Papercraft Haven and More

Front cover of the finished album Page 2 and 3       Welcome to my first ever Memories in Tyme Christmas in July blog hop!!!   After going to my first blog hop recently, I knew I needed to host my own hop this month for people to start to look at Christmas!  The economy is hard right now, what better way to save money by making wonderful things for your friends and family instead of spending a ton of money you don’t have!  Plus if you spend a bit of time and money each month, things will not be so hard at the end!  Everyone has been working really hard on things this month, and we all hope you enjoy all the fun ideas we are sharing with you!!       This is the beginning of the hop,  so if you are starting here - make sure to check out everyone else's projects and blogs!  Page 4 and 5 Page 6 and 7 Participants are: Lynda  -  http://memoriesintyme.blogspot.com/ Kimmarie...

      There are many things you can do this year to make this Christmas a good one...just start doing things NOW!  One project I have been working on is my grandma's recipe's...  This album is truly a work from the heart, to be given to my children in a book form for Christmas this year.  As I am done with it - a CD will be sent to my cousins for them to do what they want to with them - whether they make an album themselves, or they can have a book made like mine will be is up to them!   Grandmas recipe album page 3      The software I use is by Daisy Trails called Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist 2 - a product review has been done if you check out this page , just scroll down until you see the title!  They have free kits available, this is all I have used from them...plus you can take a piece from this kit and a piece from that kit and make your own kit!  I would suggest downloading the free software and a few kits to star...

       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....

     One thing that can help this season is make your own tags instead of spending a bunch of money on little "to and from" tags!  Using scraps of paper left over from other projects will save you a lot of money in the long run.  Find stickers or die cuts left over from other projects, and add them any cardstock or patterned paper you have to make your tags.  Look at how many tags you would have to make and try to spread making them over a few weeks, instead of just jumping right in and getting them done.                 Swaps are another fun way to get different styles of tags, made from different people.  Not only are you going to get different ideas, but you also get different types of styles when you participate in a swap.  The tags you give can then be used on a framed page, or a layout project or put away for use on something specific.   Directions: Step one:  create the base of t...

      As you start to look at Christmas, make sure you plan for events such as parties or  get-together's with your friends or family.  Even if you have not figured out the date of the party itself...start to look at potential dates, figure out what you are going to need for food, and start to make your list where that is concerned.  This way, you are not spending a bunch of time the month prior to - getting everything done.        If you send out invitations, start to look at ideas for that, as well as your Christmas cards that you send out.  Do you send out thank you cards to people, make sure you include this in your planning!        This weekend, pick up a composition notebook - they have them on sale right now with school coming up.  (Make sure you pick a few up while they are on sale to put away for use later on.)  Make sure to spend a bit of time altering one of the notebooks in a fun Christma...

Christmas bear Christmas stocking         It's Christmas in July this month, so I hope you have fun with me in getting things planned out and made through out this month!  Taken from our challenges yesterday - today we are going to talk about getting your Christmas cards rolling.  The first step in starting your cards is deciding how many you are going to need to send out in the first place.  Then you need to decide if you are making them or buying them!  Are there any that are going to have to be mailed?  If so, make sure you design appropriate for mailing - you don't want to have to pay extra postage if your card is too bulky to mail.  You can also take the cards up to the person at the post office directly and have them hand stamp it, or talk to them next time you are in there anyway to see what the current guidelines are in order to mail safely.   Christmas presents      If you don't make the...

       With Christmas here in less than 6 months - this month will be spent sharing with you card ideas, a few layout ideas, ways you can give gifts, as well as gift ideas you can give to your friends and family.  Times are hard right now for everyone, spending the time making a one of a kind gift for someone not only helps the pocket book, but also helps when you have a lot of things you can use already - just stashed away!  Plus when you make a present for someone, it is truly a gift from the heart made specifically for that person!        Through out this month I will be giving you reminder posts - to start to look at what you need to purchase, parties you need to plan for, baking you need to do, or even gifts you need to make.  That way - you are not caught at the beginning of December having to figure out what you need or want to make, but not having enough time to do it all!  I am sure some of you already do a bit of thi...

Tags are another fun thing you can make to include on your gifts, or add to the "can" that you have made in matching colors and embellishments.  Tags are not hard to create with a basic template, or check around for premade tags that you can add paper and embellishments to in order to create your own "look".   Start to look at the gifts you need to buy, instead of buying the little "from/to" tags!  Create them out of leftover wrapping paper for either the background or the embellishment.  Cut out a shape from the paper and matt it on cardstock to create a one of a kind look, made especially for THAT person!  Tags are fun to make, look at the scraps you have, this is what I made mine out of...using up little pieces and leftovers, in the colors that are prominent for Christmas time.  I also found blues and greens, which I totally loved using!   This is just a quick and easy project you can make, creating 6 or so at a time when you hav...

Now that you have a handle on the "gift" part of things, researching what you want to make for everyone, today.....is all about the containers that you put them in!   I am all about recycling, taking my coffee cans and altering them with paper and embellishments to create a one of a kind item for each gift recipient.  This type of thing can also be done with any type of holiday, or birthday...adding your present in it with tissue paper and a card to finish up the look!  The recipient can keep it, bringing it out on other birthdays as a decoration!   This example is a Halloween set of cans I made...but you get the basic idea!  Directions:  Step one:  Take any size of can such as a coffee can, or other type of can that is easy to clean out.  Make sure it is clean and dry.  Step two:  Take 2 sheets of of paper to cover the outside of the can, overlapping the paper to cover the entire can.  Tuck in the edges in the can...

 With Christmas gifts, you do not need to spend a lot of money on gifts for each and every person.  One gift I was able to see was a digital scrapbook album made into a book, in which everyone who was included in the book received a copy of it as a present.  I am sure she spent a lot of time and money on this present, but...I feel it would be a one of a kind album, made with a lot of love ! If you are on a budget, make sure you check out my product reviews or the web site for the San Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist 2 software or their free software and kits you can download from their site.  I have a few great layouts made with their software, and have fallen in love with their software!   For people you don't see a lot, friends or family members alike...cards made and put into packs of cards make a great gift!  If you happen to have a lot of people you make birthday cards for, or the recipient sends cards out to everyone...make...

With talk about a second recession, this years Christmas should be planned early on, to allow for enough time to make the things you want to do.  Every year I plan and make a ton of things for my family, but...by the end of it all, nothing gets mailed out, instead I have a ton of things I have made, but nothing being done about it.  This year is going to be different...I have started to make my plans, and looked at who I want to make things for, and who will get a simple card and gift card instead.  The people I make things for are people who enjoy what I do, and want something I have made.  Challenge #1:  Look at your Christmas card list and start to get ideas as to what you can do for cards.  Find sketches or cards online that you like and want to recreate.  Challenge #2:  Find a pack of paper that you can use for multiple projects, such as the packs you can get from DCWV. Look at each individual person that is on your list, look at...

This month is all about Christmas in July, where we will have challenges and ideas all month long!  It will be all about planning....and starting to make things for your friends and family for that wonderful event that happens every year!   If you are like me, the intentions are there...but I never get around to actually finishing up the projects I want to make.   This month, will be all about getting that process started, and each month after that a reminder blog about getting your stuff done!  Everyone is in the same boat this year, we are all watching our money...the recession has hit everyone really hard.  However, I have been in this "current economy" since my husband was taken out of work 7 years ago, so you are all just in my shoes now!  I learned a few things along the way, and am so excited to teach you what I learned...especially about creating beautiful...one of a kind gifts!  Today I am starting with a few chall...