Step-by-step with JessicaT

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful 2012, and that 2013 is even better :-)

Today I have a little step-by-step to show you, and then my final layout for 2012.

Materials used: a 4 inch square of net, a 1 inch cardstock circle base, and some matching thread (and a needle).

Stitch along one edge of the net square. Then pull it in tight and knot it. Do the same on the other end.

Stitch one end of the net to the centre of the circle base. Make sure it is nice and firm, so it does not turn. Twist the net as shown.

Twist the net around the centre piece that is stitched to the centre of the card. Do a little bit at a time, and stitch it down as you go. Stitch the tail of the net under slightly, so it is tidy when it is finished.

Have a play around with other materials using the same concept.

This trim had a pompom on the end, so I twisted the cord around the pompom. I stitched directly through the centre, and did the same on the other side. This one can be stitched onto the card base, or attached straight onto your project.

And now a layout showing these embellishments.

Playtime by JessicaT

Products used - Pink Paislee Prairie Hill patterned paper and accolade sticker; Bazzill Cinder cardstock; Glitz Designs trim; Prima Marketing buttons; Kaisercraft pearls and rhinestones; chipboard alphas coloured with Tattered Angels Pain Jane Aqua mist; white pen, foam tape.

I have thoroughly enjoyed being a guest designer for Scrappin' Patch for 2012. I hope you have enjoyed seeing my projects throughout the year as much as I have enjoyed making and showing them to everyone.

Have a safe and happy new year.

JessicaT

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Prairie Hill Inspiration with JessicaT

It's JessicaT back with you again today, with my second installment of Pink Paislee Prairie Hill layouts.

I trust everyone had a fantastic Christmas, spent with family and friends.

This time around I have again used my recently reprinted baby photos which are printed as is with no retouching. The colours are muted, the photos are not perfect, but that is how they were originally so I wanted them to remain that way. And this collection matches them beautifully.

Today I have two layouts to show you, both entirely different. And both could easily be made with small scraps, when you've finished other layouts and have a few bits left over.

1988 by JessicaT

Products used - Pink Paislee Prairie Hill patterned paper; Bazzill Yam cardstock; Kaisercraft black pearls; number rub-ons, black pen, foam tape.

All Smiles at 4 Months by JessicaT

Products used - Pink Paislee Prairie Hill patterned paper and accolade sticker; Bazzill Sprout cardstock; Glitz Designs trim; Kaisercraft Hunt & Gather jewels and silver rhinestones; alpha stickers, foam tape, red pen, thread.

I have one last post for you on December 31st, showing the last of my Prairie Hill patterned paper, Glitz Designs trim and Prima Marketing buttons.

JessicaT

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Project Life 2013

I hope you all had a lovely relaxing Christmas Day and are probably like us in spending today recovering from all the excess food and having a big tidy up :).  We are also on the countdown to a new year and with that comes the start of a new year for Project Life.  I am just going to show you what I have done for the start of a new album.

I am going it alone for next year with no kit and using instead the Simple Stories Summer Fresh range as my base - love all the primary colours of red, blue, yellow and green.  Will also be using lots of scraps and other things from my stash.   I have premade my month cards although have left out December as will wait and see what new ranges are out then.

The journalling cards are a mostly a mix from Echo Park and Simple Stories.  I have used different ranges from both these companies and added in stickers from MME and Snap as well as washi tape.  The possibilities are endless in decorating the journalling cards and of course there are cards which really need no extras like the bingo and word cards.  I wanted to keep it more simple for 2013.  To make it easier I have premade a lot of cards and also plan to do more journalling actually on the photos.

My title page for 2013 is very simple and I like to include a photo of each of us including the dog.  Even though my eldest daughter is no longer living at home she still contributes to the album and loves looking through it to see what the rest of us have been doing.

And finally, the first page all set up ready to go.  I'm not one to go ahead and place a whole heap of journalling cards into the album as I prefer to wait and see what photos I have and frequently those 3x4 spots end up holding a photo rather than the journalling.  

So, there you have it.  With only a week of December left to finish off this years album, am happy to be a little bit ahead in starting for 2013.  The main thing is there are no right or wrong ways to document your memories and look forward to seeing lots of new title pages under way whichever way you do it. :)

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DT Inspiration - Bo Bunny Detour.

This is my last post for 2012!  Gosh, hasn't this year just flown by... I hope you have finished all your Christmas shopping and you are relaxing and enjoying a nice holiday break.

I have my last layout to share with you using the Bo Bunny Detour Range - it honestly was the perfect set of papers to do a layout on our major GPS fail when it sent us on a back road that was closed on our road trip from Brisbane to Sydney a couple of years ago now!

This layout is all about recording the memory... the road we ended up on was just horrendous and almost completely washed out in places.  It was one of those 'should we believe the GPS' moments or should we trust our gut instinct and not go the way it said we should. Over an hour round trip later... we shouldn't have trusted the GPS at all.   I created a border around my Kraft cardstock using the globetrotting patterned paper.  I then accented my photos using the chipboard pieces, fussy cut out the detour sign and finished off with some shipping tags which I just love for journalling.  

I have really enjoyed using the Bo Bunny Detour Range.  If you have some travel photos to scrapbook it is definitely one to have a look at in the shop!  

That's all from me for the year... I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a relaxing New Year!

//Michelle

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Prairie Hill Inspiration with JessicaT

Happy Holidays to everyone!

It's JessicaT back with you today, and today I have some layouts to show you using the Pink Paislee Prairie Hill collection. I recently had some of my baby photos reprinted for myself, and the untouched photos perfectly match the muted tones of this collection.

'Siblings' Layout by JessicaT

Products used- Pink Paislee Prairie Hill patterned paper; Bazzill Tawny Light cardstock; Kaisercraft plywood tree; Tattered Angels Plain Jane Faded Yellow mist; mini alpha stickers; red pen; foam tape.

 

'All 3' Layout by JessicaT 

Products used - Pink Paislee Prairie Hill patterned paper and accolade sticker; Prima Marketing buttons; Glitz design trim; Kaisercraft plywood tree; Kaisercraft Hunt & Gather Jewels; alpha and number rub-ons; black and red pens.

'Dad with his 3 kids' Layout by JessicaT

Products used - Pink Paislee Prairie Hill patterned papers and accolade sticker; cardstock; Prima Marketing buttons; Kaisercraft plywood tree and Hunt & Gather jewels; alphas; black pen; foam tape.

I will have two more posts showing more layouts using the Pink Paislee Prairie Hill collection, Prima Marketing buttons and Glitz Designs trim before the end of the year.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas, and a safe and happy New Year.

JessicaT

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Altering Christmas Ornaments

Hi Everyone!

This is my final post for 2012, I can't believe how fast this last month has gone, not to mention the entire year! Im sure I say that every year :) but its true!  Ive still got a few things to sort for Christmas Day, but not much really, we're having the whole family at our place this year, and a new Great-Nephew to celebrate his first Christmas makes it all the more special.

When I was thinking about what I could make for my blog post this month I was wanting something simple, time was of the essence! And then I was looking at the Christmas baubles as I was putting up the tree and thought "well you're a bit boring lets spice you up!". Nothing fancy, just some left over bits of Prima bling and   an odd flower I had left over and they were done.  The new Prima bling thats in the shop will be perfect for bauble decorating, with the three different flourishes in a pack they're the perfect size and you could do three baubles from one pack, cheap as chips! :)

Heres three Ive done:

Since Ive made these ones, Ive been thinking of other ideas. You could change they're colour by using alcohol inks or distress inks, now that could look funky! Might have to squeeze some playtime in and give that a go!

Merry Christmas Everyone!
Thanks for popping by, Megan

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December Daily

This year I decided to do another December Daily  – it’s a photo a day for each day of December and usually made into a mini album.  However, as I’m doing Project Life I didn’t want to double up on my photos making a separate album so have used one of the WRMK page protectors packs with four 6x6 pockets and will incorporate it into the Project Life album at the back.  I am already documenting the everyday with all the normal December busy-ness so am doing my December Daily pages about our naughty elf, Elfie and all the mischief she is getting up to until Christmas Day.  If, at a later stage I want to make these wee layouts into a separate album then all I have to do is adhere them to chipboard, make a cover and bind it all together.

I have used the My Minds Eye All is Bright collection, some matching washi tape and a few doilies and string from my stash.  You could use any Christmas collection you like if you wanted to keep the same look throughout the album. 

So heres Elfies December Daily – very simple with lots of hidden tags, handwritten journaling, with a little bit of gesso, ink and Crafters Workshop templates.

Am not quite up to date as need to brave the roads, parking and the shopping centre to get more photos printed off.  My pages are all premade so that all I have to do is add the photos, a number for the date, other bits and bobs if needed and the journaling.  Also makes it stressfree and more achievable in actually getting it finished at this busy time of year.

I hope this has given you some inspiration for something a little different if you are thinking about a December Daily album. J

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A DIY Christmas Decoration

Hi everyone,

Tonight I am going to share with you a cute Christmas decoration that is super easy to make.  A few years ago I started a Christmas tradition where each child gets a new Christmas decoration for the tree with the idea that when they leave home they have lots of decorations to take with them to share on their family's Christmas tree.  This year I hadn't really gotten around to going out and getting each child a new decoration when I came across this cute tutorial by Lillyella to make Christmas decorations out of old holiday cards.  I thought it would be super easy to adapt this and use up some of my Christmas paper stash instead of cards and each child could have their own homemade decoration this year. 

One of the finished decorations on the tree!

To make one of these decorations you will need - 

• 20 circles.   I used a circle punch to punch out my circles.  The larger the circle the bigger the decoration will be.
• You need an equilateral triangle, the size of your circles.  Lillyella has templates you can print out  that fits into 1", 1.5" and 2" circles here.  Unfortunately, my circle punch was an odd size so I just drew an equilateral triangle and made my own template pretty easily.  Create your template on a piece of cardstock so it is easy to trace around.
• A bone folder and ruler
• Glue - I used Henzo Quick Dry Adhesive which is AMAZING glue. 
• Twine or Ribbon to create the hanging part of the ornament.

To make the decoration: 

Firstly, punch out your 20 circles from your patterned paper.  I found that having 5 different patterns worked really well as it gave you variety without getting two matching papers joined together when the decoration is finished.  

Then using your equilateral triangle template - score a triangle shape onto the back of each circle.  The scored line needs to be on the back especially if you are marking it with pencil as you don't want to see this on the finished decoration.  Note, I didn't bother using a pencil as I found it was just easier to skip straight to the scoring stage.  When scoring your triangle onto the circle, make a note (I used a little T) to indicate the top point of the triangle.  This is useful later when assembling the decoration. 

Using the above score lines, fold the three lines up so that the reverse side (with the pencil lines is on the inside and hidden)

Next, adhere 5 circles together so that the top points of the equilateral triangle are all pointing together.  Before the glue dries, loop a piece of twine through the top points and tie a knot.  This forms the top of the decoration.  (as shown) 

Repeat above step with another 5 circles to create the bottom half of the decoration (without the twine)

Glue the last 10 circles side by side with the top points in opposite ends and then join them together to form the middle part of the decoration.  (as shown) 

To finish the decoration - glue the three pieces together!

These look really amazing on the tree.  I am just loving the handmade look and I may well start a new tradition of making each child a Christmas tree decoration instead of buying one.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope I have inspired you to make your own Christmas decoration!!

//Michelle 

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Project Life/Photo Freedom

This month is my turn as Guest Designer and I have been asked to show you a little about Project Life/Photo Freedom.  This is my third year of doing Project Life and I think I have a system that works for me but the main to remember is that there is no right or wrong way to do this.  The Photo Freedom logo is  Your Photos. Your Story. Your Way.  I do not take a photo a day but take a monthly approach with one title card at the beginning of each month and then however many photos/stories its takes.  I also include a lot of other bits and pieces instead of photos, such as business cards, receipts and newspaper articles etc

Here are my pages for December using Photo Freedoms Dear Santa.  The insert is a Memorology one from AmericanCrafts.  This year I have mixed up my journal cards with those from Simple Stories,  Smash, Echo Park and OctoberAfternoon.  More and more companies are including  journaling/bingo card papers with their ranges so it is very easy to mix and match.  The little details on the cards are from lots of different manufacturers using up my older stash as well as the newer Simple Stories Snap stickers Icons and Labels.  

 

I have used a Photo Freedom page protector to show the newspaper article and on the back side is a leaflet we got for my husbands work picnic.  This is designed for the 6x12 journalling papers within the Echo Park Photo Freedom ranges but works just as well for any long memorabilia.

Another favourite are the We Are Memory Keepers page protectors and I have used the one with nine squares of 4x4 to show off all our animal photos.   The stickers on these photos are from the Snap Stickers Icons.

So, with Project Life/Photo Freedom anything goes, but it is certainly made a lot easier with the likes of the kits all ready to just add your photos and from there you can make it as simple or busy as you like. J

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