At the retreat, I had LOADS of fun using up scraps and bits of Halloween papers to cover full-size Hersheys chocolate bars. I prepared a couple of boxes (72 bars to be exact). These are just some examples. It was a great project to do when I wanted to be chatting and working with other people, but actually getting something done for myself!
I went through a phase for a few years where I refused to give out candy treats, but would give other stuff. One year it was the glow necklaces and bracelets; another year it was little spider, bat, ghost toy things. It just wasn't as satisfying somehow so this year I'm back to candy. I usually get about 50 trick-or-treaters. I love seeing their costumes and have been very fortunate that all to date have been well behaved. The trend has been to "fall festivals" and such and I totally understand why, but when there are no longer any trick-or-treaters at my door it will be a sad day.
How do you celebrate Halloween?
Hello everyone! This was the third "technique" card that we made at the retreat last weekend. We had so much fun!!! There were a couple of fun tricks that we learned. One thing I do on almost every card (not intentionally, usually) is that I make an error and then share with everyone what "not to do"! In this one, there were a couple but the most difficult one was that I adhered the "N" before trying to color the fill-in letters. Since the "N" overlapped the "O" that was incredibly silly! The second lesson on this card was about the alcohol markers - they show on the back side of the cardstock. I usually layer cards but this one had the art on the card-base itself. Hence the addition of the red scallop! I cut the piece of red large enough to cover the inside flap. ;-)
I feel so renewed and inspired after the weekend. There is nothing quite like spending time with just girlfriends! No offense meant to my male friends - but my "sisters" nurture my soul. I've got some other new things but they haven't been photographed yet - I'll get to that tomorrow night with any luck.
Hugs!!
As I worked in the studio last weekend I did a little cleaning. Not too surprising as there was not a single inch of table space available to create anything! LOL While putting things in their proper place I came across a stack of cards that were prepped for a class back in 2011. Since I've been trying to send wedding anniversary cards this year, I decided it was time to use these (5) cards and set about putting them together! Here was the original . . .
Funny story about this - I had to go back into my blog archives to find the original post to figure out what I'd done with these bits of paper (since that's what I had - bits in an envelope - no example!). I thought to myself, hmmm, that was a long time ago but after Steve came into my life. I jumped back to 2011 and found it within 3 posts of my starting place. Just luck.
I have another example of prepped, un-used cards. This one I altered a bit to use for birthday instead of Thanksgiving. Here is the current version
And here is the link to the original post. Isn't it interesting how a little pop of color changes everything? I try to always prepare more cards for our Open Stamping than I think there will be guests. It's the over-achiever in me, I guess! LOL But it's nice to be able to pull these out and quickly make up a batch of birthday, anniversary, whatever cards when I need some! So you see, leftovers are not just for dinner anymore!
Very soon my friends will be gathering at Pam's lovely home for a big-girl scrapbook retreat!! I've been prepping all weekend for this - and the cards above are just two of the sweet things we will all make as we learn some new tricks and play with the newest papers from the Winter mini-catalog from Close-to-My-Heart!
The weekend, otherwise? Our weather has been glorious! I enjoyed puttering in my yard, talking to and watering my snap dragons (they are SO pretty!) and continuing my tentative friendship with the neighbor's little doggie (I call him "Buddy" - no idea what his real name is). I brushed Mr. Baggins about 3 hours total this weekend and now he thinks he's a fur vest for me (have I mentioned that he absolutely LOVES to be brushed?). LOL
I am home from work today but leaving soon for the dentist - we have to do a bone graft before I can have the dental implant in that space that was a dry socket. Ugh. I have no idea what to expect - but I imagine a nap will be in the cards for me this afternoon. ;-)
One of my favorite stores of them all is Target. Last week while strolling through the store chatting with my darling daughter on the cell phone, I spied these note cards and little fireworks went off in my head! I could "alter" these - take them "up a notch" and make them personal! Into the basket lickety-split!
The focal piece with the spray of fuschia sequins and turquoise glitter blobs was cut off the front of the card and cut down just slightly. Then I used the corner rounder on the right-hand side. I layered it onto a piece of Kraft cardstock (don't ask me why it looks orange in the photo - it's really Kraft). Then onto a piece of Crystal Blue cardstock for the card base. The only stamping was the sentiment - "friends forever".
This particular sentiment seemed perfect for the card I had in mind - it was a thank you note from Mr. Bilbo Baggins to Meridith - one of my friends who comes to scrapbook on Open Stamping day! Meridith brought Bilbo a toy mouse! He was thrilled of course (I know how much because I haven't seen it since that day - I think it's under my bed). This was the inside of the card . . .
;-)
It's been a good weekend, although too short again! Our weather has calmed down and it is absolutely LOVELY here now! The highs in the mid-80's and the lows in the upper 60's.
We had the St. Francis day Blessing of The Animals at church - one of my favorite days! I had so much fun meeting my church family's pets! I spared Mr. Baggins as he gets so nervous! Lord knows he needs a blessing, however! Perhaps I can find a Priest that makes house calls??? LOL
Hope your weekend was excellent! Hugs!!
The new Autumn / Winter Close-to-My-Heart catalog has some beautiful items that are home decor type things; this frame with chicken wire really caught my eye! I love that I can use the nifty little clips to hang recent creations and rotate them easily. My "old" way of displaying cards was to put them into cellophane envelopes and using velcro attach them to a foam-core board. With the card inside the protective envelope, you couldn't see what I'd done with the inside part. Each time I changed out the display, bits of the board would pull off with the tapes until the board looked ratty! My other "problem" with the black foam-core board was it's size - it needed about 8 items to look full enough. This frame is a little smaller and can look great with just 5 examples! Perhaps I will be able to change out the board more often this way?! Hooray!!
This month I have it with an autumn theme and the papers are mostly Huntington, but also one from Laughing Lola and another from Babycakes! Hope you like it!
Namaste.
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