Wednesday, October 31, 2012

BOO!

I am looking forward to some Halloween movies tonight and eating some sweets! I hope your Halloween is filled with fun and not too many spooks!!
 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Pear & Partridge Cards and Box

This weekend I will be hosting the Pear & Partridge card making workshop. As an added bonus the ladies will also be making this cute little box to hold all the cards from the kit. The magazine holder style box is cut on the new Artiste cricut cartridge.


My box was created very basic and simple. The ladies will have the opportunity to decorate their boxes however they choose.


A workshop cutting guide is provided in the kit. These are the cards as they are shown in that guide. I also made several more cards with little variations in the paper placement and the stamped images to give them more creative options!

 
I am excited to get together this Saturday for this fun class! If you would like to order the Pear & Partridge card kit go to my online site here. You'll have fun making these cards while getting a head start on you Christmas "to-do" list!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

"Candy" Corn!

Another project owed to Pinterest! I unfortunately don't have any one particular person to thank for this idea. I saw similar variations of it on several boards. So sorry that I don't know the true originator of this fabulous idea.

Making the tasty chocolate covered popcorn was the simple part. {The kids and I will finish a whole jar of this before we get to the middle of the Nightmare Before Christmas movie!!} The fun and creative process was decorating the canning jars. I pulled in some Dotty For You papers, black & white grosgrain ribbon, black and sunset twine, a fun dotted scallop from the Perfect Fit Frames stamp set and the "candy corn" label from an older Halloween Word stamp set. They turned out so cute, almost too cute to eat! {That's not going to happen!}



Monday, October 22, 2012

Fall Table Setting

I've shared a couple different ideas for Halloween decorated dining tables this month. I am preparing now for a fall inspired table. This is also a class that I am offering this week. It has a darling pumpkin name holder/treat holder and a large napkin & cutlery holder. I am also entering these projects in this week's Heart 2 Heart Halloween/Pumpkin Challenge.



Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Snowmen 3D tags

Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog is all about Christmas creations this week. This is the second Christmas challenge this year! The designers have come up with some wonderful projects this week, you will have to stop by and see their art! For my project today I was inspired by some tags I saw on the Papertrey Ink blog made my Heather Nichols. Instead of a flat tag though, I thought how cool it would be to add some CTMH treat cups for a 3D effect! Now these cute little snowmen are in a winter wonderland!


The ornament was cut on the Art Philosophy cartridge in Kraft paper. I then embossed them with a variety of embossing folders. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the snowmen are colored in, glittered, and have snowflakes surrounding them within the treat cup.




When my daughter saw them she said, "Mom, after you use them as a tag, you could put them on the tree as an ornament!", and I was like... "Yeah, that's what I totally was thinking!!" {tee-hee} Goodness do I love that little girl, she's my biggest fan!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Skull Charms

I kind of fell in love with these Skull Charms from Jolee's Boutique. Ideas to use them kept coming to me!


My first thought and first project was to turn them into wine/martini glass charms. I just needed some craft wire, beads and wire tool.


The back of the charms are self adhesive so I simply stuck the wire to the back, covered the remaining surface with some cardstock, then added beads to both ends.


I created a loop closure on the back so that I can easily remove the charm before washing. Great way to dress up those glasses!


I also used one of the little charms on my table to decorate this cake stand. I just made a bow of black ribbon and stuck the charm in the middle.


My daughter and her best friend were playing games while I was creating the wine glass charms, so I thought I would surprise them with some rings. Like the wine charms I strung some elastic wire with the black beads. Instead of cardstock to back them I used a piece of black silk so they would feel more comfortable on their little fingers!


My final project was to take more of that black silk and make some hair bows with it. My daughter and I both made one. I showed her how to do it as I made mine, then she did hers all on her own. I gave her some tweezers though to burn the edges in the candle flame. There was only one wild mishap, but it was quickly under control!! {Did you know that if you drop fabric in the wax of a scented candle that it will smell like the candle? Mmmm...smells good, who knew!!}


My daughter's bow is the one on the right. She let her edges curl more, they look so good! I like how hers turned out more!! They have little alligator clips on the back so they are easy to clip in your hair, add it to a blazer or cardigan, or even a necklace!


Don't you just love when you find a product that can be used in so many ways!!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Wicked Skulls {Spooky Halloween Dining}

As promised here is my other Halloween table setting. I incorporated those skulls again that I gave a makeover. The table still has an elegant feel with the white cloth, blinged out chargers and martini glasses, yet it screams spooky!


Each of the skulls sits on top of a place setting with a napkin wrapped in the same tulle I used on my Wicked Wreath! I would normally be frightened by a spider this size, but the black glitter makes him fabulous!!

I peeled the label off of a wine bottle and applied this one from Martha Stewart. I also found these awesome skull charms and created my own glass charms with them. I will show you more on how I did that later.

Skeleton brains anyone? For a fun treat I popped some kettle corn and coated it in gooey green chocolate! I served it up in some skull printed cupcake liners on top of a decorated cake stand. There's one of those skull charms again. Hmmm... I wonder what other projects those might show up in on my blog this month?!!


My centerpiece is this elegant candelabra from Partylite. It certainly adds to the sophistication of the table setting, yet the taper candles oozing blood from Yankee Candle make it frightfully delightful!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Trick-or-Treat Skull Box

Before I share my new Halloween table setting as promised in my last post, I wanted to share this treat box I made on the Artiste cartridge. I am also entering this in Ribbon Carousel's Halloween Spirit Challenge. 
 
This cute little box was cut on the Cricut Artiste Cartridge page 79 at 5". This size is perfect for filling with mini Halloween assorted chocolates or even a couple of homemade cookies! The skull is from the Thriller stamp set and was embossed in black. The "Oct. 31st" tag is from the new Perfect Fit Halloween stamp and was tied to the top of the box with some black&white striped grosgrain ribbon and olive green twine.
 

This was a fun and simple project that could be duplicated easily for gift giving this Halloween! Please be sure to check out the Ribbon Carousel Blog for more Halloween inspiration!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Skull Makeover

Do you ever just feel like your skull needs a makeover?


Earlier this week I shared my Spooky Elegant table setting with you. Remember my martini of skulls?


I wasn't 100% satisfied with how they looked in the store. They were purchased from Walmart for less than a dollar, so giving them a quick makeover was no problem. They looked dull and were a gray coloring.

So I painted them with a couple coats of white craft paint. In this photograph I only have the first coat on it.

Once the white paint dried I dry brushed the eye and nose sockets as well as the mouth and gums with black paint. To set the paint and avoid future scratching I coated them with lacquer. Every skull needs a little shine!

You have to come back and see how I used these skulls again in a new table scape! Here is a sneak peek for you!!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Birthday Numbers ~ H2H Challenge

Heart 2 Heart Blog has a fun challenge this week! Create a Birthday card using "numbers" on it. I made a few of these already this year, but just happened to need a "boy" card. I decided on a clean card using some nuetral colors and a pop of Twilight. For my number I chose to ink up some cork with black ink that fit perfectly in the Perfect Fit Frames stamp set!!


All product used is Close To My Heart; except the dots embossing folder.

You must check out the H2H designs this week! They have some amazing cards to inspire you!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Bump in the Night ~ Mojo 262

Creating some spooky greetings this morning and thought I would use the Mojo Monday sketch!


What a fun sketch for Halloween! Well really I love anything lately with pennants in the design!!


All products are Close To My Heart {except noted}. The papers and chipboard compliments are from the Moonlight pack, even the purple swirly banner is from the zip strip on a sheet of cardstock. The scallop punch is Fiskars.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Elegant Spooky Dining Table

I have been setting my table with lots of fun accessories lately, trying out some new Halloween looks. I wanted to try something that was just black and white. Then I saw the inspiration photo on the Inspired By Blog. I love the white pumpkins in the photo, but wanted to make it a bit spookier. Once it was all done I thought I achieved that spooky feeling, yet it still seems elegant!

{the inspiration photo}

{My Elegant Spooky Dining Table}

I found lots of items around my house that I simply re~purposed and made new stuff with my craft supplies. Instead of pumpkins, I chose skulls as my centerpiece. I will share more with you later this week on how I "re-skulled" them!


The table setting came together with some blinged out chargers, plain white plates, black napkins and a handmade napkin ring. The ring is made from dry embossed cardstock, stitched ribbon and a Cricut  Artiste rose made from Moonlight paper.



My candle votives came from a metal holder I use throughout the year in the center of my table. I simply covered them in Silhouette paper. This paper is definitely elegant!


These frosted glass coasters come with an opening in the back for a picture. I stamped this awesome skull from the Thriller stamp set and sponged some grey ink to really make it pop!


If you would like to know where I found any of these items, please leave me a comment. I will show you another table setting I created with a fun pop of Halloween colors, stay tuned!!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Trick-or-Treat Decor

I love decorating for Halloween and wanted to make a fun focal point in the family room. The fireplace is already the main focal point so I did some rearranging and created a colorful spooky display!


The banner is made from cardstock, a variety of ribbons and shapes cut on the Cricut including the letters. I've had my Mr. Bones skeletons for a couple years now and absolutely love them! The glittery pumpkins are a new and fun addition.


At night I light the candles in the skeletons and their trusty dog. It gives the perfect amount of glow on the wall and banner pieces!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Make a Card Today!


Hey Bloggers! Today is World Card Making Day! There are several blogs out there today celebrating too, inspiration is everywhere! I did a little research yesterday to figure out which cards are the most popular greeting cards. Birthday cards were number one, followed by Christmas. None of the sites I researched really gave the third most popular. Mostly they indicated that major Holidays such as Halloween, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day were all close runner up's.

So to celebrate today I created all brand new cards for Birthday, Christmas and a general everyday greeting card that I felt showcased a very hot trend in card making this year!

My first card is a Birthday card. Birthday's can't be sweeter than some colorful ice cream. Here I used the Fanfare stamp set and a fun shape cut on the Artiste cartridge.


For this Christmas card I steered away from the traditional colors and pulled in some beautiful blue papers from the Avonlea papers. I used the Perfect-Fit Holidays stamp set and added some bling to my snowflakes.

Finally, my everyday greeting card. Who doesn't love the surprise of happy mail!! I loved the trend of rainbow colors in artwork this year and those who know me best saw it in many of my projects! and of course I had to throw in a little bicycle {heart them}!!

I hope you get some time to make a card or two today. Better yet, send it to someone you love and let them know you care! Happy Day Everybody!

Friday, October 5, 2012

RCC73 Halloween Spirit

I have Halloween Spirit, yes I do! I have the spirit, how about you? Sounds like a cheer doesn't it?! That's the challenge on Ribbon Carousel Blog this week. Show your Halloween Spirit, using ribbon of course. My ribbon of choice is the fabulous Close To My Heart Black Tulle. It's tied up on a pin clip and tucked behind a spooky black Artiste rose. A "sweet treats" label may possibly give away the contents inside this darling little gable box also cut on the Artiste cartridge. After all isn't Halloween all about the candy!


{All products are Close To My Heart and can be ordered online here.}

Speaking of Halloween candy...my cousin shared this youtube clip and I thought it was too funny not to pass along.
 





Thursday, October 4, 2012

H2H Rock and Roll {sweet treats for fall}

Rolling right along with more challenges this week! I can't resist some rocking and rolling at the Heart2Heart challenges blog. This is always such a fun technique!

I found a great picture on Pinterest of some pumpkin doughnuts which led me to the recipe on the King Arthur Flour website. So after I baked them {and sampled a few} then I thought of this week's challenge and how fun it would be to package these up as a fall gift for someone.

The Nature's Vein stamp set was the perfect choice for the rock & roll technique. After all, the fall leaves are never just one solid color, but vary in the yellow's, orange's, green's and red's.



For the top of my jar, I simply cut a brown paper bag into a large circle. I stamped it with some background dots in chocolate ink. I wrapped it together with some twine and a stitched orange ribbon bow.

You can click on the link above to get the pumpkin doughnut recipe. It originally suggest baking the doughnuts in a special pan in the oven. I don't have a special pan, but I do have the cake pop maker, so my doughnuts became holes! Here's a few tips I've learned through trial and error.

This is my cake pop maker, got it on sale at Kohl's.
 
 Rather than using a spoon to fill the holes, I place the batter in this handy
Tupperware cake frosting container, which I've had for years now!
So much quicker and cleaner than the spoon method.


See, quick and clean!

After they have baked with the lid shut for 2-3 minutes I use the little prong tool
to flip them over. The bottom of the machine cooks at a higher heat than the top.
I believe they now sell this machine with a handle so you can rotate it.

When they are baked to a golden color, drop them in a bowl of cinnamon and sugar until well coated.

They are super moist and full of flavor. Be sure to try this recipe this season!
 

P.S. I'd like to say Thank you to the folks at King Arthur Flour for pinning the picture and recipe. This is a fabulous recipe that I will be making again and again. I saw another pin that stated "Pinterest is just electronic hoarding", so funny, sadly true. I promise not to just hoard, but to try some projects, recipes and to also contribute my own art and ideas to Pinterest!