Don’t be intimidated by the thought of scrapbooking. It’s easy when you start small.  This scrapbooking technique is called ‘Build-A’Page’, or Scrapbooking 1-2-3, but whatever you call it, it’s a lot of fun, easy, and certainly very doable!

Part of our Christmas Vacation this year included a trip to our home-away-from-home in Durango Colorado with most of the boys, and Jack’s sweet wife Emily.   Since it was Emily’s first trip to Durango  I wanted to do some scrapbooking for family heritage memories.

Step 1: 6 x 6  page

I began with a 6 x 6  piece of Night of Navy.  Used the Starburst Jumbo wheel on a strip of Bashful Blue, a 1/4″ sliver of our Silver Glimmer Paper and created a focal point in the lower right corner with the Polka Dot Big Shot Embossing folder, circle punches and the snowflake punch to build a cute little snowman.  The photo is mounted on Whisper White and Basic Grey.  A trio of snowflakes from the Northern Frost Big Shot Decorative Strip hangs in the upper left corner to balance the page.

Step 2: 8 1/2 x 11 page

I  used an 8 1/2  x 11  sheet of Stampin’ UP!  Bashful Blue for this next step.  For texture I added a torn strip of Whisper White, curled on the torn edge, then added some Stampin’ UP! Dazzling Diamonds for sparkle.  Another element that was introduced with Step 2 was to add punched Basic Grey circles under another of the snowflakes from the Northern Frost Decorative Die Strip.  I wanted to extend my original 6 x 6  base by adding  a  6″ Night of Navy ribbon that is half of the Stampin’ UP! Lace Ribbon Border Punch.  It nicely mimics the snowflakes on the rest of the page.  A final addition for this step was a Mini Jingle Bell trio tied to a silver bow on the new picture that was framed like the previous one.

Any one of these steps are complete in itself.  You can make a lovely 6 x 6 album or if you prefer an 8 1/2 x 11.  You decide which best fits the occasion and your need.  You will be surprised at how easy it is to step-up your scrapbook pages with this technique.

Step 3:  12 x 12

I decided to bump the 8 1/2 x 11 page over to the left and add a matching second strip of white to it’s right side.  This leaves plenty of room for a journaling strip  and a couple of additional embellishments.

The same great Stampin’ UP! supplies you use in your card making are a perfect match for beautiful scrapbooking projects.

The 6 x 6 page was just one of the make & takes for my Stampin’ FUN class last week. We meet once a month, usually on the Third Tuesday, (it had to be moved this month because of the Stampin’ UP! Leadership Conference I attended)..    The class is offered at 9:30 a.m. till 11:30 a.m. and then repeated at 6:30 p.m. till 8:30 p.m.  If you’d like to give us a try just call or email and I can get you further details.

I’ll post the second make & take from class on Monday, so be sure to checkback, Until then Happy Stampin!

Katherine

I sincerely hope you experienced a most joyous Christmas!

Christmastime can be a very special ending of the year, but it can also be quite a disconcerting time as well for many folks. Having lost close family members this year and experiencing my brothers continuing battle against cancer has made this holiday a particular sobering one for sure.

I wanted to keep our family Christmas card focused on the true meaning of Christmas this year.   Drawing back into my collection of Stampin’ UP! images, the one that kept coming back over and over again was the Stampin’ UP! Holy Triptych  Stamp Set from several years past.

Using all three images on fold out panels makes this ‘unconventional’ Stampin’ UP! Christmas Card a mini vignette for family & friends to enjoy.

I included our brief family update letter along with a snapshot of the family from our August wedding of eldest son, Jack and his lovely bride Emily to make our Christmas greeting complete.

If you have any questions or would like more of the details about this project drop me a quick note and I’ll be happy to fill you in on the particulars.

Merry Christmas everyone, thanks for stopping by!

Katherine

Nothing gets the ‘juices’ flowing for my sweet hubby like admiring an old pickup. . .

The Stampin’ UP! Loads of Love Stamp Set fills the bill nicely and teamed with the man’s best friends image from our Loads of Love Accessories Stamp Set, my card is complete.

How easy is that?  Your masculine cards will  be better and easier if you keep a minimalist design approach.

The Birthday Greeting is a tad ‘off kilter’ . . . as  would be appropriate for my darling man since he is too!   Placing the greeting on a pair of Stampin’ UP! Extra Large and Large Tag punches makes this card all the more easier.  It doesn’t take all morning to create a great card!

Other Stampin’ UP! supplies:

Linen Thread, Large Pewter Grommets (sorry, they’ve been discontinued for the time being , and two scraps of Stampin’ UP! Designer Series Paper on a Whisper White panel on a Going Gray card stock standard size card.  Stampin’ Write Markers were used to color the focal image of the card.

Lots of folks, like myself and my dear husband, have birthday’s around and during the holiday season.  Making a card to celebrate their special day will help them feel appreciated and remembered.

I hope you are able to enjoy your family’s change of pace this month while s pending time together in celebrating the birth of our LORD!

Merry Christmas!  Katherine

Shown here with brother Addison, good friend Kinsey Verett, Murphy Blair, and Kirsten Verett.

I think it was a very good decision by the Howard Payne Coaches to give him a transition year on JV.  He got lots of playing time and really became more secure at 11 man.  We are very disappointed that they only won one game, but as they say, it builds character, and character strengthening is a very good thing.  He was selected three times to dress out with the Varsity so that’s also a good thing.

He has made several very fine friends from the team and from all appearances he is having a wonderful start to his college career.  We wish him as much success off the field as he has on the field.

I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful fall this year and are looking ahead to the coming holiday season with expectation and wonder as we once again celebrate the birth of our Lord.

Blessings,

Katherine

Her dress was a gorgeous lace figure slimming sheath that was just breathtaking.  So I tried to create a ribbon of paper lace that was reminiscent of that feeling.  I used  Stampin’ UP! Very Vanilla card stock because her dress was an off-white; not as vanilla flavored as the deep color in the Very Vanilla but I tried it using the Stampin’ UP! Whisper White card stock and it didn’t have the same feel.  It was also very pretty, but not as much as the Very Vanilla version did.

Scrunching a length of the Stampin’ UP! Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon I formed a rosette and embellished it further with a large ivory half pearl from the retired Stampin’ UP! Pretties Kit.

For the sentiment I wanted to keep it minimal, so I chose the “For the Newlyweds” image from the Stampin’ UP! Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set.

Elements used for this project:

Stampin’ UP! Punches: Lace Ribbon Border Punch #122362, $19.95

Scallop Trim Border Punch #118402, $15.95

Eyelet Border Punch #119853, $15.95

Scallop Edge Border Punch #119882, $15.95

Scallop Oval Punch #119856, 16.95

Stampin’ UP! Soft Suede card stock and Classic Stampin’ Ink.

I apologize for the unusual sepia tone to the pictures, I’m not quite sure what happened, because I didn’t do anything unusual when I was taking them other than it was in a different room than I normally use and has fluorescent light rather than the incandescent light of the kitchen.  I was in such a hurry to get it mailed off, I didn’t think I needed to check the pictures before sending it!

Thanks for stopping by to see what I’ve been up to!  I have another wedding card for my niece from this past weekend that I’ll post later in the week!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Katherine

For our son Jack’s 32nd birthday, I selected a vivid Red, White & Black theme to send him Birthday Wishes!  I’d been playing around with The Open Sea images for a few days and came across an old slider card that had been done with the retired Stampin’ UP! Wanted Stamp Set, ( it’s a fabulous set of western inspired images).

I C.A.S.E.’d one of my own ‘old’ cards! LOL (I thought it was rather ironic myself!)

I was really excited about how the card came together and I think the three focal images work together really well.  For the inside sentiment that is written on the lower two thirds of the slider I wrote a verse about how we would always be the wind in his sails.  Quite apropos with the billowing sales in the main image of the set.’

I hope you can see that I actually singed the edges of the ship image piece for added effect.  I have done this once or twice before using lit toothpicks for added control so the singeing doesn’t get out of hand too quickly.  I scorched the”happy birthday” odd shaped sentiment as well.

A young man doesn’t have to be a mariner to appreciate a handsome nautical styled card.  When Jack called this evening, the delight in his voice was more than enough to satisfy my heart.  I love adding the little details to my projects and it’s nice when you achieve that “WOW” factor!  Stampin’ UP! makes it so much easier to get that reaction because of all the fantastic coordinated products they have available.  Seriously, this project was created in half the time it would have taken me to drive to the Mall and select a store bought card and drive home.

Elements used in the creation of this project:

Cardstock:  Basic Black, Real Red, Very Vanilla, Newsprint Designer Series Paper Map page

Classic Stampin’ Ink & Markers: Basic Black, Real Red

Extra Elements: Real Red Baker’s Twine, Stampin’ Dimmensionals, 1/4″ Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 3/4″ Circle Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Sticky Tape, Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelet.

Don’t forget to stop by next Tuesday for my Summer Stamp ‘n Shop Event!  There will be two sessins, morning at 9:30-11:30 a.m. again repeated in the afternoon from 2-4 p.m.. For m0re details visit: www.katherinepritchard.stampinup.net.

Hope to see you there!  Thanks for stopping by. . .Katherine

Here is a quick peek at one of the lay-outs I’ve put together for his scrapbook:

I’ve spent way too much time reminiscing about his baby years, and missing my own dear sweet mother and my lovely mother-in-law this past weekend of Mother’s Day. It’s time now though, to stop looking back, and look ahead!  There are so many wonderful memories waiting to happen and I am anxious to GET IT ON!

I have taken full advantage of many of my Stampin’ UP! great stamp sets, punches, and ideas and am incorporating them to help me get Colin’s scrapbook pulled together.

This layout was one I simply couldn’t pass up!  Colin’s nursery had a shelf where all his baby memorabilia was kept so it seemed the perfect header for this grouping of pictures.

Stampin’ UP! supplies used for this layout:

Baby Bundle Stamp Set, 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog pg. # 78

Stampin’ UP! Card stock: 12 x 12 Bashful Blue, 8 1/2 x 11 Soft Suede and Whisper White

Stampin’ UP! Classic Ink Pads: Soft Suede, Bashful Blue,  Certainly Celery and So Saffron

Stampin’ Write Markers: Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie

Stampin’ UP! Punches: Decorative Label Punch, 1″ Circle Punch 6-Petal Flower Punch

Hope your having a great week! Graduation is almost HERE! Yahoo!!

How do you capture the essence of a young man in a single photo?  How on earth do you sum up the total experience of these past twelve years in a single moment?  A moment that melts your heart in a puddle of tears.  Overwhelmed with expectation of what lies ahead and besought with regret for all the’ shoulda’, ‘woulda’, ‘coulda’ done’s of the past.   No more time left.  What’s done is done and hope for the best!  Yes, the BEST is yet to come…as wonderful and precious as these many years and memories are and have been, just around the corner there is a whole life ahead of him.  College and beyond!  Opening a door to a new chapter of life; as the old one gently swooshes closed behind you!

I believe that’s what he is thinking of and looking forward to in this photo:

It’s that… “look me square in the face, cause I’m ready” kind of look.  Penetrating, direct, and unafraid of the challenge that lies ahead.

Planning graduation is coming into it’s final stages…  Having a private graduation ceremony is a very personal, intimate event.  A moment made possible by so many wonderful and talented folks along the path of his educational experience.  Along with my time and contribution there have been many tutors, co-op teachers, and fellow homeschooling families who have all contributed to the education and raising of this young man.   Standing alongside us, with encouragement and assisting when called upon.  Homeschooling is not the singular solitary experience that those outside the realm perceive it to be.  It is a multi-generational, multi-faceted spiritual and academic endeavor.

As fast as this chapter is drawing closed, simultaneously the flood of preparations for college are ramping up!  Once the decision of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, TX  was completed for his college selection, there began a stream of agreements, commitments, health forms, advising, housing, class schedules….  all came washing into my  inbox and mail.  This Saturday Dad & I will accompany him to the campus for a day of getting acquainted with the university and learn more about what to expect in the coming year.

Exciting times, anxious moments, reflective pauses…such is life!

Katherine

Yesterday,  Colin received a letter from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes that he had been selected to be on the BLUE team at the Super Centex Victory Bowl this June  8-11th!  What an awesome honor it is to be selected by other area coaches to participate and what a fabulous way to cap off your SENIOR year! WOO HOO!! Yeah Colin!

A memorable year for sure!