6th Day of Christmas - A 2013 ATDML Overview (The Abbreviated Version)

Well 2013 has been a year crammed full of all sort of ATDML adventures, not least those of the crafting kind. In this short video there are a few snippets from each month of this last year and boy was it a good one!  But before you watch the video I would like to share a few words of wisdom as we say goodbye to the Old and welcome in the New Year.  Some folks say I have a short attention span, but they just ... Ohhhhhhh look ... sparklies!

A huge Thank you to Jill and Mel & all the ATDML family who provide so much more than crafting supplies They have given us opportunities to make new friends and to share ideas.

2013 has been fabulous- looking forward to what 2014 brings.

Wishing you all much love, much laughter and the Happiest of Happy New Years!

On the Fifth day of Christmas...

Ok - so it's meant to be 5 gold rings - well there are 5 rings in my project, but they are silver and attached to 5 chipboard tags!

 

I wanted to make a mini book for my resolutions for 2014. Usually my resolutions about doing less of things - eating less, spending less...etc but I decided that I am going to make next year a year of more. I had lots of ideas - more adventure, more creativity, more sending birthday cards to people and lots more... but I decided to focus on four things - M is for more music, I want to play my saxophone more and get back to the level I was when I was taking my grade exams. O is for organisation - I am a very last minute person and I want to try to be more organised in 2014. R is for rest - I am notoriously bad at staying up late but I know that I function better with lots more sleep so... it's early to bed in 2014. And finally E is for eating - yes, this year I vow to eat more instead of eating less!! So often my first meal of the day is in the evening and by that time I am so hungry I eat rubbish - so I am going to try to eat three proper meals a day - that way I'm hoping they will be healthier meals!

I decided that for a quick 'post-Christmas' project I would use up some papers from my scraps box - I chose some Graphic 45 scraps because I knew they would all go together ok.
I started by covering each side in a different paper, I then sanded the edges and used black ink on the edges to cover them up.

I then cut some flowers from one of the patterned papers to decorate the front cover. I added Thickers for my title and some ribbon to bind the book together...

All I have left to do now is add photos to represent my four resolutions and then I will have a little tag book that I can keep to hand to remind me of my resolutions throughout the year.

 

On the Fourth Day of Christmas.....

ATDML gave to me ...

Some new Marion Smith 'Mad Tea Party' papers.

These have recently come into the shop here - and when I saw them I knew I would have to get some ...
I thought I'd grunge things up a bit as when I'm in the mood I love to sit and play with inks and mists..... so I set to with some spray mist and a photo of me at one of my favourite places in the world.
I used some white distress stain on the frame which was one I had in my stash,then braved it and sprayed some red mist over the page at the top right and bottom left..

I just loved this paper with the hearts and crown and flowers, they are all things that describe the castle -majestic,beautiful and I love it!

I had some little flowers so I arranged them round the side and the corners and cut some little white paper hearts and gave those a little spray as well..

                           Then I used a harlequin stencil and white distress stain and some little words down the other side.

These Marion Smith papers are really varied and quirky and are something a bit different.

I really enjoyed using this one and will definitely be doing some more pages with the collection.

On The Third Day of Christmas .....

On the third day of Christmas the ATDML Design Team gave to me - missed opportunities!

As you know if you follow this blog I am passionate about scrapping the everyday and feel that there are many 'everyday' Christmas opportunities that can be scrapped.  I have used Simple Stores December Documented range to make two such layouts.

Shopping for Presents - this is one of our family traditions that started when Gracia was very young.  We go into our local town and have breakfast together at one of the large department stores.  Then David takes Gracia to get presents for me while I wander around the town choosing presents for Gracia and David, we then have lunch and after lunch Gracia and I shop for her presents to David while he shops for presents for us. 

 Trimming the Tree - how many of you capture the beauty of your Christmas trees and then forget to scrap the photos?  This year ours looked particularly gorgeous. It's David and Gracia task to buy the tree and Gracia's job to decorate it.  I was inspired by the three trees cut from one of the journalling blocks

and made a large tree by cutting a piece of copier paper into a triangle and then covering it with scraps of patterned paper to mimic the patterns on the small trees.  I cut baubles from black card using my Silhouette and then printed circular photos of my favourite baubles to mount onto these.

I hope this has inspired you to look for little family traditions to scrap which might otherwise be forgotten and do come back tomorrow to see what we have for the 4th day of Christmas.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas

Welcome to day two of the 12 days of Christmas. I am going to share a Christmas LO I recently taught at the Eclectic Keepsakes crop.

I love to use circles in my page design but this time I changed it up a little using the row of chevron stickers from the sticker sheet around the edge of the circle changing the shape slightly and adding interest.

I used the lovely December Documented range from Simple Stories which I know is a line I will come back to again and again!

The full PDF instructions for this class can be downloaded HERE on our site.

Come back tomorrow to see what we have in store for the 3rd day of Christmas!

On the 1st day of Christmas...

Welcome to your 1st day of Christmas with the ATDML design team. As promised this is day one of 12 days of blog postings from your favourite design team :)

I have created a box(ing) day themed layout for you today, a nice simple page for a portrait photo taken over the holidays. The idea being the page looks like a parcel, and it incorporates a neat bow technique that Katherine showcased on one of her retreat layouts from earlier this year.

I lightly inked the edge of each piece used on this layout.  You can ink heaver or leave off depending on your scrapping style. I first took a 12x12 background cardstock and added a 10"x10" square (kraft grid), followed by the parcel block in green which measured 6.75" x 7.5". From the same green patterned paper I cut 2 small ovals and 2 larger ovals,a bow centre strip (1/2" x 3") and two bow tails (1" x 3" each). I then mounted a 3"x4" photo on a slightly larger piece of red dotty paper, and cut a multi-coloured dotty piece out the same size, these formed the bottom two blocks of my parcel. I then cut two smaller blocks (same width as those above but not as tall) to complete the grid of four pieces making up the parcel. Next I made the bow. I inked both sides of each bow section. Fold each of the ovals not quite in half and layer a pair of smaller ovals over a pair of large ovals. Affix together with the bow centre which wraps around and hides the joins. Decide on the placement of your bow, mark where the tails are to be adhered, then affix the tails first and the the bow.  I completed my page with a sticker titles, some journalling and doodling.

Hopefully you will get some crafting time over the holiday season to join in with us. I know I will probably be busier than usual but I am planning on printing off my favourite days and taking them to my first crop in January along with photographs taken over the holidays. Should kickstart the mojo in the new year then! Enjoy! and see you back tomorrow where Mel hosts the 2nd Day of Christmas.

Happy boxing day to you all xx

12 days of Christmas with the ATDML design team!

We hope you are all prepared for the seasonal festivities of the days ahead, have your presents wrapped, your turkey ordered and are ready for some goodwill!. Something other than the washing up, grandpa's snoring and the chilly weather to look forward to after Christmas...we are having a 12 days of Christmas ATDML blogathon!

From December 26th through to 12th night on January 6th we will bring you a daily blog post from the design team sharing all sorts of craftiness to bring a smile, a chuckle and some inspiration to your day. We look forward to seeing you pop by each day. Do leave a comment to let us know how you are enjoying the posts from our design team.  Until then we wish a Merry Christmas to all our loyal blog readers.
See you soon xx

UKS Christmas Blog Hop - Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of the UKS Christmas Blog Hop! We hope you enjoyed yesterdays post, the lovely December Daily kit from Princess Scary!

Our project is very flexible. You can use it as an Advent Calendar, Christmas Organiser or a double layout to record your Christmas preparations.

The project was designed by the wonderful Jane Hewitt from our Design Team AKA J-Bug on UKScrappers and it was taught at our recent retreat where it went down very well :)

The link to download full PDF instructions is at the end of this post.

Click HERE to visit our site and download the PDF instructions.

Be sure to visit A Sprinkle of Imagination tomorrow for a Christmas Angel \ Art Doll from Biskit!

Happy Scrapping, and Merry Christmas!
Mel & Jill
xx

December Photography Challenge

Hello December, hello ATDMLers! Time for another photography challenge as another month rolls by. I know like me many of you will be stupid crazy busy this month with school bazaars and Christmas plays, festive shopping, work, seasonal preparations and of course keeping warm which is why some of our photography challenge items are indoors this month! No need to brave the outdoors if you'd rather not! Snap the signs of the approaching season from the comfort of your own home - well some of them anyway!!

Without further ado, lets see what I came up with this month...

DECEMBER Photography Scavenger Hunt

1. Advent
2. Seasonal foliage
3. Nativity
4. Lights
5. Family/Together
6. Busy hands
7. Festive Food

So from now until the end of the month see how creative you can get photographing your 7 items in among the chaos that can be December! Share them by leaving a link to your images in our comments below or in the December 2013 photography challenge folder on the ATDML #Create page on Facebook.

Pop back and see our review of November photos soon.

Ann x