Hi Everyone - Lowri here.

Some of you may know, but layouts are not something I do on a regular basis, so the two I have here are the 3rd and 4th I have ever done! They are both really basic, and I have tried to keep them simple and keep the focus on the photographs.

One of the reasons I love to do smaller projects - is that 12 x 12 inches is a REALLY big space to fill, and I don't quite have the confidence to leave large spaces blank! (Check out Joanne's gallery for some great examples of this technique) On both of these projects I started with a beautiful piece of 12x12 paper to give myself a good head start!

Layout One - Did Santa and his Reindeer Come?

Last Christmas was the first time that any of our kids understood what it was all about!  It was such a magical moment for them on Christmas morning - waiting to see if Santa had come in the night - I wanted to capture the "magical-ness" of it all!



This Little Yellow Bicycle paper was a great starting point for someone like me who is a bit afraid of empty space. It had a large gold reindeer on it which I really didn't like, so I had to cover that with the photo as I wanted to keep the colours simple. I love the combination of the silver, pale blue and red.

I created a shadow for the star with silver glimmermist using the star itself as a mask (thanks Tina for that tip!) and then added some rub-on details like the second reindeer, bird on the tree, a pop of colour on the stars..

I used my favourite ever Kaiser flourishes for another pop of colour, and Thickers mounted on acetate for the large lettering. I mounted them on acetate to give me plenty of time to get them straight - and I could move them round the layout to get the positioning right.

I printed the journalling block/mat directly onto printed paper, "Glee" from the Be Merry Collection and used the reverse as a red highlight strip. I sprayed this with glimmermist for good measure, and although it doesn't show in the photo well - it looks great.

I love to use my computer for papercrafting projects - I just see it as another tool. Printing on patterned paper can take a little time to perfect, but as long as you practice on scrap regular computer paper to get the size and position just right - it's easy. If for some reason you make a mistake - you can always use the other side of the paper for another project!




Layout Two - Non Christmas Christmas Layout!

I had grand ideas of making a Christmas layout using non-Christmas papers - it didn't quite work out but I love these papers so much I have decided to post it anyway! I have used some of the same elements as on the layout above (I made this one first and decided to re-do  it!!)


I have used one of my favourite collections of the year - Lush from Kaisercraft. These speciality papers Willow and Ginko are just gorgeous. The layout is pretty self-explanatory, and I just thought it would be show a different slant on Christmas colours - the gold and greens in this collection are just fabulous for a subtle Christmas layout.


I have some more pictures in my gallery later on this evening and I am REALLY looking forward to next week's posts. It's going to be an action packed blogging week, so stay tuned to find out what the theme will be. There will be HEAPS of inspiration for everyone, no matter what your crafting style..

Any questions - please post a comment and I will try and answer - and don't forget to e-mail your Christmas layouts to Liz to be into win some great prizes.