Stash Busting Part II

As you know, I'm diligently attempting to reduce my Halloween stash. I managed to complete little more than half the tags needed for my project on Monday using old stickers, frames, and papers.  Had a lot of fun just playing and not overthinking placement or combinations. Each tag is unique. Since I often make a large number of favors for an event, the freedom from repetition is a bonus.

A few more images to share. Today promises to be another rainy day so I'm hoping to complete the remaining tags and then share the final packaging.

Stash Busting

It's a rainy, dreary day in this part of the country so today I'm spending time in the craft room prepping for Halloween. I usually don't create a lot of Halloween items, though it hasn't stopped me from collecting a lot of themed items over the years. A few cards and a few treat bags for the kids is the norm and typically in a mad dash at the end of October.  This year volunteered to provide the treat bags for the Great Agers luncheon so I need to prep 36 treat bags. Good motivation to begin early and to make a hefty dent into my stash.

Here are a few peaks of the tags I'm creating. More to come.

Halloween Treat Bag

As usual I'm a bit behind in posting halloween crafts. Less activity on the craft front this year because the majority of our kids are beyond the trick or treat age. All in all this is not a bad thing since this time of year kicks off my busiest time.

I did manage to do a quick treat bag for my youngest niece. I fell in love with tissue garland earlier in the year and finally found an oline source that wasn't going to break the bank so I purchase garlands in lots of different colors. I used a yellow gift bag from my stash and a hot glue gun to attach the orange and black garland around the top. Some old paper from my scrap pile, spider web border punch, a LD ghost cut and I was good. I think the entire project took me about a half hour and the majority of that time was spent wrestling with the glue gun.

The Raven

 A quick post for this morning. I'd been searching for Raven cut for a while. There are a couple of stamps available that are really cool but I wasn't finding what I wanted in a cut. I finally located a shape I'd like on  the Cricut October 31st cartridge. Immm...maybe I should have started here first.

I really like the images on this particular cart. Totally cool. I'm thinking it's going to get a good workout. And it started with this particular card.

I needed one more card. Now I just need to remember to get them all into the mail on Monday. I think that may be more difficult than finding a Raven I liked.

Catch Up

Ummm...has it really been more than a month since my last update?! Seems so. It's been a busy, busy month; traveling, family functions and in between some crafting for our upcoming Church Bazaar. I always try to dedicate my free time in October towards crafting for the holiday bazaar, which means I've been in full holly and ivy mode. A bit strange considering we haven't even hit Halloween. I feel like a local department store with tinsel displayed long before Fall has even arrived. Ha! But I've learned if I don't start early I just add stress to already months packed with birthdays, holidays and events. The hard part is returning my mind set from snow and Santa to more appropriate Fall themed crafts...like Halloween treat bags. Yeah, those were still hanging over my head.

Remember those cute tags I made last month? Well I finally sat myself down and tackled putting together the bags. I think they turned out pretty cute and I count myself lucky a stray snowflake didn't find its way onto the bag. These weren't the only items on my Halloween to do list....

I also had these coffins to complete. I was struggling with embellishing the fronts until spotted some black raffia at Michaels. Some premade embellishments (on SALE!) and problem solved. The coffins are also from Michaels. I discovered a small $10 iTunes card, the ones that come in a 3 pack,  just fits inside; the perfect gift for the older kids in the family who no longer Trick or Treat but still appreciate a little treat.

Flea Market Finds Inspiration

A few weeks ago I hit the local flea market with the gals. I love browsing the different stalls and usually end up with all kinds of odds and ends. Thankfully this time round we went late in the day so we had a limited amount of time before the vendors closed up shop. This kept me focused because I really just wanted to find some old sheet music and books for my crafting. I scored. Yay me! And since then all my goodies have been sitting neglected on my scrap table until this past weekend which started out grey and rainy; a perfect day to neglect chores in favor of spending some time crafting. I'd been thinking tags for some goody bags I want to put together and thought some of that old sheet music would make a good base. This is the result.

Recognize the ghost? Yeah, I had a few extras from my card making so it didn't take much effort to create my first tag. The spider and bat are ek punches. The bat I embossed using on of my cuttlebug folders and the spider I flocked. What a mess! Now I remember why I don't pull out the flocking very often but well worth the mess this time round. Up close this guy looks pretty creepy. 

I layered the bat and spider cuts several times to give them some extra stability since they extend off the tag. The pumpkin is a Quickutz die I modified slightly. A little inking around the edges for depth, a twisty vine and a bit of bling and ... done. I'm going to use black crinkle ribbon to tie them to my treat bags.

The Yang

So I got side tracked. It started with a little straightening and ended up with a full cleaning and organization binge of my scrap room. It was long over due. I'm messy. Okay, understatement. I'm a very messy crafter & scrapper. Once I get into a project all kinds of things come out of the bins, boxes and cubby holes and take up residence on my scrap table. Before you know it I'm working in a 5"x5" space. And while I craft messy my creative motivation requires a clean, clutter free zone to fully function. The ying and the yang in constant battle. The yang is a hard task master but there are benefits...like these 2 wooden pumpkins.

I can't say for sure how long they've languished in one of my cupboards but it's safe to it's been awhile; definitely time to rescue them, dress 'em up and place them on display. I stained them brown using some old walnut ink then used my favorite Making Memories Halloween line from a couple years back to cover the base. A little inking around the edges, embossing to bring out the detail and some crinkle ribbon to complete the project. Perfect for a kitchen window or maybe hanging from a drawer pull.

Witch Hat

It's been a busy weekend. Between errands, parties and house cleaning I managed to find a bit of time to craft and even got a couple of layouts completed. Good thing because I'm always feeling behind in that area.

Today I'm sharing another Halloween card. This one is using Papertrey Gridlines, one of my all time favorite sets. Instead of using the gridline guide stamp I scored my paper at 3/4" intervals on a diagonal and used the score lines as my guide for stamping the background.

I stacked several layers for the witch hat then used my glue pen to create and glitter a polka dot pattern then mounted it on Spellbinder's Labels One die. I glittered the outside rim and added a few gems to gives some additional sparkle. And of course I had to use a border punch; I'm totally addicted to those and use them every chance I can. A bit of crinkle ribbon and viola...another card completed.

Boo!

Another card to share. This one is using an old Quickutz ghost die, Spellbinders Labels 4 die and some old MM and Jenni Bowlin scraps. The ghost shape just cried out for a little boo banner. It took some experimenting and a bit of patience but I love the results.

The ghost die and inner label are layered to give the card some dimensions but just a little which makes it totally suitable for mailing. Enjoy!

Creepy Crawlies

The spirit of All Hallows Eve has struck. Unusual to be sure since I rarely start crafting seasonal items until we're practically sitting on top of a holiday. I don't know if it's all the fun new Halloween papers hitting the shelves or the recent discovery of a bunch of creepy crawlies in my basement...eewww...but a spooky mojo has definitely taken up residence in my scrap room. Take a peek.

This little guy was cut using my cricut and MTC. I made several cuts, layered them to give me the sturdiness of a thin chipboard piece, then went to town with some black glitter. Let me tell you, he's a whole lot cuter than the ones I swept up in the basement.