Christmas Past - Two Page Scrapbook Layouts

I'm behind on photographing my most recent layouts. This is something I have on my "to do" list while I'm off for the holidays. For now, though, I'd like to reshare some of my favorite Christmas layouts from years past.

These are the sweet little faces of our grand babies helping us find just the right tree. I love that the whole family joins in the fun! I also love the non-traditional Christmas colors of this layout.

 Below are pics from one of our extended family gatherings! We always have so much fun together. Presents, games, food and time spent together is the BEST! We feel so blessed to have family that we love to spend time with.

 Christmas layouts can be so overwhelming for me. So many pictures, colors and distractions in all of the photos!! I just went with it below and used a lot of wallet size photos scattered randomly. The mainly black background helped tone down all the color, so that I could accentuate it with the title and embellishments. This is my crazy tribe celebrating in our old house for the last time!! :)

 Below are my three boys!! I love them dearly! They are especially proud of their facial hair at this time of year. I think they are handsome with or without it! Definitely crazy, but always handsome!

 This layout below done in a "Brady Bunch" style grid, is my most pinned Christmas layout on Pinterest.  It was so fun! The 2x2 square photos made space for lots of memories.

 Below is another extended family layout which I love, including the family photo shoot with all of us in plaid shirts. I still love the title which I actually dreamed up before we even took the photos!!

Well that is it for my layouts of Christmas past!! Hope you enjoyed! Have a blessed Christmas time with your family! Be sure to take lots of pictures!!

Christmas layouts - "The Hunt" and "Joyous"

I'm sitting here at my desk and my hands are ice cold, it's raining outside, and very gloomy. We have the possibility of some flurries AGAIN later in the week. Since I still have several recent Christmas layouts to share, I figured today was as good a time as any.

I recently was blessed enough to win some glorious blog candy. All of what you seee here was made with this great set of winter paper. It was so much fun to work with it and have all of the cute embellishments to match. The majority of the paper was from Echo Park "Wintertime". These pictures were taken when we were searching for the perfect Christmas tree. It's a tradition that I love more and more each year. This year we had to find our Christmas tree earlier than normal since my husband and I were getting ready to head out on an anniversary (25th) cruise the first week in December.

The decorations on the tree were punched out of snowflake patterned paper. All of the accessoreis were included with this great kit of goodies.

We ended up picking our tree from the fresh-cut trees in the barn. We warmed up with hot cider and then went to dinner together at BWW's. I'm so thankful that our kids will still participate in and enjoy these traditions with us even though they're all grown up. I loved the 12 " border stickers on the bottom of this side. Stinkin' cute and easy!

Here they are side by side. I wish I could remember the name of the blog where I won this paper set so I could post it here. Maybe she'll see this post and remind me. I sent her a thank you card, because I was just so excited to get it and her gift was so generous!

The pictures in this second layout were taken on Christmas Eve when our immediate family got together at our house to celebrate with a meal and presents. I love making a special meal and decorating the table for Christmas. Always a litlte stressful to get everything done on time, but always worth the extra effort! I'm pretty sure I burned something a little bit this year, but now that it's March, I can't remember. I guess it's good to have a short memory sometimes. =)

Again, this is all from the Echo Park "Wintertime" set of paper, except the gold ribbon and the metal "Family" trinket which I had in my stash.

I almost always end up with some kind of grid of pictures on my page. It's just the easiest way that I've found to fit in a lot of pictures. I managed to squeeze in 11 pictures on this double layout. Another little trick I use is to order the "true digital" size rather than 4x6. They are just slightly shorter in length and it gives you room for a little bit of paper to peek out behind. These are actually cropped down even a little smaller in length to create room for my title. The only thing cropped out is the distracting backgrounds in each shot. The glitter chipboard letters were also in my stash and I used a mix of the colors to spell out the title.  

Not sure if you can read the journalling, but it's all about the blessings of family and how much we are enjoying our daughter-in-law. She is a treasure and it's fun watching their relationship grow. 

Have a great week...Oh, and keep checking back because there will be some yummy blog candy in the very near future. I need to get a picture of it and figure out the best way to give it away. =) It's so cool, that I bought 2....one for me and one to give away to my fellow bloggers. =) More details soon....

Callie (our grand-puppy)

Happy Thursday! I thought it would be appropriate to post a layout that I did recently of our new grandpuppy. She's not this tiny anymore...just like babies, they grow up fast. Callie is having some minor surgery today and I've been thinking about her. She's an Australian Cattle dog and is still super cute and spunky.

The pennant flag was cut with Cricut's Celebrations cartridge. The little red clothespins were just the ticket. (supply list at the bottom of this post).

I loved the dog bone paper and the doggie words. This is the first scrapbook page that I've done featuring a dog and I was pretty excited to see all the cool doggy paper out there!  I don't think I ever featured our own beloved dog on a page. I wasn't scrapbooking as much at that time. I may have to go back and dig up some old pictures of Chase (an adopted greyhound) so that I can honor his memory with a scrapbook page. 

Callie has been such a hoot to be around. It's fun watching her get bigger every time my son and daughter-in-law bring her over. Hope that you are inspired to scrapbook about your pet (or grand-puppy...LOL!).  

Supplies:
Sketch: Cheri O-Neil “Let’s Scrap (tag 11-10-10)

Paper: Pebbles Cats and Dogs “Biscuits”, Reminesce Animal House “Good Dog”
Punch: SU scallop punch, Fiskars bracket punch
DieCuts: Every Day Paper Dolls (dog accessories)
Celebrations – Pennant flag
Details: Scrappers spool (white twine), Creative Impressions clothes pins

"Red Robin...Yum" published in Scrapstreet Magazine!!!

I was pretty darn excited to have my layout chosen for Scrapstreet Magazine's Birthday Bash article. Scrapstreet is an online publication. Make sure you check it out! Lots of great layouts to be inspired by. I feel very honored to be included with the other amazing layouts.

This link will take you to the Birthday Bash article...just scroll down a little and you'll see my layout! Thanks for checking it out!

"Enjoy the Ride"

We have a foot of snow on the ground! It's very pretty, and very cold outside. Anybody else ready for spring? I'm certainly getting there.

I've had some busy scrap time lately and it's time to share something new here. Have you ever scrapped, complete with journalling, only to find out later from your family that the story you journalled is all wrong? Well it's a little embarrassing, and I still haven't fixed it. I thought these pictures were all taken on the same day, but it turns out they were not. In fact, I journalled that these were sunset pictures, when, in fact....they were sunrise pictures captured on the way to work. How could I forget that? Oh well, not a big deal to scrap them together, but I definitely need to fix the journalling. Ugh!  The rest of the pictures were taken when my son got his new (to him) vehicle and he took us for a ltitle joy ride. One of those memorable, spontaneous events.

I will probably have to fix the journalling by adding a strip of white paper over the top of the old. I may even type it out....Not sure yet. Since you all probably don't care so much about the journalling anyway, I will share the layout with you before fixing it.

Left:

Right: 

Together: 

The papers are all from Cloud 9 Design. This is a new pack I just picked up on sale. Aren't the colors yummy?  The sketch is from Julie Bonner, although I deviated quite a bit so that I could use 8 pictures instead of four. Most of the dietcuts are from Cricut's "Graphically Speaking" cartridge.  I love the faux stitching because sometimes you just need to get it done fast.

Have a wonderful day!

My D.I.Y Guy

Wow! Posting two days in a row here. =)

Thought I'd share this layout on my own blog since it was posted today on Multi-photo Scrapbooking blog!! I love this blog because they feature multi-picture layouts from scrappers who want to upload and share their work. Check them out, be inspired, and think about participating in some of their challenges.

So here is one of my favorite layouts that I have been saving for the right moment! I love it because it features my one and only husband who has worked so hard on our little house over the past 20 years. We (meaning "he") only have a few more things to do and then we will sell it and try to find something just a little bit bigger...I need a scrap room! LOL!

Left side shares a 20 year olf photo (left) of him working on nursery for Joel which was our first project, and the picture on the right was taken this summer working on exterior painting.

Right side is here. I should have grabbed a picture of the dining room because he totally renovated that as well. It's a beautiful gold color with wainscoating and lots of beautiful white woodworking. I know...How could I forget that, right? I'll have to point it out in a future layout. 

Here they are together (Recipe below) 

My DIY Guy turns 50 years old next week!!! Happy Birthday "Old Man"!!! I love you more than ever!

Recipe:

Sketch:  Left side from Page Maps; Right side is my own

Paper:  Die Cuts With a View black cardstock, Tim Holz antique measurig tapes

Accents:  Srew top brads, machine stitching, "Strength" definition done in various fonts on word processor, Photos in little houses cut with square CM punch, Roofs same square punch, but cut the square diagonally into triangles, faux stitching on roof tops done with black fine tip marker, DIY title cut from sheet of cork using Cricut, and journalling with label maker

The Great Sebastians - School drama

I'm a few days late in wishing all of you a happy and blessed new year. So hard to believe another year has come and gone already. I hope that everybody enjoyed their Christmas and New Year's celebrations! We had a great time with family. I'm hoping to scrap some of those photos this weekend.

Until then, I have something else to share...These pictures were taken at the fall play at Jacob's new school. I can't remember the name of the part that he had, but he did a great job. I wasn't familiar with this play at all, but they did a nice job with the backdrops and costumes.

Here's a close up... so you can see Jacob kissing the leading lady's hand.

The left page sketch is from Scrapbooking Competitions a few months back. The right is my own. When I work in my son's album, I try to fit in as many pictures as I can. It's really all about the pictures and telling the story, rather than the way I put them on the page...At least in his eyes. Usually, we are both pleased with the results.

The recipe: 

Paper:    Paper Company, Tim Holz Ideaology "ticket tubs"

Stamps:  Close to My Heart "Free Spirit"

Ink:  Gold Metallic

Ribbon: Gold "Celebrate it"

Die Cut:  Locker talk drama masks, Sweethearts bracket frame

Letters: Creative Memories black  letter stickers

Have a wonderful week. I'm planning to have some scrappy time Friday evening, and I can hardly wait!

"Sunset at Lil Sable Lighthouse"

Do you have all your wrapping done? I'm going home to finish mine in a few. But before I do that, I just can't help posting one more layout to inspire you and WARM you!!

Here is the left side.

Here is the right side

And of course, here they are together so you can see how they flow.

Have an amazing Christmas and enjoy every special moment!!

"Beacon"

Howdy! I had set this this one to post while I was cruising the Caribbean with my hubby, but it never posted....So here you go!

This layout is of a beautiful lighthouse near Hart, MI. We had so many great pics and memories from our summer vacation to Lake Michigan. It's kind of nice to see a sunny and warm beachy layout when the weather is freezing. I'm missing the balmy breezes already. Again, you can click to enlarge it and hit your back button to come back.

Supplies: Deja View Sharon Ann collection in dark pumpkin scroll; Tim Holz dry embossing plate for the brick look under the title; EK Suyccess punch to edge the brochure holder; orange wave tape; and Label Maker for journalling.

Thanks so much for following my blog!!! I thorouhly enjoyed being part of Paper Secrets blog hop. Hope you did too! Click here if you missed the post announcing the winner.

"Ludington Pier"

Hello!!! I'm squeezing in one last post before I get away with my hubs for our 25th wedding anniversary. We'll be cruising for the first time ever!! I am so looking forward to our time together....We feel very blessed for the 25 years God has given to us and even more blessed to have the opportunity to take a really nice vacation to celebrate together.

I decided to post a layout with a nautical theme in honor of our cruise. These pics are from our summer vacation. It was a super foggy day in Ludington. If you double click it you can enlarge for the details. Just hit your back button to come back to the blog again.
I thought it was very "I" catching (sorry, I couldn't help myself) to use the lighthouse die cut (Life is a Beach) as my "I" in the title. The strip of patterned paper in the middle is from SU Sweet Pea collection. It has a dotted circle which kind of echoes the dots and circle windows on the lighthouse. I used the SU punch to cut the penant flags for the side borders. I cut each punch in half to look like a flag. We were a little chilly but had a great time walking the pier.

Be sure to check back in a few days. Even though I will be out of the country, I've saved a few posts to publish while I'm out. AND don't forget the giveaway coming with the Paper Secrets Blog Hop. See the banner on the side bar. You will not want to miss the chance to win the "Just Because Cards" cricut cartridge. =) Don't forget to tell your friends that you scrap with...If one of you wins, you can all share the cartridge when you scrap together.

"Fall Favorites" layout and blog candy coming soon!

Hope everybody had a great time with their families celebrating all that we have to be thankful for! We had a great day. We have so many reasons to be thankful. God has been so good!!

I have another fall layout to share with you so lets get on to the scrappy. Here is the left side:
The background paper is Cloud 9 Design and the patterned paper is Little Yellow Bicycle, journaling blocks are Deja View...Here is the right side:
The details...Font: Winter Wonderland cartridge; Leaves: Wild Card. I cut out a strip of the argyle to use as the middle border and to anchor my title. I inked the edges of the argyle strip with a dark brown ink for definition. The pearlized blue lettering is shadowed with dark brown.
Here is the double layout together. I hope it inspires you in some way.
Don't forget!!....The Paper Secrets Holidy Blog Hop is just around the corner. I'll be sharing some Christmas cards with you at that time....AND it will involve Blog Candy!! That's right, make sure you check back because not only will you be eligible to win the Paper Secrets prize, but my followers will be eligible for the drawing to win the "Just Because Cards" Cricut cartridge. More details later. Yes, I'm shamelessly looking for my scrappy followers! Be sure to pass this information along to all of your scrappy friends so that they can get in on this prize!! Random Memories is offering the prize to attract more followers. I hope that you will join in on the fun!

"So Thankful" - Fall layout

It's getting colder outside and I have a feeling it is here to stay. After our near 70 degree weather a day or so ago, it's a little bit of a shock. That's Indiana weather!! I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving with family and a 4 day weekened!....Time to share a fall layout with you.

Left:The pics were just taken of Jacob blowing the leaves out of the backyard. We have a big beautiful Pin Oak in our side yard still holding on to some leaves. I wanted to highlight the tree by matting that pic with orange cardstock and also the diecut tree behind. I believe it's from Winter Woodland cartridge. I hand cut my own trunk, because it needed to have a curve to it. The green circle leaves were cut with a CM circle punch and placed on and behind the branches.

Right:

Side by Side:

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!! Grace and peace to you.

Gimme Smores

It's Friday...Yay! Nothing especially fun planned for the weekend, because I need to get some things done around the house. It will be fun just getting some things done, right? I hope you all have a productive/fun weekend planned as well.

I'm excited to show you my "Gimme Sores" layout because it's a little bit whimsy and just FUN! It's another set of pictures from our Lake Michigan vacation this summer. We had 2 or 3 camp fires while we were there and, of course, smores are a must!! It was actually quite chilly in the evenings so the warmth of the fire was almost as inviting as the sweet melty chocolate of the smores.

Most of the papers in this layout are Bo Bunny "Roughin It" collection. I actually hand cut the left bracket from the brown circled paper. I wanted it to be the same length as the pictures.

Right page....I sliced a piece from a large bracket page mat that looked kind of like melting choclate and used my white gel pen for the journalling. Lovin the fringy green ribbon.

Details.....Note the die cut hand and marshmallow roasting over the fire. It even had a little whisp of smoke to go with it. These are from Cricut "Block Party" cartridge. Lots of fun images and lots of layers. Ipopped it up with a foam square. It went perfectly with the smores that were on the side of the paper.

Here they are together. I had a lot of fun and it's always great when I can feature my hubs on a page.

Make it a fabulous weekend! See you next week.

Denver layouts...I almost forgot about these

Where did the weekend go? I had a great time scrapbooking with my friend Jodi in Grand Rapids!!! When can we go again? I'm sure it will be awhile.

I was looking through my layouts to figure out what to post and realized that I hadn't posted these yet...So, today instead of finishing up on vacation layouts, I'm going to post these from Denver. The sales group from my department went to Denver in September for a conference. There was not much time to really see Denver, but I got a few pics for the scrapbook. Both of these sketches are my own. I didn't write down any of the supplies, but I think most of the paper is SU sweet pea collection.

The first is some random shots taken at the hotel and as we were driving downtown to go to dinner.

Left side....

Right side....My favorite part of this really simple layout is the clouds that are popped up. =)

Both sides together....

The second layout is from two different restaurants. I really wanted to separate these on the layouts so I pushed the first restaurant pics far left and the second one to the far right. I usually do 2 page layouts, so the tricky part was to put them together, but still separate them since the locations were different. The steakhouse was incredible. Great place for carnivores. The best meat ever!!!

Left side....

Right side....Love the play on words... "Meat" and Greet?

Both sides together....

Have a great rest of the day. I think I might make breakfast for dinner tonight. Doesn't that sound good? Also sounds fattening. =(

"Dune Rides" - Summer vacation

Here's a really simple layout of our trip to MacDunes this summer. It's very simple because there is not a lot of matting or fussyness to it, but the metallic blue background kind of makes it all pop. The sketch is mine. Sometime I'm going to draw out the sketches that are my own and put them here on the blog. I just haven't figured out the best way to draw them out yet. I like to run my pictures off the top of the page and use a similar color for the background paper. It seems to make the subjects in the picture look just a little bit 3D.

The left side....You'll see us in the back row....me, Jacob, Cindy, and Joel. Always pick the back, it's the most fun and you kind of fly out of your seat! You can see Jacob with his mouth wide open in the bottom right picture....LOL!

The right side.... Here I matted and added twine around the focal picture. The sun border is from Life is a Beach Cricut cartridge. I inked the edges with red to really make it look hot and give it more definition.

Here's both pages together so you can see the flow of it. Enjoy and thanks for following my blog!!!

Life is Good - more vacation

Here's another layout of vacation pictures for you. These were just some miscellaneous pictures that I kind of threw together to describe the laid back time of our vacation.

The inspiration for the sketch came from Pagemaps.com and I entered it in Paper Secrets October sketch challenge. I had to add a second row of pictures because there were just too many pictures to fit it. I do like the way it turned out, though.

I love the photo of Jacob asleep in the hammock swing. He looks like he is back in the womb or something. The Life is Good title is cut with the Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge. The solid background is from Cloud 9 Design. The pale blue cloud paper near the top is American Traditional Design's Summer Sizzle collection. The circle paper is Stampin Up "Sweat Pea" collection.


I added my own second page, and here they are together so you can see the flow. I used my Fiskars eyelet border punch on some random scraps of paper to show off the edges. I also cut some circles from the paper to fill the center space. These pictures are just us hanging out and walking down to Lake Michigan.

It was one of those weeks where God intended us to fully kick back. The cottage's tv system was not working and there was no internet connection. The cell phone was hit or miss too....Hence the reason Jacob and I decided to play some chess. The kid didn't know how to set up the board, so I was thinking I would have no problems beating him...LOL. He won every game. I think he just pretended to not know how to set it up. I also love the picture of him chugging his little jug of chocolate milk....only on vacation! =)