Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

I'm normally not a Halloween kinda gal....  it really is my least favorite holiday.  Don't know why... probably because I despise dressing up of any kind.  I enjoy seeing OTHER people dressed up, but I just don't get into it.  Probably goes back to hating make up of any kind, too.  It just isn't me.  Y'know, keep it real, yo....  Probably also has to do with wanting to be a wall-flower.  Just don't like to draw attention to myself.

However, I DO love crafting, and with so many really CUTE Halloween paper lines out this year, I HAD to do something with the papers I bought :-) .   The first line I purchased was the Pebbles Thirty One line...  super simple designs (many can be used year 'round) and super cute!  I have been inspired by the many beautiful banners Dannielle Robeson has been making for classes at the store, so I decided to make a colorful banner using the Thirty One line.  I also wanted to continue using my Spellbinders dies and impressions.

Here is what I finally came up with, hanging in front of my front door:

 and here is a better picture of the colors of the banner, photo taken on a table:

  

Since I wanted to use the cute shapes in the Pebbles line, I used Splash of Color Viva Dimensional Glitter liners in Amber, Hematite, and Holographic clear to color in the shapes (orange, black and clear glitter).  After they dried, I fussy cut each of the pieces out.  Here is a close up the completed pieces, attached to the die cut pieces, with green tulle ribbon.  I used some of the chevron paper from the line as well to back the glittered pieces.

Imperial Gold Rounds w/ medallion after embossing, inking

I wanted to use my Spellbinder dies, so  I picked shapes that would look good together.  I chose the Big Scallop Circles (Grand, SM and LG) of differing sizes for the most of the medallion pieces, and Labels 28 (plus Decorative Labels 28) for the letter pieces.  I also embossed using the Imperial Gold Rounds in some of the medallion pieces, and Delicate Doilies for the starburst black piece in the medallions.

Here is a close up of the completed medallion piece, with different layers.  I added rhinestones using Silhouette America's heat transfer-backed rhinestones and Rhinestone Setter tool.  The lacy white piece and green glitter piece are SEI woven sheets.  The green tulle ribbon is from Webster's Pages, and plain cardstock pieces are from American Crafts.  I really love how all of the pieces look together!




Then it was time to attack the letter pieces.  Using my Silhouette Cameo, I cut out the letters for "Boo!"  The offset orange pieces were cut out of a Core'dinations cardstock, and the inside letter pieces were cut out of Silhouette's double-sided adhesive sheets.


On the right, is what the letters look like with the double-sided adhesive cut out attached.  The double-sided adhesive sheet has two sides, a white and a yellow.  The yellow side is removed so that I could stick the letter correctly to the orange mat. 


On the left is what the letter looks like with the white piece removed, i.e., with the adhesive exposed.  I can now apply glitter to the exposed adhesive!  I used a soft brush to spread the glitter around and adhere it well to the letters.

Here are pictures of the glittering process, and the final glittered letters.  I used foam dots to adhere the letters to the die cut label pieces to make them pop.

I also embossed/cut out of the orange medallion piece using the Imperial Gold Round Facet piece.  It has cut outs on it, as well as embossing.  I love the Imperial Gold enhancing elements lines... you can mix them with any die shapes you have to make them embossed/debossed/letterpressed!  The possibilities are endless!  I'm sure you will be seeing more of them on this blog :-)...  I colored in the embossed part with a black marker, then colored over it with a Sakura Clear Stardust pen.  Then I adhered a black rhinestone in the center with the Silhouette Rhinestone setter, as well as orange rhinestones around the border of the letter banner piece.

Here are close ups of the letter pieces, and the medallions together on the banner.  I attached black jute to the backs of each piece for hanging.

Here are close ups of the three sections of the banner, so you can see the details and how it was assembled.  I'm very proud of how the banner turned out... even one of the trick-or-treaters complimented me on the banner :-D  And from sugar-high kids, that's saying something!

It was such a stretch for me to "go Halloween" :-)  But once I started crafting, I really went for it. 

Now that Halloween is almost over, I'll have the banner displayed at Cool Scrapbook Stuff, where I work.  Come on in and see it in person!






Hope you had a fun, safe, and sugar-filled Halloween!

-Dayle

Oops!

It was last Sunday...  I received a text from my hubby while I was at an agility trial, asking me to bring home dinner.  It was not an unusual request, but seemed a bit odd considering I'd be ending late.  So when I was finally done and on my way home, I called him... he wanted sushi to celebrate his birthday!  OOOPS!!!!!!!   Uh, oh...  I completely forgot!  It never crossed my mind, all month long!  It's not like me...  I usually try to remember to do something, even if it is just to suggest we go out to dinner a little later in the week to celebrate.  But not this year.  Nada.  Luckily, I have a very forgiving husband. 

So this week, I made him a belated birthday card.  I decided to create a card using die cuts the old fashioned way, using my Spellbinders.  I've seen many elaborate nested dies cards, and really wanted to do that, too.  I also have a great collection of SEI designer paper that I adore (foiled kraft paper and woven paper), and need to craft with.  So with that, I pulled out my dies (that are now fairly well organized :-) ) and created a mix of dies that went well together.  I also pulled out my papers.  I chose a teal organic chevron foil design for the background card.  Then I pulled some basic teal papers (bo-bunny, core'dinations) to go with the white woven sheet and the teal foil chevron.  I kept it simple by cutting the different layers from the same cardstocks and alternated the overlap, adding foam dots to some of the layers for pop.  I then finished off the card with a teal rhinestone set with the Silhouette Rhinestone setter.  I love how the card turned out...  very simple but elegant.  Here it is:

The photo doesn't do justice to all of the embossing details you can achieve with Spellbinder dies.  The layers and texture is just incredible.  I played with the new Imperial Gold texture pieces, and those are so cool!  I now want to use them in other projects more prominently.

We should all have creative "oops" moments...  how much prettier the world would be!
-Dayle

p.s.: Hubby loved his card :-)

Love Autumn!

Ah, Fall...  it really is my favorite time of the year, even in Southern California.  This time of year we have a wide range of weather conditions, from very cool and dry days to super hot and windy Santa Ana conditions to rainy winter-like "storms" (it always amuses me how in SoCal every rain event (even drizzle events) becomes "Storm Watch" on the news). Sometimes we have all of these conditions in ONE WEEK, like we did last week...  keeps you on your toes!

My dogs are raring for the cooler weather to return.  Alva LOVES to run in cool weather... he runs agility at a faster, and happier, clip, and Hutch enjoys the windy conditions, sticking his head up to catch the smells.  Not sure how Tesla will react to the change in weather, but if her behavior during our last rain storm is typical, she'll be huddling in a corner shivering the entire winter.  She may be growing her long flowing coat, but she has NO under coat to keep her warm.  Guess I'll have to invest in a puppy sweater...  but she still enjoys running around in the cold!  It's just afterwards she realizes she is cold... typical puppy! 

I'm preparing my gear for a solid month of agility!  Every weekend in November is booked solid, so Tom will be an agility bachelor... not that he minds.  Football consumes *his* weekends :-) 

In crafting, it is time to ramp up for our favorite holidays...  Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!  I have been incredibly busy cleaning so I CAN craft! 

In the meantime, I had to prepare for my Silhouette 101 + Print and Cut classes yesterday.  I re-vamped my class notes.  I realized then how OUTDATED it was...  As a courtesy to my bloggers, if you ever took my 101 class prior to October 2013 and are using the Studio software, please send an email to the store (contact@coolscrapbookstuff.com) and refer to my Silh 101 offer.  We will confirm you took my class, and I will email you an updated class file, free.  It will include updates for the Studio software.  And if you do this by the end of the month, I will include the Print and Cut instructions notes as well as instructions for backing up your Silhouette Library!   Offer ends 10/31/2013.  

I created a cute Print and Cut tag for an autumn-y place card.  I re-used my leaves file from previous projects, created a sturdy triangular prism place card backing, and adhered everything together.   The lettering in the tag can be changed, so you can adjust the font style, size, and color as you desire.  Here's a picture of the finished place card:

I printed on Silhouette's printable adhesive-backed Canvas (can you tell I ADORE this product???)  It adds so much texture, so effortlessly.  The place card can be changed by changing the die cuts... replace the leaves with a jack-o-lantern for a Halloween party, an apple pie or turkey for Thanksgiving, and even change the color of the place card to make it usable all year long!  For such a simple thing, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Hope your Fall is full of crafting, family, and fun.
-Dayle