Saturday, October 31

Halloween 2015

We never really celebrated Halloween growing up in the Philippines.  I remember just reading about it in books or seeing it on TV.  So when I lived in an American community, I can say I appreciate Halloween more than most people.  Back in Japan, I like to make Halloween crafts with my Japanese students and take them trick-or-treating.  Oh yeah.  I like to dress up too.

I didn't carve my first pumpkin until I moved to the US.  I love to carve pumpkins that I even bought a good set of carving tools.  I like to light them up with candles outside on the porch.  I'd decorate too, and dress up.  But for the past couple of years, I was just too tired from work to do anything Halloweeney, though I still made sure to make halloween treats to give to the kids.

Not this year.

I searched for my pumpkin carving tools and worked on 7 pumpkins in one night.  Yeah.  My arms hurt that night and the following day, but it sure was worth it.  All designs carved here were patterned from Cricut die cuts.




This is the biggest and most detailed of them all. 






Of course, I had to make one for my band IDK



Then comes the treats for the kids.  Nothing too fancy, but with lots of goodies inside!


I used a couple of $1 stamps by Inkadinkado, garnished with some bling.



I may have not decorated for Halloween, but I sure was a Crying Comic Girl during my band gig that night.


Hope you had a fun Halloween... 'til next blog!

Friday, October 30

WCMD Card 29

Before I show you my last project for World Card Making Month, let me share with you my second batch of WCMD cards:


Now let's end this with a bang...

Sooo... I got too excited playing with the Anna Griffin Cuttlebug 12" Gatefold Embossing Folder Set - I decided to make another card set to give to a dear friend for her birthday.  For this set, I went for quantity.  So the design of the cards is very simple.  I also used another set of Anna Griffin 6x12 embossing folders, also bought from HSN last year.

Before I show you the cards, here's how I bundled the set:


I made a decorative strip using a Martha Stewart deep edge punch, then wrapped it around the stacked cards.  I had a big flower in my stash, where I attached a flower made with wood chips right in the middle.


For the cards, I used the same color card stock for the inside.  I also used the same color card stock as base of the sentiment (Tim Holtz).


For enclosure, I attached a piece of mounting tape, leaving one side unpeeled.  





The corners of the card stock inside were punched with Marvy Uchida Double Notch punch.





For this enclosure, I just used a round mounting tape.

 








If you noticed, I position the sentiments to go along with the design of the embossing.





You can say I was in an embossing spree.  I really like playing with the 6x12 embossing folders.

I'm proud to say I was able to make more than 31 cards in this year's World Card Making Month.  My planet had a feast... and after a feast comes a lot of mess to clean up.  Now that's another story, because there's Halloween still I've yet to make some projects for.

'Til next blog!

Thursday, October 29

WCMD Card 28

Hello crafty friends!  Here's the last couple of cards from my latest Anna Griffin card set.  I used the Anna Griffin Cuttlebug 12" Gatefold Embossing Folder Set, and also the Anna Griffin dies.  I could have cut the ends of these cards to match the embossing, but I got lazy.




I am really fond of the layers for the sentiment for these two cards.




'Til next blog!

Wednesday, October 28

WCMD Card 27

Here's the next two cards from my latest card set - made with the  Anna Griffin Cuttlebug 12" Gatefold Embossing Folder Set.  You can see the first two cards here.

I love the dies used here, also by Anna Griffin, which I bought from HSN last year.  Sorry, I tried to look for them at HSN.com, but they're not there anymore.

Because these cards have straight edges, I decided to use a more intricate base for the sentiment.

The card below opens vertically.





The next card opens horizontally, using the same size elements for the sentiment.






'Til next blog!

Tuesday, October 27

WCMD Card 26

A good friend is moving out of town and we had a going away party for her.  She's one of my crafting buddies and we used to make cards here at home.  For her farewell gift, I made her a card set using my latest splurge from HSN - the Anna Griffin Cuttlebug 12" Gatefold Embossing Folder Set.  HSN was having their crafting even earlier this month, and I just had to get these goodies.  See, I was a good girl.  As soon as I got them, I made sure to try them out and use them.  They didn't gather dust.  Yet.

What I like about these embossing folders is they include an embossed line for folding - giving you a 5.25 x 5.25 card.  The rest is up to you.

There are 6 cards in the card set I made, focusing on Fall colors.  I'm going to show you the first two cards in red.

This design is my favorite.  The embossing is really nice and detailed.


See the shape on both flaps?  I just followed the embossing and cut alongside it to achieve this look.  I also inked the embossing with ColorBox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre.





For enclosure, I punched a strip of black cardstock with a Martha Stewart deep edge punch, then I attached the sentiment.





The next card just has a straight edge, but I love the fluidity of the design. 





I'm so glad I got these embossing folders!  Can't wait to play with them some more...

'Til next blog!