Hey Santa.

We hope you had an amazing Christmas at your house! We did, and we're enjoying the week off school mostly in our pjs. :) Now that Christmas is over, it's not too early to start memory keeping. I find that while I'm still in the Christmas mood, layouts with a Christmas theme are easier to get started. So, why not give it a try?? Kelly Goree's adorable Hey, Santa layout should be a great jumping off place. I love the way she did the title, and the pictures are at such a fun angle. You can use her page set-up or her title or her overall design to get you started.




Supplies
October Afternoon Very Merry Papers
Fill the Stockings
Sing the Carols
Wrap the Presents
October Afternoon Very Merry Stickers, more stickers
October Afternoon Fly a Kite Stickers
Pink Paislee Chipboard alphabet
Other: cream and red cardstock, chalk ink, scallop border punch & snowflake punch, stickles

Thanks so much Kelly, we love your amazing layouts. Check out Kelly's blog for even more inspiration all year long! I'll be back soon with another beautiful project from Morag Cutts... and maybe I'll even get some scrapping done soon! Dana

Snow Wonder

Morag Cutts is back again with this adorable layout based on the AllyScraps December contest sketch. Love Morag's take on the sketch, isn't that snowflake border the absolute cutest?? :) Morag used the Echo Park Wintertime Collection, such beautiful paper and embellishments.





Here is our December contest sketch by Debbie Gaydos.



The prize for our contest this month is an awesome $20 gift certificate to the AllyScraps online store. Love prizes where you get to choose your own scrappy stuff.



Of course, there are a few rules for our sketch contest. Make your own layout using Debbie's awesome sketch as inspiration. You can flip it, turn it, mirror image it... just use the sketch to inspire your layout. Finish your project and e-mail the image (less than 500 kb please)to us by Wednesday, December 29th at midnight Eastern time. (A little extra time, since December is a busy month.) We will choose a winner soon after. Send your layout to allyscraps@gmail.com. Have fun and good luck.

Thanks Morag, love your layout. Check out Morag's blog for even more scrappy goodness.

From all of us at AllyScraps, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year! See you soon. Dana and Cathy

The Christmas Squirrel - a mini book.

Kelly Goree is back, with this adorable Maya Road mini book project. A Christmas tree that tells a story. The story of her family and the Christmas Squirrel. It's SO cute, and I love the memory that it preserves, a memory of several years.










Maya Road Christmas Tree Album
Echo Park Everybody Loves Christmas
Bright Stripes
Christmas Bells
Scallop Stripes
October Afternoon Very Merry Stickers
October Afternoon Alpha Stickers
Stickles - yellow, cotton candy, green, icicle
Other: cardstock, circle punch, scallop border punch, snowflake punch

Thank you so much Kelly for sharing this family mini book with us. Can't wait to see your next project!! Enjoy this crazy week ahead. :) Dana

Wintertime Stocking

We're so happy to have Morag Cutts back on the AllyScraps blog this month. Morag has been a special designer for with for several years, and we're always so happy to have her visit, especially when she brings us beautiful projects like this wintertime stocking.



Instructions
1. Create an stocking template and draw around twice (once in reverse)
2. Carefully stick edges together.
3. Make a pleated rosette using 1" of Red Swirls paper. Concertina fold every 1/10".
4. Top off stocking with striped paper, adding tiny bells to the points.
5. Add fluffy marabou and some candy canes.

Supplies
Echo Park Wintertime Collection:
Snow
Red Swirls
Stripes
Element Stickers

Thanks so much Morag, your stocking is lovely!! Check back over the weekend for a really gorgeous Christmas mini album from Kelly Goree and a beautiful layout from Morag based on Debbie's current sketch. Stay warm! Dana

A big AllyScraps welcome to Kelly Goree!

It's my pleasure to introduce Kelly Goree, a special guest on our blog this month. I have been a fan of Kelly's for years, and it is so nice to fine have her here at AllyScraps. Let's say hello and give a great big welcome to Kelly.




Kelly Goree lives in the beautiful horse country of Kentucky with her husband of 13 years and her three rambunctious boys. She was introduced to scrapbooking in early 2000 just after her oldest son was born and it quickly became a favorite hobby then all-out passion. She'll tell you if she's not out chasing her boys, you can find her scrapping!

Kelly is a full-time staff designer and instructor for BasicGrey where she is a driving force in designing work for classes, trade shows, catalogs, and special events. In 2006 she had the honor of being a Memory Makers Master and has over 500 published works that can been seen in the pages of Creating Keepsakes, Better Homes & Garden's Scrapbooks Etc., Scrapbook Trends, Paper Trends, Scrapbooking & Beyond and other scrapbooking and paper arts publications and books.

Here is Kelly's first project... what an awesome layout! Such a super design which draws your eye right to the photo. Super cute title, fun embellies and love that photo too.




Supplies
Echo Park Everybody Loves Christmas
Bright stripes
Scallop stripes
October Afternoon green alphabet stickers
October Afternoon Very Merry word stickers
October Afternoon Very Merry label stickers
We R Memory Keepers Merry January sewn cardstock
Maya Road Mist hydrangea blue
Other Supplies
Chipboard alphas, Scallop border punch & Circle punch, cardstock, white pen, Tattered Angels mist (marshmallow), Stickles

Thank you so much to Kelly Goree for sharing her awesome layout with us, and for inspiring us all month long! Have a great week, stay warm. Dana