A Very Merry Christmas

Gingerbread Fun

~ dddesignz ~ 1 Comment

HO HO HO! It’s just two more nights until the big day! Where did December go? Today I’m sharing a layout that documents Maddie building her gingerbread house last December. She had a blast putting it together, but I think she enjoyed eating the candy best of all!

I chose the Gingerbread House Two cut file from Confessions of a Paper Addict (COAPA) as the main focal point for this layout. The whimsical lines in this cut file reminded me of the fun I had with Maddie as she decorated her gingerbread house. The cut file comes in SVG format, so I used the trace function in Silhouette Studio to trace it before ungrouping it to backfill the sections. I also find that using the Fill section to colour in each piece facilitates a quicker process when preparing to cut.

The main paper line for this layout is Hot Cocoa from American Crafts. It came in a paper pad of 48 papers. I used this paper collection in November 2019 to make a Christmas Album for a class at ScrapFest. It also has a whimsical feel and was an excellent fit for this cut file. I chose the kraft paper with the snowmen and falling snow for the base page of the layout. The red paper with snow falling, black paper with snowflakes and black paper with peppermint candies were all used to construct the gingerbread house cut file. I fussy cut the peppermint candies to fit the scalloped border of the roof and the pinwheel candy to the left of the front door. I chose an embossed white paper for each section laden with snow. I turned to glitter papers from My Favorite Things paper collections to back the windows and fill the wreath. For added dimension, I used pop dots to add the wreath to the front of the house. A red acrylic dot from doodlebug design worked perfectly for the doorknob.

The Christmas Tree to the right of the gingerbread house comes from Memory Box Inc. It is called the Flowering Christmas Tree. I slid it partially behind the gingerbread house and wrapped some of its limbs in front. I added rhinestones to the centre of each flower to complete the Christmas tree.

All of the snowflakes in this layout came from a collection by Sizzix called Snowfall Thinlits Dies. This set was made exclusively for Stampin’ Up! a couple of years ago. It is an extensive set of snowflake dies in multiple sizes. I’ve used this set multiple times and have never regretted the investment. I purchased them through a good friend and Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, Margie Stares. Check out Margie’s Stampin Up! blog for lots of inspiration. To enhance the magical feel of this layout, I added rhinestones to each snowflake. The final touch was adding the title using doodlebug designs teensy type letters in white. I chose the round letter stickers to mimic the falling snow and snowmen on the patterned paper. 

I appreciate you stopping by today and hope you’ve found some inspiration for your Christmas layouts. May your holiday season be full of magic, incredible moments and lots of love!

Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Mr Grinch

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

Here we are one week away from Christmas, and thanks to Omicron, we’re facing yet another Christmas of restrictions. The recent developments in this new variant is a worry for the world. Here in Ontario, we are disappointed that our plans to try and return to a “normal” Christmas are dashed once again. I decided to turn my negative feelings from this recent development into positive creative energy. For me, Omicron reminded me of Mr Grinch, Dr Seuss’ immortalized character that tried to keep Christmas from coming.

The background paper for this fun layout came from an older collection of patterned papers called Mistletoe by Bo Bunny. I used Sophie Gallo’s Christmas Grinchy Ornament cut file found on Etsy to create this layout. The Grinch’s arm and hand were created by tracing the outline of the cut file onto coordinating coloured felt and cutting by hand. I adhered it to the paper cut file using Ranger’s Glossy Accents. To complete the preparations on the cut file, I used glossy gold cardstock to back the top of the Christmas ornament. I used Silhouette Studio software to accurately size my photo to fit the hanging ornament before printing. Once these steps were completed, the cut file was adhered to the background paper using large Glue Dots. To further the whimsical feel of the layout, I placed my journaling around the Grinch’s fingers. To emphasize COVID and MR GRINCH, I turned to colour coordinating letter stickers from Simple Stories. The text reads: Dear COVID, you are a mean one, like MR GRINCH. But you won’t keep our Christmas from coming!

The Christmas Tree, found in the bottom right-hand corner, was embellished with small red felt pompoms and a clear acrylic star.

The final element for the layout was adding a direct quote from Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas:

Christmas Day will always be

Just as long as we have we

Try as you might COVID, you WILL NOT stop our Christmas from coming! It’s going to look different for sure, but these happy faces will have a wonderful day, just the same!

Thanks for checking in today. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you and yours the merriest of holiday seasons!

Stay safe, stay well and Happy Scrapping!