It's a Spooktacular Giveaway!

This layout features the Spooktacular collection by Teresa Collins.  Through October 31st, anyone who places an order of $50 or more will receive the Spooktacular 12-piece page kit absolutely free.  No coupon codes necessary; just head over to the store and start shopping!

As an added bonus, all continental US orders over $50 will also receive free shipping (use coupon code FS50). 

Autumn Is In The Air

It's beginning to feel a lot like autumn around here.  The other day my mother asked me who was having Thanksgiving?  After I thought about it for a minute I realized that it really isn't that far off.  But really, it's a silly question because my sister is not allowed to host Thanksgiving anymore (long story, but let's just say dinner came in a box from a grocery store) so it's either her or I that host.  I'm happy to report that she is having Thanksgiving which means that we will have an awesome, home cooked meal!

This layout features the Seasons of Change collection from Moxxie.  It has muted fall tones in paisley along with a few other papers and a cardstock sticker sheet for accenting.  Here I used a Martha Stewart leaf punch to create a border and then cut a scroll embellishment from the Cricut.  Throw on a few Petaloo glitter flowers and you have a nice, easy layout.

 

Pushing the Trick-or-Treat limit

For the past several years trick or treating has been a somewhat heated discussion around our house.  I believe that if you are going to trick or treat, regardless of your age, you should wear a costume.  The problem is, my idea of a costume varies greatly from that of my son. 

He thinks that putting a scary mask on is a costume, so when he and his friend came around trick-or-treating last year in these costumes I was thrilled and more than happy to do a layout of them.

This layout features the Ghostly collection from Creative Imaginations.  It offers four papers (collage paper is shown) along with a 12 x 12 sticker sheet for embellishing.  I also used the Martha Stewart Boo punch on the photo mat along with some ghost and pumpkin Dazzlers from Petaloo.   

Carving Pumpkins

Even as young adults, my children still enjoy carving pumpkins.  Here in the midwest we usually have one week of Indian Summer where the weather warms up a bit and we are able to take our pumpkin carving out onto the back porch.


This layout features the Hocus Pocus and Spookin' Good Times collections by Carolee's Adorn It.  The two collections coordinate nicely and offer stickers, ribbon and a variety of papers to choose from.

Dreams Really Do Come True!

One of my favorite parades at Disney is the Illuminations parade, but I have to admit that the Dreams Come True parade comes in a close second.  I love the fact that so many of the characters are in this parade and the broomsticks have a cute little dance they do!

This layout features Disney papers from both EK Success and Sandylion.  I also used a Felt Fusion "Magic Memories" title from Queen & Co.  These self-adhesive felt titles add some dimension to the page without making them too bulky. 

D is for Disney

I love scrapbooking Disney photos!  They always bring back so many fond memories of spending time together with family and friends.  We were very fortunate to be able to spend New Year's Eve, 1999 at Walt Disney World with my girlfriend Peggy and her family.  We made our reservations in 1991; a full 8 years before the actual event!  Ironically, my husband and I were just married and didn't even have children yet, so it was a little strange trying to figure out what type of room(s) we would need.  Turns out we guessed right, and we had a wonderful time!  It is a vacation we will never forget!
 
This layout features several papers from the My Magic collection by Pinecone Press.  This is a great Disney collection because it's not over the top Mickey Mouse and yet it has all the traditional Disney colors in it.

Flowers Gone Wild

Here's a layout I created using the Sunkissed Collection by Bo Bunny.  Admittedly, this is not a favorite of mine, but I wanted to share because I know there must be others out there who feel like I do.

Has anyone else ever seen a collection, fell in love with it and in your mind came up with a layout that you thought would look totally awesome?  But then when you get it on the page it's not at all as awesome as you imagined it?!?  Well, this would be that layout for me.  I really thought the flowers would give it a bright, summer feel, but unfortunately, I think they just crowd out the pictures.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow's fabulous idea will look better!  :) 

Happy Birthday to you Little Guy!

I had a nice stroll down memory lane while creating this layout.  My son (who is now 19) is the little boy in this picture celebrating his birthday!  How time flies when you're having fun and blowing out candles on Barney cakes! 

This collection, Zack and Zoe, is from Creative Imaginations.  The paper is glittered and it has coordinating rub-ons which are very easy to use!  The paper is on sale for $.44 and the rub-ons are just $1.99. 

Just Try It and You Might Like It!

I finally broke down and decided to start using my Cricut Imagine.  While I initially didn't find it to be very user-friendly when I got it last October, I decided it was time to find a way to make it work for me.  So, I found a cartridge I really loved (Enjoy The Seasons) and started plucking away. 

I decided that I was going to create a calendar since I really liked the images and thought they would be fun for a calendar.  Here are a few of the months I've done:

Admittedly, I do love some of the layouts.  I found them to be perfect for my calendar, and for the most part, relatively easy to create.  I still say that the Imagine has a way to go before it is perfected, though.  I don't have any issues with the quality of the print, but it is not very user-friendly for many reasons;  sizing an object is nearly impossible and takes forever.  I found the best way to size something is to just use the "Fit To Page" feature.  Otherwise, you could rip your hair out trying to get something sized and then making sure all the layers are the appropriate size.  Also, the mats leave something to be desired.  Since I am used to working with heavyweight cardstock, I found it nearly impossible to get a good print and cut.  When I switched to the lightweight cardstock with no texture then everything started running smoothly.  I guess the advantage there is that you can use really cheap paper!   Lastly, although you can upload your cartridges to your Gypsy, you still need them in the machine to be able to cut and print.

So, what did I love about it you ask?  Several things, actually.  After I got the whole "fit to page" feature down I was able to create a layout in minutes (literally).  I also like the fact that every object has several layers and you can pick and choose which layers you want to print out.  It also has several standard shapes that you can fill in with any color or background image you want.  You can see that I used this feature in everyone of the layouts except February.  Also, I was always told that you couldn't print a true 12 x 12, but lo and behold I was able to do it, and I loved it.  They do, however, warn you that your pad will get residual ink on it, but I found that easy enough to clean up with an alcohol swab.  Lastly, my absolute favorite part of this machine so far is that you can use any of the original Cricut cartridge fonts (or shapes) and fill them with the patterns of the cartridge you're working with.  For example...on the February layout, I used the original Cricut cartridge All Mixed Up but I was able to color it using the palette on the Enjoy The Seasons cartridge.  Had I wanted to actually make those letters contain a pattern, I could have done that as well. 

All in all I can honestly say I'm looking forward to doing more exploration with this machine.  I don't know that it will ever replace my Cricut Expression, but I've certainly found where it can be useful!

I'm just chillaxin'

My sister's granddaughter was learning how to "float" this summer.  She's not very fond of having her head under water, so she was doing everything she could to avoid it.  She was just too cute, so I had to snap some photos of her chillaxin'.  She doesn't relax or chill out very often, so this is a truly special moment!

I used the Beach Days collection by Helen Dardik of Creative Imaginations.  I love the die-cut papers in this collection...perfect for those cruise vacations, summer waves, sandcastle or beach day photos. 

Decorating Your Album Cover

I decided after I had finished our Disney Trip scrapbook that I didn't really like any of the albums that were on the market at the time.  I'm a little bit picky about my albums and will not use post bound albums, so often my selection is limited.  I decided after much searching with no success that I was going to take a shot at creating my own album cover.  Ironically, this is one of my favorite album covers of all time!

I used an over-sized Bazzill tag and embellished it with cutouts from the Cricut Mickey Font and Shapes cartridges.  Then I attached a ribbon to make it look like a huge tag and put a couple cute bottle caps on the tag to embellish it.  Simple, yet fun and affordable!