Happy Croptoberfest season!  This is probably my favorite scrapbooking time of the year!  During the summer months, I usually spend a little less time on my scrapbooking projects and my Creative Memories business as I’m busy with outdoor activities and summer trips.  But I am always anxious to get back in my craft room to start scrapping again, planning my fall scrapbooking events and seeing my scrappy friends!

I typically hold an all-day workshop for Croptoberfest at the end of September and a weekend scrapbooking retreat in October.  (I have a few open spots for my Camp Crop-A-Lot Weekend Scrapbooking Retreat on October (24th) 25th – 27th.  If you would like to attend, please contact me ASAP.)

Each year, Creative Memories releases an exclusive page kit for Croptoberfest.  The kit comes packaged with paper, cardstock, stickers and instructions to make two double-page layouts and is only available from a CM advisor.  We had fun making these pages at my Croptoberfest workshop last week, but I had more fun using the materials to make my own layouts!

The small prints of the Croptoberfest paper, evoked a warm fuzzy feeling and inspired a quilt-like layout.  I used a sheet of our Beige Cardstock as my base.  Start by cutting the patterned paper into 1-1/4″ squares and adhere leaving about 1/8″ space in-between.  Use the new Songbird Border Punch to punch a border from the brown cardstock in the kit, and adhere on top of your border.  My photo mats are 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ and 6-1/4″ x 4-1/4″.  The circle mat was cut using the Custom Cutting System with the smallest Circle Pattern and Green Blade on the outside edge.  Decorate with some of the Croptoberfest stickers and embellishments from the Croptoberfest Gift Embellishment Pack (also only available from a CM advisor).  I adhered all of my stickers and embellishments with Foam Squares and added faux pen stitching to complete my layout.

 

For my second layout, I created my own acorn embellishments by cutting ovals using the Custom Cutting System and used scissors to free-hand cut stems and points from the brown print and burlap print papers.  For my largest acorn, I used the largest Oval Pattern and the Blue Blade on the inside edge to cut my acorn and the Red Blade on the inside edge to cut my acorn cap.  For my smaller acorns, I used the medium Oval Pattern and the Blue and Red Blades on the inside edge to cut my pieces.  I used the larger pieces for the caps of my acorns.

My strip from the pinecone print paper measures 10″ x 3-3/4″; the brown print strip is 11″ x 1-1/4″; and the burlap strip is 10-1/2″ x 1/2″.  My photo mats are from Dark Green Cardstock and measure 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ and 4-1/4″ x 6-1/4″.  I used a brown pen to ink around the edges of the acorn pieces and designer print paper strips.  I also did some pen work around the edges of my pages and drew some journaling boxes.  I finished the layout by adhering some stickers and embellishments with Foam Squares.

Triangles and a folded triangle page at CM have been all the rage recently. (See the CM Blog.)  So I was inspired to create a triangle pumpkin layout.  To make my layout, cut out a hollow frame from the pinecone print paper, and adhere an 11″ x 11″ piece of White Cardstock.  From the designer print paper, cut 2-1/2″ squares, and cut them in half on the diagonal.  Arrange as shown and freehand cut a stem from the brown Croptoberfest cardstock.  I cut my photo mat to 6-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ and added stickers and embellishments adhering some with Foam Squares.  (The Copper Cardstock was and exclusive color from CM’s recent Cardstock Buffet.)

My next layout is ready for my group photo from my Croptoberfest workshop.  For the base, I used the sheet of blue cardstock in the Croptoberfest Kit.  The white plaid strip is 3″ x 12″, and the green plaid strip is 4-3/4″ x 9-1/2″.  I used the Original Border Maker System and the new Leaf Border Maker Cartridge to punch a border from the teal patterned paper.  I used the Song Birds Punch to punch borders from the brown Croptoberfest cardstock and our Dark Green Cardstock and layered the borders for depth.  My photo mats measure 6-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ and 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ and are cut from the Dark Green Cardstock.  I used the insert in the Croptoberfest Gift Embellishment Pack as a title block and added some embellishments.

You may have already seen my last layout on the Creative Life Scrapbooking Facebook page.  Today, I’m the featured designer for our Border Maker Monday post.  This layout is super sweet, and I’m anxious to complete it with photos.

To make the border featured on my layout above, cut a 3″ strip from the Cratered Blue Cardstock (This was a limited edition cardstock available during CM’s recent Cardstock Buffet.) and punch one end with the Lace Trim Border Punch. Adhere this piece to a 2″ strip of the white plaid paper and adhere to the green plaid paper. Punch a border from the brown cardstock in the Croptoberfest Kit with the Lattice Border Punch. Adhere this piece onto of the blue as shown. Cut square pieces from the brown patterned paper in the Croptoberfest Kit and mat with the blue cardstock. Adhere these pieces with Foam Squares. My photo mats are 4-1/4″ x 6-1/4″ and 6-1/4″ x 6-1/4″. Punch one end of the larger mats with the Lace Trim Border Punch. Use the Song Birds Border Punch to punch borders from the Croptoberfest Kit brown cardstock, and adhere the bird borders with Foam Squares. Add a few stickers from the Croptoberfest Kit and also some of the exclusive Croptoberfest Gift Pack Embellishments.

I hope that I’ve inspired you to purchase a second Croptoberfest Kit and make some additional layouts!  If you don’t have a CM advisor, I would be glad to mail a kit and embellishments to you!

Please leave a comment and let me know which layout that you like best!

I’ll be back later this month with layouts featuring the Harvest Delight Collection.
Bye for now!