Away We Go Scrapbooking Layout

Hi everyone.  I absolutely adore the Pretty Little Studio Here Comes the Sun collection so I couldn't wait to play with it and the JustNick Studio Up in the Air cut file.

To create this layout, I supersized one of the hot air balloons. It's much taller than the 12" height so I cut it at a diagonal to keep it as one piece.

I kept the pieces that were cut and used them as guides to cut the pattern paper.  Then I glued it to the back of the large hot air balloon.

Once each section was filled in, I adhered it to a 2nd piece of cardstock, added the photo, embellishments and title.  Now I just have to journal and how it to my girls for their stamp of approval.

Happy Together + Cut File Tutorial

Hello everyone.  Heather Leopard is here today with a layout using the new Graphic Chevron Background 2.  I love a great background cut file and this one did not disappoint.

I modified this file just slightly by removing 5 of the graphic chevrons - 2 were completely removed and 3 were replaced with a cut out for the photos.

 To get the perfect fit, I printed my photos so that the parts I wanted would show through.  Then I placed them under the cardstock and moved them around until I liked where they were.  Then I placed the piece that was cut out over the photo.  Then...

I pulled the photo with the cut out piece and cut around it, leaving ~1/4" border to add my liquid adhesive. That allowed me to get the perfect placement.

I added pattern paper to the back side of the cardstock in a very random order, filling some diamond chevron shapes completely while leaving so many others blank. I added my photos as well before adhering it all to a 2nd white cardstock background. I added my title and just a few embellishments to complete the layout.

Get this cut file here - Graphic Chevron Background 2

Hello Sweet Girl

Hello, my friends. I am sooo in love with the new Crate Paper Cute Girl collection.

I have this photo of my precious littlest girl playing dress up with a bouquet of flowers, mostly white dress and a veil so I was quite inspired to keep a lot of white for this particular layout.


I used white cardstock to cut a white wreath of flowers using the JustNick Studio Floral Wreath cut file and a white doily, from the Nana's Doily Background cut file.


I added a pop of color with the embellishments around the wreath. I used a mix of cut file alphas and an embellishment to create my title, cutting the word "sweet" out white cardstock, using the Simple Set Alphabet cut file from JustNick Studio.

"Fabulous & Lovely" Flower Scrapbook Layout by Heather Leopard

Backgrounds are some of my most favorite things to design with. You can use them over and over again with vastly different looks depending on what you use to back them. Sometimes I like to cut it out of white cardstock and layer white on white, other times, I cut it out of white cardstock and lay it over pattern paper but mostly I do what I did today - white background cut over white cardstock filled with various patterns that coordinate. The possibilities really are endless and the results look completely different each time.

I used the Spirograph Background 1 cut file for this layout. I liked that it resembled flowers. My process included cutting the background file out of white cardstock. Then I released the compound path / ungrouped everything and cut the inside petals and leaves out of pattern paper. This made it super easy to get the perfect cut. I glued them in place and then stitched circles over the center of the spirograph flowers.



I mixed & Matched Pink Paislee Paige Evans Take Me Away collection pattern papers and for the inside petals, I created an ombre effect, starting light at the top and darker at the bottom.  I just felt like it needed more solids in the middle to help ground the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Me, Myself & I

I am thrilled to be returning to the JustNick Studio design team.  I absolutely LOVE working with Nicole's cut files.


I love using quilt-inspired designs on my projects so my first instinct when I saw the new July files was to use the Quilted Background.  I used the Gossamer Blue July Main Kit, which is available NOW with tons of amazing add-ons.

This layout you see here was not my original plan.  Let me walk you through the thought process of how one thing led to another...


I decided that I wanted to use the file to piece together a background, instead of cutting it out of one piece and using it as an overlay so I cut 4"x4" squares and placed them next to each other across and down the CAMEO mat.  I cut each piece out and as I was pulling it all off the mat, I was really digging the leftover 4"x4" pieces so, onto the paper they went. I kept the other pieces and I am sure you'll be seeing them on another layout VERY soon.


Next, I laid the squares down, overlapping each other and angled just a bit.  The rest was easy - I added some layers behind and above my photo, added embellishments and mist splatters and then added my title.

The Good Life

Hi everyone, did you know Just Nick Studio offers a cut file freebie every month?  You really should take advantage of free cut files every chance you get, okay???  This month, it's the Tic Tac Toe Background. Here's how I used it on a layout.

I chose to break the background elements apart to use as accents for the page instead of a background. This is easily done by Releasing the Compound Path and/or Ungrouping. Once everything was ungrouped, I scaled the elements to the size I wanted. Then I cut some out of the background paper and some out of complimentary pattern papers to layer on top.

I added some stitching around the squares that I cut out and added as an embellishment as well as around the lines that I cut out of the background paper so it could have definition to it.
In the end, this background file is a great take on the classic grid design!

Get the Tic Tac Toe Background for free until June 30, 2016!

Natural Beauty | Pink Paislee

Summer has started out with a bang.  We sent our kids to their first ever summer sleep away camp, which they LOVED, BTW!  While they were gone we decided to re-decorate their rooms so it's been crazy busy. Our littlest now has a french cottage / cafe and the oldest has a super fun loft bed with curtains and gone are the little girl pink walls.  I'll be posting before and after photos soon.

In the meantime, I'm back with my 5th project as the Pink Paislee guest designer for the Outfitters collection. And I still have 2 more to come.

I’m all about using every last bit of a collection so I chose to use the paper strips from the bottom of the pattern papers. I simply cut each strip into smaller strips and then mixed and matched them at a diagonal across the page.

I stitched each of the individual small strips in either a straight stitch or zig zag.

I framed the photos with layers of instaframes, acetate, paper, leaves and flowers that I watercolored.

Dare to Dream

Hello everyone.  Oh how I am loving the Gossamer Blue June kit and add-ons.  It's jammed packed with fun summery collections.  I was drawn to the feathers in the Fancy Pants goodies included in the kit and so I thought, why not create a fun dreamcater?!?!  Then, Nicole from JustNick challenged a few of us to use 4 or more cut files for our project.  She makes that easy peasy with her amazing designs. This is where Gossamer Blue and Just Nick Studios come together to make one!

Cut Files used: Dreamcatcher 1, Polaroids, Shattered Alpha, Script Font, Sweater Weather

How to: Use the Dreamcatcher 1 file as a guide to create a stitching path. Stitch the Dreamcatcher with embroidery floss.  Add stitched lines for the hanging feathers. Add splatters of color to the inside of the dream catcher as well as below with the feathers. Cut feathers and adhere to the page. Create the title using a combination of the Script Font and Shattered Alpha font. I welded the script font together. After I cur the word "DREAM" from the shattered alpha cut file, I ungrouped and deleted the shattered parts. Then I used the internal offset option to cut the perfect fit for the shattered alpha letters and adhered them to the back. Cut a polaroid frame. Add layers and your photo and done.  I'll be adding journaling under the photo.

Dandelion Wishes

Happy Friday eve everyone. We recently experienced severe flooding in our area and thankfully even though our street flooded, we only had water coming up our driveway just a bit.  It was a little odd to see kayakers floating in front of my house (see photo at the bottom of this post.

We're still getting a lot of rain here and they say April showers bring May flowers so I though I'd put a little SPRING in your step (care of my Gossamer Blue April kit and add-ons)...

Once I selected the photos I wanted, I designed the rest of the layout around the title. Usually my title is one of the last things I think about but for this, it was the first.

I created the word "dandelion" in Silhouette Studio using a free font I downloaded from the Internet called Modesty. For the larger WISHES word, I used the Shattered Alpha cut file from Just Nick Studio and then backed it with coordinating papers.

With such a large, bold title, I decided to keep the rest of the layout a little more siple than I usually do, adding a few frames, rub-ons, chipboard and a little splatter mist.

Thanks for stopping by today. How do you feel about bold title?

Here's the photo I mentioned above. The flooding was much worse just down the street and sadly, many neighbors' houses were flooded. It came up REALLY fast. We were actually trapped in our neighborhood for a couple of days.  You can't see the sidewalk on this side of the street anymore but this kayaker didn't seem to mind one bit.

Capture Beauty

Hello friends! Pinkfresh / JustNick are doing a team-up and I couldn't be more excited to be selected to participate.  I absolutely adore Pinkfresh's flair for design so I was elated to get to work with the Life Noted collection.

I love the pre-printed divided page design on this paper. It took care of my background design work.

And yay for the lovely spring colors. I decided to mix the spring-like patterns with the Just Nick Studio Delicate Florals cut file, backing with fun designs from the collection. To do this, I cut the flowers using my Silhouette CAMEO and then used water colors to add a splash of color. Then I hand traced and cut pieces that I wanted for the flowers and adhered them to the back of each petal / leaf. Then I added zig zag stitching over each stem and lastly, I added a few rubber circles to the center of the ones that needed a middle.

Make sure to head over to the Just Nick Studio blog and the Pinkfresh blog to see how her creative team integrated JustNick's files into their creative process. I think they are also doing a giveaway or two. :)

Diamond Girl

I'll be doing a Spring Break / snow skiing trip post soon but for the time being, this layout is a bit of a spoiler but Y'ALL we did something we didn't think we'd get to do as a family for a long time and not only did we do it but we excelled at it.  Stay tuned for more on that but until then here's a spoiler alert...

My girl did BLACK DIAMOND ski runs.  She had an Adaptive Sports Coach, Ty Bonnell, who was Ah-mazing and now considered a part of our family. I'll get to the details on that separately.  But on day 6, he led her down a Black with all of us there watching and skiing with her.  We snapped this photo of them pointing to "Caliente" right before we went down.

How to:  Cut diamonds from a piece of cardstock.  I used the Diamonds Forever cut file from the Just Nick store. Save one of the diamonds you cut out to use as a template for cutting the pattern papers.  Adhere some papers directly to the back and adhere others using foam squares. I used a lined pattern in one of the squares for journaling. Once complete, hand stitch around a select few of the diamonds. Then add layers under and over your photo.  I chose a frame and a speech bubble to highlight specific things in my photo.  Lastly, add a fun title and scatter embellishments.   I chose clear crystals and gold enamel dots to look like falling snow.

Happy 12!

This sweetheart turned 12 back in October. She is amazing in so many ways and life with her is definitely an adventure.  I don't talk about why here on my blog because of her privacy but I hear you aren't given anything you can't handle and I am so happy and proud to be her mother.

So onto the fun things...she celebrated with a night out and then a sleepover with 4 - 5 friends. It was so great to see them having so much fun.  I captured this shot of her blowing out her sparklers candles.  Seriously, they were real sparklers and they all loved it.



I created this layout as a collaboration with PageMaps and JustNick Studio, so yep, this layout was inspired by a Becky Fleck sketch.  You can see all the sketches on her website.

I chose to use a combo on confetti acetate with a music sheet since we were all singing Happy Birthday! I punched some of the confetti from the scraps and placed them over the music paper to tie everything together.

The sketch actually called for 3 photos - the one in the center and then 2 at the top.  I chose to use two cards in their place. I sued two different cut files from Just Nick.  I used the Birthday Sentiments cut file and the heart from the exclusive files Nicole created for the Clique Kits team up in February.  You can use the Broken Heart cut file to achieve the same effect.



Want to get a free cut file of your choice?  Visit the Just Nick Store and use the code PAGEMAPSFREE to get ANY one design from the store until April 30, 2016!

You + Me | Scrapbook Circle + Just Nick

Love is most definitely in the air over at JustNick this week and I'm here to show you how I used hearts to repeat a pattern and make a fun background for my layout.

For today's layout, I used this new Patterned Hearts cut file. I opened up my Silhouette Studio and placed all 4 hearts from the collection across the page as well as down the page and made them so that they would line up evenly and fill up the page. Doing this in the software helps ensure everything will fit on the page and also gives me an idea of what it will look like.  Then I cut them all out and saved all the hearts as well as the cardstock I cut them out of.

I decided to only use 3 of the heart designs and leave the 4th space blank to incorporate coordinating papers and my photo.  I backed the 3 designs with 4 different types of papers and set them aside.  Next, I stitched the negative sheet of cardstock to a black and white pattern paper so that the pattern paper would peek out from under some of the hearts.  I stitched around each of the hearts, leaving  3 of them blank. I in turn added the coordinating pattern papers to the back using foam adhesive.

Lastly, I stitched some hearts down the middle and  attached other hearts on top using the adhesive dots.  I like the varied dimension of having some popped behind, others popped above and the way the others that are stitched lift up on the sides. I finished the page by adding embellishments, some gold mist splatters and a little bit of watercolors.

P.S. I've used this idea of repeating the patterns and replacing one of the shapes with a photo HERE, HERE and HERE. I wanted to show you how you can use the same concept with different results.

Be the Best {version of} Me

Hi everyone.  I was honored when Nicole invited me to join her Just Nick design team.  I've used her files previously and guested for her recently, which you can see HERE, so how could I say no?!?!

So, I'm sharing the first layout I created for her about ME...using my January Gossamer Blue kit + Just Nick designs.



As I was looking through the Just Nick store, I was inspired by all the circle cut files.  I thought, why not create a collage of some of my favorite ones that just so happen to have great sentiments I can relate to.


How to: I mixed and matched and cut them in all different sizes, laying them out in my Silhouette software first to make sure they fit on my page. Once I had the design I liked, I separated them and cut them out of different patterns. I stitched over the background paper and then put the design I planned out onto the page. I finished it off with embellishments around the stitched areas to add a sense of flow. I'm journaling some private notes about myself for my family so I left a space for that.
Cut files used: Card Sentiments, Card Sentiments 2, Polaroids, Right Now, Scribble Hearts, Scribbles 3, Today

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!