Project: Unicorn Cupcake Toppers

Creating unicorn cupcake toppers for one of my "grand-friends".  

Kept it simple, as it was for pool party and 4 year olds.

I created the design using my Silhouette Cameo, reversed the image and cut out the set.

 Double sided tape to help keep it together.

 Tooth pick to be able to place into the frosting/cupcake.

 More double sided tape

 The two images,  place one atop the other.

 Using black ink, ink the edges to cover up where they don't exactly meet.

Still a work in process

When completed with the coloring of the edges, add a light spray of clear glitter.

Project: Spirit Wear for a Cheer Team

Project: Painting a Sign with a Stencil

Choose the size of your board.  

My local Lowes, cut it for me at no additional charge.

Lowes will create a sample size of any color that they mix, for approximately $3.00

Carefully place your stencil, smoothing any air bubbles.

I like to cut my stencils about an inch larger than my sign, to help protect the background color.

Using a bone folder, credit/gift card or a spatula, smooth out the bubbles.

You want a nice seal of the stencil to the wood.

Gently pull off the stencil backing, repress the stencil if necessary

I like to use a make up sponge.  they are inexpensive and can be thrown away when done.

Using an up down motion, not a side ways motion, apply your paint.

Swiping side to side can cause paint to leak under your stencil.

Apply a second coat if needed, to get the color you want.

When dry, gently peal away your stencil.

Use a tooth pick or a straight pin to remove the stencil from the inner lettering or design.

Use a small brush or pick to help you touch up areas needed.

A small eye make up brush works well, to help fill in areas.

Finished project below.

Cutting the Crazy Out of Christmas: Saving Your Sanity through the Holidays

Holidays are such a treasure and filled with magical memories of family, friends and even a bit of fantasy! It is everyday life that begins to roll forward and like an avalanche destroys every good intention that was put forth into making certain that no detail was forgotten during the holiday season. Don’t get me wrong, everyday life is great. It is the idea of adding more, or something extra like a holiday, into the mix of everyday life that can rev up the anxiety and cause a bit of insanity.
Stopping the insanity is the first step to enjoying the holiday season more this year. Having a place to keep your ideas for the holiday season is the first step to stopping the insanity!

Organizing Ideas
As I plan for the upcoming holiday season, I write a lot! I write a to do list. I write a list of supplies I might need. I jot down ideas for décor projects and gifts. I also write down ideas for how I’d like to document and scrapbook the holidays for this current year. Writing helps organize what needs to be accomplished in a given time period. It makes sense to have a specific place to write down all of my holiday ideas.

I use a 5” x 7” lined notepad to keep my ideas organized. It is a small notebook that is easy to drop into my purse if I am running errands. It is the perfect size to write and sketch ideas on while snuggling on the couch with my kids as they watch a movie.

I have a few simple steps that you can take to label this inexpensive pad of paper and customize it to fit your needs.

Step-by-step Instructions for Putting it Together
Adding a cover to a pad of lined paper is quick and simple.

1. cut a sheet of cardstock to measure 8 1/2“ x 5”.

2. score the paper in three places: 7 1/8”, 8” and 8 1/4” and fold on the scored lines.

3. adhere the scored section over the top of the notepad and staple to the pad binding.

4. Embellish the cover of your holiday project notebook by adding strips of patterned paper, and a title.

Add an elastic closure to the bottom of your note pad.
5. punch two holes 1 1/2” up and 1 1/2“ in from each side and bottom edge of the back of your notepad.

6. cut a 5 1/2” piece of 1/8” elastic.

7. place the end of the elastic in one of the holes and then add an eyelet to the same hole. using a Crop-a-Dile or Anywhere Punch, secure eyelet in place.

8. repeat this process on the second hole.

9. wrap the elastic around the front of the notepad to secure the cover closed.

10. Cover the inside back over with cardstock.

Now you know that your notepad will stay closed if you toss it into your purse or backpack.

11. Adhere five divider tabs throughout your notepad. Leave enough blank pages between each tab to write your notes!

12. Label each tab: supplies, to-do, project ideas, gift ideas, page ideas

Supplies:
Create a list of supplies you will need for each project or gift.
Code your supplies for those you have and those you need to pick up.
Designate a place to keep all of your supplies together, so that they are easily accessible when you are ready to begin your project.

To Do List:
Label each to do list with a specific task.
List everything that needs to be done in order to complete the task.
Add a deadline to each task.
You may need to estimate the amount of time will be required to finish each part of the task.

Project Ideas:Write down any idea you have about a holiday project that you would like to create.
Ask yourself specific questions about your idea.
What is the purpose?
Where can I use it?
When do I need it by?
Who is it for?
How can I make this?
Why do I want to do this?

Gift Ideas.
Write down any idea you have about a holiday gift that you would like to create.
Ask yourself specific questions about your idea.
What is the purpose?
Where can it be used?
When do I need it by?
Who is it for?
How can I make this?
Why would this be a good gift?

Holiday Pages:
Write down any idea you have about a holiday page you would like to create.
Ask yourself specific questions about your idea.
What is the story I want to tell?
Where do I want to store this page?
When do I need to take the photos, or do I have them already?
Who am I telling the story to?
How many pictures do I want to include?
Why is this important?


Let your idea percolate in this notebook and revisit it when you have more time.

Planning Starts Now
Now that your notepad is complete, take some time and make some notes about ideas you have for this holiday season. It’s okay if you don’t know where to start, because as we work through this course you will be given LOTS of ideas to get your creativity flowing!

You are now prepared to begin saving your sanity one simple note and idea at a time! You are ready to begin making plans for this holiday season and that is the first step towards saving your sanity.

Cutting the Crazy Out of Christmas: Holiday Project Box

Fall marks the beginning of so many holidays! September is the perfect time to start getting organized for all of the end-of-year holidays. I have found that if I have a place to keep all of my ideas, that I am more successful in following through with my plans for the holidays.

I am going to focus on organization, holiday home décor, cards and gifts, and documenting your holiday memories.

Holiday Project Box
It is my hope that you were able to complete your holiday project notebook from the pre-class assignments; the holiday project box is where this notebook will soon live. Remember that I like everything to have a place! This box is going to become a resource file for you to keep all of your ideas for the holiday season. I really LOVE this box as a resource file, plus it gives me a place to keep all of my ideas in a small format! Throughout this week, you will learn how this box works for me and how you can make it function best for you.

This will be an amazing box full of resources for you to use.

Prepared to Plan
Now that the holiday project box is created and ready to go, it is time to talk about what will go inside this charming little container. I have designed some resource cards to add into the holiday project box. These resource cards are used like a recipe card, because there are areas on each card for specific information, space for sketches and lists, and the best part is that they will help you save your sanity!

Holiday Project Cards
Being prepared sheds anxiety from your life. I suggest making enough project cards to have blank cards on hand when you want to work on a project card. The exact number to make is completely up to you, but I made ten cards for each subject area to start with, knowing that I can make more if I begin to run low! Let’s get to it!

Creating Holiday Project Cards
For this project, you will use plain white copy paper and lined 5”x 8” index cards.
Print the project card templates onto plain white copy paper. To create each card, you will need a
1. gift, project or page card plus a sketch card. Cut each card to 5” x 8” following the template guides.
2. Adhere the sketch template and the project, gift or page template on either side of the 5” x 8” lined index card.
3. Using snippets of patterned paper in holiday themes makes the cards easy to identify.

bigtip:
By printing the templates onto copy paper, you can faintly see the lines of the index cards through the copy paper. This is great for keeping your writing organized.
Cut little snippets of patterned paper to adhere to the top of each card.

Keeping Things Simple
I like to keep things simple. This is true with project cards as well. These cards should be easy to use and label. For this reason I keep two clear plastic cups in the back of my project box to hold items that make using these cards super simple.

The first cup is used to hold snippets of patterned paper for each holiday card. This way when I grab a project card to write my ideas and plans onto, I can quickly add a color label to the card to help me identify the cards category quickly by sight.

The second cup is used to hold precut squares of graph paper. I cut my squares 12 boxes x 12 boxes. I adhere squares onto the sketch section of the cards, so I can sketch any ideas I may have for a project, gift or page design. It also leaves lots of space for me to write myself notes, so I won’t forget where my mind was going with a specific idea.

I also place a 5” x 7” sheet of patterned paper and graph behind each holiday tab, so that I can quickly grab a sheet of paper to cut more snippets and squares to place in each cup when they begin to run low.

Creating cards that are simple to identify and use makes this system doable. And I know from experience that I simply cannot follow through on any system unless it feels doable!

The holiday project box is your new resource file system and it is set up to organize your future ideas and action plans. Over the next eight lessons you will learn how I used these cards to organize my ideas. Plus, with each lesson from here on out, you will get a holiday project card to print out and add to your box that has all of my sketches and ideas written on them. Feel free to add your own notes to these cards as well, and then add the cards to your holiday project box as a resource.

What I have found from using holiday project cards, is that one idea may spark another. One project card may have been created originally as a gift, but also will work great as a piece of décor. A page design may work well as a gift idea. Plus often times I have created something for a specific holiday only to realize that with a change of color and theme it will be perfect for a different holiday as well.

Being Prepared
Keep your mind open to all of the creative possibilities that the holidays bring. Use your holiday project notebook to quickly jot down your fleeting ideas, so that they are not lost. When you have an extra fifteen or thirty minutes sit down with your notebook and project card and start creating an action plan. The project card is your action plan or recipe. It is this plan that makes your project easy to remember, and also gives you a place to know where you can begin.

Beginning something is often the hardest part. Hopefully this holiday project box gives you a place to begin that does not feel overwhelming. The best part of this project box is that if you do not have the time to do a specific project this season, your idea won’t be lost forever. You now have a resource system to remember your ideas, and you can always create it next year, or for another holiday. That my friend is how you can truly save your sanity!

Cutting the Crazy Out of Christmas: Planning Ahead for the Holidays (Or anything, really)

We often hear people say, “If I could only find the time to…” and any number of words can fill in the end of that statement; words like create, design, clean, organize and make are some of the commons ones.

I am here to tell you that you will NEVER find the time to do anything unless you MAKE the time to do it. Yes, you must make the time to accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish, it is a simple choice, but there are a few things you can do to make the choice even easier.

1. Plan Ahead
It is hard to do anything at the last minute. So, start thinking about the holidays long before they arrive.

2. Make Time
When you plan ahead you are able to make time here and there throughout the weeks prior to a holiday to actually have time to work on a project.

3. Take Action
I like to countdown to a big holiday. Maybe this is because I am still a little kid at heart, or maybe it is because I have found this method to be very helpful to see how much time I actually have left before a major deadline. All I know is that counting down works for me.

Calendar Countdown
I created a daily calendar that allows me to focus on one day at a time.
This calendar allows me to slide in a new card to change the month, and has pockets to let me slip in a card to count down to the actual holiday. Plus, I can write what needs to be accomplished and slide it into the pockets as well.

This calendar is all about inspiring you to stay on time and get things done.

Cut the Crazy out of Christmas: Assembling and Decorating Your Planner

THis can be a fun thing to do.
Decorate the outside of your binder with the pictures and/or items that remind you most of family and Christmas.

Your Binder will be divided into 7 sections.

1. Preparations
Deck the Halls Decorating Information
Our Family Traditions
Party Plans
Helping Others


2. Gift Lists

3. Recipes
Holiday Menus
Baking List/Shopping List
Recipe Cards
Recipe Layout Page

4. Hints

5. Cards

6. Journal

7. Memories, Stories, Movies & Poems

You might come up with more areas to divide your planner into.
Remember this is your tool, Add to it as you like.

(This post is not complete and I will continue to add to it, as we go along.)

Cut the Crazy Out of Christmas - Supply List

Cut the Crazy out of Christmas
Georgana Hall and Debbie Raymond | Master Supply List

To prepare for Georgana and Debbie’s class, please gather the following:

• one three-ring 8 1/2” x 11” binder – 1” or 1 1/2” view binder with clear pocket on front cover.
• clear plastic page protectors.
• assorted Christmas paper and accents from your stash. We used the Adornit Holly Jolly Collection. You may purchase Adornit scrapbook supplies individually or purchase the exclusive Cut the Crazy Scrapbook Kit.
• computer with word processor.
• printer and color ink – note: We will be printing our entire Christmas Planner, so be sure to have plenty of ink cartridges.
• printer paper.
• pens you love – in red and green, of course.
• photos from past holiday celebrations.
• If you’d rather conserve ink and not print all the classroom downloads, you can purchase the original Cut the Crazy out of Christmas planner! Text is the same as your class download pages, graphic art is different.


Now that you have your list, here’s what to do!•

First, shop your stash! At Big Picture Scrapbooking, substitution is encouraged!
We hope you’ll adapt this supply list to make use of what you already have on hand.

Support your local scrapbook store!
If you need to go shopping, take this printed list with you
(after you’ve crossed off or marked everything you already have at home, of course).

Cut the Crazy Out of Christmas - preclass handout

Let’s get started! There are a few things for you to do right now. Remember, we’re planning for peace and joy in December, so the time you invest now is time well spent!

There are two pre-class assignments for you:
1. To-Do List
2. Joyful Layout

TO-DO LIST
This assignment will raise your awareness about what you do during the holiday season.
It’s your reality check – your chance to get real!

One of the most common problems women have at Christmastime is that they are not realistic. They underestimate the time, energy, and money that it takes to prepare for the holidays. The purpose of the To-Do List is to help you realize the need to start early and the importance of creating a planner. This reality check is one of the reasons you are taking this class!

So, here we go! Start writing everything you have to do to prepare for your holiday celebration. These are the EXTRAS, the things you do in addition to your everyday lives.

This is just an informal list – write quickly and don’t worry about making it complete. You can add to it during the workshop. You will put this page in your planner (which we will organize during Week One of class).

My list starts with gifts: shopping, wrapping, mailing, delivering.
I then think about decorating my house inside and out.
I list the parties I want to plan and the service I want to give.
Also, I think about drawing names, writing our family letter, making cards, and purchasing stamps.

Your list will develop according to your family traditions and habits.

bigtip:
Your list can be general (shop for gifts) or very specific (order brown sweater for dad). More examples: Reserve airline tickets for trip to Grandma’s. Clean out pantry. Iron Christmas tablecloth. Make family party invitations. Buy ingredients for ginger cookies. Make restaurant reservation for New Year’s Eve. Put this list in the front of your binder and add to it when you think of things you need to do. Maybe you’ll need two or three pages – that’s OK !

JOYFUL LAYOUT
After thinking about holiday realities and lists, we want you to remember the joy of the season.

The reason for this workshop is because we all love Christmas – but we don’t love what’s happened to Christmas. We hope to help you take the crazy out and put the simple joys in.

The purpose of this layout is to help you focus on what brings you joy during the holiday season.

Create a joyful layout after looking at your photos from past Christmases and talking to your family about their favorite memories.

Here’s an interesting conversation you can have with your family.
Ask them: ‘Do you remember the gifts you got last year?
Do you remember what you bought for each other?’
Remind them that the things we remember best are the good times we had and the things we did together.

bigtip from Georgana:
Making your Joyful Layout will help you focus on the reasons you are trying to simplify Christmas. I love the feelings that photos can evoke and the warmth of the holiday spirit I felt as I scrapbooked this photo. It reminds me of the joy I hope to re-create for my family each year.

Project 12 Scrapbooking: August

I hope you are enjoying August!  For some of us it's time to get the kiddos ready to head backto school, while for others it is our last opportunity to enjoy the sunshine and to relax before the big Back To School Rush begins.

Here are your Dozen Day Tips for this month:

Photos

1. Wet
2. Tall
3. Talking
4. laughter
5. A recent purchase
6. A set of something
7. salad
8. heart
9. map
10. A scenic view
11. Something official
12. Something yellow

Layout Topics

1. You:  Who do you look like?  Who looks like you?
2. Holiday:  Birthday - Do you have special traditions you use to celebrate everyone's birthday? 
3. Places:  Scrapbook your favorite vacation spot
4. Everyday Life:  Play - what do you and your family do together to Play?
5. Everyday Rituals:  Driving - Who does most of your driving?  What rituals do  you have around your daily commute?  What do you keep in your car and why?
6. People:  Scrapbook a niece or nephew.  What are their talents, traits and why do you like them?
7. Inspiration:  FInd an image or words in the Sunday paper?  Why do they inspire you?
8. Personality:  What makes you mad?
9. Things:  Water - create a layout with the main focus as water
10. Family Stories:  Create a layout telling about a funny family travel diaster.  Something unexpected, unplanned, untimely or unfriendly
11. Seasons:  Pair on photo of each family member with a short description of what Season they are in.  Focus on what they are learning, overcoming, accomplishing and or enjoying.
12. Fun:  Use your punches to create a layout.

Project: Baby Announcement T-shirt

A friend is having a baby

and wanted a special t-shirt for her nephew to wear

to help with telling her family the happy news.