A Season of Thanks

Well here it is, November 1st already.  Wasn't I just commenting on the New Year?  How does time fly?
Well we're entering my favorite time of year.  I don't know whether it's the fabulous food, the pretty colors or the family fellowship that I like best, but it really is a special time.

I'll start off our new month with a thank you card.  I had a number of samples from Jar of Haunts on my blog over the past several weeks, and believe it or not, I have one more sample--AFTER Halloween!  Take a look:

I was playing around trying to come up with something for a Card Club, and this popped out of my hands.  That wonderful pumpkin is straight from the set of Jar of Haunts; you see it comes with a Jack-o-Lantern face should you choose to use it, but I just loved the simplicity of the perfect pumpkin shape.

I stamped them in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Whisper White card stock.  Then I simply colored them using a Pumpkin Pie (how perfect a name is that?) Stampin' Write marker.  The stem and leaves are colored with Pear Pizzazz.

I stamped both stems directly on my card front; the second pumpkin was fussy-cut and added with Dimensionals, and I tied a small bow with stings of 5/8" Burlap Ribbon, sticking it on with Glue Dots.

And check out that Pumpkin Pie Glimmer Paper Flourish--that was cut using the Flourish Thinlets, but it was too long.  So I carefully snipped apart a circle near the end, then laid the two pieces, one on top of the other to make it just the right length.  It's really sparkly!

Welcome to November!

All products can be purchased here.

And don't forget--today is the day you can purchase your Stitched Shapes Framelits and stamp sets specially priced for this offer.  Check out this post for all the details!  

Mummy Treats

OK, time to get ready for Halloween.  I sat down this past weekend to put together some treats for my grandkids.  I had previously purchased some Halloween books that I wanted to send them, and decided to include a little "somethin' somethin".

I had seen a project on Debbie Henderson's blog, and decided it would work well for me:

This really cute tiny box is easy to put together, and I know will tickle the grands.  It uses Jar of Haunts and the coordinating Everyday Jars framelits dies.

This is a side view.

Let me show you how to put this little box together.

Start with a piece of card stock measuring 3-1/4" x 4".
On the 3-1/4" side, score at 1" and 2-1/4".
On the 4" side, score at 1-1/2" and 2-1/2".

On the long side (4" side), cut the score lines to the first score.  Now you'll have a piece that looks like this:

Fold and crease well on all score lines.  Then put it together with a strong adhesive; I used Tombow Multi Purpose Glue:

Start with adhesive on the outside of the two middle flaps.

Fold the sides up; then put glue on inside of the remaining flaps (as shown above) and fold up.

Now you have a little tiny box, just perfect for holding 3 Hershey's Miniatures:

Now for the decorating:  I stamped mummies and eyeballs in the jars and cut them out with the Everyday Jars Framelits.  For the mummies, I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, then used Ghoulish Grunge to stamp some "gauze" over the mummy, using Sahara Sand ink.

The eyeballs from Jar of Haunts were stamped and then I colored them with various Stampin' Write markers; the "water" was watercolored with an Aquapainter and Pear Pizzazz ink.  Each little box gets two of these images, front and back.

Adhere the images to the front and back of the box.

Add a sentiment with a Halloween Night Enamel Dot, and these are ready to hand out.  Since mine were being mailed, I wrapped them in a 3" x 6" Gusseted Cello Bag and tied a ribbon bow.  Now I know they'll arrive safety and will delight the kids.

All products can be purchased here. 

Bad Card, Good Card--Trying to Find My Mojo

When I create a card, I often have an idea in my head and try to translate it onto paper.  It doesn't always work.  (insert sad face)

But once I get going, I don't often complete a card that ends up in the trash.  I fiddle and change elements until I like what I have, even if it isn't the best card I've ever made.

So when I finally got into my craft room after being gone for 2 weeks, I had a card in my head and I couldn't wait to get it out.  I stamped, colored, cut, and pasted, and I've never been so disappointed in a card...(insert another sad face).  And the worst part was that I felt I had just totally lost my card-creating mojo!

Now I'm going to show you the card, and ask you to stay with me here (there IS a happy ending):

Honestly, looking at it here, it's really NOT quite as bad as I've made it out to be, but I was not happy about it.  This adorable new stamp set, Jar of Haunts, is available now in the Holiday Catalog.  It coordinates with the fabulous Everyday Jars Framelits (which was introduced with Jar of Love in the Annual Catalog) and I couldn't wait to play with it.

So I stamped the jars, added eyeballs, the spider and the mummy, and used Tangerine Tango to create the pumpkin jar.  They were all cut out and I began setting them on paper.  This is a 3" x 8" card--just right for the height of the jars.  But it just wasn't coming together.  So I added some bats:

and then some Halloween Night Enamel Dots to the corners, but I was totally deflated--it just had NOTHING.

And then, to top it all off, I realized I had stamped the bats upside down!  Argh!

So I chalked it all up to jet lag, and went to bed.

Then last night I started over.  I was apprehensive (had I truly lost my ability?), and frustrated, but I sat down and started to stamp.  I pulled out all the stops.  And THIS was the result:

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!  L.O.V.E!

First of all, I made the card a little bigger--4" x 8".  This gave me much more room for the background.  Then I stamped the fantastic Ghoulish Grunge (is that the best name ever?) to create the broken brick wall (using Smoky Slate ink).  And a spider web (also from Ghoulish Grunge) in Memento Tuxedo Black.

The jars were stamped (Tuxedo Black); the eyeballs were added and I colored the "water" with Soft Sky marker.  The little hanging spiders in the second jar are from Spooky Fun (just wait til you see THAT set!).  And this time I used the pumpkin/face, stamped on Tangerine Tango, with the stem and leaves colored and fussy-cut.

Of course I needed some blood dripping down my wall (also from Ghoulish Grunge) and then those bats:

I got them right this time!  Yippee!

And I've been dying to try the Labeler Alphabet, so I stamped the fun "spooky" and popped it up on Dimensionals.  And I finished it all off with little spiders across the bottom.

MUCH happier!  (insert pumpkin grin!)

So what do you think?  Is my mojo returning?  I'm going to say yes...and now off to the craft room to try something else!

Don't forget--the holiday catalog is now live; click on the catalog on the right to take a peek inside.  But you better have your pen and paper ready--it's a fabulous catalog that will tempt anyone!

Place orders here.



 And look!  Stampin' UP! has introduced some Special Offers.  For this week only, here are some great prices on CURRENT catalog items--25% off!  Check back each week for the next 3--there will be more Special Offers. 


Orders for these items can be added to your Holiday Catalog order, or placed individually.  Don't miss out!