I live with Harry Potter

Yesterday my son's school had a "Literary Parade".  The kids could dress as their favorite literary character (no cartoon characters or monsters allowed).  They were to bring along the book from which their character came and they could also bring a small pumpkin decorated as either the character or as a sidekick. 

Is that not the cutest Harry Potter you've ever seen?  And that's his owl Hedwig. 

He said a few other kids dressed as HP but they didn't have the lightening scar.

Huh???!!!! 

Isn't that the most defining feature of HP??

Ever since we got the HP glasses and tie a few days ago he's been wearing them around the house (and out to dinner last night) because he likes to look like a nerd.  LOL!

trick or treat disney style

Boo!

Bet you thought I fell off the face of the earth, huh?  I think this has been the longest hiatus I've taken from the blog since I started blogging about a year and a half ago. 

Busy, busy, busy! 

I've been working on lots of layouts and projects, mostly for Scrapbook News and Review.  I'll share them as I can.  Some of them you can see throughout this week during their daily Halloween email newsletters.  Sign up now if you're not already receiving them.  There are some AMAZING projects by the staffers on there.  Lots of great Halloween ideas!  You can see many more in the upcoming Octobert/November double issue premiering Sunday 10/31. 

I began my hiatus with 5 days at the Disneyland Resort.  Our hotel was awesome because it had an entrance right into California Adventure (which, truth be told, I love so much more than Disneyland...is that wrong?). 

We met up with some friends right at the beginning and hung out for a little while for the Disneyland Halloween celebration.  They close the park early to general admission and you have to have a special pass to be in the park for the evening.  (Translation: They get you to pretty much pay double to be in the park all day long on that day.  Mmm hmmm.  It was fun but not THAT fun.)  They have a special Halloween-themed fireworks display with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme, a special Halloween parade with the characters dressing up in costumes, and trick-or-treating. 

The boy dressed up as Woody (I think this is his third Woody costume since he was 2 - the boy LOVES Woody) and the girl was a punk-y version of Alice in Wonderland.  Not intentionally, although I think it looks ADORABLE.  In my haste to pack I overlooked the footwear aspect of the costume so she ended up wearing her All-Stars. 

Loving this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch!

So, I set out to make this layout really quickly and wouldn't ya know it, I decide to get all fancy on the ears and ended up spending waaaaaay longer than I wanted to on it.  Oh, well.  I think it's pretty cute!

I tried to make the Mickey ears look like a real hat by sewing the words.  Yes, with my sewing machine. 

This Friday the boy's school is having a Literary Parade (apparently we can't do Halloween in school anymore?) where the kids can dress up as a literary character - no cartoon characters or monsters allowed.  The boy has picked Harry Potter and I can't wait to get him all dressed up.  They can bring a small pumpkin to carry which can be either a miniature version of their character or a sidekick.  (If I get it done) the boy will be carrying a white pumpkin made to look like Hedwig.  I'm so proud!!!  I'll definitely share pics.  He's already been wearing the HP glasses all around and he looks like Harry! 

So, do you do Halloween?  Any big plans for the weekend?

Heidi

p.s.  Tessa from Precocious Paper is challenging everyone throughout the month of November to develop an Attitude of Gratitude.



Every day in November she'll share on her blog something she is grateful for.  I will definitely try to follow her lead and play along.  Goodness knows my gratitude attitude could use some developing!   Check out Tessa's post here to see how to play along.

Happy Autumn

A couple weeks ago Scrapbook News and Review ran a 10 day special newsletter campaign with fall tags by 10 artists complete with step-by-step tutorials on how to make the beautiful tags.  In case you happened to miss out on the newsletters, check out the SNR forum to see them.

In the meantime, here's the one I included:

You can better see in this picture that it's a transparent tag.  I was going for a stained-glass look.  I used some Barbie packaging and alcohol inks.

For a step-by-step tutorial on how to make this IMHO gorgeous tag, check out the SNR forum, this post.

See that gorgeous orange flower on there?  It's a Precocious Paper Briday Satin Blossom.  They come 3 to a pack, 1 large with a pretty rhinestone center and 2 smaller ones like the one on the tag. 

And if you like that flower, wait until you see what I did with EIGHTEEN - yes, that's right 18 - Halloween Precocious Paper flowers in a very special week of  daily Halloween newsletters by Scrapbook News and Review that will begin mailing out on the 24th.  I'll even have another tutorial for you.  If you're not already, sign up to receive SNR's newsletters before the 24th to check it out.  You won't be disappointed.  There will be TONS of Halloween eye candy - layouts, cards, inchies, ATCs, special projects, and quite a few tutorials. 

Well, off to Disneyland for the first time in three years.  I'm so excited to see my kids' reactions.  The Boy was just barely 4 and The Girl was a couple weeks shy of 2.  I'm pretty sure they don't remember much and now they're tall enough (and hopefully brave enough) to go on most everything.  We're even Trick-or-Treating with Mickey Friday night!  Can't wait!!!!!!!

Have a great week!!!

p.s.  Don't forget to check out the new challenges up this week:  Pink Ninjas on Wednesday, Sketchy Thursdays on Thursday (go figure) and Scrap That Poetry on Friday!

Precocious Cards

Yea!  My first couple projects for Precocious Paper!!  Every Friday Tessa will be showcasing a few projects from a couple of the DT members.  Be sure to pop over there to check out what Suzy made, also!!

I knew the second I saw these Ecru Botanical Fabric and Felt Flowers in the Precocious Paper Etsy store that I would be pairing them with this yummy super wide striped ribbon.  (I know I am soon going to be kicking myself for not buying more than one roll of this ribbon.  It was a Michael's Halloween edition and they sold out of it fast.) 

A simple card but the flower and ribbon are so larger-than-life that they carry it off easily. 

I also went simple with this birthday card:

And, trust me, the light brown in the animal print ribbon and that in the flower are much closer in color than they look in this picture. 

This is another Fabric and Felt Flower from the Fruit Punch Bouquet.  This particular one is made with Amy Butler fabric.   These Fabric and Felt Flowers are just amazing.  HUGE.  (To give you an idea, the top card is 3x6, the bottom is 4-1/4 x 5.)  And with so many layers - they're just lush.  I'm going to have a really hard time giving away this card but it's going to a good home.  ;o)

This weekend only (thru 10/10/10) you can get 25% off the products featured on the Precocious Paper blog (including these two flower collections I've shown you) in the Precocious Paper Etsy store!!!!  Check out the blog for details.   Awesome!!!!

I can't believe we're looking at a Saturday without any birthday parties, events, or anything formal scheduled.  I'm so excited!!  I feel like it's been forever since we've had one of those beauties. 

Hopefully The Girl is feeling better tomorrow.  She was feverish all day, sleeping quite a bit of it.  Here's a piece of advice, something we all learned today.  If you feel like you need to throw up, don't squash both your hands up to your face like you're going to sneeze.  I'll leave that up to your imagination.  LOL. 

Thursdays Is Going to the Dogs

Happy Thursday!!!

First of all, check out the new digs over on the Sketchy Thursdays blog.  Diana outdid herself with our gorgeous new header and background!!! 

Second, check out all the amazing inspiration being provided by our brand new DT for this sketch:

Yes, another very simple one by me.  Hmmm...maybe I'm subconsciously looking for some calm in my constant sea of craziness right now.  LOL.

And I went very simple on my layout, too. 

One thing I've always loved about my dogs is that they're both VERY expressive.  I happened to capture a couple of hilarious moments a few days ago of my hubby and Dr. Stinky Wrinkleman (yes, that's his official name).  I thought I'd cartoonize it a bit...

Stinky exists to eat.  And I just know he's always thinking, "What the heck is wrong with these people??!!  Why can't I have food 24-7-365??!!" 

Come, play along with us.  This week we have a really cool piece of art up for grabs by Angie Delarie Scrapbooking Products.

Have a great day!!

Heidi

Lift Up Your Eyes

Today marks the first anniversary for the Scrap That Poetry challenge blog.  Congratulations Jennifer!  You have created such a wonderful site and this anniversary is testament to this in this fickle online world where challenge blogs come and go in a blink of an eye.  I feel so lucky to be a part of this inspirational blog and included amongst the amazing designers and guest designers, both past, present, and future (3 new members of the DT will be announced on Monday!). 

The current Scrap That Poetry challenge is the poem "The Rock Cries Out to Us" by Maya Angelou.  This is one heck of a looooong poem but it is full of tons of scrappy fuel.  And, in case the poem isn't enough to get your creative juices flowing, Jennifer has also allowed me to create a sketch for additional inspiration.  You don't have to use the sketch if you want to play along with us (but I hope you do, lol!). 

I enthusiastically jumped on the chance to stay on the STP DT for the next term because, as I told Jennifer, I have found inspiration numerous times with the STP poems to scrap favorite pictures I been previously unable to work into a design.   And today's poem was no exception.  I love this beautiful moment in time captured on film of my daughter.

"Lift up your eyes upon

The day breaking for you

Give birth again

To the dream...

The horizon leans forward,

Offering you space to place

New steps of change."

You have until the 14th to play along with us!  We'd love to have you share. 

And please, bop on over to the STP blog and wish Jennifer a Happy Anniversary and let the amazing DT know just how beautiful their creations are.

Have a great weekend!

Heidi