Halloween Collage Tutorial

I'm excited to show you my last project as a design team member for American Crafts.  I feel so blessed to have been on their design team for the last 3 years.  Many thanks to Paige Evans for believing in me and giving me this opportunity, from my original guest designer feature to a trusted design team member.  It's been an amazing ride and a wonderful opportunity to document so many memories.

I hope you all are getting in the Halloween spirit but if not, maybe this post will help get you there.

How to:
1. Gather all your supplies – frame, tags, banners, embellishments, etc.

2. Select one piece of patterned paper for the background of your collage. I chose black and white and used watercolors to add color. Once dry, attach it to the back of the frame.

3. Next, select at least 3 backgrounds for your photos. I chose to use a combination of banners and tags. I layered spider web doilies, tags, washi tape, and more tags. Place your photos on top. I printed some of my photos 2x3” and others 3x3”.

4. Add tassels to the upper left portion of the frame and attach an embellished sentiment there as well.

5. Add paper flowers to the bottom right to help balance the outer frame. Add rosettes to the inside of the flowers.

6. Lastly, attach your photo tags to the frame.

My girls LOVE looking at this. They keep saying, "oh, remember when we...."

Thanks again American Crafts!

Supplies: Halloween collection: (340051) – Tags, (340362) – Washi Tape, (340366) – Washi Tape, (340367) – Pennant Banners, (340369) – Pom Pom Flowers, (340370) – Dimensional Stickers, (340372) – Notch Banners, (340377) – Adhesive ribbon bows, (340377) – Doilies, (340378) – Adhesive layered embellishments, (340381) – Tassels, (340382) – Brads, (340383) – Brads, (340384) – Tags, (340385) – Layered Tags, (340386) – Screen printed clothespins, (340386) – Screen printed clothespins, (340389) – Brads, (340390) – Buttons

Sweet Generosity

Hi everyone.  Just sharing another layout I created for my guest gig with Just Nick.  If you haven't spied her cut files yet, what are you waiting for???

I love butterflies on a scrapbook page so when I saw this butterfly cut file I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

My little girl recently cut about 10” of hair to donate and I really wanted to document this incredibly sweet act of kindness.  It just so happened that she was wearing a butterfly dress and it just so happened that the new Pinkfresh Happy Things coordinated so well and Nicole’s butterfly file was just begging to be used.

To create this layout, I cut the file out of white cardstock. I hand stitched the background to the pattern paper using white embroidery floss and then I cut the file again offsetting it so it would cut the butterflies smaller than the original. I wanted to be able to see the pattern paper around the butterflies.

I used watercolors around the stitched edges to accentuate the colors in the background paper. I painted right over the white embroidery floss so that it would dye the floss.  Once dried, I adhered the butterflies to the page, added my photo, title and embellishments.  I will journal her story later this week once I get my thoughts together on what I think of her generosity.

Make sure to swing on over to the Just Nick blog to get your freebie of the cut file she created for the layout last week.  I used it to recreate the mermaid look but it's so versatile, it can be a great background for anything! It's only free until the end of this month so get over there quick.

Always a Mermaid

Hello everyone!  I'm excited to show you this project today.  My dear friend, Nicole, asked me to guest for her cut file store, Just Nick. Loving her cut files the way I do, I jumped at the opportunity!  And when she told me she'd be giving away a FREEBIE file of my choice, I immediately knew what I wanted to do!

My littlest has wanted to be a mermaid for as long as I remember.  From Halloween to pretending in the pool to being buried in the sand in the shape of a mermaid so I just knew a mermaid inspired cut file was needed.

It’s inevitable every year that we go to the beach, Little Miss asks to be buried in the sand so she can pretend she’s a mermaid.  She often makes little ocean friends, like crabs and turtle out of sand to pretend with. When Nicole asked said she’d design a free cut file of my choice I knew it had to be ocean themed and the scales were PERFECTION.  I chose to use the background for 2/3 of my page, leaving the top 1/3 more simple to help balance the page.

I chose a more labor intensive design for this page but the great thing about background cut files is that you can back it with one or many patterns. I used papers from a 6”x6” paper pad with smaller patterns to fill in the scales.  I simply laid the paper behind the background cut file, traced around the outer cut, hand cut each piece and then adhered it to the back. Then I added photos, embellishments, the title and a cute little quote about being a mermaid.

Remember how I said this cut file was a FREEBIE??? Head over to the Just Nick blog right now. Don't wait and download the file before it's gone.  This is a limited time only offer.  OH! Tell her Heather sent you! 

I created another layout using her butterfly background which I'll have her on my blog in a few days.  It's on the Just Nick blog now in case you want to see how I used that file to create a special layout about this same little sweetie!

Thanks Nicole for having me.  Let's do it again!

Stop and Smell the Roses

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of http://americancrafts.typepad.com/.  I do receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

Instagram is my favorite go-to app for staying connected with friends, family and people from around the world with the same interests. I enjoy sharing my DIY, craft and scrapbook projects with you all there while also documenting my family’s everyday moments so when Paige asked me to create a layout featuring Instagram photos, I knew finding the perfect photo would not be hard. And the new Dear Lizzy Documentary collection is perfection for the photo I chose.

Download and cut out your favorite background cut file and choose one where the outer perimeter somewhat resembles a circle. I chose the rosette background cut file from my friend, Just Nick.

Choose various pattern papers to back the different cuts and adhere to the page. Hand or machine stitch a large circle around the outside of your new background.

Add 2 – 3 layers of coordinating pattern paper behind your photo, layering in tags, labels, tickets, etc. and adhere to the bottom left of the page. Next, add your title and journaling and finish off the page with the remaining embellishments.

Supplies: Dear Lizzy Documentary collection: (340294) – Me & You Paper, (340296) – Confetti Paper, (340302) – Blossom Paper, (340303) – Fresh Start Paper, (340305) – Fancy Free Paper, (340307) – Snail Mail Paper, (340316) – Dreamer Paper, (340205) - Cork Bows, (340204) - Die-cut cardstock shapes, (340203) - Rub-on transfer sheets, (340207) - Wood buttons, (340200) – Accent & Phrase Stickers, (340199) – Snapshots Thickers; Cut file from JustNick

What Matters Most

The beginning of the month brings a new Gossamer Blue kit.  The September kits are going down as one of my faves.  I know I say that a lot, which is a testament to Lori's amazing skills at putting kits together.  I especially love the Crate Paper Wonder and the Pinkfresh Happy Things that fill this kit.  See what I created with the goods and then head over to the shop to get your kits before they are gone.

Here's what I created with the Main Kit only....

The patterns on the paper made it super easy to create this layout. It practically made itself!

I just added some stitching, a few sayings, embellishments and of course my photo and some misting.  It seriously came together so quick - between work and dinner!  I'll take these kinds of layouts every day!

I used Main kit to create this layout:

Visit the Gossamer Blue store to view the add-ons before they are all SOLD OUT!