Christmas Journal

I have a Christmas Journal that I either bought or received many years ago when my children were small.  The idea behind them...to write down your favorite family Christmas memories each year. Then you can look back each year and read the history of your family and see how things have progressed and changed. I wish I could say that I was one of those moms who religiously filled it out year after year; unfortunately, I never started the book.  I don't know why, the busyness of the holiday season, etc., etc., I really have no excuse! I thought though in my motherly wisdom that I might give one as a gift to my new daughter-in-law in hopes that as they start their new family, they will start writing in the journal each year to log how the years go by...the traditions they establish, the memories, the changes they go through, and that they are able to enjoy each year the journey back through the years to see where they've come from and look forward to where they are headed.  Maybe this year I'll start mine finally.

See you around!  Continue to Imagine, Create, and Enjoy!

Gift Sets

Earlier this spring my co-worker Tamara asked me to make her a prayer journal gift set for the ladies retreat at her church.  She wanted to give it as a raffle gift at the retreat.  She wanted a really pretty prayer journal so we set off on a lunch hour for a Jo Ann's supply run.  She found this beautiful set of papers from KandCompany, their Susan Winget Botanical Speciality Paper Pad. I found the matching stickers and other dimensional embellishments so we were all set!  The first picture is the Prayer Journal.  I pulled two of the beautiful floral papers from this pad and trimmed them down to fit the journal.  On the top I added some of dimensional stickers including one of the word Faith.  I had some pretty pink satin ribbon in my stash and for the tag on the front I cut an oval shape on my Cricut.  I believe it was from Merry Tags cartridge.

I printed on an off-white piece of card stock the words Prayer Journal, cut it in a smaller oval shape using my Creative Memories oval shape cutter and mounted that on the pink tag and added some more of the dimensional stickers along with some pearl bling.  I then hooked a small heart clip through the tag opening and tied it on in a bow with the ribbon that was tied around the front cover of the prayer journal.
Since this was for a raffle gift I wanted to make a complete package so with the scraps I had left I made the small matching notebook that you see here.  I used the same matching satin ribbon and I punched a heart tag with my Creative Memories heart punch.  I punched a grommet hole and added a pink grommet, threaded it with white cotton cord, stamped the word notes and glittered it up.  I added a small butterfly sticker to mirror the one on the notebook and three pink pearls above the word notes.  I also added a little dimensional sticker to the bottom of the notebook.

And finally, with the remaining scraps from the two original 12 x 12 papers that I started with, I made some clothes pin magnets.  I originally saw this idea over at Scrappin Cat's blog here.  I loved the fact that it was such a great way to use up scraps from your paper projects.  In this instance it worked perfectly to complete this gift set. The embellishments I had for this project had some great small ones, butterflies and dragonflies that were the perfect size to fit on the magnets.  To showcase the magnets and keep them all together, I copied Cathy's idea of mounting them on card stock.  I used plain white for the background and embossed the paper with a pretty swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I then used some of the remaining scraps from the project and made a topper and the band that the pins are anchored on.  I then enclosed the whole thing in a cellophane envelope.  Here they are.

And finally, the complete set ready for the raffle. 

Hope to see you again soon!  Until then, Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Photo Book/Journal

My niece Teri crafts through sewing.  She inherited a fabric supply when my mom, her grandma passed away awhile ago and she has been busy with her own set of projects.  We are now in the process of bartering goods back and forth…her bags for my paper crafts.  Why do I mention this you ask?  She asked me to make a different kind of journal for her as part of my barter payment.  It is more of a photo/journal album than a straight journal.  Because she makes quilts, she wanted a book to put pictures into and then be able to journal on the pages to add details about the specific quilts.  I think it turned out quite beautifully.

These papers are by K&Company, Susan Winget’s beautiful Spring Blossom floral paper pad and embellishments. I also tried a new idea.  I wanted to create a clasp/closure on this one and found some beautiful buttons by Bazzill called Bazzill Buttons. I took the button and sewed it on the front of the book through the cover.  I then covered the inside with matching card stock.  On the back cover I cut a length of elastic and glue mounted it with a loop sticking out the end.  I then put additional reinforcing photo mount squares over the elastic, and matching card stock covered it on the inside back cover.  The word Quilts is chipboard cards that match also from Susan Winget collection as are the butterflies on the front cover.   

Until next time.  Imagine, create, enjoy!

Journal/Planners



Black Friday Shopping
Gal Pals



So last fall, a friend of a friend and fellow blogger Cathy –Scrapping Cat! took the journal idea to a whole new level by making it into a holiday planner with beautiful Christmas papers.  Well I just had to give it a try as soon as I saw it!  They would be a gift for my Black Friday shopping gal pals!  These turned out great and very beautiful…the papers and embellishments out there today are wonderful. These particular papers are DCWV The Christmas Combo stack. 



Christmas Planner and Mini Book



I also found mini composition notebooks at the Dollar Tree store!  Love that place!  I used leftover scraps to doll up a small version as a little shopping list notebook, or place for notes, or whatever!  Just the right size for the pocket or pocket book!  



Everyday Planner



These have tabs at the top of the book with 4 different focus areas for the holidays: to create, to bake, to buy, to do, all subjects that Cathy had used in her original design.  Once I had done a few of these I was chatting with a co-worker on how they could be made for everyday use and what the tab subjects would be. We came up with the following subjects: Shopping, To Do, Appointments, Bills. I then made one that can be used for everyday use.  I used my Cricut to cut some hearts of the matching papers from My Mind's Eye "Home" paper stack, added some texture to the hearts with a dots embossing folder, cut a label for the front, and used my EKSuccess edge punch to give it some swirls and added a little bling in the corner.  This was a birthday gift for a sweet friend who is an expert list maker!

So this idea as Cathy mentioned in her blog lends itself to a variety of adaptations, daily planners specifically tailored to individual needs, travel planners, etc.  You get the idea.  Soon I’ll be posting another take on this traditional idea that my niece came up with.  First I need to send her the finished product!  Until next time… Imagine, create, enjoy!