Jot Christmas projects

It was a super-busy month at Jot Magazine throughout December (isn't it for everyone?!) but we saw the release of our 'regular' Issue 12, as well as a special edition Christmas Gift book - which meant lots of beautiful projects getting shown off and it's quite possible you missed some of them in the hubbub.

Probably also because I forgot to share any of them here that doesn't help right?! ;-)

Some of us Jot Girls were lucky enough to be given a bunch of Stampin' Up Hello December goodies to play with and to share in the magazine. The Hello December collection is Christmas-themed and it's actually released in conjunction with Project Life, so it's a series of PL cards along with coordinating embellishments and a stamp set of course ;-)

We were given the supplies way back in October I think it was, and since I had already scrapped all my Christmas photos from the year before (gasp!!) I went with some non-photo projects instead. I did the two greeting cards above a little 3D. The gold deer was a favourite so I created a little scene around her, and the star became a shaker-card. Absolutely everything you see here is from the collection. Not a single thing added except for the cardstock for the card itself.

And then I turned some of the 3x4" Project Life cards into present labels or filler cards or tags or whatever you want to use them for!

I started off thinking I would make 3 - that's a respectable number to call it a series, and if I were to use them in a PL spread later on then 3 is probably all I would need. But I was so inspired by each new card I picked up and how I could embellish it further that 3 turned into 4 and then 5 and before I knew it I had made 7!

I ended up using them as gift tags on my presents this year. I purposely made sure I had left room on each of them to write the recipient's name.

And speaking of presents, I also created some gift boxes to feature in the magazine as well. These aren't made with the Stampin' Up goodies, but rather they're made with a lot of upcycled products and packaging I had lying around my craft room!

You might recognise those boxes as what you used to receive your Project Life kits in from Studio Calico (before they changed to the plastic zipper bags). The crepe paper ruffled ribbon was made from leftover streamers from Bethany's rainbow party!

I embellished with more Project Life cards and other Christmassy things from my big box of holiday supplies and made them as bright as can be. And yes, I really did use all 4 of them to give away Christmas gifts in too, so not only pretty, but highly practical too.

There's still time to pick up the Jot Magazine Christmas Gift book here. 
And you can download Issue 12 for FREE here.

Minc | Beyond the Basics

I'm such a fan of the way Big Picture Classes run their business. You sign up for a monthly subscription, of which there is commonly a code to get the first month free (and there is ALWAYS a free trial period anyway) and then you're able to take as many classes as you can handle! And since they are constantly adding new ones I doubt you'll ever run out of options.

At the start of December I added my third class to the lineup. This one is called "Minc | Beyond the Basics" and it's all about sharing new techniques to try out with your Minc machine that go beyond just using the pre-made embellishments you can purchase. In fact, it's actually more about experimenting with what you've already got in your stash than about having to go out and purchase specific products. In fact, I've even heard you can use the same techniques with a laminator (shhhhh!!)

For example, one of the techniques I'm teaching is how to add foil highlights to your stash of commercial Project Life cards. Can you see the mint foil on the globe card above, and the aqua foil on the raindrops? If there's one thing I learned from this class it's that photographing foil is really hard to do!

I'll share a couple of different methods for getting the whole rainbow of foil colours onto your projects such as cards. You know me... I can't help but include all the bright colours at once. 

And then I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone by creating a framed print for the girls room. Tricky to capture the holographic foil highlights in this watercolour painting, but in real life it's quite eye-catching ;-) I'll show you step-by-step how I did it in Lesson 2.

Some of my lessons are video tutorials such as how to use your traditional stamps and digital stamps to create fun backgrounds, and also this one which shows you how to take your kid's drawings to the next level by foiling them!

You can check out all the Minc | Beyond the Basics details here, or simply browse through the wide selection of other classes on offer here.

PS. Studio Calico also happen to have some Minc supplies on sale at the moment if you need to stock up on a few things! ;-)

Jot December Mood Board

If ever there was a fun, almost delicious, mood board to spark your imagination for Christmas then it would have to be this month's Jot Magazine Mood Board. This is what I made...

And you don't have to look hard to see where I drew my inspiration from. I didn't really get past the first picture!

Thank goodness for cute little Christmas tree dies and a stack of paper scraps - it meant this card came together in no time at all. And as for my touch of gold, well I still had a few chipboard alphas left over from my Studio Calico Lollipop Guild scrapbook kit that were too pretty not to use. Although I was down to an 'A' and a 'U' as far as vowels went so I had to get a little creative for my sentiment!

You can find all the Mood Board challenge details here - we have not one but TWO amazing sponsors this month including my friend Kellie from Kellie Stamps, so hop on over and check it out.

Lollipop Guild Scrapbook Layouts

Yay for Reveal Day at Studio Calico!
The December kits are called Lollipop Guild and I'm super lucky to be contributing again this month.

First up, here's the standard Trophy Husband (and this time he's joined by The Elphie Kids) unveiling video!

    

Can I be totally honest with you? On first impressions of the main Scrapbook Kit I was like, "oh, that's nice" but I wasn't jumping up and down for joy. I left them to one side for a day or so while I mulled it over and tried to get into the grove. I think part of the problem was that I hadn't made a layout in a few weeks and I just wasn't feeling it. But with the clock ticking I decided to resort to a tried and true method for me which is to print a large b&w photo onto white cardstock and then just throw a cluster of embellishments at it. I even got a bit adventurous and broke out the acrylic paint from the main kit and got a bit techniquey! And do you know what happened? My mojo came flooding in like a tidal wave and then I COULD NOT STOP!!!!

Seriously, as of right now I have created 3 layouts, 5 cards, and a pocket-page spread without having to add anything else in! I've also created 3 tags and another card once I started pulling in other bits of my stash. And I've still got bits left over to give away (which I'm currently doing on my Instagram account) I have never come this close to killing a kit before! So if that doesn't say something about how much I love Lollipop Guild then nothing else will!

Do you know what else is fabulous? The majority of projects I've made are all Main Kit Only (like the first layout above). Or they're Main Kit plus extra stamps and dies like the next layout below. So if you've only got the budget for one of the kits this month can I suggest getting just the main scrapbook kit?

But if you're thinking of something for a little extra fun then what about the cheeky 'That Stinks' stamp set? It instantly made me think of all the horrible and often hilarious nappy-changing stories I've got stored up, but unsure they're suitable for public viewing I settled for this innocent memory instead ;-)

Can you believe it took my two layouts before I broke into those gorgeous gold dipped alphas?! My third layout is another one created just with the Main Kit, plus a printable journaling card (and I made that polar bear with one of the stamp sets but you do actually get a vellum bear in the main kit... but I was saving him!)

I went all old-school on this layout and cut those trees by hand rather than using my Silhouette. Mainly because I'm worried it's on the fritz (see what it did to the 'p' in picture?) and I didn't want to trust it to cut in the right spot, but also because I think it adds a nice touch to be wonky and imperfect like this :-)

I've got so many projects to share that I thought I better break it up into separate posts. You've just seen all my layouts, next up will be the cards!

Lollipop Guild Cards

So after I finished my layouts using the Studio Calico Lollipop Guild Scrapbook Kits I really wanted to turn my attention to making some Christmas cards. I'm going to need a lot of them this season right? So even though there's nothing that's in-your-face Christmassy about any of the kit contents I could still see how easy it was going to be to make it appear that way ;-)

Take the 'Wishing You Peace' die for a start. It's actually labelled as a sympathy sentiment, but it was all about the Christmas theme for me right now. It totally works right? Especially with all those gold foil highlights and pieces from the Main Kit.

I totally had to use it again for another card, this time overlaying a wreath configuration made from die-cut leaves. Again, I think the Leaf Die was supposed to be an autumn leaf.... but you know... all I could see was Christmas!

I'm so proud of myself for not hoarding those rubber stars from the Main Kit too. I'm down to my last one but not regretting all the projects I've used them on.

Aaaahhh the bear card. Not exactly my best efforts I'll admit. But it was a combination of having this idea in my head that I could make a snow-globe effect coupled with the intense desire to use the Polar Bear Stamp everywhere and this was the end result. I've fiddled with the technique some more since then and I've come up with a much better finished product... but that will have to wait for another time ;-)

And lastly I ended up making a birthday card too. I'll always need plenty of those in my stash too, and that Jasmine Jones Happy Birthday script stamp is too pretty to neglect. I took inspiration from the gold dipped chipboard alphas in the main kit to create the same sort of look to the embossing on this stamp. Quite happy with how it turned out really!

And do you see what I did with the Music Notes Die on the vellum there. Fancy hey?! ;-)

If you're keeping a careful count you'll notice that I said I've made 5 cards so far, and I've only shared 4. The last one will be coming up as a tutorial on the SC blog so I'll hold off showing you that one until then. In the next post is my Project Life spread.

xx

Lollipop Guild Pocket Page Spread

After all those layouts and cards made pretty much exclusively with just the Studio Calico Lollipop Guild Main Scrapbook Kit (plus extras like stamps and dies) I thought it really was time to crack open the Add On and Embellishment Kit too right?!

We just celebrated Moriah's 6th birthday and since there were a few birthday-themed elements running through the kits as well I knew I had the perfect excuse to get this scrapped already. I chose a pocket-page spread because I wanted to get a few photos in there, and lots of bits of the story documented too.

I loved pulling in the pink paper from the Toto Add On kit - I know there are plenty of pink-haters out there, but I'm not one of them! And breaking all the old rules about pairing it with red and orange I did it anyway! Super bright and colourful... love it! 

And just so you couldn't miss it's a birthday spread I stamped the Jasmine Jones Birthday Stamp in the silver ink from the Tin Man Embellishment Kit first and then black ink over the top so it creates a shadow effect.

So there you have it! All 8 projects to date and counting.
If you're looking for more inspiration from the Creative Team then make sure to check out the gallery, and in the meantime.... happy scrapping!

xx

Jot Magazine November Mood Board Challenge

It's time for another Mood Board challenge at Jot Magazine and this one couldn't be any more perfectly catered for me than if I'd designed it myself! It's all pinks and yellows!! Firstly, let me show you the card I whipped up for it...

See what mean?
Here's what the stunning Mood Board looks like... 

With so many products in my stash in these colours the hardest choice I had to make was deciding what to use. It's possible I may have overdone it slightly ;-)
I whittled down my choices to just two collections - Pink Fresh Studio Happy Things and Elle's Studio Thankful. Both have some really fun embellishments in the right colours, and so I picked some out and simply layered them up!

If you'd like to play along with the challenge this month and be in the running for a great prize from our generous sponsor then you can check out the Mood Board challenge details here.

And whilst you're over at Jot then make sure you also check out the FREE Mini Mag that was just released over the weekend. It's a special edition magazine featuring lots of different projects made with Heidi Swapp goodies. Heidi has long been an avid supporter of us at Jot and we felt that with the difficult times her family have been suffering through lately we could show a little bit of love right back at her in the way we know how to best..... by making pretty stuff!!

You can find the Mini Mag here.