Counting the Days...

There are only 16 more sleeps until Christmas. Yikes! where has the time gone?

We've been counting down the days in our house and this year we'll be counting them down on a blackboard.

This mini-blackboard is a child's toy which I found in a craft store. I've decorated it with the fabulous Eskimo Kisses from Basic Grey. These double-sided papers are simply gorgeous! I love the colours and patterns.

I have to say my snowmen are very much inspired by the fabulous Linda Albrecht who is this month's Guest Designer. She creates such wonderful pieces that she definately inspired my snowman.

Unfortuately the light here is poor so you can't see all the sparkly glitter and glass bauble gems. They really are divine. The little dear is cut out of Dearly paper - I wish I had bought the chip stickers - the little girls and boys would have looked fabulous.

I made a clay birdie to sit on a branch. She is covered in ultra-fine glitter too.

I hope that we've inspired you to create something lovely for Christmas. Remember that there are heaps of lovely new goodies in the store to tempt you.

Merry Christmas!

Morag x

Holiday snowman banner!

Need a project that you can display all winter? Something that is perfect for the WHOLE season? Well, we have something to share with you. This snowman banner made by our December guest designer Linda Albrecht ceratinly fits the bill. It is so SOFT looking and full of so much detail and character. Wow, wow, wow, love it. Love the glitter, the bling, the snowmen, the colors, the mittens, the tinsel, the bling. I love every little detail. I NEED to make one of these, wonder if I can get Linda to draw the snowman faces for me?? :)









Linda used products from the Christmas Magic by Fancy Pants, including these cute rubons. The sparkle comes from Melissa Frances' mica flakes in white. Wondering what the cute mitten banner is? Well, it's a mini book from Maya Road. And the mini chipboard scrolls? Those are by Maya Road too. What wonderful use of products.

Thanks so much Linda, your project is SO inspiring. Want to check out more work by Linda, I sure do!! Here's her blog, tons more inspiration there. The best new of all is that Linda will be back next week, hope you'll come back next week too for even more Christmasy goodness!

~ Dana

December... WOW!

A whole new month here at AllyScraps! Hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving. Here at AllyScraps we have lots to be thankful for. We are super thankful for Morag and Raechelle, two long standing members of our Design Team. Thank you Morag and Rae, thanks for your inspirational designs and for your positive and giving attitudes. You're both the best. :)

December brings us a fresh face here at AllyScraps. I hope that you will help me welcome Linda Albrecht, our December guest designer. Keep an eye out later this week for an amazing project from Linda, and all through the month. Here she is...



"My name is Linda Albrecht and I live in Minnesota. I have 4 wonderful
children (that range in ages from 11 to 27) and one very supportive
husband. For the majority of my life I have been a lover of the creative
arts-- everything from needle work, to painting and paper arts have
fulfilled my need to express my heart and soul as an artist.

After having children I found another purpose to be creative, for it was
then that scrapbooking became the way that I chose to preserve memories
and organize life's many memento's in a beautiful form. My love of
scrapbooking and altered arts turned into a part time career 6 years ago
when I began working for several scrapbook manufacturers.

Currently I do design work for BasicGrey, Art Warehouse and Creative
Cafe, Tattered Angels, and Melissa Frances. My work has been printed in
magazines and idea books throughout my scrapbooking career and I have
taught classes for several events."

~ Dana

Keeping it Simple

I do love to create layers and layers on my projects, but sometimes it really is a case of using a more simple design to get your point across.

When we bumped into one of Lauren's school friends at the park, the girls took the opportunity to play together (they don't normally at school). The best thing was, that her friend liked to pose for the camera!

The Cottage Garden collection by Crate Paper are a wonderful mix of colours and patterns. Of course all the papers are double-sided so double the value! By sticking to a simple design, I could go mad with my flower embellishments. Flowers are one of my staple go-to embellishments when I need something pretty.

I love to add a little sugar-coating to my flowers using a Snow Writer and ultra-fine gltter. I just adore the way they sparkle. Don't forget to add some leaves to your cluster of flowers as this really helps to bring them altogether.

Why not pop into the Ally Scraps store - I spied the lovely Very Merry collection from October Afternoon *Swoon* and fabulous vintage embellishments from Melissa Frances (I need one of these Christmas Trees). There are more vintage findings from Graphic 45, Craft Secrets and gorgeous Christmas papers from Websters Pages. I hope that Santa leaves some in my stocking!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Morag x

Cookies gift book

My daughter Skylar loves to bake, and cookies are one of her favorites, so I created this little 'Cookies' booklet for her to record her favorite Christmas cookie recipes. I used the American Crafts Merriment Collection papers and stamp set and finished with some American Crafts Thickers which I sugar coated with a bit of clear embossing powder and clear glitter. It's double-sided so I added ties to both sides to hold it closed when not in use. She loves it and she can always add more pages as her collection grows.

here is the main inside:

here is the back "inside:"

Thanks for stopping by! We at Ally Scraps wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Take care,

Rae