Just a treat today for Halloween. Today onlyall Stampin' Up! stamps are 15% off! Even the single stamps are on sale! Imagine what a great stocking stuffer those single stamps would be! Visit my online store (by clicking this green link) today to take advantage of this sale. I've been part of Stampin' Up! for 15 years and have never seen a sale like this! These are not included in the sale: Hostess Sets, Bundled Stamp Set (bundles with framelits) and Digital.
Just thought I'd pop in to let you know I've updated my Stamps for Sale tab at the top. I've sold several more sets so the selection is getting slimmer!
I'm doing a happy dance today because one of my layouts has been published for the first time here:
And it hits the newsstands today! I'm in the Tips and Tricks section showing off the Doodle Stamper from WRMK on this Christmas layout.
“As seen in the Nov/Dec 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Copyright Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher.”
It seems like forever ago that I mailed that baby in. Time does have a way of sneaking up on ya, doesn't it? I feel so honored/happy/lucky/blessed/amazed to be having the fun creative experiences that I'm having right now. Don't know how long it will last, but I'm soaking up every minute of this crafty ride!
It's a blustery day here in my neck of the 100-acre woods. The kind of day that sends Piglet flying like a kite, with Winnie-the-Pooh holding onto his scarf for dear life. Heck, I almost flew like a kite at the gas pump today!
My head and body feel like the noisy, blustery wind outside my window.
This past weekend was our Fall Break. Thursday I got to enjoy a day of crafting and spending time with my kids, followed by an evening of watching an episode of Sherlock with Superman.
Friday morning, I woke up and had no voice. And my throat hurt. And my body ached. All on the day we had planned to do this:
For those not local to Utah, Lagoon is our claim to amusement park fame. Although, it will never rival Six Flags, or Disneyland, it's still a fun place to take the family. And during October, they have a thing called Frightmares where all their shows are Halloween themed, they have spooky {and not so spooky} haunted houses, and cute Halloween decorations all over the park. Definitely one of my favorite times of year to go to Lagoon. No heat, beautiful Autumn foliage, and less people.
The beauty that surrounded the Rattlesnake Rapids ride.
My kids kept telling me I should stay home. And I seriously considered it. But I didn't. I decided I could stay home alone and feel miserable or go with my family, enjoy their company, take some fun pictures and feel miserable. I only went on a couple of rides and we left earlier than planned {thanks to my kids being tired and wanting to leave. Imagine that!} but it was still a really good day.
I designated myself the official photographer of the trip.
Superman is a really good sport when it comes to scary rides. Not me, man.
Waiting our turn to enter one of the Haunted Houses.
One of the shows
And then I handed the camera off to our daughter.
But before we left for our Halloween adventure, I made a card. You've probably seen versions of this card floating around Pinterest, and I thought I'd try my hand at one.
I loved the Perfectly Preserved stamp set as soon as I opened my Holiday Mini Catalog {and you definitely want the framelits dies that coordinate with this set!}. I paired it with the Googly Ghouls set.
{Tip: When you stamp on acetate, use Stazon Ink.}
This turned out super cute, if I say so myself! Even Superman thought it was really cute!
Well, thanks for joining me at the Table today and letting me share some of my eventful weekend with you. Now I'm off to take a nap.
Time for another installment of Pinterest Party. I created a Christmas card from my Pinterest inspiration today. So without further delay, here's a pin from my Just Cards board:
I may, at some point, do a literal interpretation copy of this card but what I liked at first sight was:
1- The repeated snowflake punches,
2- The brads in the centers,
and
3- The simplicity of the card.
Here's my card:
I wanted to use some classic Christmas colors so I took Stampin' Up! Lucky Limeade card stock, and rounded the two right corners. Then instead of using brads, I just grabbed my smallest red buttons and stuck them to those snowflakes. After that, I picked an old Stampin' Up! sentiment because I really like the look of mixing fancy and blocky fonts. I finished it off with some Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Up! baker's twine. I also turned it on its side because my snowflake punches must be larger than my inspiration card photo.
Simple, cute and Christmasy. Just like I like it!
You definitely can see the similarities but it's different enough to be completely it's own card.
Keep being inspired by all those photos you're pinning and make something crafty. :)
I'm playing along with Kelsey at the Story Saving blog. She made a list of the TV shows she likes to watch right now and I thought I'd do the same. This could be a great subject for a layout, don't you think?
Here's what's on my TV (or recorded on my Apple TV) during prime time right now:
P.S. These are not in any preferential order. And please don't judge me. I like TV and I cannot lie.
1- Castle
2- Revolution
3- Once Upon a Time
4- The Middle
5- Criminal Minds
6- The Mentalist
7- Person of Interest (I have yet to actually watch an episode of this season, but it's waiting for me on my Apple TV!)
8- Grimm
9- 48 Hours
10- Big Bang Theory
So....that list isn't as long as I thought it would be. Still, 10 hours of TV a week is kinda a lot. Plus when you figure in the miniseries shows I watch, like how I'm impatiently waiting for season 3 of Downton Abbey, and the occasional Super Nanny on Hulu, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Netflix, oh and lest I forget the home shows on PBS every Saturday. Okay yeah. I like TV and I cannot lie.
Welcome back for the second day of my Black Widow Decorations!
The first thing I made for my mantel this year was a fake clock. The Black Widow collection comes with a great die cut clock paper. I didn't need to alter it too much because it's an awesome design as is, but here's how I began:
I started with a blank 12 x 12 canvas.
Then I cut different widths of burlap and glued them on with Mod Podge.
Till it looked like this (oh I forgot to say that I inked the edges of the canvas beforehand with different shades of brown and black ink):
Then I took a sponge inked with Basic Black SU! ink and brushed the edges of the burlap strips. This was a very subtle step but it lends to the creepy feel.
After that, I attached the die cut clock with some more Mod Podge and added some orange gems I got at a craft store.
I lightly stamped a spider web in the center of the clock. Then I cut two clock hands with my Silhouette out of We R black card stock that goes with the collection. Silhouette Tip: We R Memory Keepers textured card stock cuts fabulously well in the Silhouette! After the hands were cut, I covered them with black glitter. I attached them to the clock with a sparkly black brad from my stash.
Lastly, I covered the banner "Beware The Witching Hour" with Crystal Effects to help it stand out more.
And here's the finished clock! I decided not to have it be exactly midnight so as to make the viewer feel a little tingle of anticipation of spooky things to come....
Next, I wanted to make a banner so I could incorporate more of the awesome patterned papers. I cut triangles and then embellished them with embosssed border stickers, gems, and more patterned paper. I strung them on gray ribbon with some dollar store skeletons (aren't they cute?) and embossed tags from the collection. I was excited to pull out my Slice and use one of the Halloween fonts. Again, I used the black card stock from the collection and my Slice cut through like buttah....Love that card stock!
Here's a photo of everything all done!
And more photos of the details:
I found this bottle at the thrift store and attached one of the embossed labels to it. Didn't have any graveyard dust so Spanish Moss was just going to have to do.
So that's my spooky mantel. I LOVE how it turned out. I'm hoping to add a black candelabra and maybe some spooky framed pictures next year!
I might just make a witch hat for the cabinet in my front entrance but until then, check out this YouTube video from fellow design team member, Shemaine, who shows the complete Black Widow collection. From there, you can check out the super cute witch hat she made.
Just thought I'd pop in this morning and show you what I've been up to as far as Halloween decorating goes. I haven't done a whole lot this year. Just my piano top and my mantel, but I'm super excited with the results!
I have to be honest and say that when I first got my hands on the Black Widow Collection from We R Memory Keepers, I was a little disappointed in the color scheme. I have gotten quite fond of Halloween collections that include bright green and purple. This collection has none of that. BUT....as I started working with it and making things to decorate my home, I fell in love. I love the fact that it's not cutesy at all. It has a spooky, creepy elegance that I'm loving. I love the oranges, blacks and grays in this collection. And as I looked closer, there are very subtle purples. So dark and rich I thought it was black at first, and a touch of light olive that enhances everything!
Let me show you my first project:
I took a thrift store frame and spray painted it a glossy black. Then I simply trimmed down the spider patterned paper (doesn't it look like creepy wallpaper?) to fit inside the frame. Next I took one of the embossed tags and adhered it in the center with dimensional adhesive. I had to use a double layer of adhesive because of the thickness of the frame. Lastly, I added a metal flower from the collection, and a jewel brad from my stash. I think it's an old Making Memories brad.
Here's a close-up of that flower embellishment. I love the spooky elegance it adds!
And here it is with our collection of "vintage" Halloween decor. Stuff Superman grew up with. Don't tell him I just kinda called him vintage, okay? ;)
Check back tomorrow when I show you my spooky mantel and banner!
I just thought I'd pop in real quick before bed. I made a couple more cards today and then I spent the evening with my Mom and daughter watching The Help. You is smart, you is kind, you is important. Love that movie.
Anyway, I think I'm going to use this card as one of our projects for Stamp Club this month. What do you think? I saw a version of this card on someone's blog and loved how she embossed the panel after stamping it.
Remember to check back next week when I show you a couple of fun Halloween home decor crafts I made to spookify my home! Now if I can just figure out my camera so that the photos aren't blurry. Wish me luck!
It's a beautiful Autumn morning where I live. Cool, crisp air, bright blue sky and golden sunshine. A perfect day to celebrate World Card Making Day!
At this time on WCMD, I'm usually I'm on my way to a friend's house to work on my Christmas cards while she and my other friends scrapbook, but I'm on my own today so I thought I'd start this fun day with some Halloween cards.
These cards use the new Black Widow collection from We R Memory Keepers.
On this first one, I ran the gray card stock through my Big Shot using my Stampin' Up! Web embossing folder. One thing I really like about We R card stock is that it has a white core, so when you sand it, your embossed image really stands out.
Next, I cut a We R spider image with my Silhouette. Did I ever say I loved my Silhouette? Well I do. With a puffy heart. I hope We R will be able to put more shapes in the Silhouette store soon!
Here's a close-up of that spider. I added SU! pearls to the eyes and then covered the whole thing with Crystal Effects. All that's left to do is add a sentiment from the embossed sticker sheet. Done!
With this next one, I used the negative piece and simply placed it over that great striped patterned paper. Then I added a chipboard sticker and tied some baker's twine on top of that. Simple but cute!
This card was the most simple of all. I LOVE this piece of patterned paper so I trimmed it along the edge and adhered it to a Crumb Cake card base. Then, because I didn't want the sentiment to detract from the awesome spooky scene, I just trimmed a block from one of the 6x6 sheets and adhered it with dimensionals. It blended into the background a little too much so I covered it with Crystal Effects. Did you know that Crystal Effects intensifies the color of whatever you use it on? I love this card. It might just make it's way to my sister and her boys.
Here's a close-up of the sentiment block.
Well, that's it for now. I'm going to be making all kinds of cards today while I listen to General Conference so you may see a few more pop up here on my little blog today.
Next week, I'll be showing you some spooky home decor using the Black Widow collection so be sure to come back then as well!
Enjoy World Card Making Day today and thanks for joining me at the Table!
Some exciting news from Stampin' Up!! Do you ever see a stamp set that you think, "I like it except for that one stamp" or "I like only one stamp in that set"? Well, Stampin' Up! is trying an experiment and here is what they have to say:
These stamps are available on any order type-customer, demonstrator, workshop, or online.
You can find the stamp item numbers on the flyers.
We will not promote this offer on the Customer site, so it's up to you to spread the word. However, the single stamps can be ordered in the online store.
These won't be sent to you in our typical cases or packaging; they'll be packaged in cello bags. If you'd like a case for your stamp, you can buy our Clear-Mount Stamp Cases that come in packs of four (item 119105).
This offer is available for clear-mount stamps only.
The stamps won't come with a Clear-Mount Block, and you'll need to buy a block separately if you don't already have one. The recommended block sizes can be found on the flyers.
There's no limit on how many pieces you can buy.
This offer is not available in Quebec.
Remember that this is a pilot program, so take advantage of it while you can!
The more people that take advantage of this offer, the more likely Stampin' Up! will expand this idea to other stamp sets.
Check out these flyers for more details, then visit my online store for some happy shopping!
I totally spaced announcing the winner this morning! I know you all are just dying to know who won. He, he. So the winner is.....
Kelsey!
I figured maybe I'd get a few more entries? But I know I'm not in the big leagues as far as craft blogs go. Oh heck, why kid myself? I'm not even in the little leagues! LOL. :-D Maybe next time, I'll post pictures of the prize and that might be a little more enticing, yes?
Congrats, Kelsey! I'll get the goods to you real soon!
On another note, I had a lady at work say she saw my Stamping Royalty card in the Oct/Nov Paper Crafts Magazine already! Yay and what the?! It's on the newsstands already but even though I'm a subscriber, I don't have my copy yet?!
