Halloween Self Closing Bags

This week was my husband's "guys get away."  He and his friends go a couple of times a year (spring and fall) to Georgetown to go skeet shooting.  It is a fun time for him .... and a fun time for me!  Margaret and Graham come down and Graham goes with Sonny and Margaret and I are on our own for a few days to play in my stamp room.  We took full advantage of it this week too!  We went to a comedy club with friends on Tuesday night at the Galway Hooker in Huntersville and that was a lot of fun.  There was a couple in the group from England so Margaret was right at home visiting with them.  The comedian was one of the best I have heard at the Hooker and didn't feel a need to use dirty language constantly.  In fact, I don't think I ever heard a swear word from him.  I am not a prude, but it seems that comedians feel the need to use the "F" word a lot in their act and it is just not funny.  Margaret worked on the cards from my October Stamp Club while I finished up the shoebox cards from last week's quarterly.  I showed Margaret a cute Self Closing Bag that I had made at Allison's a few months ago and she went to town making them for her family for Halloween.

We got the instructions from a video on Dawn Griffiths's blog.  As you can tell, after she did the first one, she found them easy to make!

Today is Sonny's birthday (69th!!)  After dropping off Margaret and Graham, I treated Sonny to lunch at a deli/restaurant in Langtree Village.  After his week of travels and eating a lot, he did not want to do much.  My sandwich was delicious - their version of a BLT.  It had bacon, arugula, fried green tomato and pimento cheese on a grilled ciabatta roll!  No one else in my family would have enjoyed it but I sure did!  Here is the card I made for Sonny for his birthday using some paper I bought several years ago.  He has several of the "Old Guys Rule" tees.

Happy Birthday!

Remember me?  Last week was crazy busy for me plus it was my birthday!!  (We won't discuss my age!)  We returned from Pittsburgh Monday after dropping Ashley at the airport around noon.  Most of the week I was busy catching up and getting my swaps ready for the Wilmington Quarterly.  Thursday was my birthday and we met my family for dinner.  I had a dr's check up Thursday morning; then went shopping.  After that, I pampered myself with a manicure.  I received some lovely birthday cards which I want to share.

From Brenda Elliott - those flowers are popped up and punched individually - several layers - gorgeous!

Carol Bartle

Sharon

from Joanne

from Joyce

from Margaret

Just had to show all the dimensions on this card plus she handmade the pearl bits on the card.  Just lovely!

from NC Demos

Sharon Ridgway

Marianne

Beach Scene w/Edgelits

Another version of the Sleigh Ride Edgelits!  This is definitely not a winter, Christmas-y card!  

I used the Edgelits for the beach and just cut the houses off.  I stamped the sand with Gorgeous Grunge and the clouds with Work of Art.  I made the sun with Kinda Eclectic.  I also used the stripes from Gorgeous Grunge for the water.  Love these colorful houses  -  just makes me happy!!

We had a great time in Pittsburgh last weekend.  But, it was colder than what I was expecting.  Luckily, Sonny told me just as we were leaving that it was supposed to rain so I grabbed the jacket that I bought last spring in San Diego that has a warm lining.  Ashley and I still went to WalMart to get some warm underwear.  We did a lot of eating all the good food there!  Friday night we went to a favorite Italian restaurant for pasta.  Saturday we went to Danny's for our hoagies.  Sunday night after the game, we went to the "O" for hot dogs.  Sonny has been going there ever since he was in college.  It is less than a block from Univ. of Pittsburgh and was a favorite of his then as well as now.  Our favorite part of the whole trip was the WIN over Arizona.  I did not think we had a chance but I was wrong!  Our quarterback (Rothisburger) is still injured and our back-up (Michael Vick) just has not been doing so good.  But Vick pulled his hamstring late in the game and our third string quarterback came in and played great!!  That was the secret I guess - think Arizona relaxed thinking they had it made when our third string came in!!  Don't count out the Steelers though!

Yummy Hoagie!

Check out that score!!

We had great seats!!

Sleigh Ride Edgelits .... again!

What a busy week I have had!  I had Stamp Club on Tuesday and Thursday; Wednesday I did a Card Tin class that ended up lasting 5 hours (but we had a good time!).  Wednesday night I celebrated my nephew's 21st birthday at Carolina Ale House with family and friends.  Last night, I volunteered at the Davidson Players production of "Don't Cry for Me, Margaret Mitchell."  I worked the box office - which consisted of checking people's name off as they arrived and giving them their tickets.  I was able to see the play after I closed the box office. It was an interesting play.  Here's a brief synopsis of the story:

In "Don't Cry for Me, Margaret Mitchell," it's spring 1939, and the public is eagerly anticipating the release of "Gone With the Wind." Actors are on set; cameramen are standing by, and the bills are piling up for one of the most expensive movies ever made. The only problem? The script is a stinker!

Legendary Hollywood producer David O. Selznick grabs his new director Victor Fleming, famed scriptwriter Ben Hecht and his loyal secretary Miss Peabody, and locks himself and them in his office, ordering cases of bananas and peanuts for "brain food" until they have a new script. To make matters even more complicated, Ben Hecht has never read the novel, so Selznick and Fleming frantically act out key scenes while he types.

It's a wild and exhilarating ride as Selznick and his team race to meet their deadline and save the epic movie from becoming an epic flop. A comedy, "Don't Cry for Me, Margaret Mitchell" celebrates not just the effort, but the enormous risk that goes into creating a great work of art.

"Selznick really was losing money every day; the pressure was truly mounting, and all signs pointed to very real failure. But they succeeded - wildly succeeded! 

I have been having fun using the Sleigh Ride thinlets.  Here is another card I made below with a second image of a close up of the circle part..  .

We are headed up north to Pittsburgh this weekend.  We will be meeting Ashley there and going to the football game on Sunday.   I can't wait to have a Danny's Hoagie!!

October Stamp Club Projects

This week has been my Stamp Club week.  I had a group of ladies here on Tuesday and the rest will be here on Thursday.  For the first time in I don't know how long, we made cards without using the Big Shot - no embossing, no framelits, etc!!  Don't know what is going on!  Although I did pull the Big Shot out for an extra project.  I had requests to learn how to use the Festive Flower Builder Punch and the Square Pillow Box.  So, I punched out a bunch of flower petals for them as well as the Box parts - in case we didn't have time to make them in class, I could demonstrate and then they could take them home to make.  But, we did have time and they made their own.  I showed them two different ways to make the flowers dimensional - one using the Bone Folder and curling the petals and the other just folding the petals in the center; plus they had the option to cut an opening in the Pillow Box or leaving it closed.  Some stamped the petals; some did not.  I do prefer the look of the petals stamped although I did not do it on mine.

Here are the projects and cards that we made this month.  Can you tell I had Fall on my mind???

Sentiment is from Watercolor Words

(Cheer All Year, Gorgeous Grunge and For All Things)  I have really gotten a lot of use from Cheer All Year!

Spoiler Alert - This is my shoebox card for Quarterly using Christmas Cuties.

Another set I have used a lot - Among the Branches!  (Sentiment is from Cheer All Year)

I will be putting my order in on Friday.  So if you want to order anything and save on shipping, use the Hostess Code #VY9XNCNC when ordering on-line.  Thanks!

Sponged Silent Night

I have been having fun using the Sleigh Ride Edgelits.  There is a bit of a learning curve with them as far as how to cut them out and place them, but when you figure that out, they look great on your card.  I totally CASE'd this card from one I saw on Pinterest and love the way it turned out!

I sponged the panels with Night of Navy, Mossy Meadow and Bermuda Bay.  Next I spritzed the pieces with water and let them dry.  I think next time I will use Alcohol so it will dry quicker.  I cut out the Trees Framelits and adhered them at the bottom; matted the piece on Mossy Meadow; wrapped a bit of silver cord around the panel and adhered a snowflake in the corner.  It was a really easy card to make and I love it!

Last night the Steelers played San Diego in California.  Neither Sonny nor I picked the Steelers to win in our football pool but we were very happy that they won in the last second!  I was afraid they were going to run out of time but they scored the winning touchdown with no seconds to spare!  We are going to Pittsburgh this weekend and would love to see them win again.  BUT, I do not think that is going to happen against Arizona and with our quarterback still injured.  Oh well, we will have a good time anyway and will be meeting Ashley there.  We have not seen her since last May when we met her in San Diego.

Gotta run - meeting my sister for breakfast this morning and then Stamp Club this afternoon.  Here are the Weekly Deals.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Season to Season Wreath

I had a companion all day today while I was working in my craft room!  Sammi likes to get on top of my shelving unit and watch me work.  So, yesterday, I put her a little blanket up there for her.  Today she jumped up there and stayed there all day!!

Don't look too closely on my messy shelves!!

I ordered the Season to Season Wreath kit from the Holiday Catalog (pg 6) and made this wreath a couple of weeks ago.  It was really easy to make.  The kit includes materials to make three interchangeable banners.  All the "leaves" are precut so all I had to do was use my bone folder to curl the and I was able to curl several at one time.

Here is a close up with the Halloween and Fall elements on it.  I used the coordinating stamp set, Cheer All Year.  I have not stamped the Christmas / Winter pieces yet.  They will replace the fall ones after Thanksgiving.

I decided to hang my wreath inside so the humidity from outside wouldn't affect it. 

It adds a little bit of festivity in my kitchen!

Black and Gold .... no not Steelers - Christmas projects!!

I had a really busy day yesterday.  I left the house at 9:30 a.m. and returned at 10:30 p.m.!  I had bridge in the morning and from there got my nails done.  Then over to meet Marianne and we headed to Concord.  First a stop at Vera Bradley.  With my birthday in a couple of weeks, I received my birthday coupon from Vera (which I forget & left it at home but they were nice and gave it to me anyway.)  I ended up with a new purse and wallet.  Everything in the outlet store was 50% off and then with my 25% discount, it was a good deal!  From there, we had dinner and then a quick stop at Target before heading over to Allison's for her demo meeting.  She is so sweet to include us in her group.  When we got there, Marianne realized her wallet was missing!  So she drove back to Target where she had it last.  Turns out she dropped it in the parking lot while getting in the car and some good samaritan found it and turned it in to Customer Service in Target.  So, there are some nice honest people out there!

Allison had some cute projects for us this month with a great black and gold theme!  Let me know what you think.

This cute little triangle box is a "blast from the past."  When I first started with Stampin' Up, this was always a great little project to make when I had my workshops.  But back then, I used it to demonstrate the roller wheels that Stampin' Up used to sell.  It has a whole new luck with this Winter Wonderland Specialty Paper (pg. 23 Holiday Catalog).  It holds a bunch of Hershey Kisses .... but don't tell my husband!!

Another "golden oldie" is the little coffee cups but with a new holder for the single cup.  And a great look with the Winter Wonderland DSP!  I've just ordered 100 of those cups and lids!!  I actually made a few Halloween ones last night and took them to my dentist office this morning when I had my teeth cleaned but can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them!  Darn!

Here is cute box PLUS a gift card holder - dual purpose for a great Christmas gift!  If you want to make this, check out the video blow.

Hope these projects will bring you some inspiration!

Swap Cards

I can't believe I have only posted one update on my blog this week!  I have been busy trying to get all my swaps ready for the NC Quarterly in Wilmington.  Got 'em ready but ..... Quarterly has been canceled!  Mother Nature has a hurricane party planned for Wilmington instead.  Not so sure whether Joaquin will actually hit Wimington but they are calling for a LOT of rain all weekend.  The gals planning the Quarterly didn't want to take any chances.  I really feel for them as a lot of work goes into planning a Quarterly and then having to cancel at the last minute.  But, they are going to reschedule and hopefully, it will be a weekend that will work for both myself and Marianne. 

In the meantime, thought I'd share a few more of the swap cards I received from the Holiday catalog.