Christmas this year was fantastic. The kids felt both the spirit of giving and receiving gifts and blessings. One of the most memorable parts of Christmas this year was the weather. The whole midsection of the country has felt the arctic chill this season and we were no different. We spent December 23-26 very nearly snowed into our home with drifts at least 7 feet tall in our driveway and the road in front of our home.

Just as we were all recovering from the Grand Christmas Blizzard of 2009, our area has been hit by another giant winter storm. The wind is just howling outside our windows and I have to say, it is an impressive display by Mother Nature. My husband gives it two thumbs up, especially since he received a snow blower for Christmas. I love that I get days off of work, even though I know that we may have to add some on to the end of the school year. I’m looking forward to scrapbooking photos from the blizzard, but in the meantime, I have a layout to share with you from last year.

This layout uses the same Spellbiners snowflakes used in the last layout of Maiah. I especially love the doodle die template that I used to emulate the swirls in the title. It makes me think of the howling wind outside our windows today.

We had lots of snow last Christmas too, but it pales in comparison to the amount we got this year. Isaac loved playing out in the snow last year, even though his sister refused to come out because it was so cold.

I used Clearsnap inks to stencil the dies and Junebug Basic Grey paper for the doodles.

Have a great day! Thanks for visiting.

Her struggle to find her balance reminded me of this fun page of my daughter Maiah at almost the same stage of development. My two girls are so very different in looks and personality, but their milestones have occurred at about the same age all along the way. My favorite part of this page is the funky way I cut Maiah out of the photograph in the bottom right. Even then it looked kinda weird, but somehow the page all came together. Fun stuff! The paper is Basic Grey, the large ric rac was from Karen Foster. The flowers are Prima and the title is the Spellbinders Indulgence font.

The page I’m sharing today is another Hybrid page made with the Express Yourself free Digital Scrapbook available at ShabbyPrincess.com along with several now-retired Spellbinders dies. The circles in this layout really pull the whole thing together as well as help draw attention to sweet baby Hannah’s face.

At the time this layout was made, we were just barely starting to make some progress in getting Hannah to eat solid foods. She’s turned out to be very stubborn in that department and her weight stayed constant at 16 pounds for several months – to the point of worrying our family physician.

Finally now at 13 months, she is eating larger volumes of select foods and gaining weight. We’re looking forward to her next check up next month to see if she’s come back up onto the growth chart.

Supplies:

Yellow Dots Patterned Paper: Jennifer Davis

Happy Spring & Branch stamps: Taylored Expressions

Labels 1, Nested Birds, Petite Scalloped Ovals, Petite Classic Ovals: Spellbinders

Ribbon: Creative Impressions

Impressability: Spellbinders

Marker & Airbrush system: Copic

Brad: Chatterbox

Corner Rounder: Creative Memories

Brown & green ink: Clearsnap

I mentioned earlier that the birds are hybrid pieces created specifically to match the Spellbinders Nested Birds die. The hybrid files are simple and fun to use. I’ve included them for download here, along with a copy of the matching patterned paper that was previously posted:

To use this or any of my other hybrid printables:

1. Download and unzip the file.
2. Open the package file and print it onto the paper of your choice. I recommend whatever white cardstock works best with your printer.
3. Cut a very rough outline around each bird with scissors.
4. Attach the Spellbinders Nested Birds dies to each printed bird, matching sizes and lining them up inside the pink outline. Affix with Removable Tape if desired.
5. Cut and emboss the dies in whichever die cut machine you prefer. Spellbinders dies work fabulously with most other machines, including but not limited to the Cuttlebug, Big Shot, Big Kick, and Revolution.

These hybrid files are made specifically for use with Spellbinders dies and I’m providing them free for personal use only. Thanks!

Materials included:

7Gypsies brads and paper

black magic mesh

Chatterbox ribbon

Amaco Rub N Buff: green and gold

Red Clearsnap Smooch

Robin’s Nest Dew Drops

3D Adhesives from 3L

For links to the Spellbinders dies and gold metal foil, visit this project on their site in the Inspiration Alley.

Thanks for looking!