Candy Corn Anyone?

Is it just me, or is the memory of candy corn way better than the actual taste of it?!? I guess since it's only out once a year, I forget, think I want some, then remember...I don't like it. (Don't forget to take my poll in the upper left hand column...lol!)

So here are the last of the Halloween projects. This first card is one of my favorites from the final projects I submitted to be on the design team for Purple Onion Designs. I used the candy corn image from the Halloween set to create a background for my card. Once again, I used my favorite at the moment, Kraft cardstock, to make the base. I paper pieced the trick or treat bag and added a band of the same paper around my card. I layered with some black cardstock for contrast. All the edges got inked with a little Pumpkin Pie ink.










Stamps: Halloween set (Purple Onion Designs)
Cardstock: Basic Black (SU!), Kraft (PTI)
Patterned Paper: Burnt Orange Dot (Bo Bunny)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black (SU!)
Tools: scallop and circle punches (SU!)
Other: Koh-I-Noor woodless colour pencils



Here's a second Halloween card, this one uses some Martha Stewart Crafts twine from last year. I stamped my images, colored them, then cut them out and attached them to the twine with mini clothespins. I also used foam mounting tape to give them lift. I distressed the edges of my cardstock after I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder.











Stamps: Halloween set (Purple Onion Designs)
Cardstock: Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Kraft and SS White (PTI)
Ink: Basic Black (SU!)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), swiss dot embossing folder for Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), double-ended tag Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)
Other: Koh-I-Noor woodless colour pencils, twine (Martha Stewart Crafts), black brads, mini clothespins, distressing tool (Heidi Swapp)





And one last goodie. Hershey Nuggets wrapped with stamped Avery address labels and tucked into a cellophane bag with a matching topper:

Make sure to pop on over to the Purple Onion blog to check out what other great projects the Design Team created. And, does anyone else have to wait until the last minute to buy candy...to avoid eating it all before Halloween?!? Okay now, it can't be just me...

Stamps: Halloween set (Purple Onion Designs)
Cardstock: Basic Black and Old Olive (SU!), white
Patterned Paper: Burnt Orange Dot (Bo Bunny)
Ink: Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant and Basic Black (SU!)
Ribbon: black and white polka dot (Michaels), green eyelash ribbon
Tools: scallop and circle punches (SU!), Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), tiny tag die for Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), circle and scallop punches (SU!)
Other: Koh-I-Noor woodless colour pencils, Avery address labels (Office Max), cellophane bag

Give Me Something Good To Eat

Just a few more days until Halloween and I’m still crankin’ out the projects! And my daughter’s costume still needs a few finishing touches. Where did the time go?

Tonight I’m finishing up the goodie bags for my nieces and nephew. As usual, I give them very little candy and opt for alternatives such as pencils, matching erasers, little notebooks, etc. I did make one sweet treat to put in each bag and that is the candy coated pretzel rods. They are easy and fun to make. I used those candy melts you get in the cake decorating isle at the craft store. I melted them in the microwave, dipped the pretzel rods, and added the Halloween sprinkles. The cellophane bags came from the craft store, too, and are sized for the pretzel rods and include the twist ties.

I found a tutorial for the bag on Cambria Turnbow’s blog. You can read it here. She is super talented and has a ton of great projects that she has so graciously shared. Making these bags was a great way to use up stash of Halloween paper. I used the bat paper leftover from this project, and the glitter paper leftover from this project was perfect; all I had to do was cut out strips and adhere each one to the bottom of the bags. And I love the glitter! I stamped the orange ribbon with black StazOn ink and added a simple tag to finish it off.

There...one more thing to check off the list! For those of you with little ghosts or goblins, what kinds of treats will you be giving out this Halloween? Are you opting for candy or have you come up with a creative alternative? Please share...we can never have too many good ideas!

Stamps: Spooky Sweets I & II (PTI)
Ink: black StazOn, Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie (SU!)
Cardstock: Basic Black (SU!), white
Patterned Paper: glitter paper (K&Company), Luster Justin Pieces (Cloud 9 Designs)
Tools: tab punch (SU!), Scor-Pal, Crop-a-Dile, tag punch (Marvy Uchida)
Ribbon: orange satin, black & white polka dot (Michaels), green metallic eyelash
Other: white and silver eyelets

Snow Anyone?

Since I really liked the color combo in this project, I decided to make a card that had a similar feel. I recently found some metallic paper on clearance at a local office supply store and I gave it a whirl. It's hard to see in the photos, but the white shimmer is so pretty paired with the Water Lily Green ink and Aqua Mist cardstock.

I wanted to keep the card simple, and only use a few key colors. I did use my Martha Stewart snowflake punch to add a few accents. Before punching my snowflakes, I ran the cardstock through my Xyron. I then punched, peeled off the backing, applied glitter and adhered them to the card with glue dots. The final touch...a few rhinestones for a bit more bling.






I've been reading on a few blogs that there have been snowflake sightings! Have you gotten any snow where you live?!?

Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes (PTI)
Ink: Water Lily Green Palette (PTI)
Cardstock: SS White and Aqua Mist (PTI), White Gold metallic (Wausau Paper)
Tools: Threading Water punch (Fiskars), Snowflake punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)
Other: adhesive rhinestones (Marcella by K), Prisma glitter (Hero Arts)

Answering Questions...

I thought I’d take a few minutes to answer some questions. I figured if one person is thinking it, someone else is, too! And just a reminder when leaving a comment: It would be great if you could include your email address so that I can respond to you and answer your questions in the moment.

What do you use to adhere glitter? What do you use when you want glitter around edges? What about the whole image like your black cat cards?
I use my Xyron when working with glitter to cover an entire image, like the moon on my Halloween cards. I find it’s easy, quick and the glitter really stays put. I have also used spray adhesive in the past, but it’s a little messier, not to mention the smell. I suppose you could use any glue that would dry clear and just brush it on with a foam brush. As for the edges, you could go back with a glue pen and add glue to the edges and roll it around in glitter (or the foam brush again). I’m not sure if you’re referring to chipboard or something thicker, but I think that would still work.

What is your secret to keep the Model Magic from cracking once dry? (Referring to this project and this project.)
This is just hit or miss. Sometimes it cracks, sometimes it doesn’t. But, I do find that if I make the clay on the thin side it tends to dry without cracking; or at least the cracks are less noticeable.

Where did you find the tin you used? (Referring to this project.)
I bought the tin online at www.papertreyink.com.

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop

It's time for another Papertrey Ink Bog Hop! And this month's challenge was to create something that incorporated polka dots. Say no more...I'm there! If you can never have enough glitter or ribbon, then you can certainly never have enough polka dots. And on this card, I managed to include all three!

I started with my newly purchased set of circle Nestabilities (love them!) and made my card round...one big polka dot! I then layered from there with Spring Moss and white. Before removing my white layer from the die, I stippled some Sweet Blush ink around the edges and stamped some snowflakes for a soft background (click on the picture to see a close up). I covered a chipboard heart with Sweet Blush, added glitter and glued into place. I stamped my mittens with Spring Moss then added some (what else?) polka dots using my Polka Dots Basics set and Ripe Avocado ink. I then cut them out and added them to the card to make it look like they were holding the heart.

And, of course, I had to add not one, but two ribbons. The brown for the polka dots and the white wired pom pom because it's just too much fun (and it counts for polka dots, right?!). Can't wait to see what everyone else created tonight...see you soon!

Stamps: Made of Snow, Snowfall, Rustic Snowflakes, Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado, Sweet Blush (PTI)
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate, Spring Moss, Sweet Blush, SS White (PTI)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), circle plain and scallop Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)
Ribbon: white wired pom pom, brown and white polka dot sheer
Other: Prisma glitter (Hero Arts), chipboard heart (Maya Road), foam mounting tape (3M)

Very Superstitious

I'm getting in a few more Halloween cards before it is here and gone. Can you believe how quickly this month has flown by?

So I liked my witch's glittery moon so much, I decided to try it again with my black cat. Really, can you ever have too much glitter? Notice the scallop along the edge? I used my rectangle Nestabilities to do that. I used the largest one and measured my card from there, to make sure it would fit properly. And I used more of this great My Mind's Eye Halloween paper. I cannot get enough of polka dots and stripes...ever! And, I've said it before and I'll say it again, the best thing about making Halloween cards is that you can do just about anything and it still looks good! I mean, normally this might look like a big ol' mess with a regular card, but this kind of pattern on top of pattern seems to work for this! And the glitter? Well, it sorta didn't stick to all of the cardstock for some reason, but again...

And here's a second, simpler card using the same stamps and paper:

So, are you superstitious? Do you avoid a black cat and the number 13? What about walking under ladders? Now that one just seems like a safety issue to me, nothing superstitious about that!

Stamps: Spooky Sweets II and Mixed Messages (PTI)
Ink: Basic Black, Creamy Caramel and Pumpkin Pie (SU!)
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie and So Saffron (SU!), white
Patterned Paper: Night Light/Jack’s Stripes and Night Light/Sugar Dots (My Mind’s Eye)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), Tiny Tag die for Cuttlebug, large rectangle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders), Coluzzle
Ribbon: May Arts, cooper metallic eyelash
Other: Prisma glitter (Hero Arts)

Birthday Noteblock

Finally...I can now reveal some of my projects for Purple Onion Designs!

These first two cards I created using the Birthday Noteblock stamp. There are five different Noteblock stamps in all, each with a different theme. This first card is a shaker card. I hadn't made one of these in ages, but thought this birthday theme called for a little confetti! I may have to do a tutorial on my blog in the near future...



Here's a close up of the confetti (and glitter!) sandwiched in between a piece of transparency and cardstock stamped with the present image from the Doodle Birthday set:



This second card is sized to fit a business size envelope. I simply stamped the noteblock on three different sections of cardstock that I cut out using my rectangle Nestabilities dies. I added a few birthday touches, again using the Doodle Birthday set.


I used foam mounting tape to give the present, cupcake and party hat a little lift:

Be sure to visit Michele's blog to check out what the other design team members created using the Noteblock stamps. There are some great projects over there! And keep an eye out Friday for some spook-tacular Halloween creations! And by the way, I want to thank all of you who left me the sweetest comments congratulating me for making the design team. I am so excited to have this opportunity and your support and encouragement means so much! Thank you all...

One For the Fellas

Not that this necessarily has to be a card for a guy, but when it was all said and done, I felt like it had a somewhat masculine feel. Or, it could go either way. Which is not a bad thing considering I have no cards in my stash that are suited for the men in my life.

The inspiration for this card was the corrugated paper and the copper metallic paper I picked up this past weekend. I started out making an autumn card, but decided to use more of the olive tones in the leaf, so I could coordinated it with my new ribbon. I inked the leaf with two shades of green and a bit of copper, to pick up the metallic tone in the paper. And can you believe I even had a copper button in my stash? Perfect!




A bit of ribbon, a bit of twine, and, of course, I had to add a tiny tag. I'm so hooked on these right now! And this sentiment from my Mixed Messages set is perfect for any occasion.

Stamps: Autumn Fest (SU!), Mixed Messages (PTI)
Ink: Old Olive and Creamy Caramel (SU!), Dark Chocolate (PTI), Khaki (VersaColor), Copper pigment (ColorBox)
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate and Vintage Cream (PTI), Castle Copper metallic (Wausau Paper), corrugated paper (The Write Stock)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), Tiny Tag die for Cuttlebug, large rectangle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)
Ribbon: olive stripe (May Arts), twine
Other: copper button

Batty Treat Box

I did a little shopping this weekend and picked up this adorable patterned paper at Big Lots, of all places! It came in a pack of 15 sheets for $2.50! Can you see that the bats look like they were embossed with clear embossing powder? Saves a lot of work for me!

I got this idea from Molly, she made some adorable boxes on her blog. You can get the template for the pillow boxes here. There are two options - small or large - and I used the large box for this project. I printed the template right onto the back of my patterned paper, cut it out and assembled it in no time. Since the pattern on the paper was so great, all I needed was a sentiment. I made a belly band for the box using purple and gray cardstock. I stamped it up using my Spooky Sweets II set from Papertrey Ink. I stamped the spiderwebs once on scrap paper before stamping them onto my cardstock (without re-inking). I wanted them to be very light so that the sentiment and spider would stand out more. I inked all my edges with white pigment ink...spooky!

Aren't those bats too cute? Uh...I mean scary?!? My nieces and nephew will get a kick out of the "Eat at your own risk" warning on the box. I'll make them take guesses as to what's inside before they get to open it!

Stamps: Spooky Sweets II (PTI)
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray and Elegant Eggplant (SU!), white pigment (ColorBox)
Patterned Paper: Luster Justin Pieces (Cloud 9 Designs)
Cardstock: Basic Gray and Elegant Eggplant (SU!)
Tools: scallop circle and circle punches by Marvy Uchida

Teacher's Gift

This is my second Guest Star Stamper project for Papertrey Ink, and it's a twist on the Snowman Ornament I did last month. You can see the tutorial for that here. All you have to do to make the pin is make a few modifications. I simply halved a small Styrofoam ball, added tiny pom pom balls and wire for ear muffs, and gave the whole thing a dusting of glitter spray. Glue a pin backing to the back side, and it's done!

The pin sits inside of a small tin for gift giving. I decorated the inside and outside of the square clear top tin with Pure Poppy cardstock that I stamped using my Rustic Snowflakes stamp set. The "window" on the tin lid got stamped, too, using white StazOn ink. My little snowman pin is attached to a tiny card made of Pure Poppy and personalized inside with my four year old's own handwriting. She thinks white gel pens are really cool, by the way. Do your children get frustrated when their white crayon "won't work?" LOL.

My plan is to give these to my daughter's Preschool teachers. Since I'm not certain of their religious preferences, this "winter" gift will work just fine. And who doesn't love snowmen?!?

Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes (PTI)
Ink: white StazOn, white pigment (ColorBox)
Cardstock: Pure Poppy (PTI)
Tools: corner rounder punch (EK Success)
Other: 4 oz. clear top tin (PTI), Styrofoam ball, Model Magic (Crayola), white, orange and black acrylic paint, pink chalk, wire, pom pom balls, pin backing, white gel pen, glitter spray

Stamp Sale!

ETA: I have updated the list of available stamps and as of 11/16/08 have lowered most of the of the prices!

I need to make some space in my craft room! I'm selling many of my Stampin' Up! sets, leftover from my days as a demonstrator. These sets are all in excellent like new condition, with little to no visible staining, and many of them are brand new, never mounted (indicated by a "UM" next to the name). Please note the following:

• Shipping via USPS Priority Mail within the United States only


• PayPal payments only accepted


• Sets sold on a first come, first serve basis


• All sales final

If you are interested in any of the sets, please email me with your name, the sets you want, and your zip code (to calculate postage). I will send you a PayPal invoice with a total, including shipping. Payment is due within 24 hours of receipt of the invoice. If you have any questions about the sets, please feel free to contact me. Click on the stamp name to view a photo of the set. I will update the list as the sets sell.

Happy Harmony $10
Pick A Petal (UM) $15
It's A Date $8
Polka Dots & Paisley $10
Lots of Thoughts (UM) $12
Lots of Thoughts (UM) $12
French Script (UM) $12
Mostly Flowers $8
Headline Alphabet $20
Friendship Blooms (UM) $12
Heartfelt Thanks $12

For those of you who may be uncertain about buying this way, you can view my eBay profile here. I usually set my stamps on eBay, but thought I would give this a try. Please contact me with any questions you may have. Thank you! I may have even more stamps to sell, so check back soon!

Sweet Snowflakes

When I started to think about my projects for this month’s Guest Star Stamper contest at Papertrey Ink, I had a ton of ideas but they weren’t coming together and time was running out. As I was rummaging through my tin stash, I came across my tea tins. They seemed like a great shape to hold small cookies. Then I realized that one of the stamps in the Rustic Snowflake set from PTI says, “May you never forget the flavor of” and another stamp says “snowflakes.” And that is how this project was born!

I started by stamping my Aqua Mist cardstock with the two sentiment stamps in Water Lily Green. I love how the two look together! I then stamped white snowflakes randomly (in several sizes) and embossed them with white embossing powder. I scalloped some white cardstock with my Threading Water punch and layered it underneath my Aqua Mist piece. This whole thing then got adhered to the tin. I wanted some of the silver of the tin to show, as I thought it was a great color addition with the Aqua and Water Lily Green (not to mention the silver ribbons).

For the top, I got out a chipboard snowflake and covered it with more Aqua Mist. I inked the edges in white and dipped them in white embossing powder. I wanted this to look like an iced sugar cookie. I used my Crop-a-Dile to add a few holes for detail, and dotted on a bit of Diamond Stickles for some shimmer. The next step was to add a silver bow and tie on a little tag I stamped with the word “snowflakes.” I used a second silver ribbon to add the tag.

Before placing the cookies inside, I cleaned the tin well and added a wax paper liner, in case the icing left any residue inside the tin. All that’s left is to give these sweet snowflakes to someone special! Yummy!

One more note. Can you believe this is my first time icing sugar cookies (thus the close up shot)? I usually opt for the sprinkles and sugar, but for this project I wanted white and blue snowflakes. It was well worth the work, but I already know what I need to do to make it a bit more workable for the real thing in December (less milk, more sugar). And if I could just get the icing to match my Aqua Mist cardstock...lol. I have two more GSS submissions to share with you this week, so make sure to come back!

Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes (PTI)
Ink: Water Lily Green (PTI), white pigment (ColorBox)
Cardstock: Aqua Mist and SS White (PTI)
Tools: Crop-a-Dile, Threading Water punch (Fiskars), Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), Tiny Tag die for Cuttlebug
Ribbon: Silver Sheer Metallic and Silver Sheer Metallic Edge (PTI)
Other: silver eyelet, chipboard snowflake (SU!), tea tin (PTI), Diamond Stickles (Ranger)