It’s Beatrice here, and I’m excited to be back on the blog today to show you some inspiring layouts created with “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” SnickerdoodleDesigns’ new collection. The collection is currently available only at TDC as part of the Hatchery. You will find the collection either in the Hatchery Category or in her TDC Personal Use Store. I’ll show you a screenshot of the collection which, as always, is the best value but, of course, the parts are available separately.

For those of you who shop SnickerdoodleDesigns or theStudio, the collection will be released in those stores on December 8th. However, you will receive the best savings during the Hatchery week at The Digichick.

Before I show you the first layout, I’d like to say congratulations to Joleen, the winner of the contest that was part of my blog post two weeks ago. She chose the Droplet Templates Collection 1 12×12 and I understand she has already begun using them and loves them.  On a personal note, I love working with them also. It’s quite easy to make a classy looking layout in a short amount of time.

Moving on to the purpose of my post, Hairy Woodpecker, by Glori2, really jumped out of the gallery for me. The background paper she chose reminds me of wood paneling and appears quite dimensional. Her masked photos are perfectly placed and the artsy edger, as well as the glitter she used, adds a finishing touch to the layout. The red and blue in the clusters really pop against the mostly neutral palette. I certainly hope the poor bird is okay now.

Zanthia created a striking background in I’ll Be Home for Christmas. The repetition of the stars, paper, wood and glitter, is very effective. I especially like the way she kept the paper stars large. The photo is so sweet and I love the way it’s offset from the frame. Once again, the red in the clusters really pops against the neutral backdrop of her layout.

I’ll be home for Christmas by franlk showcases a gorgeous winter setting. Combining the blended photo with a smaller sketched version of the same scene is a very creative technique. I like the way the framed sketch sits atop the word joy as if it were a shelf. The clusters frame the photo perfectly and leaving the pine branches without shadows allows them to blend into the background. The tucked-in journal card is the perfect added touch.

I found a real scene-stealing photo in Wonder of the Holiday by Norma. I love the way her cluster cascades down the page in a half circle and tucks both behind and in front of the adorable framed photo. While it appears that she used some of the artsy edgers, the blended background paper with the text edges is actually included in the collection.

If you would like to try a small sampling which matches the collection, Karen has generously created a free mini kit that is part of the Use It All Challenge at TDC. I’m certain once you play with this mini you will decide you need the full collection.

And if you are in the mood for freebies and who isn’t, Kabra has created this lovely cluster which also matches the collection. Just click on the image to download it.

I’ve come to the end of my post and I hope you have found it inspiring. I’m looking forward to seeing your pages created with the mini or the full collection when I look through the galleries for next week’s post. Happy Monday and have a great week!