Merry Christmas (paper tree #1) - Layout #20 of the 365 scrapbook challenge and what lessons I learned with this layout

Hey Newbies,

I'm here working on number 20 of my 365 Page Layout Challenge 2019 (and the lessons I learned).  I will try to list everything I used below and try to link up to where you can purchase them if you happen to like any of them.

I'm here working on something I "lifted" (ha! that's a term we scrapbookers use for using someone else' layouts).  This particular layout I found on YouTube by Vicki Parker (click here to watch it).

She used a Hip Kit Club December Kit (to find out more about these awesome kits click here.  I loved the way she made the tree out of various papers cut in 1" strips.  So I decided to myself, self, this seems to be pretty easy and looks fabulous so why not try it!  

So I began with the white card stock like she did.  I then picked out all of the papers I wanted to use (I am not a member of the Hip Kit Club (yet) because I have a TON of paper in my stash and want to use some of it up before joining).  That being said, I didn't use any of the papers she did.  

I began to lay them out like she did, and it looked pretty good.  I was envious of her papers but mine weren't so bad.  I added the BEST WISHES as the trunk and the tree was complete!

Now, here comes LESSON 1 for this layout...how to hide things you put on a layout that just doesn't look good.  In her video, Vicki added splatters.  Now, if you have never used splatters before there is a bit of a technique to it.  I mean you would think it would be so simple, THEY ARE SPLATTERS for crying out loud!  But they can get away from you and in this case it looked more like a bloody crime scene than a Merry Christmas scene😱

After I splattered the green and red it really looked like a bloody mess and once it's down, it's down.  So, LESSON 1, how I covered them up!  I started by stamping snowflakes all over the place and that didn't quite do it, so then I started adding stickers everywhere.  I mean, snowflake stickers, mitten stickers, stocking stickers and finally...the bloody mess was gone!  So...if you make a mistake and you've gone too far to turn back now...cover that sh*t up!

After I finished cleaning up "the scene", I added the photo by backing it in red and gold foil paper and then added the MERRY CHRISTMAS, which wasn't meant for scrapbooking but I used it anyway and it looked pretty good (so, we will call that LESSON #2 for this layout).  They are actually window jelly clings that you use to decorate your windows with during the holiday.  Here may be LESSON #3 for this layout...you might now want to use something this red and green on a white background...this material tends to run so some of the wording is now a bit more colorful around the actual letters🤦🏻‍♀️.  Maybe on a colored background or maybe not at all...just saying...

Well, there you have it...number 20 of my 365 layout challenge for 2019.  Thanks for following along on my journey of 365 scrapbook page challenge that I am doing, and reading about the lessons I'm learning along the way!

Please leave a comment below and let me know if you are trying Vicki's layout.  If you liked this blog, please subscribe and come follow me on my 3-6-5 journey to see if I am able to complete it!

Come join our FB page for more challenges and to share your layouts with the group or come follow me on IG!  

Happy Scrapping🤗

Kimberly

Merry Christmas (House) - Layout #19 of the 365 scrapbook challenge and what lessons I learned with this layout

Hey Newbies,

I'm here working on number 19 of my 365 Page Layout Challenge 2019 (and the lessons I learned).  I will try to list everything I used below and try to link up to where you can purchase them if you happen to like any of them.

Today I'm working on a Christmas layout.  This one was pretty simple and quick to layout!  I was so excited about getting this MERRY CHRISTMAS HOUSE stencil at Joann's for 90%OFF!  It actually wasn't a stencil, it was backed to a 10x10 board.  I took it off the board and used it as a stencil and it worked PERFECTLY!  Here is a video of my haul from Joann's.

I started out with a red 12 x 12 card stock and then added a white card stock on top.   I cut an inch off each side so that the red cold show.  I then took the stencil and a Sharpie permanent marker in GOLD METALLIC,  followed all of the lines of the house and then colored in the MERRY CHRISTMAS.  It looked fabulous...if I do say so myself😋

I then sprits the snow flakes in Perfect Pearls Mist from Ranger in PERFECT COPPER to pull some of the gold out in the house and glued them down.  After that I backed the photo with some paper from my stash that had some gold(ish) color in it and then with some of the red stock paper I used earlier and adhered it down.

I had the JOY and the Christmas tree from a real old stash of mine, which worked great because the tree had the gold in it and the JOY had the red. 

The Santa sticker I made using my X-yron sticker maker and the Santa I fussy cut from a Christmas note pad I had laying around my house. (Hey I always say, use what you can, and if it's free it's for me)!

I added some Christmas brads (one was a sticky brad but the other 2 were not, and I'm not a huge fan of the "not sticky" brads so I take off the metal parts some times - this being one of those times- and use a foam dot to adhere them).   I had some smaller red colored brads that I put down the side just to add color, used a border from one of my Christmas HOT BUY pads and Boom!  Done!  Super simple, super quick and super cute!

So LESSON 1 for this layout would be...use what you have that may not be meant for scrapbooking (think, the stencil house I pulled off the board, the Santa sticker I made from a note pad...what ever you think will work, try it, use it...just because it doesn't say "scrapbooking embellishment" doesn't mean you can't use it.😬

Well, there you have it...number 19 of my 365 layout challenge for 2019.  Thanks for following along on my journey of 365 scrapbook page challenge that I am doing, and reading about the lessons I'm learning along the way!  Please subscribe if you like this post and to see if I make it to number 3-6-5 by the end of this year!

Please join our FB page for more challenges and to share your layouts with the group or come follow me on IG!  

Happy Scrapping🤗

Kimberly

Merry Christmas Wreath - Layout #17 of the 365 scrapbook challenge and what lessons I learned with this layout

Hey Newbies,

I'm here working on number 17 of my 365 Page Layout Challenge 2019 (and the lessons I learned).  I will try to list everything I used below and try to link up to where you can purchase them if you happen to like any of them.

I worked on this page the same day I did Layout 16 so it was a 2 page layout. I used the same pad as I did in the previous layout but with a wreath instead of the hat.  The presents are all from a border page the pad included and the gold snow flakes were from the haul from Joann's in a clear pack of 9 tiny Christmas stamps.  I used the gold Sharpie to color in the stamp before stamping it on the page.  It pulled all the golds together.  Click here for layout #16 for all the info on how I did it all.  Both are super simple layouts and only took a few minutes to put together.

I really did do a Title or journaling for this one....and here is LESSON #1 for this layout; there are no rules.  I know everyone says you have to have a Title and journaling but these are all your creations and one of a kinds, so there are no rules for creations...you create how you feel.  If that means no journaling or Title...or if you use a different technique, it's ok.  Just go for it!

Well, there you have it...number 17 of my 365 layout challenge for 2019.  Thanks for following along on my journey of 365 scrapbook page challenge that I am doing, and reading about the lessons I'm learning along the way!  

Please join our FB page for more challenges and to share your layouts with the group or come follow me on IG!  

Happy Scrapping🤗

Kimberly

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Layout #16 of the 365 scrapbook challenge and what lessons I learned with this layout

Hey Newbies,

I'm here working on number 16 of my 365 Page Layout Challenge 2019 (and the lessons I learned).  I will try to list everything I used below and try to link up to where you can purchase them if you happen to like any of them.

This was a super simple layout that I didn't really use a lot but it still turned out nice.  This is part of my HOT BUYS stash I purchased from Michael's.  These are really great buys and the papers are amazing and they do them either every quarter or 6 months so make sure you look for them!  

I started this 12 x 12 layout with a traditional Christmas red in a heavy card stock.  I then went into the Christmas Hot Buys pad I had gotten last week and it was all gold, black and silvers.  All of the pages are so beautiful!.  I fussy cut the center of one that had a Christmas hat in the center of the page that said "IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS"...and here comes LESSON 1; make sure you absolutely like the way it looks before glueing it down because there is no going back from that.  I'm thinking I could have fussy cut a little bit more of the words out🤦🏻‍♀️

This particular pad had a couple of pages of borders that I loved!  So I used 2 on the top and then I fussy cut the bows out from another border and used my awesome Fineline glue applicator to apply them to the page.  If you don't have one, I highly suggest getting one, it gets in the hard to reach, small pieces you are trying to get glued down...Amazon is where I purchased mine.

I punched out the photos with my 2.5" and 3" circle punch and backed them with some plain black paper and added gold dots with my shinny gold Sharpie just to give them a little pop.

The gold Christmas presents was a stamp I got from my Joann's haul!  The set had 9 little clear Christmas stamps and was perfect for this.  I used the same gold Sharpie and ran it across the stamp to give it the same gold shinny color as the dots on the photo backing.

Lastly, I used my Big Shot and a Christmas tree die and cut out parchment paper.  I use this technique when I want to either cover up journaling when I want to hide it or to use over a bright paper that I want to lighten up a bit.  It works great and is cheap!  I toped the tree with a sticky brad from Echo Park Collection 

Well, there you have it...number 16 of my 365 layout challenge for 2019.  Thanks for following along on my journey of 365 scrapbook page challenge that I am doing, and reading about the lessons I'm learning along the way!  

Please join our FB page for more challenges and to share your layouts with the group or come follow me on IG!  

Happy Scrapping🤗

Kimberly

HoHoHo - Layout #15 of the 365 scrapbook challenge and what lessons I learned with this layout

Hey Newbies,

I'm here working on number 15 of my 365 Page Layout Challenge 2019 (and the lessons I learned).  I will try to list everything I used below and try to link up to where you can purchase them if you happen to like any of them.

This layout I'm not gonna lie...I love.  Not just because of the pictures (he was so darn cute in his little man robe), but I was super excited about using non-traditional Christmas colors.  What I mean by that is not the usual green and red, green and red.  I have been seeing all of these layouts on IG with these beautiful colors for Christmas and I was hooked!  I ordered a small pack of 12 x 12 paper from Lawn Fawn and when it arrived I was very excited to do a layout!

I recently popped into Joann's and wouldn't you know it they had a 90% off all of their Christmas stuff!  I didn't have much in my stash on Christmas so when I saw all of this stuff I went crazy...but hey it was .99 cent!  Ok, not all of it was .99 most of it was .19 cents!  It was crazy!  This Hohoho was one of the wood veneers but I knew I could paint it so in the basket it went (with a ton of ribbon, and other wood veneer stuff and stickers, I mean I am set for the next 10 Christmas's on ribbon, just sayin)!                                                                                                                                                                               

After going through the Lawn Fawn pack of printed papers and my stash that I got from Joann's and my new Christmas tree die cuts I purchased from Hobby Lobby, and I knew exactly what I wanted to use and how I wanted it to look.

I started the layout with one of the Lawn Fawn printed papers (this is heavy card stock paper) that had snow flakes printed on it.  The photos I choose had this blue in it that was begging to be pulled out, so I had some scrap pieces left over from another Christmas layout I did (same paper collection) that had this blue in it.  

I did the tear technique on one side and left some straight edges on the other just to mix it up.  The blues really pulled the colors out of the photo well.  I also backed the phot with another couple of left over scrapes from the same collection that also had this blue in it.  I didn't quite like the reds that were pulling from it so I used some white gesso and dabbed it on (a technique I learned from Missy Whidden's YOUTUBE channel, I have learned so much from her and her layouts are AMAZING!) .  It was enough to lighten the red to match the pinkish color I used for the Title and trees.

After adhering the photos to the background I die cut the trees using my Big Shot machine and glued them down.  I had a few chipboard stickers from Echo Park that I added (like that cute polar bear in the bottom right corner) and a few in the center of some of the colored snow flakes on the backing.  I had this puffy sticker snowman by Creatology from the Joann's haul that I used as well.

Here comes LESSON #1 for this layout; just because it is not "meant" for scrapbooking doesn't mean you can't use it for a layout.  The reindeer down by the Christmas tree at the bottom is a cut out from a note pad I had laying around.  I ran it through my X-yron sticker maker and made it into a sticker!  It went perfectly and it was FREE!

The Title I painted using Shimmerz Paints - Creameez in GREAT FRUIT, I mean the colors were perfect and pulled the colors of those trees so well! 

Lastly, I journaled on the trees in a silver glitter pen! All in all, I love it.  Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think about all of the non-traditional colors being used this year.

Well, there you have it...number 15 of my 365 layout challenge for 2019.  Thanks for following along on my journey of 365 scrapbook page challenge that I am doing, and reading about the lessons I'm learning along the way!  

Please join our FB page for more challenges and to share your layouts with the group or come follow me on IG!  

Happy Scrapping🤗

Kimberly

#6 of my 365 Layout Challenge 2019, and the lessons I've learned - FAMILY IS EVERYTHING

Hey guys, As you know I have challenged myself to 365 pages of layouts for 2019 (being 12x12, 6x6, cards, what ever project gets me going is what I am counting).

We did a TITLE challenge over on our FB page were I gave a Title and the layout was up to you to match the Title.  Since it was still the Christmas season (everyone scrapping their Christmas photos from December), I chose to do this one for number 6 of my 365 Challenge for 2019.

I have really been loving the non-traditional Christmas colors that everyone is doing this year!  I can't get enough of them!  So I found some awesome papers from Lawn Fawn over at A Cherry On Top (love them)!  Every paper in this pad is amazing!  I used 3 sheets, cutting the Christmas trees out of one and using scrap for a tearing technique.  The black tree that I journaled on was also cut from my Big Shot using the stencil I bought from Hobby Lobby.  I love these trees!  I also fussy cut the tree ornaments from one of the sheets from this pad.  I used red twine and used glass beads the same shade of blue as the paper for some added sparkle.

For the "snow" effect I used some white holographic gems from Ink Road Stamps (click here and shop for a 15% discount!).

Now for the first and only lesson on this layout, the fussy cut Santa.  That actually came from a pad of paper I had laying around the house that I fussy cut and made into a stamp with my X-yron stamp maker!  So, Lesson #1, just because you didn't buy it from the store in the Scrapbook Isle doesn't mean it won't work!  Use what you got and save some money!

I also used an old Christmas brad I from my stash and finally, the Title.  I love this font and believe I found it at Hobby Lobby as well.

This layout out was fun to make!  It was a very old photo that brought back some really awesome memories and I got to use it with my new favorite Christmas colors!

Well there you have it, #6 of my 365 day layout challenge that I'm doing in 2019.  I hope you liked it and thanks for following me on this challenge.  I will always try to link up to the items I've used so that if you like something you can find it (and if I can get a discount for you I will link that up too)!

Please come join us on our FB page so you can share all of your layouts and projects, we would love to see them,  We are Scrapbooking For Newbies but we have some experts on our page as well to give us pointers and show some new techniques off!  We keep it a closed group so if you are working on a special album for someone they won't be able to see your work until you are ready to give it to them!  Or come follow me on IG, there are always challenges, giveaways and fun techniques to discover!

As always, Happy Scrapping🤗

Kimberly