Happy Halloween!

This is the first year we've lived in a neighborhood (rather than the farm that was on the highway) so I'm kind of excited about actually getting some trick-or-treaters! I decided to buy the Ghoulish Googlies Bundles and two more Ghoulish Googlies Designer Kits (page 27 of the Holiday catalog) so I could make 30 special treats for tonight. Here are all the tags stamped:

 

 

And all the bags assembled, with candy inside!

 

 

Check out this post for close ups of how I embossed the bags.

The Puppies Are Here!

Sorry I haven't shared any stamping projects the last few days. I've been busy getting things done around the house and keeping an eye on Keetah. I set up the air mattress downstairs last night and it was a good thing. She had the first puppy at 12:35 this morning! The last one was born at 8:25. At one point she had 3 of them within 20 minutes. It was a busy night and I got no sleep whatsoever. But all 10 puppies are healthy and doing great! 

 

 

 

The whole litter- 6 boys and 4 girls

 

 

Look at her little tongue! This is one of the girls.

 

It's hard to get good pictures of them in the whelping box without getting into it! I'm sure there will be lots more!

 

For more info about Can Do Canines, please check out their website: www.can-do-canines.org

 

Googly Ghouls Treat Bags

I finally had some time to make some of the cute little Googly Ghouls treat bags. I love those eyes!

 

 

The little witch. Cute, but what if...

 

 

I emboss the bags? WAY cuter! I used the Houndstooth folder for the bat...

 

 

the Striped folder for the mummy...

 

 

the Spider Web folder for the spider (of course!)...

 

 

the Chevron folder for Frankie...

 

 

and Perfect Polka Dots for the "BOOOO".

 

 

Here's a group shot. Aren't they cute? Now I have to make the rest and fill them for Halloween.

 

Stamp Set: Googly Ghouls

 

Colors: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

 

Accessories: Ghoulish Googlies Designer Kit, embossing folders, hole punch

 

The stamp set and kit can be purchased in a bundle- check out page 27 in the Holiday Catalog.

 

Wonderfall Thanksgiving & An Update On The Building

I kept telling myself I had enough stamps of leaves, but I caved and ordered Wonderfall from the Holiday Catalog! And the matching Autumn Accents Die, of course!

This card is CASE'd from Sue L.

 

 

Stamp Sets: Wonderfall, Teeny Tiny Wishes

 

Colors: Real Red, Old Olive, Summer Starfruit, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

 

Accessories: Houndstooth Embossing Folder

 

The acorn is stamped off to make it lighter so the greeting shows up.

 

 

 

 I forgot to share this picture the other day. This was right after the trusses were removed. All the black wood was then cut off and replaced with new posts and boards. The new trusses are going up this morning!

Book Parties & Puppies

Stampin’ Up! is holding a “Book-A-Thon” today to help demonstrators schedule workshops and book parties for November and December. I would love it if you could help me out! I am not able to schedule any actual workshops though because I’ll be busy taking care of puppies!

Keetah, from Can Do Canines, is staying with us to have her puppies. She is due next weekend and we are expecting 9 or 10 little Labs. Life will be a little busy around here until they leave just before Christmas! (I will still be having Card Club and Stamp-A-Stacks here, I just don’t want to leave them for an extended period of time)

I am looking for 5 people to hold a book party in November or December. All you have to do is show your friends and family the Stampin’ Up! catalogs and collect orders! You will earn free merchandise based on the sales! And from November 1st to December 16th, you can get a FREE collection of Classic Stampin’ Pads (a $49.95 value!) when you host a $450 workshop/party!

WOW! The first 5 people who schedule their party will also receive a surprise from me!

PLEASE help me out if you can and call or e-mail me TODAY to set a date. Thank you!

Emboss Resist Tweet Leaves

Emboss Resist is one of my favorite techniques! I haven't been able to do any embossing lately since my heat tool was at the Building when we had the fire. I recently ordered the new heat tool to replace it and decided to use it for the Stamp-A-Stack. I know I CASE'd this card from someone, but now I can't find the original to give the creator credit. I did make a few changes to it, but if you recognize it, please let me know who made it. 

Stamp: Tweet Leaves

I don't have a background stamp with words on it, so I designed the Vanilla layer with My Digital Studio and printed it on Very Vanilla card stock 

Colors: Soft Suede, Pool Party, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Spice Cake Designer Series Paper (retired) and Fabric (still available!), Scallop Trim Border Punch, Whisper White Craft Ink, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Sponge

Reverse Masking Trees

Lovely As A Tree is such a classic stamp set. I haven't used it for awhile, but decided we needed to make a card with it for the Trees & Leaves themed Stamp-A-Stack. This was CASE'd from a card I saw on Pinterest made by Heidi B. That site is so addicting!

 

 

Stamp Sets: Lovely As A Tree and Petite Pairs

 

Colors: Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, and Very Vanilla

 

Accessories: Stamping Sponge

 

Technique: Reverse Masking- lay large post-it notes around edge of Vanilla card stock to create the area where the trees will be stamped, stamp 3 trees so their height is varied, sponge background with Sahara Sand ink, remove post-its, stamp full tree, add sentiment.

Shelli Gardner's Island Indigo Leaf Card

Did you know Shelli Gardner, co-founder of Stampin' Up!, has a blog? It's www.SoShelli.com. She shares the projects she makes for Stampin' Up! events like Convention, Leadership, and Regionals. Recently she shared a fall card that I likes the minute I saw it. Simple yet elegant, a little different than what we're used to seeing. Here is my version, which was one of the cards for the October Stamp-A-Stack:

 

 

Stamp Set: French Foliage

 

Colors: Island Indigo & Crumb Cake

 

Accessories: Autumn Accents Die, Baker's Twine, Color Spritzer Tool

 

The leaf was crumpled up, then flatened and pressed onto a Crumb Cake ink pad.

Bouncing Brayer

One of the other demonstrators in my upline's group made this awesome tractor card for her swap at one of our last Stamp Shares. She even did a demo to show us how it's done. She called it the "Bouncing Brayer" technique.

 

 

I liked it so much I decided to make a card using the technique for the Stamp-A-Stack last Saturday. The theme was trees and leaves, so this is the card I came up with:

 

 

Stamp Set: Gently Falling

 

Colors: Cajun Craze, More Mustard and Whisper White

 

Accessories: brayer, Glossy White Paper, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder

 

It's Been A Crazy Day!

It's been one of those days! I didn't get half of what I wanted to do done, but I felt like I was running all day! Here are some of the more exciting things to happen:

 

We got a new dog today! Her name is Keetah and she is a 3 year old Black Lab who is very pregnant!

 

 

 She is due on October 28th and the ultrasound a couple of weeks ago showed 9 puppies for sure, maybe 10. We'll be doing an x-ray on Monday to get the actual headcount. Keetah will be here until the puppies are weaned, then she'll go back to her breeder host family. The puppies will be here until they go to the Can Do Canines facility around 7 weeks. They will be evaluated for a few days and then go to their foster families. Hopefully they will all become Service Dogs!

 

The roof and outside tin came off the Building today. Finally, progress you can see!

 

 

The in-floor heat still works, so the Building will be rebuilt just like it was. Let's hope it gets done quickly so John has a place to park the truck and work on it, and I can have my classes there again! I thin we need a stamping weekend!

 

I also did 3 loads of laundry, made an apple pie (had to use up some apples before they go bad), went to the scrap yard with John to recycle a load of tin from the Building, bought a new dog crate at Mill's Fleet so Keetah has a place to sleep tonight (our extras were in the shop and were badly damaged) and put the whelping box together so it's ready for puppies. I was so glad John decided to make dinner tonight- bacon cheeseburgers and fries from Winners Bar!

 

Tomorrow I will get pictures of the cards from Saturday's Stamp-A-Stack and share them.

 

 

The Rest Of What I've Been Stamping Lately

OK, so I told you I've been doing a lot of stamping lately and have shared quite a few cards. But there has been more than what I've shown you! I also made all of these little 3 x 3 cards:

I like to put a Thank You card in all of my customer's orders to let them know I appreciate them. 3 x 3's are fun and quick! Some of my customers have told me they have cut the fronts off and used them to make their own cards. I love it!

This batch started with some 12 x 12 card stock in Basic Black, Basic Gray and Not Quite Navy that I figured I probably wouldn't use for scrapbooking. I like to use lighter colors for my pages. 12 x 12 is the easiest for cutting 3 x 6 with no waste. You get 8 out of each sheet. Using 8 1/2 x 11 only gives you 4, plus several smaller pieces. I have enough scraps as it is!

I have finally used up all of the Designer Series Paper from the old Hostess packs! Woohoo! Most of the little pieces ended up on these cards. Lots of card stock scraps and some little pieces of ribbon, too. I used lots of punches and a variety of stamps, but all of these are Thank You's, except the 2 in the bottom left corner. I found 2 stamped images of cupcakes that I never used so I made them into little birthday cards.

If you have any questions about any of these, let me know.

Have a great weekend! I have the October Stamp-A-Stack tomorrow, so I'll be sharing those cards soon...

Real Red & Crumb Cake Christmas Cards

Real Red & Kraft (Crumb Cake) Designer Series Paper Christmas cards:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stamp Sets: Joyous Celebrations & More Merry Messages 

 

Colors: Real Red, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla or Whisper White

 

Accessories: Designer Series Paper, Extra-Large Oval and Decorative Label punches, various ribbon scraps, non-SU! red circle stickers (could color small Basic Pearls instead!)

 

Regal Rose Mixed Bunch Thank You's

The last two Regal Rose cards:

 

 

 

Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch & Made For You

 

Colors: Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White

 

Accessories: Designer Series Paper, Blossom, 1" Circle, 3/4" Circle, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, Modern Label & Word Window punches, brads, Dimensionals

 

Regal Rose Birthday & Baby Cards

More Regal Rose cards:

 

 

Stamp Set: Patterned Party

 

 

Stamp Set: Baby Bundle

 

Colors: Regal Rose & Whisper White

 

Accessories: Designer Series Paper, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Labels Collection Framelits, Modern Label Punch

Regal Rose Congrats & For You

More cards with Designer Series Paper from old Hostess Packs. I actually have used it all up now! I have a few more cards to show you and then I'll move on to something different. Stamping has been a great way to get my mind off the Building lately. They finally started some demo work on Thursday and Friday. All the tin in the shop is down and almost all the sheetrock in the office, kitchen and bathrooms. Progress!

 

You can easily substitute any Designer Series Paper for what I've used. The current Paper Stacks on page 162 of the Catalog have similar designs.

 

 

 

Stamp Set: Layered Labels

 

Colors: Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White

 

Accessories: Designer Series Paper, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Scallop Edge Border Punch

 

I made a layer for the For You image by attaching it to a piece of Pretty In Pink card stock and cutting around it with Paper Snips.

 

Flowers By A Fence

Card #2 from Card Club this week, CASE'd from my upline Betty:

 

 

Stamp Set: Bring On The Cake

 

Colors: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink

 

Accessories: Lacy Brocade and Woodgrain Embossing Folders, Little Leaves Sizzlet, BohoBlossoms Punch, Basic Pearls, 2 Way Glue Pen, Dimensionals

 

Googly Ghouls Shadow Box Card

Since it's October, I wanted to do one more Halloween card. We don't usually do much for Halloween since Chase decided he was too old for trick-or-treating. What we did have for Halloween decorations was at the Building- everything is gone now. I just can't get excited about buying anything to replace what we had. When I was looking for ideas for Card Club I saw a Shadow Box card and thought it would be cute to use the Googly Ghouls set. This is what I came up with:

 

 

 

 

Stamp Set: Googly Ghouls, Wacky Wishes

 

Colors: Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade, Blush Blossom (marker), Whisper White, Basic Black

 

Accessories: Labels Collection Framelits, Modern Label and Word Window punches, Silver Stampin' Dazzle Marker, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals

 

Directions: score both front and back pieces of 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card stock at 1/2", 1", 4 1/2" and 5". Use Framelit or large punch to make window on piece that will be the front. Stamp images on piece that will be the back and anything you want on the front. Use Sticky Strip to attach edges of front and back pieces. Add punched piece to front with Dimensional, making sure card will open and go flat (I have one in the center of the Boo). Card will lay flat for mailing and will stand on it's own when "opened".

 

My Favorite Pinecones

Sorry for showing you a retired stamp, but this is my favorite image of pinecones! It's from Pines & Poinsettas, which was in last year's Holiday Mini Catalog. The Designer Series Paper is from an old Hostess Pack, but you could use any similar paper. This is a fun layout that I've used before, but it's been awhile.

 

 

 

 

Stamp Sets: Pines & Poinsettas (retired), Made For You

 

Colors: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

 

Accessories: Designer Series Paper, 2" Circle from Circles #2 Originals Dies, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, and the punches used for each greeting:

 

Card #1 - Large Oval, 1" Circle, Curly Label

 

Card #2 - Large Oval, 1" Circle, Extra-Large Oval

 

Card #3 - Word Window, Modern Label, Large Oval