I am really excited to show you my first layout using the CHA Summer products!  When I opened up my box of goodies, I immediately wanted to pair up this Hocus Pocus Spiders Lair die cut with the Sweetness collection.  I cut the centre of the die cut out using a craft knife and placed Sweetness – Sweetest Day behind it.  I used a pink marker to add bits of colour to the the die cut and tie it in with the Sweetheart goodies.

The sweetheart collection was a great fit for this photo of my daughter sucking on a lollipop.   To create the lollipop, I simply placed a Sweetness Doodad on top of a lollipop stick that I purchased at a local candy making store.

Sweetness Doodads

Sweetness Flipnotes

Sweetness Clear Cards

Sweetness Canvas Borders

Expressions Cushies Alphabets

Sweetness Collection Craft Kit

Hocus Pocus Spiders Lair

Artisan Elements – Circles

Good morning! Today is Sketch Sunday!

I have to admit, I typically have trouble making layouts with sketches. I tend to start out with good intentions, and by the end have strayed far from the original sketch. Such is the case with this layout, once again.

I went to Pagemaps and got my sketch, I save them on my computer and it’s nice to quickly scan through and find an image that works for the idea I had in my head.

I switched my layout around a bit, but stayed with some of the same elements. I picked a fall/halloween theme and decided to use the fabulous Hocus Pocus line on my layout. My photos weren’t the best, but they are a special memory I still wanted to scrap, so I changed them to black and white, put a dark edge and spotlight on my daughter in a photo program, and added them to handmade bracket strips.

One of the fun things I did with my layout, was to use this Spider’s Lair diecut paper, but to add a creepy fun effect, I burned the edges of the paper.

If you try this technique, you would want to do it with a lighter, in an open space ( outside is good!), without any wind! I simply took the flame and lightly burned just a small portion before blowing it out, then lighting another spot. When I was finished, I knocked off all the ashy bits, and wiped the edges of the back of the paper. After I added it to my layout, I lightly folded  the edges up to give the layout a little extra dimension.

I also inked my Canvas Scallop Border,  sprayed my Artisan Elements Alphabet with Walnut Gold Tattered Angels mist,  cut out the skeleton torso from paper and popped it up with foam tape, and added additional foam tape to my spider bracket sticker.