Christmas Albums

So December is looming, Christmas cards, parties, presents maybe even some snow....and for many scrappers lots of things to document.  I love Christmas and really enjoyed documenting it last year, I've been a  bit late getting everything together for this year, but I will share what I create on the blog.

After you've chosen your papers and embellishments and albums - mine are heavily dominated by Simple Stories this year as I love their 6 by 8 size albums, I have cut up my 6 by 4 and 3 by 4 cards and all the papers designed for cutting in the Simple Stories set and am ready to go.  Then you need to think about what you are going to photo and what you are going to document.   Some days are easier than others as you might have a party, or be going present shopping, or decorating the tree - any family traditions.  Then there are other days when it is just everyday life with work and dinner, and normal routines but those are all things to document too as they do change over time.  Other ideas, especially if you have kids, are to join in Elf on a Shelf as that is an instant picture and you can get loads of ideas on sites like these.

To get you started here are some suggestions for the days when you don't have a Christmas something to photo.

1.  Try Ann's December Christmas photo challenges - which always start with a selfie on the 1st of the month.
2. Document the weather.
3. The regular routines.
4. What you are eating - any favourite foods.
5. A grocery shopping bill, any special things you get in for Christmas.
6. What you are reading, listening to, watching on tv.
7.  Christmas card writing - include one of your cards.
8.  Any nicely decorated houses or Christmas decorations.
9.  What you are making on your craft table - other than your Christmas album.
10.  What is happening in the news.
11. A quote from a conversation with a friend - just a bit of documenting on a friendship and a photo of the friend.
12.  Christmas plans, and the Christmas calendar.
13.  Your favourite tree decoration and why it is special to you.
14.  Family traditions and the background to them.
15.  A Christmas memory from your childhood and maybe a photo of an older Christmas if you have one.
16. Wrapping paper, tags and a sample in your album.
17.  Christmas lists.
18. Advent calendars or candles.
19.  How you are feeling.
20.  Sun rise on a frosty morning (love those :))
21.  Count your blessings - look at the previous year and list all those good moments.

As always I'd love to see your creations, so if you are making an album this year do post pictures in our Facebook group ATDML # Create.

Today

I made this page with some texture paste that had become a little dried up, sometimes you can re-invigorate it with water...but I liked the thick texture it added to my page.  I just added a thick strip fairly centrally that went out at each side.  Once it was dry I added mist and gelatos and water and set it aside to try.  I die cut lots of circles from one of Crate Papers Confetti papers, and also layered up my photo mats - again all from the confetti range.  I stapled on some gauze and added a wood veneer heart from the Simple Stories Say Cheese 2 collection.  Once all my paint was dry I did a little bit of stamping and then added my photos and the circles - all of them distressed and inked.  The title is from a beautiful collection by Heidi Swapp which just adds a little bit of glitter.

November Virtual Crop Class 3 - with Mel

Welcome to the last class of the day. I hope you have enjoyed Karen and Katherines classes. Next up is my class featuring Simple Stories 24 \ Seven. For those of you that bought the kit it also features my first foray into the world of Silhouette Sketch pens (Karen is to blame for my new addiction there!)

Click HERE for the Instructions

Don't forget to come over and share your work on the ATDML # Create Facebook page.

November Virtual Crop - Class 2 with Katherine

Hello and welcome to the Virtual Crop, my class has 3 pages with some different painty effects in them.  You need some white acrylic or gesso, a bit of water and blue distress ink or watercolour paint and masking tape too.  The papers are all from Websters Pages "Our Travels" and you can find the kits over in the shop here.

I hope you are enjoying the crop, you can find the instructions here.

November Virtual Crop Class 1 with Karen

Hello again lovely scrappers, time flies and I cannot believe that it is time for another exciting virtual crop.

I am first up this month with two layouts using the absolutely gorgeous and very sparkly Lost and Found Ruby by My Mind's Eye.

The first layout 'Our Family' has a typical photo from my lovely lot - me thinking I will get a decent photo whilst the other two pull faces without me knowing!  I used a cathedral window quilting technique for the pattern at the bottom of the page and kept the whole layout quite simple.

When I saw the chipboard shapes and bling swirl that came with the kit I immediately thought of making a hot air balloon with them and then the rest of the layout came together quite quickly after that. 

Both my layouts are quite clean and simple this month and I hope you enjoy making them.

Pop back at 12 noon when Katherine will be working her magic.

You can upload photos of your projects here and  download the instructions here.

November Virtual Crop Challenge

It's time for your November virtual crop day which means another challenge for you all.

In November 1840 famous French painter Claude Monet was born. He was considered a founder of French Impressionist painting and your challenge today is to include some painting on your layout. This can be any painting, drips or splats, a wash on your background, painted chipboard title are a few ideas you may choose to explore.

We look forward to seeing your challenges and will see you back here at 10am for your first of three virtual crop classes of the day. Until then I will leave you with one of my favourite Monet's.

November Virtual Crop Photo Requirements

Kit 1 - Karen Moss

Layout 1 - 6 by 4" landscape photo

optional tools 2 1/2" circle punch and a 1" circle punch

Layout 2 - 6 by 4 portrait photo


Kit 2 - Katherine Sutton

Layout 1 - 6 by 4" landscape photo

Layout 2 - 6 by 4" landscape photo

Layout 3 - 4 by 4" photo

Tools to have on-hand - masking tape, white gesso or acrylic paint, and old credit card or palette knife to apply it. 2" circle punch, small heart punch and compass, punches or dies to cut 1" and 3" circles, blue distress ink/stain and water spritzer.  If you want....a sewing machine. Brown ink (I use tea dye) for the edges of the papers.

Kit 3  - Mel Hand

Layout 1 - 3 by 4" photo and one or two 2 by 3" landscape photos.

Layout 2 - 6 by 4" photo, landscape or portrait.

You can find the kits here .

Fishing with October Afternoon

I got to choose my papers this month and went for a rather eclectic mix, the red papers are both part of the Christmas range from October Afternoon Under the Tree and the woodgrain is by Crate Paper. I used a chevron stencil with gesso behind where my photo was going, and then layered up some of the papers with lace and buttons.  I added a couple of Daily Flash journal spots a prima alphabet and then some lace and chipboard.

The kits for our next Virtual Crop have gone on sale in the shop, you can find them here.

From This to That - Bo Bunny Edition part 2

A late From This To That - I thought I had posted about the other half of my October Bo Bunny DT kit but it appears not!

So Jill and Mel sent me a selection from the Bo Bunny Genevieve range.  A range I wasn't sure about when I looked at it on line but fell in love with it once I had it in my hands.  The vibrant yellows and cobalt blues make this a really unusual and striking range.

I started by making a page about how organised Gracia is

Then went on to a page with a lovely photo of Gracia and Josh using yellow cardstock - not something I thought I would ever do but I like the results.

Next I found the perfect photo to compliment the yellow, blues and greys of this range.

And finally used the remaining scraps to make a geometric style page.  

 

It just goes to show that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or in my case a paper range by the on line photos.

Retreat Sketch challenge

I always have liked a sketch to kick start a layout and at the retreat last weekend we had a sketch as one of the challenges. I rotated the sketch 180 degrees so most of those shared over the weekend had the pair of photos in the bottom right corner whilst mine sit in the top left.

I sprayed some ink on the background cardstock and added some distress stain splats/ I then mounted each of my photos and added them to a larger photo mat but offset them from each other. I then used the elements pack that came with these Kaisercraft papers to embellish around the photos and cut the title from a paper in the same collection.

If you created a page based on the sketch why not share it below ( or a link to it) so we can see how varied they all are. And if you have't had a go, it's not too late, go be inspired!

Goodbye and please come again!

So I was up first with a class on Friday and I am closing the retreat with my Graphic 45 class today.  What a fabulous weekend it has been with fine food, fabulous friends and absolutely sumptuous classes.  ATDML really know how to throw a retreat, just looking at all the happy faces and listening the the comments from the lovely attendees is a testament to the Fab Five who put in all the hard work to make it happen.

So for the last class of the weekend I taught a two page layout.  I have, for some time, wanted to make a layout that was opulant and festooned with sparkle and flowers but, other than cutting all the flowers out on the Silhouette - a mammoth task for a class of 30+, I couldn't see how I could mange it.

Then the fabulous Denise gave me her Big Shot and a whole new world of crafting was opened up to me - die cutting. 

 Having retreat selfie fun with The Fabulous Denise

So I was able to buy the necessary dies, add some punches and the class was manageable, with everyone cutting out their own elements. 

The resulting page was one featuring lots of flowers, lace, gold and sparkle and a photo of my very lovely 3 year old Gracia.  I am going to put it into a box frame and bring it out each Christmas as a piece of home decor .

I had more than enough papers left over to make a second layout featuring our 'mad as a hatter' family in our prefered Christmas headgear.

So, waving goodbye from the retreat and looking forward to the spring when we can do it all again. 

November Photo Prompts

Welcome back to another month of photography prompts with your ATDML team.We are all away at the autumn retreat today scrapping up a storm and being very creative. We ask you once again if you will rise to our photography challenge this month and get creative with your camera.  As always we start with a selfie on the first of the month and then another 4 photo challenge scenarios.

1. Selfie on the first
2. Surrounded by...
3. Autumn sky
4. Tasty treat
5. Something new to you

Have fun taking photos!