Heather Leopard Archives

Our 2018-2019 Pebbles Team – Crafting at a glance

Dec

How has this year passed SO quickly? We have loved every second with our current crafting team…so much that we want to brag about them for just a bit! Did you know that each of these women are spectacular? That they have a passion for crafting and inspiring others? They are – and they do!!

Recently, we asked them to share a picture with themselves and their favorite craft with us. We have to be honest – most (if not all!) would prefer to work behind the camera, crafting away to their favorite music and enjoying their favorite treats. However, they indulged us and send in a picture. And we want to share what they have loved making this year!

Here is Wendy. She has been on the team for a bit…because we sure enjoy her talents! She is a mom and wife and designs projects for us on the side (she has a day job too). Not only does she make awesome projects, but she’s great to work with!

Here is Terhi. She was new to our team this year and we love having her! Incase you didn’t notice, she loves creating dimensional wonders. Each of her projects have so many details, parts and pieces…and we love seeing them! Terhi is so great to work with too – we hit the jackpot with these ladies!

Here is Amanda. Amanda was also a new addition to our team this year…and we love having her with us! This girl is a wiz with cut files, dimension, technique and more. In addition to designing for us (and a few other teams), she is a wife, mother and full-time employee. Holy cow- we don’t know how these ladies do all that they do!

Here is Heather. Besides crafting up fun and fabulous projects, Heather loves to throw parties (can you tell??)! She always has so many wonderful crafts…we wish we lived near enough to her to enjoy them together! Heather has a darling family and crafts on a small group of other teams too.

Here is Eva. We can’t say enough about this girl – she is so fun to work with! She speaks a variety of languages, has a sweet family and is a wiz with paper and punchboards (Eva is also on the We R Memory Keepers team and makes fabulous projects for them too!).

Here is Leanne. She is our other Australian crafter – and we love her! (ok – lets be honest…we love all our ladies!!) She brings a straight forward, sweet, and classy style to our team – a style we’ve definitely enjoyed for over the last 2 years!

Our team will have some new faces next week. We had to take a second, though, to tell you just a few reasons why we love them before that happens. We hope you’ll join us in wishing them well whether they are still with us or not – because they are truly fantastic individuals!

Christmas Treats for Your “Sweets”

Nov

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Hi everyone. Heather Leopard is here sharing a Christmas surprise idea with you. I made some Christmas treats for my “sweets”. My sweet girls that is and it was so fun to make these and to watch the delight my girls had wondering and discovering what was inside.

I’ll step you through how I made these but I’ll be back next week with the process video I created so you can see it come together in action!

It might be a little hard to tell but these treat bags are bursting at the seams with Christmas chocolates! These can be used as party favors, advent or just fun little treats for your friends, family and even co-workers. The great thing is that they are really easy to make if you have a pair of scissors or die cutting machine, glue and a few embellishments.

Let’s take a look at how I assembled the Christmas tree. I used my Silhouette CAMEO but you could easily hand cut these. Either way, you need two identical cut trees. Easy, right?

Next, add brads from the embellished brads set. Alternatively, you can use die cuts, glitter, enamel dots but these brads are just so awesome. I love the color variations and the gold rim around them.

Next, Starting at the widest part of the tree, which is the bottom, glue the bottom and the edges together until you have a large pocket. Once dry, fill it with candies. Repeat until you are at the top and your tree is completely filled.

Here’s an example of a treat bag embellished with die cuts. Simply adhere the die cut with strong liquid adhesive and set aside to dry.

Set them out as a surprise treat for the special people in your life. They have no idea what’s inside and it’s so fun to watch them open their surprise.

Beware, they will want to open them all! You could also add in different candies or other small items you think your friends and family will enjoy!

Check back next week for the process video I filmed while creating these Christmas treats for my sweets!

Supplies:

COZY & BRIGHT DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
COZY & BRIGHT DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″ SANTA LAND
COZY & BRIGHT DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″ WINTER GREEN
COZY & BRIGHT DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″ MERRY & BRIGHT
COZY & BRIGHT DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″ WARM & COZY
COZY & BRIGHT DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″ FA LA LA LA
COZY & BRIGHT DECORATIVE BRADS
COZY & BRIGHT EPHEMERA CARDSTOCK DIE-CUTS ICONS W/WHITE GLITTER ACCENTS
COZY & BRIGHT EPHEMERA CARDSTOCK DIE-CUTS PHRASE W/WHITE GLITTER ACCENTS

THANKFUL for…printable cards

Oct

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Hi everyone. Heather Leopard is here with a new spin on our annual Thanksgiving “I Am Thankful” cards. Today’s project also includes a process video, which I will post here this week.

Each year either my mom or I make cards for family members to fill out when we’re all together at Thanksgiving. This year was my turn and I wanted to create cards that have space for a small photo of the person who completes the card along with short journaling spots.

I drew this up in PowerPoint and then printed it on my color printer. Easy peasy! The square measures 1.5″ x 1.5″ so there’s just enough room to fit a small 1.25″ x 1.25″ photo. Then the other boxes are just the right size for a small phrase or even just one word, like “family. You could even write out a long sentence or two utilizing the space in all the boxes together.

I added embellishments, like stickers and die cuts to each of the cards. I didn’t add much, more like just enough, because the true heart of the card is in what everyone writes on them. I plan to place stickers next to the cards in case anyone wants to add more to theirs. You could also wait to add embellishments and let your guests add their own.

Some of the embellishments are adhered directly to the card, while others, like this cute butterfly are popped up using 3D foam dots.

Here’s what the completed cards look like. I made 8 in total and they were just so quick and easy. I can totally see my guests adding more die cuts and stickers to these or maybe even some doodling. I can’t wait to see what everyone writes. Oh, that gives me an idea…I think I’ll turn these into a mini album. Stay tuned for another post on that!

Also, check back later this week for a process video on how these cards came together.

xoxo, Heather
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Pinterest

Supplies:
My Bright Life 6×6 Paper Pad 733892
My Bright Life Ephemera Die-cuts with Gold Foil 733884
My Bright Life Accent Stickers 733882

Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks | Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch Layout

Oct

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Hi everyone. Heather Leopard is here and I’m sharing a few scrapbooking tips & tricks, and a process video with you today. Some of these tips were part of my scrapbooking newbie “go-to” arsenal when I first started scrapbooking and others are still my tried and true essentials today. All of it is manifested in the process video below for this cutest pumpkin in the patch layout I did.

Okay, let’s dive right into the tips and tricks I used for this layout…

Tip #1

All things pumpkin are part of the Pebbles challenge for October! Hope you'll join us for the party!

Courtesy of Rogers Gardens

CHALLENGES: The photo above relates to a current challenge here at Pebbles…many online groups and scrapbooking companies create challenges every month. These are great ways to help you focus on what to create. I find that I just have WAY too many photos to scrap so searching for “scrapbooking challenges” or terms along those lines are sure to uncover something that will inspire you. The bonus is that there’s usually some contest and reward. Sometimes it’s a gift card, sometimes a kit, sometimes it’s just the glory. For example, Pebbles is currently hosting a “pumpkin-inspired” project challenge. I took that challenge on and created the layout above. The current challenge is to create something pumpkin inspired so it can be a project, a card, a layout, whatever! Head over there to see the details.

Tip #2

SKETCHES: Many people turn to sketches for inspiration. A sketch is like a recipe for scrapbooking. It doesn’t necessarily tell you how many of this or that or provide measurements but it’s a visual diagram of a layout. Some people choose to follow sketches exactly, while others use it as a jumping off point for their layout, meaning they see something in the sketch that inspires them and may only follow part of the sketch for their design. There’s really no rules for sketches. There are many sketch sites out there. Just Google scrapbooking sketches and you’re sure to come up with many options. I also have sketches of my projects, which can be found HERE ON MY BLOG.

Tip#3

SCRAPLIFT someone: Visit scrapbook company blogs, your favorite designer’s blog, Instagram, YouTube, wherever find inspiration and choose a layout that you think suits your photos. Like sketches, you can scraplift exactly like the original or use it as a jumping off point and take it whichever direction you choose. I see scraplifting as a form of compliment and if you post it online, it’s always courtesy to list the person who inspired you! If you can tag that person, they are sure to see what you did and leave you all sorts of wonderful feedback. The layout above was part of a collaboration I did with Christine Meyer, where we scraplifted each other. I did not scraplift exactly like hers. Instead, I chose two elements of her design – she had a small amount of the buffalo check and a circular floral design. You can see her original layout in the process video below.

Tip #4

DESIGN: Whenever possible, I like to use a visual triangle design for my scrapbooking layouts. This helps guide the eye around the page to the important things you want to call out and can be easily accomplished by looking at the layout as having 3 anchor points. These anchor points usually have the same colors and many of the same elements. In the photo above, I have the photo at the top right (most important element), the pumpkin at the bottom and the floral cluster at the top left. Notice that the same colors are used but also the same flowers are the one thing that is the same in each of these areas. The triangle doesn’t have to have equal sides and things can be placed lower or higher or over more but just having a general triangle in the design should help with the flow of the layout.

Tip#5

SUPPLIES: I like to make a kit for each of my projects. The easiest way to do this is to gather 6 – 7 patterned papers, 1 – 2 cardstock papers, alphas, die cuts, chipboard and stickers. You can add additional embellishments, such as ribbon, washi, twine, enamel dots, etc. I like to print my photo and then make a kit using supplies that coordinate well with my photo. Or if you really want to use a certain color scheme and your photo doesn’t match, print it in black and white. Creating kits before you start creating really helps you focus and speeds the scrapbooking process tremendously. Knowing what you have to work with also helps remove the design clutter in your head. Once you have the kit, you have everything at you fingertips. I used the Pebbles Spooky Boo and My Bright Life collections for this kit and layout.

Watch my Process Video to see how I used these scrapbooking tips and tricks for this layout.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG05_EtW_ig]

xoxo, Heather
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Pinterest

Supplies:
Spooky Boo 12″ x 12″ Paper Pad
Spooky Book Cardstock Stickers
Spooky Boo Thickers
My Bright Life Field of Flowers Patterned Paper
My Bright Life Stitched Flowers Patterned Paper

Eat, Drink & Be Scary Halloween Scrapbooking Layout

Sep

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Hello everyone. It’s almost Halloween time here in the U.S. and you know what that means??? It means chaos and fun at Target. Yep, every year we are “that family”. You know the ones you see trying on the most absurd costumes right there in the costume aisle? That’s us. We’re not loud or obnoxious and we don’t walk around the store in them but we do have a little fun. Oh and by the way, we ended up buying the milk carton that night and my daughter’s best friend went back to get a cookie costume so they could Trick or Treat together as cookies and milk.

I wanted to try to create a layout that mixed a lot of the Spooky Boo collection and several years ago I created a woven heart and I loved the look. That’s what inspired me to create this layout. Only instead of a heart I went with an “X” because it reminded me of the symbols you see around this time of year cautioning you not to drink the poison.

The first step, which is not featured here but is in my process video coming soon, was to add clear gesso to the white background and apply lime green paint / mist.

To weave this together, I cut 1/4″ x 12″ strips of paper. I believe I used about 8 different patterned papers so it would have lots of variety but you could use one if you want a more cohesive look. That’s all up to you.

Next, it was time for the photos. I struggled with this a bit here because no matter what I tried, the photos just kept blending into the background. I ended up going with a dark paper immediately behind the photo and then a whitish and orange to help it pop. I also used foam to pop the photo of them eating the taco and drinking the milk and milkshake. Then I drew attention to them with the sticker embellishments around the photos.

I also knew that the title would help draw attention to the photos. The alphas I used are a really cool black glitter but the foam is orange so it’s really eye catching. I chose a title appropriate for the photo – Eat (the taco), drink (the milk and milkshake) and be scary (always).

Lastly, I added journaling to the bottom right with a cute little spider to catch your attention. I also added other small embellishments in that area as well as at the top left.

So that’s my Eat, Drink & Be Scary Halloween Scrapbooking Layout. Check back soon for the process video for this layout.

xoxo, Heather
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Pinterest

Supplies:
Spooky Boo 12″ x 12″ Paper Pad
Spooky Book Cardstock Stickers
Spooky Boo Thickers