Can I Get a Woohoo? I Made the American Crafts Team Again!

I have to say, I was just as nervous re-applying to the team this year as I was last year and I was on pins & needles waiting and watching for that glorious email from Paige. My heart actually skipped a few beats when I saw it ping my Inbox and I was so elated, I might have actually told Paige that I love her. LOL

Anyways, I am proud to be joining the American Craft Design Team for a 2nd term! Thanks to the American Crafts team for the wonderful opportunity!

Look at the amazing team of scrappers I get to design with:

Allison Waken from Phoenix, AZ

Angie Gutshall from James Creek, PA

Ashley Horton from Spanish Fort, AL

Becki Adams from Blackfoot, ID

Corrie Jones from Dallas, GA

Davinie Fiero from Redmond, OR

Diana Waite from Gilbert, AZ

Elizabeth Gardner from Lexington, KY

Erin Stewart from El Paso, TX

Gina Lideros from Elk Grove, CA

Heather Leopard from Cypress, TX

Janna Werner from Oldenburg, Germany

Jill Cornell from Windsor Heights, IA

Katie Ehmann from Bloomfield Hills, MI

Kelly Goree from Shelbyville, KY

Lilith Eeckels from Bertogne, Belgium

Madeline Fox from River Ridge, KA

Meghann Andrew from Katy, TX

Paige Evans from Grafenwoehr, Germany

Patricia Roebuck from Mandeville, LA

If you are new to my site, here are some of my most recent layouts created with American Crafts products. If you like what you see, I'd love to have you as my newest follower!

So Lovely

Beautiful Little Butterfly

Drum Baby

Exotic Wildlife Zoo

Baby, You're a Firework

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure to check out the new American Crafts releases - Peppermint Express, Polka Dot Party by Dear Lizzy, and Cut & Paste by Amy Tangerine.

Beautiful Little Butterfly

We surprised our girls with a trip to Galveston over Memorial Day weekend. I suggested to my hubby that we spend a day at Moody Gardens and he went even further and planned an impromptu overnight. We got to enjoy 3 full days exploring a tropical rainforest, aquarium, water park, Dinosaurs, several IMAX movies and a very crowded beach.

Anywho, we saw many wonderful things in the rainforest, including a sloth, one of Reese's favorite animals (thanks, Dora the Explorer). I'm sure I'll scrap that another time. There were butterflies flying all around us and you had to be extra careful where you stepped.  I snapped this photo of my daughter checking out a butterfly who was feasting on some fruit.

I used American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan to create this layout. 

I choose to focus the photo on my daughter watching the butterfly but I also wanted to include a close-up so we could see just how pretty the butterfly was. I printed it in a smaller circle and just popped it up over the photo.

I just couldn't resist cutting all the butterflies out with my cameo. Oh my, what a job that was to put them in the perfect pattern but not identical pattern. Plus I didn't want any two solid cut or multiple cut butterflies to be next to each other.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it. I put a lot of time into it, which just makes it all the more special to me and I can't wait for my daughter to see it.

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

Tiny Dancer

My youngest daughter was recently in a dance recital. I took so many photos but this one stood out to me. I snapped this photo of her backstage after she put on her costume. She was sitting there looking so sweet and excited to perform. She wasn't nervous at all.

I used the Scrapbook Circle  July "Let's Chat" kit, which is full of Crate Paper, Fancy Pants, Jillibean Soup and Scrapbook Circle EXCLUSIVES, like stickers, tags and more! I got the add-on too  'cause I just had to have the 6x6 paper pad, flair and mask. Check out  preview of the kit below and go scoop one up before they are gone!

Isn't she just so cute? Yes, I know I am biased! I pulled the title from a song again and layered paper, tags, stickers and more. I did add some black glitter paper that my friend gave me so it's not in the kit but I just had to use it!

I cut strips to journal on and faux stitched around one of the layers. Lots of foam dots and stickers and borders here.

Thanks for stopping by today. Don't forget to head over to Scrapbook Circle to get more info on this kit and check out the Idea Gallery to see what the design team has created with it. It is soo fun to create with!

Everyday Happiness

Here's a little snapshot of a typical day with my daughter, racing around the cul-de-sac. 

I love it when I layout comes together quickly, like this one did. I simply placed my photos (printed by Origrami) over each other and the way they were placed just worked. I added the title around it and embellished with a few bits & pieces. 

I aligned my journaling all the way to the left of the layout and decided it needed just a bit more to the layout so I pulled out my xacto knife and cut triangles here, there and everywhere. Lastly, I backed them with coordinating pattern paper and I was zip, zap done!

I hope you have all enjoyed your weekend. Thanks for stopping by. Now go on and get crafty!

Baby, You're a FIREWORK Layout & Have a Blast Card Project

Happy Birthday, America!

I had some fun projects up on the American Crafts blog yesterday and today's the perfect day to share them with you here on my blog, we my family is off to celebrate the 4th of July, America's Independence!

Baby, You're a Firework

When I was designing this page, I wanted to show my daughter how much she means to me and the song lyric, Baby You're a Firework, seemed a perfect fit!  

I cut the title out with my CAMEO and then backed it with American flag colorsfrom the American Crafts collections, Mayberry & Lucky Charm.

.I added random stitching to the page and left the thread ends sticking out to kind of resemble fireworks.

American Crafts Supplies:

Huckleberry Pie Paper (36019) - Mayberry, Miss Betty Paper (36020) - Mayberry, Strawberry Lemonade Paper (36018) - Mayberry, 6x6 Paper Pad (36026) - Mayberry, Sweet Tea (42398) - Mayberry, Accent & Phrase Stickers (42400) - Mayberry, Cherry Cola Puffy Stickers (42397) - Mayberry, Lemon Fizz Cardstock Sticker Book (42396) - Mayberry, Pretty Poppies Paper (35966) Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm, Starlight Paper (35981) - Dear Lizzy Luck Charm

I also created a card. Since it was a Patriotic card and most people watch or pop fireworks on the 4th of July, I wanted to create a 3D card. 

It's the perfect size to hold a little note and a gift card and/or sweet treats.

American Crafts Supplies:

Huckleberry Pie Paper (36019) - Mayberry, Strawberry Lemonade Paper (36018) - Mayberry, Sapphire Cardstock (AM710-74), White Cardstock (AM710-81)

Thanks for stopping by today! We're off to the beach to shoot some fireworks and watch the city's fireworks show.

Drum Baby {Don't Stop Beating}

Hi friends! I spent all weekend crafting with family and friends at a staycation/scrapcation. We got a 2 bedroom suite, brought our tables and craft supplies and scrapped away the hours with VERY little sleep. Even so though, I got my craft on and completed so many fun layouts. I thought I'd share this fun one with you today!

We went to the zoo on Mother's Day and they had several drums in the Monkey Exhibit for the kiddos to play with. Reese had a blast making up her own beat! So fun!

 The title is from a Phillip Phillips song I heard when he opened for Matchbox Twenty in January.

 I used a circle background from the Silhouette store, made it larger and altered it just a tad. Instead of using it as a background, I glued pattern paper to it, used foam dots to pop a pattern or sticker behind it, added embellies on top of it and placed other items inside the inner circles. I left a few open and then added journaling and details in others. I them popped it over the background pattern paper so it'd be really 3D. The title was a perfect fit for the larger circle.

I used American Crafts Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic for this collection. I'm starting to run low on it and that makes me sad.

So whattaya think?   Let me know and then go on and get crafty, y'all!

Fairest One of All

Magic Mirror on the wall
Who's the Fairest one of all?

Is that how you said it as a child?  I always said, "Mirror. mirror..." It wasn't until I looked it up for this layout that I realized I have been saying it wrong.

Anyway, my daughter came downstairs from playing in her room and she was all dressed up in her finest Snow White dress. She said she was hungry and asked for an apple so I gave her one. She didn't want me to slice it, which I normally do, so she must have had this all planned.

Here's the layout. The rest of the story is below.

Supplies: American Crafts Mayberry Collection

She took a bite of the apple as I was standing there and I quickly realized that my Snow White was eating an apple so I grabbed my camera real quick and snapped a few photos. I don't know if she wanted the apple to play with it or to eat it but soon enough, I was the Queen/Witch giving her the apple and she played dead until her Prince, also played by me, gave her a kiss to wake her up. We played that over and over and over and over and over again...... We had a blast!

Don't eat the apple!!!

And here's my sleeping beauty, I mean Snow White!

The house was close enough to pass for the Seven Dwarves' cottage in the woods! I just added the Home Sweet Home epoxy sticker to the top.

Okay, we had so much fun role playing together. I just love her to pieces!

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

A Bushel of Berries

SUMMERTIME IS HERE!!!!!

School's out, the pool is warm and it feels like 100+ degrees out every day so it must be summer!  What's better on a hot summer day than strawberries? Well I'm sure we can think of many things but I'm thinking strawberry lemonade, strawberry daiquiris, strawberry shortcake and just plain ole strawberries. I recently read how to keep your strawberries fresher longer and you can too by reading HERE, but today, I have a few strawberries that will stay fresh for-evah!

How's that for a bushel of berries that will never spoil?

I pulled out the Little Yellow Bicycle Vintage Summer collection and cut the baskets and the strawberries using my CAMEO. The strawberries are 3D, which means adhering 6 separate cuts to make one strawberry. The Little Yellow Bicycle team just did a product swap with Xyron and May Arts and we got lots of fantastic products from them. The Xyron 2" Cheetah worked phenomenally to adhere the strawberries together. I threaded May Arts ribbon through the basket and made a pretty bow and then added some burlap ribbon around the top to give it the true farm feel.

I had an extra strawberry leftover so I made a "Sweet things make me smile" card using Little Yellow Bicycle Clear Word Stickers.

Thanks for stopping by! Now go on a get crafty!

Supplies:

Vintage Summer Paper VS-101

Vintage Summer Paper VS-103

Vintage Summer Paper VS-105

Clear Word Stickers HL-200

Xyron 2" Cheetah Adhesive Runner

May Arts Ribbon

Paperhaus Blog Hop Winner

Hi everyone! I have a quick update for you today. Thanks to everyone for hopping along with the Paperhaus Magazine blog hop .  The winner of my RAK containing fabulous goodies from American Crafts, Lily Bee Design and Little Yellow Bicycle is.......

Janis

Please email me at heather AT heatherleopard.com by 6/30/13. Make sure to include your address so I can get your package out to you.

If prize is not claimed by 6/30/13, I'll host a new giveaway opportunity.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Welcome Summer Banner

I've been dying to make a cute banner to hang from this old window I got for $3 at a garage sale. Apparently it came from a very old house, or was it a church? Yes, it was a church that was being redone in Galveston.  I just love the chipped paint, texture and look & feel of it. I see lots of fun crafts hanging from it in the future.

So that leads me to my first project to display on the window!  I'm still not sure if I'll hang it in or around the house so for now, it sits against the vine covered fence just outside my front door welcoming guests that stop by.

Welcome Summer Banner

I just received a fabulous package from Little Yellow Bicycle contain their NEW Vintage Summer collection and was immediately drawn to the Decorative Edge Cardstock so when Liz asked me to create a project using decorative edges, I pulled them out, wondering what to do with them.  I laid them out side by side to see which ones I liked the most and TA-DAAAAAA! A banner was born.  Of course, so many other possibilities popped into my head but I kept coming back to a banner.

I cut the letters to spell "welcome" using my CAMEO. I selected a dark, less patterny (is that even a word?) pattern to help it stand out from all the other patterns I knew I'd be adding them over.

I pulled out all the deco cardstock edges and just fell in love with the mix of large and small cardstock designs. I laid them all out again and only had to add the two large flag/pennant shaped pieces on each outer edge (from my 6x6 pad) to complete the word "welcome".

I stacked the small cardstock decorative edges over the large ones, added strips of papers over some of the decorative cardstock, layered on banners, rosettes and flowers from the paper crafting kit and then topped them with individual letters. I had to add a few sheets of paper behind some of the letters to help ensure they didn't blend into the background to much. The banner above the "C" is a lovely chipboard shape that fit over the card perfectly!

We are soo ready to welcome summer, which officially begins on Friday, even though it's been a scorcher here in Cypress (Texas) for the past month)!

Little Yellow Bicycle Supplies:
Vintage Summer Collection:VS-133 Decorative Edge Cardstock - 6.5" X 7.5' (10 pieces)VS-304 6X6 Paper Pack (24 sheets - 2 each of 12 designs)VS-279 Chipboard Shapes - with thermography (33 pieces)VS-220 Fabric Favorites (8 pieces)VS-305 Paper Crafting Kit (66 pieces)
Naturals Collection:
NA-JT10 Jute Pack - Light (4 colors, 72" each)

Let me know what you think in the comments below. 

Thanks for stopping by! Now go on and get crafty :)