The night HE came home...

I love scary movies during October, but I always reserve my favorite, HALLOWEEN, for the evening of October 31st. Somehow these La Roux lyrics merged in my head with Michael Myers at one point and I felt the need to edit a photo in Halloween's honor, ha. :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, one and all!

halloweenies

i am busy, busy, busy with work for the craft fair. why is it that you can be bursting with creativity 364 days of the year, until you need to actually get something completed? ha.

at any rate, i'll post a lot at some point; i didn't want to look like i disappeared. evidently i'm too busy to even have proper punctuation, which is something i firmly believe in!

ta ta for now

Christmas Tag How-To

Before I go to work today, here is a HOW I DID IT for these Christmas tags :) The only thing missing from them is a hole-punch and some ribbon at the top.

So the ornament shapes themselves I cut at Archiver's crop room, using assorted cardstocks I bought there.

I started out by making die cuts of this Pine Tree from the My Community, at 1 1/2 in. and the blackout feature.

Next, I arranged them on the Swiss Dots Embossing folder and ran them through the Cuttlebug.

Once all dotted up, I did a light brushing over Peeled Paint Distress ink over the dots. It's just barely enough color --

So I spritzed them with a mini mister (just water) to let the ink wick out and give a bit more color.

I actually used a glue stick to adhere the die cuts, and then added a puffy gift stickers (archiver's hot spot) under each tree.

Since I've managed to lose my TO/FROM stamp (grr..), I just used my type letters to spell the words out.

close-up of embossed tree.

hurray!

I officially signed up for the craft fair yesterday. I'M SO EXCITED!

xoxo

I am in the midst of some possibly exciting news...

I may be participating in my first craft fair next month! It's coming up soon, so we'll have to see if I can get enough goodies completed in time... I have wanted to participate in this sort of thing for years, and have been encouraged - by at least one person...;) - to do so. My gosh, even if I only sold one thing, knowing that someone liked what I did well enough to want to pay money for it? That's pretty exciting stuff!

Tonight I created several things, my favorite of which is this happy, happy, happy birthday card.

- die cuts from cricut cartridge Home Accents (2 1/4 & 1 1/4 in.), white CS

- paint dabbers (lettuce & purple twilight)

- ink blended background (tumbled glass & wild honey)

- stamped images (int. and ext.) done in tumbled glass

- stickles on tips of die cuts (patina & fruit punch)

I've got loads more completed but they'll have to wait. :)

xoxo

A cricut, a cuttlebug, and tim holtz walk into a bar...

So, couple of things...

Made this card for Grandma, for her birthday which was yesterday. I was really excited to use lots of new things. I challenged myself to explore with my Cricut, because I haven't used it much since I purchased it (over 1 1/2 yrs. ago)...to be honest, the machine sort of intimidates me. At least it has up until now. I'm getting more comfortable. :) I cut out some balloons from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge, before inking and stickling them. (Yes, I just made stickling a verb...)

I also was stoked to use the cuttlebug for some texture and my very first cuttlebug die cut. The die cut I did, is one by Tim Holtz. They're called Alterations, and I absolutely love them - however, they are intended for Sizzix machines. Through my repetitive watching of THIS Youtube video, I was convinced to spring for one, as she very efficiently proves that they are in fact compatible with the cuttlebug. So the other night I got the Baroque die cut. I cut one to add to this card, after inking it and embossing it with Swiss Dots.

Distress Inked + stickles

Swiss Dots

So when I first cut a balloon, I had it on the wrong size dial, which resulted in this teeny tiny balloon. Always trying to use it all up, I was excited when I realized I had the perfect use for the little mistake. A touch of red sharpie and voila! :)

So I'm finally getting to explore a little bit with the T.H. Compendium of Curiosities. First up, the Shabby Chic technique:

I was thrilled with how this technique turned out. This is just a plain grunge heart (mixed minis set). The paint dabbers I used were sunset orange and espresso. *TIP: rather than using the actual dabber foam top, i dabbed it on and then used my finger to spread it all around. a much smoother look.*

Next up, 2 techniques layered in one. The background coloring is the Wrinkle Free Distress, and I am actually blanking on the name of the other technique. I do know that it didn't work the best for me. It had to do with Perfect Pearls over a distress stamped image, and then misting water so that the ink would wick out from beneath the powder. Well, my ink ran. But I'm ok with the finished product:

^ prisma glitter over stamped image

Finally, I did some experimenting with my mini misters. I have only made one concoction so far, but as I was warned, I am addicted. I just mixed some bronze p.p. with a full tube of water. I spritzed it over this ornament tag, and also over this imitation grunge flower I made.

^ close-up showing mini mister detail! :)

As a P.S., that imitation flower was made using the cricut (george & basic shapes) on 'shadow blackout' at 2 1/2 inches. I used Scattered Straw distress ink, Golden Rod stickles, and a spritz of my DIY mixture. Gave it to my mom as a Get Well flower - she and I are both peuny!

xoxo

Brrrrrr

Well, fall has certainly arrived with a bang, hasn't it? I'm pretty sure it was actually 90 degrees less than 2 weeks ago..and now it's in the 40s. I look forward to fall more than any other season, but this is not a welcome change! Blah! This is mostly probably because it made me sick immediately. I literally slept all day yesterday, having to cancel much-anticipated orchard plans and night of babysitting I had been looking forward to - I was going to teach her to make Tim Holtz paper flowers!

So, after much research and working extra hours, I have made a new addition to my scrapbooking family - the Cuttlebug. I have been looking into the product for awhile - the embossing aspect is what really drew my interest because I do already have my Cricut. I love the Tim Holtz Alteration Dies and Texture Fades, and it seems from what I've read that they're all compatible with the Cuttlebug. So with the assistance of Hobby Lobby's 40% off, these guys made their way into my home:

- Cuttlebug :)

- Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

- Tim Holtz Texture Fades in Burlap and Swirls

I haven't gotten a chance to mess around with it much because I've been confined to bed. BUT, I tested out each design and they're really fun. Once I'm out of my little haze I will add some photos. :)

xoxo