Pictures with Santa

I received a custom request just before Christmas through my Etsy store, Pressed Clovers, for a book to keep all the photos with Santa throughout the years.  I loved this idea!! Imagine watching your child grow year by year as you continue to fill your Santa book!

The customer's pictures were all 5" x  7" so the mats needed to be just a bit larger to make the pictures stand out from the background.  My books are usually 8" x 8" so I knew it would be a tight fit with little room for decoration, but I was definitely up for  the challenge.  And I still included space to write so she could record the date, or year, or special request from her son that year. :)

Check it out and let me know what you think!

I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.  I love knowing one more family is keeping these cherished memories in an easy-to-access place! I can just imagine this mom giving the book to her son when he's all grown up and his new wife just loving seeing him as a child. *sigh* So sweet. :)

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Just proof that I can do boy books - and really cute ones, too!  This was given by one of my friends (and former co-workers) to another one of my friends/former co-workers as her daughter was having a little boy.  It was totally a surprise - the book and the baby! ha ha. 

This baby came 13 years after their youngest son! Since I knew the new baby would have a brother, I was sure to include a page for the older brother, too. :)

Sugar and Spice...

Since my sister had my niece, Macy, 6 months ago, I've been hung up on girly books.  I'm just so wrapped up in this beautiful little girl!! So here are a few more pictures from girly books that I've created recently.  I will post pictures of a boy book soon... I do make them. Promise! :)

 I actually created the paper that is used in this picture! 

 I love using buttons - it gives a change from stickers and such. 

Colorful buttons are so much fun!

Loved these hearts and flowers.  They are super thick cardboard stickers 

and really made a statement in person.  

I'll be adding pictures of my mom's Christmas book that she created with last year's Christmas pictures in it, so you can see how a Pressed Clovers scrapbook looks when it's in use!  And I may preview a few pics from this year's book that she hasn't seen yet.  I'm giving it to her for her birthday in January.  

Thanks for stopping by! 

Once upon a time...

As I perused through some older pictures, I found these of the birthday book for the Birthday Princess, Lilly!  Lilly was turning two and I just happened to know she celebrated with a Princess birthday theme, sooo.... I played it up.  Many rhinestones later, she had the perfect book to display all her Birthday Celebrations to relive for years to come.  

And I hear she lived happily ever after.  

Her grandmother has already received Lilly's 3rd birthday book! I hope she enjoys it as much as this one. :)

Teenagers!

What on earth do you make for one almost teenager that she doesn't already have?! One of my scrapbooks, of course! My niece has experienced quite a bit of excitement this year and I thought a scrapbook would be a great way to capture those memories.

I found the perfect album, hot pink and black covered in neon peace signs, and it came with quite a bit of paper! I found neon solid paper to match up with it and we were ready to go!

I wasn't crazy about all the black, so the colors help pop the decorations within the pages.  I'm giving her a selection of fun stickers (groovy words, peace signs, sock monkeys, rhinestones) so she can decorate her pages however she would like.  I'm also printing out lots of pictures so she can pick the ones she wants in the scrapbook and which she'd like to keep in a traditional album.

How do you like my hot pink foot in the picture?

I tried to break away from my structured tendencies so it would be more youthful - but I'm just a straight-laced gal. The stickers will help give it the "cool factor" that it needs to be her personality! :)

I can't wait for her to see it! But if you know her, shhhhhh... don't tell! :)

What happens after all the mess?

So you saw the picture of chaos scattered about my kitchen table... you didn't even see my actual work room. Oh my.

So what happens after all the chaos is turned into a book?  Well, here is an example of the Christmas books I've made in the past!

This book was purchased by a mommy for her daughter's first Christmas. I can just imagine pictures of baby and Santa for that first visit... this precious baby girl sitting in a pile discarded wrapping paper on Christmas morning... or maybe diving into a box because that's what they would prefer, right? 

Anyway, this is what is produced.  And you have to complete it with memories turned into pictures!

Work in Progress!

I'm so excited to have a large Christmas order... glitter, stickers and paper have exploded all over my house! It's wonderful! (My very most favorite holiday).

This is what a work in progress looks like. Paper, stickers, buttons, strips, and more pushed together into piles and usually I know where everything is that I'm looking for... usually.

In my spare time, I like taking the paper scraps and making cards to send to our troops and veterans, thanking them for their service.  I know I'm a random stranger, but I feel compelled to share with them my appreciation for their service.  There are several places online to find addresses to send letters and/or packages to, if you are interested.  Just google them!