Counting Down to Christmas

As part of my ongoing efforts to create fun classes for the Christmas in July event at my local store I've made this little countdown wall hanging using BasicGrey's 25th and Pine. 

The base of the panels was made using upcycled chipboard. 

In addition to the papers I used some of the die cut and vellum pieces from the line. 

Everything was inked with gold Colorbox pigment ink.

And I used a variety of Studio G Christmas colored glitter glues - because Christmas decorations can always use more glitter. ;)

And then with a little help from some chalkboard paper the piece was complete. The countdown is on... 

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Ah, I know it's only June but I've been busy getting ready for the Christmas in July events at Soul Sentiments. This fun Kaisercraft wall hanging will be one of the classes we'll offer - it uses a mix of BasicGrey 25th and Pine papers/stickers and Viva paints. 

Last week we hosted Jen Starr at the store and she taught several classes using the Viva line of products. I fell in love and bought so much stuff so I could incorporate them into a class ASAP.  

The stars were done with Viva Glitter Paste (uh, what's not to love about something as solid as modeling paste with all the fun of glitter?!). 

The accents on the tree and gifts were done with the Viva Glitter and Pearl Pens - the way they shimmer in real life is so pretty compared to regular glitter glues (probably because Viva uses glass glitter). I think they're a bit easier to control than some of the other brands too, just my two cents. 

I used two colors of Viva 3D Stamping Paint (don't ask, it goes on more like an acrylic but can dry with a bit of dimension) over the frame (which I'd prepped with a layer of green mist). The shimmer and shine in that stuff is so much fun, and then to top it off with two shades of Inka Gold! Fun!

I may have gotten a little excited about the Inka Gold and used it on the edges of everything. 

Paper Girls Challenge Blog - Use Christmas paper for a non-holiday layout

I seriously love that Charissa offered up this challenge at Paper Girls Challenge Blog - you need to use your Christmas papers for a layout that isn't about Christmas. Finding ways to use my stash unconventionally, especially themed papers, is something I am all about! 

For this layout I combined a design team assignment from my local store, they provided Fancy Pants Merry Little Christmas and simply wanted me to use it. Love when things work out like that! If you've been watching my posts all month, you'll know that I've really gotten some use out of the kit they gave me too.

Since the paper was a new line (and free) I thought I'd dig way into my stash and pulled out those buttons, one of my first purchases from Scrapbooksteals over 4 years ago, and some Thickers that are so old they're falling off their sheets. 

Thanks for stopping by, now take a break from those Christmas projects you've been working on and link up a fun layout!

Red Cups - Practical Scrappers Sketch

It's sketch time at Practical Scrappers and I'm using more of that fantastic paper that my LSS provided me to make samples for the store. 

Here's the sketch: 

And my interpretation:

There are somethings that just scream Christmas tradition and red cups are decidedly one of those things that customers look forward to using. Vance just likes hot chocolate, he doesn't really care so much about the cup, but I was surprised when I went looking for red cup photos that I only have the two. Really?! As often as we go there there really should be more!

Those speech bubbles were from a coordinating ephemera pack that I bought to help with my assignment. The reverse sides say "nice" and "coal" but I thought it would be a fun way to highlight the title so I flipped them over.

This layout is super thick, with lots of layering and foam dots it is not really a surprise.

The green ribbon and red Thickers are American Crafts and the buttons are from MME Winter Wonderland and were from my stash.