Earlier today I was working on a Project Life layout in my scrap room when Darren walked in, took a peek at it, and asked, "why are there always so many photos of me and the cats?" Or, more specifically, one cat- Tigger- who always finds his way into Darren's lap about 3.7 seconds after he sits down anywhere in the living room.

It's such a common occurrence that I actually scrapped a whole separate layout about it while working with the December kits from Citrus Twist. Darren was slightly appalled at the title...which of course made me quite happy with myself. :)

I mixed together all of the December kits and add-ons for this one, including an ampersand journaling card from the Pocket Life kit and a cork ampersand from the main kit. The pennant element was totally inspired by Maggie Holmes, who has an amazing knack for turning just about anything into a banner!

We're about to settle in to watch the New Year's Eve festivities in Times Square (via streaming video, of course), and I'm sure that Tigger will be in Darren's lap the entire time. :)

Happy New Year to everyone!!

Project Life 2013 - Week 51 with Elle's Studio

On Christmas Eve I had the fun honor of being the final Celebrate December guest designer for Elle's Studio. I normally have a bit of a hard time with Christmas-themed Project Life layouts because of all the bold colors + patterns that may or may not match the equally busy photos, but this one really worked for me, I think due to all of the neutrals in Elle's exclusive December tag kit (seriously I ::heart:: those little monthly kits!).

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

See? Neutrals. White space (even if it is filled with text). Room to breathe. I absolutely loved the mix of tags in the December kit, and they worked so well with papers from the Noel collection- which, by the way, is on sale for 50% off (papers, tags, stamps- everything!) right now at Two Peas in a Bucket.

I don't normally print photos right away for my Project Life pages, but I needed something Christmas-y and photos from the week where we wrapped gifts while watching my favorite Christmas movie (Die Hard), went to an early "Christmas Eve" service at church, and spent a little time taking in the festive glow of Bridge Street turned out to be simply perfect. My brother's birthday was also this week, meaning I got to sneak in a photo of him and adorable little Finnegan, too!

Now that Christmas is over, I'm enjoying the calm days between Christmas and New Year's- the perfect time to relax and spend a few hours here and here at the computer getting my photos edited and ready to print for the last part of 2013's Project Life layouts, just in time to start out on my 6x8 adventure in 2014!

Geek Girl - December 29, 2013

It's the last Geek Girl of 2013, and we're in that in-between time when the Doctor Who Christmas Special has ended and those of us in the US are waiting (not so) patiently for the new series of Downton Abbey and Sherlock to start. Until then, hopefully this week's roundup will keep you at least somewhat entertained!

From the top left:

• Edible Lego minifigures + cupcakes = epic win!
• Darren absolutely loves the art of M.C. Escher, so when I spotted one of his paintings brought to life in Lego over at The Brothers Brick, I had to include it here.
• Am I the only person giggling right now and remembering the episode of Chuck where he and Morgan wore a joint Sandworm costume? Now you can make your own Shai Hulud (of Dune fame) costume with directions from Instructables.
• You can add this Millennium Falcon bookcase to the list of Star Wars derived furniture that's been featured here over the years. 
• These Lord of the Rings cake pops are so well done that I can look past the fact that they all look like severed heads on pikes!
• Yoshi is one of my favorite video game characters ever, and Nerd Approved posted an absolutely adorable comic showing him in all of his cuteness.
• Star Wars fans are anxiously awaiting any news of Episode VII, especially when it comes to the title. Until that's revealed, though, play around with making your own with the title generator at Empire Online.
• A deleted scene from Star Wars: A New Hope has surfaced that sheds new light on Luke + Leia's back story.
• I'll close the roundup out tonight with another Lego pick- an article (including a trailer) about the first official Lego movie.

I do have one bit of video to share before I go, though- Cookie Monster starring in a Sesame Street takeoff of Lord of the Rings!


MTFBWY!

Friday Favorites - December 27, 2013

I love this calm week between Christmas and New Year's- it's so quiet and peaceful, making it the perfect time to organize and prepare for the new year. There are several picks related to that topic this week, whether you're looking to organize your life, your blogging, your scrapbooking, or embarking on a year of Project Life. I hope you enjoy them!

From the top left:

• Kaitlin Sheaffer of Ormolu posted about the clipboard system she uses to organize her to-do lists and has a free set of printables that you can download to make your own!
• Laura Craigie posted a tutorial showing how to make these cute washi tape bows at October Afternoon.
• Christine Newman has found a new rhythm for her Project Life by switching to a monthly format and wrote a great post about her process.
• This adorable craft room also doubles as a play room. Check out the details on the Bella Blvd blog.
• Ashli Oliver wrapped up an amazing blog series on fitting it all in- the crafting, the cleaning, the family- you name it! I thought that her post on blogging was especially brilliant, and I do many of the same things she does- especially batch tasking when formatting and writing posts.
• My Dad recently pointed out a great site to me full of printable graph papers- perfect for layering or making your own pocket scrapping cards.
• Shanna Noel shows how she created three stunning cards in just 15 minutes. This has me itching to try making some cards now!
• Nicole Harper shares a fab way to use your Silhouette to make embellishments out of your paper scraps.
• A new year means a new start on Project Life for many of us. If you're looking to get organized, Becky Higgins has free PDF downloads to help you out. You'll find card design reference charts here and a page protector design reference here.

TTFN!

This Month in My Scrap Room : December 2013

This Month in My Scrap Room is based a regular series of posts by Sue Althouse, who graciously allowed me to use her idea on my own blog. Each month you'll find me documenting the little (and big) things that I'm working on to make my scrapbooking space more efficient so I can spend less time looking for things and more time playing with paper!

After last month's adventures in tearing my scrap room apart and building a massive new work table, I was happy to settle in and just use the room for a while. I did take some time, though, with Darren's help, to get my pegboard set up!

I've looked at tons of washi tape storage solutions including the Washi Wheel and using a thread spool rack. Nothing looked as easy and as space-saving, though, as the dowel solution I ran across on Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. I already had a piece of pegboard that we moved with us from our old house, so it was a fairly cost-effective install, too.

Darren picked up some 1/2" dowels from Home Depot and used a drill press to bore holes in the end of the dowels so they'd attach nicely to the 2" straight hooks that I picked up at Harbor Freight. The rods can be easily removed if needed, though it's pretty easy to just pull a length off of the roll right on the rack!

I have a few tape spools with narrower centers, including my American Crafts Glitter Tape and the little tape spools that come in the Citrus Twist Pocket Life Kits. To mount those, Darren picked up some narrower dowels and then cut small pieces of the larger diameter to use as end pieces to hold them in place. He's a genius with the drill press!

I hadn't originally planned to store my baker's twine on the pegboard, but the narrow little dowels are also perfect for stringing up a row of the little shipping tags that I wrap my twine around.

I'm still hanging things up on my new/old pegboard (and wondering why I have so much pink washi!), but I'm already finding that I'm using the tape more now that it's out and visible. And since it's on the back of the scrap room door, it's not really taking up any extra room- win-win!

I don't have any major plans for January in the scrap room. CHA will be taking up a lot of my time, but I am looking forward to consolidating some things. For the past year I've had to keep two separate stashes- my normal supplies, and then the supplies that were still in stock at Two Peas. Having to separate the two took up some extra space and made it difficult to find items, and I'm looking forward to streamlining everything now that my term with them is complete.

What about you guys? Any big plans for your scrapping space in the new year?

Color Me: Rusty Red, Bubblegum, and Lime Green

Image Sources: Danielle Thompson | Ecojot | Heart Handmake UK

Sushi in the Book Room - Citrus Twist Kits Layout

Christmas Eve. For us it means carols at church, dinner with Darren's family...and sushi for lunch!

I'm not sure when we started that tradition, but it's something that we look forward to every year now. Maybe a little too much since we started talking about it several weeks ago! Today's layout isn't specifically about sushi on Christmas Eve, but it did seem fitting for me to post about one of our favorite foods as we're getting ready to go out and enjoy it again!

This was one of the last pages that I made with my December kits from Citrus Twist, and it's one where I mixed in little pieces of all the kits and add-ons. I love doing that after I've finished my main kit only page, and it's a lot of fun to have a big pile of products to work with, even if some of them aren't really meant to go together.

I started this page with a big block of the triangle print paper from American Crafts' Autumn Crisp collection, found in the Add-On kit. As I worked on my photo arrangement and adding in embellishments, though, the page started looked more and more busy. I thought about taking the paper out and using something else instead, but I really liked the small pops of purple that worked well with the purple books in one of my pictures. The answer? Vellum! As soon as I layered vellum over that busy paper, everything fell into place. I still had little bits of purple showing through, but the patterned paper wasn't screaming for attention any more.

I had to improvise with the title a bit since one of the alphas was accidentally left out of my kit box. It worked out wonderfully, though, because I ended up pulling out a set of Amy Tangerine stitching templates instead, and I absolutely love how it looks!

We're off to celebrate our Christmas Eve now. I hope that you and your loved ones have blessed and joyful holidays!

Project Life at Two Peas - December 2013

This past Saturday was my week to host the Project Life video series over at Two Peas, and I decided to pull out a few new products that I purchased from a recent sale in the shop to make my layout. The Autumn Crisp collection by American Crafts had been calling my name for a while, and I matched it up with the new Printshop line plus just a touch of the Midnight Project Life core kit and a few pieces of the new Daily Flash products from October Afternoon. The result? A layout that uses some fall products but doesn't scream "autumn."

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

December's Project Life video is actually my last one for Two Peas since I've decided not to return for 2014. I was asked if I wanted to continue with the team for another term, but I just don't have another year of regular videos in me right now, especially with everything else that's going on in my life- good things for sure, but things that definitely keep me very busy! I know that Kristina has some exciting plans for Two Peas in 2014, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the company this year (honestly, I'm still shocked that they ever asked me in the first place).

I'll still occasionally do videos for my blog and for my other design teams, but not with any regularity and most likely on Vimeo instead of YouTube. I'll be sure to post here whenever I have a new one up!

Geek Girl - December 22, 2013

It's just a few short days until the Doctor Who Christmas Special (and, of course, Christmas itself), and the BBC has released an extended trailer that shows more of the action waiting for fans in this episode. With Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, and The Silence all included, it's sure to be epic!


Since it's the last weekend before Christmas, it's also my last chance to get some great holiday geekiness posted...with a little news thrown in, too. :)

From the top left:

• This has got to be, hands down, the best Christmas sweater ever!
• It's not Christmas until someone posts a Dalek tree, and this year Gizmodiva (and a few other sites) picked up this image from Twitter.
• Disney has announced the dates for Star Wars weekends 2014. You can read all about it here.
• Want even more awesome Star Wars news for the new year? Mythbusters will be releasing a Star Wars themed episode in January. There's a trailer for the new season if you click through the link!
• Now that the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special has safely passed, Steve Moffat has disclosed his thoughts on including the 9th Doctor in the episode had Eccleston decided to return.
• Between the Pages posted a fantastic Grinch cake, complete with a dangling Max.
• The annual Lucasfilm Christmas card is always a treat, and this year's version features a horde of caroling bounty hunters.
• This Christmas season has been light on geeky gingerbread, but at least we have this amazing gingerbread Optimus Prime to tide us over.
• Need some stocking stuffers for your geekling? Nerdalicious has rounded up some of the best geeky sweets on the market right now.

Tonight's video pick has been making its way around the interwebs lately (thanks to my li'l bro J for sending it to me!), but it's too perfect for me not to be the next in line to post it. Sit back and enjoy as the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation performs their own version of Let It Snow. 

MTFBWY! And shut up, Wesley!

Friday Favorites - December 20, 2013

I just love this time of year, when everything looks so festive! That applies to blogs, as well, and this week's roundup is full of Christmas crafting ideas, including some free printables for your Project Life or December Daily albums.

Enjoy, and have an awesome weekend!

From the top left:

• This washi tape tree in a pocket page protector is surprisingly easy to make! Learn how at October Afternoon.
• Want even more ideas for using washi tape in your gift wrapping? This tutorial at Two Peas in a Bucket will help you use up some of that washi stash.
• Amy Heller has opened a new online digital shop, and she's offering a free set of printable number cards- just perfect for December Daily!
• Craftberry Bush has several free printable Christmas decor pieces, just in case you want to add a little something extra to your holiday decorations before the big day.
• This lovely set of free printable 3x4 cards by Antilight is all decked out in a red and mint color scheme- love!
• Melissa Philips did a gorgeous job of decorating a Christmas gift box. What a beautiful way to use up some extra buttons!
• This Christmas art frame at Bella Blvd could easily be reworked for lots of different holidays.
• Danielle Flanders stamped and scrapped a beautiful vellum gift card pocket for Pink Paislee.
• Antilight is in the roundup again this week with some gorgeous Christmas cards.

TTFN- and an early merry Christmas to you!

Yeti Stamp + Shrink Plastic + Mason Jar = Adorable Snow Globe!

Oh, how I do love all of the mason jar snowglobes that I've been spotting on blogs and around Pinterest! They're so cute, quick, and easy to make, and when Lawn Fawn and Scrapbook Adhesives teamed up for a week of projects over on the Lawn Fawn blog, I decided to try something just a little different to make a snowglobe of my own.

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

I love, love, love Lawn Fawn's Yeti, Set, Go stamp set and had an idea to stamp one and cut it out to build a little scene in a jar, but the Yeti was a little too big to fit inside. womp, womp

Then I remembered a video that I watched not too long ago that used shrink plastic with stamps, and my Michaels just happened to have some Shrinky Dinks plastic sheets in stock! Yes, that would be the same shrink material that I used as a kid- so cool!

Shrinky Dink plastic can be heated quickly with an embossing tool, and when it's finished the piece is one third the original size and nine times as thick- it goes from a flimsy sheet to a really sturdy little piece of plastic in under a minute! I've placed the finished pieces next to the original stamps in the photo below so you can see the size difference.

Stamping on shrink plastic is really easy, you just need to use the proper type of ink. Staz-On ink will dry instantly, or you can use Archival ink (which is what I happened to have available) as long as you let it dry for a while before handling it. I stamped both the Yeti and a lamp post (hey, I was feeling a bit Narnia...) and trimmed them out before shrinking them down, leaving just a bit of extra plastic on the bottom of each to help adhere to them to the base of the snowglobe.

While at Michaels I also picked up a couple of packs of these tiny trees, and to bring the one above up to the proper height (so it would show over the band of the mason jar's lid), I stuck a stack of Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares to the base.

The shrink plastic pieces were a bit trickier to adhere, but in the end a pair of little pieces of paper straw and lots of hot glue helped keep them in place. Once the hot glue was dry, I partially filled the jar with some fake snow (from a box I bought long ago at a clearance sale at Anthropologie) then screwed the lid in place.

I have a few more mason jars and lots more little trees (plus more snow- I swear I think that box refills itself when I'm not looking!), and I'm definitely going to have to make more of these this year. They are so fun and easy!