While completing another assignment for the Lizzie Anne Design Team ~ I was really trying to come up with some different ideas. This year our families on both sides decided to go light on gifts, so I handmade all of the gifts we gave to the grandparents, our adult siblings and my neices and nephews. This sweet ornament was a gift for the grandparents.
Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (Glad Tidings); Cardstock, Ink & Pattern Paper ~ SU.
I love beautiful packages & I like making my own wrapping paper too. However, I really don't enjoy wrapping gifts. I know it sounds odd doesn't it?
I used the Glad Tidings set from Lizzie Anne Designs ~ it's perfect for this project! So here are my tips for making your own gift wrap.
2) Select 2 colors of ink and stamp a random pattern all over the gift wrap. Make sure you stamp them close enough together & make sure you go in all different directions.
And there ya go ~ a pretty & inexpensive package! It will be a big hit with the recipient!
I'm excited to show you the latest scrapbook layout that I made last night. I used some of my new Unity Stamps & love the little added touch they add. I don't have that many {yet}, but I did use a few on this page.
I immediately grabbed my camera to take a few shots!
They decided against trying the Christmas Tree cake again and opted to go with the Boy Scout Theme. I think you'll agree that this came out much better! And ~ Matt won for the best cake the night of the auction!
Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Unity Stamp Company (Flirty Flowers, Our Life ~ Our Story); Cardstock, Pattern Paper, Chipboard & Letter Stickers ~ KI Memories; Ink ~ SU.
Good Sunday Morning! 
The second project is a little bag filled with Cami Patties ~ decorated York Peppermint Patties. I call them Cami Patties because my sweet friend Cambria Turnbow came up with this brilliant idea!
My final project is really nothing new, but it's a big hit as a quick and simple gift. 
The chocolates inside are Hersey Nuggets (these fit the best inside) & they are just decorated with Avery address labels. Easy Peasy!
Come on back over the next few days more easy gift ideas, decorations and gift wrap!
A group of my wonderful online friends all did a Secret Santa gift exchange last night at our virtual Christmas party. I've had this gift set done for a few weeks, but didn't want to share until I knew she had it. My Secret Santa girl was Cindy from Starlit Studio ~ talk about pressure to get the perfect gift!!! What do you give a SUPER DUPER talented stamper ~ YIKES!
The coffee bags has COFFEE inside ~ who would have guessed? LOL!
Supplies from i{heart}papers: Pattern Paper ~ Be Merry (My Mind's Eye); Stamps ~ Hero Arts (Winter's Butterfly) & Inkadinkado (Christmas Characters); Nestabilities; Palette Ink ~ Burnt Umber; Gems ~ Hero Arts; Glitter Pen ~ Clear
I had so much fun with last weeks page, that I wanted to finish the 2-page spread and document our Christmas Eve traditions. We always enjoy so many things on Christmas Eve. In fact, I may need to do a few more pages just to document everything else.
This is my page from last week's Inchie Friday (click here for more photos of this page). One thing I did change on this page from last week ~ I added stamped snowflakes on the blue border and I like it much better.
This is what scrapbooking is all about to me ~ documenting my family history. I know that years down the road, our family will love looking at this page and reading about what we did every Christmas.
I stamped the ice cream cone on cardstock this time and after I colored it with my Copic markers, I cut it out. It was such a long, narrow image that I thought it looked better popped up off some coordinating pattern paper.
On this last Inchie square, I decided to paper piece the mittens. When you have a larger amount of empty space on your image, paper piecing is a fun technique to try. It adds a lot to your image without having to color it.
Supplies: white Inchie Squares ~ Inchie Arts; Cardstock ~ Stampin' Up!; Stamps ~ Lockhart Stamp Co. Supplies from i{heart}papers: Pattern Paper ~ Be Merry Collection by My Mind's Eye; Palette Ink (Burnt Umber); Stamp set ~ Hero Arts (Winter's Butterfly); Velvet Ric Rac ~ May Arts.
This year for teacher gifts I found these adorable plastic cups and matching trays at Target (my favorite store). Then I made some cookies and put them in some fun little cookie bags. The cups are filled with an assortment of chocolates. 
To complete the little set, I added a Target gift card and wrapped everything up in clear plastic wrap ~ VOILA! Easy, yummy and cute ~ it doesn't get better than that!
As you can tell from the gobs of projects I've done with this pattern paper, I LOVE IT! It's called Be Merry from My Mind's Eye & it's still available from i{heart}papers. I love the pink and blues for the non-traditional Christmas colors ~ so fun!
Here are a few more versions of the card. It's all the same card ~ I just used several differen't patterns in the same line of paper.
Since I had some new stamps from Unity Stamp Company, I decided to play along on a sketch challenge yesterday over on Splitcoast Stampers ~ HERE's the link for the Challenge.
Here's a better shot of the title ~ I just love the little buttons on the stamped flowers.
Because I had so much journaling for this page, I did it on the computer. Make sure you always print out your journaling on plain paper first to make sure it is set up correctly ~ you don't want to waste card stock or pattern paper.
Here's a look at the pattern paper that I also stamped ~ it just adds a little extra touch to the paper & ties the page together.
I'll have more holiday goodies to show you later today or tomorrow ~ don't worry!
Today at i{heart}papers, the design team is having a new challenge and we are making Christmas thank you notes. It's a great way to use all those wonderful Christmas cardmaking supplies after the holiday. Now I love to scrapbook, so I will be using mine for quite some time.
For the Circular Thank You sentiment, I used Word Art on my computer and printed it directly on my cream cardstock in burgundy ink. Here are the instructions:
Go to Insert>Picture>Word Art. Select the half-circle shape with simple black letters (the third shape in the top row). In the box, shoose your font and size, then type your text and click OK. Click on your words to select them, and the Word Art tool bar will appear. Click the WordArt Shape button, and choose Circle (Curve) from the menu. The words will be all messed up. Click on your text again to select it, and go to Format>WordArt. Click the Size tab and enter the height and width (set them the same for a circle). I used 1.2" x 1.2" so I it would fit inside the punch I was using. Click the Colors and Lines tab. Under Fill, select a color for your type. Under Line, select No Line. Then click OK. (I found this tip in Simple Scrapbooks Magazine).
Look for all the fabulous projects by the i{heart}papers designers ~
Sarah Anderson;
Cathleen Torina
Loretta Lock
Amber Kroening
Lori Tecler
Deb Felts
Tracy Schultz
Meredith Socha
Carolyn Mustopa
I did a layout earlier this year with one of these pictures of my beautiful daughter; however, I had so many from that day, that I really wanted to use more of them & decided to create another layout. The layout idea came from the current Stampin' Up! Catalog & Idea Book (with a few tweeks here and there).
Isn't this journaling block stamp cool? It's big enough to write out all the details of an event. I hand wrote my journaling ~ which is something I don't do often, eventhough I know I should. And look at that cool flower! I stamped it in chocolate pigment ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder so it would really stand out. Then to give it a cool look, rather than a straight cut, I followed the curves for a fun wavy look.
I also had fun with buttons! I stamped a piece of textured cardstock with the circle cluster stamp in the Flirty Flowers set ~ it made a great subtle pattern on the paper. Then I added all different buttons to the strip of green cardstock. For the brown polka-dot pattern paper, I stamped the row of flowers (also from the Flirty Flowers set) at the bottom and stamped the "memories" stamp ~ both in chocolate ink.
Here's another Riley image I've had colored forever, but completely forgot about. I also found this fuzzy paper in my stash that I've had forever and thought it would be perfect for this little guy on the slopes.
And all through the house...were some very excited kids! We LOVE Christmas eve in our house. Each year we celebrate at a special Christmas Eve church survice and then we come home to open presents. After that, we have ice cream sundaes and then we set out cookies for Santa and spread Reindeer food on the lawn (making sure it's done in an area that the dogs can't get to it).
Well I finally got this last picture to load correctly ~ not the great picture I wanted to use, but at least you don't have to tilt your head! I'm getting very frustrated with Blogger because it keeps rotating my pictures. So if you see me switching to Typepad soon, you'll know my frustration level reached it's limit. Anyway, here is a closeup of my cute little Inchie squares.
Supplies Used: Inchie Arts ~ white Inchie Squares; Stamps ~ Lockhart Stamp Co, Hero Arts; Cardstock ~ SU; Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye (Be Merry) from i{heart}papers; Ink ~ Palette, Copics, glitter pen; Velvet ric-rac ~ May Arts; Cricut ~ Jasmine cartridge. 
