Happy Blessings

Real quick today I took a few minutes to throw together a card for Taylor's Cupcake Sketch Challenge. Not having much time these days to stamp is really starting to make me cranky! But on the bright side it's a beautiful day today to take the boys trick-or-treating and maybe this weekend I will MAKE some time to do what I want to do since the Halloween Hoopla will be over. Taylor had a great sketch today for a quick card. I love to color this image from the Happy Blessings set. Now I'm off to frantically search for the shirt to Carter's costume that is MIA. Trick-or-Treat is in just an hour. Happy Halloween!

Quick Pic Of My Babies

Sorry I don't have anything crafty to share with you today. Yesterday I dodn't get time to create because I had my daycare Halloween party. They got to be crafty though. They made handprint bats and Monster Mush (flubber). I had my camera put to take pictures of that craziness and Carter wanted to me take of picture of him and Hemi. Aren't they precious!?

Winter Workshop Projects

Sunday I had another great workshop. A lot of new faces, which is great. You could tell they were excited to be there and were anxious to learn. They were ready to jump right in and get creating, so after a quick catalog tour I showed them how quickly and inexpensively they could spruce up their dinner table with this adorable place setting. Using the new SU! Christmas rub ons and the I Wish Simply Scrappin' kit, the possibilities are endless. I picked up a mug, a salad plate, and a dinner plate in this Olive color and a neutral color fabric napkin from Walmart- all for under $10 and went to work. I started by making a placemat. I picked out 1 sheet of the d.p. from the SSKit. Then I cut 2- 12"x 1" strips of the textured Real Red carstock, also in the kit. Using the scallop border punched I scalloped the edges and attached them to the sides of the "placemat". I will get that laminated so that it doesn't get ruined. Then for the plated I simply added some of the small snowflake rub ons to the rim of the plate. I will also add a clear coat of some sort to protect the plates. I also added a large snowflake rub on to the mug. For the napkin I added rub ons along the bottom of the napkin, folded it, and added a band for the napking ring. I placed some of the cardstock stickers to the band to fancy it up a little. Just for fun I made a menu. I just printed out the meal using a font from my Write Me A Memory II CD on the computer, matted it on textured Real Red c.s. added some Alpine Ribbon and stamped the reindeer from Winter Post on the corner. And finally, my favorite...the stocking. I downloaded the FREE downloadable Stocking Stuffer Template from PTI. I used the cardstock and d.p. from the SSKit, as well. Then I filled it with Raspberry cookies. How great is that? It probably only took me an hour to put together this whole set, and even less the second time I did it, so if you're looking for an inexpensive way to spruce up your table this holiday season you might give this a try! And who knows, I may just give this away as a Christmas gift as well!

Happy Winter

It sure feels like winter here in Ohio. I had to break down and dig out the winter coasts yesterday. I do not like winter! But I do like this card. I used Wednesday's SCS sketch challenge for the layout. I used SU!'s Frosty Day d.p. for my color inspiration. I've been so busy these past few weeks that my blog post are lacking content, but there are other things that have to come first. On that note, back to work I go!

Candy Corn Treat Holder

Really quickly I wanted to show you a treat holder that we made at my last workshop. These are so quick and easy when you're short on time. I started with a piece of 3 1/2" x 11" cardstock. I scored it at 4 1/2" & 6 1/2". I decorated the front and added a bag of candy corn to the inside, then tied it shut. Very simple. It can be adapted to any holiday and can be as elaborate as you wish. Now you go give it a try!

A Very Merry Christmas To You!

Finally, a few minutes to whip up a card for fun! I'm knee deep in anniversary invitations for my in-laws and so that doesn't leave much time these days to stamp for no reason. I started with my d.p. by My Mind's Eye for the inspiration for my colors. I used Julee's Mojo Minday sketch. It's an awesome sketch but I think my main image is a little too big. I used my new Home For Christmas set. I love to watercolor this image. My little pumpkins are waking up from their naps, so I better get back to work! Happy Monday!

I-Scream Sundae Kit

I am very excited about this project. I love the way it came together and knowing that the recipient will love it too makes it even sweeter! I made my I-Scream Sundae Kit using PTI's Spooky Sweets I & II along with Stampin' Up's Halloween D.P. from last year. I started with a white gable box also from PTI. I covered the bottom portion of the box with the d.p. I tied ribbons to the handle. Then I added my scallop circle embellishment and ribbon to the front of the box. For the inside I put a bag of sundae waffle bowls, a jar of hot fudge, and the test tubes have all sorts of yummy's to top of their sundaes. Of course I had to pretty everything up so it all matches! You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge for detail.

Gift Wrap Ensemble

As I've mentioned a million times over, my Christmas gifts this year are going to be wallet friendly. Today I put together part of what will be a gift wrap ensemble that I will give to someone on my Christmas list. I used one of my hinged tins from Specialty Bottle that I've had collecting dust forever. I created dividers to put inside the tin using Nichole's Tag Tin printable template. I wrapped several of my new SU! ribbons around a doll rod cut to fit inside the long skinny section of my tin. Then I just stamped and punched out several tags with my scallop and circle punches and Deer Friends Hostess set, also from SU! I will add a few Kraft gift bags and maybe some hand stamped gift wrap to complete the gift wrap ensemble.

Carmel Apple Kit

How was everyone's weekend? We went on our last camping trip for the season. The weather was just perfect. It was 80 degrees during the day and the kids got to go trick or treating without having to put layers and layers under their costumes. Then Sunday we went to my s-i-l's for a Halloween party for the kids. They got to make some of the cutest crafts. I was glad to jump right in this morning getting last minute Halloween projects wrapped up and starting in on my Christmas gifts. We are on a tight budget this year, so most of my gifts will be hand crafted. My favorite kind of gifts! Today I whipped up a carmel apple kit using PTI's Spooky Sweets I & II. The D.P. is Stampin' Up's Ghostly Greetings. I think this will go to one of the boys' teachers for Halloween.

Happy Birthday Mr. Campy

I whipped up this card in 15 minutes yesterday afternoon as we were running out the door to a friends surprise birthday party. I really like the way it turned out. I struggle with masculine cards, but this friend of ours is a real outdoorsy type of guy, so I dusted off my retired Angler set. The d.p. I used is from the Mr. Campy collection. I LOVE all of the papers in that collection and it was so hard to make the first cut! But the end result made it worth it because the man of honor seen to really like it, but more importantly his wife loved it!

GNO Projects

As promised, here are the projects that we made at my Ghouls Night Out stamping event on Sunday. This is the second year that I've held this event and hope to continue to do so because I love teaching the girls some of the great Halloween projects that are out there. So many cute things! First up is my boxy bag tombstone treat holder. Most of these projects have links to templates or where I got the supplies to make them. It would take me all day to get this posted if I added all of them. If you are interested in any of that info, email me and I'll get it to you. I used PTI's Spooky Sweets II for this one.

Next is my "Ghouls just want to have fun" pumpkin.I thought that sentiment was perfect for our "Ghouls Night Out" event. I jsut used the new Halloween rub ons from SU! I wanted to show the girls that rub ons aren't just for paper anymore!

Using Spooky Seets II again I decorated this cookie bag, also from PTI. I made my own template to create a "stand" with 2 holes in it to put mini carmel apples. I also taught the girls how to make those! Yummy! You just use a melon baller to scoop a section out of an apple, add a stick , and dip in carmel, then decorate! They are so easy that I'll be doing them with my daycare children for their Halloween party.

I can't take credit for these sweet little spiders either. I made him using all SU! punches and a peppermint patty!

And finally, we have Frankie. I have seen SO many versions of this guy in the papercrafting world over the past few weeks, so I thought it would be fun to make him into a card. After the girls had him made it was easy to see why there are so many versions out there. No two were alike! Frankie was made with SU! punches as well. I hope you enjoyed these projects and maybe a few have inspired you to get those Halloween treats made for your kiddos!

Live Like You Mean It

Carter cuddling with Hemi. I swear she's grown in the week and a half that we've had her. She weighs 10lbs. as of last Wednesday, but probably more now that she's been eating the cat's food as well as her own!

For Lauren's Saturday Sketch I decided to pull out my uninked Live Like You Mean It hostess set. I used More Mustard, Ruby Red, and Old Olive for my color combo. I love these colors together. I followed her sketch exactly and I like the end result. This card needs little explaination, so I'll be back shortly with pictures from my Ghouls Night Out stamping event that I held yesterday.

Happy Birthday Buckaroo

I made this card for my neighbor boy who will turn 5 this month. I was glad to pull my Cowboy Kid set out of retirement, because this little guy is a cowboy in the making. You rarely see him without his black cowboy boots. I had a lot of fun with this card. I added fringe to the side by snipping a strip of chocolate chip cardstock. There is alot of distressing on this card as well as faux metal accent- the star and a lasso. I think Gabe will love it. What do you think?

Thank You For Your Friendship

I made this card for Wednesday's SCS sketch challenge. I love the Upsy Daisy set. I know I've said it before, but it is so versitile. I also love the sketch for this week. It was a great opportunity to use some of that Urban Garden d.p. I've been hoarding. I embossed the flowers in white on the main panel. I've got lots to do today to prep for my annual SU! Ghouls Night Out party, so I better run! TGIF!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Fall

It is definately fall here in Ohio. This week has been cool and damp. Not the kind of fall that I love, but hopefully we'll get there. This card is what I came up with for yesterday's SCS color challenge. We were to use Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, and Really Rust. What a great fall color combo, soI pulled out my new Happy Blessings set from the SU! holiday mini catalog. Just a quick post today. No time for details because I'm off to take Hemi to the vet. Hopefully we'll be back with a good report and today's sketch challenge.