Holiday Happiness Layout by Phil Donahue

Hello festive friends! Phil Donahue back on Paige's blog with a wintery layout featuring her Village from the 25 Christmas Cut Files 2023 along with elements from her Sugarplum Wishes collection (supplies are linked at the bottom)!

To begin, I cut the Village out of textured white cardstock and backed it with vellum. I cut each of the trees three times from the green side of Paper 8 to create a 3D element. Paper 4 served as my main background with torn strips of white cardstock and tissue paper on the bottom half of the page which created a snowy hills effect. I adhered the cut file to the background and nestled in the photo above. I backed the photo and embellished the layout with elements from the Ephemera Die Cuts. Final touches were aqua enamel dots and splatters of white acrylic paint around the page! Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful winter season!

SUPPLIES: Patterned papers, stickers, die cuts, embellishments: SUGARPLUM WISHES; white cardstock; Cut file: Village from the 25 Christmas Cut Files 2023 by Paige Evans

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December Daily Albums by Paige Evans Years 2012-2024

Merry Christmas scrappy friends!!!
I love everything about Christmas! All the traditions, being with family from near & far, yummy holiday food, gathering around the twinkly tree, decking the halls, seeing the Nutcracker ballet, visiting the epicly lit Gingerbread House, listening to Christmas music 24/7, watching dozens of holiday movies we love on repeat, remembering the "Christ" part of "Christmas", and so much more! I have been documenting our Christmas festivities in a unique album for the past 13 years and love creating different sizes and styles! Today I want to revisit my December Daily albums from 2012-2024 with links to more info about each of them.

Here is a collage of all 13 December Daily albums thus far:

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2012: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post
This album is 6" square chipboard pieces painted white and then on the cover I cut out a "12" so you can see through to the next page which I covered with an assortment of embellishments!

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2013: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post / Class
I actually created this album in 2023 since it was the only one missing from my 12 year streak. I used a 4 x 4" sequin album as my base and filled it with an assortment of holiday collections.

These are the 5" square foundation pages I made first so it was easy to drop in my photos from a decade previously. You can learn how to make them all in my class PDF HERE.

I used a mix of Christmas collections and a wide variety of techniques which I wrote out in the instructions available for purchase HERE.

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2014: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post
The 5 x 7" covers are made from white-washed painted wood. I drilled holes in the shape of "25" and then added brads and buttons through to make the large eclectic numbers. The inside pages are a complete smörgåsbord of collections - I think by mixing and matching, they all go together!

I didn't make very many pages/spreads this year, with two tiny tots and trying to work from home my free time was limited but the pages I did manage to make and memories preserved are precious to me!

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2015: YouTube Tutorial / Blog Post
The memories for this year are recorded on cards in a MemoryDex tray! I created the foundation cards for a class with Wilna Furstenberg.

There are over 50 MemoryDex cards to hold our memories from this holiday season! German Christmas markets are the best :)

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2016: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post

This was my first year doing a traditional 6 x 8" album by Ali Edwards with pocket pages. On the front cover I poked holes in the shape of a star and did string art through with gold thread. I loved making this album interactive with tabs, flaps, ribbons, strings, pockets, letters, cut files, and more.

I loved being able to create in a larger format with big photos for an even bigger impact! Of course I still added small photos too :) This was also the first year I sprinkled in QR codes which link to home videos.

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2017: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post / Coptic Bookbinding Class
This album is a 4 x 6" coptic bound book and I painted red candy cane stripes on the wooden covers. One of my favorite parts of this album is the sound it makes - I tied jingle bells into the binding so it makes super festive jingles and jangles as it's being handled!

This is actually the first (and only!) coptic book I've ever filled up! All the other ones are just pretty decorations on my shelf. So that's why I really treasure this scrapbook, it's one-of-a-kind! This was our first Christmas back in the United States after living in Germany for 4 years so it's also a particularly memorable year being reunited with family.

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2018: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post / Cut Files
This was the year we moved to Colorado and it was also the year I made many shaped albums and did lots of hand stitching so I combined those two techniques to make an embroidered Christmas-tree shaped album approximately 6 x 8" in size.

I spent about 3 days making tree-shaped foundation pages with all kinds of fun techniques (fringe, pocket pages, string art, cut files, hand and machine stitching, and more!) and then easily popped my pics on the pages.

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2019: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post / Cut Files
This album is 4 x 8" in size (which is a traditional Traveler's Notebook size) with paper wrapped chipboard covers and it heavily features my first ever Christmas bundle of Cut Files!Here are the Cut Files I featured:

I used a mix of all of my collections with Pink Paislee as well as other Christmas collections to make this a bright & colorful & eclectic album. It took a long time to back each and every cut file (I used 39 of them!) but once that was done the rest came together quickly with our photos and minimal embellishments to let the cut files shine!
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2020: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post / Cut FilesThis was the second year I did a bundle of 25 Christmas Cut Files and once again I wanted to feature them, only sized to 6" instead of 8". The covers are paper wrapped 6" square pieces of chipboard and then I cut around the baubles on the edges.

Here are the Cut Files I featured: 

This album is basically a repeat of the previous year, just a slightly smaller size and different photos! I used a mix of all of my collections with Pink Paislee as well as my first collection under the American Crafts brand called Go the Scenic Route, along with other Christmas collections. Once again it took a long time to back each and every cut file (I used 38 of them!) but once that was done the rest came together quickly with our photos and minimal embellishments to let the cut files be the main feature.

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2021: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post / Cut Files
After 4 years of smaller albums I was itching to make a bigger scrapbook again so I handmade a 7.25 x 9" album. This December Daily features my 3rd year of 25 Christmas Cut Files and texture in the form of a hand embroidered cover (yes, I hand stitched each and every square inch!), ribbon stitched to every page, a totally chunky charm, and lots of bits sticking out everywhere.

You can read all about how I created this embroidered cover in THIS blog post.

Here are the Cut Files I featured:

Once I had the cover finished I die cut all of my 25 Christmas Cut Files for 2021 to fit a 7.25 x 9" patterned paper page and backed them all which took about a week. And just like the two previous years I used a mix of my collections and other Christmas collections to fill it up!

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2022: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post / Cut Files
Still in my stitching era, I embroidered another December Daily cover, only this time a 6" circle. I didn't do a new cut file bundle for this year, but I did end up making a few Round Cut Files specifically for this album.

I find that making foundation pages first gives me the most joy and helps me finish these albums in a timely manner :) Here are the (25) 6" round pages I made for my December Daily 2022:

And then I simply added my photos and journaling and a few embellishments! I didn't use any of my own collections for this album - just a mix of other brands of Christmas collections which I listed out in the Blog Post. I love how it turned out :) I always do!!!

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2023: YouTube Flip Through / Blog Post / Class
This was the first year I had my very own Christmas collection with American Crafts called Sugarplum Wishes including a large binder sized to
7 x 8½” with a 3½” spine - the biggest spine on the market last year! All the more space for holding even more memories :)

I created the foundation pages for this December Daily and turned it into a kit & class - the kit sold out but you can still find some of Sugarplum Wishes at Scrapbook.com and A Cherry on Top and then purchase the class HERE to learn how to make all the pages! I loved using a mix of traditional pocket pages along with out-of-pocket techniques to create interesting flips, flaps, pockets, and more!

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2024: YouTube Flip Through - Before the Photos / Class
Which brings us to this year - 2024!

I had planned to create my album in a big Christmas-tree shaped sequin binder that Gi DeMello and I collaborated on, but I simply ran out of time and had no mojo for several reasons: my headaches are back (my testosterone levels are low again but I can't get a new pellet until January), I put all my time & energy and heart & soul into my Fall Kit & Class and then the Christmas season crept up on me way too fast (I simply didn't plan ahead which is my fault), the primary bathroom reno has really put a damper on my spirits (it was supposed to be done before Thanksgiving and a lot of things have gone wrong and it makes so much dust/mess!), and in the back of my head I knew I had this 4 x 4" album that I made last year already done and awaiting photos. Simple is better than nothing so this is the route I'm going: another 4 x 4" sequin album like my 2013 December Daily using Sugarplum Wishes!

I will edit and print my photos and then pop them in along with journaling and additional embellishments. Done and done! Next year I plan to plan better lol and hope to have another Christmas collection to create another fun kit & class. I'm not usually so unorganized, but it is what it is this year!

I will share my finished 2024 album when it's done!

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Thank you so much for traveling down memory lane with me! After spending the past couple days reviewing all our past Decembers through these super special scrapbooks, I'm feeling more in the Christmas spirit than ever :) So, note to self, next year to help me feel more Christmasy, simply look through my past December Daily albums!! Happy holidays scrappy friends!

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Merry Christmas Wreath Layout by Monique Lowe

Merry Christmas Eve scrappy friends! Monique Lowe here this festive morning sharing a cheerful layout created with Paige’s Sugarplum Wishes collection and two of her cut files: Merry Christmas Wreath along with a lovely little Christmas Tree (all supplies are linked at the end).

To start, I cut the Merry Christmas Wreath from plain white cardstock and backed all the sweet and festive images with Paper 12 as well as a variety of papers from the 6x8 Paper Pad. I used Paper 10 to cut the Christmas Tree and curled up the edges of each segment to add a bit of dimension. I also backed the cut file with Paper 8, which allowed a little glimpse of this darker green to peek through. I selected the pink striped Paper 11 for my background and painted a circle of white gesso behind the wreath. I added white and gold paint splatters and, once my mixed media was dry, adhered the wreath in place. I used foam tape to elevate the Christmas Tree and matted my photo with Paper 5 and Paper 8, tucking it beside the tree along with an adorable Santa Paper Clip. To finish off my layout, I embellished the wreath using Foam Stickers, icons and a tab from the Sticker Book, and a few glittery gold stars from my stash. Thank you for stopping by today! Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and lots of happy, creative moments this festive season!

SUPPLIES: Patterned papers, stickers, die cuts, embellishments: SUGARPLUM WISHES; white cardstock; gesso; Cut files: Merry Christmas Wreath and Christmas Tree by Paige Evans

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Folded Paper Strips Christmas Tree Layout by Paige Evans

I made a layout (WITH A PROCESS VIDEO!) just for fun using my Sugarplum Wishes collection! I love patterned papers and I love repetition and this layout features those two very things :)

I was inspired to create this full 12x12 layout based on a smaller version I made last year for my December Daily 2013:

Check out the process video to see how this page came together:

My tree uses about 125 folded patterned paper strips. To make them I cut three or four 3x1/2" strips from all 12 patterned papers (front & back) plus extras from the different patterns of the tags printed on Paper 1, some of the cards in the Boxed Cards with patterns that don't appear anywhere else in the collection, and from 17 papers from the 6x8 Paper Pad (all but the first tags paper). I folded all the strips in half and glued them together. I ended up with a lot of extras so to save time maybe only cut 2 strips from every paper.

I created a faux winter scene with hills made of white cardstock and silver glitter paper and then started to build my tree beginning with the very bottom and top pieces. From there I worked my way down tucking folded paper strips up underneath each other until I had a big and beautiful tree!

After that came photos tucked under the right side of the tree, a sprinkling of snowflakes (from the foam stickers, cardstock stickers, and sticker book) across the top, and presents, houses & cute icons to complete the wintery scene!

Here are two more ideas using folded patterned paper trees which I'd love to try in a 12x12 format:

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a very merry Christmas!!

SUPPLIES: Patterned papers, stickers, die cuts, enamel dots: SUGARPLUM WISHES; white cardstock

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