Snowhaven Christmas 2014 Layout

Hello, and Happy Monday to you! It's happy for me because I am home alone today. Just me and my crafty stuff! Wahoo!

My husband thinks I'm crazy. He saw me spend almost a whole day working on this layout. Lots of little details to this, but first, I want to give credit to Close To My Heart's art department for inspiring me. They are awesome. And honestly, there wasn't much I could improve upon. I couldn't wait to use my punches and spray pen, and of course, my brand new Christmas Village stamp set. Isn't it fun? 

I did a ton of coloring with my ShinHan alcohol markers and fussy cutting. I really don't mind cutting out my images by hand, but my workshop attendees may not be so eager. LOL So here's my tip if you want to recreate this layout. You could stamp your images onto cricut/punched circles, and the title and trees, for instance, could be stamped directly to the layout. As for the banners...omg...I used my circle punch and then grabbed my one-hole punch that I've had for as long as I can remember, to achieve the banners. I recommend, should you be crazy enough to try them, using a glue pen to glue them down, or even liquid glass glue, along with a pair of craft tweezers to set them.

I take a ton of pictures at Christmas, and even though I scaled back on my picture-taking this year, I never seem to have enough photo spots for all of them. Needless to say, it was hard to narrow it down to just these particular snapshots. Someone once told me that it is our relationships that make scrapbooking so special, so I paid careful attention to including at least one photo of my little niece. And of course, journaling is so necessary to painting the full picture of the story, so be sure to include it when possible.

One more quick note: Our glitter paper is beautiful and is nice and sturdy, too. It is a bit more expensive when you consider it costs $2 a sheet vs. normal cardstock or even our patterned paper's price point. BUT, as you can see, I used it as accents, and between this layout and the other Snowhaven layout I created, I still have 2 1/2 sheets of glitter paper left. I really do recommend trying it; I promise you won't be sorry.

Recipe:
Paper: Snowhaven, Glacier CS, Topiary CS, Cranberry CS, White Daisy CS, Teal Glitter Paper (CTMH)
Stamps: Christmas Village, Handwritten Alphabet (CTMH)
Inks: Cranberry, Black (CTMH)
Tools: Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Craft Tweezers, 1 1/4" Circle Punch (retired), Chevron Border Punch, ShinHan Alcohol Markers, Craft Heater, Craft Tray, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, White Pigment Re-Inker, Spray Pen (CTMH), One-Hole Punch (Other)
Other: White Enamel Stars (CTMH)

I'm so pleased with how this layout turned out...even if hubby thinks I'm crazy. LOL

Casandra