We Believe!

Yes, in my household, we do believe in Santa and the magic of Christmas! We also believe in “Thank you’s”, we believe in sharing, and we believe that , someday, we will see our beloved Tamon again.
Misty here to share a layout with you using almost exclusively scraps from my very large collection of CutCardstock scraps. This photo is one of my most favorite and cherished photos I have ever taken. This is of my youngest and oldest children, and perfectly depicts the bond that the two of them shared during his time here with us. My daughter is now 17, a senior in high school, and has recently shared with me how much it hurts her that her Bubba is not here to see how much she has accomplished, and how much she has followed in his footsteps. All I can tell her is that he knows. He definitely knows.

This time of year, the holiday season is the hardest on me, as the pain of having lost my oldest child becomes more prominent. THIS is why I firmly believe in the value and necessity of scrapbooking. All I have left of my son is in my scrapbooks. I can tell you the story of his life, and I never have to speak a word.

Building my Layout

I began with a solid piece of Basis Premium White 12×12 Cardstock to cut my ornament cutfile out with. That was the one and only full sheet of cardstock that I used on this layout, besides the patterned paper background, of course.

When I had my cutfile ready, and the patterned paper selected, I began filling and backing the ornaments on the cutfile. This is the fun part! After selecting my color scheme, I pulled out the bits and pieces of all the cardstock that would match, and I began piecing it all together like a puzzle. Of course, first things first…the main focus of the layout…the Mistletoe Kisses photo of my two munchkins. As you can see here, I have already cut it to fit into the main ornament spot, and I will use my X-acto knife to trim it if required. With all of my scraps gathered and my photo in place, the cutfile began taking shape into something that I was excited to put to a layout.

Cardstocks:

Even thought I did not have to pull out full sheets of cardstock to fill in the spaces on my cutfile, I did keep up with the ones that I used so that I can put them on my next order. Y’all, seriously, this is THE BEST cardstocks I have ever used, and I have been scrapbooking for MANY MANY years.
I used Greens, Golds, Silvers, Reds, Whites, and blacks….all to match the Simple Stories Vintage Christmas line that I was using for the accents.

All of a sudden, without really even realizing it, I had finished backing the cutfile and all the ornaments had color to them! At this point, all that was left to do was to add in Nuvo Drops, hand drawn stitching, pearls, and any other eye catching elements that I though would enhance the layout.

Thank you for popping in today to catch a glimpse of my latest project. You can find all of the cardstocks that I used and SO MUCH MORE over at the Cut CardStock Store!
Oh,
If I were to leave you with any piece of advice for the holidays, it would be this:
Spend those precious moments with the ones you love, and capture those memories in a photo. Someday, that photo may be all that you have.