A Haunting We Will Go...

Happy Halloween! It's finally here. My house is all decked out and the candy is ready in the bowl for all the little ghosts and goblins to stop by tonight. I'm expecting quite a few trick-or-treaters since it's Saturday night, so I made sure to get a BIG bag of candy from Costco!

On to my card. This card is one of the favorites I made this year. I think the alcohol-inked background is what made it really pop. I wanted to create the look of dusk, so I used a blend of red, orange and purple toned inks. It's super easy to use the inks, and I don't think you can really "mess up." If you don't like the result, you can wipe the slate clean-literally--by using the blender solution and swiping it over your glossy cardstock. Jennifer McGuire has some excellent tutorial videos on her blog using the alcohol inks. Visit her for some great inspiration!

Thanks for looking, and happy haunting!

Card details: kid parade stamp by 100 Proof Press; sentiment by Impress; Martha Stewart pumpkin punch; Adirondack alcohol inks; white glossy paper; black cardstock; Versafine ink; clear embossing powder.

Color Inspiration Challenge

I'm back with another card. I love playing along with Dawn McVey's challenges. She always has the greatest color combinations. I missed the deadline for her last challenge, so I wanted to make sure I got mine posted on time.

PaperTrey Ink's Warm Happiness is one of my favorite stamp sets. It just makes me happy! I may have to make a set of these cards, as they would make a perfect gift! This is a color combination I wouldn't normally put together, but I think it's very cheerful!

Card details: Cardstock, ribbon, jute thread, ink, stamps by PaperTrey Ink; button by Creative Cafe; Corner Chomper; Marvy circle punches.

Thanks for looking!

Witchy Fingers

I spent a good part of the weekend making these fun candy witch finger pretzel rods that I'm going to give my teammates at work on Friday. I discovered on my first day that the company throws a huge Halloween party each year, and the different teams compete against each other for the best costume. I'm excited to see what everyone does, since this will be my first party. My team made our costumes at lunch today. Hopefully we'll have pictures to share from the party!

I used one of the Halloween Wilton candy molds to create the witch finger. It took a lot longer than I anticipated, though I did make nearly fifty of them! I made my "Eat at your own risk" label by stamping the image from A Muse on a piece of purple scrap paper, using my label punch from Stampin' Up, and ran it through my Xyron sticker maker. That was the easy part! I filled the mini cauldron with Halloween colored M & M's candies to weight the pretzel in it (you can just barely see the top of a purple candy in there in the picture). It was a fun project, and hopefully my coworkers will like them.

Thanks for looking! Have a spooky week!

Have You Checked Your Flight Path?

My card qualifies for this week's Chicka Challenge, to make a card with Stickles glitter glue on it. I put a fine coating of Rock Candy Stickles on the moon, but since you couldn't really see anything, I went over the top of it with Peeled Paint Stickles. Both are from the Distress line, so the effect is more matte than sparkly. Still, I think it contributed to the overall creepy feeling of the card! I've printed on the inside of the card "Don't drink and fly!"

I was so tickled with the way this card turned out! I think it is my favorite of all of the Halloween cards I've made this year. I still have a few more to make, but I'm nearly done. Do you make your cards all the same? I don't. I make each one different. It's more fun that way.

Have a great week!

Card details:
Adirondack alcohol inks; tree and sentiment stamps by Stampers Anonymous; crashing witch image by A Muse; Stickles glitter glue; Versafine and Memento inks; Copic markers; patterned paper from BasicGrey Eerie collection; black note card; glossy white paper; Plum Pudding purple cardstock from PaperTrey Ink; Corner Chomper.

I LOVE FALL!

Fall is my absolute favorite season! I love everything about it, but most of all, I love the rich, warm colors that come with it. I was beyond thrilled when I saw BasicGrey introduced the Indian Summer collection, and stocked up on multiple sheets of the gorgeous patterned paper because I knew I would never get tired of it, even when the style was long since retired. To me, it captures the very essence of autumn. I finally broke down and actually made something with the papers, instead of just petting them and admiring them!

Do you see that marbled acetate inside the round window on my card? I made it! I re-purposed the acetate sheets from several PaperTrey Ink stamp sets I purchased recently. When you first get the stamps, they come on acetate backings; you then remove them from the backing and store them inside the clear CD case that is included. I decided to play around with my Adirondack alcohol inks, and made several sheets of background films using fall-like colors. What a great feeling to use up product packaging and have it go the extra mile by incorporating it into one's creations!

I decided to decorate the interior of my card too, and carried the exterior design to the inside. The leaf stamps are also from the Indian Summer clear stamp sets.

Thanks for looking! Hope you're having a beautiful fall!

Card details:
Note card by A Muse; designer papers, stamps, and rub-on by BasicGrey; ribbon by American Crafts; Adirondack alcohol inks; Acetate sheet from PaperTrey Ink; Marvy Giga punch; Color Box inks; white opaque pen by Inksenntials.

Hocus Pocus

Another week gone already?! October is flying by. I didn't get too much crafting done this weekend, but I at least managed to play along with the Chicka Challenge again, which was to make a Halloween card. I'm with you, Dawn--My all time favorite cards to make are for Halloween!

This card features some oldie but goodie A Muse stamps. The witch's feet and the cauldron are two separate stamps. I thought it would be fun to make it look like the witch is melting into her cauldron. Too much frog foot tonic perhaps, and she fell in?! The patterned papers are scraps I had in my stash from a paper pad I got last year.

Card details:
Stamps, note card by A Muse; patterned paper by K & Co.; Versafine and Memento inks; Koh-I-Noor pencils; SU! word window and corner punches; brad by Doodlebug; witch's shoes button (can't remember the name of the company--I threw out the packaging).

WCMD#3: India

Using the sequins, jewels and bling inspired by India was the theme for challenge #3. I got a neat freebie rub on/rhinestone from Basic Grey in my last 2 Peas in a Bucket order, so that was my inspiration for this card. The paper is from Basic Grey's Marrakech line. Though Marrakech isn't even on the same continent as India, I still thought the paper had a bit of a Middle East feel to it, and it paired nicely with my bling-y rub on!

WCMD #2: Mexico

Though the theme of the card doesn't really relate to Mexico, I drew my color inspiration from the beautiful, vivid colors of the culture. They're so bright and cheery. I think the overall message of the card is very appropriate for World Card Making Day!

Card details: Stamps, notecard by A Muse; designer paper by Bo Bunny; Memento ink; Copic markers.

WCMD #1: Japan

I was able to play along with most of Nichole's World Card Making Day challenges last Saturday, except for the last one. I think this first one, which was to make a card inspired by the Japanese culture, was my favorite most of all. It was super easy to make, as I found the scraps of designer paper in my stash. I spelled out "Arigato" with my Amy Butler clear stamps. I was able to get the letters lined up perfectly with my grid marked acrylic block--love that thing! The red cardstock is from PaperTrey Ink.

It's a Guy Thing (Or Not!)

This week's Chicka Challenge is to make a card for a guy. It's fall, and that means football season. Can't get much more guy than that. Except I like football, and I'm not a guy! LOL. I love the Seahawks! I even used a lime green card in honor of their new uniforms that were unveiled two weeks ago. A friend of mine is a ball boy for the Seahawks, so he participates in most of their home games. He's got the best view of the game of all! Back to my card...I printed off the Seahawk logo from their website so I could make my helmet a bit more authentic looking. The sentiment I generated on my computer.

Thanks for looking! Go Hawks!

Card details: Note card by A Muse; football stamp by PSX; helmet stamp by Ann-ticipations; Copic markers; Memento ink.

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #17

I'm late posting this card, but still wanted to get it up anyway. I played along with Dawn McVey's color challenge this week, which was to use aqua blue, pure red, chocolate brown, kraft and cream colors. Not a combination I would normally think to put together, but this one turned out well.

Thanks for looking!

Card details: All stamps, ink and paper by PaperTrey Ink; poinsettia flowers by Hero Arts; button by Doodlebug; border punch by Martha Stewart; label die by Nestabilities.