Saturday, December 29, 2012

Once Upon a December... (OUAS)

Supplies: white snowflake paper by Studio Calico; red patterned paper by Magnolia; flair badge, die cuts, label, large alphabet stickers, & all other patterned papers by October Afternoon; mini alphabet stickers by Authentique; white button by Blumenthal Lansing; thread by Singer; Liquid Pearls & Distress Stain by Ranger; snow texture paste by Deco Art; pens by Zig; upcycled wrapping paper, star wire, tabletop confetti, & calendar page.

ETA: I won the "spotlight feature" at Once Upon a Sketch with this layout.


Now that my 2010 album is complete, I can relax and have a bit of playtime.  I was inspired by the prompt this month at Once Upon a Sketch, which is "December means..."  I created a layout called "December Romance." 


Below you can see an image of the sketch for this challenge. Instead of using just one photo, I collaged together four little, cropped photos, plus some Christmas papers and die cuts.  I united the whole assembly with a distressed, hand-stitched paper heart.  I think that this collage, which is the centerpiece of the layout, sums up the sweetness of December "date nights." 


My journaling [which I hope you do not find cheesy] says: "Our 'date nights' in December are usually simple: we hold hands and cuddle while looking at the tree and listening to soft, instrumental music.  We de-stress after our busy December days.  To some people this might sound like a boring way to spend Date Nights.  But Scott and I love these 'dates!'"


I tried to incorporate lots of Christmas-related found objects into my layout. 

Stars--my favorite "outer space" symbol--are also a great symbol of Christmas (what with the Star of Bethlehem and all), so I used some shiny, star-sprinkled wrapping paper to create my page border.  This is used wrapping paper--I think that the wrinkles and unevenly-cut edges give it charm.  


I also upcycled star wire, tabletop snowflake confetti, and a December calendar page in my design.




I used snow texture paste (which reminds me of stucco) and an old box to make my snowflake embellishment. 


To represent the music that my husband and I listen to on our "date nights," I used an old disc (it's actually a dud DVD, doubling for a CD) as an embellishment.  It too got a coating of snow texture paste, embellished with tabletop confetti, Liquid Pearls, and Distress Stain.


In fact, Liquid Pearls and Distress Stain make a few different appearances around the page.  It's true--the mixed media bug has bitten me!  :)

Thanks for stopping by my blog to look at my layout.  It's almost 2013, so I wish you a happy and healthy New Year!

6 comments:

Patricia said...

your snow is perfect.. Adore this !
good Christmas for you Denise.

Chantalle said...

Super cute page. Loved seeing your processes as well. (And your date nights don't sound boring at all!!) thanks for playing along with us at OUAS and Happy New Year!

Evgenia Petzer said...

wow! what a great layout! absolutely love these hearts! and it is so rich in emellies! love it! thank you so much for playing with us at OUAS!

EFI said...

Absolutely stunning work with wonderful colors and so many awesome details! Thank you so much for playing along with us at OUAS! Happy New Year!!!!

Eila Sandberg said...

You are always so clever finding use of recycled items and turning them into lovely projects. Nothing cheesy about your date nights, exactly what DH and I do too. Lots of interesting pretty details on your layout, love the snow effects! Thanks ever so much for sharing your work with us at OUAS!

Svetlana Austin said...

this is so cool, Denise! there is so much going of on your page and the colors just make you smile - so happy and bright!
love the way your created a little window and framed it with a heart - very creative (you are usually very creative in the way your scrap!!