Practical Scrappers Favorite Cards of the Year

Thought I would share with you all the great cards over at Practical Scrappers

Practical Scrappers Favorite Cards link

This is my favorite card that I created this year...

not sure why I love it so much, kraft card stock, Crate Paper's Emma's Shoppe and all of my favorite embellishments, that's probably why I love it!

Practical Scrappers Favorite Layouts of the Year

Check out the link below to see all of the wonderful layouts created by the Practical Scrappers team!

Everyone chose their favorite layout of the year!

This one is my favorite..love the colors, the mist and the adorable boys!

Practical Scrappers Favorite Layouts of 2011





Silent Night

A Silent Night indeed!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:

the presence of a Happy Family all wrapped up in each other

(helps to have a silent teenage girl) 



This layout was created for Practical Scrappers...check out the link here:

Practical Scrappers Christmas Inspiration

Stop by and check out the great ideas for your Christmas layouts.

Supplies used:

All Jillibean Soup papers and die cuts

Pebbles Black Glitter Stickers

October Afternoon Snowflake rub ons

Twine from the Twinery

Machine Stitching

Thanks for taking a peek!



Christmas Jar and Bow

Maxenzi needed a quick gift for a friend, so we decorated this jar.  It turned out so cute!  I used an older line from Fancy Pants..Holly Jolly, I think. I cut two borders with the scallop die from sizzix, and used scor-tape to adhere them, top and bottom to the jar.  Cut a tag from the paper, added  some chipboard and twine.

I remembered this great tutorial I saw on October Afternoon's Blog, a couple of week's back, on how to make your own paper bows. Super fun!

October Afternoon gift bow tutorial

Enjoy your day!

Scenes from the Capitol

Haven't posted in a while, just super busy with the holidays...which I am sure is true for you too!

We took the time yesterday to go to the Capitol to see the trees.  The most beautiful December day, it was just gorgeous!

 Stunning!

 Loved this tree dedicated to all the volunteers who helped with the flooding this past summer!

 Cutest little snowmen made from sandbags..clever!

 A tree dedicated to our fallen law enforcement officers.

Officer McCandless and Officer Armstrong front and center on this heart wrenching tree.  Our heroes!

 A gorgeous tree with the Chronicles of Narnia theme.  Wow!

Perfectly blue sky filled with geese, beautiful!  I bet there were 5,000 geese on the lake and the grounds..quite the site and sound!

Thanks for stopping by...I will have some projects to share this week!

Create Challenge

This week's challenge from the Create Blog was to make a card with a Christmas Tree as a focal point.

Such a fun challenge and I had something in mind right away when I read the challenge!  So that made it a bit easier! Only bad thing is that there is no sun to get a good picture...fog and drizzle don't make for good photos...sorry!

Supplies used:

Bazzill Kraft Card Stock

Echo Park Season's Greeting Papers

Cuttlebug Embossing Border

Martha Stewart and EK Success Punches

7 Gypsies Ruler

October Afternoon Sticker

Maya Road Ribbon and Ribbon Charm

Jillibean Soup Corrugated Button

Vintage Lace

Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Machine Stitching

and the finishing touch

The Twinery's Charcoal Baker's Twine

Thanks for taking a peek!

Create Blog Challenge: Christmas Cards

Yep, sharing another challenge from

the Create Blog !

This week's challenge to create a Christmas Card, seems pretty fitting!

Supplies used:

Bazzill Kraft Card Stock

Bazzill Chipboard Snowflake

EK Punch

October Afternoon Good Cheer patterned paper

October Afternoon Good Cheer Rub on

October Afternoon Very Merry Stickers

October Afternoon Mister Huey Calico Cream

Maya Road Ribbon

Stampin' Lace

Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Twine and Machine Stitching

Thanks for taking a peek!



Sledding Hill...Really?!?!

I wanted to share this with all of you back home in the Hills....this is what flatlanders call a sledding hill.

It is complete with rules!

Pretty sure that what I have sent my children down, back in Black Hills, would be classified as child abuse or attempted homicide.We took four wheelers, to get back up the hills we used to sled down.  Baird Park cracks me up...this is nothing more than a pile of dirt.  Keep in mind this is the biggest hill in the Aberdeen area for miles, other than the land fill!

 Alex looks so happy!  Totally impressed!

 And here we have a bit of goofing around, yes there is no snow, I wanted you to see it before there was any snow, so you could see just how small it is.  Maybe it will grow by extreme measures once all the snow comes. But seriously this can't be really considered a sledding hill!



Another Christmas Project to share!

Just another easy project to share...

a paper stacked Christmas tree!

I had so much fun making some trees like this last year, that I decided I would make one again this year, with some very special paper.

I adore last year's line from the Girl's Paperie,

Tinsel and Twig.

I didn't have a lot left so I wanted to make it special, the tree was the perfect project.

You can use any type of scallop nesting dies or cut various sizes with your die cutting machine.

I used about 45 scallop circles for this tree, all depends on the the weight of paper.  Last year, I used old patterns and vintage sheet music.  Those take tons of layers, but this awesome paper filled it up nice and easy.

Just crumple a bit, poke a hole and layer onto a bbg skewer.

Mine is spritzed with Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist and sprinkled with glitter and micro beads.  I used an old wooden spool for my base, just hot glued it in, added the snowflake and ribbon.  Done in no time..less than an hour!

 Also sharing this morning's sunrise....crisp, cold and gorgeous!