Countdown to Christmas- December Planner

Tomorrow is the 1st of December! Can you believe it?! Are you ready?

I'm not... but I'm trying to be better prepared. Today I want to show you one of my little tricks for (hopefully) keeping me better prepared and organized for Christmas this year. 

I bought a Pink Paislee Portfolio album from Noel a few months ago, and saved it for now. (She's out of stock on it right now, but she has several other albums that would work well!) 

I decorated the cover with the Glad Tidings kit (sold out except for the paper only pack- which is still pretty dang awesome.)

On the cover, I used one of the beautiful designs by Rhonna Farrer for My Mind's Eye. Because my album is smaller than 12x12, I cut part of the design off of the rest of the page and incorporated it into this part of the design because it was all so lovely! (You can see it in the little bird & "all is bright" tag below.) I love that this album has a protective sleeve around the outside.... normally I would take it off, but because I plan on carrying this album around with me, I'm keeping it on to help it be sturdier.

I used one of the inside photo sleeve inserts to make a quick little cover sheet. I may add to this... I don't feel like it's quite "done" yet. Or I may leave it. We'll see. I did put some sequins in one clear pocket and then tape it shut with decorative tape. I love that fun little element! 

Then- the insides! I made some printables to share with you today! I'm not a pro at this but I wanted something customized and couldn't find what I wanted. You could print these on whatever you wanted- I chose kraft cardstock and cut it down to size. 

The next set of pages are pocket pages- I cut paper the right width, but longer than the album, so I could fold up the excess and make pockets. Thank goodness for pretty double sided papers!

The page on the right is for me to jot down anything handmade that I would like to make for our own family traditions or decorations...

and the next page is for handmade gifts or wrapping items. 

The pocket pages will become useful when I stick in other notes, receipts, coupons, and odds & ends as we go through the month. 

I plan to use the rest of the album as a memory album- not exactly a December Daily, but something akin to it with a little less structure. I'm really excited to see how this evolves for me and I plan to share it with you!

If you're interested in using any of these printables, here they are linked below! 

Week By Week PDF: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoec2lBNHMtQl9lSFE

To Do List: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoeeVdLdkRZNndPLTg

Shopping List: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoeRGhHSTJUSkVzazQ

Handmade Gifts: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoebVJwTFUwS2F3Rm8

Handmade Decor: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoeSjJsMDFqM1lCTk0

Event Food Planner (with spot below to attach recipe card!): https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoeMWlueXV6dERuTVU

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday everyone!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and are now gearing up for Christmas!

Have y'all already received the Glad Tidings Kit?

I hope so, because it's already out of stock!!  But don't despair, it looks like Noel has put a special addition of the kit that has just the papers in it.  And let me tell you, the papers knocked my socks off.

Today's post is all about the circle journal that is going on over on the message boards.  I got the fabulous Melanie's journal in the mail the other day and her mini is all about quotes.

I absolutely love a good quote and my pinterest board devoted to quotes says it all.  There's quite a bit of em...lol.

So Melanie asked that we scrapped a lil about our favorite quote and mine is truly something that I believe and that I actually live by:

Absolute perfect I find those words to be :)

And who would have thought this was made with a Christmas Kit.  It just goes to show how versatile Noel's kits are.

Now what is your favorite quote??

It's a Wrap!!!

Hello everyone!! Today I decided to venture off my usual crafty path of layouts & create some cute, easy holiday wrap ideas using the NEW December Glad Tidings kit.



When I found this little gift bag on the web, it was termed a "one sheet wonder bag".  With one 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of cardstock, you can easily create this bag & then embellish it up as you'd like.  I'm not gonna lie, I was a little bit giddy over all those fabulous green sequins in the kit :)  I found they worked perfectly with this particular patterned paper, fitting right into the existing pattern!!



When you open this bag, inside you will find quite the yummy surprise!!!  Such a great bag for holiday candies, cookies or even a gift card!!  Interested in making your own??  Find all the details HERE.



My second holiday wrap idea is actually some easy origami at work.  This folding technique was meant to create a paper cup, but it works pretty well as a snack holder too :)  I embellished this "cup" by adding an adorable Lilybee sticker, along with a little homemade paper ribbon.  Love those enamel dots at work - such a fun little accent!!  All the details on making your own origami "cup" wrap can be found HERE.



Thanks for letting me pop in to share some holiday wrap ideas for all those yummy treats in your house :)  Having a fabulous Wednesday!!!

Fall Subway art

Hello everyone! I'm here to share my last project with the Willow Creek kit and final fall project of the year.

I've been admiring some subway art lately and decided to give it a whirl with my Silhouette Cameo. Here is what I came up with:

To create my art I drew a rectangle a little bigger than the opening of my frame and then typed different fall themed words in various sizes and fonts in the rectangle. For a little variety, I decided to add a couple leaves too.

Once the words and leaves were cut out, I backed each one with patterned paper. The deep rich colors in the Willow Creek kit were perfect for creating a fall feeling to my project. To finish it off I added a piece of fall flair from my stash. Make sure you check out the flair available in the shop, it adds the perfect little touch.

This was really easy (and fun) to put together. I can see switching this out seasonally for some variety in my home and it is a great way to use scrap paper too!

Focus Focus....

 

 

 

Good Monday Morning!

 

Just a quick stop by today to show you one last layout I did using the

AMAZING November Willow Creek kit:

 

This past weekend I was able to get TONS of photo's of my college kids.

I couldn't WAIT to scrapbook this one from a group of vintage

camera shots I got of them.

 

In this layout - everything I used is from the Willow Creek kit.

If you look closely - you'll see "leftovers" from an earlier layout this month.

On my "Epic" layout I used a half of a  sunburst I cut using my Silhouette Cameo.

I decided to keep the "negative" to use later.
Here's my later!
Also - I used another "hello" (cut from my Cameo)

sort of like the one from my project last week.

Another thing I cut from my Cameo is the little camera die.

Antoher fast & FUN project.

Here's some closer shots:

thanks so much for stopping by today!

I hope I've inspired you to get your kit out and have FUN creating.

 

~Leslie

Glad Tidings Kit Video

Good evening friends!

I tried something new today with my kit review video... but it's not perfect yet. I thought it might be fun to do a video at a 'new location.' ;) I figured you guys would rather go ahead and see the video than wait for me to film a new one tomorrow (I've had some technical difficulties today!)... so here's a peek at the new Glad Tidings kit!

Using Distress Ink to Make a Custom "Filter" for a photo!

Happy Black Friday! I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving! 

I wanted to show you today a really simple but cool technique to use the Tim Holtz Distress Ink that came in the Willow Creek kit. 

I had this awesome photo of my brother's family and my best friend's family from earlier this fall.

I took the Distress Ink Dauber and rubbed it all around the edges of the photo. This photo already had an "old timey" feel to it for some reason to me, so this technique was perfect for this photo. 

To finalize the look, I used a dark brown ink pad and rubbed it around the edges of the photo and adhered it (seen below): 

I love that this is done by hand and not digitally- and is SUPER simple to do as well! 

I also used Leslie Ashe's technique from last week to make polka dots on my background with the dauber and splatted a few for some fun dimension. 

 ************************

Not a subscriber? Then that means you don't have the Glad Tidings kit in hand yet!! Make sure to check back for my video of the kit! It goes on sale this Sunday and you're going to want it for all your Christmas crafting, layouts, and projects! 

Some Fall Fun!!

This little guy is growing . . . growing . . . growing  . . . I can't believe my little one is almost 2!!  He's so full of energy & always on the go :)  This year was his first year of really enjoying all the fall activities my family likes to attend.  Last year he was stuck in the stroller, but this year he was right in the thick of things - enjoying all the fall festivals had to offer :)

The Willow Creek kit was the perfect compliment to these fun fall pics of Nick's first cow train ride.   I especially fell in love with the tag sheet by Crate Paper.  I love tags & found the perfect set of three to cut apart & layer up in the top right corner.  Add in a brad, a sticker, a die-cut, some twine and a bit of pen detail & voila - fun, embellished corner!!



For the title work I combined the GORGEOUS woodgrain alphas from the kit with some from my stash.  I placed a blank journal sticker and a cluster of punched leaves behind part of the title to help my it really "pop" :)



Thanks so much for letting me share today!!!  If you are interested in purchasing the Willow Creek kit used in this layout, there are still a few left in the shop - grab it before it's gone!!  Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

My lil' pumpkin...

My little pumpkin isn't so little anymore but when I ran across this photo of his first visit to the pumpkin patch back in 1997, I had to scrap it.

The colors of the Willow Creek kit were the perfect complement to my photo. I kept the focus on the photo by framing the top and bottom with small strips of paper, stickers and trim.

For the "hello" I cut the word from patterned paper using my Silhouette Cameo and then glued the orange Lawn Fawn twine on top. I think it really adds to the outdoorsy feeling of the layout.

All supplies came from the Willow Creek kit, which is still available in the shop, with the exception of the trim which is from the Boardwalk kit and the flair which was from my stash and is made by Shelley Haganman from {a flair for buttons}.  You can pick up a selection of flair in the shop!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

A Circle Journal - starring Willow Creek

Good Monday afternoon, everyone!

I'm a bit behind today with my post, so sorry!!

 

I'm here today to share a little project I made using the gorgeous

November Kit:  Willow Creek

(which I think there might be  1 or 2 more

so hurry & get yours while you can!! You'll be so happy you did!)

 

A few friends from the Noel Mignon boards decided to get together

and make a circle journal.
I've seen them all over but have never made one myself.I thought -

ok, this is a challenge & I like challenges...I'm IN!

It was alot of fun putting mine together.
On circle journals, I learned, you can either have a theme or not.
With mine - I decided to go super simple & make it a "get to know each other"

by making inserts about ourselves for everyone to read.



 

this is my cover.

what I did:

1)  I cut 6 (for the 6 of us) file folders using my Silhouette Cameo

and the 3 bracket file folders by Lori Whitlock (LOVE her stuff!) to the sizes

I wanted. My circle album is 8.5 x 11.5 "

 

2)  I used my hole punch to punch 2 holes (for the binder rings)

 

3)  I decided to make my cover simple & only decorate the inside of my

folder, leaving the other folders to the other girls to whatever they wish to do.

the hello is a thought bubble file I also cut using my Silhouette Cameo

and this file is by Loni Stevens (LOVE her stuff too!)

 

I used the entire November kit - plus I did add more kraft cardstock

and buttons by Shelley Hagaman

(A Flair For Buttons which you can getright here at the Noel Mignon store!)

 

and some sequins I picked up at Wal mart in the craft section.

 

4) I cut the 4x6 circle doilie with my Silhouette Cameo and the doilie file by

Loni Stevens.

5) finally - I cut the "happy" with my Silhouette Cameo using the Happy Frame file by
KI Memories.

 

here's some closer shots of my book:

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed today's post!

thanks for checking it out!

have a great Turkey Day week!

 

~Leslie

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Happy Thursday Y'all!!

Today's project I'm going to show how I used the Tim Holtz Distress Stain that came in the Willow Creek Kit.

First, I started with this paintchip book I picked up at Lowes.  It is absolutely perfect to use with the Willow Creek Kit and I was smitten with it the instant I saw it.

You can kinda tell by the button I placed next to it how small the book is.  It literally fits into the palm of my hand.

You'll see in the pictures that I'm about to bombard you with show you, that I left some of the fall pictures that came with the book blank, added tags to create more pages with some washi tape from both the kit and my stash, created negative stencils with the stain, used the stain with stencils  I created with my Silhouette, to distress edges (the vintage sewing pattern fringe on the cover), used all lil bits and pieces of the kit to embellish the pages, and you'll also see that some of the pages aren't finished yet.

Oh....and one of the important parts of this mini....the subject matter.

Well, if you are a regular over at the Noel Mignon Message Boards, you already know that there is a "Thankful" post happening.  The members are posting every day what they are really thankful for at that moment.  I'm taking all of the posts that I've made thus far and the ones that I will continue posting in the future for the theme of this book.

Enjoy!

Now run to Lowes to snag one of these books before they are all gone :)  I'm secretly hoping that they come out with a winter themed one!

See ya next week :)

xo