cQc#160: halloween

The colors in cQc#160 at ColourQ were a perfect fit with the paper collection I used for my Halloween cards. The black sparkle of the background paper and diamond-shaped tape worked really well for the touch of tailored elegance in these cards. I’m not sure why, but my Halloween cards always tend that way rather than cutesy or scary.

The constant whistling of the wind through the trees today makes it feel as if Halloween is already here. Hope of all you on the East Coast make it safely through this storm.

nancy

supplies:

paper:  rustic white c/s (PTI);  KP Halloween (K&Company); black c/s (Recollections)

stamps:  Month October (HA)

ink:  creamy brown chalk (ColorBox); pumpkin pigment (MS Crafts)

dies and punches:  Labels Eight and Labels Four (Spellbinders); spiderweb and bat (Martha Stewart Crafts)

extras:  vampire label stickers (MS Crafts); glitter on a roll (Recollections)

autumn wishes

While religious education classes are certainly no party, I still like to make little things for the girls in my class. In my way of thinking, this current item could fall under the category of party favor and fit Paper Nudge #3 at Creative Paper Trade.

Rather than hand out candy or anything else Halloween-related in RelEd this time of year, I made snickerdoodles for the girls and packaged the cookies in recipe card pockets à la Melissa Phillips.

Each time Michael’s has new recipe cards in their bins, I take a peak and see if there are any that can work as pockets. Because they area 4x6 inches in size, they also work great as journaling cards for Project Life.

There were a couple of extra pockets when I finished my assembly line. Rather than let them go to waste, I cut a piece of cardstock, stamped it, added a punched circle, and slid it into the pocket.

Now I have a couple of note cards for my stash and a few cookies to munch on, too.

nancy

supplies:

paper:  rustic cream c/s (PTI);  KP Halloween (K&Company); recipe cards (Michael’s)

stamps:  Rustic Branches and tag-its #7 (PTI)

ink: rich cocoa, tangelo and rhubarb stalk dye (Memento)

dies and punches:  limitless layers (PTI); starburst (Martha Stewart Crafts)

extras:  key tags (Staples); baker’s twine (MS Crafts): ribbon (Michael’s); glass beads (Cousin Corp); cellophane bags (Michael’s)

a wonderful year

Our religious education program is held in the parish school, so we, the catechists, end up sharing rooms with the “real” teachers the 16 weeks we are in session. Inevitably, something gets returned to the wrong place or the last tissue is used or some other minor occurrence happens that can be blown out of proportion depending on the teacher's personality or how her Monday is going. With Sandy, my current roommate, I have not experienced any blowouts.

This is the start my second year in the room of a teacher who is very welcoming to my students and me. (I was so happy for this change in rooms last year.) To let Sandy know how much I appreciate her approach, I write her a couple of notes during the year. Here’s a picture of the first card that I left on her desk on Sunday.

PTI’s Teach & Inspire was the starting point for this card. As often is the case, I was inspired by Melissa Phillips, this time the fourth card down in this post. I am very pleased with how my card turned out, which is not always the case. The mix of colors and papers, the subtly embossed “Teacher,” and the little apple came together just the way I had hoped. And because this card was hand-delivered, I was able to add a bow and beaded pin without worrying about postage.

I hope that you have people who welcome you into their world.

nancy

PS – I am entering this card into the following challenges:

* My Craft Spot Monday Challenge #73 – Emboss It!

* The Play Date Cafe PDCC153  – my first time joining in, so fingers crossed that I did it right.

* Simon Says Stamp Challenge – use dies and/or punches 

supplies:

paper:  rustic cream c/s (PTI);  This & That collection (Echo Park); Lost & Found Portobello Road collection (MME)

stamps:  Teach & Inspire (PTI)

ink:  simply chartreuse (PTI); rich cocoa dye (Memento); VersaMark

dies and punches:  heart border and journal tabs (PTI); apple (Martha Stewart Crafts)

extras:  ribbon (My Craft Spot); clear embossing powder (Ranger); mini paper clip (Tim Holtz); glass beads (Cousin Corp)

grateful for lauren

Challenges from Papertrey Ink and Creative Paper Trade gave the direction for this card, but its purpose came from Lauren, a high school freshman who volunteers as a classroom aide for religious education. Lauren was an aide in my fifth grade class last year. After a rocky start (Lauren’s sister and her friends were in the class.), Lauren ended up being a huge asset to me as an extra set of eyes and an organizer of supplies for our yearlong minibook project.

Because of the way our RelEd program is set up, I was certain Lauren would be volunteering somewhere else this year. August found me starting to panic and saying many prayers, trying to come up with a suitable person to be my classroom aide. Two weeks prior to the start of classes, my prayers were answered when I learned that Lauren was returning to me. I’ve already told Lauren how much she means to me, but I wanted to put it writing, too. Of course, I made a card.

The charge of MIM#86 is to decorate the inside of the card. Even if I’m keeping things simple, I usually add some little touch to carry the design inside. This card has the same pink heart border and a mix of sentiments from Autumn Acorns to tell Lauren what she means to me.

The pastel shades are from Creative Paper Trade’s second challenge, which includes color, sketch and shape challenges. The tag with its sweet sentiment is from one of Andrea’s digital tag collections.

I hope you have a Lauren in your life to make things a little bit easier.

nancy

supplies:

paper:  rustic white c/s (PTI); rustic love and from the heart digitals (Creative Paper Trail etsy); paper heart collection (Crate Paper)

stamps:  Autumn Acorns (PTI)

ink:  dune pigment (ColorBox); tuxedo black dye (Memento)

dies and punches:  heart border and counting my blessings (PTI); standard circles large (Spellbinders); swiss cheese border (EK Success)

extras:  pearl stickers (Queen&Co); glossy accents (Ranger)

mim#79: fabric and dies

I'm trying to organize my paper crafting supplies and told myself that I was not allowed to make anything until that task was completed. Well, something that started out as fun and rewarding has turned into a seemingly never-ending job. To try to bring the fun back, I let myself make one card. My starting point was Melissa Phillips' first Make-It-Monday video, working with fabric and die cuts. Add to that video this journal page by Stephanie Ackerman and I had a plan. (All of that organizing has taken away what ever spontaneity I had.)

I used the Love Lives Here and Heart-2-Heart #6 dies to cut muslin and then stamped with Love Lives Here and Hello Sunshine. What gives this card any sort of personality are the shiny red hearts and the impressed sun rays (love that impression plate). I prefer the journal page with its wonderful depth of layers, but this card is more appropriate for the recipient and I do try to keep the person in mind when making a card.

Hoping you have a week filled with sunshine or rain, which ever is needed in your neck of the woods.

nancy

rainbow and hexies and a challenge, oh my

When I saw this quilt, I knew that I wanted to try to make a card based on it one day. All I needed was to get a hold of a punch since there was absolutely no way I was fussy cutting all of those hexagons. Enter the Papertrey hexagon cover plate and I was ready to go.

This is my final entry into the challenge at Moxie Fab World called Hooked on Hexagons. If you hurry, you can still take part in the challenge.

nancy

supplies:

paper:  white c/s (Staples); various patterned papers from stash

stamps:  Think Big Favorites #15 (PTI)

ink:  dune pigment (ColorBox); onyx black dye (VersaFine)

dies:  hexagon cover plate (PTI)

i present to you today…

I tend to watch a lot of cooking shows and am always tickled when a chef presents to the judges a deconstructed dish. As I was putting my card together, I thought that I was being so artsy with deconstructing the honeycomb, not only rotating the cell papers, but adding some flowers that show the start of the bee’s sweet journey. So, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I present to you today my deconstructed honeycomb.

There’s a challenge at Moxie Fab World called Hooked on Hexagons in which I am entering this card. That title is so appropriate since that little six-sided shape is certainly addictive. There’s still time to join in the fun.

nancy

supplies:

paper:  rustic cream c/s (PTI); Meadow collection (K&Company)

ink:  yellow cadmium chalk (ColorBox)

dies:  hexagon cover plate and limitless layers (PTI)

extras:  bee is from a notecard (Michael’s dollar bins); ribbon (Michael’s)