Halloween Cauldron

The Baskets and Blooms(although retired) die cut from Basic Black cardstock makes a great cauldron.  The Spooky Bingo Bits images are perfect for punching out and attaching to chocolate kisses.  

Fun Flowers Card

This card was one of our March Big Shot club projects.  We textured the Fun Flowers die cuts with one of the designs from the Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates.  The Pumpkin Pie background was also textured using the friend definition from the Kit #4 Texturz Plates, and then we used the direct to paper technique with a VersaMark pad to bring out the texture.  The flowers were accented with coordinating brights designer buttons and some 1 1/4" Old Olive striped grosgrain behind.  The sentiment is from the Curly Cute set.

Thanks from a Friend

This was a thank you card received from Patty, one of our best friends who was visiting us last weekend from Nebraska.  The bright color combination she used is so cheerful!  The Old Olive background was embossed with the square lattice folder.  The sentiment is from the Word Play set, and the star image is from the FREE Sale-a-Bration set So Happy for You.  It is finished off with some 1 1/4" Daffodil Delight striped grosgrain ribbon and a designer button. 

Watercolored Tree Birthday Card

The image on this card comes from the Lovely as a Tree set, it was stamped with Staz-on jet black ink on watercolor paper and then colored using the Stampin' Up aqua painter and classic ink pads (Garden Green and Early Espresso).  The sentiment is from the All Holidays set.

Amazing & Simple Crafty Girl Project Featuring Stampin' Up!

Our friend and Crafty Girl Irene had this great post on her blog yesterday featuring one of the stamp sets that she got a couple of weeks ago when she hosted her very own Stampin' Up! Sale-a-Bration workshop!  When we first saw the Have a Seat set in the catalog, we thought, "are they serious?!" (some of you can probably relate), but then we see someone like Irene do something so simple and clever with it!  Seriously, when she ordered it, we were thinking, "REALLY?!?!", even after she told us that she thought it would be good for housewarming or neighbor gifts.  This is what it's all about though, bringing this stuff to life, and we certainly appreciate how she brought this stamp set to life and wanted to share it with you here.  Please check out her blog, she is so talented and creative (and energetic, because it appears that she never sleeps!)!  Here is her post:

Do you ever have an idea that seems too simple so you kinda blow off the idea, but the idea keeps coming back in your head? If not, it could just be my OCD acting up! Anyway, I have had an idea in my head for a week now and tonight I put it together.

The idea came when I picked up this stamp set from Stampin Up called "Have a Seat".

There was something about the bench stamp that just made me smile. How weird is that? A bench making me smile! 

I had a trio-frame set that I was not using. And I knew that I wanted to incorporate the stripe ribbon. 

On a piece of cream card stock I printed a saying that I really like from Sherry Dew..."If life were easy, it wouldn't be so hard." 

I then stamped the bench on the card stock. I cut the card stock to size and put it in the frame. Added the ribbon, and done. 5 minutes done. 

I think it is sweet. And you know what is funny? The bench and the saying have nothing to do with one another, but I love how it looks together! 

A nice little addition to my mantel.

Fancy Favor Christmas Boxes

Here's another Big Shot Club project we'll be doing in this week's workshop.  This month we are focusing mostly on the Sizzlits Decorative Strip dies, so we've decorated these fancy favor boxes with the Join In The Cheer Sizzlits Decorative Strip die (it wraps around the whole box).  We've added a couple stamped holly images from the Tags Til Christmas set .

Marker Thumping Technique Card

This card demonstrates the marker thumping technique.  The pine tree image was inked with the Crumb Cake pad and then randomly "thumped" with the brush tip of a Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker and then stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock.  This idea came from Max Conrad's blog.  The base panel of the card was embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper folder.  The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set, punched with the word window and then layered on a modern label.  Finishing touches include basic rhinestone jewels, 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon, and hemp twine.   

Spooky Top Note Banner

It's so hard to believe that Halloween is almost here, where did the month go already?!  Here is a home decor banner we made last year, and how great that it can be used year after year!  As you can see, it uses the Top Note dies, which are threaded together using the 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon.  The spider was made using the round tab punch (legs) and the 1" circle punch.  Sorry, the die cut letters and scalloped ovals are not Stampin' Up!, but something similar can always be substituted.  We wish you and your family a safe and Happy Halloween!