Mummy Bars with the Brownies!

Last week I did some stamping with a local Brownie group.  I love stamping with this group and have done projects with some of them since they were in Sparks!  This time around their leader asked me to do a Halloween project with them so I came up with spooky mummy bars.

The girls were super excited when they saw the full size chocolate bars in their packages!  Before we started I made them promise to not eat their candy until they had permission from their moms or dads...hmmmm, I wonder how many moms or dads ate the chocolate!!!!

This year it's a big group, but they did great!  They listened to my instructions really well and shared all the supplies wonderfully!

I had a blast with the girls and they have placed their requests for the next time I come stamp with them!!!!

These chocolate bar wrappers are so fun and easy to make, that I did up some Christmas themed ones to show you.

Super, super cute!!!   To make a wrapper to cover a full size Cookies & Cream bar you need a 5 1/2 x 6 piece of cardstock.  Score it at 1 1/2, 1 3/4, 4 & 4 1/4.  Decorate, fold up and stick the back flaps together.  I didn't stick it to the actual wrapper so that it could be slid off.

And, here's one final look at the three I made.

You can find all the supplies you need to make these in my online store (except the chocolate bars!).  Head on over there and place your order today, or you can always contact me directly to place an order.

If you like what you see and are Canadian, I would love to be your Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  Contact me and we can get your creative journey started today!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear a Cookies & Cream bar calling my name!  Have an inspired day!

Freaky Friends

Hi Stampers!  Now that Thanksgiving is over it's time to start thinking Halloween!  Have you made up some cute little Halloween treats for the trick-or-treaters in your neighborhood yet?  Or maybe for your kid's classmates at school? 

At the Fall Conference I attended we did Halloween themed make & takes.

The upper left project is a fun box made with the new Gift Box Punch Board!  It's a great new tool that everyone needs in their craft rooms...quick and easy boxes!  This box is finished off with a belly band made with the Motley Monsters DSP, some ribbon and a tag.

The upper right project is an altered Tag-a-Bag.  It's quick and easy to alter these little bags for any occasion!  This one uses a doily, some Motley Monsters DSP and check out that fabulous ghost!  It's cut out of Glimmer Paper with the new Fun Fall Framelits!  The eyes are pearls colored with Blendabilities.  So fun!

The card is super quick and easy.  My favorite part is the embossed eyes!!!  They are also from the Freaky Friends stamp set and were embossed with the Crushed Curry embossing powder.  Spooky and fun!

Everything you need to create these projects and more can be found in my online store.  Head on over there and place an order today so you can get started on some super fun projects!  Or, if you would prefer, you can contact me to place your order.

If you like what you see and are Canadian I would love to be your Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  Contact me today and I can get a catalog in the mail to you ASAP!

Have an inspired day!

Frightful Wreath

Hi Stampers!  It's here, it's here, it's here...the Holiday Catalog is LIVE today and you can finally order all of the awesome new products in it!  Today I have a spooktacular project to share with you!

I am in love with this wreath and can't wait to hang it up!

This spooky project is a kit in the Holiday Catalog!  I've made mine a little different than the instructions (no surprise, right?!?!?!).  You can find this kit on page 36 of the Holiday Catalog or in my online store here.

And, here's the best part!  I'm offering this project as a private class.  All you have to do is find a minimum of 4 friends and choose a date!  It's $40 per person and after I receive payment for everyone attending, I order the kits.  Then on the date we choose, I show up at your place kits in hand (or you come to me) and we craft the afternoon or evening away!  Sounds like fun doesn't it?  So, don't delay!  I have limited dates available in September and October for you to have a spooktacular wreath class with your friends.  Contact me today to book your date!

Have an inspired (and spooktacular) day!

Happy BOO to you!

Well, today I was supposed to post the second of my Parade of Ornaments along with another video, but it just seemed weird to be posting a Christmas ornament on Halloween!  So, I have decided to show you one last Halloween project (that you could have finished for tonight if you wanted!) and the ornament and video will post tomorrow.

Yesterday after school, Carter and I made 120 pretzel pumpkins.  They were super easy, loads of fun and only took us about 40 minutes start to finish!  I dipped and he did the stems...

All you need is little pretzels, orange candy melts and green M&Ms.  I melted my candy melts in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water.  Once they were all melted, I dipped the pretzels in and then put them on waxed paper lined cookie sheets and before they hardened, Carter put a green M&M on them so they would have a stem.  Once they hardened, and we tasted for quality control, I packaged a lot of them up in some of the Medium Cello bags tied with a ribbon and a cute tag.

The tags are super simple.  I used the Spooky Bingo bits and stamped a bit before punching with the Tag Punch.  The bags are tied shut (and the tags are attached) with some of the narrow Taffeta ribbon in either Pumpkin Pie or Old Olive.  Super cute and super easy...I hope the kids enjoy them!

I also did up some little treat bags for some super special little ones.  Again, a VERY easy project...I just stamped some small white paper bags.

So, if you're looking for some simple last minute Halloween projects, I hope you've been inspired.  Happy BOO to you and have an inspired day!

Spider Cider!

When I first saw the Monster Munchies set in the Holiday Mini, I fell in love with it!  And, for some reason I really love the spider cider stamp in the set!  It's weird, because you all know I'm definitely  not a fan of spiders...at all!!!

I think I like that stamp so much because I love Apple Cider  The brand that I buy at Costco come in  single serving packets that you mix with boiling water and those little packets are PERFECT for crafting (and drinking!)!!!!!

So, check out the Spider Cider project my Stamp Clubs did in September.

It's like a card, but with a surprise in side...a pack of Apple Cider mix!  The outside is stamped with the the spider web image from the Mixed Medley exclusive Hostess set in the Holiday Catalog.  A belly band was made with some cardstock, Howlstooth & Scarringbone DSP and some More Mustard ribbon!  To get the dual color image, I colored my stamp with markers before stamping and to finish it all off, I added some of the super fun Googlies!

A cute and simple Halloween project that you could mass produce for Halloween treats for kids class friends or your co-workers.

Have an inspired day!

Spiders.....

I have to start this post by saying I HATE spiders.  They seriously creep me out.  Creatures with 4 eyes and 8 hairy legs that wrap up their prey and suck the insides out are wrong...and scary...even if I am waaaaay bigger than them!!!

That being said, I love one of the image in a set from the upcoming Holiday Mini catalog.  It's from a Halloween set and I used it to make some swaps for convention.  It's one of those sets that as soon as I saw it, I had loads of ideas bouncing around in my head!

I started with my Fancy Favor die and cut some Basic Black cardstock with it, which I then embossed with the spider web embossing folder.  Just to make the web design stand out a bit, I gently rubbed some Whisper White ink over it with a sponge.  I didn't make it into a box, I decided to make a pouch.  You can see how I did that in this post.  I added a belly band with some new DSP and then my stamped image, which was popped up with some Stampin' Dimensionals.

Hee, hee...Spider Cider...can you guess where I went with this?  Have a look at what was inside my pouch...

A package of apple cider!!!  I folded a piece of More Mustard cardstock around the pack of apple cider (I stamped it with my EEK! stamp first!) and tied it at the top with some Tangerine Tango and Basic Black ribbon.

There you have it.  I can't wait to show you more fun stuff with this stamp set!

Have an inspired day!

Hallo...what?

One of the things I'm trying out with my new clubs is Stump the Stamper.  The club hostess can bring something to try and stump me with.  It can be anything she wants, a stamp set, a tool, a die, an ink color, and while my club girls are stamping away I will make something with what the hostess brought.  I'm loving this...it's fun! 

This month, I was almost stumped with the Peek-a-Boo Frames die.  I have this die, but I don't use it very often!  And, this month, it took me a while to come up with something!

For some reason, I had a Halloween idea pop into my head.  Yeah, I dont' know why either!!!  But, here's what I came up with!

The o's open up (that's the Peek-A-Boo Frame part!) and there's little jack-o-lanterns under them!

My card base is Pumpkin Pie cardstock which I stamped with teh Bingo Card background stamp.  The whole card base is matted with a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  The boo is on a piece of Kucky Limeade cardstock which was embossed with the Spider Web Embossing Folder and is matted with a piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!

I have a new Stamp Club starting in August.  This club will meed on the third Monday of each month and run for 10 months.  I do still have some spaces available in this club, so if you're interested in coming once a month to do some fun stamping projects, play Stump the Stamper with me and learn new stamping techniques and ideas let me know!  I would love to have you join my club!

Have an inspired day!

Poppies

What a crazy week I've had...lots of family time with Kevin coming home after 2 weeks of being in Ottawa, sick kids, last minute Halloween prep and lots more so my blog got pushed to the bottom of my priority list!  But things have calmed a bit and I'm back.

It's November which means it's time to get a poppy and remember the sacrifices made for the life we enjoy today.  Now, I know that the poppies are sold to raise money for veterans and I'm all for that, but those silly poppies always fall off my coat and get lost.  So, this year I made my own poppy.  Actually I made it last spring for a demo I did and have been saving it in a safe place until now!

For some reason I can't get a good picture, but I will describe as best I can for you!  I used Poppy Parade cardstock and cut it with the Fun Flowers die.  I cut two flowers (the one with the points on the petals), cut the points off the flowers, scrunched them and then peeled just the petals apart (so the flower is still attached together in the middle).  I layered the two flowers together off-setting the petals.  Then I kind of scrunched the petals a bit.  The middle of the poppy is a black button from the Neutrals package.  I put a little knot of black ribbon in the middle and made some leaves with Old Olive Satin Ribbon.  The whole flower is attached to a pin back and it looks awesome on my black Stampin' Up! jacket!!!  This poppy isn't going anywhere...until I want it to!

Here's a look at Halloween at hour house this year...

Cookies for Preschool!  Sawyer and I made sugar cookies...black bats and orange pumpkins.  Sawyer had fun stamping the jack-o-lantern faces before I cut them with a pumpkin shape cutter.

Our pumpkins!  Kevin is super proud of his Oilers pumpkin!!!

My kids dressed up as Phineas, Ferb and Agent P!!!!

Have an inspired day!

Pumpkins!

Did you know that Stampin' Up! has come out with a line of cookie stamps? I'm super excited about this product and can see a LOT of stamped cookies in my future! The set of cookie stamps comes with a wooden handle and three interchangeable silicon stamps. The stamps are a jack-o-lantern face, a snowflake and a heart...perfect for this time of year! And, let me tell you, they are SO FUN to use!

Aren't those the cutest little cookies!  I used my new cookie stamps and one of my favorite sugar cookie recipes.  Usually my sugar cookies aren't orange, but this time I added some orange food coloring to the dough so they would look more like pumpkins.  What do you think?

I decided to package them in a cute little package so you could see a fun way to give them as a gift.  I put my cookies in one of our large cello bags and made a cute little topper.

I started with a Lucky Limeade base and then layered on a Concord Crush piece which I embossed with the Spider Web embossing folder.  To make it kind of pop even more, I gently rubbed my Whisper White sponge over it.  My pumpkin is stamped on Naturals White cardstock with Black StazOn ink.  Then the fun started!  I went over the lines with my Pumpkin Pie marker and then used my favorite new product to color it in.  I used the new Dazzling Details (found in the Holiday Mini) and added a few drops of Pumpkin Pie ink to it before applying it with a dry Aqua Painter.  In real life, it sparkles and is fantastic!

And, because I know I'm gonna get requests, here is the recipe I used.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1 pkg (8oz)  Cream Cheese

1 cup Butter or Margarine (softened)

2/3 cup Sugar

1/4 tsp Vanilla

2 cups Flour

Beat the Cream Cheese, Butter, Sugar and Vanilla until smooth.  Add the flour and mix until well blended.  Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch in thickness and cut out shapes*.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.  Cool and enjoy!

**These cookies don't expand when baked so you can put lots on your cookie sheet and have them pretty close together.  They are really good with Buttercream frosting!

*I found that it was easiest with the cookie stamps to roll the dough into a log shape, chill and slice it before stamping.  I got 36 cookies when I sliced it...but some of my slices were a little on the thick side!!!

And, today I'm going to leave you with a fun pumpkin picture of my family from this weekend and our visit to the corn maze.

The looks on the boy's faces make me laugh...but at least they were all looking at the camera!! Have an inspired day!



Spooky Spiders

Yesterday, I showed you one idea for the new Halloween Decor Elements in the Holiday Mini, and today I'm going to share what I did with the rest of the set.  I HATE spiders...creatures with 8 hairy legs and 4 eyes creep me out!  But, I think they're kinda cool in this application!!!

I started with 1 and a half pieces of Concord Crush DSP (from the In Color stack).  I chose the one with the words all over it...even though it has NOTHING to do with Halloween!  It just worked for my master spooky plan!!!  Once I made my DSP fit my frame, I stamped it with the spooky stamp from the super cute Spooky Bingo Bits set.  Check it out...I love this set!!!

That little mummy is adorable!!!  Ok, back to the project...I stamped the spooky with Concord Crush ink.  Then I smooched it with the Vanilla Smooth Spritz to give it a subtle shimmer!  It was cute, but it still needed something.  So, I dug out my spider webs from my Halloween Decorations and stretched some across the background.  I used lots of different pieces of web and just taped them in place on the back of my background.

The spiders were applied to the glass.  My frame is from Ikea.  It's actually dark brown, but I roughed it up with some sandpaper.  I took the shine off and sanded away some of the brown around the edges.  I love the way this turned out...and all of my boys told me how cool it looked!

Have an inspired day!

Spooky Fun

As soon as I saw the new Halloween decor elements in the Holiday Mini I had ideas bouncing around my head for it (kind of like an idea pin ball machine in my head!!!).  I love decorating for Halloween and I love all the little Trick-or-Treaters that come around.  This year's Halloween decor elements are fantastic...becuase I love cute Halloween!  Here's what the set looks like.

Isn't it cute?  I *heart* that little owl!!!  My only issue with it is that I loved it, but didn't want to put it up on my wall only to have to take it down after Halloween.  I found a way to use it and be able to use it every year.  Do you want to see?

It looks like it took more work than it actually did...I promise!  To start with, I crumpled and tore 2 and a half sheets of Cajun Craze DSP (from the Regals Stack).  I then glued it down to the paper that comes in the frame so I knew it would be the right size.  I wasn't too careful when I glued it down, I just made sure it would stick.  Then I rubbed Cajun Craze ink all over it with a sponge...this accentuated the wrinkles and torn edges.  Then I made a moon.  It's done the same way as the rest of the background, only I used So Saffron DSP and sponged it with More Mustard ink.

The actual decor element pieces are applied to the glass in the frame.  They were pretty easy to put on...one piece at a time!  I put the decor elements on before I did the background and used the picture that came in the frame as a guide for where to put the moon.  And, I did have to trim the decor element branch to fit the frame (it's actually 30 inches long and my frame is only 16x20).  My frame is a barn wood frame, which I purchased at a local big box craft store...with a coupon!!!

There are 3 spiders that come in the set.  Tomorrow I will show you what I did with them!

Have an inspired day!

Candy Corn Anyone?

One last Halloween project!  Remember the witch hats from this post?  Well, at that class we got to talking about what else we could make the triangle boxes into and candy corn was one of the ideas.  Check it out...

So cute and so easy!!!  I started with a Whisper White piece of cardstock and layered some Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie on it.  It's finished off with a Happy Halloween (from Teeny Tiny Wishes) stamped in Basic Black and a piece of Whisper White grosgrain ribbon to keep it shut!

These are so quick and easy and I was surprised at how much stuff they actually hold!  I am working on some Christmas ones, so keep watching my Countdown to Christmas and in the next couple weeks I will be posting them!

Have an inspired day!

Which Witch

So, as promised, here's the project that my children "ordered" for their teachers for Halloween!

Awesome!!!  I was fidling with a traingle box proejct for my Countdown to Christmas and it hit me that it would make a great witch hat!  It was at that point that my Christmas project came to a screeching halt and I switched gears to Halloween!

I smooched my witch hat with Silver Foil Smooch Spray.  The strip is from the Wicked Fun DSP and the buckle was made from More Mustard cardstock which was smooched with the Gold Glow Smooch Spray.  I added some bats for interest (and they are lightly sponged with Whisper White around the edges).  The bats are just attached with Tombow on their bodies so I could bend their wings up a bit.  The box is tied shut with some of the Raven Lace Trim.

Have an inspired day!

Happy Jack

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!  I hope you're all enjoying your turkey and all the fixin's...I know I am!

Today I have a quick and easy project for you.

I punched a series of circles (1 3/4", 1 3/8" & 1 1/4") from Pumpkin Pie cardstock and sponged them with Tangerine Tango ink.  I stamped a Jalck-O-Lantern face on the smallest circle and then layered them together.  There is one of the biggest circles on both the front and back of the sucker.  The stem is a tiny scrap of Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta and the leaf is one of the ends I cut off the ribbon that I tied around the stick.  I used Certainly Celery Taffeta, but in the class I did I had the girls use Old Olive Taffeta and it looked MUCH better!

I love how simple, but cute this project is and I can totally see it as a bunch of different characters...Frankenstein, Dracula, a Mummy, Santa, Rudolf, the Easter Bunny, a flower and so much more!

My children also love these, and have "ordered" them to give their classmates for Halloween!  Tomorrow, I will show you what they "ordered" for their teachers...LOL!

Have an inspired and thankful day!