A scrapbook kit surprise

One of my favorite online Scrapbook supply shopping venues is called Scrappin' Great Deals. While I'm more of a cardmaker/rubberstamper, I find the best deals and supplies and Sheila's online shop. Her service is fast and friendly and she runs wonderful sales and deals. Well I had a huge surprise a couple of weeks ago. Sheila sent me an email and asked me if I'd like to receive a Scrapbook Kit to play with and I could keep the contents and create whatever I wanted to and just post on my blog what I'd created.

10 days ago the kit arrived and just look at the contents! How fun and it is all mine!

The kit was filled with Halloween and Autumn themed designer papers and cardstock, flowers, velvet stickon pumpkins, spookie letters and cutouts, distressed stickles, clear stamps and fun embellishments.

As I've mentioned, I'm not much of a scrapbook artist but I've had this photo of my children taken back in 1985 that I've been wanting to put in an album so this was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at a scrapbook page.
Aren't my kid-lets sweet? I made the Care Bear costume for Stephanie (my daughter). She loved Carebears and that costume was worn for years. Matthew, wearing the Superman costume wore it for the last time that year. See how small it was getting on him. I had made that costume many years before for Jonathan, who is wearing the Cowboy costume.
Do you see the cute paper pumpkin in the foreground in the picture above? I had so much fun making that with the kit papers too!
After I finished the scrapbook page I used this beautiful piece of Bo-Bunny's cardstock to make this paper pumpkin. I am planning on making enough of these little paper pumpkins to use as table decorations to hold placecards at each seat for Thanksgiving dinner.

You have to give these paper pumpkins a try. They take all of maybe 15 minutes to make and if you have various sizes of oval punches or Nestabilities you can make them in all sizes. This wasn't an original idea. I found the instructions to make this cute pumpkin on Happileigh Scrappin blog. She shared the instructions HERE.

The next project I wanted to make was a Halloween gift bag to be filled with treats. The scrapbook kit came in handy for me to make this simple candy bag holder.

The clear stamps were used to stamp tissue paper to wrap gifts for my Halloween Secret Sister.

Then I wanted to decorate a gift bag to put all of my Secret Sister's treats into. I used a couple of the different scrapbook papers and letters and velvet pumpkins to decorate the bag. I thought it turned out frightfully cute!

And this is the other side of the treat bag with just a couple of the contents that were tucked inside. It is mailed out to her so I'll look forward to knowing how she enjoyed her goodies.

I want to thank Sheila at Scrappin' Great Deals for the opportunity to play with this scrapbook kit for my own personal use. This was a lot of fun for this non-scrapbooking crafter. Oh my, I didn't even make a card. I should do that now.

Cheers!

Barn door with wreath

I'm not ready yet to begin preparing myself mentally for snow but this Serendipity Stamp called Barn Door with Wreath is such a simple and lovely stamp that I couldn't resist doing a bit of playing in the snow.

I used a lot of FLOWER SOFT product on this card. For the wreath and the snow.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Serendipity Stamps #1190G Barn door with Wreath
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black and image colored with Copic Markers
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink white and metalic green cardstock (maker unknown)
Embellishements: Martha Sewart fern punch, Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder, Nestibilities oval die and frame die, Flower Soft product in Christmas green, ivory and snow, Stickles and red crystals.

Have you begun making your Christmas cards? I have a lot of ideas but haven't begun in earnest yet.

As I look out my window I see the pouring rain today. It is quite chilly too so who knows, maybe we will see a flake or two. I hope not. For now I'd prefer to play in the snow using Flower Soft.

Cheers!

Snow Angel

I may have been born in the city but I've always been a country girl at heart. I'm drawn to primitive and country designs in artwork, furnishings and history. When I saw this new Serendipity Stamps Snow Angel stamp I knew I had to ink her up.





Card Recipe:
Stamp: Serendipity Stamp Snow Angel #1188G
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Coloring Medium: Prismacolor Pencils
Accessories: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Martha Stewart leaf punch, Machine stitching, buttons

I hadn't colored with my prismacolor pencils for quite some time and it was fun to have them out again. I thought Copics would be too bold of color for this primitive snow angel.

REMINDER: Serendipity has all Halloween stamps on sale through the 27th!! The Serendipity Halloween Customer Challenge goes through October 15th. So be sure to head on over to SERENDIPITY STAMPS and check out the customer challenge for your chance to snag a great prize!


I hope you are enjoying a beautiful weekend!

Cheers!

This and That....

Good Morning! Lest you think I've been completely lazy lately, I assure you that isn't the case. In fact, I've been up to my eyeballs in projects and this and that and the next thing. One thing that I have been working on finishing up is a bunch of ATCs for swaps I'd joined. It gets a bit addictive and once you start joining swaps it is hard to stop.

This first ATC is for a swap using Maryse Carrier stamps. I have a huge collection of Maryse Carrier stamps and was tickled to see this swap posted. It has been ages since I've pulled out these whimsical stamps. I'm eager to see which stamps the other participants will use.

This next ATC is for an ATC swap in which we are to create ATCs using a Christmas Song as the theme. My "Deck the Halls" ATC uses the Stampin' Up! set by the same name.

This last creation is a 6" X 6" recipe card for a recipe card swap titled "Sweets for Santa". The recipe is one from my Grandma Inman's recipe box and I just loved these bars. They are sort of like a shortbread with a chocolate bar melted on top. DELISH!! For the plate of cookies on the recipe I used Stampin' Up! set called "A Merry Little Christmas".

I have over commited myself to things lately. I'll follow through with my commitments to swaps and design teams but I think my resolution for 2010 is going to be to remember to make more time for personal projects. I haven't made a card for myself or family in ages. And my sewing machine seems to only sew on cardstock lately. YIKES!

Do you ever do this too?

Fall has definitely arrived in the Ottawa valley. It is a gorgeous crisp, chilly and sunny morning. You need a jacket but it is beautiful. I think it is time to go search for pumpkins.

Cheers!

Peace on Earth

Purrs and Pants has a wide array of cat and dog images and many just perfect for Christmas. This card uses two Purrs and Pants stamps: 2 kitties in window #16-4 and the sentiment, "Peace on Earth" # DC 210

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Purrs and Pants #16-4 and # DC 210
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! cardstock and Heather's Stamping Haven Vellum for the sentiment
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black and Colorbox Cyan, Image colored with Copic Markers
Accessories: Nestibilities rectangle and scalloped rectangle dies, Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder, Stickles, Crystal brads

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!

The Fun Starts Now!

With the first day of Autumn tomorrow and our cooler temperatures and changing leave already, I couldn't resist making this card using the two playful pups. This is one of Purrs and Pants autumn stamps and you can find it listed as #17-1 Dogs rolling in leaves.

My inspiration for this card comes from my friend Traci who just got a new lab puppy, Bailey, to join her other lab, Colby. I've seen such wonderful photos of them and I just had to make this card with inspiration from Colby and Bailey.

Card recipe:

Stamps: Purrs and Pants # 17-1 and the sentiment is # DC 21-7
Ink: Momento tuxedo black, Image colored with Copic markers
Designer paper: BoBunny
Accessories: Brads (Making Memories) Stickles glitter, Stampin' Up! Ticket punch, Small Leaf punch (McGill), Satin leaf ribbon.



I hope you are enjoying your last day of summer and I look forward to beautiful autumn days ahead.

Cheers!

Witching you a Happy Halloween

Today is the Design Team monthly challenge at Serendipity Stamps. This month's challenge theme is Halloween. Mary, the owner of Serendipity Stamps and our fearless leader, has a large variety of new Halloween and Autumn stamp in the new Fall/Autumn catalog. Be sure to check out Serendipity Stamps site for some great new autumn and winter stamps.

For my Halloween card I used this darling stamp set titled Kitty & Pumpkin 798QCL The inside sentiment reads: "Witching you a Happy Halloween".

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Serendipity Stamps Kitty and Pumpkin #798QCL
Ink: Versamark ink and embossed in old gold embossing powder
Cardstock: Daisy D's designer paper, Papertrey Ink Ivory for card base, Stampin' Up! old olive green and pumpkin orange.
Coloring: Copic Markers
Accessories: Machine stitching, Nestibilities circle and scalloped circle dies, Cuttlebug corner swirl die, Stickles, Martha Stewart ribbon.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the Serendipity Stamp team's blogs to view their Halloween cards:

Amy Cokley
Anya Schrier
Kathie Bailey
Kelli Richardson
Lynda Benden
Shannon Teubner
Sue Eldred
Yvonne Hagane

Here's Witching you a Happy Halloween!

Cheers!

Jennifer

Happy BOO Day

Happy BOO Day! Hee hee...I think this makes a fun semi-classy Halloween card. Well come on...how classy is Halloween anyway. But just with a little silk ribbon, some machine stitching and buttons and of course a girl has to have sparkle with copper colored stickles glitter, I think this will be a fun card to send to one of my girl friends.

This Happy BOO Day sentiment is one of the new fall/winter 2009 stamps from Serendipity Stamps and you can locate it in the catalog as stamp number 1175D Happy Boo Day.

Hope you are enjoying as beautiful of a day as I am here. We waited all summer for some warm weather and now that it is almost fall we are finally getting sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures. I'm not complaining.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Three Jack-O-Lanterns

Hello my friends! It has been nearly a month since I've posted cards. August was such a busy month. My garden was bountiful this year and I spent most of the month in the kitchen canning and preserving vegetables, making bread and desserts for the freezer and even putting up pickles and jams. Our pantry is well stocked for the winter but I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure to stamp. So, without further ado, let's get at it:

SERENDIPITY STAMPS has some wonderful new autumn stamps and these three jack-o-lanterns stamp is one of the new releases. They make me smile!

This stamp was such fun to color. I stamped with versamark on watercolor paper and then embossed the image with antique gold embossing powder. Then I colored the image with Tombow markers and a wet brush. Very simple and fun!

I always think pumpkins need a hay bale or straw or, in this case, raffia around them. Don't know why...I just do, so I added a little raffia bow to the base of the image. These dapper pumpkins seemed to need a bow tie beneith them, don't you think?


Card Recipe and Ingredients:

Stamps: Serendipity Stamps Item # 1174H "Tall Pumpkins"
Designer paper: BoBunny Eire Tartan Plaid
Ink: Versamark and Tombow Markers
Accessories: Antique Gold embossing powder, dark olive green grosgrain ribbon, Martha Stewart border punch, raffia and Nestibilities Labels Four die.

I think my computer is repaired. I say "I think" because I've come to realize that with computers one can never be too confident when it comes to "will they work?" when you want them to.

I have more of Serendipity Stamps new autumn releases in the works so I'll be back again soon with more autumn cards.

Until then,
Cheers!

Computer troubles

I'm using my husband's work laptop (shhhhh...don't tell, ok?) My computer crashed and it is at the repair shop. Consequently, no posts or cards or photos from me. I'm hoping to get the computer back soon with only minor repairs - keep your fingers crossed for me that that will happen! YIKES!

I've really been enjoying my garden this summer and must confess that I've been a stamping slug this past month or so. My garden has been bountiful with veggies and this past month I've been canning and stocking my pantry for the winter. In fact, today I'll be back at it in the kitchen canning the last jars of salsa and tomatoes and perhaps bake a peach pie for my husband.

Just wanted to check in. I've missed my blogging friends and I've also missed making cards. So let's hope I'll have a computer, printer and be able to upload photos soon.

Cheers!

Jennifer :)