Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore'

The Halloween products coming out in the Holiday Mini Catalog are all WAY, SUPER, and TOTALLY amazing. My favorite line of products is the 1800s London Halloween Suite. Over the past few weeks I have posted samples featuring some of the pieces of this line. If you love hosting parties for Halloween or setting up a fun porch display for trick or treaters this line is for you. When I first saw this line it made me think of Jack the Ripper, Doctor Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and of course Edgar Allan Poe. All perfect for a festive haunt.

For my card I used the Midnight Raven single stamp, the Dark and Dreary stamp set, Wicked Fun dsp (that flocked piece is to die for), and the Always Artichoke seam binding. The seam binding is another new product from the Holiday Mini. It too is super cool and it also comes in Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla. The finishing touch on the card is the antique brad which I thought was perfect with the raven.

Sharing Chari

My good friend Chari, who is in my downline, makes fabulous cards, pages, gifts, and little boxes. She always adds little details that take projects to a higher level. She stamped this card (one of many) for our booth at the Scrapbook Expo in Santa Clara. In fact we chatted on the phone earlier to talk about the next look for our Sacramento Scrapbook Expo booth. Her stash of samples last time focused on new Stampin' Up! stamp sets and the Woodland Walk designer series paper. For this card she featured the Studio Sketches stamp set. To check out more of her work jump over to Stampin' Solutions. Enjoy.

Collecting TP Tubes

My friend Darnell knew I was making Halloween ornaments and the other day on my desk at work I had a bag waiting for me. It was filled with empty toilet paper rolls. She is so funny, she said that the rolls were from just one day. It was a lot! So, now I can make more tricky treat holder ornaments to complement the one I have posted in today's post.

I plan to hang my ornaments in my family room. I have a mirror over my mantle where I like to weave in branches as a structure that I can use to create different options for fall decor. From them I hang different ornaments I have made. Last year I made these which I will bring out and use again this year. And check these out that I made using a great set of rub ons.

I do have to say I am not a Halloween junkie, I have just been getting ready for a presentation and why not show what I have been creating. I am all about dual purposes for things :0)

Blog Candy Winner

And the winner of the vintage soda box samples is...Angela Timms! Come on down you're the winner of all those fun hand stamped samples. There were some great suggestions posted in the comments for that post from several blog visitors. I thank each who left a comment and for those who even sent personal emails to me. I just loved Angela's idea which was similar to others, but she gave just a bit more detail. When she said potion bottles tipped over with glitter and spiders crawling out I was hooked. She also said it would be great in a kitchen with spice jars. I have two vintage soda boxes I just may do that too.

Today I have shared a card which was handmade by Angela. She has a super cool blog and if you click here you will get there.

So Gorgeous

Today I am posting a card made by Nancy F. She is an AMAZING stamper. I always love her impeccable sense of style and detailing. For this card she used a new stamp set which will be available beginning September 1st from the SU! Holiday Mini Catalog. It is called French Foliage and it is a super, super beautiful stamp set. Do you need a copy of the mini for yourself? Let me know and I can help you with that.

Mojo 153

I saw the Mojo Monday sketch and came up with this card super quick. I just followed the sketch and in just a matter of a few minutes I was done. The dsp on this card is flocked and it is SUPER cool. It comes from the Wicked Fun pack from Stampin' Up!

Cool & Creepy Technique

By mistake I came across something cool and creepy. I think I will name this new technique "Bleeding Images." Does that sound perfect for Halloween? What I did was quite simple and sad in a way. You see I am a lazy stamper and I don't always clean my stamps after each use. I had used the happy Halloween stamp from Dark and Dreary with a black marker and since I was next using it with black Staz On I didn't bother to clean the stamp. After I inked up with Staz On I stamped the image and then spritzed it with shimmer paint/alchohol and it bled. What? Why was Staz On bleeding, then I realized what I had done. I thought that you could do something cool with that so, I cleaned then stamp, inked up with both Rich Razzleberry and Cajun Craze and before stamping I inked up again with black Staz On. I stamped the image, let it dry a few seconds and then spritzed it to get the effect you see on my card. Do you like it? Try it for yourself and send me a link to your blog and I will post the link here.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yes, it is wickedly wonderful to be getting in the spirit of Halloween! I love to create Halloween goodies and decor. If you love to stamp and craft for the first fall holiday then I have the event for you. September 24th at 6:30 come to my Monster Mash Madness and prepare to be shocked with fun. We will be making a haunted house table centerpiece, framed wall art, decorative pumpkins, and treats of all kinds. Details to be announced.

I Said I would Try it Again...

...and I did! I tried another sketch challenge and it was fun. Here is the card I made for the "sketch for you to try" challenge. Of course all supplies are from Stampin' Up! and not because I am a SU! snob, but because their products are of the highest quality. I really REALLY like the stamp image of the vintage girl on the pumpkin. She is my favorite stamp in the set called Greeting Card Kids. And check out the glimmer brads on the lower right corner. Need I say more than "AWESOME?" I mean what is better than a brad that is big and covered with glitter?

Mojo Sketch 152

So, for a change I thought I would try a sketch challenge. I was in the mood for making something with my new toys from Stampin' Up! and I came up with a Dark & Dreary card layered with Nite Owl designer series paper. I love how it turned out. I do believe I'll try another sketch challenge in the near future.

Vintage Soda Box - Part Two (blog candy)

And here we are today showing Part Two of my vintage soda box pictures. It looks pretty cute and festive fun. The cupcakes look so good you just want to take a bite out of them. Actually they are rock hard, you might break a tooth.



All supplies are from the 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog. Leave a comment and give me ideas for what to do next in my vintage boxes. Leave a great comment and be the winner of all the stamped projects from inside this vintage box. (Rubber stamps, and stale cupcake not included)

Vintage Soda Box - Part One

As a kid we had these adorable vintage soda boxes in which each compartment held a tiny Christmas scene. We had two of them and I loved seeing them come out from the garage rafters to be added to all the holiday decor in our house. A while back my dad was cleaning the garage and he asked if I wanted them. I quickly said "yes." I wanted the boxes because I knew there were bunches of things I could do with them.



Recently I took out all the tiny Christmas ornaments and added stamped goodies. We have used these twice for the Scrapbook Expo in our booth display; today's post features a few close ups of what I did with the box for the latest Expo. Check back tomorrow for Part Two to see the rest of the pictures.

All supplies are from the 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog. Leave a comment and give me ideas for what to do next in my vintage boxes. Leave a great comment and be the winner of all the stamped projects from inside this vintage box. (Rubber stamps, and stale cupcake not included)

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #10

The first picture, thanks again to Casey H., for today's post is of the lamp I submitted to SU! My recipe below is for that lamp. I wanted to share some close up shots of my lamp, but because I don't have my original pictures of my artisan projects I am showing you photos of a second lamp I made. Last week four of us had a booth at the Scrapbook Expo in Santa Clara for which I made the lamp. Instead of buttons being threaded onto the ribbons, like in the original, I used the antique brads. Other than the color scheme, the images on the tag, and the antique brads the lamp is put together the exact same way.







Pink Lamp project recipe:
Close To Cocoa & Whisper White Cardstocks
½” Soft Suede Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon
¼” Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon
Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, & Kraft Taffeta Ribbons
Button Latte Designer Buttons
5/8” Neutrals Jumbo & Soft Subtle Brads
A to Z & Everything Nice Stamp Sets
Chocolate Chip Classic Ink
Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, & Pretty in Pink Markers
Extra Large Fancy Flower, 1 3/8” & 1” Circle Punches
Frost White Shimmer Paint
SU! Two Tags Bigz Die
Linen Thread

Thanks for having a look at today's Artisan ribbon lamp project. Come back anytime for more close ups of my cards, pages, and home decor projects. Now, it's time to hop over to the very talented Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #9

Okay, so here is the nitty gritty on this 3-D artisan entry. This is a copy of the original. All of my original photos were lost and I wanted to share close ups of just how cool this box is, so I made another. It is stinkin' close to the box I submitted for the Artisan Award Contest, but there are a few replacements of designer series paper. I had some leftovers from the Guest Book Simply Scrappin' kit, but not enough to recreate the box exactly as the original. Now you're thinking why would I remake the box? Because I am crazy and I wanted to have another for my parents 50th wedding anniversary as that is why I made it in the first place.






Cake Box recipe:
Guest Book Simply Scrappin’ Kit
Neutrals Textured & Real Red Cardstocks
Basic Black, Real Red, & Sahara Sand Markers
Very Vanilla Craft Ink
Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder
Elements of Style, Vintage Vogue, Full Calendar,
Tiny Tags, & Calendar Alphabet & Numbers Stamp Sets
On Board Lots of Letters
Pretties Kit, Vintage Brads, & Button Latte
5/8” Very Vanilla Satin & Kraft Taffeta Ribbons
SU! Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die
Pop-Up Three-Tier Cake XL Bigz Die
Eggcellent Eggs Kit
Small Oval, Large Oval, 3/16” Corner Rounder,
& Jewelry Tag Punches



Thanks for having a look at today's Artisan wedding box 3-D project. Come back tomorrow for more close ups of my last Artisan entry. Now, it's time to hop over to the one and only Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #8

Welcome stamp and scrap fanatics to our Wednesday hop featuring the last of our scrapbook pages. This page of mine may seem simple at first glance, but there are some subtle design choices that make the page seem effortless. My plan was for a clean line page that directed all focus straight to the photo of my nephew. I took this shot on this page last year at the beach house just before sunset. That is the absolute best time to get great lighting for pictures.

Double click on the photo (provided again by Casey H.) to see a closer look at the detail. Each of the four panels is at a different level with the picture panel being the highest. I purposely wanted it to be the highest/heaviest layer. Another detail on the page is one you cannot see. The "Jared" panel is actually a pocket for a journaling tag. The tag reads: "your quiet smile reminds me of my dad, your grandpa."
The surfer stamp image was embossed with clear (in my clear EP I have bits of white and other remnants of stuff, so that is why there are specs). When it was cool I then stamped the Tres Chic background stamp over the surfer for added interest and "text"ure. To further bring out the surfer I sponged ink over the image and then buffed off the wet ink.



Scrapbook page recipe:
Neutrals Textured, Whisper White, & Soft Suede Cardstocks
Thoroughly Modern Designer Series Paper
Christmas Cocoa Designer Series Paper
Tres Chic & Extreme Surfboard Stamps
Soft Suede Classic & Versamark Inks
Clear Embossing Powder
Chocolate Chip Corduroy Buttons
Button Latte
On Board Loads of Letters
On Board Lots of Letters
On Board Long Board Book Basics (for raising the photo)
Build-A-Brad, Pewter
½” Soft Suede Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon
Linen Thread
½’ Circle Punch
SU! Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder
SU! Table Setting XL Bigz Die
SU! Scallop Square Bigz Die
Dimensionals

Thanks for having a look at today's Artisan scrapbook page project. Come back tomorrow for more close ups of my Artisan entries. Now, it's time to hop over to the very talented Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #7

It's Tuesday and time to show my second scrapbook page. This page was definitely inspired by my niece's fun and funky personality. I wanted to show my more whimsical side of scrapbooking by using rub ons, die cut letters, hardware, and bling. For me this color palette is very out there. I never would have gone to a Bermuda Bay and Rose Red color combination, but the SAB paper stack lead me down that path. I believe that they totally work with the picture.




I love the photo on this page, in fact I really only like to scrapbook photos that I take. I guess because they mean so much to me. For this page I kept the journaling to two words (out shoppin') and I consider the title to be Madeline thus the change of color between the words. Journaling-wize I felt the photo said the rest.

Scrapbook page recipe:
Basic Black, Rose Red, & Bermuda Bay Cardstocks
Art Journal (Whisper White Cardstock)
Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper
With All My Heart & Calendar Alphabet & Numbers Stamp Sets
Extra Large Fancy Flower & 1 ¼” Circle Punches
Eggcellent Eggs Kit
Filigree Designer Brads
Basic Jumbo Grommets
Texture Plates Kit #4
SU! Billboard Strip Die
Dimensionals

Thanks for having a look at today's Artisan scrapbook page project. Come back tomorrow for more close ups of my Artisan entries. Now, it's time to hop over to the very talented Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #6

Hello and happy Monday :0) Welcome to our blog hop. This week we'll start by featuring our scrapbook pages and then finish with our 3-D projects. My post today has a photo of my scrapbook page thanks to SU! One of their photographer's helped me greatly by sending me pictures of my projects, so I must publicly thank Casey Hyer for his time and effort to help me.



This page was the first page that I completed for the Artisan Contest. If you remember I told you last week that I was inspired at the World Market Gift Show in Las Vegas with all kinds of ideas for stamp projects. This page was inspired by a woman I saw who was scantly clad in a "working girls" ensemble. She was wearing this black tank top which was layered under all these huge white piaette sequins. I immediately knew how I could translate her top into a page layout. And so, 18 metal edge tags later I had a layout for my brother's annual beach pose. Each tag has a piece of white cardstock which has been texturized and shimmered up to bring a subtle hint of detail to the page. They then are tied together using linen thread. For the title of the page I used three different packages of chipboard letters. Not because I wanted to load up the page with product, but because of necessity. You see I didn't have all the same letters in one style.

I don't know if anybody gets my humor, but the journaling on this page makes me laugh. It reads,"Once a surfer dude always a totally awesome off the wall like to the max surfer dude." I had a brief trip down memory lane to high school.

Here is the recipe for this page:
Neutrals Textured, Basic Black, Whisper White, & Not Quite Navy Cardstocks
Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy, Garden Green, Brocade Blue Classic, & Versamark Inks
Clear Embossing Powder
Extreme Surfboard Stamps
On Board Lots of Letters
5/8” Neutrals Jumbo Brads
Metal Edge Tags
Linen Thread
1/16” Hand Held Circle Punch
SU! Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder
Frost White Shimmer Paint (mixed with rubbing alcohol & sprayed)
Dimensionals

Thanks for having a look at today's Artisan scrapbook page project. Come back tomorrow for more close ups of my Artisan entries. Now, it's time to hop over to the very talented Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #5

Welcome and TGIF! Today's post features the last of my card entries for the Artisan Award contest. By far this was the most complicated card that I sent in. I need to mention that I lost all of my photos of my artisan projects when I was robbed last week. A jerk of a guy did a smash and grab and took my laptop and camera. So, today I am showing a picture from SU! and a replica of the original card I sent in. It is close, but I have had to vary the dsp from Thoroughly Modern to work with what scraps I could find (thank you Julie B.). I wanted to remake this card to show the inside and how classy it looked. This way you can see the use of the Pennant Bigz XL die.



My inspiration for this card came from work. It is a cross between a bridal bouquet and a bridal dress. Many wedding dresses include some sort of corset work around the bodice and so I created my own spin on that idea and laced the card up from the bottom.

Here is the recipe for the card:
Neutrals Textured & Vellum Cardstocks
Thoroughly Modern Designer Series Paper
Elements of Style Stamp Set
Basic Brown, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum,
Mellow Moss, & Sahara Sand Classic Inks
Pretties Kit
Dazzling Diamonds
Scallop Trim Boarder Punch
Kraft Taffeta Ribbon
Finial Press Impressions Folder
Scallop Circle #2 Bigz Die
SU! Pennant Bigz XL Die
Dimensionals

Thanks for having a look at today's Artisan card project. Come back on Monday for more close ups of my Artisan entries. Now, it's time to hop over to Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #4

My favorite of all my card entries! I just can't seem to get enough Halloween stuff. I love it all, well maybe not all. I am not into the cute Halloween stuff. I am definitely more the scary type or stuff with a vintage flair.

Things to point out on this card. First, it took forever. Second the panel of dsp on the bottom half of the card was texturized to look like a wains coat of wall paper and in my mind I saw the ribbon as a chair rail. These elements help to create the idea of looking out the window from inside an old and dark spooky house.

Here is the recipe for this card:
Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Rich Razzleberry,
& Elegant Eggplant Cardstock
Cast-a-Spell Designer Series Paper
Spooky Treats Rub Ons
Scary Skeleton & Bird On A Branch Stamp Sets
Elegant Eggplant Craft Ink
Orchard Ribbon Originals & 5/8” Black Grosgrain
Rhinestone Brads, Circle Ice
Brads, Earth Elements
Window Sheets, Thick
¾” Circle & Modern Label Punches
1 ¼” & 1 3/8” Square Punches
SU! Backgrounds 1 Texture Plates
Clear Embossing Powder
Dimensionals
Hot Glue (webs)

Thanks for having a look at my fourth and favorite Artisan card project. Now, it's time to hop over to Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #3

Of all the cards I entered this is the only "remake" that I submitted. I don't know what it was about the card that I liked so much that I remade the card for the contest, I just did. The original version of this card was much much simpler. This version has been stepped up in three ways. The first is the added beads on the tree blossoms. The second is the use of Crystal Effects on the bird; by the way there are three layers. And the last is the addition of a light coating of Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the focal panel.

Here is the card recipe:
Neutrals Textured, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise,
& Whisper White Cardstocks
Flock Together Designer Series Paper
Bird On A Branch Stamp Set
Soft Suede, Tempting Turquoise, & Old Olive Classic Inks
SU! Pennant Bigz XL Die
Clips Assortment
Green Duo Beads
Old Oliver ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon
Dazzling Diamonds
Crystal Effects
Dimensionals
Hair Spray

Thanks for having a look at my third Artisan card project. Now, it's time to hop over to Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.

Artisan Award Winners Blog Hop #2

Welcome and Happy Tuesday! You have landed here from Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog--isn't she amazing? Right now I am at the World Market Gift Show in Las Vegas. We are buying spring gifts and home accessories for work. Last February I was at the gift show and was completely inspired, so much that I was filled with ideas to make things to enter the Artisan Award contest. I'll tell you more about that inspiration later.

For today I am sharing a card which featured a Sale-a-Bration stamp set. Technically the stamping is straight forward. I simply stamped the stack of presents three times on three varying pieces of Tea Party dsp, cut the packages apart, and then layered them on top of each other to enhance the look of the present stack. The subtle detail in this card is the use of the white gel pen on the top present and the gentle sponging around the edges. Usually I can get heavy handed with inking edges, but I was going for just a hint of shadow. Another great touch to this card is the "mechanics." You cannot see any brads coming through to the inside and I layered a second circle behind the main circle. I did that because I used the small scallop punch and snipped it to customize a perfect sized scallop for my circle. When I was done the back of the circle was ugly so it needed to be finished off.




Here is the card recipe:
Pretty in Pink & Whisper White Cardstocks
Tea Party Designer Series Paper
Happy Moments Stamp Set
Soft Suede Classic Ink
Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen
Circle Scissor Plus
Scallop Punch
1 ¼” & 1 3/8” Circle Punches
Brads, Soft Subtles
Sherbet Designer Buttons
Pretty in Pink ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon
So Saffron ½” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Dimensionals

Thanks for having a look at my second Artisan card project. Now, get ready to hop over to Renee Ballard's Stamp Stadium

To start at the beginning of the hop go to Heather Van Duker's Stamptastic blog.