Practical Magic Blog Party and A Giveaway!

Hello, all! And welcome to my corner of the Practical Magic Blog Party! Please set your broomsticks and umbrellas just inside the door and hang your hats and cloaks in the hall closet. I'm so happy you've decided to pay me a visit! Thank you to Anna and Justina for coming up with such a wonderful idea for a blog party and helping all of us witches get together! Over at their blog, Practical Magic Blog Party, they have a list of participating blogs to continue the party. After you're done here, of course! (The details for the giveaway are below).

I have a couple of guests at my table, one more won't hurt. Sit down and stay a while. Enjoy the food and have a drink. Be merry and feel free to cackle (oh, you know you want to)!
 

I've set the table with loads of candles in colors that mean various things. Yellow for unity and activity. White for balance. Orange for creativity and Red for love. I wanted to have all of these feelings here and affecting us all.

Would you like some tea or coffee perhaps? It's such a strong brew, it gets rid of warts. Cream? Sugar? One lump or two? Maybe some eye of newt? No. Well, maybe you'd like a stronger drink? I know! How about a Midnight Margarita?!

Yes! That's perfect then because someone left this bottle on the porch! You don't find that strange, do you? No, I didn't think it was strange either. Not around here any way.

Put the lime in the coconut and mix it all up! Mmmmm! These margaritas are yummy! A pinch of salt and a squirt of lime! Perfect!

 Now lets see....We could mix other cocktails with the potions on this table. Which bottles do you choose to combine? The red, the green, the purple....?

Here is the cauldron where we can mix our special potions because for these concoctions a blender won't do! These liquids would melt the glass and I wouldn't want to ruin my blender!

We can crush herbs and other ingredients in this mortar and let's not forget to add some salt. Salt makes everything taste better!

 Watch out for the creepy crawlies that may be lurking...They won't bite. They just want to party, too!

What's this? I think we must have added some Miracle Grow to the cauldron in our excitement because now we have roses growing out of it!

It's getting late. Let's light the candles for some ambiance and watch the flames flicker. Candlelight always makes me think of magic. Can you light a candle by blowing on it? Yes? I thought you were talented.

There's a witch in every woman and I'd like to introduce you to two special witches in my life.

This is my eldest daughter, Janie. She has magic within that even she doesn't know and it is only a matter of time before the world sees it.

This is my best friend, Eva. Her magic is in her deep caring for others and unwavering strength that anyone who meets her sees it instantly.

Now, it's grown late and I know you've got more stops to make. So thank you for coming and I hope we can get together again. I've also got many places to visit so we might run into each other again. Until then, farewell!

To enter the giveaway, you'll need to become a follower and leave a comment here. On the 30th of September I will do a random drawing and that lucky winner will receive this collection of scrap goodies. Nothing special. Just a few things I've had in my scraproom that I know I'll never use. Thank you for stopping by my blog! I hope you come by again!

Zombie Invasion and My First Publication!

Hello, all! I am getting antsy waiting for Halloween! It's my favorite time of the year! So when I saw this month's monthly movie poster challenge over at From Screen 2 Scrap! I had to go with a Halloween layout. September's movie poster inspiration is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The movie is a classic and it got me thinking about other horror movies and I thought of zombies! Here are the movie poster and the layout it inspired. A layout of one of my cousins for my grandmother's heritage album follows as well as photos of my published layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie poster.

Zombie Invasion layout. Inspired by the Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie poster and created for the From Screen 2 Scrap September Challenge. This is my daughter as a zombie for Halloween 2009 and my husband and son running away.

Andy layout. This is for the Monochromatic, Heritage, and DIY Challenges at scrapbook.com. The Monochromatic Challenge was for week 4 - green, the twist was to use 5 shades of green. The DIY Challenge was to use three tutorials (either each on a separate layout or all in one). The tutorials were Masking Tape Background by Lisa Valentine, Dried Satin Rose by Kenlin, and Water Distressed Bloom by GabrielleP. The Heritage Challenge is to use photos 25 years or older.

Stamping, Stationary, and Scrapbooking Magazine. I got some great news in the mail yesterday. I got published for the very first time!

When Do We Eat? layout published in Stamping, Stationary, and Scrapbooking Magazine! I'm so excited! It means so much to me and I hope you know that I'll probably scrap this photo! lol!

Firsts, Love at 1st Sight, and Brick By Boring Brick

Hello, all. Just stopping by to share some new layouts with you. I've been feeling like I haven't scrapped very much lately and I hope that I can get back to scrapping more often soon. Been so busy since school started. Not only did my kids start school but I started on the hardest classes I've had to take for my MBA in a long time. Well, any way, the layouts I created are: Firsts; this is of my son on his first day at Pre-K, Love at 1st Sight; this is my eldest daughter's new kitten and his love for my dogs toy, and Brick By Boring Brick; a layout I completed about a typical day in my life.

Firsts layout. This is my son on his first day of Pre-K, eating his first school breakfast, and in his first classroom. I am entering this layout in the (Paper) Trial Makers Challenge.

Love at 1st Sight layout. This layout is of my daughter's new kitten, Crybaby. He fell in love with my dog's toy. I am entering this layout in the Magistical Memories Monthly Sketch Challenge and the Colour Challenge at scrapbook.com.

Brick By Boring Brick layout. This layout I created for the Book of Me Challenge at scrapbook.com; the topic is A Typical Day and for me that means my home because I do most everything in it. I used the Paramore song, Brick By Boring Brick, for my title but my life my be boring to others but I love it. I love the peace and quiet and am glad I don't have too much excitement in my life. I am also entering it in the Monochromatic and Lyric Challenges at scrapbook.com.

Halloween Blog Party

Hello, all. It's nearing my favorite time of year: Halloween! Oh, how I love the changing leaves, cooler weather, and smells up pumpkin spice (especially in my coffee)! I love to decorate my house, inside and out, for the holiday and to get my little ghouls costumes ready! Well to celebrate this wonderful occassion, I have been invited and am inviting you, too, to the Biggest Halloween Blog Bash I've ever come accross over at A Fanciful Twist. The particpant list is growing every day. I just signed up today as well. There are so many things to see and great company to share! I hope you will join me and all the other bloggers on Oct. 16, 2010 for a fighteningly good time.

To sign up visit A Fanciful Twist for details. Here is a personal invitation for you!

Gear Beautiful

Hello, all. I wanted to share a layout I created with my Scraps of Darkness Sept kit that was inspired by one of my favorite clothing styles these days. The Steampunk style! When I started researching for the steampunk style for scrapbooking, I found a lot of sites where steampunk clothing, jewelry, and accessories were the focus and I immediately fell in love with the clothing style. I've always loved corsets, hats, and knee high boots but I never thought of wearing them all together and adding a top hat and goggles! The layout I created showcases some of the clothing pieces that I would love to own and wear in the steampunk style. The style is so much fun and when I get the chance (and the money), I'll be adding some of these pieces to my wardrobe! Enjoy!

Gear Beauty layout. These are some of the pieces that are typical in Steampunk fashion; corsets, boots, long skirts, top hats, goggles, and unusual jewelry. I love this corset and pair of boots especially because they are my favorite colors. I hope to one day be able to purchase a steampunk outfit even if it ends up just hanging in my closet because I find such inspiration and beauty in the style. I cut the background corset by hand, used the Fiskars Threading Water border punch to make the holes, and laced ribbon (misted with Vintage Photo Distress Ink) through them.

Gear Beauty Close-up. Here is a close-up the clothing and accessories.

My First Guest Designer Spot! and Simply Steampunk at Scraps of Darkness

Hello, all! I've got some very exciting news, at least for me it's extremely exciting. I was asked to be a Guest Design Team Member over at Scraps of Darkness! This month's kit is Simply Steampunk! A style close to my heart and one of my favorites to work on. The kit includes some of the fabulous papers from Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante line. I created several layouts to try and show some range of what can be done with this kit. I've got five layouts to show you today but there will be more coming since I am so inspired to create with this kit. Make sure to stop by the SOD blog and SOD gallery to check out all the great layouts by the Design Team and myself! I hope you enjoy them!

Scraps of Darkness September Sketch by craftyspinkles.

Together layout. This is my version of the Sept SOD Sketch. The photo is of my grandparents on their wedding day. They were married by the Justice of the Peace and the other two people in the photo were their best friends and witnesses. I used the gorgeous rose paper for the background and made my own roses with the kit cardstock colors. I'll be entering this layout in the Heritage Challenge over at scrapbook.com.

Reinvention layout. I love this steampunk lady so I just had to cut her out of her paper and add her to this layout. These are photos of just a few of my many hair styles when I was in cosmetology school. I had every color imaginable in my hair, short hair, extensions, and the list goes on! The scissors with wings at the top right are a pin that I wore while at school with wings that are jewelry pieces colored with Espresso Alcohol Ink. (Love that blue cardstock!)

Take Flight layout. This is probably my favorite so far! This is my son on his first day of school. I chose to create this layout to mark his flight into his educational journey. He's handled school so well and I am so proud of him. I used masks from Tim Holtz and Tattered Angels, and Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap and Brushed Corduroy for the background and Broken China for the clouds. I made the balloon and clouds by hand and added twine and stickles.

Women Make Up the Family layout. This is a layout I created to record my belief that women are what make a family; they hold the family together and make it strong. This is me with my husband's side of the family, including his mother, aunts, cousins, and late grandfather. I used my Cricut Expression to cut out the gears and inked them with Tea Dye Distress Ink. I used some of the gear parts and stick pin from the kit and made the ribbon roses.

Teenage Dream  layout. This layout is for the Leftover Layouts Challenge at scrapbook.com where you can only use scraps even for your background. The layout uses scraps from the layouts I created. I am also going to enter it into the Book of Me challenge at scrapbook.com with the topic being what you wanted to be when you grew up. My dream was to be rich and successful and have many material possessions. But as I grew up I realized that those things didn't measure success. The title was inspired by the song Teenage Dream by Katy Perry since I'll also be entering the layout in the Lyrics challenge at sb.com.

Compendium of Curiosities Week #12

Hello, all. I am really cutting it close today with my entry to the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week #12. This week's challenge was to use the chipped enamel technique. This is a fun technique involving metal, which has become one of my favorite materials for embellishments. I created a layout for my daughter's wedding album and the key at the bottom corner of the photo is done with the chipped enamel technique. I am also entering this layout in the Distress and Monochromatic (week 3 - Neutrals with a black and white photo) Challenges at scrapbook.com.

Mr and Mrs layout. This is my daughter and her husband after their wedding ceremony. I used a water distress technique on the background paper, misted it with Slate Glimmer Mist and added the matted photo. I completed the layout with Thickers vinyl alphas, small Prima roses in greys and white, and the chipped enamel key.

Chipped Enamel Key close-up.

Snipz & Snailz layout. This is my son when he was 5 months old. I used a sketch from ScrapFIT's workout #27. I will also be entering this layout into the Monochromatic Challenge for Week 2 - Favorite Pastel with embossing.  I used various embossing folders to get the embossed circles and I inked over the patterns with Faded Jeans Distress Ink to make them more visible.

Using Up My Kit and A Blog Challenge at SOD!

Hello, all. I am happy to say that I've pretty much finished up my entire August kit from Scraps of Darkness! I really thought that I would end up using the kit for a couple of layouts and saving the rest to mix and match in future projects but I am amazed to say that I only have a few random embellishments left (which I intend to use later) from everything that shipped in the kit! Now that is bang for your buck! The three layouts I am posting today are using the last bits of the August Scraps of Darkness kit. I also wanted to let everyone know that SOD is having its first ever blog challenge and the prize is an entire kit! I hope you'll join me in participating (My entry is the Love Can Be a Prison layout below).  You can visit the Scraps of Darkness Blog for more info and some inspiration!

Here is how Mel, from Scraps of Darkness puts the challenge:

Show us your dark side...

Today I'm taking a short break from posting subscriber's sketch layouts to see what you can do!

Scraps of Darkness is hosting a blog challenge. This is all you have to do:

1. Between today, September 2, 2010, and September 14, 2010, create a "dark" layout. Think dark colors, dark subjects, such as Twilight or horror movies. Think Halloween, vampires, witches, or whatever you think of as a "dark" layout.

2. Post your layout on your blog or in whatever scrapbook galleries you normally post in.

3. Mention that your layout was done for the Scraps of Darkness blog challenge, with a link back to this blog.

4. Leave a comment on this post telling us where to find your layout, with a link to it.

5. We would prefer you don't mention any other kit clubs in your description, it's really not fair to them to mention Scraps of Darkness with their kit.

6. The more places you post your layout, the more entries you receive, so make sure you list all the places you have posted it in your comment to us.

7. This challenge is open to anyone, you do not have to be a Scraps of Darkness customer to play or win. But you do have to be a follower of our blog, so sign up to follow our blog today!

8. On or about September 16, 2010, a winner will be randomly chosen to receive a Scraps of Darkness kit, including the kit additions.

Good luck!
 
Here are my layouts:
 

I Do layout. This is a layout I created for my cousin's wedding album. Since her wedding colors were burgundy, white, and gold, I went ahead and used this diecut paper from my SOD kit, glued gold vellum behind the bird and butterfly cut out and used gold liquid pearl to create the flourishes. I also used gold lacquer Prima flowers and some bling pieces I had in my stash from a long time ago.

 

Ready to Pounce layout. This is Lilah, one of our furbabies that we had for 12 years. This is one of the last photos I have of her since she recently disappeared from our home. We will miss her. The papers from the SOD kit were all black and white, with the exception of the red diecut paper, and they lent themselves perfectly to inking. The bird in this background paper reminded me of the forest and so I used Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint to add color. I also stamped leaves around the paper then outlined them with black marker. I added Cinnamon Stickles on the  branch and some little flowers. The large brown flowers are Petaloo and from the SOD kit and the glitter alphas are from Thickers.

Love Can Be a Prison layout. I created this layout because of the Book of Me Challenge both at scrapbook.com and scrapsofdarkness.com. The topic was "I wish someone had told me..." and this is what I wish someone had told me when I was young. That love can be a prison if you're not ready for it, if you have low self-esteem, and if you cling desperately to what you think is love only because you've never experienced it. When you're young it's easy to fall in love and when you don't know what real love is, it is easy to be confused by someone speaking sweet words but all the while breaking your spirit. I fell in love so desperately the first time that quickly it became a prison for me and I felt I could not escape from it. I am glad that I was able to get out and to replenish my spirit and confidence so that I was never made to feel this way about love again. Sorry, that was a lot. Now most of this is from my SOD kit. The only things not from the kit are the red and white cardstock, the small Prima roses, and the large black felt and lace flower that I got from Precious Paper over at Etsy. I inked the edges of the papers in Distress Inks in Fired Brick and Black Soot.