Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat! Mother Nature played a trick on us yesterday and left 6″ of snow on your doorstep the day before Halloween! Luckily we snapped this picture of me and the kids before we left for the school Halloween party. I decided to dress up this year. My daughter asked me what I was going to be, I said a gypsy. She gave me a confused look and said “like that thing in your craftroom?” “No” I said “the other kind of gypsy.”  That would be an orginal costume tho!  🙂

I wish someone told me I look a little pregnant in this get-up but I assure you that is NOT the case, besides the camera adds 10, er…20 lbs, right?

OK, enough of that silliness, I also want to let you know that everything at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff is 40% off today so if you wan to grab some treats better head on over because at midnight the deals, just like Cinderella’s coach will turn into a pumpkin!  Here are a few products you might enjoy:

The weather man says it is going to be 30 degrees tonight for trick-o-treating so I think I’ll hang up my gypsy costume and dress up as an Olympic skier instead 😉 Happy Haunting and til next time happy crafting!

Coming Soon: Crafty Podcasts

I have been thinking of hosting a crafty radio show for a while now, and I need you to be a part of it! Listen to this:

I just love to talk about crafting so if you have any questions on crafting you want to ask, fire away! You can leave a comment on my blog or if you don’t wan he whole world to see you can email me at craftypodcast@yahoo.com, just put “podcast question” in the subject line and I will answer it on-air next Friday! I’m so excited, we will learn this whole crazy podcast thing together. Happy crafting!

How to Choose {and use} a Binding Machine!

Howdy folks! I have been on the lookout for a binding machine for quite some time now. Every year when I make my scrapbook calendar gifts for my parents & in-laws I wish I had a proper matching bu the problem was I couldn’t decide on what machine to get as they can be quite an investment. Also I wanted to make sure the consumables (binding wires/combs) were going to inexpensive and readily available forever. I did not want to buy a cute machine to find out it was discontinued and you couldn’t find wires for it. So I pretty much decided that whatever I bought would have to take standard binding combs. My Friend Tracey let me borrow her Bind it All (Zutter) and It was cute, small and punched well but the holes were too small to fit the standard office supply combs and you have to keep moving your paper and punching multiple times if your book was wider than 3″. That’s too time consuming and for a $75 investment I want to do it all in one shot. I looked at the Cinch by We-R-Memory Keepers too but it was pricey (as were the wires for it) and it was still to small to punch the length I wanted. Note: you can disengage any of the pins in the Cinch to make shorter books, a unique feature. What I ended up buying was this office style binding machine for $19.95 from MyBinding.com and I couldn’t be happier! Here is my first project:

 

I am not affiliated with mybinding.com, I just wanted you to know what I bought and where I got it incase you wanted one. The regular retail price said $109 (weird) but it was on sale for $19.95 + $15 S&H so I paid $34.95 and it arrived in a week. This machine worked with the standard binding combs I picked up at Staples and other discount stores. My combs cost between .02 and .18 each, not bad. I wanted to shoot a video to show you some different ways to bind your projects (with or without a machine) and also share with you one of my favorite Christmas gifts to make (A DIY scrapbook calendar) so if you have 13 minutes to kill why not have a look-see:

Here is a link to the FREE website where I print my calendar grids.

Also, I want to share the Chic Scrapbook Calender kit I created to make a scrapbook photo calendar, all you do is add your photos and print! You can use it year after year because there are no dates on the pages, you simply print out your calendar pages from a website such as the one mentioned above.

 I hope I gave you a few ideas and information on book binding and choosing (or not) a machine to do it with. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and I will answer you. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

A Halloween Hanging…

…WALL hanging that is! Here is a cute little decoration I stamped for Halloween. I tried my hand at scene stamping (creating a picture using lots of different stamps on one layer of paper) and I rather like how it turned out.

 

Now, I could not leave the piece as one layer (it just goes against my “More is Better!” nature) so I mounted it on embossed metallic cardstock. Then added some die cut/embossed bats (that I coated with metallic rub ons) with foam tape. I punched a couple of holes at the top for a hanging ribbon, so easy!

BTW I love the cute Halloween trick-or-treater stamps, they are the new cling mount rubber from Hampton Arts (Studio G line) from the dollar bin at AC Moore and when I bought them they rang up at 50 cents a set, no kidding! I was happy to buy them for a dollar so I was extra thrilled 😉

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy haunting…oh, I mean crafting!

Platform 9 3/4… (AKA a Harry Potter Party!)

What a day! My son turned 9 today and wanted a Harry Potter party and being a Harry Potter fan myself I had to oblige;) Now, I’d love to share some professional photos of the decorations, invitations and food but, ya know what? I am just not that organized. I am lucky to have the house cleaned, decorated and food on the table before the guests arrive (If I have my hair done and makeup on, well, that just a bonus!) First let me show you the invitations I sent out…

 

They were made to mimic the Hogwarts acceptance letter that Harry Potter receives in the first movie. I found a great letter to start with on this website, you can change the wording so it fits your party as I did. When guests arrived they enter through platform 9 3/4:

I cut the letter from vinyl using my die cutter and SCAL software and the font Lumos that I downloaded for free from Muggle.net, all of the Harry Potter look-alike fonts I used for my party stuff I got from that website for free!  I also die cut the Honeydukes sign from a Harry Potter look-alike font. I cut the letters from cardstock and adhered it to my wall with poster putty. The mural is from the dollar store and all of the adorable potion labels I used on my food table came from the Apothacary Labels set from DreAmloft, one of my DT sisters, at MyGrafico.

 

I have a heck of a time shooting photos inside (added to the stress of preparing for 24 9-year-olds) but here is what the drink pitchers look like, one is H2O elixir and the other is Polyjuice Potion of course 😉

 

I have been wanting to make cake pops for some time now but when I read the recipe I decided that it was too much work for this slacker mom (LOL!) so I created Slacker Mom Cake Pops, Here is the recipe:

You need:

Donut holes

Chocolate Candy Melt Wafers (I used yellow and orange vanilla flavored by Wilton and you can get them at JoAnn Fabrics or just about anywhere)

Crisco Vegtable shortening (or whatever brand you like)

Barb-B-Que Skewers (Every crafter should have multiple packs of these, I used them all the time-they are crazy awesome!)

How To:

1. Melt candy wafers in the microwave at 50% power in a Pyrex dish. You will want more than you think you will need. I recommend 2-3 bags. Stir in 2 tablespoons of shortening to make the chocolate thinner.  I melted my wafers at 1 minute, stirred, then at 30 second intervals untill it was smooth. If the mixture gets dry and chunky you have overheated it. NO WORRIES! Just add a tablespoon or 2 of shorting to smooth it back out again. Remember to heat at 50% power or you will overheat it.
2. Insert a skewer into the donut hole using a twisting motion. If you just jam it in will break apart, trust me.
3. Dip the donut hole in the chocolate, viola, you my friend, are done!

I die cut wings and inserted them into the cake pops while they were still soft so they would look like a Golden Snitch from the Quidditch game in Harry potter.

Speaking of cake I made a cake like the one Hagrid made in the first Harry Potter movie, how easy was that. 100% Slacker Mom Approved!

 

Here is some more food shots.  When Harry went to Hogsmead he had a glass of Butterbeer in the pub, I used one of the DreAmloft labels and turned IBC root beer and cream soda into butterbeer. IBC comes in glass bottles and looks old-fashioned and you can get it at Wal-Mart for $3 a 6-pack:

 

Chocolate Pretzel Wands: Dip pretzel rods in melted chocolate and sprinkle, easy-peasy!

I loved the test tube containers the sprinkles I used for the wands came in to I added colored water and some labels to make a nifty and thrifty decoration:

I had so much fun making a guitar pinata for my daughters party last month (tutorial here) that I decided to make an owl one for Jack’s party. About 10 minutes after we hung it up it started to rain! luckily the rain stopped by the time the party started so we put the pinata back out and the kids whacked the crap out of it, they were so wound up cheering for the pinata to bust open I’m sure all my neighbors heard it:

 

Candy Scramble!

 

I was lucky to borrow a costume for the party, I saw my neighbor Kelly at a party last night and she was wearing a Hogwarts costume so I asked here if I could borrow it for the day (I’m shameless) and she said yes! Don’t I look like a Hogwarts schoolmarm? I have to do this now because in another year or two my kids are going to think I am sooooo embarrassing. I’ll enjoy this while it lasts!

I hope this gives you some ideas for your next party. I had a lot of fun with it. I gave the kids plastic cauldrons from the dollar store at pinata time and when they left I cave them a package of “Every Flavor Beans” and “Werewolf Fangs” as well as a certificate of completion where I wrote their name on it with a calligraphy pen. It was very Fancy-Schmancy (thanks Margie for the certificate and wing die cuts!)

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this special day with me and til next time happy crafting!

Boo! You’ve Been Ghosted!

I felt like a ninja tonight driving the getaway car as my kids dropped these cute goodies off at two houses in the neighborhood. We got ghosted last night (and I have a pretty good idea who did it) so I couldn’t resist designing a little set so I could do some “Ghosting” of my own. You too can spread Halloween cheer in your neighborhood with my new Ghosted SVG & Printable template set:

It only took a few minutes to die cut these boxes with the SVG templates in the kit but there are printable templates too you can print directly on your cardstock. After assembling the doorhanger boxes with hot glue I printed the sheet with the sign and ghosted poem on them and cut them out. You can roll up the cards and put them in the box or, since it was raining, put them all in a plastic shopping bag and hang that on your neighbor’s door. Then all you have to do is ring the bell and RUN! I dropped these off to two houses with children so I made a treat box for each kid. I also think this would be cute if you cut them out in miniature and hung it on a wine bottle for Christmas gift giving. So many possibilities!  My phone was ringing when I got home so I don’t think it is too much of a secret who the “ghosts” are but it sure was fun while the mystery lasted! As a special treat for you I have put this Ghosted set on sale for $2.50 for a limited time,  Happy Haunting!

I am entering this project in the following challenges: Stamp Insanity, Crafting for all Seasons, Divas by Design, Freshly Brewed, I Brake For Challenges, Inky Impressions, Stampavie and More, Whimsical Wednesdays, Paper Take Weekly, and Creative Stamp Friends.

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

A Ninja, a Fairy and a Princess…

Those were the Halloween costumes last year. Actually the princess was supposed to be “the Good Witch” form Wizard of OZ but I was only informed of this change of costume a day before Halloween so a princess costume would have to suffice 😉

 

I used stamps from Pink Persimmon on this layout. I colored the Vintage Pumpkins with markers and perched them on a ledge made with the Singing Birds mat stamp and added the word Halloween with the small Carnival alpha. Here is a look at the stamps I used:

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Tags for Halloween!

I was in a bit of a creative funk last weekend. I had a couple big projects I needed to do but I just couldn’t get started. Has that ever happened to you? So, while the rest of my family watched the Patriots game I holed up in my craft room determined to make SOMETHING! I wanted to play and work on a project that didn’t matter (if I messed it up and turned out hideous) so I sat down with some Halloween supplies that I had lying around and I made tags!

I started by grabbing my trusty Big Shot die cut machine and my scalloped tag die (Ellison) and just started cutting tags from a Halloween mat stack from DCWV I bought at JoAnns last year (I was just in JoAnn Fabrics the other day and they still sell this paper in the 4.5″x6.6″, 8″x8″ and 12″x12″ sizes and it is the coolest Halloween paper I have yet to find and I like the cardstock weight and they usually have it on sale!) Then I trimmed some of the labels from the stack, grabbed some other punched shapes and die cuts and gor to work. Here are some of my favorites:

 

I used up some of the quilled shapes I made a couple of weeks ago, this ghost was so easy and so cute!

I love the dimension it ads:

I used a button die and strips of paper to make candy corn buttons:

How to make Candy Corn Buttons:

1. Glue a strip of yellow and orange patterned paper or cardstock to a strip of white, the strip should be only slightly larger than your button die.
2. Line the strip of paper up with your die and crank it through your machine, I usually crank it backwards to make sure it cuts through all layers.
3. Ink the edges with brown.

You could use a triangle punch or hand cut the corn too if you do not have a button die, just use a tiny hole punch to punch the holes. The dies I used were to 4 pack button dies from Sizzix.

The last two tags have embossed die cuts that I accented with metallic rub-ons which is a paste that looks like cream eyeshadow and you rub it on with your finger, it is great stuff made by Craf-T products and it lasts forever! It was one of the first paper crafting products I ever bought and I am still using my first sets, great stuff!

What will I do with all of these tags you ask? Well, I think I will clip them on a ribbon and use them for a Halloween decoration then use some of them on my Halloween scrapbook layouts and I’ll probably give the rest to the ladies I scrap with every month 😉 Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

50% off at Lindsay’s, a freebie and new Christmas products!

Howdy folks, I know it is a bit too early to start thinking about Christmas…well, unless, that is, you are selling at craft fairs and in that case you need cute packaging ASAP! And today is the perfect time to grab your needed supplies because it is 50% off today at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff! I was asked by a crafty customer to come up with some printables for her to sell her movie gift kits at craft fairs so I came up with the Holiday Bazzar set. How cute would it be to wrap a few bags of microwaved popcorn, soda bottles and candies and package them in one of those large plastic popcorn boxes from the dollar store, you could throw in a DVD too for a super cute and inexpensive gift!

If you wanted to really spread some holiday cheer you could leave the baskets on a friends doorstep with a note saying “You’ve Been Elfed!”, the 5″x7″ notes in the kit would be perfect for that! You can also used the cards for invitations to a cookie swap and recipe cards!

If you want a cute gag gift for the folks in the office how about some reindeer poop? I found this funny poem online that you can print and slip in the bag:

I woke up with such a scare when I heard Santa call…
“Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!”
I ran to the lawn, and in the snowy white drifts,
those nasty reindeer had left “little gifts”.

I got an old shovel and started to scoop
Neat little piles of “reindeer poop.”
but to throw them away seemed such a waste,
So I saved them, thinking you might like a taste!

As I finished my task, which took quite a while,
Old Santa passed by and he sheepishly smiled.
And I heard him exclaim as he rose to the sky~~~
“Well, they’re not potty trained, but at least they can fly!”

 

For the kids you might like to send them to school with “Snowman Soup” for their teacher and classmates! I found a poem for this too:

Snowman Soup
Was told you’ve been real good this year.
Always glad to hear it!
With freezing weather drawing near,
You’ll need to warm the spirit.
here’s a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow.
It’s sure to do the trick!

Isn’t that cute! Both of the poems I found at The Organized Home.com.

Here is a look at the new printable kit and some other Christmas products you might enjoy, remember they are 50% off today only and two of the below products are freebies!

It’s been a while since I had a freebie so here are 2 sheets of tags you can use for your holiday gifts and packaging:

click the preview to download;)

While you are on the topic of holidays Halloween is right around the corner. Check out these spooky sets also 50% off today:

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!