I hope you have a fun Halloween planned with your family!  I expect to have some trick-or-treaters at my door tonight and I always enjoy giving out the candy!  The little neighborhood carnival is just down the street, so we always do get a lot of kids at our house as they come and go from the carnival.

Here are a couple of treat bags I made for my "big" kids so easily out of the Mini Lunch Sacks #121031 in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  Just a few scraps of Wicked Fun Designer Series Paper #117400, some card stock and maybe a little stamping from Wicked Cool.  Use your punches!  Really fun!  I think I might make a couple more bags today for some special trick-or-treaters!

Did you know you can make ghosts out of the Owl Punch #118074?

Just punch out the owl in white, cut off his feet, and turn him upside down! Put some eyes on him and you've got a ghost!  Love it!

I finally caught up with myself and found out I DID order the Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder #120889!  Just run this through your Big Shot and you have a great spider web!  To make it show up, I just rubbed my Craft White Ink Pad lightly over the spider web.  On another one I sprinkled on some Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder #101930 and set it with my Heat Tool #100005!  Nice and sparkly!

Have a Happy Halloween!!!

Candy is a huge part of Halloween, so I thought it was time to play with some! These are just the "snack size" Hershey bars, but of course if you had the regular size or even the giant size bars you could do the same thing.  I just took small pieces of card stock and Wicked Fun Specialty Paper #117400 and wrapped it around the candy bars.  Then I decorated with my Bitty Bat Punch #119279 and some stamps from Wicked Cool #120600.  Doing these was so much fun!  I may even make some more!  One of my favorites is the bottom candy bar where I punched out the bat and wrapped the black paper over the Pumpkin Pie card stock.  Well, I like them all!  Get out your punches, some scraps of card stock and some Halloween or fun stamps and see what you can come up with!  Wouldn't a bowl full of those be cute to hand out on Halloween?!

Now that I've found my Spooky Things Decor Elements #122296 that I ordered from the Holiday Mini Catalog, I had to make another project!  Of course I forgot to measure before going to the craft store so the frame I bought was a little larger than I needed.  But it still fit using the mat since the frame opening was larger than 12 inches across, and that would have been more difficult to fill.  Anyway, the vinyl Decor Elements….the "happy halloween 31" is placed on the front of the glass of the frame.  Directions come with the vinyl so you will know exactly how to apply or you can read my post from yesterday and watch a video from Stampin' Up! on working with Decor Elements.  I taped a piece of Wicked Fun Specialty Paper #117400 behind the mat for the background.  And then I went wild stamping on the mat!  I used stamps from Extreme Elements #115181 and Wicked Cool #120600 to decorate the mat!  Of course I wanted to use my Bitty Bat Large Punch #119279, so you see three bats flying around, eyes are dots with the white Signo Gel Pen #105021.  Don't worry that just because Halloween will be over you won't be able to use the Bat Punch because clever people have already figured out ways to use the punch for other cute things.

Sometimes it is fun to think of using your stamping supplies for some home decor instead of a card or scrapbook page!

If you need some supplies for holiday decorations, just go to my website and online store HERE and click the Shop Now button!  Easy as pie!

Halloween is sneaking up on me faster than I know, and I LOVE Halloween!  I was ready to post a Christmas project yesterday when I realized I should be doing Halloween! FINALLY I was able to find all my supplies I knew I had purchased to decorate these pumpkins.  At the Stampin' Up! Convention this summer Brent Steele demonstrated this project with white pumpkins, so I wanted to try it!  I bought these pumpkins at a craft store so I could save them to use next year.

For this project you need the Spooky Things Decor Elements #120909 in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  You get a whole set of ten vinyl images, so you will have plenty of decorations left over!  Decor Elements are pretty much like big rub ons, so don't be afraid of them!

I cut out the word I wanted to use and used my handy dandy Decor Elements Applicator #114285 rub the Decor Element from its backing onto the transfer paper.

When you carefully peel away the grid paper, the vinyl will be attached to the transfer paper.  If any bit is still stuck to the backing, just rub some more and then peel again.

I stuck the word onto my pumpkin, touching only the white paper outside the word in case I needed to move it.  It's a little difficult to transfer the vinyl onto the uneven pumpkin but it wasn't too hard at all.

Just use the applicator again to rub from the center out, making sure everything is attached before completely pulling off the paper.

If you would like to watch a video about using the Decor Elements vinyl, just click HERE to watch Shannon West from Stampin' Up! demonstrate.

Now we'll do a little more transferring and applying of the beautiful Black Flourish Designer Jewels #120987 in the Holiday Mini Catalog. You get a beautiful full flourish in the package, but you can cut it smaller and use the various parts where you want.  In the package, you receive this piece of sticky transfer paper which you rub over the jewels and then peel off the backing so that you can apply and stick the jewels to your project.  Directions are included, so don't worry!

You're working with "stickiness" so sometimes a little tricky but not bad!

Apply to your project where you want it and then remove the sticky transfer paper.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Need any of these supplies?  Just go shop online right now at my 24/7 store!

Now that I am beginning to get a little bit caught up, I realized I should have a Halloween design in my Simply Adorned necklace!  This is what I made very quickly, with little thought or planning.  It would be fun to make some more!

Here are the inserts alone.  I used some Wicked Fun Specialty Paper #117400, stamped a sentiment in the stamp set Wicked Cool #120600(clear) and cut it apart, punched a strip with the Scallop Trim Border Punch #118402, added a little Rhinestone #119246 and also a snippet of the Raven 1/2" Lace Trim #120988.  The tiny pumpkin is made from three circles punched from the cute little punch in the Itty bitty Shapes Punch Pack #118309.  (You've gotta have these punches!  They are so itty bitty and cute!!)  The tiny green stem doesn't show up against the DSP in the background.  You can see I also tied on some bits of the Raven Lace Trim right onto the necklace chain.

Here are just the inserts, front and back, alone so you can see them better. They are just 1" x 1  1/4".

Think about what a great gift these Simply Adorned Charms and Chains would make for someone!  If you are the creative one, you can make them some inserts and give as part of the gift.  If you think they would enjoy the creative side, just give them the jewelry.  Maybe they just want to add a photo for now.  And of course, anything YOU like when you purchase a gift for someone, I think you should get one for yourself too!

Right now you can save $10 on this specially discounted Simply Adorned Bundle of charm and chain!  Check out the Perfect Handmade Bundles at my Online Store and click to find the details of each bundle!

 

It's a new month and Stampin' Up! always provides us with Projects of the Month.  They are always over in the left side bar on my blog.  Last month, two of the projects were for Halloween, so I have chosen to leave those up for October, and I just added the new projects!  Be sure to check them out!  Just click on the photo!

I'm sure the Halloween House will be a favorite!

Here is one of the many things I have been doing lately to get ready for the wedding.  These are the favor tins partially decorated and being shipped off to the bride to fill and finish.  When I was left with the plastic buckets the tins came in I thought, THROW THESE OUT SO THEY DON"T ADD TO THE MESS!  But then the craft devil said, "But you might be able to use these to wrap Christmas presents!"  Isn't that always the way it happens and then we wind up with all kinds of stuff saved "in case we need it"!  And then I got the idea to take out the paper lining the clear plastic container and decorate it for Halloween!

I used the Wicked Fun Specialty Paper #117400 in the Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog and the stamp set Wicked Cool, also in the Idea Book & Catalog.  It was REALLY time for me to stop and stamp a little bit. When I get a little more time I think a cute punch spider on top would be cute! Hope you will be inspired to make something fun out of something you have sitting around!

If you need some Halloween stamp sets, paper, or accessories, be sure to check out my Online Store soon!!

Here are a few more photos from Halloween projects presented on stage at the Stampin' Up! Convention this summer!  Hover your mouse over the photo to see the main materials used.  Click on the photo to enlarge! Enjoy!

Spray paint the house and sprinkle on glitter! Also, notice the tablerunner under the house made with the Wicked Fun Designer Series Paper….stitch together on your sewing machine or just glue!

Assorted Halloween decorations!  Purchase a tree to display or make your own with a tree branch!

These skeletons are outlined with Crystal Effects and sprinkled with Silver Glass Glitter.  You can also put a black skeleton behind for a shadow effect.

Use the Spooky Things Decor Elements to decorate pumpkins and add some of the new Black Flourish Designer Jewels!  So cute!

The house even comes with the door knob!  Use the Bat Punch and some Wicked Cool Designer Series Paper to make a wire garland of bats!

On the inside edge of the luminary, you can see some black waffle paper peeking out!

You can make six luminaries with the package of Decor Elements.

You can find these supplies in the new Holiday Mini Catalog!  Do your online shopping this weekend and you'll be all decorated in time for Halloween!

Here are some more photos from the fabulous display at the Stampin' Up! Convention!  You'll find most of these new products in the Holiday Mini.  Hold your mouse over the photos to find the names of some of the products.  Click on the photos to enlarge.  Enjoy!

Do these fantastic projects put you in a Halloween mood yet??  Be sure to check out the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog for some great  products and projects for not only Halloween, but the fall season as well as Thanksgiving!

My Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini order arrived, and it just happened that the first thing I decided to try was a Halloween bag.  I love the Wicked Cool stamp set in the Stampin' Up! 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog.  You can order the Mini Lunch Sacks #121031 from the Holiday Mini.  Let me tell you, when I opened the package of ten mini lunch sacks, I was amazed! Right away you could tell these weren't your ordinary flimsy thin little paper sacks!  As with everything Stampin' Up!, these little bags are a nice quality and come already scalloped on top!  They measure 3 1/2" x 6 5/8" so they are a very good size.

I just began stamping the little bats on the bag with Black Stazon ink and as an afterthought stamped the "have a Wicked halloween" on there with Concord Crush….but on this bag, the dark purple looks more like black.  I added a strip of Pumpkin Pie (3 1/2" x 1") and Wild Wasabi card stock (3 1/2" x 3/4") across the front.  I also stamped the witches hat in Stazon Black on Whisper White and punched it out with the 1 3/8" Circle Punch, sponged it a little with Concord Crush ink, then adhered to a Concord Crush Scallop Circle Punch #119854.  I colored in the band on the witches hat with Stampin' Write Markers and added some White Gel Pen dots to the scallops.  It still needed something, and once I added a strip of the 1/2" Raven Lace Trim #120988 in the Holiday Mini I loved it!  Adhere the scallop circle with a couple of Stampin' Dimensionals.

After filling your bag with treats, you can just punch two holes in the top with the Crop-a-Dile and thread some grosgrain ribbon through.  For a little more pizzazz, I added the "Spooky" sentiment from the Wicked Cool stamp set (page 23 IB&C), stamped in Black Stazon and sponged with some Concord Crush and Pumpkin Pie ink.  I loved adding the orange with the purple!  I also loved the shape of the rubber image, so I just put that back down over the stamped word and traced around it and then cut out with my scissors!  All you need then is to punch a little hole and use some linen thread to make a little hanging tag to tie onto the grosgrain ribbon.  I even added a dimensional under the tag just to hold it where I wanted it.

So there you have it!  An easy little Halloween treat bag with the great new Mini Lunch Sacks!  

If you need a copy of the Holiday Mini and you don't have your own demonstrator, please contact me and I can send you one!

I started off in a Halloween mood today, but my official Halloween stamping supplies won't be delivered until tomorrow night from Stampin' Up!….the new ones, from the Holiday Mini Catalog!  I saw this orangish designer series paper nearby, Sunny Garden #119831, and wondered if I could do something with that.  I distressed it by sponging on Early Espresso Classic Ink #119670.  Now you wouldn't think you could use this pretty, bright paper to make a Halloween house, would you?!  I had no plan, but just played around.  

Here is my Bigz Mini Milk Carton die #117310 that I scored and sponged.

For the roof I just cut pieces of Basic Black card stock to fit over the top and for the rows and punched the edges with the Scallop Edge Border Punch #119882 and then sponged with Whisper White Craft Ink #101731.  The door and windows are just scraps, and I used my white Signo Gel Pen #105021 to draw in window panes, spider webs, cracked glass and a couple ghosts!  The door has a little brad for the door knob.

I know the ghost is a little out of scale probably for the size of the house (unless it is a really big bad ghost!), but I couldn't resist making this that I saw online one day!  Can you guess what the ghost is made out of??  It is punched from the Two-Step Owl Extra-Large Punch #118074.  The ghost is actually the owl upside down with his feet cut off!  Then I just colored in his eyes with a black marker and sponged a little with gray ink.

Just a fun little project to get in some stamping today!  I decided to stop while I was ahead, although I could have added some more details probably!

Now if you have seen the Holiday Mini Catalog, you may have noticed that there is an actual house you can purchase and decorate however you like!  It is called Design-a-House #120911.  I thought the decorated ones I saw at Convention were fabulous and can't wait to play with that!

If you want to see the Holiday Mini, just click on any of the links.  To purchase any stamping supplies, please go to my Online Store and click the Shop Now button!