Top Ten Blog Hop 2014

Welcome to the Top Ten Blog Hop for 2014.  
We have been doing this for a few years now and every year we add some new friends to the group. I know you'll love the line-up this year!  You should have arrived from Chantalle's blog - if you didn't head on back to the beginning and catch everyone!

We have a huge group prize this year!  
We are giving away one $75 gift certificate to Paper Issues Store!  








Each time you leave a comment on any of the blogs you get an entry - you can comment on each blog once - so you have the opportunity to be entered 24 times!!! You have until midnight EST on January 4th to enter so make sure to hop around to each blog. Many of us have individual giveaways too - so make sure to check out those requirements. I will have details on my individual prize at the bottom of this post!

Here's the line-up for the hop:
Top Ten Blog Hop for 2014
Juliana Michaels
Michele Kovack
Chantalle McDaniel
Christine Meyer ****You Are Here***
Mendi Yoshikawa ***Head Here Next***
Kelly Holbrook
Laurel Seabrook
Katrina Hunt
Wendy Morris-Saponaro
Becki Adams
Suzanna Lee
Melissa Elsner
Monika Wright
Wendy Antenucci
Jen Matott
Marcia Dehn-Nix
Ashley N Newell
Kathy Skou
Linda Auclair
Kelly Jean
Monique Liedtke
Rhonda Van Ginkel
Jennifer Haggerty
Cathy Harper

My Top Ten
2014 was such a fun year for me in the Scrapbooking world.  Designing for companies that I love has afforded me some great opportunities and I am truly thankful for that.  Narrowing my projects down to the Top Ten was tough - I won't tell you how many I started with.  In the end I got 11 and decided I'd stick with that.  I don't usually break the rules but I think you'll agree that this time, it was a good idea :)  So without further adieu, here's my favorite projects from 2014.


I think this canvas is the perfect place to start! I made this as part of my application for the Core'dinations Design Team.

As a mom to three little boys we have a lot of "brotherly love" going.  I love to use words on my layout and I love to think outside of the box with paper.  This project which I created for The Scrapbooking Studio definitely demonstrates both of those loves.



I got to guest design for 17turtles in November and had such fun playing with the cut files.  This paper pieced heart swirl really showcases my love of bright colors and whimsical elements.

I love my cut files and designing for Samantha Walker this past year was a blast because I got to play with a lot of fun ones.  I used her files to create a shaker box style card using gold and silver.



I love my Paper House Productions products, the combination of themed items with current trends in design is what they are best at and I always have fun playing with their stuff.  This layout was created for them to use in Joann Stores as endcap project sheets for their Halloween stickers.

 
As you've already seen, I love silver and gold!  I can't get enough of the metallic trend.  For this card I combined SRM Stickers with SRM Silver Doilies.  Simple and sophisticated - the name of the game with SRM Stickers :)


I got to play with a lot of Simple Stories this year and haven't found a line yet that I don't love..  Their summer line was perfect for pulling together a whole bunch of photos that were getting lost in the piles and create a summer memory layout.


I love to play with techniques and this layout shows that - I did embossing, tearing, and die cutting.  I love it when techniques can make a layout and you don't have to add tons of product.  I created this one for Core'dinations as part of their design team.


You've seen the names SRM Stickers, Paper House Productions, and Core'dinations several times already - this layout combines all three.  Creating older boy layouts is a challenge - but I think I hit this one out of the park ;)

This layout was created purely for enjoyment and was based on a sketch that I created.  It uses Pebbles spring line from last spring.


Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine has closed it's doors and I am so sad about that.  Last spring they issued a challenge to use 5 or less products on a layout for an upcoming issue.  I submitted this layout using three products (stickers, patterned paper, and wood) and they picked it up!  It was in their last print issue which is still available on newsstands (called Pocket Scrapbooking).

My Individual Prize
For my individual prize I am giving away at $25 gift certificate to SRM Stickers Store!
They have a wide variety of fun products from stickers to vinyl to doilies and more!  To enter both contests all you have to do is leave me a comment and tell me which of these projects was your favorite.  I also give you a bonus entry for "liking" my Facebook page that you can find here.

Thanks so much for visiting and have fun checking out the rest of these talented ladies - your next stop is Mendi!

My December Documented Album

Today I am sharing a venture into a new project for this holiday season!  I have never done a December Documented Album and have always wanted to!  My December is always busy so I decided to create the base in advance and then I can just add pictures and embellishments as I go.  As I was thinking through my process, SRM Stickers kept coming to mind so I decided to dive right into that! Today I am going to share with you the starting process and some ideas for how to use SRM Stickers on your base pages - especially focusing on the numbers.

Part of the reason I knew that SRM was perfect for this job was because I knew I had ready made numbers and months that would look good with nearly any patterned paper.  I loved this tree patterned paper and just added the December from the Calender Months Large/Snappy Set. I knew I definitely wanted the year on the cover as well and the We've Got Your Numbers - Small were perfect for adding it to the corner.  We could be here all day if I show you all 25 pages of the album so I am just going to share a few of them that I really love!

To keep things easy I stuck entirely with one patterned paper line.  The line had numbers with it too so for some added interest I used those on a few pages.  To accent this page I used a Merry Christmas sticker from the Christmas Stickers by the Dozen and a Peace Love Joy border sticker from the Take 2 Stickers by the Dozen: Christmas.  As you can see there is plenty of room to add a picture and some journaling for the day.

Oh how I love SRM's 4 inch doilies!  So they made lots of appearances in the album :)  I also used a Merry Christmas round sticker from the Take 2 Stickers by the Dozen: Christmas to add a pop of red.  The border is from We've Got Your Border Christmas - I was surprised how much I liked that against the polka dots!  The 6 comes from the We've Got Your Number - XL Black set.  These numbers in black and white area simply awesome - perfect for adorning everything from layouts to pocket pages to mini albums!

The new punched pieces are also a fabulous addition to mount your numbers onto!  More from the We've Got Your Border Christmas helped to trim this page along with a cute little gingerbread from the Stickers by the Dozen Gingerbread Man set.

This last page that I am going to share gives you one more idea for mounting your numbers and that is to use SRM Labels. Since my patterned papers had black in them I opted to use some of the Black White Labels by the Dozen.

Now that you've seen some of the base how about a look at some of the finished pages!  Yes, this mom of four has managed to get some pages done already!  YAY!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Simple Stories

Stickers: SRM Stickers & Simple Stories

My Last Imaginisce Design Team Project

It's hard to believe that my year with Imaginisce is up!  It was a dream of mine to design for them and I feel so blessed to have had that time.  I decided not to reapply for another term as I have other teams I want to focus more attention on and of course that beautiful family of mine to soak up time with!  So without further adieu here is my very last Imaginisce Design Team project.

Every year my daughter picks out her Christmas dress based on how well it spins out and with the fun elements in this line I thought it was the perfect time to document this sweet memory of her.

I stepped way out of my normal comfort zone and cut out the actual silhouette of her spinning.  Her face in that picture is priceless.  I used the felt garland to create a central focal point for the whole layout and contained all the pieces in there.

The candy cane thickers are awesome but weren't popping the way I like them to against the music background.  I opted to outline them with my black marker to help bring them out even more.

After using a sticker with multiple trees on it I decided to get out my handy IRock tool and add some gems to the top of the trees.  You can never have too much sparkle on a little girl layout and the IRock makes more sparkle always a possibility!

Supply List:

Pebbles: Patterned Paper, Stickers, Garland, Die Cuts

Imaginisce: IRock

Christmas Pajamas Layout

From the lack of posts on my blog you can definitely tell how busy I have been with Christmas!  I direct our school's Christmas Musical and that has consumed all my free time and energy over the last week.  The little scrapping that I have been doing was done doing CHA work for Core'dinations and Paper House Productions.  Super fun stuff but also Top Secret!

My term with Imaginisce is wrapping up but before it comes to a close I have a couple Christmas layouts to share over the next few days.  Imaginisce did not put out a new Christmas line this year so I am sharing one today using pieces from last year's Christmas line.

Each year my kids get new pajamas for Christmas and some years Grandma even makes them some matching ones.  Trying to get the four of them to sit still and take picture was a task last year and I don't think it will be much easier this year!

Imaginisce always puts out the cutest die cuts and there's always multiples of them too!  Perfect for when you are going for a symmetrical look...which I know doesn't happen too often but it did today!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Imaginisce

Stickers: Bella Blvd

Die Cuts: Imaginisce

Published Pocket Page

I'm excited to share with you another pocket page that was published in the Pocket Page Volume 2 Special Edition from Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking. Unlike the first that I shared this one is a traditional pocket page.

This one was featured in the Intermediate section meaning it had a little more to it than just basic elements.  I fussy cut all the frames from paper from Paper House Productions and based the whole project on that! After adding pictures I embellished each pocket with white sticker stitches from SRM Stickers, chipboard hearts, and additional stickers from Simple Stories.

The pictures on this all come from Father's Day last year.  Our family went for a hike and we got a variety of pictures from nice to silly :).  I love that both are showcased and show real life in a big family like ours!  

 Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions, Simple Stories

Stickers: SRM Stickers, Simple Stories

Chipboard: Simple Stories, Studio Calico

Core'dinations Christmas Card

I have had a blast playing with my Core'dinations cardstock this Christmas season.  I have done a lot with cards and today I have one more to share with you!  This one involves sanding and embossing and a lot of layering! It was featured last week at Core'dinations as part of the Core'dinations/Stampendous/Dreamweaver Blog Hop!

Christmas Card Supply List:

• Core Essentials Scarlett Red
• Core Gemstones in Topal
• Chalk Core in White
• Spotted: Jillian Dot
• White 80 Lb Cardstock
• Sand It Gadget
• Dreamweaver "Greetings" Embossing Folder
• Stampendous "Tis the Season" clear stamps

Here's the details on how I created it:

Step 1: Emboss the Chalk Core with the Greetings Embossing folder and sand with Sand It Gadget to bring out the chalk.

Step 2: Emboss a small piece of the Scarlett Red cardstock to get a little bit of the embossing folder border and add it to the white tag.

Step 3: Sand the Spotted paper and add it and Scarlett Red cardstock to the base of your card.  Top with the embosssed Chalk Core piece.

Step 4: Stamp your sentiment on a white circle cut from Core Basics 80Lb Cardstock.

Step 5:  Die cut a deer head from Gemstone Cardstock.  Add all the pieces to the tag using dimensional adhesive to pop some up.

Silly Cooper Layout published by Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking

I'm so sad that Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine has closed it's doors.  I was honored to be published by them several times.  Today I have two layouts to share with you that are in their last print publication called Photo Pocket Scrapbooking.  I just got mine in the mail a few days ago so it should be available in stores soon, if not already!

This layout was submitted in the basic category.  It makes use of Pocket page elements in a non-traditional way (using them on a layout instead of pockets).  It also needed to have five or less products.  All I used on this was patterned paper, stickers, and wood!

Supplies Used: 

Patterned Paper: Imaginisce & Paper House Productions

Stickers: Bella Blvd, Jillibean Soup, Simple Stories

Wood: Studio Calico

I will be back in the next few days to share the second layout I had published!

Samantha Walker Creative Team Blog Hop: Handmade Holiday Projects

Welcome to the  

Samantha Walker Creative Crafters Team Blog Hop!

You should have arrived here from Nicole Stark's Blog!

                 We have a fabulous giveaway this month of a $10 Gift Certificate to Digi Playground!

All you need to do is enter below. You can earn multiple entries by following us on Facebook, commenting below, tweeting about the giveaway, and signing up for the email updates. This giveaway is open to US customers only and closes on this Sunday at 11:59 PM MDT.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For our projects this month we did Handmade Holiday gifts.  I created a simple Nativity Glass Block:

I used Samantha's Nativity cut file #34982 and trimmed off the edges.  I cut it on matte brown vinyl and used an 8 inch glass block.  I added the vinyl to the glass block using transfer tape. and then filled the glass block with a doily and some fake snow.  The finishing touch was some gems.  

With supplies in hand you can make a special gift like this in a little time.

Samantha is giving away a free file and you can get it by clicking on the image below!

Thanks so much for stopping in today! Next up is Jamie!  You can get to her blog by clicking on the picture below!

Doily Christmas Card: SRM Stickers

I love doilies and am always on the lookout for new and clever ways to incorporate them.  Today I have a Christmas card to share with you that I made for SRM Stickers using their doilies and some flair from Bossy Joscie.

I've been wanting to try my hand at making a doily tree for awhile and this was the perfect opportunity.  I folded the 4 inch SRM doilies to a triangular shaping, getting smaller as I went up the tree.  Topping them with Bossy Joscie Flair was the perfect final addition.  

A white sentiment from We've Got Your Sticker - Merry set helped pull the whole thing together - I love how SRM's white stickers just pop!  And of course the whole base is Core'dinations cardstock and one of their fabulous tags!  

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Stickers: SRM Stickers

Doilies: SRM Stickers

Flair: Bossy Joscie

Snowman Polaroid Card

All this month the designers at Paper House Productions are featuring projects made using Plaid supplies.  Plaid makes the awesome Mod Podge that we all know and love!  Usually when I think of Mod Podge I think of using it on 3D projects.  I decided to experiment and see if I could use it in a less traditional way, on a card!

To begin I cut out the snowman portion of the patterned paper from the 6 X 6 Christmas Paper Pad.  I then got out the Extreme Glitter Mod Podge and used a brush to paint it over the whole snowman paper.  This added some great sparkle!

After I let it dry, I assembled the card.  A polaroid frame in the same kraft color as the base kept things simple.  I then added some Mod Melts that are meant to be flowers but I decided they looked snowflake like!  Final touch was some fabulous 3D stickers from Paper House.

Clean, simple, but oh so fun!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Stickers: Paper House Production

Mod Podge: Plaid

Christmas Dress Layout - Core'dinations & Tombow

This week at Core'dinations we are sharing the blog with Tombow and using goodies from both for our creations!  I decided to do a layout about my Lucy in her Christmas dress last year!

I love the way that you can transform Core paper look like patterned paper just by doing some embosing and sanding.  For today I used pre-embossed paper from their Spotted paper pads and just did the sanding part.  I die cut my title and the ornaments. Backing the ornaments stripes with red in a couple of spots brought red into the bottom of the layout.  I then used two different sets of clear stickers - the white are from Simple Stories DIY Christmas line and the black sticker stitches are from SRM Stickers. I thought it would be fun to add words and icons around the ornaments creating a cluster feel.

Now it's on to this year's Christmas Dress!  It's a pretty one and I can't wait to get to scrapping it!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Stickers: SRM Stickers & Simple Stories

Pearls: Want 2 Scrap

Simple Stories "Sweater Weather" for The Scrapbooking Studio

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  I hope you are enjoying some downtime with family and friends today!  I am joining you today to share some projects from the Sweater Weather line from Simple Stories.  I got to work with this line this month for samples at The Scrapbooking Studio. It has a fall theme - but has broad enough embellishments and papers that you can make it work for family and general themes also! First up I have a layout to share:

I stuck with the autumn theme in this one and showed my little guy in the leaves.  Isn't that sweater patterned paper neat?

This card made use of a lot of die cuts from the die cut pack.  Adding brads, chipboard, and enamel dots (all from Simple Stories) was an easy way to add texture and dimension.

This layout is just a general one - although you could make it more fall like by adding leaves and such - you can see it has just a nice general family feel.

My altered project also is a general project that could hang in your home year around.  I love all the houses and hearts included in this line.   Happy Thanksgiving All!

String Art Christmas Card

I have been itching to try some string art techniques and today my chance came!  I have a card up at The Twinery that uses a little string art!

All of the directions for how I did this can be found here. One of the things I love about this card is that I was able to use products from several companies that I design for and love - it's neat to see how they all can come together and make something beautiful!  I am one blessed lady!

If you try some string art techniques too, I would really love to see them! Link them up in the comments here or share them with me on my facebook page!

Supplies Used:

Twine: The Twinery

Stickers: SRM Stickers & Paper House Productions

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Embossed Christmas Cards with a twist

I have always loved using embossing folders and using Core'dinations cardstock makes them even more fun!  Embossing folders always make for beautiful projects but today I am going to show you how you can take them a step further and add some fabulous dimension!

For the first card I am going to show you how using a craft knife and doing some simple cutting can really change the look of the embossed card.

Step 1: Emboss cardstock with tree and sand it.  Add it to a cardstock base.

Step 2: Use a craft knife to cut along the bottom of each layer of tree branches so that you can curl them upward.

Step 3: Embellish with gold glitter, wooden stars, and a bow.

Step 4: Cut a strip of coordinating cardstock and add it to a matching envelope.

My second card uses a similar technique but adds an element of fun!

Step 1: Die cut a sentiment from white cardstock and emboss the upside down Santa onto the scarlet cardstock.

Step 2: Sand the embossing and add white glitter to Santa's legs and the snow.

Step 3: Use a craft knife to cut out the bottom three sides of the chimney.

Step 4: Embellish with punched and wooden stars.

I can't think of anyone who wouldn't smile if a card like this showed up in their mailbox!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Stickers: SRM Stickers

Embossing Folders: Darice