Halloween Hybrid Boo Package

Yeah for the first day of Fall!!!! It's my favorite time of year!  To celebrate I put together a little Boo package to give to a co-worker to kick of the annual giving of a little Boo gift around the office (works great in neighborhoods too!)

This project was very simple to create!  I used Lliella's Designs Halloween Doodles digital kit to create the card on the top of the box and the "I've been Booed" sheet inside.  Using Photoshop Elements I created the outside and inside card panels which were affixed to a orange cardstock card on the top.  I create the "I've been Booed" sheet on the same print sheet (also in Elements) so I only needed to print one time.  Here's what my print sheet looked like:

After printing I trimmed, mounted and was ready to fill my recycled product box.  Inside the box I tucked a bag of the Brach's Autumn mix (a classic Fall treat in my book) and some homemade ginger cookies tied with white sheer ribbon.  To tie the box closed I cut two slits in the front of the box and slid the ribbon through the holes and tied.  The black ribbon and button were hot glued on.

Here's some more pics of this fun project.  I hope you will give it a try!!!

Let's Camp Invites

This is my daughter Hannah.  She is my baby, little sporty girl, THE ultimate daddy's girl and she's turning 9 in a few weeks. (I can't believe it!)  After spending months talking about what kind of birthday party she wanted to have this year, she finally settled on having her first sleep over party at our house.  She chose a camping theme and we agreed on only inviting 3 friends to keep things civil. (I've learned from experience that with sleep overs less is more!)

Now it's my turn to think of ways to use the camping theme to turn this into a really fun party for my special girl, her friends and my two assistants (my older daughter Katie and Katie's BFF Nikki).  Hannah hired Katie and Nikki to be her personal party assistants.  They are in charge of treating Hannah and her friends like gold while providing lots of fun and entertainment - certainly seems like a good deal to me.  $15 for two party entertainers for a whole night....wow!

I've been scouring the Internet for ideas for the party and while I did come across some pre-made invites that were kinda cute I can't pass up the opportunity to make her invites.  I can't remember the last birthday party we had where I didn't make the invites.  It's a tradition!  I'm now looking for party supplies, games, activities and more activities so that the girls will stay entertained throughout the night.   Check back in over the next few weeks more details on the party - for now...enjoy these cute little invites I came up with.  Who wouldn't want to come to party with a fun invite like this?

Theme: Camping Sleep Over
Colors: Turquoise, Pink, Yellow and Purple

Here's how I put this together.
Supplies:
Happy Camper digital scrapbook kit by Jenn Barrette at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Photoshop Elements 7
White Printer paper and inkjet printer
Fiskars paper trimmer, scissors, Scotch tape, tape runner
12 x 12 yellow card stock 
Pink ribbon (Michael's)
Martha Steward Score Board

1.  I opened Photoshop Elements and created a 3 in x 3 in canvas to design on.  I started by designing the front and back panels at 3 in square each.  I then designed the inside panels at 2.75 in x 2.75 in each. 
2.  Copy each panel and layout on 8.5" x 11" sized canvas in Elements.  Repeat for how many invites you need.  I ended up putting all the fronts and back on one piece of paper and all the insides on a seperate piece of paper.  (see my print sheet below)

3. Print out using a color printer on to white printer paper. 
4. Cut out all the panels using a paper trimmer and set aside trimmed panels.
5.  Use the paper trimmer to cut a 3" wide x 12" long piece of cardstock from a 12 x 12 piece.
6.  Use the Score Board to score at 3", 6" and 9" along the 12" side.  (see pic below)

7.  Fold the cardstock strip to create 2 peaks and 1 valley (see pic below)

8.  Adhere inside panels on to the folded invite using a tape runner or your favorite adhesive.
9.  Before adhereing the front and back panels I adhered a 12 in. piece of pink ribbon using Scotch tape to both panels.

 I made sure that the ribbon lined up so that when the invite is closed the two pieces will come together on each side to tie the invite closed.  (see pics below)

10.  Adhere the front and back panels over the ribbon using tape runner or your favorite heavy duty adhesive. (You don't want the force of tieing and untieing of the ribbon to rip off your decorations.)
11.  Tie each side of the invite closed, slip into an envelope and you are set to delivery a party invite that is sure to get your guests excited about their upcoming adventure!

More pics

Treat Bags and Boxes Part III

Today I have two more cute Halloween themed treat boxes for you.  I'm having so much fun creating these...I'm going to have to find some new friends so I have enough people to hand these out to when this is all done.  LOL!

My first box is actually one I created last year and it's one of my all time favorite hybrid projects. 

My not so scary Dracula fang teeth box, uses a simple coffin box template I found HERE.  I printed the box template and constructed the box out of SU Basic Black cardstock.   I then worked from the template to create the box cover in Photoshop Elements.  I cut out the bat and bent its wings a little before adhereing to the box front.  I then created a slim card to slide in side -he,he...love the saying!  I filled the box with some Carmel Apple Candy Corn that looked like bloody fang teeth (well at least a little).  What a cute little box to give to someone with a little sense of humor!

My second project for today using a cutting file for a box...the only thing is I didn't use my Cricut!  That's right.  A lot of the cutting files you can purchase for electronic cutting machines also .PSD files that can be used in Photoshop Elements (or other photoeditting software).

 I used The Cutting Files' Gift Basket template/cutting file to create this cute little party cup.    The digital kit I used is called Scary Confectionary by Julie Billingsley and Traci Reed available at the Sweet Shoppe.  I love the fun colors in this kit!!! 

To create the little treat basket I just opened the cutting file in Elements and then used it as a clipping mask to create the final project.  I made sure I used large shadows to keep the elements/decorations looking realistic.  I then printed out on to presentation paper and score, folded and assembled my box.  I chose to fill my little treat box with the yummy Ghost Marshmallows (which look oh so cute floating in hot cocoa!).  I think these are perfect little cups to put on a table for a party!

I'm working on part IV of this series, so check back with me closer to the weekend for the next installment.  Until then...happy hybrid crafting!!!

Treat Bags and Boxes Part II

Today I have a quick and easy trio of treats that are pefect for slipping in a little fun sized candy bar or a small bag of mixed treats.  These cute little pumpkins are basically made out of a modified matchbook template that stands up to allow your treats to be tucked inside.  These little pumpkin treats are economical to make too - you can get three to a print sheet so there is not alot of paper used to make these babies!

I used Penny Springmann's I Want Candy digital kit to create these projects.  It was the perfect kit because she includes lots of cute pumpkin eyes, notes and mouthes to decorate the pumpkin face. 

Here's how to make these cute little treat boxes:

1.  Use THIS TEMPLATE to create three strips of orange paper to be your base of your pumpkin.

2.  In the section marked face, create the face of your pumpkin.

3.  Lighten the scoring lines to blend a bit with your paper and delete the text layer. 

4.  Print your pumpkins, trim, score and fold.

5.  I added some felt ribbon for the stem and then some green with white polka dots ribbon tied in a simple bow for the leaves.  You could even skip this step if you wanted. 

You're done - really it's that easy!

Wouldn't these be super cute to hand out to class full of kids or even at work.  You can adjust the width of the bottom fold (where the candy sits) to accomdate a larger or small sized treat.  If you are traveling with these I do suggest you adhere your treat to the bottom of the box so that you don't have candy flying everywhere (not that happened to me or anything.  LOL!)

If you'd like to see some more cute ideas for packaging....check this out! 

Treat Bags & Boxes- Part 1

I honestly believe that the most simple way to brighten a person's day is by giving them a little note or gift.  Over the next week or so I'm going to share some of my ideas for treat bags and boxes.  For me little tiny boxes and bags are my favorite hybrid projects.  I am a person that likes to "collect" packaging and then upcycle them into little gifts and projects. 

Today I used Lliella Design's adorable Boo kit to create two different treat boxes using recycled acrylic boxes.  The first box started life as packaging for a 4-pack of tape that my daughter got on clearance at Michael's. 

I added a paper band, flanked by some punched edge strips of orange paper.  I topped that with a pumpkin that I raised with a pop-dot.  The top of the box had a little fap that was used to hang the tape from a display hook.  I simple covered that with a larger piece of white cardstock and then a simple wrap around that says sweet treats.  I filled the back of the box withe some white tissue and then put the Tootsie Rolls in the front so I didn't have to use so many to fill the box. 

My next project is a recycled party favor box.

 I used the same Boo kit but this time chose a black damask paper and a cute little owl.  I created a rounded text box in Elements and then stroked the outside with a hot pink.  I used Darcy's Coffeeshopped Buzzed font in different colors to type "Save the Hooters".   Inside are "red" Starburst as a little "pink" reminder that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and it's time to "check your hooters"! 

Check back in with me tomorrow for some other kinds of little treat bags and boxes sure to put a smile on your face (and someone elses).

What's New?

I've been a busy little beaver lately!  Lots of layouts, lots of projects and some good news.  I was super excited to be selected to be a Hybrid Babe at The Sweet Shoppe.  This is a dream gig and I'm still in shock that I was selected due to the talent there.  My head has been spinning all week with project ideas and trying to figure out how I'm going to juggle all my other creative teams and SSD.

I've also been busy creating layouts and projects here are some newer projects I've worked on -

Beach Fun featuring Down By the Seashore by Jennifer Fox at The Digichick

This is a pic of Katie enjoying Ft. Myers beach just a few minutes after we arrived.  Jason's mom decided to treat the girls to a night at the beach to start off their vacation with his family.  The girls didn't know where we were going to meet grandma so they were super surprised and excited to find out they were going to get to stay at the beach for a night. 

Gorgeous View featuring Summer Days by Zoe Pearn at The Sweet Shoppe

This is an older picture of Katie from when we camped at Ft. DeSoto last fall.

Let's Fish featuring Beach Bound by Eva Kipler at The Sweet Shoppe

Another picture from our Ft. DeSoto camping trip last Fall.  Hannah really enjoyed fishing by herself for the first time.  She caught a cute little fish thanks to a kind stranger that baited her hook with some squid while Daddy was out paddling in the kayak.  (Mom prefers not to touch any kind of bait other than bread balls. he,he)

I Love You More Hybrid Wall Hanging featuring I Love You More by Traci Reed at Sweet Shoppe

Full instructions and up close photos are availalbe on Traci's Hawt Mama Blog - check it out!

A little sneak peek of Chelle's Creations new Element Pack coming tomorrow -

hint: check out those cute stars!

Game Time featuring Batter Up!, Doodley Do Frames (coming 8/13) and Doodley Do Shapes (coming 8/13) all at Scrap Matters

The Girls featuring Old Summer by Madame Wing at The Digichick (8/12) and a cluster template by Susan Robinson from her August Grab Bag at The Digichick

Come back by tomorrow - I'll have some sneak peeks for you and a super cute birthday party idea and invite.  My little Hannah is turing 8!  Wah!!!!

Happy Birthday Chelle of Chelle's Creations!!!

Today is the fabulous Chelle's birthday and to celebrate her CT is throwing a birthday blog hop just for you loyal fans.  Aren't you lucky?

I decided to whip up some cute little bag toppers using Chelle's Celebrate bold and Celebrate brite kits.  The "To: From" layer and the "Thanks for coming" layer are seperate so you can take them out or change them to fit your needs.  The are sized to fit over the standard sized snack or sandwich zip top bag.

You can download this freebie HERE.

Looking for some more birthday freebies - then hop on along to these other great blogs to see what other goodies you can find.  All of today's freebies use the same kits so they coordinate for the perfect birthday bash!
Chelle's Blog (Stacey's freebie)

Janine

Carol

Fran

Karen

Kate & Megan

Kayla

Tanya

Emma

Heather

Tracy

And don't forget...