Top Ten of 2013: A Look Back Before Jumping Ahead!

Happy New Year's Eve! I can't believe we are at the end of another year. I am ready though. Ready to start fresh, ready to tackle new adventures and to hopefully experience a year that isn't filled with as many hard things. It has been a year of ups and downs, each of those bringing us new perspective and helping us to grow, but man...I'm hoping for more of the ups and less of the downs as we take on 2014.

Before doing that, I thought I would take a look back at my favorite projects from 2013. Today's post on S.W.A.T. takes a look at each of the design teams favorite creations from the drills we've had throughout the year. I have so loved being a part of the team and am excited to continue with them this year. We have so many fabulous challenges each month and the scrappy friends I've "met" through our interactions online are priceless. If you haven't checked out S.W.A.T. or participated in any of the drills you should really come take a look. The prizes are always incredible and the inspiration is amazing. This is the layout I picked to showcase as my favorite of all the drills this year. Honestly, I think this one is my absolute favorite out of all I created this year. I love the colors and the how the paint circles and splatters just come together so well.

Here are 10 others that top the list of faves this year:

 The title of this one says it all!

Some of my favorite pictures taken as we were walking back to the car after a photo shoot. So fun!

 This was my first of what I hope to be many canvas'. Had so much fun with this.

 That face! I just love how the black and white photo looks on this.

 My amazing nephew's senior picture. Fits his personality perfectly.

Twenty years and still in love. Can't ask for better than that.

Just love how this brings the true football feel out. Makes me excited for next season.

 I couldn't have asked for a more perfect line of paper to showcase this photo. Fancy Pants was just what it needed :)

My favorite card this year. Love the combo of colors.

 I don't know if it's the mix of papers, the colors or just the fabulous people, but this is one of my favorite two pagers this year. Love the frames.

Thanks for checking out this long post. Here's to 2014 and some fabulous scrapping to come. If you have a post with your faves (I've seen a lot of them floating around out there!) link it up in the comments section. I would love to drop by and take a look.

Lisa

Santa Time

Oh, how I miss the days when my boys still believed in Santa and we took time to visit him each year. It was our tradition to always go on Nathan's birthday. This year I pulled out a very old picture of the boys on Santa's lap for our latest S.W.A.T challenge using a new sketch with the twist of Santa on the page. Here is my take and below you will find the sketch.

This brings back so many memories with Chris and his broken femur. Didn't stop him from sitting on Santa's lap though. I think Santa was a little scared he might break him though. He seemed relieved when David picked him back up and moved him back to his wheelchair. 

The sketch we used for this challenge was a Page Maps sketch. I followed the basics of it, though I didn't use the long piece of patterned paper and I didn't use a banner since there was  already a design in the upper right hand corner. I used a mix of My Mind's Eye and Carta Bella paper and finished it off with some cute enamel dots from MME, a journaling sticker from Basic Grey, and a chipboard piece from Echo Park.

Are you ready to give it a try? Head over to the S.W.A.T. sight and take a peek at the rest of the design team's work and then make sure you create your own and link it up. The prize this month is a pack of the MME that I used for this project. SCORE!

Happy weekend before Christmas.

Lisa

S.W.A.T- Holly Jolly Christmas

Good morning. Popping in with a quick share of our latest first December challenge at S.W.A.T. The challenge is to use a Christmas carol as the title of your layout. I am in the middle of getting pages done for the album I update each year for my in laws. Luckily I have several Christmas pages to get to so this challenge fit right in for me. Here is my page.

I used a sketch from Alison Davis at Scrapbook Generation for my inspiration.



Head over to the S.W.A.T. blog and check out the rest of the inspiration from the design team. There are some fabulous layouts to ogle over.

Lisa

Christmas Recipe Holder

Good morning. It is snowing and so cold in Colorado...4 degrees according to my car thermometer. This is the kind of day that makes me want to bundle up under a warm blanket and not venture outdoors. Unfortunately the kids still have school and I have an orientation for a subbing job I am starting.  

If you are here from the Practical Scrappers or S.W.A.T. blogs, welcome! Today I'm sharing a recipe card holder I made as a Christmas gift for a friend. What I love about this gift is that it's perfect for Christmas, but it is also usable all year long. 

I picked up a wooden block and tin set from a Pick Your Plum deal way back in the spring intending to find some way to use them for Mother's Day. That time obviously came and went and when I found the box of goodies on the back of my craft shelf I decided they would make perfect recipe holders. They are just the right size to sit on the counter and if you are like me, you find yourself looking for your recipe the whole time you are cooking because you are constantly moving it out of the way as you make a mess in the kitchen. Anyone or is that just me?! Well, problem solved. With the recipe clipped on this baby, my sweet friend will never lose a recipe again.

Totally thought this little bird was so adorable. This is an older Christmas line from Imaginisce that I had in my scrappy stash. So cute. After painting the wooden block I glued some scrap paper and  added the Love sign and the bird to give the block a cuter look.

At this point you may be wondering how this cute little holder fits in the kitchen the whole year round. Let me show you!

Here's a look at the back side. Just flip it around and you have a cute little holder for the rest of the year, yummy little cupcake and all. Again I dug into my stash and brought out another very old line. This time it's Bo Bunny. Can you tell that I'm a paper hoarder? I have had this paper for so long and have been waiting for the perfect food page, it just never came until now. See, there is good that comes from hoarding! (Try convincing my sweet hubby of that.)

. 

Off to tackle the snow with my handy Pilot. Today I am thankful for an SUV! 

Stay Warm

~Lisa~