happy hallowe'en!

It's here!  Tonight's the night!  Are you excited too?  We'll be hitting the houses on the block for trick-or-treating.

Here are some treats made for a gang of pre-schoolers (our party was postponed to next Sunday - the flu hit again).  But they're all ready to go, and the perfect little fit for two treats each.

The Tiny Treats stamps are just TOO DARN CUTE.  I have to share each treat:

Happy Halloween!!!

xoxo,

The First Lady of Halloween

it's almost here!

Here's a little pumpkin cutie card.  Looks a wee bit plain in the picture, but the spider webs are SPARKLY in real life!  I took my MS glue pen and drew over all the lines, then sprinkled on my favorite ultra-fine, multi-colored glitter.  (I started using this stuff for Burning Man costumes - a friend would pour a little pile in their palm and gently blow it all over my hair, face, and costume.  FUN!)

I tried quite a few things on the inside that I've never done!  I placed a bunch of images & words on an acrylic grid block and stamped them with Versamark ink onto colored paper, creating another sheet of designer paper.  Then I trimmed the size I needed, stitched the edges (never put sewn bits on the inside of a card), and used pop-up dimensionals for the die-cut focal point (never even used my pop-ups before).  And, I stamped a cute combo of sentiments where I would normally sign it, instead including a small written note on matching notepaper.

Yes, this is quite possibly the blurriest picture I've ever taken.  I'm sorry.  It's hard to look at, but I have nothing better.  For the treat, just 2 dark chocolate-caramel Ghirardelli squares in a medium glasseine bag.  The topper is a stampled die-cut made from from the same sheet used on the card inside.

Tonight, I'm finishing Halloween treats for our little party guests this Saturday.  Then I need to research a scary (but not too gory or disgusting) movie to watch late at night on All Hallows Eve.  I can't WAIT for all the trick-or-treating and fun!

xoxo,
The First Lady of Hallowe'en

designer halloween papers

I tried my hand at making 'designer paper' last Christmas (see post here) and this year I made some Halloween papers.  The PTI Halloween stamps were released right when we returned from a backpacking trip, so I was inspired by my camping hat:

I sliced and pieced together cardstock stripes which were Scotch taped in the back (perhaps there's a better way to do this - it worked for me).  I forgot to take pictures before I cut a corner out of it :)  After I cut, I re-taped the 'raw' edge to keep the sheet together.  It looks so cool in person!

Next I stamped a patterned paper.  It's hard to see in the photo, but there are plum pudding and scarlet jewel images here.  Every good web needs a spider, so I stamped them next to star clusters.

I also punched and stamped a few double-sided Halloween tags (btw - I'm SO excited for new 1.75" circle mat dies from PTI!!!).  At one time, there was one tag for every color, so I seem to have misplaced a few (orange and scarlet).  I've got something fun up my sleeve for these later.

The blank, pre-folded, coordinating cards are ready for crafting, so we'll just have to see what becomes of it all!  

xoxo,

Christy

witchy invites

Halloween party time!  I'd hoped these invites would be ready for the last blog hop because they use a technique I learned from Nichole Heady.  She stamped a star border repeatedly to create a rainbow (in the Wish Big card at the bottom of the post here).  I wanted the silhouette of a witch flying against a sunset, so I used plum, scarlet, terra cotta, orange and sunrise stars, clustered as tightly as possible.

I diecut the witch with the Cricut cartridge, A Child's Life, at 2 3/4" then ran it through a Xyron machine (helping all the detailed bits stay put).  I diecut the label on bitty star paper and wrote the invitation details.  I just love how Fillable Frames #4 coordinates with the label from Friendship Jar!  The sentiment and bats are stamped on scraps of paper.

There also happened to be a 'warlock' image on the cartridge, so I made another version with a swap-er-oo of the colors.  Love!  The best part, of course, is seeing them all lined up.  Ahhhh.

I didn't want the project to end, so I put a lot of detail into the envelopes.  I tried Betsy Veldman's idea of sewing an A2 envelope to create a perfect 'pocket' for a 4x4" card.  It worked great, and looked so finished (I highly recommend it!).

You can see the stitching on the front on the envelope, so I used the broom & stars image from Fall Jar Fillers to disguise things a little (colored with Copics Y32, Y35, V91, E55, T1 and 0).  I couldn't resist a matching frame for the address (although most invites got hand-delivered).  Finally, a fun envelope seal to complete the 'witchy' theme!

You could do these cute square cards using any ribbon, any sentiment inside the tiny label, and any focal point.  I'm sure I'll use this design again ;)

xoxo,

Christy

SUPPLIES:

stamps - PTI Been Boo'd, Friendship Jar Fall Fillers, Friendship Jar, 2009 Halloween Tags, Fillable Frames #4
paper - PTI Bitty Star Basics; true black, orange zest, summer sunrise, lavender moon
ink - PTI true black, plum pudding, scarlet jewel, terracotta tile, orange zest, summer sunrise
accents - PTI satin plum pudding ribbon
tools- PTI Copic trios, FF #4 die, Jar Label die; Cricut 'A Child's Life', Cuttlebug, Xyron, vintage Singer sewing machine, 1 3/4" circle punch

card swap

I got this Lovely pair of cards a week ago from Mary in the PTI halloween card swap.  If I weren't preoccupied with the events covered in my last blog post I'd have gotten them up sooner!  Of course, I'd also planned on getting 2 "Boo" gifts out to neighbors (haven't started them yet), sending my PTI swap card to Mariana (isn't finished) and decorating for Halloween (with 3 open houses this week I can't start yet).  

But I CAN post some loveliness from Mary!  I also got a PTI notepad from this summer (I didn't make it to CHA), AND the cards are blank on the inside...  so I guess I can send them to friends!

I'm inspired by the soft Earth tones, the dimension behind the witchy image, and the fun mix of patterns & texture in the ghost card.  They're gorgeous and I love them :)  Thanks Mary!

xoxo,

Christy

the most wonderful time of the year

Wow!  September has blown in and blown out and what's left is a lot of October excitement and anticipation.  Quickie-lickie, some news updates:

• I'm pregnant with twins! (due 4/19, find out genders, etc. Thanksgiving week)
• Our house just went on the market! (can't fit 5 people into 743 square feet)
• I'm teaching 260 middle schoolers on a hectic 2 day cycle
• Caitlyn started ballet lessons
• Everyone in the house's recovering from a cold
• Celebrated a special 5 year anniversary dinner @ Mr.A's

 And now, it's finally beloved Halloween season!!  I've been busily concocting some witchy invitations for a small gathering.  I'm also drooling over some designer papers at Studio 45 - Hallowe'en in Wonderland.  See them here.  Be still my beating heart.

27 days until the magic!
xoxo,
ChrisTea™