Top 10

A fellow scrapbooker Ms. Schwiet suggested listing my top 10 favorite layouts created this year.  It was a lot of fun looking at them all again.  It was hard to pick, but here is my list:

10- 2011. I like how this shows everything we did without being cluttered. And I was impressed with how many pictures I was in during the year.

9- Bills clothes It's hard to cheer for a losing team, but we look good doing it. The 'photo shoot' for this was fun too.

8- Chill-axin I like being able to capture my kids just being kids. This was a fun layout of my oldest doing some of his favorite things; sitting in his chair, drinking, watching tv.

7- Hugs My youngest is know for his great hugs. I was so glad to show off that skill.

6- Skype This is a great picture, nice layout and cute embellies. I just like how it turned out.

5- Smile! Seriously? This layout makes me laugh every time I see or think about it. Every time.

4- Truck Window I really liked these pictures and I really enjoy the hiding and layering of them.

3- Work Party This is one of a few 'pretty' layouts I have done. I was very happy when all the free hand flourishes turned out so nice. And it's a great picture.

2- My Time I love the colors, design and topic of this layout. Everything came together very well and I love the result.

1- Stop Light This layout turned out really cute. But the main reason it's my favorite is because it's my son's favorite. He loved this so much, he asked for it to be in his room. That request is one of the best I have ever gotten.

I hope you all enjoy this wonderful Christmas weekend with your family.  If we're lucky, we'll get to spend it looking at our scrapbooks too.  Merry Christmas from us to you!

Shout

I had the camera at the right moment.  When the constantly messy boy was sizing up the competition, a bottle of Shout.

There are splatter marks on the layout.  I cut them on a transparency with the Indie Art cartridge.  Here is a close up to see one, and the raised photo and arrows.

Snow

It's only snowed a light dusting so far this winter.  That just doesn't seem right.  To help with the 'winter wonderland' feeling I scrapped pictures from last January.  This is the first time my younger son got to play in the snow.

I used the EK Success punch on separate paper.  Then I adhered the edge portion on the outside of the layout and placed the other snow flakes around the top of the page.  Black Bling from Recollections is along the border and sporadically placed amongst the snowflakes.  Black Soot Stickles and black ink outline the pictures.

The circle around the smaller picture was left over from a previous Cricut die-cut from the Accent Essentials cartridge and lined with Mahogany Prisma Color marker. On the bottom I used cotton balls to imitate snow.  If you are worried about acid from the balls, there are sprays and other products to seal the cotton.

This turned out just as cute as I had hoped.  Be sure to check us out on facebook!

Now on Facebook!

I did it.  I created a page for this site on Facebook!  Here is where you can find it:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Afternoon-Scrapper/257264664337573.  You can also use the button on the right hand side of this site.

I look forward to seeing and sharing things you.

Adjusted

I wasn't thrilled with the way my recent layout looked.  So I removed the white background from the transparency and used a green paper that I liked with the pictures.

I think it looks much better.  The pictures and title really pop now.

Smile! Seriously?

I tried to take a nice picture of my boys next to the tree.  They had other plans.  I had to scrap these photos as soon as I could.

I can't stop giggling when I see these pictures!

Products:
Fancy Pants Transparency, Cloud 9 Paper, Reminisce die cut stickers, Adorn It stickers, Fancy Pants Rub on, Prisma Color markers, Stickles, Cartridges: Accent Essentials, Pooh Font, Stone Script.

Teacher cards

I thought I had all my gifts finished when a friend reminded me that my son's teachers should get something as well.  The 2 of us made this card for each of his teachers.

He helped with the tree and presents.

I made sure to put both of our names on it.

I/we used DCWV and Shimmer paper I found at Target; Opposites Attract, Plantin School Book and Winters in the air cartridges, Stickles and Delta Creative Ink.

It was a lot of fun.  Now all I have to do is get him to part with the cards.

Skype

All the holiday fuss settled for a few moments and I was able to make another layout.  The picture is my husband and kids on Skype with their grandparents.  I think the monkey stamps turned out really cute.

Here is a close-up of the banner and computer sticker.

On this layout I used the Winter's in the air cartridge, Stickles, BasicGrey, DCWV, Fiskars and TPC Studio stamps, Jewelry Craft and Heidi Swapp letters, Delta Creative ink and Prismacolor markers and EK Success 3D Dots adhesive.

Few more

Here are more cards I made.  They are really easy to whip up in an hour or so.  I've had a blast playing with all the new scrappy supplies and stamps I received for my birthday.

This snowman card features BasicGrey, Fiskars, DCWV and Delta Creative ink.

I utilized my Cricut Create-a-Critter cartridge, Delta Creative ink and stamps from Hero Arts and Fiskars on this card.

Here is another card.  I used dimensional adhesive to raise the tag.  This is done with BasicGrey, Fiskars and Delta Creative ink supplies.

My older son has already claimed 2 of the cards as his.  I'll have to make more just in case he 'borrows' one.

nuts

With all the seasonal/holiday activities I don't have as much time as usual.  So I've been focusing on cards because they are quicker to make.  Here is one:

I was really excited when I found the acorn stamp in an old kit I bought 5+ years ago before the clear ones came out.  I'm new to stamping and I don't have any Copics yet, so I used my Prisma Colors markers to fill things in.  On my Cricut I used the Create a Critter cartridge.

card

This is a card I made for the fall season. I used the Imaginisce 'Happy Camper' collection.

Here are cards I made for the troops. They are blank inside to the soldiers can write in it and send it back to their family. This is the organization I use: http://operationwritehome.org/index.html

Then yesterday:

Husband: "He didn't have to do that.  It was really nice of him."
Me: sigh.  "Ok.  I'll fire up the Cricut and make a card."
Husband: "Oh, don't say it like that.  You know you want to."
Me: "Yeah, I'm just trying to play hard to get."

I was able to use the center die cut for the back.

I used the Opposites Attract cartridge, Stickles and a circle punch.

Halloween Bees

Happy Thanksgiving!  Here is a layout I have about the last holiday, Halloween.  Aren't these bees cute?

The top photo flips up to reveal more pics and journaling.

I used the computer and stickers for all the lettering on this layout.  You can't really see the yellow ink accents in the photo.  Here is how I began, by making sure all the pictures I have would fit within the size of the largest one.

I used the scoring blade to make the flap.

I also covered the back side of the brads.  This was to make sure I didn't have any bumps on the front picture.

I hope all your holidays are great.  Again, Happy Thanksgiving from a bunch of bees!

Winter Decor

Last week I bought some paper that was so cute I wanted to see it all the time.  So I made a winter wall hanging.  I did a winter one so it will match my other holiday items and it can be up after x-mas.

Here is how I made it.  First I jotted down a rough sketch of my idea and assembled any products I might want to use.

Then I used mycutsearch.com to see which cartridges various images were on.  I used Accent Essentials, Create a Critter, George and Basic Shapes, Plaintin Schoolbook and Sesame Street Friends cartridges on my Circut to cut out the different shapes.  For the presents, I didn't like the all the 'ribbon' so I cut off the bottom part.

After that I decided which colors I wanted to use in the open spaces on the snowmen.

I used some scraps from other shapes to fill the empty spots.

Next I added some bling and other accents.

After all the pieces were made and dry, I moved them around until I like the layout.

Once I knew how wide the 9 parts were going to be, I prepared the top banner.  I used 3 different fonts, and 2 techniques. 

For all the e's, I used Glue Stic to temporarily hold the center in place while dabbing the ink.

To help hold the main ribbon, I pushed it through a small hole with a brad.  I then folded the brad over the ribbon and used hot glue to hold everything firmly in place.  (note: You may need to add chipboard or other firmer material to the back of the banner to keep it from warping while it's hung.)

Let everything dry and wha-la!  An awesome winter wall hanging!

Pumpkin Carving

This was the first year our boys got to help carve the pumpkins.

On the left is all the in-action shots of us creating with the pumpkins.  I dabbed a little black ink on the paper to dull it down a little, added a few stickers and Paprika Stickes on every picture mat.

The right I made the same face I carved into the pumpkins.  The orange texture is from the ink pad.  Both triangles were cut out with the Cricut and i free-handed the smile.  Everything is outlined with Black Diamond Stickles.

More layouts

I finished a few layouts at a crop last month and I finally got a chance to post them.  Here they are:

This one is a 'time capsule' style layout with everything we did to this point in 2011.

This is one of me and the boys cheering for our favorite football team.

The next layout is for our favorite get away.

My boys had a great time helping me peel apples before we put them in the crockpot.

While we were peeling apples, the boys both started eating them!

One boy got hurt and needed ice (looks like Nemo) and the other wanted the same thing.

The boys were learning fire safety so I made them each 'fire' with my Circut.  They got to wear their fire hats and used Legos as a hose to put out the fire.  Then I got to scrap it.