Working Around Holiday Colors!

My grandkids are infamous (ok only infamous in my mind) for dressing in non-holiday coordinating colors during said holiday.  Hot pink during Halloween, magenta and orange during Easter, and this (an older photo series of my now 19 year old grandson) holding up a bright yellow vest received at Christmas. 

Sometimes I can just ignore the colors and go with the standard holiday color combos.  Sometimes, I make the layout about something other than the holiday during which the photo(s) were taken.  But sometimes (blast it all),  I really want those non-coordinating photos, just as they are and on a page about whatever the holiday is/was.  So there (she says, stamping her foot and pouting.) 

So here is grandson No. 1 holding up his very bright yellow vest... and I wanted this done as a Christmas page. 

It was that clear, bright yellow that threw me off.  I am forever scrapping things that are years old.  But I have a few Christmas photos that have never found a home due to the colors that people are wearing (or holding...).  This time, I used a white and beige-y print background page and chose papers (scraps) from an old My Mind's Eye Christmas collection that had a yellow tone to them.  Plus, the red that is printed on the papers is a subdued red.

While I am not excited, jumping up and down over the page,  I am not displeased with it.  The only thing right now that may still change is the title.  The red is also subdued, but the dotty pattern on top of the print is kind of a bit much.  But I'll let it be for a few days and look at it again.  Sometimes that clears things up for me.  Just to walk away and re-visit. 

Papers are all My Mind's Eye, tabs are from Basic Grey (25th and Pine) and the border pieces are all from a K&Co. pack that I am on a mission to use up. 

Turning That Stash into Christmas Pages (yes still)

Yep, still scrapping the stash and yep, still scrapping another Christmas page! 

The story (in Reader's Digest form):  between the two of us, we have been laid off for several years (cumulatively) and since money was so tight, I would not spend it on a Christmas tree when it was going to be hard enough to do gifts for children and grandchildren.  (We have not had an artificial tree for probably 20 years---one of husband's bug-a-boos.) But this year, even with money being tight, he went out and came home with a tree. 

You know what? Going without one for several years, really made this one so much more beautiful to me.  I left it up longer than we ever had in the past.  I just enjoyed it being lit up every night for as long as I could. 

Used papers from the Pink Paislee Snow Village pad again, except for the white distressed background paper--that's the B side of an Authentique paper (again from a pad, the one I used so much of on my eldest grandson's graduation album).  The "happy" title is a Doodlebug sticker (from the set that I forgot I had -- for um, like y-e-a-r-s).  The wood veneer snowflakes are from Michael's (got them on clearance last November and there are only a couple left--so those have been well used!).  The only other embellishments are really the sequins and the tissue paper.  And even those items have been repurposed from my sewing box and the gift wrap box! 

I am finding that not having nearly the stash of scrappy supplies that I used to has made me appreciate the supplies I have on hand even more...just like with the Christmas tree.  I don't need racks and stacks of paper; it is far less overwhelming now to select papers and embellishments.  And I think I may even love these pages more than ever! 

have yourself a scrappy good day,
use up some of that stash,
you'll be glad you did!

Cheryl

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas - Without Christmas Papers! Say What?

I've said it before.  I don't have much in the way of Christmas papers.  It's not that I don't scrapbook Christmas, I do.  We just do not seem to have Christmas colors going on in our photos and they never have seemed to look right on traditional Christmas-y papers. 

In more recent years, lots of paper companies have designed papers using non-traditional colors, so they are out there, yeah!  But I've gotten kind of used to making things "merry and bright" without the use of Christmas themed papers.  I have some....see,  Oh, Deer! that I did use Christmas paper (Wassail from Basic Grey) on.  But more often than not, I've used whatever papers are on hand, combined with Christmas embellishments, sayings, punches or dies to create that Christmas feeling. 

I used old, old, old My Mind's Eye papers on this page, along with stickers from a short-lived, but extra sweet company called Girl's Paperie.  The vellum stickers are from Little Yellow Bicycle (a bargain, purchased on clearance at good old Hobby Lobby for $1.07), the Joy To The World title was made from little scrabble style letters from EK Success (and those are years and years old, you don't even want to know how long I've had those things hanging around), the glitter brads were from Making Memories, the star shaped buttons are Prima, and the ribbon is actually a piece of seam binding, scrunched and taped into place.  I added some random dots of dark red Stickles glitter glue and some outlining around the edge of the page. 

The photo is from my daughter's Christmas card circa 2006 and I only just got this scrapped---what can I say---this is how I roll--I scrap what I want, when I want and never in any particular order! The holidays can be overwhelming for lots of us...why make it any harder on yourself?  Scrap, craft, sew, bake, whatever you do, do what you love.  It makes things loads easier.  And just know, you do not have to have the perfect holiday papers to make a perfectly joyous holiday page. 

best
Cheryl