Happy Halloween - costumes and cards

 Wow, it's the last day of October 2011 already - I know my neice and nephew twins are having a birthday....and it's HALLOWEEN!! 

I will always remember the fun times I had taking my sons out trick or treating - I always put together their halloween costumes and was room parent for their classes...And when they had a halloween party,

I had to volunteer! 

So here is one of the scrapbook pages I put in my son's graduation scrapbook.  He was Blue, a cowboy, and even the grim reaper. 

Yeah, that was when he got older.

Thought I would share some halloween cards other folks have made. 

Win a free pass to Thanksgiving online craft classes!

http://www.gettincrafty.com/

Getting Crafty Online Classes 

Thanksgiving/fall classes start November 1st!! 

30 days of tutorials, recipes and extra bonuses with 

great lifetime membership

There will be weekly challenges where group members will

be able to win fun Stampin' Up! products too!

http://www.gettincrafty.com/

Cristena is giving away 2 FREE passes to 2 lucky people that leave a comment on her blog posting on Oct. 25th (that's where the info about this cute box is too) - just leave your comment and tell her what your favorite thing about fall is...

There's more!!

2 more FREE passes will be given away to those that sign up for the Thanksgiving/Fall edition during the preview week - this means if you join, your registration will be refunded and you will enjoy all the benefits for FREE! (if you have already joined you are included in this give away).

Winner will be chosen via Random.org next Tuesday morning, and an announcement with the winners' name on the site. Winners will be notified via email and invited to the group no later than Tuesday Evening at 6pm PST.

Only one pass will be given to a person.

So if you've wanted to try an online craft class in the convenience of your home whenever you want, go to Cristena's blog on

Oct. 25th and you just might get lucky!

http://www.gettincrafty.com/

It's time of the week - for a card sketch challenge...and someone got another year older

http://gettincrafty.typepad.com/stampin_queens_sketch_cha/

Gee it's Wednesday already...so time to play with My Digital Studio and use this card sketch to design a card.  Someone had a birthday so I designed a card for her:

I really had no idea of what colors to use, but fortunately I was given a free pass (thanks again Kathy!) to do the Inkspirations Holiday online classes and color challenge #2 was posted for the week.  The colors were navy (I used night of navy), cherry cobbler, and gold/old mustard.

http://www.inkspirations4uonline.com/ 

I really like how these colors looked on this card sketch.  Can you see the 3 brads I grouped together in the upper right hand corner?  Now that is something I couldn't do if they were the real brads, but with My Digital Studio you can play with impossibilities!  Wonder if they have a My Digital Studio in real life lol!

Here are some of the other cards made using this card sketch - you can see more on the site and maybe join us, or do what I did and combine 2 challenges.  I love being efficient like that!

Your invites to a spooky halloween experience - Online!

Christenas Halloween Online Class

Click on the batty invitation - double dare you!

You're invited to a fun halloween experience right in your own house!

I needed a fun relaxing break from all the hard work I've been doing - didn't get to bed last night until 5 am writing a little research paper....when I saw the light coming in through the window blinds I knew it was time to get some sleep! 

So today I explored a couple online papercrafts/cardmaking online classes.  One of the classes was Cristena's: 

http://www.gettincrafty.com/

You can see some of the awesomely creative halloween projects she has in this online class.  There are videos with the details on making them - there are 3D projects, card, home decorations, recipes, Halloween treats – something for everyone –  with lifetime access so you can view anytime that’s convenient for YOU!

Here are a few sneak peeks...

 

  

 Cristena also designs for other online papercrafting/cardmaking sites - here are the projects she made for Madeline Morcelo's Inkspirations 4U Fall 2011 online classes:

I was lucky enough to have a friend give me a free pass to the Christmas Inkspirations 2011 class (thanks Kathy, a great early birthday present!!)  But you can check it out too! 

Click on the picture below:

 

Inspirations 4U 2011 Christmas online class

 I have done several of Madeline's online classes - she has other designers who are invited to make projects, so there is quite a variety as well: Create paper craft projects using Stampin' Up supplies. Detailed instructions included in every project!  

This is one of the cards that Kathy, my benefactor, made for this class - she does beautiful work! 

If you click on Kathy's card, you can see more of her elegant designs.

Here are a few of the projects from last year's holiday Inkspirations 4U online class, to tempt you...!

Hope you enjoyed these treats today!

  

That time of the week again!  Stampin Queen Sketch Challenge  #9:

Here is this week's card sketch challenge #9 over at Stampin Queen's - just by itself, it is a pretty card!

http://gettincrafty.typepad.com/stampin_queens_sketch_cha/

 Here is my card done with My Digital Studio:

This is an early Happy Birthday card for Cristena!! 

Surprise!  I think green is one of her favorite colors....

There are more beautiful cards on the website:  

http://gettincrafty.typepad.com/stampin_queens_sketch_cha/

Here are just a few of them - a little bit of something for every occasion.

Can you see the silver glitter paper on 3 of the cards? 

The paper is really gorgeous in real life.

We are having fun using the card sketches - why don't you join us?

And then upload your card, OK? 

Would love to see what you come up with!

http://gettincrafty.typepad.com/stampin_queens_sketch_cha/

Two more cards Stampin Up mostly retired supplies

 Here are a couple more cards I made this week - I will be sharing them with the neighborhood ladies that I get together with and make cards.  I used mostly retired Stampin Up products on them. 

Here are a few more pictures of the cards in the making.

I used Stampin Up's square lattice embossing folder on the plaid designer paper - I love how it adds a little bit of interesting texture.  All of the papers I used on this card were from a retired set, Pawsitively Prints.  Since all the papers are reversible, it was easy to mix and match.  The cardstock is Very Vanilla, which is a current item, as well

as the border punch.

The stamp and punch for the greeting are both current products; the ink is ballet blue which is retired, as well as the little rosette. 

 See how I cut the solid blue punch in half?  I glued these 2 pieces on the back of the stamped greeting and then attached it to the card with dimensionals pop up glue dots.

Fall dog decorations and a card

We got a few new dog decorations at the home and garden show last weekend, so put them up with my fall and halloween decorations.  Couldn't decide if I wanted the little dog or the big dog, so just got both! 

Here is the cute chichaua we got too

Stampin Queen's sketch challenge for today

 It's still Wednesday, for another 1/2 hour, and I spent most of today resting....started doing 3-4 exercise classes this week and I sure can tell the difference since I did them about 10 years ago....just a little bit sore all over, ouch.  Anyway, today a new card sketch challenge was posted on Stampin Queens:

http://gettincrafty.typepad.com/stampin_queens_sketch_cha/

Lookie at some of the beautiful cards using this sketch:

Recipe Apron Cards

I admit it, I have a sweet tooth....so when I needed to make a couple swap cards that included a recipe, I chose a dessert recipe!  I have wanted to try and make up one of those cute apron cards that I have seen online.  Here is what I came up with.

The cute apple designer paper is a retired Stampin Up paper, as well as the tangerine tango pompom trim.  The reversible designer paper that Stampin Up has works perfectly for this type of project, since both

sides will be seen.

I just happen to have a bit of orange gingham ribbon....and the stamps and die cuts I just had to buy and try them out - Stampin Up's poppy parade ink matched perfectly - I used the glossy cardstock to stamp the plate and wineglass, and for the silverware diecuts as well.  I used a white gel pen to draw stitching lines around the apron.  Gee, I remember a time when I would have never thought to use tiny polka dotted paper, gingham, and apple decorated papers all together...but it works here!

I am adding the tutorial to make this apron recipe card on my tutorials page, so if you want to see the details, please check it out OK?

And Eat Dessert First!!

Color challenge card

I have been having fun with My Digital Studio and card sketch challenges, so decided to CASE one of my own cards for a new site I found - http://colourq.blogspot.com/  There are weekly color challenges and since I like purple, the one this week appealed to me!   Here is my card using these colors, which is a case of a card I used this past week for a card sketch challenge I posted on Oct. 5th:

Here is the link to this week's color challenge on Colour Q:

http://colourq.blogspot.com/2011/10/colourq-challenge-105.html

The little crown that Arielle uses for her logo on ColourQ reminded me of the Stampin Queen's crown and got my attention...when I looked at the site, there was a listing of all the Stampin Up colors on the right hand side - I mean ALL of their colors, both current and retired.  And you can click on the name of any one of the colors and see color combos and cards using that color.  This is a really cool way to get some more inspirations for colors you might want to use. 

And I am all for efficient - being able to use my own card design again in a new and different way just by changing the colors - I did change a few of the items in the card as well, so that made it fun too.  Makes me wonder how many other ways I can CASE my own cards lol!

Maybe you might like to check it out too

http://colourq.blogspot.com/2011/10/colourq-challenge-105.html

Stamping is a great way to relax after work and make a great Xmas gift too

Now look at this plain calender, kinda like I felt at the end of the week!  But doing something fun, like stamping, helps to make you relax, right?

  So I had a chance last weekend to get to one of Di's classes and learned about the practical "perpetual birthday calendar"

 that Stampin Up has. 

I am all about being efficient so if I don't have to keep writing down dates that happen every year (like birthdays), I am all for that!  Sure, I put them into my cell phone calendar, but with this handy dandy calendar, you can see them quicker.

Plus it was fun using the stamps to decorate the calendar with!

Here is the before and after picture of the perpetual birthday calendar cover....And here is the November page which just happens to be my birthday month, so of course, it was my favorite!

And since we are in October, here is the October page - it is so cute that I used it for the backdrop of some pictures I took for a tutorial I am finishing up - so be sure to check my tutorial page for the recipe

apron card OK?

You can get this perpetual birthday calendar on p. 181 of the Stampin Up catalog - it is only $7.95 - here is a bit more about this convenient calendar, which would make a great Christmas present !

12 months ... whisper white acid free cardstock 5 1/2" x 14"

Drilled for hanging, durable wire-o spiral binding 

It would be so easy to make several of these calendars at one time and then pop into the mail....Just make sure you write your birthday in on the calendar(s) before you wrap it up!!  LOL

It's #7 card sketch challenge

Gee whiz, it's time for another card sketch challenge at Stampin Queens - here is the card sketch for today. 

http://gettincrafty.typepad.com/stampin_queens_sketch_cha/

I love the colors in the My Digital Studio card that I put together for this week.  It is pool party and cherry cobbler, with the Noteworthy digital items, and ruffled ribbon.

There are other lovely cards on the site using this sketch: