We have a WINNER of blog hop $50 SU! gift certificate!!!

 

Happy Halloween!

 

First, I have to share this fun photo I got off of Pinterest. Of course the cat isn't real, but what a great photo opp!

 

 

We enjoyed some fun family bonding last night after dinner. Three of us were ready to start carving into our pumpkins, and my son wanted to do his homework. His dad and I talked him into postponing homework (he's an excellent student and I'd made an early dinner) - seriously? lol Our pumpkins are in the photo at the top of this post. My hubby, ever the artist, really worked knives and peelers and a zester to achieve his carving on the left. My carving is on the far right. Here's a photo of what I was shooting for:

 

 

I think it's cute, simple and pretty traditional. I kept my carving quick because I got the slimy job on picking pumpkin seeds out of the pumpkin innards to clean and roast them for a snack! I'll be doing that tonight. I did make my first apple pie of the fall yesterday. I had a 30-pound box of apples delivered to me a couple of days ago by a Lions Club member. I purchased the apples to support a summer camp for kids with diabetes. Yum!

 





 

Now for the WINNER of The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop and a $50 Stampin' Up! gift certificate...

 

 

Shannon Angel!

 

It was incredible to see how many entries into the drawing there were. Some of you had 13-15 entries each! (Shannon was one of those.) Amazing!!! Thanks to all of you who participated in my 13-week blog hop. I had a blast, and feel as though I've eeked every ounce of fun from Halloween 2012 as I could!

Check out my Halloween Fun class cards and treats

I can't believe Halloween is tomorrow! I am picking up some pumpkins to carve today (it's never too late), and will roast the pumpkin seeds. I've also got prepping and freezing apple pies on my list. I bought 30 pounds to support a camp for kids with diabetes and the big box arrived yesterday. Of course, Big Storm Sandy is still all over the news. I hope you're safe and warm and doing okay if you're in any of the states affected by Sandy.

 

I adore this little favor, made with the Two Tags die for the Big Shot. and Googly Ghouls. I CASE'd this from SU! demo Michelle Last. This one is holding a clear stamping block, but it's perfect for any kind of little boxed candy. We used Junior Mints at my class.

 

 

This card is all about the Howlstooth & Scaringbone dsp, Wicked Cool stamps and Jack of all Trades witch's hat. I used the 2" circle punch for the cauldron. Of course my gals had to make the cute bat that covers microwave popcorn, and the last card with Frankie, the witch and mummy was CASE'd.

 

Today is the last day of 13 weeks for The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop. Check back tomorrow to see the winner of the $50 Stampin' Up! gift certificate! And thanks for playing along!



Designer paper Christmas frame with coordinating card

 

Today is THE day to get all of your stamps at 15% off. Please contact me with your order as soon as you can. I'll be drawing from those who order to see who gets the hostess benefits!

 

Whoo hoo! It's finally my turn as a designer at Craft Project Central. My projects are shown above and they're the bonus project for October at Craft Project Central, complete with photo tutorial and step-by-step directions. To get access to the bonus project, just post the CPC blinkie on your blog, or subscribe to two or more months in a row, or refer your friends and when they subscribe, let Jacque know at CPC. Have a wonderful day!

Catching up with American Ink swaps and other cards

I'm playing catch-up with projects on my blog. Today, I've got some swaps and make and takes from our last American Ink gathering. I'll be adding Halloween and Christmas projects in another couple of days. These are not all of the swaps and make & takes... but most of them! Our next American Ink gathering is Saturday, November 10, at my studio.

 

Brandy's swap

Mary Ann make and take

 

Mary Ann's swap

Puddin's make and take


 

Tori's swap

 

Val's swap

 

Don't forget that tomorrow, Monday, October 29, Stampin' Up! stamps will be 15% off!!! This includes single stamps, sets, cookie press stamps, personalized stamps and background stamps. You can place your order via http://therubberroom.stampinup.net as of Midnight tonight, or email/text me with your order and we'll work out the details.

Coupon organizer and great Stampin' Up! specials

 

I've been clipping coupons for awhile now. Every little bit saved helps! It can be hard to keep the expiration dates and items straight. This project is a folder with a notepad and pockets for coupons and a grocery list. This fun project comes to you designed by Niki! Being organized can save you time and money. If you shop with a grocery list you are more likely to stay on track and on budget. And, it doesn’t hurt to be stylish while doing so.  You’ll also make some cute butterfly paper clips and a matching pen. This project also makes for a quick and easy class or club project as well. To get the instructions for Niki’s project, just subscribe to October. And please leave Niki a comment on her project! 

 

Now for a terrific Stampin' Up! special on Monday, October 29

 

Big things are happening on Monday, October 29 that you will not want to miss!

1. For 24 hours only, almost every stamp we sell will be reduced 15 percent! We're calling this the Sell-A-Stamp Spooktacular, and the goal is to sell more stamps in a single day than ever before. (More single stamps are available for purchase - click here and here to see the latest offerings, in addition to being able to the single stamps from Seasonal Sayings, Perfectly Penned, and Word Play.)
2. Our weeklong celebration of Digital Scrapbooking Day begins, and you can get FREE downloads and 50 percent off digital kits! Check out MyDigitalStudio.net for details.

 

Clearance Rack - Discounted items available only while supplies last. Order online here.

 

Finally, don't forget the FREE Festive Paper-Piercing pack when you order holiday ornament stamps with or without the coordinating framelits and Candlelight Christmas dsp. This special ends October 31. Email me at ericandterry@comcast.net for more information or to order!

 

Heart of Christmas with framelits for fun "strip" card

I was surfing blogs several weeks ago and came across Michelle Last's, a Stampin' Up! demonstrator in the United Kingdom. I loved a card she made using the Holiday Ornaments Framelits and strips of Snow Festival dsp. I used the same elements she did - only different - for my club members this month. You can see Michelle's card here. Just as with the Halloween card that used strips of dsp with the Herringbone Technique a few days back, this card makes great use of dsp scraps. The hardest part of the card was thoroughly cleaning the Heart of Christmas stamp so no "shadow" would show since I used a Cherry Cobbler marker to ink up the top half of the sentiment, cleaned it, and then inked up the bottom of the sentiment.

As always, you may purchase any of the items used to make this card through my Online Store at http://therubberroom.stampinup.net. And don't forget the Christmas Special!

Stamps: Heart of Christmas;
Ink: Cherry Cobbler marker;
Paper: Whisper White and Brushed Gold card stocks, and Snow Festival dsp;
Accessories: Holiday Ornaments Framelits, 1/8" Baja Breeze taffeta ribbon, Mini Glue Dots, Big Shot.

Wonderfall thank-you card

Club members made this lovely autumn Summer Starfruit card this month. It uses the Wonderfall stamp set in the Holiday Catalog along with the Autumn Leaves die. It uses a Top Note cut from Comfort Cafe dsp, a Cajun Craze Apothecary Accent Framelit, a Brushed Bronze button (love these!) with 1/8" taffeta. The sentiment is from Blooming with Kindness. I opted for a simple thank-you card because most people don't send Thanksgiving cards (at least in my groups).

Happy Stampin'!

Lucky 13th week of pumpkin blog hop & $50 gift certificate

 

This is it! The 13th and final week culminating in Halloween on October 31. When you add your project (card, scrapbook page or 3d item) you'll automatically be entered into a drawing on Oct. 31 for a $50 Stampin' Up! gift certificate from me. If you don't already have my badge (shown below) on your blog, add it this week because that gets you an additional ticket in the drawing.

 

 

 

I chose the single stamp Frightening Feline for this week's card. I stamped the cat in Basic Gray ink, then used the color spritzer to add specks of Tangerine Tango. I love the glimmer brad in the middle of the natural wood button - I just inserted the legs of the brad into two of the button's four holes to hold it tight. The button and banner - which uses a sentiment from Delightful Dozen - are adhered with dimensionals.

 

 

I used this sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday Challenge #89. That challenge started Tuesday (if it wasn't obvious by the name of the blog!). *smile*

 

Just add your Halloween creation to the blog hop, along with the code near the bottom of each post. When you add the code to your blog while you are in the edit HTML mode, your readers can play along, leave comments, and view the samples right from YOUR blog!

I'm in the Top 3 at Try Stampin' on Tuesday!

 

Remember this card? You can find the original post here. Well, it was chosen as one of Try Stampin' on Tuesday's Top 3 Picks on October 17! I'm honored and thrilled to have been chosen. Thank you ladies!

 

 

Try Stampin' on Tuesday always has great sketches and inspiration provided by the designers there. You should try out a sketch challenge!

I'm a Top Pick for Technostamper challenge!

Whoo hoo! I'm one of Mary Jo's Top 3 Picks at Technostamper for this Halloween card:

You can see the whole post here. It was for The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop, which is starting it's last (13th) week! Then I'll be giving away a $50 Stampin' Up! gift certificate. All you have to do is play along... and you get an extra ticket for displaying my Great Pumpkin Blog Hop badge (on the sidebar).

Mary Jo offers a nice and simple sketch every Monday at the link above. Just use her layout for your card (any theme and colors) and link it to her blog by Sunday. Thanks Mary Jo!

I'm done posting for today now. I think three posts is enough. Have a wonderful day. I'll be back tomorrow with my last blog hop post of the year.

I've started a NEW blog just for big craft shows and festivals

 

My best bud, Kim, and I have created our own business name and a blog to go with it just for big craft shows. We're calling ourselves B2 Crafty Gals (for our last names - Blais and Becker). We use Stampin' Up! product to create handmade items. Our first show was this past week - the 5-day Tacoma Holiday Food & Gift Fair. It was the longest show we've ever done, and we learned a lot!

 

 

This show is one of the biggest on the West Coast. There are more than 630 vendors (including one of my American Ink team members - Cheryl!) and 40,000 people in attendance.





Here's a look inside our 10' x 10' booth. We received TONS of compliments. In fact, we were joking that if we had a dollar for everyone who said how beautiful it looked, we'd be rolling in the dough! We offered retired SU! product, along with items made with SU! product - ribbon wreaths, purses, totes, home decor items, tags, a stamp and ink spot tag kit, card kits, quilter kits, scrapbook albums, and more!

 

I think the coolest part of our display was this ladder. Kim made shelves for it and we sold a lot of product off of this! It was a great focal point and it holds a lot. We had quilter kits, holiday paper ornaments, fabric, washer necklaces, home decor, purses, stamps, covered notebooks, and more on this ladder at any one time.

It was great visiting with Cheryl and her grandma, Sonja. Kim and I were sending people to Cheryl and vice-versa. Cheryl not only recruited, but got 57 people signed up for holiday ornaments classes! How cool is that? She offered a lot of really cute items with candy and things like cocoa and apple cider packets, tea bag holders, snowman soup, decorated Tic Tac treats, and more.

This photo shows an old window frame of Kim's covered with chicken wire. It makes a fun display for things like these purses and ornaments. Our booth was all shabby-chic/vintage furniture and suitcases Kim and I own. It really stands out among the regular 8-foot tables many vendors use. Even though we made money, we decided we probably wouldn't be doing this show again without a few changes. It was a lot of work, and time away from our families.

Kim in our Tacoma Holiday Food & Gift Festival booth - Day 1

That said, we may be doing A Victorian Country Christmas at the Puyallup Fairgrounds Nov. 28 - Dec. 2. The days are longer (10-9), but we'd split them up between us and a few of our downline, and we plan to share a large corner booth with a couple of new vendor friends we met this past week. I'll keep you posted. :-)

If you're interested in keeping up with us and our bigger craft shows, please bookmark http://B2CraftyGals.blogspot.com and visit us from time to time! In the meantime, have a wonderful week!

Latest Craft Central Project: Set your table with Comfort Cafe

This project has everything from the invitation to the centerpiece you need for a special dinner occasion! The only thing left to your imagination is the menu. Note the beautiful candle holder, which features Comfort Cafe designer fabric. Your guests are sure to be impressed with your craftiness upon seeing this beautiful ensemble designed by Regina. To get the instructions for Regina’s project, just subscribe to Craft Project Central for October. And if you have a minute, please leave Regina a comment on her project.

Whoo hoo! I'm a guest blogger at Pink Paper Bakery

Can you see it? She's not into him. She'd rather watch her pet spider than catch Frankie's dance moves... which are obviously meant to impress. Okay, maybe it's all in my mind. I'm easily entertained! ha ha I love the stamps in the Googly Ghouls stamp set. And when Deena at Pink Paper Bakery asked me to be a Guest Blogger today, I was thrilled!

My jumping off point was this sketch challenge #145 at Pals Paper Arts. The challenge is open till October 25 (noon, CST).

 

I started with an Old Olive card, then added a layer of Pretty in Pink card stock that I double embossed. I inked up the top inside of the Lacy Brocade embossing folder with VersaMark Ink, ran it through the Big Shot, then added clear embossing powder, tapping off the excess and heating it. Here's a close-up:

 

 

I love that you get two shades of the same color AND that it looks wet in the depressions. From there, I added a piece of Night of Navy card stock that I cut to look like a banner after embossing it with the Square Lattice folder. Frankie and his date were stamped in Night of Navy, colored with Old Olive, with highlights of Pretty in Pink (a combo from my Color Coach!). I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter with a 2-way glue pen to the witch's buttons and hat buckle after outlining the duo in Sahara Sand.

 

I hope you like it! It's been great fun for me seeing all of the creative projects at the Pink Paper Bakery. Thanks again, Deena, for inviting me to take part in your fabulous blog!

 

 

 

Stamps: Googly Ghouls, Mixed Medley (hostess);

Ink: Night of Navy, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, VersaMark Ink, Regal Rose (for "Treats for Boo" saying), Sahara Sand (to outline images);

Paper: Whisper White (3-1/4" x 2-1/4" plus scrap for 3/4" circle), Pretty in Pink (3-1/2" x 5-1/2" and 2-5/8" x 3-5/8"), Night of Navy (3" x 5"), and Old Olive card stock (5-1/2" x 8-1/2" and 2-7/16" x 3-7/16");

Accessories: 3/4" circle punch, Lacy Brocade and Square Lattice embossing folders, Big Shot, heat tool, clear embossing powder, Stampin' Dimensionals.



Autumn card set with card holder

 

Celebrate fall by making this autumn-inspired card set. The beautiful colors also make for a great set of masculine cards. The set includes eight cards, eight stamped envelopes, and a coordinating card holder. This project is a great gift and also makes a great fall card class! This project was designed by Christy. To get the instructions for Christy’s project, just subscribe to October at Craft Project Central.  And if you have a minute, please leave Christy a comment on her project!

Toxic Treats label framelit card with Herringbone technique

My club members made this beautiful Halloween card this month. It uses the stamp set Toxic Treats, one of my favorites! I CASE'd it from my blogging friend Elizabeth. It starts with a Pumpkin Pie card base that I embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper folder, then I used strips of Howlstooth & Scaringbone dsp on Very Vanilla card stock to create a herringbone pattern that is fabulous because it shows so many colors and patterns when run through the label framelit. The black label framelit was also embossed, and the button and 1/8" taffeta match the card.

I love this technique because it makes great use of dsp scraps! We all have those. There are still a few days left to enter your Halloween project in The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop. You can find that post below. Have a wonderful day!

Fall basket and card; Day 1 of holiday food and gift festival

Fall is here and apples are everywhere! Make this woven basket for those yummy apple treats everyone loves this time of year! Perfect for a small party treat or a fun class project! This fun little Fall project comes to you designed by Monika! To get the instructions for Monika’s project, subscribe to October at Craft Project Central.  And if you have a chance, please visit Monika's blog and leave her a nice comment.

 

 

I wanted to share a few photos from Day 1 of our holiday festival yesterday. We have a 10' x 10' booth in the Exhibition Hall (next to the Tacoma Dome).

 

 

This suitcase works well for holding lots of clear stamps and Holiday Catalogs. My little bat-covered microwave popcorn was popular!

 

 

My snowpeople! It's a family of three that sits on your front porch. I love them!

 

 

Hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Boo! It's Week 12 of The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop

My heart is still in Halloween, but I'm physically at the Tacoma Holiday Food & Gift Festival! I hope if you live close enough, you'll come visit Kim and I in our booth in the Exposition Hall. You can print off a coupon to save a buck on admission. We've made all kinds of fun things using Stampin' Up! product at this first-for-us festival.

I was looking through my designer series paper today and noticed the big Summer Starfruit polka-dot pattern in the Patio Party dsp pack. I thought that color would look good for Halloween - especially when I turned to my Color Coach and saw Elegant Eggplant as one of the Creative Combinations.

 

So I grabbed my Googly Ghouls stamp set and inked it in eggplant. Then I went over most of the mummy's bandages with a white gel pen. I embossed the "Boo" and tried to make it look like it was trailing off, but I didn't want all of the "o's" stamped because it would've made my design off-center. :-)

I embossed the vertical eggplant piece with the spider web, then sponged it with Whisper White Craft ink, as well as all around the card. I'm pretty happy with it.

 

You can see I used Mary Jo's sketch at Technostamper. I love her sketches, and use them as jumping off points for cards I use in classes, for my clubs, etc. This sketch just went up Monday, so you have till Sunday to add your own creation!

 

Here we are on Week 12 of The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop! Just add your Halloween creation to the blog hop, along with the code near the bottom of each post. When you add the code to your blog while you are in the edit HTML mode, your readers can play along, leave comments, and view the samples right from YOUR blog!

At the end of 13 weeks, I will give one person a $50 Stampin' Up! gift certificate! The more times you enter the blog hop, the better your chances of taking home the Grand Prize. You also get a ticket just for displaying The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop badge on your blog. Whoo hoo!