Merry Christmas

I have definitely been getting into the Christmas spirit around here.  Our tree has been decorated for weeks, gifts are purchased and mostly wrapped, and I've been working on this little upcycled Christmas scrapbook / smashbook, December Daily type book.

I've taken an old children's Christmas classic, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and made all new pages for the inside.  Actually, I kept a couple of the pages from the book to use as it adds a charm I kind of like.

I like using old lace on the sides of the pages and then lots of journaling spots and photo mounts to jot down those special memories.

I also love these fun altered art images from various Etsy shops and places on the internet. 

I also like making some of the pages smaller than the outer pages as it gives it a little more interest.

There are some little tags in the pocket here, which I think make great "secret" journaling spots.

I also love making these side pockets that are great for putting little cards and treasures in.



 
 

He's here!

Our first grandchild Samuel was born November 10, 2015.  We thought for a short time that he was going to be born on my birthday, November 7th, but he decided to make us wait an additional three days.  But he was definitely worth the wait.  He is so much fun!  I was blessed to be able to spend the first week at my daughter and her husband's house helping them out.  I am also blessed that we only live 10 minutes away, so I get to still see him often.  I am looking forward to the many memories we will be making with Mr. Samuel.  I see a lot of scrapbooking in my future!

Tag Easel Card Tutorial

Lori Delp has created a lovely Tag Easel Card tutorial for our website.  It's not exactly a mini album, but we have started a new page on our website specifically for other paper related projects and this is the first one we are including.  She used Graphic 45 papers, which always make a project look great.  Lori included a template for the easel and the tag and wrote very clear, thorough instructions.  Thank you so much, Lori.  She is working on another project for the website that will be published very soon.

It's a...

Our daughter's baby is a BOY!  The whole family is abuzz with excitement!  His name is Samuel Herbert (the middle name after his father and grandfather).

I don't know if many of you are aware that besides the Making-Mini-Scrapbooks website, I also have a paper dolls website at Free-Paper-Dolls.com.  It's mostly scans of vintage paper dolls, but there are also some paper doll crafts and miscellaneous other things.  I made the above paper bag card with some fun printable paper dolls and just thought you might enjoy seeing it.

Is It a Boy or Is It a Girl?

Our oldest daughter, Andrea, is due to have her first baby (our first grandchild) at the end of October.  We are beyond excited about this new chapter of our lives.  Her and her husband are planning 4 children when all is said and done, so we are just in awe that there are four human beings that we haven't even met yet who will be so important to us!  Next Wednesday they will find out if it is a boy or a girl.  On Thursday the rest of the family gets to find out at the "reveal party."  I guess it's a thing these days, and a pretty cool thing it is.  I do not care if it is a boy or if it is a girl - all I care is that I will have a precious grandchild to love and cherish.  Obviously, I've had babies on the brain lately, so I put together two collage sheets for my Etsy shop.  One for baby boys and one for baby girls.  I'll let you know next week which one my daughter is having.

Free "Words" Printable

We made another Words collage sheet for you.  You can pick it up at our free collage sheet page on the website.  You can use these in your journals as prompts!  Wonderful Ideas (journal some ideas you have brewing), Treat Yourself (list ways you could treat yourself), Privacy (have enough?  Respect others'), Magic (whatever is magical to you), Wishing (what are you wishing for?), Simply the Best (in your opinion, what is simply the best), Favorite (so many directions to go with this one.  Favorite day, favorite color, favorite food, favorite TV show, etc.), Tranquility (what makes you feel tranquil?), Start Now! (what have you been putting off? What are you dreaming of doing?), Trends (in your life, that you see), Bliss (what's your bliss?), Goal Setting (set those goals!) ... 

 

You get the idea.  Enjoy!

Free Printable Doll Tag Collage Sheet

Work is still slamming busy (after a very slight slow-down), but I am managing to find little moments here and there to create.  It makes my workday so much more fun!  This past week I created these doll tags.  You can pick up a free PDF printable at the website here.  These are fun to use in your scrapbooks, journals, etc.  I tried to leave lots of room for journaling.  I used templates and papers from Pixel Scrapper.  I hope you enjoy them!

Printable Mini Album Spring

As some of you may know, I run a transcription business from our home.  I have been doing this since my oldest daughter was one year old.  (She is 25 now and going to be a mother herself in October!)  It was a great way for me to earn income and stay home with my children.  And it still keeps me BUSY!  Especially during the last part of March through the first part of May.  So phew, we are through the busiest part of the year and we survived.  Oh, and during April both my husband and I had an outpatient surgeries a week apart!.  So it was a little challenging lately, to say the least.  Thank goodness for the wonderful team of subcontractors that work for us all across the United States.

Before the busy season had started I had started a new printable mini album for the website, but didn't finish it before the transcription biz took over my life for a couple of months.  Last week I finally got back to it and was able to finish it up.

This spring mini album contains 6 patterned paper pages, a page of tags and brackets and two collage sheets.  You can download a free PDF file on our website.

Faithbooking Printables

I have been working on some faithbooking printables.  I have more to create, but I wanted to give you all a small preview.  I am also thinking about a printable faith-based mini album if there is an interest for that?  Let me know what you think. 

So here is the first printable I made in this theme.  These are some Bible verses.  There is a printable PDF at the main website.  Look where it says "here" and click to download.  My thought was to create some cards you can put into your faithbooks and meditate on them and perhaps even journal about them. God bless!