Case Closed!

For today's layout, I played along with a fantasic and fun new color challenge with a twist:
CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration:

It is such an interesting and unique twist on a color combo challenge! I love it!
My layout:

I had the colors in my "Cozy Christmas" kit already, so this was a great way to use them! Evidence I included:bow and lacy (the snowflake under the rosette) element. For the Testimony:I journaled a rhyme on a tag.
Patterned paper is Basic Grey, die cut paper is from Target $1 spot, die cut tag and snowflake using my Cricut and SCAL, red&white twine, green and black ribbon, and my favorite element is the rosette I received in a 2 Peas swap:

Your Special Day

Today's layout is another from my stack of pages that I completed last week. I started with this month's sketch from Artful Delight:

I also took inspiration from the Paper Variety:

and

Runway Inspired Challenges, challenge #3, This fantastic ensemble by Gareth Pugh:

My Layout:

What could be better for a runway inspired challenge than this yummy Basic Grey Little Black Dress Collection (from Scraptastic Club's Little Black Dress Kit)? For the "kiss of color" this lovely light aqua swirl paper and embellished stick pins from my January "Cozy Cabin kit", and I layered aqua and white flowers with a decorative brad for the center.
If you would like to see more about the "Something Blue Bridal Shower" I threw for my little sis with lots of handmade/paper crafted touches, I blogged about it here:
http://www.scrappinmargie.blogspot.com/search/label/Something%20Blue%20shower

My Forever Love...

Just sharing a layout that I created this past weekend, using the current sketch at Sketchy Thursdays, and combining it with my current Pinterest Inspired Challenge at Sketches 4 All.
The Sketch:

The Inspiration from the Pinterest Inspired Challenge:

Pin

And, last, but not least my layout:

And a close-up look at the little details that make a layout special:

I love this photo taken of my hubby and me on our honeymoon, we looked sooo young! The supplies I used: Background is Crate Paper, Bazzill cardstock, red Recollections pearl brads, Petaloo velvet flower, felt heart accent I received in a 2Peas swap, white paper doilies, Heidi Grace Chipboard stickers, red and white twine, journaling spot from Meridy in our recent Master Forger swap. This layout actually came together pretty quickly, thanks to my January kits!The only thing I had to add was the felt accent!
If you are inspired by my Pinterest Challenge, please come play along at Sketches 4 All!

Sketch Challenge at Sketches 4 All

Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend! I did! I had some time to myself to scrap this past weekend, and it was such a treat! I have to say, this month's Counterfeit Kit really seems to suit my style, because I am really enjoying scrapping with it, and the pages just seem to flow so easily! The page I am sharing with you today is one that I did for a sketch challenge over at Sketches 4 All .

The sketch:

(Isn't it gorgeous?)

My Layout:

 A Close-up of my embellishment cluster:

Everything I used for this layout came from my January Counterfeit Kits. The background, photo mat and paper strip under the Mistables trim is Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper, along with a piece of diecut paper from Target's $1 spot, and I added a piece of light green swirl print paper tilted under the photo mat. The snowflakes were cut from a transparency, using my Cricut E and SCAL (still love what my baby does for me ;-) ), and then I dabbed it with a pearl paint dabber to make it stand out. The title is made up of Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Stickers and Basic Grey letter stickers, which outlined with a thin black Sharpie pen to make them stand out. For my embellishment cluster, I covered a large white chipboard snowflake with glue, then silver mica flake, used a ZVA crystal swirl, then layered the glittered snowflake with light blue chipboard snowflakes, an embellished button, and a little eskimo girl from the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Chip Sticker pack. I added a pink "ticket style" journaling spot, some {crooked} hand-journaling, and I was finished! I have to say, that since I had that moment of self-discovery when I was sharing my favorite layouts from last year, it feels a bit easier to scrap! I don't feel like I am "wandering without a map"-I know my style now, and what I like in a finished layout, so it helps me to make decisions much more easily as I am putting my pages together. I have been inspired to find my style ever since I read about how Melissa found her style-and it was refreshing to find mine!

Now that you've seen my take on the sketch, won't you come and play along for a chance to win a 6x6 Echo Park Happy Days paper pad&Thickers? And while you're there, check out our guest design team call for February?

It's Time to Counterfeit Again!

Yay! One of my favorite parts of the month!! Yesterday, The Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog shared the new kit for us to be inspired by, and today, the Master Forgers are having a blog hop to share our kits with you!
The kit club that they chose for our inspiration this month was http://www.cocoadaisy.com/, and we had some FANTASTIC kits to be inspired by! Here are the Cocoa Daisy kits:
Amber Snowflake:

 Cocoa and Marshmallows:

 Frosty Windowpane:

 Sunshine and Snowflakes:

 Merry And Bright:

I was very inspired, especially by the color palette-I loved the cool blues and the warm yellows and golds, with some black cream and brown thrown in to make it feel more vintage.
Here is my Main kit for January, "Cozy Cabin In The Snow":

Papers :
Basic Grey Blitzen "Jack Frost"
3 Double Sided patterned papers from GCD Studios Sophisticated Frost paper pack
1 sheet yellow/gray borders from DCWV Lemon Flower stack
Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe "Books" (back shown)
My Mind's Eye Lost&Found Market Street "Love" Beautiful
MME Lost&Found Portabello Rd "Buddies" Perfect
MME Lost&Found Portabello Rd "Families" First Class
The Paper Studio Joyous Greetings Snowflakes
MME Lost&Found Union Square "Home Sweet Home" Love
Lily Bee Christmas Town "Night Divine"
Basic Grey Origins "Mud Mask"
Lily Bee Christmas Town "Santa's Workshop" (back)
brown houndstooth pattern paper
Lily Bee This&That Brooch
MME Colorful Christmas "Bright Stripes" (back)
DCWV Lemon Flower yellow lattice and gray/black gloss paisley
Pink Paislee Butterfly Gardens "Dew Drops"
The Paper Studio small polka dot black and gold
Anna Griffin yellow gold geometric print
Tim Holtz Embossed Resist Kraft dictionary page
Lily Bee This&That "Teacup"(back)
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses "Rooftop" (back)

Embellishments:
Basic Grey letter stickers
Jolee's Bling letter stickers
Pink Paislee Mistables trim
various sizes paper doilies
3 rolls sheer wide ribbon from WM's clearance aisles
MAMBI embellished cardstock letters
May RD Vintage Trinkets
Handmade vintage stick pins I received in our Master Forger's Christmas swap (thanks, Meridy, they're BEAUTIFUL!)
buttons
Handmade rosette
Flower and pinwheel from 2Peas swaps
silver mica flake
Pebbles Glitter Candy Dots
chipboard snowflakes
ZVA Creative bling flourishes
die cut tags
hand dyed "Sunshine Yellow" and "French Vanilla" shabby seam binding
black pipe cleaner

And I have so many christmas supplies, and haven't even started scrapping pictures from Christmas Day yet, (and it's so much fun to make up these kits!) so I went ahead and made myself another Christmas kit .
My kit, "Christmas Memories":

Papers:
Black and Gray paisley
Red and Cream Damask print
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses "Thin Ice"
3 die cut papers from a Target $1 spot pack
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses "Peppermint Twist"
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses "Evergreen"
Lily Bee Christmas Town "Town Tree"
MME Holiday Damask
The Paper Studio "Jolly Holiday"
The Paper Studio "Christmas Gingham"
light green swirl
The Paper Studio "Christmas Tree Polka"
Lily Bee Christmas Town "Christmas Window"
Lily Bee Christmas Town "Sleigh Ride"
Lily Bee Christmas Town "City Sidewalks"
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses "Finial" (back)
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses "Reindeer Games"
MME Colorful Christmas "Winter Wonderland" (back)
Light green with berry branches
Dark red vintage christmas collage print

Embellishments:
Lily Bee Christmas Town Die-cut frames
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses letter stickers
Pink Paislee Father Christmas punch-outs
die-cut envelopes, kraft, and vellum-red,white,and green
4pkgs Holiday Time Christmas Embellies fromWM clearance aisle
Maya Rd black rub-on letters
Partially used sheets-dark red chipboard Thickers, Tiny Type Alpha stickers
6"die-cut shimmer vellum snowflake
Martha Stewart fabric covered brads
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Chip Stickers
Fancy Pants Tradition rub ons and stickers
mini banner, pinwheel, and rosettes from 2 Peas swaps
2 sheets Scenic Route journaling spots, Recollections red gem/pearl brads, stamped canvas squares, kraft journaling spots, red,green,and brown baker's twine bundle, pkg of leaves and christmas ribbons, and embellished buttons (all from our Master Forger's Christmas Swap)
Maya Road Velvet Posies
red and tan gingham ribbon
2 cream colored crochet trims
Tim Holtz tissue tapes
2 sets of stamps by Inkadinkado: Folk Christmas and Holiday Expressions

And I pulled a few digi supplies and stamps into a folder to use if needed:

And, since I was lucky enough to win a gift card to Scraptastic Club, I purchased one of last month's kits, Little Black Dress, which I will also be using this month (cheating, I know, but I saw several of the same things in  one of the inspiration kits, so you know I have to use it!):

Now, Here is the list of blogs for you to hop to for more great kits and inspiration!! Your next stop is Milissa!

Guest Designer: Van Nguyen http://likethecar.blogspot.com/

Crystal http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/

Glinda http://razzledscrapper.blogspot.com/

Helen http://craftimperfect.blogspot.com/

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

Jen http://mypair-a-dice.blogspot.com/

Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com/

Kim http://lovejoyscrap.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/

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

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

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

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

Meridy http://www.meridy77.blogspot.com/

December Daily Post (the one with all of the pages, lol)

Good morning! I know I promised I would share this, so I am going to just post it all in one big glob of pictures!
Here is my December Daily for 2011:
Cover:

 December 1st and 2nd:

 3rd and 4th:

 5th and 6th:

 Christmas Card and the 7th:

 8th and 9th:

 10th and 11th:

 12th and 13th: (still missing one photo, I have to print out my collage of Tim Holtz tags for Day 12)

 14th and 15th:

 16th and 17th:

 18th:

 19th and 20th (I still need to add journaling and dates to this):

 December 23rd (I skipped the 21st and 22nd, just too busy to take pics):

 another from the 23rd, 24th:

 24th, continued:

And I haven't done Christmas Day yet, I am still editing those pictures! If you would like to see a list of supplies that I used for my December Daily album, you can see my "Cozy Christmas" Counterfeit Kit here:December Daily kit post.
It's not perfect, it's not complete, but I am excited anyway, because it is the closest I have ever come to completing a December Daily album!! Thanks for looking, leave me a comment to let me know what you think! And come back tomorrow for our Master Forger's Blog Hop/Kit Reveal!

P.S.I would love it if you would follow my photography blog too: Margie V Photography

Top 11 Favorite Layouts for 2011...

I have seen several people do posts like this on their blogs, so I was inspired to play along! Here are my personal favorite layouts that I made in 2011:

All That Jazz layout:

 
Beautiful Daughter layout:

1 Cute Kid layout:

Beach Beauty Layout:

{Sweet} layout:

Need A Nap? layout:

Make A Wish layout:

 Fabulous layout:

Piano Man layout:

Spring Rain layout:

Red and Black layout:

Wow-I just learned something about myself, and I may have discovered more about my scrapping style! I realized by looking through my layouts that the ones I like the best are patterned cardstock backgrounds, with a complimentary pattern or 2, solid colored cardstock, and embellishment clusters.

12 Tags of Christmas, Day 12 and Wrap Up

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with your families! I am dreading taking the decorations down next week, because I love the Christmas season, and I hate it when it is over! Oh well, the stores have moved to the next holiday, and so must I...
But first, today is the last day to link our tags up with Tim's blog, so I had to get my last tag in!It's been made since a few days before Christmas, I just haven't had much free time with all of the kiddos at home. Here is my 12th tag:

And here is a look back at all 12 of my tags:

Thank you to everyone who has followes along this journey with me, It sure was a lot of fun to learn the new (to me) techniques, and look at my crafty supplies in a whole new light. I can't wait to play next year (although I do intend to be more prepared)! Do you have a favorite? My favorite tag personally was probably my snowman tag-it was definantly the most time consuming!

And with that, I will bid 2011 "Adieu", and wish you all a happy, crafty New Years!! I will be back in a day or 2 with a look back at my December Daily album.

I have another blog...

Hey friends! I started a Photography related blog with a photo shoot I did last week, and I would love to have you follow me there as well!! Here is the link:
http://margievphotography.blogspot.com/
I will continue posting regularly to this blog with anything crafty!
Thanks!