Thank you Cake4Breakfast!!!

Just a quick note to send a "shout out" to a most wonderful seller on Etsy known as "Cake4Breakfast". She sews tablecloths and other beautiful items.  In the spring I had a tablecloth made. I love it so much! Then a month ago I decided I need a Christmas themed tablecloth. I can't buy my table size in stores so custom made is the way to go for me. I decided I deserve to treat myself to something that can be a heirloom. Now I am the proud owner of a most wonderful Christmas tablecloth that will be cherished for years to come!

I received the tablecloth yesterday and was so excited I made a scrapbook layout about it just last night.

Here it is:

 credits:
Oh Joy kits - by creashens and paislee press
Shop till You Drop kit (and alpha)- Lisa Sisneros
Dear Santa kit - Little Butterfly Wings
Holiday Template #10 - Simply Tiffany Studios

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Do they think I don't notice?

 I have a pet peeve. It's a small, rather unremarkable one. Ok, I have a ton of pet peeves but tonight I will just mention the one. I'm not even sure how to describe/categorize it. Movie props for American movies filmed in Canada.

Well, let me explain. So, for a long time I've enjoyed watching Christmas movies. I don't care if they're theatrical releases on TV, or made-for-tv. They don't even have to be any good. They just have to be Christmas-y. Maybe I'm just becoming a Scrooge, or I'm too tired, or more likely, I've already seen every movie made. This year I can't seem to sit to watch a movie for more than 10 minutes. What is bugging me so much? It's the props.

I have a running joke with my husband about movie props. Years ago I surprised him by my keen ability in telling if a movie was filmed in Canada, merely seconds after the movie begins. Finally I told him my secret. If I see a US mailbox within the first 10 seconds of a film, it is almost definitely filmed in Canada. They (whoever the movie people are) use it to set the scene. Watch a show filmed in the United States and you'll rarely see this. It's true... check it out for yourself. What I found irritating (besides the low budget quality of the movie, and the cheesy dialogue... ok, maybe I am a bit Scrooge like) is seeing all the inconsistencies in their "scene setting". The movie I watched tonight (for 5 minutes)  showed the mail box. Ok, so good, we're in the United States... phew, I thought we were in Ontario for a second there. As I'm staring at this mailbox, a lady wears a plastic bag as a hat. The plastic bag belongs to a retail chain called Dollarama, which is based out of Quebec. Then behind her, across the street is a Canadian post office truck. But don't worry, they've posted over the logo with American stars & stripes. On the building behind them, they've hung Stars & Stripes banners. Do they even do this in the States in December? Isn't that more of a 4th of July thing?

I found all of this so distracting, I couldn't follow the lame plot and so I turned off the TV. I'd rather scrapbook anyway.

Yes, I AM a scrooge!

I'll stick to Claymation and White Christmas for my holiday movies from now on.

Anyway, here are the layouts I've made this past week (Click to enlarge):

This sort of layout is WAY out of my comfort zone but I was trying something new. I'm not sure if it worked or not. Not very Christmasy but it is part of my December Daily.

Credits:
Holiday 2011 Template #4 - Simply Tiffany Studios (Tiffany Tillman's Holiday Templates 2011 Class at reneepearson.com)
Life is a dancefloor - Ju Kneipp & Laura Banasiak
Fairytale dreams kit - Mari Koegelenberg 

There isn't anything particularly exciting about the topic... just documenting my days.

Holiday 2011 template #10 (from her class at Renee Pearson)- Tiffany Tillman (Simply Tiffany Studios)
Snowy Day papers - MellyBird Designs
Winter Woodland kit - Lisa Sisneros

credits:
holiday 2011 template #13 - Simply Tiffany Studios (Tiffany Tillman)
winter's garden papers - nancie rowe janitz
sugarplums - nancie rowe janitz & aja abney
guilty pleasures - fei's stuff
joy & glee - sherrieJD
adorned - paislee press

This is a crazy layout... try not to get vertigo looking at it. I think it must be a tribute to my Grandma's bathroom at the time of the photos taken, which was a eyeful of bright pink. So, I guess it is fitting.


Credits:

Holiday 2011 Template #8 - Tiffany Tillman (Simply Tiffany Studios)Oh Joy kit - creashensSnowy Day Papers (and some elements) and Alpha - MellyBird Designs Peace & Joy kit - Nikki BoudreauHoliday Magic and Merry Merry brushes by Nancie Rowe JanitzSnowflake brushes by Julia Makotinsky (I think they're packaged with a kit... don't recall)

Ok, these two (a two-pager) are from two weeks ago:

My musings on past Christmases and how they relate to my life now.

Credits:

Peace and Joy by Nikki Beaudreau Designs (Guest Designer @ CatScrap)

Simply Tiffany Studios Elegant Holiday #6 template by Tiffany Tillman (at Design House Digital)

I did this a few weeks ago:

Merriment (Holly Jolly and Countdown paper packs, Solid Papers, Girl Stickers, Date Labels, Tabs) by MellyBird Designs @ CatScrap

52 Templates #5 by Simply Tiffany Studios @ DHDframes: Dirty Pockets No.1 by creashens @ CatScrapCookies for Santa word art by One Little Bird @ OScraps

On the first of December...

... I began my most favourite class of all! Tiffany Tillman's Holiday template course at ReneePearson.com is now in its third year. All new kits, templates and daily lessons. I have taken all three.

The first class in 2009 was a present to myself. I wasn't used to taking classes online. I had dabbled briefly in digital scrapbooking but preferred paper. My intention was to use the templates for paper scrapbooking. Or maybe do hybrid pages (a term for the type of scrapbooking I tended to do already without knowing it). My photoshop skills were rusty and I hadn't scrapbooked in a while as I'd had my first child that year so I was pleasantly surprised when I fell in love with digital. Mostly I liked that I wasn't making a mess that my daughter could get into.

Once I took that course, there was no going back. Since then, I've taken most of Tiffany's classes. I've learned so much from her. Plus, in searching for Christmas kits to use in my first template class I found a designer I loved and did a google search on her. That is how I found CatScrap. Months later during a summer template class I got the nerve to post one of my layouts in the CatScrap challenges and got noticed for a BOB (Best of the Best) nomination. I was all psyched to try and get that honour but before it could be decided if I'd won, I had applied to the creative team and got a placement. That was exhilarating and intimidating. I hadn't spent much time online or in galleries since before my daughter was born. Even then, I never posted.

As an artistic person in general, I had always imagined how great it would be to create my own kits. I had no idea how to approach that so I was happy enough just to be part of a creative team at such a talented stop. I had some fun spots as a guest on creative teams, and on Log Your Memory. Then one day I couldn't help myself and started to design a kit. That's how I became a CatScrap designer. I've met some amazingly talented and kind women in this community: Scrapbookers, bloggers, artists, designers and educators. So much is available at our fingertips if we are open to learning. I'm so excited to see what the future brings. Although I have to admit I am struggling to balance kids (#1 priority), design and sleep. Sleep is really lacking and unfortunately it really does affect the other two priorities.

All this ramble just to say that it has been a busy year and I am so excited that December is upon us and I can take some "me" time to document our holiday season. I love Christmas and enjoy sharing all the magic of the season with my family. I am going to share with you my layouts made this month. I'm also trying to get some design work finished up too... so make sure to check CatScrap and my other blog www.mellybirddesigns.com to see what I'm up to there. Leave a meaningful (or even just friendly) comment on any of my posts here and maybe I'll share a coupon with you (make sure to leave a way for me to contact you).

Here is my first layout (it's a 2-pager) which is something I rarely do:

Credits:
Holiday Template #1 - Tiffany Tillman (Simply Tiffany Studios)
Everybody loves Christmas papers and elements - Echo Park
These moments at Christmas - Elle's Studio
Jolly Golly Candy little alpha - Cosmo Cricket
Oh Joy - Cosmo Cricket