2 Years Ago This Month

It was two years ago that I opened my email from my iPad late one night and got some of the most exciting news!  Let me tell you how it started and then stay for a BLOG HOP at the end of this post.

I had been on design teams for sketch sites, kit clubs and challenge sites and I was ready to take the leap to a manufacturer when I saw a call for Imaginisce. I bought bits and pieces of their Christmas and birthday lines and went to work creating these Christmas trees & photo tutorial, which even today, are one of my most visited posts from this blog. Perhaps it's the trees themselves or maybe it's the photo tutorial but these babies get a lot of attention.

I also made a birthday layout and a Christmas card and sent my application in to Imaginisce in response to their open design team call. Apparently these got the attention of Imaginisce too because I was invited to join the 2011 team and eventually the 2012 team too!

My 2nd term is ending in just a few days and I am still soo thankful to Lori Allred for originally inviting me to join the team and becoming such a fun friend to hang with here, there and everywhere. Also to Bridget because she's just cool and we repin each other all the time on Pinterest, plus when we hang out we always have fun. And of course Cari for asking me back for a 2nd term and being so supportive, especially during my job-related stress period this year, and Don for always making me feel awesome! I made such wonderful friends on both of these teams. I will miss you all but I will keep an eye on your artistry.

You will see a little bit of me in 2013 with Imaginisce though - I designed some layouts and an alterable using their CHA Winter 2013 collections. I'll be sure to share them here on my blog.

I'd like to show you a few of my favorite things and/or most visited items from my Imaginisce gallery. These span the course of two years and the links are clickable:

Veteran's Day "Hero" Card

Monkeying Around

Necklace & Bracelet Made by Me!

Mini Album VIDEO TUTORIAL

Best Friends Forever

Altered Gingerbread House Banner

Magic Reindeer Food

TUTORIAL: DIY Clay Pot Pumokins

Detachable Ornament Christmas Card

What I Love About You Mini Album

Vacation Mini - Click to See Additional Pages

World Travelers

DIY Accessories

Friends Are the Best Accessories

Back to School

Back to School Teacher Gift

Traveling DIY Bingo Game

DIY Stocking Stuffers

Splash Zone

Bundle of Joy Card

I wish the ladies of the 2013 design team the best of luck and thanks to Imaginisce for giving me my big break! 

Blog Hop 
Make sure to leave a comment on my blog (and become my newest follower if you like what you see). Your next stop is the last stop - the Imaginisce blog. Make sure to complete the entire hop for a chance to win a Love you More collection pack (full details on the Imaginisce blog)!

Shellye McDaniel

Tiffany Hood

Guiseppa Gubler

Rhonda Van Ginkel

Cari Locken

Adora Concepcion

Heather Leopard - YOU ARE HERE

Imaginisce

Valentine's Mini Albums/Coupon Books & Blog Hop Winner

I'm not sure I feel quite right posting Valentine's Day projects when it's not even Thanksgiving yet but Imaginisce just released a new collection called Love You More and we're showing it off on their blogs soooooo, I'm debuting what I created as well.

Before I reveal it though, I HAVE to tell you how excited I am with the new direction they took with this collection. This is my favorite collection from them of all time. I love the texture of the paper (no more glossy elements) and the style is just different, in a good way! They also have really great sticker sheets and alphas! The best part is - WASHI!!!! I seriously love it and I'm not just saying that because they sent it to me to create with! Here, let me prove it to you and show you these fun things I made.

I decided to make 2 mini albums with this collection; both are for my girls. I cut the albums from all the 12x12 paper in the Love You More collection using my CAMEO and various cutting files.

Love You More

The Love You More mini will be a mini album with photos and notes documenting me and my hubby’s love story ‘cause I like to make sure they know how much we care for each other.

PIN this project to Pinterest: 

(click image to enlarge)

XOXO Coupon Book

This XOXO one is going to be a coupon book for my girls to. I’ll be adding little coupon notes to the slip in cards for fun activities we can do together as a family in February.

(click image to enlarge)

Creative How-to: Using my Silhouette CAMEO, I cut each envelope using the library pocket tag cutting file by Lori Whitlock. I used a different tag for the insert called 7 Christmas Gift Tags, also from Lori. Once the envelopes and tags were assembled I embellished the fronts an backs of each envelope with stickers, ribbon, washi, fussy cutting, pop dotting and more. If you look closely you may also notice that instead of using tags for some of the envelopes, I used the 3x4 cards from one of the 12x12 papers. These sets can be used independent of each other or I can put them together to make one mini as I planned the design of them to allow me to do that - the back of the last page of the Love You More book has some hexagon print stuff on it. :)

PIN these projects to Pinterest: 

Thanks for stopping by today. I do believe Imaginisce is giving away some of this collection this week so make sure to stop over on the blog to find out how to win!

Veteran's Day Blog Hop Winner

Before you go, the random winner of the Imaginisce goodie box from the blog hop last week is Lynda!!!

Please send an email to heather @ spottedleoparddesigns DOT com by November 30, 2012 with BLOG HOP WINNER in the subject line along with your address and I'll get this out to you. If I don't hear back from Lynda before December 1, I will donate the scrap goodies to my daughter's school's art department.

Veteran's Day Hero Card

I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to all who have served and are serving in our military!

My daughter's school has a Veteran's Day program every year and she is soo proud to have her Big Daddy there. My dad (her Big Daddy) served in the Navy in Vietnam and both my grandfathers served during WWII in different branches and needless to say they are/were my heroes!

The Imaginisce design team is celebrating our Veterans all week on the blog, doing little mini blog hops.  Today, it's Rebecca, Tiffany and I so I'm guessing you made it here from Tiffany's blog. If not, make sure to go back to them and see their cool stuff!  I made this project my mixing different lines and enlisting my CAMEO.

Creative How-to: I cut the heart using the "heart flag" cutting file I downloaded from the Silhouette store. It doesn't actually cut is as a card so I adhered it to a 6 x 12 piece of white cardstock and made it into a card.  After I pieced everything together, I wanted to hang a dog tag so I made one by drawing a rounded rectangle in the software program and writing the word HERO. I cut it out of white cardstock and misted it using my homemade grey mist mixture. I think using silver embossing powder would make this card really ROCK but I didn't have any at the time!  I used baker's twine to tie it around the heart shaped flag card.

Thanks for stopping by. Before you go, I'd love to have you as my newest follower. If you like what you see,  click JOIN in the upper right hand side bar. I will be doing a GIVEAWAY for some Imaginisce goodies direct from my stash and I will pick the random winner from my list of followers! Leave a comment for a 2nd chance to win (but you must also be a follower or I will draw again).

Now, head back over to the Imaginisce blog and leave some love! You gotta do it to win!

PIN this page to Pinterest

hello {or hell.} Card

Hi there! I have a quick little card to show you today. I created it for a challenge Cari, our DT coordinator, gave me. She challenged the Imaginisce design team to go outside of the box for this project. Here's the lowdown:

DESIGN TEAM CHALLENGE:

• Create a non-traditional project (no circle, no squares, etc). Really think out of the ordinary here.
• Use the color ORANGE somewhere on your project.
• Use the i-top tool on your project.

So here's what I created. I used a Lori Whitlock cutting file and my CAMEO. I just love how this card turned out.

Problem is, I used my i-rock instead of my i-top. Luckily I realized it in time and added a small i-top brad daddy. So what do you see here?

I thought I was being clever by adding the brad to symbolize the "o" and I can totally see the word "hello" but I also see the word "hell." It's like I'm really calling attention to it with a giant period... Maybe I should add the word "oh" at the top of it. LOL! Oh hell, who cares? 

I love to laugh at myself and I'm not afraid to show it. Now, do I give it to anyone??? 

Princess Kitty Witch & Bat Treats

Imaginisce is celebrating the release of their 2012 Halloween collection, Monster Mash, this week.  I've been playing with this new collection and created these little goodies. 

This layout today focuses on that moment when kids get home from trick or treating and can't wait to look at what they got. My girls always run in and immediately dump their candy out to ooh and ahh over it. Here's my sweet "princess kitty witch" with all her loot.

I distressed and layered coordinating paper and the journaling spot under my photo to frame it up. I topped off an accordion rosette with a cute little brad perched on a flower, which was punched from the small i-top punch.  The title and witch shoes die cuts are the perfect finish to the page.

*******

For my second project today, I thought it would be fun to stick with the "treat" theme and wrap up some candy in these cute little wrappers, which I cut with my CAMEO. I used the bat from the Monster Mash die-cuts for the cute face. I think these will be fun to send with my girls to give away to their friends at their school Halloween parties.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Christmas Gifts in July

It's Christmas Cheer release week on the Imaginisce blog this week! I have to say that I am not really fond of walking into stores and seeing Christmas things already up. But I do like to start thinking about my Christmas crafting.  It gets me into the mindset to start my planning. There are a few things I like to start thinking about early - Christmas dress attire for the family and gifts for teachers and neighborhood pals, because we like to give out little treat to them each year. Here's a peek into some of the items I've been working on...

Mistletoe Earrings

I'm always on the hunt for unique, handmade jewelry. These earrings are the perfect accessory for a fun night in on Christmas Eve!

Supplies: Imaginisce Christmas Cheer collection, 3d necklace box by Lori Whitlock (scaled to fit my project), earring holder by Loni Stevens (scaled to fit my project), pine bough by Pebbles in my Pocket (scaled smaller)

I cut them from a pine cone file using my Silhouette CAMEO. I made them my own by using the Imaginisce Magni-top Magnet Earring Kit and a bit of twine to turn them into earrings. I made a coordinating box so that I can give them as a gift.

Christmas Treat Bags

Each year I try to think of something cute to give to the 15 kids who live on our cul-de-sac as well as to the administrative staff at my daughters' schools. This year I am going to give them homemade s'mores kits packaged neatly in this little gift tote.

Supplies: Imaginisce Christmas Cheer collection, party favor wrapper by Lori Whitlock, Imaginisce i-top and small brad, misc ribbon.

I used my CAMEO again to cut the file (by Lori Whitlock) and then I used my i-Punch to punch holes in the inside baggie. I then threaded the ribbon through the baggie and the back of the gift bag, tying it and sealing the edges in a chevron cut using my i-Magicut. 
 
I'm pretty happy, it's only July and I know what we'll be giving out this year! I hope this inspires you to start thinking about your crafty Christmas goodies. Make sure to head over to the Imaginisce blog to enter for a chance to win your own Christmas Cheer collection.

Cup Koozies and Key Fobs

Hello there! I have missed my blog terribly since I last posted but I was away on a business trip, which I extended into a personal vacation. I had a chance to go to London for a presention I worked on for my boss and the hubby and I decided he'd join me on the trip. We had an absolute blast. I think it's the first big vacation we've taken together that didn't involve us being 40 ft under water. You will be seeing lots of vacation photos in the near future I am sure.  Of course, when I returned things didn't slow down at all. I had one sleep at home and then headed to CKC Houston with my mom. We always get a suite at a nearby hotel and spend the weekend scrapping (missed you this year, Audrey). I enjoyed CKC but I was also a bit dissapointed in the selection of advanced classes. That being said, I understand who their audience is and I make the most of it and challenge myself to something different with the class supplies. I'm a rebel like that - LOL. I did enjoy the Smashbook class I took, taught by Annette! That woman cracked me up and shared great ideas! I was a bit dissapointed in the vendors too but it is what it is.


So back to my blog...today I am going to share some things I made with my favorite Imaginisce tools. No doubt about it, Imaginisce has some of the BEST tools on the market and I love that they are always adding to their collection. 


Way before I was an obsessed  scrapbooker I would dabble with sewing, usually making outfits for my then toddler girl.  I kind of got away from it as she got older so when we were asked to create anything we wanted using Imaginisce tools, I immediately gravitated to my fabric stash.

Down here in Texas we drink a lot of sweet tea. My family loves the sweet tea from our Keurig machine. We make it using their Brew over Ice cups, which look fine but I wanted to dress mine up a little so I made this cup koozie.

I cut the fabric using the new cutting mat. Have you seen the cool design of it? The back is a cool pink and black damask. I also used the Lil Snip scissors but I would have used the new rotary cutter if I'd had it yet. Other tools used were the i-rock mini iron and i-top 2.0. 

I made a free pattern, which can be downloaded HERE on Craftsy, where I post all my patterns.  

I cut two strips of fabric from the pattern and a third using felt for the inside. 

I also cut strips to use for ruffles on the top and bottom. The top one is already ruffled and the next is about to get the needle. LOL

 Before I sewed it together, I covered a medium button daddy with coordinating fabric using my i-top 2.0. I hand stitched it to the fabric and then sewed the pattern and ruffles together, adding twine to the opposite end of the button. Once it was all stitched together, I wrapped it around the cup, tying the twine around the button. My ice tea glass is not so boring anymore!

My original idea for this next project was to create a key fob for my keys but I just got back from a trip to London and realized I really needed a set of bag tags for my luggage.  I’m sure you know all how hard it is to find your luggage when they all look alike.  As I was creating mine it dawned on me that my girls could use new tags on their back packs so made them some as well. All we need to do is add the rings and attach them to the bags.

To make these, I used the new cutting mat and snippits again.  I simply cut different shapes from fabric. I used the Clicut tool to cut out our initials. I stitched the initials to one side of the fabric before stitching it all together so that the outline of the initial would not show on the back of the tag.  I added the loop to the inside of the fabric and then stitched it all together. There is felt between the front and back fabric to give it weight. I like the way it looks from the side with the felt peeking between the fabric.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Head over to the Imaginisce blog for a chance to win a set of tools for yourself!

xoxo Heather