Wow! This month has flown by, and I just realized that I hadn’t yet posted this month. I took a little break from scrapbooking and my business during the holidays and then spent some time organizing at the beginning of the year. Below is a layout that I created a week or two ago and shared on Facebook with Creative Life Scrapbooking. If you would like to see a second example of this layout, please join the Creative Life Scrapbooking Community. We share weekly ideas on Mondays and Fridays and host specialty events.

For my layout, I used the very lovely Winter Woods collection from Creative Memories. I absolutely love this collection and wish that I had more photos to use with it. I especially look forward to using the beautiful Winter Woods Laser Border Embellishments. I also use the new Dotted Leaf Circle Punch to create a giant snowflake photo frame for the center of my layout. I’m finding this punch to be very versatile, and it’s currently one of my favorite tools. You can use this technique with any of our circle punches. If you don’t have a circle punch, just use the Custom Cutting System with the Circle Patterns. Please see the instructions below for other substitution suggestions.

To Make My Layout:
1. Cut designer paper to 11” x 11-1/4”
2. Cut two 4” x 4” photo mats from Rich Brown Cardstock, and arrange on the lower left of the designer paper.
3. Center the largest Circle Pattern from the Custom Cutting System above the two photo mats leaving enough of an edge to cut around. Use the Blue Blade on the outside edge to cut-out a circle.
4. Use the 12” Trimmer to cut the designer paper vertically from the center of the cut-out circle.
5. Adhere the two pieces of designer paper to a sheet of Rich Brown Cardstock. Position the pieces 3/8” from the outside edges and ¼” from each other.
6. Use the Dotted Leaf Circle Punch to punch a circle from a 6” x 6” piece of White Cardstock. You may also use the Floral Circle Punch or the Ornate Arches Circle Punch.
Substitution Idea 1: If you don’t have a circle punch, you may use the Custom Cutting System with the largest Circle Pattern and Red Blade on the outside edge to cut a circle instead.
Substitution Idea 2: You may also use the Custom Cutting System with the medium Circle Pattern and Blue Blade on the outside edge to cut a circle from White Cardstock. Use the Baroque Border Punch to punch around the white circle.
7. From the cut-out circle of designer paper, use the Custom Cutting System with the medium Circle Pattern and Red Blade on the outside edge to cut a circle.
8. Use the Custom Cutting System with the smallest Circle Pattern and Green Blade on the outside edge to cut a circle from Rich Brown Cardstock. Use the Custom Cutting System with the smallest Circle Pattern and Red Blade on the outside edge to cut your photo. Adhere to the brown circle.
9. Assemble layout as shown.

Here’s a peek at a second layout created with this technique. Please see Creative Life Scrapbooking on Facebook for the full photo.
If you enjoy virtual crops, you may wish to join me and my scrappy friends at Creative Life Scrapbooking for our January PJ Party virtual crop on Friday, January 29th. This is the beginning of our 6th year of hosting virtual crops, and we’re excited to incorporate a Zoom component to this event! During the PJ Party, we’ll be sharing 8 exclusive double-page layouts with printable handouts and live instructions on Zoom. The sessions will be recorded, so you’ll be able to access the materials later if you’re not able to crop along on the 29th. Please see our registration form for more info.

On February 19-21, I’m hosting my own Virtual Weekend Scrapbooking Retreat. As “The World Awaits” for the pandemic to end and get back to “normal”, grab your passport for fun and join my Virtual Scrapbooking Weekend Retreat! We’ll have fun with a travel themed retreat as we daydream and plan the first trips that we’ll take after the pandemic ends. The virtual retreat will feature live page classes and Scrap & Chat sessions on Zoom, video demos, product sales of discontinued and discounted CM items, challenges, door prizes, and a few fun games. All page classes will be recorded and include instructional handouts.

I will be using the new Boho Escape Collection from Creative Memories for my sample layouts that I share during our page classes. I will use this collection to create some general/everyday layouts and also some vacation layouts. If you would like to also use this collection, please order the Boho Escape Decorative Bundle through my Creative Memorieswebsite link. You may use other materials if you like.
There is a $25 fee to participate. Please pay using my Pay Pal link, or please contact me to mail a check.
To Register
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Thanks so much for visiting with me, and I’ll be back soon with more new layouts!
Karyn