Forest Animals' Thankful Feast

 This card was created for some friends who recently took us out to dinner. It was inspired by the many cute Lawn Fawn dies and stamps especially the  new set with the stump table. This autumn forest scene  was extremely easy to put together. Coloring was done with Copic pens and the trees were die cut from woodgrain pint paper.  I wasn't able to obtain the die set for the Forest Feast stamp set so I fussy cut all of the images (with practice it's getting easier to do). The mottled blue card base was made from Lawn Fawn watercolor two-sided print 12x12 paper.  For a little dimension I added foam dots to the back of the hedgehog, squirrel and acorn. I avoided any shiny or sparkly add-ons because I wanted a quiet, natural look. This turned out to be one of my favorite woodsy, fall cards.  Let the feasting season begin!

Autumn Greeting Card

I love the autumn season even though I've never really seen the changing color of the leaves during fall.  I had fun designing this card that started with a woodgrain background paper.  Someone gave me a box of candy with an orange satin ribbon that was saved with the intuition that someday it would be put to good use.  Paired with the Recollection leaves, I think the ribbon fits in well with the look I had in my mind for this autumn card.

Again, I chose a sentiment from the Hero Arts stamp set because it is very appropriate for the autumn season of thankfulness. I think it looks good stamped on a leaf print cardstock and dressed up with some Cutter Bee die cut leaves. I like that this card shows how a single stamp can give an entirely different look (see previous post) depending on the color and embellishment choices. Thanks for stopping by and I would be grateful if you have the time to leave a comment.....love, love, love hearing from you!

An Autumn Birthday Card For a Cat Lover

My daughter-in-law (who owns two grey cats) has a birthday in October. I was thrilled to obtain this Whimsey stamp so I could make her a special card.  For the base I chose Lawn Fawn plaid card stocks in colors that suited my DIL.  The image was stamped on watercolor paper with Momento ink and colored in with Copic pens (both available at HM Ben Franklin Crafts). The 'Best Wishes' was cut with an X-cut die (purchased from HM BFC) and the BFC Easter wire ribbon was tied onto the card (after the wire was removed). I always look for ribbon with multi-use designs so they can be used in crafts with or without the removable wire long after the holiday season has passed.

I didn't want to include the usual 'Happy Birthday' greeting so I searched in my stash of word stamps and found an old Hero Arts set with an appropriate sentiment.  I really love the way this card turned out...pretty close to how my mind imagined it...and that's a rarity...just like my new DIL!

Please visit again to see another version of this card with a non-birthday theme. The autumn leaves and dies are a hint about the card I will posted next *wink* wink*! See you soon!

Eva's a Winner!

Here are the prizes (including a $25 Ben Franklin Crafts gift card) Eva won just for leaving a comment on my blog.  For those of you who would like to be a future winner, all you need to do is leave a comment on one of my blog posts.  Every comment counts as one entry in the irregularly scheduled contest. I select a random month and take all the comments from that month and pull one comment. The person who sent in that comment is the winner of prizes and a gift card.  It's simple to be a winner like Eva. Congratulations Eva! Thank you for being a reader of my blog.  I appreciate all the wonderful comments that are sent to my blog. Mahalo to all.  Hope you are my next blog winner.

Just a few Halloween and autumn tags made from thin burlap which can be cut with a die and stiffened with starch or glue.  The addition of stickers and artificial leaves, plus ribbons or twine; they're done!

Halloween Jar Tags

Awhile back I purchased Lawn Fawn stamp and die sets at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  The original design had jelly beans and matching sayings.  Recently, I found auxiliary sets for Halloween which contained candy corn designs.  I used both sets to make these tags for goodie bags to give to special trick-o-treaters.  The bases for these tags were made with a Little B tag die (from a set).  I cut the bottoms off the tags to make them a bit shorter. A die cut acetate jar was glued over the candy corn.

The 'more than candy corn' is my favorite part of the tag because it reminds me of how much my sister would trade for my Halloween loot of candy corn. LOL!  I colored the stamped candy corn  with Copic pens and applied Glossy Accents to give the pieces a realistic shine and dimension.

For a totally different look (more spooky) I used ominous card stock and Martha Stewart stickers. The jar covers were cut from metallic copper paper, the goop was made with Stickles, and the plastic eyes came from a giant bag of eyes...oh my!

These close ups shows a sticker bat stealing a candy corn and a sneaky cat thinking about it!

The Lawn Fawn jelly bean jar set (from BFC) has lots of design possibilities so it is one I suggest you invest in for lots of crafting fun.  Well, that's all for Halloween 2017.... onward to Autumn crafts!  Please visit this site again for more holiday ideas....leave a comment if you desire to make me insanely happy....love your feedback!

Halloween 'Treat' Boxes

 Just for a trick, I decide to make the 'treat' in these boxes non-edible.  I started by die cutting Halloween print card stock using the Lawn Fawn card box die available from HM Ben Franklin Crafts. To the top I adhered cut out panels of Authentic paper. A Lawn Fawn 'trick or treat' die was used to cut the script words that were passed through a Xyron sticker maker which made applying them super easy. (Swipe the words with a powder applicator to eliminate stickiness.)

The finished boxes perfectly accommodate about six 3-1/2"x 5" cards with envelopes (Paper Accents from BFC).  I used the Mama Elephant stitched edge rectangle die to cut the cards from watercolor paper.  I sprayed the cards with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and let them dry. This set is for a friend who owns a black cat. I used 3D foam stickers to adhere the stamped die cut (Hero Arts) cats before adding the script words (dies come with the LF box die) cut from Paper Accents gold frosted paper.

This set is a gift for someone who owns two grey cats.  It was fun choosing and placing the cats on each card.  Some of the dye bled through the watercolor paper so I lined each card with a folded sheet of parchment paper which actually makes the cards look more fancy. The script words for these cards were cut from DCWV shimmer paper sold at BFC.

I made a third box but did not fill it with a card set.  Instead, I think I will make some peanut butter fudge and put a candy corn decorated slab of it in the matching box.  How's that for a sweet treat to share?

Super Easy Halloween Gift Bags

 Although I no longer have little ones who go trick-o-treating, I do like to give Halloween treat bags to special people. With Halloween washi tape and stickers, these bags came together in a snap. This one was made from a new bag that I purchased in bulk from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  The washi tape goes all around the top of the bag and is easy to apply because it is repositionable.

Here is another bag I made using a recycled small gift bag.  I applied washi tape to the whole front to cover up the bag's original store label design.

This close up shows the cute Sticko Halloween stickers which make the decorating not only easy but inexpensive.

Because washi tape comes in so many colors, designs, and widths, it was easy to apply an assortment to enhance the center stickered square.  I hope you'll try making Halloween gift bags this year.  It's a great way to use up your stash of Halloween papers, stickers, and washi tape or an excuse to buy more!!!! LOL!

Trick or Treat Shadow Box

 This is the first shadow box I've made using the Lawn Fawn shadow box die.  I'm in love with the way the box comes together...so easy when you view the LF video first....lots of good tips. The hill inserts, trees and some bird dies also come with the shadow box die set.  I was lucky to be given the Lawn Fawn dinosaur and unicorn stamps but there are lots of costumed character stamps for sale so it wouldn't be hard to change up the images.

 The Lawn Fawn words were die cut from copper foil paper (DCWV).  Also from LF is the die that made the house silhouettes in the background.

 Here is the top view which shows how the shadow box is set up.  The inserts are fastened with double stick tape (Heiko).

 This is another version of the shadow box using a different paper.  The black and white color scheme makes the colored characters really pop.

 Also note the detail of the stitching along the front box frame and on the hills.  This goes well with the stitched web background. The fun thing about this shadow box is that it folds up flat to fit in an envelope for mailing.  I'm excited that there are so many uses for the Lawn Fawn shadow box die.  Can't you imagine making a Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine or Easter box?  Fun!  Fun!!  Fun!!!!