Frightful Friday Finale!

It's the final Frightful Friday before Halloween day. Saying that this month has been exciting seems to be an understatement. Earlier this month while moving my mom we took a lunch break at this wonderful village. It is a shopping center with the cutest little shops, a few restaurants, petting zoo and pumpkin patch. It was decorated with a "Witch" theme. We spoke to one of the shop owners and she told us that they do this every Halloween and decorate for Christmas too. It was fabulous and festive and inspired me to make the most of the Holiday. Here are some scrapbook pages I created to remember the fun. The colors are somewhat inspired by Jeanette's color challenge this week, but also work with the colorful photo's.


Please excuse my "not so brilliant" photography, as it is not so easy to capture a great photo with the page protectors on. I had to do it that way though because I incorporated a Flip Flap photo protector on the left page. Under the photo of my daughter standing outside of "Witchy Poo's" outhouse are additional photo's.

I normally would not make such a busy page, adding 12 photo's, but it truly represents our experience at the village. There was so much going on, decorations everywhere you looked and children dressed in costume too! Including all the photo's in just 2 pages reminds me of the excitement we experienced while there.

And more SUGAR! Yes, I'm still in baking mode. My daughter's class had their party yesterday so our contribution were same scary eyeball cupcakes.

We started with some red velvet cake mix then decorated with white icing, piped with red blood shot veins and a Hershey kiss eyeball, YUM!

Tomorrow is Halloween. The kids are excited to Trick~or~Treat and attend a Halloween party. I hope all of you have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Sugar Rush

What a crazy week and it's not over yet! Take a look at just some of the goodies created in the kitchen this week. My daughter's school hosted a "Boo" night with carnival games, costumes and a bake sale. I made caramel from scratch and covered some apples. I also dipped half of the apples in semi-sweet chocolate and then drizzled them with white chocolate. They were very yummy. One of the parents who bought five of them said they looked gourmet! What a great compliment to hear after all the hard work :)

Just for fun I used some of the left over caramel to make "Monster Mashed Up Popcorn Balls"! They are made with a kettle korn pop corn, pecans, chex cereal and creamy caramel. They will be a perfect snack while watching Halloween movies!

Do you remember my post a couple weeks back on the Apple Pocket Pies? I have the pumpkin shaped molds too & knew they would be perfect for a bake sale item. Well, these babies went like hot cakes ... or should I say pocket pies! The rafia and ribbon tied them up beautifully and I stamped a little pie from the Recipe Box stamp set.

With the left over pie filling I whipped up a couple of morning muffins. I just added a few more ingredients including chocolate chips and walnuts. The kids loved them.

Here is my daughter enjoying one of the muffins in the morning as she gets ready for Pajama Day at school. She was dressed up in Halloween PJ's complete with wild socks and crazy hair!

I just love that she still allows me to dress her up and fuss with her hair. How "spooktacular" are her locks? We decided that crazy bun~buns all over with fantastic halloween ribbon would do the trick. She really enjoys being different and having fun no matter what anyone else thinks and thats pretty cool!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more creations I've done this week including your Frightful Friday project!

A Fabulous Christmas

Yesterday's Halloween projects had fun bright colors, so I thought I would keep today's Christmas inspiration just as fun and bright. The color combo is a deep topiary green, honey and a fabulous hot pink!! Lots of glitter and bling make this card a bit glamorous. Enjoy!

Frightful Friday Fun!

Today's projects are just plain fun! I used an uplifting bright palette of colors which include: Dutch Blue, Citrus Leaf, Honey and the crisp contrast of black and white. I have seen many owls out there this year in home decor, art projects and craft items. Here is my owl, whoooo is wishing tricks and treats!

I also used a bat to decorate this cute little tags. They are oh~so easy and fun to create and the bling adds that little extra something.

Finally, my fingers are so tired from tying ribbons. I packaged up some little goodie bags filled with either Halloween trinkets or candy. These will be given out to the students at my daughter's school as a prize. I love the fun bright colors of the toys and candy wrappers so I used various colorful ribbons to tie them up. Little ghouls and gals will love to get these as a prize!

Coordinating Card

Do you ever create a card to match the gift bag or wrapping paper? I enjoy creating coordinating cards with the packaging. It makes gift giving fun and shows the recipient that you truly care. I used dutch blue, citrus leaf, and ocean to match the colors in the bag. I was even able to find some tissue paper to match as well.

On the card I used the On the Edge pattern from the Wishes book. I used the It's Your Day stamp set which happened to have a 'burst' star shape that matched the image on the gift bag. I finished off the card with a bit of ribbon and tiny sparkles on the candles.

Sketch Challenge 27 {and pancakes!}

This week over at Unscripted Sketches they had a nice clean sketch and I thought I'd give it a try. I flipped the sketch to fit my image from the Childhood Portrait stamp. I've been wanting to use this stamp set for a Christmas card. The sentiment is perfect for the image as well. In case it's too hard to read it says: "At Christmas, play and make good cheer..." and the inside: "for Christmas comes but once a year." You must go see what the other talented artists created, I especially love the Christmas page created by Sarah.

I also wanted to share one of my favorite Autumn breakfast treats. These are Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes with toasted pecans. They are so easy to make and go perfectly with a Pumpkin Latte!

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup buttermilk pancake mix

1 cup cold water

1/3 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

(opt. items)cooking spray, butter, lightly toasted chopped pecans, maple syrup, whipped cream

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl until just blended. Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter onto 300~350 degree griddle sprayed with non-stick spray. Cook about 2 minutes on both sides until done. Transfer to plate and top with butter, toasted pecans, syrup and whipped cream. Enjoy!

Joy to the World

My Christmas card this week is a nativity scene. The stamp is new to CTMH called Christmas Story. It does require a bit more time to fill in the image, but is really a beautiful stamp. To fill in the image I used a waterbrush pen with the ink pad. For Joseph's head band I used a chocolate marker to make it stand out. I also chose a soft neutral color palette of lilac mist, chocolate, desert sand and just a touch of creme brulee.

Pumpkin and Glitter

It's Frightful Friday! I'll give you some sweets first. I made this wonderful pecan pumpkin bread on Monday. The kids and I were home from school and I was cleaning house and catching up on laundry. I had this bread mix from Williams~Sonoma and baked it in the afternoon. I can't decide which part is my favorite; smelling the bread baking throughout the whole house or getting the perfect bite of moist pumpkin bread with a little smudge of cream cheese frosting. So good, it all makes me very happy!

The project for this week is not so frightful. It reminds me of a vintage decoration. It is actually a little "BOO" sign made from cardstock, some old B&T papers and a mix of ribbons. Unlike last Friday I used very traditional Halloween colors; black, orange and white. Rather than a bright white though I used Colonial White. The letters were traced from chipboard on black cardstock, mounted on Colonial White then glittered with a copper color. They were then glue dotted to accordian folded sheets of B&T paper. A few stamped images and a Happy Halloween sentiment with a cute bat was added. I think it looks better in person, must be having a bad photo day!

Ooooh! and Aaaah! in Tai Pan

While moving my mom into her new home this weekend, we took a break for lunch and shopping. My mother told me she was going to stop in this store and thought I would just love it. Well she was 100% correct. She took me into Tai Pan Trading Co. I have never even heard of this store before. It was decorated beautifully for the Holidays. The displays were filled to the brim with such wonderful and interesting items. If any of you out there in "blog land" live near one of these stores, I am so jealous. {If you are a frequent Tai Pan shopper please leave me a comment about the store and what it's like when it's not Halloween or Christmas.} I can't wait to visit my mom again in my own vehicle so I can haul some treasures back home with me. Check out just a few of the photo's I snapped in the store. These displays may spark your creativity for your own craft projects.

Christmas Card Inspiration

Here is your Christmas Card inspiration for this week. A little early I know, but I won't have access to a computer over the weekend.
I have seen lots of unique ideas with this ornament stamp. One of my favorite ideas was to hang the ornaments from a snow covered branch. For that I stamped a branch in desert sand ink, cut it out, then I applied liquid applique. A few seconds of heat and 'poof' I had my snow. I random stamped some snowflakes before embossing the dots on my background paper. It's hard to see in the photo, but after base and shade stamping the ornament I used stickles on the dots. Some ribbon was added and finally, I attached the sentiment with glitter brads. Hope you like it!

Something Spooky, Something Sweet!

It's Frightful Friday on Thursday! I was pondering about what Halloween project I wanted to make this week. It was already in my mind that I wanted to do another coloring book and then I saw Jeanette's blog this week! She had an unusual color challenge and the most amazing Halloween projects. You must go to her blog to see her fabulous creations.


Here was my take on her color challenge. A playful coloring book with the cutest halloween characters! Not so spooky after all! {colors are: black, sunflower, clover meadow & twilight}

And now for something sweet~ On a recent shopping trip to Williams-Sonoma, my son and I discoverd these fun pocket pie molds. They had a pumpkin one and an apple. I actually got both, but have only tried the apple one so far. They also offered an apple pie filling, which after a sampling in the store I decided I had to have that too.

I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets! This tool is awesome though. You make your pie crust {or cheat and buy the store version already made} cut out the top and bottom crust using the "cutter" side of the pocket mold. Lay the bottom crust into the mold.

Then you place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in center of the bottom mold. And let me tell you, their pie filling is excellent. It has more of an applesauce texture and just the right amount of spices! YUM!

Lay the top crust over the bottom and then squish the mold together making a sealed or crimped edge all the way around the pie. Then you freeze the pies on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes before baking. Once they bake you allow them to cool. How gorgeous are these. I used an egg wash and sprinkled some splenda sugar over them to get that perfect golden crust.

Finally serve them up with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream. Although my husband grabbed the left over pie and ate it just like a "hot pocket"! Either way it's delicious! I was thinking about making some pumpkin pie ones for an upcoming bake sale. I think they would be a hit.

Cards on the Move

Did you get some creative therapy last Saturday on National Card Making Day? I started my day with a Christmas project then "moved" on to a bulk card making session. My mom is moving out of state and the whole packing process has not been easy. I thought it would be nice to create some moving cards for her to send out to family and friends. One less thing she needs to worry about as she begins the un~packing process.

I get my love for autumn colors from my mom. Her home is decorated in warm tones of orange, green, yellow and brown. I used those colors with the Welcome Home stamp set. I added touches of ribbon and Autumn Terracotta brads as buttons in the pillows of the couch. There are a few layers, but nothing too fancy. I especially like the sentiment I chose. Instead of just a boring "I moved" message, I chose to stamp "Home" on the front and a message from a Christmas stamp set inside. "Home, it's greatest gifts are family and friends" Don't you just love that? I printed out a bunch of labels with her new address to insert inside the card as well as adhered them to the envelopes for her too!

Finally, I used a brown bag, a little larger than a lunch sack, and put all the cards inside. I decorated the front of the bag to look like a scene inside a home and used ribbon to tie it all together. I will surprise my mom with them once we get her situated in her new home!

Scince I will be assisting my mom on her big move this weekend I will do Frightful Friday on Thursday. I will also give you some Christmas Card inspiration tomorrow instead of Saturday. Sorry for the change in postings, but I promise it will be delightful!

National Card Making Day!

Today is National Card Making Day. A day dedicated to making cards seems kind of silly, but it gives me motivation to complete my Christmas cards this year. Really there is only a few weeks before they need to be mailed off!

Every year I host a Christmas card exchange between my customers and other CTMH consultants. So starting today and every Saturday until December 19th I will show some Christmas card ideas. Once the card exchange is complete in early December I will show you the cards from all of the talented artists participating this year.

The cards today are simply traditional with red and green. The first card creates the scene of "home" complete with the family doggy!



This second card uses a pattern in the Wishes book and a mix of new stamps and old paper.

I hope to hibernate in my craft room to create more cards today and encourage you to do the same.

Need more inspiration to get started? Visit the World Card Making Day website gallery here.

Come back to visit me next Friday for your weekly "Fright" and next Saturday for more Christmas inspired cards! Have a fantastic weekend.