Tray Tuesday....Halloween treats

I'm back today for Tray Tuesday.  It's time for a some cute Halloween treat sack packaging and I've got just the right little goodies.  My tray today is an old chalkboard with a vintage dish that has some pretty orange flowers on it.  Sometimes the best way to create little vignettes is to just shop your house and cupboards.  This little mixy matchy method really shows off your creativity.  

My favorite candies to put in treat sacks are the candy corn M & M's and Reese's peanut butter pumpkins.  You just can't go wrong. 

 For my packaging today I'm using a Halloween Gift Sack Kit from my shop for the main packaging (now on sale). I grabbed a few Medium Glassine Sacks to package up the loose candy.  I just punched a few holes and added some Halloween twine to secure the sack.

 I assembled my treat sack just as my sample shows in the product listing.  I added a stamped name to the metal rimmed tag + I added in a few Halloween themed items from my stash to spruce up the packaging.  You could easily add a stamped image, stickers or die cuts too.

 Then it was time to package up the treats.  My glassine sack and pumpkin treat will fit inside the Halloween treat sack perfectly.

 Yum is right.  Who doesn't love to receive a little something special now and then?  This little treat is for Miss Becky, our school secretary.  She's the most pleasant, upbeat gal and she does her job very well.  It's always a treat to be greeted by her when you enter the high school.

So have you planned some special treats for those special someones?  There's just a handful of my kits left in the shop.  I'll be shipping them out lickety split so you'll have plenty of time to prepare them before Halloween.  If you're needing some more generic gift packaging take a look at my Pretty Paint & Paperclip Kit or my Darling Dear Kit that is perfect for Fall.  New to the shop recently, my Fall Leaf Kits would be so pretty at the Thanksgiving table.  Happy packaging and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Halloween Cards...

Today I'm sharing lots of Halloween cards created with items from the October Gossamer Blue Themed Add-on Kit.  The kit is now sold out & I hope that those of you who purchased a kit will get some inspiration from today's post.  You can read all about my process for making the cards over at the Gossamer Blue blog.  

 There are lots and lots of embellishments in this kit so it's easy to create many cards.

 I worked in production line style to create my stash.

 I started with a neutral base A2 cardstock for the card.

 I then added dictionary paper as the base layer.

 Then I just started adding a main embellishment to each card and layered on lots of smaller elements. I finished all the cards with some Halloween baker's twine.

Hope you enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Decorating for Halloween has always been a favorite holiday activity of mine.  I have to say though that as my girls grow older, I miss the buzz of getting costumes ready, preparing treat sacks for classmates and friends and the excitement that comes with preparing for the big day.  My girls are going to friends' houses after school that live in neighboring towns.  There's lots more action there than out here in the country.  I sent the reds out the door with a heavy coat, money and a treat sack that I made for them.  Jordan did carve a pumpkin last night so I was happy to get some shots of that.  You're never too old to carve a pumpkin.  

We do have a few littles left in the family though so I made some treat sacks for them.  I used some  printed sacks that I had in my stash and reached for my October Afternoon Witch Hazel collection.  

 A few splashes of orange Sprinkler spray mist, some Washi tape and a cute little die cut finished off each treat sack.

 For my two girls, they like the gory side of Halloween.  I used red spray mist for their treat sacks to resemble dripping blood.  And a few good blood spatters for my forensic science loving Jordan.

 I stitched some accents onto some journaling cards to make some quick and easy tags.  Black polka dot ribbon for all the sacks and that was it.

Hope you enjoy your festivities tonight.  We'll be out and about looking at all the kiddos in the neighborhoods all dressed up.  I just can't resist.  What are your Halloween traditions?  I'd love to hear from you.  :)

Pinwheels...Halloween style with October Afternoon

TGIF everyone.  Today I'm sharing a post here and over at the October Afternoon blog.  I'm using these stamped patterned paper pieces from the Witch Hazel collection to create some trendy Halloween pinwheels.  Check out my mini tutorial on how to create the pinwheels at the October Afternoon blog.  

I created these two Halloween cards using my finished pinwheels.  

Lots of October Afternoon Witch Hazel product was added to my card fronts including Tin Pins, Buttons and Chip 'n Stick buttons.  The large backgrounds are from the Miscellany pack.  

 I'm also sharing an extra project here on my blog using one leftover pinwheel that I had.  I grabbed some Large Kraft Sacks, Dainty Doilies, Small Clothespins, my Hero Arts alphabet stamps and some Copic markers.

 I created two gift sacks that I will use for the girls' Halloween treat sacks.  I'll probably add flat items like packs of gum, and some iTunes cards.

 For the pinwheel embellishing, I cut one pinwheel in half and created a sack topper using a folded Dainty Doily.  I added tied chipboard buttons to the tops.  For some name tags, I used some round Tidbits and the Hero Arts alphabets.  For the small clothespins, I used my Copic markers to make some spooky stripes.

Woohoo, ahead of the game on the Halloween treats and cards.  How about you? Have you been creating any fun Halloween goodies?  

In other news:

Just did me a little shopping at 2Peas for the new Pink Paislee Portfolio items.  The clear stamps, Tiny Tabs, Ephemera pack and Embossed Chipboard Album are a few of my favorites.  

I've also been busy organizing my mealing planning venture and the Crockin' Girls recipes are big faves.  I've also been pinning a lot to my Pinterest boards in the Crock Pot Recipes and Freezer Meals sections.  

I've got new items in my shop also, including a brand new Mixed Greetings Card Kit, some vintage finds and lots of Fall and Halloween goodies.  

That about does it for me for the week.  I've got to do some shopping for Jordan's upcoming birthday, organize her sleepover with friends and get to decorating for Halloween.  Homecoming is tonight, should be a great night for a football game.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Assembling a crafty Autumn basket........

Hi, I'm back today to share something very fun. Many of you that have followed my blog have found my Inspiration Station posts to be some of your favorites. In these posts I've shown you my own baskets brimming with my crafty favorites for that particular holiday or season. Today I'd like to share with you exactly how I go about shopping my own stash and assembling an Autumn crafty basket for this Fall and Halloween season. I recently offered many Autumn Basket goodies to my shop so I'll be using many of those items + some other stuff from my personal stash.

There are 3 basics steps I take when organizing an Inspiration Station of sorts:

1. Collect and gather...Use new collections and always shop your own stash. No need to get out every item you own. Keep it rather simple.

2. Organize.....Group like items together so they are easy to find. Digging through a cardboard box with piles of stuff layered in is not the idea here.

3. Display.....Find a basket or tray to display your items so they are within easy reach but also pleasing to the eye when sitting out for an extended period of time. Think of it like creating a fun display for a small boutique.

So first up I gathered Fall and Halloween items from my stash. Most of the items you see below are shop items that I offered up in the shop this last week. I like to select products that can be used for cards, gifts and scrapbooking.

I've got a variety of sacks in different colors and sizes. Perfect for holding cards and small gifts. The ribbon is from the Seam Binding Trio along with the Vintage Sequin Confetti Sacks and some black paperclips from the Striped Treat Sacks Kit.
Below I have Dripping Doilies some leaves and old book paper that are all found in the Autumn Kraft Packaging Kit. The items from this collection will be suitable for all Fall and even Thanksgiving projects.
I have twine in all colors so I just selected the ones suitable for my Fall projects. I could easily add in some yellow and brown to the mix too.
More little items from the Striped Treat Sacks Kit plus a nice pile of the Vintage Halloween Button Assortment.

Here I have some Vintage Rust Lace, a few of the Washi tapes from my Autumn Basket shop goodies plus a few more from my stash.

Okay, so next up I need to organize my stash of items. You'll notice that almost everything I have is out of it's packaging. I like to see product without all the wrapping as I think I'm more likely to use it and not be a Halloween hoarder. Here I have all my flat sacks and envelopes staked together.
Next I took the smaller flat items like the book pages, small sacks, doilies and leaves and clipped them together with small clothespins. This is extremely helpful in keeping items nice and tidy.
For ribbons, laces and twines I like to wrap them around cardboard or old fashioned clothespins and secure with long stick pins. Having a bunch of loose ends just makes a mess.
For small items, you know I love my old jello molds. They're perfect for dumping stuff in and it makes all the tiny items very visible. Again, if you see it you will be more likely to use it.
Washi tapes. Wonderful Washi tapes. You might have a bazillion in your collection but each project doesn't need to show it. Just grab a few that fit the theme and call it good. The bottom left were from my Autumn Basket shop update and the two top ones on the right are new from the October Afternoon Witch Hazel collection.
Next up it's time to create a fun display of my Autumn items. I like to use woven baskets or woven/metal trays that have low sides for my displays. A deep basket will prevent you from seeing all the goodies inside. Today I'm using a sturdy woven tray with handles that I got from Nell Hill in Atchison, Kansas. It's a great home goods shop that promotes these types of baskets for all kinds of uses. Having a few good staple baskets/trays like this can be so helpful in your household organizing. I have several and use them for crafty storage, displaying holiday items, holding silverware & napkins for a party, carrying snacks to the Lounge for a tv night. All kinds of uses. Get you some good baskets.
And then I just neatly tucked all my Autumn goodies inside. I start with the tallest items in the back and then just add items in ending with my small items in the front. It's very organized, I've got a nice sized but not overwhelming collection of items and they're displayed in a fun way. If this doesn't tempt me to create something fun for Fall, nothing will.
Okay maybe these new October Afternoon goodies will. :) So many companies are now offering a wide array of crafty goodies for one particular line. October Afternoon always, always does a fantastic job of this. Even before I became a Design Team member I always purchased lots of the pieces and parts of a line. It's just that good. You can see the line of Witch Hazel products over at 2peas right here.

And if you're not into buying too much "themed" product or items that are too matchy/matchy, don't worry. Every collection from October Afternoon and most other companies too has a fantastic mix of specific themed items + items that can be used for everyday type projects. So for example with the OA Witch Hazel line, you will definitely notice the Halloween themed papers and doodads. But if you look closely at the back of many of the patterned papers, labels and embellishments you'll see that the designs are very generic in nature. Perfect if you like the mixy/matchy look like me.
When I get a new collection of goodies, I do tend to keep them in the packaging for a while. I said before that I like to take everything out of the packaging....but while it's all still new and shiny, I like to keep items together. Then after a while I rip it all apart and store it all together. But for now I'll keep the Witch Hazel packages in something like this old sewing machine drawer.
And I couldn't forget about the patterned papers. Usually I will mix and match papers from my stash and will not purchase special themed papers. Those specific papers tend to never get used because the patterns might be too big or I just buy too much. But again, that's what I love about OA papers. There's a little something for everyone and I know that some of these papers will be used for many projects that aren't Fall or Halloween themed.
And that concludes my post for today. I hope you are excited to get to your crafty space and whip up a little Autumn Basket of your own. Have fun!

Creating border strips with October Afternoon backgrounds....

Edit: Look what just arrived at 2Peas. Witch Hazel is in! You can find the new items right here.

Hey there everyone. Today I've got a post up over at the October Afternoon blog showing you how to create border strips with background stamps. My stamp of choice for today is the Spooky Music background stamp. You can get further instructions at the OA blog.
The entire October Afternoon Halloween line called Witch Hazel will available in stores soon. I had so much fun selecting elements to use on my cards. This line has all the traditional Halloween colors with bits of teal blue and a fun green thrown in.
The papers are always a show stopper for me. The Witch Hazel lineup is so fantastic. There are plenty of Halloween themed papers but so many other more neutral designs too.
Here's my projects I created for today. I used 3 strips of my background embossed paper along with Miscellany pieces, Label Stickers, Designer Brads and Buttons.
I've got a sweet card for my little niece Marlee.....
A fun scarecrow card that is adorned with punched paper, tied buttons, a designer brad and some vintage sequins from my Autumn Basket shop items.

And last I created a card that my sister will love to receive. I used more pieces from the Miscellany package + I added some of my own typing for the sentiments.

I love the look of the black embossed border strips on all of my cards today. The shiny raised look just adds a fun bit of spookiness to my Halloween projects.

Before I go for today I have a few tips for how you can add sentiments to cards when perhaps you don't have a stamp set that fits your needs. I think scrapbookers who want to try card making might appreciate this tip. It's nothing earth shattering but I love do this myself....

Tip: Add journaling or sentiments to cards by typing on any of the labels that October Afternoon offers. I ran the entire sheet through my vintage typewriter but I did end up losing a few labels in there somewhere. After that I peeled off the labels I wanted to use and stuck them on a piece of plastic from a page protector. I carefully fed this through my typewriter and it worked just fine. I peeled off my sticker and was good to go.

Another nifty tip: If you want to use labels and pieces that don't have adhesive on the back, you can turn your Washi tape into temporary adhesive. Just rub a strip of Washi on your jeans a few times to remove some of the stickiness. Then adhere your label to a piece of typing paper and run through your typewriter. You can really create some fun, out-of-the-box sentiments this way. Don't have a vintage typewriter? All I can say is......find one! You can search thrift shop, garage sales, Etsy or Ebay for some good deal on basic models. They're so awesome.

And with that, I'm off to a good start on some Halloween projects. Have a great weekend everyone.

I'll be back soon with some of this:
...more Halloween projects using the Witch Hazel collection + new shop items
...a how-to on assembling your own crafty Autumn Basket
...a new card kit in the works
...a big, huge, giant post on my meal planning venture

Come see me soon. :)