Top 12 Cards of 2012

Today's post will be much quicker than yesterday's, just a quick look back at my favorite cards from this last year:

I tend to make cards in bursts-so alot of these were made for World Cardmaking day challenges-it was a very productive weekend for me! Something I learned this past year-6x6 pads are VERY useful for cardmaking-perfect in fact!

Top 12 Layouts of 2012...

I love looking back and seeing my style evolve and change over the past year! Here is a glimpse of my year in scrapbooking:

 

January; I made this page for a sketch challenge at Creative Scrappers:

 

 This shows a lot of elements that I LOVED at the beginning of the year...crystal flourishes, lots of flowers, just a couple of paper layers. I still like them, but these type of pages take up too much room, and cause bending in the album.

February; I made this page for a challenge at Creative Craft World:

 Moving into a mega girly phase, used lots of doilies...

March; I several pages that I loved in March...maybe because I loved my kits ( #1 and #2 ) from March so much, super girly and full of new goodies!

I made this page for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and used a Paper Variety sketch:

(Side note: one of the reasons I love this page...I actually accomplished all of these goals except losing 30 lbs. But I did start running for the first time in my life, and lost about 10! I'll keep working on that this year!)

I did this page for a Pagemaps sketch:

 Loving the new combined with old here (that mason jar paper was one of my favorite scrapbook papers from the past year!), the washi, doily, mist, but mostly the photos (which I took!).

I made this page for a sketch challenge at My Mind's Eye:

 I love this page because the colors compliment my daughter's beautiful eyes perfectly, and I love the butterflies, banner, and doilies!!

April and May were not very productive months for me in scrapbooking...first with my brother's wedding, and then my dad's funeral, I was extremely busy, and then my heart wasn't in it for a while.I made a lot of pages in June...but none of them qualified for my top 12 personal favorite pages...so, here's on from July, made for a sketch challenge at Let's Get Sketchy:

 

September was a great scrappy month for me (probably because the kids were back in school). One of my favorite boy pages I have ever made:

 

 I made this page for a Negative space challenge for the Counterfeit kit challenge blog, and based it on a sketch from Creative Scrappers. I love the washi, crooked stitching, Mr. Huey's droplets, the fact that I was able to use some Tinkering Ink paper that has been in my stash forever, just waiting on the right page to use it on, and I love the photos of my son!And at this point of the year, I discovered the magic of Shimelle Laine and her Glitter Girl videos, so I am sure that her influences are starting to show in my pages.

I made this page for a My Mind's Eye challenge at 2Peas:

My Mind's Eye Sweetest Thing was one of my favorite collections of the year, and I bet you can see why! Very soft and girly, with lots of doily and flower motifs.And pink and turqouise are 2 of my favorite colors.

In October, I finished catching up on Glitter Girl videos and purchased my first scrapbook class ever, Scrapbook Remix ( I have won spots in classes before, but this was the first one I ever paid for out of my own pocket) It was sooo worth it! I was very inspired by this class, and I have lots of pages that I haven't even had the time to share yet, and notes for more ideas and inspiration that I just haven't had the time to use yet.

This page was inspired by a Glitter Girl stamping challenge:

 I love that I suddenly had inspiration to scrap this photo from my son's 10th birthday party, I used papers that I had not previously had inspiration for, and stamping on my scrapbook page (which I usually forget to do, even though the number of stamps thet I own suggests that I should use stamps on every page).

This page was for another Glitter Girl challenge, scrapping with your favorite colors:

 I forgot to share this one on my blog previously, but I love the colors, papers, and I scrapped one of my favorite things, pretty shoes!

This page was made with some of my very extensive Bedknobs and Broomsticks kit:

 I loved the vintage Halloween theme, the Matha Stewart stickers, the Tim Holtz resist paper that I die cut and inked, the glittery ribbon and letters, and the journaling on the washi tape!

This last page is another that I haven't shared on my blog yet, but was inspired by the Scrapbook Remix class:

My favorite things about this page: the stitched letters, the photos (I fell in love with that teal Fenton glass), the layering, and the Studio Calico sunburst shapes that I fussy cut.

I highly recommend Shimelle's Scrapbook Remix class (click the link in my sidebar to learn more), I love all of the inspiration it offered!

Some funny/interesting things that I noticed about how my style over the past year: Many of these pages either have a kraft base, or kraft on the page somewhere. I really need to work on making my boy pages better, not many made my top 12 list. I love girly supplies, and turquoise/teal and or pink makes an appearance on many of my pages. I also like the way my style has evolved to include more layering and stitching! Thanks for stopping by this morning, I would love any feedback or comments you may have to share!

Bedknobs and Broomsticks...An October kit

For my Halloween themed kit, I had so much fun pulling supplies from my stash! My papers are a mix of Basic Grey, Tim Holtz, and even a few from Target's $1 spot! I have a ton of Halloween stash, so it was really hard to edit myself! I chose some stamps from Studio G, American Crafts, Martha Stewart,Hobby Lobby, and Creative Cafe. I added all sorts of fun embellishments: a Martha Stewart sticker sheet, rhinestones and mini brads, emebllished rosettes and doilies, Thickers, Chip Stickers, and washi tape and ribbon. To pull it all together, I added an 8x8 pad from my favorite Halloween collection this year, October Afternoon's Witch Hazel. I love this kit and can't wait to start using it!

A Heavy Heart Today...

I saw this on Facebook, and felt it very appropriate to repost today:
" Dear God, I pray for the families of students at Sandy Hook Elementary. May these children find peace during this tragic time. Innocence lost by fear is unacceptable. I pray for the wounded and I pray for those lost. Keep these families near your heart and help them find healing In Gods name we pray."

A Christmas Survey

When I saw this on Courtney's blog, I just had to play along!

1.Favorite Christmas Album/CD/Song:

I love all Christmas music, but this is my favorite!I love his voice!!

2.Run on Christmas morning or take the day off?
Take the day off! I have the whole family to cook breakfast for, and there are presents to be opened, pictures to be taken...

(THIS is what Christmas morning is about for me!)

3. What do you usually eat on Christmas morning?
I love waffles!! I remember my dad making them for me and my siblings when we were little! Last year, I made these:

(photo by Laura Freed)

Red Velvet Waffles With Cream Cheese butter (I skipped the cherry bourbon syrup, but they were still fabulous!)....they were sooo yummy ( alot of work, though!)

4. Favorite holiday or Christmas tradition?
Baking cookies with the kids! Messy, but fun!

 

 

5. Real tree, fake tree or no tree?

Fake...I love the smell and look of a real tree, but a fake one is more practical for us right now.

6. Christmas pajamas… yay or nay?
Yay...for the kids, anyway!

 

7. Where do you spend the holidays?
Home-luckily, both of our parents live close by, so we get to spend time with them also.

 

8. Food that you always have during the holiday season? Favorite Christmas food/treat?

I love cookies, green bean casserole, and pie!

 

 

9. Open presents all at once or take turns?
We have tried to make the kids take turns, but it doesn't usually work out very well that way! So, we usually just give them each one, and let them have at it!

10. Favorite Christmas movie?
I love almost all of them!But these are my top 3:
It's A Wonderful Life

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Elf

 

I love Christmas! Thanks, Courtney, for helping me to get into the Christmas spirit!

Sweet Notes Trims and Embellishments

Just look at the luscious trims and embellies that are included in this collection!
Trims:

I love the Glitter Ribbon and Rose ribbon!

And the Overlays:

And you can't forget the yummy washi tape!

New Collection from Webster's Pages, "Sweet Notes"

I think I have found my first "must-have" collection for the upcoming year! I absolutely love this collection...

 

 

And, Webster's Pages is giving one away! I have my fingers crossed, and toes...

Scrapbook Mystery box sale! SOLD

I have seen other scrappers do this, and I am need of a little stash clean-up, and a little more Christmas cash, so I thought I would try it-I am selling 2 scrapbook mystery boxes for $40.00 each (including shipping to anywhere in the US, international friends may have to pay a wee bit more for shipping)-One Christmas themed box, one regular box-the Christmas box will include a brand new set of stamps. There will be old and new goodies in each box, and I will make sure that you get more than your money's worth! If it works, I may have more for sale soon. If you are interested, please email me at margie_visnick@yahoo.com. I will ship as soon as I receive your paypal! This would be a great scrappy gift to yourself or a friend!

*Edited to add-there will be good, name brand goodies in the boxes, papers, stickers, embellishments...jammed full!The stamps in the Christmas box are these:

From the Cosmo Cricket Jolly Days collection-Brand new, never even opened-I bought 1 and won one (these stamps alone are 8.99 on Scrapbook.com). I will throw in some more goodies from the Jolly Days collection, along with a bunch more goodies!

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to share a Christmas greeting with all of you, my followers! I am sharing the same card that I am sending out to all of our family and friends...in digital version!!

 

And a special note from me to you: I appreciate each and every one of you, and I enjoy reading your comments and blogs as well! It is such a bright spot in my life, and a blessing to a crafter like me that has no crafty "real-life" friends that live nearby. I enjoy sharing with you all, and hope that I might give a bit of inspiration from time to time!

 

I promise I will be back to sharing on a much more regular basis soon, we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel, so it doesn't leave much time or space for crafty endeavors!

ScrapFriends - All about Scrapbooking: Christmas Candy Giveaway!!!

ScrapFriends - All about Scrapbooking: Christmas Candy Giveaway!!!: Christmas and New Year are just around the corner and it’s Giveaway time! A little bit of time left to prepare your self for this wonderf...

Hopping with Counterfeit Kit Club

Good morning! Can you believe it is already November? I know I can't! This month we were given a different type of challenge from the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog:

This month, we are going to change it up a bit and let YOU pick what to counterfeit! With collection kits and coordinating embellishments so popular, we thought it would be a great idea to let you choose a collection from 2012 and find (or create) papers and embellishments from your stash to mimic the new collection.

 
Given such a loose set of rules, of course my head started spinning with creative ideas!! I went back and forth over my CHA Pin board , drooling over all of the scrappy goodies that I loved, and had so many favorites, that I couldn't seem to narrow it down! Finally, I decided that two of my favorite collections from CHA summer were Cashmere Dame by Glitz Designs, and On Trend by Crate Paper. (Links go to 2Peas, if you want to purchase these collections!)

Cashmere Dame:

On Trend:

 

 

They are just so fun and colorful!! So, I pulled from my stash to create a kit, which I am calling "Sassy Fashionista":

 

 

I have some nearly forgotten, but much loved goodies in here! Patterned papers from Basic Grey, Echo Park, and the Paper Studio, cardstock, washi tape, black lace, 2 sets of pink Thickers, black Glitz letter stickers, stamps from The Girls Paperie, chipboard stickers from Pink Paislee, photo corners from Anna Griffin, clear acetate diecuts from Making Memories, zebra dots and bling, Fluerettes in black and animal print, and Basic Grey die cut pack. I really love the way this came together, thanks to the CKC blog and their inspiration!!

I was so inspired by this challenge, I decided to make a few page kits, as well! In the past couple of weeks, I have shared pages made from these kits!

I made a mini-kit based on this collection by Echo Park, "Fall Fever":

 

Here is my kit, Autumn Afternoon:

In this kit, I have papers from Graphic 45, Making Memories, The Paper Studio, and My Mind's Eye, Making Memories upholstery brads, a fall rosette, Thickers chipboard shapes, and some Studio G stamps.

 

I made a couple of pages with this kit already:

 

You can see more photos and details about these pages here.

 

My last kit is not really based on a collection, but a single paper! I purchased a sheet of this gorgeous paper from Studio Calico's Yearbook collection:

 

I simply made up a fallish sort of kit with these colors and prints that I thought would go well with it! My second autumnal kit, "Colors Of Fall":

 

In this kit, I have included Bazzill glazed cs, kraft cs, Patterned paper from Echo Park, American Crafts, and Studio Calico. Embellishments include: Thickers, ScrapWorks Flea Market letter stickers, Heidi Grace word stickers, polka dot kraft tags from Target, Basic Grey wood buttons, a Jenni Bowlin Bingo card, a burlap sack, and a couple of fall rosettes.

I hope that I have inspired you to get creative with your existing stash and pull a kit or a page kit! For more kit making inspiration, we are having a blog hop, so you can see all of the CKCB's Design Team's kits!

Here is the list:

Guest Designer: Julie http://hisglorygirl.blogspot.com/

Crystalhttp://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/

Jemma http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/

Libeeti http://creationswithlove-li-bee-ti.blogspot.com/

Margie http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com/ *YOU ARE HERE*

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/ *GO HERE NEXT*

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

Susanne http://www.snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com/

Bethany http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com/

 

And if you love making kits from your stash, why not try out for the Design Team?

Info is here: http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/10/design-team-call.html