On a Creative Roll...Halloween Decor

Since I posted my Halloween banner my mind has been filled with Halloween project ideas.  Last Saturday I worked all day on those ideas.  I still don't have everything made but here's a few that found a home on my Hoosier cabinet.

An overall look...

I covered my vintage cherry canisters with text print pages that were zig-zag stitched together.  Then, stenciled some rats from Martha Stewart.  The letters are silver embossed, mounted on frozen concentrate juice lids.  I glued magnets to the back of each letter, to attach them temporarily to the canisters.

More vintage goodies...an orange enamelware pan with Scrabble letters, a Gurley jack o'lantern candle and a flocked Halloween card.

Apples in a cupcake tin.  An easel made from an old fork.  If you aren't aware...a few lines from the witch in the movie Snow White.

I'm super excited to share this rosette (or medallion) I made by piecing together different designer series papers.  I simply butted the edges together and zig-zag stitched over the seam.  I added Scotch tape over the seam in back, just to prevent any tearing of the paper.

Here's a close-up.  Please look past the breaks in the black paper!

I've always wanted to make one of these punch art pumpkins, so here's my chance!

I hope to have more to show in days to come!

Spooky Banner

It's no surprise to me that I haven't posted since Easter.  I love decorating for the holidays!  When I saw the Spooky banner in the new Stampin' Up Holiday catalog I knew I had a "must do" project on my hands!

I could have bought the kit.  It's very cute...but for 2 reasons.
#1 - I have a ton of Designer Series Paper!
#2 - The canvas banners in the kit are 5 x 7.  I needed smaller to fit the space I hang my banners.

 

Each of my letters are 4 1/4" x  6 1/2".  The embellishments I bought last year on clearance.  I added some bling to those simple cut-outs.  I used my Sure Cuts a Lot and the Typist font to make my stencils.  Here's a look at each one close-up:

It really feels good to have something done ahead of schedule! 

Greeting Card Kids - Halloween

Today's post will be a really quick one.  This week has become unexpectedly hectic.  Funny how that seems to happen a lot!  To compound matters, I messed up my watermark setting on my Photoshop Elements and cannot figure out how to get it back to "normal."  Yes, I am technologically challenged.  I fear my last resort will be to uninstall it and reinstall and cross my fingers that I'm back in business!

So, here's another card using the cutie set Greeting Card Kids.  The idea to crackle was my big inspiration.  I thought it would fit right in with the vintage feel.  I want to do more!!!  Fun stuff!  One note, my image was  much deeper in color but the crackle medium washed it out a bit.  So, next time instead of water coloring with the Aqua Painter I'm going to try full strength markers.  I'll let you know the results.  Again I embossed on DSP and sanded the tops to reveal the white core.  Love that too!  I went a little crazy with the spatter....it was fun to let loose!

So, that's it for today!  Have a great one!

Halloween Fun

I had to get some ink on this stamp right away!  Last Thursday was the kids first day of school.  I celebrated (not that I wanted them to go back) with a road trip to Mike's and a few quilt shops.  This stamp was the first to catch my eye.  Usually I can't resist  buying a few of these cheap thrills but this day I stuck with the ONE that spoke the loudest.

I also happened to pick up an embossing folder on clearance, so I had two new toys to play with.  I inked up my folder with a brayer and black ink before sending it through the Big Shot.  I've done this before with mixed results.  Today was no exception.  I probably did 5 "tests" trying to keep the ink from smearing.  Nothing totally fixed the problem, but once I started I had to include it in the card.  It fit the card so well!

I still love stitching on my cards and I should do more of it because it is so much fun.  So look out for more stitching!

Me Again. Surprised?

Wow, two posts in one day! Not too often that happens.

I thought I'd go ahead and post a few pictures of my house on my favorite holiday! I just love Halloween! OK, maybe it's a tie between Christmas and Halloween. Too hard to choose.

Like most years I have LOTS of ideas but the time flies by so quickly. This is what I did get accomplish.My mantel. I love primitive and vintage Halloween. I have mostly primitive, not so much vintage....yet! The rats and spiders are new this year via Martha Stewart.
The BOO blocks are ones I made a few years ago with the help of my great uncle, who is since passed. He was always happy to help me with my hair-brained ideas! I've built three furniture pieces in my house with his encouragement!

I adore Lori Mitchell pieces. The figures on each side of my BOO blocks are her's. I'm hoping to add a few more, maybe after the holiday and I can get a bargain or two!
Here is my floorcloth outside my front door. Recognize the sentiment? It's from the retired by the same name, Home is Where the Haunt Is. I made this several years ago. It's painted on the back side of a piece of linoleum.
The last is a pillow I've made out of a tea towel and a travel pillow form. See the large buttons on the sides? I change it out with the seasons. The quilt on the back of the chair is one I made, just flannel squares, very comfy.

Maybe next year I'll have more to share....

Halloween Cards....Just in Time???

Well, I'd admit, these cards are being posted with no time to spare! But what do you do? The friends these cards are going to read my blog. A girl has to keep a secret or two.The first is a card I CASED from Connie Babbert. She used the Good Friend set, which I failed to read until I did mine and figured out my mistake. I used the On Board pieces So Tweet which are slightly larger so I had a bit of trouble fitting everything on my card. On the positive side, it forced me to be creative and NOT do a straight CASE. Also, Connie used glitter on her birds, I used some glitter paint I had in my stash.
The second card came about because I was going to participate in a challenge here. But the goofball I can be, I forgot to use one of the colors required! So, here it is MINUS the Certainly Celery it was suppose to contain! I can't believe I waited so long to buy Branch Out! You know, even though it's not in the catalog it's not retired, just dormant right now. I would highly recommend it. It's one of those sets that makes you look a bonafide ARTISTE! You can't mess it up So, I added a little masking and the bats from the retired Halloween backgrounds and VOILE! Elegant Halloween card.

Just to add, I used my new Perfect Details Texturz Plate on the Pale Plum. For added dimension I used a brayer and inked the plate before sending it through the Big Shot. Love the texture.

No promises, but I am working on another Halloween post! Stay tuned!

Eat, Drink & Be Scary

The card I am sharing today is my version of a card I saw here. A creation by LeAnne over at Wee Inklings. My contributions were: using the Spiral Punch, adding an additional layer and the Trio Flower Punch and Black Brad atop the witches hat. Another cute and simple card....gotta love 'em!

I sure wish I could get a decent picture of my cards, though. I just hate having a lot to set-up or store. Right now I take two sheets of Whisper White cardstock, one for the bottom, one for the background and set them up against my sewing machine. I have a bright light with a Reveal bulb attached to the table. I have 5 can lights in my crafting room, too. I get close, I use a timer, even macro. It's just no good! UGH!

Aside from my photo woes, the week has been a good one! I hope it has been the same for you! Let's meet for more stamping soon!

Hello, hello! It's a rainy, cool day here. I'm just goofing off around the house. So, I figured I'd share a card! A card I did for a party (same party as my last post.) I just LOVE Halloween. I buy just about every set that Stampin' Up! comes out with! This one is no exception! I love every image in this set, Twick or Tweet.

It's all good when a simple card comes out cute. I think this one qualifies! The Sanded background is a favorite....it's hard to mess it up! The Basic Black is torn, with the Whisper White on top. I did stamp the image with Stazon Black because I used my Aqua Painter to color my image.

If you read my last post. I had promised a card for my Brother-In-Laws birthday. I'm bad. I never got it done! Hubby called him instead! I have a few more occasions to send cards this month, so I should get crackin'! Tomorrow is another free day. So, maybe we'll see you then!

Kristina's Color Inspiration #24

OK, I need to explain today's card for the Kristina Color Inspiration challenge. This is a card I made about 10 days ago while participating in Splitcoast Stampers Virtual Stamp Night. By the way, it was my first time participating and I had a very good time. For those not familiar, there is a challenge posted every hour and you are to complete the challenge in 45 minutes, then upload your card to the gallery. If you are unable to join in during that hour, you can do the challenges anytime during the weekend using that 45 minute time allotment. So, the challenge was to use a quote from the movie "The Princess Bride" and design a card around it. The part of the movie I chose was between Mad Max and Valerie.

Mad Max: Get back, witch.
Valerie: I'm not a witch, I'm your wife. But after what you just said, I'm not even sure I want to be that any more.

Now, I have never seen this movie. There are many, many fans out there. I have found that out. So, I will have to see it. It was strange making the card and not knowing if it really matched the scene. However, I did receive many nice comments on it from the other faithful Splitcoast Stampers.

Happy Halloween!

A version of this little gem came to my inbox the other day. It's from Connie Babbert's blog Inkspired Treasures. Her blog is also in my favorite sites, so head on over there and check it out. She does some great work!

Anyway, I did change a few things on mine. One because I miss cut and had to make my background much smaller. The other changes came because I don't have the set, Season of Friendship. I was going to buy it, why didn't I. UGH!

The hat came from the fun Halloween set, Eat, Drink and
Be Scary. For his arms I used the stem from the "poppy" flower in Bloomin' Beautiful. You won't believe how I made the lines on the pumpkin! I used half of the egg on A Good Egg. I tried doing it free hand but the ink in all my markers didn't have the saturation of the ink pad. It took a while to get it right! But I am happy with the end product.