Tuesday, November 25, 2008

2008 Santa's village - The Cookie Cafe



Because who needs a gingerbread house, when you can have a Cookie Cafe!








When I first sketched the design for this album I wrote the phrase, "workable whimsy" to identify the style. What do you think?



The Cookie Cafe is of course the restaurant in Santa's Village. You won't find any meat and potatoes here, only the YUMMY good stuff. Santa's got Karo syrup running through his veins, that's what makes him so sweet.

The Cookie Cafe was built in 126 ad, when Mrs. Claus FINALLY convinced Santa that there were just too many elves for her to feed all on her own. The Cafe started out as just a small square house, but over time, as the population of the children in the world has expanded, so have the working elves.... and so has the Cafe!


The large door is for Santa and Mrs. Clause of course, with a smaller door for the elves (which is usually open due to the constant stream of elves coming and going.)

The door and front windows both have lovely lace curtains (Mrs. Clause's idea).

Inside the front cover there is a small round mat. Perfect for a photo, personalized Christmas wishes, of the family name and year.





The second page has yummy, good enough to eat, gum drops.



The Third page has a cupcake roofline, complete with a paper baking cup, sugar sprinkles and a cherry on top.







Page four has a monogrammed candy. I used "M" for McClelland of course, but yours can be personalized with whatever letter you want.

The back cover has a steaming cup of hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies, Santa's favorite!





Of all my albums so far, this is the quickest and easiest to recreate. I hope you love it!







The album kits should be ready to ship by December 2nd.

International buyers are always welcome! (additional shipping charges may apply depending 'ship to' location. Please email me Camillemcc@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding shipping costs.

Remember, I am only making 10 kits of each album (then I really have to spend some time doing my own Christmas shopping or my kids will be MAD!)

As of today, here is what's available:

Album Kit One:
Santa's Workshop - ONLY ONE LEFT!

Update 11/27/08 - SOLD OUT!
IF you are interested in owning this album, please send me an email at camillemcc@gmail.com. Depending on interest I may create more, but they will not be available till after the first of the year. Thanks!




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Album Two:

The Home of Mr. and Mrs. Claus - SIX AVAILABLE









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Album Three :

The Cookie Cafe - NINE AVAILABLE









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Album four to be announced.
Album five to be announced.

Watch for them the first week of December!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

It's personal...

I've been so busy lately and focused on my scrapbooking that I've stopped including anything personal on my blog. It wasn't intentional, it just sort of happened.

And so today... It's personal.

I know I'm starting off talking about my scrapbook kits, but it's such a part of my life that I can't skip over it. I am so happy with how things have been going. There is no question that the Lord has been guiding my every inspiration. I'm not sure why I have been blessed so much, but I'm so grateful. I've noticed that when there is peace and love in my home I can create with little effort and the inspiration comes so easily. When there is contention or discord I am severely hampered. I have worked very hard to develop the talents I have been given, but I simply cannot take the credit.

As of now, I'm a bit discouraged about my latest album. It hasn't done as well on the Two Peas board, and I haven't gotten much feedback on it. This might come across as very petty, but I thrive on response from others. It makes me wonder one of two things. 1. Either the album is not as good as some of my previous albums, or 2. People are becoming bored with my work. Maybe I need to renovate my ideas a bit and do something a little bit new and fresh. I do have some ideas I'm excited to work on. I love the house shaped albums, but maybe they are getting a bit overused. Makes me kind of excited, feeling this way. When I first had the idea to do a house shaped acrylic album back in September of 2007, I was so anxious to start. I get all giddy and my palms get clammy. That's kind of how this is making me feel now. The idea of beginning to move in a different direction is exhilarating! Over the next few weeks I will be finishing up my Santa's Village Christmas Album set (album three is coming along so quickly that it may just be ready by Monday!!), once the set is finished I have an idea for a calendar album set that I've been wanting to do for years that involves houses. After that I'm going to TRY focusing on something new and different. Not sure what yet. Should be interesting.

TWILIGHT-
Yes, I saw it. Yes, I loved it. there were some things about the movie I didn't care for as much... probably the same things everyone else has complained about. Overall, I thought the transition from book to movie well pretty well done. I do feel strongly that the movie is only a companion to the book, and should not be experienced without reading the book. In order to fit the story line into an acceptable movie time it was necessary to cut a lot of details from the book. The details were not super important in building the plot, but really important in building the characters into what we know and love.

I saw the movie with Jesse Edwards. She is so much fun. I spent the wait before the movie being entertained by Jesse's latest comical adventures, mostly involving her ending landing on her rear end in front of a group of people. Jesse is so much fun, we had a great time.


Amanda Olsen had planned to meet up with us at the movie, but her ticket ended up being for another theater. :( I was pretty bummed. I haven't talked to Amanda in person since we were in high school and I was looking forward to spending some time with her.

Aaron the Cooker:

Aaron has found an apron and he is now a self proclaimed chef. He says, "I am a cooker, and do you know what a cooker does? They cook food, like a chhhhhhhef."

One morning he came straight out of his room first thing in the morning and asked me to tie his apron. Makes me want to kiss the cooker!


Friday, November 21, 2008

2008 Santa's Village - The Home of Mr. amd Mrs. Claus


2008 Santa's Village - The Home of Mr. and Mrs. Clause
Album 2 of 5

Pre-sales available now.




I am so excited about this album! Santa's home is complete with a home office, which has an elf door only, since he and Mrs. Claus only enter through the residence. The windows have curtains, the doors open, and the paper piecing is 100% handmade and original.

I've used the Cosmo Cricket - Oh Joy paper line and also Bazzill and Chatterbox solid card stock.

This kit comes with all everything you need, including detailed instructions for every step of the album, with the exception of the following recommended tools:

  • Crop-a-dile
  • Sharp tipped scissors
  • fine point felt tipped pens
  • white acrylic craft paint
  • fine paint brush
  • paper trimmer
  • file
  • stickles
  • colored pencils
  • White dries clear adhesive
  • Fabri-tac Adhesive
  • craft chalks



















Pre-sales available now.





I am planning on having the third album the third album in this series available for pre-order by Thanksgiving, then I will need two weeks to complete the kits and ship them.

I will only be selling 10 of each album. That's the only way I will be able to complete all five album kits before Christmas. After all of the albums are complete I may offer additional kits, depending on interest.

As of right this minute (2:10) November 21st, there are only THREE kits left for the 2008 Santa's Workshop Album Kit. Click here to view the album. This album is going to be published in the December issue of a popular scrapbooking e-zine. (I am so excited!)

I hope you love the 2008 Santa's Village - The Home of Mr. and Mrs. Claus!