Monday, October 8, 2012

CCC #3: Enter at Your Own Risk

If you love using SVG files with your electronic cutter then Creative Cutting Challenge blog is for you!  Want more info on what SVG files are and how to use them?  Check out this post and then this post from Cindy at The Creative Pointe for a great overview.

The theme for our third Creative Cutting Challenge is "Halloween Cards".  Click here to enter the challenge and to check out more creative inspiration from our Design Team.
Some Details:
  • Isn't this Haunted House SVG from The Creative Pointe great? This card actually was very simple since the cut file does most of the work!  I cut my house from some black and white damask paper (that I turned black and grey with Distress Stain), the front door and bat from a recycled Christmas card, and the moon from some orange background paper.  One of my favorite things about working with SVG files and Sure-Cuts-A-Lot (SCAL), is that I can see exactly how everything will lay out on my mat and I only had to cut ONCE for this whole card!
  • I had a blast flipping through my digital files to select just the right ghosts and goblins to peek out from the windows.
  • I alternated using Glossy Accents and Crackle Accents on the windows.   Love the cracked glass look...perfect for a run-down, creepy, haunted house.

Other Challenges:
Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Sahara Sand’; recycled black
Patterned Paper:  Fancy Pants ‘It’s the Little Things’ 6x6, ‘Beach Bum’ 6x6; My Mind’s Eye The Spider’s Web ‘Trick or Treat’
SVG:  The Creative Pointe ‘Haunted House
Image: The Sum of All Crafts ‘Have a Retro Halloween’, ‘Witch Witch is Which’; Mamie Jane’s ‘Altered Cabinet Card’; The Graphics Fairy ‘Vintage Halloween Clip Art – Skeletons
Stamps: 7 Gypsies ‘Disclaimer’
Inks: Archival Ink ‘Jet Black’; Distress Ink ‘Black Soot’; Distress Stain ‘Pumice Stone’, ‘Spiced Marmalade’
Embellishments: Wright’s rick rack ‘Black’; buttons; Darice baker’s twine ‘Black / White’; Glossy Accents; Crackle Accents
Tools:  SCAL; Cricut Expression; Zig 2-way glue pen; Zots; Tim Holtz paper distresser; Memory Makers ribbon glue

Friday, October 5, 2012

Mummy Treat Pocket

Sharing a super fun and super easy Halloween treat pocket design today.  Somewhere, sometime, I had seen someone use fabric wrapped around a soup can to make a mummy.  It's been hanging out in the back of my mind and I finally put it together with the toilet paper tube pockets that I've been hooked on lately.  This is so ridiculously simple!

The Details:
  • I painted approximately 1/4" of the top and bottom of the tube with Snow Cap paint dabber just to ensure you couldn't see tube through the fabric on the ends.
  • I stapled the bottom closed with my tiny attacher.
  • I prepped by ripping several 1"-ish strips of fabric and spraying the tube with adhesive.
  • Starting at the bottom, I covered the tube in strips making sure to make it appear random.
  • The eyes are 3 ovals (2 green, 1 black) that I cut using my Cricut and Sure-Cuts-A-Lot program. Cutting the black ovals in half forms the eyelids.  Black Diamond Stickles form the pupils.
  • Once the eyes were attached to the tube with glue dots, I added one more fabric strip so that the eyes were peeking out from behind the bandages.
  • I realized that I had not pre-planned for a hanger before I covered the tube in fabric.  No hole punch was going to make it through those layers!  Then I saw the tiny attacher still laying on my work table.   Ah-ha!  I cut a length of wire, curled the ends, then stapled it to the outside of the tube.  The little staples are barely noticeable.  Easy!
  • The final touches are "Happy Halloween" stamped in white on black cardstock and punched out with a scallop circle punch and the couple of ribbon scraps tied to the wire handle.

How cute would this be for your favorite kiddos Halloween treats!  

Challenges:
Craft Us Crazy: Halloween or Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps and More:  Addicted to Halloween
Shopping Our Stash Challenge 71: Go Green (color or recycle something)
Art With No Boundaries: October And Halloween

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Gable Green’, ‘Basic Black’
Stamps: SU! ‘All Year Cheer’
Inks: SU! craft ‘White’; Adirondack paint dabber ‘Snow Cap’
Embellishments: Woven cotton fabric; Stickles ‘Black Diamond’; wire; ribbon
Tools:  Tim Holtz tiny attacher; needle nose wire pliers/cutter; Fiskars scallop circle punch; heat tool; spray adhesive; Glue Dots
Misc: Empty toilet paper tube

Monday, October 1, 2012

Trick or Treat

A few weeks ago, Linda from Catered Crop selected my Wish Shoe Well card as one of the winners of her "In the Pink" challenge.  Along with the "Winning Recipe" honor comes the opportunity to be a guest designer.  This week's Quickfire challenge is "Halloween Screams"...do stop by, there's always some great inspiration from the design team.

I think I've mentioned already that I am loving warm grey tones lately and that has strayed into my Halloween creations.  I love the almost monochromatic color scheme here...really light and neutral and then, BULLSEYE!...orange focal point!

The Details:
  • The spooky vintage owl image is from the ever-fabulous Graphics Fairy.  For extra attention, I covered the orange portion with Glossy Accents and then added dots of Black Soot Distress Stickles around it.
  • I used Pumice Stone and a dash of Rusty Hinge Distress Stains to darken the vintage book page that I cut into a banner shape and layered behind the main image.  Yes, I purposely oriented the text upside down...I just want the extra texture of text...I don't want you to actually read it.  J
  • LOVE the black pennant border on this card!  It just seemed to need that bold, graphic element. Just like it needed that orange button and black and white twine to finish it off.





Challenges:
The Graphics Fairy - Brag Monday #156
Hooked on Craft: Challenge #25 - Halloween
Made Especially for You: Halloween Card Featuring a Banner
My Craft Spot: Monday Challenge # 71 - Boo To You

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Sahara Sand’
Patterned Paper:  My Mind’s Eye The Spider’s Web ‘Cauldron Bubbles’; vintage book page
Image: The Graphics Fairy ‘Trick or Treat Bag Label
Inks: Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’, ‘Black Soot’; Distress Stain ‘Pumice Stone’, ‘Rusty Hinge’
Embellishments: Darice baker’s twine ‘Black / Whitel’; Distress Stickles ‘Black Soot’; Glossy Accents; Bazzill Basics Just the Edge ‘Beetle Black’; vintage button
Tools:  Zots; Tim Holtz paper distresser; foam ink blender

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Scaredy Cat & Pumpkin, Too!

I'm today's featured designer at Card A Day Blog and this week we are celebrating Halloween.  I thought this was just the cutest vintage Halloween image from Vintage Feedsacks and had to make it the centerpiece of my card.  I hope you join us for the frightful fun!

A Couple Details:
  • I am laughing right now because I've realized that the last four out of five cards I've posted all have banners and this one does too!  I think I may have a banner addiction.  LOL!  Oh well, when something works, it works. 
  • I printed the image on cardstock, tinted the edges with Black Soot DI, mounted it with foam tape for dimension, and then applied Black Diamond Stickles along the outside edges for that little bit of sparkle.
  • I recently saw some black and orange baker's twine at the craft store and almost bought it until I realized that I could make my own for a lot less!  They were charging nearly the same price for a few yards of the specialty two-tones as they were for the black and white in bulk.  Distress Stain to the rescue!  Just like any other ribbon or fiber, simply mist your twine with water and apply ink.  I used Spiced Marmalade...worked like a dream.  It's nice too because I could match the specific shade of orange on my card.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Really Rust’
Patterned Paper:  Daisy D’s; vintage book page
Image: Vintage Feedsacks ‘Vintage Halloween
Stamps: Cosmo Cricket ‘Haunted’
Inks: Distress Ink ‘Spiced Marmalade’, ‘Black Soot’; Distress Stain ‘Spiced Marmalade’
Embellishments: Darice baker’s twine ‘Black / White’; button; Stickles ‘Black Diamond’
Tools:  Heat gun; 3M foam tape; Tim Holtz paper distresser; Zots; Zig 2-way glue pen; mister

Monday, September 24, 2012

Creative Cutting Challenge #2 - Steampunk Pumpkin

Have you checked out Creative Cutting Challenge yet?  If you love using SVG files with your electronic cutter, this challenge blog is for you!  Not sure what an SVG file is and don't want to miss out on the fun?  Check out this post and then this post from Cindy at The Creative Pointe.  She does a great job explaining what SVG files are and how they can accentuate your creativity.  Even if you're not ready to participate, there is plenty of creative inspiration from our very talented Design Team, so please check it out!

The latest theme at Creative Cutting Challenge is "Halloween - Not a Card".  Oh boy, did I have fun with this one!  Meet Mr. Steampunk'in and his friend Sir Crow!

The Details:

  • I started with a peat pot, a popsicle stick, and The Creative Pointe's "Fall Set" SVG file collection and the pieces just kept miraculously falling into place until Mr. Steampunk'in was complete!
  • The pumpkin SVG was cut from two shades of orange cardstock and layered onto a cardboard base for stability.  I embossed the background cardstock with Darice's "Steampunk" embossing folder, then shaded and highlighted with Distress Inks.  Distress Markers give the stem some detail.
  • His eyes are Tim Holtz gears layered with golden rhinestones.  His mouth is a Stampin' Up! label holder.  His teeth were created by embossing saffron cardstock with TH's "Gridlock" embossing folder and creatively cutting and inking so that the raised areas look like tiny  teeth cut from pumpkin flesh.  And of course, he wasn't complete until I added his handlebar mustache!
  • Sir Crow is from the marvelous Graphics Fairy.  He was printed onto cardstock and fussy cut.  His top hat was cut from Grunge Paper, colored with Distress Stain, and accented with baker's twine.
  • The peat pot was colored with Rusty Hinge and Crushed Olive Distress Ink.  I dried it thoroughly with a heat tool between layers (this prevents blending).  The rim was accented with a black pennant diecut.  For that extra Halloweeny-ness, I added buttons to the points and lots of Black Diamond Stickles accents.  The pot has some pebbles at the bottom of the inside for weight balance and is then filled with floral foam to keep everything in place.  Fluffy reindeer moss hides the foam.
  • The saying is printed on cardstock, fussy-cut, accented with Walnut Stain DI and Black Diamond Stickles.  A TH memo pin holds it in place.  
  • I used The Creative Pointe's "Halloween Set Two" SVG collection to cut simplified tombstones from a couple shades of grey cardstock.

  • Tip:  To secure the tombstones into the floral foam, I punched small holes at the bottom corners and threaded short lengths of wire through.  Instead of trying to glue them in, or using a wooden spike that you can see from the back, these are hidden and hold the stones at just the right angle.

I hope you'll join us for "Halloween - Not a Card" at Creative Cutting Challenge!  I had a blast making my little pumpkin friend and can't wait to see your creation!

Other Challenges:
The Graphics Fairy - Brag Monday #155
Simon Says Stamp: Simon Says...Emboss It!
Simon Says Stamp & Show: For the Love of Sparkle
Anything But a Card: Challenge 2 - Texture
Ginger Loft: GL48 - Embossing
Hiding in My Craft Room: HIMCR #64 - Halloween
Anything But a Card - Challenge #2

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Going Grey’, ‘Pumpkin Pie’, ‘Really Rust’, ‘ Sahara Sand’, ‘So Saffron’, ‘Basic Black’; Tim Holtz Grunge Paper
SVG:  The Creative Pointe ‘Fall Set', ‘Halloween Set Two
Image: The Graphics Fairy ‘Old Crow’; ArtiCrafts by Rebecca ‘To Trick or To Treat’; Free Vintage Digital Stamps ‘Vintage Mustache
Stamps: Basic Grey ‘Spooky’, ‘Halloween’
Inks: Distress Ink ‘Black Soot’, ‘Walnut Stain’, ‘Spiced Marmalade’, ‘ Wild Honey’; Distress Markers; Distress Stain ‘Rusty Hinge’, ‘Crushed Olive’, ‘Brushed Corduroy’; SU! craft ‘White’; Archival ‘Jet Black’
Embellishments: Darice baker’s twine ‘Black / White’; TH memo pin, gears; SU! label plate; Bazzill Basics Just the Edge ‘Beetle Black’; reindeer moss; Stickles ‘Black Diamond’; buttons
Tools:  Darice embossing folder ‘Steampunk’; TH embossing folder ‘Gridlock’; Sizzix Texture Boutique; hole punch; SCAL, Cricut Expression; foam tape; wire; wire cutter; foam ink blender; mister; Glue Dots ‘Craft’, ‘Pop Up’; floral foam
Misc: Peat pot; popsicle stick; cardboard