Layouts by the numbers

Christmas Wreath

So as is obvious from my extreme lack of posting, I'm not doing much scrapbooking at the moment.  Mostly I'm putting my energy into literacy research and teaching, but you know I still love being crafty.  Right now that means CHRISTMAS!!!

Ya know how cool Christmas wreaths are all at least $20? This bare wreath was $4 at Target, and then I grabbed some $1 and $2 ornaments and just threw them all on - I amuse myself.

Also, I made the cutest and EASIEST decoration for under the counter that divides my living room and kitchen - those felt Christmas trees are 3 for $1 at Target, and I had the rickrack in my stash.  The secret is to tie knots in the rickrack so the ornament hooks stay EXACTLY where you place them!  (Also, I put up some clear 3M cord holders under the counter for Halloween decor, so that saved me a LOT of time.)

Now I just need to watch "Elf" and I'll be fully in the holiday mood!

Card for my boss

So my boss of almost 10 years is retiring today after working almost 30 years at our university.  He has been a great boss, and I'm always joking with him, when he asks me to do something or says thank you, that "I'm here for ya, man."  It's to the point he even randomly says "You're here for me, right?"  So I thought I'd make him a good-bye card with that sentiment.

The card is just a picture of our building, with a digital arrow (pointing to where I sit) and a digital tag thrown in with Photoshop.  (Oh Photoshop, how I love you . . )

If you've never made a card like this, it's super easy.  I had the image printed at Staples on cardstock - I put it on a 8.5x11 file that I was using to have several projects printed on at once (99 cents each!) 

When I cut the image with a paper cutter, I was careful to leave a white border on all sides (which is hopefully uniform, though I'm pretty clumsy in that respect.)  Then I used double-sided tape to adhere the image to cardstock (if you put it in the corner as shown, you only have two sides to cut out.)  I would recommend using a scoring edge to get a straight crease where the card needs to be folded.  The assembly part takes 2 minutes, tops.  :)