Hello Friends,If you celebrate Christmas, you probably include at least a couple of traditions that date back to the Victorian period.For example: Do you put up a Christmas tree? While the Christmas tree originated in medieval Germany, it was popularized in both England and America in the 1840s and 1850s, thanks in part to the influence of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. Do your children or grandchildren eagerly await the visit of a red-coated Santa in a reindeer-drawn sleigh? It was the American writer Clement Moore who first depicted Santa Claus with "a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" in his poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," first published in 1823.With its jolly Santas, rosy-cheeked children, and rich palette of reds and golds and greens, it's not surprising that the vintage Victorian look is such a popular holiday style, and there are loads of … [Read more...]
Seasonal Inspiration: Wreaths
Hi there! Are you getting ready to Deck the Halls? I'm feeling inspired by wreaths this month and they can be more diverse than you think! They don't even need to include foliage from what I've seen in the gallery and today I’m looking at some of the different wreaths in your pages.____________________________________________________________________This page by HeatherB features a densely packed wreath full of flowers, foliage and metallic elements that add interest but uses a colour scheme that makes it suitable year roundI adore this layered cutfile wreath full of wordart! So festive and creative from Dalis!This layout by Berniek uses layers of ephemera to build a nostalgic wreath.Farrah has included photos and a card on her traditional wreath and cleverly masked them onto baublesHere's another wreath featuring a photo by vrielinkie. I love the … [Read more...]
Beginners Mixed Media: Instant Mixed Media with Painted Papers
To some of us, there is nothing more nerve-wracking than attempting a scrapping style out of your comfort zone or more daunting than a blank canvas with infinite possibilities.(OK, yes, I’m talking about me personally but I’m sure this applies to others as well!)So in this blog series, I’m attempting to make Mixed Media less daunting by giving you (and me) some jumping off points. Where to begin with digi – mixed media scrapping? Right here for Mixed Media Beginners! Last month I used basic paint brush strokes in place of paper strips on basic templates. This time I'm thinking about the way paper choice alone can give a scrapbook layout a mixed media look without the addition of any paint or brush work, splatters or otherwise. In other words, I'm going with the 'fake it til you make it' approach and calling today's page creation process 'Instant Mixed Media'!I'm … [Read more...]
5 Tips for a Stress Free Holiday
It's Christmas Eve and only one more sleep for the big event. For those that are tracking Santa check Norad for the latest updates. For some of our blog readers, tomorrow will be a busy day. By now, the gifts are wrapped (some of us are hoping to receive a gift card to our favorite shop), the stockings are hung, and even some of the food has been prepped for Christmas day. We would like to share with you our top five tips for making your Christmas day stress free.1. Set your photos free! Take a moment to clear the photos that have been held hostage on your SD card. The same goes for the phone-ographers. Now is the perfect time to install your favorite Mobile Ready products.2. Charge the camera batteries or load a fresh set of regular batteries.3. Share the camera. That's right! Give the camera to someone else and be a part of the celebration. 4. Make a list. There are lots of … [Read more...]
Last Minute Hand Crafted Gifts
Hello!! I've been crazy busy with holiday events and planning. Truth be told, I wouldn't have it any other way. This time of year I am always buzzing with excitement and ready to create some of the fun projects that I have found on Pinterest. I will be the first to admit that my to do list is much longer than the done list, but I am okay with that. I have just as much fun finding and pinning fun craft projects as I do creating them. Crafting is fun, it's cleaning up the mess that's a drag. All of this craft talk reminds me, that I wanted to share with you a really quick project recently created with my daughter.Stocking Gift PocketsThe Supply list:Die cutting machine (In this instance I used a Silhouette Cameo)Heavy white cardstockPrinterGluePen or other writing utensil The Instructions:The first step was to purchase and download Jingle all the Way from Kate … [Read more...]
Snappy Sunday: December Photos to Capture
So, even if you are not officially "Documenting Your December" with a special album, we are all trying to capture the spirit of the month and the Holidays somehow. Of course, photography is one of the most important ways to do that. We all seem to get the obvious things on "film", but sometimes we neglect to capture stuff beyond that. In the age of Smart Phone cameras that are with us every minute of every day (hehe), we have no excuse not to shoot like silly this season.Here are some December ideas, obvious and otherwise...Shoot a Bokeh effect. This may seem obvious, but is not always easy. This photo is linked to a tutorial on how to do this, but there are TONS of them around. Along the same lines as lighting, how about taking a picture of lights strung around something interesting, like your kids :).How about the Starbucks Red Cup? Happy, Happy.Frost on the … [Read more...]