Friday Treats!

Yesterday I showed you a LO using all these adorable Halloween papers from K & Company!! Today, I am going to show you what I did with the scraps!!  This week our challenge at Frosted Designs is to show us a Holiday treat! This can be anything like recipe cards, treat bags or even a LO of you making a holiday treat!! You get the idea!! And... it can be any holiday you wish to show us!! 

 I decided to whip out a little something for each of my daughters who are not at home for Halloween this year!! I made each of them a card, wrapped up a candy bar, and made a matchbox for the gift cards I was sending!!

How cute is that little witch?! I totally blinged her out with my stickles!! Courtney will love her!! And look... I used a digi on my card!! (Meljen's) I certainly have some work to do with my coloring skills, but I thought for a 2 am project it turned out pretty well!!

And Kristin is all about the Twilight movies, so I thought she might like this friendly looking vampire monster!! And don't you love the border punch I used for the orange background around the digi?!! It is one of my new clearance bargins!! Love it!!

Now that you are doing at my blog... you need to head over to Frosted Designs!! We have so much going on there right now!! We have the debut for some of our new design team members and we have a new prize which you won't want to miss!!! Thanks for stopping by today!! I hope to spend some time this weekend getting around to all the blogs I haven't had a chance to visit yet this week!! Have a safe Halloween weekend!!

Halloween at the Zoo

I just love a good sale, especially when it comes to scrapbooking items! And I just could not help myself this week when I was in Michaels and they had all their Halloween things on clearance!! And they had some Martha Stewart border punches (that I have had my eye on for some time) on clearance!! Well... I didn't have a choice but to load up my cart!! heehee!! It was like they were paying ME to take this stuff out of the store!!! At least that is how I will explain it to my hubby!!

So, this is the LO I made with all my new goodies!! These are pictures from last year. Every year (until now) my sister and I would take our kids to the local zoo for some Halloween trick-or-treating fun!! I have SO many pictures over the years!! Don't you just adore all the sweet little Halloween creatures I added to this page!?! All of these are from K & Company!

And for this LO I used our newest sketch from Sketches In Thyme!! The sketch is one from Scrapbooks Etc. I really liked this sketch and I am sure I will be using it again!! As you can see, I had to change the amount of photos I used to accomodate the photos I liked best. But other than that, I pretty much stuck to the sketch this time!!

I love the photo of Lauren hiding behind Army man Brayden!! I guess every movie star needs a body guard!!
So... that is all I have for you!! Be sure to stop by the Sketches in Thyme blog to see what the other lovely Mavens made for you! You can also get details about the design team call going on over at Sketches in Thyme!! And, be sure to check back tomorrow!! I have some goodies I made with the left overs from these adorable papers!! And Frosted Designs has a new challenge!! Thanks for stopping in today!!

Barb  :)

Create!

Okay,.. I know I am not visiting all of you as much as I should, but I have a really, really good reason!! I got completely and totally wrapped up in this project I have been working on!! It has been a project in the making the entire month!!! Are you ready for it?!!! Well here it is!!

The Cricut Circle Blog has a monthly challenge and this month the challenge was to make something (LO, card, project) that "Celebrates Creativity!" Well, I started thinking about what I was going to do and then one day, while cleaning out the remaining boxes in my garage, I came across an old frame that I was going to throw away. Then the idea hit me!! I wanted to make something for my new office!! And so... I went to work on it!! The requirements are that I had to use the Cricut with at least 2 cuts and use the shadow feature, I had to use patterned paper and use an embellishment!! Check, check, and check!!

I thought it would be cool to make the word "Create" really big and then include the definition!! Clever huh?!! The word was cut out using the Storybook cart. I distressed the cardboard I was using for the background and popdotted all the letters. I added some pearls to jazz them up a bit!!

As for the definition, I did a lot of distressing, inking and stamping... even though you can't tell in the photos!!

The rest of it was soooooo much fun to make!! I turned each of the little squares into my own little scrapbook canvases to work with!! I wanted to use a variety of colors while still making it something that would look good in the house. I had to control myself from adding too much bling... my favorite thing to add to LOs!!!! lol!! I just didn't think it would look too good in my office if it was glowing from all the bling!!

What?! You would like to see closeups?!! Of course!! Here you go....

The bird in the cage was cut using the French Manor cart. I pop dotted the layers to make it look more dimensional... then of course, added some stickles!! I heat embossed the background and added the paper/ribbon stripe across the middle!!

Is my bird not the cutest?!! I cut him from the Home Decor cart and pop dotted the layers again. But this time, I added some crackle glaze to the top layer to give it a cool, distressed kind of look!!  I found that lovely branch right in my landscaping!! How lucky is that?!! My husband was thrilled!! I hand cut some cute little leaves and added a few charms!!

My favorite part is the way I included quotes that had to do with creativity!! Talk about clever!! They say...

* All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. - Pablo Picasso

* Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. - Martin Luther King Jr.

* The world is but a canvas to the imagination. - Henry David Thoreau

Aren't those the best?!! I also loved this square! The film strip is Tim Holtz that I had left over from one of my Lucky Girl Kits and the tickets came from the kit too. I just inked them with distress ink and then sprayed them with water!! Love how it gives it that instant worn look!!

Sorry this was so picture heavy... there was just so much to it, I wanted you to be able to see all the details!!

But before I leave, I have a few things to share with you!! My good friend and design buddy, Pat, has started this really cool new blog, Scrapping The Moments, that has a forum and will be a great resource of information!! I am so excited for her!! She is currently looking for some designers for this new blog. Please stop by and check it out!!  I'm sure she would like some blog love!!! You can get there by clicking HERE!!

AND.... one of my other design teams, Sketches in Thyme is also doing a design team call!! Click HERE to check it out!!

I will be back tomorrow with a new design for Sketches in Thyme and a much shorter post!! Have a great day!!

Barb  :)

Cherish

It's Friday and that means that we have another challenge at Frosted Designs!! This week Debbie is challenging us to use die cuts! How easy is that?! We all use them whether they are hand made with our Cricut, Sizzix or any other machine or they are store bought!! I used a combination of both!!

As many of you know... I am living very far from my family for the very first time. I absolutely love living in Texas... especially liking the 80 degree days!! However, when I ran across this picture of me with my 2 sisters and brother, I knew I wanted to scrap it!! I found the Cherish Sticker in my stash and I thought it worked perfectly!

To stick with our theme of die cuts, I used a die cut paper for the background. I cut out the frame around the photo using my Cricut (Accent Essentials) and I finished off the layout with die cut flowers and leaves from K & Company.

Now... go over to Frosted Designs to see what my fabulous dt sisters created for you!! Be sure to link up your project for a chance to win this prize:

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for your kind comments! Have a great weekend!!

Barb  :)

Leaves are Falling!

**THIS IS MY SECOND POST TODAY AND IS A DUPICATE OF WHAT I POSTED ON SHE'S A SASSY LADY BLOG TODAY!! PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE SKETCHES IN THYME CHALLENGE!!**

Good morning! I'm Barb and I am back again and happy to be guest designing on Sassy's blog!! With the change of seasons,  I thought it would be fun to use up some supplies that have been laying around and play with some new techniques!! Here is a sneak peek at what we are going to be making today....

Do you see the leaves with all the fall colors?! I'm going to show you how I made them! I started with some cheap photo paper I had laying around my office. I never liked how the photos looked when I printed them on this paper, yet I didn't feel like I could throw it out.... so why not use it?!

I pulled out some of my alcohol inks that I hardly ever use.. but that might change after doing this project because it was so much fun!! lol!! For my project I used butterscotch, cranberry, lettuce and  a little alcohol blending solution.

I started with my lightest color and worked my way to the darkest. I put a few drops of "butterscotch" on the pad of my Tim Holtz tool and started rubbing it across the paper. There is no right or wrong way to do this and you don't want it to look perfect. (On my first attempt I put the ink directly onto the photo paper but once I started rubbing it in, I was still left with little dots where I had originally put it on. I decided that putting it on the applicator pad was a much better way of doing it!!)

Next I added green (lettuce) to the same applicator and spread it over the yellow. After that I added in the cranberry. Note to self.... when using darker colors, you can use less ink!! A little goes a long way!! (In this photo you can see the cardboard box I used to protect my table top... be sure to put something under your paper when working with these inks!!!)

I wasn't happy with how the red looked on the paper... a little too bold and not blended enough. To solve this problem, I added a little Alcohol Blending Solution directly to the pad I had used for the other 3 colors and rubbed it over the top. It really did blend the inks together nicely!!

I made a second sheet using less reds and more greens... this way I would have some variety when I was ready to start cutting!

I cut the paper into smaller pieces and loaded it onto a cricut mat along with the brown that I was using for the background layer of the leaves.

I used my Gypsy to plan out where I was going to place everything. If you don't have a gypsy, design studio works just as well!!

Once the leaves were cut, I wanted to get rid of the white lines that were on the outside of the leaves from the paper. This was an easy problem to fix... ink!! I inked the edges of the leaves as well as the centers and I inked the brown background paper. In this photo you can see the difference between the one that was inked and the one that wasn't!

The last step was to glue the leaves onto their background layer and then use them in a layout! This is a layout I did of my daughter and her friend while raking leaves for a neighbor. I added in a few other premade embellishments and my layout was complete!

Thank you for taking the time to visit She's a Sassy Lady AND for reading this very long post!! Have a wonderful weekend!!

Barb  :)

I believe in Magic!

Happy Thursday everyone!! I hope you are all having a wonderful week! I am pretty excited because in a few short hours, my baby sister will be here for a visit!! Whoo Hooo!! We are going to get our annual fall shopping trip in after all!!

Sketches in Thyme has a new sketch for you this week and I decided to do my layout using some of my new pictures from our Disney Trip!! These are pictures of Matt and Lauren getting along!! Yes.. I said it!! They actually got along the entire week!! Which inspired the title... I believe in Magic! If you can read my journaling on the side, it says "Disney must be magic because Matt and lauren got along the entire week!!!" I wish everyday could be a Disney day!! lol!!

And here is the sketch we started with!! We would love to see what you can do with it!! Be sure to upload your project at Sketches in Thyme for a chance to win the monthly prize!

This project also qualifies for the challenge at the Cricut Circle Blog. This week they are asking for pink, ruffles, scallops, flourishes, glitter and jewels!! This LO has all of those things!!  I used the following carts: Stone Script, Storybook, Bloom, and Lovely Floral!!

Be sure to stop by Sketches in Thyme to see what the other Mavens did with this sketch!! Thanks for stopping by! I always love to read the comments you leave for me!!

Barb  :)

Tweet!

I hope all of you have had a great week!!  I know I have!!  We finished up our Disney Park days with a fabulous day! It started with Lauren going to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique for her princess makeover and then we were off to Magic Kingdom! There she met some more characters and got more autographs!! After that we had dinner in Cinderella's castle... a major hit with Lauren!! And, as if that wasn't busy enough, we did the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party until midnight!! What a jam packed day! I wanted to share some photos with you but that will have to wait until I get back and on my own computer!!

So.... It's Friday and we all know what that means..... A new challenge at Frosted Designs!! Whoo Hoo!! And I picked this challenge this week so I KNOW you are going to love it!! Are you ready?!! The challenge this week is to USE YOUR OWN HANDWRITING OR DOODLE ON YOUR LAYOUT, CARD OR PROJECT!! Seriously... could I have made it any easier on you?! If you use pen ANYWHERE on your project, you can enter to win some yummy Stampin Up candy that Pat has offered!! Go to FROSTED DESIGNS to check out more about this weeks challenge, check out what our lovely team did to show you just how easy it is, and you can see the prize!!

Here is the LO I did:

I love this picture of my daughter and my nephew! They are only 3 months apart and my sister and I were always doing pictures of them together!! Right now they still think this photo is cute... but something tells me that when it shows up on that graduation slide show they might think differently!! lol!!

So... for this challenge, I did all kinds of doodling! The frame around the photo is outlined in black pen and then I added the XOXOs!! I thought it turned out darling!! And since I am not much of an artist, I really didn't want to freehand my doodles... so I cheated!! hee hee!!! I took a black pen and outlined different parts of the flowers to make them stand out! I think it made it a little more fun! I also pop dotted the centers of the flowers to add a little more dimension to the project!

I also outlined the word "Tweet" because I wanted it to be my title and stand out just a little more!! Finally I added some speech bubbles with what I think these darling kids would be saying to my sister and I if they could!!

I hope you decide to join us for this easy peasy challenge! And be sure to check out Frosted Designs for more infomation about how you can win a prize just for being a follower!! But hurry, you only have until tomorrow!! We are also having a design team call at Frosted Designs... go check it out!! Have a great weekend! I should be back early next week to check in on all of you!! Thanks for stopping by!!