Top 12 of 2012

Hello friends! And happy almost New Year! Blogging today as I'm coming back from the dead. I caught a virus a few days before Christmas and am still suffering from it. It's frustrating, because all I've wanted to do with my days off is run errands and clean house, but I haven't had much energy for either of those things. I'm hoping to start feeling better soon though. Especially as my sweet boyfriend planned a lovely NYE dinner out and about.

I had a fairly productive year in scrapbooking terms. I made 120 layouts and 90 cards, 2 mini books and 6 altered art pieces. Not bad for a crazy busy year.

But seeing as we're at the end of 2012, I wanted to share my 12 favorite layouts from the year. Here are some stats on them:

There are five 12x12 layouts and seven 8 1/2 x 11. 

One is from Lisbon. 

One is from Bangkok. 

One is from Cambodia. 

One is from Japan. 

Three are for Urijah's album. 

Two feature Sketchbook sketches. 

Two are scraplifts.

Five instagram shots were used.

Seven were made using Studio Calico kits.

Matt made it into three.

Paint and mist were used on five layout each.

I stamped on nearly all of them.

But surprisingly washi was used on just a few.

I love each and every one of these, most especially because of their vibrant colors. This is my life, these are my loves =)

Without further adieu and in no particular order. Here are my 12 favorite layouts of 2012:

And that's all folks! Until next year, I hope you all have a sparkling night full of light and love.

cheers & besos,

Kraft Wrapping

Who doesn't love brown paper packages tied up with string?!

Here's how I wrapped the presents I showed you all a few days ago.

This first with yarn and a homemade pom.

The second with loads of washi for a more modern look.

And with this last, I stamped using white chalk ink and finished it off with a ribbon.

Don't they look lovely sitting under my tree?

Merry [early] Christmas yall!

cheers & besos,

Tomerlin Presies

Good morning! Man does it feel great to be scrapping and blogging again =) I'm still scrapping out of boxes, but I'm hopefully I'll spend a good chunk of next week getting my scrapbook area set up and organized. 

In the meantime, I made a few Christmas gifts that I wanted to share. It was frustrating to want to use some things I knew were packed, but I made these work in the end.

Here's a shadowbox (is that what we're calling these?) of Matt and his sweet Grandma Rose. 

I love this smaller size and the 3 little boxes to decorate. It makes it easy! Well, as easy I'll let it. These tiny spaces are hard for me to fill for some reason! These 3 took me hours to make because I kept shifting through options, trying to find what I wanted.

I drew a lot from the colors in each of the photos. Grandma Rose's shirt helped me pull in some blues and pinks, and the trees helped with the greens and yellows.

I used a hodge podge of products on all of these. Most notably on this one, I used some of the new 5th & Frolic from American Crafts and the Crate Paper Trendsetter I think it's called.

For this one of Matt and his family, I pulled out greens, blues and khakis, plus some black for good measure. Products are from Studio Calico, American Crafts, Basic Grey, Echo Park and the Girls Paperie.

But I think I had the most fun putting this one of Matt and his sister together. Jenn's shirt made for such a pretty jumping off point. There's some Dear Lizzy, Crate Paper, Amy Tangerine, Crate Paper, Echo Park thrown in here.

So yes, 3 presents done!! 5-6 more to go! Be sure to check back for more of these lil trays. Also, check back this week for the wrapping and decorating of the presents. Arguably, this might be my favorite part =)

cheers & besos,

Triumphant Return

I'm back! And not so sure how triumphant it might be, but I'm definitely back!

Made an absolute mess on my desk, had to dig through various cardboard boxes but I happily glued paper and photos today.

More to come later this week =)

cheers & besos,

Christmas Card 2012

2012 Christmas card is complete! You'd think I'd be excited but really it's bittersweet for me. 

I know, I know! I'm a weirdo. I know! I really think I enjoy making cards more than I do receiving them.

I just love Christmas so much. And card making too boot! I love layering bits & pieces and trying to figure out how to replicate something 30 times. That's how many I made this year. Doesn't hit 2009 levels, but still with everything going on, it definitely was time consuming.

This year I did something I've never done before. I scraplifted my card! I couldn't not after seeing this gorgeous design by Julie Ebersole. The design just spoke to me. You all know how much I love to travel and this design just felt so very appropo.

I played with it a bit. And my card is definitely not as simple as Julie's, but I wanted to add some of my layers in to make a bit more my own.

And layers there are! I die cut the skyline out of pearl finished cardstock then stamped on top. Adhered this to a vellum base and added jewels + glitter tape. I heat embossed the sentiment with Silver Metallic Zing! and stuck it to the card base with my ATG before finishing it off with some baker's twine.

Of course I couldn't forget the insides or the envelope! You simply can't over look the envelope. That's what gets people excited to open the card! My typical envelope includes some misting splatters, a snip of tape and a date stamp. I got fancy with this one and used a snowflake as a mask for my iridescent mist, subtle but festive!

Here are the 2010-1, 2010-2, 2010-3, 2010-4 and 2009 editions if you're looking for some extra inspiration. (The 2011 version is being published.)

Now on to the harder part...writing in them all!! I write big, it shouldn't be too bad ;)

What about yall? Have you finished your cards? Do you make them? I'd love to see them if you did!

cheers & besos,