I Entered a Pumpkin Contest!!

Well, I went and did it!

I almost never join in any contests or anything but I did it this time!  Better Homes & Gardens is hosting a Pumpkin Decorating contest....   I entered the stamped & decoupaged pumpkins and called them Gothic Romance :) 

If you go to the contest page and like mine best, please "Like" them...(there's a little like button on my album page).  The top liked pumpkins will then have a vote contest next week sometime to determine a winner who will win $100.00!  Just think of all the fun crafty goodies that will buy ;)  LOL!!!

Anyway, if there are enough people who like my pumpkins I may be back next week asking for your vote.

 

Cut Your Own Banner Stamp!

Hey Everyone!

I hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday!

Today I wanted to share a little project I've had planned for a bit now, just had to find the time to do it!  I don't know if you remember but a few weeks ago I talked about cutting apart existing stamps to create smaller more usable stamps (Cut Your Stamps Apart).  The stamp I cut apart and used in the example had a nice large open area with no image pressed into it...I kept this nice large scrap piece to cut and create my very own banner stamp!!

Let's go...

Cut Your Own Banner Stamp

Supplies:

Rubber Scraps
Shears
Ruler or other Straight Line
Pencil
(to make the card)
Banner Stamp
Black Gel Pen
Additional Stamps (Crafty Secrets, Just For Fun Rubber Stamps)
Stickles Glitter Glue

Instructions:

1. Measure and mark as many "V's" as you can on your rubber scrap... this may be only one or it could be 2, 3 or more.  It doesn't matter ~ you will simply have to stamp more or less banners to get the look you want.   I made my banner a little over 1"...it's a nice size for cards.  If you were going to be stamping for scrapbooks you might want to go with a 1.5" - 2.5" size banner.  It really just depends on what you are planning on using your banner for.

I was able to get 3 banners on my scrap piece of rubber...

2. Carefully trim away the excess rubber.  You don't want to cut the banners apart so leave a small bit or rubber between each individual banner to hold them together as shown...

3. It's Time To STAMP!!!  I mounted my banner on my stamping block with a slight curve to it.  This gives a nice swoop to the finished banner...

4. To embellish the banner you can use tiny stamps, gel pens, stickers, etc.  For my banner I stamped tiny owls (JFF Stamps), wrote the letters (Boo), added a nice little scallop along the bottoms of each individual banner and as you can see in the finished card I also stamped along the upper edge of the banner with a small border stamp.  I further embellished it using Stickles Glitter Glue.

Just one more reason to hold on to those rubber scraps!

You just saved yourself $6.00 - 15.00 by creating your very own banner stamp!

How very awesome is that?

Gotta love it when you can recycle, save $'s, have loads of fun AND come out of it all with another great stamp!!

World Card Day Winners

We have three winners for the World Card Day Give-A-Ways...

The first was drawn yesterday for Monday's mystery project. This winner won supplies to create the Day Planner and book mark that turned out to be the project!

The winner of this prize was:

Calamity Jane!!!

The next winner is for the Blank Card Set from the What Size Cards.... post. 

The winner of the blank cards is...

Mindy!!!

Mindy said...

Today is my daughter-in-law's birthday, so I am planning to make her a card. :) Thank you for the giveaway opportunity. I'm a big fan of your work and your book. I got your book at the library, read it from cover to cover and then had to buy it for myself. So many fabulous ideas. I'll be posting some projects on my own blog in the next few weeks that were inspired by your book, and I'll be sure to credit you and let you know.

October 2, 2010 11:09 AM

 

And finally the winner of the Rubber Stamp Give-A-Way is...

 

Marla!!

 

marla said...

I made 3 cards and one of them was inspired by a sketch I received on your website. I will post a link to it under the sketch that I followed. Thanks for the inspiration!!

October 3, 2010 9:56 PM

Congratulations Everyone!!

I hope you had a super World Card Day!!!

Felt Flower Pin Winners!!!

Here are the winners of the Felt Flower Pin .... 

(in no particular order ~ drawn using Random.org)

LMcBurney

LMcBurney said...


Beautiful flower pins! My favorite fall flower is the mum. They come in so many great fall colors. They grow easily and give color when the rest of my yard is tired and ready to rest for the winter.

September 23, 2010 5:53 PM
 

Missusg

 
Missusg said...


oh i would have to say my rose shrubs. they are now in their fall bloom and are simply gorgeous. i also love my flowers that look like pumpkins..i am not sure what their real names are but they are a brilliant flower as well. and i can't forget my moms and asters. i love them too.... okay i think you have the message my favourite fall flower would be any and all of them!

October 2, 2010 8:19 AM
 

Cindy Lietz

 
Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor said...


Very Cool! Just one more reason why I must get a die cutting machine and quick!

September 24, 2010 6:24 PM

Congratulations Ladies!!

Please e-mail me your snail mail addies so I can get your pins in the mail!

Queen Kat Designs Royal Blog Hop Tuesday - Sketch Day!

Today is Royal Blog Hop Tuesday at Queen Kat Designs.  All of the designers at the castle (Queen Kat Design Blog) have out done themselves this week and we've got a great card sketch to share with you today...

And since it's getting closer and closer to Halloween I thought I'd create a card using stamps from October's Get Inked Kit!!  If you like vintage Halloween then I think you'll like this....  The cat, flourish and sentiment are all from the GI set of stamps.

Now these stamps don't actually start to ship until 10-10 but I'm sure they won't last long once they are posted.

I'll be back a bit later today to announce winners for the felt flower pins as well as the contests from this past weekend!!  If you haven't entered you still have time (links in the right hand side bar).

Good Luck Friends!!

Have a Royal Tuesday!!

Support The Girls!! Paper Quilted & Faux Stitched Date Book

I know...3 posts in one day but I was very inspired this weekend.  First with HH's Pink pizza box then I went to the store and saw all sorts of goodies that were pink and/or when bought the company would donate $'s to breast cancer research and finally Erma's inspiring e-mail.

Well I thought it was a great time to promote the cause a bit and pamper someone with some fun goodies too.  So here goes....

Support the Girls

Paper Quilted & Faux Stitched Date Book

This is a really easy technique that most of us forget about ~ paper quilting & faux stitching!

Supplies:
Cardstock
Pattern Paper - It Takes Two
Black Gel Pen
Date Planner
Distress Ink
Decorative Tape
Stamps - Support the Girls - Crafty Secrets

Instructions:

1. Determine a basic layout for your quilted pattern paper look you are going for....trim and rough fit it as desired.

2. (optional) I like to ink all of the edges of my paper.  I think it gives it a nice finished look.

3. Adhere the pattern paper to your cardstock following your basic layout in step #1.  It's starting to look like a quilt!

4. Add the stitches using a black gel pen.   Below are the stitches I like to use for this step but you may have other stitches you like to include as well.  Some people like to use one stitch type on their entire project but I like to use a variety.

And here is what your faux stitched paper quilt looks like so far....

5. Remove the date planner book from it's plastic sleeve.  Adhere the faux paper quilt to the front cover of your date planner.  Trim and adhere a plain piece of cardstock to the back cover of your date planner.

6. Trim or stamp desired sentiment and mount on the paper quilted cover.  I also added a few faux stitches to this as well.

7. If desired you can add a stamped image.  I luckily had a perfect set of stamps for this project ~ Crafty Secrets set - Support the Girls!

8. Cover the cardstock where it meets near the binding with any decorative tape (masking, book binding, gaffers tape, tissue tape, etc.)

Insert the date planner back in the plastic sleeve and you're all set!

Now for an added little bit of fun I created this really flashy flower book mark ~ You're definately not going to loose your place when using this gem ;)

Now if you recall I mentioned on Saturday that I would be giving away a set of goodies to complete this project on your own.  Today's winner will receive everything in these two photos as wells as a sheet of stamped images!

I went over to Random.org and the winner is....

Calamity Jane!!!

calamity jane said...


Pink + October + Breast Cancer Awareness Month! So it looks like there are feathers, a pink pen, maybe a journal (unsure,really) and lovely beads. With you and your incredible talent, it's hard to guess just what it might turn out to be!! I can't wait!

October 4, 2010 1:33 AM
 

Congratulations!!

Please e-mail me your snail mail addy so I can get your goodies out in the mail to you :)

 

AND

there's more.....

 

Support The Girls Give-A-Way!!!

 

I am also giving away the finished Date Planner, Book Mark and all of these PINK goodies pictured below!

 

 

What do you have to do to be entered to win?

 

Just post a comment telling us what your favorite relaxing day might be...

 

For me it would be a morning hunting for bargains at an antique mall or flea market followed by an afternoon of creating with my finds!!

 

You will have until 10-10-10 (cool date huh) to enter to win!

 

Good Luck Friends!!!

Hungry Howies Goes Pink!

I know lots of places are donating $'s for Breast Cancer research but I wanted to give a shout out to Hungry Howies...

We ordered a pizza last week and this was the box it came in....

For every pizza sold in the month of October Hungry Howies is going to make a donation for breast cancer research!  How cool is that :) 

Anyway, I'm not getting a thing for this nor am I affiliated in any way with Hungry Howies but I'm always up for promoting a good cause!!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month - A few words from Erma....

If you joined me over the weekend you know that I had something "Pink" planned for today!

Well, as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month I thought it only fitting to create a very Pink project and pair it with a whole lot of pink goodies to remind everyone to get checked and help do what you can for a cure! 

To start off with I thought I'd share an e-mail that I rec'd over the weekend as well that is very fitting...

The e-mail states it was written by Erma Bombeck when she was dx with breast cancer but I checked and it was actually written for a column on Dec. 2, 1979.  Either way the point is to really LIVE your life every minute of every day....we could all use a reminder to do this as I'm sure we have all got caught up in the little things that weight life down.

If I Had My Life to Live Over

by Erma Bombeck

Someone asked me the other day if I had my life to live over would I change anything.


My answer was no, but then I thought about it and changed my mind.

If I had my life to live over again I would have waxed less and listened more.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy and complaining about the shadow over my feet, I’d have cherished every minute of it and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was to be my only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten popcorn in the “good” living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have burnt the pink candle that was sculptured like a rose before it melted while being stored.

I would have sat cross-legged on the lawn with my children and never worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television … and more while watching real life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband which I took for granted.

I would have eaten less cottage cheese and more ice cream.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the Earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for a day.

I would never have bought ANYTHING just because it was practical/wouldn’t show soil/ guaranteed to last a lifetime.

When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now, go get washed up for dinner.”

There would have been more I love yous … more I’m sorrys … more I’m listenings … but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute of it … look at it and really see it … try it on … live it … exhaust it … and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it.

So please...live, love and laugh all you can each and every day!!!

NCD - Ink Stained Card Sketch #3

I have a final card sketch for you today...

It's nice and easy...

Now, if you've made a card today (10-2) or tomorrow (10-3), tell me what type of card you have made. 

WHY???

Well, you'll be entered to win a surprise rubber stamp package from me!!!

You have until Monday night to post!  I'll be drawing a winner on Tuesday (10-5)

Good Luck!!!

Sneak Peek - Monday's Project

Monday I have a special project and give-a-way planned....

Can you guess what it might be?!?!?

I will be giving away the project it's self along with the goodies you can't quite see in this photo ;)

I will draw one winner from all of the correct guesses and that person will receive their own set of goodies to complete the project!!!

You have until Monday (10-5) to post your guess!