My take on Basic Grey's Page of the Month

Did you know that Basic Grey creates a Page of the Month kit, which Lil' Lambs Boutique offers to their customers. Below is the December Page of the Month kit, available here. Kellie Goree creates a sample layout that you can follow using current Basic Grey papers and embellies. While her creations are quite beautiful, we on the design team for LLB thought it would be neat to offer up some additional alternatives for the customers using the exact same kit.

Below, I have created 2 different layouts using only materials from the kit except for Distress Ink and Stickles.

First up are my two cuties enjoying everything there is in life...and there's usually nothing better than our adventure walks. They always have a great time collecting items together. This time...pinecones! We used them for a table centerpiece over the Christmas season. They look like they don't have a care in the world, don't they?

I used my Double Loop Martha Stewart border combo punch to create an inner workspace and mat for my photo. I love it!

Did you know you could make Tim Holtz's grunge flowers with regular pattern paper as well? Yes, you can!! I love how these roses came out with the 2 different papers.

Scrapping TIP/TRICK: Here's a scrapping tip for those of you purchasing the Around the Page border punch combos (ie. Corner punch and Border punch like the double loop below). In the package they provide measurements for paper sizes that work well with the Around the Page punches. For any size you pick, here is what I found typically works best for punching the actual paper.

Instructions for one side (just repeat on all four)

1. Punch the corners first.
2. Use the innermost punch marker on your tool for punching the first side border punch. Do this to both sides first.
3. Continue on either side to punch, now using the outermost punch marker, until you are ready to punch your last side punch (ie. your 2 sides have now almost met together). I have found that the measurements, whether slightly off or just my punching skills, are not quite exact. So for the last side punch, I use the outermost marker on BOTH sides of the tool and attempt to get as close as I can to an exact punch. When you divide the minute overage to both sides of the tool, it really comes out as if you have perfectly punched the whole border.

(Let me know if you'd like to see this with pictures, in the comment section below. I didn't think about taking pictures as I was punching.)

Since I was working with the letters provided in the kit, I outlined them in black so I could set them against a similar color background and still read the title.

I think I might have gone a touch punch crazy on my second layout! This is my youngest in all her dress up finery working it for the camera. The left hand edge is the Deep Edge Daisy shell punch. On the right side are the Deco Fan Edge punch and the Doily Lace Trim punch.

There are plenty of chipboard designs available in this kit. I made a virtual garden of flowers in the upper part of my layout. Small tip: Even though they have a sticky back, I would strongly advise gluing them down anyway.

Here's a closer picture of some of the punch work. I think I might be as addicted to these as Tim Holtz products...oh dear.

Happy Scrapping everyone!!

12 Days of Christmas ~ Tags 11 & 12

And so we come to the final 2 "Tim tags." I have thoroughly enjoyed doing all these inspired tags but I can truly say, these last two were my favorites. That rose technique alone was worth the whole thing. I also enjoyed making my own "faux brads." I don't have the tool Tim used to create them so I showed you how I did them with buttons below.

Here is a close up of the flowers. My flowers are covered in Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist. I added some Gold Perfect Pearls to a Mini Mister and poured in the Glimmer Mist. Before spraying the flowers that beautiful shimmery red color, I used a make up sponge and sponged on darker highlight along the flower ridges. I then sprayed the flowers and dried.

Below are the steps I used to make my "faux brads." First I chose my vintage photo and printed it off on the canvas paper. You can find free Vintage clip art here.

Place the smooth side of your button on the sticky part of the canvas. Make sure you have cut out your picture and button in a circle and leave a litle over 1/4" all the way around. Proceed to make small cuts all the way around the circle.

Take one strip at a time and fold it over the back of the button.

Here is the finished result.

Below is a picture of Tim's day #11. The photo and tag are the intellectual property of Tim Holtz and is only posted here to show a comparison of inspiration. To get complete instructions for this tag, please go here.

Next up we have tag #12 and probably my favorite. Those roses are divine. They're not too incredibly difficult to make and with practice could become a lot easier.

Here is a close up of the roses.

Below is a picture of Tim's day #11. The photo and tag are the intellectual property of Tim Holtz and is only posted here to show a comparison of inspiration. To get complete instructions for this tag, please go here.

Thanks for joining me on the 12 tag journey.

Quick & Easy Christmas Gift

Here is a fun, quick & easy Christmas gift idea. My friend Patti, sent me a link for making these glittery Christmas balls. You can find the instructions here. They are easy and great projects for young kids as well.

The supply list is pretty short.
Clear Christmas ornaments - Michael's has a set of 8 for half price right now (around $4.50).
Fine Glitter
Pledge Future Shine Floor Finish (yes, you read that right. Walmart has it for around $6 and if you have a Shopper's Food Warehouse, you can snag it for about $4.25)
Ribbon
Plastic Wrap

Now go read the directions and pop out some great teacher gifts. This one below is for my girls' Awana teacher. The Cubbie is their class mascot. You can add any decorations to the front of your Christmas bulb or make a set of just the glittery bulbs with fancy bow tops...the choices are endless.