Encre, papier, ciseaux

Nine Light Years

Inspiration: May 2023 Page Maps Sketch + Lasting Memory Layout #671 (Color palette that represents a season - Fall) + Time Out #249 (Vintage)

This layout turned out into a way more involved project that I initially anticipated, but I like that I got to use a variety of techniques and supplies on it. The starting point was the Simple Vintage October 31st collection from Simple Stories. It had been on my mind to pull it out so I looked for pictures to go with it. I found pictures of my niece dressed as Princess Leia for her birthday party. I am not much of a Star Wars fan, so I had to dig deep to find inspiration for her gift packaging. I always do a little something hand-made and she always take notice, so I made the extra effort to find something that could tie in with the theme of her party. I found a simplified image of Grogu online, so I used punches and dies to paper piece him. I covered the bag with black cardstock and I stenciled gold stars on it. 

And then I got this idea to use Word to see if I could print text at an angle in yellow font, to mimic the iconic start of the trilogy movies. I lucked out, as there is a feature that lets you tilt a text box so I was able to get the right angle. I wrote something about a little girl celebrating her birthday in a galaxy far, far away... The bag was a big hit, with the party girl and the guests.

So back to the page, I used the cool double chipboard frame from the collection to frame my pictures and I got the idea to add Tim Holtz's Shattered Windows over the pictures. I flipped it to make sure the shattered part was not over her face, but the result is really cool! 

The other product I recently acquired and was eager to try is the Rosettes stencils and dies combo from PinkFresh Studio. I did the stenciling in orange and black and then used the dies. This is really quick and really easy to use - lining both images up is super simple and the result was perfect on the first try. I can't wait to try Christmas rosettes next...  So I had three sizes, and I topped the largest one with a large decorative brad from the collection, then I tucked the smallest two underneath the picture frame.

I got lucky as this paper collection had a long and narrow journaling block on one of the cut-apart pages, which fit the sketch perfectly. I matted it with black spiderweb paper, and I then I picked the stars on black paper for the background - figured that I should include stars to go with the Star Wars theme.

Speaking of which, I picked the lightest grey for the base paper and even though it has some nice tone-on-tone designs on it, I still added stenciled stars, using a very light touch to keep them subtle. As I was adding a black rub-on to the journaling block, I spotted the "For Skills and Amusement Only" sentiment and thought it could work well, but I didn't want black on the background, so I remembered I had this same sentiment as a stamp, so I pulled the Eccentric set out and stamped it in Basic Grey ink underneath the picture. 

Since I was pulling Tim Holtz elements out, I thought I could use this Candy Corn Confections on the little clipboard I had added to the picture frame. And as I was looking through my box of embellishments, I started pulling out other options that could pair well with the collection and I ended up grabbing quite a lot.

The first thing I realized was that the fringe came in both black (Halloween) and cream (Christmas) so I combined them together to create a really cute border underneath the doubly-matted picture frame. Then I pulled out a word band to add at the top of the pictures. It appears that my Distress crayons have grown legs and gone into hiding so after looking for a bit and not finding them, I switched gears: I grabbed the Marigold stencil butter, spread some over the word with a small palette knife and wiped the excess with a tissue. It worked really well. The other item I grabbed was the Ornate Gates. I placed them on both sides of the layout and I was really liking the look. You might notice I ended up using only one... That's because I inadvertently ended up shifting the papers to the right as I started gluing things in place and I could tell that I would not be able to lift the papers up without tearing the background, so I left things where they were and went for the one gate. Half the price and now I have a gate left for another future project.

I was wondering what to call my layout. While looking through stencils, I had seen the Freight stencil set and so I decided to do a big nine at the top. I was trying to decide what ink or paste to use and since I had Tim's Live on in the background while I was crafting, I got inspired by his demo of glitter and decided to use transparent gloss texture paste and cover it with Nightfall Distress glitter. Speaking of glitter, I also decided to add some to the candy corn, using glaze and fine clear glitter.

After the paste dried, I added the words "light years" using the Alphanumeric Cutout Lower dies and the Type Keys foam stickers from Simple Stories. (Love those!)

I looked through the Bits & Pieces set to fill in the space in the top right corner. I found a cute tag, which I topped with gingham ribbon and a chipboard pumpkin from the Chipboard Clusters kit. The top was too empty, so I cut a cardstock sentiment sticker in two, layered the words and I added a bat sticker as well. I also found a cute cat on pumpkins image that worked well placed over the metal gate on the opposite side of the page.

I created a date strip using my Dymo label maker and I placed it underneath the last word of the title. This was initially created to put over the pumpkin on the tag, but it was too large, so I found a new place for it instead.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Eccentric (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous)
Cardstock: Black Mirror (Tonic)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Clusters, Cardstock Stickers, Decorative Brads,
Basics Kit: October 31st (Simple Stories)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Smoky Slate, Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Stencils: Rosettes (PinkFresh Studio); Freight (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous);
Stars (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Rosettes (PinkFresh Studio); Alphanumeric Cutout Lower (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Type Keys Foam Stickers (Simple Stories); Christmas and Halloween Fringe,
Ornate Gates, Eccentric Rub-Ons, Candy Corn Confections, Word Bands (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology);
Transparent Gloss Texture Paste (Ranger); Label Maker (Dymo); Black and White Gingham Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Black/Grey Baker's Twine, Distressing Tool (Stampin' Up!); 
Nightfall Distress Glitter (Tim Holtz for Ranger); Blender Brushes (Waffle Flower);
Crystal Fine Glitter (Martha Stewart for EK Success); Black Floss (DMC);
Marigold Stencil Butter (The Crafter's Workshop)

 

Carved Up Tag

The next collection I was eager to dive into was Simple Vintage October 31st by Simple Stories. Even though when I saw the previews online, I was thinking maybe I didn't need one more Halloween collection added to my stash, but when my local store brought this one in, I found it hard to resist as it is very appealing.

For my base, I used the Halloween text patterned paper and tested out the Framed Tags dies from Tim Holtz for Sizzix. I didn't ink the borders, but you can still see the impression left in the paper by the die. I added doodling using the Dylusions journal block and then I used some of the cut-apart pages to layer images on the die. 

I had previously made a button when I first got the Button Press using patterned paper from this collection, so I pulled it out to add to my tag. I added decorative brads and a few tickets from the Pewter Ticket Essentials box from 49 & Market, which looks like they were made to go with this collection.

At the bottom of the tag, I wrapped Orange Scrubby Sparkle yarn. This is a new find that I was quite excited about. Years ago, Stampin' Up! sold what they called tinsel trim in one of their Holidays minicatalogue. I purchased some from the Clearance rack after the catalogue had retired, not necessarily thinking much of it, but once I started adding the tinsel to my projects, I found myself really loving it. And then seeing my roll of it getting depleted much faster that I would like to, seeing that the product was retired and not available for purchase anymore. I had searched high and low since then trying to find something similar, searching under tinsel trim, eyelash trim or yarn... When I saw this Scrubby Sparkle yarn, I wonder if it could make a worthy replacement. I couldn't find it locally, so I placed an order and it came in this week. Right off the bat, I got very excited when I pulled it out of the packaging. It is VERY, very similar. I got three colours (red, white and orange) and the Marshmallow is a true white, which also makes me happy because I prefer this to sparkle that has colour to it. I pulled out whatever I have leftover of the original tinsel trim and it is different, in that it has little hair on both sides of the cord, making the look fluffier. That being said, it is a really close equivalent and it does look really cool added to a project, as illustrated here.

Part of that order also included orange organza ribbon with black velvet dots on it. I took the wiring out of the sides and threaded this ribbon at the top of the tag, tying it in place with thick black twine. And from the Halloween assorted glitter set, I pulled tiny bats and stars and added them to the tag as well.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Paper, Decorative Brads, Cardstock Stickers: Simple Vintage October 31st (Simple Stories)
Sparkle Paper: Autumn (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Framed Tags (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Pewter Ticket Essentials (49 & Market); Button Press (We R Memory Keepers);
Dylusions Paint Pens, Dylusions Journal Block (Ranger); Decorative Scissors (Fiskars);
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Orange Scrubby Sparkle Yarn (Red Heart);
Ribbon (Celebrate It); Black Twine, Halloween Assorted Glitter Set (Recollections)

 

Hocus Pocus Pillow Boxes

My next Halloween packages were done with an old Bigz die from Sizzix, Pillow Box. I also thought I could pull out my Halloween shaker kit from Queen & Co, Hocus Pocus, and pair it with the Monsters & Friends papers I've been using.

So far, I had only made the shakers using the patterned paper included in the kit, which was pretty dark, and switching to bright colours totally changed the look of the resulting embellishments. I love both of them, but I will admit I particularly love how the bottle turned out. Now that I have the outline dies that go with the shaker, it makes putting the shakers together a much smoother experience than when I had to fussy cut an approximate shape for the back piece. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Monsters & Friends (Bella Blvd.)
Speciality Paper: Silver Assortment (Sizzix)
Shaker Kit: Hocus Pocus (Queen & Co)
Dies: Pillow Box (Sizzix)
Accessories: Black & White 1/4" Gingham Ribbon, Black 3/8" Glitter Organdy Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)

 

Cutest Monsters on the Block

Inspiration: Festive Friday #120 (black + orange + stars)

I've started working on Halloween packaging and I was hoping to find the Monsters & Friends collection from Bella Blvd. in my stash. I found all of my Halloween collections hiding at the back of my paper pile and I pulled this one up to play with. I have quite a bit of patterned paper from this collection, as I think I ended up reordering some of the single sheets when they went on clearance, so I'm hoping to get it used up. I also have the ephemera pack, which contains 112 pieces, so I have quite a bit of choose from! 

I started with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits to make cute envelopes. I picked the border strip patterned paper to make the first envelope and I realized that the glittery washi tape sold by Stampin' Up! matches the collection, so I added washi between the patterned strips. I added a purple eyelet to one of the die-cut tags, threaded gingham ribbon and I added a cute monster I fussy cut from the cut-apart paper. At the top, I added a purple cloud on which I added a glittered purple brad, and I added the "Creepin' it real" die-cut. I stapled a tab from the ephemera set at the top of the bag and added a chipboard candy corn image at the bottom. Finally, I wrote my niece's name on black Dymo tape and added it to the bag.

Since I always create things in pairs for my nieces, I picked the adorable candy patterned paper for the second envelope, and wrapped a strip of purple star paper at the bottom. I added a scalloped border from the cardstock stickers and purple tinsel from the Thirty-One trims from Prima. I added a tab at the top again. I really liked the "Cutest monsters on the block" sentiment strip, which I added at an angle on the bag, and I balanced two die-cut monsters on it. I used a piece of holographic paper I had on my desk and die-cut the images from the Mixed Media Motifs set out of it. (On a side note, the holographic paper pack is from Recollections and I discovered that it does not die-cut as cleanly as some of my better quality specialty paper does. A nice reminder that you get what you pay for...) I used the star in the top left corner and layered my niece's name in Dymo tape over it. The bottom right corner felt a little bare, so I found a cute eyes die-cut that I popped up with foam adhesive slightly layered over the tinsel.

I'm wondering what kind of reaction the packaging will get from my nieces this year. Two years ago, the oldest looked at every single box one at a time and pointed out various details to me that caught her attention. Last year, she fished the candy out and didn't really seem all that bothered. The youngest was also mostly interested by the candy, but she was just 3½ years old, so we'll see if her interest picks up now that she's older. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Ciao Chip, Cardstock Stickers, Ephemera: Monsters & Friends (Bella Blvd.)
Specialty Paper: Holographic (Recollections)
Dies: Mini Treat Bag Thinlits (Stampin' Up!); Mixed Media Motifs (Sizzix)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stapler, Black and White 1/4" Gingham Ribbon,
Eyelet, Iridescent Gems, Glitter Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!); Thirty-One Trims (Prima Marketing);
Black Tape and Machine (Dymo); Glittered Brads (Doodlebug Design); Star Dust Stickles (Ranger);
Oval Googly Eyes (Multicraft)

 

Dracula's Lair

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Mood Board) + Little Red Wagon #675 + ColourQ #55

Another Tim Holtz die set I was able to get on sale is The Count. Tim mentioned on a recent Live those dies are discountinued, so I decided I wanted this one in my collection, as it's very unique and full of personality. I'm also finding I like the Colorize dies quite a lot now that Sizzix has streamlined the process for putting them together (less layers compared to the first iterations). 

I also wanted to try the moon bleeding ink technique from Tim's last Live, so I die-cut a tag out of Bristol cardstock, sprayed Spiced Marmalade and Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide inks and then I used my water spray bottle to make the ink bleed into the moon. I then used Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide ink and a blender brush to add the moon detailing, and I spritzed this as well. I added Antique Bronze Distress Mica spray as well, taking the nozzle out and taping it over the tag to create speckles. I overstamped flying bats, using an old retired stamp set from Stampin' Up! called Wicked Cool, using Hickory Smoke Archival ink.

I used the Cathedral Window Bigz die to create a stained glass behind my character. I love the shape of this die, but I was reticent to purchase it because it's a Bigz die and therefore takes up more room in my stash. That behind said, I do love the option of cutting the stained glass out of chipboard, which is what I did here, layering a piece die-cut with Tim's black metallic kraft-stock over it. I wanted to back it with vellum, and I found in my stash this very cool Confetti vellum page from Crate Paper (2014). I liked the gold star pattern, so I glued it behind the die-cut and fussy cut along the edges. I added two die-cut bats from the same Colorize set to fill the space around the window.

At the top of the tag, I tied metallic mesh ribbon (one of my favorites) and black glittered organdy ribbon. 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Wicked Cool (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Smooth Bristol (Canson); Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, River Rock,
Basic Black, Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!); Confetti Vellum (Crate Paper); Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for idea-ology)
Ink: Hickory Smoke Archival Ink (Ranger)
Sprays: Spiced Marmalade and Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide; Antique Bronze Distress Mica (Ranger)
Dies: The Count Colorize, Cathedral Window Bigz (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Nested Tags (Scrapbook.com)
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon, Metallic Mesh Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Sassy Witch

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Spritz and Splatter)

I had some items from my Holidays catalogue preorder that I had not touched yet, so I pulled the Best Witches stamp set and combined it with the Silver and Gold Specialty papers. I did a little halo using a blender brush and Mango Melody ink and then I used my retired Spritzing tool with a Blackberry Bliss marker to add splatters. I also overstamped the little stars in Mango Melody ink as well.

The witch was stamped on Whisper White cardstock in black ink, colored with Stampin' Blends markers and fussy cut and it was added to the background using an action wobble spring.

At the bottom, I stamped the Best Wishes sentiment from the Brightest Glow stamp set on Pool Party cardstock and I added a frame die cut with the Foundation 6 dies from Queen & Co. I added sparkly washi tape from the Holidays catalogue on each side of the sentiment. Fine Sparkle adhesive-backed gems were added to the witch's hat and on each side of the sentiment.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moment lumineux [Brightest Glow], Best Witches (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Granny Apple Green, Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Specialty Paper: Silver and Gold (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Mango Melody, Blackberry Bliss (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Spritzing Tool, Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Write Marker,  Stitched Rectangles Dies,
Fine Sparkle Adhesive-Backed Gems, Glitter Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!); 
Foundation 4 and Foundation 6 dies (Queen & Co); A2 Seafoam Envelope (Envelopes.com);
Action Wobble Springs (Hampton Art)

 

For Skill and Amusement Only Tag

I received the new Uncharted Mariner Distress Oxide ink pad today and immediately opened it to do my sample and also try it on a tag. I have to admit that when the previous colour was released (Villainous Potion), I thought that I didn't really need it since I'm not big on purple anyway. But it's the only Distress colour missing from my collection, so on a whim, I decided to purchase it along with Uncharted Mariner and don't they look awesome together on that mixed media heavystock tag? (Another item I decided to try.)

The stamping is done with Tim Holtz's Eccentric set and embossed in Vintage Pearl powder from Ranger, which has a nice white gold sheen to it. I spritzed some water through the Linked Squares stencil, but now that the tag is embellished, you can hardly tell.

Interestingly enough, my local store was trying to make room for the upcoming Holidays collection so they ran a Christmas sale, with a few fall and Halloween elements, including the Happy Haunting Odds & Ends set, that I decided to get my hands on while it was on sale. The ink colour I had blended on the tag went with the ephemera images quite well, so I decided to use them to embellish the tag. This is really random in the middle of June, but I've learn that you should never fight inspiration and go wherever it chooses to lead you. I auditioned a few images and ended up picking the black cat, the full moon, the spiderweb and a couple of stars. I was delighted to find out that this Odds & Ends set include acetate pieces - they are so cool!! 

To embellish, I added gold foil pearl to the stars, crystal stars on the tag and Berry Burst crinkled seam binding to the tag. I also added Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer to the moon and stars.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Eccentric (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous)
Ink: Villainous Potion, Uncharted Mariner Distress Oxide (Ranger);
Elegant Eggplant (Stampin' Up!); VersaMark
Cardstock: #5 Mixed Media Heavystock Tags (Ranger)
Accessories: Happy Haunting Odds & Ends (Doodlebug Design);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Berry Burst Crinkled Seam Binding (Stampin' Up!);
Linked Squares Stencil (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous);
Gold Foil Pearls (Studio Katia); Crystal Stars (Buttons Galore & More);
Vintage Pearl Embossing Powder, Distress Sprayer (Ranger)

 

Halloween Mini-Album

I am so elated with how this mini-album turned out. Earlier this Spring, Simple Stories did a Live YouTube presentation and Jana showed the pages of three mini-albums designed to be classes for the company. I thought they were so adorable and I particularly liked how they had done a lot of insert pages and flip-ups and totally changed how the pocket protectors are used. This left me totally inspired and as soon as I had a free weekend, I circled back to that video to have a closer look and try putting together a mini-album of my own.

A few years ago, we had an Halloween party at my place. We all dressed up and took family pictures and then my nieces went on a candy treasure hunt to find treats I had packaged and hidden around the house. Because I had quite a few pictures of this day, I figured a mini-album would be a better format than individual scrapbook pages. Two years ago, I had fallen in love with the Boo Crew Halloween collection from Simple Stories and preordered pretty much every item from the collection from my local store. I figured this collection would be a great pick for the mini-album since I had plenty of elements to choose from. I went all out on the embellishing to see how much of a dent I could make in the collection. I have to say, I'm amazed at how much paper and embellishments I still have left considering that I didn't hold back at all on decorating my pages.

The album has 18 pages overall (9 front and back), so here are a few highlighted details from it.

Page 1: One the elements that immediately made me fall in love with the album Jana was sharing was the flaps that fold over the plastic of the page protector. One of the reasons I started disliking pocket scrapbooking really quickly after giving it a try was how confining it felt (both with thickness and width) and how everything felt very grid-like when you leafed through an album. This way of doing pocket scrapbooking breaks out of that mold and makes the best out of those pockets. On this page, I am using a regular 6" x 8" protector, but by using 12" x 12" patterned paper, I'm able to cut a 6" x 11-3/4" piece, score at 8" and fold the piece over, showing the backside pattern. When picking a pattern for this, make sure you think of how you are cutting and scoring the paper if the pattern is directional. Inside the flap, I used a 3" x 4" cut-apart to make a pocket, in which I slid one of the tags from the cut-apart paper.

Page 2: The foam stickers are wonderful to add depth to a page, but they can definitely distort the plastic of the protector once you slip the page in. Those stick really well to the page protector, so you are better off sticking them outside of the protector rather than on the page. My page initially felt a little bare, so adding the foam words really filled up the space nicely.

Pages 3 and 4: This was the very last page I put together. In a different album shown in the video, Jana had done half-page inserts with patterned paper and I really love the idea. I decided I could use it as a way to fit two more portrait-size pictures in my album, glued back to back over the piece of paper. I rounded the corners, added the scalloped border sticker and punched holes using an empty protector as reference. Having those smaller inserts that are not full-sized really make the album more unexpected and dimensional, and that type of insert does not limit you to any picture size or orientation.

Page 8: I had a few pictures from the candy hunt that were not the best quality, because the girls kept moving around quickly and the lighting was not always the best depending on where they were standing. I still wanted to include some pictures to remember the fun we had, but I made them smaller so I used a four quadrant protector for this one. This is one of the format that fills very grid-like to me, and I found that I was able to work around that by adding my stickers on top of the plastic. For example, I had put the "broom hair, don't care" over my niece's picture on the right and I really wanted to add the broom sticker to go with it. I tried adding it to the "Trick or Treat" cut-apart piece, but it was hiding the text too much and made it unreadable. I finally realized that if I put the broom outside of the pocket, I was able to position it exactly where I wanted it and it instantly made the whole page more pleasing. The same is true for the banner sticker at the top. I was trying to get the candle lined up with the edge of the picture and having the black line fall in the middle of the picture was really throwing the balance off, so when I lined up the black piece with the edge of the picture, the candle was hanging off the side of the protector. I thought about cutting it off, but I liked this detail, so I decided to test it as is (adding powder to the back to take the sticky off). Because I'm using a ring binder, there is plenty of room to turn the page without damaging the candle, so again, this helps break the grid off.

Page 10: This is another element from the sample album that I loved. You use a 10½" x 8" piece of patterned paper and score it at 6" to create a narrower flap. I used a circle punch at the top like in the example, but I had noticed that the Bits & Pieces included a few circles so I made sure to add one in my half-circle punchout. This is another spot where I added the foam stickers (Trick or Treat?) since I had the room to accommodate the bulk. On the front flap, there's a bunch of text on the pattern, but one part caught my eye and made me laugh - Beware... be very, very ware! I wanted to make sure to draw attention to that part, so I used the candlelight from the bits and pieces nd added the hand with the finger pointing to those words. At the top, I added the adorable mummy die-cut and I added foam and enamel stars around it.

Page 12: This page also uses the flap concept, and I used the October 31 calendar page as a tab. I didn't like having the back all white when the panel is opened, so I worked a few stickers on it to decorate it. I recently purchased some border dies from Photoplay that are meant for slimline cards. I don't really make those long cards really often, but I figured the longer border dies would come in handy for scrapbooking and they sure do! It was my first use of this wonky edge and I absolutely love the look. I also pulled out this Halloween paper fringe from Tim Holtz and it looks totally awesome! The candy word is a foam sticker.

Page 13: Now this is a fun detail to point out. It appears (if I interpreted what I saw on the video properly) that a pocket was created over the page protector by gluing a cut-apart over it and sliding elements inside the pocket. This is again such a cool way to not be restricted to the pocket sizes of the protector you are using. Here, I had two different patterns from the back of the image slid in the "3 x4" pockets, and I used a 4" x 4" cut-apart, glued in place with sticky strip on three sides, with a cut-apart tag slid in. I added some vanilla flower trim that was purchased years ago.

Page 16: Instead of a flap, you can create a pocket on this one by folding the paper over the front and gluing it in place or in this case, I stapled both sides. I slid two pieces inside. The first one is a leftover die-cut from a frame done on a prior page, on which I punched a slit at the top to add ribbon. I fussy cut a big pumpkin image and added it to the tag with dimensional adhesive. The second piece is two tags from the cut-apart sheet, cut together and folded it in half to make a mini-booklet. I finally (after many years) managed to find a tutorial on how to put pictures together in Photoshop Elements to print smaller-sized pictures at home without using an app, so I used two 1½" x 3" pictures inside the booklet.

Page 18: One of the papers had 2" x 2" cut-aparts, so I used those with a page protector that had two rows of those small squares. Again, I used the concept of gluing things over the protector with dimensional adhesive to give the page dimension.

All of my pages have been put in a temporary 6" x 8" binder that I had on hand. The colour would fit, but the snowflakes, not so much, so they will be transferred to another album once I can find one in the right colour for Halloween. I will probably add a few embellishments to the album itself once I have it.

This mini-album took a full three days of work to get done, but it is arguable one of my favorite mini-albums I have ever put together, in parts because the Boo Crew is one of my fave Halloween lines I've worked with. I love the grey/orange/vanilla combo and the adorable characters and images.

 

  

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Black Foil Sheets, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads, Foam Stickers, Cardstock Stickers, Bits & Pieces, 
Washi Tape, Enamel Dots: The Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Mini Album, Mini Dimensionals, Twine, Black Sparkly Organza Ribbon, Curvy Corner Punch,
Black Rhinestones, Pinking Heart Border Punch, Tango Tangerine/White Trim,
Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Natural/White Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Buttons (Foof-a-La); Decorative Clips, Black Messy Stitches Rub-Ons (49 & Market);
Decorative Scissors (Fiskars); Reinforcement Pack Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Baker's Twine, Beetle Black Mini Doilies, Black Sugar Brads (Doodlebug Design);
Rhinestone Flourish Stickers, Wax Seal Stickers, Black Square Rhinestone Stickers (Recollections);
Enamel Stars (Bella Blvd.); Dies (Coco & Reno)

 

Spooky Hat Tag

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes) 

You wouldn't know based on the size of the finished tag, but there are many hours that went into creating it. I was fiddling around in my craft room, trying to find a thread leading to inspiration. I had Tim Holtz's Crossbones stencil out on my desk and decided to ink a tag and layer the stencil to see how it would look. I grabbed a scrap of Crumb Cake cardstock on my desk and started inking with a blender tool... and I went down the rabbit hole. I inked and layered and spritzed and dried and painted and splatted and stamped and glittered until I ended up with this lovely tag.

A few details:

• The image was watercolored with Distress Oxide inks. I love the creamy look of it watercolored on kraft cardstock. It comes from a Recollections set called Haunted Scribble (purchased last year). 
• I used Heat & Stick powder to cover the bats with Tim Holtz's nightfall Distress glitter. I find I don't get as even of a coverage with this product as I wish I did. The jar I own has been in my drawers for over a decade, so I'm tempted to buy a new jar from either Stampin' Up! or Ranger to see if it makes a difference (but it might not, so I'm afraid of buying in double for nothing.)
• I dyed seam binding using Distress Oxide sprays. I didn't have white or vanilla seam binding, so I started with Daffodil Delight binding and made it darker using a mix of Vintage Photo and Spiced Marmalade.
• The spiderweb image was embossed in Rose Gold embossing powder. 
• I added gold splatter using Gansai Tambi watercolors and overstamped the word Spooky in Antique Gold ink from Altenew.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Weathered, Wicked Cool, From the Crypt (Stampin' Up!);
Halloween Scribble (Recollections)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Grapefruit Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Craft Basic Black (Stampin' Up!);
Walnut Stain, Crackling Campfire, Spiced Marmalade, Shaded Lilac,
Brushed Corduroy, Fossilized Amber, Black Soot Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, Stampin' Dimensionals, Aqua Painter Brush,
Daffodil Delight Seam Binding, Heat & Stick, Star Punches (Stampin' Up!);
Crossbones Stencil (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous);
Stencil Brushes, Antique Bronze Distress Crayon, Blender Tools (Ranger);
Rose Gold Embossing Powder (Simon Says Stamp); Gansai Tambi Starry Watercolors (Kuretake)

 

Monogrammed Mini Curvy Boxes

Inspiration: TGIF challenge #338

Earlier, when I was going through my dies to finish up a project, I spotted the Mini Curvy Keepsakes Box dies and thought this box would be great for the Halloween treat packages I'm working on. I went back to the Boo Crew papers. I used the same patterned paper but used a different side on both.

Of all the packaging dies I own, this one is arguably the simplest to use: you die-cut the whole box in one pass and not a drop of glue is required to put together. I just use my bone folder to round the paper up and then you slide the left and right side over the handle and you're done. I used the oval and star tags from the same die set and to monogram the boxes, I used the Alphanumeric Cutout Lower Alphabet from Tim Holtz with black foil sheets. I tied ribbon on the boxes and added a spider on the side of the plaid box and a little ghost on the side of the black box.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White, Black Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Dies: Mini Curvy Keepsakes Box Dies (Stampin' Up!); Ghouls and Tree (Simon Says Stamp); 
Spider Web, Alphanumeric Cutout Lower (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: 1-1/2" Metallic Mesh Ribbon, Black 3/8" Glittered Organdy Ribbon,
Gold Cord, Eyelets (Stampin' Up!)

 

Boo Library Pocket

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday

This one will definitely be for my younger niece, as her favorite activity is going to the local library. She's been in love with books since she was a toddler and the love is still going strong. I used the Library Card stamp and die set, along with the Boo Crew collection from Simple Stories. I used the Alphabet roller stamp Stampin' Up! used to carry to add her name to the library card. Both embellishments come from the Decorative Brads pack. I added a piece of Tangelo Twist ribbon and black mini-sequin trim on the edge of the pocket. Super simple, but very adorable.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps and Dies: Library Card (Hero Arts); Alphabet Roller Stamp (Stampin' Up!)
Inks: Basic Grey, Marigold Morning, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Black Mini Sequin Trim, Tangelo Twist Ribbon, Brights Candy Dots,
Ices Rhinestone Embellishments, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Burger and Fries Combo

Inspiration: Paper Players #561 (Spooky)

This is one more Halloween packaging project made with the Boo Crew collection from Simple Stories. This time I went back further in time and pulled out the Fry Box Bigz L die and the Hamburger Box Bigs L die that Stampin' Up! used to sell. It was fun to revisit those shapes, which work especially well with double-sided paper. On a side note, I've noticed that papers sold in paper pads from certain company tend to be one-sided, even if their paper are double-sided when sold by the sheets (I'm thinking of Crate Paper as an example). I've learned the hard way that it can limit how you can use the papers and I now prefer to stick to double-sided when the choice is available. This is a good example here, as both containers are pretty inside and out without requiring any extra work.

Embellishing was really fast and easy, as I used a mix of ribbons, Bits & Pieces die-cut images, faux Halloween seals stickers, foam stickers and decorative brads. I made sure to use the same pattern on the French fries box and hamburger box so that they would look like a set. I made two so that I have one for each of my nieces. I'm usually keep my fancier/pricier embellishments like decorative brads for scrapbook pages or projects less disposable than packaging, but in this case, by an unfortunate turn of events, I ended up with doubles of the foam stickers and decorative brads, so I don't want to sit on those for years to come, which is why I am using those embellishments more liberally than I usually would. Companies are coming out with such amazing collections years after years, so I'm starting to embrace the approach of "if you love it, use it." 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads, Bits & Pieces, Journaling Bits, Foam Stickers: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Dies: Fry Box Bigz L Die, Hamburger Box Bigz L Die (Stampin' Up!)
Embellishments: Tangelo Twist Satin Ribbon, Basic Grey Striped Satin Ribbon,
Very Vanilla Striped Satin Ribbon, Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Halloween Puffy Stickers (Recollections)

 

Something Wicked Pocket

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #604 (Halloween) 

I am really excited about how this treat bag turned out. I ended up working on this in sequences. At first, a couple of weeks ago, I had sprayed a dollar store clothespin with Black Soot Distress Oxide ink, let it dry and then I covered the sides with Boo Crew patterned paper, inked the edges and embellished it with a fussy cut image and a chipboard sentiment. I left it aside to have ready to embellish a treat bag when the time would come.

I recently put my hands on the Jack-O-Lanterns stencil from Simple Stories. I find this one to be really cool because it works as a full background, but I also very much plan to use the individual faces to stencil on Halloween stamped images or die-cuts. I really wanted to test the stencil with some sort of black glitter paste, which I don't happen to have on hand, so I improvised. I needed a treat bag, so I went looking through my stash and pulled out the now-retired chevron bags from Stampin' Up! I blended an ombre look using Dried Marigold, Ripe Persimmon and Crackling Campfire Distress Oxide inks with blender brushes. I used Dried Marigold on the back of the pocket as well so that it would show when the top of the bag is folded over, but you can barely tell I've added this ink colour as it doesn't show up much once dry. For the embossing, I was thinking of creating my own paste with black glitter and liquid glue, but then I remembered seeing a lot of crafting videos where people were using the Nuvo Drops or Liquid Pearl with a palette knife to fill in their stenciled images, so I investigated to see if I had black, and turns out, I do have black Enamel Accents! I had no clue if that would work, but I used both a scraper and a silicon spatula to fill in the details and it worked out way better than I anticipated. I was planning to sprinkle my fine black glitter over the top before it dried, but I liked the glossy look so much that I changed my mind. I made sure to use Pixie spray on the stencil before using it so it wouldn't shift, but I have to say, the details of the faces came out so crisp! And the result is pretty flat, so I was able to glue a layered die-cut on top easily and the shine is amazing! I barely use my Liquid Pearls anymore, so I have to revisit this technique to put them to good use.

So the pocket got left aside to dry overnight and then I decided to do the embellishing on it today. I went back to the Boo Crew collection since the colours would match. I used a banner and a flower sticker at the top and I placed one of the cute tag cut-aparts over the folded edge of the bag, clipping it in place with the clothespin. I had a polka dot scrap that I slid under the edge of the tag, and I added star stickers from the collection and star sequins from Stampin' Up!'s current Halloween suite.

The Chicken Wire die (from Impression Obsession) is a recent acquisition. I jumped on it when my local store showed it in a "what's new" video as a chicken wire die had been on my wish list for a long time. I have a stamp, but I love that this die is really dainty (craft companies have made so much strides and the images are not as bulky as they were when die-cutting started to appear on the crafting scene). I've noticed this is the kind of generic detailing that can be worked into many projects and adds texture and details without taking precedence over other elements. I had pulled my foil papers out thinking I might do copper, but then the Generous Grapefruit holographic paper caught my eye. It was a freebie during SAB a few years ago and even though I didn't think much of it at the time because I wasn't a fan of the Grapefruit colour, I have thoroughly enjoyed using this foil paper. It reads more as a rose gold/copper colour and the holographic treatment makes it that much more special. This is one of those craft items that you end up with a little randomly and that you later wish you could stock up on if you run out. I think I might be able to find something similar in the mirror cardstock from Tonic when that happens.

I tried covering as little as possible of my cute jack-o-lantern pattern on the envelope, but I did add two sentiment strips at the bottom to balance the overall design better. The back of the envelope seemed too bare, especially since the orange ink was not showing up (I should have done the same ombre on the back), so I used a strip of the 2" x 2" square cut-apart paper, more sentiment strips and a little candle holder sticker on the side. I didn't think when I started this treat holder that it would end up so intricate, but this might be my favorite Halloween project I've done so far this year.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Cardstock Stickers: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Ink: Crackling Fire, Dried Marigold, Ripe Persimmon Distress Oxide, Black Soot (Ranger)
Dies: Chicken Wire (Impression Obsession)
Accessories: Cute Stars Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Chevron Treat Bags (Stampin' Up!);
Jack-O-Lanterns Stencil (Simple Stories); Black Enamel Accents, Black Soot Distress Oxide Spray (Ranger);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Silicon Spatula (Nuvo); Clothespin (Dollar Store)

 

Halloween Pockets

Still working on Halloween treat packaging using the Boo Crew collection from Simple Stories (2020). I had put aside my Scalloped Pocket die, so I used it on two different patterned papers, making sure to think of pattern placement since I was using directional patterns.

To embellish the pockets, I added ribbons and images that were fussy cut from the cut-apart sheets. I added a chipboard image at the bottom of the witch's cauldron from the Decorative Brads package and foam sticker stars on the ghost pocket. Very simple and very cute!

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Decorative Brads: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Dies: Scalloped Pocket (Fun Stampers Journey)
Accessories: Victoria 5/8" Crochet Trim, Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Faceted Dots (Stampin' Up!)

 

RIP Pocket

And we are finally off on Halloween crafting! I let myself get tempted by Christmas projects for a few weeks before I finally circled back to Halloween. I was in the mood to craft tonight and initially thought I would pick a collection and spend a couple of hours die-cutting and fussy cutting elements so that I would have a base ready to craft with later. It turned out that I die-cut a pocket and already had an idea on how to embellish it, so I let inspiration take me where it wanted to go and I quickly ended up with a completed project.

I selected the Boo Crew collection from Simple Stories. I absolutely fell in love with it when sneak peeks came out last year. It reminded me of an older Halloween paper collection from Stampin' Up! with rust and dark grey colours that I had used up until the very last bit. The imagery is also incredibly cute, so I asked my local store to pretty much order the whole collection for me. Last year being what it was with the pandemic, the elements trickled in a few elements at a time and by the time I had received most of it, I was already mostly done with my Halloween projects. The one time in my life that I worked ahead of time... I wasn't too concerned about it, I knew I would like revisiting the collection later. 

My base envelope was made with the Small Crayon Box Card die set. When you forgo the crayons, you really just end up with a fun envelope that can be used for a lot of different things. I remembered my beloved Spider Web doilies (sold by Stampin' Up! many moons ago). I still have quite a few in the pack, but I'll be sad when they are all used up. I wish I had that shape as a die... I folded the doily in two on the side of the envelope and stapled it in place on both sides since the envelope was not glued together yet.

As I was pulling my doilies out from my Halloween embellishments box, I found some old die-cuts from Making Memories, so I picked a cute sparkly label shape and a sparkly eyed ghost as well. I assembled the envelope and wrapped grey with black stripes ribbon around it. I then added the label with black foam adhesive, layered a leftover piece of paper at an angle and then I remembered my skull and crossbones die from Echo Park. This is actually from the Pirate Tales collection, so the dies include a little bandana you can put on the skull to make it look like a pirate, but I realized I should keep it around for Halloween crafting. Here's the best part: purchased of $0.99 in the Clearance section. Talk about a score! I think Echo Park would sell their dies more if they included an image of the die pieces as well - the image of the assembled die on the front of the packaging does not always show clearly how many separate pieces are in the set and what can be done with pieces individually.

The skull was die-cut out of the pearlized Speciality paper from Stampin' Up!, which is definitely off-white, so it works well with this collection that has vanilla as a neutral instead of white. I added RIP from the foam stickers, as well as two of the stars, and I tucked my little ghostie peeking out from inside the envelope. As the final touch, I added a rhinestone inside the skull's eye socket. I like where I landed with that one. 

I have a sneaking suspicion the kids will not be going door to door again this year for Halloween, so I think I'll put together cute candy packages and prepare another scavenger hunt to entertain the girls with again this year.

 

 

Supplies
Specialty Paper: Pearlescent (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Die-Cuts: Toil & Trouble (Making Memories)
Dies: Small Crayon Box Card (Honey Bee Stamps); Skull & Crossbones (Echo Park)
Accessories: Spiderweb Doilies, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Mini Stapler, 
Black Striped Basic Grey Satin Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Black Foam Adhesive (Brutus Monroe)

 

Halloween Anya

Inspiration: Tic Tac Toe Challenge #129 (Pumpkin + Cat (on the boo cut-apart) + Interactive Element)

I really wanted to ink up the Miss Anya All Year stamp set and since I was also eager to dive into my Thirty-One paper pack, I picked the image of the girl holding a pumpkin. I had this plan to give her colored hair, so the collection colours allowed me to go for pink. As I was gathering my supplies, I realized I could make a birthday card for my older niece. She celebrates her birthday at the end of October and therefore has always associated Halloween with her birthday. We don't necessarily do the amalgam, but she loves having the Halloween theme linked to her birthday. The fact that this collection is colorful and soft made for the perfect birthday card. She's also decided lately that black is her favorite colour (she's going into full pre-teenager mode), so another reason to pick that collection for her.

I stamped my Anya image in Tuxedo Black ink and colored her with Copic markers. I added Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer to the eyes and mouth of the pumpkin and Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer to her hair. It looks really cool when the card catches the light. No dies for this set (as far as I know), so I cut the image out the good ol' fashioned way. 

Because my niece has also stated repeatedly that she LOVES interactive card, I looked at my Lawn Fawn dies and picked the Double Slider Surprise, which would allow me to use even more pretty paper. Because I wanted to wrap ribbon around the front of the slider and not have it in the way of the mechanism, I did my slider pocket in pink cardstock and die-cut a second piece of patterned paper to layer over the slider pocket. I layered die-cut bats (patterned paper over black glitter paper), distressed the edges of a cut-apart and picked a bow I had previously made. I recently found the Creative Bows dies from Moda Scrap on clearance and was interested in adding different bow formats to my collection. I was really curious to see how the bows looked and their size so I tested the dies out on the Thirty-One papers, knowing I was bound to play with the collection in the upcoming months. (It's a great die-set, by the way. You get two sizes of bows and the tails and shapes are all different. Really good deal for a reasonable price.)

I had recently been looking through my buttons and had left aside two colours that are sliders, thinking it would be neat to use them with ribbon on a project. The pink one was the perfect shade and size, so I looked at my ribbons and went for the black and white striped one. As I was assembling my items on the slider, I remembered this collection includes tinsel, so I pulled it out and started playing with it. Once I tried wrapping the black tinsel around the button, I loved the look and I kept the idea, using my glue gun to keep it in place. I switched to a smaller bow for better proportions, and I added a die-cut sentiment and cut-apart image to the two sliding pieces of the card.

For the background, I remembered I had found glittery tulle at the dollar store lately (it looks great, but it sheds glitter very heavily), so I tested out the colours and decided I liked the orange in the background. I layered it over my starry patterned paper, holding it in place with four mini staples. The silver was a little bright for me, so I colored them with my Copic markers in a dark C10 (dark grey). I made a card base out of Soft Sky cardstock, glued the paper on it and I added the double slider to the card with dimensional foam. Then... I found out the slider was moving around on the staple tulle. So I pulled it off the card, plugged in my glue gun again and hot glued the panel in place. The panel is now much more secure and I can move the sliding parts in and out way more easily.

I knew I would need an oversized envelope and couldn't make one out of patterned paper since I only have an 8" x 8" paper pad currently. I remembered I had an envelope from Anthropologie from a few years ago I had put aside to repurpose, so I pulled it out and not only the size was perfect, but the lining was the same bluish colour as the papers. I used a piece of paper and a cut-apart image to decorate the envelope (and hide the Anthropologie logo) and I used another one of my die-cut bows. I also added a little potion bottle that was hand-cut from patterned paper to the bottom strip with dimensional adhesive.

I also remembered another thing that my niece goes crazy over: little clips with dangles on them. I've started making some in the past year and she always unclips them from the project and play around with them endlessly. I was putting ribbon away and realized I could make one of my beloved ribbon tassle, and then add the jack-o-lantern beads I found on a recent trip to the crafts store. I was a little unsure about the bead when I pulled it out as it's bright orange and the papers have more of a soft papaya colour to them, but I decided to go for it as I know my niece will love the dangle either way. I included a little mother-of-pearl star on there as well. I wanted to add an eyelet and clip the dangle on the envelope directly, but I was afraid the stitching would unravel if I punched my hole over it and as I feared, the eyelet ended up too far from the side of the envelope to clip it in. So I improvised and added black cord to tie it on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Miss Anya All Year (The Greeting Farm)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Pale Papaya, Whisper White, Black Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!);
Cotton Candy (Bazzill); Holographic Set 2 (Pink & Main)
Patterned Papers: Thirty-One (Prima Marketing)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Creative Bows (Moda Scrap); Wonky Stitch Rectangle Stax (My Favorite Things);
Double Slider Surprise (Lawn Fawn); Bonne fête/Merci (Dee's Distinctively);
Halloween Bats (Recollections); Layering Squares (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Bling Stickers (Recollections); Mini Stapler, Stampin' Dimensionals, Distressing Tool,
Black and White Striped Ribbon, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins,
various ribbons and black cord, Eyelet (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Thirty-One Tinsel Trim (Prima Marketing); Black Glitter Washi Tape (Unknown);
Orange Sparkly Tulle (Dollar Store); Jack-o-Lantern and Mother-of-Pearl Star Beads (Bead Landing);
Pinking Shears; Midas Touch and Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brushes (Nuvo)

 

Simple Halloween Packaging: Hocus Pocus Treat Box

I got into Halloween packaging this week and pulled out my punch boards to do so. I had already used the Bag one earlier, so I decided to use the Box one today. I purchased the Hey Pumpkin 6 x 8 papers and matching Ephemera pieces at my local store last year, but it came in pretty late in the season so it sat untouched in my stash until today. I love this collection, the cute patterns and the colours. The fact that I only have 6 x 8 paper does limit possibilities, but by using grey cardstock for the base of the box, I was able to simply layer four patterns on each box side and add a piece of patterned paper to the bottom as well. I matted them all with black foil paper, previously sold by Stampin' Up!. For the top of the box, I looked at the Ephemera pack to see what could work. The pieces are pretty big, better suited for scrapbooking, but the little witch did catch my eye and I loved how she looked on the top of the box with the Hocus Pocus sign underneath. I also used the bat die-cut on one side. It is larger than the box, but I don't mind it. The orange sequin also comes from the ephemera pack.

The punch board allows you to punch slits to close the box. I've always struggled with using this. It takes a lot of effort and you often bend the cardstock when you try to get it done. While I did punch the slits, I was trying to figure out how I could use the embellishments I liked on the top and still have the possibilité to hook and unhook the slits easily. In the end, I decided to go with a good ol' ribbon bow instead. I tied the ribbon where I wanted it and then added the embellishments with black Stampin' Dimensionals on top to secure the ribbon as well. It's something I've heard many times when giving treat boxes to colleagues: "It's so pretty, I don't even want to open it and mess it up." I've always made sure that the candy can be accessed while keeping the packaging intact. This way, people can still enjoy the packaging as decoration on their desk for a little while during the Holiday period. This box is really simple, but I love how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Basic Grey Textured, Black Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Ephemera Pack: Hey Pumpkin (Crate Paper)
Accessories: Black Stampin' Dimensionals, Box Punch Board,
Dusty Durango Polka Dot Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Pumpkin Party Mini Treat Bags

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes) + Little Red Wagon #573 (Halloween)

I have two Doodlebug Halloween stamp sets purchased last year that I had received late in the season and did not have much time to play with, so tonight, I decided to stamp all of the images from both sets and colour them with Copic markers in colours matching the Pumpkin Party collection (which also dates back from a few years ago). I don't usually work in batches as I don't necessarily often have a use for bunches of similar projects, but I can definitely see the benefit of doing so as it becomes really easy to create various projects and embellishments when you have a series of matching items available on your desk and ready to create something with. 

Instead of figuring out first what my treat bags would need, I assembled the bags and went through my colored images to see what would work best. The sticker sheet from the collection pack has a lot of big stickers that would be hard to work into cards as they would fill in the whole space, but that actually came in handy on the treat bags. I then added my images around the sentiment based on space available.

Both bags were accented with tulle because I had leftover pieces on my desk from previous Halloween projects. On the first bag, I created a dangle using a candy corn glass bead found on sale at Michaels. I tried adding a eyelet on the top of the bag to clip the dangle in, but I placed it too low, so I wrapped a piece of tulle in a bow and clipped the dangle on it instead. For the second bag, I stapled my piece of tulle to gather it and glued it inside the top of my treat bag. Rhinestones, gems and pearls were added to embellish the bags.

My nieces are always drawn to everything Doodlebug designs, so I expect those packages to be amongst their favorites.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Trick or Treat, Happy Halloween (Doodlebug Design)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Pumpkin Party (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Mini Treat Bag Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Amethyst Pearls, Pineapple Gems (Studio Katia); Crystal Stars (Button Galore and More);
White Sparkly Tulle, Black Rhinstones (Recollections); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll);
Alligator Clip, Jump Ring, Candy Corn Glass Bead (Bead Landing)

 

Halloween Town Mini Accordeon Album

Inspiration: Crate Paper Tutorial + Little Red Wagon #573 (Halloween)

So this project started out as a short tutorial I caught on the Crate Paper channel on YouTube. Seemed small and simple and I let myself believe that this could be something I could create quickly. Yeah... Not so much. First of all, the Crate Paper videos tend to be more process videos than actual tutorials and even though there's a few measurements on the blog post (in cm, which is not a big deal because I've been raised on those in school, but I do tend to favour using inches to measure when I craft), you really have to read a lot between the lines. 

I used the cut-apart sheets from the Halloween Town collection (not a new one, something pulled from my stash from a couple of years ago) and had twelve 3" x 4" images that I wanted to use as the inside pages. Which meant I had to figure out new dimensions. The accordeon is what really threw me for a loop. It took three and a half versions of it before it finally worked. The first one was made of patterned paper and the accordeon was too narrow, so the accordeon was simply refusing to fold on itself when the album was closing. So I tried glueing some of the accordeon together to help. It didn't. First fail. I tried a more traditional binding where I spaced the folds more and glued the inside together. I did it from memory and I don't think it was right. Right in the bin it went. The last accordeon, made out of cardstock and with scoring lines spaced ½ apart, worked much, much better and it was the winner. It should be noted in the video, the crafter shows that she glues each end of the cardstock cover. I would advise against that, because if your accordeon is even slightly off when folded, the covers of the album will not line up properly when closed. (This was one of the many problems I experienced with my first accordeon.) It took a lot of struggling, but I pushed the two accordeons down in place and closed the top cover in place lining the front and back together before burnishing the adhesive in place. You need to use strong adhesive to make sure the binding does not come apart.

I didn't have any Halloween pictures on hand to put right away in the album, but I focused on embellishing the covers and inside pages. It went pretty quickly as I used up a lot of stickers from the element sticker sheet, and I added a few homemade die-cuts here and there, a border punch, sequins and pearls and sparkly pens and markers. This turned out pretty cute. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss, Soft Suede, Shimmery White
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Glitter Paper: Champagne (Unknown); Black (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Cute Cobweb, Build-a-House Halloween Add-On (Lawn Fawn);
Stitched Ric Rac (My Favorite Things); Stitched So Sweetly, Black Stampin' Write Marker (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Chevron Ribbon, Pinking Heart Border Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Shimmery Gelly Roll Pen (Sakura); Assorted Moonstone Sequins (Simon Says Stamp);
Metallic Rose Gold and Marigold Gems, Wildflower Sequins Mix (Pretty Pink Fresh);
Ripe Persimmon Pearls (Studio Katia); Crystal Stars (Buttons Galore & More);
Black Shimmery Washi Tape (Unknown); Blush Rosette Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);

Halloween Crate

I wanted to make a Halloween crate using the Wood Crate dies from Stampin' Up! I scored in the Clearance Rack. I had this idea of making a orange crate and dirtying it up with black paint or ink. A few years back, Stampin' Up! had a very potent orange shade in its In Color range (Tangelo Twist) and I ended up with a lot of my cardstock pack leftover at the end of the two years. Because cardstock is getting more and more expensive, I don't want to get rid of the colours I don't like as much and try to work them in projects where it will serve as a base or get covered. I thought this could work here since I would be adding the black and it turns that the Distress Soot Oxide ink mutes the colour enough for me to actually like it.

I used the PInewood Planks 3D embossing folder on my die-cut pieces before inking and assembling the box. To add the ink, I used my stencil brush and I will say, this is one of the rare occasions where I was actually happy with the results I achieved from those brushes! I stippled it in a few places to make darker, textured spot and I like the final look.

I initially wasn't sure how to embellish the crate and my first attempt was not to my liking, so I put it aside and worked on other stuff until I could find inspiration. I did after I had started working on generic embellishments created with die-cuts. I started adding a cobweb abd rose to one end and a wreath, rose and ghost to the other. On the sides, I added a strip of cobweb patterned paper and a row of black rhinestones, then a few little die-cuts.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Tangelo Twist, Soft Sky, Black and Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Ink: Black Soot Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Wood Crate (Stampin' Up!), Mini Wreath, Rolled Roses, 
Build-a-House Halloween Add-On, Cute Cobweb (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Pearls (Studio Katia); Boo Bling Sheet (Recollections);
Pinewood Planks 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!);
Stencil Brushes (Clarity Stamp)

 

Going Mini Again!

Inspiration: YouTube tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz

I found another interesting mini-album tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz where she mentioned she was only using small paper scraps. I went back to my Halloween Town collection from Echo Park, which, by the way, is still not completely killed even after making a third mini-album with it! I really like how this one turned out and I think this is the one I will give to my youngest niece, because it is easier to handle than the last one I put together.

I followed the instructions and included my own embellishments using remaining stickers, washi tape, punches and my trusty Planner Essentials dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I am getting so much use out of these dies! I think the fact that they are called planner essentials is misleading, because the bits and bobs included in the sets are perfect for any kind of crafting.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn); Green Glitter Paper (Unknown)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Punches: Corner Trio, Circle (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Planner Essentials 2 and 21 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Eye See You Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design); 
All the Trimmings Embellishments, Faceted Dots, Silver Elastic Cord, Eyelets (Stampin' Up!);
Decorative Brads (October Afternoon); Copper Metallic Floss (DMC);
Deco Scissors (Fiskars)

 

Mummy Pizza Box

I went all out with Halloween crafts yesterday. I pulled out a bunch of dies, the Halloween Town paper collection and I started putting together embellishments, then I turned some of them into packaging.

One of my favorite embellishments from the bunch was this rosette. I have this white waffle flower that Stampin' Up! used to sell years ago, which I have used many times and yet still have a lot leftover on the roll. I decided to try and see if I would be able to make a rosette out of it. I used my pinking shears to cut the edge to give it a pattern, and then I layered sparkly white tulle over it and cut it in a circle to match the rosette. I LOVE this detail! I then added a Swimming Pool mini doily from Doodlebug Design. The colour was too bright, but I discovered that if I turned it around, the aqua colour was showing through but was more muted, so I used the backside to match my papers better. I then added a black foil paper circle and a patterned paper scalloped circle, followed by a patterned paper punched ticket, a little X made out of "boards" die-cut out of champagne glitter paper and my "Happy Halloween" stamped on patterned paper. The little mummy is one of the images from the 6" x 4" cut-aparts from the paper and I fussy cut it to make it an embellishment. I added little enamel eyes from one of the Doodlebug eye sticker set.

The mini pizza box is something still currently sold by Stampin' Up!  I love them - they are easy to decorate, can be assembled in 15 seconds and they are a great size. I figured the size would probably work for my rosette and I was right. The boxes are white, and I colored mine using Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide sprays. I then overstamped in Black Soot Distress Oxide ink an Halloween damask motif I pulled from the set From the Crypt, sold by Stampin' Up! a good ten years ago and still one of my favorite Halloween sets ever. I added the bats from the Wicked Cool stamp set in Dusty Concord Distress Oxide ink. I sprayed my box with water and dried it. I pulled out my Gansai Tambi Starry Colors watercolors and used Champagne Gold to add speckles and also to color a line of gold alongside the edge of the box. (I love how that detail turned out.)

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Wicked Cool, From the Crypt, Mystérieux félin (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Cardstock: Black Foil Paper, CHampagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Dusty Concord, BLack Soot Distress Oxide (Ranger); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Mini Pizza Box, Stampin' Dimensionals, 2" Circle Punch, Scalloped Circle Punch,
Ticket Duo Punch, White Waffle Flower, Mini Stapler (Stampin' Up!); Pinking Shears;
Swimming Pool Mini Doilies, Eye See You Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design);
Sparkly White Tulle (Recollections); Gansai Tambi Starry Colors Watercolors (Kuretake);
Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Sprays (Ranger)

 

Pumpkin Party Treats Wooden Crate

I had a bunch of images leftover from my coloring session with the Halloween Doodlebug stamps so I put together a little wooden crate using the Pumpkin Party papers again. The cotton candy cart is my favorite image from the Trick of Treat stamp set and I was happy to finally be using it. I picked all of the other treat images to add around the box so that it would be Halloween sweets-themed.

I used my Midas Touch and Blush Rosette Aqua Shimmer brushes to add sparkle to my images and I used little embellishments to complete the box. This is arguably the easiest packaging die I own to assemble and I like that because the shape is rectangular, you get very little wasted paper when die-cutting the two pieces you need. This was the first time I was cutting it out of patterned paper and I love how it looks! I was worried it might not hold its shape as well due to the cut-outs to make the planks, but as long as you use good-quality patterned paper, it holds up as well as the cardstock does.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Trick or Treat (Doodlebug Design)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Pumpkin Party (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Trick or Treat Dies (Doodlebug Design); Markers (Copic);
Stampin' Dimensionals, 2020-2022 In Color Enamel Dots, Elegant Faceted Gems, 
All the Trimmings Embellishments, Gold Glitter Enamel Dots,
Playing with Patterns Resin Dots, Faceted Dots, Wood Crate Dies (Stampin' Up!);
Blush Rosette and Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brushes (Nuvo)

 

If You've Got It, Haunt It

Inspiration: Septembre 2020 Page Maps Sketch + Inspired By #146

I grabbed the papers and stickers from the Happy Haunting collection from Simple Stories last year and I thought they would be perfect to scrapbook pictures of my niece when she was younger, all dressed up as Minnie for Halloween day at day care. The collection, with its cute and girly elements and shades of pink, is perfect for kids' pictures and the Minnie costume.

There were so many good items to pick from that this page came together really quickly. I used the same page for the three panels - I cut it in thirds and flipped the middle to show the backside (the stars). I kept one of the pictures as a full 3" x 4" and I cropped the other one smaller to fit into the "scary cute" frame from the cut-apart sheet. I pulled another cut-apart for my journaling. I added the "2 cute 2 spook" words handcut from the little square cut-apart sheet. The little ghost with the "if you've got it, haunt it" sentiment was also a 3" x 4" cut-apart, but I cropped it to keep only the image. I added a little sentiment sticker from the sticker sheet and an old black and white decorative brad from my stash.

I wanted to extend the middle row with a pink border, so I looked through my pink scraps drawer and pulled out a hounstooth paper, which I punched with an old lace border Martha Stewart punch. I added peach crinkled seam binding in between and used a bead dangle that was sitting on my desk (an early experiment with teaching myself bead wrapping), tying it with black twine from the peach ribbon bow.

The sketch had four circles and I planned on using the house stickers. I discovered it was a long border, so I only kept four of the houses and snipped them out and I moved them to the bottom of the layout to balance things out. I added a bat sticker and Shimmery Crystal Effects on the windows.

The "Trick of Treat" sticker was used as my title on the flowery circle of patterned paper and I added two flower stickers on each side to frame it. I used the little pompom banner at the top and added Shimmery Crystal Effects to this sticker as well. I then added a spider hanging from the end, drawing a line with my black pen to link the images. Then, I looked through my embellishments and I found rhinestone flowers and little black swirls, that I added to the flower bundles. I added a tab sticker to the journaling block and dabs of Crystal Drops to fill in the gaps.

I love the idea of having Crystal Drops in many colours to be able to create drops of any sizes on your projects, but I find that the product thickens over time and don't create round drops anymore. I've seen tips online to add a few drops of distilled water to your bottle and the product will work again, which seems to work, but then you can't use the product right away and have to wait for the distilled water to mix. This is pretty annoying and it has dampened my enthousiasm for the product, so I've stopped building my collection and have reverted to using enamel dots, even though those are more expensive in the long run. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Happy Haunting (Simple Stories); Sweet Pea (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Peek-a-Boo Peach Crinckled Seam Binding, Stampin' Dimensionals, Shimmery Crystal Effects,
Spiral Punch, Pretty in Pink and Basic Grey Corduroy Brads, Black Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Bubblegum Blush Crystal Drops, Earl Grey Vintage Drops, Cloud 9 Dream Drops (Nuvo);
Halloween Bling Stickers, Boo Bling Sheet (Recollections); Gem Art Stickers (Forever in Time);
Beads (Beads Landing); Lace Border Punch (Martha Stewart)

 

Halloween Coffin

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Spooky)

This is another project that I worked on in two parts, as I originally couldn't find the inspiration to get the box finished. 

Stampin' Up! came out with super cute coffin boxes last year and while I was very tempted to purchase them, I knew I wouldn't have a use for them that year so I ended up passing over it. When they came back on the Clearance Rack at a very low price, I finally got some for myself. That was out of season so they have been sitting unwrapped since and this is the first time I was pulling them out to assemble one. I should have known thet would be small, as all Stampin' Up! boxes always are, but still, I was still surprised at how tiny the top looked even with the sides laying flat. I embossed the top of the box using the Parisian Flourish 3D embossing folder and I used my Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer brush to highlight all of the raised portions of the design. I then assembled the box and I got stuck for inspiration there.

After I started pulling Halloween elements out and working on a bunch of embellishments, the creative juices started flowing. My first idea came from finding the Boneyard embellishments from Tim Holtz. The bones were the perfect size to glue on each side of the box so they would look like handles. I had also die-cut the mini-wreath in orange and champagne, and decorated it with a little bow and the gorgeous pearls from Studio Katia I recently scored from my local store, and the wreath looked awesome added to the top of the coffin. I also added black lace trim around the edge of the lid, a little glittery spider and a rolled flower at the bottom and now I am pleased with the result.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Cardstock: Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Mini Wreath, Cute Cobweb, Rolled Roses (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Bora Bora, Café au lait Pearls (Studio Katia); Boneyard (Tim Holtz for idea-ology);
Coffin Boxes, Black Lace Trim, Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!)

 

Boo To You Gift Bag

Inspiration: Pinkstrawberryz Treat Bag Tutorial + Hand Stamped Sentiments #349

So I just came back home today with the two latest Simple Stories collections: Boo Crew and Winter Cottage. Simple Stories is definitely hitting a home run with their new creations this fall. Although I'm pretty much done with my Halloween crafting for this year, I couldn't pass this collection up. I should have a few pictures from this year to scrapbook and whatever I have left can still be used for projects next year.

Pinkstrawberryz's treat bag tutorial inspired me to get the Boo Crew paper collection out and make a bag inspired by hers. I really love her tutorials - they're simple, quick and easy to follow along, and the results are always unique and very cute. This is not different: this bag is made out of a 6" x 11-1/2" strip of patterned paper, seven score marks, a few snips, glue in two spots and you are done. The bag is just an inch deep so it won't house anything bulky, but it is pretty high and wide, so as long as what you are gifting is flat, it offers an interesting packaging option. I love the look of the doily topper. Mine felt a little narrow, so I added a vanilla circle underneath and it made the doily show up better as well. I remembered I had clothespin in my stash, but when I pulled them, I discovered they are regular size and look too big on the bag. I might look into getting medium-sized ones for future packaging, as it would have been a nice option. In a pinch, I pulled out the library clips I have left from a few years ago. The mini black ones were too small, and the ones in the size I wanted were the wrong color, so I embossed a brown one with black sparkly powder. It was a little bit of a struggle to not get my VersaMark pad dirty and not burn my fingers and not leave marks with my tweezers and the result is not even close to perfect, but I deemed it acceptable.

The black sparkly washi tape came from my stash, and the one with the pumpkins is from the Boo Crew collection. The tag comes from the cut-apart sheet and I added a few ephemera pieces to jazz it up. A grey eyelet was added to the tag and I added orange twine through it. I stayed pretty close to the original shared design, but it was fun tp get to play with this awesome collection.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Bits & Pieces, Washi Tape: Boo Crew
Dies: Layering Circles Dies (Tonic); Doily Die (Recollections)
Accessories: Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Black Glitter Washi Tape (?);
Tangerine Baker's Twine (Lawn Fawn); Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini LIbrary Clip,
Eyelet (Stampin' Up!); Black Sparkle Embossing Powder (Ranger)

 

Candy Carnival Tall Halloween Bag

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #349

I wanted to craft the other night and it was already late and I kept moving supplies around, thinking I'd color an image, then changed my mind, then started cutting papers to copy a sample from the minicatalogue, then it wasn't panning out so I put the stuff away. I was really close to calling it quits for the night until I remembered I wanted to get my Doodlebug collections out for Halloween crafting. My creativity finally ignited. I was initially thinking of another Halloween collection but I saw the Candy Carnival papers and remember how in love I was with that collection when it came out, so I stuck with it. I pulled out my Bag Punch Board (which is my second most-used after my trusty Envelope Punch Board) and I looked at what the largest size I could do would be. You can go full out with a 12" x 12" page, but after seeing how tall of a bag that would make it, I decided to measure the tall guy from my Odds & Ends and to base the length of the bag on it: 7" (which means you need your initial paper to be cut at 12" for the width of the bag by 8-1/4" for the length to accommodate the bottom pieces). 

In addition to the patterned papers, I have also purchased the Mini Icons stickers, the Odds & Ends pieces and the Petite Print 12" x 12" papers from Candy Carnival, so I mixed it all to create this bag. I started by adding a purple border punched with the Daisy Edge punch from Martha Stewart and I added a thin black washi tape on top. I added two banner stickers on each side of the bag, with lanterns and rosettes stickers.

I usually assemble and embellish later, but I had the good sense of doing my embellishing with the bag lying flat on my desk this time. On the front, I layered a piece of Pearlescent Vellum from Lawn Fawn, die-cut with a scalloped rectangle die, and a stitched rectangle cut out of pink polka dot paper (from the Petite Patterns pack). I then placed my tall skeleton guy on the front, over a pumpkin die-cut and I added a Halloween word sticker. 

On the backside, I tried out various die-cuts and finally selected a firework piece, the haunted castle and Dracula. I added a little owl from the Mini Icons stickers in the window of the castle.

For embellishments, I added Iridescent Pearls, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems and 2020-2022 In Color Enamel dots, all new from Stampin' Up! I picked funny eye stickers from Doodlebug for the tall guy and added black eyes on the pumpkin and Dracula. I decided to place a 3D bow over his existing one, using the Mini Wreath dies from Lawn Fawn. (I've used this one so many times for the bow die alone!) So the bow has the tail ends, which didn't fit my bowtie, so I was about to discard the piece when I thought, I wonder how it would look on Dracula... It is the perfect size on him! I love how it really finishes off his outfit and add a slight bit of dimension to the die-cut. (That's a great way to give life to your die-cuts, by layering elements or embellishments over them.)

Then I decided to add paper handles, using matching patterned paper. I love the look better than when I punch holes and add ribbon. I also like that the handles stay up, unlike softer ribbon, so it looks better on the bag and you can still use the handles to carry the bag around. Win-win!

Considering how late inspiration was to the party tonight, I'm really impressed with what I finally managed to put together.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Candy Carnival, Petite Prints Candy Carnival (Doodlebug Design)
Cardstock: Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Candy Carnival Mini Icons Stickers and Odds & Ends, Eye See You Stickers,
Pumpkin Party Mini Icons Stickers (Doodlebug Design); Daisy Edge Punch (Martha Stewart);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Iridescent Pearls, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems,
2020-2022 In Color Enamel Dots, Bag Punch Board, Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!);
Mini Wreath Dies, Stitched Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Little Anna

Inspiration: Page Maps September 2020 sketch

I'm catching up on scrapbooking past Halloween pictures. This one was taken five years ago, back when my niece was in her full-on Frozen phase. As you can see, she got dressed up as Anna. It's quite the look, with the dress over the big snow coat and the gloves, but it is how it goes when trick or treating in Canada on the last day of October. (Maybe we should pick a different date, just like we have for Thanksgiving, and move it a month earlier, when the temperature is a little more forgiving...) The two pictures that I have are not the best - they're a little grainy and my niece is pulling faces, but if I've learned anything is that my favorite scrapbooked memories are rarely the ones with the perfect pictures.

The year the Hey Pumpkin collection came out, my local store only carried the ephemera pack and the 6 x 8 paper pad. I hesitated a long time before being it because this size does not lend itself to either scrapbooking or packaging. In the end, it was such a cute line that I decided to go for it nonetheless. I actually ended up purchasing some of the 12 x 12 papers from the collection by the sheets earlier this year and I'm really glad I did. Ironically, I only used one 12" x 12" sheet on this page (my favorite, the candy corn stripes, for the background) and still used the 6" x 8" for the other layers. In parts because the 6" x 8" has something over the larger size: holographic foil! Can you imagine how fantastic the line would have turned out if all of the large papers had foil on it as well? I loved the October calendar page so much, I actually changed sketch and moved my pictures around to be able to showcase it.

I wanted to have the big scallops from the sketch on the left edge, but didn't have the right die for it, so I simply punched 1-3/4" circles and placed them under my calendar paper. I kept the cut-away strip on the calendar paper because I liked the little ghosties pattern, but then I had the hole in the center to deal with. I was initially thinking of adding a jumob eyelet and threading ribbon, but then I spotted the cute jack-o-lantern banner in the ephemera pack and went with that instead. The "I love you so much it's scary!" heart, the large orange sequin and the awesome holographic frame also came from the ephemera pack.

I threw a few puffy stickers in there, then I remembered I also had the chipboard pack I could choose from! This item is cool as well, as some of the images have silver glitter on them. I added a pumpkin, a star, candy corn and the sentiment banner.

I wanted to highlight the 31 date on the calendar and I found out I had that number in the puffy stickers, so I punched one of the dots from the patterned paper, popped it on dimensional adhesive and added the sticker over it. I added a few orange Doo Dadz and then I added my title using Thickers alphabets. (By the way, I am loving the look of the Happy Days collection. I was hesitant about this one as I didn't know if I'd like the look on layouts, but I really do.) At the last minute, I decided I wanted a dangle on my chipboard banner. I remembered I had purchased some adorable candy corn glass beads earlier this season and I also finally invested in an inexpensive kit of jewelry plyers after really struggling with the one pair I have the last time I gave it a try. Equiped with my new tools and a short YouTube video, I was able to quickly put together a dangle for my chipboard piece and it was a much more enjoyable experience than the last one. (Although you will see I ended up with two jump rings, as I couldn't make it work with only one.)

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Chipboard, Puffy Stickers and Ephemera Pack: Hey Pumpkin (Crate Paper)
 Alphabet Stickers: Happy Day, Amy Tangerine (American Crafts)
Accessories: Candy Corn Glass Bead (Bead Landing); Black Sequins, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Eyelet, 1-3/4" Circle Punch (Stampin' Up!); Decorative Scissors (Fiskars); 
Halloween Party Doo Dadz (Buttons Galore & More)

 

BooVille Fold-Up Tags

I'm planning a candy scavenger hunt for my nieces to make up for no trick or treating this year. I've been wrapping up candy in pretty packages in the last few weeks and today, I prepared cute tags on which I'll write the clues to the scavenger hunt. The Fold-Up Tags dies were perfect for tag, since I can decorate the front and the flaps lift up to reveal the clue inside. I've been loving those dies since I purchased them and I keep coming back to them. I love the size, the shape and the embellishment dies included in the set.

Since the projects are for a 2-year-old and a 7-year-old, Doodlebug papers seemed like a good choice. I picked the BooVille 6" x 6" pack, which includes a page of cut-aparts that I also used to decorate some of the tags. I was left with a few empty ones, so I pulled out the Pumpkin Party mini icons stickers to finish decorating. Then I went to town with enamel dots, iridescent stars, pearls, gems, Doo Dadz and my Aqua Shimmer brush. (On a side note, I recently acquired the Halloween Party and Princess Sparkle Doo Dadz pack from Button Galore & More). Those are assorted packs mix and I knew I'd get more use out of them if I separated the pieces and organized them by colors. It took quite a while, especially since I discovered the sparkly pieces are rolled foil paper, which is static-y and hard to grab as it's soft. It was worth the time investment, though, as I was able to quickly spot the colors that matched my Doodlebug papers today and use them.)

I'm really pleased with the result. We'll see if my oldest niece wants to keep the tags. If she doesn't, I might recycle them in my scrapbook album and pair them with pictures of the scavenger hunt. I probably spent a good three hours on those altogether.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Summer Sun, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: BooVille (Doodlebug Design)
Stickers: Pumpkin Party Mini Icons (Doodlebug Design)
Dies: Fold-Up Tags Die-namics (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Enamel Dots (Doodlebug Design), Gems, Iridescent Stars (Pretty Pink Posh);
Gems, Pearls (Studio Katia); Doo Dadz (Button Galore)

Hocus Pocus Shaker Treat Bags

I kept going with the Queen & Co kits I had put aside to work on. This one is Hocus Pocus and I created two treat bags using the witch dress, the hat, the broom and the two sentiments. The polka dot pockets are the Sketched Dots Tag-a-Bag Gift Bags Stampin' Up! was selling in a previous annual catalogue. I added the Stitched Oval dies, the mini clips, the twine and foil paper, but the rest came from the kit itself. I always think that because I'm working with a kit, the projects are going to come together quicker, but this is not necessarily true, especially since in this case, the projects are not designed for you. You have the shaker elements, but you need to design the project they are going on. I'm also missing the "back piece" dies. which Queen & Co didn't use to carry, but they started providing them after clients asked. What I mean by that is that while I have the shaped transparency for the front, I do not have the shape to close the back of the shaker with. You could simply glue your shaker directly to the project, but most of the time, you would like to fill the shape with a specific colour that might not be your background colour, and you might also want to move the shaker around before you commit to where it is going to be glued permanently. For that reason, I had to trace and cut my own back pieces and some of the shapes (the broom, for example) were trickier than others. The backing dies are now on my wish list, but I don't know when I will get around to purchasing them.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Shaker Kit (including patterned papers): Hocus Pocus (Queen & Co)
Dies: Stitched Oval Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Mini Clips, Black and Gold Foil Paper, Sketched Dots Tag a Bag Gift Bags (Stampin' Up!);
Black and Orange Twine (Recollections)