Boooo party (with Lawn Fawn)

Hi there!

I'm here and on the Lawn Fawn blog this morning, sharing a little Halloween party set-up.



I have to admit that I prefer a cute Halloween, rather than a gory Halloween. With a few Lawn Fawn dies, I was able to pull together a very cute party table.

A simple white-frosting cake got dressed up with a bed of black sprinkles and a spooky(ish) haunted house. I cut a long rectangle of grey cardstock, treated it to a woodgrain pattern and then dressed it up using haunted house dies.



The only stamping I did was on the banner, and I added a few extra oooooos to the Happy Howloween "boo," to help it fit better into the banner shape.

I had to fit the cute cobweb in somewhere! I adhered it to an orange-and-white-striped straw and it went into a plate of meringue cookies. The decoration added height to the plate, and balance to the table.



The milk bottles mimic the cake topper - but simplified. A piece of grey cardstock was wrapped around the bottle, and the resident ghost peeks out.

I accented a few bottles with a little spider, adhered under the lip of the bottle.



My favorite part are the flying bats. They are adhered by way of acetate strips, but from far, they look like they're floating.

I hope you are inspired to create a little something of your own for Halloween! And I also hope no one walks up to your decorations and starts cracking up, cackling about being "here with my boobs." 

I wish I could say it was only my 7 year old, but my 37 year old sister did the same thing. ha.

Happy boo-tastic party planning!

♥.

Wreath tags with Avery Elle

Hi there! I'm here and on the AE blog this morning, with a set of tags using the Festive Wreath stamp set.

I started out by coloring and die-cutting the elements: the wreath, the birds and the bows. Then, I die-cut circle Shaker Tags - each tag needs both a full circle base layer, and one with the middle cut out, which serves as the base for the wreath.

To layer the wreath onto the circle tag, you have to widen it a little. I snipped it apart at the very top and adhered it to the circle frame layer. Then, I used foam dots to pop up the wreath layer. I love the dimension this gives the tag!

The seam at the top was hidden by the big red bow. It really looks seamless!

I then grabbed the sentiment from Sledding Critters and stamped it into the banner image from Woodland Wonders.  I added some shading to the edges of the banner with a soft brown copic marker.

The little cardinal perches on top of the banner, and I finished off the tags with lengths of Cherry Hemp Twine.

I hope you like these fun, festive tags! Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

you got this (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

For the last day of Lawn Fawn's inspiration week, we were challenged to use Plan On It: Fitness set on a card.

The set is full of tiny little images for your planner, but I used them on an encouragement card. I've gained and lost my share of weight over the years, and I would have loved to get this card in the mail!

I liked how the images were laid out in a grid in the actual set, so I used my MISTI tool to recreate the layout and stamped them to fill the rectangle piece of cardstock.



I added some very simple coloring with copic markers, and used a soft brown ink to add some heavy shading all around. I used LF's new white embossing powder for the sentiment.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the LF blog this morning - click!

♥

Best fishes (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to another day of this month's Lawn Fawn inspiration week. Today, we're showing off Sealed With a Kiss (it was last year's Black Friday freebie but is now released to all!) and the Outside In Stitched Scalloped Stackables.

I tried my hand at an aqua and mustard holiday card combination. Does the little pop of red in the seal's santa hat make it more festive?



The negative space from the scalloped circle die allowed me to create a scene with some depth. I love the Santa seal coming to dole out fish to his seal friend. The bucket of fish, sentiment and extra fish are all from Beary Happy Holidays. I love that they work equally well with the bears from that set as they do with the seals.

I hope you like it! Check out the LF blog this morning for even more inspiration - click!

♥.

plaid for the holidays (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

We're back with more Lawn Fawn inspiration today, showing off the Perfectly Plaid Chill paper collection.



As a side note, for those interested in card photography: this picture was taken at the exact same time as yesterday's card. The softer colors were harder for the camera to appreciate, I guess. This one looks so washed out compared to the rich vibrancy of yesterday's picture. My PSA for today is: if you're really wanting the card photo to impress, it'll be easier if the card itself is full of rich color, and contrasting colors too. This one is too soft, but you know I love a pastel pallette!

Back to it: I used bands of the plaid patterned paper to frame out my little scene. The fox and hedgehog are from Jump For Joy and Forest Feast. I love that they are fall sets but could be used throughout the year!

The Christmas accessories are from Christmas Dreams.

I hope you like it! Check out the LF blog this morning for more plaid inspiration - click!

♥.

purple for the holidays (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

Lawn Fawn inspiration week continues with a closer look at the Stitched Hillside Backdrops.

I tried to step outside of my red-aqua or red-brown holiday colors and do something a little more moody-in-eggplant:



I did some ink-blending for the base layer, flecked on some white paint, and layered the Stitched Hillside Backdrop over the top.

In one move, the entire layout for the card is taken care of - I love that!  All I had to do was to reach for some cute images and fit them into the hillsides.

I reached for the little snowmen from Ready Set Snow and paired them with the tree from Christmas Dreams as well as a few tiny accessories. The little gingerbread man is my fave, from Holiday Party Animal.

The sentiment, from Snow Cool, seemed to fit with all of the outdoors and snowmen.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the LF blog this morning - click!

♥.

winter tiny tags (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to day 2 of this month's Lawn Fawn inspiration week! I'm showing off the Winter Tiny Tags die set - I love a cute mitten tag!



I cut a Fancy Box, and found a fun way to dress it up: a stitched rectangle frame fits the top of the box perfectly! I was so happy to find this out - I feel like it dresses up the box so nicely!



I cut a white box and a white frame, and added a pop of black, using the Snowy Backdrop die. A grey mitten tag and big red ribbon make for a simple, but striking gift box.



I cut the mitten out of Knit Picky paper, in the subtle and soft grey pattern, and then used a light grey copic marker to add some shading.

The sentiment is from Tiny Tag Sayings, and I finished off with a little white enamel heart.

Here is a look at the pieces used to create this box:




Be sure to check out the Lawn Fawn blog today for so much more inspiration - click!

♥.

Stitched ornaments (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

It's Lawn Fawn's October inspiration week, and we're kicking things off with a look at the Stitched Ornaments dies.

I made a set of Christmas tags using the ornaments and the bear from Beary Happy Holidays.  A Bannertastic banner leaves room for the recipient's name.



I love how subtle they are: the white ornaments with the pop of mint coming through the back and the warm brown bear in the center. I can't wait to put these on some brown paper packages in just a few months!

I hope you like them! There's more to see on the LF blog this morning - click!

♥.

yeti or not... winter! (Neat and Tangled)

Hi there!

I have a bonus yeti card to share with you today:



I used the new Get Yeti set, and combined it with a present from Wild Ones and the die-cut word from Hello Winter.

The patterned papers (watercolor pink and sweater pattern on the card base) are both from Lawn Fawn, as are the stitched dies.



I colored all of the images in sift blues, greys and pinks - the penguin is so cute in this softer grey!

To tuck the sign under the yeti's arm, I stamped and fussy-cut an extra arm, and stuck it on top. The sign works to hide any unsightly seams. I'm definitely inspired to see what else I could tuck under his arm! A candy cane? A penguin? haha.

I hope you like it, and thanks for stopping by!

♥.

Fa la llama (neat and tangled release week)

Hi there and welcome back to the last day of new product reveals over at Neat and Tangled.

I designed a 2nd set this month, a 3x4 stamp set called Fa La Llama:

In my etsy shop, I currently have a sleeker, more retro looking llama, but I always wanted to make him a little chunkier, and more woolly.

My first project for today shows off the llama with the scarf tails hanging down. I wanted to be able to tuck the scarf tails at the bottom, so that there would be room to put things onto the llama's back. But he's equally cute when you make the scarf tails stick out the back of his neck (scroll down to see the tag I created for that look!) To make the scarf attachment look seamless, I cut off the excess white die-cut border. You can't tell it was added it after the fact!



The little birdie is from Get Yeti. They make a cute pair!

Here, the llama's scarf ties to the back. I love this look too! I tried to make it as seamless as possible by drawing in the missing lines with a copic-friendly pen and coloring the appropriate parts. Again, I didn't want the white die-cut border to stick out like a sore thumb!



I hope you like what you see so far! The design team has even more llama inspiration on the NT blog this morning - click!

♥.

Hello winter (Neat and Tangled release week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to day 3 of Neat and Tangled's October release week. Today, we're showing off a set designed by Danielle, called Hello Winter.

I couldn't help but pair the sentiment set with a few cute critters.

My first card features our new yeti on a calm winter day:

Since most of the card was kept white, I gave the yeti (from Get Yeti) some color. I used copic markers W00, W1, and W3 to color his fur.

I inlaid a peaceful nature scene in the distance: snow capped mountains and the little log cabin (also from Get Yeti.)

The sentiment from Hello Winter is my fave. I personally hate blizzards, but there is something so beautiful about a white, sunny winter day.



My next card uses the bigger sentiment block from the set:

I stamped it 3 times in a row, and trimmed out the strip. The fox (from Schoolhouse) holding the Santa mug (from Beary Merry) is as cozy as all of the winter words.



I softened the edges of the white strip by sponging on some soft brown ink and popped it up over a woodgrained card base.

I hope you like them! Visit the NT blog this morning to see more - CLICK!

♥.

Ellen Hutson winner

Hi there!

I am running late to announce the winner of the Ellen Hutson gift certificate! To those who wrote me messages to prod me to pick the winner - thank you! I need a kick to get me going sometimes.

Without further ado, the random winner of the 50$ EH store gift card is... Carol H:

Yay! Carol, can please give me your email address so that I could put you in touch with the generous people from Ellen Hutson!

If you missed the original blog post, you can check it out HERE, or on the Ellen Hutson blog HERE.

Thanks so much!

♥.

Special delivery (Neat and Tangled release week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to day 2 of this month's Neat and Tangled release week. Today, we're showing off an incredible treat packaging die designed by the always-innovative Miriam Prantner. This truck comes together so easily! The main part of the truck is all 1 piece, which is incredible. I hate finnicky box dies. There are a ton of little tiny pieces that you could use to decorate the truck, but if you're like me (with the fat fingers and the hand shakes) you could leave many of them out and still have a really cute finished box.



I'm still in Christmas mode, so I decorated a little treat package to gift out to the kids for advent.

The snowman is from Beary Merry, and the figgy pudding and sentiment are from Holiday Baking. They fit so perfectly in the back window! It looks like a little food truck window!



The top view gives you an idea of how the truck closes at the top - isn't that so perfect?



I was able to fit 2 of these Lindor chocolates inside, in case you'd like to have an idea of how big the box is.

I hope you like it! There is so much more truck inspiration on the NT blog this morning - click! 

♥.

Get yeti! (Neat and Tangled release week)

Hi there!

We're kicking off this month's Neat and Tangled release week today - not a bad way to start a Monday morning! - and we're starting with a set that I illustrated, Get Yeti.

I know there are some adorable yeti stamps out there already, but I wanted one of my own! I gave him some winter friends and a few other images that could help for scene-building.

I have 2 cards to share with you today. For the first one, I couldn't help but look to an older set, Elfs and Their Shelf for that little Santa.

The yeti pulling Santa on a sled makes me giggle. I used Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside Backdrop die to create layers of snowy hills, and nestled the log cabin and mountains in the distance.

The sentiment was heat-embossed onto a piece of red cardstock, and is from a set you'll see later on this week.



My second card features a few more of the yeti's friends:

I used the new Falling Circles coverplate to set a snowy scene, and also borrowed some trees from Lumberjack Love and the gift box from Fa La Llama (you'll see more of that one on Thursday!)



Yeti or not, it's Christmas time again! (ack - I can't believe today is October 2nd already - Christmas is really coming quickly this year!)

The little dog with the reindeer antlers is one of my favorites. And I kind of like the funky hair swoop on the penguin. I hope you like them too!

Leave me a comment before you hop over to the NT blog this morning - there is a Get Yeti giveaway happening over there, but as always, there will be a comment chosen from all design team blogs this week for a gift certificate to the store.

♥.