Halloween Smiles and Ribbon Woes

Hello!  I'm here today with my first Halloween card of the season, using a Bugaboo digi called Fall Pumpkin Trio.  It could be that this was meant to be a fall image, rather than Halloween, but I went with it because of the carved pumpkins and because it's so darn cute.  I like friendly Halloween cards.

 

 

I printed it large so the Copic coloring would be easier, and that didn't leave much room for design, but I did try to add a little something for fun.  The "Happy Halloween" was die cut in orange with orange Stickles added, and the die cut spider is hanging from a die cut balloon string (supplies will be listed below).

 

 

The zig zag stitch is a Hero Arts stamp -- much easier than changing the thread in my machine.  I pierced the points of the zig zag, but I'm not sure that made it look anymore realistic.  This is one of those stamps I've had for years, use often, and love it every time.

 

Now I thought I'd share a project that consumed way too much of my time when I'd rather have been stamping, but I got myself into this mess and I had to pay the price.  My stamp room has been closing in on me and I think, more than anything, I'm not feeling good about the excess which I'll never use in a dozen lifetimes.  It's time to clear it out and I've been doing that a little at a time over the summer in preparation for a new, larger window, new paint, a minor remodel -- all planned for this fall and winter.  I need some white space!  I'd love to have room to spread my current project over my work surface without having to hunt for a spot to set something down.  I'm not getting a bigger room, nor do I want one, but I have to clear some space in the room I have.

 

Most recently I focused on the ribbon.  My ribbon situation was appalling.  One might call me a hoarder except for the fact that I saw how bad it was and I was able to let it go.  In the beginning, however, I nearly cried over some of the pretties I was giving up, but as time went on I nearly cried over how in the world I was ever going to organize or, for heaven's sake, use what I was keeping.  This is what I let go:

 

 

The picture doesn't really give you a feel for how much it truly is.

 

Pictured below is what I kept.  I organized this drawer years ago, but it had become piled in layers so I could hardly find what was underneath.  You can't see all the way into the drawer.  There are a few spools beyond sight.

 

 

 

 In the cabinet under the drawer is this:

 

 

 

On a shelf atop of the cabinet is this:

 

 

 

Hey, at least it's all on one side of the room now.  In order to organize this space I had to clear out a shelf of alterables which I'll never alter, plus clear out most of the chunky flowers I'll never use.  I kept a bare minimum of alterables and flowers.

 

It's amazing what I've taken out of that room over the course of the summer, and there's a lot more to go.  No worries about running short of supplies, though.  I'll be keeping plenty -- stamps, dies, embossing folders, embossing powders, papers, inks, buttons and other embellishments, coloring mediums, and way too much ribbon!  See, I used a teensy bit of ribbon on today's card:

 

 

 

 

And by covering the entire card front with designer paper I effectively used a whole sheet from a 6x6 pad.  Yay!  Okay, it's not much, but I'll keep picking away at it.  I'm banning myself from anymore ribbon purchases, but I can't realistically say I won't buy more designer paper.  It's a weakness and I do use it on nearly every card.

 

 

Hopefully I'll be back with more stamping soon (and ribbon).  This project cut into some of my garden time, though, so I'll need to spend some time out there communing with nature.  I feel like I need it.  Have a good day!

 

 

 

Stamps:  Bugaboo Fall Pumpkin Trio digi, Hero Arts zig zag stitch  Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, BasicGrey Eerie designer paper  Ink:  Printer, Wild Wasabi, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, Orange Peel Stickles, Cheery Lynn Spider Net and Happy Halloween Twiggy Wreath dies, Impression Obsession DIE 359-R (balloons - I just used a string), Scotch brand foam mounting tape