Taupe & Black Thinking of You

GO CUBS GO!  And now on to today's card.   I purchased the Ghoulish Grunge stamp set and instead of using it on a Halloween card, I used it as the background for the twine and seashell on today's card.  The color combination is Black, Tiptop Taupe and White.  I tore the edges around the white cardstock and then inked the edges with Tip Top Taupe ink.  The sentiment is from the retired Sincere Salutations set.  Lately,  I seem to be using retired sets more than current stamp sets.  I sure got my money's worth out of stamp sets such as Sincere Salutations.  Have a great day!

Sending Smiles

Today's card was a fun card to create.  I used WPlus9's stamp set, Happy Mail and coordinating dies. The card actually started because I had a leftover piece of water-colored paper and I wanted to make a little scene.  I colored all the little pieces with Spectrum Noir markers.  I was all set to layer the stitched squares until I received my new Stampin' Up squares. I then replaced the white stitched square with the scallop square.   The Designer Series Paper is retired, but is a perfect background for the little squirrels.  Using a variety of product, I created a cheerful, cute card for someone special.  Have a great day!

Gold Embosed Grateful

I very recently watched a video on the My Sweet Petunia blog during which the presenter embossed leaves on watercolor paper, watercolored the leaves and then lightly watercolored a background surrounding the leaves.  I stamped leaves in Versamark on watercolor paper and heat embossed the leaves using gold embossing powder.  I then watercolored the leaves using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor paints.  The leaves turned out really pretty.  Watercoloring the background didn't turn out so well!  The background looked splotchy, nothing like that which I saw on the video! I was not happy with the result so I decided to fussy cut the leaves from Stampin' Up's Vintage Leaves.  Another thing the presenter on the video did was heat emboss a die cut word.  I die cut the word "grateful" covered it with Versamark and sprinkled it with gold embossing powder.  I repeated those steps and the gold die cut turned out very pretty.  So even though the card is not exactly what it was supposed to be and not nearly as vibrant as the one on the My Sweet Petunia blog, it is elegant for this Autumn season.   Have a great day!    

Halloween Treat Bags

A  4-1/2" x 6-1/2" piece of paper, a hole punch and adhesive is all that is needed to create today's little treat bags.  Put a little ribbon through the holes and it is done.  I embellished my bags using Stampin' Up's Labels and Tags dies.   Inside the bag are Hershey's Halloween kisses that are so cute!  I have always used Hershey Hugs and Kisses for the favors I create.  But lately, their themed candies are just adorable.  When I first purchased the red, white and blue mini Herhsey Bars and Kisses for patriotic holidays, I was thrilled to be able to fill little treat bags with those.  Then a couple of weeks ago when I purchased the birthday Kisses, I just thought they were perfect for the little plastic boxes.  And now they have these spooky little Halloween Kisses.   They are so cute and with all the paper crafters around the country, we will definitely keep Hershey in business!  Have a great day and weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!