Happy Halloween

While shopping at Michaels the other day, I came across these cute unfinished wood coffins (if a coffin can be cute) and decided to grab some to use as candy holders for my son's school Halloween party. They are the perfect size to hold a few pieces of candy and a free Frosty coupon. After painting them in both Espresso and Eggplant Adirondack acrylic paint, I stamped the Stampendous Frightful Phrases stamp in Versamark ink and embossed using my favorite Stampendous Midnight Black embossing powder. I have never stamped and embossed on wood before so I'm pretty pleased how the candy boxes turned out.

To go along with the boxes I made a clean and simple mini card using two Stampendous sets: Costume Kids and Cling Spider Web.

Did you know you can buy a book of 10 JR. Frosty Coupons from Wendy's for $1.00 and 90% of the money goes to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Dave Thomas was an amazing man. On a personal level, I will always be grateful to him as one of the founders of my son's school. He believed in children and gave so much to our community. If you are unfamiliar with his foundation, one of it's main goals is to find loving, permanent homes for kids in foster care.

Keep in mind, you have until September 29th to join in the fun with this month's sketch challenge on the Stampendous blog. It's a great sketch with an even greater prize.

Thanks for visiting!

Stampendous Supplies:
Costume Kids SSC263
Cling Spider Web Set CRS3010
Frightful Phrases R120
Midnight Black Embossing Powder

Other Supplies:
Markers: Copic E00/E01/E02/E33/E35/E37/E29/E50/BV000/BV01/BV02/BV04/BV08/C1/C3/C5/C7
Ink & Paint: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black and Grape Jelly ink; Versamark Watermark ink; Adirondack Espresso and Eggplant Acrylic Paint Dabber
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 3

I've entered this in this week's Crazy 4 Challenges C4C106 challenge and this week's Just Us Girls Fall 3-D Challenge.

I'm Goin' Batty!!!

I’m Goin’ Batty
OK, for any of you who know me, that ship sailed ages ago. I’m Goin’ Batty is the sentiment included in this Stampendous stamp set called Cling Batty Owls.

Isn’t the font cool? I paired the owls with another great Stampendous set, Cling Spider Web to create this window card. Everyone loves window cards and I’m no exception. But I must admit they intimidate me so I created this pseudo/faux window card by placing all of the layers onto the front of my card base. As for the two bats with glowing eyes, they are another Stampendous product. You can’t tell from my photograph but they are velvet stickers with a tiny piece of Copic-colored scrap paper behind them. If you haven’t tried Stampendous Class A Peel stickers, you really must. They come in all sorts of designs and textures and are so versatile. You can even use them as masks.

Thanks for visiting!

Stampendous Products:
Cling Batty Owls Set CRS2063
Cling Spider Web Set CRS3010
Jumbo Bats Velvet Black Class A Peel AC1004VK

Other Products:
Paper: My Mind’s Eye Mischievous (patterned paper); Copic X-Press It Blending Card; card stock (unknown)
Copic Markers: YR12/YR14/YR18/BV000/BV00/BV20/C0/C1/C3/C5
Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles Nestabilities Dies
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Archival Jet Black; Ranger Pumice Stone Distress Ink
Foam Adhesive

Card Notes:
Create an A2 card base with corresponding black mat.
Using two different sizes of Wonky Rectangles dies and patterned paper create the mat with window, the window frame and insert.
Distress the edges of the insert and the mat with the window by rubbing Pumice Stone ink around the edges.
Stamp the cobweb on two of the corners of the mat and also on the insert using Jet Black ink.
Stamp the owls on the insert and then again on Copic X-Press It Blending Card; Color the image that is stamped on the Blending Card and cut it out.
Adhere the insert to the center of the black mat; Using foam adhesive, adhere the cut-out owls to the insert (line up the images).
Glue the black window frame to the mat with the window; Using foam adhesive, adhere this mat to the black mat; Adhere all to the card base.
Stamp the sentiment on the inside of the card.
Select two stickers; using baby powder, powder the back of the stickers to cover the adhesive.
Color a scrap of X-Press It Blending Card; Cut into two pieces and adhere a piece to the back of each sticker.
Adhere the bats to the card.

I will be entering this in this week’s Our Creative Corner Challenge.

Here's another version:

Birthday Wishes

I'd like to share a card that I made for the Stampendous Saturday Sketch Challenge. On the first Saturday of each month, Stampendous will post a new challenge on their blog. The best part is you have the whole month to play along. Just use the linky tool at the bottom of the post to upload your project...and yes, there will be a random drawing at the end of the month.

This month's challenge is a sketch which was created by Wendy Price, Stampendous Design Team Member Extraordinaire (OK, I made up that title for her but she really is very cool and her creations are extraordinary).

I modified the sketch design a little because I really wanted to play with this stamp set. It's called Four Flower Squares and it's so much fun to color. The sentiment is my new go-to birthday stamp from the Birthday Brackets set. I love the big, chunky font. There are brackets on this particular stamp but I trimmed them off one day and fell in love with the clean look of "Birthday Wishes." When I want to use the brackets with the sentiment, I just butt them together on an acrylic block and the complete stamp is ready to be inked. No one would ever know.

Well, please check out what the wonderful design team members have created for this challenge (you can find links to their blogs on the left-side of the Stampendous blog page) and then give the sketch a try. Who knows, you could be this month's winner. For all the rules and challenge information please click here.

Thanks for visiting!

Welcome

I found myself needing a Welcome card for a new neighbor this week so I went upstairs and did my favorite thing…rummage through my stamps. To my surprise, I don’t really have a stamp set made specifically for this purpose. With a little creativity and my bin of Stampendous stamps, I was able to create this card. The images are from an adorable Holiday stamp set called Holiday Home. If you like to create scenes when you stamp, this is the perfect Holiday set for you. It has pine trees, a horse-drawn sleigh, wreaths and the cutest snowman ever. As for the sentiment, it’s from a Stampendous set called Baby Invite. You guessed it, very cute animals and any word needed to create perfect baby shower invitations, thank you cards or baby announcements. I used a sentiment that said, “Welcome Baby” and yes, once again I cut the stamp. Stampendous stamps are made from the highest quality of polymer so with a sharp pair of detail scissors, you get a clean cut every time. As long as you make one cut, you can always go ahead and place the two parts back together on an acrylic block. The next time you make a baby card, no one will ever know the sentiment was cut apart. Thanks for visiting!

Stampendous Supplies:
Holiday Home SSC1067
Baby Invite SSC072 (sentiment)

Other Supplies:
Paper: X-Press It Blending Card, card stock (unknown)
Copics: Y00/Y02/Y08/BG0000/G40/G21/G24/G28/E40/E42/E44/E47/E50/E53/E55/E57
Glossy Accents
Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Card Notes:
Create an A2 card base from cardstock and a mat that is slightly smaller.
Cut a 3.25” x 4.25” panel from X-Press It; cut a slightly larger mat.
Stamp the center house 2xs: once on the X-Press It and once on a piece of scrap paper; fussy-cut the stamped scrap and use as a mask.
Stamp the second house 2xs: once on the X-Press it and once on a piece of scrap paper; fussy-cut the stamped scrap and use as a mask.
Stamp the rest of the scene; color.
Assemble card; add Glossy Accents to windows.

Have you heard the news?

I’ve got great news. Starting today, Stampendous is kicking off their new Stampendous Saturday Challenge and they would love it if you would join in the fun. On the first Saturday of each month, Stampendous will share a brand new challenge - it might be a sketch, or colors, or a fun new technique to try. You'll have an entire month to play along! And what would a challenge be without a prize? They’ll draw a random winner from all qualifying entries at the end of each month.

The incredibly talented Wendy Price created this sketch to kick off the challenge.

To play along and be eligible to win the Cling Jumbo Romantic Border, make a card or project using the sketch, upload it to your blog or other online gallery (keyword: STM01), and add the direct link to the linky tool on the Stampendous blog. You have until Thursday, September 29th at 11:00 PM PST to play! You don't have to use a Stampendous image or products to play along, but they sure love it when you do!

Here is my take on Wendy’s sketch:

Stampendous Supplies:
Block Art Single Daisy (flowers)
Loopy Blooms(stamped edge)
Narcissus (sentiment)

Go on and head over to the Stampendous blog to check out all of the details, see more inspiration from our designers, and to add your link to the linky tool!

Also, please stop by the following blogs to see what my Stampendous teammates have created with the sketch.

Wendy Price
Suzanne Czosek
Pam Hornschu
Kristine Reynolds
Lynn Mercurio
Taylor Ursy
Piali Biswas
Wendy Jordan
Laura Davis
Cyndi Bundy
Krissy Fossmeyer
Melinda Gleissner (that’s me)
Geny Cassady


Thanks for visiting and have fun with this month's sketch!

Cool Yule

When talking with a friend last night, she mentioned she is going to be making Christmas cards all weekend. It dawned on me…its September 1st and I haven’t made one Christmas card. Yikes! To be honest, I’m really not ready to start the mad push. Heck, I haven’t gotten my spring wreath on my front door (LOL). So today is holiday card #1 and I must admit it was easy, thanks to Stampendous and these cute penguins. They are from a set called Yule Penguins. You gotta love a penguin in a fluffy sweater. The blustery, blue swirl in the background is from the new Cling Jumbo Pine Drift also by Stampendous and the sentiment is from the Yule Penguins set as well. Please note that I completely modified it. Originally each word is stacked on top of the other. I simply cut the sentiment apart and lined it up on my acrylic block. It just seemed to work better for my clean-lined card.

Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend and thanks for visiting!

Stampendous Supplies:
Yule Penguins SSC1102
Cling Jumbo Pine Drift CRS5016

Other Supplies:
Ink: Color Box Prussian Blue Chalk ink; VersaMark watermark ink; Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
Paper: Copic X-Press It Blending Card; cardstock (unknown).
Copic Markers: Y02/Y08/BG10/BG32/BG34/BG45/BG49

Card Notes:
Create an A2 card base from white card stock; Also cut a white panel (4 ¾ x 3 ½) and a corresponding black mat.
Stamp swirl using the Prussian Blue ink on a piece of scrap paper; Without cleaning the stamp, ink again with Versamark and stamp the white panel; Repeat the process and stamp the swirl a second time.
Stamp the sentiment using the Tuxedo Black ink.
On X-Press It Blending Card, stamp all three penguins, color and fussy-cut.
Assemble the card.