Going Batty Trying to Finish Halloween Goodies

Happy Halloween, everyone!
I bought these mini Play-Doh containers from Costco in early September, but I didn't start decorating them until 11 PM last night. Ugh! Why do I do that to myself? I love the little treat bags for these Play-Doh containers that Amy Rsavy made, but I knew I didn't have time to make them.

I needed 33 of them this morning for my son's Halloween party. The morning and afternoon Kindergarten classes were combined for the early schedule day. There was no stamping involved, just basic black and pumpkin pie cardstock, 2 Martha Stewart punches and the SU scallop circle punch. Add some Tombo glue and I was done in less than an hour!

I also volunteered to make 3 dozen cupcakes. I'm glad this is all done. I'm tired. It's getting dark here. I better head downstairs and get Kalino ready to head out the door.

Mr. G, the Principal (aka The Tin Man), and his staff were dressed as Wizard of Oz characters. They looked fantastic! Kalino is Iron Man. We bought him a costume and then modified it. I had to make the gloves a lot smaller. I added a full zipper on the back because the tiny velcro circles weren't holding the costume closed. I cut into the chest area to add a small tap light. His mask, chest light, and palm all light up thanks to my husband's techie skills. He also has an air canister attached to his shorts inside the costume. If Kalino squeezes the trigger, it releases air from the tube on his hand. The final picture shows how the costume looks at night.

So Kind

It's one of our first rainy days of the Fall season...it was hard to get a good picture of this card. The colors today come from Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #28. The colors this time are:
Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Sage Shadow, Whisper White

I've got to run...their are Halloween cupcakes to frost, mini Play-doh cans to decorate, and sewing on a store-bought costume (I'll explain later) to finish up. Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients

Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Priceless, Inkadinkado set from Costco

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Sage Shadow, Pumpkin Pie DSP, white (JudiKins)

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, VersaMark, ColorBox Frost White

Other: white embossing powder, clear embossing powder, Sage Shadow ribbon, mini pearls (Michael's), dimensionals, corner rounder, Martha Stewart circle cutter

I Finally Tried Out Copics Today!

I attended the San Jose Rubber Stamp Convention today. I actually forgot that today was Rubberama (not called that anymore...see the end of my post for an embarrassing story). For the last few years it's been held in a location that is less than 10 minutes from my house! I didn't get there until 2 PM, but I still had a good time.

It would've been a good chance to meet those of you who live in this area. I didn't think of organizing that until I was driving over. Duh!

I finally tried out Copics today! The make-n-take table at the Stamp on Over booth was this large tag with a Tilda stamp. Irina teaches at Stamp on Over in Sunnyvale. I had fun using Copics. Thanks, Irina!

My Most Embarrassing Use of a Work Computer for Non Work Purposes
Several years ago I was at work. I knew the stamping convention was coming up, but I wasn't sure of the exact dates. Back then, the show was called Rubberama. Since I can remember, it's always been put together by A Stamp in the Hand. Instead of going to their company's website, I assumed the URL was rubberama.com. Very bad assumption! As soon as I typed that, a Pandora's box of bad porn pictures kept popping up on my screen. Luckily, I had my own office. I kept cancelling the windows, but new ones kept popping up. I was sweating. I closed my door and tried killing the window from the Task Manager. Nothing seemed to work. I had to physically turn off my PC. Oh my! When I turned the PC back on, it was back to normal. Whew!

Final Voting Open for Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge

The voting is now open for the final week of the Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge on Theresa's blog. Today and tomorrow (until 7 PM CST on Sunday*) you can vote for my entry on her blog by adding a comment to the following blog entry.

Thanks!
Anthonette

* Thanks to Kristina Werner for pointing out this time conversion website. For readers outside of Theresa's timezone in the USA, select October 26, 2008 and 7:00 PM. Select USA - Minnesota - St. Paul (Theresa's timezone) for the first location. Then, put in your location/time zone and press Convert time.

Muchas Gracias, Burberry

I'm glad it's Friday! It was a busier than normal week. I volunteered several days at our school's book fair. This is week 12 (the last week) of Theresa's Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge. This week's handbag was the Mini Warrior by Burberry.

I wasn't familiar with Burberry. I'll all knew about Burberry is that it's expensive. This purse retails for $1600! Looking at the Neiman Marcus website, it was clear to see that Burberry uses a very distinct plaid pattern. That was definitely my inspiration this week. I knew it would be hard to recreate, so I did the same trick of creating my own cardstock that I did last week. I found this purse. I saved the picture on my computer. Using Picasa, I cropped a good deal of the plaid design and printed it on cream-colored cardstock. I used a paper punch to punch out the tiny squares.

I used my oval Coluzzle to create an oval shaped card. I trimmed the bottom of the oval off to create a flat bottom.

The voting for this challenge will start tomorrow morning and go through Sunday evening on Theresa's blog. Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients

Stamps: Flores Llamativas

Paper: Crimson paper (Only the Best Los Gatos), cream (CA Paper Goods)

Ink: VersaMark

Other: silver embossing powder (PSX), Making Memories silver eyelets, Sakura silver gel pen, 5/8" square punch, 1 3/8" square punch, Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon (SU), corner rounder, silver cording

Purseonally Thank You

Time again for Kristina's Color Inspiration (we're already at #27).











She let us choose a red or a pink that we like and any other colors. I choose Riding Hood Red and I added Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Kiwi Kiss, and Kraft.

My Stampin' Up demo, Peggy, gave me these little purse stamps recently. I was itching to use them. The dimensions for this card are 6 inches by 3 inches.

Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Purseonally is from A Little Love (SU retired), Purses (SU, thanks, Peggy!), All Holidays
Paper: Kraft confetti (CA Paper Goods), So Saffron, Riding Hood Red DSP, white
Ink: Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Close to Cocoa
Other: Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon, scallop edge punch, dimensionals, mini rhinestones (Michael's), mini half pearl (Target $ Spot)

Thank You - Breakfast at Tiffany's

I tried to post this last night, but the photo I took downstairs in my studio didn't show the details well enough. I like photos taken with natural lighting.

This was week 2 of the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. The movie this week was Sankari's favorite, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

On Saturday afternoon, I downloaded the movie from Amazon onto my TiVo box. Pretty good deal for $2.99. I had seen most of the movie before, but it was a long time ago. It was fun to watch it again. Even Kalino enjoyed watching parts of the movie. He was laughing at Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi. I've been humming "Moon River" ever since. I was inspired by Holly's clothes and jewelry. I loved the opening scene too. I also had to add some Tiffany blue on my card. I love how everything from her hair to her wardrobe could be worn today and it doesn't look out of style.

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Priceless
Paper: Basic Black, cream, black DSP (Making Memories 5th Avenue Diecut Stack)
Ink: Memories Black, VersaMark
Other: chipboard (Target $ Spot), pearl ribbon (Michael's), rhinestones (Michael's), Tombo glue, dimensionals, clear embossing powder, flower (Prima), half pearl (Target $ Spot)

Belated Mini Pocket Card

My friend Rebecca's birthday was on Saturday. I didn't remember until Sunday...too late to mail her a card. I hate when that happens. Today I mailed her this belated mini pocket birthday card (hopefully, she won't see my blog before the card arrives).

When I saw this Jennifer McGuire Hero Arts video a few months a go, I knew I wanted to try it out.

The final size is 4.25 inches x 4.25 inches.

Pocket Card Ingredients
Stamps: Priceless, All Holidays
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Spring Silhouettes DSP, white
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky
Other: Making Memories eyelet, foam tape, SU Priceless brass stencil, corner rounder, paper piercer, 3/4" circle punch, gold cording, ribbon (Michael's), flowers (thanks, Jenn), gold rhinestones (Michael's), Zots

Thank You - Beate's WSC62

I used the colors from Kristina's last color inspiration challenge and the sketch from Beate's Weekend Sketch #62 to complete this card. I loved this sketch! It's late, so I'll be brief. Thanks for looking.

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Paper: Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Rose Red, Bashful Blue DSP, white
Ink: Rose Red, Bashful Blue, ColorBox Frost White
Other: Wild Wasabi ribbon, white embossing powder, dimensionals, Making Memories rhinestone brad, corner rounder, 3/4" circle punch, 1 1/16" circle punch, 2" circle punch, Martha Stewart circle cutter

Week 11 Voting Open for Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge

The voting is now open for week 11 of the Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge on Theresa's blog. Today and tomorrow (until 7 PM CST on Sunday*) you can vote for my entry on her blog by adding a comment to the following blog entry. Even though there is only 1 more challenge after this one, you should still enter. Theresa has great blog candy each week. It's challenging, but fun!
Thanks, Anthonette

* Thanks to Kristina Werner for pointing out this time conversion website. For readers outside of Theresa's timezone in the USA, select October 19, 2008 and 7:00 PM. Select USA - Minnesota - St. Paul (Theresa's timezone) for the first location. Then, put in your location/time zone and press Convert time.

Sinceramente Gracias

We are down to the home stretch for Theresa's Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge. This is week 11 of 12. This week's bag is the Kate Spade Oaxaca Reyna Raffia Tote.

I barely started this card at 6 PM this evening! I volunteered at my son's school most of the day. Talk about cutting it close! I liked textured cardstock, so I choose to stamp and emboss my images on textured Tangerine Tango. I only had one bird, but I wanted a mirror image. I stamped the bird onto my Pivot Palette and then placed the cardstock on top. I used a brayer to transfer the mirror image to my cardstock. Everything was embossed with clear embossing powder. I also just rubbed VersaMark onto cardstock and embossed a large area. I cut some of the vines out by hand and some of the leaves instead of only using the small leaf stamp in the Vive con Proposito set.

The hardest part of this card was figuring out how to get the woven raffia look. I tried to find digital scrapping sources for this, but I couldn't. I got the bright idea to use the image from the Nordstrom website. They always show the back side of their products. Yes! They had the back of this handbag. I saved the image to my computer and then enlarged it and printed it out on cardstock. I like how it came out.

The voting will start tomorrow morning and go through Sunday evening on Theresa's blog. Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients

Stamps: bird (Inkadinkado - bought in a large pack of stamps from Costco), Vive con Proposito, Tarjetas Con Bordes Festoneados

Paper: Textured and regular Tangerine Tango, I downloaded the back picture of the handbag and enlarged it and printed it out on cream colored cardstock

Ink: VersaMark

Other: Clear embossing powder, Pivot Palette (Alextamping), Tombo glue, dimensionals, silver mini beads (Michael's)

You're On My Mind

Here's my weekly entry for Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #26. The colors this week are:
Rose Red, Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, and Whisper White

As you know, this month is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. I made this card for my Aunt Christine in New Mexico. She was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer over 2 years ago called

Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC). When it is diagnosed, it is usually already considered Stage 4 cancer. I bring this to your attention, since unless you have a family member with IBC, you probably never heard of it. It gets easily misdiagnosed, since it can look like a skin irritation. My Aunt was lucky, in my small hometown, the doctor immediately suspected it was IBC and referred her to an oncologist in Santa Fe.

According to the Susan G. Komen Foundation "symptoms instead may include redness, swelling, or skin inflammations. Further complicating diagnosis, the disease often cannot be detected via a mammogram or ultrasound, like other breast cancers, and it is very aggressive."

My Aunt had both breasts removed almost 2 years ago. She's had more rounds of chemo and radiation than I could count, yet through it all, she's been very positive. She's been able to continue to work. Amazingly, she doesn't get very sick from chemo.

Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, swirl (Inque Boutique)
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, So Saffron DSP, white
Ink: Wild Wasabi, VersaMark
Other: Felt Fusion, SU button, paper crimper, scallop border punch, clear embossing powder, dimensionals, corner rounder, 3/4" circle punch

For You "Pride & Prejudice"

I've admired Brooke and Sankari's work when I saw it appear in response to Krisina's Color Inspiration challenges. When they started their own challenge a few days ago, I knew I had to jump in. They started the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. A long time ago, I noticed on the project ingredients, Sankari would list what movie she watched while creating a particular project. I noticed Brooke doing the same thing.

Their first challenge was to create a project inspired by "Pride & Prejudice." I have a computer in my studio, but not a TV. I can watch shows from our TiVo box on my computer because we have a SlingBox...cool device.

Sankari gave YouTube links to several "Pride & Prejudice" clips. I was hooked. I read the book in high school and saw the 1995 BBC version of the movie years ago, but I didn't see the Keira Knightly movie. Did you know you can watch the entire 1995 version on YouTube (it's 36 mini files and no commercials)? Since Saturday, I watched the entire series all over again! Girls, you created an addict! I'm almost speaking in a British accent! Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle are the perfect Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. Did you know Jennifer Ehle was born in North Carolina?

Anyway on to the card and envelope... I had some old sealing wax medallions, so I melted one to seal the envelope and pressed a rose stamp onto it. That's the little blob you see.

The card was inspired by the muted colors they tended to wear and the vintage floral patterns in their decor. I noticed a lot of creams and a few pops of color.

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Fresh Cuts, Watercolor Minis (retired)
Paper: cream colored parchment, DSP & flower (DaisyD's Spring Blossoms), envelope (Nature's Paper)
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Brilliance Gold
Other: button (SU), River Rock double stitched ribbon, twine, scallop edge punch, dimensionals, wax seal (JudiKins)
Movie watched: "Pride & Prejudice" BBC version

Week 10 Voting Open for Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge

The voting is now open for week 10 of the Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge on Theresa's blog. Today and tomorrow (until 7 PM CST on Sunday*) you can vote for my entry on her blog by adding a comment to the following blog entry. I would also like to encourage all of you to enter the competition next week. At most, there has been 3 entries. Theresa has great blog candy each week, plus there is a larger prize at the end of the 12 weeks. It's challenging, but fun! Thanks, Anthonette

* Thanks to Kristina Werner for pointing out this time conversion website. For readers outside of Theresa's timezone in the USA, select October 12, 2008 and 7:00 PM. Select USA - Minnesota - St. Paul (Theresa's timezone) for the first location. Then, put in your location/time zone and press Convert time.

Altered Starbucks Gift Card Holder

Recently, you'll notice I'm a bit obsessed with making gift card holders. Just in the last 2 weeks, I've posted a few entries: here and here.

When Theresa posted this Elaine Turner Tote for week 10 of the Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge, I loved the enormous flowers. I didn't want to do a card this week, but I couldn't decide what I wanted to create.

I went to Costco on Wednesday (the same day Theresa posted this challenge). Costco is now selling packs of Starbucks gift cards. I bought some and loved the nice vanilla cardstock gift card holder they came in. The holder also had some velvety texture on them. I took apart the gift card holder and traced it onto some designer paper...not a good idea. The paper I used was not thick enough for the project. When I was thinking about Theresa's challenge, it came to me that the gift card holder was vanilla colored...just like the inspiration handbag. That's when I realized I wanted to alter the gift card holder.

I started by taking a large dinner plate and using it as a template to cut a nice curve off the top. I used the SU Die-cut Blooms as a template to cut flowers in other colors. I used various circle punches and also cut circles by hand to get the effect I wanted.

The following collage shows the gift card AFTER and BEFORE I did anything to it. Thanks for looking! Voting starts tomorrow morning on Theresa's blog. Have a good weekend.

Gift Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Fresh Cuts

Paper: Basic black, Green Galore (I brayered the ink onto cardstock, since I didn't have any Green Galore), So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Soft Sky, black glossy, fushia, Starbucks gift card holder

Ink: ColorBox Frost White

Other: White embossing powder, tan ribbon (blog candy from Theresa), black/white ribbon (Michael's), silver snap (Making Memories), felt flower (Making Memories), dimensionals, Martha Stewart black marker

Feliz Cumpleanos, Violet!

I miss my best friend, Violet. She moved to the D.C. area a few years ago. Her birthday is next week, so Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #25 was a perfect excuse to make Violet's card. I used part of Kristina's curved template for this card.

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Felicidades Siempre, Eastern Blooms
Paper: Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Certainly Celery DSP
Ink: Ruby Red, VersaMark
Other: Clear embossing powder, 3/4" circle punch, Jolee's By You flowers (EK Success), Kristina's template (outer shape only), American Crafts ric rac ribbon, Making Memories large flower brad, dimensionals

More Gift Card Holders

These are more gift card holders I made on Saturday for World Cardmaking Day. Last week, I made these gift card holders. Again I used Kristina's wonderful template and instructions. All 3 use the same Thank you stamp from Tarjetas con Bordes Festoneados. The designer paper used is all scraps from my scrap box.

On Saturday morning when I was surfing all your creative blogs, I saw a few of Sherri Barron's blog entries (here, here, and here) with faux metal tags. I love everything she makes, so I was immediately inspired to to get out my silver embossing powder. Last month, Adriel from Two Happy Stampers created this cool faux metal tag. I had been wanting to make a tag since I saw Adriel's.

Gift Card Ingredients
Stamps: Tarjetas con Bordes Festoneados
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, shimmery tan cardstock (CA Paper Goods), designer paper from My Mind's Eye & SU
Ink: Basic Black, ColorBox Silver
Other: Square scallop punch, Kiwi Kiss ribbon, black ribbon (Michael's) foam tape, dimensionals, rhinestones (Michael's), black button, scallop edge punch, Martha Stewart pink twill ribbon, velcro, silver embossing powder

Happy Halloween - WSC60

This card makes me happy. I made it using Beate's Weekend Sketch #60. I haven't done one of her sketches in a few weeks, but I had to do this one.

Last week, I saw this YouTube video by Ku-Ku. This woman is so creative. Check her out! I loved her simple card where she made a spider using a button and googly eyes. She drew in the legs. I knew this spider would be a good addition to the rubbed on spiders. After watching the video, I immediately went downstairs to look for all my black buttons.

I'm seriously lacking in Halloween stamps. Besides this Happy Halloween stamp, I have none...I know, you're shocked! This card is too thick to mail, but I think I'll give it to my son's Kindergarten teacher.

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: All Holidays
Paper: whiter textured paper, Basic Black, Ghostly Greetings DSP
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Spider rub-ons (K & Company), foam tape, Zots, black button, googly eyes, ribbon (Michael's)

Week 9 Voting Open for Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge

Happy World Cardmaking Day, everyone! The voting is now open for week 9 of the Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge on Theresa's blog. Today and tomorrow (until 7 PM CST on Sunday*) you can vote for my entry on her blog by adding a comment to the following blog entry. I would also like to encourage all of you to enter the competition next week. Theresa has great blog candy each week, plus there is a larger prize at the end of the 12 weeks. It's fun! Thanks, Anthonette

* Thanks to Kristina Werner for pointing out this time conversion website. For readers outside of Theresa's timezone in the USA, select October 5, 2008 and 7:00 PM. Select USA - Minnesota - St. Paul (Theresa's timezone) for the first location. Then, put in your location/time zone and press Convert time.

Altered Frame

When Theresa posted her latest handbag (a Gwen Stefani L.A.M.B "Music Rocksteady" Tote) for the Designer Handbag Inspiration Challenge #9, I liked the deep mocha color and the texture.

I knew I wanted to create something different this week, so this handbag was a good inspiration for an altered frame. I've had this frame for several years. Each week I keep saying how this challenge is a good reason to dig out and use some very neglected supplies.

I picked this photo of Kalino to play-off the vertical strips on his soccer jersey.

I started with an 8 1/2" x 11" pieces of Chocolate Chip cardstock. With a bone folder and a ruler, I scored the entire piece of paper is about .5" increments (I wish I had a Scor-Pal). I tried using the scoring blade on my paper cutter, but the cardstock was too large and awkward to use in the cutter with the cardstock turned at 45 degree angles.

Frame Ingredients
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Blush Blossom, Gold Foil paper (Only the Best Los Gatos)
Other: Make-a-Memory frame (A Stamp in the Hand), Making Memories brads, brown ribbon (Taylored Expressions), River Rock ribbon, foam tape, redline tape, Tombo glue, Sakura Gelly Roll pen

Sweet 16

I cannot believe that the oldest niece on my side of the family is turning 16 in a few days. I had to do the math last night to make sure. Even before Arriana was born, I referred to her as "Little Pookie"...I don't know why. She's in high school now, and I haven't called her Pookie in several years. I made this card for her. Even if I mail it today, it won't arrive in time...I don't like a card to arrive late.

Kristina's color inspiration challenge this week has some nice Fall colors.


This card's 4-squares layout was inspired by p. 62 of the Fall-Winter 2008 catalog. I knew I wanted to use some rub-ons (I forget to use those). I have a confession to make...I hate working with glitter. I love how it looks on projects, but I always get it everywhere. I inked and embossed the raw chipboard and then decided to add some bling to it. It didn't retain the creamy color it had before. I used the Sweet One stamp in So Many Scallops to stamp "Sweet" on some Pumpkin Pie designer paper with Chocolate Chip ink. It doesn't show up very dark.

Card Ingredients
Stamps: So Many Scallops
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, ColorBox Frost White
Punches: Scallop punch, 3/4" circle punch, 1 9/16" square punch
Other: Kiwi Kiss ribbon (Thanks, Theresa!), SU Love & Happiness Rub-ons, Heidi Swapp chipboard, Felt Fusion, Sunday International glitter, Tombo glue, foam tape, Making Memories rhinestone brad, "old" white embossing powder that looks cream colored