GulfcoastStamper

Spooky Howl-o-ween

It is not often that I make a square card.  I don't know why as a square card is just enough outside of the norm to get noticed.  And I am all about getting noticed and standing out from the crowd!  There is a lot going on here and I felt I needed a bigger canvas to showcase all the elements and give each one of them the room to shine.  Here is my card:

I can't seem to get enough of this adorable owl from the Howl-o-ween Treats stamp set from the new Holiday catalog.  (which is available to order from TODAY, by the way!  Yeah, the wait is over!)  He is awesome in any color but today I wanted to make sure his pretty blue googlie eyes stood out.  After several attempts with different inks my Old Olive seemed to be the best combination.  I paired him with one of the brooms from the "If the Broom Fits" stamp (also from the new Holiday Catalog).  Can you guess where my three little bats came from?  They were cut from one of the patterns in the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper pack.  (you guessed it...also in the new Holiday Catalog!)

My favorite feature though are the solid trees against the starry night background.  First I embossed a piece of Basic Black solid card stock with my new Woodland Textured Embossing folder then used my exacto knife to cut out the raised trees.  I then used a lot of Stampin' Dimensionals to pop them up off my card base for lots of dimension, texture and height. 

This show piece of a card needed a showpiece of an envelope to match.  Stampin' Up! no longer carries large square envelopes but that is not a problem...Envelope Punch Board to the rescue!  I used our new Envelope Specialty paper and a new Spider Web Doily as my insert.  I have a very special person in mind to send this to when we get a little closer to Halloween.  I hope he will like his Spooky surprise!  Please let me know what you think and thanks for stoppin' by!

 

Click on any of the items below to order on-line! 

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Howl-o-ween Treat Treats

Halloween is all about the candy right?  This project started with a bag of orange striped paper straws that I bought on clearance last year.  I thought the owl from the Howl-o-ween Treat stamp set would make a  great topper especially since the matching die cut is symmetrical so 2 owls can go back to back. 

The owls were stamped in our new Basic Black Archival ink and her awesome eyes are a local craft store find. (LOVE the eyelashes!)  The milk bottles are from the same craft store as well. They came in a pack of 6 for $9.99 but I used a 50% off coupon.  :)  You can also purchase them in a single bottle but the single ones in my local store were not smooth all the way around like the ones that came in the six pack. 

I wrapped them with strips of paper from the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper pack and one half of one of our new Spider Web Doilies.  I am loving these doilies and have been using them every chance I get!  The doilies come in a pack of 24 for only $4.50 and will be available to order on September 1st when the Holiday Catty goes live.  The great thing about them (other than their obvious cuteness) is that they are white on the back side so they can be sponged any color or left white to resemble snowflakes.  

The tags were stamped with the Sweet Hauntings stamp set, (also from the Holiday 2015 catalog) and punched with the Note Tag punch.  The banner sentiment around the top of the straws is from the same set. 

Last but not least, my treat bottles were finished off with a stitched satin bow and filled with pearl orange Sixlets from my local party store.  I hope you liked my not-so-scary Howl-o-ween Treats and thanks for stoppin' by!  

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Back to School Howl-o-ween Treat

I have spent the last two weeks moving kids into college dorms so this weeks Can You Case it Challenge was right up my alley.  I have been working on Halloween and Christmas projects in preparation for my upcoming Holiday Catalog Kick-off Party on September 13th, so an excuse to break away and create a Back to School themed project was a welcome diversion.  

I was pondering what I wanted to do when the owl image from my new Howl-o-ween stamp set caught my eye but I needed to make him look a little more studious and a little less Halloweeney. (yes that is a word, look it up!)  I absolutely love the way this card came out and  have to say I am rather proud of myself. 

Petty stinkin' cute, right?  I simply created his eyeglasses with my 1/2" and 3/4" circle punches.  I used Stampin' Up's new fine tip glue for my eyeglasses and stars.  This glue is quickly becoming my favorite new product.  It really does have a super fine tip and there is a pin attached to the top of the cap that fits inside the tip when being stored to keep from clogging.  Pure genius.  This is a must have product for every paper-crafter IMO when the Holiday catty goes live next week. 

I hope you will play along with this weeks Can You Case It challenge and thanks for stoppin' by!

 

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Acorny Greetings

I may live in Florida but I will always be a New Englander.  This is the time of year I miss the most in Massachusetts & Connecticut as  Fall  approaches. I miss everything about Fall in New England...the colors, the smells, crisp air, sweater weather, apple cider, (and apple cider donuts) picking apples and hay rides to the pumpkin patch.  As the temp here is in the high 90's and super humid right now I have to live vicariously through my stamps.  I had the chance this weekend to break out a few new stamp sets which hadn't seen ink yet, the first of which was "Acorny Thank You" from the new Holiday Catalog.  I also just received the Winter Woodland Vellum Designer Series Paper which is a gorgeous collection of gold and black printed vellum card stock with six prints in each color. The gold prints seemed to scream Fall to me and the acorns were the perfect fit.   Here is my card:

That gorgeous gold cording is also from the new Holiday Catalog and the card stock I used for the acorn bodies is Brushed Gold from the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog.  (I also used Brushed Gold for the Greetings sentiment which was cut using my Silhouette Cameo)  This stamp set is a collection of different acorn bodies with an assortment of patterned tops to mix and match.  There is also a matching punch (yeah) which makes these adorable acorns super quick and easy to pump out piles of.  Cuz everyone needs piles of punched acorns.  And the best part is that the stamp set and matching punch are available as a bundle which will save you 15% on the pair.  (double yeah!)  

Remember, the Holiday Catalog goes live next week!  If you have not yet received a copy in the mail please let me know and I will get one right out to you!

Thanks for Stoppin by!

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If the Broom Fits & Paint Chips

As we get our house ready to sell we have been making frequent trips to Home Depot.  I tend to wander whenever I am in there...you just never know what you will find.  On a recent trip I found myself stocking up on my stash of paint chips and nearly giving my husband heart failure in the middle of the paint isle when he saw me picking our bright orange, deep purple and lime green. :)

I had the new "If the Broom Fits" stamp set in mind when choosing these colors and I knew I wanted to fit one broom inside each panel on the chip.  However, I really didn't plan on making such a process out of all that masking.  If I had it to do all over again I would choose one of the images on the end of the stamp and use the same image for all three panels. I made it way more difficult than it had  to be but I do love the way they came out. 

 Basic Black on Tangerine Tango

Basic Black on Blackberry Bliss

Truth be told, I have no idea what color this green is.  Stampin' Up! does not have a current green that matches the bright lime of this paint chip so I had to dive in to my stash of contraband. This awesome Halloween stamp is a single stamp available in the new Holiday 2015 Catalog which will go live on September 1st!  

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

 

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Another Sneak Peek for Can You Case It...

I managed to get in some quality Stampin' time in this past weekend despite moving my youngest son into his new dorm.  Or maybe I just really needed a distraction from the fact that my baby is moving on.  Which is  a good thing.  Just a really hard pill to swallow.  Fortunately he is not far away and I will (hopefully) still see him often since his two older brothers are 4 and 8 hours from home.  It's the start of a new chapter for all of us and  I have a feeling I will be needing a lot more Stampin' Distractions.  And wine.  Lots and lots of wine. 

My card(s) today was created for the "Can You Case It" challenge this week.  I made two slightly different versions and can't decide which one I like best.  I used the Season of Cheer Designer Series Paper pack, the Embellished Ornaments Stamp Set and the matching Delicate Ornaments Thinlits Dies all  from the new Stampin' Up! 2015 Holiday Catalog which will be available on September 1st. 

So what do you think?  Which one do you like best, Silver Embossed on Whisper White or Silver Foil over Night of Navy? 

For the embossed ornament (on the left), I heat embossed the ornament image with Silver Embossing Powder on Whisper White card stock.  When it was cool I colored in all the white space with my Night of Navy Stampin' Write Marker and rubbed the embossed image with a clean, dry paper towel.  This allowed the white space to soak up the ink from my marker and remove any extra ink residue from the embossed image.  I love the way it gives my ornament a kind of antiqued look. 

Of course we can't forget the matching envelope liner.  I created my liner with my Envelope Liner Framelits Dies, one set of dies that I cannot live without!  This makes my hand made card that much more special don't you think?  Here is the sketch that inspired my card: 

You can play along too at www.canyoucaseit.com.  I would love to hear which of my two versions you like best and if you decide to play along I'd love to see what you come up with! 

Thanks for stoppin' by!

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If the Broom Fits...

The sentiment on this single stamp from the new Holiday 2015 Stampin' Up! Catalog cracked me up.  It had to be added to my ever-growing collection of Halloween stamps.  Seriously, how many of your BFF's can you see being the recipient of this card?  (I think I will be needing to make a few more this weekend)

My card was created for this weeks Freshly Made Sketch Challenge.  I did change the orientation but otherwise stayed pretty true to the sketch.  Here is the sketch that inspired my card:
I heat embossed the brooms with Basic Black Embossing Powder on Very Vanilla card stock, masking the sentiment as I wanted to save that for my banner.  The stamp is the "If the Broom Fits" single stamp from the new 2015 Holiday Catalog which will be available on September 1st.  The patterned paper on both the card and the envelope insert is from the new "Happy Haunting" Designer Series Paper collection, also in the new Holiday Catalog. 

Do you need your very own copy of the new catalog?  Please contact me directly and I will pop one in the mail to you right away!

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Mojo Monday Sneak Peek

It's been a while since I have had the time to participate in a Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge but all my new Holiday Catalog stamps and papers have been calling my name begging me to come play with them.  Because I want the entire catalog (yes, it is that good!) I had to break up my orders into seasons since I can't have it all at once.  (insert sad face here)  So, first up is my favorite new Halloween set, Hall-o-Ween Treats.  Love this super cute owl and the very Harry Potter Sorting Hat-esc witches hat.  Here is my take on this weeks sketch:

And here is the sketch that inspired my card:

As you can see I decided against the banner across the middle as I really didn't think my card needed anything else to clutter up the front and take away from the focal point.  That awesome Halloween glitter inside the shaker was the inspiration for my color choices (more on that in a minute) and I love the way my colored stars in both the hat and the background paper tie it all together.  (Very clever of me if I do say so myself) 

You may also notice that my owl has some spooky green googlie eyes.  These were an awesome find at my local craft store and I think they give him so much more personality.  They come 10 to a pack and also come in blue and orange.  I can't wait to see what my blue eyed owl will look like! 

I knew the minute I saw that sparkly chunky glitter that I had to create a shaker card.  The glitter was from the Halloween section of the same store and came in three different color combinations. ( I have a feeling I will be going back for the other two) 

I can't wait to share the Holiday Catalog with you!  If you would like a copy, please let me know and I will get one out to you. 

Thanks for stoppin' by!

It's Here!!!

Look what was waiting for me when I got home last night:

Yep, I even sprang for 2 day shipping because patience has never been one of my virtues. 

I can't wait to play with all my new goodies!  I was in Hobby Lobby earlier this week and I have totally caught the Halloween and Christmas crafting bug!  I should spend the weekend painting, purging and packing but I have a feeling this box will be calling me!  Hopefully I will have some fun stuff to share with you before the weekend is over.

Can't wait till September 1st to place your Holiday order?  Join my team and you can not only order yours now but you will save yourself a bunch of money.  It's a win/win! 

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stoppin' by!