Winner, Winner!!

It's New Year's Eve!!  I can't believe an entire year has come and gone so quickly! I have some happy, scrappy news to announce - the winner of my December Blog Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who left me your wonderful comments and thank you to all who come to visit me - I adore creating and it makes me so happy when others are inspired by what I do!

Okay - the winner of this month's giveaway is...  KATHERINE B!!

Katherine B said...

oooh an early Christmas! I've been a long time follower and lurker :):) so....happy holidays!

December 2, 2011 7:23 PM

Congratulations Katherine! If you could please send me off an email (torrjorr[at]gmail[dot]com) with your address I'll get these goodies off to you ASAP!!

Happy New Year to everyone tonight!! My wish is for a happy and healthy 2012!

New Years Inspirations with Graphic 45 & Petaloo

The Graphic 45 Design Team had the opportunity to team up with Petaloo all this week to create some festive Advent Calendars.  I had originally planned something TOTALLY different but ended up with what you see below.

I remember as a child, my great grandmother would get us these beautiful advents with such intricate designs and photos. When you opened a door, the most amazing, translucent image was revealed - and covered in glitter! I loved especially holding these up to the windows as they would give off a certain glow. My kids' advents have been replaced with very themed images like Star Wars, Barbie, etc and under each window you will now find a small piece of chocolate!

I wanted to try something a little out of the box with this one... To me, the joy in the advent itself is to count the days down until Christmas and with each day, a small reward or gift is revealed - which can be anything really! I decided to create 24 Christmas Crackers, in which a small toy, treasure, riddle, photo, poem or treat could be placed.

Thanks so much for your visit today!!

Supplies:
Graphic 45 Patterned Paper:
Joyous Noel, A Christmas Carol, Merry and Bright, Believe, Special Delivery: Christmas Emporium Collection
Timely Point of View: A Proper Gentleman Collection
Goblin Gazette: The Magic of Oz Collection
Jabberwocky: Hallowe'en in Wonderland Collection
Flying High: Le Cirque Collection
The Three R's, Bedtime Stories, Calico Kids: An ABC Primer Collection
Graphic 45 Tags 1: Christmas Emporium Collection
Graphic 45 Staples: Alphabet Stickers
Petaloo Darjeeling Collection
Hydrangea
Poppy Mix
Sage Green Assorted
Zinnia Mix
Dahlia Mix
Medium Mix
Anemone Mix
Darjeeling Petites
May Arts: Ribbon
Scrapbook Adhesives: 3D Foam Squares
Fiskars: Postage Stamp Punch
Martha Stewart: Border Punch
Aleene's: Tacky Glue

Nothing but a Memory

Happy Boxing Day! The design team at 7 Dots Studio was challenged to think about our New Year’s resolutions and to-do lists and how we could incorporate journaling in our projects.

Not sure if you are aware or not, but since the end of October, I’ve been having some pretty major health issues effecting my heart and lungs. It has been so very frustrating for me as I’ve undergone test after test and seen so many specialists who were trying to figure out what was causing the problem of it making it difficult for me to breathe. 

There are 5 pages written up in detail (which I’ll spare you the details) of my ups and downs over the course of the past little while.  In summary, it seems as though some kind of nasty virus decided to camp out in my heart and lungs and is finally making its way out.  It will still take many months for my body to heal, but I think everything will work itself out in the end...

Some detail shots of the beautiful coordinating stickers and elements from the Dreamer Collection.

More detail shots.  The hinges are not just for decoration.  When opened they reveal inside pockets with journal pages which document my journey for the past few months. 

Here is what the inside of the layout looks like.  The right side reveals my list of "To Do's" once I am feeling 'better'...

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with friends and family.