Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Halloween today. I love this holiday and even enjoy dressing up for the day.

I do not sew, BUT my mom does and has always made me and now my daughter the best costumes. Today she is my guest crafter as I am showing off her skills. I have already shared this photo, but did not mention the amazing work my Mom put in.
This year we went to Disney at the start of October so the costumes had to be ready. My mom made my daughter's Rapunzel costume using a great pattern, but for my Belle dress...no pattern. She had to create one using a Dorothy pattern and another one all together for the shirt part. That Belle dress is all one piece except for the apron.  She is wonderful and we had a blast dressing up.

Enjoy your Tricks or Treats!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Jacob Update

Jacob is officially on his way and will be here soon.  It seems he was a little nervous about the possible chance of finding the one he can craft with forever! He decided to stay put in California just a little longer and is packing as we speak to make the trip.

The girls are very excited and got together last night to make this welcome sign. (They are trying to show their creative spirit right away.)
 They decided to use the first cartridge that will be given away during the show: Storybook. I gave them all a quick mini-lesson on how to use the Cricut (all though some were more interested in others...we will see how that plays out with Jacob.) and they took turns trying it out. The results were wonderful and I am sure Jacob will enjoy the surprise. 
See as he will not be here for Halloween all those comments will be added to any posts about the upcoming Bachelor Season for a chance to win the Storybook cartridge.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Monster Treats!!!

We are patiently waiting for Jacob to arrive. It appears his flights have been very delayed and he missed a few connections, but filming for his season of the Bachelor is all set to begin upon his arrival. Not sure if he will be able to go trick or treating with us, but your fun costume ideas are still welcome for a chance to win the Storybook cartridge. Click HERE to see all about that.
Meanwhile, I called in my other super special assistant to help finish the Monster Treat Bags I have been working on for a small Halloween get together today. I pulled out one of my new favorite cartridges, Mini-Monsters and selected one of the fun treat bags to use.
I used my 12 x 24 mat to cut 3 bags at a time, plus the coordinating pieces to add on. The bag was cut at width: 11.64, height 6.08 and turned 90 degrees to fit on the mat 3 times. This meant only 5 trips to the Cricut instead of 15!! I decided to use all the same bag design, but to mix and match the colors on them as my way to change them up.
I bought these fun wiggle eyes at Michael's and used them instead of the small eye cuts on the bag. My handy assistant helped me put the eyes together and place them on each bag. She thought they looked super silly, but not scary which is good in here opinion.


I bought The Paper Studio embossing folder Croc Texture just for this project, but I have a feeling I will be using it over and over again. It has varying sizes of fun croc bumps so I used the larger part for the body half circles and the smaller ones for the arms.

I set to work putting all the pieces on and assembling the bags. The final step...The treats of course. I hope everyone is having a fun weekend. Hopefully Jacob will arrive soon...I have so many projects I need his help on plus all those girls are waiting!!

Monday, October 24, 2011

This Season on the Bachelor: Hot Scrap Assistant


This Season on The Bachelor: Hot Scrap Assistant 
we will meet Jacob a hot scrapping assistant from down under. Jacob loves helping out in the craft room and has traveled all over the world helping others make their cards, scrap layouts and birthday decorations go from drab to fab. Along the way he has had many loves, but none have been able to make the lasting commitment he is looking for. 
Now, Jacob will meet 25 amazing ladies.  He will have the chance to get to know the girls, take them out on dates and share crafting time together. He hopes he can find the right girl, one who will share in his crafting mission. 

Want to get in on the action? Well tune in for the fun here at Cool Beans By L.B. You can even win some fabulous prizes. For one of Jacob's dates he will dress in costume. What costume should he wear? Post your ideas HERE and be entered to win the first of his giveaways a Storybook cartridge from Cricut.

Birthday Wishes Card

To tell me what Jacob, the hot scrap assistant should be for Halloween & maybe win some blog candy see the post about his arrival HERE!
My sister is having a birthday very soon so it was time to get my act together and make her card. I have a package to send her and her family for Halloween and I need to put it in the mail tomorrow morning so everything arrives on time. This card will  go right on top for her.

I love all the fun things people do with the tags and pockets so I decided to try my hand at that. I cut my cardstock to the right size and added a backing layer from the Antique Dots paper stack that I am trying to use in a year.
Next came the pocket. I cut a 3 x 4 inch rectangle and scored the 2 longer sides and 1 of the shorter at the 1/2 inch mark. I cut off the square pieces where the marks over lapped and taped it onto my card using the red supertape you can buy anywhere (mine is thermo-o-web).

I cut 10 - 3/4 inch tabs and punched holes in them. I did not have any ribbon so I used some stitching floss and tied it on top of each after writing some fun birthday wishes on each one (my sister loves chocolate if you couldn't tell).
I cut out "birthday wishes" from my Birthday Bash cartridge. I also used my brand new I-rock tool to place a small bit of sparkle to the card. I wrote my own message on the inside for this card. I hope she likes it. If you do please leave me a comment!
Remember Jacob is on his way and prizes will be offered!! You can link to the post about his arrival up above and tell me what costume he should wear for Halloween.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Halloween Gifts Last batch!

JACOB IS ON HIS WAY! TELL ME WHAT HE SHOULD WEAR FOR HALLOWEEN!

I have finally finished all the Halloween goodies I have been working on. I hope you have all seen my first batch of these fun anti-bacterial gift boxes that I have been working on. I followed the wonderful instructions at  Pink Buckaroo Designs and now that I have made so many I think I could do it in my sleep.
For the final set I pulled out the DCWV Ghosts & Goblins stack once again and found just the right paper to match with my PocketBacs from Bath & Body Works. I love the names on the Halloween ones!
After scoring and cutting the inside box paper, I put on all the red tape at once before putting them all together. When I got started it was much easier to get them completed this time than the first go round. Doing each step all at once was helpful.
For this set I went back to my Gypsy to search for the right bat and spider cuts for the front. I choose the spider of Lyrical Letters and the Simply Charmed bat, but I added my own hand drawn face to it. I also select the fun poison label from Martha Stewart Season Cake Art for the final few boxes. I wanted to have a little embossing on each box,  like the first ones, but I went a little simple for these and did not ink them up. I also had fun tearing the purple paper with a edger for the spider boxes.
 In the end, I think I might like this set better than the first. My daughter hand select witch (I mean which) box would go to each teacher she has and made sure I did not forget her wonderful bus driver. I hope everyone likes our little Halloween treats. Tonight is movie night at my daughter's school and we get to wear our costumes once again. I am so happy to be in the Halloween spirit.

I also get to add these to a fun Halloween challenge at Little Scrap Pieces.Hop on over to see the other fun work people have done.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Danger Bag

As my wonderful followers know I love making gift bags and seeing as Halloween is right around the corner I thought I would have some fun with my new Forever Young cartridge and make a little Halloween themed purse.
I cut the purse using a 12x24 mat. I cut it at 16.01W & 7.15H (just filled the mat until I couldn't get any bigger). I used my favorite Gypsy feature, the hide/contour button to get rid of the words in the middle of the purse cut.
I wanted it to be a simple bag so I picked out the fun haunted house cut from Holiday Cakes and used paper from the DCWV Ghosts & Goblins cardstock stack (the matching solid stack) to make it sparkle a little bit. I also cut out "DANGER" and some mini tombstones using Mini Monsters to add to the front of the purse/gift bag.
I felt that this bag would look too plain as just black so I used a Chalk Collection Zig marker and went around all the edges of the purse cut before putting it together. These markers are pretty cool on a black base. When you first write with them it is very hard to see, but as you can tell they dry awesome and I felt it gave my bag that messy/scary look I wanted.
I feel like my Halloween season started extra early with the fun trip to the Not So Scary Halloween party at Disney World a few weeks back and now  I am just totally engrossed in celebrating. I hope everyone is having fun getting ready for this fun sweet (candy!!) and scary holiday time.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Jacob is on His Way!!!!

I just got a message telling me that the wonderful hot scrap assistant Jacob is making his way to my place right now. For more about this fun visit you have to get the whole story over at Chloe and Her Clip On Koalas I was not sure when he would be stopping at my place, but I am happy to say he is coming soon!!  I had to inform the girls right away and they are very excited!!
Princesses - not totally happy with their prince can not wait to see Jacob.
They are all looking forward to some special time with Jacob..I really hope a fight will not break out over him.  There is much excitement. Each girl has some special dates planned:
Jacob will stay in Barbi's Vacation home.

Have wonderful pajama movie nights
A Date with TWINS!!


Ride in a convertible (most likely with the top up due to the cold right now)
I can not wait to introduce him to all and I can not wait to get some help in my scrap room. He will be here soon and I look forward to sharing all  our fun adventures with you!!  Please help me make him welcome by sending me your ideas for his Halloween costume...see as he will be here for the fun holiday I better help him get a costume!!  Thanks all. Leave a comment telling me what he should wear for Halloween.

 All comments will be entered in the first giveaway of his visit! A Storybook cartridge! 

Poison Card

Every year I make a fun Halloween card for my sorority sister who loves this holiday the most out of all of them. I try and keep it different every year, but recently she told me I have made a witch card 3 times and I laughed. This year I made sure I did not use a witch.
I love this paper from the DCWV Ghost and Goblins stack with the framed sillouettes of people getting killed (I know it sounds more morbid than it is!) but when you fold it one side is upside down so...
I added a piece of ribbon to the top and covered it with a right side up square cut out with of the same paper. A very simple solution to my problem.
I added the poison cut from Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art and was very happy to send it off to her to add more fun in her celebrating. The ribbon makes me feel like the card is a little less morbid and I feel the irnoy of that considering the paper. HA! Happy Halloween to all.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Let's Roll Layout

I spent Sunday working on some scrapbook layouts for the many different albums I have going. Someday I will get caught up,  but the backlog is fun to work on and recall memories as well. This layout is all about my daughter's first trip around the roller rink.
Skate night is still a big deal with my middle-schoolers and my daughter and husband were able to join me at the event last March. Sophie was not totally sure about being on skates and only got around the rink one time, but it was fun. I decided to print the photos in black and white because the lighting at the rink was off. I like the effect it made for the page.
I picked out some different papers and layered them around the page for a different feel. Than I cut out the fun roller skate off of the Nifty 50's cartridge. I used several different colors for this and got them all on my mat before cutting. I wanted the little star bursts on the image to be different colors so used the wonderful hide/contour button to add them but not the skate outline to my mat.
I liked the saying that is on the same page as the skate cut in the Nifty 50's booklet, but did not want he skates attached so I used the font on the cart to recreated it on my layout.
I have a feeling that I will have more of this themed layout over the years, but I will always remember the first time. 

Monday, October 17, 2011

From the Heart Layout using Page Maps 2

I love the Page Map book by Becky Fleck, but I always forget I have them so they sit in my craft room and do not get used often. This past weekend I pulled out the books when I was getting ready to put a page together using photos of my daughter making Valentine's and selected one to use.
page 70 of page maps 2
This is an 8 1/2 x 11 layout but I turned it into a 12x12 one for my purposes. I started by finding the right papers to use (all from my stacks and stacks of paper). Once that was done the rest came together so fast. After putting the photos down I added the 3 pieces of ribbon that I selected. I used Glue Arts Ribbon Adhesive for the first time on this and it works great. It says it is squares on the package, but is really a long strip of adhesive you apply to the back of the ribbon.

After I got the ribbon down I cut out a few things from my Cricut: several really small hearts and 3 larger ones using Create A Critter and the phrase "from the heart" off of Wild Card.
I also added a button to the center of one heart (there is a button image on the page map). I had never used a button on a layout before, but I have a feeling I am hooked. I used some large glue dots to put this on the layout. 

Below is what the 8 1/2 x 11 part looked like before putting it on my backing 12x12 paper and adding the title. I followed the original map pretty close for this one and am very happy with the results. I love how easy it is to make the maps your own. I am adding this to the You Had Me At Craft: Made It Myself Mondays Link-up! Great projects are always there!.