Halloween is Almost Here!

One more day until Halloween.  We love Halloween...the costumes, the candy....it was always a fun holiday for me growing up and also with my kids.

Here is another card I made with the Unity Stamps set called "A Little Trick or Treat". Same papers I've been using (been trying to use them up for goodness sakes!)....used colored pencils and the technique with Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits) for shading.  I love coloring...

Some of the pieces are cut out...some are popped up on foam tape...I added a little ribbon and that was about it.  Nothing difficult here.  BTW...have you visited Dr. Sonia's Blog?  I love checking in on the very unique and creative projects she does.  She made a card recently of the Taj Mahal that she hand cut with a knife.  Must help that she's a surgeon in her other life!  :)

Happy Crafting!

More Halloween Fun!

My daughter called me last night and said that she was certain that AG (Adorable Grandson) really has red horns trying to erupt in time for Halloween!  He is 2 years old...and you know what that means...TERRIBLE TWOS!  He is just such a little imp...there are no two ways about it!  And of course, when he's being devilish it's difficult not to laugh.  He loves to make us laugh.

And so I thought this little devil boy would make the perfect card for him!

I used a really cute stamp set I bought recently from Crafty Steals my favorite site for a deal of the day.  It is Unity Stamp's A Little Trick or Treat set which has really cutesy Halloween images on it!
I stamped the little devil on the orange cardstock...and then stamped him on white, colored him in with some Stampin' Up markers and then cheat cut him out.  By that I mean I didn't cut the tail out or the pitchfork and just adhered the figure directly onto the mirror image below.  It's just too hard to cut out that skinny stuff, you know?  But unless you look really closely you can't tell! I am a cheater...I confess.

I used papers from the Kelly Panacci Designer Mat Pad by K&Company. A little foam tape popped up the sentiment and some narrow black ribbon finished it off!

Happy Halloween and Happy Crafting!

Cricut Challenge 25: Happy Hauntings...Ghoulish Fun! (Fantabulous Cricut #83)

Onwards with my personal Cricut Challenge to make at least one project from each cartridge I own.  Since Halloween is very near I pulled out Happy Hauntings which I bought last year and have not used!  Yep, I confess!
Here is my little card:

I used K&Company papers from a little mat stack I picked up the other day as well as lots of paper scraps I had in my scrap box.  I used my Gyspy so was able to just lay out the scraps where I wanted them and cut all the pieces in one swoop.  Love that...and what a time saver.
This card came together quickly...no new technique on this one...just a little inking of edges, some google eyes on the ghosts, a little heat embossing for the sentiment, some glitter on the raven and other than cutting the ghosts out twice and offsetting them for a little shadow and a bit more dimension...well, that was about it.
Came together fast and was easy....but of course I destroyed my craft room in the process and now will need to spend 45 minutes cleaning up what it took me 1/2 an hour to make! HAHA!

And this card was entered in the Fantabulous Cricut #83 Challenge to use a ghost on a project.

Happy Crafting!

Tim Holtz Archiver's Tag and Crocheting for the Winter!

I went to Archiver's last week, as I mentioned, and they had a cute little make and take featuring Tim Holtz products.  Nothing much to this tag except that I liked that we used the texture fade (which I call an embossing folder) AND the coordinating stamp.  We took the stamp...inked it up with various Distress Inks using a foam applicator (and overlap was prefectly ok!) and stamped a craft tag.  Then we lined up the embossing folder with the stamped image and ran it through the embossing machine.  I loved that look...wish the embossing showed up a little better in my photo but it's there...I promise!

We used a few precut die cuts, some Stickles, the Tiny Attacher, inked up the edges and that was it.  I think it took less than 5 minutes...and is pretty cute in real life.  The photo doesn't do it justice unfortunately. Maybe I'll try another photo later...

I'm also working on a crocheted scarf made with some great chunky variegated yarn I picked up at Michael's.  I love, love, love blues and browns together....
I admit...I'm a scarf addict!  I bought a gorgeous cashmere scarf in Scotland but will probably be afraid to wear it and mess it up! HAHA!  That's me...save it and never use it but admire it each time I go in my safe closet!

Well, I'm in a rush so off I go...I need to remind myself to SLOW down!!!
:)

Happy Crafting!

The 12 1/2 Minute Card***and More Quilling Fun!

Sometimes when I'm away from crafting for a while and finally get back to my crafting stuff I look at it like it is like it is alien....you know...like I've never seen the stuff before and have noooo idea what to do with it!  KWIM? I think..."WHERE DID ALL THIS STUFF COME FROM?"  But every now and then I can just jump right in like I've never missed a beat.
Last night was one of those nights.  I finally finished all my post world traveling chores and spent less than an hour in my room last night and played!  And was really happy with the result!
Now in my title you may have noticed the *** and you may have scanned to see what *** referred to.  No, it's not just a teaser or a joke...it really does mean something.
So here it is:
***INCLUDING PICKING OUT PAPER!

Yes, I made an entire card from start to finish in 12 1/2 minutes!  That's an amazing feat for me.
1.  I haven't crafted in over a month and have no idea where half my things are.
2.  Before my world traveling I left my room in a mess so that made finding things and even a space to work on difficult.
3. I made this card and even hunted and found all the supplies and even made one little mistake I had to redo in 12 1/2 minutes.

Truly a miracle...

Ok, I will admit my 12 1/2 minute card is very simple so I probably should have been able to do it in 6 1/2 mintues but that's just not the way I operate!)

Very simple in light of technique but still pretty cute, I think...and one I will make again when I need a QUICK card! :)
I punched the flowers with a prehistoric punch I had (there is not even a label on it) with various K&Company papers (Sweet Nectar)....ok, diverting here but I got that little paper pack at a craft show a while back for less than $4 so this is also a real bargain card, too.
I inked the edges with some Stampin' Up inks and an ink dauber and glued two punched pieces together...curled the top layer petals up and the bottom layer petals down.  And then I took a couple of pieces of quilling paper and quilled loose circles for the flower centers.

I stamped the sentiment with a Heidi Grace stamp and attached some neutral knotted twine with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.  Voila!  Perfection! 
OK...I'm stretching on the perfection part but it was so easy and I loved the prints and colors together.  It's just fun to me.  I think I love it so much I am going to mail it to myself!

I'm bad...

I also made this little duckie gift enclosure for a baby gift.  I'm new to quilling (or I'm a new re-quiller since I haven't quilled in years)...so I need to work on my gluing technique but it's a fun process for me and these little duckies are indeed cute!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Happy Crafting!

Quilling Fun!

In yesterday's post I told about the Beginner Quilling kit I bought at Archiver's.  My intention was to get in my craft room last night and whip up a storm.  I didn't even whip a a drizzle! HAHA!  Just ran out of time...you know how that is!
I've been working on the thousand or so photos I took in Scotland and Ireland....that can be quite the time sucker.  It's amazing how many really bad shots I got!  But generally I just snap away and if I get a few good ones...well, I'm happy.  Anyway, I've been spending some time trying to get them organized so I can burn a few DVDs for my travel companions and good friends.
I did make this little dragonfly for fun.  It's really teensy...maybe just 3 inches long...but it's just so delicate and cute.  I love the process of quilling...it is so wonderfully tedious! HAHA!  I have little patience in real life but when it comes to fiddling with paper I have the patience of Job!

My scrapbooking friends are all scrapping together this weekend...HELLO to Cyndi, Christine, Debbie, Cyndi, Stacey, Lisa, Deb and whomever else is cropping!  Deb has a wonderful house on Lake Hartwell that she has opened up to our scrapping group this weekend.  Wish I could have gone but let's face it....my head has barely hit my own pillow the last month or so....I really needed to be home!  Especially in light of my husband's upcoming travels which will take him away from me. 
So, today we are meeting up with my daugher, sil, and the two grandkids for a Bon Voyage meal for my husband. 
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday!

I'm cleaning....

Gadgets Galore and How to Get Your Mojo Back!

OK...so what part of the title made you want to read further?  That the Gadget Queen has more new gadgets to share...or could it be that you are in a creative lull right now and are looking for fabulous tips to start that flow of creativity again? 
Well....no big secrets here on the ol' How to  Get Your Mojo back but it occurred to me that maybe the boost I would need could possibly come in the form of new gadgets or tools!  So, off to the Archiver's store I went this morning.  I hadn't been in a good month (didn't see ANY scrapbooking stuff in either Scotland or Ireland) so I was due for some browsing time.  I was thinking that perhaps I would take a look at the new Sew Ribbon paraphernalia by We R Memory Keepers.
 Lord KNOWS....I HAD TO HAVE the whole Sew Easy Kit and Kaboodle and it sure is cute sitting on my shelf in its adorable little case but  I will admit.... I HAVE NOT USED IT ONCE!  Gonna, gonna, gonna....but it just hasn't happened yet!  But of course that would not prevent me from getting something else to get my Mojo going, you know.  But alas...Archiver's did NOT HAVE Sew Ribbon yet so that idea flew out the window.  Then I came across this cute Beginning Quilling Case

which came with quilling paper strips, quilling needles (two because, of course, one is not enough!), a ruler that guides you to make the proper size, some glue, some cute little tweezers and and instruction book.  And all of these things fit perfectly in the cute little case.  What clinched the deal for me buying it was that I also had a 30% off coupon!  Sold! 
I can't wait to try it out...now that my suitcase is unpacked, dirty clothes are laundered and I'm over jetlag I'm getting a "wee bit" (that's how people who have spent time in Ireland talk, by the way... :)) of that familiar desired to make something!  Maybe I'll get in my room tonight and play around a bit.  Sounds like a plan....

OK...so I said "Gadgets Galore"....did you notice the "s" on the end of Gadgets which, of course, means plural (I did pass English many moons ago!).  So what other gadget did I get?  Well, I am the proud owner of the brand spanking new iPhone 4S.  I had the first generation when they first came out...and then the 3GS....but now I have the 4S and am excited about it.  First of all it has an 8mp camera (with flash), a dual processor (that baby is fast!) and Siri, the voice activated "assistant".  I can now do Facetime with my daughter and say  night night to the grandkids each night.  Ahhhhh....technology....I love it!

Did I tell you how wonderful my trip was?  14 glorious nights in Scotland and Ireland.  We did some serious traveling...from Glasgow, through the Highlands, Loch Lomond, Loch Ness, St. Andrews, Edinburgh and then the ferry across the North Channel to Belfast and all the way around Ireland ending up in Dublin.  The people were fantastic....nicest people I've come across in my various travels.  We had some icky weather (cloudy, wet, wet, and more wet)...but nothing to dampen our spirits.  It was the most fun and I want to thank my wonderful friend, Becky for finding this tour and telling me about it.  I can't wait for the next trip.  We are talking Spain and Portugal...or maybe Germany and France.....ahh.....the possibilities are endless!!!

Happy Crafting!