It's Trick or Treat Time

Halloween is upon us! We used to be really big in decorating our house when we lived in the city. Now that we live in the country we don't decorate at all or hand out candy. I actually gave all our decorations away last year. In the city, we lived on a street with a lot of young families.  Our dog Tex was always a hit with the kids.

I would dress him up (sorry, no pics of that) and he would sit patiently at the top of the stairs waiting for the bell to ring to see what would be next. He never once moved. He would just sit there and his head would move from side to side as if to say "What the heck is that??".  Even when the kids that knew him would call his name, he wouldn't budge. I rather miss those days of passing out candy and dressing up. Wouldn't even think of doing this with Frankii. Although Frankii "allows" me to play Barbie with him, he is not as calm and patient as Tex was so it would be difficult to enjoy the experience.

I haven't made much of anything with a Halloween theme in the last 3 years so this year I thought I would give it a go.  Very much fun creating and handing out. They are all rather self explanatory. The second one is a case of some punch art that I saw recently. There was no instructions, at least I didn't see any, so I just used what I thought was used to create it. 

Enjoy and have a Super Safe Halloween!

I'll be back tomorrow with Manly Mondays and on Tuesday I'll share a challenge that I won. The prize received is part of the first Halloween card.

Feminine Fridays Week #14

It's an even week which means it time to see if Regina fulfilled her mission.  Without a shadow of a doubt, she most certainly did. Here's a little teaser.

Be sure to click here to get to Regina's blog and have a full view of what she created with a retired set, Thankful Thoughts, Rose Red and Old Olive Kiwi Kiss Stampin' Up colors. She has all the details for you.

While I'm challenging Regina with these missions, she makes it seem so effortfless since she always comes up with such "WOW" and "jaw droppin' gorgeous" creations, she's challenging me in coming up with a mission that will inspire her creativity.

See ya next week!

A Little Thank You

I sent two of these little gifts as tokens of my appreciation yesterday. 

One in Canada, the other in the US. Wonder who will get it first. Going to keep the content a surprise. Don't want to ruin the whole thing.

Update on yesterday's card: He loved it!

Update on my favorite light to take pictures: Half of it is fixed!!  Yeah!!  Any wagers on when the other half will get done??

Until next time!

Manly Mondays Week #26

It's my boss's birthday today and this is the card that will  be waiting for him when he arrives.

I am a BIG fan of Sharon Field. I go to her blog on a regular basis for inspiration.  In September she created a step-by-step super easy to follow Splitcoast Tutorial .  The technique is called Faux Barn Board.  It's one those "oh wow, look at that" while making it. In her tutorial Sharon mentions that "school glue will work just fine". I can attest to that since it is what I used. Thank You Sharon! I truly enjoyed this technique and will be using it again.

Other items used were:

Cardstock: Early Espresso, Baja Breeze and Very Vanilla

Big Shot: Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder & the Lots of Tags Sizzlit Die

Stamp Set: Sincere Salutations

MS Photo Corner Punch: before I punched it out I sprayed the Early Espresso cardstock with a Champagne Mist mixed with water

A La Prochaine!

Feminine Fridays Week #13

The weather in Alberta is sure fine these last few days. At least in the area where I live.  The nights are cool but the days are warm.  Keep it up!  We deserve it after the non-existent summer we had.

This week's card is not what was suppose to be.  I was trying to make a fan fold following a video tutorial from www.Splitcoaststampers.com I was having a heck of a time and the hour was getting late.  So the fan fold card turned into this:

The only thing that I kept from my original plan are the colors.  The card measures 5 x 5. The base is Textured Rose Red. On the Whisper White Layer I stamped the retired background stamp, Filigree, in Old Olive.  I absolutely love Rose Red with Old Olive. I use it quite often. I made a mat in Old Olive and to that attached piece of Whisper White which was first stamped in Rose Red with the ballerina from yet another retired stamp set, Dance Sketches.  This is one of the first stamp sets I purchased when I started to make cards, oh, 5-6 years ago.  Still love it to this day.  In the corners I added Jewels from the Basic Rhinestone pack to give it a little bling.

And now on to Regina's mission.

Use a retired stamp set that you treasure (we all have at least one, or maybe two, or three...) using Rose Red and Old Olive, plain or designer paper.

******

Before I leave you for this week  I thought I would share with you what Frankii does when he comes back from spending the day with his girlfriend.

That Dolly sure wears him out. That's what happens when you date a younger chick. He runs in the house, has a drink and straight for the couch.  Could be a really bad cliché.  It's barely 5:00pm! And don't even talk to him..... :):)  How he can sleep comfortably like this is beyond me.  The boy's a hoot.

See ya next week!

Manly Mondays Week #24

I completely forgot to mention that I was going to take last Monday off to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. Sorry for the oversight.  The turkey was excellent, if I do say so myself. So was the company.

When Lynn Pratt posted her sheriff card I saved the link to it wanting to make something similar. This is the first time I've used the Owl Punch and I can see it will be used quite a bit.

I made the owl in Basic Grey and sponged it with a bit of Early Espresso. My favorite light for taking photos under is still not fixed, yup, it's still on the "Honey Do" list.  The mustache is actually a scrap I had on my table. It seemed to fit perfectly.  The star is a rub on from a retired collection so is the designer paper.  The picture of the gun, well, I had originally planned on cutting one out. My fingers just couldn't get the hang of it so I did a Google for revolver. Found this photo of a replica of Wild Bill Hickok revolver. Seemed fitting. 

For the inside: 

I typed up the words on my computer and printed on the same designer paper as the front. Not sure if I will ever give this one away.  If nothing else, hopefully you will find it "a little funny" to start your week off.

An FYI for Betty: The flannel is on the bed! No, I'm not talking code. Alberta nights are getting cold and time for the heavier stuff.

A La Prochaine!

Feminine Fridays - Regina's Mission

Prepare to be WOWED blog fans!  Regina's mission was to use designer paper as a focal point.  Here is a sneak peak.

For a full view and to have your socks completely blown off click here.  Regina has included a "how to" for this pure work of art. 

BRAVO REGINA! on a very successful completed mission.

See ya next week!

Feminine Fridays Week #11

I've always wanted to try the Origami Shadow Box so I created this one for my World Card Making Event last weekend. I was quite happy with the "it's easier than it looks" response. You start with a piece of 4x4 double sided designer paper. Fold in half, open it, fold in half the other way. This will give you a center. Make a cross in the center with a pen. Then take a corner and fold to your marking. Do this to all corners. Once that's done bring the tips to the fold of the outer edge. You have to make sure that your folds are perfectly straight otherwise your folds with not meet evenly.  Don't forget to use your Bone Folder to get crisp clean lines.

The stamp set used is Charming, the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. The colors are Perfect Plum and Whisper White. On the Whisper White the image was stamped fully inked then stamped again before adding more ink. The punches used inside the frame are the 1 1/4" in Whisper White  and 1 3/8" in Perfect Plum.  For the sentiment the Modern Label Punch in Perfect Plum and the Word Window in Whisper White. Added a little bling from the Rhinestone Jewels.

On the inside a Whisper White layer was added and stamped in Perfect Plum using the same flower from inside the frame on the front. The corners were rounded with the Small Corner 3/16" Punch.

And now for Regina's Mission: Create using Designer Series Paper, current or otherwise, as the focal point.

In  the meantime make sure you drop by Regina's Blog to see what she has been up to this last week. She made some very thoughtful and caring cards for her parents.

Before I leave you for today, here's a pic of Frankii

He's changed his position from the tailgate to the tree. He's determined to have that squirrel play with him. He spent the afternoon here yesterday and by afternoon I mean ALL afternoon.

See ya next week!

Manly Mondays Week #24

I decided to use a color I have not touched at all this week - Poppy Parade. Then the challenge was on....what to use with it. My color coach sits right on my table thank goodness! The "sweet set" for this color is Poppy Parade - Sahara Sand - Not Quite Navy so I ran with it. The base is Poppy Parade, layered with Sahara Sand ran through the Big Shot using the Perfect Details Texturz Plate and the Decorative Label Punch. The ink is Not Quite Navy. A set that I find is under used is the Define Your Life. Don't know why, there are so many great sentiments. As I was reading them, I thought of a guy I know that really does quality work. With him in mind the card was designed. Once I had it all put together it looked a little flat so I went through my Clear Mount Stamps and came across the star from Itty Bitty Bits. No rhyme or reason to where it was stamped.

The "thanks" is from the Hostess Level 1 set Afterthoughts. Before I inked the stamp in Night of Navy I put a piece of tape over the "i love being spoiled" part and used that for the inside.

Hope my little card gives you some inspiration this week.

A La Prochaine!

Feminine Fridays Week #10

WOW!! is all I can say about Regina's mission this week. You blew me away Regina!! From this one I can see that I am going to have to make the missions a little more challenging perhaps. She nails it every single time. Here's a sneak peek. Click here to see her blog post and get all the details.

It's been a hectic week around here and the weekend will be the same.  Tomorrow is my World Card Making Day Event and all is ready to go. It should be a really good day.  Frankii's been busy too. He's been trying to catch a squirrel in the front yard and stands on guard on the tailgate waiting to catch his prey.  He hasn't yet and I am sure he is finding it quite challenging.

Can't say that I've ever seen him more focused than this. Nothing is going to distract him! He can sit here for an hour and barely twitch. He's probably feeling more like a tracker with his new camo scarf. At least now we know where he is and not running across the road to play with the Alpacas.

See ya next week!