Halloween Workout / My Mind's Eye

 ****************Go HERE for The Cut Shoppe Halloween Blog Hop*****************

Happy Halloween, friends!  I hope you have a fun weekend planned :)  Today I wanted to share my latest layout for My Mind's Eye, and it's what I call a full-on traditional Halloween page.  I used the Something Wicked collection mixed with a bit of Lemon Lime Heavyweight Cardstock.

I knew I wanted to add in some lime green because of the colors in the picture.  I started with white cardstock and some orange watercolors.  I used the packaging technique to get some orange on the page, and then I used a big spider web that I cut out using my Cameo.  I placed it on the page and then used black Heidi Swapp Color Shine over it.  That stuff is amazing but very messy....haha....so watch out where you spray it! :D

After that dried, I used the Citron Color Shine to add some bright green splatters.  I layered some patterned papers and some of the MME cardstock behind my photo and then embellished around it with die cuts, glitter puffy stickers, a flair pin and some tangled thread.   I love this photo of me and a few friends from last year.  We all dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for our Body Pump workout!  It was super fun :D

I used some patterned paper and cardstock down at the bottom of the page to tie in to the colors up top and then added this cute skull flair pin.  I also added machine stitching to tie in the black.  Those awesome glitter alphas are the perfect size for a title.

For this part of my title, I used papers from the 6x6 Paper Pad and hand drew the letters and then fussy cut them out.  I used my ATG gun to lightly adhere them to the page before stitching through them.  I love how they look against that grungy background.

Here's another look at those letters.  I used a black pen to lightly trace around some of them to give them more interest and to make them pop a bit more.  I didn't want the orange ones to blend in and get lost against the orange in the background.

I love how the Color Shine made the spider web look...and all I did was spray it on.  So easy!  And it's imperfect and messy, which I love.  I have to say my favorite part of this collection is the fun glitter puffy stickers!  I love this mask!

Thanks so much for stopping in today....have a great weekend!

Let Your Light Shine

 ***********Go HERE for The Cut Shoppe Halloween Blog Hop************

Happy Friday, friends!  Today I'm sharing a layout that I created a few weeks ago for a Throwback Thursday challenge over on the My Scraps & More forums.  The challenge was to use up some of your die cuts or ephemera pieces from past collections.  If you're like me, you have tons of Crate Paper pieces left over.  I paired some of those with some Heidi Swapp die cuts to create this layout.

I pulled from the Crate Paper Notes & Things and Open Book and Heidi Swapp September Skies.  I used a few pieces of the Color Magic which I added gelatos to.

I started with a white background and did some watercolor work with spray mists and a stencil.  I show exactly how I did this in my process video down below.  I tucked in lots of die cut flowers and other various pieces around the layout.

I love these flowers...this is a mix of regular die cuts, clear die cuts and the Color Magic ones.  The horse is from Crate paper, and I decide to use it because my daughter loves horses, and also because the color matches :)

I used some of the new Elle's Studio alpha stamps here as well as my own handwriting for the title.  I added some text tissue paper from my stash and some white tangled thread.

Here is a mix of Crate and Heidi.  I love how they look layered and stitched down together.  I used a sheet of black dotted Heidi Swapp paper to back the left and bottom edges of the layout.

I pulled a flair button from my stash and added a Heidi arrow here before adding my journaling and some black ink splatters.

Here's my process video if you'd like to check it out :)  I hope it inspires you in some way!

Thanks so much for stopping by....and have a great weekend!

The Cut Shoppe Halloween Blog Hop!

Hello, friends, and welcome to The Cut Shoppe Halloween Blog Hop!

The Design Team has some amazing inspiration, fun cut file giveaways and a $25 Gift Certificate to The Cut Shoppe Giveaway!  Make sure you visit each Designer's Blog because we will each be giving away one of our favorite Fall/Halloween cut files during the Hop, which ends November 2nd.  And we also have a FREE Halloween cut file to share with you, too!

The Blog Hop starts at The Cut Shoppe's Blog, so start there. Here is the list of designers' blogs:

KATRINA HUNT

JENNIFER HAGGERTY

MADELINE FOX

LAURA MOONEY

AMY MADDERN

CANDACE PERKINS

MISSY WHIDDEN------->ME!

MICHELLE WEDERTZ

Here are the cut file sets I used:

Leaf it to Me

A to the Z Alphas

I used one of my favorite cut files....the Leaf it to Me file. I created this fun "Fall" page using Cedar Lane from Pink Paislee. This picture cracks me up. My daughter loves leaves, and she found her favorite ones on this day and wanted to go swimming with them. She didn't want to get them wet, so she kept holding them up. It just makes me smile, and I had to document it.

I used some white gesso on the background and then added some gelatos and spray inks. The leaves were all I really wanted behind the photo besides a few layers. I added gold stitching and a few embellishments to finish it off. 

These leaves are amazing!  I just cut a few on patterned paper.  Here, I added more gelatos to the bottom of the layout, more stitching, and more tangled thread.  I love the purple, blue and gold mix of colors here.

Purple is usually a difficult color to scrap with, but I love this shade in this collection!  And it's perfect for Fall leaves :)

One more close up of the title.  I also used the A to the Z alpha set here for part of my title.  I paired it up with some gold glitter Thickers and my own handwriting.

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

I'm going to give away this awesome cut file to one of you!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post tell me your favorite thing about Fall!  I'll chose a winner after November 2nd and it will be announced on The Cut Shoppe's blog on November 6th.

There is also a $25 Gift Certificate up for grabs to The Cut Shoppe!  In order to win that one, you need to leave a comment on The Cut Shoppe's blog by November 2nd and tell us your favorite Fall or Halloween tradition! 

Be sure to download the FREE cut file on The Cut Shoppe's blog while you're there!

Have a great time hopping, and thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

XOXO / Freckled Fawn Guest Designer

Happy Tuesday, friends!  I'm so excited to share my layout today...I was asked to be a Guest Designer for October over at Freckled Fawn!  I immediately said YES when Janna emailed me.  These embellishment kits are so unique and fun, and I played with the Woodland Kit.

Check out how gorgeous it is...beautiful felt adhesive leaves, transparent circles with fun sayings on them, white glitter puffy word stickers, shiny gold puffy hearts, enamel dots, copper-gold dotted washi tape, wood veneer frame.....and more!

Here's one of the layouts I created.  I started with white cardstock and my black and white picture.  I wanted to play off of the beautiful colors in the kit, so I used gelatos and watercolor pencils and a circle stencil to create lots of different sized circles in various colors.  I used some tissue paper, patterned paper and a small piece of light teal cardstock to layer behind my photo.  From the kit, I created more circles using the washi tape.  I used one of the transparent circles and layered one of the white puffy stickers on top of that.  I just had to use a few of those leaves, so I layered them under the lower left of the photo.  I also used one of those adorable arrow paper clips.

These leaves have the prettiest colors in them!  And as you can see, you certainly don't have to just use them for a Fall related layout.  They are so bright and colorful, and they go with anything.  I used my waterbrush to smudge my circles on the background...I love how they turned out!

I did add some machine stitching and a few pieces from my stash.  The "so many of my smiles" sticker is from MAMBI, and my XOXO stickers are from October Afternoon.

Here's one more look at the circles...this is a fun and easy way to create  your own background design without getting messy at all.  Use watecolor pencils or gelatos to trace through a stencil, and then use a waterbrush or paint brush to smudge the color.

Thank you to Janna over at Freckled Fawn for inviting to me to Guest Design this month...I had a blast!  I'll have another project using this kit to share soon :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!

We Are Family / A Flair For Buttons

Hey there, friends :)  Today I wanted to share my latest layout for A Flair For Buttons.  I used two flair from the Just Hearts 2 and Tell Your Story 3A Flair sets.  I used the We Are Family collection from Simple Stories, and it is just perfect for documenting those sentimental family photos.  I really liked one of the cut-apart sheets, and I used one of them as part of my title.  I used minimal layering here..just one yellow 3x4 piece and a small bit of blue dotted patterned paper.

I fussy cut the large flower to the right and layered it so it would overlap the edges of the photo.  I also added pop dots to the photo and flower.  This allowed me to add tangled thread very easily.  I did a bit of ink work on the white background...some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Butter and Mustard Seed through a chevron stencil and then a tad bit of the packaging technique with some light blue gelatos.

This "Our Story" flair button was perfect...it matched the sentiment I was going for, and it matched the colors in the papers.  I love layering flair on top of flowers or other clustered embellishments.  They really do add such a fun touch to a layout.  Here you can see that I also did a bit of machine stitching with brown thread and added some brown splatters with my Shimmerz in Chocolate Brownie.

Here's a close-up of that fussy cut flower...I recommend always taking a closer look at your busy patterned papers or the cut-apart sheets.  There are almost always images you can cut out and use as embellishments.

I love this set of flair...the hearts are so versatile and can be used on any type of layout.  This one was the exact color I needed, and the heart was perfect.  I finished my title here using stickers from the Sticker Sheet.  I stuck them on top of a label sticker.  I used my craft knife to cut the tops of the hearts so I could overlap them on the letter stickers.  And again, I layered my flair on top of flowers.  My journaling fit perfectly right under all of that.

Here's one more look at the background work.  I love how it fades away...that is easily created by how far you hold your spray bottle as you spray it over the stencil.

Here are the flair sets I pulled from:

Just Hearts 2

Tell Your Story 3A

 Be sure to check out the A Flair For Buttons shop on Etsy...you'll be blown away at all the amazing flair!  Shelley is currently on vacation and the shop is temporarily closed until November 5th.  Keep checking back :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day :)

Smile / Hip Kit Club

It's Friday....yessss!  I wanted to share my newest layout for Hip Kit Club today, which features the 2015 October Hip Kits.  This page was inspired by our October Moodboard.  I love the butterfly, and it inspired me right away.

I wanted to create a light and airy feel with the butterflies, so I cut eight of them on my Cameo in various patterned papers from the kit.  I used light kraft cardstock as my base, and I used a lot of white gesso to create the white cloudy effect.  I came in over that with the Prima Watercolor Pencils from the Color Kit to create that pretty watercolor look.  I stitched through all of the butterflies and then made sure their wings were fluffed up to give dimension.

I just love how this turned out...I didn't want to add too much more to the page, so I only added a few pieces of Jen Hadfield (Pebbles) washi tape, a few punched sentiment circles and a few die cuts and stickers.

I also added gold stitching to add more pops of shiny gold.  I love the stitching...I think it gives such great detail, and the white thread is very subtle.

For my photo area, I added a few papers behind it.  I also added some washi tape right on top of the photo since there was some open white space there on the left side.  I layered in a punched "Hello" circle with a "Love" die cut.  I also used one of the pretty coral flower die cuts and a few stickers.

One final close-up of the title area.  I used the stickers from the Pebbles sheet here and then a few Pink Paislee clear stickers under that.

Here's my process video...I hope you enjoy!

Thanks so much for dropping in today....have a lovely day!

If You Want to be Happy, Be / Shimmerz Education Team

Happy Thursday!  I hope you are all enjoying your week so far.  I have a fun layout to share with you for Shimmerz that involves a hard to scrap color....purple!  I used the Pink Paislee Memorandum collection and several Shimmerz products for this.  The papers have purple in them, so I decided to grab my Creameez in Paradise Punch and Inklingz in Pugnacious Purple and go to work :)

I started with some white gesso and some Hazel and Ruby tissue paper with text on it.  Once that was dry, I used a scribbly stencil and some Foiled Again Dazzlerz to create some metallic texture.  Next, I used my purple products with a paint brush, and then came in with some Coloringz in Oh Say Can You Sea (a teal color) and Vibez in Glorious Day (a sunset golden yellow color).

Here you can see the awesome texture from the stencil and Dazzlerz.  I used the packaging technique with the liquid sprays a bit and then just sprayed it directly onto the paper.  I used a paper towel to dab up the excess, and that allowed the spray to seep into the cracks so the Dazzlerz still showed through.

Here's some of the beautiful purple tones...I love mixing the Creameez and Inklingz together!  Satin and shimmer mixed together :)  I used these products right over the tissue paper and the washi tape strips I added.  I also used the Glorious Day Vibez on some white cardstock and then punched little hearts out of it.

I did wind up having to glue down the washi tape ends.  It doesn't like to stick completely when there's gesso on the paper.  I love how the purples, teals and yellows look together...a very pleasant yet surprising color scheme.

 

I used silver embossing powder on this "happy" wood veneer and then painted over it lightly with the Creameez for a hint of purple.  My flair buttons are from A Flair For Buttons, and I love how this butterfly flair has purple and teal in it...it was perfect for this page.

Here's one more close-up of the textured background.  I highly recommend Dazzlerz for creating beautiful background designs!

Here's my process video if you'd like to see how I created this layout from start to finish.  I hope you enjoy and get some ideas from it :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!

Products Used:

Dazzlerz - Foiled Again

Vibez - Glorious Day, Before Dawn

Creameez - Paradise Punch

Inklingz - Pugnacious Purple

Coloringz - Oh Say Can U Sea

Always Magic / Hip Kit Club

Hey, friends!  I have a bonus layout to share today for the Hip Kit Club using the 2015 September Hip Kits.  I actually made this a few weeks ago...it was actually the day before my October Kits arrived.  So this layout went on the back burner while I tore into my new goodies :)

I wanted to use a lot of patterned papers on this page, and I challenged myself to use big and bold patterns and colors and make them work together.  I created a vertical design with a horitzontal background and used gesso, paints and gelatos to bright them all together.  I also challenged myself to be a bit more random with my embellishments...which is something I have trouble with.  In the end, I love how it turned out.

The white gesso helped to blend out some of the bold patterns and colors and gave the wet mediums a place to go without seeping into the paper.  I used some of the Amy Tan washi tape, American Crafts and Crate Paper chipboard, a Freckled Fawn wood veneer and some of the Dear Lizzy Rub-Ons.  I also reached into some of the older kits and pulled out the gold dotted vellum and that shiny gold star.

I had some of the hot pink thread in my stash, and it matched the background paper perfectly.  I layered it under the photo along with a Crate Paper Poolside wood button.  I love the random mix of things here.

I love the greens and blues mixed with the golds here...I tried not to think about it too much.  I usually am very picky about colors and placement, but I just went for it on this one.  That gold heart is from Freckled Fawn.

I heat embossed "magic" and combined it with those skinny teal Thickers.  One of my favorite parts of this page is the fun chipboard cat...random, but oh so adorable!

Here's the process video for this page if you'd like to see how it was put together.  I hope you enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fabulous day!