Trick-or-Treat! It’s time for some fun and festive crafting with the Stampin’ Pretty Pals! If you have hopped over from Brian King at Stamp with Brian, I am stop Number 17 on the Pals Hop.  I am glad you hopped in!  I will help you hop along from blog to blog where you will find great ideas for Stampin’ Up! Halloween projects along with some tricks and treats along the way! Should you hop off course, simply click on any of the links in the Pals Hop line-up at the end of today’s post, and you will be back on track.

I decided to showcase two cards…one simple and clean, one vintage and distressed.  Enjoy!

Vintage Toxic Treats

My fellow design team member at Freshly Made Sketches, Linda Suarez, recently posted a Halloween card featuring a witch flying across the moon.  I loved it so much, I decided to try to create a Stampin’ Up! version of the witch.

• I’ll get you, my pretty!  The Witch on the Broom was selectively snipped from the Toxic Treats image and popped upon a stylized moon punched from More Mustard card stock which had been stamped with the Journaling Circle from Everything Eleanor!  Of course, even a witch needs her pearls!

• A patchwork quilt! Squares of Howlstooth and Scaringbone Designer Series Paper were adhered to a card stock and passed through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  It was then brayered lightly with Crumb Cake ink to age it.

I really was inspired to create a card with a distinct vintage vibe.  What do you think?  Did I achieve my goal? Won’t you let me know in today’s comment?

Sparkling Spider
This little cutie was created in under 15 minutes.  I hope you enjoy it!

• Selectively ink! The Happy Halloween sentiment from Delightful Dozen was selectively inked with an Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker, eliminating the pumpkin.  It was stamped within the Dotted Oval from Joyous Celebrations and punched out with the Extra-Large Oval Punch.

• Artsy arachnid!  The Spider from Spooky Things (part of the MDS Nite Owl Digital Download) was sized to be the perfect size for the embossed Spider Web.  It was then printed in Early Espresso and snipped out.  And what better way to bedeck this beastie than with Basic Rhinestones!

 

As a little Halloween treat, I am offering you a chance at Blog Candy.  Simply leave a comment on this post by Friday, 11:00 PM CST.  I will randomly select one winner to receive this Toxic Treats stamp set.  The winner will be announced on Saturday, October 13th!

Now it’s time to hop along for more tricks and treats and spooky ideas from Nicole Watt at Impressions by Nicole, stop # 18 on the Pals Trick-or-Treat Blog Hop!  Don’t forget to leave me a comment for your chance to win the Toxic Treats stamp set.  Your comments are important to me, and I do read each and every one.  Of course, I am always available to answer any questions you may have about the cards I create or the techniques I use.  Until next time…

Pals Blog Hop Line-Up

1. Barb Furlong at The Love of Stamping
2. Kim Czenszak at Live Love Stamp
3. Nicole Picadura at Scraps & Stamps 
4. Mary Fish at Stampin’ Pretty 
5. Beth Beard at My Little Craft Blog 
6. Peggy Noe at Prettypapercards.com 
7. Kerry Willard Bray at Stampgoodness 
8. Debbie Crowley at expressively deb… 
9. Naki Rager at …notes from Naki 
10. Sherrie Gross at Stampin Sunshine 
11. Claire Crotteau-Hutt at Stamppaperscissors 
12. Diane Roberts at Score at Four and a Quarter 
13. Laurie Chilton at Stampin’ Ink 
14. Katy McGloin at Just Fun Stamping 
15. Rae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts 
16. Brian King at Stamp with Brian 
17. Ann Schach at The Stampin’ Schach 
18. Nicole Watt at Impressions by Nicole
19. Shannon Hokanson at My Stampin Blog 
20. Maggie Mata at Maggie Made Cards 
21. Sandra Conner at Pretty Provisions
22. Nancy Gleason at My Stampin’ Space  

 

Stamp Sets:  Toxic Treats, Everything Eleanor, French Foliage; Inks:  Jet Black StazOn, Crumb Cake;  Stampin’ Write Markers:  Crumb Cake, Basic Gray; Designer Series Paper:  Howlstooth and Scaringbone, First Edition;  Tools:  Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Simply Scored, Sponge Dauber, Color Spritzer Tool, Paper Snips, 2-1/2″ Circle Punch, Brayer;  Glitz and Glam:  Basic Pearls;

Stamp Sets:  Joyous Celebrations, Delightful Dozen; Stampin’ Write Marker:  Early Espresso; Tools:  Big Shot, Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Extra Large Oval Punch, Paper Snips;  My Digital Studio:  Nite Owl Digital Download; Glitz and Glam:  Basic Rhinestones

It’s Sunday, and time to play with The Paper Players!  Every year when decorating for the holiday season, I set out the book, A Cup of Christmas Tea.  It is a poem written by Tom Hegg about a young man who goes to visit his elderly great-aunt.  For me, it is a tear-jerker, no matter how many times I read it.  When I saw that LeAnne’s challenge for us this week was to use a cup or cups on our project, I decided to create a Christmas card with a tea cup on the front. Since I had some pieces left-over from the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin’ Kit, I put them to good use.  Enjoy a “Cup of Christmas Tea” with me!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:  Using Simply Scrappin’ Kits to Make Cards
This finished card measures 4-1/4″ wide by 5-1/2″ long.

• Fine china!  The Tea Cup from Tea Shoppe was stamped in Old Olive.  Dazzling Diamonds and Basic Pearls were used to embellish the flowers.  And the cute border at the top was left over from the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin’ Kit.  What a perfect way to top off the cup!

• Border delights! Adding a border is a snap when using selections from the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin’ Kit!  These were left over from creating the scrapbook layout featured in the Holiday Catalog.

• My Digital Sentiment! I created the “A Cup of Christmas Tea” sentiment using My Digital Studio and printed it off on Very Vanilla card stock.  How great to be able to create any sentiment you wish!

• Ribbon rosettes! Ribbon Rosettes were created from Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding and clustered with a snippet of Victoria Crochet Lace Trim and a Vintage Faceted Designer Button.  The Star was cut from Brushed Gold card stock and coated with Champagne Glass Glitter.

Won’t you let me know what you think of this “Cup of Tea” in today’s comment?  If you only lived closer, we could share a cup for real and stamp a card or two.  I  am sure we would have fun…but you would have to put up with the Twins and Lexi.   As always, if you ever have any questions about the cards I create or the techniques I use, I am only an email away!  And for those of you who have emailed to ask, today is the day little Lexi comes back home!!! Woo hoo!  Until next time…

Coming Soon:  Tuesday…Halloween Blog Hop and Blog Candy

 

Stamp Sets:  Tea Shoppe (W 125545, C 125547), French Foliage – Waterspots (W 120845,  C 121166);  Inks:  Crumb Cake (126975), Old Olive (126953);  Card Stock:  Very Vanilla (101650), Cherry Cobbler (119685);  Simply Scrappin’ Kit:  Merry Moments (126911);  Tools:  Paper Snips (103579), Sponge Dauber (102892), Two-Way Glue Pen (100425), My Digital Studio MDS 2 (Disc 130645, Download 130644);  Glitz and Glam:  Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter (102023), Basic Pearls (119247), Champagne Stampin’ Glass Glitter (120997), Victoria Crochet Trim (118481), Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding (120992), Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons (127555), Hemp Twine (retired)

It’s hard to believe that it is Thursday already, and time to play with the Pals at Pals Paper Arts!  This week, we have a perfect fall color challenge:  More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso.  Of course, I reached for my favorite “Go-To” fall stamp set, French Foliage, and coupled it with a concept I saw in this month’s Stampin’ Up!’s demonstrator magazine, Stampin’ Success.  Enjoy!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:  A Modified Window Card
This finished card measures 5-1/2″ wide by 4-1/4″ long.

• Peek through the window!  A Labels Collection Framelit was used to cut a “window” in the fabulous Mustard Gingham pattern from the Orchard Harvest Designer Series Paper.  The Pickup from the Countryside stamp set was inked in Crumb Cake ink, stamped off once, and then stamped onto Very Vanilla.  Next, the Remember When sentiment from Word Play was inked in Early Espresso and over-stamped on the truck image.  This was then positioned behind the window and adhered to an Early Espresso card base.

• A trio of leaves! The three challenge colors were used to ink the trio of leaves from French Foliage. They were then snipped out and clustered together.  I added a snippet of retired Hemp Twine and a Garden Green button.  Doesn’t that little “pop” of green make quite the visual statement?  And if you need a snippet of Hemp Twine, just email me.  I bought three packages before it retired and I will share a snippet with you!

• A signature pearl! A single Early Espresso leaf on the right of the window,  offsets the “heaviness” of the left side.  And of course, a single Basic Pearl makes the “pearl-fect” accent!

I hope you enjoyed this card as much as I enjoyed creating it.  This is the first time I attempted any type of window card.  I was afraid they would be difficult.  But you know what…it was easy. And I love this design.  Can you imagine all different types of images with over-stamped sentiments?  I sure can!  What images do you think would look great?  Won’t you let me know in today’s comment?  And of course, if you ever have any questions about the cards I create or the techniques I use, I am only an email away!  I will leave you with a picture of two trees, in their glorious fall foliage, that Muffy and I saw on our daily walk.  Until next time…

Coming Soon:  Using Illuminate Ink, Blog Candy, The Paper Players Design Team Card