October is a month for ghosts and goblins…the kinds that are less than 3 feet tall and call you “Mommy”. Ah yes, the missing bed sheet that is now sportingly worn in it’s slightly altered state by your 4 year old is a sure sign that Halloween is coming. Kids love the parties, costumes, trick-or-treating, the candy that they eat for weeks afterwards, and we love to scrap those memories! Picking products to use for your ghoulish layouts has just become much easier with Pebbles Inc. products. With their selection of papers and faux-embellished stickers, you can create quick and easy layouts that look great! And remember, stickers can be cut, popped, and faux stitched. These are just some of my favorite ways to use them that adds some pizzazz. All of these techniques were used with the Pebbles Inc. stickers I used in “A Bear, A Witch, And Her Dog,” and in “Happy Halloween.”

While the stickers are still on the sheet, cut out the stars and candy corn from the faux embellished squares using a craft knife on a glass cutting surface for easier cutting. Mount the cut square to your page first, and then add your cut-out portion with foam tape or pop dots at an angle for an interesting affect. You don’t always have to use Halloween-themed stickers or embellishments for your Halloween layouts. Think out of the box and be creative! Use papers other than orange and black to design your layout. Pull colors from the costumes or backgrounds to make it interesting. In “Eeyore a.k.a Cody”, I used purple Karen Foster crinkle paper which happens to look perfect against the pictures of my son as Eeyore. The square clips were used to secure the photos onto the page and gives this layout a non-traditional look.

October is also known as pumpkin month! It is when we go out and pick our pumpkins to use for everything from cooking pies, to carving, to using their plump and colorful bodies as backdrops for some great photos. Our family has taken to growing our own pumpkins. It is wonderful to see the fun they have picking out their pumpkins and watching them grow from the time they are the size of a baseball, to picking time at sometimes huge proportions. The sheer enjoyment they get from the feeling that they “raised” these pumpkins on their own makes for some great photo and layout opportunities!

One tradition we have started is “naming” our pumpkins. If you scratch a name, or design into the pumpkins as they are growing, that scratch will eventually heal and scar over hence making the name, or design, a permanent mark on the pumpkin! When creating my pumpkin layouts, I turned to the wonderful colors in the Karen Foster papers and her coordinating “Pumpkin” stickers. One of my favorites from her line is her crinkle paper. I use it often and have found that it is some of the most versatile paper available! And you can give your layouts dimension by popping alternating letters and stickers. Layer the foam tape in varied thicknesses to give different dimensions.

Sew your title onto your paper and your journaling boxes onto your photos with hemp cord. You will need a large needle because of the thickness of the cord. Use a larger paper piercer on a mouse pad or similar surface to make your holes before you sew them.



These, of course, are just some of the things we scrap in the month of October. Take a look at all the activities you do in October and spend some time snapping photos and scrapping!