Spooktacular Halloween

I picked up this AWESOME flocked paper last year and never used it. While gathering Halloween-themed supplies to make this card today for the SCS sc191 sketch challenge I spotted it and thought it would match River Rock. Yeah, baby! The mulberry paper lends itself to a spooky look on this card, don't you think? I think it's kinda cobweb-ish looking. For the unitiated, you simply dampen the edges and I used a pencil eraser to pull at the edges to fray them slightly. Voila - Easy Peasy! Thanx for stopping by!

note: You've just got thru Sunday to post your vote re: mounted/unmounted stamp preference at this post to register for some Halloween stamped images.

stamps: A Muse Artstamps' sentiments (the inside sports their FRIGHTFUL & delightful one), Cherry Pie's spider (a portion of their 2-part one w/out its web), katie & co for studio g Halloween (inside sentiment in River Rock, overlayed w A Muse stamp in black); paper: Making Memories flocked spider web DP, PaperReflections' black, SU's River Rock cardstock, unknown white Mulberry paper; ink: SU's River Rock, StazOn's Jet black; accessories: Rusty Pickle's velvet ric rac ribbon

no bones about it ...

Taking a break (pun intended) from Halloween cards - this one's headed to Beth, home recovering from a broken ankle! At a get-together w friends Claudia led us in the making of this card (see link at right), and I added the sentiment to send a get well shout out to BC!

stamps: A Muse Artstamps' sentiment, SU's Posy BK, Simply Said; paper: SU's Always Artichoke, River Rock cardstocks; ink: StazOn Jet Black; accessories: Dew Drops, SU Old Olive ribbon

Paradise found

Last night I got together with friends to scrap and Micki led us in the making of this cute mini tag book. All the materials were cut in advance and we got to select our brads, cardstock, papers, and ribbons - all I know to report for deets is that they're mainly CTMH supplies.

It was my first time using a pretty cool pivot point stapler that's offered in their catty. I generally feel that the more working parts you have in something, the more room for error you get (I put off ordering automatic ice makers in my earlier fridges for this reason) - BUT this stapler worked nice and smoothly! We used it to staple the pages and cardstock cover to the acrylic outer cover. Where in the past I would have had to curl pages under to fit them under a standard stapler to reach the binding, we just inserted the stapler at the top of the little book and then swiveled the stapler mechanism to staple sideways. Voila! The only thing that would've make it uber cool would be making it a bit longer so that you could easily staple in the middle section of a slightly larger booklet ... for example, if you put together a booklet that was 5-1/2 x 8-1/2" in size. I give it 4-1/2 out of a possible 5 star rating!

Cricut, anyone?

OK, folkes, run - don't walk - over to the Vanillajoy blog's craft giveaway spectacular IF you're interested in entering a chance to win a Cricut from the kind folkes at Provo Craft! Post a comment at this post by midnight Thursday, PST, in order to qualify for this contest.

thru the trees

Which came to your mind when you read the title - "Can't see the forest thru the trees" or "O'er the hills and thru the woods"? Both, for me!

I generally stamp my Halloween cards a week or so prior to Halloween, but I'd picked up this BEAUTIFUL black DP at my LSS this past Saturday and thought it would lend itself nicely to a peek-a-boo cutout of a moon. With the full moon you've GOTTA have a witch on broom silhouette stamp - I got this little beauty last fall from StampDiva.com and I just checked - she's still available for $2.75 unmounted (no affiliation with the shop; just another satisfied customer). Which makes me wonder; what do my readers prefer: mounted or unmounted stamps? Let me know via a comment below by Sunday and you'll be entered into a drawing for some stamped silhouette witch images. I'm out of this pale yellow now but I can find other colors to use from my stash. I'm frugal (ok, cheap ...) and often just use regular Scotch 2-sided tape to mount unmounted stamps onto my acrylic blocks to stamp. But I digress ... Then I dug out my ol' Creative Memories circle cutter and placed it over the DP, being VERY careful to only cut thru the background and leave all the branches intact, and glued the yellow moon behind the DP onto my card base. I used both black and white ink for the outside sentiment, creating a shadow-like effect. Spooky, eh?! Nah! Easy peasy!

stamps: A Muse Artstamps' "what's brewing" and "Have a spooktacular Halloween!" sentiments, Cherry Pie's witch silhouete; paper: Robin's Nest's glitter black trees DP, Reflections' black and SU's So Saffron cardstocks; ink: Brilliance Moonlight White, StazOn Jet Black; tools: Creative Memories' circle cutter

save the planet ...

... it's where I keep all my stuff! Did you know ... according to the kind folkes at 1BagataTime, that:

• 14 plastic bags contain enough petroleum to drive a car a mile


• 380 billion plastic bags or wraps are thrown away in America each year


• making a paper bag emits 70% more global warming gasses than making a plastic bag


• cities spend up to 17 cents per bag in disposal costs, wasting millions of tax dollars

Joanne of ... just a little something held a green party for her son recently and is offering blog candy in exchange for us sharing what we've already done and what we will do to be green.

new H card

Not "new age" but "new H" - short for Halloween, natch'! This is my first Halloween card of the year. I'd picked up some new-to-me goodies at a garage sale held at my fav LSS yesterday but when I walked in I spotted some cute Halloween-themed paper and HAD to have it. YOU know how it goes!

I'd not intended to hide all the pretty paper but that's how the card developed. I decided the ric-rac ribbon was too cute to not add, and ended up drawing over the witches' stockings to match the orange in the ribbon and window. This card's inspired by Her Royal Badness, Sherry Cheever ... and you know me and card challenges; it's also for the CPS #79 sketch!

stamps: Stampendous' mini witch shoes, studio g's "trick or treat" (inside sentiment); papers: Reminisce's Verbal Creep DP, Paper Reflections' black, SU's More Mustard and So Saffron card stocks; ink: StazOn's Jet Black, PC-generated outside sentiment; accessories: Reminisce's diecut stickers and Rusty Pickle Big Top trims

happy b'day KimT!

One of my infrequent lunch buddies' b'days is tomorrow ... and it's a BIG one, if decades count! And, tho' we officially celebrate birthdays quarterly in our department, the word on the street is that there WILL be cake ... and lots of folkes wearing black to celebrate the occasion! What can I say - we're a motley crew! So happy b'day KimT!

This card's background designer cardstock closely resembled the pretty Altheta swimwear pictured here (splitcoaststampers' Inspiration Challenge #141) and I used the Technostamper's Monday Lunchtime sketch! So, tell me, when did we switch terms from bathing suit to swimwear? Thanx for stopping by!

stamps: SU's Pocket Fun (a recent used sale find, whoo hoo! thanx, MJ!); paper: A1 Natural White, My Mind's Eye's 29th Street Market cardstocks; ink: StazOn's Jet Black, Tri-C watercolor markers; accessories: Panacea's blue mini discs (a steal at $2/5 oz at Mike's)

have you played w Wordle?

Have you played w Wordle yet? Here's what most of yesterday's post generated!

August 2nd was ...

National Ice Cream Sandwich Day! One thing I've noticed that I share w Angel W (if you don't read her blog daily, you really should!) is an appreciation of wacky holidays!

I JUST finished one of these Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and tho' I'd planned on posting a card on August 2nd, I figured better late than never ... right?! These babies are 140 calories, 1.5g fat, and 3g fiber, for 2 pts each in Weight Watcher's-speak (izzat a word?). I made this card using one of Jen's recent Saturday SFYTT layouts and for Stamp Somthing's Summer Somethings subject challenges.

stamps: n/a; paper: Prism's unknown black, SU's Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron, Whisper White cardstocks; ink: PC-generated sentiments; accessories: Cuttlebug w Swiss Dots embossing folder, My Mind's Eye ric rac ribbon

SU wish list started

High on my SU wish list this year (so far!) are the following (some aren't new - I'm just glad they weren't discontinued; some aren't stamp sets! the Ghostly Greetings DP makes me want to get inkin' my Halloween-themed stamps ... I've not even begun those yet! so much to do; so little time, y'know?!):

• Window Dressing - p22


• Tasty Sweet - p29


• Fall Harvest - p31


• To You & Yours - p45


• Together Forever, Forever Flowers - p57


• Making Tracks - p81


• A Flower for All Seasons, Watercolor Joy - p87


• Pocket Silhouettes - p98


• Upsy Daisy - p101


• True Friend, Boho Friend - p118


• Boho Blooms BK - p133


• Heard from the Heart - p145


• Kiwi Kiss In Color - p162


• Ghostly Greetings DP - p170


• Patterns Designer Series Papers DP - p171


• Designer Brads - p184


• Designer Buttons - p187

I'll be shrinking my wish list real soon, I'm sure! How 'bout you?

SU fall winter catty

I would imagine the kind folkes at SU will have a flash version loaded on their site soon (there's talk of a whole new online ordering system on the horizon), but until then, here's a temporary PDF version of their fall/winter catty! I'm DROOLING here, and getting my wish list started! Topping that off is 15% off selected stamps thru September - see flyer!

Hope you've got a broadband connection!

happy b'day Kathleen!

My buddy Kathleen's celebrating a birthday on Monday, and I'm dropping this card off to her at work tomorrow. Yeah, I know, I'm totally hooked on this DP! LOL! She's NOT into checking blogs, so methinks my secret's safe by posting it today!

stamps: PAPERTREYink's Green Thumb, SU's Heartfelt Thanks; paper: Bo-Bunny Press' Summer Cottage Buds DP, SU's Real Red and So Saffron cardstocks; ink: SU's Old Olive, Real Red and So Saffron; accessories: SU's Real Red grosgrain ribbon

LOVE ...

Did you know ... that on August 8, 1930, Betty Boop appeared in her first cartoon? Well, I couldn't let a day like that slip thru the cracks without celebrating, so I gave my DH this card yesterday evening.

The lovely and talented Pat L may recognize that "parts" from a recent QuicKutz club meeting were used in the making of this card. I'd arrived at what appears to be the February meeting not feeling up-to-par ... had a wicked headache and just didn't want to concentrate on making anything then! I bagged up the goodies we rec'd, shopped a bit, and figured I'd make a card later on ... well, sooner or LATER, anywho! The die cuts are of a sparkly cardstock but it's really a "spot on" match for the colors to the right side of the background DCS.

stamps: n/a (I searched Google pics for the Betty Boop images); paper: My Mind's Eye 29th Street Market, Prism black, and SU's Whisper White cardstocks; ink: PC-generated outside pic and inside greeting; accessories: QuicKutz die shapes

easy peasy

I forget who coined that phrase ... yep, Lauren, just as I'd guessed! Well, it's what I was thinking last month when making this cutie of a Halloween treat bag wrap! The top folds over the opening, and we cut out a couple jack-o-lanterns from the DP to use as accents on the flap.

Fiskars punched the flap - I like the cute holes they provide in their scallop punch - and it's a quick project! Hmmnn ... do I want to make enough for my son's whole class? Time'll tell!

just checking in

and it appears the kind folkes at Site Meter have seen the folly in tossing in upgrades without fully testing first. I can SO sympathize as I was a programmer in a previous life. It brought back memories of some of the "spaghetti" code I got to maintain ... and made me smile (in a wry sort of way). ;-}

Now, did everybody else save their code when they temporarily removed their sitemeter javascript last weekend?

New SU catty sneak peek

Stampin' Up!'s posted a catalog sampler - see link at right!

Want 20% off at Mike's?

I THOUGHT you might! Have you signed up for Creating Keepsakes Magazine's emails? If not, you really should (here)! I received a coupon in this past Tuesday's email and thot I'd share.

FYI: Blogosphere Issues

Just in case you're having similar problems ... I realized last night I couldn't view my blog; when I'd open it I got a pop-up error message (IE cannot open the internet at "insert-URL-here". Operation Aborted.), apparently the result of blogspot developing some issues with the Site Meter script I'd had when browsing with Internet Explorer. I (hopefully temporarily) removed its JavaScript code from my blog and can view blog again (w some telltale other issues still ... sigh ... my blogaversary button's MIA, I see). Hopefully the kind folkes at Google or Site Meter will resolve these soon.

And, hopefully I'll be back later in the day to post show-'n-tells!

new Hero Arts catty's here

the latest and greatest Hero Arts catty has been introduced ... and I've added a link to the right to the current cattys.

more to follow ...