Halloween Birthday Card

I love this time of the year.  I shared in this post why I love fall so I won't share again but I did forget to mention that I love Halloween!  I don't know what it is about Halloween but I've really started to look forward to it the last few years.  I especially love all of the Halloween products out there!  So cute!!  I love all of the cute characters and colors that come out every year with this holiday.  The only bad thing about all of that great paper is there is so much to choose from and I only really make one Halloween layout every year.  When one of my sons got invited to a Halloween themed birthday party I knew I just had to make a Halloween themed card to use some of those fun supplies.  Here is what I came up with.

Isn't this card so fun?!  I just love it.  Let me show you what I did.  The main focus of my card is of course the cute frankenstein.  I just love to see the transformation from just plain paper to an adorable embellishment.  I used my Gypsy and the Mini Monsters cartridge and after getting everything sized the way I wanted it I loaded my mat with paper.

After cutting out all the pieces I then started adding glitter, flocking (on the hair), google eyes, glossy accents (on the shoes) and using my Stardust pen (on the nails) to add small details to really make a big impact.  I ran the green body through my Xyron sticker maker to make it all sticky and then added pieces until all of the pieces were on.  I then added the green glitter.  I just love how it turned out!!  And to think this was made using only scraps of paper and minimal amounts of glitter and other supplies.  How much would this little guy cost in a store?  I don't even want to think about that.  

 

Adding my sentiment was a little tricky as the only stamp that had letters that fit both the space and the mood of the card was this one. 

I wanted the sentiment along the bottom and in a straight line so I got out some masking paper and went to work.  I covered all of the stamp except for the 'HAPPY.'  

Then I stamped it in VersaMark ink using my Stamp-a-ma-jig, and then did the same for the 'BIRTHDAY.'  Once that was done I covered it all with white embossing powder and heat embossed it.  I did have to touch up the 'HAPPY' just a little with my white gel pen but you can't even tell.  I love how it turned out!  This might have been a little time consuming but it saved me a trip to the store to find the 'perfect' stamp.  Sometimes all you have to do it think outside the box.  

I originally had just one ribbon at the bottom of the card but I thought it needed just a bit more.  I have tons of twine so I figured I'd use the three main colors of the card.  I love the dimension and texture it adds to the card.  Just the right touch.  

I hope you have a great Halloween this week.  Happy haunting and thanks for stopping!!

Supplies:

• cardstock- misc
• patterned paper- Die Cuts With A View (Everyday Stack)
• Cricut cartridge- Mini Monsters
• ink- Tsukineko (VersaMark), Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• stamp- Stampin' Up!
• embossing powder- American Crafts (Zing! White)
• glitter- Recollections (Muse, Pesto)
• twine- Doodlebug Designs Inc. (Doodle Twine Halloween Assortment)
• tools- Inkadinkado (Stamp-a-ma-jig)
• pens- Sakura (Gelly Roll Stardust)
• adhesives- Scotch (ATG), Xyron
• misc- google eyes, Doodlebug Designs Inc. (flocking), Ranger (Glossy Accents)

 

Photo Friday- From the Phone

This week I've been busy with school stuff so I haven't used my camera much.  Here are a few random favorite photos from my iPhone from the last couple of months.  I love that I always have my phone with me to snap a few pictures if I need to.  I hope you enjoy them.  Thanks for stopping!

All square photos edited with Instagram. 

A Little Man With a Big Plan Layout

I haven't put a layout up for a little while so I figured I should get one up!  This is a layout I worked on while I was on my little vacation over the summer in Las Vegas.  When I went on my trip I only packed the necessities- photos, cardstock, patterned paper, adhesive, and a few embellishments.  That was it!!  Luckily I was scrapbooking at my best friends house so that I could borrow her tools, stamps, inks, etc.  Because of my minimal supplies I really had to use what I had in creative ways.  I'm going to be sharing more pages from that trip in the upcoming weeks.  These pages are simple yet still pack a big punch.  I hope you enjoy them. 

Here is today's page.  The page came together in a snap because all of the elements are from the same paper line.  I love the line of square photos.  It really draws your attention to them and leaves space for a title and some fun splashes of color.  This page has no journaling except for the date.  I am usually a big fan of journaling but this page required none.  

My title was made with some patterned paper and rubons from Fancy Pants Designs To the Moon collection.  I love that the lined paper made it easy for me to get my title on straight.  I am a big fan of using lines in patterned paper to add titles/journaling spots for this very reason.   

In order to draw more attention to the title and add some fun I used these chipboard pieces also found in this collection.  The little aliens are so fun and who doesn't love colorful stars?!  I stamped a movement trail to make it look like these guys are really moving. 

To add a little interest to my line of photos I put the middle one on pop dots.  This helps that photo stand out a little from the others and also is a great way to add some dimension to your page.  It's also a great way to adhere photos that might not fit perfectly side by side on your page.  I hate having a little gap when adhering photos in a row and this is a great way to make sure that doesn't happen.  

To add some fun color at the bottom of my page I grabbed four different papers from this collection and cut rectangles of the same size rounding the top corners.  Because they are all from the same collection they work together perfectly!  I purposely used two papers with space ships on them so that I would have three space ships on my page to help lead your eye around the page.  

The two spaceships at the bottom of the page needed a little something special so I got out my sparkle pen and colored in a few areas on each one.  This adds some interest and is a fun and easy way to alter your patterned paper.  

I hope you enjoyed this simple layout and try one of these ideas on your next page.  Thanks for stopping!

Supplies:

• cardstock- Bazzil Basics Paper
• patterned paper- Fancy Pants Designs (To the Moon)
• rubons- Fancy Pants Designs (To the Moon)
• chipboard- Fancy Pants Designs (To the Moon)
• tools- Creative Memories (corner rounder)
• stamp- TPC Studio (Transportation)
• ink- Memories Dye Ink (black)
• pens- American Crafts (Project Life 03 black), Gelly Roll (Stardust)
• misc- foam squares

Photo Friday- The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

No, it's not Christmas, but to me it's the most wonderful time of the year.  It's fall!!  I love everything about fall from the weather, to the food, to the colorful leaves on the trees.  If I could have fall all year long I would!  One of the main things I love about this season is our annual family trip to one of the local pumpkin patches.  We went there last weekend on a gorgeous day and had a wonderful time!  These are a few of my favorite photos from our day there.  Thanks for stopping!

I bumped my ISO up as high as it would go, opened my aperture wide open, and got this great glow in the dark shot.  The little bit of grain adds to the creepy feel of the photo. 

Because of the time of day the sun was either going to be a good or bad thing.  I decided to embrace it and got lots of sun flare photos.  They are fun plus they really show how beautiful the day was. 

As I took this one of the boys was tripping over vines right behind me.  Even though it's crooked I love how it turned out. 

Fairy Tale Wedding Card

A friend asked me this week if I had any wedding cards on hand.  I actually don't have a large stash of premade cards because I tend to make cards as I need them (so I can customize them to fit with the theme of the wedding, birthday, thank-you, etc).  She needed a card for a fairy tale themed wedding (think Disney) and if I had time could I make her a card?  Of course I could!  I immediately thought castle and knew that I had a castle image on a Cricut cartridge.  It was a sandcastle though.  Would it work?  I knew I needed to glam it up so I went with tone on tone white.  What could be more elegant than that?  I have never done an all white card before but I think it turned out pretty awesome!

I needed to play with patterns and textures because everything was white!  That meant layers, stamps, embossing, and dimensional adhesive.  The base of the card is 5 1/4" x 10 1/2" folded in half to make a 5 1/4" square card.  I then cut different sized squares and treated them all a different way.  It's hard to see in these photos (I took these pics really quick on my iPhone) but the layer that the castle is on and the layer behind the castle both have been stamped and heat embossed with different background stamps.  I also used an embossing folder on one layer and the same cardstock as the card base on another.  This gave me a wide variety of textures to set each layer apart from the next.  

One of the major challenges on this card was adding the sentiment.  I needed it to look very classy but still be seen.  A gorgeous script stamp, vellum, and white embossing powder did the trick!  I have been meaning to try embossing on vellum and just haven't had the right project.  It was perfect for this!  I just love how the sentiment can be seen but it still blends in with the card.   

After I heat embossed one of my layers of paper I noticed I had a little smudge on it.  Rather than start all over I just used these Glitter Dome Stickers to cover my 'mistake.'   They add some elegance and cover a little blemish. 

We can't forget the castle!  I covered it in white glitter, used some dimensional adhesive to set it apart from the base, and it looks fabulous!  I've used this same castle on this layout and I love how completely different they look!!  It just goes to show that with a little creativity you can alter anything to fit with your project. 

I hope you enjoyed this wedding card and that you will try a tone on tone card.  It really is a fun way to create a card.  Thanks for stopping!

Supplies:

• cardstock- Bazzill Basics Paper (Diamond), scraps
• Cricut cartridge- Create a Critter
• ink- Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Embossing Ink)
• stamps- Anna Griffin (Modern Graphic Stamps, background stamp), Close to My Heart (Romantic Backgrounds D1066)
• embossing powder- American Crafts (Zing! White), Ranger (Superfine Clear)
• embossing folder- Cuttlebug (Polka Dots)
• misc- American Crafts (ribbon), Doodlebug Design Inc. (glitter), Mark Richards (Glitter Dome Stickers), dimensional adhesive, vellum

Photo Friday- Layla, Lanna, and Baby Jack

I had the honor to photograph these cuties last week and have been so excited to share these photos with all of you!  These kids were awesome.  Layla and Lanna are two of the most adorable little girls I've seen.  They love each other and they really love their little brother.  Jack was awesome and didn't make a sound!  He slept for a little while and was awake for a little while.  He was so calm for the whole session.  It was so fun to photograph these three.  They really made my job pretty easy and I got a lot of great shots!  So many in fact that I had a hard time choosing which ones to share on here! Sorry I shared so many but I just couldn't decide.  Thanks for stopping and enjoy!