Advent with ATDML Day 24 - Mel

Hello and a Merry Christmas to all our blog readers and customers!

First I need to let you know that as usual we will be having a post Christmas sale so keep your eyes peeled here, on the website and on our facebook page for news of discount shopping opportunities to ease your post Christmas blues!

Secondly I thought I would take this last opportunity to share some Christmas layouts from years gone by. It is always nice to revisit layouts and remember all the moments you have captured but also it is fun to see how your scrapping style has evolved and how trends and fashions for scrapping have moved on over time. So with that in mind I will share some layouts from the past 10 or 11 years and try to do it in order!

and then here are two I scrapped at Ann's Christmas Crop - both were classes taught by Ann!

Advent with ATDML - Day 23 Looking Back with Debs

I've been in a reflective mood these past few days, thinking about family and friends near and far. I guess this has been prompted by the flurry of Christmas letter/emails with an annual overview of 2016. I value these updates so much, it keeps us connected with family that live all over the world. I am often asked why I scrapbook, and mostly it is for the enjoyment of the creative process but also for times of looking back and reminding ourselves of how far we have come, how we have grown and what is most precious to us - our family and friends.

The girls and I enjoyed looking through our 2012 December Daily this holiday so I thought I would share it with you too, as a prompt to record those little moments in our lives that seem trivial at the time but hold so many memories. This is the year Alfie Winterbottom appeared regularly throughout December much to the delight and enjoyment of my girls. Four years on, the girls are older and Alfie's appearance are sporadic but still enjoyed, particularly on Christmas Eve when he leaves treats for us all to enjoy. 

When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things give off the greatest glow of happiness. -  Bob Hope

Advent with ATDML - Dec 22nd - Christmas Tag Time!

I'm calling the last tag of this year 'A visit from Saint Nicholas' after the Clement C Moore poem which I once had to learn off by heart and is still one of my favourite poems. The children should be in bed, but they are gathered round the tree - which is the same tree that I showed you how to make back on 11th December - check out the video for instructions.

As usual you will need a 4" x 8" tag and the collective and montage papers from Graphic 45 Children's hour. You will also need some extra green card to make a 1" x 10" strip, a 24cm square of green paper to make into the tree, some cream paper to cut out envelopes, some gems for the tree, a ribbon for the top of the tree (or a star) and some co-ordinating ribbon - I used dark green.

I started by cutting this section out and using it to decorate the top of the tag - red side up!

 I inked the edges...

 Then I added the 10" green strip - sticking it on from behind and folding it over...

 I added the Ho Ho Ho strip...

 Then stuck some paper on which has poinsettias... you will barely see this by the end.

 cut out the panel...

 Make some tiny envelopes from cream paper - I used an old sizzix die...

 Add the panel, the envelopes then the tree as shown... pop one of the stamps in an envelope to look like a Christmas card (I left mine loose so it could be pulled out...

 Add the girl holding the stocking - raise up on foam pads...

 Add the little girl (save the cat for later) - make it look like she is putting something on the tree...

 Add Santa to the front strip...

 Then a cut out poinsettia...

 And the cat, on foam pads...

 Add merry Christmas to the top - again, on foam pads...

 Add gems to the tree... make sure you give the little girl one to hang on the tree!

 And a ribbon or star for the top...

Attach some co-ordinating ribbon to the top of the tag.  Bend the strip round and either glue to the back or secure with something temporary like Velcro so that you can fold the tag flat.

Here's the finished tag...

'And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight...

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a goodnight!"

Advent with ATDML - Day 21 - Joy

Hello, Karen here with the last of my Advent posts. I have thoroughly enjoyed the anticipation of waiting for all the little crafting gems to pop up on my Facebook page each day and hope you have too.

Today I have a layout using Simple Stories Classic Christmas range. The photos on this layout epitomise the joy and laughter Gracia brings where ever she goes.  Last Christmas she decided that we needed some Christmas tiaras made from the discarded present bows and so set about making them - even Kiera had one!

I gutted a piece of red cardstock so that I had enough to make my photo mounts and then trimmed a piece of 'Fun and Frosty' paper to give me an eighth of an inch border of red.  I cut the large 'Joy' and the gold 'To All' banner from the 6 x 4 Elements paper.

I used a variety of stickers from the range to embellish my page

Added a gold glitter paste border at the bottom of my page.

I also used glitter paste on some chipboard stars for the two top corners and the middle of my page.

Finished off with some more stickers, a piece of gold doily and a sprinkle of gold enamel dots.The final touch was some Father Christmas washi tape.

I love the classic colour combination of this colour range which goes so well with any Christmas photos.

I wonder what our talented DT will bring for the last few days in the run up to Christmas?

Advent with ATDML - Day 20 with Debs

Well a few days ago the weatherman/woman got me all excited with a forecast of heavy snow this Christmas. In my head I had planned out lots of layouts using up to date snow pics and featuring titles of White Christmas etc.

Much to my disappointment it seems that I will truly just be dreaming of one, White Christmas that is. With that in mind I pulled out a few pages from my albums of our family enjoying the snow a few years ago. Fingers crossed we get the sledge out the shed sometime this winter.

Advent with ATDML - day 19 - Card & money wallets

At this time of year with the last few days closing in, gift cards can be a lifesaver - great for those hard to buy for people who seem to have everything.  I also have family who will be travelling this year so we will be giving them currency to go enjoy themselves during their time away.  These money and card wallets are a fun way of wrapping them up so they still have something to open on Christmas morning

Card wallet

I started with a 4 1/4" x 10" piece of cardstock.

I scored at 2", 5" 6" & 7" and folded as below. 

The 6" & 7" scores will form a flap for the card to sit in. I used a cup to draw around and cut a semi-circle out.

The card should be slightly wider than the semi circle so I cut into the tab slightly by about 1/4" each end to allow the card to slot in. Stick the slot that holds the card together - I used red tape to ensure it held together.

I folded the card card so it looks like an envelope - at this stage depending on your scores you may have to trim the bottom flap (the larger end) slightly so it allows the envelope to lie flat.

I then used the Simple Stories 'Classic Christmas' range - Elements, Holiday wishes and Deck the halls to decorate the front and back.

For the inside I used the red Snowflake side of Deck the halls and The 'tis the season' element from Holiday wishes.

The panels were 2"x4", 2 3/4" x 4" & 2 1/2" x 4" I trimmed the element to fit and mounted them all up with a glue pen.

To cover the back of the wallet and ensure the back of the card slot was covered I cut two panels from the blue snowflake side of elements - 5 3/4 x 4 2/16" and  2 x 4 2/16".  I folded the larger piece in half before glueing in place to ensure that it fit round properly.

I then cut a 1 1/2" x 7"piece of card to wrap around the card holder and fixed it in place.  I then used the 25 square from elements and mounted it on red card before attaching to the wrap.

 I slotted this over the card holder and then added a piece of string as decoration.

Money Wallet 

I started with a 12"x5 1/2 " rectangle of Bella Carta's "Christmas delivery" Christmas Plaid - I scored the 12" length at 6" and then scored 1" in from each side of the 5.1/2" length.  I then cut cut away the 1" strip to the middle line on both sides.  Finally I made 2 diagonal cuts to the remaining flaps.

I then cut a 3 7/16" by 4 1/2" rectangle, I scored this 1" along the 4 1/2" side and glued the flap to the top of the main paper so it looked like below. the 3 7/16" should just fit inside the 3 1/2" end.

It should now look like this...

I folded in the flaps at the side and applied double sided tape 

I then folded in and stuck in place.

I used my circle punch to cut a semi circle out ( most punches have little marks that you can line up to do this) If your punch is bigger you may want to do this before sticking it down.

I applied Teresa collins 'Tinsel & co" stickers to the outside and folded the tabs round to the back

I then mounted red and white card on the back and applied some to and from stickers from the same range.