Happy Hoppy Halloween!!!

Happy Hoppy Halloween!!! The trick-or-treating has begun and a sugar rush is sure to follow. We always decorate our yard and try to make it fun for the kids. Unfortunately, it is raining and that may keep some of the ghouls and goblins away. That could mean leftover candy... which I'm sure my hubby will have no problem polishing off.

After I mailed my Halloween cards to family and friends, I decided to make one more card using some of the scraps. Everything was laying around my craft desk and the image was already colored. All I had to do was trim a few pieces, die cut the bats, stamp the sentiment and adhere everything together. The orange polka dot paper really soaked up the Memento black ink I used with the sentiment. It started out much darker, but it's much lighter now. Well, that's it! I hope you have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Challenges entered:

• Always Fun: Halloween
• Crafty Catz: Anything Goes/Halloween
• Fab 'n' Funky: Halloween
• Shopping Our Stash: Witching Hour/Halloween 

Our decorated front yard

Birthday Card with Flowers

Good day crafty friends! Today I want to share this Birthday Card with Flowers I made following the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. To make this card I decided to use already stamped flowers from the stash I started back in 2011 of extras. Sometimes I'll just stamp a bunch of additional flowers to use later but then I forget to use them. So, after sorting through the flowers I found three that were stamped with the same ink color and selected them to use on this card. The Pear Pizzazz and Soft Suede leaves were stamped using the Fab Flowers stamp set by Lawn Fawn and die cut with the coordinating dies. Following the sketch I took the literal approach and used polka dots and stripes as shown using paper by Stampin' Up!. The damask background paper is from the Double Dot Damask paper pad by Bo Bunny. The Happy Birthday sentiment is by Print Works Collection and some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Chocolate Fondue was added to the center of the flowers. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Addicted to Stamps: Anything Goes
• Die Cuttin Divas: Anything Goes
• Simon Says: Anything Goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch #477
• Watercooler Wednesday: Anything Goes

Sketch:

Stash of stamped flowers

Just a Note Card with Cat

Hello and happy Monday! Today is National Cat Day and we are certainly a pro cat household. Our cats are a constant source of entertainment and joy. Although, there is a lot of work involved in keeping the litter boxes clean, washing their blankets and providing for all their needs. We wouldn't change a thing... they are our family and life would be boring without them.

This Just a Note Card with Cat was made using the color challenge at Catch The Bug. After selecting the patterned papers and layout, I decided to add stitching for extra detail. The digital Cute Kitty image by Bugaboo Stamps was colored with Copic markers and die cut with a stitched circle die. A retired sentiment from Stampin' Up! was added along with a small butterfly from the Newton's Birdbath stamp set by Newton's Nook. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Cardz 4 Galz: Let's Go Digital
• Catch The Bug: Colors
• Sunny Day Crafting: Use an Animal 

Halloween Cards are Mailed!

After all the cards have been carefully made it's always a big relief to get them mailed! This year I ended up making fourteen cards. I made a few extras because there are a couple I didn't want to give away. Here is the last card I made using the Halloween Trio stamp set by Newton's Nook:

It's one I'm keeping or I'll give it to my hubby. The background was made with distress oxide inks and the patterned paper is from the Trick or Treat paper pad by Pebbles (2016). Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered: Crafty Creations (Anything Goes), Crafty Gals Corner (Halloween Colours), Simon Says (Halloween/Spooky) and Watercooler Wednesday (All About Holidays). 

BOO Halloween Card

Happy Monday! This morning I made this BOO Halloween Card using a die cut set (DIE325-V) by Impression Obsession. I wanted a simple and quick card to send to the younger boys in the family. The ghost patterned paper has been in my stash for many years and it's by Adorn It from the Hocus Pocus collection. Silver glimmer paper by Stampin' Up! was used for the BOO die cut. The little bat is from a punch by Stampin' Up! and the ghost and cat are both dies from the set. That's it!

Challenges entered: Lil Patch of Crafty Friends (Anything Goes), Pause Dream Enjoy (Cards Any Theme),  Simon Says (Halloween/Spooky) and Die Cut Divas (Autumn/Halloween).

Candy Rabbit Halloween Card

Hello! Hopefully you're having a great week. I'm still working on my Halloween cards so I can get them in the mail on time. To make this Candy Rabbit Halloween Card I used the sketch from the Inky Paws Challenge. The images and sentiment are from the Hoppy Halloween stamp set by Newton's Nook. Since mixing patterned papers is one of my favorite parts about making handmade cards, I used three different papers on this card. The candy paper is from the Trick or Treat paper pad by Pebbles (2016), purple watercolor by Ms. Sparkle & Co (Joann's) and Cool Lime paper by The Paper Studio. Some retired Halloween twine from Stampin' Up! was added and then the focal circle adhered with dimensionals. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Challenges entered:

• Cute Card Thursday: Food/Drink
• If You Give a Crafter a Cookie: Photo Inspiration
• Inky Paws: Sketch #83
• Simon Says: Animal Antics
• Southern Girls: Critter Crazy

Halloween Trio Card

Good day crafty friends! It's getting closer to Halloween and I'm behind on making my cards. I got a really bad sinus cold a couple of weeks ago and I'm just now starting to feel better. It's been years since I got a cold that bad and I didn't want to contaminate my crafting supplies. So that means I'll start making multiples of the cards I create instead of many different designs. I made three of this Halloween Trio Card. The design is all the same but the patterned papers change and the colors used on the image vary some. Distress oxide inks were used to create the background and then it was die cut with a deckle die by Tim Holtz. The image is by Newton's Nook and it's called Halloween Trio. A coordinating die was used the cut out the image and the little bats are from the same set. The yellow moon was added and that's it. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Challenges entered:

• Aud Sentiments: Halloween/Fall Sentiment
• Cards in Envy: Something Spooky
• Cute Card Thursday: Halloween
• Sweet Stampin': Halloween  
• The Sisterhood of Crafters: Cute Spooks

Another version:

Fab Flowers Birthday Card

Hello and happy Wednesday! Today would have been my sister's 42nd birthday and although she has passed on I made this card in honor of her birthday. I had just started making cards before she passed away in 2011. The only handmade card I gave her was for Valentine's Day the month before she passed. Making cards became a form of therapy after she passed away and it continues to help me cope with everyday stresses.

For this Fab Flowers Birthday Card I selected colors I thought my sister would like for the flowers and used the Fab Flowers stamp set by Lawn Fawn. The Happy Birthday die cut is by Stampin' Up! and Blueberry Bushel cardstock was used. It took awhile to get the die cuts positioned and everything was adhered flat. The background paper is a subtle gray woodgrain and frayed burlap distress ink was sponged along the edges. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Challenges entered:

• Always Happy Birthday: Anything Birthday Goes
• City Crafter: Into the Woods
• Pause Dream Enjoy: Any Card
• Tuesday Throwdown: Anything Goes
• The Cutie Pie: Going Girly
• Watercooler Wednesday: All About Occasions

Hoppy Halloween Card

Hello! I hope you had time to make a card today during World Cardmaking Day. We ran errands this afternoon and then I took a nap, finally this evening I made this Hoppy Halloween Card. The stamp set is called Hoppy Halloween and it's by Newton's Nook. It coordinated perfectly with the candy patterned paper from the Trick or Treat paper pad by Pebbles (2016). Some twine and three glimmer dots finished the card and that's it.

Challenges entered: Addicted to Stamps (Make Your Mark), Aud Sentiments (Use a Two Word Sentiment), Craft Rocket (Autumn/Halloween), The Crafty Addicts (Anything Goes/Spook it Up) and Unicorn Challenge (Autumn/Halloween).

Halloween Shaker Card

It's time to shake things up and make a shaker card to play along with the challenge at Simply Create Too. The design team has created some fantastic inspiration, click HERE for all the challenge details. We hope to see your shaker card in the gallery! You have until October 26th, 2018 to link your creation.

This Halloween Shaker Card is actually my first shaker card. I watched a couple of videos and it really isn't as hard as I expected. The scalloped frame die and stamps are from Newton's Nook. Copic markers were used to color the image and the coordinating dies were used to cut out the image. The bat paper is from the Trick or Treat paper pad by Pebbles (2016) and the grass paper was a scrap from my stash. A selection of sequins were added for the shaker element and everything was assembled. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Brown Sugar: Halloween or Autumn
• Crafty Creations: Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday: Anything Goes
• Cut It Up: Halloween

Halloween Card with a Cat

A big welcome to the month of October!!! I love making Halloween cards and especially Halloween Cards with a Cat. It may be traditional to use black cats at Halloween but I decided to color this cat as a gray tabby. The image and sentiment are from the Newton's Boo-tiful Night stamp set by Newton's Nook. It was stamped with Memento black ink and colored with Copic markers. The coordinating die was used to cut out the image. On the focal area Wilted Violet distress ink was applied with a sponge dauber and then some green grass was added. All papers are from the Not Too Spooky paper pad by Pink & Main. The colors were selected to play along with the Inky Paws color challenge to use: Lime Green, Yellow, Orange and Purple. This is definitely my favorite Halloween color combination! To add a little sparkle three silver sequins were added and that's it. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Challenges entered:

• Cute N Crafty: Fall/Halloween 
• Dragonfly's Journey: Happy Halloween!
• Inky Paws: Colors
• Just Us Girls: Stripes
• Make My Monday: Animals

Another version using the same layout: