Papercraft Haven and More

       When it comes to Christmas - do you painstakingly take time in each and every small detail, from the parties, to the gifts, to the cards you send out each year?  I know I don't...and each year, the gifts either aren't finished in time, or they don't get sent, or I just didn't get along with my family enough to be able to send them much of anything - you get what you give or so they say!  This year - I am spending time THIS MONTH in making some of the things I need for that fun event...and planning the cards I want to do, the mini album projects, and the gifts for people...all to make this years Christmas a funner one than last years was!   From a fun framed page that is customized for everyone, to the cards I send out... each item is being made with love, detail and attention!          In this layout, I used darker colors of red and green, with bits of gold for the accent color, and a bit of ivory to make it all pop....

     When you start your All About ME album, at first it will make you feel selfish - why on earth are you going to focus on YOU - when it is about your whole family that you scrapbook?  Well, it's because you don't want to get lost in the process - yes, you have kids...or you have a husband, a job, a life...you have reasons you did what you did, or things you did that stood out from some of the other stuff you did... those are the types of things you want to focus on...  Think of it this way - what would you have wanted to know about your grandmother - that you DON'T know but wish you could know?  That is what you want to focus on - the little things.         So - for this layout, I used a Coluzzle alphabet system to cut out the first layer of words, matting them on another color - then, adding a few simple eyelets to the title for visual interest.  I chose a simple stamp with a heart theme for the background of the paper in ...

     I didn't plan on my kids being 2 years apart, yet I did just that, had my kids two years and two weeks apart.  I wouldn't wish  that on anyone - let me tell you!  Yet now, they are so close it's  not even funny...which I am glad for!  Terra, when Casey was  born, would lay on his toys and not let him play with them...or she would steal his smaller pacifier in order to trade for her much larger ones, then hide them in the couch for use later on!  She was not always nice to him - especially the  first year of his life...  This layout was a reflection of that time period!   I used 3 pictures of times in their life where they are spending time together doing various things!  I used a simple star punch, a bit of ribbon - and the colors in a simple yellow and blue!  I wanted the layout to be fun, this was one of the first times I used the photo slides in a layout such as this - but it was fun all the same!...

Miss Catitude - left side        This is our cat Tygress - fat cat, Miss B...or "Miss C atitude"  as she's known here on this layout!  This was a very easy layout  to do - in a monochromatic pink theme.  Again I used a pack of paper from the Bazzill Basics paper line to use in all pinks!   Bazzill makes it easy to start with just the pack of paper...  I started with the background paper, choosing a darker color out  of the pack.  The lighter pink was used for the border - with a strip of very light pink along the side of that.  For the photos - the main photo on the left side of the layout spread was  matted twice, with a small journaling shape hanging  underneath to talk about Tygress, also matted twice like her photo was!   Miss Catitude - right side      For this layout, the only other color that was used for an accent was silver - which was wrapped around the letters and tag,...

Happy Birthday left side       This layout was one of the funnest layouts I have done and wanted to share it with you!  The "birthday boy" is my youngest son, born on 12/26...he just graduated high school...so this is for HIM!  I had talked to Pebbles in my Pocket one day, and a few days later a package arrived, of tons of fun stickers for me to play with!  At the time I was living in Utah, and tried to get my "scrapbooking" endeavor out...to no avail!  When the package arrived, I knew just what to do with this set of birthday stickers! Supplies:   Cardstock - 2 sheets for the background                  2-3 sheets for the photos  Birthday related stickers Fine tip marker Happy Birthday right side Paper trimmer                                                 ...

     It's that time again.....time to look at the upcoming events  you have in your life for the next 6 weeks...  Whether you have birthday's, weddings, showers, or fun summertime events planned, grab your calendar and start to look at what you need to make, purchase, send off, or what have you!        Our economy really stinks right now, I've been living it for a  long time...and learned a few things along the journey until now.  Take time to look at what you have going on so you can get started on things early - instead of at the last minute...  Start to look at  the calendar for things you need to deal with until the end of July!  This way, you can start getting things you need to - put together, in order to get things completed on time.        My main problem in life - (I am so like my mom) - I procrastinate - and pretty soon, what I "wanted" to do - doesn't get done because I didn't spend...

BBQ left side       Who hasn't spent a day BBQing with the family - spending the day preparing and cooking your meal, for the whole family to sit and enjoy...  When I was living in Utah with my family, mom would spend the day before...or the morning of...cooking the noodles, and then the potatoes and eggs...to make a macaroni salad and a potato salad to eat that day.  Whether we had hamburgers and hot dogs, or steak...depended on the event and the day, or what mom wanted to have made that day!  I know for me, this was one of the best times in my life - spending it with family...when we all got along that is!  I'm afraid if we all had to sit in the same house now, some of us would probably be duking it out instead of acting like humans!    For this 2 page spread, if you have punches if different styles, you can recreate this same layout without much difficulty.    BBQ right side Supplies: Red checkered paper - 1...

A kiss to build a dream on.. .this happens to be one of my favorite layouts that I have done since I started scrapbooking....  This week...it's all about my favorite projects that I have done, my favorite techniques to use, my favorite products I like to scrapbook (and create.....) with, and my favorite blogs and web sites I like to go to!   At the time of making this layout, I wanted to enter it in the Scrapbook Hall of Fame contest which used to be in the Creating Keepsakes Magazine..  However, I had a broken wrist at the time, and I had no clue how I was going to finish up this layout.  With it being my left hand that was broke, I could use it to hold things while I cut with my right hand...I learned to use my Coluzzle Alphabet System during this time period getting the submission ready to go.   I knew with this layout, I wanted it to be something special...like my relationship with Del is.   Though I didn't win the contest, I at least entered!  I...

My youngest two kids are two years and two weeks apart...  My daughter was born on December 11, my son born on December 26th two years later.  I remember going to the doctor for my yearly check up the year after she was born.  I did not want a third child, at least not right then...so it made the doctors visit all that much harder when the test came back positive - especially since I was on the pill!   When I brought him home she hated him...and did until these pictures, from this point on they have always been together and very close.  I am not close to my siblings, the one that is just older than me is 5 years older - totally no closeness there...but these two - it amazes me still how close they really are.   I used a simple star punch as an accent, with a bit of ribbon & buttons under one of my favorite pictures taken.  I used 3 slides, decorated with the same stars and buttons, but added mulberry pap...

     This is one of my favorite layouts of my husband and I...made way before we were even married!  His mom had came down to see us, and ended up taking pictures of us and our kids, 7 of the 8 we had at the time.   I used simple colors, and a simple layout to achieve the look I got!  Lets get started!  Supplies: Cardstock in blue, red, and ivory Alphabet letters Heart punches Buttons Gold embellishments Computer for journaling Directions:  Step one:  Take the ivory cardstock, start the background, trim the red cardstock by 1" on top and side. Place it on top of the ivory sheet using adhesive.  **Tip**  Since you are not going to see the back of the ivory sheet, trim the inside of the sheet to allow you to use that on other items such as the lettering, etc.  Step two:  Take the blue cardstock, trim it 2.5" to go across the top of the two pages, use adhesive to place this down.  Step th...

This is my All About Me title page...  I used a photo that wasn't as good as I'd like it to be, cut into 12 "pieces", with the Colluzzle alphabet for the title itself.  I used rubber stamps to create a few things that are "me", using fun colors of wheat, cream and blue!  Creating your "All About ME" album is a bit different than creating your family album.  You get to use colors that YOU like, things that YOU want...titles that are fitting for YOU and not the "family".  It is also a fun way to scrapbook if you are single, being able to showcase decisions, things you love to do, and basically "who" you are for when you do get married or have kids, or just as a way to leave for future generations to see.    I used this album as a therapy tool, and am so glad I found the Book of Me by Angie Pedersen...She helped me to see a new way of creating books...it isn't just about my family, it's about me too...my memories, my th...

  This layout was a very simple layout to do, using 4 photos, stickers and a bit of color in the ribbon and buttons!   Simple to recreate using any type of themed stickers and photos that match!  In this layout, I wanted to showcase the photos more than the embellishments I used.  The colors were girlish, more to match the stickers, than anything in the photos.  If you look at the flowers, I used buttons in the middle of the flowers, this is especially good if you have a certain color in the sticker that might clash with what you are doing.  I am all for handwritten journaling on your pages instead of computer generated.  Yes, computer generated might "look" better, but you want to have some of your pages have your own words, your own handwriting on them.  This way, future generations can see how you wrote, and what you had to say, instead of reading something from the computer.  I also added a few stickers that were sayings, inst...