Pumpkin Patch

I liked these fall stamps from Michael's. Liked them even more because they were in the $1 bin.
Loved them when I found out they were on sale for sixty cents each.
I added a little Basic Grey paper and some matching ribbon I happened to have to make what I think turned out to be a cute little card!

Gothic Arch Challenge

It's all about fall -- even the challenge for Gothic Arches this week. This is one challenge I enjoy so much I am waiting for it to appear on Sundays. I was able to make my arch using stamps from Queens Dresser Drawers (dancing couple) which I stamped on vellum and pumpkins and leaves are $1 stamps from Joanne's.

Trick or Treat

The idea behind all this ribbon was to create the effect of one of those French memo boards that you can slide photos and things into. I thought it would look cute to have my little Halloween squares inserted into the ribbons. But it didn't. So the ribbon became just my background, and I then placed my squares down the card.
The witch stamps are $1 stamps from Joann's. I added a little opaque marker to the socks and buckle on the shoes to make it pop. Thee "Trick or Treat" stamp is from Hero Arts. I added a little scribbed border around it. I could get away with that because I wanted a crooked look. No problem, you know it's going to turnout crooked anyway.

Check out these Target finds! The mini albums were $1 each. They'll be just perfect for altering. The alphabet stamp was $1, too, and I think will get some use.

The real deal was the chipboard note boxes which were 24 cents each on clearance. The flap is covered with this turquoise material, but the rest of it can be covered with paper, stamped on, lots of possibilities. I'm always looking for boxes to put a set of cards in as a gift.

Happy Halloween

I had the most incredibly creative and productive weekend. I created enough stuff to share all week long. But then I stopped at the store on the way home today and bought some of the new Basic Grey paper. Thank goodness, I'm not crazy about all of it, but I did like the Mellow series. It has some nice fall patterns in it, and I really like when I find the 6x6 pads for cardmaking. So I started playing around with it and ended up with this little Halloween card.

I stamped my flourishes in white Brilliance ink and black Memories ink on the Basic Grey paper. I added some orange rhinestones. I stamped my costumed tykes on glossy white cardstock with Stazon. I then used some tissue paper and folded it back and forth accordian style to make a backing for my image. I placed my image on the patterned paper from Basic Grey. The Happy Halloween sentiment is a $1 stamp from Joann's which is stamped on glossy cardstock.

Fall Card

I think I mentioned before about the file cabinet drawer that was stuck for two years (filled with crafting supplies). I finally decided to force it open even though I knew it would break the drawer. But I discovered a boatload of crafting stuff -- most of which I had forgotten I even had. This foldover card was one of them.

I'd been wanting to start using these $1 fall stamps I got from Joann's. These stamps are great to unmount and store in CD cases. They retain their cling and are very sturdy rubber.

For this card I stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink and then colored in with my colored pencils and Dove blender pen.

Look Again...

...and you'll see I've used Christmas paper for my backgrounds. A challenge was put out by Lisa over at Shabbychick Junk to use up your Christmas paper -- and make anything but Christmas cards. I loved that idea.

For the first card I used some of my standby Christmas paper -- good for all the evergreen stamps and nature type of cards. I've even used some of my Christmas ribbon on this one. The paper is Green Plaid by Karen Foster. Stamps are by PSX/Inkadinkado. Sentiment by PaperTreyInk.

The middle one uses a sheet of double-sided red striped paper from Making Memories. Unfortunately, the glossy black paper does not photograph well, so you miss some of the pop. Stamps are by Rubber Stampede, Hampton Arts, and the birthday wishes are by Sugarloaf.

The last one was a pretty simple one using the Mike's $1 stamps and some of my favorite Christmas paper by Paper Studio and another strip of Making Memories.

Got to use up this Christmas paper because I know what happens when I start seeing the new stuff coming out.

My Pink and Black Cards

Yesterday as I was making these cards my DH asked me what I was making. I told him I was making pink and black cards. He asked me why. I realized I just had a desire to create something with pink and black and I wouldn't be at peace until I did. So this little gift set evolved. I coordinated my notes (using a lot of the Mike's $1 stamps) with a take-out container to hold the cards. Makes a cute little gift I think. You really have to click on the picture to get good look.

Midnight Madness

This is what you end up with when you are up in the middle of the night, can't sleep, and decide you'll create something. I was kind of amused by it, kind of in doubt, and kind of liked it. I cut out my flip-flops from my $1 stamp from Mike's on different colored paper. I also used some Cuttlebugged swirl paper and cut that out in a somewhat unusual shape. Amazing what looks interesting at two in the morning. I added a strip of very bright checked paper. If you look very closely you can see I stamped some faux fiber trim (Hero Arts) on the top and bottom of the card. Of course, I then stamped my letters across the flip-flops.

Don't know if you do this or not, but I have absolutely no problem in unmounting and cutting up my $1 stamps to suit my purposes. Since I like my stamps unmounted in CD cases, it works well. And those Mike's $1 stamps have excellent cling to them (See several posts down).

For this card I cut away the "Take it Easy" from the flip-flop. I like the flip-flop, like the "Take it Easy" but also know I want to be able to use them independently.

Same thing with the bird stamp. What a cute bird! And I've wanted that sentiment for a long time -- but not always next to each other. Oh, I know I could ink up just part of the stamp, but I'm an ink pad kind of girl and for $1 I can afford to cut these stamps up.

I immediately cut the "Party" out of the harlequin pattern. I know I'll have no use for that. But, boy, do I love that harlequin pattern. Excellent size for ATC's.

Like the pregnant woman, but really don't like the sentiment "She's Expecting." So I cut that off. I know I'll get much more use out of it as a congratulations card. And now she fits perfectly in the oval frame stamp I have.

More Finds...

I really, really controlled myself at Big Lots today. They had a great selection of Inkadinkado and some PSX (My faves) wood-mounted stamps for only $2. I managed to leave with only these three. The first two are PSX. The third one is Inkadinkado. They also had clear stamps from Inkadinkado and Brenda Walton (a lot of alphabets but vacation, baby and travel too) as well as Basic Grey stickers and embellishments.

I also found these $1 wood mounted stamps at Mike's. I hadn't seen them before. I *accidentally* bought an extra one of the little birdie stamps, so if you'd like to have it, leave a comment and I'll give it away to a random commenter on Tuesday morning.

MVP

Well, this was fun -- don't often have the need to make this kind of card. My young nephew went away to a university baseball camp and was named MVP for his team. That certainly calls for a congratulatory card, don't you think? The sentiment is a Mike's $1 stamp. I particularly like that stamp.

$1 Stamps....

These are the new wood mounted $1 stamps I found at Joanne's.

Quite cute, I think.

Michael's has started a third series of their Studio G clear stamps. There were more than these -- at least ten sets that I saw. Several of them seemed pretty similar as the last two series, so I just chose these six.

A Great Big Give-Away

I am having such a majorly happy kind of day that I am posting this Mother's Day Give-Away now even though I was going to wait until I hit 5000 hits on my blog. Oh, it's only numbers, right? I'd rather start the fun now! (I also used to peek underneath the wrapping of my Christmas presents when my Mom put them under the tree).

So what you have to do to win ALL of these little guys (yes, that's all 16 of the Michael's $1 clear stamps from the second series, plus the Rhonna Farrer swirly bird or whatever he is called) is guess the number of blogs I have listed in my favorites. Which BTW I do read regularly. And, no, they are not listed on the side, so you are on your own on this one.

I'll announce the winner on Mother's Day. You don't have to be a mother, just have -- or like me, had one -- in order to play. Don't guess what someone else guesses. If it's close, the one who comes closest without going over wins. Plus there's a little something for runner-ups #2 and #3.