a fun challenge...

I was so excited a few weeks ago when Laura and Mary invited me to join them for their challenge this month!  They've been doing challenges together for a few months now, and it's always so fun to see how two or three people can take the same products or techniques and come up with completely different layouts!

This month, the four challenge items were:

1.  Basic Grey Papers

2.  Rick Rack

3.  Metal

4.  Stitching

And here's what I created for the challenge:

All of the patterned papers are Basic Grey.  I used metal monograms and letter charms (way old Making Memories products that I still love but don't use very often) for my title and date. 

I also incorporated the metal by using little star brads on the tops of the little trees. 

Of course, the stitching was a no-brainer...since I seem to have to stitch on EVERYTHING - I just love the hand-made touch it adds.  On this layout,  I stitched around all of the edges, and also stitched to attach the ribbon which is lined up right next to my rick-rack.

I used cute Kim Hughes stamps again to make the little tree trunks...

...they are actually part of the branch from this set...I loved the paisley!

The pictures are from our visit to the Provo Towne Centre two Decembers ago - in 2006.  Seth was way too scared to sit on Santa's lap - but Santa surprised us all by getting up and walking over to Seth to give him a little bag of goodies - what a sweet Santa!

Thanks to Laura and Mary for inviting me to join them for this month's challenge - be sure to check out their layouts on their blogs too.  I can't wait to see what they come up with for next month!