*{Ring in the New Year}*

....with those cozy, fuzzy, still festive Christmas or Holiday memories....and spend New Year's day doing something for yourself and be scrappy.....scrap about your new resolutions, something you loved this holiday season....or make a mini album full of what you did this holiday, like I did....I used the Cover 2 Cover Easel Album.....you can do a lot with this album.....go crazy...use your creativity to it's fullest, I made some pockets, used double sided papers....let it all hang out and made it my own....let's see what you can do! (the store opens back up on Jan 2nd *hint-hint*)

::KWANZAA::

Kwanzaa is a unique African American celebration with focus on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. Kwanzaa is neither political nor religious and despite some misconceptions, is not a substitute for Christmas. It is simply a time of reaffirming African-American people, their ancestors and culture.

Here is my project using the Midnight Oil Perfectly Shaped Build A Book shaped chipboard and a Clearly Designed Show Off panel for the front cover--

Kwanzaa is based on the Nguzo Saba (seven guiding principles), one for each day of the observance, and is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st.

Umoja (oo-MO-jah) Unity stresses the importance of togetherness for the family and the community, which is reflected in the African saying, "I am We," or "I am because We are."

Ujima (oo-GEE-mah) Collective Work and Responsibility reminds us of our obligation to the past, present and future, and that we have a role to play in the community, society, and world.

Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah) Cooperative economics emphasizes our collective economic strength and encourages us to meet common needs through mutual support.

Nia (NEE-yah) Purpose encourages us to look within ourselves and to set personal goals that are beneficial to the community.

Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) Creativity makes use of our creative energies to build and maintain a strong and vibrant community.

Imani (ee-MAH-nee) Faith focuses on honoring the best of our traditions, draws upon the best in ourselves, and helps us strive for a higher level of life for humankind, by affirming our self-worth and confidence in our ability to succeed and triumph in righteous struggle.

Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) Self-Determination requires that we define our common interests and make decisions that are in the best interest of our family and community.

For more information about Kwanzaa click here

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS,

EssenseVibez

Family Traditions:)

Hello MOSD bloggers:)

I can't believe another Christmas is already behind us.  I am so blessed with love and happiness all around me, and it only gets better when I am able to celebrate family traditions....some old, and some new...but all just WONDERFUL:)

Another tradition is cookie baking...now for those that know me, I'm definitely NOT a domestic diva, so when it came to cookie making this year, I decided to do it the "easy" way...(you know, those refrigerator cookie bags with the cute "dough boy"?)...well that's how we started.  I made a few batches of cookies with my grandsons, Dominic and Shane.  We had a great time and didn't burn a SINGLE cookie!!!!!  Now that is definitely a bonus for me:)

Our visit to Santa this year was quite fun.  We were concerned about how my youngest grandson, Alex would respond to Santa, but were quite surprised when it was "tough little guy" Shane who wanted no parts of Santa.

Gift giving/receiving time is always great, and we were so glad that Dominic was so happy with his new Leapster game.  Whoo hoo:)  Shane also loved his new helmet...did I tell you that at 1 1/2, he LOVES to skateboard?????  No worries...they do make skateboards especially for his age...the wheels are pretty stiff and don't move quickly at all...whew!

We had to take a pic of the Christmas tree....that spent more time on the ground due to Shane's curiosity, lol.

Living here in southern California for almost 5 years now (originally from Philadelphia), we still revel in the fact that we can wear short sleeves to the beach at Christmastime. One of our "newer" traditions is to try to get family pictures taken at the beach during the holidays. Since I was making this mini album for my son and his family, I was very happy to get some really cute photos of them.

Now for the good part...the supplies used for this album:)

--I started with a MOSD flip album.  I love the way each page opens alternately from one side to the other. 

--On the cover, I used an overlay with music notes and snowflakes to add dimension.  I also used a swirl stamp with blazing red staz on ink to cover the album covers.  I attached a leather and metal fastner to "lock" the book.
--I used papers and embellishments fromt he BoBunny 'Tis The Season line.  I added a little bling, some paint and chipboard letters...oh yes...the chipboard letters all started out as orange...I just peeled off the top layer and painted them with various paint dabbers.
 
--The last thing I added was some stick-on swirls in black.  I just LOVE stick-ons!
 
--I put the book together using my bind-it-all and voila...a really cute holiday traditions album:)
 
Enjoy!
 
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
 
Sincerely,
 
Lori McCausland, your friendly frugal scrapper.

Christmas Traditions Mini Album

Merry Christmas, Bloggers! It's Gloria with you on Christmas Day! (Well, I typed this on the 23rd...but still...) Since moving to southern California, our traditions have changed a little, due to the climate, but we still have many of the same ones we had when we lived back east and in the upper Midwest. I made this little album so that I could document some of the things we enjoy doing during the Christmas season. You'll notice there are no photos in it yet...but I plan to use photos from 2009, so I've not taken them all yet!

I used pages from the MOSD Build-a-Book set: 3 clear squares, 2 large scallop, 2 half circle, 1 chipboard square. I used a mix of papers and products for this album. Lots of glitter and buttons and flowers. Take a peek!

Here is the cover. I painted the edges of all the clear pages with acrylic paint and Stickles. I attached a piece of double sided paper to the clear cover using Xyron adhesive.

Here is a view of the shaped pages.
And a top view.

Page 1: You can see the back of the cover paper through the clear acrylic. I added a rub-on directly onto the acrylic page.

Page 2:

Page 3:

Page 4:

Page 5:

Here is an overlay transparency that I added for some extra visual interest. I trimmed it to 6x6 and then punched holes with the Bind-it-All.

Page 6 is clear, so you can see Page 8 peeking through:

Here is the flip side, Page 7:

Page 8: I used neutral paper for my photo mats.

Page 9: My friend Jacquie cut this large music note from chipboard. It was a piece of clip art she printed off the computer. I attached the black dotted Swiss Bazzill to it to jazz it up.

Page 10:

Page 11:

Page 12:

Page 13:

Back cover:

I bound the album with the Bind-it-All and tied on lots of festive ribbons. I still have to add the photos and journaling, and maybe some titles. But I am notorious for making these mini albums, then waiting a long time to finish them!

I hope you are inspired to create your own mini album this year. Blessed Christmas!

Recycling with MOSD

What a busy month! If you're like most people, you've spent the last few weeks shopping, baking, visiting, decorating, and hopefully crafting! With just a couple of days left, I'd like to share a quick and easy gift bag that took minutes to put together, and I had to buy nothing to make it!

I started with a plain brown shopping bag. The best part is I didn't even buy a craft gift bag - I reused a bag from one of my shopping excursions. Most of these gift store bags may have a design printed on one side. That's OK - you're going to cover it up anyway.

I didn't want to use the twisted paper handles that the bag came with, so I just cut off the top of the bag. I cut a piece of 8x8 paper down to fit the width of the bag, and then cut a strip to adhere across the top. I punched the edge of this strip with a border punch for added style. I adhered both of these papers to the bag. Next, I adhered patterned paper to the MOSD chipboard Postage Stamp Build A Book page, which becomes the focal point and matt for the sentiment. On top of the covered chipboard page, I added a torn piece of sheet music, and then a chipboard frame with sentiment.

To replace the handles that I removed, I cut holes in the top with my Crop A Dile and then knotted a length of ribbon through each hole. Now I have pretty handles that match my bag.

You could make these bags as simple or as elaborate as your time allows. The MOSD chipboard pages add another shape to the bag, and some dimension to help your design stand out.

I hope you have a merry, festive, and peaceful Christmas. We'll be celebrating at home, thankful for all the blessings we've had this year.

Until next year,
~Erica

Let It Snow...and snow...and snow....

Snow is everywhere! Earlier this month in the Midwest we had way more than we needed and now it has hit the East Coast just as hard. Here are a couple Let It Snow Ornaments I made using pieces of the Show Off Mini Album. I sprayed each piece with Tattered Angels Marshmallow Glimmer Mist, punched holes with my Cropodile at the top and added stickers, snowflakes and felt ribbon. The snowflakes and stickers came with the glitter on them and these were a very quick and easy project. What takes the longest is waiting for the Glimmer Mist to dry.

I hope that everyone is staying warm and is getting their holiday shopping and baking done. I finally got my shopping finished, now I just need to start wrapping!

Jennifer Hansen

Seasons Greetings everyone. Today I am bringing you a mini acrylic/chipboard album that I made as a gift for my niece. These mini albums are fun, quick, and an easy to make. My album was made with Basic Grey's Indian Summer line. I kept the album basic and I plan on adding pictures and some more embelishments with my niece after she receives it on Christmas day. I hope you enjoy this quick and easy gift idea!