NOEL Banner

How to instructions on the NOEL Banner

You need:

Jenni Bowlin chipboard banner (large or small)

Pink Paislee Tinsel Town papers (Or any other holiday line)

Bazzill cardstock (used circle and scalloped circle punches)

Plain chipboard letters inked and covered in glitter (I used Pink Paislee Pixie Stix)

Fancy ribbon

I flipped the chipboard banner pieces so they looked more like trees for the holiday. Cover the banner with your patterned paper. I used the new Pink Paislee line, Tinsel Town, but you can use any holiday paper. I only covered the banner with patterned paper to the top of the scallops. Then I covered the scalloped portion with cream cardstock. Coat the cream cardstock with liquid adhesive (I used Glossy Accents). Pour loose Glitter (I used Pink Paislee Pixie Stix) over the wet glue and allow to dry. You can also use Stickles, but you have to wait a lot longer for it to dry. And you may need to use a different color cardstock as a base since the glue is clear. Or you can do two coats of Stickles - your choice.

I used my 2.5 scalloped circle punch and my 2 inch circle punch to make the base for the letter. Pop dot that on top of the patterned paper. For the letters, I used plain chipboard letters. Inked them and coated in Pixie Stix glitter again. You can use stickles or just leave them inked. Because Christmas always means glittery to me, I used a lot of glitter. I used Stickles to accent the scallops too.

You can also use regular letters like American Crafts Thickers in the color of your choice. I like to dress up plain chip letters.

Use your Crop o Dile or other hole punch to punch a hole in the top of the banner. Something that will cut through a piece of chipboard. I find my Crop O Dile works best.

You can either loop ribbon through each banner piece or string them like a banner. Because I'll be hanging these in a specific place, I made individual loops.

The lighting was awesome outside today but it was windy. So forgive my chubby finger in the pictures.

Where did he come from?

He looks like a mix of my husband and me but his personality and energy are something else!

I've been trying to capture this face for a while now. This little monster face. I had this picture in mind when I ordered the October Afternoon Night Ligth papers........ Took me forever to get the picture but now I have one....

And the little German Boy. Authentic Lederhosen from Germany courtesy of his grandmother and aunt.

Team Edward

Yeah, I'm obsessed with the Vampire. But my obsession goes back a little further than Edward, Bella and Jacob. I *love* Brahm Stokers Dracula. I love the dark love story, the history. I love it. Of course, I loved Frankenstein too. I'm a sucker for the classics.

So when all of these crazed mothers atarted talking about these books their daughters were reading, all I had to hear was Vampire. I never got into the Anne Rice novels though. I started them and never finished. Something was missing.

But the Twilight series - oh my. Friday night, we headed to the theater with our pre-purchsed tickets and stood in line with a gazillion teenage girls. Some there with their mothers. I heard 'I'm here to see what the hype is all about' from several of the moms there. Lets just say they were pretty impressed when they walked out of the theater.

I had prepared myself for cheesey. Total hokey teen movie. Instead, I got a decent flick. Yes, it was hokey in some parts but others, just made me fall in love with Edward all over again. I loved the way they portrayed some of the characters. Others, seemed a bit off to me. Jasper. Wow. I know he's supposed to be a 'newborn' but he looked like a robot.

We had to run to keep up with all of the teenies wearing their Twilight gear. On our way out, we were trampled by the next group of teenies arriving for their scheduled movie.

Teen girls everywhere. Wearing Twilight shirts. So I scoped them out today. Over 9,000 designs eh? I have some of them saved. I'm getting something to wear. I need a Team Edward shirt for sure. And maybe a bumper sticker that warns people about my mad driving skills.

Anyway, Robert Pattison just renewed my obsession with Edward. And the good news is, the movie is grossing enough for the sequels to be made. Yeah. Too bad New Moon doesn't feature much of Edward. Is the wait going to be like Harry Potter? I just waited for them to come out on video. I can't do that with this one. I NEED to see it in the theater. Need. Not want. Need.

Finished up my Golden Harvest mini from Christines class. Just the first few pages posted here. I'll get the rest of them taken and posted this week. I have a stack of layouts I've been meaning to photograph/scan and get loaded into the gallery. Creating them is a lot more fun than uploading them right?

New projects

I have a few things that I'm working on right now. A couple of basic layouts, finishing up my minis from Christines classes and some mini's of my own.

You at 16 Months Mini album using the October Afternoon Hometown and the Cosmo Cricket album. I have the pictures printed, just need to get them in the book and the journaling done. I inserted extra pages using the diecuts from this line. Because they weren't long enough, I had to extend them using scalloped strips. And because there is only one file folder, I used it to create another one.

Future Rock Star

I read on someones blog about doing a monochromatic layout. I've had these rubons in my stash for a while because of the cool guitar. They're more girly rubons but I cut the wings off. American Crafts Thickers, Jenni Bowlin mini diecut paper, Glitz Designs Rubons and a Calendar tag from Elle's Studio.

Its a Boy - October Afternoon Weathervane (Sweater Weather), Bazzill cardstock, Crate Paper Glitter Diecut, Basic Grey Chipboard stickers and Making Memories felt letters.

Used the Martha Stewart border punch to create the scallops. I almost hate to use the OA papers.

And two snack staples in my room with me:

My huge water bottle. I got this in the hospital after my C-section to keep me hydrated. I try to drink 2-3 of these a day.

And the new holiday Hershey Kisses (Mint Truffle, Cherry Cordial and Candy Cane)

Just a few things

I've been working on. I have so many projects to get photos of and post in the gallery.

These are a few cards I made using scraps of the October Afternoon Hometown line. I made a mini book last week (pictures to follow shortly) and had a bunch of scraps left over. I'm not a big scrap person and have a hard time keeping pieces of paper- especially if I think I'll never use it again. So I tried something new - I didn't throw it away. I didn't put it in my scrap paper file. I kept it out and made a few cards.

I even made a card using some Prima Clear Paintables.....

Too funny

My son. He's too funny. While he can be a major PITA sometimes, he has one hell of a personality.

We found a 4 pack of these Nerf like balls at Target this weekend. Football, baseball, soccer and basketball. So we took him to the park and let him run around. I think we were more tired than he was afterwards. This was all in a vain attempt to wear him out enough to take a nap. Naps are forced in this house.

But I got a few good pictures of him and he's learning about sports.

And of course, with the cooler weather, I rearranged his closet (one of my favorite things to do) and put all of his winter clothes within reach. Just a few summer things left. He dug this fleece hat and gloves set out of a drawer so I put it on him. He hates hats. I'm surprised I got him to keep it on long enough for me to find a camera and get a picture. Nevermind the messy room in the background - the kids a pig!

And we took him to the new Bobs Big Boy. I know in the Midwest, its Frischs' Big Boy. My husbands family lives in Ohio so I was really excited to eat there the last time we visited. All of our BBB's closed but they are slowly reopening. Another childhood favorite thats reopening - Farrells. Yeah!

Next post will contain some cards I made.

I voted

Did you?

Took this with my Blackberry as I walked out of the polling place. Forgot to mail my absentee ballot so I dropped it off today. Nick got a sticker but he took it off and tried to eat it.

So, my duty is done. We'll see what the outcome is.

Woke up to this weather.

Love it!

Prissy puggy doesn't though. It was all I could do to get him to potty outside this morning. Heaven forbid we get the paws wet! Nick was laughing at him as he pranced around, afraid of the wet grass.

By lunch time, the sky was blue with big puffy clouds. So the cool weather didn't last long.

Layouts

{Edit: Blogger and Photobucket aren't getting along tonight. All of my pictures are loading in HUGE even though I resized them. So I uploaded from the PC instead of PB. Of course, Blogger doesn't like that I rotated the images and resaved them. Its uploading them sideways. I give up!}

Just a few layouts to upload to the Gallery:

Toddler Rules:

I got the idea for this layout from a shirt my mother bought Nick in NY. It had a list of 'rules' that fit his personality. He wants anything and everything people have and will stop at nothing to get it from you. You can't leave anything laying around because he will take it and assume its his. TV remotes, lotion bottles, glasses, cups, silverware, FOOD! So this was perfect and the picture is one of my favorites.

Everyday Fun

From the first trip to the park.

Happy Holidays cards: