Wicked Halloween Treats

Ok, I'll admit it -- I love Halloween for the candy.  Dressing up is fun, but the chocolate keeps on giving!

These tins are linked to Order of the Opus Gluei's 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' Halloween challenge because we all know that treats are not only wickedly good, but the weight gained from enjoying too many of them (who, me??) is  wickedly difficult to lose.  Thanks for a fun challenge, Poobahs!

And the only thing better than chocolate is chocolate in a cute container, like these fun tins:

The pop tops are still intact, leaving recipients to wonder if they are receivintg more trick than treat.   It's magic, but not the black kind! 

Check out my TUTORIAL on the DRS blog for how to create this easy altered tin or see this post for another fun application.

Happy Halloween!

Birthdays, Coffee, and Chocolate!

Stamps:  High Hopes 'Sleepy Bear', Stampendous sentiment.  Cardstock:  Lovely Lilac, Papertrey white, Paper Studio DP.  Ink:  Memento black, Copics, Lovely Lilac.  Accessories:  Rectangle Nestabilties, ribbon, gem brad.

Ever had one of those mornings when one cup of coffee just isn't enough?  That's me on a regular basis which is why I love this Stampendous sentiment.  And when my Splitcoast buddy, Momma Patti, sent me this fun High Hopes stamp, I knew they would be the perfect pair!

Not only did Patti send me this stamp, but she also included lots of other goodies including spools of ribbon and gemstone brads.  Thanks again, friend!

How did I respond?  Not very quickly.  As you can tell by the decorated candy bar below, I ended up being belated in my birthday wishes:

I'm starting to think I need to toss all my birthday sentiments and invest in a few more 'belated birthday' stamps like this one from Papertrey!

All is forgiven with chocolate, though, right?  And it goes perfectly with Opus Gluei challenge #78:  Trick or Treat.  Be sure to stop by this always smile-inducing blog because the current challenge also involves a treat for one lucky participant!

There's Potential....

Here's the reason I haven't been crafting much lately, or at least part of the reason:


Can you say piles? Not the most efficient organizing system, but that's what happens when you move all of the crafting supplies from a semi-organized upstairs to a brand-spanking new space downstairs!

Here's the real potential of the place -- look at all that open space!



Now if only I could work up the courage to fasten something to those pristine new walls.....

Thanks to Rosemary and Jana over at Order of the Opus Gluei challenge #61 (What's Going On?) for inspiring me to share this space and hopefully spur some accountability to actually make it a useable crafting space!

Birthday Butterflies

Digi images by Aisne's Creations 'Butterflies', 'Floral Mix'. Sentiment: 'Happiness Butterfly Greeting'. Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, SU 'Afternoon Tea', GP 110 white. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Copics. Accessories: Martha Stewart scallop border punch, Stamping Bella gems, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Stardust glitter pen.

Yesterday was eldest DD's 14th birthday. For some reason, coming up with card ideas was especially tough this year. I knew she was a fan of butterflies so I decided to go with these amazing digi graphics by Aisne's Creations. Unfortunately, our printer cartridge is not cooperating (anyone else have issues with refills?) and the colors are coming out, well, strange. No time to go shopping for a new cartridge, so I attempted re-colorizing with Copics. It didn't turn out too bad, so I forged on to alter the flowers on the SU DP to coordinate a little better, too!


The sketch is Taylored Expression Sketch Challenge #111 and the use of a quote was inspired by Order of Opus Gluei challenge 'Can I Quote You?'.

To tie the quote into the birthday theme, I used this PTI sentiment for the inside:


Happy birthday, big girl!

Order of the Opus Gluei Celebrates Full Year of Challenges!

Stamp: Stampendous sentiment. Cardstock: Paper Studio DP, GP 110 white. Ink: Melon Mambo, Lovely Lilac. Accessories: Oval Nestabilities, SU scallop border punch, Stardust glitter pen, Melon Mambo dotted grosgrain ribbon.

Have you visited with the fun gals Jana and Rosemary (otherwise known as the Poobahs) over at the Order of the Opus Gluei yet? Every week they host a new challenge, often unusual and usually slightly off-the-wall, but always guaranteed to be a blast! How could they not be with the first line of the Opus Gluei oath stating, 'I hereby promise to avoid conventional thinking regarding the processes for the creative processes'?

This week's anniversary challenge #52 is to 'Make Something'. Take that challenge as you will; I went literally and finally posted this Braces Survival Kit I created from a Cutting Cafe Pencil Box template. I've been brainstorming the conversion ever since I won this fun template from Charlene (Paper and Ink Playground)'s blog months ago, actually completed it a few weeks ago, and finally posted it here!

Contents include tootbrush and mini tootpaste, chapstick, brush flossers, and a treat to ease the pain -- pixie stix!

Join in the fun by 'making something', admire other Opus Gluei groupies' creations, and be prepared to giggle your way through the Order of the Opus Gluei!

Christmas Sparkle in April?

Stamps: SU 'Snowflake', Papertrey 'Signature Christmas'. Cardstock: Cool Caribbean, Basic Grey 'Figgy Pudding'. Ink: Real Red, Cool Caribbean, Versamark. Accessories: Winter Wonderland EP, Ribbon.

Spring has officially sprung and yet here I am creating Christmas cards! My goal is to keep ahead of the holiday crafting rush, so you'll have to forgive my winter theme.

Inspiration came from these awesome challenges:

1) Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge, week #18. The inspiration photo was cookies decorated as snowglobes (hence my snowflakes) and in a red and light blue color combo (isn't Cool Caribbean a holiday color??).

2) Order of the Opus Gluei challenged us to sparkle and shine with challenge #49, so I used my favorite sparkly EP (Winter Wonderland)



and fun, iridescent ribbon.

3) Last but certainly not least, is Fall-To sketch #85 with their always versatile and inspiring CAS sketches!

Now I'm off to enjoy some of this wonderful Spring weather!

All Things Grow with Love

Stamps: Magnolia image, Papertrey 'Everyday Button Bits' sentiment. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Bella Rose DP, Papertrey white. Accessories: Nestabilities rectangle and scalloped circle, Matha Stewart leaf punch, SU scallop circle punch, Stardust glitter pen, white gel pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, jumbo paper clip.

The original plan for this card was to include the paper flower on the card, but it just seemed a bit overpowering for the CAS version of Midnight Madness Sketch challenge #46 . Instead, it ended up on its very own display -- a jumbo clip, suitable for marking any spot with a very visible paper zinnia!

The inspiration for creating this flower (first admired on the TUTORIAL on the Lord Have Mercy blog) was the Opus Gluei challenge #47 to 'use paper in a new way'. Thanks for getting me moving on trying this fun technique, Jana and Rosemary!

It IS Easy Being Green!

Stamps: Magnolia Tilda, Studio G sentiment. Cardstock: GP110 white, Reminisce DP. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Accessories: CM oval cutter, Wright's white grosgrain ribbon, Spare Parts brads, CB Houndstooth.

Opus Gluei's challenge #45 for this week is exactly this title, and we have free reign to interpret that theme as we will. First, I went with the literal definition and used this amazing card kit that I received as a prize in Angela's (SCS monkeymama) Magnolia card kit swap. Angela is a queen of card kits and included not only these goodies, but enough to make several more cards! If you are interested, Round 5 of the Magnolia Card Kit Swaps is currently in full swing.

The layout is inspired by the always versatile sketched at Mercy's Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge #63.

Although this is a St. Patrick's Day Tilda, I went with the good luck theme to make it more general purpose. Here's the inside of the card:



For my second card, I went with the current popular definition of green:

Stamps: Papertrey 'Mailbox Greetings'. Paper: Kraft, the eco Stack DP. Ink: Chocolate Chip. Accessories: circle punch.

The sketch is courtesy of Clean & Simple Stamping's Fall-To sketch #81 (reducing my paper use with a CAS theme), and also recycled with the 70% recycled paper content DP. Hey, I could also allow the card to be re-used by using a sticky note for an inside greeting to the recipient. All three sides of the recycling triangle checked!

Check out the always-fun gals over at Order of the Opus Gluei; there's plenty of time to go green!

Asian Influence

Stamps: Amuse 'Sushi'. Cardstock: Textured white, Basic Black, CM faux mulberry. Ink: Black, Copics. Accessories: Black satin ribbon, CB leaf embossing folder, Rectangle Nestabilities, SU three flower punch, Martha Stewart black glitter.

Catching up on a few of my favorite challenges inspired by:

1. Tuesday Morning sketch challenge #33.

2. Opus Gluei #42 'Asian Motivation'.

3. KL SNS color challenge #17: Red, Black, and white.

Special thanks going out to Gwen (SCS tturtle) for sending me this fun sushi image and inside sentiment; I seem to be sorely lacking in Asian influence or at least Asian stamps in my own personal stash!

Here's the inside which I actually decorated, not a common occurence for me:


Happy Friday to everyone! I'll be back tomorrow with this week's Spotlight challenge!!

Saying Sorry

Stamps: My Favorite Things 'Pure Innocence'. Cardstock: textured red, black, Basic Grey 'Bittersweet', Papertrey white. Ink: Memento black, Copics, Versamark. Accessories: white detail EP, Pebbles stitched grosgrain ribbon, circle Nestabilities, red brads.

Isn't this a sweet image? She looks like she is truly sorry and it never hurts to have an apologetic card on hand, does it?

This fun-to-color cutie came from my Secret Sis in monkeymama's Splitcoast Stamper's Card Kit Swap, along with the cardstock, DP, ribbon, and brads. Wow, what an amazing Secret Sis!

Inspiration for the sketch is the versatile Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #32 and the color combo is this week's 'Let Your Love Show' challenge #41 by the hilarious and talented gals over at Opus Gluei.

Now let's just hope that I don't end up doing something any time soon that requires using this card!

Clean and Simple Birthday Flower

**Click HERE to view the latest Saturday Spotlight challenge, 'Teeny Tiny Time!'**

Stamp: Papertrey 'Birthday Basics'. Cardstock: Chocolate chip, unknown source DP. Ink: Versamark. Accessories: organdy flower, white detail EP.

Tuesday Morning Sketch #31 is the inspiration for this card. In my opinion, the true measure of a sketch is how well it stands up to the bare bones (better known as Clean and Simple) approach and Melissa's sketches definitely shine in this style! The last two cards I've made with her sketches have been straight from the layout with no extra layers or mats; I really like how they've turned out.

Many thanks going out to my amazing Secret Sis in monkeymama's (Angela of Just Monkeying Around) Card Kit Swap -- she not only sent me this fun DP, but also these amazing organdy flowers; I used a punched circle from the coordinating DP and a page pebble to create the center:



More inspiration from this card comes from Opus Gluei challenge #40: Soup to Nuts. The Opus Gluei Poobahs encouraged us to complete a project OR start something new. Right now I have no major project anywhere close to completion (unless you count the maybe 50% complete organization of the craft area), so I struggled for a quite some time trying to figure out how to incorporate 'starting something new' with my overall 'downsizing' goal. Finally, it hit me -- since I always seem to like my CAS creations most, I should start making them on a regular basis. Say at least once a week? So, Jana and Rosemary, my new project is to create more CAS projects like this one!

As far as the craft room organization, that may indeed take the whole year!

Wish Upon a Star

Stamps: Verve Visual 'Wonderful Wishes', DRS Designs 'Star Background'. Cardstock: my grafico 'Lindsey Scrap Station Winter Add-on', linen black, textured red, Basic Grey 'Gypsy' pink. Ink: Real Red, Versamark. Accessories: Stardust EP, Bazzill black gingham ribbon, corner rounder, Stardust glitter pen.

Just a quick post because I couldn't miss out on one of my favorite challenges of the week: Order of the Opus Gluei. This week's #37 is 'You're a Star' and challenged us to use lots of star shapes on our creations. This mini 3" x 3" card is based on my grafico Sketch Challenge #31 and not only has the star punch as the focal point, but also glittery stars on the triangle panel, stars surrounding the inside sentiment, and a star border on the vellum envelope!

Now it's time for me to get off this computer and go admire some real stars during our balmy 40 degree heatwave!

Trimming Down

Stamps: My Sentiment's Exactly 'Snow Fun'. Cardstock: Soft Sky, Old Olive, Textured red, Basic Grey 'Figgy Pudding'. Ink: Riding Hood Red. Accessories: Circle punch, SU scallop border punch, buttons, Stardust glitter pen.

Trimming down is my theme for the new year; in fact, 'Downsize' is the word I'm adopting as my own for 2010, a concept I first learned of from Sparkle' blog (Sparkle's Creations). Right now 'downsize' has very negative connotations in our family since my husband has been downsized out of a job, but I want to use the word for good, as in downsizing my clutter, downsizing my spending, downsizing myself so my clothing fits again, and most of all, downsizing stress about the things I can't change!

This card fits with the downsizing theme, in that it's a Clean and Simple style inspired by Clean & Simple Stamping's Fall-To sketch #73 and the Opus Gluei challenge #36: 'Let's Trim Down'. Trim in this case also refers to the buttons which is the challenge in Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Week #5. I went with a winter theme since not only do I not need quite so many holiday cards, but I'm also not quite ready for Christmas projects yet.

Now it's off to finish downsizing the contents of my kitchen cabinets!

Saving the Earth

Digital sentiment included in November e-issue of SheetLoads. Cardstock: SU Berry Bliss, Purely Pomegranate, GP 110 white. Accessories: Martha Stewart scallop border punch, Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, chocolate bar.

Our family tries to help Mother Earth along by reducing, reusing, and recycling because she really does deserve a little respect. Still, a little humor never hurt and neither does a taste of chocolate. Here's one gift that can be savored and and the wrappers recycled (except the foil in our area) without leaving too large of a carbon footprint!

This altered chocolate bar is also a nod to Opus Gluei challenge #34: Sweetie Pie which challenged us to let our sweet tooth be our inspiration!

You still have a few days left to check out the great sketch by Barbara Debose and download your free e-copy of the November SheetLoads issue with bonus sentiments sheets.

Here are a few sneak peeks from the December SheetLoads issue which will debut December 1st!

What's Cooking?

Stamps: Basic Grey 'Cup of Tea Bitsy Stamp Set'. Cardstock: Basic Grey 'Porcelain', Regal Rose. Ink: Chocolate Chip. Accessories: Circle Nestabilities, mini hole punch.

I'm not much of a cook, so I chose this tea theme for the Opus Gluei challenge #32 'Hey Good Looking -- What You Got Cooking' challenge. Maybe 'What you got Brewing?' would be more appropriate?? And with the cooler weather, I 'cook up' some tea every day, both for the small dose of caffeine and the warmth of just holding the mug.

The sketch is inspired by my favorite site for awesome CAS ideas, Clean & Simple Stamping Fall-To sketch #67.

Be sure to check out all the new Basic Grey mini acrylic sets now in-stock at KL Stampin N Scrappin. The November special is $5 off any order over $30 (before shipping and tax) with the special code listed on the home page.

Stuffed With Reasons?

Digi image by KAH wink E Dink 'Digi Tom', DRS Designs 'Stuffed with Reasons Greeting' G760. Cardstock: kraft, Chocolate Chip, Archiver's yellow, Basic Grey 'Indian Summer' DP, GP110 white. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Copics. Accessories: Circle Nestabilites, googlie eyes.

Isn't this a hilarious Tom Turkey digi image? You can have him for FREE by playing along with the always fun bloggers at Opus Gluei challenge #31. Tom was kindly donated by Kristen of KAH wink E dink.

I'm not so sure Tom is thankful that the season is stuffed with reasons or anything else; I used googlie eyes to accent his thoughts on the matter:

The sketch is a CAS version of Taylored Expressions challenge #90. Taylor's sketches are always a great inspiration!

What Dogs Will Do for Their People!

Digital image by Mo's Digital Pencil . Sentiment: Holiday Best. Cardstock: Black, CM orange, Doodlebug Holiday stripes, Paper Studio Halloween dots, GP 110 white. Ink: Copics, versafine black, orange and Certainly Celery markers. Accessories: CM oval cutter, orange dotted silk ribbon, Long rectangle Nestabilities.

Isn't this a hilarious image? Not only that, but it's free just for being a member of Mo's Digital Pencil group over on the Scrapbook News and Review site!

It's also perfect for several challenges:

1) Mo's Digital Challenge #2 to use Fall colors plus only two types of embellishments.

2) Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #44; I only added the second DP because I didn't have quite enough of the stripes to cover the whole area.

3) Tuesday Tagger's challenge 'Things That Go Bump in the Night'; poor Bronte will probably bump into a few things with his kitty mask on!

4) Copic Creations #14: Black. The tutorials on coloring to achieve a realistic black were awesome; I think the black areas are the only ones I truly happy with on this image!

5) Last, but certainly not least, one of my favorite challenge blogs Opus Gluei #29 'Hocus Pocus' which challenged us to add a little magic to our project. Bella in her witch hat counts, but I think it's even more magical that she actually was able to convince Bronte to dress up like a black cat!!

This should take care of my 'need' for challenge for a while! My next challenge is cutting out all these super fun DRS Designs Halloween releases so I can begin showcasing them. Thank goodness for my hot knife tool!!