Hello, Fall and Halloween

Hello friends!

I've got a handful of fall and Halloween cards to share with you today.  I listed the primary supplies beneath each photo.  My favorite in this line up is the very last card.  I'm crushing on those soft, neutral tones for autumn, and honestly all year-round.

Inkadinkado Pedestal Pumpkins; Kelly Creates Celebration Tracing sentiment; Sizzix Sweet & Donut Thinlit die ('hello'); Martha Stewart Hydrangea Punch; Stampin' Up! Itty Bitty Accents flower punch, window die

Inkadinkado All Hallow's Eve pumpkin stamp; Papertrey Ink Noted: Scalloped A2 Vertical Die; acorn die - Stampin' Up!; My Favorite Things Falling Leaves dies;  L'il Inker Designs Stitched Rectangle dies

Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Parade #8 die and stamp set; My Favorite Things Stitched Scallop Rectangle dies; Spellbinders Classic Rectangles Small dies; maple leaf punches (?)

Papertrey Ink Think Big Favorites #5 congrats stamp; Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves dies; Baked Brown Sugar twine - Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! Wicked Cool stamp set (spider web in background); all other supplies gifted to me

Sizzix / Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die; Stampin' Up! Hardwood background stamp; Papertrey Ink Year Round Puns sentiment stamp; L'il Inker Designs Stitched Rectangles  dies

I just had a tooth extracted a couple of days ago.  One of the roots was fractured about 2/3 of the way down, and an endodontist said it was not worth saving.  Had a dentist and oral surgeon look at it too and ultimately the tooth just needed to come out.  Believe me, I tried to keep it, even if it meant root canal and a crown.  After this healing is finished, I will be glad to have that pain out of the way.  It bothered me for 10 years!

Hope you all are doing well, and thank you for coming by. 😁  God bless you!

Square Jack o'Lantern

Hi there! 

Here's another Halloween card coming at ya.  This one has a square jack o'lantern face:  something different, as my Mom-Mom used to say.  It is an image from a sheet of Halloween themed die cuts, maker unknown (a Tuesday Morning store find).  I used up a scrap of burlap, with the edges torn (it looks like a place mat from the 1970s!), and matted that happy jack on it and a patterned paper circle.  Basically, I was trying to use up scraps that day.  Ha!

The square jack is only one of the images from that die cut sheet.  The hat and sentiment are also from there.  So, there is no stamping on this card!

Can you see the black lace I added under the sentiment?

Thanks so much for your visit today!  Be blessed!

Spider CASE

Hello there!

I CASE'd (Copy and Share Everything) this card I spied years ago in a Paper Crafts Magazine.

It was easy to make.  The card base is black, lined in white inside.  I cut a banner from kraft cardstock, and repeatedly stamped a small spider web from Stampin' Up!'s Wicked Cool set.  The sentiment (from Inkadinkado's All Hallow's Eve) was stamped on a scrap of pumpkin orange cardstock, and added on top of the spider web banner, using foam adhesive underneath.   Before adhering, though, I cut some black twine and glued it down in a wavy pattern for my glittery spider (made with a Martha Stewart punch and black glitter cardstock). The spider also has some foam adhesive beneath it.

I did add little touches by the sentiment:  one black tiny sequin, and a clear button that was doused in glue and covered in black glitter. 

Thanks so much for coming by today.  I really appreciate your visit! 😊

Fancy Halloween

Hello!  I've been sparingly using this elegant Halloween paper for years now.  It's from Stampin' Up!, but I don't recall the name of the suite it came from.

On this card, I used a pumpkin-shaped sticker from Jolee's Boutique and added it to a chevron-stamped die-cut circle, along with a few sequins in black and clear.

There's a strip of black glitter cardstock along the left edge...

...and I stamped a tiny Halloween sentiment from Stampin' Up! Holiday Home on the chevron circle, bending it slightly around the curve.  A little tulle bow was attached below the pumpkin sticker with some Multi Matte Medium glue by Ranger. 

Thanks for dropping by today.  I hope your summer is going well! 
See you again. 😊

Trick or Treat & A Happy Pumpkin

Hello friends! 
Halloween cards in July?  Sure, why not!  I made two cards with this elegant black and orange patterned paper from Stampin' Up!.

I get lots of mileage out of this kitty die from Memory Box (Large Sitting Cat).  I paired this black cat with gold glitter paper, gold sequins, and a trick or treat paper die cut (maker unknown).

There are also some stars - one glittered, one shiny gold.

How cute is this Jolee's Boutique pumpkin sticker?  I placed him on black cardstock, then made a shaker pocket using clear acetate, gold and black sequins, and used my sewing machine to stitch 'round and 'round to seal it all in.

The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!'s All Holidays stamp set.

Thanks for your visit today, and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!  God bless you!

Falling Leaves on Pumpkins

I was playing around with Distress Ink Sprays one day, and came up with this beautifully-mottled background. In order to keep it part of the focal point, I added sparing details:  stamped pumpkins, a sentiment, and a few stamped leaves. Then, I surrounded it with an embossed frame.

The pumpkins (Stampin' Up! Autumn Harvest) were stamped on lined paper, inked with Distress Inks, then trimmed out and placed on the background. Sentiment is from Inspired By Stamping's Little Phrases.

As you can see in the picture below, I stamped the leaves (also from Autumn Harvest) directly onto the background, and then once on lined paper, trimmed out and popped up on foam tape.

This was such a joy to make! I love autumn, my favorite time of year. And as I get older, I appreciate the profound meaning of our Thanksgiving holiday...but my heart has thanks-giving in it every day of the year. My life is full of blessings from above.

Thank you for coming by today!

In the shadow of the moon

I'm either late for Halloween this year, or early for next Halloween. Think I'll opt for the latter. ;-)

I created a cat-filled card using a cat from Autumn Apparitions (Stampin' Up!), stamped in black ink, trimmed out and added to the top of this Martha Stewart punched fence. I covered him in Glossy Accents glue. The patterned paper behind him is from Stampin' Up! also, and I'm pretending it's a moon. :-)

The sentiments are actually chipboard pieces that I bought at Tuesday Morning (sheets and sheets of them! I'm ready for many Halloweens to come).

Thanks for joining me today!

Beaded pumpkin on a table

Available at Arts Plus Gallery 

How gorgeous is this beaded pumpkin sticker?  Yes, it's a sticker! I added a Baked Brown Sugar twine bow to it, and set it on a "wooden table" in front of some plaid "wall paper". (I like to envision a scene as I create, and translate it with my papercrafting supplies)

The sticker is from Jolee's Boutique, which I bought at a JoAnn's store a few years ago.  I love it! So much texture with all those microbeads.

On the top corner of the card, I added a paper maple leaf and a die-cut acorn (Top Dog Dies Fall Foliage), to which a little bit of gold paint was dabbed on.  Oh, the plaid paper was from a bit of packaging from a Pier 1 Imports candle, and I mounted it on a white cardstock panel. That panel received the gold treatment too:  I ran my Krylon 18kt Gold Pen along the edges before adhering to the card base.

The interior of the card was left blank, so it can be used for an autumn birthday, or Thanksgiving, or 'happy fall', or whatever!

Thanks so much for joining me here today.
May your day be filled with blessings!

The Card Concept #22 - Thank-Fall

Welcome!  Time for another Card Concept challenge, and the theme is "Thank-fall."

Here's the inspiration photo.  I picked the colors and pumpkins as the basis for my card, and made sure to keep the elegance factor going, since that is my style for the challenge (Classy & Elegant). You can see the whole list of styles here, if you'd like to play along with us.

This punch art pumpkin is very easy to make.  I have a quick tutorial in THIS post to show how I made mine.

Sure hope you get a chance to come play with us.  The challenge is open for two weeks, and it's just for fun.  Fall fun, that is!

Celebrate A Fall Birthday x 4

Welcome, friends, and happy Tuesday.  :-)

I really like the autumnal birthday cards I'm sharing today, because they totally remind me of my friend Stella's style.  And I adore Stella.  In fact, the Papertrey Ink sentiment (Think Big Favorites #15) is one she uses often, and upon seeing it at her blog, I just had to have it.  You know how that goes.

The little felt leaf stickers were a gift long ago from my friend Emily.  They go perfectly with a smattering of sequins on a manila tag from Staples.

Stamps: Think Big Favorites #15 - Papertrey Ink Paper: Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, pattern - SU; manila tag - Staples Ink: black - Rubber Stampede Fibers: twine - Creative Impressions Accessories & Tools: felt leaf stickers - Target's Dollar Spot; Matte Gold sequins - MJ Trimming; Sand sequins - Pretty Pink Posh

I thought I'd add in all the other cards I made that same day, which include many of the same ingredients.

These leaves have a little somethin'-somethin' going on.  One features crackle paint and distress ink, the other is painted in a shimmery champagne color.

Thanks so much for your visit today!

Damask Pumpkin Tutorial

Happy Friday!  Have any good plans for this weekend?  My eldest daughter and I plan to visit a craft fair, in search of Christmas decorations, and really just to look around.  Can't wait to see what they have!

Today I'm sharing easy-to-make pumpkin cards:

• Choose cardstock or patterned paper for your pumpkin.  I chose a black and orange Halloween damask from Stampin' Up!  
• Using any size oval punch, punch out 5 pieces.  Ink the edges in a coordinating color.  I used black.

• Using a die-cut wreath (Breezy Wreath / Memory Box), snip off small sections to use as greenery on the top of each pumpkin.  One wreath helped me make 7 pumpkins.

• Layer the oval pumpkin pieces so that they overlap each other slightly; use your favorite adhesive to secure the pieces together.  I like Tombow's Mono Adhesive refills.  I buy them at officesupply.com because the price is so good.

• Stamp a sentiment on a card base. Center pumpkin over sentiment and adhere using foam tape.
• Use a bit of liquid glue to add the 'greenery.'
• Use a small scrap of brown cardstock (approx. 3/4" x 1") - ragged edges are good.  Start at one corner of the scrap, and roll diagonally into a tube.  Squish the tube around until it develops wrinkles, then unfurl it back to the tube shape.  Trim tube length if necessary.  Use a few drops of glue (I like Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue) to secure under top of pumpkin.

I know this is not a photo-heavy tutorial, and I apologize for that.  As I made the cards, I forgot to pull out my camera.  Duh!

I'm not the first to create a pumpkin in this way.  Plenty of versions exist on the Internet.  I might be one of the few to do it in damask, though!

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes - SU Paper: kraft - PTI; Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, orange/black damask - SU Ink: black - Rubber Stampede Accessories & Tools: Large Oval punch - SU; Breezy Wreath die - Memory Box/Poppystamps