She is My Heart

This sweet little girl of mine has my heart like you wouldn't believe. All my kids do of course but something about this Crate Paper Close Knit collection from the October Gossamer Blue kit just made my heart feel all warm and fuzzy so I created this.

See? Aside from the heart background paper and the tiny hearts paper around the photo, I count 8 - 9 hearts on the page, plus the word "heart".

I added this large multi-colored chevron print across my page but it was a bit too boring for my liking so I cut small strips of paper in varying widths and lengths. I then added my hearts, some misting and some stitching and I was happy again. but before I laid everything down and added the mist and stitching, I got it all perfectly lined up how I wanted it and took a photo. I then pulled everything off the page so I could...

draw the big heart lightly in pencil and use my sewing machine to stitch a gigantic heart.  Actually, I was scrapping with my friends, Audrey, Diana and Sara so I borrowed Audrey's sewing machine. Thanks Audrey!

I put everything back in place, fussy cut some flowers, used my CAMEO to cut part of my title, added more stitching, the gold mist and embellishments. I completely "HEART" the end result.

Thanks for stopping by today. Now go on and get crafty!

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!

Oh, and if you are going out to celebrate the New Year, please stay safe! Watch out for those crazies out there and if you drink, please don't drive.

5th Birthday: Best Day Ever

Hi, friends! I am sharing a layout I created for my daughter's birthday using the Gossamer Blue December kits.  It's so hard to believe that she is 5 already. Apparently, I have been vocal about my disbelief because even she is asking me, "Can you believe I'm 5?". It's the cutest thing.

Supplies: Basic Grey RSVP collection from the Gossamer Blue December Kits: Main Kit, Main Add-on, Add-on Kit #2, Bits & Pieces, Life Pages Main Add-on

In true Reese fashion, she got all decked out for her birthday, in her special dress. She started out with just the dress but slowly added to her attire with every present she opened that contained something she could wear. By the end, she had wings and this pretty floral headband and was strutting her stuff. I snapped this photo of her during the process.

For this month's Pattern Play over on the Gossamer Blue blog, I decided to create squares out of triangles, mixing and matching the various patterns from the Basic Grey and Gossamer Blue exclusive papers. I also brought in cardstock and die cuts to add dimension.

I added layers of pattern paper, a chipboard frame and a flower cluster beneath my photo to help ensure it stands out from the other patterns surrounding it. 

Lastly, I love the distressed look of the pink background paper but it felt like it was missing something so I added random stitch lines here, there and everywhere. I also embellished it with a few mist splatters and small die cuts all around the pink background paper and topped it off with a banner and balloon chipboard.

All I have to do now if add the journaling, which I plan to do under the Best Day Ever chipboard piece.

Thanks for stopping by today. Make it your best day ever! Oh and if you love this layout like I do, check it out on the Gossamer Blue blog too and leave me some scrappy love!

Heather

Layered Paper Christmas Tree Video Tutorial

Okay, I am sharing a video tutorial I created with the Gossamer Blue December kit and add-ons. It was my first video and I think I did okay but I also learned a lot and can't wait to make my next one.

I know because of Facebook that many of you are starting to sort through Christmas photos and you're looking for ideas to scrap the tree decorating, gift opening type photos. Why not add a cute layered tree to your next Christmas layout? I went with a more simpler design than normal to focus on the layered tree and photo.

And now my video.  Let me know what you think in the comments below. Should I put away the camcorder forever or try, try again?

Layered Christmas Tree Tutorial from Heather Leopard on Vimeo.

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas with your friends and loved ones!

Christmas Elves - Free Cutting File - Project Tutorial

Hi friends. I wanted to share these Christmas elves that were inspired by our elf on a shelf.  I made them this weekend using Heidi Swapp's Believe collection.  These little elves' hair happen to match my girls' hair and I am soo excited for them to find them today.

Supplies: Heidi Swapp Believe: Holly Jolly 12x12 paper and Countdown 12x12 paper; black cardstock, white cardstock, brown, yellow, black or red cardstock for the hair; Electronic die-cut machine; Elf by Heather Leopard Silhouette Studio cutting file or PDF pattern, styrofoam cone with 3.5” diameter at base of cone, Lawn Fawn mixed sequins, American Crafts red glitter ribbon, small bells, gold thread, double sided tape; scrap paper to make test cuts.

I just adore these little guys.  Actually, I may add some sequin earrings and turn them into girls come morning time.

A blonde for my youngest and a brunette for my oldest 'cause my kids defied all that I learned in biology. I'm a brunette brown-eyed girl and I was blessed with a brunette with green eyes and a blonde with blue eyes.

Would you like to know how I made these guys?  I've included a Christmas Elf Tutorial below that you can download for free HERE.

You can download the free Silhouette Studio cutting file HERE. I am working on a SVG file, which I will post here soon.

Don't have a Silhouette? Download the PDF template HERE to cut these out by hand. It's only a few easy cuts, anyway!

Well, these little elves are super duper busy helping Santa prepare to deliver lots of Christmas joy and toys to all the girls and boys in this house so I better get going.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Personalized Gift Wrapped Boxes

Hi friends. I wanted to share a set of gift wrap ideas with you that I made using this month's Scrapbook Circle All is Bright kit and Holly Jolly add-on. I'll admit that these take more time than using wrapping paper or sticking a gift in a bag but I find so much joy creating these and sometimes it just has to be done.

How fun are these? Well let me tell you how I made them. First, I cut 2 different sized boxes out of Kraft cardstock two times each using my CAMEO. I assembled each of them and added the gifts.

Deer Box:

1. My larger boxes are 3x4 so I adhered a 3x4 card to the top of the box. I wrapped the sides of the box with paper strips as well.
2. Next, I used a pre-made tag from the kit. It was blending in with the background so I cut a tag  slightly larger to serve as a background.
3. I cut a deer hear out of the gold glitter paper, making sure it fit well within the tag.
4. Lastly, I cut a bow out of paper to complete the package.

Merry & Bright Box:

1. This box is smaller at 2x3.
2. Cut a 1"x12" strip of paper. Fold it into a paper ruffle and wrap it around the box.
3. Add the red glitter ribbon over the paper ruffle.
4. Add a chipboard element to the center and top it with a Giant Rhinestone.
5. Add stickers to the package for added "prettiness"

Tassle Box:

1. Another 2x3 box.
2. Wrapped it in twine.
3.  Cut paper strips approximately 1"x3". Cut the paper into fringe leaving 1/4" uncut across the top. Using a small dowel, roll the paper strip. Adhere the end to the rolled up section. Fan out the fringe and stitch with the chipboard banners onto the twine to make garland. Adhere to the package.

Christmas Tree Box:

1. Cut a 3x4 scrap of kraft paper and set aside.
2. Cut two 1.5"x12" strips of paper. Cut the paper into fringe leaving 1/4" uncut across the top. 
3. Measure the bottom layer the width you want across the bottom of your box for the base of the tree. Adhere to the bottom of the scrap paper.
4. Now, cut the next strip just slight smaller, overlapping over the other layer.
5. Continue to do so until you reach the top. It will resemble a tree but needs another step. 
6. Trim the layers into the shape of a tree.
7. Add a bow and rhinestone to the top of the tree and decorate as desired.
8. I just realized that you could do this much easier than what I did in my steps above. Just add each layer over the other, adhering it to the scrap kraft paper. Once all the layers are glued down, cut it all into the shape of a tree. Duh. Now decorate your tree and adhere to the top of the box.

I can't wait to give these gifts out. These are going to both of my girls' teachers.

Oh and did I mention that I made these for the Scrapbook Circle gift wrap challenge? I can't win the amazing prize they are giving away but YOU can! Come play along with me for a chance to win a Printshop by Studio Calico prize package. Click HERE for more details.

Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas!

All in the Family

We're having a ton of fun on the Lily Bee Design blog this week with a game of tag. I was tagged by Stacey yesterday to create a layout based on this week's sketch, created by yours truly, but with an added twist.  She challenged me to add die cuts to my layout so I created a few SVG files for Lily Bee's new We R Family collection. You can download them for free at the end of this post.

In case, you missed it, here's the sketch that's inspiring us this week.


Here's what I created:

Supplies: We R Family collection: (Papers: Family Rules, Family Ties, Family Time, Game Night, Family Dinner; 6x6 Tiny Tablet; Daily Deck Cards; Wood Veneer; Metal Badges); Urban Autumn collection (Papers: Oktoberfest, Tri-State); Sweet Shoppe collection: Letter Stickers

I had this layout in mind utilizing the Daily Deck cards when I created this sketch. That said, you could easily add more photos to the page.

I just love the wood veneer people. I knew I wanted to highlight them so I created an offset image of them and then cut them out as a family on one of the Daily Deck cards. I just resized them to fit my card and cut them out.

To create my title, I punched individual letters out of the Game Night paper. I used a small circle punch, which was the perfect size.

I also cut hearts out of the bottom section of the striped paper before adhering it to the background paper. I backed the negative portion with coordinating paper and then saved the cuts to use as embellishments over one of the Daily Deck cards.

So how about some free SVG cutting files? You can download all of our cutting files HERE or you can download the ones I used by clicking on their direct links:
We R Family People Cutting File
We R Family Hearts Cutting File

Head on over to the blog to see who I tagged for tomorrow and the challenge I gave her.

Thanks for stopping by. Now go on and get crafty!

Snowman Bingo Gifts

When Paige asked me to create some neighbor gifts, I wracked my brain to come up with something unique but it wasn't until I was playing around with the Bingo cards, from the American Crafts Peppermint Express collection, that this idea came to me.  It was on the American Crafts blog yesterday. Here's how to re-create it.

We had a bag of mini marshmallows for hot chocolate and Thanksgiving. My girls were eating them while we were playing with the cards so we used them  as our Bingo card markers. I'm pretty sure they ate more than they played because no one ended up getting a bingo that day. LOL!

I was able to make 4 Snowman Bingo gift bags using one set of Bingo cards. Each bag has 3 cards in them.  To create this, follow these steps:

1. Add a generous amount of mini marshmallows to a small Ziploc bag. You don't want the them to touch the cards and get them all dirty.
2. Stuff the Bingo cards and marshmallow package in a large glassine bag.
3. Using a die cut machine, cut snowman head the width of the glassine bag. Silhouette sells snowman bag toppers. Piece all the bits together and staple to the top of the bag to seal.
4. Cut large snowflakes. Mine are approximately 4" wide. I wanted them to show above and below the tags.
5. Using the tags, clothespins and glitter stars from the Peppermint Express collection, layer them to the front right or left sides of the bags towards the bottom. 
6. Deliver them with pride and joy to neighbors, family, friends, teachers, etc.

Thanks for stopping by today. Now go on and get crafty!

Duck Dynasty

Want a chance to win a Scrapbook Circle All is Bright December kit? See the post below this one to enter to win.

Well, I'm not so sure about that.  This country girl turned city girl had a ton of fun growing up in the sticks and I can't say that "frog catchin'" was on my list of fun but to each their own, I guess. 

I'm quoting Jase from Duck Dynasty because it kind of / sort of relates to my project today.  First, I can think of a lot more fun things to do other than frog catchin'. This would be anything that has to do with my family, obviously!  Second, it's seems this dynamic family of mine was caught up in a bit of a duck dynasty while visiting a local pond. 

Supplies from Gossamer Blue November 2013 kit

The funny thing is, I cropped this photo quite a bit and what you don't see are a gazillion more ducks that swarmed us.  There must have been at least 40 - 50 of them.  They were a real duck dynasty who were definitely ruling the roost. I suspect they were looking for food.

I cut gold doilies out of the vellum and gold Flea Market paper. I used one as a main focal point along with my photo and then added a few more on the layout.

I cut several feathers out of green vellum and I love how the other elements show through them.  I added additional paper feathers, die cuts and chipboard and then journaled around the elements.

I used the Glitz roller stamps with Versamark and clear embossing powder throughout the layout right over the lines that divide the different colors in the background. Reminds me of a paint swatch.  

Thanks for stopping by today. Rest assured, big brother picked up little sister to save her from all the ducks. We did make the great duck escape and lived to tell about it. Now we're all Happy, Happy, Happy!

Elf Elise & a Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop

Welcome to the Scrapbook Circle End of Year Blog Hop! Here's a peek at the All is Bright December kit. You can see more photos by clicking HERE. It's perfect for documenting your Christmas and New Year photos or you can use it to create a December Daily. The possibilities are limitless.

The creative team at Scrapbook Circle is ending the year with a bang! We are hopping along and you can win a All Is Bright December kit from Scrapbook Circle. Each Creative Team member is giving away a kit on their blog. That's right — 12 chances to win! We are celebrating the holiday season and YOU get the gifts!

You should have come to my blog from Diana. You can also start at the Scrapbook Circle blog for more details.

I create this layout about Elf Elise and her first visit to see the girls last year.  We caught her reading her book to all her animal friends. I used most of the 4x6 and 3x4 cards from the Glitz Design Hello December collection to create the background for this page. I stitched around the heart and on the stripes; also on the arrows and around some of the cards. It's all in the details, people!

 She left notes for each girl and they just thought that was THE BEST thing EVER!!! I have those and will be scrapping them soon along with photos of the girls reading the notes as well as me reading the book to them

I stitched around the number 25 since the people in my family always look forward to celebrating two special birthdays that day (my mom shares a birthday with Jesus) and of course, waiting to see what Santa brings us all! The "Fave December Moments" card can be pulled out by pulling on the Holly rhinestone to reveal the hidden journaling.

Your next stop on the hop is Adrienne! Keep hopping, leaving comments as you go, so you have up to12 chances to win the December kit from Scrapbook Circle. Good Luck!

Here's the order in case you want to visit each blog separately or get lost along the way.
1. Scrapbook Circle blog: http://www.scrapbookcircle.com/blog
2. Diana Fisher: http://designbydiana.blogspot.com/
3. Heather Leopard: YOU ARE HERE
4. Adrienne Alvis http://adriennealvis.blogspot.com/
5. Audrey Yeager http://audreysreflection.blogspot.com
6. Sara Zenger http://sarazenger.blogspot.com
7. Jenni Calma: http://papercardinal.blogspot.com/
8. Rebecca Keppel http://www.myclutteredcorner.com/
9. Tessa Buys http://precociouspaper.blogspot.com/
10.Melissa Mann http://melissamann.typepad.com
11. Diana Waite http://wonderwoman-diana.blogspot.com/
12. Lisa Andrews http://lisaandrews.blogspot.com/

To enter to win the kit I am giving away on my blog, please do tell me in the comments below what traditions you and you family do today or did in the past. And if you like the projects you see here on my blog, I'd love to have you as a new follower. You have until midnight CT December 3, 2013 to leave a comment.

Thanks and Merry Christmas to you and yours!