More Halloweenies!

Halloween is such a fun time each year.  I love the costumes and as I mentioned the other day... I LOVE THE CANDY!

I know there are people who don't celebrate Halloween thinking it's evil or something...I respect that BUT I love it and there is nothing evil about Flash Gordon and Minnie Mouse!

We went to an annual Trunk and Treat the other day.  I hadn't heard of that until last year....the church where the little ones go to preschool/mother's morning out has one each year.  People decorate the trunks or the back parts of their vehicles, dress up and give candy out to the little kids.  My grandkids love it!

Of course, Thursday is the big night, isn't it?

Here is another card I made with one of the Halloween sets from Paper Smooches.  I've had so much fun working with these sets....those little images are adorable!

I used Doodlebug papers and a Tim Holtz embossing folder (for the spider web).  I used white core paper so that when I sanded it the white showed through.  Whomever dreamed that one up was brilliant!

The little vampire was paper pieced and I added some goldish Stickles around his eyes.

And that would be it.  Simple, simple, bo-bimple, fanana fanna fo fimple.  There you have it.

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Challenge Halloween or Halloween Colors HERE.

Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 13 (Left Side)

I've had a very uncrafty last couple of days but they were good ones nonetheless!  My good friend was here from Florida for nearly a week and then we celebrated Easter at my house on Sunday.  My kids were here, my grandkids were here as well as a few more guests.  It was a great day despite it being a bit wet for an outdoor egg hunt.

Anyway, I got back into my craft room last night and worked on my Project Life for Week 13 which was March 24-March 30.  Here is the left side:

The papers I used this week were from Michael's own brand: Recollections.  I love the bright colors and they work great for Project Life at a loooooow price!  I used templates from The LilyPad for the photo collages.  How about the photo(s) on the bottom right.  I let my 3 1/3 year old grandson have at it (is that a southern expression?) with my camera on occasion and he does a wonderful job taking photos.  I decided to include those this week....our little budding photographer!

I added a few K and Company daisies to a filler card and added a wood veneer butterfly (Recollections but I think they are made by Studio Calico) that I inked with some Hero Arts Neon ink.  I also added some Stampin' Up Dazzling Details to the centers of the flowers and the butterfly and then stitched a flight trail for the little butterfly.

 I used one of the 3x4 inch slots for my "week" card.  I cut out the word "week" and offset it with my Silhouette.  I cannot remember what font I used but it did begin with a "C".  LOL!  The numbers are metal and are by Tim Holtz....and picked up ON CLEARANCE (read: very low price) at Michael's. 

 I added a wooden bird also inked with Hero Arts Neon ink to my "A Little Birdie Told Me...." card. 

Now....off to do the left side!

It's rainy here in Atlanta today... a perfect day to stay inside and craft!

Happy Crafting to You!

Hello Friend!

This will be a busy week with little time for crafting.  No complaints here, though...my best friend of all time is here to spend some time with me!

Here is another card made with the same Tim Holtz blueprint set I used the other day although this time I used the camera.  So cute and I think I will just have to find a way to include that in some Project Life pages.  I think it's a great little stamped image!  I used BoBunny Mama-razzi papers again.  They are so much fun!

Here you go....
A little inking...a little stamping...a little cutting....

 I did use a few rounds of some cording I have and tied a few random knots in it. 

I entered this in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes.

Hope you all have a great day and rest of the week!

Happy Crafting!

Good Friend

Busy day today....off to play tennis...or more likely sit in the car in the rain until they call the match (!) and then to friends for a visit tonight.  A full day! ;)

I have the Tim Holtz mini blueprint stamps of a camera, typewriter and telephone...so vintage!  I really love his blueprint stamps....they work so well for paper piecing and being cling...the quality of the stamped image is always so good!

Archiver's has bundled the stamps with the BoBunny Mamarazzi papers which I just love.  They are so cute....and how can you not love the word "Mama-razzi"?!

Here is a simple card I made with one of the stamps....I actually stamped the background with the same typewriter stamps and some pumice Distress Ink:

I used a Spellbinder die for the main mat and just traced and hand cut the lighter colored mat behind it.  The notched strip was attached with the Tim Holtz mini attacher.  The typerwriter was cut out...and then I "OH MY GOD" cut my stamps so that I could use "good" and "friend"....the set comes with a stamp that says "life is good" and "hello friend".  I see my idols, Jennifer M and Vickie P do this all the time but the idea of cutting my stamps up gives me the heebie jeebies.  I did it though and it worked perfectly and they ARE easy to put back together! ;)
I did ink the edges of the little paper with the sentiment on it and distressed the edges a bit.

That's it, my friends....
I hope your day is not as wet as mine is looking to be!

Happy Crafting!

Happy Birthday Card

I'm doing pretty well on my goals of 2013 to do more scrapbooking and less card making.  I love making cards but I found I was making them just to make them....and then I fall in love with them and don't want to send them so now I have a card collection!  So, I'm going to continue to make cards but try to do more scrapbooking. 

But sometimes you just gotta have a card.

I made this card for my friend's daughter who just turned 21.  Her daughter is not a frilly type of gal so decided to veer from my usually overly feminine stuff to make this card.  It was fun and I was inspired somewhere in BlogWorld or Pinterest World!

I believe she likes owls so I chose these fun coordinating papers which I put on a kraft cardstock base that I did a little line embossing on.
The star is some grunge board from Tim Holtz which I painted

The thought bubble is Hero Arts and the sentiment is Hampton Arts.  I used a glitter button from WALMART (don't you love it?) and tied a little cotton crochet thread through it.
Simply, easy....and not pinky and frilly!

I like the way it turned out!  I'm sure she loved it but liked the gift card I enclosed much more! LOL!

Happy Crafting!

Flat is Phat!

OK, I am way cool...admit it.  Here I am...a grandmother of two....using the word PHAT like I know what it means.  Well, I do....do you?  Of course I had to GOOGLE it but it means Pretty Hot and Tempting.  HAHA!

So my card today is quite flat....a great one for mailing....but it is also pretty PHAT if you want my oh so honest opinion.  BTW, my husband's pet peeve is when people say "Well, to be honest with you...".  He always wants to say..."what the heck?!  Are you usually NOT honest?"  LOL...

Ok, I digress....back to my perfectly Phat and Flat card.
Here it is:

 I did some non traditional colors for Christmas starting with a blue background.  I used some blue distress ink (Salty Ocean) to color a piece of plain ol' white cardstock.  Then I stamped it with a Hero Arts background stamp (with the dots...can't recall the name of it right now)....and then stamped it again with some white Close to My Heart white pigment ink.  Don't touch it, Susan!  It take s awhile to dry!
Then I stamped with the fabulous Tim Holtz blueprint toy soldier stamp from his new Christmas set and some Ranger ink onto the background.  Stamped him again to color with some Distress markers Used my aqua pen to give the watercolor look...cut him out and smacked him down on the background.  I added some gold stickles and there ya go...Phat and Flat!
Oh, and the other thing I did before I commenced stamping was to spritz the paper with some Pearl Glimmer Mist to give it a little sheen.  You can see said sheen in the photo below.

I stamped the bottom with a Hero Arts sentiment stamp and viola....done!  I really love how different a look this is for me....and it was very fun to do!

Happy Crafting!!!

A Time of Thanks

So much to be thankful for and I'm happy for a day of thanks.  I'm looking forward to seeing how my Tree of Thanks which can be seen HERE will be received by my family.  My daughter saw it the other day and she liked the idea....no rolling of the eyes!  So there is promise here... :)

I made another Thanksgiving card to send to someone dear to me and for whom I'm grateful each day.

I used the acorn from the Tim Holtz Autumn Blueprint set. Once again I used BoBunny Apple Cider papers.  A little Distress Ink and tearing to scuff up the edges and a good layer of Rock Candy Stickles on the acorn top with some twine tied around the acorn and that was basically it.  

I'm happy.

I'm off to a craft show today and then to a tennis match.  The weather looks great!

Happy Crafting!

A Day of Thanks

I whipped up this little card to send to a friend.  I love the way it turned out!  Lots of fun making this one and, for me, it came together fairly quickly (READ: not many mess ups along the way!).

I used the BoBunny paper as the background and then I used the Hero Arts newspaper stamp to create the torn vintage looking mat to the leaf.  I had fun inking, tearing, and generally messing it up!  The leaf stamp is from one of the blueprint stamps that Tim Holtz has designed.  I love these stamps and the quality is so good...they just stamp perfectly each time.  I stamped on my mat with some Distress Ink and then stamped it again on some ivory Neenah cardstock and cut out the leaf after going to town with some distress inks to color it.
The "ribbon" is some seam binding that I inked up.
And then I used a little wax seal to finish it off.

Inside I stamped the sentiment which is "A dat of thanks" which was from a Close to My Heart set.
This was a wonderfully fun card to make....I loved dabbling in all the inks!

Happy Crafting!

Halloween!

I love Halloween! I think it's a great holiday for young and old alike.  We took the little ones to a Trunk and Treat yesterday where some folks decorated the trunks of their cars or vehicles and gave out candy to the children.  David loved it and Taylor "got" that whole idea quickly and really seemed to enjoy taking her little pumpkin bucket around and filling it up!
I made a few Halloween cards and here is one with a Tim Holtz stamp and Authentique paper.  I love these blueprint stamps he's done.  This set came with four stamps and is sold online at Archivers Annex for $21.99 but I found this set at Overstock.com which has the larger stamps PLUS the fall ones for just $23.99.  And if you go through my favorite rebate place, EBATES you can get a 5% cash back!  If you're not an Ebates member check it out HERE.
OK, so I got all excited about that buy but I already have all those stamps! LOL!
Anyway, here is the card:

 I love that spooky bat.  Looks like something Dr. Frankenstein would be drawing...
I used a Martha Stewart border punch and added a little sparkly Stickles and a few gems and just a tad of inking.  I used a We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, as well. That's it!  (And Cyndi....I almost got to the point where the Stickles were dry before I touched it!)
This card with a $20 bill inside it brought a huge smile to my son's face.  LOL!

Happy Crafting!  And may those of you along the east coast with Frankenstorm bearing down on you....I hope and pray you stay safe!

Spooky and Scary!

I love Halloween.  I used to make most of my kids' costumes...well, that's probably not true but the costumes I did make them were just wonderful!  I do remember making a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for my son and a mime clown costume for my daughter and I did make the cutest little devil horns for my son to wear on his first Halloween as we strolled through the neighborhood.  Of course, now my children are adults so I don't get the fun of making their costumes anymore.  But they both still like Halloween, too.
I'm in the process of making a few Halloween cards to send to a few special folks...I bought this set of Tim Holtz creepy and spooky stamps at Archiver's recently...I believe they are exclusive to Archiver's.  I just love the blueprint look to them.
Here is the first card I made with this set (no, I haven't made a second card but I'm hoping to get there!):

 It is actually a shaped card on top of an A2 card sized base.  The background print is Authentique.  I cut the little bats out on my Silhouette from the free shape that was in the store a week ago.  I added a little green Stickles to the eyes to give them a little eerie glow.  The grass was done with the Martha Stewart fringe scissors.  Here you can see how the tombstone opens:

Well, I'm off to a fall festival with the grandkids today. 

Happy Crafting!

Birthday Card

Here's another clean and simple birthday card I made and gave to my friend, Christine, who celebrated her birthday on Friday.  It uses 2 of the Tim Holtz rosettes (made from the dies with Close to My Heart papers), Aqua Mist paper from Paper Trey Ink.  I also used the Mega Stacks 3 stamp set from Paper Trey Ink as well as the coordinating die to cut out the tag.  I added a little Aqua Mist ribbon and that was it!  Oh...and I used the new dye ink from PTI, as well...love those little pads!  I think some new colors will be released on Tuesday!

I added a little dyed button which matched the paper and tied a little perle cotton through it.  I love teensy bows. 
The card was pretty thick due to the stacked rosette but I have some great clear envelopes that take the bulk and are perfect for showing off your artwork!

I had a great time at Archiver's yesterday...some of the tags we made were just so darned cute.  I'll be putting some of those up later!

Happy Crafting! For me it will be Happy Cleaning of the Craft Room Day!

Last 3 Mini Cards

Here are the last 3 cards I made during the class at Archiver's on Saturday.  I wish I were signed up for another one this Saturday!  They really are fun and well organized and as I mentioned before many of the classes give you the opportunity to try out new supplies and products before purchasing them.

Here's the first card:

We used new bottle caps (that are already flattened). We stamped a grid image in black (I believe it was a Tim Holtz stamp) and then embossed it with the little bicycle image.  We punched it out with a 1 " punch and it fit perfectly into the bottle cap.  We punched out a circle from white cardstock and a scalloped circle from red...adhered it all to the Kraft card base, stamped it with the cute sentiment and we were done! Very simple but oh-so-how-adorable-is-that-? CUTE!
Here's the next card:

Yep...you see it here...we QUILLED!!! OK, I bought tons of quilling supplies about 6 or 7 years ago when quilling for cardmaking and scrapbooking was popular.  Well, it's come back and is trendy once again.  I always enjoyed that process...there is something relaxing to me about winding skinny strips of paper into coils and making them into shapes.  This is supposed to have a sentiment on it...but I messed mine up and had to fix it...so it is sentimentless in this photo but has since been fixed.  Cute, huh?  There is a card book out for quilling which Archiver's sold for $17, I think but here at Amazon it's just $11.13 although there would be a shipping charge....


I think I may just have to order that for myself though.  I'm certain I have quilling supplies in my craft/scrapbooking/disaster room but I can't put my fingers on the stuff right now (except for the umpteen tubes of quill strips I have!  I'm glad I saved them all these years though as I'm motivated to do it again!  Isn't this a cute card, though?

And here is the last mini card we made:

I really loved this little card.  We stamped with the gear image on acetate with StazOn and waited for it to dry.  Once dry we dabbed on the other side with gold and silver paint dabbers.  You can't see it here well but it has a nice shimmery look to it.
We cut out the gear image and stapled it to the cardstock with the Tim Holtz mini attacher which if you don't have one...well, run to your nearest Michael's or Joann's and get one!  It's a great tool to have on hand!

And that is the final card...we made all 9 cards in the space of about 2 hours.  Not bad....!

Happy Crafting!!!

Just About the Perfect Day...

Yesterday was just about a perfect day.  It started off with a couple of cups of coffee that my husband made for me....ahhhh...how I love starting my day that way!
I met up with 2 wonderful girlfriends, Christine and Cyndi, for a mini card class at Archiver's.  It was great seeing them and sharing stories (I don't think I gave them much of a chance to talk yesterday as I had all kinds of stories about my trip to New England!).  We had fun in the class making 9 mini cards (3 inches by 3 inches) and got to use some new product and learned a few new techniques.  I generally like the classes at Archiver's...they are very well organized...they provide all tools and supplies and the prices for the classes are reasonable.  Plus you get to shop after!!!  Jennifer was our instructor yesterday and she did a great job.
Here are three of the little cards we made...
First was this Mickey Mouse punched card...very simple but cute with "Yippee" embossed with Zing yellow embossing powder.

We tied a little baker's twine around the top and that was it.  Really cute for a gift enclosure for a child or Disney fan, huh?  And I just loved the little touch of yellow with the red, black and white.
The second card was made on Kraft cardstock with a Unity Stamp:

No real new techniques here but I did like this stamp.  It's all in one...and stamped beautifully.  We distressed the edges of the Kraft cardstock, tied a little twine around it and stapled with the Tim Holtz mini attacher and added a bit of bling and that was it.
And lastly, for today, is this cute little card we made with one of the Inky Antics sets that were designed for use with Inky Antic's honeycomb paper.  You can see a card I made a few months back with those products HERE if you'd like (I used the inchworm set).

We colored and shaded with Copic markers which I have no idea what I'm doing with! LOL!

We used an EK Success border punch for the little pink paper and added some bling to it.

And here's the inside of this cute little card:

 

And what else made this day nearly perfect?  I babysat my two cute grandkids while my daughter and son in law had a night out to themselves.  They only went to dinner and were home within a couple of hours but at least they got a little time to themselves.  Since I belong to AG and AG only it is a bit difficult when NBG needs me as he does not like me picking her up.  But we had a little conversation last night about how NBG was sad and needed to be picked up but I was still his and he tolerated a few minutes.  LOL! 

Luckily NBG is already one independent little lady and is content to suck her fingers most of the time! :)

Here's David drinking my lemonade...

 And here's Taylor giving her Omie a little smile...(I changed this photo to black and white because she was wearing one of David's old sleepers and it was YIKES...blue and she looked like a little boy!)

Happy Crafting!