Happy New Year...or is that Halloween?

Sorry for the absence. Between the holidays and the fact that my computer gave up the ghost so I was without access to any photos or software for awhile, I apologize. The family got an early Xmas present...new computer...and I'm back in business! Now that the holiday crazies are over, I promise to be a better poster :-)

This Halloween card was made for a recent pub call, but didn't get the love. I love bright colors, so I was happy with how this card turned out. The embossed cardstock is Bazzil, the paper and die cut are Doodlebug, the brad is Paper Studio and the sentiment sticker is SRM. I was at Archiver's recently and loaded up on their sentiment stickers, so you'll be seeing a lot in future posts I'm sure.

I'll also be back tomorrow with the January Creative Charms Kit and Deal of the Month. Have a great New Year's Eve and stay safe!

Creative Charms and My Little Shoebox

I was excited to hear that I would get the chance to combine the My Little Shoebox collection "Green" with Creative Charms embellishments this month. I love bright colors, so this collection was perfect for me! I decided to make a couple decor items for my daughter. Emma just turned 8 and like her mother, she is NOT a morning person. Her door is always covered with notes to us or her brother that are often pretty comical. I made her a two sided door hanger so that we will know her mood before entering - either "Do Not Disturb" or "Pleaz Knock!"

I also made her a sign to match, that she can hang in her room. I believe both of these wood pieces are from Creative Imaginations. I used Plaid Paint "Laguna." I kept my designs fairly simple using stickers, diecuts and alphabet stickers. I also cut some items from the patterned paper, using some pop dots for added dimension. On the sign I used a clear Vintage Jewel for my apostrophe and added a minature Sparkled Green Butterfly. On the door hanger on the snail side I used Gradient Pearls (white) and used a Sequined Trimmed Green Butterfly on the tree side. In all honesty I'm guessing my daughter will probably bling this up some more once I give them to her...she loves her jewels!

I also wanted to share another kit that is available at Creative Charms this month.

Fabulous Fall - 150 Piece Kit of the Month

Each kit contains:
Thanksgiving Chipboard Stickers - 6 Pieces
Fall Seasonal Sparkles - 21 Pieces
Light Green Vintage Jewels - 12 Pieces
Sage Green Vintage Brads - 9 Pieces
Fall Medley - 17 Pieces
Brown Vintage Poppies - 8 Pieces
Amber Gem Stickers - 76 Pieces
18" Brown Vintage Velvet Ric Rac

Everything for only $ 14.99 (Regular Price $ 19.42)

Creative Charms November Kits

Here are the November Kits over at Creative Charms. They never disappoint! I will be back next week with some Creative Charms projects.

Kit of the Month – Fabulous Fall – 150 Pieces - $14.99 (Regular $19.42)

• Thanksgiving Chipboard Stickers – 6 Pieces

• Fall Seasonal Sparkles – 21 Pieces

• Light Green Vintage Jewels – 9 Pieces

• Sage Green Vintage Brads – 9 Pieces

• Fall Medley – 17 Pieces

• 18” Brown Velvet Ric Rac.

Kit of the Month – Winter Wishes – 145 Pieces - $14.99 (Regular $20.42)

• Winter Chipboard Stickers – 6 Pieces

• Winter Seasonal Sparkles – 25 Pieces

• Red and Green Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces

• Christmas Vintage Metal Frames – 6 Pieces

• Christmas Twinkle Stickers – 10 Pieces

• 18” Red Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

• 18” Green Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

• Red Vintage Poppies – 8 Pieces

• Red and Green Gem Stickers – 76 Pieces

Halloween Sign - K and Company - Create for Less Blog Post

One of my favorite ways to decorate my home for various holidays is to decorate precut wooden signs. The sign I decorated here came in white, but these also come in black. Since they aren’t raw wood, it saves the step of having to paint them. If you find a raw wooden sign though don’t be frightened! A quick paint job and you are ready to decorate.

I used:
K&Co Grand Adhesions Stickers

K&Co Halloween Mat Pad

Black Ink such as Clearsnap

Therm O’ Web Super Tape

Wooden Sign

For this project I reached for one of the Halloween Mat Pads by K&Co, they were the perfect size (4.75″ x 6.75″) as I didn’t waste a lot of paper when tracing. The mat pads have two sided papers – one printed, one solid – and all papers coordinate together. On my sign I varied between patterns and solids. Decide which paper you want to use, trace the letter with a pencil and cut out. This sign had some areas I couldn’t trace very well so on those areas I put the paper over the sign and pressed around the edges to find where I should trace. Since I was planning to shabby this up, I wasn’t worried about pencil lines. If you don’t want to erase the lines and aren’t going shabby, flip the sign over and trace on the back side of the paper before cutting out.

After tracing and cutting out the letters (you may need to do a little trimming), it’s time to crinkle your paper. If you don’t want such a rough looking crinkle you can spray with water first or even iron some of the wrinkles out. You then take your ink pad to the wrinkles and add ink to the edges and wrinkles. I also rubbed my ink pad around the edges of the letters on my sign so everything would blend into the bright white sign better. To adhere I recommend an extra sturdy tape such as Therm O’ Web Super Tape. I then added some of the coordinating Grand Adhesions Halloween Stickers to the sign.

You can often find these word signs on clearance after the holidays or sometimes even before if they are damaged. This sign had a couple chips in the letters and I easily covered them up with paper and some ink. The next time you see a wooden wood sign at a store, get out your scrapbooking supplies and decorate!

Halloween Gift Bags using Creative Charms October Kit

With October's Kit of the Month, I decide to create a couple mini gift bags. I think these would be perfect for holding candy! I love this time of the year - my kids only like gum and suckers so all the other goodies go to Mom and Dad.....sweet! On the first bag I used the Gem Stickers and a Halloween Twinkle Sticker. On the second bag I again reached for the Gem Stickers, because I like shiny stuff! I then used a Vintage Velvet Black Poppy (removed the pearl brad from the center to save for a future project) and used a Halloween Vintage Frame as the flower center.

Vintage Halloween features Creative Charms' newest items and some of the most popular vintage items. The Vintage Halloween Kit includes:

Halloween Vintage Frames*
Halloween Twinkle Stickers*
Amber Vintage Jewels*
Amber Vintage Brads
Black Vintage Velvet Poppies
Black Gem Stickers
Black Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
Black Vintage Velvet Ric Rac
Yours for a special price of $ 14.99.
*New Items

Plus Creative Charms also has two new Deals this month. The first deal is Fall Harvest and features oranges and yellows that are perfect for those walks through the leaves and picking the perfect pumpkin. Plus this deal matches in color with the Vintage Halloween Kit.

The Fall Harvest Deal includes:
Yellow Itsy Glitzy
Yellow Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
Amber Pure Blossom
Orange 3D Sparkly Brads
Amber Gem Stickers
Orange Fuzzy Daisy
Orange Braided Daisy Medley Regular Price $ 20.00 your for only $ 6.99.

The second deal is Early Christmas and features reds, greens and whites (clear). Thought it would be perfect for getting ready for Christmas or just enjoying the red & greens of fall.

The Early Christmas Deal includes:
Clear Itsy Glitzy
Red Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
Clear Pure Blossom
Green 3D Sparkly Brads
Red Gem Stickers
Red Fuzzy Daisy
Green Braided Daisy Medley
Regular Price $ 20.00 your for only $ 6.99

Anyone who buys both the Kit and one Deal will be entered to win $25 gift certificate. If anyone buys both Deals and the kit they will be entered twice. You have until October 31st to purchase one or more of these great kits!

Cardstock, Punches and Paper Crimper - and Glue Dots!

*This is a recent post of mine over at the Create for Less blog.

I wanted to show that you can make a card without a scrap of patterned paper. All I used were a few different colors of cardstock, some punches and a few small simple embellishments. I love texture on my projects, but I always forget about my paper crimper, so I decided to pull him out for this project. It’s fun to rediscover “old” tools that you loved, but may have forgotten about.

Supplies:
Bazzill Blue Dotted Swiss cardstock. You can also use a plain blue piece of cardstock and run it thru the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots Embossing folder.

Bazzill Cardstock - greens, brown, pink

Pebbles Thank You Rub-on

Making Memories Wedding Pearls

Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch

Martha Stewart Edge Punch Arch Lattice

Marvy Uchida Paper Crimper

EK Paper Shapers Circle Punch 1 1/2″

Buttons - green

Glue Dots

All Night Media Pop Dots

Directions:

• After creating the card base, it is time to make the tree trunk. Draw a tree trunk on the brown cardstock, cut out and run thru the paper crimper. Adhere the trunk to your card.


• Next get out your 1 1/2″ circle punch and punch circles from two different shades of green cardstock. (If you do not have a punch, you can trace circles and cut or use a circle cutter).


• Run the light green circles thru the paper crimper to give them added dimension on the tree.


• Layer and adhere the dark green circles to the card – overlapping the trunk.


• Layer the light green circles on top of the dark green circles, adding pop dots behind a few for dimension. Use Glue Dots on the other dark and light green circles.


• Punch three butterflies from pink cardstock. Adhere two to the tree “leaves” and one to the trunk.


• Add pearls to the centers of the butterflies.


• Use your border punch on the dark green cardstock to make grass. Adhere to the bottom of the card.


• Apply sentiment rub-on.


• Adhere 3 buttons on each side of the sentiment using Glue Dots.

Creative Charms Cards

I wanted to show that you can use "vintage" products on "non-vintage" projects. Although I do dabble in creating vintage projects, I often find myself reaching for the bright colors. I mixed some Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely papers with the Vintage Make It Yours Self Adhesive Frames. I love that these frames give you a blank slate and so you can create matching embellishments for your project. On this card I put a flower from the paper into the frame, the clear sticker over the top and topped it with a Gradient Gem - white pearl. I also used a few of the clear stickers without the frames to highlight the words on my card.

Here are a couple other cards I made with the September Deal of the Month (girl). I used a three different types of gems and also that cute little duckie. There are so many goodies in this kit - I still have lots of embellishments left! You only have a few more days to order one - there is boy and girl option - only $7.99. Papers and ABC stickers on duck card are October Afternoon's Fly A Kite. On the balloon card, sentiment sticker is SRM and balloon is a Jillibean Soup Sprout.

Momenta's Black Tie Collection

I love all things shiny and shimmery and so of course I picked Black Tie to work with. Here are a variety of "wedding" projects. I've listed the specific supplies used. I apologize for the glare on some of these. Transparencies and shiny paper don't always cooperate with my camera!

Black Tie 12x12 Metal Paper Pad - PA 1502
Black Tie Card Border Pack - ST 3051
Black Tie 5x7 Acetate Frame Pad - PA 2002
Black Tie Chipboard Words - ST 3055
Black Tie Chipboard Icon Stickers - ST 3087
Black Tie Gem Stickers - ST 3056
Paper Bag: Paperbilities 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 (w/o handles)

Black Tie Puffy Flourish Stickers - ST 2962
Black Tie Shimmer and Shine Stickers - ST 3054
Black Tie Sticker Seals - ST 3045
Black Tie Gem Stickers - ST 3056
White Mini Bucket - Target (2 1/4 x 2 3/4)

Black Tie Rubon Transfers: RO 1895
Black Tie Card Pack - NC 1271 (used both cards)
Black Tie Chipboard Words - ST 3055
Black Tie Gem Stickers - ST 3056
Size: 4 x 5 1/2

Black Tie Card Pack - NC 1270
Black Tie 12x12 Metal Paper Pad - PA 1502
Black Tie Chipboard Words - ST 3055
Black Tie Chipboard Icon Stickers - ST 3087
Black Tie Gem Stickers - ST 3056
Size: 4 x 5 1/2

Black Tie Card Pack - NC 1270
Black Tie Puffy Flourish Stickers - ST 2962
Black Tie Gem Stickers - ST 3056
Black Tie 5x7 Acetate Frame Pad - PA 2002
Black Tie Mini Puffy Message Stickers - ST 3048
Size: 4 x 5 1/2

Creative Charms September Deal of the Month

Here is the September Deal of the Month over at Creative Charms. I was excited to get the chance to create again with this kit and you can see my project on their blog. There are two deals available this month. One for boys and one for girls. They are both available for $7.99. They have a retail value of $24 and are 65% off. How cute are these?

Boy Deal – 161 Pieces
· 18” Blue Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
· Beige Teddy Bears (4 pcs)
· Yellow Fuzzy Ducks (4 pcs)
· It’s a Boy Felt & Epoxy Brads (17 pcs)
· It’s a Boy Epoxy Stickers (18 pcs)
· Playtime Boy Felt & Epoxy Brads (11 pcs)
· Blue Sparkle Buttons (12 pcs)
· Blue Gem Stickers (76 pcs)
· Assorted Sports Brads (6 pcs)
· Assorted Star Brads (6 pcs)
· Assorted Animal Brads (6 pcs)

Girl Deal – 143 Pieces
· 18” Red Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
· Yellow Fuzzy Ducks (4 pcs)
· It’s a Girl Felt & Epoxy Brads (18 pcs)
· It’s a Girl Epoxy Stickers (18 pcs)
· Playtime Girl Felt & Epoxy Brads (14 pcs)
· Pink or Purple Sparkle Buttons (12 pcs)
· Red Gem Stickers (76 pcs)
· Pink Felt Crowns & Purses (4 pcs)
· Assorted Girl Themed Brads (3 pcs)
· Assorted Flower Brads (6 pcs)

Scribble Scrabble Guest Designer

I was excited to be asked to be a guest designer for Scribble Scrabble. I went a wee bit crazy making cards with a bunch of their cute collections I received. Here are a few of my favorite cards, but you can see all of my creations over at the Scribble Scrabble Blog.

Sweet Shoppe Collection

Simply Stylish Collection

Nana's Trunk Collection

Lullaby of Birdland Collection

Creative Charms September "Girl" Deal of the Month

This card was created using Creative Charm's September "Girl" Deal of the Month. I used the Playtime Girl Felts and the Red Gem Stickers. It was fun to make a girly card using more masculine colors. That cute little felt girl reminds me of my daughter who turns 8 next week. I'm sure it won't be much longer before she's asking for makeup and a cell phone...yikes! I layered embossed cardstock and patterned paper on this card. Since I had a lot to say, I also decorated the inside with the remainder of the sentiment and additional felt stickers.

If you would prefer a more masculine kit, be sure to check out September's "Boy" Deal of the Month. There are also new Dream Garden and Countryside mini kits and other new products so be sure to stop by the store. The Creative Lounge is also being updated with projects and project instructions.

18" Red Fancy Polka Dot RibbonYellow Fuzzy Ducks (4 Pieces) It's a Girl Epoxy Stickers (18 Pieces) It's a Girl Felts & Epoxy Brads (18 Pieces) Playtime Girl Felts & Epoxy Brads (14 Pieces) Pink or Purple Sparkle Buttons (12 Pieces) Red Gem Stickers (76 Pieces) Pink Purses & Crowns (4 Pieces) Assorted Girl Brads (3 Pieces) Assorted Flower Brads (6 Pieces)
Regular Price is $ 24.00. Yours for only $7.99 (65% Savings).

October Afternoon Fly A Kite

Here are a few cards I made using October Afternoon's Fly A Kite collection. I love that the colors are not gender specific. I used papers, rubons, stickers, even some of the packaging! If you want to pick up some Fly A Kite, be sure to stop over at That Scrappy Girl. It's storming outside so I'd better get of the computer, so this will be a short post tonight.

I've Been Getting Creative!

The last couple weekends I've been creating like crazy. Some projects I can't share yet, but I haven't been doing a good job of sharing the others that I can share. Promise - I'll try to do better! Here are a couple cards I made this weekend with various Momenta goodies. I have directly linked you up to each item in the store. One of my favorite Momenta items are their premade card bases. Being a card gal - I'm loving that!

Congratulations Baby Card:

Card Base: NC-1262
Jewels: ST-3006
Rubon: RO-1892
Size: 4 x 5 1/2

Hello There Card:

Paper: PA-1486
Sticker: ST-2965
Sentiment Sticker: ST-3302
Jewel: ST-3006
Border Punch: EK Success
Pop Dots
Size: 4 1/2 x 6 1/4

I Love Bright Colors

...can you tell??? I have a couple cards to share today using the Deal of the Month (Blue Kit) over at Creative Charms. I am a butterfly junkie so of course my favorite part of this entire kit are the felt butterflies. I also used Gradient Gem Stickers to add some shine to the butterflies and used the ribbon as "grass" on this card. On both cards the papers I used are from Echo Park's Sweet Summertime collection available from That Scrappy Girl and I reached for SRM sentiment stickers.

On my second card I once again reached for the Gradient Gem Stickers and also added one of the super cute Flower Brads. I consider myself a simple project kind of girl most of the time and I love how gems can give your project that extra oomph!

This kit comes in both blue and pink and is 70 % off and available for only $6.99. Be sure to stop by and grab one (or two) before August is over!

Blue Kit:

Blue Blooming Garden (12 pcs)
Blue and White Fancy Polka Dot Brads and Ribbon Kit (5 pcs)
Blue Pure Blossoms (12 pcs)
Blue Gem Brads (12 pcs)
Blue Gradient Gem Stickers (76 pcs)
Blue Organza Flowers (4 pcs)
Blue Felt and Sequin Flowers (4 pcs)
Blue Flower Brads (6 pcs)

Pink Kit:
Pink Blooming Garden (12 pcs)

Pink and White Fancy Polka Dot Brads and Ribbon Kit (5 pcs)

Pink Pure Blossoms (12 pcs)

Pink Gem Brads (12 pcs)

Pink Gradient Gem Stickers (76 pcs)

Purple Organza Flowers (4 pcs)

Pink Felt and Sequin Flowers (4 pcs)

Pink Flower Brads (6 pcs)

Some Echo Park Cards - That Scrappy Girl

Here are a couple more cards I made recently using Sweet Summertime by Echo Park. (The only extras are a Hambly rubon and a K and Company stickers). I love bright colors so this is one of my favorite collections so far this year. You receive papers and matching stickers in this collection pack. That Scrappy Girl has the paper pack on sale for $10 in the store so be sure to pick one up for yourself!

Momenta Cards

Here are a couple quick and easy cards I've made with various Momenta products. I am using some of my favorites on these. On this first card I love the premade card bases that come in a variety of colors and different card edges. I also LOVE these glitter rubons. On the second card, I am loving the Flutter line - butterflies! I am linking up the products on both of these cards.

Card Base: Card Pack NC1278
Rubons: RO 1853
Sticker: Flutter Mini Puffy Sticker ST 2856
Sentiment Sticker: SRM

Card Base: Card Pack NC1267
Papers: 12x12 Metal Paper Pad Flutter - PA1567
Circle Stickers: ST1683
ABC stickers - American Crafts

Creative Charms July Special - 3 days left!

I was excited to be asked to join the Creative Charms design team for the next few months. I wanted to share their July special since there are only a few days left. I will be back with August's special soon and will have projects to share too. I love all things shiny, so Creative Charms products are perfect for me!

Here's a look at this month's special offer from Creative Charms.

July's Summer Deal is 70% Off

* Green & White Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon (18")

* Green Pure Blossom (9 pcs)

* Green Gradient Gem Stickers (76 pcs)

* Orange Spring Medley (20 pcs)

* Orange Sunburst Daisy (5 pcs)

* Orange Groovy Petals (4 pcs)

* Amber & Green Gem Brads (12 pcs)

* Summer Medley (21 pcs)

* Assorted Summer & Beach Brads (19 pcs)Get yours today.

Supplies are limited.SALE: $ 23.00 $ 6.99 each

A Couple of Nikki Sivils Cards - My Sweet Cherry Pie

I received some Nikki Sivils papers in my CKC goodie bag earlier this month. Unfortunately I haven't found any papers of hers locally yet and I'm not always much of an online shopper (mostly because I've already blown the budget locally!), so I was excited to get some. This is one of my favorite lines of hers - My Sweet Cherry Pie, I think it's the colors and then the fun elements I can cut from the paper. Here are a couple super simple, quick and easy cards. (The tree card I made for a sketch call at Paper Crafts, but it did not get the love, so I can share with you).

I had planned to hopefully type up a nice sized post with lots of projects tonight to make up for my lack of posting lately, but wouldn't you know yet another tornado warning tonight and I spent most of the evening in the basement with the kidlets. (This has been our 3rd one in the last month). This time the tornado was a couple miles east/northeast of us, but I have heard that it destroyed a few houses in our smallish town. I am waiting to hear more info, but luckily it sounds like no one was hurt. And sorry but this part is kind of funny: They had to cancel the Wizard of Oz performance tonight because of a tornado. Seriously...not making that up! It is now late and I'm tuckered, so will try to post more projects later this weekend.