Merry Christmas Banner

New this week at Scrapdoodles is the new Christmas line from October Afternoon, "Make It Merry."  Oh My Goodness, go check it out!  This line is so fun and adorable.  It's full of vintage card images and patterns.  I love the music sheet and was inspired to make this simple and sweet banner with the song sheet as the base. 

I added die cut letters from more of the patterned papers and layered on the coordinating elements like the ticket stubs and sweet vintage images.  The "Miscellany" pack also includes buttons and ribbon.  I added some old red doilies to the top, some red and white twine, fringe, and glitter from my own stash.  The elements are easy and fun to mix and match and layer.  Here's a few close-ups.

Some of the elements will be perfect to include as journaling spots or extra pages in my December Daily.  I prepped a few to see how they would work out (and they are just too fun to play with I didn't want to put them away yet :))  I'm sure I'll be pulling from these pieces throughout the month.

Lastly, I pulled several elements together to make this super sweet layout of a photo of my younger sister and me in 1978.  I would hardly call us vintage, but these fun papers really compliment the black and white (okay a teeny bit old) photo.  I love it! 

Hope you've been inspired!  Happy Crafting - Karen

Halloween Layout and Tags

It's that fun time of the month when I get to highlight some wonderful products available at Scrapdoodles in Fredericksburg.  I love going into this store!  Super friendly ladies and tons of scrapbook paper :0  Makes me happy. 
This trip, I focused on their Halloween selection - so much to choose from.  I was inspired by the orange/blue color combo and vintage feel of October Afternoon's "Witch Hazel" line.  (You can check out the whole line HERE)  It made me want to dig up some old childhood photos.  Luckily, I knew just where to look and put together this layout.  Can you see my mom making a goofy face in the door window? He he - Fun times.  For this layout, I broke up the heavy patterns by just using blocks or strips on top of a more neutral cardstock background.  I tore some of the paper edges, distressed others, and inked around the background sheet.  I also used Washi Tape from a My Mind's Eye collection and a few stickers off my Authentique Halloween collection.  I cut the title with my Cricut (Happy Hauntings).

This line isn't just for your "vintage" photos, though.  I thought the blue would be a great complement to these pics of our daughter as Cinderella from last year.  With some creative placement of my photos, I was able to highlight the black paper titles, instead of creating a new one.  Trying to keep a softer touch, I created these Washi Tape flowers (My Mind's Eye tape and enamel dots, and stickers).  I used about an 8 inch piece of tape and gathered it around the middle.  I placed an enamel dot in each center.  I did add an extra glue dot or two to get them to lay right on my page.
Here are a few tags I created with some of the scraps.  I thought they would be fun to place on a card or use to embellish treat bags this Halloween.  Tags are also a fun way to experiment with new products or techniques.  I used my Washi tape to alter some of the strong paper patterns - the moon and the chevron backgrounds on the first and last tags below, for example.  It was a fun way to get more out of the papers and highlight some of the cute images and patterns.

October Afternoon recently hosted a "Witch Hazel" blog hop on their blogs, if you need more inspiration!

Fresh Layouts, Design Team Wednesday

I LOVE PRETTY PAPER!  and PINTEREST!  Yes, it is somewhat of an addiction (for both).  I am so inspired by ideas on Pinterest and I do have to stop myself from buying more paper sometimes, especially while in Scrapdoodles :)  This trip to Scrapdoodles, I was able to pick up some beautiful papers from Teresa Collins.  The first selection is from her "Fabrications" line.  This paper almost feels like fabric and it was fun to play with some distressing on the edges.  The colors - especially the blue and yellow - are so cheery and really pop when paired up with the neutrals.  This first layout is a scraplift from a layout I first saw on Pinterest (original source here). 

This next set of layouts is also made with Teresa Collins papers, her "Spring Fling" line.  The colors and patterns are bright and fun.  Again, I was inspired by layouts first seen on Pinterest.  This chevron pattern tutorial was found here.  It was easy to piece together using small 1x3 inch strips.  I sewed and roughed up the edges a bit to add a little dimension.  It adds just the right pop of color while still keeping these cute photos of H. and daddy at the forefront.

As soon as I saw this pleated circle on this layout (original source) I knew I wanted to try it out, too.  It's actually quite easy to do.  The original looks much more perfect than mine, but I'm good with that :)  It's sewn onto the scallop circle to keep it in place.  Then I just layered all kinds of die cuts (all from Teresa Collins' "Spring Fling"), some lace trim (October Afternoon) and a few gems to complete the look.