Happy Halloween!

Supplies : Paper by Pebbles Inc., My Minds Eye, and Creative Imaginations; Stickers by Pebbles Inc; Bat Ribbon by Making Memories; Glazed Brads Eerie by Basic Grey;

Happy Halloween! We have a fun day ahead for us with the festival at Tuachan and then a little Trick or Treating with their Aunt Mich. Everything is family friendly so no scary stuff allowed, my kind of Halloween festival! I love whimsical holiday decor. Most of our Halloween decor is black, orange, and white and the pieces are usually witchy. I did pick up a fun zombie thing this year and a darling vampire ornament from Pier 1 (links will take you to pictures of some of my favorite Halloween pieces of ours). Since the girls have gotten older decorating for holidays has become a bigger thing for us so I've enjoyed shopping for fun Halloween pieces to add to our little collection. This is a very simple layout of the girls last year. It's a very Pebbles style layout using some fun Pebbles paper and stickers! If you've seen their kits you know what I mean. The style is simple, blocked, and cutesy. The journaling is about how last year was the first year the girls ever picked matching costumes. I know they aren't from the same movie or comic but the fact that they were both superheroes is close enough for me! Since they are superheroes again this year I'm hoping we've started a trend of them matching for Halloween, at least for a little while! It's just so cute to see their costumes be all matchy :D

By the way both the girls did great at the Halloween party in class. Cait didn't melt down at all going through the older kids classrooms and seeing their scary costumes for the costume parade. She was even able to give some of them high fives. I think it really helped that the big kids were so encourging of all the Kindergarteners rather than trying to scare them :) They also got to go to a Halloween birthday party as well as our neighborhood party later that evening. All Friday they got to party! Here's a picture of them before class. I'm a bit sad that Audrey lost her mask someplace so she won't have it for Trick or Treating or the Festival today but oh well, at least I got some pictures of her before it happened. Maybe I can draw/paint one on her tonight. We'll see if she lets me :D Anyway enjoy and have a Hauntingly Happy Halloween!

October 31st

Supplies : Paper and Stickers by Pebbles Inc; Brad by Imaginescence; Rhinestones by Kaiser; White Cardstock; Apron Lace punch by Fiskars; 3D foam squares

I have been loving this Pebbles sticker sheet. It's only about 6x12 but boy all those images sure do go a long way! I used basically the same style for this card as I was with the sticker minis, matting the sticker on cardstock and using 3D foam squares to pop it up. I added more rhinestones for some fun bling in the background and then substituted the O in October with a circle Trick or Treat brad. A very quick and simple card, can you tell I've been so in to those lately!

We'll be having Caitlyn's class party today. She's done SO much better this year. Last year I couldn't even take her to the grocery stores it was that bad! Carrying an ASD child whose having a major meltdown out of a crowded store while still keeping track of your other toddler is totally no fun. I was dreading when everyone would start putting out the Halloween stuff this year but Caitlyn hasn't seemed to be affected like she was last year. So we'll see how she handles the kids wearing their costumes in class. Audrey and I will be there to help if anything crops up but I'm hoping she'll be able to just have fun like the other kids ^_~ Thanks for popping on by and have a Freaky Friday! I'm pretty sure mine is going to be a least a little freaky with all those dressed up Kindergarteners!

Nana's Halloween Tradition

Supplies : Papers Eerie by Basic Grey; Cardstock by Bazzil; Glazed Brads Eerie by Basic Grey; Bat Ribbon by Making Memories; Transparency by Fancy Pants; Halloween tag by My Minds Eye; Paper for journal strips by Creative Imaginations; Thickers letter stickers by American Crafts; Scallop, Labels 1, and Circle Nestabilities

Every year Paul's mom gets all the kids Halloween tees for Halloween. Last years were my favorite tees for Cait and Audrey. The girls love all of them of course. I think it's so fun for them to get a surprise the beginning of October like that. They love wearing them any chance they get, even when it gets close to Christmas time! I took basically the same style I had been playing with on my Practical Scrappers layouts but used some colored cardstock for the background and more photos. The transparency totally takes center stage, isn't it gorgeous! Trying to decide what I was going to use it on was tough so I just figured this layout right now. It highlights my favorite picture out the bunch. Last year I had that very photo as my desktop wallpaper for quite a while (until I took a new favorite sister picture). I just love Audrey's cheeser and Caitlyn's sweet look. Enjoy the layout and have an Eerie Thursday!

Trick or Treat

Supplies : Paper and Stickers by Pebbles Inc; White Cardstock; Rhinestones by Kaiser; Brad by Imaginescence; 3D foam squares; Apron Lace punch by Fiskars

How about a regular sized card! The girls have really been into the Halloween treat thing and I have been more than happy to give away some of the huge stash of candy we have in our house! My downfall is the candy corns and those pumpkins. The girls, Paul and I all love them and though I try to use them more as decoration in my pretty glass pumpkin, they end up being snuck out as snacks by all of us! I probably should just not buy them but I cave every time. It's practically a tradition to have the pumpkin filled with candy pumpkins! Anyway, I hope everyone is having a blast getting ready for Halloween. Enjoy the card and have a Wicked Wednesday!

Scaredy Cat

Supplies : Paper - Eerie by Basic Grey, lined papers by Creative Imaginations; Tag by My Minds Eye; Big Brads by Imaginisce; Glazed brads Eerie by Basic Grey; Spider brads by Doodlebug; Jute by Papertrey Ink; Scallop and Circle punch by EK Success; Apron Lace Punch by Fiskars; Circle Nestabilities; Spellbound Card (Slice)

Here's another layout for the fun punches challenge on Practical Scrappers. I used the border punch again and the scallop punch. This time though the scallop mats a circle that I punched to use for a journaling spot. I also die cut another larger circle for more journaling and just flowed my story starting with the small circle then continuing on to the larger one. Use your punches to create journaling prompts by punching out lined pattern papers or by creating your own using a journal lines stamp set. Hearts, flowers, stars, any shape you want can add a quirky journal prompt or subtitle to your layout. Try using your punched shapes to hold individual letters on a title. Use a heart punch in place of the O in Love or You. Use smaller shaped punches to dot 'i's and 'j's in your titles or as the dots in exclamation or question marks. I hope I gave you some fun texty ideas for your punches. Hop on by Practical Scrappers for the challenge and more inspiration! Thanks for visiting and have a terrific Tuesday!

So Cute it's Spooky

Supplies : Paper - Eerie by Basic Grey and Creative Imaginations; Tag by My Minds Eye; Brads Eerie by Basic Grey; Bat Ribbon by Making Memories; 2" scallop punch by EK Success; Apron Lace border punch by Fiskars; Kraft Cardstock; Transparency by Fancy Pants

The challenge this week at Practical Scrappers is on using fun punches and I was so relieved when Christie said that border punches worked as well on this challenge because I really don't have many punches at all! Here I added some fun border detailing with the Apron Lace punch by Fiskars on the left side of the photo mat layer. Then I used part of a scallop punched circle as a tag for the beginning of the title. These little additions simply add a bit more fun to the layout. Use your border punches to add whimsy and don't stop at cardstock! Use pattern paper, or edge your journaling block or multiple journaling strips. Add a fun border to a photo mat or to the photo itself. Border punches are terrific for adding a shot of detail to a layout without having to add papers or embellishments! Stop by Practical Scrappers for more samples on what to do with fun punches and have a great Monday!