Halloween Hoot!

Mo's Digital Pencil Too is hosting a Halloween card challenge this week and I just had to participate!

I love Halloween. I can't pinpoint exactly why it is my favorite time of year but I think it started when I was a little girl. Remarkably, however, my first trick-or-treat experience was not the best. According to my Mom, who laughs heartily every time she recounts the story, I kept tripping on my costume and spilling the contents of my plastic pumpkin. She said she spent most the evening picking me off the ground and trying to recover my treats off peoples' lawns. Mom said I came home with more leaves than candy that year and, of course, *that* is her favorite part of the story! :D Another Halloween found me sick in bed with strep throat and although I had fever and was too sick to stand, somehow I just knew I would be fine to trick or treat. Nothing doing, Mom shut me down without a blink of her eye and I had to sit out that year -- Devastating! So see, I'm not sure how this love of Halloween was fostered? Maybe it was just that - missing a Halloween - that has made me celebrate Halloween enthusiastically and savor the joys of fall. I, do, however, have a year to make up for ;)

Ok, so on with the card - the image is Mo's "BOO." I adore it. It's the perfect kind of cute- spooky! It's colored with Copics and the pumpkin and window got a coat of Glossy Accents. The paper is DCWV cardstock (including the sentiment) and the flourishes are from Walmart.

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I would like to take a moment to say a special thanks to you, Donna, for being so wonderfully gracious and for your support of my blog!! You absolutely put a smile on my face and a skip in my step today and I am touched that someone so talented took the time to give me a shout out!

For those of you who may be stopping in from Two Peas or Scrapbook.com, if you haven't seen Donna's work yet, do yourself a favor and check out her blog, Popsicle Toes. I would venture to say, most of you probably already have her bookmarked but for those of you who may not know, she is an amazing crafter with genius ideas and her Cricut skills are of the super hero kind! What she can do at 1:45 am would take me years to accomplish :D ... Plus, she's a sweet and lovely lady.

A Lighted "Light My Life"!

When I saw this digital stamp, Light My Life, from Tiddly Inks, I kept thinking about it and how I wanted to light it up! At first, I thought a battery-operated tealight would be the best thing to use and I set out crafting around that idea. When it came time to throw the switch on the tealight and bask in the glow of my lighthouse, I was sorely disappointed! The tealight just wasn't bright enough for this little beacon!

*Then*

I woke up this morning with another idea!! I remembered I had these little battery-operated LED lights I bought and used for pin lights around a candy buffet I put together last year for a Halloween party. Even though the lights were tiny, they were super bright. It worked!

I printed the digital image three times - twice on Beckett cardstock ( I normally use Gina K Luxury cardstock but it is much thicker and harder to


**fussy-cut so the Beckett worked lovely) and once on a printable transparency. I colored and fussy-cut (**Donna, I got the term "fussy-cut" from you so I want to be sure to give you credit! :)

one image and cut out the windows. I colored the other image on Beckett cardstock but only cut out the windows --this one was my background so I cut around the image using SB Nestie curved rectangles
I layered the transparency between the cardstock images to create the look of clear glass in the lighthouse and windows in the house. I used chalk --powder blue-- to color the sky and I used Glossy Accents mixed with teal and turquoise Pearl Ex for the ocean water.

I placed a craft stick across the back of the card (to mount the light) and used another to create an easel stand. I secured these with a small amount of hot glue.

Ahhhh, finally, my lighthouse DOES Light My Life!!!

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Kim - I hope you are reading but I read your comment about wanting to know about how I made the paper high heels and where I got the template. I checked the link--Carlos N. Molina website - I put in my blog post and it looks like Mr. Molina is in the process of upgrading his website. Hopefully he will have it back up and running soon!!!! I was able to purchase the template and watch his tutorial as to how to use it, etc. I figure it's a good sign he's upgrading; I hope it means he'll have more templates and tutorials for more shoes ;) !!

Fashionista's Birthday Cake Topper

I love shoes! Stilettos, high heels, kitten heels, flats --all shapes and styles --doesn't matter, I'm there!
A co-worker of mine has the most adorable, gorgeous shoes and she is quite the fashionista. So, when I heard it was her birthday I knew what her cake topper was going to be! I made these amazing little paper high heels from a template created by the "Paper Genius," Carlos N. Molina.

For my heels, I chose to use Bazzill silver cardstock for the sole and Bazzill cardstock (grasscloth), blackbird, for the bottom of the shoe. Ok, so this is genius - to make the shoe easier to shape and also so it can hold its shape, Mr. Molina tapes 22 gage wire to the bottom layer of cardstock! Since my top was the Bazzill silver which is thinner than other Bazzill cardstock, when I would glued the layers together, the outline of the wire was visible so I decided to layer another piece of thin black cardstock (Best Occasions) under the silver. It worked beautifully!

The second small modification I made to the instructions was to use 1.5" (rather than 2") wired ribbon because the party pattern was damask print and I could not find any 2" damask wired ribbon! I used Prima paper flowers embellished with a bead center--the same red beads as in the heel. The final modification was to use larger beads and a hot glue gun to secure the heels. I also place a dot of hot glue on my stick-free mat and push the heel into it which created a small, flat edge to the heel. It was also slightly sticky so it helped the shoe stand up. The purse was cut from Bazzill cardstock (blackbird) using Cricut Expressions and the Tags, Bags, Boxes, & More cartridge. I lined the "flap" of the purse and the side pieces with the ribbon used for shoes --this is when Tacky Tape comes in really handy! The handle is wire with the same beads as the heel. I used Bazzill embossed cardstock (raven) for the background of the sentiment (cut out using a Nestibilities circle), "Happy Birthday" Sizzix Birthday Set #3 and I fussy cut it out and taped it to the embossed paper. Now since this little set was a cake topper (but also a little keepsake!) I didn't want the items placed directly into the frosting, so using a piece of plastic from the cake lid and a Styrofoam plate, I created a small platform. I cut the foam plate (using the Nestie circle again) and embossed it using the Cuttlebug Textile Texture embossing folder (it looked like damask to me!).

I really enjoyed making this little set and I will be making more of them after the party! I think they would be so precious for party favors for a bridal shower or any girly-girl party!

I think may post may be too picture heavy for my blog --I am still trying to figure out about posting layouts, etc. but I wanted to get as many angles as I could! I also need to figure out how to better arrange the photos...I have a feeling that means using the html feature and that makes me a little nervous :D...Someday, I will have better pics and a better layout!

Happy Birthday Jenna

My daughter's birthday is today! Here is her card ( I know - maybe it's a little young for her but what girl doesn't like roses and fairies in their favorite colors? And anyway, since she will always be my little girl, she understands. Right Jen? ;)

I used a rubber stamp by Faerie Song Art Stamps and her name is "Bryony." I purchased her from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design.
She is colored with Copics and her wings are coated with Smooch illuminate and star dust Stickles. I also stamped them twice and cut out a second pair so I could pop them up and give it a 3D effect. I cut out the image using Nestabilities Label 10. Jenna's favorite color is yellow, so I cut a 5X7 card from Bazzill Grasscloth cardstock, in African Daisy. I used a piece of printed paper from the DCWV Garden Party Stack, cut using Nestabilities curved rectangles as a matte for the image. I added flourishes, cut using my Cricut Expressions and the Home Decor cartridge.

The tiny yellow paper roses are by Recollections. The sentiment is a Sizzix embossing folder, Birthday set #3, and I used American Crafts pearlized paper then fussy-cut it out. The ribbon and rhinestones are from my stash.

I wanted to include the close-up of the image because I think it is really beautiful. Those eyes are so pretty (and I've colored them just a blue as Jenna's)! Such a sweet, sweet face.

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Jenna, on this day 22 years ago, I held you for the first time. I knew at that moment my life was forever changed --changed in a wonderful way. I have watched you grow into a beautiful young woman but the eyes of the part of my heart you claimed this day 22 years ago always sees you as that tiny, beautiful, perfect little pink bundle of joy. I want so many things for you; and I do remind myself constantly to be careful not to put upon what I want for you but rather to accept your choices and trust what you want and what makes you happy. After all, your happiness is all I ever wanted.

I love you, precious girl. I hope your day was wonderful.

Dreams Do Come True

This digital stamp, Dreams Do Come True, from A Day for Daisies, is another beautiful and delicate image by Tammy Thompson. I am in love with her work! She will be opening a new shop September 1, 2010, A Day for Daisies! I cannot wait!

I colored the image with copics and her glass slipper is coated with Glossy Accents (with a little star dust Stickles mixed in). I used pop dots to pop her up on the card. I created the gleam around the shoe by using a fireworks burst sticker, cutting it down to size and then mounting it on a scrap of transparency, and then gluing it to the back of the shoe. The card is an A7 Bazzill cardstock card and the printed cardstock is from the DCWV Luxury paper stack. The ribbon is American Crafts and the charm is from Janlynn "A Bead At A Time" line, see it here, but they are also available at A.C. Moore (that's where I bought mine). Finally, the sentiment is a sticker from a Disney's Cinderella clear sticker sheet.