Winter Layout and Tag: Scrapbook Generations Magazine

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure it's the cuteness of snowmen that get me through the cold month of January.  

There's something about snowmen that make me really happy.  We had our first big snow here in North Carolina when my son was 22 months old.  He loved it and we made our first snowman. 

I made these projects using the super cute Timbergrove collection from Fancy Pants Designs and they were published in the inaugural issue of the ezine Create by Scrapbook Generations. 

The magazine invited the Fancy Pants Design Team to submit projects based on sketches by Allison Davis and Debbie Sanders. 

You can see the sketches and the full content here.  I was delighted to be part of this first issue, which just came out yesterday. 

Above is an image of the cover. There are so many adorable projects inside!

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back on Friday with a layout from Simple Stories.

Read To Me / Our Handmade Christmas

I hope your new year is of to a good start!  I wanted to share a couple of Christmas layouts that were recently published. 

Up first is Read To Me.

This was published in the December 2012 issue of Scrapbook Trends and features paper and embellishments from Little Yellow Bicycle.  I took these photos Christmas morning 2011. When my little boy, then 2, opened a new set of Thomas the Train books, he immediately went lap to lap and had everyone in the family read to him. I love his love of books.

The second layout is Our Handmade Christmas.

This was published in the Winter 2013 issue of Scrapbooking and Beyond and features October Afternoon. These little felt ornaments hang on my grandmother's tree. I remember sitting by her side as a young girl, making ornaments. It was a holiday tradition to make something new for the tree each year.  She's 90 now and it makes me smile to visit her and see her little tree and the ornaments still hanging that we made together so long ago. 

I was so blessed to have had a grandma who crafted with me.  Her stitches were straight and true. Mine were crooked and tentative but she instilled in me a love for homemade things. Thank you, Grandma.

Little Girl Lost: A Night in the Woods at Age 7

When I was a child, I loved hearing stories from my parents of their own childhoods. They had such interesting ones. Childhood was different back then. More innocent.  But both my parents were in scary, news-making events as a child that were covered by the national media. 

Today, I'm sharing my Mom's story.  When my mom was 7 years old, her family moved to a new house in the neighboring county.  They lived out in the country down a long dirt road. On her first day at the new school, my Mom took the wrong school bus home.  She got off the bus with other kids at the first stop. It looked familiar - woods, dirt road - but it wasn't the right stop.  Mom knew it was a long walk from the bus stop to home, so she walked and walked and walked.  At some point, she remembered there was a shortcut through the woods and she tried to find the path. She didn't. It was the wrong woods and she was lost overnight.

The story was covered by the national media.  In this photo, which was widely distributed, my Mom is still missing. Newspaper photographers took this photo of my mom's parents holding a photo of her and pleaing for her return.

The story does have a happy ending. More than 1,000 volunteers searched for my Mom and a fireman found her the next day.  His first name was Richard and Mom later named her first born son after him.

I made a layout about this story last year, based on an interview with Mom, which is in the journaling block.

I couldn't blog this last year because the layout was picked up for publication.  It was published in March/April 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes.  Mom got a kick from the article because the editor's note talked about ways to preserve the oral histories of your "ancestors."  

Here's a closeup of the newspaper article that's tucked under the photo:

Now that I am a Mom, her story is heart-stopping to me. I can't imagine my fear if my little boy were to go missing.  But when I was a kid and Mom told this story to me, it was always as a fun adventure and I loved for her to tell it to me over and over.  One good thing that came from Mom's unexpected adventure were some great family photos and news clippings from all over.  There was television coverage of this too and I hope to recover it someday.

Tutorial: How To Make An Owl Pillow Box

I love quick and easy treat boxes.  They are a great little gift and make candy more fun.

This little owl was simple to make:

The secret?  I used a premade pillow box. I bought a package of plain pillow boxes from the wedding aisle at Michael's.  I traced the pillow box onto Halloween patterned paper from Echo Park then scored the paper at the folds.  I used a coordinating paper on the front for his chest. 

I used a circle punch for big owl eyes and cut a diamond for his nose. To make the wings, I cut two rectangles and rounded the corners.

For a decorative touch, I added black stitching to the body, chest and and wings before adhering.  I used a sentiment stamp from the dollar bin and stamped a greeting on a sticker.  Then I filled the pillow box with candy for a yummy treat.

This project was picked up for the October 2012 issue of Scrapbooks Etc, but, alas, the magazine folded before it was published.  Sniff.  I did get paid, though.  Since it wasn't pubbled, I decided to reprise it here on my blog, just in time for Paper Issue's new theme: Halloween and Harvest. We've got a great sponsor and PRIZE for this theme.  Find out all the deets here on the Paper Issues blog.

Want to link up?  Paper Issues would love to see your seasonal projects. Join the linky party here.

The Paper Issues etsy shop has lots of fun new paper and embellishements including Lawn Fawn washi tape, brand new Glitz and October Afternoon's fun new Witch Hazel and Midway lines.  And what's more: it's all on sale. Use code IZZYB20 for a 20 percent discount on everything in the store!

Linking to Tip Me Tuesday and Itsy Bitsy Paperblog.

Handprint Father’s Day Idea & Card

I can’t believe we’re already into the middle of June and Father’s Day is just around the corner. My little guy is so close to my Dad, his Pop Pop, and each year I give Dad a Father’s Day present from Cory.

This year, Cory's giving Dad a painted set of handprints:

This project was really quick and easy to make.  You just need black acrylic paint, heavy cardstock, alphas and a willing toddler.  I painted my son's hands then he stamped them on cardstock.  It's best to do this right before bathtime.  Just sayin'. I got the idea for this project from pinterest.

Last year, Cory gave Dad a green tie:

　

And I’m giving Dad this card:

Which was published last month in PaperCrafts magazine's Card Creations:

How about your kids? What are you working on for Father’s Day?

Linking handprint project to Tip Me Tuesday here.

Sweet Baby Piper

One year ago today, my sweet little niece was born.  How wonderful it was to welcome a new baby into the family. I ran right up to the hospital - with my camera - on the day she was born. There's just nothing sweeter than a newborn baby. And a girl, to boot. I could use pink!

Her mom indulged my picture taking and I made this layout with photos of her just a few hours old.

The layout was published in Create Magazine.

We were all pretty happy about that. Even my toddler agreed that it was a really good read.

Wave Another Year Goodbye

How fast 2011 is closing to an end! It’s been a really wonderful year for me personally and creatively. I’m so thankful to my blog readers and paper crafting friends for supporting me and inspiring me. I’m looking forward to another great year together in 2012.

Below is a card I made earlier this year while guest designing for Birds of a Feather Kit Co. I used the July kit which was packed with goodies from October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket. The script letter stickers are Webster's Pages. You can find Birds of a Feather kits here.

　

I was really excited when Cards Magazine picked this up for publication as a New Year’s card in their December 2011 issue.

　

Happy New Year, everyone. Wishing you the very best in 2012.