Thursday, September 18, 2014

Birthday Card

Well, the grandson is turning seven tomorrow and he's having a Reptile Birthday Party this weekend complete with...yep, you guessed it...reptiles!  Python Ron will be making an appearance with all kinds of snakes, lizards, spiders, tortoises, and who knows what else.  Still creeping me out but hey, it's not my birthday LOL!

Won't make any scrapbook layouts for the party until I see what pictures I have to work with, but I do have his birthday card completed.  It's simple, but will get the job done!

(Click to view larger image)

The snake is from the Little Scraps of Heaven Designs "Boy Meets World" collection.  I placed the tail differently on it  so it looked coiled up to hold the balloon bouquet. I was so proud of myself for making the balloons on my own in SCAL.  I took two shapes from the Shapes Library (an oval and an asterisk) and put them together, performed a "Union" and voila!  Balloons!!!  The sentiment is a really old Mrs. Grossman's sticker that I had in my stash.  It was white and didn't look right on the card, so I colored it with my red Wink of Stella brush. Much better!

I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the card, but I came up with "Sammy the Snake is slithering by to wish you a Happy 7th Birthday" and printed it up on paper and glued it to the inside of the card.  I'm including a package of snake stickers that I got from Michael's (yep, they actually had a whole set of these!) that I'm sure the Birthday Boy will enjoy.

So that's it for today.  Until next time, Happy Scrapping!


Wednesday, September 17, 2014

T-Rex Planet

A week and a half ago the T-Rex Planet Experience was at the Fairgrounds in Turlock and I was able to take my grandson, Ace, to go see it.  We didn't know what to expect but it turned out AMAZING!  Even though the whole exhibit  is family oriented and geared towards kids, I was afraid it might be too "babyish" but thankfully it wasn't.  In fact, Ace told me about 5 times that day "this is really a FUN day"!  Warmed my heart...

The first exhibit hall had all kinds of dinosaurs on display.  They were huge, they were animated, they were loud, and the lighting inside totally depicted what it would have probably been like to be living at that time.  It was also nice that in front of each dinosaur there was a lighted monument style information rock that told everything about that particular dinosaur.

The second exhibit hall had all sorts of activities for kids.  Ace had a great time in there, especially being able to ride a "real" dinosaur.  That was sooo cool!  It actually walked and kids could steer it to go straight, left, or right.  Animatronics at its best!  Oh, and we couldn't miss out on a photo of us actually being "chased" by dinosaurs!  Can you say Jurassic Park????  Run, Ace, Run!!!!!

So, of course, I took tons of pictures and here is my first scrapbook layout.

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Here's a closer look at the first page.




I designed my own title using the CK Rough Housing font.



And the second page...






This cute little peeking dinosaur is actually a hidden journaling tag!


All the paper piecings are from the Little Scraps of Heaven Designs Dino Land file.  There are a couple more pieces included in that collection and I'll be making them for another layout soon. Here's an easy link to this collection:


Thanks for looking!  Until next time...Happy Scrapping!



Friday, September 12, 2014

Halloween Party Favors

Here is another project that I used a cutting file from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs to make. The file is called Halloween 3D Accents and it has nine different scalloped tags, labels, accents, whatever you'd like to call them.  I have been wanting to make these for the longest time, and since I have a Hocus Pocus themed party coming up I figured these would work perfectly!

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These little guys went together so easily!  The one that took the longest was the Witches Shoes but only because of the tiny little buttons and faux laces (but it was so worth the little bit of extra time).  I added a little "shine" to most of them with either some Firefly Stickles (apparently my new favorite color) or some Clear or Gold Wink of Stella brushes (LOVE these!).

For the actual favor, I used my last remaining plastic candy tubes and made the mental note that I really need to get some more of these--and soon!  Even though the tags looked good by themselves on the tubes, I had some Halloween colored tulle on hand and gave it a try. I think that it adds just that right touch of pizazz that I was looking for.  I made a quick trip to the store to see what Halloween candies were available and found the usual Candy Corn AND also found some M&M White Chocolate Candy Corn.  These little gems are larger than a normal M&M, they fit perfectly in the tubes and are totally the right colors!

Well, I'm thinkin' these favors will look adorable on a party table...how about you?

Even though I used these adorable tags for a party favor, I think they will look amazing on a scrapbook layout also, which means I'd better get to making some more of these to do just that LOL!

Thanks for looking.  Until next time...Happy Scrapping!

Oops...forgot to add a quick link to this fun Halloween 3D Accents file from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs!  Here you go:



Thursday, September 11, 2014

Our Little Pumpkin Layout

This week's free file over at the Little Scraps of Heaven Designs website is called "Pumpkin Mouse" and it is adorable!  Here is my project I made using it:

(click to view larger images)

The sunflowers, petals the Pumpkin Mouse is sitting on and fence are from the LSHD "Sunflower Mice" file, and the two pumpkins were made using the "Harvest Friends" file also from LSHD.  I designed my own title using the SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) program and fonts I have on my computer.  For the scalloped photo mat I used a Fiskars punch.

Here are a few more detailed photos:

This little Pumpkin Mouse is adorable!

I added some little dots made from Cinnamon Stickles
to the middle of the sunflower to give it a little pizazz.
Each petal on the sunflowers are separate, so I'm very,
very thankful for Glue Dots LOL!

I just love using Bo Bunny Dot paper.  Every color
goes good with ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!

I think this layout turned out pretty darned cute (if I say so myself LOL) and I hope the lucky momma-to-be who will be receiving this likes it also!

Don't forget to get your Pumpkin Mouse free file from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs before next Tuesday.  Here is a link to get you there faster:


Thanks for looking at my project!  Until next time...Happy Scrapping!


Monday, September 8, 2014

Hocus Pocus Layout

Here is a fun layout I made recently using some really cute files from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs.  It's titled "Hocus Pocus" and I made it for my personal scrapbook for an upcoming event that I will be co-chairing where the theme is...wait for it... HOCUS POCUS!  I think this layout will be perfect for some of the awesome photos I'm anticipating taking of my friends in all their witchy glory!

(click to view larger images)

I just love how this turned out.  I made a pact with myself to use up some of the papers I've had forever and the background papers I used from Rusty Pickle (remember them???) worked perfectly!

Here's a closer look at the first page:





And here is the second page:





I created my own title using SCAL and a font called Frightmares from Letter Delights.  The cutting files I used from LSHD were Halloween Mats (Web Circle & Skull Square), Witches Hat, Double Trouble Witches (Cauldron & Broom), Caught In A Web (Spider, Web Border) and Banners Collection.  Don't you just love having files that go so perfectly together?  I sure do!

In case you'd like to check out the cut files for yourself, here's the link to the Little Scraps of Heaven Designs website:


Hope you enjoyed looking at my layout!

Until next time ... Happy Scrapping!








Wednesday, September 3, 2014

LSHD September Sketch Challenge

Over on the Little Scraps of Heaven Designs Facebook Fan Page they are having a Sketch Challenge that runs until September 14th.  Anyone who posts a project that follows the sketch design and uses any paper piecing made from LSHD files has an opportunity to win $15 worth of free patterns!  Your project can be either a layout or a card that follows the sketch design. Remember that you can only use designs from LSHD to qualify.

A winner will be randomly chosen on Sept. 15th. But, if there are at least 10 entries, TWO winners will be chosen!  So what have you got to lose??? 

Here is what the sketch looks like:




If you haven't done one of these challenges before, I have to say that the sketch is actually pretty easy to follow.  When I first saw it, for whatever reason I immediately thought about my grandson's upcoming Reptile Birthday Party (crazy, right???). So here's my take on the Sketch Challenge:

(click to view larger images)

Your project can be any theme you want.  You just have to follow the basic design of the sketch.  How easy is that???

My layout uses four different LSHD paper piecing files.  They are:  Lizard, SSSS-elebrate (yellow snake), Boy Meets World (the grass and coiled snake) and Boy On A Limb (the tree).  I designed the "turning 7" part of the title in SCAL myself using the Mandingo font. You can use just one LSHD paper piecing file or a combination of files like I did.

Here are some close-up pictures.


Even though I am NOT a snake lover (eek!!!), I love how this snake turned out. I remembered that I had a texture plate that I got like 7 years ago and never used before that would work perfectly to make the snake skin texture. After running it through my Big Shot, I chalked it with a Frosty White CatsEye to make it look more like one of the boa snakes that "Python Ron" would be bringing as part of the party performance.  The boa's name is Banana....go figure!




So there you have it!  I hope that some of you will take advantage of the Sketch Challenge and enter either a layout, card, or both!  Here's a link to the LSHD Fan Page:


Until next time...Happy Scrapping!






Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Ready, Set, Go! Layout

Here is one of my layouts I made last week to submit for the Design Team at Little Scraps of Heaven Designs using several of their cut files.  I had just the perfect pictures to go with the Ready, Set, Go! files.  I also added the Sun and Clouds from the Bumper Boats file, the little peeking Frog is from the Raggedy Wizard file, and the Arrows on the roadway are from the This Way and That file.

I was really pretty excited about how this layout turned out.  As proud as I am of the layout, though, it's really all about the pictures.  This was my grandson Ace's first time driving the go-carts by himself at Boomers this past June, and just watching him have a great time was the best part of the day (even though it was like 103 degrees outside!). This Grandma was so happy she was able to capture some of that fun on "film".

Here is a look at the whole layout:

(click to view larger images)

First Page

Second Page

Close-up of the Frog.  He turned out so cute!

I just had to put the Number "6" on the car because
that's the age of my Grandson.

Happy little Sun and Clouds from the
"Bumper Boats" file

I printed up the Start Your Engines sign
and added it to the Lights.  Also added 
 little GO stickers to the green lights.

These flags were sooo easy!  Looks like a lot of
work but each one is just 3 pieces!

Close-up of the Cones and Tires.  Love
the little Tread details in the file!

Thanks for looking.  Until next time...Happy Scrapping!



Exciting News!!!

I received some really, really exciting news on Sunday morning that I can now share.  Yep, I am now a super proud Design Team member at  Little Scraps of Heaven Designs --- YAY!!!!  

Little Scraps of Heaven Designs, one of the companies that I purchase svg files from, had an open call for some new Design Team members so I thought "what the heck", let's do this.  I had submitted projects to other cut file companies in the past, but nothing exciting to report there (in other words...rejected).  But not this time people!!!!  

So once the decision was made to enter, the first thing I needed to do was to get going on creating two new projects using just their files. The requirement was to submit three, but I only had one layout and one card that used just their files (how embarrassing, right?).  I ruled out submitting the card because I wasn't sure it really showed off enough of my style.  Luckily I had recently purchased some new svg files from LSHD that I was planning on using right away, so decision was made on what to create!

This was just great news and I'm still on a huge high about it!!! So far everything has been amazing. I've been especially paying more attention to their Facebook page AND appreciating all the hard work that other DT members put into making weekly projects using the LSHD files to show existing and new fans how simple or versatile their svg files can be.  There are so many different styles and experience levels of scrapbooking so it's fun to see all the imaginative projects that people share on the Fan Page. Hopefully my projects will be able to give someone a little spark of creative enthusiasm along the way.

Oh, and a little perk for me is that I get to add ~LSHD DT (Little Scraps of Heaven Designs Design Team) at the end of my FB posts on their Fan Page. Yeah, it's strictly a status thing that I'm just a little excited about  :-)

So if you're not already a fan of Little Scraps of Heaven Designs, come on over to their Facebook page and check us out!  Here's a link for you:


Until next time....Happy Scrapping!