Santa Number Two {Cosmo Cricket: Jolly By Golly}

I hope you are all having a merry week. I'm so thankful that I finished up my shopping early and don't have to stress out about presents while I'm out and about this week!

These pictures are from our second Santa visit this year. I got a kick out of the little one refusing to sit on Santa's lap (even though she sat on the first Santa's lap just fine) until I told her the only way she got a candy cane was to sit on his lap. She was all for it then!

This is based on a Julie Bonner sketch at Birds of A Feather for the December Sketch Challenge and for the December Cosmo Cricket Challenge at scrapbook.com. I started to think I wouldn't get in on the challenge this month but these pictures were perfect for the Jolly By Golly line. I'm running dangerously low on my CC stash! The challenge was to use distressing (red CS), inking (cream CS & cocoa paper strip) and layering. I'm hoping my embellishment layering counts! I really liked layering the rubons onto the chipboard elements.

Thanks for stopping by and have a Merry Christmas!

Sweet Pea {Cosmo Cricket: Garden Variety}

I created this layout and plan on submitting it for the October Cosmo Cricket Challenge at Scrapbook.com but man, some ladies just uploaded some really great layouts! I have no expectations of winning this month. :) The challenge is to use 90% CC products and more than one photo. My September layout for P12 is also something I created but it's even more blah compared to this layout! So here's my entry:I nicknamed this horse Sweet Pea a few years ago because she is SO sweet to me and the girls. Not so much to strangers and the other horses ;) I just took these pictures last week and when I saw the paper in my stash, I knew I had to use it for a page about her! I used a Julie Bonner sketch as my starting point.

Did you notice that I was too impatient to let the stickles dry? lol

Meeting Baby Kate {My Mind's Eye: Tiny Dancer}

I completed this layout using Julie's sketch for The Magpie Club. Those green buttons aren't photographing well, they match the layout better in real life! I had lots of fun - mainly because I think these pictures are just adorable! I haven't looked back at these in a while and I was pleasantly surprised to find this :) Big sister is just beaming with pride! Big sister helped me with this layout, too. Picked the alpha ('cause they sparkle!) and helped me apply all those pearls....I'm afraid she's going to have to get her own stash sooner than I thought :\

Be Merry! {Fancy Pants Christmas Magic: Merriest Tale, Chestnuts Roasting, Bough of Holly}

It's been forever since I've touched one of my kits from my monthly group that meets...they gave us way too many Christmas kits way too early. But I knew I was going to like the Fancy Pants kit with the brown and cranberry colors. Perfect for the girls Christmas portraits!

This first LO is of the holiday card I sent out this year, using one of Julie's sketches for Magpie Club: I actually created that layout after I did this next one. I saw that Ali Edwards posted what she does with her holiday cards and thought it was a fantastic idea - why didn't I think of that?! I don't get very many cards, so I used bigger sections of each card and for a couple, I used more than one piece. I especially love that we can keep pieces of our parent's handwriting.

I'm really pleased with how the pages turned out and I was able to do them both in just a couple of hours. And now I don't have to feel bad about throwing away cards every year!

Mischief {My Mind's Eye: Feeling Groovy}

So even though Julie has closed her 52 Sketches site, she is still posting some sketches on her blog. I used this sketch from her blog to create this LO: The picture was taken one morning after she'd been way too quiet for way too long. When I went to check on her, I found that she'd eaten quite a bit of my new People magazine! That was 2 months ago and I'm still trying to remember to keep things out of her reach :)

Happy Monday to you all - I'm so glad that life is going back to normal now after the holidays!