Halloween 2013...

I always love creating for my office!! This is an old photo that never got posted - I made up these little boxes and also decided I'd do something different than the chocolate and candy floating ALL over the place. So I made spiced nuts as well.

I started with a basic container, and then just fiddled until I got something I wanted.

I filled them by buying freezer bags, spooned some spiced nuts (an almond and walnut mix) into them and tied them off with some orange ribbon I had laying around. Tags were cut with Art Philosophy and I used scissors to cut out the little counts and ghosties.

Other:
* Patterned Cardstock
* Ribbon

CTMH:
* Art Philosophy CTMH Cartridge
* Artiste CTMH Cartridge
* Creepy Creatures
* Magic Potions
* White Daisy Ink
* Outdoor Ink

Still hoping for this snow to finally go away,

Cats, Spiderwebs, and Holiday Wishes November Campaign

One of my favorite squares that I saved for last is the one below.

Again, I used Cherished Flourishes to dress this one up a bit, used my CTMH corner rounder for rounded corners, and with rhinestones and a pen I created a rhinestone spiderweb. It's so much fun to sometimes freehand in the last little details that you don't otherwise have a stamp for.

Every year since we have moved in and handed out candy, we have had at least one little munchkin look at us like we're going to eat him/her. It's the most adorable look I have ever seen. Let's see if this year proves to be the third year in a row.

After Halloween the next holiday is Christmas! Are you excited yet? I sure am - it's my favorite holiday of the year, and I celebrate it twice. Denmark celebrates it on the 24th, and of course Canada is the 25th. Speaking of holidays, CTMH has decided to gift us with a little something extra.

That's right - with a minimum order of $25 CAD between November 1-30, you can add this cute D-sized stamp set for only 5$! This stamp set normally retails for $19.95. As an added bonus, most of the images in the set coordinate with the Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge.

* Note: Stamp of the Month, K-sized customized name stamps, Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection and Workshop on the Go kits do not count toward a qualifying purchase. Tax and shipping applies.

Trick or Treat!

Hats and Cats

I am posting the last few cube decorations so I can get them all up on this blog before I hear "trick or treat!!" at my door! I'm saving one for Sunday so that I can put it up then just in time for Halloween.

A little bit of trivia from you, courtesy of Wikipedia: Halloween is linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, or Summer's End. To be honest, this year has been so gorgeous up to this point that I can hardly believe November is next week.

I'm not sure what inspired this when I made it, but looking at it now it reminds me of the TV show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch. With her sassy black cat on this broom. It was one of my earlier ones, and I actually was experimenting with the red and black embossing powder from CTMH.

I just love the simplicity of these three hats lumped together. The hat in the middle, stamped with Cranberry Ink is raised up with foam tape. I use it all over my projects and I find it just gives my items that extra "oomph!" For the spiders to stand out, I embellished them with rhinestones and for those perfect rounded corners, I used CTMH's corner rounder punch.

Michaels:
* Cardstock, "Spice Market"
* Cardstock, "Gems"

CTMH:
* Bitty Rhinestones
* Wicked
* Red Embossing Powder
* Black Embossing Powder
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Cranberry Ink
* Smokey Plum Ink
* Moonstruck Ink
* Chocolate Ink

Remember to dress the kids up in bright costumes and arm them with flashlights!

Rhinestones and Witches

The only thing I don't like about transitioning into Fall and then Winter, is the ensuing sicknesses that always go around every year. I'm still unfortunately sniffling and exhausted and haven't done any new Christmas cards for a while. However, I am moving forward on Mom's Christmas present.

I have another Halloween cube decoration for show! I always have pictures to post, don't worry; and I will take some photos of the calendar when I get a chance. I'm waiting for the oven to warm up so that I can get my chocolate chip cookies in there.

This one required some fancy decoration. I was running out of ideas to use just Wicked (August 2011 SOTM) for the decor. So, Cherished Flourishes gave this one a fancy flourish which was finished off with three little rhinestones. I used Fiskar edger scissors for the "Have a Wicked Halloween" piece, and then distressed it with Chocolate ink. Did I mention how much I love inking up edges with sponges? The witch is also popped up with foam tape.

I also received spray pens, reinker and Pearl Paint in my latest order, and I can't wait to find a good use for them! This is my first time using them, so I thought I'd do a little research and lengthen hopefully the lifetime of the pens. The following video from CTMH is an excellent how-to video for this tool.

I'll be spraying up one of my Christmas cards up really soon! Keep an eye out for it - and in the meantime enjoy the cube decorations.

CTMH:
* Wicked (August 2011 SOTM)
* Cherished Flourishes
* Olive Ink
* Outdoor Denim
* Black Embossing Powder

Michaels:
* Embossing Ink (from the old days before I discovered CTMH)
* Cardstock from 'Gems' and 'Spice Market' sets
* Rhinestones

Only a few more days till' All Hallows Eve,

Elves, elves, elves...

Interesting bit of trivia for you: in Denmark, elves are known as nissers, and they are generally planted in weird places around the house for guests to find. I was at a CTMH Christmas workshop years past where I cut out and colored enough of these little guys (stamped from the set Merry Pursuits) for probably 25 cards, 3 nissers per card. I never did finish them but I kept all the nissers just in case.

Today's inspiration comes from Got Sketch? : Sketch 129. 

When I saw the three triangles on the sketch, I knew instantly what I wanted to do - hourglasses! And I had the perfect set - so all I did was stamp out six triangles, glue them on, and add rhinestone sparkles. Remember those forgotten nissers? One of them made his way onto this card!

At the same workshop, my eyes lighted on a beautiful snowman card. I was warned by the consultant that it was a 3 hour card, but I didn't care; I had to make it. So, I did (and yes, 3 hours later) and then bought the same stamp set (All Decked Out) if I felt like doing it again at home. I haven't used the set since, but I thought he'd be a fun little friend for the inside.

Michaels:
* Cardstock
* Fiskars Border Punch
* Rhinestones

CTMH:
* Winter Memories
*  Merry Pursuits
* You And Me (retired)
* Festive Thoughts
* All Decked Out
* Wonderland Paper Pack Level 2
* Spring Iris Ink
* Moonstruck Ink
* Chocolate Ink
* Desert Sand Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink Pen
* Moonstruck Ink Pen
* Barn Red Ink Pen

Remember I promised to post the remainder of my Halloween project? Well, look for them - I may add the occasional item from those cube decorations onto the end of blog posts. They are now up and my boss really liked them!

The inspiration for the hand-drawn tree is from paper donated to me by a Creative Memories consultant. I didn't want to use the paper as it was too dark, but I definetly wanted a tree peeking out from behind the fence.

Michaels:
* Cardstock - Gems and Spice Market collection
* Rhinestones
* Brads

CTMH:
* Wicked (August Stamp of the Month)
* You And Me
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Chocolate Ink

Happy Thanksgiving!

Decoration #2

In the spirit of Wicked, August's stamp of the month I came up with another cube decoration square. This time I decided to use two new elements of the set - the hat, and the kitty.



Pardon the poor lighting; the orange is the same as the first square.

I also love embossing things, and this time I thought I would try out the new embossing powders (black for Halloween) that I just picked up from CTMH. I have resisted it for a long time, because I own some silver, gold, and clear sparkly stuff from when my grandma was still alive. She was the most amazing crafter I have ever met, and I miss her - and she was always willing to indulge me in whatever craft obsession I had.

Amazing stuff, I tell you. The photo doesn't show it but I embossed the curly background on the bottom and the top left square with the black powder.

Cardstock
* Michael's Craft Store

Embossing ink from my own stash

CTMH
* Black embossing powder
* Corner Rounder
* Bohemian alphabet set
* You and Me set (June fundraiser)
* Wicked set
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Cranberry Ink

Cube decorations

The girl behind me loves to decorate her cube, and encouraged me to do the same. Since I don't tend to do halloween cards, I thought that I had to use this set for something and what better than halloween decorations?!?

Here is the first of possibly 9 squares I will be decorating my cube with come All Hallows' Eve.



As you can see I borrowed an idea from Carla and popped out a honeycomb or two.

Cardstock:
* Michael's Craft Store

CTMH:
* Wicked
* Black Ink
* Buttercup Ink