Winter Wonderland - #moodboardgirls

Hey there scrappy friends,

December! I know I say this every month, but seriously, where did time go?!

We are back today with a new mood board and lots of inspiration! And a very special guest!!! But first things first!

Our gorgeous, festive December mood board was created by Julia. I love how she incorporated traditional as well as non-traditional elements, and the result is still harmonious and inspiring! I hope you guys agree and get crafty! Please check out all the inspiration we have for you this month!

Here's our mood board:

Photo Credits: Stairs * Hot cocoa snowman * Tree * Winter Wonderland chalk art * December calendars * Nutcrackers and chocolate Santas * Red door * Paper stars

And here's my layout inspired by this mood board! It turned out to be one of my favorite layouts ever. I hope you like it too!

You probably can tell which photo inspired me to create this one ha! I thought I'd create a chalk art kind of look on my layouts and when my idea worked, I kind of jumped around with joy. Yes! The little things :).

I used a font from the Silhouette store and curved my title. Then I cut it out from stencil material that I got from my dear Eri last Christmas but never tried before! I forgot to use anti-static powder on my paper, seriously I always do...Learn from my mistake and always use it when you plan on embossing! Anyway, I used some washi tape to hold my stencils in place and started stamping the cut outs with Versamark embossing ink. I did one at a time because the images were so large. I had to repeat the embossing process because it was hard to cover such a large area at once, but I was so happy with the results! Sure, there's the odd embossing powder here and there but not as much as I expected! Plus, embrace imperfection am I right?!

Then to create a chalk art look, I drew an offset with a white pencil first and colored in the shadows. I didn't quite like it so I drew around the offset with white pen too. Then I used a sponge to spread  some white pigment ink here and there. It was so simple!

For the middle of my page I wanted to use some snowflake background, so I took several single snowflakes from the Silhouette Store and welded them together in a way they fit in between the bottom and top part of the title. I also added a couple of single ones around the page.

I mostly used the Falala collection from Crate paper on this layout (except for the background paper which is an old one from Fancy Pants and the chalk brad from My Mind's Eye). I wrote my journaling with white pen - I love how that looks against the dark background!

Now for the fun part!

Here's our line up this month (in no particular order):

• Steffi Ried
• Enza Gudor
• Eri Wunderlich
• Christina Buresch-Leyrer
• Anke Kramer
• Michelle Crela
• Jen Albrecht
• Birgit Krasenbrink
• Julia Schueler

And guess who joined us with a stunning layout this month?!
None other than the uber talented PAIGE EVANS!!! Whoop whoop! Awesome right?!

Check out all the amazing creations on instagram and/or blogs!

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by!

X

Zsoka

December Daily Album Cover - DT project for Paige Evans + Silhouette

Hi there crafty friends,

After sharing the first bunch of filler pages for my December Daily album, I'm back today showing you my DD album cover!

Since I love wreaths, I wanted to create one on the cover and Paige was kind enough to listen to my wish! I've used the Holly Wreath cut file (Silhouette ID: 230976). Isn't it just fabulous?

I picked one of my favorite Christmas collections (in traditional colours anyway!), Christmas on Market Street from My Mind's Eye. I'm quite bummed that I hardly have any papers left :(.  

I sized down the cut file to fit onto my cover, then started backing the holly berries and leaves. I fussy cut some poinsettias from one of the 12x12 papers, as well as some smaller flowers.

I then glued down my cut file in the middle of my cover. Apropos glue...The topic is driving me insane. I've tried soooo many types of glue. Glue that some folks state can hold floor boards in place. NOTHING works on slick surfaces for me. So typically I can't glue anything onto a page protector, I can't glue any small metal embellies or sequins onto my layouts. Yeah sequins stay on with glue dots but if I wanted to I could totally remove them. Anyway back to topic. I used tacky glue to glue the cut file to the cover. Once it dried, I could peel it off without damaging anything. With ease. The horror! Then I used glossy accents and now I don't dare to touch that thing!

I chose some big cork numbers from my stash and some small ones from this year's Ali Edwards December Daily main kit to create the year.  I picked a couple more embellishments for the center, a chipboard banner from the MME Christmas on Market Street collection, a gold foiled wood veneer from the Pinkfresh Studio December Days, a tassel and an arrow I found at Michael's earlier this year.

I glued everything down and added the little charms with a piece of twine. 

As a last step, I added some Nuvo Jewel Drops to the holly berries. I'm obsessed with any kind of drops but this one is my favorite!

And done! This wasn't a complex project but I really like how it tuned out.

That's all for today guys!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day you guys!

X

Stop and smell the roses - DT layout for Fancy Pants

Hi there crafty friends,

Zsoka here with you today sharing a new layout!

It's November, the month of Thanksgiving in the States. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Germany (or not that I know of anyway!) but that doesn't mean we are not thankful for many things :).

I have a lot to be thankful for this year, big and small things. I could probably mention a thousand things. But when it comes down to it, the only thing that really matters in the big scheme of things is the health of my family. And God knows we faced some terrible news this year...

For my layout however, I decided to document a lighter, easier moment I am grateful for. I am fascinated by my son's love of nature, animals and plants, all living creatures in this world! He knows so much about animals, I have no idea how he can remember all that information! Kids are amazing, aren't they?! His love of flowers he probably gets from me, because I always stop and adore them everywhere we go. He does the same. Smells each one! So I chose to create a layout dedicated to this - hence the title, Stop and smell the roses.

I worked with the beautiful Dream Big collection and chose a photo of Maxim admiring some pansies. I wasn't bothered by the photo not matching my title (ie roses)! I found this gorgeous cut file in the Silhouette Design Store and couldn't wait to use it!

I first cut the file from a light patterned paper, then created an offset which I cut from a different patterned paper to give it a bit of definition. I wanted to create a monochromatic kind of look to let my color photo shine. I more often than not use black and white photos but when they are of flowers, I obviously want to keep the color!

The flowers and leaves I cut from textured white card stock and backed them with different patterned papers. I did not glue down the outer edges so they are more airy and dimensional. I added some puffy stickers to the flower centers.

I also didn't adhere the whole text to background only the bottom of each word. Again, to add dimension and create interest. I didn't want to cover up any of the cut file, so I tucked my photo behind it at the top and only decorated around the photo using puffy stickers and die cuts!

To finish off my layout I added my journaling, date and black ink splatters. Which was a bit of a funny story, because I was watching some series and something happened that I don't remember anymore, but I stopped splattering for a second and a big blob of black paint fell on to the middle of my layout! The horror haha! I had to tear off "smell" and cut it again in a bigger font so I could cover up most of the paint! You can still see it a bit at the letter M, but it's not too bad. So probably not a good idea watching anything while having paint in your hands, not that I learnt my lesson, ha!

That's it for today!

What are you guys thankful for this year?!

Thanks for stopping by today! Till next time X