Spooky Good Times

With the leaves starting to change and the cool weather we've been having, I've got Halloween on the brain! Today I'd like to share a couple pages I created using photos from out last Halloween party along with the retired Wicked Fun DSP.

You cannot see from my first photo too well, but the tag says "boo to you" that stamp is from the Good Greetings stamp set which is FREE right now when you host a party of $300 or more. It's a great set...check it out!

Here's a look at the right page of the layout...

I just love that skull image which is part of the retired set From the Crypt. Even though it is retired, this set is still available in My Digital Studio. I actually used MDS to import the bat stamp brush image into my Silhouette to cut it a larger size. The original size bat stamp is also shown embossed in black and cut out on three different spots on the layout.

I used Kiwi Lane Templates to create the wavy borders. My good friend and scrappin' buddy has a few sets and I enjoyed playing with them the last few times we've gotten together.

Halloween Rocks! Pages

Many of you who have been regular visitors of  my blog may know that each year we host a Halloween Party. We spend a lot of time during the month of October transforming our barn and yard into the perfect spooky party zone. As you can imagine, I take a lot of photos during the evening to capture all the great costumes and fun we have. I have a couple scrapbooks dedicated just to these Halloween photos...but over the past few years I've really slacked off in the Halloween scrappin' department. This past month I've been busy working on my Halloween album and have completed quite a few layouts. I'll be sharing some of these pages here over the next few weeks.

The From the Crypt stamp set and the coordinating Cast A Spell DSP are probably my all time favorite Halloween items from SU!. They retired a while back, but luckily both the stamp brush set and DSP are still available in My Digital Studio. I happened to have stocked up on this favorite paper so these are traditional 12x12 pages.

The Pumpkin Pie background was stamped with one of the images in the From the Crypt set. I cut the curvey background pieces using a set of templates by Kiwi Lane. The large bat & spider designs were cut using my Silhouette Cameo and My Digital Studio. The web border and title were also cut using the Silhouette. Here's a look at the full layout...

Out of the 20+ years we've been having our parties, this was one of my favorites. A friend of ours is in a band and we hired them to play that year...so it really did ROCK! Even my pumpkin matched the theme...Alice Cooper.

Thanks for stopping by today...hope your day rocks!

Graveyard Smash

It's getting to be that time of year...and I've already got Halloween on the brain! Been busy working on some scrapbook pages and getting ready for our annual Halloween party by designing some invitations. As you can see, even my blog has taken on a new look! Using My Digital Studio and one of the newest downloads - Pick Your Poison Embellishments, I've easily created a Halloween theme. I can't wait to make some scrapbook pages and decor items using this digital set! For now, I have a couple traditional scrapbook pages to share.

These photos were taken at last years Halloween party. I also included our invite here on the pages as well. Doesn't the Petite Pennant Builder Punch make a cute title? The letters from the Billboard Sizzlet Strip fit perfectly inside the punches. Here is the right side of the layout.

I used my most favorite SU! Halloween paper ever...Cast-A-Spell, which is retired in regular 12x12, but available as a download for MDS. I also used it for my blog design. Here's a look at the two page layout.

Two stamp sets I used here - From the Crypt & Eat, Drink & Be Scary are also retired as traditional stamps sets, but like the Cast-A-Spell papers, they are available as digital download stamp brush sets for My Digital Studio. Thanks for creeping on in today!

Shadowbox From the Crypt

October has been such a busy month for me that I have really neglected my blog! We had our annual Halloween Party this past weekend. It was our 21st...and maybe our best one to date. We had perfect weather...in the 60's, very little wind and even a full moon. Over 80 adult guests showed up and almost everyone came in costume! We had a live band, so that made the night even more fun. It took a LOT of planning but it was worth it because we all had such a good time. We spend a lot of time decorating our barn (where the party takes place) and our yard for the event. What little stamping I did this month had to do with Halloween...so I'm hoping you won't mind one more Halloween post from me.

I made this little shadowbox to add a spooky accent to my bathroom. It was really hard to get a good angle to take this photo as to not get glare from flash on the glass, so it looks like it's all crooked inside the frame, but it really isn't. Anyways... all I did was emboss the cool skull image from the set From the Crypt in Black EP on a piece of Cast A Spell DP. (retired, but available in MDS) I added some green jewels to his eyes, and some orange ones to each corner and even to the spider I had attached to the back using fishing line and a Glue Dot. The mat is decorated with the purple print from the Cast A Spell collection and then I added some of the Black Designer Jewels (available in the Holiday Mini) on two corners. The little spider and web designs are rub-ons from Heidi Swapp. I had this little shadowbox stashed away for a while. I'm pretty sure I got it at Target's Dollar Spot a while back.

We always give away small prizes at our parties for the best costumes. This year I used the tombstone image from Graveyard Gala and omitted the words. I cut out the tombstones and added the prize categories with my Black Journaler and created these candy mugs. In case you are wondering what I dressed up as, here's a photo from our haunted barn.

We were a corpse bride & groom. I got all of our clothing from Salvation Army and secondhand shops and then distressed them to look old and tattered. I was happy with the results and spent less than $30 total for both costumes...less than the price of one pre-made costume.
I have a couple card classes coming up, so I'm sure I'll have some new things to share that are not Halloween oriented real soon. Have a hauntingly good weekend!

Halloween Invitations From the Crypt

Like I told you in my last post, I've been busy getting ready for our upcoming annual Halloween party. I even managed to send out some cool handstamped invitations. I'm ashamed to say that the last couple of years I've relied on E-vite or Facebook to invite everyone...oh the horrors, right!? Here I am sitting here with all these fabulous Halloween stamps and then not sending out handmade invitations? It ended up being well worth my effort, because I've gotten so many nice comments from those who have received them and they are excited about the party.

Here is a close up of just one of the invitations.

I stamped the skull image from the set From the Crypt on Glossy card stock using Black Stazon and then sponged on Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie & Perfect Plum ink. The Perfect Plum layer is embossed using the Spider Web Embossing Folder found in the Holiday Mini Catalog. The little tag is from the retired set Eat Drink & Be Scary, but if you have My Digital Studio, it is included there. I embossed the tag with Black Embossing Powder. The spider web border along the bottom was created using a Martha Stewart punch.

For the inside I printed the info on my computer but then did a little stamping using Pumpkin Pie ink and images from both Graveyard Gala & From the Crypt.

I couldn't mail these bad boys out in a naked envelopes, right? So I used the Midnight Musings Jumbo Wheel to decorate the flaps, and added a couple spiders for good measure.

Thanks for dropping by today...ENJOY your day!

Mojo From the Crypt

Another great sketch this week over at Mojo Monday, so had to play along. I'm still in a Halloweenie mood so here's another Halloween card for you.

Starting with a great sketch always makes creating a card easy. All I had to do was pick out the colors and stamps. The colors I used are: Certainly Celery, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry and Basic Black. For stamps I used From the Crypt, Eat Drink & Be Scary (stamp set is retired, but it's still available on MDS) and the Web wheel. The main image and the tag are both embossed with Black EP.

I finally got to use the creepy dripping border punch I got a while back and kind of forgot I had. The striped paper at the bottom is from the Bold Designer Prints Stack and I stamped the spiders in Razzleberry. The bat in the center was cut out and popped up.

I finished by adhering some rhinestones jewels to the image for some sparkle. At the time I was wishing I had some of the black rhinestones from the Holiday Mini. I ended up getting my order yesterday...woo hoo! Hope to spend some time today playing with new goodies! I hope you have something enjoyable planned as well!

Spooky Owl

Our weather here in Michigan has taken a drastic turn today...from hot and muggy to cool and windy. It's only the beginning of September, but it really feels like a Fall day out there today. This has got me to thinking about one of my favorite holidays... Halloween. So when I saw this great Mojo sketch when looking for inspiration, I decided it was time to pull out some Halloween sets.

Stamps: House of Haunts, From the Crypt, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card stock: Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Basic Black, Glossy White, Brights Designers Series paper
Ink: Black Stazon, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry & Pacific Point
Accessories: Scalloped Square Bigz Die, Extra Large Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Photo Corner Punch, Word Window & Modern Lable punches, Rich Razzleberry Taffeta & Grosgrain, Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain & Black Brads

Thanks for stopping by today!

Favorite Layout From the Crypt

Happy Friday everyone! Time for another Stamp Something Challenge. Sadly this will be my last one as part of the design team. To stay in compliance with the new policy by Stampin' Up!, I had to step down...but I still plan to play along every chance I get! This week, continuing on with our "favorites" theme, you'll need to stamp something using a favorite layout or sketch. So I dragged out my favorite new Halloween set from the crypt. OK, so I didn't really drag it out from the crypt...the set is actually called From the Crypt.;-)

I'm always drawn to designs that feature a circular main image and lots of opportunity to use several different patterned papers, so I decided to give this sketch from Mojo Monday another shot.
I stamped the skull and spider images on Glossy card stock using Black StazOn, then I sponged on colors found in the Cast-a-Spell Designer papers...Pumpkin Pie, Perfect Plum & Certainly Celery.
I love to use my round scallop dies to create mats for my circles, but thought a jagged edge circle would look more appropriate on a spooky Halloween card, so I cut it once, then ran it back through my Big Shot after turning it just slightly on the die to create the jagged edge. To finish off my design I used some Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon and a bit of black fun fur yarn to lend another spooky touch.
Now it's time for you to get busy and go Stamp Something using your favorite layout. Have a wonderful weekend!