Another Autumn Ombre Card

Here is a brighter ombre card that I made using the Neon orange and yellow ink pads (purchased at Ben Franklin Crafts).  As on the last ombre card, I swiped the white card stock with the pads and then rubbed with a paper towel to blend.

For the leaves, punches (Tim Holtz and EK Success) were used to cut the shapes from dark green cardstock.  Next leaf stamps with patterns were used to stamp some copper ink onto the punched out leaves. Gold embossing powder was sprinkled on and embossed with a heat gun.  The areas that were not embossed were rubbed with copper ink to bring out the texture of the green cardstock.  Finally a sentiment was stamped on in brown ink and  some K and Co. acorn stickers were added for accent and to cover a boo-boo  ;)   Thank you for making a visit to my blog site. I hope you enjoyed what you saw and will return again for another look at my holiday crafting.

Honey, I'm Gnome!

I purchased the gnome stamps at Viva Las Vegas Stamps and I've been waiting for the right moment to ink them up.  I thought they should be used with a mushroom/toadstool home, so when I found the new Sizzix pop up card die at Ben Franklin Crafts, I knew what to do.

Here's the card standing up to reveal the greeting.  After die cutting the card from kraft paper core brown card stock, it was run through a woodgrain embossing folder (maker unknown).  Lightly sanding the card brought out the woodgrain.  The gnome stamp had shading so it was easy to color the image with Copic pens from BFC.  For the stem of the gigantic mushroom I used Sierra Pacific birch bark paper.  The polka dot cap of the mushroom was cut using the card as a template. You could make the cap larger than I did but you need to use card stock that has a plain or coordinating back so it doesn't look funny on the back of the card. (My orange polka dot paper had ice cream print in the back and I didn't want it to show, so I cut the mushroom cap to exactly match the shape and size of the card half circle.)

This close-up gives you a better look at the embossed leaves and woodgrain.  I used the same technique for embossing the leaves as I explained in the previous ombre card post.

The side view of the card shows how the card stands up. I put a piece of the birch bark paper inside the card to have a smooth area to write a message. 'Happy Thanksgiving' was stamped in copper and embossed with gold powder. The texture of the green strip was highlighted by rubbing copper ink along the edges and mounting it on a plaid strip, rounding the corners with a corner punch.

I love this new Sizzix stand up card die because it has so many possibilities.  Ben Franklin Crafts has lots of new card dies which would be great for holiday crafting or gift giving.  Be sure to take the time to check them out.  I'm sure they'll get your brain connections exploding with new ideas.  Happy Crafting!

Tag! You're It!

During November I always do a lot of baking and gifting.  To make even simple muffins look festive, I believe the secret is in the packaging.  Ben Franklin Crafts has so many seasonal and regular cello bags, ribbons, and paper crinkles to choose from that jazzing up your baked goods is easy.  Of course, I like to make beautiful tags to add to the packaging so I can include a sentiment/recipe/ingredients.  

Tags are a great way to use up scrap paper (gosh I have a lot) and test out new techniques/tools/materials.

Here's a close-up of a new product  (purchased at Ben Franklin Crafts) Mica Fragments (Stampendous) which I used to add a soft shimmer to the leaf.  I think this product (5 types in the package) adds an interesting look to dark paper. I first rubbed ordinary stick glue to the punched out cardstock leaf and then applied the mica powder.  To get it to adhere well, I rubbed it in and then sanded it a bit to bring out the paper texture and make it look less shiny.  Finally the leaf veins were scratched in with a sharp needle point. The edges of this tag were rubbed with the paste paint (Metallic Lustre), which is a super product for many surfaces, sold at BFC.

Of course this is my favorite kind of tag because it has a photo (my son in small kid days) on it.  Making photo tags and wrapping them around holiday napkins makes a good place card and it doubles as a favor.

This tag was cut with a Tim Holtz die (from BFC) and aged with TH Distress Stain.  The artificial leaf was taken from a garland and enhanced with Iced Espresso Metallic Lustre.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog post.  I hope it's been an enjoyable experience.  If you have the time, I'd appreciate a comment from you.  It's always good to know there are blogland readers visiting. Okay, "Tag, you're it!" .......your turn to make and show your tags. LOL!

Ombre Autumn Wheat Card

 I've been admiring so many cards recently (both in magazines and blogs) that have ombre colored backgrounds.  This graduated color palette is achieved through various methods.  I simply rubbed ink pads onto smooth, matte white paper. I started with the light straw color and added the orange from the other end, rubbing the color with a paper towel to blend the colors.

I saw a really lovely card on Annette's blog, Clever Creations. She used a wheat stamp as the focal point of her ombre card.  When I found a wheat stamp in the bottom of my autumn stamp box, I knew I wanted to do my own version of her card.  Thanks, Annette for inspiring me again.  (I don't know why this close up seems almost greenish....it was definitely light yellow like the first photo when it was in my files.)  The wheat was stamped in copper ink (Brilliance) and lightly dusted with gold embossing powder which was heat embossed.

The plaid paper and Fall color sticker are K and Co. products.  As you can see in the photo, the wheat stamp is from Hero Arts. The Heiko three color raffia ribbon was purchased from Celebrations (next to the BFC in Mapunapuna).  This simple card took very little time to make and will be used to send out holiday greetings with a family newsletter.  Christmas always gets chaotic with gift exchanging so I'm hoping to actually get this in the mail before Thanksgiving......I think I can....I think I can.....choo-chooo!

Happy Halloween Winner!

To thank all my loyal readers, I have decided to randomly select one comment from the month of October and send the writer the gift card holder shown in my last post.  In the holder I will include a $25 Ben Franklin Crafts gift card.  As in the past for every comment you sent in, you had one chance to win ( i.e. 6 comments=6 chances).  I do this type of random drawing several times a year.  Okay, without further ado......the winner is......drum roll please........ Niki G. (Stampn HI).  Niki has a great blog site and leaves frequent comments on mine.  She has also been a lucky winner before.  Congrats!  I will be contacting you soon to mail you the BFC gift card.

           HAVE    A    SWEET   AND   SAFE    HALLOWEEN !

Note:  These banana pumpkin spice muffins/cupcakes are made with           oatmeal, whole wheat and nut flours.  Even the frosting is                   healthy Splenda sweetened Greek yogurt (no one will know).             The decorative sprinkles,paper cups and picks are Wilton                   brand (purchased at BFC).   Yes, your Halloween
          breakfast can be spooky fun, sweet, and healthy!                

Happy Halloween: Zombie Gift Card Holder

Seems like everyone is crazy for zombies these days....maybe it's because of the show, Walking Dead.  Anyway, I just love the zombie stamp set with words that I found on the Pink Hippo website.  I think the image is spooky-funny and the words in the set are hilarious.  First I die cut the gift envelope (Sizzix seed packet) out of Bo Bunny Halloween cardstock.  I cut the white marker pen paper with the Sizzix decorative frame set. Next I stamped and colored the zombie image with Copic pens. For a gruesome touch, I splatted the Victorian violet Distress Stain dauber (lots of colors to choose from at BFC) to look like blood drops in the background of the zombie label.

  The Hero Arts 'love this' arrow was stamped with Neon ink (not shown)  and decorated with dots of WOW glitter (purple with flecks of blue).  For the other words I stamped a word bubble from a Hero Arts cling set and then stamped the words inside the bubble.  Except for the Pink Hippo stamp set, all the products and tools used on this gift card holder were purchased at Ben Franklin Crafts.

This was a quick, 'NO BRAINER' gift card holder perfect for a Halloween treat to someone who can't or prefers not to eat sweets.  For a crafter, this Halloween card holder with a Ben Franklin Crafts gift card will surely bring out a pumpkin grin.  Thanks for stopping in for a visit.  Hope you enjoyed this post and will leave a comment if you can spare the time. BOO-yah!

Little Witch Girl Treat Box

As I was straightening up my craft room and looking through my Halloween stuff, I discovered lots of items that I haven't tried out.....I'm a bad hoarder.  Anyway, the Hero Arts cling stamp set caught my eye because the image is so precious.  Somehow I felt that it paired well with the long shape of the tall box with scallop flap (Sizzix die from Ben Franklin Crafts)

To make use of my bagful of Halloween paper scraps from previous years, I decided to do a patchwork effect on the box base.  With my warped sense of humor, I think that it's funny that the sweet little witch seems totally unaware of the evil eyed skulls behind her.  I debated about the closure for the box and finally settled on using a blackboard clothes pin (Sierra Pacific).  The mini blackboard serves also as a place to write a name or message.  I purchased the blackboards awhile ago and could not find them at Ben Franklin Crafts anymore, but I did find and purchase a 12x12 pack of blackboard paper.  When I run out of the blackboard clothes pins, I plan to simply cut a rectangle of heavy Kraft card stock and a smaller one of blackboard paper and glue them onto a mini clothespin.

Maybe since I have all my supplies and scraps out, I should get a head start on next Halloween's goodie containers. I'm sure that you also have lots of Halloween scrap papers so you should consider using them to decorate your treat boxes.  It's a great way to use them up and I'm sure that the recipients of your boxes will be more interested in the treats than the fact that all the boxes are not exactly the same. Now the big question is, "What treats should I put in the Halloween boxes?"  No-calorie craft supplies?