Spooky Spider?

Don't forget to leave a comment at my Blog Candy post for your chance to win some yummy Halloween Blog Candy!

This is a card I'll be demonstrating at my SIL's workshop this month. My group leader, Christy Harsch, showed us how to make this adorable spider using punches, and I had to try it! She credited them to Lindsay Mahon, but I don't know where the idea originated.

The spider is two Basic Black scallop circles with some photo corner "legs" adhered between them. These legs are Basic Black layered with Old Olive. The eyes are 1/2" Whisper White Circles with 1/4" Basic Black circles, and the nose is a 1/4" Pretty in Pink circle. The "web" is a piece of 1/4" Basic Black grosgrain ribbon.

For the card, I used Tangerine Tango as the base, then layered Basic Black and Ghostly Greetings dsp. I tucked the ribbon behind the black layer with some adhesive so the spider could hang out! I did put a dimensional on the back of the spider to keep him in place.

How cute is this little guy?!

Thanks for reading!

Blessings to you,

Stamp Club Cards

Don't forget to leave a comment at my Blog Candy post for your chance to win some yummy Halloween Blog Candy!

Since I had stamping time this weekend, I was able to plan this month's stamp club cards. Here's what we'll be doing:
This first card uses watercolouring with the Harvest Home set. I saw on Splitcoast that someone had embossed the image before colouring it, so we'll be doing that. The image is embossed with black ep. It stands out much better, and the outline doesn't run when you colour it! I used my Aquapainter (which is on sale this month!) to colour using Tangerine Tango, More Mustard, Old Olive and Close to Cocoa ink. The sentiment is stamped in Old Olive, then the picture is layered on Old Olive, Basic Black and Tangerine Tango as the card base. I used some More Mustard ribbon as an accent.

For the second card, I used a combination of techniques. I started with Splitcoast's sketch SC188 with Brocade Blue and Elegant Eggplant (just because I haven't used my Rich Regals for a long time!).

I used Faux Shaving Cream technique for the hearts (which are from Simply Said). I use this technique a lot for stamping letters for my scrapbook layouts, but I haven't used it yet on a card. I like the effect! I also used Masking for the hearts to "layer" them across one another. I used direct-to-paper to add some Elegant Eggplant ink around the edge of the white cardstock before completing the card.

For this final project, I have to thank Alex for the inspiration. She posted her Pumpkin Poop treats awhile back, and I laughed so hard I had to CASE her! I used her poem that she found online and added it as a topper to some pre-packaged candy corn that I found at Wal-Mart. Then I made a diaper fold pouch using Ghostly Greetings designer series paper and tucked the candy in there (I'll have some Haiku paper available for those ladies who don't do Halloween). Finally, I used the small pumpkin and pumpkin faces Sizzlets dies to make the pumpkin, and I attached it to the pouch with a dimensional.

So that's what we'll be making this month! I hope everyone enjoys them!

Thanks for reading!

Blessings to you,

Blog Candy Time!

Well, in my busyness, I didn't notice that the counter turned over 30 000 hits! I'm so flattered that people even bother to come and look at my blog! So to thank you for your amazing loyalty and for visiting (even if this is your first visit!), I'm offering some Halloween blog candy.

And for a chance to win this candy, since it's October, all you have to do is leave a comment here telling me what your favourite Halloween memory is.

My favourite memory is a conglomerate of years. My sister and I always had to wear snow pants under our costumes because it always snowed before Halloween, and we only had two big costumes that fit over snow pants - a cat and a clown. We always argued over who got to be the cat because neither of us wanted to be the clown! (We had different costumes that we wore to school, but for trick-or-treating we had to wear the cat and clown!)

So here's what you can win:The candy includes:
- four 6 x 6 sheets of Ghostly Greetings dsp
- one 6 x 6 sheet each of Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black cardstock
- five die-cut pumpkins in Pumpkin Pie
- stamped images from Harvest Home
- 1/4" grosgrain ribbon in Basic Black, Always Artichoke and More Mustard
- Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware pieces
- Metal Edge circle tag stickers

I'll leave this open until Monday, October 13, and then I'll use Random.org to choose a winner!

Thanks for visiting!

Blessings to you,

Happy World Card-Making Day!

Is anyone else thinking, "Where did September go"? I honestly have not had any time to stamp for the past two weeks. Fortunately, my wonderful husband gave me a day off today, so I spent it in my basement/craft room stamping away! I actually managed to get my October clubs planned (yay!), as well as get in a little bit of "just for fun" stamping.

I'm going to spread out my posts of what I made today over the next several days because I don't know when I'll get a chance to stamp again!

This is a card I made using Splitcoast's SC188 (I know that was several challenges ago, but as I've said, I'm behind!).

I used Riding Hood Red as the card base, then added some Ski Slope dsp (LOVE this) and Baja Breeze. The image is from Snow Swirled, stamped in Riding Hood Red on Whisper White. I wrapped some 5/8" striped grosgrain around it, then put a pearl bead from my Pretties kit at the top of the tree and added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the snowflakes in the tree.

Alex let me know about the Coconut Scrap Shop's Fall Frenzy, and I was really hoping to be able to participate in it, but I don't think I'll be able to. But make sure you check it out (it ends October 6)! They have lots of great challenges. Thanks for keeping me posted, Alex!

Blessings to you,

Chipboard Bookmarks

We made these adorable bookmarks at our large group (WeCanStamp) Fall Convention, and I believe they were demonstrated at Stampin' Up!'s Convention this summer, so I'm afraid I don't know who originally thought of the idea, but I think they're just adorable, so I'm CASEing away!

They are made with the scallop square chipboard piece from On Board Essentials. I think they're pretty straight-forward. We used sticky strip on the back to hold the ribbon in place, and there is a square piece of cardstock adhered over the ribbon on the back to hide it. The flower is stamped from Eastern Blooms and has a Filigree designer brad piece in the center, held on with a glue dot.

Here are the recipes:
Bookmark1:
Ink: Old Olive craft, Tangerine Tango classic
Paper: Old Olive Patterns dsp, Pacific Point cardstock
Accessories: Pacific Point striped grosgrain ribbon, Filigree designer brads

Bookmark 2:
Ink: Always Artichoke Stampin' Write marker, More Mustard classic
Paper: Always Artichoke Patterns dsp, Riding Hood Red cardstock
Accessories: Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon, Filigree designer brads

Stampin' Up! Jewelry (it's true!)

At our last big downline meeting, one of the demonstrators (I'm afraid I can't remember her name, but she's awesome!) showed us how to use Stampin' Up! products to make jewelry. I was astonished when she showed us how to use brads to make bracelets, necklaces and earrings!

So of course, I had to try it! I went to Michael's and bought the jump rings and clasps (you get hundreds of them for cheap!), and I set to work. Here is a bracelet I made using the square Ice Rhinestone brads.
ETA: To make this bracelet, I just slid a jump ring onto one of the tines of a brad, then bent it up and around (I used the pliers in my crafter's tool kit for this). Then I slid a ring onto the other tine of the brad and bent it around so the ring would not slide off. Then I alternated rings and brads until it was long enough to make a bracelet. To finish it off, I added a clasp (I bought these at Michael's too) so that the bracelet would close. I hope this makes sense! I'll show some close-up photos on my next post!
She also showed us how to use rub-ons to decorate pre-made jewelry. I found this necklace and earring set at the dollar store, and I added some Chateau Bella rub-ons to them both. I then traced the paper that the jewelry came on onto some Chocolate Chip cardstock and cut it out. I punched holes in it for the earrings, and then I added some rub-ons to it. And voila! Thanks for reading. I've been super-busy this month (seems to be my life story now!), but I do plan to post more often now that all the Fall activities have begun!

Blessings to you,

Scrapbook Club Layout & School

Hello again! It's been a busy week so far, as I'm sure it has been for all of you with kids in school! My oldest son started preschool this week, so it's been a big change for me. I can't believe he's already in school (I posted a picture of him below!). Then tonight I have a meeting for AWANA - I'm going to be the preschool (Cubbies) director this year, so that should keep me busy!

Here's the layout that my Scrapbook Club will be doing this week. It's our final meeting for this club, and I'm really going to miss seeing these ladies each month! We're doing a Fall layout. Some ladies wanted Halloween and some wanted Thanksgiving, so they get to choose between the following two (it's the same layout, just different colours and papers). And of course, some ladies opted to do both!

For this Halloween layout, I used the Ghostly Greeting designer paper (isn't it fun!) as the colour palette. The pages are Pumpkin Pie with Basic Black and Old Olive (should be Kiwi Kiss, but I don't have enough of that yet - Old Olive works too!). I stamped the letters with the Taffy Alphabet and rolled the Haunting jumbo wheel along the bottom, both in Basic Black. The pumpkins are made using the Sizzix die cut Pumpkin #4 (I love this!). I made the journaling tags with the tag corner punch and put some jumbo eyelets through them with Basic Black grosgrain.

For the Thanksgiving/Fall page, I used the Haiku designer series paper with So Saffron as the page base. I layered Close to Cocoa and Old Olive. The letters are stamped with Lovely Letters in Close to Cocoa, and I used the Fall Harvest wheel for the pumpkins with Chocolate Chip ink. I coloured in the pumpkins with my blender pens using Tangerine Tango and Old Olive ink. For these tags, I used copper eyelets and hemp twine.
And finally, here's a photo of my little guy on his first ever day of school! He was so excited, he hardly slept the night before. He's wearing his new Cars backpack, lunch kit and socks! He had a great time. I got to be the parent helper on the first day, and his teacher is amazing.

Thanks for reading today.

Blessings to you,

Christmas Sketch Challenge

This is a card I made for Splitcoast's Sketch Challenge (SC191) this week. I wanted to use my new Holiday Treasures designer paper, so I started with that. The card base is Riding Hood Red. Then I layered the designer paper on Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. I used my new scallop edge punch on the Old Olive and my corner rounder punch on the designer paper.

For the sentiment piece, I layered Riding Hood Red, Holiday Treasures and Old Olive. I added a jumbo brad with some Old Olive grosgrain. The sentiment is from Holidays and Wishes, embossed with Glassy Glaze embossing powder.

Wow! It's been a long time since I did a sketch challenge! It felt really good! Thanks so much for reading!

Blessings to you,

Like Fine Wine... (for my Father-in-Law)

This is a clear envelope brag book that I made for my FIL for his birthday. When we were on holidays in B.C., we toured some wineries, and Quails' Gate was one of them. We bought my FIL a bottle of wine and some wine glasses as a birthday gift, so I thought I'd make a little album for him as a memento of the winery. We took photos of the vineyard and the winery and my husband by the grapes, and I included those in the book.
Here's the recipe:
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Bordering Blue, Close to Cocoa Prints designer series paper
Ink: Close to Cocoa & Bordering Blue classic ink, Close to Cocoa Stampin' Write marker
Stamps: Lovely Letters, Infinite Goodness
Accessories: hemp twine, jumbo eyelets, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches, clear envelopes, Coluzzle, scallop edge punch, sticky strip

Thanks for reading today!

Blessings to you,

Denise's Pick Three Challenge

This is a card I made for Denise's Pick Three Challenge. I CASEd this card by Alesasndra Reyes from the Stampers' Showcase on the SU! Demo site.

Denise's challenge was to choose three of the following to make a card:

- metallic paper
- circle punch
- die cut
- burgundy
- leaf stamp
- brad

I chose burgundy, metallic paper and brads (and kind of a leaf stamp!).

I used the Polished Stone technique for the background on glossy white paper.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Ink: Basic Black Classic ink; Bravo Burgundy, Mellow Moss, Gold ink refills
Paper: Brushed Gold, Bravo Burgundy, Glossy White
Embellishments: Bravo Burgundy grosgrain, gold brads

Thanks for reading today!

Blessings to you,