Spooktacular Halloween

Happy Halloween!  This is the last of the Halloween cards.  I wasn't sure I was going to get these made... always with the high hopes and plans, and then other things get in the way.  We suddenly up and bought a new range and refrigerator and they're being delivered this morning.  That means I did a lot of cleaning yesterday -- you know how you always clean before the maid comes.  Hahahaha!  How many of you have a maid?

Today I've used another Art Impressions set.  This one is called Spooktacular and I have no idea when it was released, but it's new to me.  For several days now I've had the "Monster Mash" song stuck in my head. 

All coloring is with Copics.  This one is simple in design.  I drew the border and punched the corners.  The splatters are a favorite old SU! stamp which I'll never part with -- Itty Bitty Backgrounds.

Next card... I cut a Marianne Designs Anja's Oval die from CTMH  Majestic Mountain cardstock, sanded and glued onto a same color card base.  The sanding roughed up the die a bit much and tore some of the lattice, but I thought it went with the whole Halloween-spooky-old-house-with-a-mummy-creeping-around theme.

I really must run off now as I have a whole lot of other things to do.  Leaving you with the "Monster Mash" song so you can get it stuck in your head, too.

Wishing you a frightfully delightful day!

Fright Night Flight

Another card, another day closer to Halloween.  I returned to my Art Impressions Fright Night set for this one -- the same set I used for the two ghost cards on Monday.  Now I'll have to put it away for another whole year, but I'm happy to say I used every stamp in the set, considering the inside sentiments.

I made one of the funny/weird backgrounds I've been playing with off and on recently.

• After I stamped the images and sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black I traced a circle in light pencil around it.
• Colored the background outside the circle rather loosely with Copics BV01, BV02, BV04; the darker color toward the bottom.
• The next step was to use a skinny eyedropper to randomly drop Colorless Blender fluid onto the background, making some effort to avoid letting the colors run into the circle.
• Edged inside the traced circle with the BV Copics -- BV01, BV000, BV0000

The moon looks a little bit like a big bubble, but I like it.

I colored the image, added the Memory Box Estate Fence and finished up the card with the same Doodlebug Halloween papers I've been using for years.

The cards I make are the only Halloween happenings at our house.  We may get a couple of trick-or-treaters (friends), but most kids don't come down our street.  The whole length of it runs along the edge of the dark and scary woods and there are a couple of empty houses, one of which is essentially abandoned.  I know, it's lovely.  No street lights on our block, either.  I had no idea kids were still trick-or-treating in the general area, but last year when we went for after dinner sniffy walk with Wally and LuLu we were surprised to see all kinds of Halloween activity around the corner.  All these years... sheesh!

I'll be back tomorrow with the last of the Halloween cards.  Have a good day!

Candy Witch

It's Day Two of Halloween Week and so far, so good.  I have an adorable House Mouse today.  This is Mudpie and he's our Candy Witch who appears to be stealing candy.  Is he wicked?  I think not.  He probably trick-or-treated all that candy corn.

This House Mouse is the stamp I won on Sue's blog in a House Mouse and Friends challenge.  Totally unexpected because I simply left a comment and the next thing you know she contacted me.  It was my lucky day!

The sentiment is from the Stampendous Faboolous sentiment set which was the catalyst to all the new Halloween stamps I ended up with this year.  All I wanted was a sentiment set, sigh... but, I've sure been having fun!

I added Wink of Stella to Mudpie's purple witch gown, which actually looks more like a wizard costume to me.  The retired Memory Box Swirly Tree was glued black over white, but I left the swirly ends of the branches free because they're too difficult to glue together and it turns out I like them like this.

Doodlebug paper on a sanded CTMH Autumn Terracotta card base.  Do they still make CTMH cardstock like this?  I love that it's lightweight and can be sanded to show the white core, but it's been ages since I bought CTMH.  Oh, I almost forgot... the plaid frame is Memory Box Wrapped Stitched Frames.

That's all for today.  I hope to be back tomorrow and Thursday.  Have a happy day!

Ghostly Greetings

Hello and welcome to Halloween week!  I have new-to-me Halloween stamps this year and I aim to use them.  The thing is, I went looking for a Halloween sentiment set -- no plans to buy anything else -- and I ended up with the sentiment set, plus 3 more sets with images, plus a single wood block stamp.  I know!  Then I won a cute little House Mouse stamp, and so here I am -- Halloween Week.

My arm is still hurting when I overuse it, but I'm managing.  Oddly, it's the smaller movements such as mousing and coloring that hurt it the most, so everything is being accomplished in shorter intervals.  These cards are easy coloring and quick designs, finished one day at a time.  The stamp set is new this year from Art Impressions, called Fright Night.  I adore these fun-loving, friendly ghosts!

Party in the woods!  These guys are three sheets to the wind, as the sentiment says.  Hilarious!  I brushed the background with Distress Oxide inks, then framed with Memory Box Grand Forest Archway.  Do you see the spider webs in the tree branches?

This next one says "spooky", but it's really not.  That face!  Ghosts just wanna have fun.  Okay, maybe the spiders and webs are a little creepy.

I think you can see where Wink of Stella was added -- spiders, banner, "spooky".  I also added Stickles Stardust to all the purple dots... just to make it even friendlier.  Spiders are Poppystamps Spider Banner, paper is something older by Doodlebug.  I cut the image panel with Lil' Inker Silly Stitched Die Set.

You know I had fun with these, don't you?  There's more coming tomorrow.  I'm hoping for something every day through Halloween, but we'll see how my arm and time hold up.  Thanks for stopping by and checking up on me!  I hope we'll all have fun this week.

Eat. Sleep. Read.

Hello there and happy Monday!  Don't be shocked... today's post has nothing to do with Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas.  It's just a card with a matching bookmark, and it's good for any day in any season because anytime is a good time to pick up a book and read.

I combined two digital sets from Graciellie Design -- Book Lovers and Nourish & Flourish.  It was really the Book Lovers set that drew me in because, in addition to the stack of books and the tea cup, it has 7 great sentiments for a book lover.  The vase of flowers is part of the Nourish & Flourish set.

I colored with Copics and die cut with an old Spellbinders set.  Designer papers are Mintay's Dear Diary collection.

My friend and I spent Friday at the book store --  hours of talking and laughing and browsing books over lunch with dessert and coffee, and we each went home with a tote bag full of stories.  I slipped between the pages of a book that evening and didn't come out till bedtime.  It is a lovely place to be!

Have a beautiful day!

Boo Cat

Hey, friends!  It's almost trick or treat time, not that we get many trick-or-treaters.  However,  **I** was treated this week because it was my birthday on Tuesday.  Today I'm out with a friend, having lunch and browsing the book store.  Seriously one of my favorite activities.  I played in my room, too.  Coloring and crafting cards -- another favorite activity.  There are simply too many things I love to do... not enough hours in the day.

Today it's another Halloween card -- Power Poppy's Boo Cat and Pumpkins digital set.  I arranged the cat, Jack-o-Lantern, and sentiment in the composition of my choice.

(Other supplies:  Cheery Lynn Spider Net die, Carabelle Studio Tricot stencil)

Using Distress Oxide Shabby Shutters I stenciled a leafy background over the whole panel, leaving a glow around the image, then colored with Copics.  I just happened to have a shimmery black cardstock base already cut and embossed.  The embossing is just a peek around the edges on the front, but you get the full effect when you open the card (not photographed).  The spider web was plain gray cardstock; Wink of Stella makes it shimmery.

Just a note to finish up:  I'm currently suffering from medial epicondylitis.  Does it sound scary?  Well, let me tell you, the scariest thing about it is that I think it may be caused by too much coloring and computer.  Oh, noooooooooooooooo!!!

I started feeling it before we went on vacation in August and it's just getting worse.  I've been trying to figure out why it won't let up, and that's the only thing I can come up with.  Yes, I've been to the doctor.  Golfer's elbow without the golfing, sheesh.  It needs rest... but, I have all these not-yet-used stamps...  Maybe just a little coloring?

We'll see what transpires.  In the meantime, I'll be back Monday with something I made earlier this week.  See you soon.  Have a happy day!

Double D Challenge: Silhouettes

Are you ready for another Double D Challenge?  For this challenge we're doing:

SILHOUETTES

Make a silhouette the primary focus of your project.

Sounds pretty easy, doesn't it?  Well, it is!  I don't have a lot of silhouette stamps, but no problem... I have lots of dies that make awesome silhouettes.  I took this opportunity to increase my Christmas card stash with my current favorite Christmas die.  It's by Cottage Cutz, called Santa's Best Friends.

• Layered black on white with a punched white circle behind the moon area.
• Swiped white ink over navy cardstock then adhered the best friends on top.
• Everything went onto a wood grain cardstock base.
• Color and sparkle added with a star die cut from red glitter paper. 

Seriously easy.

In addition to creative winners, Darlene and Diane (Double D owners) always generously give a prize to a random winner.  For this challenge Darlene is offering a cute fairy die:

Since I need to get a move on with the Christmas cards, I made three.

Christmas card total:  26.   Not nearly enough.  I'll need to triple that.  If it starts to feel stressful, I'll resort to store bought.  This needs to be fun, right?

Speaking of fun, play along with us in our "Silhouettes" challenge at Double D.  My DD teamies have some great samples to share, inspired by every corner of the mood board.

Have yourself a beautiful day!

Squirrel Feast

Oh, what fun, I cracked open the seal on a new Art Impressions stamp set!  It's called Feast Mode and I love it to pieces.  There are four critters and lots of sentiments in the set.  It even has flowers.  I'm just getting started with today's card.

I colored with Copics and cut the image with a cross stitch die which I'm loving for fall cards this year.  Added some punched hearts and a couple of oak leaves for dimensional decoration.  One heart with leaf is popped up.

You may have guessed this is a Thanksgiving card.  Inside says "May your life be full of thanks and giving".

I'll get back to this set later as I have some other things to color first.  There's still time before Thanksgiving.  Supplies listed below, but the only new thing is the stamp set.

Wishing you a happy day!

Stamps:  Art Impressions Feast Mode  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, Neenah Husk, retired Stampin' Up! designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Accessories:  SU 3-in-1 heart punch, Scotch foam mounting tape  Dies:  Memory Box Cross Stitched Frame Borders, Impression Obsession Small Leaf Set

Goldens and Garden

A friend is visiting on Goldens and Garden today.

They're good for a smile or two or three.  Have a great weekend!

😊

Pumpkins and Pears

Hello again!  Back to Thanksgiving today because I just couldn't resist coloring another one of my new Power Poppy digis from Marcella's October Digital Blitz -- 10 new additions!.  This one is Pumpkins and Pears.

The Copic markers in the picture are only a few of the many I used for coloring -- not just for blending, but for layering one color on top of another to create a whole new color.

That's a sentiment from a Power Poppy clear stamp set on the front.  I saved the "Happy Thanksgiving" that comes with Pumpkins and Pears for the inside.  Sigh... love these fall colors.

ps: 

Have a happy day!

Twofer Card Challenge #21: Sweets

It's time for another Twofer Card Challenge and Sweets is the theme!  That opens up all kinds of possibilities from lollipops to petit fours.

Remember, it's cards only,  two different designs, two different occasions, and must use a stamp, stencil, or die.  No digital stamps for the prompt image, please.  See the Twofer Blog where Darnell has been very thorough in explaining the concept on her Rules, Definitions, and FAQ pages.

The stamp I used for the Sweets theme is an older, well-used Stampendous Tiers of Treats.  I've made a birthday card and a thank you card.

Here's the whole stamp for the birthday card, combined with stitched dies and glittery sprinkles.  I stamped a Poppystamps sentiment below.

For the thank you card I taped off everything below the strawberries tier before I inked up the stamp.  Then pulled off the inky tape and stamped on my paper.  Voila!  Strawberries only!

Hop over to the Twofer Blog for samples by the team and our talented guest designers.  You'll get some great ideas!  Enjoy your day!

Dies, birthday card:  Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Stackables, Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets, Memory Box Banner Parade
Dies, thank you card:  Taylored Expressions Ric Rac Borders, MFT Die-namics Wild Greenery

Don't Be Scared -- Two Halloween Cards

It's a spooky night, but the Jack-O-Lantern is friendly.  I've made some Halloween cards with a not-new-but-new-to-me Penny Black set called Haunted Halloween.  I thought I might make a CAS card with just the Jack-O-Lantern and fence and a little sponging overhead, but as you can see, it turned into more than that.

It's crazy to even try to capture the sparkle on this card.

After I made the image panel I covered the whole thing with sticky tape and sprinkled with clear glitter.  Amazing flashes of sparkle in real life, but blah in the photo.

The bats and pumpkin and sentiment flag were cut out and added on top of the glitter.  The idea was to have the background enshrouded in sparkly fog.  I added Stickles glitter to the cut out parts of the scene.  Black and orange Stickles were smeared under the pumpkin.

The next card with the same stamp set is watercolored with Tombow markers.  On this one I sprayed the finished panel with glitter spray.  It's more subtle, but still very sparkly.

I used every stamp in the set making these two cards, and that feels like a good thing.  Now I have two more Halloween sets to use this year if I can color fast enough.  Just having fun!  Wishing you a happy day!

On Goldens and Garden

My Saturday post on Goldens and Garden ended up on a Sunday instead, oops.

Drop by when you can!