Pebbles, Inc. Sketch

This week at Pebbles, Inc. I got to work with a great sketch by Becky Fleck. I stuck pretty close to the actual sketch, which you can check out on right here on the Pebbles, Inc. blog. Here's my page:

After the page was finished and photographed, I noticed the unplanned bonus that occurred; the kraft letters appear to be cut out from the white ledger to reveal background. I love when something like that happens which is why as I'm working on a page, I'm usually taking photos of it with my iPhone. I'm not sure why but seeing the page in progress, once step removed, helps me to see details I might not notice otherwise - like big holes in the layout, un-balance or wierd patterns formed by the elements. Anyway, I wish it had actually occurred to me to do the cut outs instead of the stickers - it would have been a cool effect. Next time...Here's a close up of  the kraft letter illustion:

And 2 more details: 

For a full list of all the Pebbles, Inc. goodies used on this page, stop on by the blog. I mixed a few lines here - which is one of many great things about Pebbles paper lines - they are easily mixed.

Hope you had a great week. I'm currently in denial of impending required NYE celebrations....

Some Simple Tags

After a little hiatus, I dove back into my December Daily yesterday. I'm determined to finish this one even though I've got a few gaps where I forgot to take a photo or write any notes. I will share some photos over the weekend but will refrain from torturing you with each and every page - since they are not all show-stoppers. I know you've looked at a lot of December Dailies by now!

I also made a few gift tags yesterday. Have a few events coming up for people who expect craftiness from me so I couldn't disappoint. Didn't have the luxury of time so I kept them on the simple side. For this birthday gift tag, I used some SRM stickers - love that big formal font:

materials: patterned paper: Studio Calico; stickers: SRM, tape: American Crafts; string: Pink Paislee

Here's another that will head out on New Years Eve. I picked up these cute maple veneer tags at Paper Source in Princeton last week. (I could have spent the entire day and an entire paycheck in that store - It's a good thing I live an hour away from that place!) I learned that yes, you can heat emboss onto wood veneer:

materials: veneer tag: Paper Source; sticker: SRM; snowflake stamp: Studio Calico; string: Martha Stewart; embossing powder: Stampin Up' staple: Tim Holtz; ribbon: October Afternoon

And one last one - for a little 'thank you' gift. Again, loving that big formal script font on the sticker:

materials: veneer tag: Paper Source; sticker SRM: ribbon, heart button: Pebbles, Inc.; pin: Tim Holtz

Tomorrow I'll have a Pebbles, Inc page to share then it's time to get ready for the last weekend of the holiday season. Even though I detest NYE, we always wind up going out every year to my in-laws, then usually have people over on New Years Day. Ugh, NYE, blech!

Any other NYE haters out there? I know I can't be the only one...

Ready for the New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We certainly did. I love that my kids want to wear pajamas all day and play with toys. I love that they can!

I don't know about you but I've been looking forward to this day for many weeks; the day after Christmas. The shopping is done, the rushing around is done and we are on the verge of the most 'organizationaly-friendly' time of the year. Lots of purging and putting things back where they belong. I can even manage to get my husband interested in getting things organized. (Maybe I can even convice him to rent us a small dumpster...a girl can dream, right?)Then, there's nothing like that post holiday trip to Ikea for the necessary storage systems. I love it. (this year I've got another Expedit on the list, as well as a new desk chair.)

In the scrapbooking and cardmaking world I say goodbye to my term as an Ella Friend -it's been so much fun working with Ella Publishing over the past year and getting to know the rest of the friends - the high point being when we got to meet up at CHA last summer. I won't ever forget that fun trip. Whoever you new Ella friends are - you are going to have a great time! Giving up one 'Ell' for another...I get to say hello to a new team:

Elle's Studio! Yipee! I'm so thrilled to be on this team and a little nervous, since there are some pretty amazing designers on the list. You can check out the list of talented designers right here. Elle's got some amazing things in store this year and I'm excited to be a part of her team.

Got this shiny new planner as a Christmas gift - can't wait to sit down and fill in all the important info -

I know digital calendars are probably more popular right now but I need to write stuff down on a paper calendar to actually remember to do them. I will never be able to give them up. Definitely another favorite past time for the new year. Love a fresh calendar!

Tomorrow I have my first appointment at a local college where I plan to start courses this winter. Need to return to obtain some necessary and long overdue work-related digital drawing skills. Excited to go back to being a student but a little worried about being the 'old' student. Hopefully, there will be some other 'returning' students there with me!

How about you - are you happy we are on the other side of the 25th?

Midight Rooster Projects

I've got my last 2 Midnight Rooster projects today. I used the December Papermint Mocha kit to the point where all I have left is a small envelope of scrap. I love when that happens! This kit had everything I liked, vintage papers, graphic papers, paper with type on it, small letter stickers, kraft, fabric, tags....without further ado, here they are:

This card features a cool little handmade embellishment supplied by Tobi - a little scalloped banner. I was feeling a little Christmasy so I made it into a wreath shape:  

I stapled on some Studio Calico butterflies and curved the sentiment banner for some dimension:

 I can't thank Tobi enough for letting me guest design with one of her gorgeous kits! If you are feeling the need for a little holiday treat, stop by her shop and pick one up. You will not be disappointed!

Now, it's back to baking for me. The new oven went in on Thursday night and has been very busy ever since. It's going to be a small cookie bakefest this year, but it will do. If you are celebrating, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Pebbles, Inc. Christmas Cards

All week Pebbles, Inc. is sharing some fun holiday cards on the blog. Today I've got my quick and easy holiday contribution:

I knew I wanted the type to be the focal point on these cards and loved how the kraft letter stickers mixed with the red cursive ones - so I kept the remainder of embellishment to a minimum. The striped patterned paper served as a background to smooth white cardstock. I love using diagonal stripes like this because they look the same on all 4 sides of the card. (Did you ever do this with a regular stripe and it only works on the sides? That's why diagonals are best.) Here are some close ups...for this card I used a rub on in place of the red font - I used the felt embellishments on all 3 cards:

the silver stitching adds a little bling and a nice frame to the graphic elements:

Here's the one that started it all - was dying to use that felt holly:

For a list of my supplies, all Pebbles, Inc. from the Welcome Christmas collection, except the white cardstock - stop by the blog. Great card making inspiration there!

So, are you ready for the big day? For us, the Eve is when we entertain so I'm starting to get a little nervous. With a brand new oven in place, I'm ready for the cooking to begin. Luckily, I'm done with work now until next week. There is much to do - I hope you are all enjoying the season!

More Midnight Rooster Projects

Did I mention I killed that Midnight Rooster kit? I know it was my job this month to kill it but it was really easy to do! Here are 2 more of my projects - the mini album:

This is small - a little larger than a wallet sized photo. I made it from a trading card page protector sheet - cut into 3 strips and sew together to make an accordian album: 

The album documents a day out with co-workers last year, on our annual holiday outing. Last year happened to be a trip to Clinton, NJ - one of the most charming places in New Jersey. Back in the day I actually worked in Clinton and took all that charm for granted. I'm glad I got to go back as a tourist! At Christmas, it's like stepping into a Currier and Ives image. 

 here's the back:

I mentioned yesterday that Tobi includes some adorable handmade embellishments - here's a little item I made with a felt & fabric item that was in the kit:

It's a little wallet to hold straight pins - it's tiny, about 3" x 2" wide: 

I'll be back tomorrow with my last 2 projects and on Thursday I'll have some Pebbles, Inc. cards to share.

Still no oven. Repair guy is coming today and hopefully will tell us it's an easy fix. Otherwise our Christmas Eve feast will be a pizza party this year!

Midnight Rooster 'Paper' mint Mocha

'I'm happy today to share some of the projects I made for Midnight Rooster. What a great time I had working with this month's kit 'Paper' mint Mocha - now available for purchase. I really love these kits and was so excited & honored I got to be a part of the reveal. Besides a great mix of paper and embellishments, Tobi includes some adorable handmade embellishments - this month they came packaged in glassine envelopes that were zig zag stitched closed. I love details like that!
Here's a photo from when I opened up the kit - you can see the embellishment envelope:

You can also see those Pink Paislee Mistable trims...one of my all time favorite supplies ever! Check out the full kit contents at the Midnight Rooster Shop. Here are 2 of the layouts I made:

One of the handmade embellishments is the tag - it has a strip of fabric stitched onto the lower edge. There was also a piece of fabric included with this kit, as well. I used it to make that little flower on the tag. (I added the button from my stash.)

For this page, I used the Pink Paislee Wood Shop letters - first I misted them with red ink (Mister Huey, Schoolhouse), then went over them with some Jenni Bowlin ink (Cough Syrup). I stacked them up for dimension onto another one of those cute handmade tags:

Here's the close up - I like that the letters vary in color slightly:

To make those circles in the background I used a circle die to cut a few of the papers. I cut them apart, mixed them up, then pieced them back together. I'll post the rest of the projects later in the week - you can also check out the Midnight Rooster Flickr group to see the rest of them and the work of the design team, as well. Thanks so much to Tobi and the design team for letting me play along with them this month!

So..I was really bummed yesterday when I went to preheat my oven for "Bakefest 2011" only to discover it was broken. I'm trying to grasp the reality that this might be the first Christmas I haven't baked cookies since 1993. It's not an easy thing to get my head around. Hopefully the oven will get fixed in time to make one or two batches.
Hope you had a great weekend!

Sunday At The Studio

What a difference a week makes. As of today, I'm 90% done with my shopping, which is such a relief. Today I dive into the cookie baking. I'm even managing to keep up with my December Daily, which I'll share more of this week. Finally, it feels like Christmas to me!

This week at The Studio, Jules gave us another holiday challenge: make a page about our favorite gift, given or received. I knew I'd make a page about the little blue box...

That box contained my engagement ring and came with a proposal. I call it the 'gift that changed everything' because it did.  We were married and expecting our first child by the following Christmas.

I used the December Studio Calico kit & an add-on, along with some October Afternoon items I picked up to go with it. I stamped the 'let love grow' onto the backside of one of those wood tags by MME. The stamp is Studio Calico. Love that typewriter font.

Kept it simple since it's getting a little hectic around here. I hope you'll stop by the Studio Challenges and check out what the design team did. It was a fun challenge and the gallery reflects that! There's an awesome prize up for grabs this month so I hope you'll play along with us!

Time to preheat the oven - hope you have a great day!

A few more sneaks...

A few more Midnight Rooster sneaks today - I will reveal my full projects in a few days when the December kit is revealed. Can't wait! In the meantime.....

All I have left of this kit is a handful of scraps. It was that good!

How horrible is it that I have not yet taken our holiday card photo? Forget the ordering of the cards...the photo doesn't even exist yet. How about that I've barely dented the Christmas lists for my kids? Did I mention I'm having a hard time with the holiday this year? Maybe I know subconsciously that this is probably the last Christmas my daughter will fully believe in Santa and I'm just not dealing with it that well.
Ok, don't want to be a holiday downer....somehow I still seem to be making progress on The December Daily. I hope you are in better shape than I am but if you need or want to commiserate - feel free to comment away!

Guest Designing for Midnight Rooster

When I got the email from Tobi to be the guest designer for Midnight Rooster I was extremely excited. If you are not familiar - Midnight Rooster is a kit club and Tobi sure knows how to mix the product each month. She also includes some great little exclusive handmade embellishments. The kits are gorgeous!

Today I've got a little sneak peak of some projects I made with the gorgeous, soon to be revealed, December kit:

I spy some Crate, Pink Paislee and Studio Calico here!

You can check out some more sneaks on the Midnight Rooster blog this week!
Hope you had a good weekend. They go by so fast. I did accomplish a few of the items on my list but not nearly as many as I hoped. How about you - all ready for the season?

Winner and losers

Sorry I’m a little late posting my Ella Publishing blog hop winner – without any further delay, the winner of a $10 Ella Publishing gift card, which can be used to download any title from the Ella library is…

Commenter # 17, goldenblind221 a.k.a. Jacelyn. Congratulations!! Email me at valfm66@yahoo.com and I will send you a download code!

And now for a loser of sorts – a card rejected from a recent publication call. (happy to say at least 1 of the cards I made for the call did make the cut - which totally made my day). I used some Pebbles, Inc. Fresh Goods for this project and used a format similar to a pieced flower card I made about a year ago:

Love how the patterns in this line mix together. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

Today is crazy. I absolutely, positively need to finish my holiday decorating and put the boxes away! I also need to take the photo for our Christmas card (I always leave this to the very list minute). Also guess I should start doing some shopping - trying not to freak out about how far behind I am. Oh, and the cookie baking...can't forget about that either! Do you have all kinds of crazy to-do lists going too?

Stop by tomorrow when I start sneaking some projects I made for a really fun guest designing gig!

Some more December Daily

Feels like everyone is doing a December Daily this year. I'm seeing so much fantastic inspiration all over the web. I've been working on mine and managing somehow to keep up. Thought I'd share a few more layouts with you - from days 2-7. Here we go...Day 2 - is petty straighforward. Trying to stick with one photo per day so it doesn't feel so overwhelming...

Day 3 & 4 - a few things going on here:  

On day 3 I used the journaling sheet to make a little sleeve to hold a photo and the program from a puppet show we attended:

 On day 4 I stitched down a small photo sleeve to add a detail shot of my kids decorating the tree:

Day 4 is continued here as we had an unexpected visit to Santa which needed documenting (this is why I never number the pages first). Day 5 was a Monday with not much going on so I snapped this photo (at right) of Chris in the morning as soon as he found our magic elf:

Here's day 6 and 7 - craft day at school so I took a photo of Christopher's handiwork. 7th was quiet so I used the page to document our favorite holiday movies:

Happily, my Studio Calico box arrived on Wednesday with a bunch of Crate holiday product so I've been adding that in with my Elle's kit, along with some SRM stickers and Martha Stewart paper tape. Those notebook pages are Jenni Bowlin Studio and the Polaroid stamp is Studio Calico.

Still a little time to enter to win a copy of the new Ella Publishing eBook 31 Thank Yous - just add your comment on my post from Monday. I'm going to pick my winner tonight! Good luck.
TGIF!

The December Daily, So Far

Plugging away on the December Daily. I try to make it super simple but it just seems to take on a mind of it's own. I'll let the photo's do the talking...finally wrapped up the cover:

The book is 6 x 6 and relies heavily on my Elle's Studio Tis' The Season kit. I picked up some pre-cut squares of chipboard to make the front and back covers. Here's the opening layout. I took a tip from Ella Friend and all-around amazing scrapbooker Jenni Hufford and started with a little of November. Mainly because my daughter had a cookie-baking Brownie meeting on November 30th that resulted in this adorable illustrated cookie bag. I didn't have an actual page for it so I folded it up and tucked it into the strings from the front cover.  I paperclipped the label and date right onto the bag. The "Christmas 2011" die cut is from my Elle's Studio kit and is sewn onto a clear transparency (Hambly). 

Before I even start - my proposed 'format' is already broken here on Day 1! See - it's got a mind of it's own!  I wanted to include a chunk of the box from my kid's advent calendar, couldn't figure out how to put it on my pre-made pages - so I had to make it into a page of its own. I added the journaling on a note pad sheet, formatted the same way as my base pages:

Here are my base pages. I only made about 10 of these because I know what happened on Day 1 is bound to happen again. No point in wasting pages. These are reinforced where the holes will be punched with some paper tape (Tim Holtz) and silver stitching (I use a lot of silver thread at Christmas!). One side is printed, the other typically a solid (ivory or kraft). Again, the papers are all from my Elle's Studio kit.

I'll post so more pages tomorrow!

I was up late last night making cards for a Paper Crafts call. Thank goodness Utah is in a time zone 3 hours behind NJ because the crafty mojo did not kick in until I had already left for work yesterday morning. I even took the photos in the dark - and they weren't that bad. Hopefully the editors at the magazine will agree. 

Oh - there's still time to win the Ella Publishing eBook - just leave a comment on my post from yesterday - you have until Thursday night! 

Ella Friends Holiday Card Blog Hop

Hello! If you've arrived from Jennifer's blog, thanks for joining in on our blog hop...
As you may already know, in celebration of the release of Ella Publishing's newest eBook 31 Thank You Cards, and keeping in mind the holidays are upon us, the Ella Friends are hosting a holiday card blog hop!

If you've lost your way, here is the hopping order:

Brenda
Monika
Donna
Francine
Jenni
Jennifer
Valerie (you are here!)
Keshet
Mary Jo
Diana

The very talented Brenda Johnston organized us and challenged us to make a holiday cards inspired by this new book. Just in time for your holiday card making - I'm sure this hop will get the creative juices flowing! Here's mine (one of many inspired by this book) inspired by a card on page 16 by Kristina Werner - the prompt: 'make an eye-catching accent cluster'

The 'accent cluster' is my go-to technique, usually surrounded or contained in some kind of shape - in this case a stamped image of a Polaroid-style frame. Here's a close up: 

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper, stickers: American Crafts; stamp: Studio Calico; ink: Jenni Bowlin Studio

If you have the card making phobia, or are just stuck in a crafty rut, this book can help! Leave a comment here telling me how many handmade cards you plan to send this year for the holidays and you will be entered to win your own copy of this handy & informative eBook! (I'll draw a random winner on Friday!)

Next stop is fellow Jersey girl Keshet. Love her fun & colorful style!

I'm so grateful we had a few extra months to enjoy being part of this great team. I can't wait to hear who the new Ella Friends are. Whoever you are, you are in for one fun year working with talented people!
Okay, now go hop!