Hope you're having a ....

.... spooky evening!  Happy Hallowe'en to those who like it! I do!!

Here's my Hallowe'en mantel - I saw the bat thing on Pinterest, so I made a load of bats and decorated my office door at school the week before half term, then I took them all down and brought them home to do duty here.  I made the skull picture and put it in a nice (and cheap!) gold frame from IKEA.

And here are the pumpkins - Jed decided he was too old this year for trick or treating, but he wouldn't miss the pumpkin carvings.  We did quite easy ones this year as we were under time pressure.  His is Patrick Star from SpongeBob (a repeat from a few years ago) and mine is a sort of moon/skull hybrid.

Will be back tomorrow with a card.

Thanks for looking!

A first for me ....

.... I've made a card for Daisy's boyfriend's birthday!  He's not her first boyfriend by any means, but none of the others was around long enough to get to the giving-a-birthday-card stage!!

So I faffed around with bits of cardstock and stamps and made this:

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday and I'm also entering the following challenges: ABC Challenge ("T is for Two" - I've got two sprockets, and the number 22!!), Crafty Creations ("Don't be Blue"), Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes") and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Wrap it Up").

I wanted to have some white pops on this card to lift the dark blacks and greens - so I white embossed the edges of the patterned paper and the holes that I had punched, and I attached the large sprocket to the card by sewing it on with white thread.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey "Oxford"

Stamp: Kaisercraft "chevron"

Dies: Spellbinders "Sprightly Sprockets"

Font: Arial Black

Other: White e.p., dymo label maker, white thread

Thanks for looking!

Thinking about ....

.... stars, specifically 3 small shiny red stars, at 6 o'clock in the morning!!

I woke up early this morning (most unusual for me!), and was thinking about the card I made last night.  I thought it was finished, but had a little niggly feeling that there was something missing.  As I tried to get back to sleep at 6am, I decided that three small shiny red stars would be just the thing.  So when I got up, I made them, left them to dry and headed to church, and when I came home I added them to the card.  Anyone else do this?  Or am I the only sad sack?!!!

The card is a thank-you for one of my husband's customers, and here it is:

I'm entering the following challenges: Cas-ual Chic ("Tic-Tac-Toe" - I've gone with stitching, colouring and distressing), Little Red Wagon ("Tags"), The Kraft Journal ("Take your Pick" - I've gone with stamped, tag and die-cut), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Watercolour"), Craft your Passion ("Anything Goes") and Craft Stamper ("Take a Technique" - mine is stitching)

I haven't sewn on a card in ages and ages - it's too time-consuming, but this card needed that pop around the edges.  I used white ink to stencil on the kraft background, stamped and white-embossed the woodgrain and the flower, then coloured the flower with watercolour pencils.  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Nook & Pantry"

Stamps: Hero Arts: "Hello Circles"

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Bubble"

Font: "Shelter Me" - dafont.com

Other: needle + thread, glossy accents, colouring pencils

Do you think the stars look right?

Thanks for looking!