Happy Halloween Everyone!

We had a very spooky "devil's night" last night.  It was cold, rainy and very windy....gusts around 50 mph.  I thought I would share my cute treats for tonight.  I made 220 of these little treats and stapled assorted candybars onto the back.  I used some of my rustic twine to tie a bow.  I love all the funny images on the front.  I hope the kids will too.

 Have a fun and safe night tonight everyone and enjoy your extra hour of sleep on Sunday for anyone that has been on Daylight Savings time.....I sure will  :-)

Spooky Tree

Happy Monday To All!

I wanted to share this fun card with you. This stamp reminds me of the book I used to read to my children The Spooky Old Tree with the Berenstain Bears.

I used the watercolor paper from Stampin' Up!.  I really love this paper.  It is 140 lb. 100% cotton.  I used the "Rich Regals" classic inks in the following colors:  Night of Navy, Brocade Blue and  Elegant Eggplant.  I applied the colors with a watercolor technique blending from the top to the bottom.  I let it dry and then embossed this crazy spooky tree.  The image has a hidden face in the trunk so I used a Stampin' Write marker in Going Gray to subtly enhance the face.  I also used some silver brads in the corners and black glitter to accent the edges.

The inside is just sstamped with Basic Black classic ink and then I added clear rhinestone brads in the text for the look of eyes.

I'm going to send this card to my Aunt who lives in the lower part of Upper Michigan.  She lives alone and I'm sure she'd appreciate a fun card for Halloween.

Have a great day,

Darlene

Spider Card

Happy Tuesday!

Whew has it gotten warm and muggy here in Michigan. We have had a pretty nice cool summer until now. I guess it's better than the ice and snow LOL!

I made a Halloween card today. I decided to make a window for my sentiment to show through. I also have not purchased any halloween patterned papers as of yet so I just made my own spider print with black archival ink and my spider stamp.

I altered my 3D origami flower design and used it for the spider body. I think he's pretty cute!
I also used my glue pen and drew on his head and body. He's pretty glitzy with that black glitter.

This is the inside. I added a bit more hand stamped spider patterned paper complimenting the front.

My peek a boo sentiment through a strip of transparency.

I hope you like him.....see you back here soon.

Darlene

A Mini-Vacation and stamps, stamps and more stamps!

Hi everyone!

I just returned from visiting my son and our grandchildren in St. Louis, Missouri. They were just a joy to watch playing together. It's hard to believe how fast they grow!

I went to a local stamp show this past Saturday and had a great time. I took my time slowly wandering from vendor to vendor. They have some awesome new products out but I decided to control myself and only by a few stamps for Halloween.

I played around today with my new cat stamp. I love to use my chalks to shade and bring a realistic look to my stamped images.

I decided to make a set of Happy Halloween gift tags to sell on Etsy. I think they came out pretty cute!

The black paper that I matted the cat image on has specks of metallic imbedded in the paper pulp. Pretty cool when it's in the light.

This is the inside. I just stamped the sentiment with black archival ink and added the rhinestone for the "O".

Well that's it for now. Thanks for looking......I'll be back with some more goodies soon :-)

Darlene

Halloween Home Decor Project

I decided to finally sit down and do a little home decor project for this Halloween season. I'm long overdue to get my creative juices flowing. I should be finished with the entire project tomorrow and I will post ALL the steps I used. Here's a peek at my start...

Step 1: Gather all your supplies. I used the following supplies for this project:

6 pieces of chipboard ( cut into 2 1/2" x 3 1/2")
White acrylic paint
Assorted stamps (Halloween theme and scrolls/flourishes)
Embossing Ink and black embossing powder
Heat Tool
Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, Tea Dye
Pigment Ink- Black
Archival Ink - Black
14" pieces of raffia
14" piece of 3/8" black satin ribbon
Blending tool - Tim Holtz
Thin silver wire
Chipboard Letters apprpxomately 2-2 1/2" tall (1 B, 2 O's)
Pumpkin Brass Stencil
Embossing styllus and chalk
Scissors
White Picket Fence available at craft stores
(I used chipboard strips I cut and twistied wire around each picket then painted it white)
Sandpaper for distressing
Piece of brown cardstock (scrap)
Piece of scrapbook paper to cover chipboard letters
Metallic wax
Tacky Glue

Step 2: Paint the six chipboard squares with white acrylic paint. I left a few thick edges for effect.

All six chipboard pieces should look like this when dry.

Step 3: Use the blending tool and ink the edges of all the pieces with Vintage Photo ink and touches of Frayed Burlap and Tea Dye. Vary the depth of the color (some areas heavy some a bit lighter). I like to move from the outside in toward the piece instead of reverse. You get a softer look that way.

Step 4: Stamp an image on each edge of each painted and inked piece with the Vintage Photo ink. I alternated the direction of the image for the center pieces. Please refer to the last photo.



Step 5: Add a few Halloween "scary" stamps on upper edges and upper corners of a few squares with black ink. Use your creativity!



Final steps will be posted early this week :-)

Darlene

Having fun creating these...

Since the weather has turned a bit chilly the last few days here in Michigan I decided to make some additions to the Etsy shop and also for ME as well! I am hoping to participate in the weekend crop at YMBD's blog. I have some 2007 Halloween pics that I would love to do a layout with and also some pics of our grandson and granddaughter. Let's see if I can actually accomplish a layout or two.

I hand stamp these bats onto heavy cardstock and emboss with black embossing powder. I love the texture on these. I would like to use them on my Halloween cards this year.

I can do alot with these journaling blocks. I would love to make an acrylic album with a Halloween theme.

Well off to create a few flowers too. Of course I HAVE to have flowers when I scrapbook!!!

TFL :-)