Tag: halloween

The Greetery – Autumn Air Collection – Release Day! Yeah!

HEY FRIENDS!! EXCITING NEWS!!

THE GREETERY NEW RELEASE IS LIVE NOW!!

THE AUTUMN AIR COLLECTION IS AVAILABLE!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP!!

It was my pleasure to introduce the brand new and beautiful Autumn Air Collection to you this week!! And, I hope you love it as much as I do!! Happy Crafting!! If you scroll back to my last two blog posts – from yesterday and Tuesday, you can see all my projects from the new release, and the accompanying supply lists. If you have any questions – reach out!! Thanks for all the love and kind comments this week! Happy Creating! Can't wait to see what YOU make!

Thank you for shopping via my links -

it helps me so very much and I'm so grateful!! XOXO

August 29, 2024
Concord & 9th New Release and Anniversary Celebration! Happy Fall Door Decor!

Hey friends! Happy Friday! And, today is the 9th of the month, which means that there is a NEW RELEASE from Concord & 9th today! Yahoooo! The new release is available today, August 9th, at 11am EST! It's SO GOOD! And also, Concord and 9th today is celebrating their NINE year anniversary! Congratulations to some of the best people and creativity out there! I'm so very happy for their continued success! I have a card to share today made using the new release, and then, since it's their anniversary, I thought I would share some of my favorite C9 cards from the past nine years! Yay! The release today is their Autumn release and it's really good!! (As always!)

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE CONCORD & 9TH NEW RELEASE!

AVAILABLE NOW!

My card today features the brand new Door Decor stamps and dies, along with the lovely Playful Pumpkins Dies from last year. I created a warm and inviting Happy Fall card and I love how it came out! My finished card is not a rectangle! But it will fit into an A2 envelope…. You could also attach the door to an A2 card front if you want. I kind of like the different shape! I used warm Autumn tones for my color palette. I would sure wish that my front door was this pretty!

I started by die cutting out all the pieces! I cut the base from cream cardstock and then I die cut the doors from woodgrain cardstock. I lined the back of the windows with vellum for just a bit of a frosty touch! The matching stamp set has sentiments that fit perfectly onto a little banner…. I die cut the leaves from yellow, orange and rust cardstocks (all from C9)….

I die cut some Playful Pumpkins out to adorn the front porch. For the doors I splattered on some brown and white inks to make it look a bit weathered.

The doors open wide and welcoming! I lined the inside with some gingham cardstock and then stamped a second sentiment onto a stitched circle… SO CUTE!

As usual, the dies are genius! There is an arched leafy piece and a straight leafy piece. You die cut out the base and then layer on the leaves on top! You can make this greenery for Christmas too! It's really all so lovely.

I die cut out a whole bunch of leaves. I inked each leaf with a small dauber and my C9 ink pads. Then I just glued them onto the arch base! Easy and fun.

Now, if you want your card to open, be sure to only glue down one side of your banner and your leaf arch!! Here's the inside of my card…

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST FOR THIS FALL DOOR DECOR CARD!

In honor of Concord and 9th's anniversary, I went back through my blog posts and found some of my favorite cards I've made for them over the years! I'll show the photos here and if you want to learn more about a card, just click the photo and it will take you over to that blog post for more information! Yeah!

Let's party indeed!! It's Friday!! There are new stamps and dies!! So much good stuff. Have a blessed and happy day, and a wonderful weekend!! Keep on crafting, my friends! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE CONCORD & 9TH NEW RELEASE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used) Thank you for your support!

August 9, 2024
Fabric Garlands! A quick and easy home decor project!

Hellooooooo sweet friends! I have a fun craft project today – and it doesn't have any paper involved! Yes, you heard me right! It's a fabric project! So super fun, quick, easy, and awesome. I have had the supplies to make this (these) for a couple of years. Oh my. Well, I went to a craft retreat a couple months back and I finally made my fabric strip garlands! You know how you have things in your craft room for a long time and keep thinking "I need to make that"? Well, I did! Hee hee. And now I want to make more! Let's get started before I keep yammering on more.

I initially made this red, white and blue fabric strip garland to hang in our kitchen for the 4th of July! This garland is also the perfect size to go across the fireplace mantle or our entertainment center! I bought two packs of fat quarters (blue pack and red pack) at Hobby Lobby, and I also got the rope at Hobby Lobby. That's all you need to get this result….

I hung the finished garland over our kitchen curtains! It looks so cute! It adds the right amount of homey feeling!

Supplies! That's it! I roughly cut the fat quarters into two inch strips. At first I used my ruler, but then I ended up just eye balling the strips and it went very fast cutting them all up. Again – EASY!! Each strip is about 20 inches long to start.

I laid the rope out on my desk (I cut it about 8 feet long to have lots of room and then trimmed it later). I just started knotting the fabric strips over the rope making sure to keep the colors and patterns varied. I love this combination of gingham, strips, chambray…. It's very pretty!!

You just fluff it up and straighten it out when you hang it! I think start to finish this took me about two hours to make!!

Here are two other garlands I made using the same fun technique. For these next two I used Moda Fabric Jelly Rolls for the fabric. And I think this will be my preferred method for any other ones I made. Moda makes the most gorgeous fabrics! And, the Jelly Rolls come with the fabric already in strips (with a pretty zig zag edge too)! For the Jelly Rolls, I unrolled all of the strips and then cut them in the middle, so each big strip became two small strips. Really the perfect amount for a garland.

This one is all season, shabby chic! In all my favorite colors!! I added in some crochet trim and some velvet ribbon too. This one I think will hang in my craft room! I LOVE it.

Here's a close up of the knots. Wrap the strip around the rope, and pull the ends through (kind of like you would tie a string on the top of a tag).

And the last one I made is retro Halloween! Kitty cats and candy corns and polka dots. LOVE! This one was made with another Moda Jelly Roll fabric pack. The colors are lovely!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE PRETTY FABRIC PACKS!!

Okee dokee! That's it for today! I hope I've inspired you to try a new crafting project! This was literally so easy. I think it would be really cute to make one for a baby's room or for a special color themed party. Also, I already have the fabric for a holiday one. Can't stop, won't stop. LOLZ. Have a blessed and beautiful day my friends. See you soon! XOXO

June 27, 2024
Sweet Trick or Treat Kitty Cross Stitch!

Hello friends! Happy Monday! Hope you had a nice weekend! It was hot here this weekend and that’s what usually happens in early October – we have one last blast of heat then we settle into Autumn. The mornings are so beautiful and cool and the leaves are starting to turn! My husband put out all the Halloween decorations in our front yard (he goes all out, even a fog machine and a graveyard!) I love it! We celebrated our wedding anniversary last week and on Saturday night we went out to dinner and an awesome concert for our anniversary. We saw The Lumineers and they were so amazing live. WOW….just wow. They sounded ten times better than on the record. Something about the piano and the violin live with his voice. I am still thinking about it.

Before I start today’s post – just wanted to say – again – thank you for alllllll the love on my Greetery posts last week! It is so much fun to show you the new releases and I can feel your excitement too. I hope you have lots of fun crafting with your new goodies!! I will have some more fun Christmas cards to share later this week, but for today it’s all Halloween!

Today’s share is a fun little cross stitch project I finished up late last week! I LOVE Halloween cross stitch! The pattern is called Trick or Treat and the designer is Barbara Ana Designs. I bought the pattern off Etsy. I used 14 count Aida fabric and DMC floss. I did change up the colors on the pumpkins and the leaves motif. I almost always add my own personal touch. I also added a little button to her bow! Like with my last project, I haven’t decided how to finish it yet, so it will go in the stack of almost finished projects!!

I love her little top hat!! And her fluffy skirt!! She is a kitten princess with her pumpkin staff….

Look at those curly shoes!!

Trick or Treat!!

That’s it for me for today! Hope you have a GREAT week! I’ll be back on Wednesday and Friday! See you then! XOXO

October 9, 2023
Pretty Paper Pumpkins!

Hi friends! It's Thursday night, so I'm gonna call it Friday! Happy Friday! LOLZ. I've been in the studio like a bizzy bizzy bee all day and finally got this post written! I cannot even tell you how many cards I've been making! I've been making cards before breakfast, all day, and even at midnight. It's that time of year when all the crafing companies are releasing Fall and Holiday all at once. My head is spinning from crafty goodness. It's all good and I'm excited to share so many things. It's going to be a fun weekend here – we are going to a concert Friday night and I'm very excited. Haven't been to a concert since before Covid and it's one of my favorite bands… The Counting Crows! (I actually went to college with the lead singer!) Hubs and I will go out and get a pizza before the show…. We have been all work and no play around here so I'm happy we are going on a date!!

Today's project is alllll abouttttt fallllll! I made some pretty paper pumpkins using new supplies from Concord and 9th! I used the brand new Pumpkin Builder Dies along with their newest paper pack…called Harvest Home. These were a really fun project to make and came together so easily. Concord and 9th always makes everything a breeze to assemble. These little cuties are now on our fireplace mantle for fall decor. I also think they would be adorable place setting decorations for Thanksgiving!! You could easily put a little cello bag of candy inside too. Who doesn't love colorful pumpkins?

The Pumpkin Builder Dies set comes with the dies to make three different sized pumpkins. These are the two smaller ones here. You cut six strips and glue them together to form the pumpkin. Then there are dies to make the stem, the leaves and the 'curls' for the leaves. You can make them with colored cardstock or patterned paper to match your favorite color palette. I was thinking I need to make some pink ones!! Pink is so in this year for Halloween!

As you know I love to do, I added twine and enamel dots to some of my pumpkin stems. Also, I generously splattered all the pumpkins with gold watercolor paint for some shimmer and shine and warmth.

To make the 'curls' you die cut the strip of paper and use a paint brush handle to curl it like you would curling ribbon! Easy! It adds such a nice design element don't you think?

The leaves have nice deep scoring lines and you can fold them into these gorgeous 3D leaves. LOOOOVE that!!

The next few photos are ones I took with my iphone as I was crafting – to show you the process. I did these assembly-line style. I die cut out ALL the pieces first and then assembled them in order: Pumpkins first, then leaves, then stems…. Didn't take long at all. This would be a good project to work on in front of the tv or with kids too!

Here are all my pieces die cut out on my crafting table…

To get the rounded pumpkin shape, I used my bone folder to curve the pieces. This also made it super easy to glue all the sections together!!

Here they are coming together….

And, done!

Just a few more pretty pictures…just because….

I used kraft paper for the stems…but I was thinking it would also look nice to use woodgrain paper or even dark brown….

Okay my little chickadees! Thanks for popping by today to see a project and have some fun. I hope you have a delightful fall weekend and that you are doing well. What are you working on in your craft room right now? Let me know in the comments. XOXO

September 7, 2023
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
Happy October! Spooky Witch Cross Stitch!

Hello my crafty friends! Happy October! Yeah! I love October and November the best of all the year! So excited it’s finally here! It’s been a long hot Summer and I’m ready for rain and fog and all the fun things that October brings. Our wedding anniversary is this week and then Halloween is coming, then my birthday and Thanksgiving… I am renewed by the possibilities of Autumn!! I am wishing you a very happy weekend and a happy October!! Today I have a fun cross stitch project to share with you – a spooky witch!

The pattern is called Spirits and Spells and it’s from Brenda Gervais (With Thy Needle and Thread). The finished piece is about 5″x7″ and it was a pretty fast stitch. Fun to stitch too! I framed it in an oval frame from Hobby Lobby (more on that later in the post). I used my own thread colors using what I had on hand and also used some fabric I already had in my stash. It’s on display now with our other Halloween decorations!

The fabric is sort of a mottled blue grey color which turned out perfect for this pattern. Here is a close up of the stitching and the frame…

I kind of love her striped socks!!! LOLZ. I do really like the primitive stitching patterns. Retro/vintage/antique whatever you call it! I love it! Especially for Fall.

I bought the oval frame at Hobby Lobby. You know me, so you know I had to add a little somethin somethin to it! I splattered on gold paint in parts… Of course… Then I used my Annie Sloan Gilding Wax to rub on gold here and there. It’s subtle but it looks so pretty in person!!! I rubbed the wax on the raised parts of the frame and also here and there randomly.

I took the glass out of the frame. I used two layers of batting under the stitching to make it poofy and raised inside the frame.

Okay spooky friends! Thanks for stopping by today! Happy spooky season and happy October! I will see you soon! Next week is The Greetery Christmas Release Week and OH MY it’s going to be good!! Take care. Love you! XOXO

October 1, 2022
It’s almost Halloween! Vintage card and rosette!

Hi crafty friends! Happy Friday! Today’s post is my favorite kind of post…. I made this today, took pictures, and blogged it in real time! I love that…. When the mood strikes me to make something and I get to share it right away! So much of my crafting has specific rules and timelines etc. But today was purely my creative mood coming out! My husband is away today for work and I have the house all to myself (well Lucky is here!) and it’s quiet and it’s raining! I went out for a little drive to Starbucks and enjoyed driving around my neighborhood in the pouring rain and seeing all the fall leaves that have finally appeared. It’s the perfect day! I got all my chores done and sat down at my desk. I’m running out of time (as always) to make Halloween things! The idea for this project has been in my head for too long. I literally went cray cray for this paper collection – Prima Thirty One. I bought it ALLLLLL. It’s vintagey and cute, and fun, and retro and cool all at the same time. Oh, and there are pink pumpkin embellishments! EEEK.

I made a pretty rosette decoration and a fun card using the super vintage pieces in the collection. I popped in some creamy orange and some pink, oh and a little bit of aqua. So fun to make this!!

Here’s a close up of the rosette! It’s hot glued onto a paper straw for more fun decoration. It’s about five inches across, including the crepe paper portion. I bought the crepe paper and the straws at Party City. The papers are all from the Thirty One collection. The ribbon is from PTI. All the supplies are listed HERE or at the bottom of the post.

The finished card is an A2 white card base. I used three of the patterned papers, some polka dot vellum and an ephemera panel to create the look. I also used some chipboard stickers and twine…. Loving this retro color palette.

Here’s a close up of that most adorable pink pumpkin!!! The striped paper has a stripe that is light blue/aqua so I used ribbon in that color to add another color to the mix. The striped rosette has Gold Stickles around the edge.

It’s super duper easy to make rosettes/medallions. No special tools needed! I score at 1/4 inch all the way down the strip of paper. For the larger rosette, the strips are 1.5″ wide. For the smaller rosette, the strips are 1″ wide. Just score and fold accordian style! That’s it! I use a circle to keep my rosette shape and I use hot glue to keep it all together. This works better than liquid glue since it dries right away.

Love that vintage cat!

Here’s a close up of my card’s paper layers. I used some Nuvo Drops to add glitter in certain places on the card.

Okay friends – that’s it for today! Wishing you a very happy, fun and creative weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with some Halloween fun from Doodlebug! See you then! XOXO

October 22, 2021
Doodlebug Happy Haunting Halloween Treat Boxes – BOO!

I know it's weird right now on the bloggy blog… One day it's Christmas, the next day it's Halloween! LOLZ. That's just how it's going right now. I love all the holidays that happen between October and December, so I don't mind. It does get a little confusion though!!

I'm up on the Doodlebug Blog today! BOO! It's Spooky Season…and of course Candy! Trick or Treat! One of my favorite crafting things to make this time of year is candy treats! It's fun to have Halloween – even as a grown up! I like to make little treats for my friends and co-workers. The new Happy Haunting Collection is so bright and colorful and playful. Pumpkins, ghosts and kitty cats! I knew I couldn't resist using the collection to decorate some treat boxes. I like to pop in lime green with orange and black for fun color contrast. Anything can be a candy container if you dream it up!!

Here is my trio of treats for today! Two candy boxes made from one of my favorite dies from Lawn Fawn – and black paper, and one clear box I bought at the craft store. They are filled with yummy pumpkin candies and made with lots of whimsy and love.

I used patterned papers from the Happy Haunting 12×12 paper pack…. And elements from the Chit Chat and Odds & Ends too. I used some Sprinkles on tiny clothespins to decorate the tops and the closures. The die is a treat box assembled in two pieces. It's my go-to and you've probably seen it here many times before. (Supplies are linked at the bottom of my post).

For this one I wrapped the clear box with papers and put on that big awesome sticker from the 12×12 Sticker Sheet. Some cute purple bats to finish it off. Oh, and always some twine! That black and white twine reminds me of old fashioned candy stripes.

I die cut an oval in the front of this treat box and glued a piece of acetate to the inside to make a window – to see the treats! You could use a circle or even a star for this part!

I definitely want candy!!!!

I never thought I would say this – but that's one cute spider!

Thanks for having some playful fun with me today! Doodlebug is always fun and playful! I'll have another Doodlebug Halloween project in two weeks. I have a fun idea brewing in my crafty cauldron….we'll see how it works out. I hope your day is filled with all treats and no tricks! Until then, Happy Crafting! I will see you soon, my pretties!

October 11, 2021
Happy Haunting! With Hello Bluebird!

Happy Haunting! It's getting closer to Halloween Time! Yippeeeee! Hope you've been having a great week! I'm popping in with one more Halloween card I made with the new Hello Bluebird release that just launched!! I love their Halloween stamp sets. They are always so whimsical and adorable. Today's card is a sweet little Trick or Treating scene…reminiscent of my younger days when it was all about the candy!

My finished card is a 5.5" x 5.5" square white card base. I layered some gingham and black and more white (covered in clouds)…. Then the feature element – those cute little haunters!! They're the BOO Crew! Under the bright moon, collecting their candies!

Here's a close up of my card layers… That purple gingham sets off the purple clouds quite nicely! SO fun!

I stamped and die cut out all the elements and colored them with Copic Markers…. I kept the color palette simple and bright!

My favorite cloud stencil, this time in purple! A spooky Halloween Sky…

The sentiment was heat embossed onto the 'hill' for a pop of white against black.

All the images and elements were attached to the card using foam tape.

Fun fact….I used to get teased and called "Wanda the Witch" when I was little. Remember Wanda from Sesame Street??? She has W's in her hair… So I am partial to cute little witches.

I ink blended a stitched circle to be the moon. Lots of golden yellow tones.

That's it for my spooky card for today! I'm wishing you a great day, and a great weekend coming up! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below for the supply list for today! (Affiliate Links Used)

September 15, 2021
Pretty Pink Posh September New Release Blog Hop! Cozy Fall Critters!

Hi crafty, fall loving friends! It's time for more Fall funnnnnn! There is a wonderful new release from Pretty Pink Posh this week, and it's ALL about FALL! Think leaves, and cute critters wearing sweaters (my fav), and pumpkins….and all that good stuff! This is Day two of a big, fabulous three day Blog Hop! All the details and the hop links are at the bottom of my post. So happy to be included in the lineup because you know how much I love Pretty Pink Posh!!

THE NEW RELEASE IS ALREADY IN THE STORE FOR SHOPPING NOW! YAY!

My card today features three new stamp sets and dies! I used the Cozy Fall Critters, The Falling Leaves and the Fall Corners sets!! What's not to love…and everything goes together perfectly. The finished card is an A2 horizontal Kraft card base. I layered white, and created an oval for my little scene.

These new Falling Leaves stamps are the PERFECT size!! I'm going to use these A LOT. I stamped and Copic colored several leaves and added white gel pen accents. I wanted to create a frame of leaves around the oval…. I popped in some acorns too!

Here are the adorable sweater wearin' cute critters!! I used a warm palette of gold and orange, and then popped in some teal. I love how they can hold leaves and acorns. I used bits and bobs of Diamond Stickles for a bit of glittery goodness.

I used the PPP Spooky Fence Die to go behind the critters. I made the hill by die cutting three of the Borders in green paper….Gotta get creative!

I used Distress Oxide ink and blender brushes to make a pretty teal/blue sky and stamped the sentiment directly onto the ink blending. I like how the color of the sky matches their outfits and sort of ties it all together.

Here is the card pointed towards the window so you can see the sparkly bits!!!

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT: There are 3 $25 gift certificates up for grabs (one winner each day)! Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop, from the comments. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 9/19/2021. Winners will be announced on the PPP blog. Good Luck!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW RELEASE!

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

BLOG HOP LIST FOR TODAY!

Pretty Pink Posh blog
Tammy Stark
Wanda Guess
Carly Minner
Dana Kirby
Tina Smith

September 14, 2021
Hello Bluebird New Release – September 2021!

Hi everyone! So as you know, this time of year is crazy for crafting! One day it's Christmas, then the next day it's Halloween cards, then Fall cards, and then back to Christmas cards! It's pretty fun, though, because I love all of those things!! Today I'm showcasing something else I love – Hello Bluebird Stamps! Yippeee! They have a new release today and I made three cards with some of the new items. I'll share two today, and one a bit later in the month. Their stamps and dies are so fun and happy and they make creating cards easy! CLICK HERE to shop the Hello Bluebird Store!! The release will be live later today!

First up is a super fun card with cutie pie ghosties and happy pumpkins!! I loved making this card! I used the new Jack Dies and the new Ghostly Night Dies. I used the previously released frame and tree to create my Halloween scene. This finished card is A2 size. I used some gingham and black to keep a traditional Halloween color palette….

The background clouds were made with a stencil and some Peacock Distress ink for a pop of color. I die cut all the pieces out and then had fun deciding on a card layout…

Those little pumpkins, tho.

I used a few Copic Markers on my ghosties to give them cheeks and a bit of color to their 'bodies'

This happy guy is hugging his favorite pumpkin!!

And she's a little witchy poo with her broom, flying through the sky! Adorbs. Hello Bluebird thought of everything – down to the little die for the buckle on the hat. All the details are what I love!!

Next up is a cheerful any/all occasion card made with the new Big Paper Hugs Die and the new Balloon Buddies stamp set!! The finished card is an A2 card base covered in plaid paper from my craft stash. This card could be for a birthday, or get well, or just encouragement.

I had a lot of fun coloring these images!! I tried some new to me Copic techniques here, and I really like the result. My tendency is to not use the really dark colors….but here I did just that….and I am happy with how that makes the contrast kinda pop!! I also added more white gel pen accents than I normally would. I think it was nice to get out of my comfort zone!

I colored the balloons in a rainbow, but didn't put them all in rainbow order…. I added some tiny hearts too.

These adorable little critters would make anyone smile!!

The die set for the words says "Big Paper Hugs" and I chose to use only the 'hugs' part of the die. I also made the word go vertically instead of horizontally on my card – to fit the design.

Okay, all you Hello Bluebird fans….just a little while longer until you can see and shop the entire release!! Hope you find some things you love and have fun creating too!! I will be back again tomorrow!!! (I told you I was busy!)…. Tomorrow I will share my cards for the new The Greetery release!! XOXO

SUPPLY LIST IS BELOW!

September 8, 2021
Vintage-y Halloween Medallions! Happy Halloween Week 2020!

Hello friends! Happy Monday! Happy Halloween Week! Can you believe it? Just like every year, I ran out of time to make all the Halloween projects I wanted and intended to make…. So this might be my last Halloween post for this year! If I find time, I'll try to post one more thing but there's no guarantee! LOL. The weather finally changed here in Sacramento over the weekend and it was in the 70's all weekend. Perfect!! It's been so hot and I've been so ready to wear a sweater. Fall is here I hope! I got a super cool new Halloween sweater that I need to wear this week!! I spent a big part of the weekend organizing my new makeup desk! It's been something I've wanted for years, and we finally made it happen for me! (My early birthday present)… We removed this huge chaise lounge chair in our master bedroom and we bought me a beautiful farmhouse desk to fit in that space. It's perfect!! One fact about me: I love makeup and beauty supplies almost as much as I love art supplies… It's the same thing, kind of. Makeup eye shadow palettes are just like water color palettes and applying makeup is like painting a picture!! Right? Any other makeup junkies out there? I bought a beautiful and super cool makeup mirror using my credit card points so now it's all set up. It makes me super happy.

Okay…on to the project for today! I made some cool, vintage-y, spooky paper medallions/rosettes! I absolutely love this kind of project where I can mix and match papers and elements and textures. I will use these to tie on a package or I will hot glue some ribbon on the back and hang them on door knobs, etc. I used mostly papers, stamps, stickers and other elements from my extensive Tim Holtz collection! I also used some of my favorite Papertrey Ink supplies. A lot of the things are out of stock now (they're older supplies) but really you can use whatever you have in your stash to recreate these! Just play and have fun!!

Here are my final three rosettes… Everything was made with Tim Holtz Halloween Paper pads, black cardstock, cream cardstock and orange cardstock. I embellished using stickers, ideaology charms, paper banners, glitter and stamps!!

I have this little bottle of old silver glitter and it's the perfect touch for these kinds of projects! In this one, I edged the text circle with the glitter. The pumpkin is from the Snarky Cats Halloween stamp set and I used Distress Inks to watercolor it. The tiny banner was free hand cut with detail scissors. The bat is a Tim Holtz charm.

For this one I splattered glue and glitter all over it!! I used a big silver owl charm (Tim Holtz) as the center piece of this one. Lots of die cut stitched circles….and again lots of paper. I also splattered white paint and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink liberally over lots of the pieces. I used an old out of production SIzzix Die for the two small rosettes. The large one I made by trimming paper and scoring with my Scor-Pal.

I used one of my favorite ever dies (Parisian Lace from PTI) to make a black doily for this one. Then I used spiderweb stickers and number stickers and a spider charm to decorate it! I used a long banner die (PTI) to make the banner going across it.

Here's a close up of that yummy glitter!!!

Here are my 'naked' rosettes! These are SO easy to make! If you have a medallion/rosette die, it cuts the strips for you and score them… But if you don't, you can still make these! Cut paper strips and then on your Scor-Pal score every 1/4 inch across. Fold all the score marks and then glue the ends together. To hold it together I like to die cut a circle to glue it onto. This also serves as your base/foundation for all the other goodies.

Use any papers for this! SO much fun to experiment. I love how the diamond harlequin one turned out!!

The next photos are all close ups of the various elements on each rosette.

Thanks for coming by to check out my spooky post for today! I hope I've inspired you to create! And I hope you have a happy and fun week ahead! Happy Halloween!! This year has been a weird one, but here we are at the end of October. We made it this far. XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies for today's projects. (Affiliate Links Used). I did my best to find as many products as I could. Again, these projects used a lot of old supplies from my stash. Get creative!

October 26, 2020
Cupcakes please! Revisiting an old favorite stamp set!

Hey everyone! Happy Saturday! I’m popping in with a quick blog post to share something cute and fun!! The other day Taylor was doing a Facebook Live and she used this older stamp set and I was like “I LOVE that stamp set!” So I thought I would go through my photos and find some of my projects I’ve made over the years and share them with you! This is hands down my favorite cupcake stamp set from any company!! And as you’ll see, I love to pair it with the Sprinkles Embossing Folder.

For five weeks I have been cooking EVERY meal for us here at our house. I’ve been keeping it super healthy – salads, grilled chicken, light pastas, etc. and I’ve been super proud of me. Yeah me! LOL. Well, yesterday we had pizza and ice cream and extra toasty Cheezits. Lawdy be, I’m so ready to go out and have someone else cook for me! Yesterday was the first time we ordered food too. I guess the streak had to come to an end. So today I’m thinking of making some cupcakes.

I’m sharing three cards with ya, all made with the Simply Stamped Cupcakes set!! This first one is a perfect birthday card! It’s an A2 card covered with patterned paper. Iayered pretty pink cardstock and then cream embossed with the embossing folder. The sentiment was gold heat embossed onto a strip of vellum. Some Diamond Stickles – of course – and you’re done! The stamps are super easy to line up either with a MISTI or your stamp positioner. (Also, they are delicious red rubber!!)

Next up I took the same exact concept and made it into a Halloween card! Just a few yummy bats and a green cherry! I made a Christmas one with holly too but I can’t find that photo anywhere!!!

For this most recent one I used the awesome blender brushes and the Polka Party stencil. Then I used the embossing folder on an accent circle to frame the cupcake. This is a fun way to use your embossing folders – cut your shape first and then emboss so the embossing doesn’t get squished.

I told you this was a quick post! I hope you’re having a nice weekend! The weather is nice here and I think we’re going on a trip to Puerto Backyardo! LOL. Seriously, some Vitamin D can’t hurt. I feel like a vampire stuck inside. Love you guys! XOXO

PLEASE READ: In the past few weeks I have several subscribers’ emails from me get returned. BOO. I did some investigating and they all have an ending with charter.net SO, if you have a charter.net email address, something is happening!! Did you all get a new address to use?? Please re-subscribe if you see this.

SUPPLY LINKS are below! (Affiliate Links Used)

April 18, 2020
BOO – I’m Batty About You!

Hi everyone! Dang, it seems like a long time since I wrote a blog post! I've been busy creating, but nothing I can share just yet. I have lots more ideas than time. Isn't that the way? How are you? How was your weekend? I had a super fun time on Saturday going to a Yarn Crawl! The hubs came with me and we made a day of it, driving around the lake on a gorgeous brisk day! It was a great event! CLICK HERE to learn more about it! On Sunday I worked all day on my projects for the upcoming The Greetery Release! I'm thinking you're gonna love it all! Coming next week! Yippeeee! Today I have to get new brakes on my car. Yuck. But such is life. I hope everything is going good where you are.

As part of my guest designer gig with Hello Bluebird Stamps this month, I have two more cards to share! YAY! One today, and one on Sunday. Today's card features some adorable bats (yes, I said adorable bats) and Distress Ink Blending. The stamp set is called Spooky Spellers. SO FUN!! BOOOOO! I'm batty about you! The finished card is an A2 white card base… Let's look!

I had many ideas for this stamp set…but then the bats just spoke to me! I stamped and die cut three bats, and the three letters. I colored the batty bats with Copic Markers in shades of cool grays. I used pink for their ears and cheeks. Very simple palette.

I die cut a spooky tree from black cardstock and also stamped and die cut and colored a pumpkin and a crescent moon from Hello Bluebird also…

Here's a photo of my fun ink blended background! I used four shades of Distress Inks and the new Domed Blender Tools from Scrapbook.com. They worked awesome for this project. I used the MFT Mini Clouds Stencil to do my clouds in deep dark purple (shades listed below in the supply links)… I really like how this turned out. The colors are so vivid in person! I splattered white ink over the background to look like stars.

I glued the tree to the card. Everything else is attached with foam circles for added dimension and visual interest.

I am – BATTY – about you! EEP. So cute!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I have lots of Halloween Cards made now! Are you making Fall or Halloween cards? I just love this time of year. Never can have too many Autumn Craft Projects!! CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see my supplies for today. (Affiliate Links Used). I'm not sure if I'll post later in the week, but for sure I'll see you right here on Sunday! Have a fa-boo-lous day! XOXO

September 24, 2019
Hello Bluebird September Previews Week! Best Witches to you for Halloween!

Welcome to day TWO of Previews! As I discussed yesterday, I was so graciously invited to join the Hello Bluebird Team to help launch their new release for September. The entire release is all about FALL things! Yippeeee! Leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Pumpkin Spice, cute animals, cute witches… OH MY GOSH! It's all so amazing. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time I was creating my cards! I'll be sharing four cards total this week leading up to the release, and then two more cards a bit later in the month. ALL THE NEW STAMPS go live on 9/13 at 7pm MST. Mark your calendars because you're going to go crazy for this release just like I did!!

My second card for Preview Week is a sweet little witch named Tabitha! The stamp set is called Tabitha! Do you guys remember her from Bewitched? I love that name! Ha. She has her cats, her bats, her books and her potions! SO much fun in this set! I colored tons of images and then mixed them around until I made this little Halloween scene. The finished card is a dark grey A2 card base, layered with white, then grey gingham….and some purple! Let's look!

I stamped and die cut out all the images and colored them with Copic Markers. I set the colored images aside to create the backdrop for my scene. I tried a couple of new techniques and some new colors too! I don't usually craft with purple, but I love it in this case.

I love the font in this sentiment!! Here's a close up of all the little elements. Can you see that I paper pieced her some green striped socks! Hee hee.

For that dark purple background, I started with deep purple cardstock and then used ink blending tools and Dusty Concord Distress Ink over it. So it's purple on purple. Then I splattered white paint to look like stars. It's really pretty in person!!

For the moon and the light around the candle I used the same colors and technique. I started by die cutting two circles, and then colored them with sponge daubers and Distress Inks. Once the ink dried, I used a brand new to me product – Glitz Glitter Gel – and a paintbrush and added that pretty shimmer on top! I'm addicted now to this glitter gel!! I mounted these two circles under the other images. LOVE that pop of yellow against the dark colors.

This branch is from another Hello Bluebird set. Instead of coloring it pretty in brown and greens… I colored it with all gray tones! Looks more spooky that way.

THANK YOU for stopping by today! All the new products will be live on 9/13 at 7pm MST. Until then, check the Hello Bluebird blog for more inspiration, or stop by the Hello Bluebird website to shop around. I guarantee you'll find something you love. More previews for the next two days – four days in all. Please come back tomorrow to see a fun Halloween card with some trick or treaters!! XOXO

September 11, 2019
August Ellen Hutson New Release! Yippeee for Fall and Christmas Crafting!

Hey everybody! Happy Friday! Woot! When you read this, I will be in the car on a road trip to Lake Tahoe! One of my talented, creative entrepreneur friends is an event designer and she has to deliver some flowers for a wedding. So I'm tagging along to help, laugh and have some lunch! I love a good road trip… Should be a gorgeous day! Hope you have a great Friday and a great weekend!

Today I'm very excited to share some projects made with the BRAND NEW August release from Ellen Hutson! Everything just went on sale today at 9am PST! I love August, because it's time to start Fall crafting, and maybe a little Christmas crafting too! This new release features stamps and dies designed by our friend Julie Ebersole. Everything is fun and fresh and awesome! CLICK HERE to see the entire new release!

I made THREE cards! Two Christmas cards and one Halloween card…so you know that means lots of pictures today! Grab some coffee and take a look with me. My process when I get a new stamp release is to lay it all out on my big counter top in my studio. I will also grab my other stamps from that company and sort of look at it all at once. See what my brain starts to put together. I couldn't stop making cards with this release. Yay!

First up is a fun Christmas card featuring an adorable Santa and some pretty pine trees! This finished card is A2 sized with a white card base.

I cut one white layer for this card and die cut it using the Skinny Stripes Die. Then I backed it with pretty red cardstock for contrast.

I stamped and die cut out three trees and one Santa and one Holly leaf cluster. I colored everything with Copic Markers. I used white paint to add some snow to the trees! I stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment in black, and some yellow stars.

I used foam tape to assemble everything in layers onto the card.

This is a good Christmas card layout because it's flat! Perfect for mailing!

Next up is a card with some totally adorable snowmen!!! This finished card is an aqua card base in A2 size. I die cut a stitched rectangle layer for the top layer from white cardstock.

I stamped and die cut three little cutie pie snowmen and colored them with Copics.

I stamped the background in aqua ink. This is a small stamp, and I stamped it 9 times to get the right amount of pattern coverage. I stamped the sentiment in rich black ink.

The snowmen were affixed to the card using foam tape!

These beautiful snowflakes dies were cut from sparkly silver cardstock. I LOVE red, aqua and silver for Christmas!!

And last, but not least, BOO! A Halloween Card! My first Halloween card of 2019! These stamps are sooooo cute! They are two layer stamping… An outline, and then a solid for the color in the middle. Easy stamping!! This card has a dark grey card base in A2 size.

I stamped and die cut out allllll the little shapes! (There are more in the set too! I didn't use them all!) I added some white gel pen highlights and bits of Diamond Stickles onto them also.

I cut a white layer for the top part of the card, and splattered it with black ink and a paint brush. Then I die cut the spider webs from black cardstock and glued them down as my background. I laid out everything and then stamped the sentiment. This sentiment stamp set is FUUUUUNNNNNY.

All the images were attached with foam tape! POP! You know me, and I looove dimension on my cards!

Okay friends, that's it for today! CLICK HERE to shop the brand new Ellen Hutson Release! I know you're going to find something(s) you love! CLICK HERE for the supply list for today, or click the graphic below. (Affiliate Links Used). Have a great weekend! I will see you soon! XOXO

August 9, 2019
Happy Halloween from A Witch Called Wanda!

Hi crafty friends! Happy Halloween!! Man, how did that happen? Tomorrow is NOVEMBER??? I say that every year, but doesn't the time go so fast lately? It's still warm here and I guess that hasn't really put me in the Halloween mood. Supposed to be 80 degrees here today! Yikes. I'm ready for sweater time! I've been working a lot in the studio making fun projects for next month. Lots to share!! I took all of my Election Worker training classes last week so now I'm on call to work at a voting center. And I'll be working every day at the center the days right before the election. I have to say that the behind the scenes of setting up an election are fascinating! I've really enjoyed being part of things and learning more about the laws surrounding voting. I am glad I signed up to do it! In bigger news my birthday is on Saturday! Woot! Not sure what we'll be doing. I'm happy with a low key birthday to be sure…. The hubs and I will find something fun to do. I am not that psyched about another year under my belt so to speak.

Today I'm sharing a fun Halloween card made with a stamp named after me! I looooove wood mounted RUBBER stamps and buy them as often as I can! My friend Lindsay Ostrom is a local artist and she illustrates stamps for Impression Obsession! (VERY cool stamps I might add). I almost always buy her wood stamps. Well, imagine my surprise to find out that she made one called Witch Wanda! And she has a kitty! Awesome. I inked up Witch Wanda with my Polychromos Pencils on Kraft paper…. Kept a clean layout…. Used my favorite Ellen Hutson Background die… There you have it. Happy Halloween!

There are three layers of Kraft cardstock on this card: The card base (A2), the background die/embossed layer, and the top layer with the image. I added just a touch of a hint of purple cardstock under that top layer. I like to layer the same color cardstock – it gives added dimension without having a ton of colors going on. I do this a lot with white cardstock also. Coloring with pencils on Kraft is a great technique to shake it up and get a different look. (The Halloween die is from SSS and unfortunately is not available anymore). I added some bitty bats from an old style punch.

When you color with pencils, make sure to utilize that white pencil to add highlights! It makes your project pop!

And there she is! Witch Wanda! LOL!

I hope you have a FUN HALLOWEEN with no tricks and lots of treats! Are you dressing up? We'll stay home and hang out and wait for trick or treaters. We don't get a ton of kids on our street but I love to see their costumes and pass out candy! I'll be back tomorrow with a fun blog hop for Pink Fresh Studio! Yay! See you then. XOXO

October 31, 2018
Halloween Cuties from Elizabeth Crafts!

Hey there! How's your week going? I'm spending the day in training today for working the election in a couple weeks! Should be interesting! ALLLLL day training. Gosh, it's been a while for that! Looking forward to seeing what's up and what I'll be doing during election week. I hope your week is going great so far. Today I'm sharing a card I made with some SUPER cute stamps I bought at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo last weekend. I literally could not wait to ink these up! They are from Elizabeth Crafts. Although Elizabeth Crafts is definitely not new to me, this new line of stamps (a new artist) was new to me and I BOUGHT EIGHT SETS! I couldn't help myself. They are so sweet and whimsical and adorable!! CLICK HERE to see all of them! EEKS! Love.

I used the Halloween stamps and dies to make this card. I used my Distress Ink Mini Ink Pads and a small paint brush to do the coloring. I wanted it to look like illustrations! I used a clean and simple card layout with some cute gingham and just a bit of glitter and twine. This is an A2 card size with the fold on the left side.

A little twine bow on the side fold always looks cute and cheerful! I stamped the sentiment directly onto my top layer. Simple layers here of gingham, black and white cardstock. All the little images were stamped and die cut out and attached with foam tape.

To color everything, I used Distress Ink Minis and a small paint brush. SO fast to water color this way! Quick and easy. HOW cute is that candy corn witch??? OMG.

I used the Elizabeth Crafts super fine glitter and a glue pen to add glitter bits to most of the images. A little touch of sparkle is always good!

I can totally picture this adorable crew showing up at my doorstep on Halloween night!

That's it for today! Have a blessed and creative day! See you soon! XOXO

October 24, 2018
BOO! Fun shaker card with Queen & Company Fright Fest Kit!

BOO! Hey everyone! Happy Sunday! I'm getting a slow start today… Relaxing with the hubs and Lucky and enjoying a second cup of coffee with nowhere to be today. Ahhhhh. I had the best time the past three days! The Stamp and Scrapbook Expo was in town and I did it right! LOL. I had friends here from San Diego, Canada, and the bay area. In addition to all my Sacramento Crafty friends. Whew. Hugs galore, laughter, coffee, snacks, shopping….It was all wonderful. My back hurts and my wallet is empty. But my heart is happy. I really just had a great time. Two of my friends rented a house here and we stayed up long after the show talking and being silly. There is definitely not enough of that in my life! I hope you've had a great weekend too!

Next week is going to be super busy for me. I signed up to be an election worker and I have to go to ten hours worth of training next week. I also have a fun stamping class one night. All good stuff happens in the Fall.

Today I'm sharing a super fun Halloween card made with a fabooolous kit from Queen & Company. The kit is called Fright Fest! It has everything you need included in the kit – to make tons of Halloween cards. The Queen & Company kits are the best value and the highest quality. Can't recommend them enough really. You get a full stamp set, tons of dies, a paper pad, the shaker shapes, the acetate pieces and all the shaker bits! I hope you will check them out! CLICK HERE to see all the fun kits.

For my card I decided – if one shaker bit is good, then TWO is better! I used the BOO and the Pumpkin shapes to make this card. It's an A2 sized card. I started with a white card base, then layered black, and then the pretty stripes. I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added a few spooky splatters for effect.

The dies set comes with all the little pieces to make the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern treat bucket. LOVE. So easy to put this together!!

I like this sentiment with the combination of different fonts.

I wrapped a bit of twine around the card and added some gems. These gems are also from Queen & Co and they're called halos. They come in a bunch of colors!

These are just a few of the items that come in the Fright Fest Kit!

I love that happy Jack-o-lantern!!

That's it for today! Thanks for popping by! Hope I didn't scare ya! LOLZ. I hope you have a fantastic week ahead. Not sure what I'll be posting next, but I hope to use some of the new cute stamps I got at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo this weekend. I have loads of ideas. Take care! XOXO

October 21, 2018