News + new project = Dec 8th

Santa Frame

By: Angie H

Instructions:

1. Cover basic frame with flocked Santa hat patterned paper.

2. Accessorize with epoxy stickers, die cuts, and various santa-themed embellishments.

3. Add photo with Santa and display for the holidays or give to the grandparents!

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In the news for GCD

This week there are a few give aways you should know about.

1) 2 sketches 4 you

They are having a Christmas celebration and we are sponsoring the gift.Here are two lovely cards their DT made

Kathy

Sankari

2) Here at GCD- we are also giving away the Christmas Sleigh collection and you have until Friday to leave a comment for it.

3) At my personal blog... Heidi Sonboul... I'm also doing a give away with GCD products and you have until next monday to leave a comment

Needless to say, there are lots of fun give aways... for everyone to enter! WOOT!_________________________________________________________

Product Tester: Heidi Mattessich

Heidi's bio:

My name is Heidi. I live in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA which is on the coast between the South Bay Beaches (Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo) and Long Beach. I am a married Mom of 3 beautiful girls (ages 2, 5 and 7). About 9 years ago we received a scrapbook for our wedding. This inspired me to create my own scrapbook of our honeymoon. That was when my love of scrapbooking started. My passion really took off upon the birth of my 1st daughter and has been growing since then. Now I find some way to incorporate scrapbooking into every day. I subscribe to some magazines, follow many blogs, maintain my own site and either work on or plan my own projects daily.

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Back in October our guest designer NANCY HOLLEY, created this adorable card. Do you remember it?

Lucky us... She has provided a video for us, on how to make it

Thanks Angie, Heidi and Nancy for making this a fun post!

~H

Welcome December's Guest Design artist

Good Morning
It's raining here in California and lol I had to walk Bradley to school in it... with one umbrella and all 3 of us under it! About half way there, I gave it to the boys to share and I walked in the rain. Oh the things we do for our kid-os.

The count down continues, but for today we are going to welcome our December Guest Design Artist. Please Welcome...


Gina Hanson

My name is Gina Hanson, I live in South Eastern Washington with my husband Joe, we just celebrated out 16th Wedding Anniversary. I am a SAHM to our two children, Kaitie (14) and Jakob (10). I discovered this amazing hobby almost thirteen years ago when my daughter was just about two years old. My sister dragged me to a party and ever since then I've been hooked, although my style has most certainly evolved from the days of heart and star shaped photos! I'm so thankful that I found this amazing hobby, I'm able to hold onto memories and special moments that would otherwise soon become packed in a box and stored in a corner.



Over the past few years, I have been lucky enough to have had numerous layouts, cards and projects published in scrapbooking magazines and idea books. I also have a passion for photography and very rarely can be found without my camera. I enjoy capturing our everyday life through my lens. I've always had a hard time defining my style, it seems to be whatever the mood of what layout I'm working on and of course the products. I try not to limit myself to one particular style nor could I describe it with just one word. It's always evolving, some layouts are simple and others are more complex. Clean and simple with a "kick" does ring a bell though! :)


Welcome Gina! We are so excited to have you with us this month :) aren't her card beautiful?!

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This weeks Give away:
One pad of our Christmas Sleigh Collection


Pattern paper, Cardstock & Lace paper


All this month our girls have been working with this collection and have created many amazing projects that I can't wait to share!
Leave a comment and on Friday (Dec. 11th) I will pick one lucky winner to receive this same fun collection :)

Happy Monday everyone
~H

Setting the table

At Christmas time, I love getting together with family and eating a nice dinner. I'm so excited to share Lori's ideas, for setting the perfect Christmas table!

The Perfect Table

By: Lori R

I ended up creating a whole place setting. The plate is sitting on a piece of the scalloped paper. To create a "place mat" I layered the clear sheet over the patterned paper and cut around the edges. The napkin holder is one of the die cuts from the Christmas Sleigh collection. I also added buttons around the charger plate to add texture and more color.

I choose to use 1 1/4 inch squares, to create these trees and the trees are sprinkled with dazzling diamonds. The squares were pinched in the middle and glued on at the tip, to the tree. It's the same technique as the "tissue paper school projects", we made back in the 2nd grade :)

The trees are arranged on a piece of the scalloped paper from the Christmas Sleigh collection, on a crystal cake plate. I placed a wreath around the bottom of the cake plate to jazz up the ensemble.

I embellished with a bird, a few small flower, and a ribbon.

Then to finish the Christmas winter look, I hung snowflakes from the middle of the table (adding a focal point).

Heidi's Thoughts:
Do you do a big Christmas Dinner? Are you planning on setting your tables with decorations, matching this season? We'd love to see pictures. Feel free to share here.
~H

Winner and a count down

The winner of the Scarlet lime collection is:

Rbarakat said...
What I'm excited about December is everyone will be home for the holidays!!! NO school, errands appointments, good food,music and fellowship!Ummm fabulous lo's ladies! WHo wouldn't love a little scarlet lime!!!
December 2, 2009 12:22 PM

Congrats girl! Send me your info at hsonboul@gcdstudios.com Subject line "Scarlet lime kit"

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Christmas Countdown

By Grace Tolman

When I was given the assignment to make a countdown calendar I was a little bit scared. I've never made a countdown calendar before and with all the cute and fun ways this idea has been done before, I didn't have any others that would be fresh and exciting. But after browsing through my favorite stores I got the idea to make a countdown bucket.

I got the bucket from the dollar spot at Target, then I headed to my local dollar store where I purchased the Popsicle sticks, moss and flower foam. I cut out the many wonderful pattern papers from our Christmas collection into circles, matted them with the designs' coordinating solid colors and cut it out with a scallop scissors. I added colors and designs to the bucket with some GCD studios ribbon and white gross grain ribbon. I love that GCD studios ribbon are self adhesive. It took out the work on me trying to get that adhered to the bucket. I also added a journaling block (also from the collection) as my title block and placed that in the middle of the bucket.
I added glittered numbers from the collection, as well as a red one from a separate glitter alpha pack. When I did my research on advent calendars and countdown projects, I found that most of them were about storing little presents and in most cases, candies in each number. While that idea seems fun, I didn't want my children to equate Christmas too much with the candies and gifts as opposed to Christmas being the season for giving and serving.


So I picked 12 things that we can do to show our love for our family and opportunities we can give service to our friends. Below are the 12 things I picked for us to do....

12. Make cookies to give to our friends
11. Send out our Christmas cards to family and friends
10. Write our letters to Santa
9. Pick a movie to watch together and eat some popcorn too.
8. Make ornaments to add to our Christmas tree
7. Go through out toys and see which ones we can donate to our local Goodwill.
6. Call our cousins out of state to wish them a Merry Christmas
5. Bring Cookies to our friends' house.
4. Visit our temple and see the Christmas lights displayed.
3. Pass out Christmas cards and cookies to our neighbors
2. Sing some Christmas carols.
1. Read the nativity story from the Bible.



To add these things to each of my numbered sticks, I printed my list on cardstock, trimmed it and wrapped it around each stick, then tied an embroidery floss around it. I love that this project was both easy and meaningful to me. I can't wait for my family and I to start feeling the meaning of this Holiday while we do our Christmas countdown.

Heidi's thoughts:
Isn't this just adorable??! This whole project is under $10 to make and it would be fun to make with little ones.
Starting on the 16th of Dec... we start the count down. We hope you find the time to make this or something close to it ;)
Thanks GRACE!
~H

You gotta love a give set

First up... today is the last day to enter in the Scarlet Lime Give Away... so hurry if you haven't :) and now...

Christmas Gift Set

By Krista R.

I decorated a wooden CD box with the Patterned Paper to hold all of my little gifts. It's nice because the recipient of the gift can use the CD holder for many different ideas.

This picture shows a card and a Ghiradelli Chocolate bar all wrapped up-because who doesn't love Chocolate???

This picture shows a mini gift card set wrapped up in a glassine bag that I also decorated. I thought the recipient of this gift might be able to use these cards as Christmas thank you's

This picture shows a Christmas candle that I decorated along with some bath fizzies that I placed into a glassine bag that I decorated to coordinate with everything else. I thought this would make a really cute gift for a teacher, a friendly co worker, or a friendly neighbor

Hold onto those gift cards Ladies...

1st... Don't foget to enter our Scarlet Lime Give Away :)

2nd... Over at Amber's blog she is hosting a GCD give away until tomorrow.
Make sure you check it out!

3rd... Todays post:

Our DT has been hard at work this past 3 week, creating fun new ideas. If you are a "gift card giver" for Christmas... then we have the perfect idea for you!

Gift Card Box
By Nancy Doren

I’m always looking for a thoughtful way to give gift cards. This box can be used as a present to the whole family... fill it with one gift card for each family member, or with a variety of gift cards picked out for one special person!

1)

Measure your box and cut two lengths of 12” cardstock to a slightly smaller height. For example, my box is 4” long, so I cut my cardstock strips 3 ½” high.

2)

Score your cardstock at intervals slightly smaller than the width of the box. For example, my box is 3” wide, so I scored my cardstock at 2 ½” intervals. Fold in a mountain/valley pattern. Adhere the last panel of one piece to the first panel of the other piece, so you have one very long strip of folded cardstock.

3)
Cut and adhere patterned paper into one long strip the same length as your cardstock strip. Sew patterned paper together down the middle.


4)
Next, sew the patterned paper strip to the cardstock strip at each fold.

5)

Using foam tape, adhere the first panel of the cardstock strip to the bottom of the box.
6)
Adhere the last panel of the cardstock strip to the inside of the box lid.

7)

Embellish the box as desired and fill with gift cards!

Supplies:

GCD Studios Christmas Sleigh paper, Christmas Sleigh Transparency, Lustrous Limes epoxy sticker. Other: paper mache box, cardstock, felt flower.

Isn't this the BEST idea???!!! This could be a fun idea for personalized stationary and pens :)Thanks Nancy!

~H

News+Give Away+Daily Project=Dec 2nd

News + Give Away:

This month over at The Scarlet Lime Kit Club, you can find our new Artsy Urban collection among the papers and embellishments.

I spoke to Christy and she gladly gave us one of her kits for a GIVE AWAY this week!

Wasn't that so nice of her?! AND isn't this kit GORGEOUS!

Here are two layout by her contributing December Team.
Valerie Salmon:
Emeline Seet:

How can you win this lovely kit? easy...just

1. You must be a blog follower to qualify (our google follower group over to the left)
2. Leave a comment between now and Sunday Dec 7th...
3. Subject: "what I'm excited about this December is..."
4. and one lucky girl at random will be picked

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Dec 2nd project:

Christmas is all about...

Christ, family, food, gifts, giving and CHRISTMAS CARDS!

Just about everyone sends out a "family Christmas card"... with a sweet family photo tucked inside. Why do we do this??? It's a fun update of our family...right?!

Most of the time "we scrappers", scrap Christmas morning photos and being with family & friend, but we often forget to scrap about our "Christmas card photos".

Tips:

1. This year take the time to scrap your Christmas card photos.
2. Tell the story behind it.
3. Was it an easy photo to come by?
4. or a hard photo to come by?
5. Did you match every ones clothes?

It's these little moments that are easy forgotten and should be documented.

Layouts by Brenda H

Hello December!

We at GCD Studios are so EXCITED about this next 25 days! The days will be filled with fun ideas from myself and our DT gals. Today, we start by decorating our doors:

Christmas Wreath

(featuring GCD Studios Christmas Sleigh Collection)
By Lynn Ghahary

Supplies:

· GCD Studios Christmas Sleigh Collection
· Various buttons, jewels, etc
· Cricut Expression
· Accent Essentials Cartridge (or template and scissors)
· Various circle punches
· 14” Foam Floral Ring
· T-Pins/Dressmaker’s Pins
· Dimensional Adhesive
· Glue Gun (or other strong adhesive)

Instructions:

NOTE: I used my Cricut Expression and Accent Essentials Cartridge to cut various size poinsettias ranging from 1.5” up to 4” large. Each poinsettia consists of two layers of which the bottom layer is ½ inch larger than the top layer. If you are using the template provided to cut your flowers you will need to adjust the size accordingly.

1. Cut poinsettia layers using the Accent Essentials Cartridge (or template) along with 3 circles in the same pattern. Circles should be large enough to cover the center portion of each flower layer.

2. Turn bottom layer over and adhere punched circle as shown.

3. Pinch edges of petals upwards and add dimensional adhesive to center.

4. Follow steps 1-3 for top layer and adhere to bottom layer as shown.

5. Pin flowers to foam wreath and cover pin head with additional punched circle.
Continue to fill in with various size flowers in different patterns until wreath looks full. Hot glue buttons and/or other gems to flower centers once your wreath is complete.

The longest post ever!

Hey everyone :)
Starting Dec 1st... tomorrow... we will be celebrating the 25 days of Christmas and we will have a few Hanukkah and Kwanzaa ideas as well :)

This post has got to be the loooooooooooooooongest post ever! It's filled with 3 spot light gals and "projects" created by past winners, of give aways. So, get ready... paper ideas are coming your way!


1st up... SPOT LIGHT GAL...
Kim Dellow
Hi, my name is Kim and I am a UK based crafter living in London. I love all things crafty from sewing to papercrafts. The cardmaking bug hit me in 2007 and I just love trying out all the different techniques and playing with paper and colour. Papercrafts is such a wonderful hobby and you get to 'e-meet' so many wonderful and talented crafters. I'm really lucky and have been publishing some of my makes after winning Papercrafter of the Year 2008 with the UK Magazine Papercraft Essentials.

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2nd SPOT LIGHT GAL...

Gudrun Loennecken

My name is Gudrun Loennecken
I live in Oslo, the capital of Norway.
Married to the kindest husband. We have 4 kids, age 6 - 13

I have always been passionate about beautiful paper, art, photography, colors, painting ... and I have been scrapbooking since my first son was born 13 year ago.
Or, well.. I have actually made cute little albums ever since my early school-days. I love to create, to make stuff, and beautiful paper have always been one of my hangups.

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3rd and last SPOT LIGHT GAL :)

Michele Brooks

My name is Michele Brooks and I enjoy designing graphics, scrapbooking, and playing softball.

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and now... all the blog winner that used their goodies

Lydia Siegel

Heidi Mansion

Kim Holmes

MICHELLE GALLOWAY

Jill Cornell

Stacey Legg

Deana Boston

Michelle Roycroft

Lucy Edson

Julie Ranae

Andrea Amu

Joli

Melissa Brown

Lisa Foust

I'll see you all back here bright and early :)

Good bye November and hello December!

~H

Winners & News

I received so many entries for the Pam's Challenge. It was fun looking at all the work and seeing how "you all" used her templates. However... there can only be one winner and that person is:

Tracey Taylor

Tracey send me your info and I'll get your $50 in prizes sent to you :)

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Also, there were so many great comments "to be grateful for" on our give away! It was really touching and I was so happy to read everyones thoughts.

our winner is....

Liz Chidester said...
I am so grateful that even though DH has been out of work for a while, he has picked up so much side work that we've been able to stay afloat. So thankful for little blessings like these.
November 25, 2009 2:16 PM

Liz, send me your info at hsonboul@gcdstudios.com and place Thanks Giving Give Away.

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Now... can you believe December starts tomorrow?!

Starting tomorrow we are going to celebrate the 25 day of Christmas. It's going to be 25 days of fun crafts, recipes, and much more!

Get ready to party!

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A little later today... I'm going to post more Product tester and Spot light gal. Oh plus... girls that won in the past... who shared their work with me. It's going to be a great day :)

I have a lot of fun plan and I hope to see you all back here later today.

~H

It's here...

HAPPY THANKS GIVING EVERYONE

(Layout by Brenda)

Fast reminders:

1) The Pam Challenge Layouts are due tomorrow :) I can't wait to see everyone work!

2) don't forget to leave a comment on our give away (yesterdays post)

WOOT 2 GIVE AWAY!

That's right IT'S A GIVE AWAY!!!!

Isn't this turkey soooo CUTE?!

This adorable layout was created by Renee (dt gal) and the stamp is from Unity Stamps

1st give away)

I've talked to their fun stuff and they were willing to sponsor this set as a give away...

Thanks Unity ;)

Link to stamp at Unity

2nd give away)

Renee used our CUTE Vintage Boy paper as well

Leave a comment letting us know "what you are grateful for" and one winner will win "the stamp set" and the other will win "the Vintage boy collection"!

Happy Cooking everyone!

~H

The simple things

The recipe box is out and we are all gearing up for the feast! Here is a layout that speaks the simple truth about Thanks Giving. lol I thought this was very clever of Sherri (DT gal).

You can find out more about this layout here LINK


Our Guest Robyn, made this beautiful, but simple wall hanging. I'm a big fan of holiday decor and this is warm and inviting.

Robyn also made this cute card. I love these owls... which you can find at Unity Stamps. Wouldn't this be cute to send, as an invite for dinner?!!

This layout was created by Brenda (DT gal)

I love the cloud and bird placement, and I love her title. It's the simple joys I'm most grateful for.

Simple Challenge:

This week before you get to busy, take a moment to write down what you are grateful for this coming Holiday. Then give back!

If you are grateful for your family... do something kind for them.

If you are grateful for a home... give to a homeless shelter.

I promise this will get you in the spirit of the holiday's

~H

Please welcome....

Product Tester

Naureen O'Neale

Bio:
My name is Naureen O’Neale, and I live in Orlando, Florida with my husband, and our son. I work full time as an Elementary School Teacher and I spend much of my free time scrapbooking. My husband supports my addiction 100%. I have been scrapping for about 7 years. I started seriously scrapping right after I got married and right when I found out I was pregnant with my son. I also teach classes at my local scrapping store each month, along with designing projects for retail displays.

Heidi's thoughts:

I love Naureen uses of pattern paper and how she mixes them together. I also love how much colors is used! Great work girl.

~H

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Diana Fisher said...
The samples today are amazing!! I love those cards!

*charygirl said...
I just love Melody Ross' style!Those tags are wonderful!

KateB said...
gorgeous! and for those of ya'll who are looking for it at Michaels, it is only being carried at those Michaels that are SUPER stores (the huge ones) which sucks...I know this since I went to Michaels 5 times before I was told this.

CONGRATS GIRLS... send me your info at hsonboul@gcdstudio.com

please place "Artsy Urban tag winner" in the subject line.

She Sprouted wings....

I love these tags and I love the vintage quality of them!
This fun pack of tags is from our new Artsy Urban collection


Here are 3 beautiful projects made using them:

This layout was created by Laura (over at a Kiss on the Chic) and if you remember... She is the first kit club to carry Artsy Urban for the month of November.

Kit link

For Laura's layout, she cut out the butterfly and used pop dots to create an embellishment, among flowers.

About two weeks ago, I received these two beautiful cards... using the same tag from our DT gals :) Isn't it to die for?! I just love this "She Sprouted Wings"!

Card by: Beatriz

Card by: Jenyfur

Leave a comments and tomorrow I will pick 3 lucky gals at random...who will win these gorgeous tags.

~H

PS

If you are waiting for me to respond to your emails... I'll be getting to my emails later today. Our car battery die yesterday and lol it put me behind... a lot! oh life... isn't it fun?!

The winner is....

At random our Christmas Sleigh winner is....

Handmade Creations by Stephanie said...
Love this collection!!

CONGRATS! Stephanie, send me your info at Hsonboul@gcdstudios.com and please Christmas Sleigh winner in the subject line :)

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REMINDER....
Don't forget about the Pam challenge. To find out more... click on the link to the left :)

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today's fun creations are


Layout and card by: Robyn... our Nov Guest Design artist :)
Layout by Estee

Leave a comment :)

Okay I'm done for today... ya know... posting about our spot light gals :) Fun day!

Anyways, Leave a comment and I'll pick a winner on Monday. Oh... remember to leave some love for our spot light gals :)

Have a great night

~H

Elle Sosnoski

Ellen's blog

"When I got the Chianti papers, I instantly knew I wanted to make something altered with it and that is when I made the Fortune Cookies and Take Out Container. It was right around Valentines Day and it was perfect timing. I also did a tutorial on how to make them and posted it on the blog."

Bio:
hi, i'm ellen. i love to have fun & am a passionate person, especially when it comes to what i love; family, friends, dogs, and paper ;)

Heidi's thoughts:
YOU have to go and visit this girls blog!!!! She makes the BEST altered items and has inspired me in fun new ways! She... for sure.... has fun skills!

Grace Ma

Grace's blog

Bio:

"I'm Grace Ma from Singapore! I'm a stay-at-home mum to two little tykes aged 5 and 3 years, a freelance writer, and a scrapper with whatever left over time I have. My idea of winding down is creating a layout or a handmade gift for a friend. I don't really have a particular style, but I've a penchant for browns, reds and oranges so they tend to show up in my creations. Some days when I'm on a roll, I can scrap or make stuff until 2am! My husband thinks I'm crazy to sacrifice sleep but he's still awfully sweet and supportive of my hobby. I also love to take pictures, especially of my travels and children, with my Canon EOS 350D - a second-hand purchase that I consider my best investment to date! So, photography+scrapping = a happy me =) I'm thankful that I can capture the moments I spend with my family and friends and enjoy every minute of it."

Heidi's thoughts:

I love that Grace has a clean layering style! It allow you to enjoy everything... without overload!

It's such lovely work :)

Melita Chow

Melita's blog

Bio:

I am a SAHM with two wonderful kids and a very supportive husband of 11 years. I have been scrapping for almost 4 years now and grow to love this wonderful hobby more and more each day. I love all the different elements in scrapping: the paper, the embellishments, and the tools. It amazes me how much talent everyone has and I am so blessed to have discovered something that brings me so much joy! I am also so thankful for the opportunities scrapping has provided me. I have made wonderful new friends, gotten to travel a little, and met more than a few "kindred" spirits along the way.

Heidi's Thoughts:
when I read "I scrapbook because it keeps me sane and feeds my soul" I totally agreed!! You can see the peace through Melita work. I love this Heritage and serenity layout! such beautiful work!
Thanks for sharing your talent with us Melita :)

Pamela Young

Bio:

Hello! My name is Pamela Young, and I absolutely LOVE scrapbooking. It is a way of life for me. :) It is my therapy and my peace. I have been scrapbooking for about 8 years and card-making for 7 years. I have just added altering and digital/hybrid scrapbooking to what I do this past year. My style keeps evolving. I love to try new things. I also tend to stick with my favorite techniques and designs. If I find something I love, I tend to use it a lot. :) I have been published in several different magazines (Cards, Creating Keepsakes, Memory Makers, Scrapbooks and Cards Today, Scrapbooks Etc, and Scrapbook Trends). I keep an updated blog at http://pamelasworldofscrap.blogspot.com/.
I am currently living in Colorado, and I am a SAHM to two wild boys, ages 6 and 4, and a baby girl (almost 5 months old). They grow up so fast. I am enjoying life right now, even though it can get a bit chaotic. J I am so thankful that I scrapbook and will be able to look back over these days. I have a wonderful husband who is supportive of my scrapbook obsession. We have been married for 9 years. Family plays a big part in my life.

Heidi's thoughts:

First of all... I love the stitching Pamela did on her layout. SO PRETTY! and 2nd... what cute and fun altered items :) I love the way Pamela used our pattern papers and wasn't afraid to mix with other items :) Great job Pamela!

Tracey Taylor

Tracey's blog

Bio:

I am a French teacher by profession who has recently embarked on a new career as a stay at home Mom. Scrapbooking is not only a hobby, by a way to keep me contected to my old life. I teach scrapbooking classes in person (local crops) and online. I am also sometimes a student enjoying photography classes by Kathy Thompson and Jessica Sprague. Learning truly is a life long process and I enjoy every minute of it whether I'm the one who is learning or the one guiding it.


Heidi's thoughts:
When I look at Tracey's work... one word comes to mind... elegant :) I love the soft colors she uses and how "light and air like" it is :) just beautiful!

Lisa Warren

Lisa's blog

Bio:

Hi, I'm Lisa Warren. I live in Australia with my husband/bff Andrew, our two fun-loving kids, Seth (5) & Emeline (3) and our scruffy pup Marley. I have been scrapbooking for 5 years and I just love it...I try to scrapbook everyday. I like to have fun with my scrapbooking and I’m not afraid to try new things. One thing you'll notice from my layouts is that I always include lots of patterns and dimension. I love using patterned backgrounds and I also like to use lots of layers... I'm a wife and mother, trying to fit in everything life has to offer and scrapbooking all the details :)

Heidi's thoughts:

I just love looking at Lisa's work. I can tell how much she loves this hobby... by the way she places her photos and color choices. There is a lot of thought put into each amazing layout :)

Gina Hanson

Gina's blog

Bio:

My name is Gina Hanson, I live in South Eastern Washington with my husband Joe, we've been married for 15 years. I am a SAHM to our two children, Kaitie (14) and Jakob (9). I discovered this amazing hobby almost twelve years ago when my daughter was just about two years old. My sister dragged me to a party and ever since then I've been hooked, although my style has most certainly evolved from the days of heart and star shaped photos! I'm so thankful that I found this hobby, I'm able to hold onto memories and special moments that would otherwise soon become packed in a box and stored in a corner. Over the past few years, I have been lucky enough to have had numerous layouts, cards and projects published in scrapbooking magazines and idea books. I also have a passion for photography and very rarely can be found without my camera. I enjoy capturing our everyday life through my lens. I've always had a hard time defining my style, it seems to be whatever the mood of what layout I'm working on and of course the products. I try not to limit myself to one particular style nor could I describe it with just one word. It's always evolving, some layouts are simple and others are more complex. Clean and simple with a "kick" does ring a bell though! :)

Heidi thoughts:

I just loved these 3 layouts and all the clean beautiful lines. Gina is one VERY talented gal and her work shows it!

Kim Arnold

Good day everyone,

Today our blog will be celebrating all of our talented Spot light Gals! woot! So, lets get this party started. First up is Kim Arnold...

Kim's blog

Bio:

My name is Kim Arnold. I live in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia with my husband Gary and my son Benson. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I am a friendly, happy, easy-going and loyal person who gets along with nearly everyone. I started scrapbooking nearly 4 years ago when my son was born. Before I started scrapping I was a quilter and could never understand the passion for scrapbooking – now 4 years on and I am obsessed! I LOVE patterned papers and combining them to create my own little pieces of art. Scrapbooking to me is a wonderful combination of creative release and memory recording. I do something scrapbook related everyday.



Scrapbooking is my passion. My style involves layered papers and embellishments, with interesting details, whilst maintaining a focus on the photo and the story. I am also a keen amateur photographer and this assists me with both photos to scrap and photographing my layouts, cards and off the page items.

Heidi Thoughts: You all need to check out Kim's latest work! It is so wonderful and it has filled my mind with fun new ideas. Thanks Kim ... I loved this layout :)

Spot Light Day

This past month I got behind on posting... about our very talented "spot light gals". Which makes me sad! We have been very busy getting stuff ready for CHA and much more. So, to solve this issue...

Come back tomorrow for a fun day of spot lights... being shown on 12 girls! that's right 12!

It will be a fun day and there will be a give away of our NEW Christmas collection... Christmas Sleigh :) Hint... the winner will be one of the first to get it in scrappyland! WOOT!

I'll see you all tomorrow

Happy Veteran's Day :)

What am I grateful for this day? Our Freedom and those that fight for it daily!
Today is Veteran's Day, as most of you know, and I love to spend this day saying "thank you", to those that have served our country :)

I hope and encourage you all, to take a moment and say "Thank you", to those men and women that keep us safe in this beautiful land we call home





Card by: Lynn

"Give Thanks" cardSize: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4GCD Studios supplies used:#163 Rich Boquet/Loverly CollectionOther supplies used:Cardstock: Bazzill BasicsButton: Craft SupplyRibbon: Cosmo CricketHemp: Stampin' Up!Thread: Coats & ClarkStickers: Making MemoriesStamps: Unity Stamp CompanyInk: ColorboxPunch: Fiskars

Project Time With Grace T

This morning when I woke up, I had MANY emails with gorgeous photos...filled with beautiful fall photos :)

However, there can only be one winner and that person is... Tracey Taylor!

Why did she win???

I love the bright true colors of the leaves and this sweet little face :) CONGRATS GIRL... Please send me your info at hsonboul@gcdstudios.com and place "fall photo winner" in the subject line.

and now onto Grace's BEAUTIFUL and CREATIVE Thanks Giving idea :) Get ready to be inspired by her! I know I was!

Be Grateful jar, notepad pocket and altered pen:

I love that November always gives us a reason to reflect on the things we are grateful for. Although we should not put off the thanking till this month and make it a habit to be grateful all year long, this month's holiday always gets me going on my "thankful" list.

This year I decided to get my family in on the beauty of gratitude and decided to make this craft to go along with our activity. I want each family member to write something that they're grateful for and we'll all keep it in the jar. I would also want this to be a continuous activity so I will dedicate a space in my home where this can be placed so that when somebody feels the need to document something that they felt blessed about, they can write it down.

Next year around this time, I'll gather my family up again and open up the jar and reread everybody's "grateful" list. I'm sure this will leave us feeling very blessed and humbled. It will also be interesting to know what my kids truly consider as their blessings.

So let's go back to the project....I repurposed an old peach jar and fancied it up with the New Artsy Urban collection. I love the vintage title blocks in the collection and used the one with the "be" on it as part of my title. I added small letter stickers to spell out the "grateful" word and finished it up with some punched out butterflies, border die cuts, papers and ribbon. I also decorated the top. This part was very easy cause I just grabbed one of the layered flower chipboards that is part of the collection as well.

I made pocket from scratch using some of the great papers from the collection. I love that it's double sided, I get more designs from the pack. I added the same ribbon I used on the jar and added another butterfly plus used one of the journaling spots to handwrite a title.To make this a complete set, I added a pen. I made it match with everything else by covering it with the same pattern paper that I've used for the other two projects and finished it off with a punched butterfly as well.


Thanks Grace for this amazing idea and fun way to be grateful this Thanks Giving!

~H

The Joy of Provence

It's another "new week" and fall is truly here. It makes me want to pull out all my Yellow, Orange and red papers, to scrap with. Being that orange is my favorite color... this is a perfect time of year for me :)

Do you love fall colors?

I have a fast and easy challenge for you all today... Do you have a fall photo of trees, outside, or kids playing in leaves???

If you do... Please email me at hsonboul@gcdstudios.com with the photo and

one lucky winner will win our Provence collection!

You have until tonight at (midnight PST), to send me your fall photo to be entered into the GIVE AWAY :)

Here is one of my favorite papers from the collection.

Also... If you have the new issue of Card Trends... you will see this Beautiful card created by Kay Sibley. She also posted about it on her blog here and if you notice... she used the Provence collection :)
We are also lucky to have two more cards created with the Provence collection, from our Nov Guest designer... Robyn.

Make sure you came back tomorrow to see the fall photo winner AND to learn more about this kit club... from a KISS ON THE CHIC :)

Have a great Monday everyone

~H

The winner is

Summer Braxton said...
I'll have to contact Laura bc that kit is stunning. I love all things Artsy Urban so feel free to send that album my way :)
November 3, 2009 11:04 AM

Summer send me your info at hsonboul@gcdstudios.com and place Artsy Urban Album in the subject.

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About 3 weeks ago, I sent Pam Callaghan (a dear friend) our new Artsy Urban Collection and she went to TOWN! In 3 days she created these 3 layouts.

Pam is one talented gal and she has created a FUN new blog :)

She is known for her cool templates there and I have decided to turn it into a challenge.

THE PAM CHALLENGE:

you have 3 weeks to:

1. Head to Pam's blog
2. Pick a Template
3. Scrap with the Template... USING 50% of GCD STUDIOS Product ( I will make a list where you can kind our goods)
4. Turn it in by no later then Nov 27th, to hsonboul@gcdstudios.com and place "Pam's Challenge" in the subject line

Prize:

The winner will recieve $50.00 in GCD Studios Product.

Good luck to everyone :)Links to online stores

Stop and Scrap: http://www.stopandscrap.com/gcd-studios.aspx

Lifetime Moments: http://shop.lifetimemoments.com/merchant.mvc?

A cherry on top: http://www.acherryontop.com/shop/company/gcd_studios