What the heck?

Where on earth have I been? I know I'm in good company in not blogging much during the holidays, but I haven't blogged AT ALL in weeks! I've missed my bloggy friends!

I've been inspired by some year-in-review project posts, so I think I'll do one of those soon. (See here and here for some inspiring cards from my craft pals!). I have also been keeping up with my Big Fun Christmas journal (see here and here for its humble beginnings), and I'll get some photos of that soon to share. 

For now, though, will you settle for a layout? Thanks!

This photo is from the wedding (duh) of a couple of sweet kids. I can say that they're "kids" because one of them is my husband's former student! We've become pals in the intervening years, and were honored to attend their wedding. Don't you love this photo of them? They're so cute.

I made excellent use of my ever-expanding washi tape collection here, creating a shiny/patterned/textured background for my title and caption. The paper collection is My Mind's Eye's very pretty Love Me, part of my long-neglected December kit from Scrappy Chic.

I fussy-cut some banner flags from my extra paper, popped them up on foam, highlighted the hearts with stickles, and then "strung" some twine all over the place (it's glued down, which was easier to do than I thought it would be). I think the swirly lines break up all the straight lines from the tape. In my head, anyway. Wanna see a secret?

More photos! I had a handful of not-great shots that still helped tell the story of the night, so instead of featuring them, I created a little accordion fold right in the middle of the layout. I'll definitely try this trick again!

I had some leftovers, so I combined them with that pretty plaid pattern from the same collection for a quick card. The stamped twill started out white, but I inked it up with some Distress Stain (spun sugar, from my stocking!) before stamping and adhering it. Stamps are from this Studio Calico/Hero Arts set, also sourced from Scrappy Chic.

Local folks, have you been up to the store since their big expansion/re-organization? I love it! So spacious-feeling and much better-lit. Can't wait to get up there for a crop!

Well, it's good to be back. I hope you all have a very happy and crafty 2012! Happy New Year!

Sure could use a little...

...Peace, that is.

Man, is it busy around here! The usual holiday bustle, plus some non-holiday bustle, plus plenty of school bustle (the end-of-semester grading binge is officially underway).

So, for a moment, peace:

This was my "personal challenge" line from my Scrappy Chic kit - it's BoBunny and absolutely lovely, but also very busy and glittery...plus the kraft-brown-blue-snowflake combo was a bit perplexing. I tried to find some peace in all that busyness, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. The tree stamp above the title is the same one I used on the ornament in the photo (shall I call it craft continuity? I think I just created a new concept).

It's a little hard to see, but some of the trees have distress stickles on them -- the subtlest of all glitters, in my book. I love those letters -- they're from Pebbles and are perfectly matte.

I kept the busiest patterns to smaller accents, but the glitter definitely still stands out -- in a good way, though. A twine bow finishes it off.

Here's to peace. Have a lovely day!

CHA mini album (finally!)

So, remember way back in July when I had such fun at CHA in Chicago? And I was all geeked about making a mini out of my photos? Well...sometimes time just slips away from us.

But! No longer! Here it is!

I started with a Maya Rd. chipboard binder that is kind of like this one, only a bit bigger. I got mine at Scrappy Chic (where they're having another yard sale this Sunday [buy my stuff! get great deals!]).

In honor of my favorite line from CHA, almost all the papers and embellishments are from the Amy Tangerine line by American Crafts. Still love it, by the way.

So, away we go! Click to enlarge any of the collages:

Cover: lots of misting, along with Amy Tangerine fabric paper, Thickers, tape, and accents, plus OA mini alphas. Tip: to use tape on top of fabric, just lay it down over some stronger adhesive. I used scor-tape, and it worked great!

Inside pages, part one: things we did.

Pages are misted, then layered with photos, tape, stickers, and other accents. I included my name badge, too.

Inside pages, part two: people we met. The last page is a photo of the city skyline as we were driving home.

I haven't really added any journaling. I might just throw in people's names or list events or something. Nothing too tricky -- after all, it took all these months just to make the thing!

Anyway, now it's December -- how did that happen? I'll be getting started on my Big Fun Christmas Project any moment now (I've been impatiently waiting!). Do you have any special holiday crafting plans (for yourself or for gifts?) Let me know!

Until then, I hope you have a lovely day!