Something Spooky This Way Comes

Happy October everyone! It's the first, which means new release day over at So Suzy Stamps - I hope you're ready for some spooky fun.

I love the new little Halloween kitty! The sentiment is also epic, and did I mention we were given little chipboard pieces to play with? Oh yes, yes we were. The ghosts I coated with Ranger White Crackle Paint and the pumpkin I first painted with Orange Marmalade Distress Paint, then coated with Clear Crackle Paint when it was dry. They came out perfect and the pieces didn't warp at all!

The sentiment I simply stamped with black ink, but my kitty was stamped with black VersaFine then clear heat embossed for extra texture. Thanks to Pinterest, I found this great idea of adding on washi tape and those spooky eyes have just been sitting on my desk, waiting for me to use it.

A little blurry, I know, but you can really see the texture and shine.

A little layering of black and orange cardstock and this spooky card was done. I may have trouble parting with it!

Be sure to check out what the rest of the team came up with - we went Halloween happy this month!

Some links are affiliate links, which simply means I receive a small commission if you purchase something using them. Please see my full disclosure about these links here.

Happy Crafting!

You Make me Happy

Hey everyone - we've got a new challenge up over at Mountain Plains Crafters to create a card showing your appreciation for someone. But wait, there's more - then you actually have to mail it to them. Because who doesn't love happy mail??

I love poppies, so I just had to play with this gorgeous set by Altenew. I inked them up in Memento Tuxedo Black, Hero Arts Pale Tomato and Hero Arts Red Royal. The sentiment was stamped with Hero Arts Charcoal ink and the luscious Delicata Gold ink.

I do believe this is off to my Gram, whom I love dearly and who loves my cards. It's a win-win!

Be sure to link up your creations on Facebook to be entered into the giveaway, and happy crafting!

Friends and Rainbows

Happy Friday everyone! I'm hopping along again this week with the Unity Stamp Co. Friends With Flair party. While I was busy organizing all of my Itty Bitty stamps, I came across this little cutie again. Seeing as it's POURING rain here (hence the iffy photos; no sunshine!) it seemed totally appropriate for today. :)

friendship is the rainbow between two hearts

I love how it came out. A bit of pretty storm gray twine, some Stickles, watercolor pencils and a bunch of foam tape. Done! :D

Closeup of the rainbow and sentiment

Yes, the Stickles took forever and a day to dry but they were soooo worth it.

Now, don't forget that Sunday we'll be hopping along with this month's DeNami Blog Hop; Sweet & Simple and starting Monday I'll be trying to play along with the Itty Bitty a Day challenge for Unity!

Also, you still have time to enter our giveaway over at Joie Joelle's blog! It's a lovely treat package of bottlecap magnets, tea and cocoa pouches, and more.

Happy Crafting!

Sew Lovely Card and a Giveaway!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I never got the card I made yesterday for the Itty Bitty Challenge up on the blog and posted it right to the Facebook group instead. So I made extra sure to get today's up. Ready??

Buttons and fibers and markers, oh my!

 I colored in my stamp with Distress Markers instead of ink pads, gave it a 'huff', then stamped away! I love how you can easily incorporate many different colors that way very easily. Since it's a sewing mannequin, I of course had to add in some twill ribbon with a sewing theme and some cute buttons threaded with twine. I really like how it came out!

Here's a look at the one I created for yesterday. Can you guess how many Itty Bitty stamps I used on it? :D

Love that wood grain embossing folder!

Still hanging in there for news about the giveaway? It's very simple; a fellow Out of the Box Sampler teammate of mine, Joie Joelle, is featuring my shop on her blog today! Head on over to learn more about me, my shop, and my design process then enter to win a lovely gift package.

Happy Crafting!

FWF Friday and a Coloring Contest Entry

Happy Friday everyone! It feels like I've been on the run all week and drooling over the pictures coming back from CHA. Instead of participating this time, Unity Stamp Co. stayed home and gave everyone a digi to play with for a coloring contest! Woo!

I, of course, immediately felt intimidated by all the beautiful creations popping up all over Facebook...sigh...but I pulled myself together and came up with this little lovely.

Flowers and butterflies...truly beautiful indeed

 I printed out the flowers and sentiment on a transparency and then set to work coloring with a mix of Copics (as I still only own 6! LOL) and Distress Ink Markers. Using the ribbon, I then attached the lovely striped shimmer paper to it and mounted the whole pile onto espresso cardstock and a kraft card base.

Side view to see more of the layers and under-papers

For the sentiment I used a scrap of light blue patterned paper leftover from a wedding invitation order. I dug through my brad stash and found this sweet little butterfly that is obviously on its way to visit those flowers.

Closer view of the papers and coloring

I think it came out alright, though it's probably not going to get me the coveted guest Design Team spot. If only my printer could print on watercolor paper! Ah well, it was still fun and I enjoyed playing with the markers this way.

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Crafting!

FWF Friday at Unity - Sun Sand and Sea

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend to begin. We're having a yard sale this Saturday and Sunday (all you local followers, stop by!) and the weather is set to be GORGEOUS! Oh, and hey, happy first day of summer!

I don't know about you, but when I think of summer I think of the beach. So when I saw Unity's beach stamps, they had to be mine. Bonus: no surfboards or palm trees, YAY!! That's become a pet peeve of mine lately, too many companies including those in paper packs and embellishments. Please people, I live in the Northeast. We don't have palm trees at our beaches!

This card started off with white cardstock...before I went to town with my Distress Inks. :) Tea Dye, Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Bundled Sage created the perfect balance of sand and sea. Then I broke out my new Perfect Pearls and Perfect Pearls Mists that I found at Michael's, on clearance, and I had a coupon. Woot! I used Bronze for the seashell frame, then stamped the sentiment with SU Midnight Muse.

 The seashells were stamped on ivory cardstock I had in my stash with CTMH Bamboo, then the edges were inked with Distress Stain in Frayed Burlap.

 Before I put all the layers together, I spritzed the base card with the Perfect Pearls Mist in Cappuccino and my "ocean" got a spray of Perfect Pearl. Then everything was attached and I popped up the starfish for some added height.

Yes, those are my fingers...no, I don't have a manicure. I'm sure that breaks a rule somewhere...LOL

The result? A pretty, shimmery, beachy card that glitters and glows without the use of glitter. My husband was impressed. LOL

Look at that sparkle! Yowza!

 

Finished card

Now I'm off to dream of the beach...I'm linking up to Unity FWF.

Happy Crafting!

Bun in the Oven

No no, I don't have one in the oven, but this card is perfect for anyone who does! I baked it up especially for the Lawnscaping Challenge: Coloring challenge this week.

A little vellum made the oven door cuter

 I saw...somewhere...the idea of scoring paper to make some bead board. It seemed like such a cute idea that I used it here for my kitchen scene. I colored in my bun and the oven with my Distress Markers. A few banners and some fabric lace as a chair rail topped off this cute card. I used the same technique of applying a bit of Glossy Accents to the lace to keep it from fraying as I did on my butterfly kisses card.

View from above

Side view to see the lovely layers

 Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to:

Happy Crafting!

Red, White, and Blue Stars Card

Yes, sometimes I really do still get to post twice in one night! I have time to show off one more card I made for a challenge.

Remembering with you

 The stripes and polka dots you see as the background paper are actually washi tape! I covered a sheet of paper with them, then punched a bunch of stars out of a pretty shimmer white cardstock. I felt it needed just a little something more, so I stamped two of the star punches with tiny stars from Lawn Fawn. To finish them off, I traced the edges with my Distress Markers in red and blue before layering them on with foam tape. The sentiment is from Pink by Design.

Side view of the card so you can see all of those lovely layers

Oooo, layers!

I'm linking this one up to:
Washi Up! - use red, white, and blue washi tape

Happy crafting!

Today I Shall Be Happier Than a Bird With a French Fry

 Hello again everyone! I'm in challenge-mode, so I decided to make a card this time with my new favorite stamp ever.

Hello again, little birdie

I was going for a slightly vintage feel, and tried my hand at faux stitching. I like it, but I think I need to practice drawing straight lines...ah well. The watercolor paper the bird is stamped on is actually reused from a craft show sign. How's that for reusing? Of course, then I had to use some scraps so I decorated the inside of the card as well.

Tweet, tweet!

The bird is made with my new Fiskars punch and cut from scraps, then topped with a little pearl eye. Of course, they're craft room photos again. One of these days I'll actually create in the daylight again!

I am linking up to:
CAS-ual Fridays CFC104 - use banners and/or flags

Happy crafting!

Time for the August OOTBS!

Yay, it's sample box time again! We contributed once again, this time to the August Sand in Your Shorts sampler box. Want to see what I made 100 of this time?

Lighthouse Note Card in a Glassine Bag, Stamped with a Shell

What do you think?? I stamped a pretty lighthouse scene in sepia ink on my favorite speckled card stock, then added in some color throughout the scene. The lighthouse keeper's house, stripes on the lighthouse, the rocks, and the ocean...much like the wildflower cards I have in the shop.

Lighthouse Note Card

I wanted something pretty to tuck them in, so I picked up some glassine bags. They're pretty, stampable, and reusable!

Stamped Glassine Bag

Close-up of the Seashell

They looked so pretty when I tucked the card, envelope, and shop note in the bag. It made me wish I was back on the beach!

Finished Package

Do I have you wanting one yet? The sampler boxes go on sale TONIGHT right on the website. Snag one while you can! If you miss out, drop me a line...I might be persuaded to make a few more. ;)

Enjoy!

Jumping on the Instagram Bandwagon

http://instagr.am/p/ME6ZC_AKq3/

My first Instagram photo! It only crashed my phone three times, but hey...nothing is perfect, right?

Welcome to the preview of the card that will be gracing the August Out of the Box Sampler kit! It's actually stamped in sepia, but this filter actually worked with my craft room lights...as in it doesn't look hideous. LOL

Feel free to follow me on Instagram at Caffeinated Papercuts. I'll get the hang of this new toy yet!