A Bit of This & That - Scrappin' Savvy Blog Hop

Hello, hello! I don't think I've blogged in about a week but I certainly have been busy creating projects that I just haven't been able to share just yet.  That's why I'm excited to show you these layouts and also let you know about a little blog hop we are doing with my LSS, Scrapp'n Savvy, which I teach at. These layouts are a little sampler of some of the things you'll be creating if you attend one of my classes. 

First let me tell you about the blog hop and then stay tuned to hear about my classes. If you're not local, I hope these projects inspire you. 

Welcome to the Scrapp'n Savvy Blog Hop! During this hop, you will learn about each teachers classes at the store and be eligible to win FREE class sessions. To enter, you must leave a comment on EACH teachers' blog and then return to the Scrapp'n Savvy blog and leave a comment that you have completed the hop. We will also be sharing with you information about our classes and techniques and tips that we used to create our "HOME" banners!

My class is called A Little Bit of This & That. I call it that because it's like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get. That being said, it usually consists of a couple of layouts plus maybe a mini album or perhaps a card.

For April's class, we will be playing with My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart "Be Amazing" collection and a bit of October Afternoon Farmhouse. We'll be doing one 1-page layout, one 2-page layout and a DIY (do-it-yourself) smash-like mini album. Here are the 1-page and 2-page layouts. The mini is still a secret but I think you'll love it.

Supplies are from my Scrapbook Circle Remember This kit, which is sold out but these items can be purchased at Scrappin' Savvy as well.  Supplies: My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Be Amazing collection: Societe, 6 x6 Designer Paper Pad, 12x12 chipboard, brads, Zig Marker in black.

The 1-page layout focuses on layering, fussy cutting to create handmade elements, stitching, dimension and more.

Here's a sneak at the 2-page layout. The actual layout will be at the Sampler event on Saturday. Techniques will include, distressing, misting, stitching (I used the new Sew Stamper tool) and will include a bit of layering. Are you starting to see a pattern? Yep, I'd say pretty much all of my layouts include a bit of each of those elements.

Not pictured from my April class is the DIY mini album.

For May, we'll be designing with Echo Park's Thise & That Charming collection. Similar to April's class, we'll be creating the 1-page and 2-page layout below plus a notepad booklet (great gift idea). The booklet is not pictured. Note: if you were here before I only posted a sneak because I had to hold it back for the Paper Issues blog hop but now I can post the full reveal.

Full page was revealed on April 1 so I updated this post to see the entire layout because there was soo much more to it that I couldn't show you!

So what do you see? Maybe a bit of mist, distressing, stitching and layered elements? You'll get to play with the Imaginisce i-top tool and the new Sew Stamper to make your faux stitches. The notepad booklet will be made from the same collection and if you like the style of the layout above, you won't be disappointed.

GIVEAWAY

This is for locals only (sorry). I'm giving away a spot in my April class. All you have to do is follow my blog and leave me a comment. I will do a random drawing on April 5. Either way, I hope to see you in my classes!
 
If you are attending the Sampler on Friday and Saturday you'll be making a fantastic "HOME" decor item. I will share my ideas for decorating it as soon as I get to create with mine.
 
Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Be sure to visit and comment on each of the blogs listed below for your chance to some scrappy goodies from Scrappin's Savvy, in addition to the free class I am giving away!


Scrappn’ Savvy Blog- http://www.razzilldazzilltime.blogspot.com/
Millie Jones- http://generationswithmillie.blogspot.com/
Audrey Yeager- http://www.audreysreflection.blogspot.com/
Heather Leopard- YOU ARE HERE!
Terri Burnette- http://thepaperassylum.blogspot.com/
Leslie Parlette- http://designsdessertdisasters.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by today!

Spring into Spring Card

Hello there!  I've been having a ton of fun with ribbon in my scrap room lately.  Wanna know why? Imaginisce just came out with this really cool ribbon cutter and sealer and it has made my life so much easier.  It's called the i-magicut.

I have to be honest and tell you that I was skeptical at first. I can cut my ribbon with scissors and I know how to heat seal my ribbon, but........I never cut it perfectly, especially when I try to cut it banner style (live a chevron) and, and this is a big and, I either don't have my lighter handy to seal the edges and it frays OR, I apply the flame and it melts my cut and warps it all up and I have to try again until I get it right. I know I sound like a commercial and I don't mean to be but this tool is just so cool because it cuts it and seals it great each time.

Okay, so I got crazy with the tool and just started cutting away at the ribbon and created this Spring card.

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 I wanted to really test out the i-magicut with this project and it definitely got a workout.  What better way to showcase small strips of ribbon than to create a weave? To make it I adhered the bottom right corner horizontal and vertical strips of ribbon. Then I just worked my way across the bottom overlapping and adhering the vertical strips. Once I had all the vertical strips placed, I weaved in the horizontal strips, double checking that I wasn't skipping under/overs as I went along, and I did have to re-do a couple.  After I laid my last ribbon, I tightened up the rows and adhered the edges with fabri-tac.

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Head over to the Imaginisce blog today and each day post through Thursday, where you'll find video tutorials and you can even try to win one for yourself.

Happy Go Lucky Backseat Driver

So I got this Facebook message a week or two ago promising me that I wasn't be stalked but that someone was looking for me. Apparently, they had seen my blog and thought my work was "fan-freaking-tastic" and asked if I'd be willing to be a guest blogger for them. After trying to figure out why they didn't just email me, I realized that I was not making myself accessible for opportunities like this.  I took three actions, checked out a site that in all honesty I knew about but forgot about (shame on me), accepted the offer and updated my blog to include my email address - duh!

Sooooooo, I am excited to be blogging for Scrapbook Steals.com today. Did you know that they not only have great daily deals but they have an inspiration blog too?  If you came here from the blog, WELCOME!

Anyway, today I am showcasing my love of Mr. Huey mists. I really enjoy getting dirty with paint and mists and such but it doesn’t always have to be make a mess, nor should it be intimidating, like many people think.

They asked me to share a few scrapbooking ideas and tips with you to show you just how fun the misting technique can be. I’ve been playing with mists for years but I fell in love with Mr. Huey mists last year after attending Kelly Purkey’s misting techniques class at CKC Houston.

Let's jump into my first scrapbook layout...I pulled out my favorite go-to kit club stash from Scrapbook Circle and I laid out all of my papers, photos and elements to figure out where I wanted everything arranged and then I took a visual picture in my head, removed everything from the page and spray misted with brown in the 3 spots you see below. I then pulled the nozzle out of the bottle and flicked blue mist onto the page over the brown to give it a splattered look.

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Scrapbook supplies: from Scrapbook Circle Remember This February 2012 kit - Crate Paper Love Letter paper, October Afternoon Farmhouse Flower Sack, Crate Paper Farmhouse Alpha Sticker Sheet, Whisker Graphics Chevron Aqua Bag, Elle's Studio Lil Snippets Treasured tag sheet, Yellow Twine, Whisker Graphics Large White Tag, My Mind's Eye Be Amazing Button Card. Scrapbook Circle Be Amazing Kit Add-on - My Mind's Eye Be Amazing 12 x 12 Chipboard, My Mind's Eye Be Amazing Brads, My Mind's Eye Be Amazing 6x6 pad (hexagon paper). Not included in the kit Mr. Huey Calico Classic Calico and Bonny Blue, Chocolate Zig Pen, jute twine.

I’m also a fan of making things pop on the page so I used foam squares to lift different elements off the page. Some but not all of the hexagons, word banners and embellishments are popped.

For my 2nd page, I chose to scale back a little with the mist but it’s still an important part of the story.

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Scrapbooking Supplies: Scrapbook Circle Best. Day. Ever. kit - Dear Lizzy Cheerful Notes, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan At First Sight paper, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Sunny Skip paper. Scrapbook Circle Scatter Sunshine Add-on - Dear Lizzy Date Roller, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Printed Chipboard Shapes. Not in kit: Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Hazy Horizon paper, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Buttons & Accents, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Fair Ribbon, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Letter Stickers, American Crafts Thickers, Core'dinations Color Core Cardstock, Mr. Huey Bonny Blue, Sew Stamper, Black Zig Pen.

These are Instagram photos with a filter to make them look vintagy so the splatter effect was called for again here. Usually I will do the splatter on my foundation piece before I start layering everything but since I was going for an aged look, I adhered all the papers first and then misted, hoping a few splatters would land on the different papers. I then added the photos.

I knew I wanted to add clouds to the top right corner of the layout so I flicked a little blue mist over there before I stitched the clouds to the paper. Also, the blue cloud was much brighter than I wanted so I toned down the color by spraying blue mist over it. Then I placed it so that the mist splatter would look like rain coming from it. It was a gorgeous fall day but I liked the rain effect.

So, those are my projects for today. As you can probably see, I really do love my Mr. Huey mists. Before I go, I thought I’d share a few tips to keep in mind when using your mists:

• I use an old 13x13x5-ish box handy for all my misting projects. I just put the paper or item in the box and mist away. This protects everything around me from getting mist on it. It’s fun to look at your box each time because you can see traces of all your projects in there.
• Use a stencil, die-cut or negative image from a die-cut to create a mask for misting.
• Use a stencil or die-cut and instead of using it as a mask, mist it up and press it over your project like you would a stamp. Lift to see your image.
• Mist your stamps for a really cool effect
• Heat emboss an image and then mist over it
• Alter the color of twine, ribbon, canvas, alphas, anything that will take color, including paper
• The possibilities are endless. You will learn by experimenting. Of course you’ll want to use practice paper if you are new to the world of misting.
• Last tip is to DON'T STRESS and HAVE FUN!

Thanks for stopping by today. If my pages and tips inspired you, and you are in the market for some FAB misting products, check out today's Scrapbook Steal deal on them.

Splash Zone & Playing in the Sand

Happy Tuesday, everyone!!! I have a couple of scrapbook layouts to share with you today, which are part of the Imaginisce release party for the new Making Waves collection.  Here in Texas we have been having Spring-like weather for some time now so I am really starting to get in the mood for summer. With that said, check out this scrapbooking page, which was taken at our old neighborhood pool last summer.

Supplies: Imaginisce Making Waves collection - Walking on Sunshine, Tropical Heatwave, Surf's Up, Keepin' Cool, Bloomin' Hot papers, Sun-kissed die-cuts; Mr. Huey Mists; My Little Shoebox alphas; Bella Blvd alphas

The pool has a really cool play structure in the water, with a slide and water spouts and all sorts of fun things for the kids.  We had really been missing it but luckily my friend, Audrey, still lives there and invited us over for a water playdate. Sure would be fun to go again this year. ;)

Looking back at the past 6 - 8 months of projects, I've discovered that I really like to mist. I stayed true to my mists on this layout.  I seldomly use the spray nozzle to mist and usually pull the nozzle out and flick it to get the big blotches but I did a combo on this layout.

I had fun layering the various pattern paper but I especially love the chevron papers in this new collection. I just stacked away at the papers, distressed them and stitched them in place.

I decided to go a little more clean in this next scrapbook layout, which is all about my littlest at the beach.  She was having a blast filling her bucket with sand, flipping it over and filling it up again.

I filled the page with my photos and what I refer to as color blocking but I don't think I'm right.

Supplies: Imaginisce Making Waves collection: Walking on Sunshine, Tropical Heatwave, Bloomin' Hot, Surf's Up, Hot! Hot! Hot! papers, Sunny Side Up Sticker Stacker, Hot Summer Day Chipboard stacker, Summer Fun Canvas Sticker, twine from The Twinery, Mr. Huey mists, Imaginisce i-rock, Kraft cardstock

I added chipboard, canvas, stickers and lots of fussy cut pieces. I hand stitched around some of the elements with baker's twine from The Twinery and then to top it off I blinged it out with my i-rock. Oh and I added some mist splatter.

 

Make sure to head over to the Imaginisce blog and leave a comment over there for a chance to win a collection of your own!

Field Notes Revisited

I had a great time guest designing for SEI last month! I didn't post full reveals each day over here so I thought I'd post them now.  First up is a 2-pager and a sketch I did.  Keeping to my promise to myself to do more 2-pagers, I like how it turned out.  So many times I get stuck in a two page rut of lining up a bunch of photos in a row across the page. I think this layout was a good break of that mold.

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 Here's the sketch I created:

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 I had fun with paint and mist with the goal to make the alphas pop using black splotches to match the ducks.

 Next up: two cards and a tutorial:

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 Butterfly Mini Album

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Thanks for stopping by today! I can't wait to play with the other two new lines and the dye they sent me!

xoxo - Heather

Core'dinations Love

It's been a great start to the year with Imaginisce. They've released some cute lines and we've had several swaps with other manufacturers, which means I've been having fun creating with some amazing products.  Today I'd like to share with you a couple of cards I made using Core'dinations cardstock.

I ususally stick to my Bazzill or American Crafts but I gave this a whirl and I have to say that it's really nice and heavy and takes to embossing great! I love that you can sand away to expose another color at it's core.  

For You Card

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I made this first card but cutting out large and small hearts in the same colors and running through my Big Shot with an embossing plate.  I then sanded the embossed part and stacked the two colors together.  I added some bling to the centers, added a sentiments and some twine and voila!

Life is Sweet Card

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This card was my favorite because it was experimental.  I love to challenge myself to make an idea come to fruition.  To make this card, I pulled out my Imaginisce d-stress tool and embossing tip, flipped the cardstock to the B-side and drew a heart. Then I drew another heart and another heart around it until the shape started to not resemble hearts but the bark of a tree instead.  Then I just added some more odd lines, flipped it, sanded to the core and revealed my tree trunk. I LOVE how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Make sure to head over to the Imaginisce blog for more design team inspiration and a chance to win a collection pack of Imaginisce Hippity Hop and Core'dinations Colorcore Cardstock.

Family Movie Night

Okay, it's not every day that I get a chance to work with Becky Fleck and design a layout for Page Maps but I guess it was my lucky day.  A couple of weeks ago, I was given this sketch, from the March Page Maps.

I couldn't resist pulling out an older line of Imaginisce papers for this one.  I used the Animal Crackers collection, because of the tickets papers and embellishments.  There's also a paper that's filled entirely of connecting circles that would come in handy (after I take my scissors to them) for the line of circles under the photo.  The only problem was, I didn't have any photos.  I looked at this as an opportunity for a Family Movie Night.  It was a win-win because I got the photo I wanted and we spent quality time as a family watching a movie and snacking on popcorn.

Take a look at the rest of Becky's March Page Maps. There are so many great ones as usual and lots of designer inspiration. Thanks for stopping by today!

Best. Day. Ever.

Okay, so it really was one of my best days ever because I have a few days off between ending one job and starting another and I spent the day at the zoo with my littlest gal and my mom.

We had lunch in the new African Exhibit and the giraffes were eating right next to us.

So ya, that was a pretty fun day.  Wanna know how one of my Best. Days. Ever. ties into my scrappy blog??? Well let me tell you.  The Scrapbook Circle March kit, aptly named Best. Day. Ever. is now available in the store and it's packed with some of the latest swoon-worthy CHA collections.  It seriously has me oohing and ahhing over it.  Here's a couple of sneaks.

Lisa is also offering a couple of great add-ons - Scatter Sunshine add-on - loads of wonderful embellies - and a cardstock add-on.  Her kits have been selling out fast so make sure to get yours before they are gone!

A sneak of the Scatter Sunshine add-on:

Also, make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  You'll find fun challenges and special offers posted on these connection points and we encourage you to share your fabulous creations made from Scrapbook Circle kits (past or present)!!!

I'll be sharing a few of my projects made from this wonderful kit VERY soon!

Butterfly Mini Album - SEI Guest Blogger

I can't believe my week of hogging the SEI blog has come to an end.  I have one last project to share with you today.  Several years ago, my mom and I found a bunch of flower and butterfly chipboard mini albums at Michael's for $1. I bought several of them and gave them to friends.  When SEI sent me their new CHA collections, I remembered I the albums so I went into my stash of alterable items hoping I didn't give away all of them when I cleaned out my scrap room.  Of course, it was there because I keep everything. 

Here's a few peeks of the mini. 

To see each page, visit the SEI blog today.  And make sure to leave a comment for your chance to win the Field Notes collection.  

xoxo Heather

LYB Girly Girl & SEI Butterfly Cards

I have one more Little Yellow Bicycle Paradise scrappiness to show you.  Liz asked me if I would create a layout based on the new sketch challenge and of course I obliged. :) Visit the Little Yellow Bicycle blog to see the sketch and play along.  Here's my take on it.

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 A few close-ups:

 I love the tear out tickets, especially this one:

I can’t believe my week at SEI is going by so fast. Did you get a chance to check out my Pinterest post yesterday? There's soo much out there in Pinterest-land that I want to do and try so be prepared to see a little bit of that here on my blog in the future. How about we start with something today?  I ran across this collage while looking for inspiration for my projects below. I love how they are spreading their wings and taking flight in all sorts of different directions.

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Today, I am sharing 2 cards I made using the gorgeous Field Notes collection again because the colors are so striking and I just love the dimension I got from the butterflies. 

Spread Your Wings Card

For this first card, I used the perforated 12x12 sheet, Curated, and fussy cut the butterflies from the Butterfly sheet.  I machine stitched the background and banner and then laid the sentiment across the top.

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Tip: When I want to stitch on a card I like to stitch each piece before I adhere it to the card so that you can’t see the stitching on the inside of the card.

I used pop dots to raise the sentiment and to keep the butterflies from flattening out once I put the card in the envelope.

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 Just Be You Card

Looking back at the inspiration piece above, the center photo shows butterflies going in various directions and I wanted to do something to highlight those gorgeous butterflies. What better than a spinning card???  It really all came together because of the Vignettes 12x12 paper. When I got the collection, this paper really stood out. I immediately started cutting out the beautiful frames and I kept going back to the rectangular frame. At this point, everything just kind of came together. Here is the result…

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I double layered the butterflies and added another smaller frame up at the top right. I stamped the sentiment in orange and blue ink, using silver embossing powder to accent the word “BE” so that it would match the silvery foiling on the frames.  I can’t stop picking up the card and tilting it back and forth. It’s a bit addicting to watch the butterfly spin around.

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Interested in making your own spinning card?   How about a quick & easy 6-step photo tutorial?

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Thanks so much for visiting today. Make sure to head over to the SEI blog and leave a comment for a chance to win your own Field Notes collection.  Post a comment on each day's post for up to 5 chances to win!