Holiday Spirit with Old Family Pics!

Seems my standard intro to blog posts is, "so busy, haven't had much time to create or post" ... well, finally had some time last weekend to use some of the elements in the Country Living Holiday stamp kit. Of course, now I want to make more to give away ... but this one I'm keeping!

Oh, before I started I created a "charger" placemat from a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock. The edges were cut with the scallop punch ... a few snowflakes stamped in Whisper White craft ink and done!


First step, "paint" the chipboard frames by sponging on some Whisper White craft ink ...


Next (after letting the craft ink dry), coat the surface of the chipboard frames with a think layer of Tombo multi-purpose glue and cover with Dazzling Diamonds glitter ...


Then, cover the solid squares of chipboard with pre-cut designer series paper. I used the Tombo glue again ... and roughed up the edges a bit with a sanding block ...


Glue your picture to the back of the glittered frame, and attach to the front of your designer-series paper covered chipboard! Punch a hole in the top (I used a Crop-A-Dile) and add a loop of ribbon ...


The pic above is my Grandpa Lee (mom's side) and below are Grandma Rose & Grandpa Fred (dad Fred's parents) ...


This is me and my dad (Arvis) when I was about 2 ...


And, the whole family crew including a picture of my Grandma Blossom (mom's mom) and my great-grandmother Meri (Grandma Rose's mom) in front of her tinsel Christmas tree ...



Next step, string them on a garland and find a place to hang 'em in my house ...

Cheers!

Halloween Pumpkins ...

Happy Halloween! Had dinner with family recently and decided to make a lil' Halloween treat for my niece.

It started with the Big Shot ...

... and the Pumpkin die ...


After a few more dies (Pumpkin Faces, Naturally Serif and the Top Note Bigz Die) I was able to put together this Halloween bag of jack-o-lanterns and treats.


The designer paper is from Stampin' Up!'s Ghostly Greetings package and the spider on the cellophane bag is from the Halloween rub-on set, Chills & Thrills.

She had fun playing with the pumpkins ... and liked the spiders, too!

Rockin' Some Halloween Cheer ...

One of my favorite holidays is just around the corner. Perfect reason to use my new 'Just Jawing' stamp set and 'Chills & Thrills' rub-ons ...



The Card:
The skull and 'You Rock' greeting are both from the 'Just Jawing' stamp set. I stamped the skull on shimmery white cardstock using Basic Black ink and then colored in the the hearts with a Real Red marker. I stamped the greeting with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. After cutting out the skull (paper snips work great) I adhered it to the card using a few stampin' dimensionals to give it a bit of depth.

The Candle Holder:
I picked up some glass votive candle holders at the local craft store and used the 'Chills & Thrills' rub-ons to decorate the glass. Quick & Easy!

Think I need to by some pumpkin candles ...

Bag o' Treats ...

Earlier this year, I made some "bag ties" using punches. It was the perfect thing to revive for the Halloween season to create a lil' bag o' treats ...



For this project, I used:

Stamp Set: Batty for You
Cardstock: Basic Black, Shimmery White, Tangerine Tango
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle, Double Rectangle

I stamped the image with Versamark ink and embossed with black embossing powder. The whole thing was tied on to a small cello bag with a piece of black grosgrain ribbon.

Here's the original Valentine's Day project including some step-by-step pictures.

Swapping out images and colors this bag decoration can work for any occasion! In fact, someone in my stamp class last month said "Wedding Favors" -- excellent idea.

Spooky Spider Treats

October! Can't believe it's here. The year is going by entirely too fast. But, on the plus side, October means plenty of excuses for Halloween stamp projects (of course, I got headstart last month with the Boo Banner).

No better way to get the trick-or-treat season started than with a Spooky Spider candy jar. This was so fast & easy to make -- the perfect project for my time-crunched schedule.



The ingredients:

• Spooky Spider Décor Elements (small)
  
• Eat, Drink & Be Scary stamp set
  
• Shimmery White, Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango cardstock
  
• Tag Punches (small & regular)
  
• Tangerine Tango 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon and a bit of black hemp twine
  

But, of course, you can't have a candy jar and leave it empty ...


A bit of a close-up on the tag, embossed with black embossing powder ...


and the Spooky Spider striking a pose in front of Halloween colored M&Ms ...



Putting the vinyl wall decal on the glass jar took about 5 - 10 minutes (and that was moving slowly as it was my first time using the décor elements). The tag was another 5 minutes or so (quick & easy thanks to the tag punches).

If you want to make your own jar, Stampin' Up! is offering the Spooky Spider décor elements in 3 sizes (and, you can order online thru my site, too!)

I'm taking this jar into work to provide a lil' Halloween spirit (and, so I don't eat all the M&Ms solo)

Cheers!

Boo! It's Fall

Where did Summer go? The stores are now filled with fall colors and Halloween treats. To get in the spirit, I spent some time playing with my Big Shot to create my own decoration - Boo!


To create 'Boo' banner, I used the smaller pennant from the Stampin' Up! exclusive Pennant Bigz XL die - popping out pennants in Basic Black and Ghostly Greetings designer paper. The green accent is the created by simply folding the designer paper over - with a pattern on both sides, an accent paper is built right in!

The letters were made using the Serif Essentials Bigz die and chipboard. I sponged Basic Black craft ink onto the letters before applying chunky glitter in black. Tombow multi-purpose adhesive works great for gluing glitter and adhering the chipboard letters to the pennant.

Final touch, adhere striped gosgrain ribbon in Kiwi Kiss using sticky strip.

Happy Crafting.

Wow Flowers & Flores Llamativas ...

Greetings from the tail-end of the 3-day weekend. Here are a some cards I created using the new Wow Flowers stamp set and its counterpart in Stampin' Up!'s Spanish Catlog, Flores Llamativas. Being a native Californian, I like having stamps with sayings like 'muchas gracias' so I was happy to see more Spanish stamp sets coming out. All of the cards are made using colors from the new In Colors collection.

Birthday Wishes ...


On the Left:
Stamps: Canvas for the background, all other stamps from 'Flores Llamativas'
Colors: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, and Whisper White
Accessories: Clear Button, Rhinestone Brad, Ribbon in Baja Breeze,
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1" Circle, Word Window

On the Right:
Stamps: Canvas for the background, all other stamps from 'Wow Flowers'
Colors: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, and Whisper White
Accessories: Clear Button, Rhinestone Brad, Ribbon in Pink Pirouette
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1" Circle, Word Window

Thank You ...


On the Left:
Stamps: Canvas for the background, all other stamps from 'Flores Llamativas'
Colors: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Barely Banana and Whisper White
Accessories: Clear Button, Rhinestone Brad, Ribbon in Tangerine Tango
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1" Circle

On the Right:
Stamps: Canvas for the background, all other stamps from 'Wow Flowers'
Colors: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Barely Banana and Whisper White
Accessories: Clear Button, Rhinestone Brad, Ribbon in Kiwi Kiss
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1" Circle

Tips:

• To creat the large scallop, use the Pennant die and Big Shot die cut machine


• To create a flat rhinestone brad embellishment, cut the prongs off using craft & rubber scissors and attach the rhinestone top to the button using a glue dot.


• To make the 'Muchas Gracias' stand out on the Tangerine Tango cardstock, stamp with Riding Hood Red.

Enjoy ...