Halloween, the sequel

These are the last of the bunch. I will miss making Halloween cards, it’s my favorite holiday.

This one uses many of the same elements as the previous ones – Impression Obsession background, Silhouette designs house, etc. The graveyard is last year’s Martha punch and the sentiment is from a Studio G set – probably last year, too.

 

The main image on this one is Impression Obsession, and I sponged the edges with purple inks, Marvy, I think. I added a little Marvy Brilliant Yellow to the center, just to add a little interest. Nestabilities Label dies and some Best Creations glittery paper complete the ensemble.

Another Silhouette design – isn’t she an adorable witch? I colored the hat band, the collar of her dress and the band on the broom with a Stardust gel pen. She, and the houses, are cut from suede paper. The Silhouette cuts it like buttah. The flourishes in the corners are older Cuttlebug dies and the paper is some I had from last year. I used the same Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card background again, too. The sun was punched with one of the few Marvy Clever Lever punches I have left – the pink circle punch. The edges are sponged with Spiced Marmalade Distress ink. The sentiment is also from Impression Obsession.

That’s it for my Halloween cards, now it’s time to start on my next favorite – Fall cards. I just love the colors of Fall, the deep yellow and orange, dark red and even deep purple. Hmmm…Deep Purple. I seem to remember seeing them in concert many, many, many years ago. Smoke on the Waaaater…..sing it with me. Help me out with the words, it’s been a long time.

Party on, people.

Halloween, one more time

Just a couple more of my Halloween cards. This one has very little stamping, just the background, sentiment, and the spider web. I punched the moon from a scrap of BoBunny Buttercup Dot paper and sponged it with Spiced Marmalade Distress ink. I sponged the edges of the clouds with Weathered Wood Distress ink and  London Fog Memento ink. The “light” in the windows and doors of the house is a piece of gold vellum. The ghost is punches from white vellum. I distressed the edge of the green paper with the Tim Holtz Paper Distresser (is that a word?) to make it a look a wee bit like grass. I saw a card similar to this on a blog and had to give it a shot.

 

Details:
House - Silhouette design
Tree and moon - EK Success punches
Witch - Martha Stewart punch
Ghost - Punch Bunch punch
Clouds - Papertrey Ink dies
Stamps - Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card, Inkadinkado (Happy Halloween)

Great Impressions Witches, bwahahahah. These adorable little cuties are inked with Versamark and embossed with detail clear embossing powder. I colored them with Copic markers, and stamped a couple of spider webs in the corners. I added a floor with a gray Copic marker so they wouldn’t be floating in mid-air. Although, now that I think of it, they are witches after all, and could very well BE floating. Right? The background is embossed with a CB folder and the spider web border at the bottom is a Martha Stewart border punch from last year and I was able to line it up and punch both sides to make a complete web. I added the green May Arts ribbon down the center to hide the middle part of the punch, which is a little wider than I’d like. It’s tricky getting just the right width paper for that technique. The sentiment is Impression Obsession and I sponged the edges with some lime green Versamagic chalk ink. Done.

 

It’s raining again here this evening but no tornado warnings so far. I am hopeful we will get a little thunder and lightning, if we’re lucky. I hope everyone is having a wonderful evening, wherever you are. I still have a few more cards to post, so come back soon!

More Halloween

And no Renaissance Faire this time. Aren’t you glad?

Same DRS Designs stamp but this time I brayered it with yellow and orange, and a little bit of light blue at the bottom to make the ground a bit green.

 

Hero Arts spider web stamp, stamped with Versamark and embossed with Judikins White Diamonds powder. The big spider is a Martha Stewart punch, which I think looks more like a tick than a spider, unfortunately.  I did make a couple of others like this but I used the Silhouette and cut out more realistic spiders. I also forgot to photograph those before I sealed the envelopes and popped them into the mailbox. I also added a little bling to the Happy Halloween on those cards, with some red gemstones just like I have on the spiders on this one.The sentiment is a Studio G dollar stamp from either Michael’s or AC Moore.

That’s all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by and I will have more Halloween cards this week, so please stop back by soon.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

It will very soon, All Hallows Eve is just around the corner, and you know what that means. Halloween cards! But first a few photos of the Renaissance Faire. We went opening weekend and there were lots of people there. It’s always crowded that weekend because tickets are cheaper than - $20 for two people rather than the regular price of $19 each. We are frugal that way. The traffic was backed up for miles, so we are not the only frugal old fogies in the neighborhood.

We saw this guy as soon as we walked in – yep, that’s a dragon on his shoulder. I couldn’t get a shot from the front, but it was quite the costume. When he moves the lever in his right hand, the wings flap. People really get into the whole Renaissance thing and it creates a wonderful atmosphere.

The Storyteller – she was a just a wee thing, and so pretty.

This guy was looking for something. He said it had big, billowy, white sails. I didn’t see it.  Good luck, buddy. Have some more ale and maybe it will magically appear.

 

This is the costume I want for next year. I don’t know who this girl is but it suits her, don’t you think. It can’t be that hard to stitch up, right? It looks a lot more comfortable than some of the costumes we saw that day – boned corsets and such. Ouch.

The Ded Bob Sho – same routine as last year, unfortunately, but funny just the same.

 

I’m not sure what this was all about but she had a duck on her head, a duck quacking whistle and a line of people following her. Lots of interesting sights to see here, that’s for sure.

Love the wings.

The Green Man – he is amazing to see. A big walking tree.Totally cool.

Harpist, is that what they are called? Check out those shoes.

I don’t know who these guys are but I love the costumes.

 

The Painted Lady. Yes, that’s paint all over her. Made me want to offer her a wet wipe.

As we were leaving these people were kind enough to pose for a photo.

Thanks for hanging in there. Now for the cards…

The main image is all one stamp, from DRS Designs. The sentiment at the bottom is by Impression Obsession. I brayered the background using Marvy Inks – purple and a couple of shades of blue. I like the Marvy inks for brayering because they blend really well. I didn’t even have to use glossy paper. The background swirly stamp is also Impression Obsession, stamped with Making Memories White ink.

 

Stamps by Impression Obsession. Instead of a brayer this time I used the jumbo daubers from Tsukineko. I love those things! They blend the inks really well and are easy on the fingers, too. I colored the rest of the image with Copic markers and added a little Stardust Stickles to the stars and moon for a little extra sparkle.

Stay tuned for more cards this week. Thanks for stopping by!

The envelope please…

I have had a busy and fun weekend and nearly forgot to choose a winner! We went to the Renaissance Festival this weekend and I have some photos which I will post later in the week but right now it’s time to announce the winner of the MyBlogSpark prize.

I threw the names into a basket, closed my eyes and picked out……...Debbie,  

who said “that recipe looks yummy! My favorite way to eat biscuits is right by themselves, hot with melted butter and maybe a touch of jelly. Pure enjoyment and probably why my scale says what it does :)”

10/10/10 10:27 AM

Congratulations, Debbie and thank you all for playing. Debbie, if you will email me with your mailing address we will get your prize on the way to you.

I picked up a bag of the frozen Pillsbury Grands Biscuits at the store today and am looking forward to cooler weather soon – I love biscuits with beef stew and/or chili.

A Giveaway!

The folks at MyBlogSpark were kind enough to send me a box of goodies the other day. I am always thrilled to get a box in the mail, especially when I wasn’t expecting anything. I opened the box and found all of this!

It’s a lovely bread basket, butter knife, butter dish, a $15 Visa card (it’s already in my purse), and a coupon for free Pillsbury Frozen Grands or Mini Grands Biscuits. Pillsbury^® Grands!^® Frozen Mini Biscuits, the new freezer-to-oven biscuits that come warm, fluffy and fresh from your oven in just minutes. Each 70-calorie biscuit is a delight when served hot from the oven, with a warm fluffy center and golden, flaky crust. Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits are the perfect size for kids, or for mini sandwiches and appetizers. There are countless recipe options, from miniature ham sandwiches come lunchtime, to delicious sliders for nighttime entertaining. There are so many ways to make these biscuits and your family will love trying each one.

The best part is they said I could give another one of these prize packages away to one of my lucky blog readers. I know!

You will have to work for it a bit, though. Just share your own recipe idea, demonstrating how you would use Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits. Get creative – I know you can do it. If you don’t have one, that’s ok, just tell me which dishes you think go best with biscuits. Chili? Beef Stew? Eggs? Chicken Soup? Inquiring minds need to know. Here is a recipe idea for you to try. It’s quick, easy and very tasty!

Grands® Fiesta Chicken Casserole

INGREDIENTS

1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/2 cup Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa

1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (6 oz)

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/4 cup sliced ripe olives, drained, if desired

DIRECTIONS

• CUT each biscuit into 8 pieces; toss with salsa to coat.
• SPREAD in sprayed 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish; sprinkle with remaining ingredients.
• BAKE at 375°F 35 to 40 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown and center biscuit pieces are no longer doughy. Let stand 15 minutes. Serve with additional salsa, if desired.

How easy is that? Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment here and I will draw a winner on Monday, October 11. Be sure to leave a way to contact you, either your email address or blog address. Good luck!!

I’m shameless

Absolutely shameless, and a slacker, to boot. The slacker complex creeps in every time I watch Julie & Julia. I feel like a slacker for not cooking (much) and for blogging even less. Not that any of that is going to change, mind you, but I do love watching that movie. Maybe if I watch it enough I will become immune to feeling inadequate. Or I will learn to ignore those feelings. But I won’t stop watching it.

Now for the shameless part. This card is an absolute shameless CASE of a card I saw on DarleneDesigns’ blog. It was so adorable, I couldn’t resist. She does some very clever things over there, you should go see. I didn’t take the time to change it up except using different stamps and a Nestability for the oval on the front, only because I don’t own all of the supplies she used.

There you have it. I will probably be making more of these at some point. They were fairly easy to do once I got the hang of it, and other images/punches could be used to vary the design.

Happy World Cardmaking Day to you all! Back to my movie.

Details:
Stamps: Hero Arts (wood grain, Happy Birthday, musical note), PaperTrey Ink (owl “feathers”, inside sentiment)
Other: SU Owl Punch, Copic markers, clear embossing powder, Nestability die – standard ovals