Christmas Dinner Layout

I'm so close to finishing scrapping all my Christmas 2018 photos, but I don't know that I will manage it by tomorrow, since I still have two layouts to go but have to be at church by 1:15 for choir rehearsal for our Christmas Eve service, plus I need to finish preparing the house for my in-laws' arrival. What's a scrapper to do? And no, staying up all night is not an option if I don't want to be a zombie tomorrow! Oh well, at least this one is done, and the other two will possible get finished on Christmas day and the following Friday, so that will have to be good enough. Just in case I don't get a chance to post again before the big day, I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas with lots of photo taking opportunities that lead to great scrappy times.

Recipe:
Simple Type Alphabet stamp set (SU)
One Wish paper (Sweetwater)
Mistletoe papers
The Holiday Life paper (Simple Stories)
Kraft, Cranberry & Evergreen cardstock
Cranberry & Ponderosa Pine ink
Sienna marker
Merry Little Christmas ephemera (Bella Blvd)
Holiday Gathering stickers (CM)
Star Attraction Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Santa Claus Express decorative brads (Echo Park)
Cranberry baker's twine
Xmas Red Stickles (Ranger)
Chevron embossing folder
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #88

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? - used a chevron embossing folder and included twist of holiday; Little Red Wagon #838 Christmas theme; The Neglected Stuff Challenge - the dishes stickers from CM are from 2002 and I haven't used them since I started blogging in 2009, so I think they qualify as neglected! Colorful Options - I used primarily red + green + kraft on my layout.

More Presents Layout

This week has been spent getting ready for Christmas, but I finally escaped to my scraproom this afternoon to work on a layout from Christmas past. Since I already had the Magic Moments scrapbook kit out from my previous layout, and it really helped tie in the blue from the background of my photos, I used it again to scrapbook photos of my extended family - my sister, her hubby, my brother, and Mom). 

Recipe:
Santa Claus stamp set
Magic Moments papers & cardstock stickers
Barn Red ink
Barn Red marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Doily (from my stash, source unknown)
Fern thick twine
Star Dust Stickles (Ranger)
Jingle All the Way decorative brads (Simple Stories)
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Pattern: Pagemaps sketch (found on ACOT, not sure when it was originally posted)

Challenges: Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #102 - Anything Christmas; Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Christmas; If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #211 - I was inspired to stamp a jolly Santa and to add white outlines to my Christmas tree stickers.

The Ultimate Gift Layout

My scrappy goal this month is to finish all my photos from 2018, and I am super close! I have 8 more layouts to go and 16 days left in the year, so I think I can make it. This layout is from Christmas 2018 and features my hubby, the kids, and me opening our gifts. The title is from the movie of the same name, and reflects how my family is the ultimate gift to me! The photo arrangement was supposed to resemble a Christmas tree with my hubby and me supporting the kids, but it got a little fat up towards the top - oops! Hopefully you can still tell what it's supposed to be.

Recipe (all CTMH unless stated):
Santa Claus stamp set
Magic Moments papers & stickers
Barn Red & White Daisy cardstock
Black ink
School Is Cool ephemera icons (Bella Blvd)
Winter Defined sticker (Making Memories)
Say Cheese II brads
Doily (from my stash, source unknown)
Cricut Design Space: title (using Austin Hearts font)
Challenges: Challenge YOUrself #144 Anything Goes including a picture of me - I love the photo of my hubby and me under the tree and had fun scrapping it in the midst of our family, the ultimate gift; Crafty Calendar Challenges - Winter/Christmas; Paper Rocks Scissors #11 - used scissors to fussy cut the stamp Santa and reindeer; Park Hopping My Happy Place - I was inspired by the giant Christmas tree at Legoland theme park and created my own family tree!

Floral Thanks Card

I am on a quest to use up some burgundy floral paper that has been in m stash forever, so I created two layouts back in October and decided to make a couple more cards with the leftover scraps. Yesterday, I posted one that I completed, and this morning I finished the second one. 

Recipe:
Burgundy floral paper (from my stash, source unknown)
March - April 2022 Mix-in paper
Sweet Leaf, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Sweet Leaf & Ruby ink
White & gold ribbon (Michaels)
Sweet Leaf fabric covered brad
Sunbeam embossing folder
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flower
Cricut Artiste cartridge: Thanks
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap Card sketch #292

Challenges: Little Red Wagon #837 - J is for Just one word; Paper Rocks Scissors - used my scissors to trim the ribbon.

My Valentine Card

I started making cards today with the goal of using up some patterned paper (the burgundy floral) that has been in my stash forever. I managed to use up a large portion of it on this layout and the companion page I scrapped back in October, but the remnant has been sitting on my desk since then, taunting me, so I decided today was the day to use it or toss it! The first card I made was intended to be a thank you card, but I was sorting through my pre-cut baggie of Cricut titles left over from other projects and came across the My Valentine die-cut, so I changed direction and went with that. Funny thing is, my hubby helped me decide to use the swirl embossing folder, so he's already seen the basic design, but hopefully he will forget and be somewhat surprised when he opens this card on Valentine's Day!

Recipe:
Burgundy floral paper (from my stash, source unknown)
March - April 2022 Mix-in paper
Black & White Daisy cardstock
Ruby & Black ink
White Daisy organdy ribbon
White & gold ribbon (Michaels)
Paper flower (Recollections)
D'vine Swirl embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: My Valentine
Wishblade die-cutting machine: heart (I think! It was cut out years ago before I got my Cricut, so that's my best guess)
Pattern: Try a Sketch on Tuesday #685

Challenges: Double Trouble #206 - used 3 patterned papers (the red heart is the back of the floral paper and has a subtle design on it) + 2 ribbons + 1 paper flower, and played along with the optional ribbon and TSOT sketch challenges; Can You Handle the Pressure? - use an embossing folder + optional twist of any holiday; Cut It Up #345 - must use a die cut + my Oldie but Goodie is the patterned paper; Triple B - used blossoms and the colors from the middle photo on the inspiration board.

He Filled All the Stockings Layout for Lasting Memories #779

It's time for my final Lasting Memories layout of 2025 (favorite challenge from 2025), and I chose to re-visit one of Jill's Favorites that she posted in June. For LM #757, she challenged us to use a favorite tool. At the time, I was really using my stamps a lot, but I think my Cricut actually gets more playtime in my craft room, so I am going with that. I used it to die-cut a bunch of items for this layout, and I seldom create a layout wherein I don't use my Cricut for at least one thing. How about you? Are you a Cricut lover, or do you have another favorite tool? Come play along with us at Lasting Memories using this challenge or any other from 2025. We would love to see your layouts!

For my layout, I mirrored my monthly sketch again, but subbed tags for some of the shapes, and kept the pictures at the outsides of the layout so I could stretch my title across the middle.

Recipe:
Distressed Backgrounds stamp set
White Pines papers
Cranberry, Honey Butter, Harbour, Glacier, Peacock, Ballerina, Champagne, Mocha, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry, Glacier & Desert Sand ink
Christmas Fairy Crystals (Memory Box)
Red gingham & blue dot ribbon (Offray)
Brown & Merry Christmas ribbon (Celebrate It)
Red baker's twine (Celebrate It)
Swiss dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Design Space: rooster, candy jar, piglet, title (using Agent Q font)
Cricut Art Philosophy: banners, tags
Cicut You Are Here cartridge: t-shirt
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #126 mirrored

Challenges: A Cut Above Anything goes with a die-cut; Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #80 Red hearts; NBUS - my never-before-used-schtuff is the Merry Christmas ribbon, bakers twine, polka dot ribbon, and the rooster, candy jar, and piglet die-cuts; Crafty Calendar Winter/Christmas; Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything Goes with an embossing folder.

EMS Sketch Challenge #126 + Winter Blast 2018 Layout

December is here, bringing a new sketch for you all to enjoy! I featured four 4x6 photos, two cropped and two uncropped, but as you can see from my layout, it's pretty easy to substitute different sizes and even add a journaling block if desired. Feel free to add a link in the comments if you use the sketch.

Here's my layout. I mirrored the sketch to create a double page layout, and added a journaling spot on the right hand page since my photos could be cropped shorter.

Recipe (all CTMH unless noted):
Pen Pal & Bingo Alphabet stamp sets
Holiday Sampler stamp set (SU)
Jingle All the Way papers (Simple Stories)
Ponderosa Pine, Toffee, Cranberry & White Daisy cardstock
Ponderosa Pine, Toffee, Ruby & Black ink
Fineliner pens (iBayam)
Pear & Partridge PML card
Red Dot Essentials washi tape (Echo Park)
Geometric washi tape (Recollections)
Leaves stencil (Clear Scraps)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge: banners
Challenges: Stencil Fun - I didn't have quite enough patterned paper so I used an ivy leaf stencil to create some more; Inkspirational Challenge #355 Mood board - I was inspired by the tiny icons, so I stamped and added several around my layout.

Color My Heart Color Dare #680

Discover {Tower Bridge} Layout for Lasting Memories #779

I haven't scrapped any London photos in ages, so I decided to complete at least one from our 2017 vacation. This time, it was Tower Bridge. Since the Lasting Memories challenge for December is to play along with either a favorite challenge we want to do again or a challenge we missed but would still like to do, I played along with #759 - Jill's Favorites: Embellishments. I absolutely love using die-cuts on my layouts, so here I added three: the title, the sun, and the cloud. Hope this inspires you to check out some of the fun challenges we had this year and play along this month!

I also had fun coloring in the black and white line drawing on the cool background paper!

Recipe:
London Tower Bridge Adventure paper (Scrapbook Customs)
Striped paper (from my stash, source unknown)
Canary, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Sky & Ruby ink
Black & Flourescent Blue fineline pen (iBayam)
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Love Letters rub-ons
Sparkle Black enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet)
Cricut Design Space: title (using DTC Spring Break font)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: sun
Cricut Artiste cartridge: cloud
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #125 (left side only)

Challenges: Paper Rocks Scissors #10 - used scissors to trim the Y off my title when I changed it from discovery to discover!

Christmas Concert Layout with HQCB Guest Design Opportunity

I'm still working on some Christmas layouts from 2018, and it seemed that there were lots of musical events that year; this one features photos from when my son sang in a Christmas concert at his school.

I was invited to be the guest designer for Heart's Quest Challenge Blog, which offers two options for their challenges. Here are the options for the current challenge:

I chose to use the first option of anything with a heart goes, and used black hearts, a large one and three small puffy ones. I'm going to try to do the other options, too, because it goes well with Christmas layouts, and I also have a Valentine's layout coming up that I might manage to squeeze in as well!

Recipe:
Jingle Joy & Journaling Jots stamp sets
The Holiday Life papers (Simple Stories)
Garden Green & White Daisy
Ruby & Black ink
Black marker
Jingle Joy Thin Cut
Jingle Joy tags
Peeled Paint Distress Spritz (Ranger)
Candy Apple Shimmer Trim
Ruby twine
Beetle Black Hearts puffy shapes (Doodlebug Designs)
Red Dot Essentials washi tape (Echo Park)
Dymo label
Winter Trees embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #322

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything Goes with an embossing folder; Let's Craft and Create #225 Anything Goes with optional twist of twine; Love Those Pretty Papers Anything Goes with patterned paper and optional twist of forest critter (I included a bird); NBUS #80 - my never before used schtuff is the Christmas metal die and matching stamp, and the Jingle Joy tags.

Rubio's Layout for Lasting Memories #778

It's our final Lasting Memories challenge for November, and I have thoroughly enjoyed being inspired by children's books. This week's book, Madeline, might be a little less well known than some of the others, but it was one of my favorites as a little girl. I loved the fun rhymes and the mix of line drawings and painting. For my inspiration, I pulled a bunch of things: the colors on the cover (plus yellow is prominently featured inside) and the repetition of the 2 straight lines, which inspired me to add the green lines with the 'hats" on them. Even though the hats have nothing to do with my pictures, I think they look like a design feature, so I am going with that! I also used a name as my title and added a line from the book. If you are interested in playing along with this challenge, click on the link above, plus here is a link to the text and pictures of Madeline, just in case you want to revisit an old friend or make a new one!

And here's the cover of Madeline. Don't you love the artwork? You can see where my hat inspiration came from, too.

Recipe:
Watercolor paper (Recollections)
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media paper (American Crafts)
Terracotta Ribbon Plaid paper (Making Memories)
Gypsy, Green Apply, Canary, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Gypsy & Green Apple ink
Black marker
Warm Grey ShinHan Touch Twin marker
Flower ribbon (Ribbon Boutique)
Yellow paper flowers (Recollections)
Warm & Cozy enamel dot (Altenew)
Cricut Design Space: title (using Artiste font), circles border & Vs
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #116

Challenges: Cut It Up #343 Favorite color and use a die-cut - yellow is my favorite color but I look terrible in it, so I am happy to be able to use it in my scrapbooking; A Cut Above Anything goes with a die-cut; The Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone with optional theme of That's Tasty - Rubio's is a family favorite for dining!