Quoth the raven

Happy Halloween stampers!  I have a super spooky project to share today but I have a "horror story" first.  This is the first year that I can remember that I have NOT dressed up for Halloween or gone to a party!  The shock, the horror!!!!!  If you know me then you know I LOVE Halloween, it rates right up there with Christmas for me!  It's super fun to decorate and super fun to come up with costumes and be someone you aren't for a day or two!  We usually go to my BFF's boyfriend's for a party and he goes all out, I think he likes H-ween as much as me!  But this year my hubby got sick:-(  We made it about an hour away from home but he was feeling worse and worse.  He wanted to keep going but I said there was no sense in him being miserable.  I wouldn't have had fun anyway knowing he was sick.  So, after driving for over 2 hours we ended up back at home:-(  I guess we can always wear our costumes next year.  Anyway, so sad!!! I didn't dress up at work either because everyone else was lame (hahaha) and didn't want to.  Oh well, maybe I'll just show up in costume some random day, lol!

See, wasn't that a terrible Halloween story????  Now, onto the spooky project!  I had been wanting to make my own crow from the mini catalog for a while.  I got the crow about a month ago (and it quite freaked my hubby out when I left it out on the counter one night...scared him the next morning, lol) but never got around to making him.  Hubby couldn't imgagine what I was going to do with such a weird thing but really liked how it turned out!  So, this past week I finally got him done!  Isn't he super spooky?  Just look:

Sorry for the bad/blurry pic.  It's the best I could do with the light early this morning.  I used one of the decor elements blocks and covered it with DSP.  After I put him all together (he is hot glued onto the block) I sprayed him and the block with spray adhesive and sprinkled dazzling diamonds over it.  Now, I goofed a bit and he's got one super sparkly spot but that's ok.  The spray adhesive and glitter technique does take some practice.  I also think  I should have used a different box out in the garage to spray him and catch the glitter but I couldn't find another one.  At least I know for next time:-) 

I hope everyone has a safe and spooky Halloween!

Happy stamping!

Trick or Treat, Scary or Sweet?

Hi stampers!  This card is sweet for sure!  I've been wanting to use this little guy every since I got the set at convention!!!  It is a new hostess set from the upcoming holiday mini and we all got it for free as our last give away at convention!!!  And we all know I LOVE free stamps!  The great thing about this set besides the fact that it's just uber cute is that most of the images work well with our punches!  Take this little owl for example...he was easy to punch out with the owl punch:

 Isn't he cute????  You can see he's a bit sparkly too as I inked him up with back craft ink and then embossed him with some iridescent ice embossing powder.  He just needed to be sparkly!  I simply used my pumpkin pie ink pad and a blender pen to color in his beak and cute little trick or treat bag.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Warmest of wishes (hostess), Out on a limb, grateful greetings
Paper:  Whisper white, basic black, pumpkin pie, daffodil delight
Ink:  basic black craft, basic black, pumpkin pie, daffodil delight, more mustard
Accessories:  Circle punch, decorative label punch, owl punch, scallop squares duo die, spider web embossing folder, silver smooch spray, basic black scalloped polka dot ribbon

The rest of the card is pretty straight forward and I thought this cute owl would be PERFECT with the out on a limb set also from the mini.  I just LOVE how our sets inter-mix so well....have I mentioned that?  LOL!  I also loved how the sentiment from grateful greetings worked too since the little guy has a trick or treat bag!  You'll note that I did use some of the scalloped polka dot ribbon, I love that stuff!  I also embossed the black panel with the spider web folder and then hit it with a good spray of the silver smooch!  Love that stuff too, it can add SO much to a card yet it's so simple!  The last note I'd like to make is about the moon.  I sponged the edges with some daffodil delight and then with some more mustard to make it spooky and give it a little depth!

Hope you liked it!  Don't forget that you can earn this cute set for FREE starting September 1!  That's only a week away!   Happy stamping!

Switching Gears

Hi stampers!  So I've been making a lot of bright, fun, summery cards lately since of course it IS summer.  Well, it WAS summer for me or at least it is until tomorrow.  Football starts tomorrow so for me, summer is over:-(  I'll be working late hours and weekends, booooo!  At least it's a bit cooler here....or at least less humid!  So, since it's now "fall" to me AND because I got my Holiday Mini pre-order last night, I have a fall inspired card to share today!

This time of year is always a conundrum for me...stamping wise anyway.  It's at this point in the year that I'm really IN to the fun and summery cards BUT I get new fall geared stuff and I have a bit of an identity crisis....what to stamp?  Summer or fall?  Or Christmas even????  So, forgive me if I waffle back and forth a bit as far as themes and color combos.  I'm not yet ready to give up the fun summer stuff (not to mention the fact that I just bought a bunch of summer type stuff, lol) but I'm excited for the holiday mini and everything fall and Christmas!  I guess I'll have to have a split personality for a while!  I want to make sure I make good use of my new catalog purchases AND my holiday purchases so I need to do a LOT of stamping!  We won't even talk about how neglected my summer mini stuff is!  I need to learn to cut back there since I get so excited about the new big catalog....

Ok, enough of my issues (lol)!  Here is a little sneek peek from the new Holiday Mini:

Stampin' Supplies (I had to go back and edit as I forgot...so sorry:-):
Stamps:  Out on a limb, teeny tiny wishes
Paper:  whisper white, rich razzleberry, lucky limeade, crumb cake
Ink:  rich razzleberry, more mustard, lucky limeade, early espresso
Accessories:  spider web embossing folder, scallop squares duo die, basic rhinestones, basic black scalloped polka dot ribbon

EEK!  Isn't it CAAA-YOOT?  The set is called "out on a limb" and I think it's my favorite set in the mini!  And yea me, I didn't get too many sets out of the Holiday mini (so far....) but I HAD to have this one!  It's so cute and fun!  As you can see from my sample and probably tell from the name, there are various Halloween images that can sit or hang on the limb!  Too cute!  I'm also loving the scalloped polka dot ribbon in black for Halloween!   This card is semi-cased from the Holiday Mini itself.  I really also love the color combo of more mustard, lucky limeade, and rich razzleberry!  And of COURSE I had to dig out the spider web embossing folder!

Ok, that's it for me, I've got to rest up for football practice tomorrow....ok, actually I need to rest up so I can get up and go for a RUN in the morning so I get that out of the way since I don't have to work until the afternoon, hehe!  I think I should start a program of no stamping if I don't work out....I need SOMETHING to motivate me:-)  Happy stamping!