December Daily with Echo Park (Season's Greetings)

Hi Everyone – Today I am sharing my "December Daily" album, created using a combination of the Echo Park Season's Greetings paper and digital collections.  First of all I should tell you I had to google to find out what a December Daily was – and then when I saw some of the amazing examples online – I was totally intimidated at the thought of creating one!

What I decided to do was take a little album I had started working on (seen here) and expand it into a Daily Journal.  

December this year is going to be exceptionally busy so I have decided to just have a little space where I can write each day and easily just slot a photograph in when I take one of something special.

To expand my existing book, I created some numbers from the Season’s Greetings Alphas and Borders and added them to each page. To create additional pages I printed some journaling tags from the Season’s Greetings Element Pack.

I decided to create a few fold out pages within the book to allow for a series of photos to be added. This page with the Santa is for Christmas Eve where I hope to get some great photos of the kids leaving snacks for Santa!

At the beginning of the book I have added in a few of my favorite photos from the last couple of years to get me started and to show how the pages fold out.

I hope this shows that a December Daily album can be really simply put together. I see mine as a personal and intimate record of the month – just for me to look at and remember in the future.

Here are a few more pages ready and waiting to go!

I hope this inspires you to create an album for yourself. You can always just make a simple little book and write it it each day.

Check my post here for a tutorial on how to quickly make the journals below using scraps of scrapbook paper and regular copier paper like these shown below using Holly Jolly Christmas.

Please leave a comment with any questions :-)

Lowri

I am linking up this project to these websites here.

Christmas Mini & Notebooks w/ Tutorial

Hi Everyone 

I am Guest Designing this month for The Paper Bakery Kit Club and I wanted to share some notebooks and a mini-album I made with their fabulous November Add-On Kit - "Baby it's Cold Outside".  

All the papers are from the Holly Jolly Christmas Collection from Echo Park and the tutorial for creating all the books can be seen at the bottom of the post.

Christmas Wishes Mini Album

In the kit were five gorgeous little envelopes so I began by cutting a piece of paper to fit inside each one. I have written each person's Christmas wishes for 2011 on the inserts.

Inside the front page I am going to write my New Year Resolutions on the vintage "Statement" page that came with the kit.

Normally I am not a big fan of mini-letters as they never seem to line up - but these October Afternoon letters are perfectly printed so they look really neat.

Christmas Notebooks

These were created with the same technique as the album (see below) except I have used plain copier paper to make the pages. I am going to use them to keep all my Christmas Lists - and this year all my family are coming from the UK so there are a lot of lists! This is an great way to use up scraps of patterned paper.

Paper Album Tutorial

1. Take a piece of 12”x12” paper
2. Trim off four inches from one side, leaving 1 piece 12”x8” and 1 piece 12”x4”
3. Take the 12”x8” piece and fold in half length ways and width ways
4. Fold up the two shorter sides to meet in the middle, making 8 segments all  3”x4”
5. Using a sharp knife – make a cut as shown through the paper
6. Fold the paper at the remaining intact fold and using the folds as a guide create a book!
7. Glue pages together as shown at a, b and c to create 3 pages of double thickness paper and 2 covers of single thickness
8. Take your remaining 12x4” piece and glue to one side of the book
9. Turn book over and crease at the spine of the book firmly before gluing the other side of the cover. This will ensure a neat finish and mean there is enough paper over the spine to allow the book to open freely
10. Trim off the excess paper from the cover with a sharp knife
11. Your book is complete and ready to decorate
12. IDEAS – you can round the corners, or before gluing the centre pages together, cut out a shape using a die cutting machine or punch and place acetate between the pages for a window.

Let me know if you have any question by leaving a comment :-)

Lowri :-) 

I am linking up this project to these websites here.

Paper Covered Lids - Gift Idea & Tutorial

Hi Everyone

I am showing this tutorial as Christmas is coming and this is a super simple way to jazz up plain jars for easy gifts. You can use any scraps of scrapbook paper and they look really neat when finished!

You can see another example on my Neighbor gift post here.

If you need to keep a good seal on the lid for your jars (for example if they contain perishable food) simply cut the paper a little smaller and then use a sticker or ribbon to hide the join without compromising the seal. (Take a look at the tutorial below and all will become clear!)

Covered Lids Tutorial

1. Cut a circle of paper (see Note* below for sizing information)
2. Trace rim onto reverse of paper
3. Make cuts as shown ¼” apart to centre line
4. Using mod-podge, glue lid to paper
5. Glue strips, one at a time overlapping as you go round
6. Seal with 2 coats of mod podge all over
   
   Note*
   Cut circle to equal diameter of lid PLUS 2 x height of rim PLUS 1.5cm

I would love for you to link back here if you give this a go and please post a comment with any questions
Lowri :-)

I am linking up this project to these websites here.

Echo Park Cards & The Paper Bakery!

Hi Everyone 

I am Guest Designing this month for The Paper Bakery Kit Club and I wanted to share some cards and tags I made with their fabulous November Add-On Kit - "Baby it's Cold Outside".  Sarah has also just released a "Home for the Holidays" Limited Edition Kit which looks great - so please take a look here.

The papers forming the base of the kit were from the Holly Jolly Christmas Collection from Echo Park. 

I have used the Postage Stamps Spellbinders to create these cards - making sure that one edge of the card was inside the die - leaving a seam to create a hinge for the card. I then cut paper using the same die to lay over the top as a base and using stickers from the Holly Jolly Christmas Element Stickers Sheet to complete the decoration, I then repeated the same process for the mini-gift tags.

These are almost embarrassingly simple but the Echo Park papers are so lovely - they are really all the decoration that is needed!

Lowri :-)

I am linking up this project to these websites here.

Christmas Decor Frame (Kaisercraft)

Hi Everyone

I have another project using the Merry Medley Collection from Kaisercraft. This collection is so bright and fun - perfect for Christmas projects and decor here down under when the sun is shining and many people have never seen snow!

I have used an 8x8 frame from Dusty Attic as a base and have used white ink to break up the stark wooden surface a little.

I have then simply added some patterned paper to the background of each mini-frame and decorated the frames with the stickers from the Goodies sticker sheet. I have used rhinestones to accent and highlight various elements in the paper.

These projects are super-quick to come together as the frame needs no preparation at all. Here is another frame I did with Bo Bunny Papers - this time I painted the frame but you can certainly leave it raw if you like. I made this frame as a prize for a lady who won a blog contest of mine and whose son was entering the marines.  See the complete post here.

Please post a comment if you have any questions.

Lowri :-)

I am linking up this project to these websites here.

Christmas Mini (Kaisercraft Merry Medley)

Hi Everyone 

Today I am sharing the first of my projects using the wonderful Merry Medley Collection from Kaisercraft. 

This has definitely been one of my favorite Christmas releases this season and its wonderfully fresh colors mean it is also suitable for non-Christmas themed projects too. This Bauble Tag album is perfect for showing off some Christmas photos, recipes, memories or a mixture of all three!

This project is now in the Artfull Crafts shop and we will be making up some kits too - so drop in and take a look to see how simply it can be made.

Projects like this can easily be completed in one evening in front of the TV  - think husband watching the rugby/football/cricket/Rambo movie, you gluing and cutting!!

Please post a comment with any questions. 

Lowri 

I am linking up this project to these websites here.

Bo Bunny "Puzzle Pieces" Mini (Gabrielle Collection)

Hi Everyone

I recently created two of these little mini albums using the Bo Bunny Gabrielle Collection - one for my mother and one for my mother-in-law.

The puzzle piece pages make it so easy to create an album as they are already covered in the coordinating paper.

Each page has a black and white photo and a couple of simple embellishments.

All the photos were taken on a walk we did one afternoon earlier in this year - and I think they provide a great snapshot into our lives on that day!

I love these quick, easy and small projects. I could e-mail these photos to my family, maybe even print them out and mail them BUT  a little effort put into creating a small album like this really makes a special gift for someone so dig into your scrapbook stash and get making some Christmas pressies!

Lowri :-)

I am linking up this project to these websites here.

Heritage Frame with Madame Boutique

Hi Everyone 

I wanted to share this project we completed at the recent Kaisercraft retailers day using one of their November release Collections - Madame Boutique. This collection is not my normal go-to style of papers, but it just goes to show that sometimes, using products outside of your normal comfort zone can yield some pretty good results!

The project using the the Kaisercraft Bracket Frame was just perfect for this lovely photo of my middle son and his great-grandmother. They shared a birthday and she just adored him with his bright ginger hair and his chubby cheeks! She died a couple of years ago and I recently gave the frame to my mother-in-law as a gift - let's just say there were a couple of tears shed.

I made the rolled lace flower using Kaisercraft lace and the technique shown below and added a pearl brad in the centre.

There is a huge variety of cut-outs in these new Collectables packs from Kaisercraft.

The value is unbelievable and each pack includes over 50 die-cuts including tagsand a good variety of both large and small pieces - perfect for card-makers and scrapbookers alike.

This gorgeous bird is from the new flourish packs LINK from Kaisercraft. I have inked round the edges with Distress Ink for an aged look.

This collection is one that is so versatile as it co-ordinates so well with so many other products in the Kaisercraft range.

Rolled Lace Flower Tutorial

1. Cut or punch a circle of paper the same colour as your lace
2. Make it super sticky all over(I used glue dots but you can use double sided tape or even better - a Cosmo Cricket Gluber!)
3. Starting at centre, roll your lace in a circle, twisting as you go
4. Press down firmly to ensure lace sticks to glue
5. Be sure to roll tightly as you get to the end and secure the end underneath with another glue dot
6. You can now decorate as you choose!

This is one of those projects that looks impressive -but is easily completed in 2-3 hours. 

Please post a comment with any questions. 

Lowri 

I am linking up this project to these websites here.