Halloween Goodies - Free Fonts

 love Halloween, it's my husband and I's favorite holiday.  I'm not sure I'll have much to scrap this year, as the kids are too young to really enjoy the festivities, and also too young for me to feel comfortable leaving them so late at night to visit haunted houses and such, but I still couldn't resist picking up a few Halloween crafty goodes for future use!

I got great epoxy stickers, and a $1 clear stamp set from Target.  From my local Michael's I purchsed a really fun paper pack, and some really neat metal embellishments.  I've picked up a couple other things recently as well regarding Halloween, and been tempted by many more.  I am hoping to get a couple of the Martha Stewart punches that are Halloween themed.  There are some really cool ones out!

Another fun thing about Halloween is the wonderful fonts!  Here are some wonderful free fonts I think you'll enjoy for your projects.. all Halloween themed!  http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=803

I Want Lots of Kisses, 2 Page Layout

Click on the photo to see it enlarged!

I am very, very happy with this 2 page layout!  I rarely do 2 page layouts.  I usually treat each individual page as it's own totally seperate work of art.  I don't worry if it matches the page next to it, or the book cover, etc.  I find it all just works out as long as I make each page look great.

This beautiful paper I picked up challenged me.  I loved it so much I was nervous to use it!  I always struggle to use my favorite products because I'm afraid I'll mess them up!  I dreaded covering it up, and I was also nervous that it would overshadow my photos and be "too much" so I decided to cut it and turn it into a two page spread.  I wanted to make the most of the paper and enhance the design by using the circles as frames for my embellishments.

I had an absolute blast coordinating everything for this!!!  I really went all out and used a real variety of products, buttons, ribbon, brads, flowers, and paper embellishments.  The embellishments are all from K & Company and 3 Birds. So far this is my favorite part of my daughter's baby book and I'm so proud of myself for constantly pushing to try new things and make everything look different and unique!

I hope you enjoy it!  Maybe you can try taking a single paper you love and basing everything around it like I did, it sure was a lot of fun to work that way!!!

Sweet Baby Girl Scrapbook Page

This is one of my absolute favorite pages!  I think these photos are just precious beyond all belief, great close up shots with really sweet expressions, like the holy grail!  So, I used some of my very best embellishments for this page.  They are from K & Company.  The clothesline is actually a wire attached by brads on the ends, and the clothes are all seperate little stickers that have tabs that go both above, and below the wire.  The dimension and attention to detail in these embellishments is WONDERFUL!  I couldn't be happier with their quality.  I'm a big fan of their brand of embellishments!  They catch my eye every time I go out for scrapbooking supplies. 

I tried to keep this page simple and give it a sense of symmetry.  I wanted the embellishments and the photos to stand out on their own, so I went with a simple layout and background paper as not to detract from them!

Baby Shoes Page

Here is a sweet little page.  I decided to do something a bit different and just put a single photo on this one.  Doing that allowed the precious paper to really frame it.  I used some chipboard and some stickers from various sources to dress it up a bit further.  The stickers on the bottom I know are from K & Company.

I remember when I found this paper I just HAD to have it, I found it long before I started my daughter's baby book, but I knew that's exactly where it would go.  Precious little baby shoes for a baby page!  Sometimes those simple and obvious little things really turn out to be the perfect fit!  I didn't want her whole book to look the same, so you're seeing a real variety with some trendy colors, some pastels, etc.  However, I wanted to make sure I had some traditional things too, like this! With the pastels and obvious baby theme!  I figure I won't get a chance to do these kind of pages any other time except for my kids' baby books, so I'd better make sure and do at least a few!

For You Sweet Baby Girl Card

This card was quick and easy.  It was made to go with the book I just made.  I think they match beautifully.  Anyways, I used my Gypsy Wanderings cartridge for all the lettering.  It's really a wonderful and diverse cartridge!  It's easy to use too!  All these letters were pre-welded, I just sized and cut them!  Super easy!  I did weld "baby" and "girl" together by the little tail like swirl.  That's it!

The reason my bow looks so nice is that I used my Ultimate Crafter's Companion.  I assure you, I stink at bows!  *LOL*  That thing really comes in handy!!!

My First Project Using My Gypsy, A Baby Word Book

I had an absolute blast designign this!  It's basically a small, pre-embellished scrapbook for a new mother.  I designed all the pages to fit a 4 by 6 photo perfectly, and included a place on each page to record a date or small note.  I am just showing my favorite page, instead of all of them.  Every single one of the stickers is from HSN's exclusive line, 3 Birds.  The front page patterned paper is by Die Cuts with a View, and I used Plantin' Schoolbook, and Doodlecharms Cricut Cartridges for the design.  The ribbon is all pretty random stuff.

I had some real difficulty with figuring out the binding.  I ended up using ribbon.  I glued the ribbon to the back of each page, then I sewed all the ribbon together.  I scored the cover, and then glued it down to all the ribbon.  I used Zip Dry adhesive to do all this with.  I think it worked out pretty well, although it left me really wanting a cool binding machine instead!

To watch a great tutorial on making word books using the Gypsy, check out this fabulous blog!  http://craftingthenightaway.blogspot.com/

This project taught me so much, and ti was a great feeling completing it! I also loved the fun I had with the googly eyes.  I remembered that I had some leftover and though I'd try it, and I just LOVE the result!

Please excuse the photo.  I had not yet attached the cover, so it's mis-aligned, and when I took my second series of pics after attaching it, they came out really dark and crummy, so instead of giving it a 3rd go I decided that photo was good enough!  *LOL*

Just Like Mom Page

Well, as I am still getting the hang of this blogging thing I am making some mistakes.  I did not write down the info on this paper and these embellishments!  Opps!  That might happen with some other things too because I have so many things already out of their packages and in other storage, but I promise to try and be more careful about that as I buy new product!  I know I purchased this paper individually, not as part of a stack, and I believe it was at Michael's.

Anyways, I love the way the colors in the paper and the embellishments worked together!  I just buy product I like, and then start playing with it when I'm ready, and sometimes things just happen to match really well!  I will also sometimes buy coordinating kits, but most of the time the matches just sort of happen from playing around.  I could not be happier with the way the page and the embellishments came together here!  Sometimes I find it worth it to splurge on individual papers or more expensive embellishments because sometimes they really do give an effect I wouldn't have otherwise gotten.  I think that's the case here!  High quality stuff that was well worth the price!

Loving My Gypsy!

Oh wow guys!  I have been having such a blast with my new Gypsy!!!  It is so lightweight!!!  I have been having so much fun with it!  I love being able to take it with me all over the house.  Yes, laptops are portable too, but this is much easier!!!!

It's funny, because when I first heard of the Gypsy, I sort of shrugged.  I didn't think I would really need it. Then, I started seeing the cool fonts, and how neat it looked, etc.  So, my husband treated me to my early Christmas gift, and now I can't believe I seriously thought about not getting it!!!! 

New toys are so much fun!

I am working on a SUPER cute little book for a baby gift!  I am planning on basically making it an 8 by 8 scrapbook with all the decorating already done, so all the new mom has to add is the photos.  It's turning out SUPER cute, and I've loved using my Gypsy to do the designing!!!  I'll be sharing it with you guys soon!

Yum Scrapbook Page!

This page was a lot of fun!  I used another paper from the Die Cuts with a View Sweet Stack.  I LOVE those papers!  I keep going back to them again and again!!!!  The glitter chipboard letters are also from Die Cuts With a View, but they were in a kit from HSN, so I'm not sure if they can be purchased seperately, but I would think so.

The adorable little ice cream cone was cut with my cricut, using the Doodlecharms cartridge.  It's really a diverse and fun cartridge, so if you don't have it yet... take a look!  It's got soummery designs, Christmas themed stuff, baby stuff, back to school things, etc.  Lots of variety so it is easy to use a LOT!  The glittery ice cream is also a Die Cuts With a View paper, I believe I purchased it at my local Michael's, but I think it's pretty widely available.

I had a bit of difficulty trying to figure out how to crop the photos.  They started off at 4 by 6, and were too big for me to get the look I wanted without some kind of cropping, or going to a 2 page layout.  I finally decided to crop around her bouncy seat, it was a nice clean cutting and easy to do!  I think that little bit of cropping came out looking nice, and provided the spacing on the page I was hoping for!  Sometimes something really simple makes a huge difference in the finished page!

Guess What I Got?!!!!

The Gypsy!  It's Provo Craft's hottest new tool.  Compatible with all Cricut machines it has features similar to Design Studio, allowing you to weld images, see where you'll be cutting on your mat, etc.  It also has some cool new features, but the best part is that it's super lightweight and portable, so now I can design anywhere, even sitting in the car, and then just connect my Gypsy when I'm ready to cut!

It comes with 2 free cartridges already loaded, they are exclusive to the Gypsy.  Then, you take all the cartridges you own, and load them into the Gypsy.  This way it remember what you have and you don't have to get your cartridges out each time you cut.  All the cartridges Cricut makes are available to preview and design with, so you can try out any cartridge you want and find out which ones you'll really love!  I think this is a great feature! I've used that in Design Studio also, but it's easier to be able to check it on the go too, since just browsing cartridges can really eat up a lot of time!

I'm super excited to have the latest and greatest!!!  If you're curious... here's a video that explains a bit more about the Gypsy and shows it.  http://www.cricut.com/gypsy/testdrive.aspx