Christmas

HO! HO! HO! Tis The Season To Sparkle

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

I love the magic of this season, and have fun scrapbooking our memories of this special time. I started the tradition of buying Christmas pajamas for my children several decades ago. After dinner, they would excitedly open their presents and immediately go upstairs to put them on. I’ve carried this Christmas Eve tradition over to my grandchildren, who look forward to it with excitement. They always humour me by letting me take their photo before the tree. I think you can see from their faces that they enjoy this annual ritual as much as I do!

I was fortunate last Fall to purchase a Creative Kit from Mintay Papers that included a slew of products from the Merry & Joy collection. It was priced at $50 and included products that were worth at least $200. This kit is going to give me a lot of options to scrapbook our latest Christmas memories. If you get the opportunity to purchase a Creative Kit from Mintay in the future, I strongly recommend it. I promise you, you will not be disappointed!

As soon as I saw the patterned paper with Santa peeking through the window, I knew it would be the perfect background paper for this layout. After adhering my picture to the design, I chose coordinating Die Cuts from the ephemera pack included in the kit. I’m a lover of dimension to my projects, so I used several 3D Foam Squares from Scrapbook Adhesives to layer the ephemera on the page. Most of the ephemera was adhered to the top of the layout, but I also layered the nutcracker and presents at the bottom of the page.

I fussy-cut a doily from the Decorative Vellum sheet included in the kit and adhered it with vellum tape to the right-hand side of the page, over the green window shutter. Next, I cut the phrases from the sheet of Christmas phrases, also included in the kit. To complete this section, I added the date using Lily White Alphabet Soup puffy stickers from Doodlebug Designs.

To reinforce the page title with a sparkle reference, I adorned the star ornaments at the top and bottom of the page with miniature gold gems from Spellbinders. These gems came in two tones, and I utilized both on the ornaments. The Christmas tree at the bottom of the page also had a star on its top, so I added a bright silver star from my stash to complete the sparkle elements. These gems and sparkles help enhance the Christmas tree lights in the picture.  

I’m very pleased with the final results on this page. It helps convey the anticipation of Santa’s impending visit and captures the joy my grandchildren felt on Christmas Eve! Thanks for stopping by to share in this magical moment. Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Holly Jolly

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

Oh, the magic of Christmas! Our hometown has record snowfalls, which gets me in the mood for all things Christmas. Last weekend, our youngest grandson, Ben, had a heartwarming visit with St Nikolaus at their city park in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. It was a truly special moment for him.

Folklore in Austria tells the tale of Krampus, a devilish-looking character who beats badly behaved children with a birch rod. Krampus is everything a nightmare is looking for! Ben is terrified of Krampus, as he reports his teacher told him that Krampus “steals” children! However, Ben also knows that St. Nikolaus rewards children who are good with gifts, so visiting with St. Nikolaus was a welcome reassurance that all will be well this Christmas.

I created this layout using Paige Taylor Evan’s Sleigh cut file, which is Design ID #456879 in the Silhouette Design Store.

I used various papers to back this cut file, including red and white glitter, cardstock, and different patterned papers from the Simple Stories—Simple Vintage ‘Tis The Season collection. Once I completed the cut file, I adhered it to the layout on white fun foam for added dimension. Small red enamel dots from Carta Bella completed the sleigh. The background paper for this layout comes from the Simple Stories Country Christmas collection. The specific page is called O Christmas Tree.

I wanted to mimic the Christmas lights in the trees surrounding Ben and St. Nikolaus. To achieve this, I modified the Garland cut file, Design ID #1233064, also found in the Silhouette Design Store.

I cut off the upper edge and loops of the design to achieve a more accurate likeness to the photo. I cut two copies of this file to reach the 12′ Garland length. I used silver cardstock, light gold cardstock, and vellum to complete the lights. Next, I added a few silver stars above the lights to enhance the feeling of the evening.

I found the remaining elements in the Simple Stories—Simple Vintage ‘Tis the Season Floral and Bits & Pieces ephemera packages to complete the layout. I used a Sharpie pen to add details and the date to the bottom right-hand corner.

I wish you all a little bit of magic this special holiday season. May 2025 bring us all much happiness and joy!

Thanks for following my scrapping journey. Until next time, stay safe and healthy. Happy Scrapping!