The Gang's All Here . . .

Used the Stampin Up Curvy Keepsake Box die set to make my four treat boxes for Halloween. Here they are:

Each box was stamped with a different background stamp so they are all different. Here is a better photo of their witch hats and bows:

This first box:

I stamped these pieces using a stars background stamp from MyFavoriteThings using SU Pumpkin Pie ink. This next box:

I stamped this box with the wire background stamp from MyFavoriteThings. This next box:

Stamped this using the Stampin Up Hardwood background stamp. For this next box I did not stamp a background onto it -- just the pumpkin face:

For my spider web on her hat I used a Cheery Lynn die. The SU Tree punch was used for her hat. The SU Bow Builder punch was used for all the bows and I used various prints from the stash for those. The spider web is adhered to the witch hat brim using double sided tape. But I did not like that when you took off the hat you can see the clipped spider web underneath. To fix that problem I cut the Word Window punch out of black card stock and then used a 2" circle punch to punch over that and that was my "lining" to cover up the spider web under the hat:

This just makes this look more finished and it did not take a lot more time to cut that lining out and put it under the hat brim. These will be filled the week of Halloween with treats. TFL and YOLO

Curvy Cute Pumpkin

Recently went to a stamper's sale where all the sellers were former Stampin Up demonstrators that combined their Stampin Up products for this sale. They are now all Fun Stamper's Journey coaches (demonstrators) and they were selling their Stampin Up items cheap. I bought a few sealed packs of Stampin Up 8 1/2" x 11" card stocks for $2.40 per pack, Stampin Up punches for $5.00, Stampin Up embossed folders $1.00 each, and many other great deals. . . But today I will feature a project I made using my new-to-me Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits die set that I picked up for $5.00.

Had always wanted this box die but not for the $33.00 it sells for.... but for $5.00 ... it was mine:

First project I wanted to make was the pumpkin for Halloween that everyone has made. Here is my version:

Used the Stampin Up Pumpkin Pie card stock to cut out my two box pieces. Stamped them using the Stampin Up Hardwood background stamp and Pumpkin Pie ink. Put the box together using red sticky tape. Used the pumpkin face stamp from the SU Sparkly Seasons stamp set and stamped the face on one side of the pumpkin using Memento black ink before I closed the box:

Do not have the black spider doilies SU sells so I used a spider web die from Cheery Lynn and cut that out using SU black card stock. Once cut I spritzed it with Pearls Shimmer Mist. While that was drying I made the witch hat -- two trees using the SU Tree punch from black glittered card stock and cut out the brim for the hat using a 2 1/2" circle punch and the Word Window punch. Put the witch hat together using glue dots.

Snipped the center of the spider web piece using scissors so that the web could slide over the top of the curvy pumpkin treat holder. Put the spider web on the treat holder and put a few mini glue dots on the bottom side of the hat brim. Put the hat on the holder over the spider web and then the web stuck to the glue dots on the hat. This way when the hat is lifted off the holder to get inside for the treats the hat and web will be one piece.

For the bow I used the Stampin Up Bow Builder punch and scrap card stock for the purple part of the bow. The orange spider web paper on the bow is a shelf strip from the Halloween aisle at Walgreens from last year. Added a purple crystal to the center of this bow:

This is a very easy treat box to put together and certainly the pumpkin and witch hat make a cute presentation for BOO Day treats. Happy me to find this at the sale!  TFL and YOLO

Mini Halloween Treat Bag

A recent trip to Mikes and I came home with this black and striped kraft paper:

Regular price was $5.99 but on clearance I paid $1.49. Wanted to use it for a Halloween treat holder. To make the treat bag I used the Stampin Up Mini Treat Bag die. Cut the bag out in the Big Shot. Used red sticky tape to close the bag.

For the tag I cut a piece of Mikes kraft card stock 2" wide and used the Stampin Up Scallop Topper Tag punch on one end. Then used the trimmer to trim the other end so my tag is 3" long. Used a corner rounder punch on the trimmed end. Using a pencil and ruler I made a light pencil line across the tag to help keep the washi tapes straight. Used three washi tape patterns for the tag. Used scissors to trim the edges of the washi tape even with the sides of the tag:

Having die cut so many Halloween dies last week I was able to put this tag together quickly. Used a glue pen to put the "boo" on the tag. The Sizzix Sizzlit Ghost die was cut out of white glittered card stock and I put that onto the tag using glue dots. For the top of the tag I cut a piece of the orange mesh bag onions are in at the grocery store and put that through the hole at the top of the tag. Tied sparkly black yarn around that and trimmed the ends:

Put the tag onto the top of the treat bag using a small black clothespin from the stash. This treat bag is large enough to hold a couple of the Fun Size candy bars for Halloween. TFL and YOLO

More Hershey Treat Holders

The above photo are the first two Hershey Treat Holders I made and here are two more:

The orange holder is card stock from Mikes. Cut and scored that piece. Used red sticky tape to close the holder and then used a crimper on the bottom of it. Used the ghost border punch from M Stewart on scrap white card stock for the ghosts above the striped card stock. Black cat was punched out using the Fiskars cat squeeze punch from glittered black card stock. The "boo" is one of the die pieces that I had cut out using the Cuttlebug. To add dimension to this I also cut out this die from a piece of cardboard from a kleenex box. Used TomBow glue to put the cardboard "boo" behind

 the black glittered card stock "boo". 

For the bow on the hat I used the Stampin Up Bow Builder punch and for the hat I used the Stampin Up Tree punch. Glue dots hold the hat and bow pieces together. Put the "boo" on the front of the holder using micro mini glue dots. Glue dots also were used for the witch hat as well as the black cat piece. Used ribbon from the stash for this holder. Sparkly black yarn is tied onto the ribbon to keep the holder closed. 

For the green holder I cut and scored that piece putting it together using red sticky tap. Then used spider web printed card stock with a piece of black and white striped card stock at the top of that. For the bugs I punched those from glittered black card stock using a dollar punch from the craft store. Put the bugs on the holder using mini glue dots. Made my witch hat and the bow is made using scrap Halloween printed card stocks.  

The "Beware" on the green holder is again cut out of the glittered black card stock and glued onto a die cut piece of the kleenex box card board I cut out using the Cuttlebug. The card board gives both the "Beware" and the "boo" on my treat holder fronts dimension:

Again I used the sparkly "hairy" black yarn and tied a piece of that onto the ribbon for my holder. Here is a photo of all four of the Hershey Treat Holders I have made:

Easy holders to put together. TFL and YOLO

Hershey Treat Holders

These treat holders for BOO Day (Halloween) hold the 6" Hershey Chocolate candy bar. In the past I have made the witch hats by Janet Baker using the Stampin Up Tree punch:





For the treat holders today I wanted to be able to use a witch hat but since it was on the front of my holders I needed it to be flat. Here are my two Hershey Treat Holders:

There are different patterns for these holders but I used the one on Splitcoast:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/pull_treats/

To make my witch hat so it was flat I used scrap card stocks to show how I did this. For the circle brim to the hat I used a 1" circle punch and put the black card stock into the punch as far as it would go. Punched out my circle:

Using a 2 1/4" circle punch I punched over the 1" circle:

Took this 'ring' piece to the trimmer and cut it in half -- this way I have a brim for another witch hat:

Using the Stampin Up Tree punch I punched out a tree using scrap chevron card stock. Then I put a glue dot on each lower corner of this tree and a glue dot on the trunk of the tree:

With the glue dots in place I took my half black circle and put that on the tree:

Added a bow I made using the Stampin Up Bow Builder punch:

To put the hat on my holder I used glue dots. Here are photos of each holder:

To begin with I suggest you watch this short video by Maria on the shortcuts to fabulous bows using this punch and your bows will not be so bulky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-qFrZw5nl8

LOVE her tips and ideas and it cuts the time making these bows in half. For my above holder I used SU black card stock, dotted card stock from Mikes, and fabric netting around the holder. For my witch hat I used black glittered card stock, black/white chevron card stock is Mikes, and the spider web paper for the bow was free as it was the shelf strip from Walgreens holiday aisle last Halloween that I picked up last year. Added a black crystal to the center of the bow. "Trick or Treat" is from SU Toxic Treats stamp set.

This holder I used SU purple card stock, green print is from the stash, M Stewart spider web border was used for the spider webs. Again the hat is black glittered card stock and the chevron print is from the stash. These holders go together quickly and make good use of holiday prints as a belly band. This holder I used satin orange ribbon.

These holders hold a regular candy bar -- 6" size -- and is good to make with ribbons or card stock prints you may not be fond of. Thanks to Janet for the witch hat pattern and to Maria for the great savings of time and glue dots with the bows! TFL and YOLO

Bling it on... BOO

Sooner than later we will be working on BOO Day (Halloween) treat holders and tags... decided I may as well get some items cut out and ready for assembly when needed in October.

To begin with wanted to cut out word dies from glittered card stock as well as glittered foam sheets that I picked up at Mikes in the kids crafts section of the store. Problem is some of the words are smaller so they could be flimsy on a project -- both a tag or a treat holder. Wanted to be able to use a stiff backer piece for these but regular card board and even the thinnest chip board were too thick.

Decided the thinner the better but what could I use that I already had on hand??? Simple -- the pull tab lid to a kleenex box:

Used the Cuttlebug to cut out my word die using this lighter weight card board piece -- one pass through the machine and all the words were cut:

After my card board words were cut out I cut out these same dies using the glittered card stock and the glittered foam sheets:

Using TomBow glue and an old craft paint brush I covered the card board word with glue and then put the matching glittered word on that. This photo shows some of the words cut and glued to the card board words:

The above photo has the foam sheet words on the left and the words on the right are glittered card stock words. Once all my words were adhered to the card board words I rinsed off the red lid and my paint brush with warm water to remove the glue before it set. Having these small words on the thinner card board for a backer piece will give my projects dimension when layering them for the holiday.

This photo shows some of the items I have either die cut or used punches for to use for my projects:

Will keep all these pieces together in an empty clam shell box for use for the BOO Day festivities. By making these things up now it will help with the rush around the holiday. TFL and YOLO

Autumn Colours Card

This technique was done by "jantink.com" on YouTube on her video that she titled "Joseph's Dirty Coat Technique". I followed her instructions but my inked/stamped card front turned out more pink than I wanted so I made a couple of changes.

First my card stock base is Stampin Up Soft Suede card stock. Cut and scored that and set it aside. Cut a piece of rust card stock for the card front and set that aside.

For the inked/stamped card front I used a piece of Stampin Up Whisper White card stock cut larger than I would need for my card front -- 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". Following Jan's instructions these are the inks that I sponged onto the white card stock and in this order: (all Stampin Up)

Crushed Curry
Cajun Craze
Garden Green
Island Indigo

For my leaf stamp I used the positive leaf stamp from the Stampin Up Gently Falling stamp set. Instead of using the Early Expresso as Jan did I used Baked Brown Sugar ink for my leaves and for the technique over my sponged/stamped image. Once this piece was complete I set it aside to dry.

Here is a photo of another piece I had done using the Rose Red ink she had used and for this leaf stamp I used the negative leaf stamp:

I did not like the pinks on the card front, or the open leaf design, so I redid my card front piece using the solid leaf stamp, as she did, as well as omitting the Rose Red ink. However I did use this first piece for the little leaves under my twine on my card. I used a small leaves die to cut out the three leaves. Using Pearls Shimmer Mist I spritzed the small leaves and set those aside to dry.

Surgery needed.... Wanted to use the "hello FALL" stamp from the Stampin Up stamp set For All Things. I inked the stamp and stamped it onto a piece of rust card stock using the Baked Brown Sugar ink only to find a problem with the stamp. The exclamation point on the stamp looked like a small "l" as there was no space above the period. Using an exacto knife I carefully trimmed away a tiny piece of the rubber on the stamp so now my stamped greeting is correct:

With my greeting stamped I put this strip onto a strip of Soft Suede using the ATG. With my stamped/sponged card front dry I trimmed that to the size I needed for my card front. Using the ATG I put the greeting strip across my stamped/sponged card front and trimmed it to size. Then put these onto the rust card stock front and then all of it onto the card stock base.

For the three die cut leaves I wanted to use twine to put them on the card front with. Decided to add one strand of gold twine to the jute twine for some sparkle for the card front. Once I made the twine bow I trimmed it to the size I wanted and put the three leaves onto the greeting strip using mini glue dots. Put the twine bow on those using mini glue dots. Added three brown crystals next to the greeting. Here is a photo to show the three small leaves and the twine bow:

Thanks to Jan for sharing her technique for an autumn card. TFL and YOLO Here is the card again:

Quilted Thoughts Card

** This card was chosen as a Favorites of the Week on Splitcoast Stampers by Amy and Susie notified me -- thanks both ladies! Certainly an honor with so many talented card makers on Splitcoast!  :0)   **

To make this card I used a printed card stock pack by Anna Griffin and the Fiskars hexagon punch. Punched out all the hexagons I would need for my card:

Wanted to use a hexagon shape punch for my pieces but wanted the pieces to be smaller than the recent hexagon cards I have made using the Stampin Up hexagon punch. I have a smaller hexagon punch from Fiskars and this photo shows the sizes the punches make -- yellow is Stampin Up and the green is the Fisakrs:

This card may sound complicated but it is not. To begin with I cut and scored my Celery Green card stock base and the dark pink card front piece and set those aside. I do not have the Stampin Up pad of grid paper but I do have a pack of grid paper from the dollar store so I used a sheet of that to use for lining up my pieces. Cut a piece of white/GP card stock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. Using painters tape I taped my white/GP piece onto the grid paper:

After my white/GP was taped to the grid paper I lightly made a pencil line across and down this card stock piece using a ruler so I would have a center line for my first piece. Used the ATG and added adhesive to my hexagon pieces**. I did the center of the card design first and then onto each corner -- I did not want the corners to be exact and look the same so they are all random--some corners have more hexagon pieces and others, less:

Once all hexagon pieces were on the white/GP piece I used the trimmer to trim the pieces that hung off the card stock edge. Now is when you need to erase any of your light pencil lines you used to line up your design:

Once the hexagons were on the card stock I then used the Anna Griffin Rosa embossing folder by Cuttlebug -- since I had paper pieces on the card front I did not want the embossing folder to embossed too deeply which would cause my hexagons to separate. So I cut a second piece of white/GP card stock and put it under my pieced card front in the embossing folder for the ride through the Cuttlebug:

As you can see in the above photo I have a red dot on my B plate for the Cuttlebug--when I use embossing folders I have two B plates that I use for embossing only. The red dots let me know these are to be used for embossing folders only. With these plates always flat I get a good embossed impression on my card stock. Here is a photo after the two card stocks were embossed:

and the extra embossed card stock piece will go back in the file with this embossing folder - then if I need an embossed piece in a hurry one is already done and with that embossing folder:

Once my piece was embossed I trimmed it to the size I wanted for the card front. I then sponged the edges of this piece using River Rock ink. These photos show that:

Once this was sponged I used the ATG and put the pieced card front onto the pink card stock and then put those onto the green card stock base.

For the greeting I used the Classic Label punch and the new-to-me Stampin Up stamp set On the Grow. I stamped that using green ink and punched that out. Did not want to block the hexagon quilt pattern with a greeting tag so I put the trimmed greeting piece up against one of the hexagons at the bottom of the center design:

Added pearls to the tag edge. ** When you make a card using card stock pieces and then plan to emboss that piece be sure to butt the pieces tightly next to each other so there are no spaces. Also when you emboss this piece use an extra piece of card stock so your embossing folder does not emboss too deeply and pull apart your pieces.

This card looks very difficult but it really isn't -- just use a grid paper, a ruler, and pencil and the design will be straight. TFL and YOLO