He's Making a List - Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas!  I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with family, friends, fun, and food...and add the fifth "F" - fizzy - if you so choose!

I wanted to share this sweet layout of my son with Santa taken last weekend.  He was chosen one day to bring "Jingles" home from school as reward for his good behavior, and he decided he was going to ask Santa for one!  (Mrs. Claus then went on a crusade to find the make and model of Jingles through his teacher, a local store, and then the Internet to ensure his own Jingles would appear Christmas morning!).  Anyway, we printed out a photo of Jingles and he added a few other things to tell Santa what he wanted, and he got to do a show and tell with him.

Here is my layout using Simple Stories Cozy Christmas and the pretty Tree Trio cut file from Just Nick Studio.

I decided to use the Tree Trio cut file to create a border for the bottom of my layout, and used my Cameo to cut on the bottom of the Ledger side of the Sparkle Flurries/Ledger Cozy Christmas paper.  I trimmed various rectangles from the rest of the collection and adhered to the back of the paper. I stitched around and through the trees for some fun texture. There's just something about stitching that looks so lovely on paper projects!

For the main center area, I put three photos along a piece of the Sparkle Flurries paper.  I love the bokeh effect on that paper!  Real snow flurries are a rarity down here in South Texas.  :)  I also used some of the plaid paper. I stitched along the top and bottom and included my journaling as well.

How cute is that Merry Merry Christmas sticker?  It reminded me of Santa's belt buckle on top of the plaid paper.

For my title, I decided to go with the He's Making a List because of Santa and also because of Paxton's cute list.

My Cameo cut the "He's" and "list", and I used the Simple Stories stickers for the "making a".  I used a red gem for the dot on the "i"...how cute that it remind's me of Rudolph's nose!

For the top, I kept it simple with a strip of brown paper from the collection, snipped the ends to create a banner.  I stuck 3 heart stickers together and stitched them.  I added the "wonder and magic" sticker and another of the red gems.

Well, that's it for me.  It's a wrap on 2015!  I hope you have a very merry Christmas.  See you all in 2016!  

Chocolate hugs and kisses,
Majken

Quilted Snowman - Winter Wishes card

Hi everyone!  Popping in to share a card that I hope you find as adorable as I do...this little quilted snowman was so fun to create.  I know many have already finished their Christmas cards, but if you haven't or if you have more to create, this is a fun one to do.

I first used the We R Memory Keepers Next Level Quilted Embossing Folder on top of white textured cardstock - the texture is amazing!  I used my 3 Fiskars circle hole punches to create each segment of the snowman, and then I lightly inked the edges using Salty Ocean Distress Ink.  I trimmed a piece of CTMH Sky cardstock and stamped asterisks in two sizes, a period, and a colon from CTMH's Tiny Typewriter Alpha set using the Salty Ocean and Pumice Stone Distress Inks.  I lightly touched each asterisk with a Wink of Stella clear marker to create a touch of shine.  

After distressing the edges, I layered it on top of white textured cardstock, silver glitter cardstock, another Sky piece, and a 5x7 white textured piece.  I layered my snowman pieces, used two enamel dots for his eyes and trimmed an orange checkmark enamel piece (cutting off the bottom of the checkmark) to create his nose (the checkmark comes from Echo Park Creative Agenda enamel shapes).  I used CTMH Tulip velvet ribbon for his scarf.  

Finally, I stamped the title in Salty Ocean ink...from two different CTMH stamp sets.  I used the Wink of Stella marker to create shine in the "Winter" to finish the card - it's hard to see in the photo, though.

I hope this post finds you staying warm this winter!  

Hot chocolate hugs,
Majken

Friends - A Million Little Things

Hi there!  I'm back after a hiatus to share a new layout with you.  I'm using some new BasicGrey Sun Kissed collection, which is so beautiful!  Well, you all know I love me some BasicGrey, and when I saw the photo my daughter captured of me and my dear friend Lisa, I knew I wanted to put the two together.

I started with my favorite white textured cardstock from American Crafts and spritzed some Heidi Swapp Patina Color Shine over a ColorBox Splatter Art Screen with a few additional spatters on the bottom right for good measure.  While that dried, I created the photo area by matting a couple of Sun Kissed papers and outlining with black textured cardstock to define the photo.

You can't go wrong when you stitch on textured cardstock - there's just something about creating additional texture with it!

Next I wanted to focus on the title.  I recently purchased the Outline Alpha cut file from JustNicks...I love her designs!  So I pulled the letters together to make "FRIENDS" and cut them out twice on my Cameo - once using the houndstooth pattern paper from Sun Kissed and once using black textured cardstock, which I used to create a shadow effect.

My title is a take on the quote "Friendship is not a big thing - it's a million little things".  I took some wooden Studio Calico letters and misted them with the Patina spray.  I chose the BasicGrey Typepad epoxy letters to spell "million" and finished the title area with some black stitching to mimic the stitching in the photo area.  Underneath, I placed a strip for a journal spot.

To finish the layout, I fussycut the butterfly from the journal card paper from the Sun Kissed collection and popped it up with 3D foam tape.  More dimension!  I don't think you can easily tell from the photo, but I used some clear Wink of Stella marker on its wings. I also sprinkled some sequins from Sun Kissed around the layout.  Such fun embellishments!

I hope this inspires you to get your inks and cutting tools out to create something pretty.  

Have a super week!

Majken

PixScan Tutorial - Cutting out Stamped Images {Hello Friend Cards}

Hey there everyone-

I'm back with another PixScan tutorial to show you how easy it is to cut out stamped images.  If you are just getting started with your PixScan mat, I have a PixScan calibration tutorial that may help you.  And I recently created a layout showing how you can digitally fussycut images out of patterned paper.  Today's tutorial is similar but can be applied to stamped images so that you can quickly and easily cut multiple images...which is very handy if you are mass-producing cards.  For today, I wanted to create a set of fun cards to send to friends.  

Note:  I use a Silhouette Cameo in my tutorials.  Materials listed at the end, but if you like the paper, I also used it in this layout.  It's such a pretty collection, and it pops when combined with black and gold!

The first thing I did was stamp my words out on white cardstock, and placed the cardstock onto the PixScan mat.  Take a photo of the mat - make sure you are as straight as possible and that you get the full mat in the photo so you capture the registration marks.  Save the photo to your computer and import the photo into the Silhouette software.

Here's what mine looked like:

The next thing to do is to trace the outer edges of the image(s).

Next, copy the traced images onto a new file so that you can work with them.

To create an edge around your image, do an offset.  I used an offset of 0.05".  

The next step is to clean up the offset points.  Sometimes you have outliers or need to smooth out curves.

The next step is to remove the inside traces off the cutting area, leaving the offset images in the cutting area.

Select the offset image and copy it, pasting it back onto the original file with the PixScan image.  Zoom in on the image to make sure you have the stamped parts in the center of the offsets.

The final step is to send the file to be cut on your machine.  Make sure you have not moved the paper on the PixScan mat between the time you took your photo and the time you will be cutting because the cuts depend on exact placement on the PixScan mat.

This technique will be great for Christmas cards!

For the "friend" and "birthday" banner pieces, I stamped using Black Stazon ink on watercolor paper that I brushed with coordinating colors to the collection.

Card 1 with close-up:

  

Card 2:

Card 3:

Tip: to get more out of your specialty papers, use paper punches to punch out areas that will be hidden.  The vellum circle in the card above was punched from the piece that my photos are matted on in this layout.  The photos hide the cut-out circle!

 Card 4:

Card 5:

If you use your PixScan mat for cutting out stamped images, I'd love for you to share them with me.  Thanks for stopping by!  

Majken

Materials:

• Paper, vellum, and puffy stickers:  Dear Lizzy Documentary collection
• Stamps:  Close To My Heart "Hello, Life" stamp sets (September 2015 special)
• Die cuts:  Lawn Fawn "Stitched Party Banners" (cards 1,2, & 5); Technique Tuesday "Pocket of Love" (card 5); Sizzix Lori Whitlock "Hello Life" (card 4)
• Inks:  Stazon (Black); Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Spiced Marmalade, Spun Sugar, Mustard Seed)
• Other:  gold thread; American Crafts Peony Ribbon

Good Times | My Scraps & More sketch 116 reveal

Welcome back, my scrappy friends!  Today is reveal day for My Scraps & More sketch 116. It's a sketch with a great angled pattern, and I wanted to capture a lunch I got to enjoy with my mom recently as she returned from her 50th high school reunion.  Yes, 50 years! She had so much fun, which made me happy.  Because the drive is so long, she stopped to stay with us for a a couple of nights before heading the rest of the way home, and we got to go out for a girls' lunch!

I used the Dear Lizzy Documentary collection from the My Scraps & More store.  I wanted the colors to really pop, so I started with a base of American Crafts black textured cardstock.  Then I chose a few papers to cut angled strips in varying widths.  After adhering them to my base, I sewed gold thread alongside most of the strips.  I am loving the gold sewing (here's some on another layout and some cards.  I think I'll leave the gold thread in my machine for awhile longer!)

Once I had the strips down, I matted my photos and then adhered them to a piece of the gold foil star vellum - it's sooo pretty!  I love how the #beauty circle is above my pretty mom.  :)

I used some Amy Tan Rise & Shine gold phrase Thickers to create my "good times" title.  (I have also used the same title on this layout and the Thickers on this layout!)

Then instead of journaling on the right bottom side, I opted to put mine in the lighter circle on the bottom left.

Some gold mist splatters and a few puffy stickers from the collection and the layout came together!  Here is Jessy Christopher's fun sketch below...and go check out her layout as well as the other designers' takes on it!  Then go grab some chocolate and do a little shopping from My Scraps & More store and link up for your chance at the Oct. prize! 

  
Have a super weekend!

Majken

Pick a Pumpkin

Happy day out there in scrappy land!  Please, grab some chocolate and stay for a few minutes.  Today I've dipped my toes into fall - the weather has already started to cool just a bit here in Texas.  Yay!

Today I have a 2-page layout for you.  I haven't done one of these in awhile and I felt I had some good photos to spread out for this one.  I used the third one down from Scrapbook & Cards Magazine fall sketches for this one, stretching it into two pages, and I kept it simple.

I started with kraft cardstock and a Jillibean Soup placemat cut file which I cut using my Cameo and CTMH Cashmere cardstock.  I added a border to the left and right side of each page with some sewn strips.

I sewed around some of the circles on the placemat and also layered a green striped Bella Blvd paper behind one (with a punched star over it in a yellow stripe paper).

Over the right side of the placemat, I put black corrugate paper from Fancy Pants Designs.  It adds great texture!  I also cut a green stripe tab to tuck behind the photo of my sweet son, and added a few black enamel stars from Bella Blvd.  I also created an embellishment circle with sewing and a chipboard element from Bella Blvd.  I love my little pumpkins!  :)

For my title, I cut "PICK A" from black textured cardstock, and I cut "pumpkin" in a different font using the orange stripe paper.

I added another green stripe tab with a black enamel heart.  Another stitched circle and chipboard combo with another enamel element:

Then I added a strip of printed journaling to the side of the photo area, with a punched star on each side.

I need to go back and add the date, but this was fall 2014.

Well, that's all for me today!  I supposed we are getting close to adding hot chocolate to our evenings.  For me, that's the best part of cold weather.  :)

Have a fabulous week!

Majken

Having Fun Together - My Scraps & More Sketch #115 Reveal

Hi everyone!  So glad you are visiting today.  I'm just amazed that it's already October.  It made me think fondly of a long weekend we spent in Fredericksburg, Texas for the Oktoberfest celebration, so that's what I decided to scrap for the My Scraps & More sketch 115!

I used the Simple Stories "We Are Family" collection for this layout.  Check out my layout, but don't miss the other designers' layouts as well!   

So when I saw the sketch and was going through the We Are Family papers I had, the one with the hearts in the bottom right jumped out at me.  I love the papers that have built-in embellishments, but I often get stumped with how to use them.  What I decided is that I could use the So Very Loved paper as my background and tuck the photo section behind the circles!  I flicked a few drops of Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine and let it dry before doing anything else.

The first thing I did after choosing my background paper of So Very Loved was trim and mat my photos with different papers from the collection until I liked how they fit.  I distressed one and inked the edges of a few others.  When I knew where I wanted them to fit, I used my X-Acto knife to cut around the two circles where I wanted the papers to tuck behind.

I really wanted the base paper to do the heavy lifting for the layout!  I love the hearts within the circles!  Once I had that down, I trimmed the bottom and right sides of the paper to layer on top of the B-side of another piece of the So Very Loved paper to create the heart corner on the top and left.  I then used gold thread to stitch a three areas of two lines of stitching.  I'm starting to really love this gold thread - can you tell by this layout and these cards? :)

Next, I opted for the top left embellishment area.  I kept it simple with a banner chipboard sticker.

Once I had that in place, I worked on the title using Simple Stories alpha stickers and the "together" from the chipboard stickers.  

I also created a small journal spot.

I few more sticker elements as well as some enamel dots and gold sequins and the layout was complete!  Here's the fun sketch for you to play along with and link up to try for your chance at some fabulous goodies!!

Play along with us, won't you?  And check out the MSAM store for more new goodies as well.

Have a super weekend!

Majken

Giveaway Winner - Scrapping our Stash Blog Hop

Hi everyone!  I'm a day late, but definitely not a dollar short.  If you didn't get a chance to hop along with us, definitely worth checking out the projects.  The full list can be found on the bottom of the Confetti Cards post.  My favorite card from this post is the confetti shaker card.  I need to make more shaker cards!

Today's winner was chosen using random.org...and #1 wins! That's Ruth G.:

Ruth, please email me at majkenmarie at yahoo dot com to claim your e-gift certificate!  You have until midnight Central time on Monday night, Oct. 5, 2015 to claim your e-gift card.

Thanks so much for playing along!  You might just get another chance at the giveaway the last weekend of October, so check back.

Chocolaty hugs,

Majken

Hello Simple Life - Stuck?! Sketch

Hi everyone!  I know everyone is now looking to autumn-themed layouts, but I'm still enjoying summer.  :)  With that spirit, I wanted to use more of my Simple Stories Summer Vibes collection - I think it's my favorite Simple Stories collection so far.  The colors are amazing!  I also found this sketch at Stuck?! Sketches and really wanted to leverage it.  When I think of "The Simple Life", this vacation in Colorado Springs four summers ago is what popped into my head, so I ran with it!

I was saving the "Shine On" sheet for something and decided this sketch was it!  I first sewed along some of the sun rays in gold thread to define them and I went over a few of the rays twice to add interest.  I trimmed a strip of the "Hello" paper for the bottom to help anchor the page.

The Be Happy sticker was perfect for the center to cover where the sewed lines met.

Then I just started cutting and layering more Summer Vibes papers for the journal spot and photo spot.  I found a clear acetate tag with gold triangles (and some other elements you will see) from Pink Paislee's Citrus Bliss Ephemera pack and a "five o'clock somewhere" wood element in my stash and knew I wanted to incorporate them!  Once I had most of my papers trimmed, I cut a few circles of the "Just Beachy" wood-grain paper.

I created the title by trimming "Simple Life" from one of the papers.  I have a combo stamp/die set by KI Memories by Hampton Arts for Sizzix and stamped "hello" using StazOn brown ink onto a small piece of Shine On paper then cut with my Big Shot.

For the journaling spot, I used a couple of the rectangles from the Journaling Cards paper as well as a butterfly from my stash, some Summer Vibe stickers, a sequin and enamel dots.  I included the "memory" wooden element above it. 

Finally, I put a little embellishment spot in the upper right corner to complete the triangle for the wooden elements, even though this wasn't part of the sketch.  I used another acetate banner, some stickers, and sewing. 

Here is the sketch:

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Make it a wonderful week.

Majken