oh snap! ~ heidi swapp

Sharing this today over at HeidiSwapp.com. It's a little peak into the back story of our family photo shoot. These things can stress me out...or I can embrace the moment in time snapping these guys up.

And if I was really really honest, it's that little cutie-patootie that won't cooperate. He just could not look at the camera with his eyes or his face.

I mean look at him there...he is spot on for me...but for the fam pick...he says no thank you.

But when it was all said and done, I had to make it pretty with Heidi Swapp's Believe. I have stash left over from last year and put it to work a little bit here along with the new Gold Glitter Mixed Company stickers found at Hobby Lobby. Now those are fun and gorgeous.

So take a minute and read my post and would love to hear how it goes for you and your family capturing that quintessential yearly family photo.

Till next time...

art of observation ~ believe

hello friends...

i am over at heidiswapp.com  today sharing this project based on the art of observation prompte: BELIEVE...

i am sure you are as busy as i am today...
but hope you are able to slow down and take note and observe all that is around you...
what you believe...
what you think...
and then how you live that out...

Merry Christmas Eve...

believe photo file...

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
everywhere you turn...
and my work table is no exception.

photos are big gifts from our family to distant family this time of year.
not only do i create albums full of pictures of the kids to share with loved ones,
but it's the time of year i share the kids portraits as well.

and since i ship them mostly, they need to be sent safely.

cue the memory file...

i wish i would of thought of this idea last year...
but i am very happy with the look this year...
making pretty photo files to send and give our photos...

i loved dressing these up and making them extra festive and fun.
i can't help myself...
it's like a sickness...

inside i decked the file out a bit more, and added a pocket to the right side in which the photos are tucked behind...

i could of gone way over the top embellishing these inside and out...
or kept them real simple...

i just love the memory files and either way, they sort of decorate themselves and are now my new favorite way to send photos.

i have more to share...
till then...

day eleven ~ #heidiholidayfotofind

Hello friends...
today is Day11, that is the 11th day of December and time is ticking away.
I am sharing my #heidiholidayfotofind over at heidiswapp.com...

and i would love to be able to share with you what is added to the Believe Memory File Mini Album since last weeks installment...

 Day6 was elf...and like many of you, I had to add a pic of our only elf in the house...the movie...

 

Opposite that page is #crowd...I added my crowd of Christmas brunchers under the printable from Heidi...

and then also placed december 8's card right under that one as it is shared on the next page...

  Day8 is #reindeer...kept this layout very very simple as I thought the edit on the photo was enough.

Next is Dec9 with lots of the fun smaller die cut pages that I added my printable cards too...

turn the previous page over and on the back I added 'celebrate' from the Black and White Friends stickers with some Believe Banner Delights...

then under the fold over page and peeking through the window is my #christmascard page and photo...

 Day10's card...but no page added yet as it just was not ready when I photo'd these pages.

The next page spread of the Believe Mini was assigned to me to share my clue #wrappingpaper.
Are you even there yet?
Wrapping gifts?
I just grabbed what I had and realized...I need more.
Only one gift is wrapped so far...but ya gotta start somewhere...

so here are some detail shots of those pages, and a few details can be found today on heidiswapp.com.

 hey...are you adding to your pages in your Believe album?
i would LOVE to see them...
tag me on instagram @jamiepate and share them...
and continue to enjoy this photo scavenger hunt with us all...

till then...

december daily 2-7

we all know how busy december can be.
it's quite the juggle balancing what is needful versus what we can get caught up in.
the activity of december daily seems to keep me mindful of that balance.
especially if i have the time to stay caught up,
yet mindful to take the photos i want to remember.

today i am sharing pages 2-7.
these pages were done early leaving me only to need to add photos and words as i was able.
the left upper card is a home made journal card using Gold Lame' Color Shine, the 6x6 stencil and then a word die cut. liked how that turned out.
the kids tree is highlighted on this page and is layered over a piece of Believe from the 6x6 pad.
on the right is a Color Magic Page Tab that you should still be able to find at Michaels. I made a card that holds more photos the same as the home made journal card. I like to repeat elements on a layout as it gives cohesiveness to the page.

A tab page in the Chipboard album was covered with the music side of Jingle All the Way . The rest of the page is made of up my stash. I appreciated Maggie sharing the 1 inch circle elements here and I will be adding them throughout my book.

As you know I am also playing along with the #heidiholidayfotofind scavenger hunt. I am finding some of those photos making their way in to my album as well. Which is fine. Some days I only get a single photo and moment captured, and that is what I will go with for the December Daily as well.

Day 4 is pretty simply arranged. The opposite side of the tab page is covered in a sheet of Luxe from Pink Paislee. The right side is a fold over flap of a page that hides another photo and journaling. I designed the notched number banners for the Sizzix eClips machine and love how those are working out.

Day 5 is home to one of my favorite pages to play with, and that is the photo page protector that is already included in the Chipboard Album. I added 3 photos of what I titled "around here'. Seems I always forget how I decorated around the house, so I wanted to add those.

There is a pocket of confetti and found objects, and a space for the day and then a vellum pocket with the die cut.

Day6 is on the opposite side.

My past books always have pamplets and flyers and invitations and church bulletins included. 

Day7 shares my Christmas brunch I had with friends recently that our church hosted.

So I added several of the elements from that morning as well as a photo of the 'crowd' as that happened to be that days #heidiholidayfotofind.

Now off to find more memories to share.

Will be back with more December Daily next week.

till then...

moto photo scavenger hunt...

hello friends...
have you been playing along with the #heidiholidayfotofind?

i have been having fun seeing all the posts on instagram with that tag sharing your scavenger hunt finds. it is so festive and fun and i feel like sometimes i am a guest in your own home as you share your stories about your finds.

today i share my find for today, december 5... #tree.

but let me back up a bit...
heidi's media team has taken to challenge everyone a little further with this scavenger hunt...
and that is to take those finds...
print them out...
and document the story.

i have been playing along with the rest of the team and using the Believe Memory File Mini Album (o.k...can we say stinkin' adorable?) documenting my finds.

would you like a peek?

i adore the different size pages and die cuts found in this book.
the first tags start with my day one. the numbered die cut stars from the Believe Ephemera pack will designate each day.

for the most part my photos will really be moto photos...or pictures taken on my phone.
that is what i did for the first days clue...'so it begins'... sharing this year's advent boxes that we open up every day with an activity or treat. again, a fun fun family tradition.

heidi is sharing some printables you can find here and i am adding those to my book too!

here is day two's clue...red...sharing the tradition of my mugs i receive for Christmas. you can see jen's share of this clue right here (december 2: something red).

as of this post i have not updated dec. 3 or 4 yet...that is on the to do list for today...
but you can find december 3: cozy with lindsay here...
and december 4: stockings with kim from down under here.

so let's just skip to december 5: tree...shall we?

you can see all the details on these pages of the Believe Mini Album here today on heidi's blog.

i will simply share some close ups of my take on this clue.

this mini album is a great canvas for your mixed media touches. since i seem to be obsessed with gold right now, i went for the gold stencil and edging technique on these pages.

and since it is so true that each little thing in life has a story behind it...

i was sure to tell the story about this particular tree and just journaled right on the page.

i know it's a busy time of year...
but there are so many rich stories to be told...
so many traditions to be shared...
and plenty of beautiful ways in which to do it...

say hi on instagram if you are playing along...
and i will be back next week with the next installment of this project.

till then...

supplies: Believe Memory File Mini Album. Believe Ephemera. Believe Banner Delights. Believe Buzz Words. Believe 6x6 pad. Color Shine: Gold Lame'. Chartreuse. seam binding.

weekend inspiration #3

o.k...here we go...
a quick fast in a hurry little #weekendinspiration...
because i know you got lots o' baking to do today...

take three different sized paper mache cones found at your local craft store.
a circle punch. (square would actually work too)
and 3 or four patterns of Believe and Color Magic paper.

for my trees i chose the gold pattern side of holly jolly
and the music pattern side of jingle all the way
plus color magic paper colored with both gold lame color shine and metallic gold paint.
using your hot glue gun, apply punched out papers in a row in a random fashion...

then apply a bit of mod podge to the finished trees...
shake on a bit of glitter...
and you have  beautifully decorated trees for your holiday display.
choose any pattern combination that will work for you.
the possiblities are limitless.
and if you have them, let your kiddos help punch out all those circles.
and have a fun time being inspired this holiday weekend.

i will be back later in the weekend to share my december daily. can't wait!!!

weekend inspiration #2

welcome to weekend inspiration number 2.
this is my little series this month on friday's sharing projects i am preparing for christmas now, so i can enjoy the month of december later.

tags are the project this weekend.
i for one can never have enough tags this time of year.
there is always the gift i forgot to consider, and i am rushing around trying to make it all ready and such.
having a bunch of tags ready, well, for one, is simply fun to do.
and for second, i have a stash ready for that last minute gift.
yay me...a little excited here.

the Believe Collection from Heidi Swapp is the inspiration for these posts.
this collection is so diverse and could go in different directions with color and feel.
i truly hope you come away with a little inspiration as i share these with you today.

TIP: don't recreate the wheel.
these tags are all fairly simple to do. i kept to a few products and basically did the same thing over again.
the Believe Ephemera is used on almost everyone and is usually the main focus.
above i used my Xyron Sticker Maker for the Happy Holidays vellum piece, and then attached to the star pattern from the 6x6 Believe paper pad. i added a bit of Gold Lame Color Shine to the Chipboard Stars, then attached. then some seam binding dyed with Gold Lame finished off the top. you will see this seam binding used several times this way.
the Merry Christmas tag is even easier. the vellum piece is popped up with dimensional tape. white textured card stock was circle punched and hot glued to the tag base which is also from the 6x6 paper pad. a little bit of card stock confetti sprayed with Black Velvet Color Shine was added for fun. and then two pieces from the Believe Banner Delights to finish and you can say done. see? keeping it simple.

i will share the details on these two tags below as they may or may not be a few of my favorites.

TIP: dye a supply of seam binding to start
these two tags use Chartreuse Color Shine to make them unique. now personally, i think the chartreuse is one of those forgotten colors. but it is gorgeous, gorgeous i tell you. one of the ways i was able to put these tags together fairly quickly was by having a bunch of seam binding dyed before starting. i take about 3 yards at a time, and color it one color. for this project i used the Chartreuse, Black Velvet and the Gold Lame.
the tag on the left certainly is easy to do. trim tag from the red stripe in the 6x6 paper pad. add vellum ephemera with a punched out 25 from the 6x6 paper pad. tie that with thread around the bow already attached to the tag.
the card on the right uses my favorite Color Magic 8x8 pattern paper...polka dots (to say i am a little obsessed by polka dots might be true.). lots of Chartreuse here with some added bling, 'joy' from the ephemera, and a banner delight stapled on top.

the card on the left is detailed below. so ya gotta wait a minute.
and the card on the right starts with the number pattern layered over the  music pattern. gosh...do you not love the diversity of patterns in this collection? just say yes.
then the 25 december tag was trimmed from the little journal tag paper, and the vellum 'give' was ran through the Xyron Sticker Maker then layered on top with a few banner delights peeking out the side.

i think this little tag may be my favorite. i took Metalic Gold Adirondak paint...which is a gorgous medium and covers the Color Magic resist beautifully. i could of used Gold Lame Color Shine, but i wanted a more intense pop of color.  seam binding was wrapped around the middle. a few banner delights tucked up underneath. then i punched a little hole in the clear acetate arrow and used thread to tie around the bigger bow. those lovely Paper Roses were sprayed with Gold Lame and tucked into the bow. sigh. a definition sticker was used to finish the look.

again with the polka dots...

this little tag used my all time favorite glassine bag to hold sequins and some ephemera pieces and a trimmed tiny journal card. it was attached to the layered tag with a Gold Lame bow placed right on top. two pieces of the candy stripe pattern paper were trimmed to about an inch wide, v-notched at the ends and then tucked up underneath the bow and attached with hot glue. how fun is that bag???

o.k...you may be seeing a lot of black and gold and silver this year for my personal christmas theme. i am in love with the glitz this year. and i love this tag and how simple it is yet to me shines with elegance. here are the details:
1. trim white card stock to a tag shape, spray it with Black Velvet Color Shine.
2. trim a piece of the music pattern smaller then the other piece and attach to the black card stock.
3. layer to seam binding bows in Black Velvet one on top the other.
4. color a tiny chipboard heart with gold metallic paint. punch tiny hole and string with thread to wrap around black bow.
5. punch tiny hole in a clear acetate arrow and also string around the black bow.
6. add 'enjoy' epoxy letter to the bottom.
7. done.

please link me or tag me on instagram @jamiepate if you too are inspired to make ahead tags for your gift giving this year. i would love to see what you do.