Monday, December 29, 2014

Top Ten Blog Hop: Favorite Projects from 2014 + Giveaway!


Hello & welcome to the Top Ten of 2014 Blog Hop where a bunch of us are showcasing our favorite projects from the year!  You should be arriving here from Christine Meyer's blog or if you are just joining in the hop, you can start from the beginning at Juliana Michaels blog.  :)

 I will admit that it was extremely hard for me to narrow it down to just 10 with cards and layouts combined (they're all my babies after all), but I know your time is valuable so I did my best and stuck to 10.  ;)

 Project #1:  A Jillibean Cold Avocado Soup layout (previously shared HERE)

 Project #2:  A Doodlebug Day To Day Father's Dress Shirt Card (previously shared HERE)

Project #3:  A Pebbles Americana 4th of July Layout (previously shared HERE)

Project #4:  A Doodlebug Sugar Coated Cardstock Bow & Gift Box (previously shared HERE)

Project #5: Doodlebug Happy Camper Layout (previously shared HERE)

Project #6: Doodlebug Day To Day Smart Chick shaped card (previously shared HERE)


Project #7: Hello Pumpkin shaped card (previously shared HERE)

Project #8: Doodlebug Friendly Forest Thankful Layout (previously shared HERE)

Project #9: Doodlebug Santa's Workshop Layout (previously shared HERE)

Project #10:  Doodlebug Frosty Friends Layout (previously shared HERE)


And since most of my favorite projects this year involved Doodlebug products, I thought I would put together a prize package for one lucky winner valued at just over $40.  See below for your 4 chances to win.  Contest closes on January 1st and the winner will be announced here on my blog by January 3rd.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Thanks so much for stopping by.  Make sure to check out all the other cool projects being shared in the hop.  By commenting on each of the blogs (by January 4th) you will also be entered to win a $75 gift certificate to Paper Issues.  The winner will be announced on the blog where the comment was made on January 5th.  Your next stop is Kelly Holbrook's Blog. :)
Mendi Yoshikawa (You Are Here)
Rhonda Van Ginkel
Jennifer Haggerty
Cathy Harper




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Saturday, December 27, 2014

A Jillibean Soup Christmas Cheer Chowder Holiday Layout

Hello there!  Did you have a nice Christmas?  Ours was wonderful, but it always seems to go by way too quickly after preparing for it all month.  ;)

I have a layout I created this time last year using Jillibean Soup's Christmas Cheer Chowder that I never got around to sharing so I figured there's no time like the present.  ;)


To form the base of my page, I cut 2.35" circles on my Silhouette from all my favorite patterned papers to create a border around my layout.  Then for my title I cut the word Bright and an over-sized ampersand using a true-type font (which I hand-stitched with embroidery floss for a little oomph) to go with the "merry" die-cut from the collection.


I printed my journaling on the computer by temporarily adhering the die-cut cards to a piece of office paper before running them through my printer.  As a finishing touch I dressed up the word "bright" and my stars with a bit of glossy accents.


I love the touches of pink in this collection and how well it compliments my daughter's girly toys in the photos!  :)

Supplies used (available at Scrapbook.com)


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Thursday, December 25, 2014

Pebbles Home For Christmas Project Life Pocket Style Page

Merry Christmas!!!  I hope you all are having a cozy day enjoying time with loved ones.  

Today I'm sharing one last Christmas themed layout that I created for the Pebbles blog that I did in a pocket page style using their fun Home For Christmas collection.  I must admit that the pocket page portion was assigned to me and not a style I normally would chose for myself so I was at a loss of where to start,  but I discovered THIS wonderful sketch by the talented Allison Davis which gave me a great jumping off point.


To hold my journaling card I turned to one of the Home For Christmas cardstock tag pockets.  It came with the words "To/From" printed on the front which I was able to easily disguise with a little strip of patterned paper. 

 I found that when I was able to think about the pockets as individual projects like little greeting cards, it made everything less intimidating for me.  Following the sketch, I incorporated a tree for my largest pocket which I crafted from a piece of felt.


For my bottom pocket I chose to sting a trio of stockings, popping up the darkest green one so that it would stand out against the similar colored background.

Today's layout features We R Memory Keepers 1/16" Power Punch which I was able to utilize in a couple of different ways on my project.  I used it first to punch tiny holes in my stocking die-cuts so that I could string them with embroidery floss.  I am seriously excited to have a strong punch that punches this smaller sized circle!  I can see this being useful for so many applications and it was perfect for these stockings that were simply too small to use with my Crop-a-Dile tool.


I used it again to create my homemade felt tree embellishment.  I put together a visual tutorial along with 10 simple steps on how you can create one too which you can see on Pebbles blog HERE.  I hope I've inspired you to try making your own personalized embellishments!  I had so much fun making mine!  :)

I will be taking a bit of a blogging break as I enjoy the next few days with my family.  Check back next week for a fun Top Ten Blog Hop I will be participating in.  Hope you have lots of cozy and relaxing days ahead of you!  :)

Supplies (available at Scrapbook.com)

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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Blue & Gold Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Cards

An early Merry Christmas to you!  I'm sure you have every card you plan to make completed at this point, but I had a few last minute cards that I never got around to sharing using blue with metallic gold.  I was definitely on a kick with these colors this year--I just love the way they look together!

Card No. 1:  I used an older Hero Arts Background stamp heat embossed with gold powder and layered with a Silhouette Nativity cutting file by Lori Whitlock.  I borrowed the words from THIS cutting file for my sentiment which I cut from metallic gold cardstock.


Card No. 2:  For this card I heat embossed Lawn Fawn Frosties Snowflakes and Bows & Holly Merry Christmas sentiment stamps in gold again and randomly topped with navy pearls.

The brad that I set in the middle of my bow was originally silver around the edges so to help it match I got it hot with my heat gun and quickly dipped it into my embossing powder jar and then heat it up again to set it.  I love that trick!


Card No. 3:  New Year's makes me think of toasts so I cut two Champagne Glasses from vellum on my Silhouette and added some pearls for bubbles.  For my sentiment I combined THIS and THIS cutting file.  :)


I hope you have a wonderful and cozy evening surrounded by those you love!  I am so thankful for all of you!  :)






Supplies used (available at Scrapbook.com)

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