Happy Hallowe'en!

BOO!

Another Hallowe'en is upon us and if you're anything like me, you are sure to get some pictures of your favorite Ghosts and Goblins tonight. So I thought I would share my list of things that I make sure to get pics of on this sweet holiday!

1. Pictures during pumpkin carving.

2. Pictures of your pumpkin (before and after carving)
3. Pictures of your treats.
4. Pictures of different house decorations (don't forget the outside!)
5. Group shots of friends and siblings all dressed up

6. Stage a mini at-home photo shoot while dressed up in their costume (this can be prior to the holiday)
7. Pictures while trick or treating

8. Pictures after the trick or treating is done.

9. Pictures of any festive treats

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This is in NO way a comprehensive list but hopefully this inspires you to take some shots you otherwise might not have though of!

Have a Happy and SAFE Hallowe'en!

Spooky House Mini Book

Hello everyone! Halloween will quickly be upon us, I hope you have your costumes ready! I wanted to show you some more details of the spooky house that I made with items from the October Sussies kit. I used chipboard and cut out the book pages in a large arrow shape. If you don't have sheets of chipboard, great alternatives are cereal boxes or shipping boxes. Sometimes even use the boxes that my monthly Scrapbook Sussies kit comes in:)
If you notice at the bottom is where I punched the holes and added a ring with ribbon to bind the book. I figured out (after the fact) that I couldn't attach at the roof because then it wouldn't open!
To make the window, I first attached the sicker frame to the cover. Then I cut a hole with sharp scissors and made my way to the edge of the frame.
The roof is made from cardstock that was punched out with circles. I then cut all the circles in half and adhered. If you have a punch that makes a scallop it would be another way to get the same effect. The roof probably took the longest to make!



Since I was waiting until this Halloween to add pictures, I decided to leave spaces for my photos and journaling.
I just loved the sticker label that came with the kit. I adhered to a piece of patterned paper then cut down to size with a small border. That gave me an extra page for the book.


I tried to mix it up with the different roofs. I made one by cutting long strips, another with punched squares. Have fun with mini books, it is a great time to try new things on a small scale.

Lastly, was the back page. I like to keep mini books out so people can flip through them. So I make it as colorful as the rest of your album.
Have a Happy Halloween, and don't forget-we would love to see your Halloween layouts and mini books in the gallery.

Design Team Search!!!

Well, we've had a couple of people who are no longer with the Design Team. We are sad to see them go, but it does mean there are spots to fill!! If you are interested in being on the Scrapbook Sussies Design Team, we are accepting applications through Sunday, November 15th. We will announce the two new designers once they have been contacted and have accepted their posts.

We are looking for talented, creative, and outgoing individuals who will help promote Scrapbook Sussies as much as possible. The position will begin with the January kit and will continue for six months. After the six month period, the position may continue on a month to month basis, if agreed upon by both parties.

As a DT member of Scrapbook Sussies, you will be expected to…
- Complete at least 4 LO’s per month. If you choose to do altered items, one altered item can take the place of one of the LO’s
- Post a blog entry on the Scrapbook Sussies blog once a month.
- Scrapbook Sussies does not have a message board, so we rely on our DT to promote Sussies through other message boards.
- Promote Sussies whenever possible. Post your LO’s on galleries, your blog, etc.

As a DT member of Scrapbook Sussies, you will get…
- A free kit every month. Scrapbook Sussies always has the latest and greatest in products. The embellishments and paper are always the most recent released in the industry.
- Deep discounts on add-ons, and special edition kits.
- Opportunities to attend CHA if within traveling distance or willing to travel on your own.

All submissions should be emailed to info@scrapbooksussies.com Include the following…
- Tell us why you want to design for Sussies.
- Name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address (if different than the one you are sending the email from)
- Links to other online galleries that show your work (as well as your screen name)
- Link to your blog, if you have one
- A list of Message boards that you currently participate on
- List of previous and current designing positions / publications
- 3 sample LO's. LO's can be 8.5x11 or 12x12. LO's can be two page or one page.

My final farewell... And Goodies!

It is with this post that I must say farewell to Sussies... :( Though it makes me so sad to do so!
It is just time... But I want to thank you all for being so awesome!! Continue to enjoy your Sussies kits and turn out those rocking projects!!
Thank you to Lara for giving me this opportunity and to the team for being so great to work with!! I hope to see you all around lots, and be sore to keep up with what is up in my world by stopping in to my blog!
http://tinamcd-mysanity.blogspot.com/

Now on to happier things!! I have a project to share with you using the Oct kit! Specificly the American Crafts Halloween part!
i don't take a lot of Halloween pictures, and to be honest, this month is the very first halloween LO I've ever done! So to use this entire part of the kit for LO's wasn't going to happen. So to make great use of it, I decided to make Goodie bags for my daughters class in school! They are SO easy to make!!

I cut strips of the PP in 4 inch strips. I then decided how much I wanted to trim off the length of them... I chose 3 inches. So I have 9in x 4in strips.

Then i folded them in half lengthwise.
To make a little tab on the top, I took a different patterned paper cut into a 4x2 inch strop and folded it to cover the top opening. i punched 2 holes thru both layers and tied with a ribbon! I created a tag and embelished the bags as I liked! TONS of halloween goodies in this kit to choose from! I still have a few to go, as I need 17... NOT to mention, don't forget to tie a little bag of candy inside each one, before tying the ribbons! :)

So, Happy Halloween, a couple of weeks early! use up that scarey Sussies kit and share the love!! :)
Happy Scrapping my Sussie Friends!! :)

Use a Kit Challenge!!!

OK ladies!

It's time for the Use A Kit Challenge! This one is for you - to get some layouts done - to get an old kit retired - to feel like you're doing something with all those kits that sometimes pile up.

Grab a Sussies kit. Any month. If you don't have one, go to the website and order one! We've got lots of fun past kits left!!!

Then see how many different layouts you can do with that kit until it is all used up. It's not necessarily a quantity thing! I don't want you to feel like you have to use every single piece of paper / embellishment in the kit! I just want to see how many layouts YOU like to do with a kit before you feel like it's time is up. I also think it will be cool to see how many different looks YOU can get out of one kit. I think you'll be surprised at just how versatile the kits will be!

I'm going to open up a special folder in the gallery for you to post your layouts into! Be sure to leave feedback for others. And then... when you're done, come back here and leave a comment letting us know how many you did!

There will be a fun prize at the end and you have until October 31st to do this!!!


That's all for now...

Here they are as promised - the November Sneak Peeks!!! Hurry and sign up now - spots are becoming more and more limited!!!!

Flower Tutorial

For this tutorial I'm going to show you how to make the flowers in this layout.

This is a photo heavy post, but I wanted to include as many steps as possible. When I first saw this done I was a little overwhelmed, but these are really easy to make.

First you will need to cut a 1" x 12" strip of paper. Then cut it into (4) 3" x 1" strips.
2. Fold your strip in half length wise. Then fold in half from top to bottom.
3. Using your scissors, cut in an arc from the outside to the fold part.

4. When you finish cutting and unfold it, it should look like this
5. Repeat with all four pieces.
6. Now fold this oval in half top down, you will see the backside of the pattern paper.
7. Fold one side back up.
8. Turn over and fold up the other side.
9. Fold in half again.
10. Holding the center, use your fingers to run underneath the patterned paper and press it flat.
11. Once you do this to all four pieces, you are ready to start assembling your flower. I punched a small circle to use as my base, but you could also free hand cut a small circle. You will not be able to see the circle base once finished. You will want to add LOTS of adhesive to your circle on one side.
12. Take two of your petals and line them up across from each other and press them down onto the base. I use my thumb and index finger to "pinch" the middle of each petal set where the paper is folded. This allowed me to hold onto the petals well while pressing down.
13. Take the other two petals and press them down in the remaining two spaces.
14. Embellish the center with a brad, button, small circle, or other embellishment.
15. You are now ready to use them on a layout, card or other project.
I originally saw these done by Rhonda Palazarri as a "poinsettia" on the Fancy Pants blog. My best friend adapted it with a fourth set of petals to make a more universal flower. I wasn't really happy with the way my pictures for this turned out. It's cloudy here today and I had no natural light. Because I was using a mostly white piece of patterned paper, it is harder to see some of the folds. If you'd like to view the original tutorial you can see it on the Fancy Pants blog HERE.

Now go make some flowers!!

October Kit is UP!!!

The October kit is up and ready for sale!! There are still a handful of these kits left, so run on over to the website and get signed up!! Remember - we are a no commitment club - which means you can skip whenever you want to, but you're guaranteed a kit if you want one!!

Before I show off some of the fantastic layouts the Design Team did with the October kit, I wanted to ask you guys a couple of questions. We are revamping our loyalty program for the 2010 Year of the Sussie and I wanted to hear what you guys had to say about the 2009 Year of the Sussie.

What did you like?

What didn't you like?

Did you like getting something little every month in the beginning or was it more fun to get bigger stuff every other month like you did near the end?

Tell me everything!! (You can either post here or email me at lmcclendon@scrapbooksussies.com)

October Sussies!!!

Can you believe it's already October?? Can you believe I'm writing this post early as I'm in Vegas this weekend??? Maybe I'll get lucky (send my all your lucky vibes, k?)

Should we get to the reason we're here? The October Sussies is available for purchase NOW! What are you still here for? I had SO much fun working with this kit (but I guess I always do!). I can't wait to see what everyone else has done with it. I already put one layout up on my blog earlier this week (shhh! don't tell Lara!) and I thought I'd show you a few more layouts that the design team has done with the kit this month! You can see everyone's layouts in the Sussie Gallery.

Here's one by Valerie. I love how she repeated the scallops with the border and the stitching!

Here's one by Leah! She's going to do a flower tutorial when she blogs next - after seeing this layout I can't wait!

Here's half of one of my layouts! If you want to see the rest, you'll have to check out the gallery!

So, I hope you were inspired by these layouts! I can't wait to see what YOU do with the kit! Happy October to you!