article over at A Cherry On Top.  The layout featured is IN THE MEADOW WE CAN BUILD A SNOWMAN.



I was honored to have my layout chosen and highlighted.  There are so many beautiful layouts in their gallery.  Here is the link to their article. http://www.acherryontop.com/article?a=9066.  This is the second time they have highlighted one of my layouts.  Not quite as great as being published, but still an honor to have my layout highlighted!!!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Dashing Through The Snow


I came across another picture of my kids from a while back, 1996.  We had a German Shepherd, Inga, who loved the snow.  We rigged up a flat sled to her and she loved to pull the kids through the snow. I knew as soon as I saw this picture that my layout title would be Dashing Through The Snow.




I recently bought the Winter/Christmas paper pad by Me and My Big Ideas.  I used three different sheets from the pad. I used four different Cricut cartridges.  George and Storybook for the scalloped frame, Winter Woodland for the reindeer and Joys Of the Season for the trees.

I used my snow writer pen on the trees, and used Martha Stewart sterling glitter on the reindeer. I also added some bling to the snowflake printed paper.  I added some snow to the bottom of the page using Martha Stewart crystal coarse glitter.




I found the printed sheet music for Jingle Bells on the internet.  I wanted to add it to the layout, since the first line of the song is my title.


The cute glitterly letters I used for the title are by Making Memories.

I did a lot of inking using my Dew Drop ink pads in Starlite Silver and Red Magic.  I found the beautiful lace at a local fabric store, and the garland at Walmart.  Everything else came from my stash. 


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Monday, December 7, 2009

In The Meadow We Can Build A Snowman

Saturday brought our first snowfall here in Maryland.  I found myself thinking about how excited my kids would have been if they were younger.  As they are now 19 and 22, a snowfall only means shoveling!  I decided to go through some old photos and came across this one from 1992.  My daughter was 2 and my son 5.  With the help of her older brother, my daughter built her first snowman.  Oh how I long for those days, when they were so young and sweet and inocent.


I splurged and bought some new winter paper by Fancy Pants, their "Frosted" collection.  I thought the colors blended so well with the colors of the snow suits.  I used two Cricut cartridges, George to cut out the circle, which I then trimmed with rick rack.  I also used Winter Woodland to cut out the three trees, which I then outlined with my snow writer pen and then added some Martha Stewart peridot glitter.  For an added touch I added some bling to the trees to look like ornaments.




I puchased the snowman and large snowflakes at Target.  The smaller snowflakes are buttons.  I also had a chance to use the Martha Stewart Snow Flurry border punch.



 

I had a lot of fun working on this layout, but have traces of glitter every where!