Karyn's Crafting Obsession: December 2017

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Christmas Planning - With Scrapping Clearly!

Today I have a Christmas planner to share with you made using lots of fun products available in the Scrapping Clearly Store.

I know Christmas is over now but this might inspire you for next year:)

The basis for this project was made from cardstock, some pages I designed in MS Word and printed and the Fancy Pants Designs Joy Parade 6x6 paper pad. I know this paper collection is not Christmas themed but it is so fun and bright and suits the summery weather here in Australia!

I started by trimming the cardstock into 4 of card sized pieces (approx 15cm x 21cm). then I folded each in half and stapled together using a long armed stapler.

Next I trimmed my Christmas printables to approx 8.7cm x 10.5cm and sheets of the Fancy Pants Designs Joy Parade 6x6 paper pad to 9.5cm x 14cm.

I attached a piece of the patterned paper to each page as well as a printable. For the cover I attached a diecut and puffy stickers from the Fancy Pants Designs "Joy Parade" collection and a wood veneer from the Cocoa Vanilla Studio "Tis The Season" collection.

I have deliberately kept the embellishments to a minimum so that the booklet is not bulky as I carry it around in my handbag in the lead-up to Christmas.

Here are some pictures of each of the pages in the booklet. These first pages are for my Christmas card list. You could design the printables to suit your own planning style. Isnt this puffy sticker fun!!

I've used more puffy stickers on these "gift list" pages - I love the collection of dot, and word stickers.

These pages are form my family gift list and a spot to attach my Christmas letter.

I also keep a record of gifts received - mainly to help remind my children who gave them what and also ideas for future gifts :)

These pages are just for adding some fun memories - using these brag cards .

I made my own calendars for November/December, great to keep track of events!

Lastly some pages for Christmas day notes, menu plans etc.

I hope this has inspired you to make your fun planner - they are also a great way to record and remember gifts you have purchased in previous years!!

Thanks so much for stopping by

Crafty Hugs xx
Karyn

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

More Christmas Mini Album - With Imaginarium Designs!

Today I have more of a Christmas mini album to share with you. I showed the start of this a few days ago but will repeat how it is made for completeness.

I used to love doing a Christmas daily (which always starts in November for me). The first few years I did in a SMASH journal, then I went to a 12x12 pocket page style for a few years, then last year I was so busy with everything that I did nothing. It was quite sad really but sometimes you just dont have time. Well, this year I was determined to do something but also wanted to keep it simple. So I made my own mini album and took 1 photo a day with my Instax camera and went from there. Yes, it is expensive to use an Instax (about $1 Australian per print) but it is quick and the photos were ready to go.

I started by selecting my supplies which I limited to the Cocoa Vanilla Studio "Tis The Season" papers and embellishments. I cut out a variety of shapes and sizes of patterned paper (the maximum size of the closed album was 15cm wide by 20cm tall). It doesnt matter what the size and shape is - it is all about variety. This is a great was to use up your paper stash!!

I folded each piece of paper in half, then placed in the order I wanted and used a long arm stapler to attach.

Next I decorated the front with gold Thickers. I kept it simple for now as I didnt want the bulk. But I may add more flowers etc once the album is complete.

Once the basic album was complete I added the photos. My aim was to try and do this each day but in reality it is every 3-4 days.

For these pages I've used lots of gorgeous Imaginarium Designs chipboard. Chipboard is a great embellishment for mini albums as it doesnt provide much bulk to the pages and can be coloured to coordinate with the page.

The chipboard on these pages was heat embossed with Stampendous Shabby Blue embossing powder - I love the variations of colour in this powder!

I coloured this chipboard title black with a paint pen then when it had dried I added some glitter glue along the bottom!

We have 2 elves that spent time with us each year before Christmas - always a source of entertainment within the house :)

I love how you can see sneak peaks of other pages behind the one you are looking at!

Chipboard titles are a real feature on the pages and are quick and easy to colour and add.

I love using paint pens to colour the chipboard because they are low mess.

All of the chipboard on these next 2 pages was painted with Silks acrylic glaze (Fire Opal). These are thick creamy acrylic paints with a lovely pearly shimmer and this one coordinated perfectly with my papers.