WinterSong by SEI

If there is one thing I love more than Christmas Cookies (and there probably is NOT!) but if there were it would be Christmas Scrapbook paper. The new Winter Song line is absolutely scrumptious!

This is a pretty simple Christmas card I made using the coordinating papers and embellishments. The scalloped edging was cut using the new Quikutz Epic 6 (totally awesome) which uses all die cuts on the market. The embellishments pop off the page using pop up dots and are layered on top of one another. This is an easy way to create a sophisticated look that I think many beginning scrappers miss. Don't just use a single embellishment alone, they work better if you combine, coordinate and even mix them up across lines and manufacturers! This is why it's fun to have a stash of pretty collectables to choose from. I think the mix of all those delicious prints is wonderful. And fewer calories than anything else I will be indulging in this Holiday Season!

May Holiday Joy be Yours!

Loretta

I saw Santa...

Thank you to everyone came out ScrapbooksPlus yesterday. Santa was a big hit :) If you were not able to get out and drive around in the snow to come play with us. There are a few Santa and Me kits left...for only $4.99 what a steal! Everything is already cut out for you all you have to do is glue it down :)

Here is my pagemap layout for this month...so glad we added this addition to our design team it is so much fun.

And if you are thinking about trying out for the Design Team, there are a few kits left for tryouts, and they are also a deal at only $20...

December Pagemap

Here's my version of this month's pagemap. It's always fun to discover that you have double-sided patterned paper, like this month's selections from SEI. Right off the bat you've got two designs that work well together! I used a couple of the "b" sides for this layout. The pattern on the light blue is subtle enough to work as a background paper without being distracting.

For embellishments, I used a Fancy Pants Glitter Cut that I picked up at the store. Don't recognize it? I cut it into three sections. Here's the entire transparency:


I also picked up some of these fabulous Kaisercraft wooden snowflake tags. On this layout I left them unaltered, but you can use paint, ink, glitter and more to decorate them.

A little design trick: using lines. Graphic design principles talk about movement -- how a person's eye moves through a page. Ideally you want a "Z" -- where your eye moves across then down to the next line, like you're reading a page. You can add elements in your layout that help a viewer move through your piece. For example, the top left of my layout uses the lines running straight down to the ornaments, which are connected to the top of my photos. Then, at the end of my two photos, the title draws the eye down and the transparency flourish will lead the eye right to the second grouping.

Let me show you visually:


Want to read a bit more about design? Here's a good reference.

Peace

The SEI papers that we got in this month's DT kit were great to work with. The minute I saw the papers the ideas were swirling in my head. The Winter Song papers were beautiful. These papers just reminded me of winter and snow. I came across this picture in my box of old photo and thought it would work perfectly with this paper.
I traced a bracketed piece of paper onto the back of the Winter Song paper and cut it out. I cut out the flocked snowflakes from Winter Song paper and put them on the edge of my photo mat. I used my Cricut to cut out the "peace" from the red velvet paper that was in the kit. I also used my new Jolee's Hotfix tool to adhere the Swarovski crystals to the center of the snow flakes. I inked the edge of my paper with red ink to tie it all together.
Be sure to go to ScrapbooksPlus and check out the DT wall. The designers did a fabulous job with the papers this month!
Enjoy!
Lisa

Just 21 days left….

Until your Christmas presents need to be wrapped and ready!

I love making gifts for family and friends. It’s nice to give one of a kind items that are personalized just for them. One of my favorites is a picture frame dry erase board. The glass erases even better than a real dry erase board too!

To make the board, all you need is a picture frame, scrapbooking supplies, Velcro, and a dry erase marker. For this board I used papers from SEI’s Wintermint line. The main paper has an allover design… which is lovely and you get to see all of it here. I die cut bracket shapes from the fabulous red velvet paper and a scrap of white to make a space to write in the number of days left until Christmas. I embellished the tree with some chipboard stars coated with Martha Stewart glitter, gilded the tree topper star, and added a glittered heart to one of the gifts under the tree. Wrap the fuzzy side of the Velcro around the dry erase marker and attach a piece of the rough side to the edge of the frame to finish it off.

This can be adapted to many different uses and sizes… try a perpetual calendar, to-do list, or menu. Or you could make a set of inserts so that you, or your gift recipient, can use it year round. I made a smaller version for teacher gifts too!

Thanks for stopping by!erin

Happy Trails

This is probably not the kind of layout you might expect to see with papers in wintery shades of blue & white (and pops of cardnial red) - but this is what I did with the WinterSong papers from SEI:

I started last month challenging myself to only use pictures I already have printed, in the size I have - no enlargements - so when I was flipping through my photo albums, I was thrilled to see how well these pictures of a hike in October of 1993 worked with the papers in this month's kit.

Here's a quick design tip for you...before I start cutting up beautiful (and expensive) scrapbook paper, I sometimes make a photocopy and work with that instead.

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I get to play around with placement without having to worry about messing up the original.

I created the heart shape frame out of a light blue vellum, which I heat embossed with a leafy branch pattern in white so that it matched one of the background papers.

The title was cut with the Cricut Stone Script cartridge.

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I turned a Jenni Bowlin mini calendar card into a journaling block. I traced it and adhered the matching shape along the top edge only. I scored it along the top of the calendar design so that it would be easy to lift the flap.

The last detail I added is dimension - pop dots are always in my scrapbooking supplies.

Prior to October, when we started using page maps for our DT Customer challenge, I had never used a page map. I am sorry I waited so long! This layout was inspired by a page map by a talented scrapbooker and sketch artist named Beggahuna. It made the process of putting together this layout so much faster than if I was just working from scratch.

I hope you all have picked up a copy of our December Page Map (by Sharon Mozer) and started on this month's challenge. I used her page map to create a 2 page layout. You will see the results on the 9th!

It's That Time of Year Again...

It's December 1st...and that time of year again where we celebrate old traditions and new beginnings with the start of another year. With the winter solstice quickly coming, I'm thinking hot cocoa, glowing fires, and warm hearts as we celebrate the holiday season. For this month, I chose two lines of paper, both from SEI, to capture those warm memories! Christmas Mint features classic Christmas colors of green, red, and silver with modern touches of chocolate brown, pistachio green and peppermint pink. Just makes you want to curl up next to a fire with that warm cup of cocoa! The second set of papers I chose for this kit is Winter Song, a beautiful line of papers with a palette of winter color including glacier blues, cardinal reds and frosty whites. The paper is absolutely perfect for any winter layout or project.

All papers are double sided and feature flocking, foil and glitter elements. I hope all of you enjoy using these papers in your scrapbooking as I did in creating my DT submission!

There is also a challenge this month using a page map that I designed.

Simply pick up some of your favorite paper from the kit and create a single page layout using the map. Email your submission to debbie@scrapbooks-plus.com by December 20. The winner will be announced on December 31 and will receive a gift certificate to the store. Good luck and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year...