Author: stampcatwg

A visit to see the butterflies in Santa Cruz!

Hi guys! I’m gonna warn you – this is a long post with lots of photos! So grab some coffee and spend a little time with me and I’ll tell you a cool story! Hope you had a great week. Happy Friday! I think everything is finally working right with my blog – so thank goodness for that! Wishing you a wonderful weekend this weekend! XO

My birthday was last week! My husband took the week off so we could go and do some things and it was a great week. We ended up taking a couple of day trip road trips around here which worked out great! I had a wonderful birthday week and ate some yummy pizza and got spoiled with flowers and a new glitter Christmas tree! I hate getting older, but I do love to be spoiled!

One of our day trips last week was to Santa Cruz. We live about 2 hours or so Northeast of Santa Cruz, so it’s an easy trip for us. I wanted to see the Monarch Butterflies that winter at the coast. They haven’t been here in a few years because of the wildfires and they are returning in good numbers this year. So that was the purpose of our trip that day! HERE IS SOME INFORMATION about the Butterflies and the place we went. We have a yearly State Parks Pass so we love to explore new California Parks. The butterflies are at Natural Bridges State Beach! The Monarchs come here for the winter because it is just the right climate. It is amazing because they cluster in the tops of the trees! It was a magical thing to see! The butterfly area is a short walk from the ocean!

There is a small gift store and museum. There were a bunch of kids there that day on a field trip and it was very cute to see the kids marvel at the butterflies too.

The butterflies come to a grove of eucalyptus trees that are down in a canyon. So you have to walk down into the canyon to see them. It’s so quiet and peaceful. And the smell of eaucalyptus trees is one of my favorite smells in the world. My family is from Monterey/Carmel area and my grandma’s backyard was basically a forest of eaucalyptus trees. And when they are wet from the fog, the smell is intoxicating. It brings back all the good memories for me.

There is a really nice walkway to get down into the canyon.

If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you could easily miss the giant butterfly clusters! They are way up in the trees and completely blend in with the leaves. When it’s cold they all huddle together like this. When the sun hits them and they warm up – they all start flying! It’s incredible!!

Just look at them!!!!

It was a very foggy day for the most part. A few times the sun did peek through the fog and it was great to see the butterflies flying overhead!

More clusters – smaller ones, bigger ones – everywhere in the trees!

This little guy landed on the walkway right in front of me!

We just stood there in awe of this cool phenomenon. So lucky to be able to see this in real life!!! Puts everything else in perspective – these fragile creatures sticking together to survive through the winter. I feel like we could learn some things….

We saw some beautiful flowers on our walk….

We went down to the beach and enjoyed the view and the fresh air. It’s a lovely beach and I think we will definitely come back when it’s a bit warmer. This is a really nice State Park! We loved it. Natural Bridges State Beach.

We drove down through the main part of Santa Cruz and saw some sights. Visited the Surfing Museum, and this guy was surfing right outside of it! Brrrrr.

I was taking a photo of this pretty sailboat when a whale breached!! See the puff of water to the left of the boat in the photo? That was a whale!

And check out these best friends floating by enjoying some snacks!

That building is the Surfing Museum. It’s such a pretty spot – lots of benches and a great walking path too.

That’s a wrap on our trip! I hope you enjoyed sharing these things with me! I say, get out and explore! Wherever you live, find something new to do and see! You won’t regret it! Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO

November 11, 2022
Christmas tags with Wendy Vecchi stamps!

Hi friends!!! How's your week going? We had a super wet and rainy election day here in Sacramento! Hard to believe we are now well into November. I'm here for it, and I wish time would slow down some. Our nights have been chilly and we are all cozy with our couch blankets! I absolutely love this time of year! This weekend we're going to a huge antique fair and I'm looking forward to that too! Still getting caught up here on the blog and I have lots of projects to share. November is a weird month for crafting because I'm still wanting to make Fall themed things, but Christmas is coming on strong too! I guess we can do both, right?!

Today I'm sharing some pretty Christmas mixed media tags I made with some new supplies from Wendy Vecchi! I love Wendy and her cool vibe and style and she has some great new stamp sets and chipboards for the holidays this year. I got out some of my big manila tags and had fun getting messy! Here are my finished tags… These will be great to tie onto a present or a gift bag!

The NOEL and JOY words are chipboard shapes – nice and thick – for painting, inking, or embossing! I used gold embossing powder and heat embossed the letters four times! This is a very cool technique if you've never tried it! Simply use your Versamark ink pad directly to the chipboard and heat emboss the gold powder. Then repeat, repeat, repeat adding more and more gold. It gets so nice and rich layer after layer! I also like that it looks sort of aged or vintage.

I stamped all the images with Archival Ink and watercolored with Distress inks. I hand cut out all the images to use on the tags…

To age the tags themselves, I put some distress ink onto a stamping block and added water. Then I wet the tags with my sprayer and painted the distress ink mixture until it looked the way I wanted. I used a sponge dauber to ink around the edges of the tags also.

After the tags were dry, I went back and added background stamping in brown ink – snowflakes and wreath images – and stars…. I added the colored images to the words. The final step was to add some white splatters to mimic snow!

A little bit of pretty sheer ribbon from my stash completes the look. I love all the different textures on this project and the finishes too!!

That's it for today's fun tags projects! I hope the rest of your week goes great! What are you crafting? Are you team Fall or team Winter? Or both like me? Take care, and I'll see you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's project! (Affiliate Links Used)

November 8, 2022
Doodlebug Farmers Market Collection – Hello Fall Wreath Card!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I'm here with a fun fall card made with the beautiful new Doodlebug Farmers Market Collection! OH, I love this collection! Such a fun mix of images and themes from flowers to vegetables and everything in between. It's just absolutely delightful! And I am loving all those warm colors, but with a pop of purple and magenta. Really creative and cheerful. I loved it from the moment it hit my desk! Perfect for Fall, but also I'll be using the veggie/market theme next Summer too! And who doesn't love a Farmers Market themed anything?? My blog photos are still not posting perfectly, but it's so much better! Thanks again for the support! I'm so happy to be back and sharing!

My card for today is a big square – 5.5" x 5.5", made from kraft cardstock. I got this idea from lots of beautiful scrapbook pages people make with this type of layout. The big wreath with all mixtures of patterned papers. Since I don't really scrapbook, I made a smaller version into a card. I die cut tons of leaves from both the Doodlebug Hello Fall Die Set and the Doodlebug Nesting Scallops Die set. I used several different patterns of the 6×6 Farmers Market paper pad… And this is what I came up with!

I die cut the hello word from dark brown woodgrain cardstock so it would add some texture. I added a little tag and some twine too, to make up my main sentiment.

Here's a side view so you can see all my layers. I used 6×6 patterned paper for the magenta bottom layer, then white, then my leaves. I used lots of foam tape to tack everything down and to add dimension. This looks a lot better than just putting them on there flat.

I felt like the card needed something up there in the corner so I added a green sentiment banner. I think this would be a great Thanksgiving or friendship card. As you knew I would, I added some sweet little hearts too! I splattered on magenta ink and white ink generously.

That's it for today's post! I'm still trying to get all caught up! It's full-on FALL mode here in Northern California! Our leaves are popping and it's getting me in the mood for Thanksgiving and football! I hope you have an amazing week!! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see all the supplies used for today's card (affiliate links used).

November 7, 2022
Halloween 2022 final projects – a little late! Fun with Vintage Halloween from Anna Griffin!

Hi everybody! I'm back – I think?! Gosh, what a disaster that happened here on my blog the past week or ten days… My blog/website is hosted by a company called Typepad. I use Typepad to write my posts, post photos, and read comments, etc. They are the company that puts me on the internet…. That's the basics. Well, something major happened at Typepad HQ and the whole system went down. Bloggers all over the world were not able to post anything, especially photos, for up to ten days. My blog and others were not even visible for about three days. Right at Halloween, when we're all trying to share things. As you might have guessed, I am a Type A person and it about made me crazy!! Sitting here wanting to share all the things with you…. But I guess it was a lesson in patience (not my biggest virtue!). Now that everything is coming back up, I went back and forth about sharing my final Halloween projects, but then figured what the heck. I absolutely loved making these projects and I want to show them to you! Hope that's okay with you! I missed you guys! The big giveaway is over and you blessed me so much! The winners announcement is in a separate blog post!

Hope you are all doing well and enjoyed a Happy and fun Halloween!! Our Halloween was really fun this year. We decorated A LOT. Then we set up a table in the driveway with some cool music and lots of candy and enjoyed the evening seeing the neighbors and all the cutie kids dressed up. Now it's time to get moving towards Christmas time! It will come fast!

For our wedding anniversary in early October, my husband bought me gorgeous amazing awesome crafting supplies from Anna Griffin. Everything has a vintage Halloween vibe which is one of my favorite things!! I have loved Anna Griffin products for 25+ years! I used to buy all her scrapbooking kits back in the day, and our wedding announcements are even made with her gorgeous vellum and ribbons!! So I had to have the Halloween goodies. I ended up making two pumpkin easel cards, three 5×7 cards and two medallions. Everything is from Anna Griffin – the dies, papers, vellum, rub-ons, embellishments… Her items are only available at her own website or at HSN. I used bits of Distress Inks and my signature splatters…

This card and the next one were made with a giant die set that makes an easel card! It's fantastic! You can make just a pumpkin (I'm thinking Thanksgiving cards now) or a jack-o-lantern. It's so easy to put together and I think it's super festive!

Here it is folded flat to go into an envelope! Isn't that cool?? There's no end to the ideas to decorate or the papers to use!

And here's my second easel card – made with glitterly orange paper!

I made a few decorative medallions too – using all the vintage embellishments!! I added some gems here and there and of course paint splatters!

And lastly, three big 5×7 cards full of embellishments and beautiful papers….oh my….I had so much fun making these!! Can't wait to make some more next year too!

Here is a picture of me dressed up in my Halloween outfit. My fun skirt is two layers of tulle – with velvet polka dots!! I love to twirl in it! LOLZ.

Okay, fingers crossed we will be back to our regular schedule! Have a blessed and happy day everybody!! I'm not even sure you'll be able to see this post and/or if the email notifications are working! Can someone do me a favor? If you did receive your email update about this new post – can you leave a comment and just let me know? I am seriously behind and so frustrated!! I miss blogging and sharing. I never realized how much it is a part of me to create and share and interact with everyone. Say a little prayer and cross your fingers!! I have lots to catch up on! XOXO

November 5, 2022
Giveaway winners announcement!! WOOHOO!!

***BLOG POSTS ARE STILL DELAYED – I CANNOT UPLOAD PHOTOS TO ALL MY NEW POSTS – STAY TUNED FRIENDS!***

Hi everyone! Exciting news! I'm here to announce my big October giveaway winners! Before I announce the winners I really want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!! You all made a really big difference to me by shopping my links. Truly truly truly you made a difference to me! I would be so grateful if you would continue to shop my links when you can. You have no idea!! BLESS YOU GUYS!! I put all my crafty stash things into the two winners' boxes. I'm thinking once I get up a good stash again, we can do another giveaway?! What do you think? Thank you to each and every one of you for supporting me. Without further ado…the two winners are:

Cathy S. and Amy C.

They have been notified by email and their boxes are shipping now!!!

Congratulations Cathy and Amy!!

Here's a picture of Lucky helping me get the packages ready!!

November 2, 2022
What’s up with my blog??

Another quick post everyone!! For almost a week now something has been wrong with the hosting service (Typepad) for my blog. Photos are not showing up, the formatting is wonky, I can't write posts all the time, and sometimes my blog is just completely blank! I am so sorry if you've been trying to get on here and see some photos and/or read my posts. There is nothing I can do and I'm super frustrated. It's out for tons of people right now!! Please bear with me as I try to be patient and wait for them to fix everything! I'm hoping I can still get one last Halloween post written! But it's no use if there are no pictures!!! Stay tuned. Thanks for all the support too!! XO

October 29, 2022
Happy Friday! Reminder about the giveaway!

Hi everyone! Just popping in with a quick post and a big HAPPY FRIDAY!! I hope you have a fun weekend planned! We are going on a day trip today, and then tomorrow we're volunteering at the huge Trunk or Treat event at our church. Should be a crazy weekend! The weather is finally perfectly Fall now and I am here for it! Yay! I will have one final crafting post this weekend sometime. My blog hosting service is wonky and I'm not able to consistently upload photos to my blog right now. What a mess!! I have some cool things to share before Halloween is over. Vintage Halloween goodies!

Quick reminder that my big giveaway ends on Monday night at midnight (Halloween night)! THANK YOU for all the entries so far! I have been warmed and uplifted by your kind notes and your shopping support! I really mean it – thank you! Bless you! I will announce the winners sometime on November 1st. Good luck! There are 35 entries so far, so the odds of winning are pretty good. Just sayin!

CLICK HERE for all the details about my giveaway!

October 28, 2022
Doodlebug Monster Madness – Candy Bar Treats for Halloween!

Hi there friends! It's Halloween week and we gotta get ready for trick or treats! I have one more Doodlebug Halloween project to share today – made with the new Monster Madness collection! This time, yes, it's more candy treats! Cuz you know I love candy treats! I used the awesome Jaded Blossom Candy Bar Wrapper die and wrapped up some yummy Hershey bars… Oh, and a sweet little note card too. These come together so quickly! I am bringing mine to work and also saving some for the special neighbor kids. But they would be awesome for a Halloween party snack too. Are you ready?? I think we have to buy more candy because I think everyone is super excited this year! So many houses in our neighborhood put up decorations – way more than ever before. I am happy that people are feeling festive again! Our weather has finally turned cooler (I won't say cold) and it's awesome!!

Thank you everyone for participating in my big GIVEAWAY this month! You have sent me the nicest notes, and supported me with your shopping. I'm so grateful! Remember to let me know to enter your name! DETAILS HERE! Now onto my project!

The Candy Bar Wrapper Die makes the perfect sized sleeve/wrapper for a full size Hershey Bar! It has a pretty edge on it too. And it comes with a die for top panel for decorating. I used loads of Doodlebug Monster Madness papers, embellishments, sentiments, die cuts, and doilies….. These colors are so fantastic and happy. Don't get me started on the cute monsters and smiling treats!!

Here's my little cupcake note! This die makes a perfect little scalloped note easy to decorate and write a quick message. Doodlebug has puffy stickers now (EEP) and I put a little puffy pumpkin on top!!

In this pic you can see all my layers. I also added white gel pen accents and enamel stars to everything. I love this so much. Makes me feel like a kid again.

Get in the car! We're going trick or treating!!

Okee dokee! Hope I put you in the holiday mood today!! There's already a new new new Doodlebug collection called Farmer's Market and it's on my desk! YAY! I'm just still trying to think of the perfect project! Do you have any ideas to help me out?! Have a great day! XOXO

CLICK HERE to see the supplies used for today's projects! (Affiliate Links Used)

October 25, 2022
Pinkfresh Studio Washi Release 2022 – Beautiful Birthday Balloons!

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! And I have a fun and beautiful way to start of a new creative week! There is a brand new GORGEOUS release from Pinkfresh Studio. And it's all about their cool washi tapes!! Have you seen them before? Big rolls of washi tape that you use with matching dies to create beautiful images. It's such a great concept! I used the brand new Celebrate Washi Tape, Dies and Celebrate Stamp Set to create a birthday card to share today with you!

My finished card is an A2 white card base. I used pastel seafoam green as my background layer and then featured the awesome balloons! Yes, made with washi tape! I am pretty much obsessed with these colors together. It's like a dream….

Here's a side view of all the yummy layers on my card…. The background, and a gold oval, and a butterfly for good measure!! The balloons are the star of the show for sure!

I rolled out the washi tape onto a sheet of white cardstock and die cut the images out with the matching dies. The die set cuts out ALL the images in one pass, perfectly lined up. It's seriously genius. Since the balloons have gold accents, I used gold metallic paper to die cut the oval background frame. I also heat embossed my sentiment in gold….

The seafoam background was die cut with the Intricate Stitched Ovals Coverplate. I die cut some of the Curvy Leaves from vellum, and splashed on some gold paint.

The sentiments in the stamp set have matching dies so it's easy to create this nice look!

I made some vellum + hot foil butterflies and added one to the card too. It's like a birthday card for a unicorn! I cannot describe how pretty these colors are together. LOVE.

That's it for my projects for today! I'm always super grateful to work with the talented and generous team at Pinkfresh Studio – they are a dream to work with. Thank you so much for joining me today on this fun blog hop day! Happy crafting! I will see you soon!

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel! They will also be giving away a total of TEN $25 gift cards along the hop. As per usual with blog hops – the winners will be picked from the comments left on each blog!! Pinkfresh Studio will pull the winners & post them on November 1, 2022 on their GIVEAWAY PAGE. Remember, you must check that page & claim your prize within 2 weeks. GOOD LUCK!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PINKFRESH STUDIO RELEASE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies for today's cards! (Affiliate Links Used)

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE ALL THE BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS!!

October 24, 2022
Yippee! Hello Bluebird Fall New Release for 2022!

Hello friends!!! I hope you're having a great weekend so far! I have exciting news!!! There is a new release tonight from Hello Bluebird! Yaaaaayyyyyy! I love Hello Bluebird stamps and dies and I always love their fall/winter release so much. The release will be live for shopping TONIGHT 10/23 at 7pm EST! Everything is just as sweet and cute as can be. I really love doing Copic coloring with these images….sigh….so adorable! I have two cards to share with you – both made with all new products!!

First up is a Special Delivery winter card! I love how this card came out!! My finished card is a custom size: 6" x 4.25". Sometimes you need a bigger card to make everything fit! LOL. I'm featuring the new Dear Santa stamp set and the new Special Deliver word die. I layered simply with a red layer and then used the Hello Bluebird Snowy Sky Scene background dies….

I stamped and die cut out all the images and colored with Copic Markers! I made that little kitty cat look just like my Lucky!! Those critters are SWEET!!! I stamped a bunch of extra letters to make it look like the mailbox is overflowing with paper hugs!

I die cut the special delivery die three times and stacked them to make a thicker sentiment. I used cloud stencils to make some clouds behind the words. I also used bits of glitter glue and white splatters of snow….

Next up is my autumn greetings card featuring the new Autumn Days stamps and dies…. My finished card is an A2 horizontal white card base. I used the Gallery Frame #4 die to make the woodgrain frame for my scene…

I stamped and die cut out all the images and colored with my Copic markers!! Isn't she the sweetest thing in her fall outfit?! I would totally wear this outfit. LOL.

I ink blended the sky in soft warm yellow tones to mimic the autumn sunshine….

That's it for today's intro to the new Hello Bluebird release! Yay! The new products will be available tonight at 7pm EST (10-23) I hope you find some goodies that you like from there! They are the kindest people and so nice to work with. A true joy for me to be able to help them launch! See you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE to see the supplies used for today's cards! (Affiliate Links Used)

October 23, 2022
Pretty Pink Posh Holiday 2022 New Release – Mittens – You Warm My Heart!

It's me again!! SO many projects this month!! Whew!! I am loving all of it and it's keeping me out of trouble! LOL!! I have one more card I made with new supplies from the Pretty Pink Posh Holiday new release!! I posted my cards for the blog hop already, but today's card is part of the PPP Instagram Hop! If you're on Instagram – be sure to pop over and check out all the participants and enter to win a prize!

Today's card features the brand new Mitten Shaker Dies and the Winter Foliage Dies!! Cheery pink mittens and a sentiment that says You Warm My Heart! Nothing better than that for a winter greeting! My finished card is a 5.5" x 5.5" square card. I used the new Layered Snowflakes stencils to make my background layer….

Here's a side view of all my layers… Those pink mittens are so perfect! I used glitter paper to add the snowflakes to the mittens…and a couple of little hearts to go with the sentiment. In this photo you can see the platinum white pearl paint splatters that add just the right amount of shimmer.

I die cut the pretty foliage dies to add an accent to the mittens. These are the perfect size and scale for so many things. I will use these dies a lot!!

This is one of my favorite Winter/Christmas color combinations: Red, Green, Pink and Aqua! It always looks happy and cheerful…

Thanks for popping in today! YOU warm MY heart! Thanks for another great week of crafting fun! What are you working on?? It's almost Halloween and I still have projects to make!! EEK. See you soon! XOXO

REMINDER: I have a giveaway going on through the end of the month – for details click here!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's card (affiliate links used).

October 20, 2022
Pretty Pink Posh Holiday 2022 New Release Blog Hop! Winter Wishes!

Hi everyone! How are you today!? How's your week going so far? I'm having a good week, but it's going by way too fast! Like how does time even go this fast?! It's finally starting to feel like Fall here in Northern California and I am absolutely loving the cool mornings! Hope you're doing great!

Today is a HUGE blog hop to celebrate the beautiful new holiday release from Pretty Pink Posh! I'm so happy to be part of the hop and to help introduce the new stamps, dies and stencils. Everything is just wonderful. I think you're gonna love it too. Really puts me in the Christmas and Winter mood! I am sharing two projects today with the new items – a card and some paper ornaments. Let's get to it! Prize information, blog hop links, and the Supply List are all at the bottom of my post.

First up is my Winter Wishes coffee mug card! My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with some stripes and then another white layer. This card features the brand new Winter Mug Die Set, the brand new Pine Wreath Stamp Set, and the brand new Winter Wishes script die! LOVE LOVE LOVE! I mean, coffee and candy canes??? What's not to love!? (because peppermint mocha season is coming soon!)

Here's a side view so you can see all the layers. I die cut everything out first with my favorite cardstock colors…. Then I laid out my design to make sure it would all fit!

That awesome coffee mug is the star of the show, but I wanted more wintery goodness! I stamped and die cut out the pretty Pine Wreath to use kind of like background paper. I die cut the Winter Wishes from rich black cardstock to be in contrast to the other colors. Everything was generously splashed with snow (white paint) to look icy.

I die cut the candy canes and gave them a good coating of my favorite Rock Candy Glitter. I added a bit of ink to the marshmallows and also dunked them in glitter.

The snowflakes and holly leaves also come in the mug die set. THEY are PERFECT! I added some gems and rhinestones from my stash…

Next up, I made some pretty Christmas ornaments using the brand new Pine Trees Dies! These would also be nice tied onto a gift bag or a present! They are just the right size, and really easy to make. These were made using the larges of the three tree dies.

I die cut six pine tree shapes out of really old paper from my stash. Feels good to use up the stash! I used my Scor Pal to score each tree in half and then glued them together – so simple! I used some twine glued in the center so I could hang them.

Here is one of them in my hand for scale!

I splattered all the ornaments with white paint and I also added bits of Platinum Stickles to the tips of the branches. I was going for a nice vintage look. There is no end to the ideas!! Add sequins or gems, ink blending, glitter cardstock…..

Here's the bottom so you can see the construction. I used six panels but you could use any number to get the desired effect.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Glad to have you here! There is also a big PPP Instagram Hop starting tomorrow! I'll have another card to share that I made with the new release! Remember to enter my giveaway that's running until the end of this month (DETAILS HERE). See you soon! XO

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!!! Pretty Pink Posh is giving away THREE $30 gift certificates for this three day blog hop! Winners will be chosen randomly from all the blogs/comments!! Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 10/24/2022. Winners will be announced on the PPP blog! Good Luck!!

CLICK HERE to shop the new PPP Release – It's live now!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's projects! (Affiliate Links Used)

BLOG HOP LIST FOR TODAY!!

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Rachel Alvarado

Wanda Guess

Jeanne Jachna

Melody Rupple

Yoonsun Hur

Lisa Mears

Stefanie Loh

October 19, 2022
Begin each week with a grateful heart! Honey Bee Fall Release!

Hello my sweet and crafty friends! Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend! My husband and I went and picked out all our pumpkins on Friday – for decorating and carving. It has been so hot here that we were waiting until it was a bit cooler to get our pumpkins home. We had a great time going to our two favorite places and choosing just the right ones. We are having cool mornings and it's delightful. The rest of the weekend I was crafting like crazy! I think it's safe to say that October is my busiest crafting month. All the holiday releases are out and people are planning their holiday crafting. Whew. It's been busy!! But it's all so good! This week will be a busy one too so I hope you'll enjoy hanging out with me! Let's begin the week (day) with a grateful heart – just like the card says!

REMINDER: I am having a giveaway until the end of the month – CLICK HERE for the details!

For today's card I used the brand new, stunning and classy, release from Honey Bee Stamps! I used the brand new Fall Foliage Dies and the new fall sentiment set. GORGEOUS. Oh, and a wax seal for good measure! My finished card is a square 5.25" x 5.25". The card base is kraft cardstock and then I layered with cream cardstock. I wanted a vintage fall vibe to show off those pretty leaves.

Here's the side view so you can see my layers. I wrapped the cream layer with twine and used foam tape to pop the cream layer up off the card base. This is an easy way to add some depth to your card.

The sentiment is stamped and gold heat embossed onto vellum (gorg) and I inked the edges of the card base….

Here are my leaves and that beautiful Maple Leaf wax seal!!! I am so excited that Honey Bee is doing wax seals!!! To make the leaves, I die cut the leaves out of Bristol cardstock. I used various shades of Distress Inks all over the leaves. I let them dry. I then splashed water over the leaves to make some interest. I let them dry again. Then I added gold paint splatters and brown paint splatters!! The key to this look is to really let them dry in between each technique. Blast with your heat tool or just let them air dry. They are so pretty in person!!

Here's a close up of the wax seal!! I used the new metallic wax melts. LOVE.

I added pretty gems in earth tones…

This card has everything I love!! Fall leaves, wax seals, rich colors and vellum! LOL. This sentiment set is literally the most gorgeous sentiment set I've seen all year. I absolutely love it. The mix of fonts and styles is perfection.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a great week! Do you have any fun plans? What are you crafting lately?? Take care and I'll see you soon!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below for the supply links for today's card (affiliate links used).

October 17, 2022
More Halloween Cross Stitch! The Witchy Stitcher – Salem!

BOO! Happy weekend! Only two weeks until Halloween now! EEK! Ghosts and witches are getting ready for trick or treating and fun! Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch and picked out giant pumpkins for my husband to carve! He loves to do that part!! He’s pretty good at it because he likes to do wood carving too. Can’t wait to see what he makes! Before I start with today’s post, I want to say thank you for the wonderful response to my last post on Thursday. You guys are so kind! I received lots of nice notes of encouragement and we have about 15 entries in our giveaway so far. Don’t forget – each time email me – you can do more than one entry. THANK YOU!!!

I’m here today with another Halloween cross stitch project! It’s been fun sharing this other hobby with you and I’ve learned that so many of you are also stitchers! Yay! I love Halloween and Christmas stitching the best. I finished up this piece and mailed it to it’s recipient so now I can post it!! I made it for my friend Holly who shares my love of the season…. I thought she would like this one!! My hubs and I went to Salem when we were traveling New England on our honeymoon. It was a very cool historical place. You always hear about Salem in history class and in popular culture. And it was neat to be there in person. It was a good stop on our travels. And on a weird note, we had the best bagels of our lives there in Salem too! LOL.

The pattern I used is called Not All Witches Live In Salem and it’s by The Witchy Stitcher. I bought the pattern on her Etsy store! (I have tons of her patterns!!) Please check her out on Etsy or Instagram! (The Witchy Stitcher) She has tons of retro and vintage Halloween patterns. I used 14 count Aida fabric and I’ll talk more about my finishing as we go through my post. Here’s the finished piece. For scale, that is a 7″ hoop!

I used my own thread choices. The yellow/gold is a variegated thread from DMC. The threads are from the local craft store. The fabric was in my stash and I don’t recall where it came from. It was a pretty fast stitch and the pattern was easy to follow. I finished the top with a broom (from Amazon), a bat charm (Tim Holtz) and some ribbon (my stash)!

I do really love the variegated threads – really cool effect. Try them on your next project!!

The little broom came from Amazon and it had a red string around it. I re-wrapped it with some black embroidery floss to match the project. I tied a double bow and attached the charm with a silver jump ring. The hoop was a plain wooden hoop. I used Black Soot Distress Ink and a water pen to ‘paint’ it lightly, like a black stain effect.

See the splotches and splashes on the fabric? Yep, Distress Ink again! (It’s not just for paper LOL). I used Vintage Photo ink mixed with water and splashed it on the fabric. I also splashed on some gold paint. It looks old and cool!

I think that’s all the details!! Here are some more photos…. (As you can tell, I had a really fun time with the staging and photos on this one!)

I took this photo in one of our favorite gift stores that we like to shop at! We went there on our wedding anniversary a couple weeks ago! SO fun!

That’s it for today! And for this week! Whew – I told you I had a lot of stuff to share! Thanks for going on this creative journey with me – you make it fun and happy. Have a great weekend! Love you guys. XOXOXO

October 15, 2022
Let’s do a giveaway!! I need your help!!

Hi crafty friends! I have an idea! I need your help! I have several objectives in mind, and an idea came to me as to how to combine all of them… I have lots of awesome new and gently used stamps I want to pass on to other crafters, and I am trying to increase my affiliate income, and I want to bring more traffic to the craft stores that I shop and love, and I want to say thank you to all of you! SO…. I thought I could do a huge giveaway and accomplish all these things at the same time! Win, win, win!! Blogging is my job and I work very hard to provide good quality content, ideas, inspiration and fun along the way here! The main way for me to earn income for blogging is via my affiliate links. I depend on you guys and your support! This is a simple, and free way for you to support me, and I'm really thankful for it.

So, here's the fun part…. From now until the end of this month (10/31 at midnight EST) every time you make a purchase from any of my favorite shops using my affiliate links, you will be entered into a drawing for one of two enormous boxes of crafting goodies! Each of the boxes will have $500++ worth of stamps, dies, paper and embellishments!! Everything is either brand new or used one time!! I will draw the winners November 1st and notify the lucky crafters via email. Sound good?

Here's how to enter to win one of the spectacular boxes! Visit my favorite stores and affiliates to show some love and support (and maybe discover some new companies!) any time between now and the end of this month. If/when you make a purchase using my links, you simply send me a quick email at STAMPCATWG@AOL.COM and let me know! Just say – I bought something from XYZ store today and tell me your name. That's it. I'll put a ticket in the bowl for you. No limit as to how many tickets. Each purchase = one ticket! The key is that you must click over to the store from one of my links! ***I can only ship to a US address!

CLICK HERE for my favorite stores list and links! Or click on the photo below. Or click on this same photo on my blog home page! If you're on Instagram, the list is found in my links there too! Or, one last way – any of the links in the supply lists on any of my blog posts.

My hope is to share some love and support all around – to the companies, me, and you! Good Luck on the drawing – and thank you in advance for helping me out! It makes such a huge difference to me when you shop my links. Truly – I'm so grateful! Let me know if you have any questions about this!

October 13, 2022
Double Double Toil and Trouble! Bubbling up some Halloween fun today!

I'm baaaaaaack! LOL! More Halloween fun today with a card using fabulous supplies from Pretty Pink Posh! I had this idea in my head and couldn't shake it off until I made it! A spooky (but still cute) cauldron boiling over, and some cute witchy ghosts!! Hee hee! I am OBSESSED with these ghosties! They are one of my favorite things released this season from any company. EEP!! So the idea I had was to make some green bubbles like they are whipping up a potion! I think it turned out pretty good! I'll go through my process in a minute!

My finished card is a white A2 card base that I covered in purple harlequin paper. I used a PPP Wonky Rectangle for my base layer. They I die cut a cauldron and some ghosties! I ink blended with green and purple – ooh la la!

Here's a good side view of the cauldron and bubbles! I die cut the cauldron from super dark grey cardstock. I ink blended with black soot distress ink around the edges. Then I used metallic watercolors in several layers for the texture. I used black metallic watercolor and silver metallic watercolors. I let each layer of splatters dry in between. That way all the colors didn't run together!! The bubbles are a mixture of Doodlebug enamel dots and PPP Droplets dyed with alcohol inks!

I took a plastic disposable cup and made a mixture of yellows and greens colors of alcohol inks. I put in several PPP clear droplets in different sizes and basically dyed them green!! I glued them all onto the card around the cauldron using a fine tip on my Bearly Arts Glue. I think it's pretty cool!!!

I die cut the background from Bristol cardstock and used blender brushes and green/purple distress inks to make the background. I splashed on some silver metallic paint! I stamped and die cut two ghosties and a witch hat and colored them in with my Copic Markers.

I heat embossed the sentiment directly onto the cauldron. I mounted the cauldron to the card with foam tape.

SEEEEEE how cute those ghosties are??!!

That's it for today's card!! Am I getting you in the mood for Halloween yet?! I sure hope so!! I'm having a blast over here making and sharing with you all!! Take care and I'll be back soooooon!!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's card (Affiliate Links Used).

October 12, 2022
Pixi Dust Designs Halloween Fun!

Hi there!!! It's me again!!! I have sooo many fun projects, and they're backing up! So I'm gonna be blogging a lot in the next few weeks. It's only three weeks until Halloween! I have so many ideas!! But never ever enough time. I keep a notebook that has dividers in it and I labeled one for each season. When I get an idea for a craft project or a recipe or home decor idea, I write it down under the tab for that season. Well, as you would guess, the fall section has the most ideas! Ha! If I need some inspiration I just turn over to my own notebook. It has worked out well over the years. But alas, never enough time to make everything. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try!! How is your fall crafting coming along? Thanks for stopping by today…Let's get started.

I absolutely love it when I discover an awesome new crafting company, and that's what today's post is about! A new company just formed this year, called Pixi Dust Designs! They make the CUTEST dies and stamps. I reached out to them on Instagram and they are so lovely too. They sent me some goodies and everything arrived really fast and I love it all. Today's post is about Halloween – and I also have some Winter projects to share in a little while. So first of all, their dies are purple!! Love it. And they cut like a dream. Everything cut out perfectly. Also, their prices are very reasonable. Win, win, win. Please head over to their website to check out their selections! Show some support and love for a new, small, woman owned company!!

Here is my collection of goodies I made! A card, a tag, and a treat box! (This is the same treat box/bag topper die I used in my Doodlebug post yesterday) I used bright orange, deep black, silver, and just a tiny pop of pink too. (everyone is using pink this year for Halloween)!

For the treat box I used dark dark grey cardstock instead of black. I splashed on some silver pearl paint splatters. I used the accompanying dies to make a spider web and some funny spiders! The spider web was cut from silver cardstock and backed with orange. (there is an exact match die for the backing). I added some googly eyes, twine and a gem, and this is done and ready for candy. See that PERFECT scalloped edge? The box is one die cut piece. The sides/handles are one piece that you cut in half. EASY EASY!!

I made this little tag from the Halloween Mason Jars set! It has different designs but I am smitten with this cute Jack-o-Lantern guy! I cut him from orange cardstock and then used Distress Ink and blended some ink on the bottom. More splatters and a silver lid… I'm not sure if I'll put him on a card front or use him as a tag for a present.

And here's a close up of the Halloween Balloons die set I used for my card! OH GOSH! That little ghostie!!! And their faces!! Completely adorable. The card is a white A2 card base, layered with gingham and a white scalloped rectangle…and just a bit of orange for a pop of color.

I used self adhesive googly eyes which made it so simple to complete these spiders. Supplies are listed below!

I used the trick or treat word dies for my card sentiment. Love that font!

Here is a photo of the bag/box die set…. TWO pieces!! It's genius. See the die on the right? That cuts out the box shape. The score lines are nice and deep. You fold it up and then glue on the sides. See the die on the left? That makes BOTH the bag topper and the box sides!! One cut… You fold it in the middle of the handle for a bag topper or you simply snip them apart at the top and make two box sides. This is going to be my go-to for so many ideas.

Now that I've shared the dies with you, I thought I would just show a couple more photos from yesterday's project – so you can see how they came together.

And in my hand for size and scale…

Okay friends, that's it for today! Please please please show the gals at Pixi Dust some love – visit their website or social media and check them out. Are you making Halloween goodies? What's up in your craft room this week?!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used in today's projects (affiliate links used).

October 11, 2022
Doodlebug Monster Madness – Halloween Treats!

Greetings of the new week! Monday already! Hope you had a great weekend! We completely finished decorating for Halloween this weekend – inside and out. My husband built a graveyard in the front yard – oh my gosh. Our neighbors are really into it this year too so our little street is quite festive! Feels good to be out doing things and having fun! We have pumpkins ready for carving, but we're holding off a bit since it's still pretty hot here (ugh) like in the 90's still. I am dying to wear all my cute fall sweaters!! Soon I hope! THANK YOU for alllll the nice comments you left on my Greetery posts last week! You guys are the best and you uplift me with your kindness! I hope you got some new goodies to create with!!

Today is my day up on the Doodlebug Blog and boy oh boy is there a CUTE new collection! It's called Monster Madness and it's just incredibly cheerful and colorful and I'll say it again – CUTE! Makes me smile! My favorite thing to make at Halloween Time is treats – for candy! So that's what I did today. Made a big bunch of treat bags and boxes. I'm featuring a new bag/box die that is AWESOME and I think you need it!! Lots of black and orange, and also pink and purple.

I used the brand new to me Pixi Dust Box/Bag Die set. (I'll be doing another post tomorrow with this die set – it's a winner) The die set makes both the treat bag topper for cello bags, but also a small treat box with a pretty stitched edge and a scallop border. Putting these together could not have been easier. I used the Doodlebug Monster Madness 12×12 paper, stickers and embellishments to make everything. It all works together perfectly. I used the monsters Doodle Pop 3D embellishments for the fronts of the boxes.

Look at those papers!! I love that Doodlebug paper is double sided, so even the inside of every project looks great and coordinates. I tied the tops shut with some Doodlebug Chunky Twine and added tags….

I cannot get over these tiny smiling candy corn stickers!!! Hee hee.

I used 4×6 cello bags for the candy and stapled the bags shut first. Then I attached the handle bag toppers. For the bag topper, the die cut piece folds in half to cover the top. For the boxes, you simply cut where the fold is and attach the pieces to a box shape! LOVE.

I added gems here and there for a bit of sparkle, and used my white gel pen to add accents to the pieces. I can't wait to bring these to work for my sweet co-workers!!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope I didn't scare you! LOLZ. Are you a candy monster?? What is your very favorite candy? I love anything with chocolate and almonds in it! YUMMMM. Okay, friends, I have loads of projects to share, so I will be back tomorrow!! See you then! XOXO

CLICK HERE to shop the new treat bag/box die!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used for today's projects! (Affiliate Links Used)

October 10, 2022
The Greetery – A Song of Christmas New Release – Day 3!

Crafty friends – welcome back to The Greetery New Release Week! This week, we are introducing you to The Greetery Holiday 2022 new collection called A Song Of Christmas! We had three days of new products and projects (today is day three!) to show you. And, tomorrow Friday October 7th at 10am the new release will be LIVE! Do you have your shopping list ready??!! Each day of release week has a song theme, and today's theme is We Wish You A Merry Christmas! Complete with Figgy puddings too!! I have three more projects to show you today – and tons of pictures. So grab a cuppa and sit down with me while I show you everything fun! Thanks for joining me all week! It's been wonderful hanging out with you! I feel incredibly grateful to be part of this team and to work for Betsy.

My first card features the brand new Stencilscapes Winter stencils and the gorgeous (seriously) new Frosty Pines Dies! I created a shadow box, diorama type of card to showcase that beautiful stenciled panel!! The finished card size is A2 and my card is constructed with Kraft cardstock. I placed my finished stenciled panel behind those pretty pines to make it look like you're peeking in on this winter wonderland!

Here's a top down view of the simple construction of my card. For the top part (the part with the arch die cut in it) is a kraft piece of paper measuring 5.5" x 5.75". I used my Scorpal to score three lines on each side at 1/4 in intervals. Then I folded those score lines into a small accordion fold. Once it's folded it measures the size of an A2 card. I backed it with the stenciled panel and then attached a card base to it! SO simple! There are some tutorials over on Splitcoaststampers for different types of shadow box cards!! I modified one of them to do this simple fold. :-)

Here's a side view! I affixed those pretty trees onto the sides of the archway. This card folds flat!! Since the trees hang over the edge, I will use an A6 envelope for a bit more room.

There are eight stencils to make this scene!!! You can make it vintage/classic like I did or go crazy with pretty bright colors too! I can't wait to see what the rest of the team made with this! I added lots and lots of glitter to this scene, the trees, and everywhere else! Ha!

The sentiment is from the brand new Cooking Up Christmas stamp set! I put it on a little banner for the top of my card. Christmas Cheer indeed!

Next up is a trio of cozy coffee cups! This card features the brand new Cooking Up Christmas stamps and dies and stencils!! My finished card is an A2 white card base. I used the Patchwork die to die cut a gingham background…then I layered vellum and a white panel. Fresh and fun!

I started by stenciling three coffee mugs in pastel colors. I die cut them out… Then I used the small snowflake stamp from the Snowflake Soiree set to add a detail to each cup in the matching darker color. I stenciled and die cut out the candy canes too. They are perfect!!!

I stacked the coffee cups and attached them with foam tape. I added in the candy canes and then stamped some snowflakes on the background. The stamp set has the details to add coffee and a swirl! So cute.

And finally, my last project(s) for Release Week! Guess what? Figgy Puddings!! Oh my goodness! The cutest little treat boxes ever! I do love a treat box project! This brand new die is called the Figgy Pudding Box Die and it's great! I made four little puddings….two traditional Christmas ones, and then a couple more for fun! The bow on top is a separate die!! I die cut the pieces out of two colors of brown cardstock. The base is two die cut pieces glued together. Then you put the detail on top. The lid is also two die cut pieces glued together. Really easy to assemble.

I had lots of fun mixing and matching the toppings…. Glitter, sprinkles, holly, candy canes…. The possibilities are endless!

Here's a close up of the brand new Holly Topper Embellishments. Wow are they pretty!! I want to put them on everything!! LOL. I added a tiny tag to the front using the Hug in a Mug stamp set sentiment!!

Here it is in my hand so you can see the size and scale!

So my brain started going…. What else can I make with this??!! Well, it is fall…. So I made a pumpkin figgy pudding!! Yeah!! Orange cardstock and then petite gingham in green on top. I used THIS DIE to make the jack-o-lantern face… What do you think?? SO FUN!

So then I kept thinking….what about little Valentine treats!? So I made a pink figgy pudding! EEP!

This could be for Valentine's or maybe even a bridal shower?? A lot fits inside – candy is my first thought!!

Whew! Well what a fun week it's been! This is the official end of projects and products reveals for release week! Thank you for all the kind comments and for encouraging me all week. I hope you are excited to craft with the new goodies. I am very much looking forward to seeing what you make too!!

Remember the new release is live for sale tomorrow – Friday, October 7th at 10am EST! I am so excited for you to create with these pretty supplies! I know they will bring you joy as they did me. Sing a Song of Christmas!

PRIZE INFORMATION! The Greetery will be giving away two $50 gift cards each day!! To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for every day! Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY STORE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the exact supplies I used for today's cards! (affiliate links used)!

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Kelly

Dana

Melissa

Wanda

Laurie

Dawn

Latisha Guest Designer!

October 6, 2022
The Greetery – A Song of Christmas New Release – Day 2!

Hey hey hey! It's Day Two of The Greetery new release week! The new release is called A Song of Christmas! Today's song theme is Deck The Halls! There are product/project reveals three days this week and then the new release will be available for shopping on Friday, October 7th at 10am EST! I have two more cards to share today with you. I went with a vivid and bright color story today on both of my cards. If you didn't see yesterday's post – make sure to go back and read it so you're all caught up!!

My first card today features the brand new Jumbo Curiosity Ornaments and the brand new Twinkle Background Die (swoon)! My finished card is an A2 white card base. I used the Twinkle Background as my layer to feature that pretty ornament!

Here's a close up side view of the background die and the ornament die!! I used the Pine Wisps Dies and the Tied Up Dies to add a tree and bow to my ornament.

I used glitter and white paint and silver pearl paint to make a snowy look!

The background was ink blended with Blender Brushes and Mermaid Lagoon Oxide Ink!! SO vivid and cool and icy!

The sentiment is from the Opposites Attract Holiday stamp/die combo released last year! I really just wanted a clean and simple sentiment and this was perfect!

My second card for today showcases the brand new Mistletoe Arches stamp, dies, and stencil suite!! It also features the brand new Arched Holiday Sentiments stamps and dies. I went with a frosty pink and green color palette and I could not love it more. These stencils are awesome. My finished card is an A2 card base. I also layered some vellum and hot pink gingham to this fresh and happy card.

Here's a close up view of the sentiments and my card layers. I used Copper embossing powder for this project – and it matches the pink! Like a soft rose gold feeling to it!! I started by stenciling the entire panel of Mistletoe branches and berries and then die cut it out with the matching die. I stamped the arched sentiment in black onto an arched panel. I used pink ink to ink blend just the bottom of the arched part.

I love how the swirls in the larger sentiment fit perfectly inside the arched sentiment. It truly is all in the details, and Betsy thinks of everything!

I put vellum behind the opening in the Mistletoe arch – I just always like that look. I popped the Merry & Bright sentiment up with some foam dots too, and then added a couple of pink hearts.

Alrighty friends! That's it for day two of The Greetery New Release week!! Thanks for stopping by to hang out with me…. Be sure to check back in tomorrow too! MORE good things are to come. Have a great day! XOXO

Remember the new release is live for sale on Friday, October 7th at 10am EST! I am so excited for you to create with these pretty supplies! I know they will bring you joy as they did me.

PRIZE INFORMATION! The Greetery will be giving away two $50 gift cards each day!! To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for every day of the release! Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY STORE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the exact supplies I used for today's cards! (affiliate links used)!

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Kelly

Dana

Melissa

Wanda

Laurie

Dawn

October 5, 2022