Grateful Mini Blog Hop

Welcome to the Member Blog Hop at CKCB.

You should have come over from the lovely Valerie.

The challenge was to make a Grateful Mini.  

I just LOVE making mini's,

but I usually need a reason to make one.

Well this challenge came at a great time,

because I was doing a swap through Monica's

The Homespun Heart.

And our topic this time was on being Grateful.

I had the sweetest swap partner I've ever gotten in a swap,

and so I was really looking forward to making her

a little something something.

She is a fellow scrapbooker and loves homemade lovelies. 

So I bought a little Maya Road mini,

and got to work.

Here is the cover.....

A Little Birdie Told me.....

to be.....

(a little heat embossed heart action right there) =)

Thankful.

A Banner, Thickers, Epoxy Heart and Flowers,

please.....

every day of the week!  =)
(And of course Maggie)

I used a Maggie Holmes 

yes my BFF =)

6x6 paper pad by Crate.

I used up a lot of older stash,

and also some envelopes and tags..... 

Oh these papers.....

they get me every time!  =)

I added lace, and tissue flowers.....

Some flair and heat embossed flower.....

Tags and Brads.....

I made sure she had plenty of spots for photos.....

And journaling.....

I was so very grateful to make a new friend.....

My Blessed swap partner Angie.

So grateful.

And this is the back inside cover.

This little mini was so fun to do.

I love pouring into a project like this.

My heart is so very full in these projects.

I truly am so grateful!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Now please go to the beautiful Cindy

and see what she has made.  

And just in case you get lost along the way:

CKCB  http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/

Jemma http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Valerie http://myrainbowcoalition.blogspot.com/

Dawn http://www.dawnsscrapbookcottage.blogspot.com

Cindy http://www.cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com/

Angela http://colestoucan.blogspot.co.uk

Leslie http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

Tricia http://triciasimmons.blogspot.com

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com

Milica http://milicaradulovic55.blogspot.com

Lisa H http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

Have a Blessed and Beautiful,

Krafty, Kind of Day ~~ 

Gossamer Blue November Kit LO #1

So for the first time this month, 

I have signed up for a kit club.

I researched and I kept

coming back to Gossamer Blue.

So I decided that I would try them out.

I received my first kit in November.

And loved it!

And set about a challenge I am making for myself.

I am gonna make four LO's completely

with the kit each month.

The only things I am allowing myself to use

besides the kit is:

Adhesive =)

Big Shot 

Punches

Mist

Masks 

Paint

So here is LO #1.  

This picture.....

Oh my goodness!!!

This babe,

cracks.me.up.

The elements in the kit were really great.

I LOVE the arrows.

I took this wonderfully big

arrow and misted it in blue.

It is such a wonderful big element.

The Thickers in this kit 

are seriously amazing!!!

The are flocked in this fantastic,

sparkly blue.

Word up y'all!!

I punched this arrow up

and used a stamp and embossed it.

It gives some dimension to this lovely arrow.

This journal spot is one of the cut a parts.

And then these banners were part of the printables.

The printables in this kit are fantastic!!

I added some of the Heidi Swapp rubons.  

So amazing!!!

They work SO well!!

I am so excited to work with this kit.

So we are on to LO #2.  

Have a Blessed and Beautiful,

Krafty, Kind of Day ~~

Little Bits Card Challenge

Well hello there…..

Challenge #3 is up over at the CKCB 

 to make a Card

from little bits and bobs

as I call them =)

So I need to tell y'all something…..

I am a cardaphobic.

I feel so completely rattled 

when I make them.

I have tried to over come this

and being on the design team

has really helped, 

because when I have just bits and pieces

I try to make some cards

to help finish up my kits.

But I ALWAYS have to have

a card to scrap lift.

Yes I am a mess.  

A cardaphobic…..mess =)

So for this challenge

I did what any 

card fearing scrapper does…..

go to Pinterest.

I checked out card after lovely card.

I mean seriously,

there are some talented card makers out there,

and I don't even think they hyperventilate

when they make them.

They are my card making heroes!

So this is the lovely I decided to lift.

I mean seriously,

this is an amazing card!!!

And here is my version.

I sifted through my stash

and found a package of plain post cards,

and got to crafting.

I'm so sorry for the picture quality.

Because of my cardaphobia, 

I waited until THE very last minute 

to make this card.

So no natural light coming in.

But lets roll with it,

shall we?

OOOO I love it!!!

Here is my version of the snowflake Christmas tree.

Sir Cuteness helped me make the Christmas tree.

He did the sequins and the star.

He loves helping me!!!

I really love this postcard so much,

and made it with the thought of making it

a lovely little hanging for Christmas.

Everytime I make a card

and do not need a paper bag to breathe

into, I consider it a win =)

This challenge was really fun…..

and challenging

and a win.  =)

Thank you SO much for stopping by.

Have a Blessed and Beautiful,

Krafty, Kind of Day ~~ 

Christmas Scrapping Style

Well hello there!!

I am SO glad that you have come by today.

I asked Bethany, our fearless leader,

over at the CKCB if I could do a post

all about Christmas Scrapbooking and how I prepare.

There are many options out there.

I feel like 2 really popular ones are

December Daily (DD)

&

Journal Your Christmas (JYC).

One year I tried to do a DD,

and last year I tried to do JYC.

Both years I had a hard time

completing the project.

I got overwhelmed doing daily LO's

and part of the problem with both years,

was not being prepared enough.

So this year,

I have gotten a jump on things,

and am going to do a combination of the two.

DD is a little too vague for me to really grasp,

and JYC is a little to detailed.

I found last year that it was really hard to keep up

with all the prompts. 

Lots of thinking involved 

and with my brain already so busy with 

all things Christmas, 

it just became so overwhelming.

So this year,

I'm taking a little more relaxed approach.

I will be reading Shimelle's prompts,

but I may not stick to every single days prompts,

in fact,

I know that I won't.

On those days I will take more of a DD approach,

and scrap what the events of that day were.

I hope that makes a modicum of sense.

It certainly makes sense in my head =)

So let me show you a little of the prep work that has been going on.

First of all,

I wanted to get some organization to my Christmas supplies.

I am currently enrolled in Gossamer Blue's Christmas

Class.  It was inexpensive and has given me

some great ideas and pointers.

So for a lot of my smaller pieces

I used some milk glass that I have.

I love it, and it rarely gets used.

I am using Crate Paper's Bundled Up collection

&

Basic Grey's 25th & Pine.

They go so well together and the little bits and bobs for both

are just darling.

This is not exclusively what I am using,

but it is the two main collections.

I am also putting my twine and wash

in milk glass.  It is so nice to have it all right at my fingertips.

Now I have changed this up a bit,

but I started using these little tins,

and then I have moved this flair to 

another old tin that is larger and has separate

compartments shaped with stars, hearts, etc.

that I picked up in a flea market for like $2.

SCORE!

I don't have a picture of how I am keeping my paper,

but I have a little stand up basket

that fits 12x12 paper well that I also got at

a flea market for $5.  

Double SCORE!!

The album I am using is a 6x12.

This is an unusual size,

but I really like this.

It makes my album feel special and unique to me,

and yes it is kind of an aqua blue and not a 

traditional green or red.

It has a 4x4 cut out window,

and I feel at times that these windows

are a little hard to navigate if you don't have a picture

to put in it,

but I really like these banner letters for the Bundled collection.

SO cute!!

And then the snow flakes are wood veneer

I know right? =)

and from the 25th & Pine collection.

See they just go splendidly together!!

Then these owls are from a collection from last 

year (can't remember which one),

but I love them SO much!!

Now I will show you a little base page prep that

I have been doing.

This is such a GREAT way to get prepared.

I am doing pages that leave room for pictures

and journaling,

but a lot of the decorating of the page

is complete.

I like that.

I'm hoping it helps me to not get overwhelmed this year =)

Look at these Thickers.

I do not remember which ones they are,

but I got them earlier in the year on a great sale

that Peachy Cheap was having on Thickers.

These are going to be GREAT in my album this year.

I am doing some detailing,

like these darling little heat embossed trees 

in silver.

Easy, fun and please,

how cute are these?

Now the above page is for my Manifesto that Shimelle always

starts with, but I didn't want that to be my day #1.

I wanted it to be my intro page.

So this is Day #1.

Simple, but there is still room for a title and …..

Some lovely hidden journaling.

Yep that back sheet pulls right up so I can include some journaling.

LOVE IT!

Sneaky aren't I =)

Now this page is what I am just calling an extra.

In the Gossamer Blue class

one of the suggestions was to have some extra pages made for those days

that, for whatever reason, you don't

get a page made.  

I thought this was a BRILLIANT idea.  

So this is one of those pages.

It is so pretty and will just be great to use for a filler.

These are some snowflakes that I punched out 

and then heat embossed in silver and gold.

I LOVE the look of these.

They are so sparkly on the page.

LOVE =)

Now I am also doing some divided page protector pages 

as well.

Just to break it up a bit.

So there is just a few ideas for you.

I have other pages done, 

but the post would have been days long!!  =)

So what are y'all doing for Christmas scrapping

&

crafting?

I'd love to know!!!  

If you'd like to do a DD/JYC type album,

I suggest getting started with a little prep now,

so that when December arrives 

with its full on schedule,

you will be ready.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Have a Blessed and Beautiful,

Krafty, Kind of Day ~~ 

CKC Design Team Style Swap Hop ..... It's on!!

Well hello there..... you should have hopped right over from our

fearless leaders Blog, the sweet Bethany.  Now let's see what I've

got up my sleeve.....

So back last month, Lisa had this WILD idea to swap styles with each other.

She sent out 20 questions.

Yes we play 20 questions on the design team =)
How fun is that?

I LOVE this team of ladies.

They are the sweetest, kindest, and funniest bunch around,

and I love them.

So we answered our 20 questions,

sent them back to sweet Lisa, 

and she worked her magic.

She proceeded to match us up with our opposite styled

partner.  When I got mine I was like,

"dude.  Could we be any more style different?"

So then came the challenging part of any challenge,

the doing.

So I thought and thought about my partners answers.

And just about every time I'd think of something "brilliant"

I'd refer back to the style of my partner and nope, not on 

the list.  It was proving to be a little tougher than I thought.

You see, I kept reverting back to my own style.

Yep this was going to take concentration.

I don't rock at that.

Just sayin'

But determined NOT to let Lisa and the team down,

I rolled up the proverbial sleeves and got to work. 

So here in this post I'm going show you a LO I did in my style,

and then one in my partners.  And yep they are worlds apart.

But I have LOVED every minute of this challenge!!  

So I am a single LO kind of girl.....
Usually 1 picture maybe 2.....
Lots of embellies scattered to and fro.....
Lots of mists, paints, inks.....
I am messy.

My swap partner however, is not.
She is clean and organised and wow this
was a challenge.

But here is my 2-page spread.
2-page!!!
I think this is the first actual one I've done.
I've done two pages very similar to one
another, but never one spread across to include
more pictures of same event complete with
journaling about said event.
Yes indeed, now this was eventful =)

Because of the events of the day, 

this made for a perfect 2-pager.

There are a total of 8, 

count 'em 8 pictures on two pages.

Yep this has to be some kind of a record

for me.

I spread my title across two pages.

And then the journaling.

This gave me ALL kinds of fits.

I am so used to just hand writing my

journaling, but my SP (swap partner =) 

types it all out and in different fonts no doubt.

She is a rock star I tell you,

and one of my new scrapping heroes,

because that is hard work.

Its tough to make all that work,

and make sense,

and be coherent.

She's awesome!!

And this journaling business has given me a possible

idea of who I got.

More on that later.....

So in the end,

I really like this LO.

I LOVE the story of this day,

and I'm so very very glad to have

it on a 2-page LO.

I did just want to say, that after I typed all my journaling,

cut it out, and was placing it on the page, I realized

I just couldn't get it all on there cohesively which meant

I had to leave some of it out.

SO..... this is where I veered, ever so slightly from my

SP style.  I had wrote the rest of my journaling on a 

separate tag that I will tuck behind my LO and just let this

sweet little brad hang over the top, so we'll know there is

more to read here.  I thought that was an acceptable solution

to my journaling woes.  

Now here is my LO in my style.

Lots of mists and layers and mixing up my title

with that washi strewned heart.  

Lots of banners and stamping and mists 

and a little journaling.

And more washi.

And lots of layers.....

and colors.....

and a whale.

I mean c'mon.....

THERE'S A WHALE!!!

Whimsy people.

I dig me some whimsy!!

=)

And then just for good measure

(and because its the way I roll)

I used a heart punch and punched out 3 hearts,

and then added a little PP from the same 6x6 PP pack

and slipped it right in behind the hearts.

Oh yes.

Yummy!

There you have it..... my girl, a fish, a whale and washi.

I mean please, what more could you possibly

ask for =)

And since my SP LO was a 2 pager, 

I thought I'd show you 2 of my own style pages.

This one isn't done, but it so readily depicts my

style to a "T" or a "W" in this case =)

This W I had cut out for a wreath that hangs

on the studio door, but this one wasn't quite the

right color, so it was an extra.  

So I used it on a LO with me and my Mister.

I wanted to include this unfinished LO because it is

exactly the way I scrap.

Big or repeating elements.....

A coffee stained masking ring,

mists, sewing..... yep all of this is right up my alley.

So I hope you are enjoying this hoppity hop

and please now hop on over to the beautiful Jemma's

blog and see how she got along with her challenge.

And in case you get lost along the way:

Counterfeit Kit Challenge:http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com 

Angela:  http://colestoucan.blogspot.co.uk/

Bethany: http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com/

Dawn:  http://dawnsscrapbookcottage.blogspot.com (You are here)

Jemma:  http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/

Julene:  http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

Lesley G.:  http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Leslie:  http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com 

Lynnette:  http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/

Millisa:  http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Stephanie:  http://skylinepaperie.blogspot.ca

Lisa H.:  http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/ 

Thanks for hopping by.....

Have a Blessed and Beautiful,

Krafty, Kind of Day ~~ 

Oh and I almost forgot:

I think my SP is Angela. 

Let's see if I'm right  =)