No Time To Stamp?

I’m winding down on Hallloween cards, but wanted to get one more in at least!  This was a fun one to make for many reasons.  I used an image from the Halloween Journal Note pad, gave it a little extra zing with 2 colors of Flower Soft, added a sentiment from Witch Way to the Treats by JustRite and used some fun new ribbon I have in stock called Chenille Dots.  Take a look:

Love this pair of  trick-or-treaters!  Can you recognize my background?  I had many odds and ends of the journaling portion of the sheets from the Halloween Journal Note pad so I put them all together in collage fashion to make my background — totally happy with the result and I will surely use up my leftover pieces this way again.

I used Black Flower Soft on the buttons and I used Polar White Flower Soft as a little Snow on the Pumpkin, or hair, whatever you think it looks like — LOL!!!  The girls dress bodice, hat and duck wand are highlighted with Spica Glitter Pens — sparkly and fun IRL.  I finished it off with my sentiment circle from Witch Way to the Treats, my Rusty Pickle Buttons, and my fun and new Chenille Dots Ribbon. This card is rather large at 6.5″ wide x 5.5″ high.

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Shopping:

Paper all by SU:  Very Vanilla, Black, Basic Gray, Really Rust, More Mustard

Flower Soft carries the Black Flower Soft, Polar White Flower Soft and Flower Soft Glue I used on this project, as well as a full line of fun products.

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store carries the remaining products used:

Witch Way to the Treats (on sale now), used on 1 3/16″ Stamper by JustRite; VersaFine Onyx Black Ink; Halloween Journal Notes by Crafty Secrets; Chenille Dots Ribbon by May Arts; Rusty Pickle Buttons (on sale now);  Scor-It and Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders.

Check out Page 3 for Halloween items on sale.

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I’m so glad you stopped in today - thank you.  I apologize for my absence again, but we’ve been on the run.  This past weekend we were gone for 3 days to the Detroit area.  We toured the Henry Ford Museum (my DH could have stayed in there forever) and also the Rouge Plant where they make the F150 trucks.  Amazingly, I found touring that assembly line plant totally fascinating and it interested me more than the museum — I could have watched the workers on the line for much longer than we did.  I really enjoyed the movies they showed at the plant as well.  It got a HUGE thumbs up from me!!!  Definitely worth the time if you are in the area!  Well anyway, back to cards — I’ll have our weekly Stamp Simply post up on Thursday evening as usual — and I’m anxious to make this card — I think it’ll be fun!!!  Hope to see you then!

I have a couple of super quick Halloween treat ideas today.  The first is a little basket that could be used for school treats, table favors, or a teacher gift as it’s cute for a desk decoration.  The second is a small money holder for a dollar or two for your favorite little ghost or goblin!  Here they are:

I used last year’s Halloween DP by K & Company that I got from Michaels.  It’s very glittery and festive. Not sure if it’s still available.  The only other paper used is Pumpkin Pie cardstock by SU for the scallop.  The stamp set used is this year’s Limited Edition Halloween Set by JustRite, called Witch Way to the Treats.  It fits on the 1 3/16″ Wooden Stamper, a fun size.  I do have a limited number of sets left, but won’t be able to get any more once they are gone.  I’ll tell you quickly how I made these and give you some closeup shots.

This little basket is so quick and simple.  It’s basically a cube that has not been pushed all the way in to form the cube.  The side flaps are only partially pushed in and adhered, if that makes sense?  I’m thinking there is an official name for one of these, but I can’t put a finger on it.  Anyone know?  To make this, start with a square of paper, 6 x 6″.  I then used my Scor-It to score 2″ in from all 4 sides.  You end up with 9 equal squares.  Cut the 2 score lines on 2 opposing sides.  Now you can fold it up, just don’t fold it all the way in, and adhere into position.  (I don’t have time to make a template and photo now to show you, but if anyone doesn’t understand and would like a template photo, just let me know and I’ll come back this evening and edit this post to include one.)

Here’s a view of the back.  I think you can see how it folds easier on this side.  My handle is made of 10″ of 1.5″ Striped Ribbon. It is just adhered to the inside of the basket with a heavy duty double sided tape, folded on the bottom where taped to create the little gather.  It is then stuffed with shredded paper and some wrapped taffy.  Finished it measures about 5″ at the widest point and about 5″ high.

This is a little holder for a dollar bill or don’t some places like McDonald’s make coupons for Halloween?  A fun way to present a little treat.  Finished it is 4″ square. Cut your paper 4 x 9″.  Again using my Scor-It, I scored 2″ from the bottom for the pocket and used double sided red tape on the sides to adhere it up.  I then scored 3″ down from the top to create the top flap, and I rounded the corners with my SU Corner Rounder.  Now it’s done, except for decoration.

Again, I used Witch Way to the Treats and the same Grape 1.5″ Striped Ribbon.  And I really like this ribbon treatment — so quick to do and fun!  The ribbon is tacked to the flap with double sided tape so it doesn’t slip and the ends are just tied with a coordinating color of 100% Jute String.  Can’t get much easier.  And in this case I love how that ribbon flying off the end of the card mimics the motion of the witches broom in the image.

Here’s the inside — fun with the double sided paper!  And just enough room for some little treat!

Nothing fancy about either of these projects.  They were kept super simple with mass producing in mind for school or other events. 

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Shopping: 

Most items to make these projects, with the exception of the paper, can be found in the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store:

Witch Way to the Treats Set and 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper by JustRite

Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders

1.5″ Striped Ribbon and 100% Jute String by May Arts

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Thanks so much for stopping in today!  Hope you are enjoying this Autumn Season!  We are still having higher than normal temps and we are waiting for the leaves to change.  It’s always so beautiful here in the fall.  And speaking of fall, that reminds me of this week’s Stamp Simply Challenge — stay tuned!  It’ll be up on Thursday evening, as usual.  Have a great week, everyone!

Halloween is Almost Here! - Today’s challenge is to make a card or project for Halloween, or perhaps a bag or container for treats!  Anything goes.  And I realize some don’t care to do Halloween, and that’s just fine — then just incorporate a pumpkin into your project!  Everyone can play, and we hope you do!!!

Keyword ssnotime104 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/or your Blog, anytime at all. You (and that means anyone and everyone, blogger or not!) can play as many times as you like!!! The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!! Please link back here.

Check out the great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today on the blogs of these fabulous designers:

• Charlene, September Guest Designer
• Janine 
• Jennifer 
• Julie - Julie is taking the night off tonight!
• AJ
• Tammy
• Deb
• Barbara
• Jenny

Please bear with us all as we each upload and link on Thursday night.  Everyone should be up and set by Friday morning.

You may see all SCS Gallery Submissions here.

And here’s what I created for today:

It’s a small piece of wall decor!  Actually, I like to make hanging things to hang on my cabinet knobs in the kitchen.  You know how you like to just *look at your stuff* after you make it — or am I the only one who does that — LOL!!!  I usually have something hanging on a knob in my kitchen, so this will now replace the summery floral I currently have there.  It just makes me feel good to have a created object right where I can always see it — NUTS, or what - LOL!!!  That’s OK — I’m happy!!!  For this photo it is displayed in a photo stand.  I actually picked up a couple of these photo stands at a gas station in Wisconsin on our way to Shipshewana this summer.  I thought they were the neatest things.  Anyway, not much to say about my project, so I’ll just leave you with the recipe — oh, it’s 3 3/4 x 5 3/4″ high.  The Buttery Gold Silk Ribbon is knotted so it can hang on my cabinet pull.

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Stamps and Ink:  None

Paper:  Black and Halloween Journal Notes

Accessories: Silk Ribbon, Button, String, Bow Easy, Deco Corner Punch, SU Pewter Jumbo Eyelet, Cropadile, Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue to adhere bow.

Shopping:

 The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store  carries the following items used on this project:

1.25″ Buttery Gold Silk Ribbon and Black Jute String by May Arts

Halloween Journal Notes by Crafty Secrets

Bow Easy

Button by Basic Grey

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Thank you much for stopping in!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead.  See you soon!!

OK, the party from last week is over, but we are all still dancing!  We’re doing the polka!!!  Well, not really — but we ARE playing with POLKA DOTS today!!!  So let’s see some polka dotted creations from all of you — that’s it!!!  We’re not fussy – just get some polka dots in somewhere on your project, and the more, the merrier!!!  Have fun doing the Polka!

Keyword ssnotime101 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/or your Blog, anytime at all. You (and that means anyone and everyone, blogger or not!) can play as many times as you like!!! The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!! Please link back here.

Check out the great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today on the blogs of these fabulous designers:

• Pat Adam, August Guest Designer
• Janine 
• Jennifer 
• Julie 
• AJ
• Tammy
• Deb
• Barbara
• Jenny

Please bear with us all as we each upload and link on Thursday night.  Everyone should be up and set by Friday morning.

You may see all SCS Gallery Submissions here.

And here’s my dotted creation for today:

I *Stamped Simply* for today’s Halloween Card.  As you can see, my only stamped image is the BOO sentiment from Witch Way to the Treats by JustRite.  I used a darling image from Halloween Journal Notes by Crafty Secrets, used 1.5″ Gingham Ribbon as a background element and made a blue Silk Bow on the Bow Easy.  Just a quick and fun card to put together!   My Halloween Paper by Moxxie is something I just got and I can tell I’ll have fun with it — I am carrying it in the Halloween Section of Page 3 of the Stamp Simply Ribbon store in an easy to use 6 x 6 size.

The simply stamped sentiment was cut, matted and framed with my Petite Circle Nestabilities.

This fun and flippy little bow is made of Blue Silk and done on the Bow Easy.

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SU Product Used:  Black, White and Soft Sky cardstock.

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store carries all other items used to make this card:

Witch Way to the Treats Stamp Set on the 1 3/16 Round Wood Stamper by JustRite

Halloween Print Designer Paper by Moxxie

Versa Fine Onyx Black Ink

Halloween Journal Notes by Crafty Secrets

1.5″ Orange Gingham and 1.25″ Blue Silk Ribbon by May Arts and the Bow Easy

Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders

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So glad you had a minute to stop in again.  I love when you come!!!   Wish we could sit and actually chat IRL — how fun would that be!!!   If it fits into your schedule, hope you can show us some of your dotted creations this week — dots are SO FUN!!!  Have a great weekend everyone — it’s very rainy here right now, but that is GOOD — much needed!!!

Total class!  That’s just what I thought the moment I saw this years Halloween DP by SU — LOVED it, in a big way!!!!  Today is my first use of it and I’m just as happy as I thought I’d be — take a look:

An easy card, nothing hard, nothing fancy — simple layout, small focal point layered up – but I think it packs a punch!  It’s that FAB DP paired with the Black Silk Ribbon — LOVE it!!!  And how about that darling little pumpkin image — oh my gosh!  I didn’t realize till I’m sitting here looking at my monitor - I forgot to color his leaves and stem — OH, I do this way too often — they say the mind is the first to go — case in point!!!  OH well, I’ll color them later, and just leave this picture as it is — life’s too short,  good enough for now– LOL!!! Anyway, I was saying - darling little pumpkin image!!!  He’s one of  10 centers in a JustRite Special Edition Halloween set called Witch Way to the Treats — fun set with these little images and borders that are made to be used with the smallest of the JustRite Round Stampers — 1 3/16″.  I’m really loving this size as well as all the sets that go with it — this size is so very usable in such a variety of applications.

Just a close up of the focal image.  The pumpkin is Copic colored and I used my Petitie Circle Nesties to cut and mat him.  Those are then layered on top of some layered ovals done with my Petite Oval Nesties.  Added some buttons and we have a fun focal point.

I’m happy to say that today I am adding the 4 packs of Petite Circle Nestabilites, Petite Oval Nestabilities and Classic Oval Nestabilities to the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, Page 2 Tools.  I love these products and use them daily, so thought I’d like to offer them here along with my other must have and favorite items.

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Shopping:

Products used by SU:  All cardstock - White, Black, Old Olive, Perfect Plum, and Cast-a-Spell DP; SU Corner Rounder, Mat Pack and Paper Piercer, Dimensionals.

Products used available in the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store:

Witch Way to Treats Stamp Set and 1 3/16″ Round Wood Stamper, both by JustRite

Black Silk Ribbon and 100% Jute String by May Arts

Petite Circle Nestabilities and Petite Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders

Buttons by Basic Grey and Rusty Pickle

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Thank you so much for stopping in again.  It sure feels good to get back to making cards a bit more regularly.  And in that light, I’ll be back on Thursday evening late with the Stamp Simply Challenge for this week - another super easy and fun one!!!  Hope you can check back in — and have a great day!!!!

JustRite Stampers is sponsoring this week’s CPS Sketch #125, with a JustRite prize package of new product being given away to some lucky winner … you can see it here!  To enter, just prepare a project with this week’s CPS sketch, post it online and link your project on the CPS Sketch blog here.  I’m really running behind the clock this week and you only have until later this evening (Saturday) to enter, so if you haven’t yet, you still have a bit of time. Good luck! 

This was a fun sketch and I decided to make a Halloween card using JustRite’s new Witch Way to Treats set, along with an envelope to coordinate.  Fun!

This is such a fun little Halloween Set — just love it.  It works on the smallest of the round wood stampers — the 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper.  That’s a cute little size I’ve really been enjoying of late!  I used Halloween paper from last year by K & Co from Michaels.  I used a strip of 2″ wide web ribbon to cover the lengthwise panel, just for a fun, Halloweeny look — LOL!!!

Here’s the set, Witch Way to Treats by JustRite,  and the 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper– the set has 10 fun centers and borders — something for every possible Halloween theme — fun, fun!

Here’s a little better view of the card.  I used my new buttons from the Button Bottles by Rusty Pickle - these are gold.  The inside of my card is lined with a green sheet from the DP package.

Here’s a close-up of the focal image from Witch Way to Treats.  I really love this particular center - just kind of classy looking I think!  It is cut on my Petite Circle Nesties and matted and framed with my Pinking Circle Nesties, both by Spellbinders.  The little faux ribbon on the side is just paper clipped to a V on the end.  I have black 100% Jute String run through my button holes.

And here’s the envelope I made with my Envelope-It. Gosh, I love that thing!  DP envelopes are SO FUN!!!  What you are seeing is the back of the envelope.  I’ve made a closure to tie the envelope in with my card again using Witch Way to Treats.  Making these envelopes with the Envelope-It literally takes only a few minutes — I kid you not!  If you are interested, you can read this post to see a step-by-step on making the envelopes with the Envelope-It.

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Stamps: Witch Way to Treats by JustRite used on the 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper

Paper: Black, White. Halloween DP by K and Co. from Michaels.

Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black

Accessories: 2″ May Arts Webbed Ribbon, 100% May Arts Jute String, Rusty Pickle Button Bottles, Envelope-It, Scor-It, Petite Circle Nestabilities and Large and Small Pinking Circles by Spellbinders, SU Corner Rounder, Velcro Self-Adhesive Dots.

Shopping:

JustRite Stampers for the full line of JustRite Products

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store carries the following items to make this project:  Witch Way to Treats, 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper, Versa Fine Onyx Black Ink, 2″ Webbed Ribbon and 100% Jute String, Scor-It, Envelope-It.

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So glad to see you all again so soon!  Hope you are all having a great summer weekend.  We have finally gotten some much needed rain, and we are giving thanks for that!!!   Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  See you soon!

Today I’m focusing on gift presentation in bags with a Halloween theme. I love using bags, whether it means making them from scratch or decorating a purchased bag — just plain old fun!!! If you missed Perfect Presentation Part I onmaking boxes,be sure to check it out. Here’s my trio for today, with tutorials to follow:

On the left isan alteredhandled bag I purchased at Wal-mart. I call this my adult Halloween bag because it just looks *so adult* to me — LOL!!! In the center is a bag I made from scratch, and on the right is a candy treat bag made using a clear envelope. All designer paper used is in a Halloween pad by Jen Yanok for K and Company from Michaels, all ribbon is from Wal-Mart, and all stamped images are by JustRite.

I’ll start with the BOO bag, or some may call it a box. It is your basic 2,5,7,10 box with a flap on top and kind of squeezed together on top to form a bag shape. Here’s a close-up:

The orange BOO piece was added to trim up the flap. There is velcro under the BOO to hold to closed. The ribbon is wrapped around the flap, secured with tape on the inside and tied on the outside. These are really quick, easy and fun to make. Here’s a shot of the process:

See how plain that flap looks with nothing extra? Just HAD to trim it up. This is the BOO piece I made and then just secured it on the underside of the flap. It also serves to make the flap piece much stronger. Can you also see howthe bagis squeezed on top to take on a bag shape? I made that jagged edge with a retired SU punch calledSquare Steps Corner Pocketand this piece is the negative piece left after punching. It is a corner punch with the guard removed. Corner rounder used on corners. And check out my wonderful clear stamp alphabet set by JustRite — LOVE these things!!! I LOVE how crisp and dark they stamp, that they are clear for easy positioning and that they snap together and store so compactly in their own plastic box — it doesn’t get any better!!! This set is called Clear Uppercase Typewriter Lettersand in checking for the link I notice they are on a 50% off sale along with many other sets of pre-inked alphabets — a good time to pick some up! And here’s the template for this bag:

Another quick and easy project using my full-sized Scor-It. Cut your paper to 11″ wide and 12″ high. With the 11″ side butted up against the measuring rail so you are scoring along the 12″ length of the paper, score at 2″, moveyour paperover so the score you just did is at 3″, move again so the last score is at 2″, then move again so the last score is at 3″. You are scoring at 2″, 5″, 7″ and 10″. This gives you the 4 sides of your bag plus a 1″ tab to adhere it together. Now rotate your paper so the 12″ side is against the rail. Score 2″ from the bottom. Turn it the other way, score 2.5″ from the top. Done scoring. Now, CUT on the lines highlighted in yellow. You will actually be CUTTING OUT andDISCARDING all the areas that are done in scribbles. Once cutting you can easily see your box, the tab, the bottom and the top flap. Adhere together and decorate away!

Next, I’ll show you the candy treat bag, a quick project for the younger set:

For this I used a cello envelope. The top is made tent style, decorated and stapled onto the bag. The ribbon hides the staples. And that negative jagged edge on the project above — well, this is the positive cut fromthe Square Steps Corner Pocket punchforming my top border. Here’s a shot of the process:

See how the bag topper is just a tent fold, easily accomplished on my Scor-It. The *Eat Lots Of* was stamped using a stamp in the Christmas Ensemble and the Harmony Circle Stamper III, hiding the *Chocolate* underneath the DP. It is cut and embossed using my Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders. The {Treats} was stamped using the smaller of the Rectangle Stampers and the 50 pt. Brayton Font. The { } were from the 95 pt. Brayton Font. (3 sizes of font come in each set.) And see how I notched out the centers of my { } so I could get my letters in closer — again, it’s OK to cut your rubber!!! And I obviously did a lot of cutting on my larger stamp as well. Attach the {Treats} to the backside of the topper front, staple the topper onto the bag, wrap with ribbon and DONE!!!

And last, but not least, is a super simple project. Here I just decorated a white handled bag I purchased at Wal-Mart. Using fun paper and pretty ribbon makes all the difference in the world.

Gosh, I love this bag!!! I’d like to carry it for my purse — LOL!!! The Hugs and Kisses sentiment was stamped onto a scrap of green Prism paper with Versa Fine Onyx Black, cut and embossed with my Petite Circle Nestabilities from Spellbinders and adhered to the bag with Pop Dots — it sure completed the bag. Hugs and Kisses is found in theHarmony Classic Circle StamperII Ensemble,which includesthe Harmony Circle Stamper II. I did need to condition this stamp. You can find my tutorial on conditioning large solid image stamps here. I think the thing I love most about this bag is that I wrapped the handles. Check them out:

Isn’t that fun!!! I just took a piece of wider red sticky strip and ran a length of it from the base of the handle on one side, up and around the handle, down the other side. Then I just squeezed it around the handle with my fingers, and when it was around and down tight I pulled off the red covering and wrapped my ribbon around, leaving myself tails. Not knowing what to do with those tails as this ribbon is rather stiff and not as supple as I usually prefer, I just let them hang and trimmed the bottom edge. To secure them, I took some black sheer ribbon and tied on my bows. That held my loose dotted ribbon tails in place perfectly.

To read more about the Scor-It or find a retailer near you, check out the Scor-It site. They do not sell the Scor-It boards from their site, but I know Ellen Hutson carries them (they are under TOOLS) and in doing a Google search I also came up with another source Marcos Paper. They also appear on a ton more Google searches.

Check out the JustRite Blog — they have another contest running with great prizes, a chance to be featured, and information on sale items in their store. You may have to scroll down a bit to find the rules — but be sure to check out all the great entries — FUN STUFF!!!

Also, I have some retired SU sets for sale. If you are interested, click on the FOR SALE TAB above the Blog Banner way up on top, or click here. Thanks!

It think that does it for today. Part III is coming!!! Can you tell, I LOVE wrapping gifts and presenting packages!!! Wishing you all a wonderful week and again, thanking you profusely for stopping in!!! I truly appreciate knowing you were here!!! Thanks so much!!!

I’ll be the first to admit that Halloween cards are certainly NOT first on my list of things to do EVER, BUT this adorable little witch has totally captured my heart — isn’t she JUST the cutest little witch EVER!!! I’ve been admiring her since I first laid eyes on her and I just couldn’t wait to use this set once it arrived!!! A fun, fun and ever so sweet Halloween set by Crafty Secrets called Halloween Fun. And the paper I’m using today is in a fun 12 x 12 K & Co. pack from Michaels by Jen Yanok — great papers with vivid colors and some sheets have glitter — a GREAT find for Halloween papers if you like a lot of color!!!!

Once I was stamping today, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play the Featured Stamper Challenge at SCS, so both of these cards are cased layouts from NikiE. What a great gallery to choose from!!! The card above was cased from the layout on this card. You can see the layout is identical, but everything else is different. I also was happy to be able to pull out my Copics for these cards today. Seems like I haven’t colored in weeks, and I’ve actually been missing it — and that is rather comical to those of you who know me and how I’ve stuggled with coloring just forever! I am feeling really good about my Copics and just LOVE using them!!! Below are all the colors used on these two projects:

And the card below was a layout cased of this card of Niki’s. Again, I followed the layout but changed the images, papers, colors, etc.

Another really simple card. Using my Copics I was able to pick up the intense colors in the designer paper and carry them through to the main image, and I like that! On this card I first stamped the legs, then the left shoe. I then masked the left shoe and stamped the right shoe. Don’t you just LOVE these legs — LOL!!! I do!!!

• Stamps: Halloween Fun by Crafty Secrets
• Paper: PTI White, SU Black, Taken with Teal, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, and K & Co. Designer 12x 12 pad by Jen Yanok
• Ink: Palette Black, and Copics shown above
• Accessories: Black Organdy Ribbon, Rectangle and Long Rectangle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, SU Small and Large Oval Punches, SU Brads, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folder, Mounting Squares

And today is Monday and that means Joan has a new sale posted at Joan’s Garden! And I just have a hunch she MIGHT have this HalloweenFunCrafty Secrets set this week — and I wonder what else — let’s take a look — you can see Joan’s Sale here.Be sure to scroll down once you get there — I see she’s listed many things this week!

And if you haven’t done so already, please remember to vote for this week’s JustRite Stampin’ Champion – there are some fabulous entries once again. Vote soon — time is running out — you may see the entires and vote here.

Thanks so much for stopping in today. I know it’s a long weekend and many of you are out and about — hope you are all having a wonderful weekend before the fall weathertakes over. This is about our hottest weekend for the entire summer!!! Thanks much — see you all soon!!!

• Stamps: Autumn Apparitions
• Paper: Apple Cider DP, Basic Black
• Ink: Black Stazon
• Accessories: Round Tab Punch, Gingham Ribbon, Crop-A-Dile, Really Rust Eyelets

This is a quick little box I made for Halloween treats. I have no treats today so it is filled with straw! I wasinspired to make this by abox in this style in the SCS galleryof Willosmama as well as the sample in the SU Catalog, page 49. I determined my own measurements to suit my needs. Not being sure what I’ll use this for, and as I MAY insert Halloween cards into it rather than treats, I wanted to be sure it was wide enough to easily house the cards; therefore, I made it 4 1/2″ square and it is 2 1/4″ high. Here’s the instructions:

Cut 2 pieces of double sided DP, each 10.5 x 4.5.Score each piece at 3 and 7.5. Now, put them back in the scorer and score each piece .75″ from the end, all 4 ends (this gives you the folded over flap). So putting them in the scorer and setting them up at 9.75 gives you that .75 at the end. Fold into shape to make sure all is right! Do any stamping you want on the box at this point. Now using your Crop-A-Dile, and making sure the flaps are folded down, punch holes on each side of each end, .5″ in from the end, and centered on the fold over flap. Insert eyelets into those holes. Lay your two pieces down, one on top of the other, in a + shape, using a little tape to keep the two bottom pieces together. Fold the sides up and thread with ribbon and tie to keep the box in shape. Make a little Boo with the round tab punch, border it with black as described in the previous post entitled Autumn Apparition Trio, attach to box and you are done!!!! A very quick and easy box for giving a little gift or just setting out with Halloween candies!

Hint: If you want to save this box for next Halloween, just untie the ribbon and it will store flat, taking essentially no room at all!!! You could actually make a little table decoration box like this for every holiday and store them all in one file folder — how fun!!!!

I love to make sets of things — sets of cards or sets with boxes or journals or anything at all –I love coordinated projects!!!! This is a set of tent topper cards using Autumn Apparitions, now available in the Holiday Mini, which, by the way, is the ONLY Halloween set I have ever owned — and I LOVE it — the images are just so gorgeous, not cartoony and not cutsey — but gorgeous!!! Unusual for a Halloween set, and that’s why I like it!!!

All cards use the same basic items — Apple Cider Designer Paper, Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Ribbon, Black Gingham Ribbon and Black and White paper, and markers in Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive. My favorite stamp in the set is the corner frame — just love that stamp — and next is the cat — he is such a great cat!!! The two cards oriented vertically were uploaded in my SCS gallery in the last couple weeks and are discussed there. I just made the one on the bottom that is oriented horizontally, and we’ll be doing that card at a workshop next week.

The card we’ll be doing (on the bottom in the photo) is the standard A2 size finished. The card base is cut 5 1/2 x 6, so folded it is 5 1/2 x 3. The black frame for the topper is 4 x 2 7/8. Just basic stamping for the main image, no masking. Black Stazon was used to get a really black black. The horizontal slot punch was used to make a slot for the ribbon. The BOO Round Tab Punch is bordered in black. To do that, punch a Round Tab in black. Cut it in 1/2 on the fold line. You only need 1/2 of it. Take that piece and cut it up the center vertically, then attach it behind the front of the Boo punched tab. Basically, you are bordering the edges to give the punched piece definition, and spreading it apart in the middle where your cut it. Quickest way I could figure to define that punched piece! Brads are used on the ends of the sentiment — I’m all out of black brads (gee, I wish SU would sell just the black brads in containers by themselves!) so I used the retired silver diamond brads from the Vintage Brads of last year and colored them with a Black Sharpie. I actually like the diamond shape on this card!

And just one quick word about the cardwith the fence. I made the fencewith the word window punch and1/8 inch strips of paper glued down with aglue pen — super quick and easy!!!

So that’s it — my little Halloween set!!! Thanks so much for looking!!!