Amazingly Everything

There's this one paper by Peppermint Granberg in this month's Gossamer Blue kit that is so pretty and has a stitched pattern look to it.  Of course, I like to complicate things as much as possible so I decided to machine stitch over the heart patterns of the paper.

The paper looked something like this when I was done with it (I still had to cut the strings). Photo is from my Instagram feed.

I stitched the outer edge of all the hearts that wouldn't be covered up by other elements. Here's the photo about my girl who is amazingly everything to me.

It's hard to see the details in the photos but it looks so freakin' incredible IRL.

Did you notice how perfect my daughter's shirt matches the other pattern paper? The colors of her shirt actually clashed so I altered a couple of the colors using Photoshop.

I used the opaque alphas by Heidi Swapp to create the main headline of the page and then stitched all the words that describe how amazing I think my daughter is.

Lastly, I layered various patterns, journaling spots and embellishments to complete the page. Head over to the Gossamer Blue blog for more info about this layout and the September kits.

Shaving Cream Fun Tutorial for Shimelle.com

Hi there everyone.  I am so excited for today's post over on Shimelle's blog because guess what??? She asked ME to guest blog today. I'm pretty sure Shimelle's blog was one of the first blogs I ever followed do this is a fun honor. I chose to do a tutorial on how to create a faux watercolor paper effect using shaving cream. Wha-what?

Here's some photos of the project but you'll have to visit Shimelle's blog to see the actual tutorial. Keep reading below though to download the cutting file I created for this layout.

Supplies: American Crafts Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, Barbasol shaving cream, mists by Heidi Swapp, Studio Calico, Tattered Angels, Silhouette CAMEO

See that multi-colored paper in the background there?  That's what I'm showing you how to make using shaving cream and mists. I had these photos of my daughter from Splash Day at school and I knew immediately that I had to incorporate shaving cream into this layout somehow.  That's when the light bulb went off in my head. This project is fun to make and if you have kids around, they'll be begging you to get in on the action. Well, at least mine did. I let them strip down to their tidy whities, sprayed shaving cream on the glass table in the breakfast room and let them go to town.

Messy? Yes! Fun, inexpensive entertainment? Yes! Clean-up? Easy-breezy!

While they were playing, I was mixing up something fun myself. Visit Shimelle's blog for the tutorial.

I chose the colors based on the pink and orange suite my daughter was wearing and the other colors in the background. It reminds me of a sunset.

I chose to use the paper I made as a background. I simply designed a page full of circles in my Silhouette software. You can DOWNLOAD THE FILE FOR FREE HERE.

I used the re-used the circles that I cut out by adhering them tone on tone on my layout.  I chose to use white foam letters for my title because they reminded me of the shaving cream that my daughter was covered in in all the photos.

Thanks for visiting me today. No go on over to Shimelle's blog to read how I did this and then go get crafty!

So Happy Together

I was soo excited when I opened up my September Gossamer Blue kit last month and saw the exclusive papers. I knew right away which photos I wanted to scrap because one of the papers matched my daughter's outfit so perfectly.  Well, actually the patterns were identical but the colors clashed but I quickly printed this photo out in black & white and my problem was solved.  Check out this layout and you'll see why my jaw dropped.

How cool is that? I wanted to use this paper all up and I did on another layout, which I'll reveal here and on the Gossamer Blue blog soon so you'll just have to wait and see. It'll be a fun post though because I actually changed the color of my daughter's shirt.  That's another day soon though.

If you know me, you might expect a few layers, some splattered mist and stitching. The journaling is hidden on the little white card with the blue enamel dot.

These girls of mine are my EVERYTHING. I am so honored to be their mommy, through the triumphs, tribulations and struggles. They are the first thing I think of at night and when I wake up. Okay, enough of the sappy mommy stuff.  Let's look at one more thing I love about this layout.

I am proud of my labor of love stitching. I machine stitched each heart and it took a while with lots of twists and turns but it just looked so bare as a border without it.

I hope you'll visit us over on the Gossamer Blue gallery or say hi in the community. Until then, thanks for stopping by. Now go on a get crafty!

American Crafts Blog Hop Winner

Thanks to everyone who joined us on the American Crafts new Design Team blog hop.  I really enjoyed seeing everyone's projects and the diversity of the team but I LOVED reading all the comments you left on my blog.

As promised, I randomly drew the winner of my giveaway.  Congratulations to...

I'm just a simple gal

Please send your mailing address to me via email at heather at heatherleopard dot com by September 30, 2013 and I'll get your package of Amy Tangerine Sketchbook goodies out to you.

If you played along with my Instagram contest, I'll be posting the winner over there today or tomorrow.

Thanks again to everyone who visits my blog and leaves comments. I read each and every one of them and appreciate your support.

This Is Me Today | American Crafts Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the American Crafts 2013-2014 Design Team Blog Hop! I am so excited to kick off my 2nd term on the American Crafts Design Team with his fun online event. As you're hopping, each new team member will be sharing a little bit about themselves (ourselves?) with you.

So without further ado, here's the layout I created about me.

Supplies: Patterned paper, stickers, chipboard, stitching, embroidery floss resin bow, die cuts, wood veneer, stamps. ink, adhesive, pen: American Crafts; Spray mist: Studio Calico

I stamped and misted the chipboard and then layered pattern paper underneath it and layered it over a die cut and sticker.

I did the same treatment to this wood veneer. The heart is hand embroidered and took me forever but I HEART it!

I hand-stitched ALL OVER this page for forever & a day and then machine stitched the speech bubbles. I then journaled little snippets of info about me on each speech bubble.

I sure hope you like what I created. It's a new fave of mine. Now, on with the hop and my...

GIVEAWAY!

One lucky follower of my blog (new or existing) who leaves a comment on this blog post, telling me something about themselves, will be drawn at random and will receive a collection of American Crafts goodies from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection.  I'll pop a photo of it shortly but I am sure you'll love what I've picked out.  You have until September 14th to leave your comment. I'll announce the winner on my blog soon after. 

BONUS!
You can also find me on Instagram, where I like to share personal photos, exciting news and sneak peeks of projects. I might just have a 2nd giveaway going on over there. ;)

Now let's meet the rest of the team.

Next on the hop is the talented Gina Lideros! 

Here is the full design team list for you to hop around to:

Becki Adams

Meghann Andrew

Jill Cornell

Lilith Eeckels

Katie Ehmann

Paige Evans

Davinie Fiero

Madeline Fox

Elizabeth Gardner

Kelly Goree

Angie Gutshall

Ashley Horton

Corrie Jones

* Heather Leopard *

Gina Lideros

Patricia Roebuck

Erin Stewart

Diana Waite

Allison Waken

Janna Werner

American Crafts

Thanks for stopping by. Now go on your merry way to Gina's blog!

Peek-A-Boo | Gossamer Blue

I see you!  Yep, that was me sneaking pics of my daughter playing at the park. We weren't necessarily playing peek-a-boo but I was peeking in on her as she was fiddling with some sand and such. I mean, she just looked so cute in her hat, shirt, 2 skirts layered over each other, baby legs and fancy shoes.  Oh and a bow that you can barely see under the hat.

I used the new Carta Bella Hello Again collection pieces that are in the September Gossamer Blue kit and Add-on kit. I just couldn't resist cutting out the words from the 12x12 paper and 6x6 pad. The whole layout was inspired by those fussy cut pieces and everything else just fell into place.

I layered and tucked papers, stickers and tabs to frame out the photos and mixed the alphas included in the Add-on kit to create the title.

I used the tab stickers in their "open" state to do my journaling. I chose to journal about her love of singing and dancing and how much we love to snuggle, read and give lots of hugs and kisses to each other. This girl is the best at expressing her love!

Make sure to check out the Gossamer Blue September kit. It's filled with exclusive Gossamer Blue papers, Carta Bella, My Mind's Eye, Teresa Collins, Pink Paislee, and more. While you're there, check out the new community and gallery!

Thankful Blessings

I'm just loving this new fall collection that Little Yellow Bicycle sent me to create with. And let me tell ya, fall is a welcome site about now. We're still in the mid-90's here in Texas so the thought of cooler weather is exciting. Key word is cooler, not cold though. This new collection is very versatile, from scrapping memories of home to the obvious fall events.

I chose to scrap about my cute little Indian at her Thanksgiving program at school. They dressed up as Indians and Pilgrims and had a lovely feast. They sang songs and were just WAY too cute!

This collection has an amazing assortment of leaves, from die cuts, to chipboard, fabric and sticker leaves, they are wonderful. The colors matched the feathers on my daughter's costume perfectly so I scattered them around her photos and added a tree limb at the top to create the swirling, falling leaves effect.

The title was a breeze with the new die cut words. I just stitched over it in brown thread to give it a little extra oomph and then journaled below.

So, what's the weather like in your neck of the woods?  Is fall setting in yet or is it still hot or if you're on the other side of the world, maybe it's Spring/Winter. Hmmmm. 

I'd love to know what you think and would love it even more if you'd visit me on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog TODAY!

Little Yellow Bicycle Feels Like Home collection:

FLH-103 Fall Floral/Red Lace Frame

FLH-105 Denim Chevron/Gold Knit

FLH-279 Chipboard Shapes

FLH-134 Journaling Cards

FLH-305 Paper Crafting Kit

FLH-220 Fabric Favorites

FLH-145 Die Cut Words

FLH-135 Favorite Pieces-Stickers

Spring Creek Mining | October Afternoon Guest Designer

I am so excited to be back up on the October Afternoon blog today. I’ve been having so much fun creating with the Daily Flash collections. I used the bits and pieces of the summertime collection to create a 12x12 layout which you can see HERE. This week I created some life spreads using the photo sleeves and the new Snapshots collection.

I have to admit that I got a little carried away with the various picture and card options and ended up created 2 complete page spreads for one event but, that’s what’s so nice about this. I was able to scrap all my favorite photos of my daughter’s first gem mining moment.

When I’m documenting a moment in time, I usually only use between 1 - 3 photo on a spread and that is what gets scrapped. With Daily Flash, I can scrap those main photos and also include the others that help tell the story.

I started by choosing two photos that would end up getting scrapped on their own page, one each side of the paper and then matched up the right cards to the various sleeves and printed the photos to the sleeve size.

I scrapped this page like I would any other, knowing that the 1st coordinating page could hold my title and journaling. I had fun layering papers, cards blurbs and snap caps. I create a sort of mini title using the

Daily Flash roller stamp.

I still had a lot of photos that help show the progression from sifting the pebbles and sand through the water to finding the gems so I created a 2nd spread.

I snapped this photo of my perfect little gem showing off her perfect little gems and added it over more layers of papers, cards and blurbs. I did all my stitching on this page and the other side before I actually adhered it to the layout so that the stitching wouldn’t show through on the other side of the paper.

Finally, I added additional journaling cards and card sentiments that when read together almost form another title on their own. I outlined some of the cards with washi tape, as I did on the title card in the 1st spread.

I added final touches by hand-stitching over a few speech bubble cards and added my journaling.

Thanks for joining me again this week. I'd love to have you visit me over on the October Afternoon blog today as well. Head on over there and let them know what you think!

Smile, I'm Guesting at October Afternoon!

I was soo excited when I got an email from the October Afternoon team asking me to guest design and I was even more thrilled when I found out I'd be playing with their new Daily Flash collections.

I've created one layout already, which I posted last Friday HERE and I'm sitting here at my scrap desk looking at two completed Daily Flash spreads that will be up on the blog this coming Friday. In the meantime, make sure to visit the October Afternoon blog, where I did some Q&A and first debuted this card that I whipped up real quick for my Q&A post, using the Travel Girl collection.

I just love the colors in this collection and all the coordinating die-cuts, stickers and embellishments. I decided to pair the cute smiling gal with something that reminded me of green grass and sky rays. I cut them all to different sizes, extending some past the edge of the card and others short than the card. I then stitched them on.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be sharing 2 spreads from the Daily Flash Snapshots collection, which was so fun to create with! Take a stop by the October Afternoon blog and pay me a visit over there! Now go on and get crafty!

A Day In The Sun | October Afternoon Guest Designer

Hi there everyone! I am just over-the-moon excited to be guest designing for October Afternoon this month. I mean Hello, I've been a fan for years and years so I jumped at the chance!!! So, I'll be hogging their blog every Friday in August. I would soo LOVE it if you'd visit me over there too!

They sent me an fabulous package of Daily Flash goodies to create with and immediately got to work planning out projects. Everything from layouts to Project Life-style pages to an altered item or two - I was ready to go! I thought I'd kick this off by showing how versatile the Daily Flash collection can be by creating a 12x12 layout.

Supplies: Daily Flash Summertime collection - PP-1169 - Sunshine 12x12 paper, PP-1167 - Blue Skies 12x12 paper, DC-1172 - Memory Cards, PP-1165 - 6x8 Paper Pack, DC-1170 - Snap Caps, DC-1171 - Flash Blurbs, EM-1133 - Tin Pins

Something kept pulling me back to the Summertime collection, specifically the Sunshine paper. I started with that as my initial inspiration and everything fell into place to create this layout about my youngest daughter posing by the art on the Galveston Seawall after a day at the beach. I just couldn't resist accentuating the gorgeous sun rays with a few stitches here and there. I purposely trimmed the Sunshine paper down and adhered it to the white background. I then chose white stitching so that I could extend the rays subtly onto the white background.

After placing my photo on the page, the Memory Cards and Flash Blurbs were calling out to be used. I shuffled them around a bit until they fell into just the right places. I added a bit of layering, a splash of embellishments and voila!, the layout really started coming together. I made a little pocket for the "Summertime" Snap Caps card to peek out and added some hidden journaling. I purposely didn't add a title because I think the various cards do an excellent job on their own. It could be anything from Best Summer Ever, Dog Days of Summer, A Day In The Sun or any other fantastic summertime sentiments you see on the page.

I posted more information about my design thought process and photos over on the October Afternoon blog. Stop by and say "hi". I'll be back again next Friday with more Daily Flash goodness. Now go on and get crafty!