thursday...Swirlydoos December Kit Layout #1

Hi everyone! I hope you are in full swing of the Christmas Spirit by now! I went shopping yesterday and the day before and now I'm almost done with Christmas shopping! Being pregnant during the holiday season has sure put a toll on me as usually by this time of the year I'm always done and everything has been wrapped. I haven't even done Christmas cards yet this year! :/

Anyway, today I want to share with you a NON Christmas layout of me at 20 weeks using the Swirlydoos December Kit, Joyeux Noel! This is a gorgeous Christmas kit perfect for all of your holiday pictures but this first layout is not a holiday one!

"20 wks" Layout

I hit the halfway point in my pregnancy during Thanksgiving week and I wanted to remember it since it is a milestone. I used the golds and browns with red accents to scrap these two pics of me. I made this layout girly and frilly and I love it!


I used doilies and lacy punches to achieve this look. I also used a lot glittery butterflies and those gorgeous red blooms included in this month's kit. I used the smaller frame to add my title (20 Wks) and the larger one for a picture of me making a heart over my belly.

Here's a close up of the other side. You can see how I used the larger frame here. I also used the frilly picks included int he kit for this layout as well as a few layers under the main picture. I lightly distressed all the layers and machine stitched them as well.


Here's another view of the gorgeous satin blooms and embellies!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I really appreciate all your comments! Have a wonderful rest of the week!

monday...Swirlydoos December Kit Altered Gift Card Holder

Happy Monday! Today is my turn again to bring you your assignment on the Swirlydoos Blog for the 12 Days of Christmas Contest!

Your Assignment: Make a gift card holder using non-traditional colors and a border punch! Easy peasy! :)

Here's what I made for your inspiration:

For this gift card holder, I used a Kaisercraft paper from their St Nicholas Collection and a Bo Bunny paper from their Silver & Gold Collection from our December kit as well as the Tim Holtz rub-ons. From my stash I used white (base) and brown cardstock, Heartfelt Creations holly leaf stamps & dies, The Paper Studio Holly A2 Embossing Folder, the Martha Stewart Scallop 3 dot Punch, and gold trim and ribbon.

I do have a step by step tutorial on my blog on how to make this one in particular if you are interested.

Here's a close up:


The inside without a gift card:


The inside with a gift card:

Thank you for stopping by my blog today and don't forget to enter the contest! You have one day only to enter but you get 12 chances during the 12 days of Christmas! :)

saturday...Swirlydoos December Kit Gift Bag

Hi everyone! I hope that you had fun during the Swirlydoos blog hop! I sure did!

Today I have the next assignment on the Swirlydoos Blog for the 12 Days of Christmas Contest.

The Assignment: Make an altered paper bag gift bag in traditional Christmas colors (red & green). You may also use any neutral colors as well.

and here's my sample:


As promised though, I did a step by step on how to do this one so let's get started!


Step 1. Trim your paper bag to 7" tall. Fold at 4.5" from the bottom, leaving a 2.5" flap. Using your favorite punch, punch the edges.

Step 2. Trim two pieces of cardstock (5"x4.5") and pattern paper (4.75"x4.25") to fit inside over the paper bag's front and back panel.

Step 3. Treat these found pieces by distressing, inking and machine stitching them.


Step 4. Add the front and back panel to the front and back side of the paper bag. Notice that my top flap is punched already.


Step 5. Trim two coordinating cardstock 1. (5"x2.25") 2. (5"x2")and punch the edges as well. Emboss the top cardstock and lightly ink the edges.

Step 6. Adhere the smaller piece over the larger and add a trim over it.

Step 7. Add this piece over the paper bag flap.

Step 8. Add a small trinket to the center of the flap to embellish.

Step 9. Stamp and die cut some holly leaves (Heartfelt Creations) and white wash and add a sentiment to a die cut circle. Gather a red flower as your embellishment. Add all these embellies to the front of your gift bag.

Here's the front of the finished gift bag:


and a quick close up:


Hope you give this a try! Have a great rest of the weekend!

thursday...Swirlydoos December Kit Reveal and Blog Hop

Welcome to Swirlydoos' December Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!

If you came here from Elena's blog, then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today !! Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!! Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!

Are you a subscriber? If so, your kit is on it's way! If not, check out the Swirlydoos store to see if there are any December kits or add ons in the store!

Come back throughout the month and I'll share close up pictures and tip and techniques on each one of my layouts but now, without any further ado, are my layouts using the Swirlydoos December Kit, Joyeux Noel!

Here's what  did with this gorgeous kit!

"20 wks" Layout

My first layout I did a NON Christmas layout of me at 20 weeks! I hit the halfway point in my pregnancy almost 2 weeks ago and I wanted to remember it. I used the golds and browns with red accents to scrap these two pics of me. I made this layout girly and frilly and I love it!

"Merry Christmas" Layout

I love the green/red colors in this kit and of course had to scrap these pictures of a few Christmas back of my family. I used this month gorgeous sketch as a base for this layout. I did some punching and water distressing and layering and I included some of those gorgeous ornaments from the pattern paper that i fuzzy cut.

"Christmas Greetings" Tealight Card

I made this quick Christmas Tealight Holder Card to give away this year. You can find the template for it HERE. I purchased the Add On Paper this month because I knew I'd need extra sheets of this gorgeous bird and sure enough, I used them both already!

Altered Paper Bag Gift Bag

I made this sweet altered brown paper bag to use this year as a hostess gift. Come back on Saturday and I'll have a step by step on how I made it so you can make one as well!

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Friday 12/6 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Thursday 12/7. 

In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:

1. Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.

2.  Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down.

Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence.

3. Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.

My special word is : TO BE

The party continues over at Bo Bunny's blog. Have fun!

Here is the order and blog addresses:

Paulien CLICK HERE

Erica CLICK HERE

Petaloo CLICK HERE

Elena CLICK HERE

Amy CLICK HERE

Bo Bunny CLICK HERE

Rae CLICK HERE

Angelica CLICK HERE

Swirlydoos: CLICK HERE

Here's the whole collection:
Main Kit:

Add Ons:

Subscribe today!

tuesday...Swirlydoos 12 Days of Christmas Contest!

I just quickly wanted to share that I'm on the Swirlydoos blog today with the DAY THREE assignment in the 12 Days of Christmas Contest!

Here's a sneak peek of my assignment! For today's assignment (and a full picture of my project), please visit the Swirlydoos Blog!


Remember that you have to make and upload a picture of your project everyday by midnight and we'll be drawing a winner every single day-that's 12 chances to win if you play along everyday!
Good luck! :)