Hi everyone, Sue Plumb here today to share my very first layout using the new ‘Joyful’ collection.

You may have noticed that I haven’t shared a project here on the blog for a while? Unfortunately I haven’t had access to my scrap stuff for quite some time while we were going through the process of moving house. I am pleased to report however, that I am now settled into my new house and after many years, I finally have a craft room again – happy days!

I was super excited to receive this new collection, and as usual, Zoe has totally hit it out of the park! I am not usually a big fan of Christmas collections because of the strong red/green colour palette they often use, but this one is so beautiful with its more muted tones and sweet little animals scattered throughout. I was also surprised to find myself drawn to use the Holly Days paper, which features a gorgeous wreath (a design I don’t often reach for first).

The photo I was working with was a photo of my three kids and my cat that I took in front of our tree on Christmas Eve, not long before they went to bed. (You can tell by the expression on their faces they were excited about what was to come the following day… except for the cat of course, who was horrified at the fact they were making him wear a turkey hat! haha)

I decided to keep the wreath paper intact and use it as my layout background. This gave me a good base to work from, with the focal area already defined for me. The first thing I did was choose some patterned papers from the A5 Paper Stack to use as a mat behind my photo and to create some layers on my page. I tore along the bottom edges of the papers, then ruffled them up a little more with my fingernail to add texture. I also added a small mint coloured doily into my layers, and some frayed gauze on top of them, then stapled the entire stack together and attached it to my page.

I then chose two different colour Distress Oxides (Rustic Wilderness and Worn Lipstick), mixed them with a little water, and used a fine brush to add tiny splatters around the entire wreath. I then repeated the process with some gold mist as well. Once dry, I adhered my photo down on top of my paper stack using a liquid adhesive and set about adding some embellishments.

In the top left corner of my photo, I tucked in a Chipboard Sticker present underneath the edge of the layers, then the sweet little season’s greetings envelope from the Die Cut Ephemera pack over the corner of the photo. (Embellishing directly onto my photos is something I love to do.) I also added the magic moments banner piece along the bottom edge of the photo (also from the ephemera pack).

To the right of my photo I added the ho ho ho Chipboard Sticker for my page title, and underneath I added the sleeps til Christmas sticker from the Accessory Sticker sheet. (For the number 1, I actually used one of the Mini Puffy Alpha Stickers from the ‘These Days’ collection.) In the bottom right corner of my photo I added that sweet little fox from the Die Cut Ephemera pack, and put a little foam tape behind him to pop him up to the same height as my photo.

To embellish around my wreath, I fussy cut some large stars from the Making Spirits Bright paper, which I mixed with a few smaller ones from the Die Cut Ephemera pack.

I finished off with a few gold foil phrase stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet and I was done! I am so happy with how this page turned out (especially considering I thought I would be a little rusty after my time away, but this collection made it so easy!)

If you haven’t gotten your hands on this beautiful range yet, then make sure you do. As it is seasonal, it will not be re-stocked after it sells out, so grab it while you can. You can find a retailer near you via our stockist list HERE. (Please note that not all stockists carry all collections, so you will need to contact individual retailers to enquire.)

Until next time, happy scrapping!