Hey, Santa - I've Been Good! Scrapping Our Stash Blog Hop with Giveaway

Hey you guys!  I'm not sure where January went, but I think it went and hopped into the past with December and November!  I went to my niece's wedding mid-January (so beautiful!), then this week I was in California for work -- buh-bye, January!  

And speaking of hops, we're back in business doing another Scrapping Our Stash blog hop.  You should have arrived here from Jennifer's blog.  She's got some lovely work to share using Basic Grey! Today I will share a layout using some of my Simple Stories Cozy Christmas stash (released last summer) using sketch 97 from the My Scraps & More sketch blog.  Take a look then scroll down to see how you can win a gift card to the My Scraps & More store and then hop a final time to complete the hop!

I adore this plaid from the collection, so I cut a frame out of it so I could use the middle for another project.  I placed the frame onto off white cardstock and then created the two layered photo areas, pretty well keeping to Audrey's sketch.  The top left has a pocket element that I used to start the layout's title.

I layered the brown woodgrain paper, the holly paper, the pocket card, and the matted photo (which is popped up with 3D tape).  I sewed along the top left diagonal to add texture and interest.

I did a similar layering for the bottom right photo area and duplicated the diagonal stitching.  I used some of the stickers from Cozy around the entire layout (including the banner that hangs in the top right) and added a few red gems as well.

For the rest of the title, I used alpha stickers from Cozy, and then I added journaling strips to each photo area.  It came together quickly!

****Giveaway Time!****

I'm giving away one $15 e-gift certificate to My Scraps & More.  All you have to do is:

• Be or become a member of my blog with Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin AND
• Leave a comment on this blog post

You can share this post on Facebook or Twitter or refer a friend who joins my blog for an extra chance at the prize (please note the action you've taken in a 2nd comment or have the referral tell who referred them in a comment on this post).

Easy peasy!  You have until Monday, Feb. 2nd at noon Central time to enter for your chance to win.  International entries are fine, and I use random.com to choose the winner.  I'll announce the winner here on my blog on Tuesday, Feb. 3rd.  Good luck!  Thanks for hopping along with us.

Now head over to Kim's blog for the final, crafty treat (a 2-page layout)!

Have a super weekend!

Majken

To start at the beginning or if you get lost, head to Cathy's blog.

Let the Magic Begin | MME December Sketch

Happy 2015 everyone!  What a fun year 2014 has been.  Of course, not all of it was perfect, but it was nice to have a generally good year for a change.  One of our most special things for 2014 was our Thanksgiving visit to Walt Disney World.  And I'm finally starting to scrapbook that trip - it may take me all of 2015 to get through!  Time will tell. :)

Today's page is focused on our first day at WDW - we chose to kick off the trip visiting The Magic Kingdom...it was a great day, so I wanted to highlight it using a photo taken at the beginning, first thing in the morning.  I used the December sketch from MME.

I started with a textured cardstock base spritzed with dark blue.  I then cut out the word "Magic" from my base using a free font and my Cameo.  I backed "Magic" with CTMH Outdoor Denim cardstock to match the blue in the MME Jubilee Tangerine collection that I used with this layout.  

I trimmed some strips, circles, stars, a banner, and a tab using Tangerine paper, which I inked the edges of with dark blue ink.  I sewed along the left of the strips to create additional interest.  I matted my photo with Outdoor Denim cardstock, tucked the banner behind it and sewed a bit along the edge.

I finished the page with some journal strips.  Enamel dots and brads came from the Now & Then, Market Street, and Cut & Paste collections.  "Let" and "The" words for the title were trimmed from Tiny Word Stickers from The Sweetest Thing collection.  A few sequins were also added for a final touch.

Thanks for stopping by today on this brand new year!  I hope your 2015 is filled with peace, love, joy, and a bit of chocolate.  xoxo

Majken

MME Sleigh Bells Ring Cards

Hello everyone and happy Christmas Eve!

I wanted to pop in before the festivities of Christmas to share two cards I created using My Mind's Eye "Sleigh Bells Ring" collection.  I received it free from MME for winning their sketch drawing in October for my layout This Kid is the Best.  Such fun!!

And I got the SBR collection just in time to use it for some fun Christmas projects, such as the Joy Banner here.

Today I wanted to show two ways to use the collection.  The first is the "typical" Christmas card:

I cut the red reindeer and wood grain papers for the card face and inked the edges in black.  I cut a tag with the mistletoe image and then backed the tag with the green and red paper from the collection.  I added a bit of sparkle using my Gelly Roll pen, tied a gold knot on the tag, and stamped a simple "Merry Christmas" (CTMH, retired set).

But you can use this collection for masculine cards, too, like this birthday card I created to send to my brother:

I cut two pieces from the SBR collection again, this time going for less "Christmas-y" paper (the black plaid and the brown deer) to use as the card face.  I inked the edges again in black and cut a tag using the light wood grain paper.  I cut a strip of the plaid paper to go across the tag and used a circle punch to get one of the deer heads to pop up off the tag.  I used a dark brown wood dot from the collection on the top of the tag, and then used the satin, less glittery side of the same gold ribbon to frame the card.

Well, that's it from me until after Christmas!  I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing holiday filled with family, fun, food, happiness, and of course, chocolate.  :)

Best wishes,
Majken

Joy Banner | Graham & Brown

Hello everyone-

Did you miss me??  Between a 10 day Thanksgiving roadtrip to Walt Disney World and then trying to get caught back up on life, laundry, and Christmas, it's been fun.

But...it's great to be back!  The day after we returned from WDW, I got some GORGEOUS Graham & Brown "Desire" wallpaper to play with.  It's high quality paper and really fun to work with!  Once I cut the paper from the roll, it felt similar to cardstock, but smoother.  

The project I wanted to share with you today is a JOY banner with Desire as the background.  I created 5 pennants, cutting the triangles using my Cricut Imagine.  It cut wonderfully.  I used Mod Podge to adhere the Desire paper to chipboard pennants.

Below are the close-ups first and then the full banner hanging from our mantel.  I complemented the banners using materials from My Mind's Eye "Sleigh Bells Ring".

I created the letters for the banner by cutting them on my Cameo and then using chunky glitter to make them sparkle and complement the gold sheen of the wallpaper.

Isn't this cardinal beautiful against the Desire paper?

Here is the banner hung along our mantel.  I used two snowflake stocking hangers to tie the ends.  I'm really pleased with how this turned out, and I plan to make a few cards with the wallpaper as well - Christmas cards, if time permits!

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to visit Graham & Brown to view their full line of wallpaper and other contemporary wall decoration.

See you soon,

Majken

Two Peas

Hello scrappy friends!

I love to use sketches for my layouts, or at least get inspiration from them if I'm stuck. Today I'm sharing a layout using the My Scraps & More Sketch #93 created by Audrey Yeager.  I love her work!  Here's a look at the sketch:

And here's my take on it showing my sweet kids sitting on a caterpillar at the Houston Butterfly Center earlier this year.  We had so much fun!

I mostly used the BasicGrey Vivienne collection.  Everything about this collection makes me happy: the colors, the patterns, the ephemera, the adorable chipboard circle alphas -- all of it!  You may recognize the collection from my updated blog header.  :)  And I know I'll be using this a lot more, including some cards soon!

I stuck pretty close to the sketch, starting with the chevron patterned paper that I fussycut into the pinking pattern.  I also sewed along the pattern to highlight the chevrons, which you can see below along with a journaling spot and some flower embellishments.

For the photo area, I also messy-sewed along the side to create some additional interest and added a couple of sequins.

Finally, I used the circle chipboard alphas to create my title, "Two Peas".  This is a play on words for me because their names both start with the letter "P".  I almost used "Two Ps", but it wasn't going to work for the layout.

Do you like to use sketches, and what is your favorite way to use them?   

Thanks for visiting, and I'd love to read your comments! Stay warm with some hot chocolate today, my friends!

Majken

Cherish This

Hi everyone!  I'm so excited it's Friday.  We've fallen back, there's a feeling of winter in the air (even in Texas), and doesn't the time just go so quickly?  I found a couple of photos from Easter last year that I hadn't yet scrapped, and decided they would work well with the My Scraps & More Sketch #92.  Alas, I finished it on Nov. 1st so I didn't get my link in before the deadline, but such is life.  :)

Here's my layout:

And here is the sketch by Tracy Rhodes:

This was one tough layout to photograph!  The foam stickers that make the title kept throwing shadows and the die cut transparencies reflect the light.  I did the best I could!  I love, LOVE, L-O-V-E the Basic Grey Highline collection.  It's so vibrant!  It's certainly not a collection that screams "Easter", but it worked really well for my two photos.  :)

I started off with textured white cardstock from American Crafts and splattered a mix of two Heidi Swapp Color Shines, black Glitter Mist, and my own homemade ink mixing red and orange reinkers.  Next I created the bottom border area mixing a couple of the patterned paper from Highline.  To help it stand out, I added black machine stitching.

Next I chose the paper to mat my photos and inked the edges with black ink.  Once I had the placement right, I adhered the back middle square and stitched around it just past where I knew the photos would cover it.  Here's what it looked like before I added the matted photos:

Here's a close-up of the photo area with a foam heart sticker from the Amy Tangerine Plus One Twins Thickers.  I backed the heart with contrasting paper to help it pop even more.

The title came together quickly, inspired by the Thickers!

And the top left corner seemed a little bare to me, so I added a triangle corner and stitched along the long side.  And I knew I had to use the "Love this" transparency!  So I added it and stitched along the top and bottom there, too.  I love how the splatters show through!

I hope you are inspired by the bold - it's okay to scrap non-Thanksgiving, non-autumn, or non-Christmas things even in November!

Here's another layout using Highline for more inspiration.

Make it a chocolaty, happy, scrappy day!

Majken

Blog Hop Winner!

Hello all!  So sorry I'm a day late posting the winner - thanks to everyone who hopped along with us and leaving your comments about "So Blessed".  

There were some awesome projects in the hop, so if you missed it, go here.

Today's winner was chosen using random.org, and today #9 is the winner! 

Janis is #9 scrolling down on the list...thanks Janis for tweeting about the blog hop!

Please email me at majkenmarie at yahoo dot com to claim your e-gift certificate!  You have until midnight Central time on Saturday, November 8, 2014 to claim your prize.

Thank you to each of you who participated in the hop, commented on projects, and joined my blog!

Majken