Falling for Candy

Come join the Squigglefly Challenge Blog as this week we challenge crafters to use any Squigglefly image and Fall colors or theme.  For my card, I used a soon-to-be released new stamp from Artist Jane Beljo called Winnie.  I think of Fall as changing colors, cooler weather and Halloween!  This Squigglefly image is sure to please everyone.

I paper-pieced Winnie's dress and hat with one of the same patterned papers that I used on my card front and colored the rest of her with Copics.  I cut out a diecut haunted house and placed it in the "background" of my scene, blinging it first.  A lonely spider and a candy lollipop sticker complete the card.

And today the weather has taken a turn toward Fall.  A steady rain is falling, a lot less than expected, but still substantial, and the temps have dropped into the 70s!!  School is in session and the local swimming pools are closed except for the weekends.

If you love Fall and want a chance to win free digi's from Squigglefly, check out the challenge HERE.  If you haven't started collecting your Squigglefly images yet, you can use a FREEBIE for this week's challenge.

Food For Thought

Time for another Halloween card using the Queen Kat Design stamped image called Werewolf by artist Rossana Castellino.  This time I used her on a Z-Fold card with some Halloween patterned paper from Carol Lee Creations.  AND it's time for another installment in the life of our pretty Werewolf as it waxes and wanes along with the moon:

"She thought she needed some in-depth research into the human psyche and all its twists and turns, so she enrolled in a night class in philosophy.  She wan't stupid or anything, just not in tune with college life and the cruelty of a professor who had been turned down for tenure (again) earlier that fateful day.

When she didn't answer his question to his satisfaction, he tore into her in front of the whole class.  "Think, damn it," he cried in uncontrolled fury.  "What would it take to make you use that brain of yours and think?"

It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't also made a sarcastic remark regarding her unusually thick and abundant hair (especially on her long thin legs).  She left in tears, which soon turned to snarls in the light of the full moon.

As he was leaving the campus, she confronted him and it was her turn to tear into him...literally.  As she was gnawing at what little was left of him, she couldn't help but think of her former professor with a satisfied little smile as she finally had an answer for the question he had posed to her in class earlier.  "You, professor, have made me think.  You were excellent food for thought."

I hope you enjoyed my story and are inspired by my Z-Fold card.  You can find this pretty Werewolf stamp by artist Rossana Castellino at the QKD Shop.  Do you want a good reason to buy some Halloween stamps there?  Check out the Facebook Page and sign up for our customer blog hop, The Thirteen Days of Halloween.

A) You must use at least 1 Queen Kat Designs stamp OR fabric Block as the focal image on your project of the blog post.

B) The post that you make should include detailed directions on how you made your project so you may want to pick something simple to intermediate if you plan on signing up for more than one day. J

C) You are most welcome to sign up for more than one day, but please remember this is a commitment and if you forget it will break the hop and our hoppers will be lost in internet land.

Please see the line up below for the schedule of themes for our 13 days of Halloween Blog Hop. To sign up, please send an email to Vikki at info @ katstamps.com with HALLOWEEN BLOG HOP in the subject line. Please include the following info in your email body:

Name:

Blog Address:

Email Address:

Mailing Address:

Date(s) you would like to sign up for:

Although right now we are not limiting the number of sign ups we have on any given day, if we get an overwhelming response to a certain day, we may ask you to choose another option to help fill the 13 day hop. This is a first come first serve sign up.

Sign ups end September 5, 2012

Dates and Themes:

October 1: Skulls/Steampunk Halloween

October 2: Bats

October 3: The Color Purple (anything goes as long as you use purple!)

October 4: The theme is Spooky!

October 5: Skeletons/Bones

October 6: The Color Orange (same here! Use orange and you are good to go!)

October 7: The theme is Flowers! Make them into Halloween flowers!

October 8: Pumpkins

October 9: Lets get cute! Show us the cute side of Halloween.

October 10: Labels (old bottle labels, old advertisements, etc)

October 11: Vampires

October 12: Zombies

October 13: Happy Halloween

There will be prizes scattered throughout the blog hop for our readers to win and if you participate you may be asked to host a drawing for one! If you do not feel comfortable doing this please let us know when you sign up.

Each person who signs up and participates in our 13 Days of Halloween Blog hop will receive a special gift from Queen Kat and will be entered to win a prize pack from the Queen Kat Designs store! The drawing will be held after the blog hop is complete on October 14th.

After sending in your sign up email to Vikki, you will receive an email back as soon as she gets your sign up. Please allow 24-48 hours. We will send out reminder emails about the hop in July and August and in September we will send the posting schedule to you so you know who the next blog to link to will be.

We appreciate you all and hope your summer is going swimmingly!!

-The Queen Kat Designs Royal Court

So check out the shop, choose your faves and sign up for fun and prizes!!

Got a Black Magic Woman

Today I made a card using part of the Voodoo Child stamped image by artist Charles Bristow.  The image comes complete in its own gorgeous frame and a ripe Halloween moon, but on this card I wanted to fussy-cut her and enlarge the moon.

I used some leftover patterned papers I received in a swap, cutting one into a kind of short fence border at the bottom of the card.  Some beads and skulls decorate the black wrought-iron of the fence, pieces cut from a lovely bit of lace from the spoils of our own Holley's trip to Turkey.  Leftover seed beads decorate the nightscape, as well as a few wisps of shimmery clouds in front of the moon (gotta love Stickles).

I colored Voodoo Child with my Copics (twice), adhering one straight onto the bg paper and another on top of it using dimensional tape.  I like the ethereal quality of the scene I created, but next time I need to use a less busy background so my image will really pop out at you (BOO!).  Mwahaha!!
Are you getting your Halloween cards in order?  Pop on over to the Shoppe for more spooky, fun images from Charles and the other talented artists at Queen Kat Designs.  And don't forget to join us for the 13 Days of Halloween Customer Blog Hop.  Sign up on our Facebook page now!

Card Making with the Granddaughters

We're entertaining our new family members after our son's wedding, and while the boys (Tony, Jaylen and Frankie) were on the computer downstairs, we (Me, Bella and Christina)  were sitting at the card table, Copics in hand, stamped images in front of us, having fun.  We each made a Christmas card,  using a QKD stamped image from artist Che Gilson called Peppermint Girl.

Here's my 4 year old's card.  I think she did a great job on using my treasured Copics, don't you?  She even spelled her name on the front of the card.  I like the way she framed the image with patterned paper.  That tiny bow in the corner just makes the card,

Next up is my new granddaughter's card.  Nina is eight years old, and loves to scrapbook (so does her mommy, that's why I love her so much).  Both girls used DCWV Holiday card bases.

I made my card using a card base from the same DCWV set.  After coloring her, I placed her on my card and just threw everything but the kitchen sink onto it.  Some pearls, snowflakes, candy mints stickers, diecut evergreens, candy cane border stickers, and a metal sentiment charm.,  But I like it!!!  Hope you do too!

It's never too early to start making your Christmas cards.  I've got four so far.

Sliding Into Christmas

Squigglefly Challenge Blog offers us crafters a new challenge for the week.  You must showcase a technique!!  My card showcases a sliding element.  I first saw this type of card over ten years ago when I was first introduced to stamps.  I never made more than the one I made then, as I was so new to the card making world, and my eyes were on "regular" cards.

So I was surprised to see these things on Split Coast Stampers, where you can view a tutorial of how to make this type of card.  Meanwhile,I had this super cute Santa sitting on my desk, begging to be made into a card.  The Squigglefly digi image is called "Santa Down the Chimney" by artist Siobhan Harrison.
I love how you can take digi images, liker Santa Down the Chimney, and print it any size you want, any color you want, and even flip it to the right or the left.  Digi's are so very versatile!!
Okay, back to Santa!  The card is a folded 3x6 made of green cardstock.  I made a flat base of the same color and attached patterned paper to it.  After printing my image, I colored and Stickled it and placed it on black cardstock to frame it.  Then I punched four holes, one in each corner.
I lined up my image with my patterned paper, placing it toward the top of the base,and punched two holes in the base where the top two holes were punched on my image.  I punched another hole in each of the corners at the bottom of the base, lining them up with the top punched holes.  (So that's one hole each in the corners of my framed image, and one hole each in the corners of my patterned paper base.)

I threaded sheer ribbon through the holes, forming two "rails" on which the image can slide.  The photo up top is of the card in its starting position.  The second photo is after the image has been slid (slided?) down toward the bottom of the card.
On the inside, I printed a Christmas sentiment and placed a word sticker that reads "BELIEVE".

I hope you like my slider card and are inspired to step out of your comfort zone to try one yourself!!  Whatever card you make, if you make one with a Squigglefly digi image, enter it into this week's challenge for your chance to win!!

Good luck and Happy Crafting!!

Friendship Blooms

I was so excited to open up my package from Crafters' Companion!  Not only did I order some goodies for myself, but I had won the new Morehead clear stamp set called "Raindrops".

The monthly challenge at Crafters' Companion Challenge Blog is FRIENDSHIP.  So today's card features my flower-holding girl, face hidden by her over-sized rain hat.  I colored her with a combination of Spectrum Noir markers and Copics, and used a bit of Stickles to make her shimmer.  I also stamped her onto patterned paper and paper-pieced her outfit onto the image.   Then I fussy-cut her out and popped her onto some fun cartoon paper featuring the Peanuts gang.  I don't know of a tighter group of friends who have lasted through the years!!
After framing my image, I added some pearls and an extra sunflower.  I had some last few pieces of purple papers in my file drawer (hurray, my stash is going down!) and finally added a bit of fiber to the corner of my card.
I don't know if you can see it, but I also used a tiny border stamp from the same set in silver ink at the top of the Peanuts paper, since I had to cut out the original raindrops from my girl.
Have you discovered Crafters' Companion stamps and supplies yet?  This summer they have been giving away tons of prizes, and there have been some terrific sales, too.  The challenge prize for August is a $30 gift certificate!!  Oh, boy, I have my eye on that prize!!  But I'm a generous crafter, so I'm sharing this info with you. LOL!  You have until the last day of the month to enter to win!!

Love at First Bite

As Halloween approaches, I am gearing up for the holiday with a stack of newly-made cards.  Today's card uses a QKD image called Werewolf by artist Rossana Castellino.  She has a story to tell...
"They met at the animal shelter.  She stumbled against him, and his skin smelled so heavenly she had to take just a little nip.  It was love at first bite.  Although all their dates were scheduled around the cycle of the moon, their relationship bloomed.  Until...
He said it was a guys' night out, which was fine with her, as the moon was waxing full and she had more basic needs to fulfill.  So when she came face to face with the love of her life while she was hunting late that eventful night, she was torn between her desire for him as a lover, and her desire for him as, well, dinner.  Until...
She saw what, or rather who, had brought him out into the forest.  She was a tiny thing,big blue eyes and hair that shone in the full moon.  Such a pity to have to tear into her about property ownership.  When she was finished with the poor human, she turned her attention on her lover.  As you can see by my card, there wasn't much left of him by the time her anger had abated and her hunger sated.  Just a small bone to remember him by.  Ah, well, all is fair in love and werewolves!"

It Was a Dark and Scary Night

I have been eyeing all of the fun sexy stamps from Charles Bristow offered by Queen Kat Designs for the last few months, and I was tickled pink to get my hands on this new release of his called Voodoo Child.

Here she is walking the fields at night, a raven whispering secrets in her ear as the moon lights her way.
Normally, I wouldn't want to meet anyone connected with voodooism face to face alone at night, but there's something in the way she looks at you that begs her acquaintance.
I framed the image in white and some glitter cardstock to lighten up the scene a bit, but then darkened it again with the black lace-cut paper and black flowers on the card, set against my favorite color, teal.  Some ribbon, jewels, brads and a little mesh finish off my card.
I'm amassing a nice pile of Halloween cards with all the new releases from QKD.  Come see all the fun, quirky, sexy, sweet and spooky Halloween stamps at the Shoppe so you can start building your own collection for this fun holiday!

Upcycle Blog Hop Today!

Today I am art of the August Upcycle Blog Hop.  If you haven't come here from Amanda's Blog, you might want to start at the beginning so you don't miss out on some really cool projects. We have Scrapbook Stamp Society sponsoring us today. They are giving away 3 free digi stamps. Our hostess, Shannon Leffew, will also be giving away a set of flowers from her Etsy store that you can visit here
Growing up in the seventies (and I mean being a teenager), I was on the "cutting edge" of recycling consciousness.  I and my girlfriends started our own environmental organization, cleaning up the sides of roads, carting glass and cans "way out" to Gurnee, and even publishing our own Recycling Craft Newsletter.
We Xeroxed and distributed educational brochures to any who would take them, and started writing campaigns against companies whose industrial smoke and waste were killing the environment.
Of course, this is before cities started jumping on the curbside recycling collection bandwagon, before auto emissions testing, before manufactured goods were made with recycled products.  I truly feel that I and my friends helped to push legislation that protects the environment today, all because we cared enough to educate people, blow whistles and we weren't afraid to do some clean-up ourselves...as teenagers.

So, while cruising Pinterest last month, I actually saw an upcycling project that I had written about in our "Campaign Against Pollution" newsletters "back in the old days".  I decided to choose it as my upcycling project for today's blog hop, because life, my friends, is an unending circle, and I am about to repeat myself, although it's taken almost 40 years to do so.
Pictured here are several styles and sizes of handmade notebooks I've made from pads of paper, PostIts, even a Steno pad.  They're covered with food containers made out of cardboard and cut to size to make cool covers.  Of course, I added embellishments like lace, adhesive jewels, ribbon, bows, flowers and fibers.
The nicest thing about my project is that what was "far out" in the seventies is "cool" today.  I know this because my teenage daughter had friends over last night, and when I showered them with a collection of these notebooks, they all grabbed their favorites.  One likes tea and chose the Lipton-covered notepad with the lace, while another liked the flower-embellished Rice-a-Roni notepad.
Now on to another blog, with another great idea to "Reuse, Recycle and Reduce", making trash into treasure.  Before you continue on, please take a moment to leave a little love.  Just click HERE when you're ready to hop!!
and if you get lost on the hop, come back to check out the hop order here:

• Shannon - http://shannonleffew.blogspot.com/
  Ashley - http://thebloghopprincess.blogspot.com
  Maria - http://JoyfulStamper.blogspot.com
  Robin - http://scrapandchat.blogspot.com/
  Amanda - http://a-prata-design.blogspot.com/
  Pat - http://patacakespages.blogspot.com
  Miranda - http://www.nanasscrapspot.com/
  Pam L - http://mzlavr2.blogspot.com/
  Mandie - http://mandiesscrappin.blogspot.com/
  Judy Dykes -http://scrappingjudy.blogspot.com/

EYE Love Halloween!!

Every time EYE stamp and color this faboo QKD image by Nora Blansett, EYE come up with more and more EYE-deas to make cards with them!!

Today EYE used some Neenah paper for the background.  It had a pre-printed sentiment that EYE love from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."  Just a little Halloween inspiration for all you crafters out there!
For the card, EYE colored my Vampire Bat Eye image with my Copics and fussy-cut it out. EYE adhered it on an orange circle to make it pop.  A strip of K & Co. Border embellishment and a handmade flower finish off my card (oh, EYE forgot the strips of adhesive-backed red pearls.
That's it for today, just a simply made card with a lot of EYE-appeal!! LOL
Nora has a lot of sweet images in the Queen Kat Designs Shoppe--go check them out!!

Royal Blog Hop Follow-Up

Okay, my merry hoppers!  Time to announce the secret word:  CHRISTMAS!!
So if you hopped on my blog during the QKD Blog Hop and left a comment with the secret word CHRISTMAS, you were in the running for the Tim Holtz prize (there were more than one comments with that word).
And the winner is:
                                       Just Me (Joyce)
who said: "Not really too early to start Christmas cards. Sweet elves Darling card."

Congrats, Joyce, just email me your addy and I will send this out to you!!  Thanks for hopping along with me and Queen Kat Designs!!

Three More Days, Peeps!

Three more days to organize, shop, wrap, clean, set up, pre-cook, defrost, marinade, decorate, and craft--just three more days and my son will be married to the love of his life, Cami.  I'm finishing up the favors and the signage today, as well as buying the last items needed for the reception--steaks, champagne and MORE plates for a couple last-minute additions!
Just a few more handmade items to show you:

The first is the box in which some lucky guy will put his prize--the bride's garter!!  I covered a box with purple papers, embellished with faux stitching achieved by using my white gel pen, and words printed off my computer.  I fashioned them after those kooky T-shirts you can buy at all those touristy shops.  Mine reads, "I went to Billy and Cami's Wedding and all I got was the Bride's garter"  and the date.

The inside is covered as well, and a ribbon is tied around the sides of the box and into a bow.

Next up is the Guest Book.  I decorated this Goodwill find with 3Dstickers and some purple Copic coloring.
There were so many pages that I decided to print a small sign that asked guests to use as much as a full page to wish the couple luck, as well as writing their names and addresses.
 Each page sports a Palm Tree image.

Here is one of the other signs that will decorate the backyard.  This one is for the Sweets table and will offer the Hawaiian Fruit salad, some chocolate-covered strawberries, and the wedding cake.

Another sign will be at the Tiki Bar.  It's made to look like a street sign/traveling sign post, with places and arrows pointing the way toward "Aruba", "Cozumel", "Jamaica", etc.

We are supposed to enjoy a cool day around 80 degrees (knock on wood, burn the incense, please God).  But guests will be sitting in the middle of the park near the small lake under the sun, so we printed up personalized fans for cooling off the guests.

Here's one that hasn't been attached to a stick yet, and I think I'm going to confiscate it for my scrapbook layout, sans stick!!

We have Leis for the guests as they come to the ceremony, with special ones for the bride and groom, their moms, the Justice of the Peace, who happens to be my sister and my son's godmother, and his grandmother and great grandmother.

I have grass skirts galore, plenty of palm trees, a crate of coconuts, and we're swimming in seashells.  AND the most important of all, a crew of angels to help out on Friday, as well as that morning with set up, decorating, and packing and unpacking of cars.

So it looks like, even though I am going bald with stress, I am pretty organized, and ready for bear.  I am so busy that I haven't even though of the emotional repercussions.  it will probably hit me when the cake is being cut by the happy couple and the dancing begins.  then I'll be no good for anything, as I will be in happy crying mode all night long.

I am SOOOOO happy!!  Can you tell???

More Wedding Handmades

I have been super busy getting ready for the wedding of my son to his fiance Camille.  The first thing I want to show off is a sign that will help guests locate our wedding party at the lake where the ceremony will take place.  Cami wanted to be married near water, but since this will be a small civil service before my son deploys, with only family and intimate friends invited, we weren't spending a  lot of money on it, as the church wedding will take place next year when Chase returns from the mideast.
The wedding has a tropical theme, with guests wearing Hawaiian shirts and flipflops.  I figured that the sign can be used in front of our house for guests as well.

Pictured here are a few of the favors.  The bags are filled with tropical trail mix, Jelly Bellies, tropical fish candies and pistacchios.  On each table will sit a sand pail (shovel included) filled with the favors.  The pails were another Goodwill find!

I also printed the menu, but only one per table.  I have beautiful frames in which to place the printed page.  And this is a big reason why w can't cater.  The menu includes as much Polynesian and tropical dishes as I could find on the internet, and the cost per person for this "little" wedding for 50 people (yes, it is growing) was prohibitive!  So hubby and I are grilling beasts this coming Saturday, and the party will be a huge success due to the help and support of my sisters and my mom.

There's no photographer for this reception, except for us and the guests, but we got a DJ who's a friend of the bride's, and it is not costing us a penny!

Batty For You

Queen Kat Designs is releasing a fun bunch of Halloween stamps this month so you can get a head start on your spooky cards.  This one is called "Vampire Bat Eye" by artist Nora Blansett.  Bats are definitely part of the spooky fun of Halloween.

Why do so many people like to be scared?  Scary movies, Stephen King books, practical jokes, haunted houses, campfire stories?  I'm getting to the point where I won't even watch a new horror movie anymore.  Getting old?  Sure, but more than that, my imagination has grown in leaps and bounds and my imagination can take any movie or book far beyond where Hollywood and authors stop.

Here, in the safety of my craft room, I stamped my Vampire Bat Eyes images with colored ink, green, purple and orange ink be exact, and filled in with black Copic ink.  I added a bit of white gel ink and some Liquid Glass to each bat eye.  Then I used another set of the same stamps in the same colors to give them a 3D feel, adhering just the eyeball to the card base.

I used Halloween patterned paper from a DCWV paper stack that included the sentiment.  After that, it was just a matter of embellishing with black rub-on swirls, a few jewels and some inked edges.

So, have you started your Halloween cards yet?  When you do, be sure to check out the SHOPPE for the newest and cutest, the funkiest and furriest, the spookiest and sexiest Halloween rubber stamps this year!

Royal Blog Hop is On!!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!!  Queen Kat Designs is hosting a Royal Blog Hop featuring their royal artists' stamps.  The Royal Stamping Maidens have designed gorgeous, funny, edgy cards, all with the same theme--cards with a shaped edge to them.   As a Royal Stamping Maiden, I am one of your stops on the Hop!  If you came here from __'s Blog, then you're on the right path.  If not, please go to the QKD Main Blog so you don't miss out on any fun and, inspiration or prizes!

For my QKD Royal Hop card, I used a Circle-shaped card base with a Christmas theme.  (Yes, I know, but it's never too early to start making your Christmas cards)  The name of the QKD stamp is called Kissle Toe by artist Trish Shufelt.  
After coloring my image with Copics, I distress inked the edges with Tim Holtz ink, as wll as putting a little glitz on the image with Stickles and Liquid Glass.  I rummaged around my Christmas embellie box and found some lace, buttons, the sentiment and that musically cute ribbon tied into a bow.  The inside sentiment reads: "Love is everywhere at Christmas time".
So enough about mine, your next stop on the hop is at _______'s Blog.  Before you hop away, leave a little Love in the comments section, because I have some Tim Holtz blog candy to give away for one lucky commenter who uses a secret word in their comment to me.  If no one uses the word, don't worry, it will still be given away!  Everyone likes to win something free, right?!
Here's the Blog Hop Order in case you get lost:
QKD Blog
Jamie
Beth
Miranda
Vikki
Sue
Pat (You're Here)
Stephanie

Wedding Shower Card

This weekend I am taking time out of my frantic life to sit and relax and wish luck and happiness to the daughter of my friend and boss.  Her wedding shower is Sunday, and I just realized that I needed to make a card for the event.

I have been collecting photos and ideas on Pinterest for my son's wedding later this month, and found a lovely tutorial for making a wedding dress from a paper doily (HERE).  I think the presentation is gorgeous, so I planned a completely white card for her.  But...
I do not do two things well--white space, and absence of color.  So, I had to add a dash of color (navy, which is the color of her bridesmaids' dresses) to her wedding dress (two small snippets of grossgrain ribbon) and a bit of embellishment in the form of a border at the top of my card.  It started out as a red diecut border from K&Co that I turned around so only the white back shows.  Then I laced the navy organza ribbon through it and finished it off with a bow.

The card does not use a colored image from any stamp company, which is also very unusual for me, but I love the dress as the main focus on the card, and I hope you will too.  The sentiment is a rubber stamp from Stampin Up but I don't know the name of the set, as I got it from Goodwill for--wait for it--99 cents!!  I love Goodwill Stores!
Speaking of Goodwill, there are about three stores locally where I live.  I've been to all of them, and have snagged a dozen of these tropical drink glasses in heavy duty acrylic.  They were only 49 cents a piece!!
You know I am going to make glass tags for them so people will be able to ID their own glasses when they set them down, but they're for another post!

We have run into two setbacks with the wedding:  our DJ cancelled, and so did our minister!!  I have CDs but it's not the same.  And my sister, whose friend was the minister marrying them, felt so badly that she went online and "became a legal ordained minister" just so she can marry them!!!  (Yes, it's that easy)
But she would prefer to be my son's aunt and godmother only.  The ability to marry them is just the back-up plan.  Now I need to find someone quick!!!