Halloween Cards

For whatever reason, I just love Halloween scrapbook products and making cards for Halloween!  I just don't like anything else about the holiday - I don't even pass out candy!

Here are two Halloween cards that I made recently :

Both cards use shapes cut from my Silhouette and some Studio Calico wood veneer stars that I inked black

My collection of Halloween cards from last year can be seen HERE if you are interested in a little more inspiration

Have a great week everyone!

Brenda

June 2013 Studio Calico kit - Roundabout

I'm a bit behind in posting my projects with last month's Studio Calico kit - but better late than never!

I have only created two projects with June's kit - not because I didn't like the kit, but it has been a pretty crazy month with not much time for scrapping.

My first layout that I created was "Boston Strong."

I wanted to do something with the photos that I have been taking of the make-shift memorial for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. It has been in Copley Square, across the street from my office, since the square reopened after the bombings, so I walk by it all the time. The city took all of the items away a few weeks ago to be archived.

My second layout uses a great piece of patterned paper from the Crate collection "The Pier."  The paper really reminded me of a vintage wallpaper pattern, so I tried to think of some photos that would work.  I remembered these photos taken with my IPhone from an afternoon tea while my hubby and I were in London this May.

I added some pops of gold which has become one of my favorite things to do lately.  

Hopefully, I'll have a little more time to play with July's kit and have more to share next month.

How many many projects did you create with June's kit  - or did summer fun get in the way?

Have a good week everyone!

  

  

May 2013 Studio Calico kit - Planetarium

Well, I don't know where the month has gone, but it is way past time for another "what I did with the month's Studio Calico kit from the time the kit arrived until the next month's kit arrived."  So here it is!

This first one is my favorite of the month.  The photos are from a cruise that my hubby and I went on several years ago.  

The page just didn't seem complete until I added the hemp twine across the top.  I think it looks a bit like a fisherman's net - perfect for an ocean page!

This next page documents our New Year's Eve tradition.  We always make Cioppino (a seafood stew) for our dinner.  Sometimes it is the two of us and sometimes we have a party, but we always serve Cioppino!

This next page just documents a Saturday we spent together recently.  I told my hubby that we could do whatever he wanted to do for the whole day.  We ended up going to a concert, going out for lunch, and then going to a movie.  My hubby loves to be out and about!

My last page has a lot of gold, glitter, and sequins!  We went to see the musical "Rock of Ages" when we were in London last month.  Towards the end of the production, there was gold confetti being thrown into the audience.  Of course, I had to pick some up to save for a scrapbook page!  The next day, we went back to take a few pictures of the front of the theatre since we couldn't take any pictures the night before.

I decided to play up the gold and cut my title out of gold POW glitter paper, used the gold and craft paper from Studio Calico, gold sequins and I punched out some more confetti out of the POW glitter paper.  Not my "normal" style (which I'm not sure what that is), but I think it turned out fun!

How many projects were you able to make with Studio Calico's May kit?

Have a good week everyone!

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

My sister and I were discussing project life one day - she does it, I do not - and it gave me an idea for a scrapbook layout.  I told her that I couldn't do project life because my weeks and days are basically the same for a good part of the year.  I'm a tax accountant, so I work long hours January through May.  (I specialize in non-profits, so my big deadline is May 15th - not April 15th.)  I wake up, commute to Boston, work 10, 11, or 12 hours, commute home, go to bed and do the same thing the next day.  At some point this year, I started waking up when the alarm rings at 5:20 and the thought "lather, rinse, repeat" went through my head.  Now it is my first thought every morning, so I thought it was a fitting title for this page.

I used the February Studio Calico kit, Front Row, with a few other items from my stash.  I thought the Days of the week washi tape from October Afternoon was very fitting.  The repeated the stamp from the kit across the bottom of the page represents Boston.

Have a great week, everyone!  Mine will be pretty much the same - lather, rinse, repeat!!

January 2013 Studio Calico kit - Block Party

I've enjoyed putting all of the layouts that I create from the current month's Studio Calico kit all in one post, so I'll continue this monthly feature in 2013.  I only post the layouts that I create from the time I get the kit until the next kit arrives at my door.  This challenges me to get as much done with the kit before I put it away.  I created four layouts and one card with the January kit.

This layout is probably my favorite of the month.  I love the photo of my kitty snoozing in the sun!

I did a lot of hand-stitching on this layout which was time consuming, but a lot of fun.

For this layout, I decided to try using circles.  I had cropped with Jennifer Larson in December and she said she loved using circles on her layout. I never really do, but was inspired to try.  I did some hand-stitching on this layout also.

This patterned paper was bright and fun - I thought it would be perfect for a birthday card.  I cut a circle out of the front of the card with my Silhouette.  The word "birthday" is layered over the empty space.  The word "happy" is actually on the inside of the card.

The last layout "Best Vacation Story Ever" was picked up by Scrapbook Trends to be published in the July 2013 issue, so I can't share it here yet!  

I was pretty pleased getting these five projects done with this kit.  It has been a few months since I got this much done.

How did you do with January's Studio Calico kit?

Have a great week everyone!

Scrappy Resolution 2013 - January

A couple of weeks ago, I posted here about my scrappy resolution for the year.  Every month, I'm going to create a layout or card (or both) using a previous Studio Calico kit from that month.  I have been a subscriber for three full years now, so I have a lot of product to choose from!  

This month, I ended up using product from January 2010, 2011, and 2012 on my layout (yay!)  My inspiration came from the wood veneer letters in the 2012 kit.  I had used a lot of them and when I put them away, I had written down a few words that the remaining letters would spell.  The words "SUMMER" and "WI" were both still possible, so I thought I would use those in my title.

I had taken photos when we were in Wisconsin at my parent's cabin last summer of my family playing a game of "yard toss." Outdoor games involving bean-bags are very popular in Wisconsin for whatever reason!  I combined papers from the kits and cut and used a wood-grain paper for the background.

I cut out a sun for my title and hand-stitched a few sun rays.  It was a fun challenge and I'm happy with the results!

I also decided to see what I could do with a couple of remaining items from the 2010 kit.  The kit came with some little school themed cards.  I knew the two that I had left would never work on a layout for me, so I decided to make a card with one of them.  

I also used the last flower sticker from the set, some leftover black cardstock, and patterned paper from the 2012 kit.  The other stickers were from my stash.

How are you doing on your resolutions?  Would anyone like to join me in my resolution?  I'd love to hear about it if you do!

Have a great week everyone!

Doors

I seem to take a lot of photos of my husband in front of cool looking doors when we are traveling.  I don't know  when I started, but when I look back through vacation photos, there are always photos of him in front of doors.

 Craig in front of an old barn door at his grandparent's farm when we were on vacation in Wisconsin.

Craig in front of a door in Florence, Italy.  He doesn't always cooperate when I'm taking photos.

In front of a door in Barcelona, Spain (yes, that's a cigar in his mouth - yuck!)

I decided to create a layout with this door vacation photo after looking through my November Studio Calico kit and seeing the woodgrain paper.  There were enough dark colors in the kit to make a masculine layout.  I added the sticker letters from a different kit because they were the perfect color.

The stars were cut out with my Silhouette Cameo with a design from the "Cut it Out" class from Studio Calico.  I used a few wood veneer stars now that I safely have a package on its way to me from Two Peas.  I didn't know how much I would love them!

Have a good week everyone!