Happy Haunting!

Ah, the day has finally arrived! For 364, my boys have been asking when Halloween will get here. I tell them it's the same day every year, they should remember that by now. Too many video games I guess.

We'll go around the neighborhood, asking for more candy...because apparently there is not enough in this house already. Then the boys will spend some time and maybe I'll spend some time


But before the festivities begin, I'll share a card I whipped up this afternoon.

I saw a card over here at LilyBean's that I just had to try and c.a.s.e. I didn't have anything like that cute tree and owl punch out, so I made do with what I did have.


Stamps: CTMH Grown with Love, Spellbound, Celebrations, It's Your Day
Inks: CTMH Cocoa, Indian Corn Blue, Creme Brulee, Sweet Leaf, Autumn Terracotta, Bamboo
Papers: CTMH Game On, Enchanted

Not bad I suppose, but that's the danger of trying to copy another artist...it all depends on what stuff you have in your stash!

And with that thought...

A Hot Chocolate Kind Of Day

Ah, I was doing so well with posting new art. Then it happened,

I suppose it had to happen sometime this year and I'd rather it be now than during the holidays. One good thing that has come from me being sick is I can't talk above a whisper without setting my throat on fire. Why is that good? Because the boys have subconsciously been a lot quieter the past couple of days.
If it's too loud in the house, they can't hear anything I'm saying.
Granted, they were good at not hearing much of what I said before either.

Let's move on to a card, shall we?

I was released from my calling at church a couple of weeks ago, which means no more making birthday cards for the ladies at church. Some one else is in charge of that now.


But as a last request, I made these to tide them over for a couple of months.


Stamps: My Favorite Things You Take The Cake
Papers: CTMH Jingle Reflections Kit, That's Amore Reflections Kit


We've had a snap in the weather and it is 25° cooler today. So if you'll excuse my, I think I hear some hot chocolate calling my name.

Holiday Warmth

The two older boys have left for school and that leaves me with a very quiet house. Knock-Out is keeping himself entertained for the moment and I just might relax a bit.



Oh, who am I kidding...I don't have time for that!

The call of Christmas cards is still ringing in my ears...very loudly! I'm trying to get them done before Thanksgiving comes around this year. Well, that's the goal anyway.

Here's another card I did with this month's Stamp of the Month, Holiday Warmth.



Stamps: CTMH Holiday Warmth (October SOTM)
Inks: CTMH Olive, Garden Green, Tulip, Brown Bag, Chocolate markers, VersaMark
Papers: CTMH That's Amore Reflections Kit, Evensong Reflections Kit, Vellum

Here is the sentiment on the inside:



My boys all pointed out the hidden Mickey in the corner.


Here's a close-up of the tree:



I know what you're all thinking, "Oooooh! It's so shiney and pretty! Please tell us how you did it!"

Okay, maybe not...but I'll still let you know how I did this.

The tree is stamped on vellum and embossed with gold detail powder. Then using markers and blending pens, color and shade on the reverse side of the image. It gives a soft, watercolor effect. I love how this turned out and it's another card I could look at all day!

I'm going to go have some humble pie right now, anyone care for a slice?

Homemade Pearl Mist

Okay, nobody faint...

Well I suppose posting three days in a row night have that effect on some of you!

I've been able to get lots of crafting time in, despite all the boys being home. We've come to an agreement of sorts. They let me have some time to myself...and I'll make sure they're fed.

Works so far!

Living with a sunburn the past week or so has prompted a spree of Christmas card making. I may have been trying to psyche myself out into feeling cooler, or I may just have been trying out some new things...we'll never know.

How many of you like shiny, sparkly things?




Okay, okay. How many of you have used those really expensive Glimmer Mist sprays to color your paper?

I'll have to admit that I have not. Too expensive! So what's a shimmery-loving crafter supposed to do?

Make your own.

Take one fine mist spray bottle, one tube of Create-A-Shade Pearl paint, reinker of your choice, and water.

That's it Crafters! Here's how to mix them:

• Put 1-2 dollops of paint in the mister. I use those mini misters from Rangers, so if you use a bigger bottle, adjust the recipe.


• Next put in 15-20 drops of reinker. The more you use obviously the darker the color. You could opt to leave out the reinker altogether and you'll get a nice opaque shimmer.


• Fill the bottle about 3/4 full with water. This gives you room to mix it up.


• This next step is very important...put the lid on the bottle before you shake it up! Don't ask me how I know this...it was not a pretty sight.


• Fill the rest of the bottle with water and shake away! Make sure all the paint is mixed into the water/reinker.


• You can also do this with alcohol reinkers, just substitute the water for rubbing alcohol.

Put some protective covering on your work surface, you don't want to be coloring everything.You can put extra cardstock under the piece your coloring, that way you're not "wasting" any of the spray. You can go back and fill it in later, or add different colors to it.

So this is what I ended up with. The left is a piece of White Daisy cardstock. The right is Outdoor Denim cardstock. The middle is what I created using Outdoor Denim reinker.



The closer to your paper you spray, the bigger blotches you'll get. That wasn't the look I was going for here so I sprayed about 16 inches above the paper.

Here is how the card turned out...


Stamps: CTMH Holiday Warmth (October SOTM)
Inks: CTMH Outdoor Denim, VersaMark
Papers: CTMH Outdoor Denim, White Daisy, Black


Here's a shot of the inside:




I tried to get a good picture of all the shimmer this card has. The tree and sentiment are embossed with a glitter powder so the whole thing really sparkles!




Well, that does it for me today. The boys have been asking for lunch and per our agreement, I'll have to take a break here and switch hats.

Warm Autumn Days...Still

Now I don't want to make those of you in the cooler parts of the US jealous, but you know what the boys and I just did?



Sort of. They floated around on rafts and noodles while I sat on the side and watched them.
We went swimming last week as well and guess who forgot to put on the sunscreen? Yup, I'm not quite ready to put that suit back on again.

Those Indian Summer suns can be tricky!

Anyway, on to my layout. This is the free project the ladies will be making when they come to the club enrollment on Friday night.

This is my brother and his wife (obviously) the day they got married. The autumn decorations at the reception were just right for this layout.


Stamps: CTMH Chocolate Alphabet Large & Small
Inks: CTMH Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta, Goldrush
Papers: CTMH Harvest Reflections Kit (retired)

You may or may not be able to tell in the photo but I did emboss the Goldrush cardstock with a lattice design to mimic the lattice in the left hand picture. It adds just a subtle something to otherwise plain cardstock.

Their anniversary is one month from today and I think this might make a pretty nice gift for them.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get some more aloe for my shoulders!

Spellbound

My boys favorite holiday is quickly approaching.

They have been planning their costumes for a couple of weeks and any time we're at the stores, they have to look in the Halloween sections. Sometimes it's the only way I can get them to go to craft stores with me...the promise of looking at all the displays.

Except those big, life-size, motion-sensing skeletons...we definitely steer clear of those things.


The boys still have one more week of break, then it's back to classes for them.

It's also back to class time at the Craft Closet.



No, not that kind of class.



That's more like it!

This weekend is enrollment time at the Craft Closet. If you'd like more information on the classes, please check my calendar in the sidebar.

For Saturdays Wild Card class, we'll be making this card...


Stamps: CTMH Spellbound
Inks: CTMH Black, Buttercup, Sunflower, Crystal Blue, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim
Papers: CTMH Black, Sunflower, White Daisy

Not very spooky, according to the boys, but it still makes a good Halloween card I think.

If you're interested in coming, RSVP by tomorrow's deadline and when you enroll, you'll get a free gift from me.

The Great Escape

I took a bite out of the Big Apple and survived!

Want to know some things I learned?

Brooklyn really does have fantastic pizza.
And there is a reason New York Cheesecake is famous...
Really, their slices are monstrous! Not that I'm complaining much, but my hips sure are.

And I learned it's a real bummer to have delicious food brought to you all week then return home to this...

I'm still on NY time...it must be dinner time over there right about now!

My feet are still recovering, but I did survive. I survived 4 days without my boys, without laundry, without cooking, without cleaning, without hearing any yelling...well, no that last part wasn't exactly true...I was in NYC after all.

But now I'm back to the relative quietness of my home...relative because the boys still have 2 more weeks of school break.

So I'll have lots of help while I'm scrapping these new pictures of the trip. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too.

While I'm getting those layouts started, I'll share something I created for last month's open house.

Click to enlarge the picture

Stamps:CTMH Grown With Love, Charms Alphabet Small, Tiny Typewriter
Inks: CTMH Chocolate
Papers: CTMH Twitterpated Reflections Kit

This was created with the new All-Sorts Mini Album from CTMH. I also used the new Dimensional Element buttons to add, well...dimension...to the pages.

(And incidentally, this is also the featured project for a workshop coming up in a couple of weeks.)

I made this to remember (like I could ever forget) The Great Escape the ladies at church had last month.
We took off to the mountains and left our husbands at home with the kids.

It was only for overnight so I don't think too many of us where worried. We had a fantastic time with each other, great food, a wonderful speaker and lots of laughs.

Then they brought out the rapelling equipment... WHAT!

And I let myself get talked into doing it, too! If you look at the album and find the page with the rapelling pictures, you'll notice it features nuts. That was not a coincidence.

Wow, I sure talked a lot today! I must have missed blogging more than I thought. That, or I can actually sit long enough to think a thought.