Don't Miss - Blog Candy by All Paper Craft Crew!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

This is the Grand Opening of the Paper Craft Crew Challenges. Please check out the blog and leave us a take on the sketch for this week. If you do the sketch and leave us a link to your sketch you will be entered into a drawing to win a Grand Prize Basket full of goodies! The Grand Prize drawing winner will be announced on Wednesday, November 7 and posted at 9pm EST the same day.  Mention that you read this on my blog, Inkie Fingers please!

Wait - there's more opportunities for you to win BLOG CANDY!  Make sure you visit each of the Crew's blogs, make a comment and you may be the winner of stamps, watercolor crayons, embossing folders, etc. from their blogs!!  There are several opportunities so go check out the other blogs after reading mine.  You will find a link  to the blogs in my side bar.

 Look for the Paper Craft Crew on Facebook!  You can like us by clicking HERE!  You can also find the Paper Craft Crew on Pinterest.

And, yes, I have some blog candy for you too but you have to leave me a comment below!!  Just like Trick or Treat!!  Tell me what your favorite Halloween costume was when you were growing up.  I think mine was dressing up like a hobo.  I loved Halloween growing up, didn't you?  There was always one house in the neighborhood that gave away caramel apples and we would make sure we went there before she ran out.  Too bad you can't do that in this day and age.  I feel sorry for all the kids in the northeast today that won't be able to go Trick or Treating.

My blog candy is a jar of Melon Mambo Embossing Powder, a spool of Raspberry Ripple Ribbon, a chip-board clipboard and this card below made with the Ornaments Bundle that was on sale this month.  We will be drawing for the prizes next week so stay tuned!

Our sketch for the week is:

And my take on the sketch using MDS2 is:

My Supply List:

Background     Color = Real Red

Embellishments
    Satin Ribbon\Satin Ribbon - Basic Black
    _Designer Kits\Eventful Year - embellishments\Eventful Year - pennant banner (re-colored)
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - Crumb Cake bow (re-colored)
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - Crumb Cake bow (re-colored)
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - Crumb Cake bow (re-colored)
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - Crumb Cake bow (re-colored)
    Brads\Basic Black - brad
    Brads\Basic Black - brad
    Brads\Basic Black - brad
    Satin Ribbon\Satin Ribbon - Basic Black bow

Stamps
    Hip and Handsome Overlays\Hip and Handsome Overlays
    _Designer Kits\Twitterpated\Twitterpated - flower outline, Color = WHISPER WHITE
    _Designer Kits\Twitterpated\Twitterpated - flower outline, Color = WHISPER WHITE
    _Designer Kits\Twitterpated\Twitterpated - flower outline, Color = WHISPER WHITE
    _Designer Kits\Spring Fever\Spring Fever - enjoy life, Color = BASIC BLACK
    _Designer Kits\Spring Fever\Spring Fever - enjoy life, Color = CHERRY COBBLER

Punches
    Labels & Tags\Top Note shape,  Filled with: Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Love Letter - designer series paper\Love Letter - pattern 3
    Basics\Storytime - triangle, Fill Color = BASIC BLACK
    Basics\Storytime - triangle, Fill Color = BASIC BLACK
    Basics\Storytime - triangle, Fill Color = BASIC BLACK
    Basics\1.25 Circle Punch, Fill Color = BASIC BLACK 

I don't know about you but I have been watching the news coverage about "Sandy" non-stop.  My heart goes out to the people in New York and New Jersey.  We got a call today from the Red Cross to see if we are available to deploy.  Unfortunately, I have a lot going on in the next couple of weeks so I can't go at this time.  I imagine they will be needing people for a while and maybe we'll be needed later.

OK - now leave a comment and go visit the other blogs!

Look What I've Made!

If you haven't downloaded the 3 FREE MDS downloads yet, what are you waiting for?  They are great! 

I had fun with them today.  

This first project is for an Advent Calendar I am going to make.  Sonny and I went to the Y and to lunch today and afterwards, he needed to go to Lowe's.  Well .... a new Hobby Lobby just opened right next door to Lowe's so he dropped me off there.  All their Christmas craft items were on sale for 50% off.  I found this cute Advent Calendar that I bought for about $5.  And that was before I saw the free download!  So I made little 2" squares with the "Day In December download and decorated each square.  The squares and the numbers are all from the free download.  Some of the elements used to decorate the squares are from it also; others are from various Christmas downloads that I have.  All I will have to do is just print these out onto card stock and cut out each square and adhere to the front of the little box!!  I'll share the finished product when I am done.

1-12 from A Day In December free download.

13-24 from A Day in December download

This next picture is a page I created using the free Enjoying Everything download featuring sweet little Jack IV, my great nephew.  I did a little recoloring, added the polka dot overlay and voila, a darling scrapbook page!

Enjoying Everything free download

 Next we have 2 pages I created with the final free download, A Split Second.  I used the pictures I took on our recent trip to the mountains for this two page spread.

Page 1 using A Split Second free download



Page 2 of A Split Second free download - pictures from Lake Lure

But that's not all .... More great deals!!
What: FREE downloads. 50% off ALL digital kits. Mega blogging on MyDigitalStudio.net all week!

When: October 29-November 5, 2012
Where:

Get your FREE downloads here (US/CAN).
Get your digital kits-ALL 50% off-here (US/CAN).

See project ideas and tips all week on MyDigitalStudio.net.  Share the digital love, and get even more in return! Tell your friends (and even your enemies) because if we get all the free items downloaded 18,000 times, we'll give a fourth one to everybody for FREE.

Post this button on your blogs and online pages to spread the word!

SALE - SALE - SALE!

DON'T FORGET!!!

15% OFF ALL STAMPS  TODAY (Monday) Only!!!!

Here are the details: Starting at 12:00 AM (MT) and ending at 11:50 PM (MT), almost every stamp we sell will be 15 percent off.

This means all stamps in the current catalogs including

•Background stamps
•Personalized name stamps
•Incentive stamp sets from the supply list
•Cookie press stamps
•Single-image stamps

This DOES NOT include
•Hostess sets
•Bundled stamp sets
•Digital stamp brush sets
Look through our catalog and let me know which sets you need for Holiday projects, or any sets that have been on your wish list. Now is the time to order them!

Ways to Order:

• Order Online at http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/sharonm/  (select Order)
• Or email or call me with your order and I will put it in for you

There is no minimum purchase, and no limit to the number of stamps you can order.

In addition to this GREAT news . . . there's MORE great news!

More Stamps Gone Single!! Whoo Hooo! Now there are even more stamps available in pilot program that goes though Jan 2 and NOT just words!!  (I have my eyes on that Christmas tree and the flower from Blooming With Kindness!!)

MISCELLANEOUS STAMPS #1    and    MISCELLANEOUS STAMPS #2  
 

ALSO, Oct. 29th – Nov. 5th, you can receive 3 FREE MDS DOWNLOADS, PLUS 50% off ALL MDS DIGITAL KITS! To order digital items, you must order from my online store. 

Neon Challenge

I am trying another Stampin' Up MDS challenge this week - wish me luck!  This week we are supposed to create something using bright, bright colors .... think Neon.  I found something similar to the page below doing a Google search and decided to create something similar using MDS.  I found the envelopes in the Limited Edition Kit but they didn't have a flap.  So, I created a flap using punches (square punch and Photo Corner) and filled them with color.

Here is the other one I did using a Pie Box Template from Unknown Blessings Kit.  I got leaves from a lot of different stamp sets - Autumn Days, French Foilage and Grateful Heart Thanksgiving.

Actually this is the original Thank You card looked like when I made it in September.  I just added some brighter colors to the one above so that it would meet the Neon challenge. It was pretty easy just to go in and recolor some of the elements.  That is one of the great changes to MDS2 that I love. 

Truthfully, I like the one below better!  What about you?

Monday Mailer - October

I have a couple more birthday cards to share with you.

from Joyce

Isn't this the cutest image?  I just love it!  This is from my good friend, Judy N.

This card is from my NC Demo group, made by Nancy Lewis

Now to my Monday Mailer.  This is the card I made this week and mailed to Pam and Jamie.  I used one of my favorite stamp sets, French Foilage.  Our color challenge this week was Raspberry Ripple, Sahara Sand, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight and Basic Gray.

I sponged a rectangle in the center of the card with Sahara Sand and stamped the leaves around the rectangle.  I cut one of the leaves out and popped it up. 

Before I mailed the card (but after I took the pictures!), I added a sentiment that was die cut with the Itty Bitty Banner die.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Basic Gray, Naturals Ivory
Ink:  Daffodil, Sahara Sand, Basic Gray, Raspberry Ripple
Stamp:  French Foilage
Accessories:  Raspberry Ripple ribbon, Antique Brad

Birthday MDS2 Style

This is my card for the Paper Craft Crew this week.  I used the Splatter Tool and the Chevron Stripes.  So what do you think?  Would you like to receive this card for your birthday?

Check out the other creations from the Crew HERE!  Using the weekly card sketch to make a card is a great way to play with what supplies you have, and My Digital Studio allows you to see what it will look like!

Stay tuned for news regarding our "Grand Opening" for October 31st!   Please stop by often as we start to reveal some of the exciting news along with the official announcement of the Paper Craft Crew Grand Opening.  We will be revealing plans for Blog Candy, new challenges and more!  As part of the Grand Opening, each Design Team member participating in the sketch will be offering blog candy directly on their blog!

Now ... how about some other news about some FREE items???  What do you get when you combine Digital Scrapbooking Day and My Digital Studio? A week of FREE downloads and 50 percent off ALL digital kits!


Mark your calendar for October 29 to November 5 for Stampin' Up's week long Digital Scrapbooking Day celebration where you'll get:

» FREE digital downloads
» 50% off ALL digital kits
» Creative project ideas
» Digital project challenges

Stay tuned for information regarding the free downloads and other offers that Stampin' Up will be offering next week!

My Birthday Cards

I had a nice birthday .... pretty low key but when you get to a certain age, you really don't need all the bells and whistle to announce you are getting older!  My mom called me early this morning before I left the house to play bridge.  And Sonny had laid out my present from Ashley last night so I saw it first thing this morning.  She bought me my favorite cologne from Hawaii, Hawaiian Gardenia.  I bought it when she and I were in Hawaii many years ago and have been wanting more.  Well, she was able to order it from Amazon!  Who knew?!  When I got to bridge, my friends sang Happy Birthday to me.  I got lots of text, phone and facebook messages too.  Don't you just love the digital age?!  Sonny took me to dinner tonight.  I picked Bonefish Grill and had a yummy Parmesan Crusted Flounder.  Now, if my son would just call, it would be a perfect day.  My daughter in law said they were going to call, but so far, nothing.

Here are some of my birthday cards I received:

from my good friend Kathy - she made it herself with all her granddaughters craft things!

Beautiful from my talented sister, Marianne

from my college friend, Brenda

from my sweet daughter, Ashley

from my good friend, Sharon R.

from my butterfly lover friend, Tesa

I love how Tesa does the inside of her cards.  She types her saying for the inside and prints it out.

Love this little kitty!  from my good buddy, Sharon D.

from my dear hubby!

Tuesday I am headed to Johnson & Wales with a group.  We are going to tour the place and have lunch.  Newcomers has done this activity several times but I have never been able to go so I am looking forward to it.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to me .....

This was taken last week during a Raft Up with friends on the Lake.

I don't think I shared this birthday card I made for a friend.  The funny thing is I made the card and was going to drop it by her house since she lives in my neighborhood.  But then I couldn't find it.  I looked everywhere for it.  I was pretty sure it was in my car some place because I remembered taking it to the car when I went to play cards one day.  But do you think I could find it?  Well, I thought, maybe I took it by her house and just forgot!  Anyway about a week or so later, I found it .... in the car under my seat!  She ended up getting the card about a month late!  Hey - better late than never, you know!

 I used Summer Starfruit with the Sahara Sand card.  The stamp set is "From My Heart" stamped and die cut with the labels framelit.  The background piece is a wheel called Etruscan Elegance Wheel.  I haven't bought or used a wheel in so long but I really like this one.  Now I just need to remember to use it more often!  Watch out Stamp Club - may be using it this month!  I also used the Color Spritzer tool (pg 119) to put drops of ink on the die cut image.  I sponged the die cut piece with Summer Starfruit and stamped the "enjoyed" separately and popped it up.

Here is a close up of the image and the flower.  The little flower was made using a Cuttlebug die that Marianne gave me for Christmas last year.  Makes a cute little flower. 

I hope you took advantage of the items SU put in their Clearance Bin this weekend.  I ordered a few things but a lot of stuff went fast!  I was having a problem with a few of the digital items that weren't showing up in my order with the right price.  By the time, I called SU and got an answer, several of the items I had in my order had already sold out  - like the magnet sheets and all the envelopes.  I was bummed but I still got some good deals - red grosgrain ribbon, Vanilla Velvet ribbon, heart punch, card stock and some digital items for pretty cheap.  I love those kind of deals.

I had a pretty quiet weekend.  I spent a lot of time finalizing my Christmas cards for the Christmas Stamp A Stack I am having in November.  I will be posting details about it if you live in the area and would like to come. 

CLEARANCE!!

Stampin' Up! just added over 70 items to the Clearance Rack.  Check it out soon before they disappear! 
The Clearance Rack is an online store where you can get fantastic deals of up to 60% Off on retired Stampin' Up! accessories.

Lots of retired items are available in the Clearance Rack at great savings including Very Vanilla Designer Velvet Ribbon, Magnet Sheets, Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper and Side Notes, Bitty Box & Envelope Bigz XL Die, 12" x 12" Card Stock in various individual color packages, Classic Ink Stampin' Spots Collections, Crimper, Decor Blocks, Decorative Strip Cutting Pads, Flower Designer Brads, 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon in various colors, Ovals Originals Die, Simply Adorned Charms and Chains and Baubles and Trinkets, Designer Albums, and much, much more!

Don't forget that three of our retired Designer Fabrics (Candy Cane Christmas, Deck the Halls, and Sweet Stitches) are available for only $.99 each while supplies last!
Please keep the following things in mind about Clearance Rack items:

• all items are available only while supplies last and supplies can be limited
• all sales of Clearance Rack items are final, no exchanges can be made
• Clearance Rack items must be ordered online only, they can not be ordered through me
• minimum shipping charges do apply of $6.95 or 10% of merchandise ordered, whichever is greater
• you pay Stampin' Up! directly with a credit card
• no limits and no minimum purchase requirements
• you may order current catalog merchandise at the same time if you wish

To get to the site, please click on the ORDER FROM ME button on the top of my blog.  Then, click on the "Clearance Rack" link on the right side.  

October Stamp Club

This is Stamp Club week.  Tuesday I had 7 ladies and one cat at the gathering!  Sammie has really gotten a lot more playful in the past couple of months.  It used to be when I would have people over, she would go into hiding.  But, not any more!   I wish I'd taken pictures.  We'll see if she does the same thing today when my Thursday group arrives.

We made a variety of cards this month.  I had a request for a birthday card and I had to do a Halloween / fall card plus I have a few ladies that want to do Christmas cards.  So, I tried to fit them all in!

Not much stamping on this birthday card.

 Supplies:
Cardstock:  Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Polka Dot DSP
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry
Accessories / Tools:  Razzleberry ribbon, Scallop Punch, Cupcake Punch, Crimper, Sticky Paper, Glitter, Extra Lg Oval Punch, Designer Frames
Stamp:  Word For You (I think that is the name of it!)

 Supplies:
Card Stock:  Going Gray, Tangerine Tango, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Howlstooth DSP
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Black, More Mustard
Accessories / Tools:   Small Oval Punch (for pumpkins), Daubers, White Gel Pen, Ribbon, Perf. Preserved Framelits, Banners Frameslits, Ribbon (retired - from SAB)
Stamps:  Everything Eleanor, Perfectly Preserved

This was CASE'd from Chic'N'Scratch.  She has a great video demonstrating how she made this treat holder.  I gave everyone a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup to put inside the pocket and we made a little 3x3" card for the back pocket.

The next two cards are Christmas cards.  I let the ladies pick which one they wanted to make.  We did the coloring on both cards with Watercolor Crayons.

Stylin' Snowman Stamp Set

Winter Memories Stamp Set

Paper Craft Crew 12

My MDS card for the Paper Craft Crew this week uses paper and embellishments from Pick Your Poison.  Although it is no longer available in the catalog, that is one of the great things about My Digital Studio - you can still get it digitally.

I used a lot of overlays with this card as well as the "splat" technique!

Check out what the other team members did with the sketch here.

I had Stamp Club today and Sammie sure tried to be a member of the group.  Every time someone got up from her chair, Sammie jumped in her seat.  Then she sat in the extra seat right between Joanne and Marianne and kept batting at them.  A while later, she climbed up onto a small bar that I have in the den and peeked around the corner at the girls!  She was really funny.  It's amazing how playful she has gotten in the past few weeks.

I was excited to learn that Heather is going to offer another MDS class.  I took her on-line class last month and really enjoyed it.  She and another SU demonstrator are going to offer a Christmas class starting Nov. 1.  The class will consist of 20 gift giving projects, 10 scrapbook pages, a minimum of 30 videos, sketch challenges and SO MUCH MORE!!! If you are new to My Digtial Studio, this class is still designed with you in mind!  All of this for only $20!  If you are interested in learning more about it or to sign up, click HERE.  Heather is so talented.

Fall Beauty

Sorry I've been MIA but have just been on the go here.  Friday, I played mahjong and when I was through, I met Sonny for a meeting at the fire station regarding our neighborhood and the state taking over and maintaining our roads.  After that, we drove into town to see a movie.  We saw Taken 2 and he got his movie picking privledges back since it was a good action packed movie.  On Saturday, I volunteered at the Sherrills Ford Library Fall Festival and did face painting for a few hours.  After that, I HAD to go check out the new Hobby Lobby that opened last week in Mooresville!!!  I also stopped by Stampers Alley and had a nice visit with Brenda - it had been too long!  I didn't buy much at Hobby Lobby but it is good to know that it is there when I need something and can't wait for SU to ship it. 

On Sunday, Sonny and I drove up to the mountains to check out the fall foilage.  It wasn't great but what we did see was pretty.  It really depended on what altitude you were out whether there was color or not.  We drove through Blowing Rock hoping to have lunch there but the restaurant was packed and we didn't want to wait.  So we went on to Boone and finally found a restaurant that didn't have a line coming out the door!  The foilage in that area really hadn't changed much yet.  So we hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway and started climbing.  We got to Linville Falls and walked down to see the beautiful falls.  The leaves there had changed and were very pretty.   We did discover that there is not much red in the foilage this year - mostly orange and lots of yellow.  We left Linville Falls around 5:00 and within an hour we were socked into the clouds.  It was scary to me not to be able to see ahead of the car so I kept trying to fall asleep!  We ended up in Asheville and found a hotel for the night.  The fall color was spotty at best in that area - with some of the trees already bare.  On Sunday, we drove over to Lake Lure and had lunch before heading back home.  They are expecting the leaves to change there within the next 10 days.  But, we had a beautiful view of the lake while eating lunch.  That is a place I want to return to and rent a place and just have a relaxing weekend.

Enjoy the pictures!

Our view from the outside patio having lunch at Lake Lure

Lake Lure view from restaurant

Trees along the road after leaving Asheville



Not many reds in those mountains!



Linville Falls

Lake (or river??) at Linville Falls



Linville Falls