On the 1st day of Christmas

Welcome to the first day of Christmas inspiration from your ATDML design team. I'm kick starting the inspiration today, the first day of advent and the day in our house we start the official countdown to Christmas.

 

Having seen many a variety of projects using these Ikea frames I decided to have a go myself. They are so inexpensive at just £1 and with a ring (or two) to hold your pages at the top you can make an easy countdown to Christmas paper craft project.

 

My pages were a mixture of Kraft and White cardstock and each measured 3 1/4" wide by 5" tall.  I decorated them with a mixture of Christmas papers but started with this paper from Websters All That Glitters collection. I also used matching washi tape (as it is light and not too thick) and a set of wooden numbers from my local shop. 

This paper is also fabulous for this project and features a variety of coloured numbers you can cut out and use. The reverse again is a good neutral background colour.

As the frame isn't particularly wide my pages are double sided so you count down from 24 days to 13 days to go, then flip the frame around to countdown from 12 to 1 day to go. You cannot tell from the photos but I gave my frames a gentle spray with some spray sparkle too! The back of this paper is a good small pattern that works well on the pages too as show below. I cut the bottom right image of the frosty bauble into two to cover two pages.

Denise will be back with you on Dec 3rd with another festive project for you #feelingfestive

November DT Kit Part 2

As I said in my previous post - we were given free choice for our November DT kits and for the other half of my kit I chose various items from the Simple Stories 'The Story of Us' range. I used these papers and, of course, the sticker sheet.  The range is primarily yellow and gray, not colours I would normally scrap with but they really caught my eye when I saw them at the retreat.

 Forever and Always

 Happily Ever After

 

Boarders and Title Strips

Simple Basic Kit

 

Cardstock Stickers

I then set myself the challenge of using this range, which is designed to document weddings/engagements, for non-wedding/love themed pages.

I started by making two pages that feature a recent family visit to York.

The first shows the quirky shops we came across

The accompanying page was about having tea in Betty's - a famous York tea shop and I have to say the tea was absolutely delicious.

Next I made a page to celebrate the fun crafting weekend I had with a group of friends.  I love the photo on this one as it summed up the whole weekend. Although there were 13 of us all together only 8 were in this photo.

Finally, I made a page with a photo I have used before but one that I really love.  This has flowers and a doily cut using my Silhouette and a little wooden family from my own supplies. 

So there we have it - mission accomplished - four pages made with a wedding range and not one of them about a wedding or love themed.  Just goes to show how versatile these papers are.

12 Days of Christmas with ATDML Design team

We know that December brings with it the busiest of times for all of us as the festive season draws near but surely you can fit in some festive inspiration?

The 12 days of Christmas traditionally starts on Christmas Day and the 12 days and nights that follow are celebrated in varying ways around the world. Some give gifts only on Christmas Day, some only on Twelfth Night, and some each of the twelve nights and that is what we have in store for you.....BUT!.... we can't wait until Dec 25th! 

We will be sharing 12 days of Christmas inspiration here on the ATDML blog with the design team from Dec 1st through 24th.  Every other day one of the design team with share a project with you to enjoy over the holiday season. Sound like fun? See you then crafty elves!

Websters Pages

I picked a fair few Websters Pages papers for my November gallery creations where Mel and Jill let us pick whatever papers we liked to create with. I already shared this page over on the Facebook group which uses this paper from the All That Glitters range.

It features a small square at the bottom left corner of the photo which is from this paper in Websters Pages Nest collection.

That paper from the Nest collection also featured predominantly on this page.

I chose a section of the patterned paper that was 4 squares by 4 squares and mounted this on a piece of kraft card and affixed to the centre of my background. I then covered 2x3 of the squares with a photo and layered over some of the squares with other designs so I kept my favourite elements visible and made the most of the images I liked, using foam pads to raise some up.

A couple of strips of washi tape at the top and bottom of the page and an embellishment cluster with bling and a wooden heart and this page was completed in under 30 minutes!

Other items I created using mostly Websters Pages can be found in our November gallery here.

 

Week in the Life

A few of us had a go at Ali Edward's Week in the Life challenge which happened to be the week over October half term.  You get sheets to print off so you can diarise what happens during the week, and the idea is to tell a story, note down the everyday things - almost like a social history - so you can take photos of what you eat, do, what's in your fridge - it's just capturing some moments in a little more detail and capturing the more everyday events.

I decided on a pocket page for a day (I have still to perfect the art of photoing pocket pages so apologies that the photos aren't that great).  I used more Simple Stories Legacy papers and cream card stock and lots of the Simple Stories embellishments too.

It makes you journal a lot - which is something that I am not that good at.

You are also encouraged to take photos of you - so that is me and my favourite mug and then the kids snuggled up watching a movie.

A few of us are also having a go at December Daily and there will be plenty of posts in our Facebook group on that - so if you fancy joining in to pop over to ATDML Create.

Also there are some new pages up in the gallery if you want to check them out - here is the link

Virtual Crop Bonus Class with Jane Hewitt

Our last class of the day features a fabulous mini book by Jane Hewitt.

Full instructions can be found HERE.

We all hope you have enjoyed the Virtual Crop, don't forget to keep an eye out in the New Year when the kits for our next Virtual Crop will go on sale - the crop date is Saturday 17th January, something to chase away those post Christmas blues!

Virtual Crop Class 4 - With Mel Hand

Welcome to the fourth class of todays Virtual Crop. I hope you have enjoyed it and that you will share your creations with us over on the ATDML # Create Facebook Page

My class kit featured the gorgeous Crate Paper Flea Market range, this was one of my favourite ranges for 2013 and so I was really excited to work with it. I created three full layouts plus a base page for a fourth layout. (For more info on what I mean by "base pages" take a look at this post from 2012)

Class instructions for todays class can be downloaded HERE.

 

We have a bonus class with Jane Hewitt at 6pm - see you then! :)