Fall Card

Here's a quick card that uses VersaMark clear ink for the background grass and white craft ink for the large flowers. It's a quick technique that produces such a lovely effect that you can try with stamps you already have! Craft ink produces a dense stamped image and does require extra drying time, so if you can be patient, set your cards stamped with craft ink aside before tying ribbons or adding embellishments. If you're in a big hurry, use a heat embossing gun to speed the drying time....and I'm getting close to the BIG announcement of my next teaching endeavor --I'm literally working day and night to get everything ready for the November 1st debut, and I'll announce it right here on this blog next weekend!

FREE Halloween Download

I just put a FREE download on my MLO site that will let you create tags for all of your Halloween craft projects using various circle punches. The photo shows 3 out of the 5 projects we will be making in class tomorrow, and a 1" circle punch was used on the TRICK or TREAT saying (= FREE download) for the pixie stix project in the background. Click on my picture above to go to my MLO site to get your FREE download!

Quick and Easy

Here are two new cards suitable for the males in your life! They are quick and easy cards made from a variation on a Thanksgiving card that I demo'd in my last class. The formula is simple -- start with 4 rectangles that are 1 x 3" and adhere side-by-side on a base layer. (Hint: Trim the right-hand edge after adding the last rectangle.) Finish by adding additional background layers as desired. These cards are a great way to use up scraps -- and oh, how I hate to throw away perfectly beautiful paper scraps! I also like to have some cards on hand that don't have a specific saying on them. I could have used the top one today for a Bosses' Day card. We took my wonderful boss of 30 years out for lunch today -- and I completely forgot that we had this lunch planned for today soooooo I had no card to give him - oh, RATS! Well, I hope you have a terrific boss to take to lunch this week - and maybe you can use this design for your card!

Fall Happiness

My wonderful sister gave me the most fantastic present last week --- she cleaned out a bedroom and found tons of ribbon she knew that she would never use --- so, she gave it to me and I was in HEAVEN! There were several spools of ribbon with wider widths than I normally would use for card making, but I discovered that I could attach a length of that wide ribbon around 2 layers of cardstock (cut 1" longer than the width of the cardstock), add a brad along with some cording in the middle of the wide ribbon, smooth out any folds in the ribbon, attach each end with adhesive on the back of the cardstock, then finish by adding a saying. YAHOO! I love it when the light bulb goes off and it takes me in a whole new direction! (Simply open up the 2 flaps on the brad, attach the ribbon in the middle of the brad, criss-cross the flaps over to close it around the ribbon and attach the brad, then adhere each end of the ribbon on the back of the cardstock.) Thank you, Janie!

BTW - to make the front of this card, take 4 different but coordinated 3x5" sheets of paper, and stack all 4 sheets on top of each other. Turn the whole stack over and draw your 3 cut lines in the pattern you desire. Cut through all four layers at once, then separate each segment into 4 piles and reassemble back into a rectangle. Prior to adhering the segments to a black piece of cardstock for the background layer, the first segment will require a 1/8" trim along one side due to the 1/8" spacing between each segment.

The stamp set used for the "happy fall" is Seasonal Swirls by Stampendous. It's a set of 9 clear stamps that I recently purchased at Beverly's. You can view the complete set HERE. The "Thinking of You" on the inside of the card is from a Stampin' Up set called Bird on a Branch....and the leaf on the inside is from a retired Stampin' Up set called Botanicals.

Bargain Shopping Alert!

Yesterday, I was shopping with my coupons at Joann Fabrics, and low and behold, I found large spools of ribbon in the 2 for $5 bins near the registers in several wonderful colors!!!! I squealed with delight to myself - YIPPEE!! You can buy 100 yards of 3/8" luscious satin ribbon for $2.50! (A perfect size for card makers!) OMG - I nearly fainted, but managed to walk out with several colors. Don't you love a GREAT find like that?! Be sure to completely remove the blue tape by pulling back the cardboard side. It's very sticky and can damage the ribbon. (Obviously, the packaging was not designed by a crafter - hehe!)

The Perfect Hostess Gift for the Holidays

I mentioned THE CAKE WORKS below and they also sell pre-assembled gingerbread houses that they package with a supply of pre-made royal icing and a variety of treats to add to the houses. (Pre-orders are required.) It's one of my favorite hostess gifts to give during the Christmas holidays and it gives off a wonderful gingerbread fragrance - oh, the memories that aroma brings back! Here's a pic of a house my sister and I made -- yes, I finally bought a kit for myself -- and the two of us had a blast putting our creation together! We bought frosted mini shredded wheat cereal for our roof...and you won't believe it, but my sister-in-law kept this creation from 2006 and it still looks great!

Halloween Ghost Pretzels

Here's a fun idea for your little goblins this Halloween: Take white melting chocolate disks (I buy mine from The Cake Works on Bascom Avenue), melt them for one minute intervals in the microwave, then dip pretzel sticks in the chocolate and place on glossy sparkling paper cut slightly larger than the sticks, add edible eyes and bats (also from the Cake Works), put them in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes, and add bat stickers or punches. Once they come back to room temp, package the sticks in cellophane bags (also available at the Cake Works). Can you tell I love shopping at the Cake Works?! (BTW - they're closed on Mondays.) One year I made a zillion of these for my kids' school Halloween parties and they were a BIG hit!