I Want Candy!

Happy Halloween!
I know for many Halloween just isn't their "thing".  Besides having wonderful memories of creating Halloween costumes with my dad (one year I was a firecracker!!) it was 15 years ago today when my husband proposed to me:)  He actually put my ring in a Halloween treat bag!!  Since then I've always enjoyed putting together treat bags for the special goblins who come to our door.

And since the current challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog is Anything Goes I thought I would share a pic of some of the bags I made this year.  Sorry the pic is a bit blurry but I just finished these up late last night and have to head out to work this morning :

I die cut some bread tags from a Cricut cartridge called Walk in My Garden from some Stampin' Up patterned paper I scored at a garage sale.  At the same sale I also picked up the cutest SU stamp set called Googly Ghouls - all of the images are tailor made to add googly eyes:)  I was also able to make use of some glitter stickers I've had in my stash forever (ghost and black cat)!  The die cut banner is from a Simon Says Stamp set called Tilted Banners and the sentiment is from the dollar bin at Michael's.  After tying on some clearance black satin ribbon to the filled candy bags it was so easy to add the finished bread tags.

Hope your day is filled with more treats than tricks!

CASology WK# 67: Country

Hello my crafty friends!

This week's challenge at CASology is:

So many directions to go in with this one but I chose to recreate a familiar scene this time of year in many farmer's fields:

Yep -  a couple of silly gooses:)  After brayering several Stampin' Up inks on a piece of white cs (using a circle die cut as a mask for the sun) I overstamped the sentiment, geese and wheat from the SU set "Wetlands" in SU early espresso ink.  Stamped the geese again on scrap white cs and added a little shading with a grey copic marker before cutting them out and paper piecing.  Panel was mounted to a SU early espresso card base.  May be difficult to see in the pic but I added a little sparkle to the wheat with a gelly roll pen.

I think my hubby will appreciate this one for his birthday as hunting has become a recent passion for him:)  As I type this I can actually smell goose meat being dehydrated into jerky!

Thanks for all your comments!

I *Heart* Pumpkins!

I couldn't let this week's CASology challenge go by without participating:

I can't overstate how much I love 'em!  If something is made with a pumpkin I'm all over it!  Edy's limited edition pumpkin ice cream? Check!!  Bath & Body Works pumpkin caramel latte candle? Check!!  Pumpkin spice coffee?  Check!!

Awhile ago I scored the Cuttlebug Stitched Squares embossing folder set at Big Lots for two bucks and won the Stampin' Up set Button Buddies as a door prize.  I decided to use elements from both sets to create my card:

I've had the plaid pp in my stash forever.  Sentiment is from a cute Hero Arts Halloween woodblock set I picked up at a garage sale for 50 cents!  I plan to tuck this card into a care package we'll be sending to our youngest niece who is in her second year of college:)

Other Materials Used:  Stampin' Up early espresso, pumpkin pie and lucky limeade ink, Papertrey ink rustic white cs, orange raffia

The temps are starting to cool down here in the Northeast but I'm not complaining as this has been one of the better fall seasons we have enjoyed in the Finger Lakes.  And since this post is pumpkin oriented I just have to share pics of a recent lunch with my daytrippin' buddy Sue as the name of the restaurant happens to be Pumpkin Hill Bistro!!

No frost here yet so the flowers in the garden were still blooming:

The restaurant is as charming on the inside as it is on the outside:

And lunch wouldn't have been complete without a bowl of pumpkin bisque soup:) Could the mason jar water glass and little punkin' on the table be any cuter??!!

Last weekend I took my mom on an apple tasting tour and at each of the orchards we visited we were met with the sight of hundreds of pumpkins for sale:

And here's a pic of mom posing as a pumpkin - Hee! :

Happy Sunday and thanks for taking the time to comment!

Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge: Anything Goes

I was really energized by WCMD yesterday and decided to revisit a Christmas card design and enter it in the current Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge: Anything Goes :

I think the font of this sentiment from the Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler set goes perfectly with my funky little mosaic tree:

I can't remember the last time I decoupaged something - grade school, maybe??!!  This technique was alot of fun and one I know I'll be trying again soon:)  I randomly cut different sized squares and rectangles from a package of Hero Arts foliage layering papers and adhered them to a PTI rustic white cs panel with Aleene's instant decoupage and then brushed the entire panel with a thin layer of decoupage.
Other Supplies Used: PTI tree die, Doodlebug Designs baker's twine

Thanks for all your lovely comments! 

World Card Making Day!

Happy World Card Making Day!
For once I wasn't scheduled to work on World Card Making Day and I actually managed to complete a couple of cards:)  The current challenge at CASology caught my eye:

so I pulled out a couple of oldies but goodies and did some water coloring with my distress markers.

In my neck of the woods the harvesting of grapes eventually = WINE :)  After embossing this Holly Berry House grape image on a watercolor panel I colored it with distress markers (peeled paint, dusty concord and milled lavender) and an aqua brush.  After it dried I partially over stamped the grapes with Hero Arts La Lettre. Sentiment is from Papertrey Ink First Fruits set.
Other Supplies Used:  Papertrey Ink rustic white cs, natural twine

I've always loved cornucopias! What better way to represent the bounty of harvest time?  

This one is from a really old Stampin' Up set.  I did the same thing here as I did with the grape image.  I really wanted to frame it but also keep the design more CAS so I decided to die cut the frame from the same PTI rustic white cs as the card base.  Sentiment is also from PTI First Fruits set.
Other Supplies Used:  Stampin' Up woodgrain embossing folder, orange raffia

This was definitely ALOT more fun than cleaning the house - too bad we can't have a World Card Making Day once a month:)

SSS Anything Goes Challenge and Fall in the Finger Lakes

Hello Friends!
I am firmly planted in the autumn season right now and lovin' every minute of it:)  However, it occurred to me the other day I'm waaaaaaay behind in making Christmas cards - I usually have at least half a dozen done by now!

Since the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Anything Goes I thought I would take a crack at getting started:

I first adhered lengths of three different shades of green sequins to a piece of green cs and attached that to the card base.  Then using a Papertrey Ink tree die I made a negative space panel.  Sentiment is from Paper Smooches.  I added a few score lines above and below the sentiment for some interest.  

Thought I would share some pics of the beautiful autumn scenery we are enjoying here in the Finger Lakes!  Here is my co-worker Janet and I posing in front of one of the area's many vineyards:

And here's a better shot of Seneca Lake that you can barely see in the horizon of the pic above.  The leaves on the trees are juuuust beginning to change:

And what better way to enjoy all this beauty than by sharing a bottle of Finger Lakes wine??!!!:

Discovered a new walking trail at a nearby wetlands preserve!  It's flat enough so I can take my 80 year old mom along:)

The trail is flanked by meadows and the wildflowers are so vibrant!

And how did nature know to place flowers in a color opposite on the color wheel to the color of the orange trail sign:)

Hope you enjoy a little beauty in your day!  Thanks for all your lovely comments!