Jack has eaten too many treats this Halloween.

Materials: paper - My Mind's Eye, Making Memories and Bazzil cardstock; stamps - Inkadinkado; ink - Distress Inks by Ranger; alphabet dies - Quickutz; StitchZ templates by Bazzil; & shipping tags.

Anyone who knows me KNOWS that I love Halloween. I think I may even love it more than Christmas since this is often the time I hold dinner party's and make and eat too many treats. My husband John is the family pumpkin carver and he does a pretty fine job. This year I actually carved one too. Mine is the weird mottled pumpkin and his the one puking up his innards.

This is my first layout using the StitchZ template. I love the goulish nature of the stitches and I believe my students liked the new tool (or at least the end result). I was able to add dimension to the haunted house by cutting the shape out of fun foam and applying the patterned paper piece on top. Once again I have used my ink blending technique to get that eerie Halloween vibe. This technique is definately a student favourite.

October 31st

Materials: paper - Junkitz and Bazzil cardstock; ink - Distress Ink by Ranger, VersaFine by Tsukineko; stamps - Autumn Leaves; shape and alphabet dies - Quickutz.

This is the first of many layouts I used the Distress Inks to blend together and create a moody backdrop for my stamps. This is a pretty simple technique and almost as much fun as finger painting! Just start with your lightest colour and using a circular motion work the ink from the middle of the page out, going the furthest out with this first colour. Using your second colour, start again in the middle and work the colour out but not quite as far as the first colour. Leave some of the first colour to show through in places. Repeat with the 3rd colour. Then stamp with flourishes making sure to go just under the the paper mat so you don't have gaps which I found to be distracting. Now do it your way, you know I encourage deviancy!

These are the Days of Miracles and Wonder

Materials: paper- Basic Grey and Bazzil cardstock; alphabet and shape dies by Quickutz; stamps- Autumn Leaves and Fancy Pants; ink - Distress Ink by Rangers, VersaFine by Tsukineko.

I don't have kids and seldom do cute but students a few years ago challenged me to do a baby layout. This set of Autumn Leaves stamps had been calling my name so I accepted the challenge. It was another good release from Quickutz and I think I might have recently acquired that grand font. I think it is Journal but I may be wrong. The small one is Metro.

One Great Guy!

Materials: paper - Basic Grey (OK, I really like this manufacturer) and Bazzil cardstock; stamps - Autumn Leaves; ink- Distress Ink by Ranger; alphabet and shape dies by Quickutz; ric rac - Creative Imaginations; brads & buttons - American Crafts; tools - Grommet - making Memories & Coluzzle - ProvoCraft.

I often meet my mother and her "boyfriend" of over thirty years at the Second Cup coffee shop in Brampton. For whatever bizarre reason I had actually taken my camera with me that day and managed to get a few good pics of Victor. If you could pick your family I would definitely pick him as he has been a constant positive influence and has offered me support and love all that time too.

Spring Beauty

Materials: paper - Basic Grey and a tiny bit of Bazzil; Quickutz fonts and nameplate; Autumn Leaves stamps; eyelets and brads - American Craft.

Sometimes you don't need much in the way of embellishment and you can let the pictures do all the work. I used some scrap paper in behind the photos on the left to create a pocket for some hidden journalling. Really a very simple layout but one I am happy with even if it does have pictures on it!

Believe

I scraplifted myself. Remember the Halloween layout? I was asked to showcase this technique several times. This was a quickie I did for those who wanted a holiday layout. The best part is I have had students scraplift their versions over and over again just changing the theme and the colours. Hey if it works for you... go with it. I always love to see what my students have done especially since they often put pictures on theirs.

One Enchanted Evening...

Materials: paper - My Mind's Eye and Bazzil cardstock; ink - Distress Ink by Ranger & VersaFine ink by Tsukineko; stamps - Fancy Pants.

This layout is from a couple of years ago and I had lots of demand for more Halloween. I had already done a layout suited for the little trick-or-treaters and wanted to do something that I could maybe add some of my Halloween party pictures to. Obviously I haven't got around to adding the pictures yet... some day.

I think this layout could also me used for other occasions and not just Halloween. Maybe for an evening gondola ride in Venice or a night sitting looking at the stars. It was a popular class as once again I used the Distress inks to create the mood of an Enchanted Evening.

Love Sweet Love

Materials: paper - Cretive Imaginations and Bazzil cardstock; alphabet dies - Quickutz; ink - VersaFine - Tsukineko; stamps - Fancy Pants; Stickles - Ranger; buttons - Creative Imagination.

What can I say, I love this stamp set by Fancy Pants and just had fun.