Jungle Cruisin'

It is my day on The Bug Bytes today, and I am sharing another Disney layout. Of all my Disney layouts that I have worked on lately this one is my favorite and so I am so happy to let you all see it! One of my conundrums is how to balance my layouts with the pictures and "story" - and I think I got a nice balance here.

The details: 

The background paper is from DCWV Safari Kids and the photo mats and tabs are Recollections. For the "folders" I used the recipe cards on From My Kitchen and I don't really have specific sizes - I just unlocked the width and height  on my Gypsy and adjusted each one according to my photo sizes. I know you can't really see from the pictures but I used the CM paper distress tool to distress the edges of each and then inked the edges lightly. matted each picture with photo corners and cardstock.

For the title I used the Zoo Day font, which is one of my favorites, and I cut it at 1.30 using Green Core'dinations cardstock which I sanded a bit. The shadow is in kraft paper and I for the life of my don't know why the shadow layer didn't come out exactly perfect - I thought I was using the same size - but I was at the point where I was ready to just go with it and move on. Again hard to see but the title is pop dotted to make it stand out. 

Now that I am done with this post I realize the pictures are not really doing this layout justice so you will have to take my word for it  - much better in person. I am really looking forward to our hop this weekend - can't wait to see what the team has in store - so I will see  you then!

Baby Onesie "Little Squirt"

I have a colleague who is expecting her second child, and she really didn't want any gifts or anything shower-like, but I couldn't let the occasion just pass! So we organized a girls night out dinner and I had to create just a little something for the baby. She is obsessed with ketchup, eats it on absolutely everything - her wedding favors were personalized bottles of Heinz Ketchup! I put my thinking cap on for ketchup puns and came up with absolutely nothing, but another colleague came to the rescue with the idea of "Little Squirt".

The crafty details:

When I searched my gypsy, the only ketchup that came up was on Block Party Lite, which I do not own, and while I do look for any excuse to buy a cartridge, I just didn't love the rest of the cuts so much. I decided to use the shapes from George to create my own. There is a bottle layer of red, and the three white pieces, and a teeny tiny green layer for the top of the tomato. The tomato is from the From My Kitchen cartridge.

The entire bottle cut is about 6 inches high. I wish I knew an easy way to explain how I created it, but I don't think that is possible! I put the shape I want to copy on Layer 2 and then on Layer 1 I use my shapes, a lot of welding, and some trial and error to get what I want. The "Little Squirt" uses the font from Car Decals (which is what sold me on that particular cartridge in the first place) and it cut quite small at .5 inches.

If you haven't used Heat Transfer Vinyl yet, what are you waiting for? It is so easy! Once my cuts were done and weeded it took less than 10 minutes to iron all the layers on and let it cool. What actually takes the longest is letting the layers cool in between before peeling off the plastic. First I did the red, then positioned the layers of white and ironed those on, next came the green. Finally I added the text. When all the layers are complete, I usally run the iron over the design to make sure they are all set (with a layer of parchment over the design of course).

I was very pleased with the way it turned out and my friend really loved it - which was the important part! I actually loved the box I made to give it in, but I am going to be a tease and make you wait to see that!