A rant and a little haunted house...

The Maple Leaf Festival was super busy on Saturday! Last year we went later on Sunday and there wasn't near as many people... we show up right before parade time, so it was wall-to-wall people! I didn't spend very much this year... I think it was because, though I may seem to be sort of a 'people person', I'm really not! :) I just don't feel comfortable in crowds. A lot of it is because people are just not cordial like they used to be...

hello...

...is the phrase 'excuse me' in your vocabulary?! I must be showing my age or something, but I actually attempt to move over on the sidewalk if someone is approaching me so that they may pass, and I ALWAYS say 'excuse me' or 'pardon me', 'please', 'thank you'.

Am I wrong on this?!

Some of these people today [and no, it's not just kids & teenagers] have absolutely no common manners. I'm not saying that I am Eloise or Miss Proper Etiquette or anything, but come on people!!

Ok, rant over. On to the fun stuff. I started making these cards yesterday and finished them up late tonight. The techniques and supplies for the House Haunt Cards are almost exactly the same as my Creepy Landscape Card, except I used the haunted house from Halloween Town in-lieu-of the tree from Love & Laughter. I also used an eggplant cardstock on the smaller card instead of the navy.

Since my rant was so long tonight, I cut the fun part short. Sorry for the poor quality lighting for these photos... I didn't have the natural light like I usually do, so the colors are off.

What do you think?

I know, I know... where the heck have I been...

I don't EVEN want to get into it... let's just say, I have been crazy busy. I still don't have half of my stuff done that I need to, and...


I want to be a kept woman!


Yeah... didn't see that one coming, did ya'?! :)


Anyhoo, on to the quickie post for tonight: Skull Swirlie Cards. One has a bit of bling, the other... not so much.


Stamps: Halloween Town, Swirlies

Paper: Winchester SWIC & Cardstock, Cha Cha Cardstock

Ink: Purple Hydrangea Versa, Graphite Black Brilliance, VersaMark

Bling: Diamond Stickles

Other: paper piercer, pop dots, distresser


Me likey. I'm thinking that this could be used for more than just a Halloweenie card... how about a break-up card?! ;) Just kidding... well... maybe... I mean, not for ME, but SOMEONE might need one!

[insert ornery grin with raised eyebrow here]

Simple and quick, but with a lot of POP!

What do you think?

Hostess Club Night & a Halloweenie Treatie...

I just got home from a trip to the stylist, and I almost feel human again... now that I have short hair, I swear it grows twice as fast... and those pesky grays mixed with dark brunette is just NOT me!! :) The crazy orange-red is much more in sync with my personality [insert raised eyebrow and sheepish grin here].

I don't know what happened, but I swear my calendar blew up and I have had ZERO creative time! I am so bummed. At least the hubby FINALLY hauled all of my Halloween stuff up (well most of it... he did miss two of the COOLEST things and he'll have to fix that soon!). OH! There's the garage door opener... maybe he'll grab the last goodies now!! [another raised eyebrow] Yes, he is, but he is not happy about it... poor Poot...

[me screaming: "Love you... big kiss!!"]

One of the COOL things is the awesome witch hat in the first photo... definitely one of my favorite purchases last year.

Anyway, my Hostess Club ladies were here last night and they re-created my Batty Moon coaster project. My photo really sucks, but they turned out great in real life!

And, as a bonus, Julie made everyone a little Halloweenie treatie! Last month I showed them how to do the sour cream containers from the SCS tutorial, and everyone loved them... Julie even bought a crimper so she could do more (as did Cindy). I really like it when people get excited about a project... it makes me feel like I actually contributed something!

I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get to work on something tomorrow night. My Saturday is TOTALLY BOOKED with Shriner activities because it's Fall Ceremonial. I will be going to the Ladies' Luncheon with my mom, which is always nice, at one of the MANY country clubs in KC (what is it about golf... I just don't get it). There is always a large turnout for the luncheon, and I'll get to see some faces that I haven't in awhile [I've been a very bad Shrine Lady this year... not going to many functions, etc.: bad bad bad].

Side note: I've had a couple of people ask me how I make my seasoned olive oil, so I'll share that next time, too!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack.........

Well, I'm back from my trip to my aunt's house (near Abilene, KS), and I am pooped! I had so much fun with my aunt, mom, and two sisters... I swear we are all dorks. So much giggling and joking and reminiscing. My sister, Linda (the middle child), and I were camped out on two sofas in the family room for our sleeping assignments... my face still hurts from laughing... we were up until at least 1am each night... everyone heard us upstairs all night!

My aunt has a fabulous old stone house out in the country, and has it decorated so cool. Most everything is vintage or antique... with a little splash of contemporary... I love it. She quilts and has such a charming sewing room upstairs. All of us were up there helping to cut all of the fabric for Linda to make her 1st quilt! That should have been captured on video... what a bunch of crazy women! I was trying to 'do the math' so we could cut the correct amount, since my aunt and mom thought it would be easier to just design a 'simple' one instead of following a pattern. It was so late and we were all punchy and bitchy and silly... OMG.

The house is so cool... wood floors, plaster walls, old solid wood doors with glass, wood and plaster ceilings, deep window sills, huge harvest table w/ benches... I'm telling you, it should be in a magazine. The rooms are small and she has tried to minimize her decor and it is just beautiful. She said that she'll take some pictures of the house and send to me, since I didn't take any photos before we overtook the house with all of our crap!

Well, my aunt took us on a whirlwind day out shopping! Aren't these awesome finds?! The first is a wonderful little tealight/votice holder for Halloween. I LOVE THIS! I'll probably end up leaving it out year-round :) It's ceramic and has a metallic over-glaze... so cool.

Now, for the next few beauties, let me say this up front... I am NOT an antique/vintage shopper, typically, but I couldn't resist these. The decor in my house is predominately sleek, modern (but warm) with straight lines and a bit eclectic. That being said, I am now going to start incorporating some of these lovely 'tones' here and there! This one is a fantastic printer's box in excellent condition! It still has the handle and even a label... I got it for only $22.50! Love it!


Though I probably shouldn't, I may be altering it with photos and such (see Donna Downey's... awesome stuff!).

What do you think?
Should I just leave it as is or make it my own?


Next up, a trio of old library card catalogue drawers. Me likey. I don't know whether to leave them out similar to the photo, or to hang them on the wall sideways to create little shelf boxes. I got the trio for $30... pretty good deal, I think.


I also grabbed a great little jar vintage buttons in an old Mason jar... only $4!

What do you think... display the drawer trio similar to the photo or create shelves?

Boo Tri-fold paper bag tutorial... and a challenge!!

This month, it was my turn to teach a make-n-take for the Gardner Stamp Club that meets at the library. Patti wanted to do the Fold Over Treat Envelope that is in the back of the TAC catty [though she doesn't remember saying that... silly Patti!], so I chose to do a Christmas version. It's a wonderful little project that I'll be sharing with you in another post, but I needed the back-story for this post.

[can I get any wordier?... like you care about the back-story...]

Anyhoo, the treat envie only uses the top portion of a lunch sack, so I had a ton of these 'bag butts' left over and they really wanted to become something wonderful.

[wouldn't you want to if you were referred to as a butt?]... I digress...

Here's how I created my Boo Tri-fold Bag Card:

I lightly stippled Burnt Umber Palette ink around all of the edges and distressed the edges of the cardstock & DP (except for the inside piece, which I fixed on another one that I made!). I also stamped the paint splotches from So Splattered (retired) using B.U. I stamped the house image from Halloween Town in Coffee Bean Brilliance onto a square of green Penelope cardstock & sponged the edges w/ Hydrangea & Eggplant VersaMagic inks. I added a little color pencil to the windows & door and I then spritzed the square with Olive Glimmer Mist... OMG... freakin' awesome stuff! My friend, Cindy, had given me this for Christmas last year and I just now used it... WTH? None of the photos capture the true awesomeness of this stuff... you'll just have to trust me ;)... I sped up the drying time with my heat gun (so impatient) and then edged the window panes, part of the roof & tree, and the birds w/ a Stardust Glitter Pen (you know, to look like the moon is shining on it). Added a chipboard tag from TAC's Essential Elements, after grunging it up a bit & stamping the Boo!, with some Scrapper's Floss & tied it to some purple ribbon I had in my stash.

Inside, I stamped the skull from Halloween Town, in the same two purple VersaMagic colors above, onto the green Penelope cardstock and then layered it (sorta) onto an orange Penelope CS. Highlighted a bit with the glitter pen again!

And then on the VERY inside, glued a piece of Penelope DP to span across a fold and stamped the sentiment (retired: Boo Bash) at the bottom.

I had a fun time with this... no need to be pristine or perfect with it... the grungier the better!

What do you think?! Me likey... again!

Hey! Let's do another challenge!!

I want to see some butts... paper bag butts that is! ;) Your mission is to create something with a paper lunch bag butt... do you accept? Leave a comment and link it up!!!!

I've had a few people ask how big my bag butt is... the other project required 4-1/4" to be cut off the top of the sack, so mine is whatever is leftover from that!

little miss scrappy scrapperson...

I actually completed a little scrappin' yesterday!! I'm definitely NOT a speed scrapper! It takes me forever to finish a page [just ask Cindy or Laurie!]. I'm working on a 8.5x5.5 Halloween album. I'm one that includes blurry pictures in her albums... that adds an extra creepy touch to things, I think. Here's what I've finished so far [Oh! And I'm not showing the completed page 2 because I don't like it... I'm just showing a small element from it instead!]. Sorry about the reflection off of the page protectors... it's such a pain to get the pages in & out, that I just scanned those little buggers!!

Cover:

Page 1:

Page 2 (sort of): ink on GrungeBoard

Page 3:

Page 4:

Page 5:

Page 6:

I LOVE the cover, and my two favorite pages so far are # 5 & #6. I used TAC's So Splattered & Spring Dream, and the potion bottle stamp is one from my friend, Laurie... I can't remember the name of the manufacturer. And there are a TON of different companies' products that I used to embellish with... Little Yellow Bicycle, Making Memories, etc. I'll try to look those up later. If there is something that you REALLY want to know, just email me and I'll find out what the name & company is... sorry about the lame text in this post... I'm tired and just want to go watch True Blood on HBO...

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

Muhwah ah ah ah ah... [insert creepy background music here]

Halloweenie time again! I had soooooooo much fun creating the Leggy Witch card, that I tried another brayer / sponging project. This creepy little landscape uses only two different stamp sets, but several ink colors!!

I used a torn edge of paper to create the horizon line. I taped down that paper & then a punched circle over the moon to mask. I brayered Reflection Blue, then Prussian Blue, and finally Violette to create the sky. I removed the masks and brayered Chartrueuse over the grass area. I went back and sponged Landscape for more depth. I then used the reverse of the circle punched paper and sponged Sunflower & Raw Siena for the moon.

Using Landscape, Jardin Moss, Noir, and Violette inks, I stamped various images from Fresh Air Favorites at bottom and around right edge to create foliage. I used Graphite Black Brilliance and stamped a tree from Love and Laughter closest to the moon and then stamped another one, without re-inking, next to it. I stamped a third after re-inking and stamping off lightly.

To finish the scene, I used Fantastix and Landscape to shade the horizon and grass area around tree trunks. I sponged Jardin Moss & Violette around edges at grass area, and Noir around sky & moon.

I then matted it on TAC's Olive cardstock after running around the edge with a Cutter Bee Bug & distressing the edges. I used the dark navy from the Bazzill Monochromatic Blue cardstock pack for the card base.

Done!

What do you think? Me likey!!

A triple QUICKIE and something new ;)

I haven't had much time lately, so here are three quickies ;)

All of them have been created with retired TAC stamps and paper, but I've got to use them sometime!! There's really not a lot of stamping (that's why they were done so quick!), but I've been told that not EVERYTHING you make has to take forever to get the sentiment across... "if I made it, it matters" kind of thinking... you know, from the heart & NOT Hallmark!

Hocus Kitty, Gimme Candy, and Hangin' Spideys supplies:

Stamps: Hocus Pocus, Boo Bash, (can't remember which set 'gimme' came from)

Paper: Simply Spooky, Bazzill Mono Purples, misc. black & white CS

Ink: Noir, Landscape, & Orangerie Palettes, Brilliance Moonlight White

Bling: Orange Peel Stickles

Other: distresser, pop dots, & hydra sponge

Here's something new: I've started the

Random Mail Stamp Challenge!

Look at my sidebar for details & to see who has accepted the challenge so far. Kim is the first and the challenge JUST started this week, so I can't wait to see it really get going! Check back often, because I will be updating the link list whenever someone else has accepted the challenge!!

Leggy Witch Card with a 'written' tutorial...

I abso-freakin'-lutely love this card!!! I've had the idea for the card for awhile and I finally just did it! I had a blast making it last night and could hardly wait for my work day to get over with today so I could share it. I used a couple of Michelle Zindorf's sponging and brayer techniques. She is amazing... a true artist!

The card front you see started out as being my 'sketch' piece to go off of and make templates, etc., but once I got started, I just kept going! So now I have to try to reproduce this again... yikes! I started out with White UltraSmooth 80# cardstock base. I hand sketched the moon & witch leg w/ a light lead pencil so I could figure out where to stamp the tree. Using the Coluzzle, I cut out a large circle from another piece of cardstock to use as my mask.

First, I placed the negative over my base and started sponging the moon with Sunflower and then Raw Sienna at the edges. I removed the mask and lightly sponged more Sunflower around the moon to create a haziness. I then placed the circle over the moon and a piece of cardstock at the horizon line, covering the grass area. I brayered Beaux Arts Blue around sky edges, fading in toward moon, and followed up w/ sponging to even out the color. I repeated this step using Violette. I ran the brayer across the moon (without re-inking it) to create the thin cloud lines and add to the haziness.

For the grass area, I masked off the sky half of the base and sponged Chartreuse and then Landscape, fading inward. I used a Tombow marker to create the horizon line and then heavily sponged Landscape around tree trunk base. I stamped two different images from Fresh Air Favorites to create creepy grass/weeds... I used Landscape and rolled in Charcoal at edges. Finished up by sponging edges of grass area with Violette.

Using Noir, I stamped 'sentiment' & date with Ecclectic Alpha (retired). I traced over portions w/ Stardust Glitter Pen. Next, I used Fantastix & 'colored in' the witch leg with Noir on the base. I did this so that it would be dark under the popped up leg element... it reads like a shadow.

For the Witch leg: on scrap of White UltraSmooth, I used the journal lines from a retired GWP from a year ago to create the striped stocking and shaded w/ Fantastix, alternating between Noir & a mixture of Orangerie & Cognac. Sponged edges in Noir. I cut out boot from black cardstock and highlighted with Brilliance Moonlight White. I assembled leg/boot and popped up on black pop dots.

Finally, I matted base on black and then adhered to charcoal card base (3.5"x8.5").

[insert heavy sigh and sound of popping knuckles]

Good grief... did I just write a freakin' novel?!

Anyway, I'm going to try to recreate this again this weekend, and I might try one with heat embossing the tree... I really like it now, kind of understated... I wonder if the shininess of the EP would look funny? We'll see.

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think. And thanks for stopping by!

Hostess Club Night and my babies...

Tonight was the first night of the new round of Stamp Club! I think everyone really enjoyed themselves... it's a nice time to catch up w/ family happenings, see new pictures of babies (my favorite!), and get a little stamping time in, too! Julie, one of the gals in the club, was a winner of TAC's Toodle Loo package giveaway (yeay!) and she brought the CUTEST little chipboard book/album she made... freakin' adorable. Yes, I'm an idiot and didn't think to take a picture, so hopefully she'll send me one (hint, hint).

I DID manage to take a photo of one of the projects the ladies did tonight... the Brewin' Dark Angel card that I had posted earlier! I switched up the colors this time, and I really like it! I love seeing how different each one is even though all the cards use the same elements. The photo really doesn't capture the great coloring everyone did!

Hopefully I'll be motivated to create something tomorrow night... I hope so!

In closing, I thought I'd share a couple of pics of MY babies, Heidi & Thor. They are THE cutest babies ever! [Heidi is the blonde, Thor is the redhead] Thor always has to have his nose covered, and Heidi tends to nap at the edge of the stairs.

More Halloweenie-ness...

Here's the cool little something I was talking about last time. It is pretty cutesy for me, but I still like it :) I haven't decided what to do with it yet... here are the options:

#1. element on a scrapbook page

#2. cover to a mini-book, maybe bound with the BIA or ribbons (my favorite)

#3. door hanger (just add eyelet & ribbon with some Scrapper's Floss for good measure)

#4. make part of the flap to a notecard holder (I almost did this)

#5. element on card front (I think it's a bit heavy, but maybe not)

#6. tag for a Halloweenie goodie bag

#7. ornament for those that have Halloweenie trees

#8. perfect for one of those "I've been boo'd" neighborhood serial-treat-dropping-ding-dong-ditching deals...

...endless possibilities here, people!

The base is a medium-weight 4" round coaster (I have at least 80 of these puppies!), covered with some Bazzill cardstock (TAC's Mulberry Meadow), sponged and edged. I hand sketched and cut out the bat & cloud elements and used the Fantastix to shade the cloud, bat, and the shadow under the sentiment. I bent the wings of the bat upward and mounted it and the cloud on foam tape for dimension.

Batty Moon Coaster project supplies:

Stamps: Boo Bash (retired)

Paper: Mulberry Meadow yellow Bazzill, misc. black & white CS

Ink: Noir, Cognac, & Orangerie Palettes, Moonlight White Brilliance

Other: Fantastix, foam tape, hydra sponge

If you would like the template for the bat and cloud, just email me (see side bar upper right corner) your email address and as soon as I scan the template, I'll send it to everyone interested.

What do you think?

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

No, you have not come upon a monster truck show, I just wanted to say that.

Anyway, how about another grown-up creepy card? I REALLY dig this one. I had a page left over from a Woodrowe Album Kit, and it is sized perfectly for a card front! I love the Woodrowe & Willoughby papers so much (my new favorites), that I HAD to make a Halloweenie card with one of them, right? And I used another image from Fresh Air Favorites... love that versatility!!

Creepy Willough card supplies:

Stamps: Fresh Air Favorites, Boo! & Happy Heart GWP's

Paper: Woodrowe Album Kit, Bazzill Mono Yellow-Greens, Mulberry Meadow c.s. (retired)

Ink: Noir & Burnt Umber Palettes

Bling: Copper eyelet, Scrapper's Floss

Other: edge distresser, paper piercer, foam tape, hydra sponge

I made up a very cool little something, and I'm debating whether or not to use it for my Paper Wings DT assignment, or show it here... I do have until the 21st for my homework... hmmm... we'll have to see.

What do you think?

Mojo returneth?

I think I got a little of it back late last night.

From the first moment I saw the Fresh Air Favorites stamp set, I knew I had to have it for Halloween... yes, I know *freak*. There are a couple of images in there that really look like you could creep-them-out with just the right color palette:

Stamps: Fresh Air Favorites, Boo! GWP, From the Heart GWP

Paper: DCWV purple, Bazzill Mono Yellow-Greens, black & white c.s.

Ink: Noir Palette, Moonlight White Brilliance

Other: edge distresser, paper piercer, pop dots, sanding block

I really like this one. It's almost got a creepy-elegance to it?! The second photo is more true-to-life colors.

What do you think?

Have you seen my mojo... it seems to be missing...

Ok. A little warning here. My mojo is missing and I don't know where it could be. I shut myself in my studio last night and this is all I could muster. Also, the lighting stinks right now because it is rainy, so the photos look yellow from my dining room light. Ick.

It is supposed to be one of those illusion-type-things where the smaller individual stamps aren't supposed to be the focus, but the overall picture is what you're after. Does that make sense? I had these scrap pieces of Bazzill Monochromatics and had already cut out these cool scallop cards with my Nestibilities, and decided to put them together.

Stamps: Running Stitches (eyebrows & forehead), Mini Occasions (cat/eyes, pumpkins), All Season Swirls (hat/nose), Boo Bash (sentiment/teeth), So Splattered

Paper: Bazzill Monochromatics (Violets & Yellow-Oranges), black cardstock

Ink: Noir Palette, Brilliance Moonlight White

Other: Nestibilities, Fantastix (for shading), pop dot, foam tape, hydra sponge

Yes, I know... very creepy... but other than that, what do you think? Did I at least get the illusion working?