Kraft Treat Bags: Fancy Pants Designs

Hello and happy Halloween!  Today, I have some treat bags using the cute new kraft bags and Fall collections from Fancy Pants Designs.

These aren't meant to be for Halloween, although we are giving them out today. These are for the director and assistant director at my son's preschool to thank them for going out of their way for us this month to provide early morning care.

I worked on a special project at the hospital the last few weeks that required many early mornings.  We have an on-site preschool but it doesn't open until 6 am and I needed care earlier then that. Yes, it was a long month!  I talked to the school administrators and they agreed to open at 5:30 am for me each morning of the four-week project. I don't know what I would have done without them!

Inside each bag is a note with a little treat and Target gift card. 

The bags were easy to make. They are approximately 5 x 7 inches. I used the same design on each, embellishing them with tags, flair and the cute new tickets that were part of the Fall collections: Happy Go Lucky and Collecting Moments. 

I closed each bag with a fun little clothespin from the same collections. 

And since it is Halloween, I can't resist one photo of my cute Ninja turtle in an easy handmade costume made by my friend Karen Horne.  

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Nature Walk: Fancy Pants Designs

I'm up on the Fancy Pants Designs blog today with a two-pager. Yup!  It was so fun to do and I fit in seven photos with still lots of room for embellishments. Here's a sneak peek of the left side. 

Not sure why I don't do more two-pagers. Maybe because they are hard to photograph.....that's true. With single pages, I always use 12 x 12 paper as my base. But for this project I used two 8.5 x 11 inch papers. The two-pager just seemed to flow better that size and made me think maybe I should try some one pagers that are 8.5 x 11. 

How about you? Do you mix up your layout sizes? 

If you'd like to see the whole layout, just pop over to Fancy Pants blog.  I used the new Happy Go Lucky collection, perfect for Fall. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a great weekend!

Going Batty: Repurposed Halloween Frame

I'm always on the lookout for simple frames. They are so fun and easy to alter for the holidays. This plain black frame - which I purchased at a church yard sale for a quarter - was just the thing for a bit of Halloween decor.  

The frame is 8 x 10 inches and was missing the glass front, which worked out perfectly for bats on pop-dots. I used a dark backdrop, some colorful patterned papers and a bat punch from Stampin' Up!

The paper, tag, stickers and button are all from Fancy Pants Designs. I used a mix of papers from the new Collecting Moments and Happy Go Lucky collections. I bent the bat wings up a bit for extra dimension. 

The bats are a play on the popular butterfly frames. 

I was looking through my blog posts and realized that I made Halloween frames in 2012 and 2011 too. 

Here's the one I made last year, using Echo Park Paper. This frame was smaller and was published in Paper Crafts magazine. 

In 2011, I made this Halloween frame while a guest designer for Echo Park. 

I've made several other Halloween projects in the last few years. Lots of treats, no tricks.  Here are the links:  

Owl Pillow Box Treat

Halloween Test Tubes

Monster Test Tubes

Haunted House

And one non-paper craft - a simple painted pumpkin:

Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy Hauntings!

Chevron Tutorial: My Creative Scrapbook

Hello, everyone.  Today, I have a layout and a few tips and tricks using some "difficult" paper from the Feels Like Home collection from Little Yellow Bicycle. This collection was included in the cozy October kit at My Creative Scrapbook.

For my layout, I started with this piece of paper. (Note: the gingham is the print on the reverse side). 

I rotated the paper 90 degrees so that the banners were at the top, but I wasn't sure what to do about the image of the big blue chair. It was too ornate for the casual look of the photos I wanted to use. 

I loved the pretty patterns and colors of this chevron paper and thought it could work with my photos, but the paper was rather dark. 

To lighten the look of the chevron paper, I cut it apart.    

I arranged the chevrons to cover the chair, allowing some of the lighter background paper to peek through each row.  

I added a bit of stitching with white thread for a bit of texture and contrast. 

A few white journaling strips at the bottom bring more light to the page and help break up the strong chevron pattern. 

I added three photos, with bingo cards tucked under each to help draw the eyes around the page. At the top, I added a title and a few embellishments. A nice transformation, I think!

Thanks for much for stopping by. I hope you have a great week!

Life Is Wonder Fall: My Creative Scrapbook

Autumn photos are some of my favorites to scrap. I love working with the deep, warm colors and the pretty patterns of Fall collections.   

On this layout, I decided to bring in some denim blue to an otherwise gold, orange and rust palette. I really like the contrast.  

These patterns are from Little Yellow Bicycle's Feels Like Home collection, which was included in the October kit from My Creative Scrapbook.  Love this kit!

The chipboard branch was included in the kit. I added some punched leaves from patterned paper, stitching them down, and a little blue bird. 

I printed the journaling on paper included in the kit, ran it through the printer, then cut it in the shape of a tag. I added a punched leaf and a gingham tab. 

The photo is of my parents and my son. I'm so blessed that my parents live nearby and dote on my little one.  It's a joy to witness that relationship. It reminds me that life is indeed wonderful. 

My Creative Scrapbook Birthday Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to the birthday blog hop for My Creative Scrapbook. We have lots of prizes to give away. Just follow along!  

I'm so delighted to be a designer for this kit club: happiness arrives on my doorstep every month!

This was the kit I received for October, the Creative Kit. It was cozy, warm and colorful: perfect for Fall.

This is one of the layouts I made with the kit. I love working with scene paper.  Half the work is already done! Here, I just added in a strip of patterned paper across the bottom, my photo and a few stickers and embellies. Easy peasy!

A closeup:

The next person on the hop is the talented Marilyn Rivera. You can find her blog here.

We are so excited about our kits and hope that you are, too.  For more information about any of the kits, or to reserve your kit, please visit http://www.mycreativescrapbook.com/kits.htm

Before you go, remember to leave a comment and follow my blog to be eligible for the prize drawings!   Prizes will be drawn from individual blogs on the hop as well as from comments left on the My Creative Scrapbook blog.   Comments will be open until the end of the day on Wednesday, Oct. 9.  Winners will be announced on Friday. Have a wonderful weekend!

Halloween Treat Tubes: Fancy Pants Designs

Halloween is nigh. But today, no tricks.  Just treats. 

I bought these fun test tubes from the Paper Issues online shop awhile back. When I saw the cute seasonal gumballs at Michael's last week, I knew they'd be perfect for a little Halloween project. 

I pulled out the new Fall lines from Fancy Pants Designs to alter the tubes. Though I didn't use a Halloween collection, the orange and green hues from the Happy Go Lucky line worked perfectly. I wrapped a bit of patterned paper around the tubes, using polka dot sticker tapes around the top. 

I added a round chalk tag to each tube, layering it with punched patterned paper, buttons and stickers. A decorative clothes pin adds a whimsical touch. I think I'll send these to preschool with Cory at the end of the month for his teachers.  Meanwhile, they sure look happy and festive on the bookshelf. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll be back on Saturday with the reveal of the new October kits from My Creative Scrapbook. There'll be prizes up for grabs!

My Creative Scrapbook: October Kit Sneak Peeks

Hello everyone and happy October!  Autumn is here!

I have some sneak peeks for you of a pretty new Fall kit from My Creative Scrapbook.

Last weekend, we took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the North Carolina mountains. The tree colors weren't at their peak, but it was still lovely in every way.  We stopped at an apple orchard and had the most yummy sweet, crisp apples off the tree.  Life is good!