Too Cute to Spook

I don't know if you're like me, but I have a ton of goodies saved up and could probably never use all my craft supplies if I live another 50 years! Well, maybe if I crafted every day, I could, but you get what I'm saying—I love my pretty stuff! :)

So, I went into my box of Halloween goodies and just started playing around and came up with two cards that used my older supplies. And just so you understand how old, these cute chipboard pieces were made by Imaginisce and I don't even think they're a company anymore...think they merged with We R Memory Supplies or something. At any rate, you can't get them. However, I love how these turned out and that I actually used my supplies!

The ghost used to be a sticker, but I had to use new adhesive...lol. The bats are flocked and from a sheet of paper from, like, a hundred years ago. I only had small pieces of the paper left and I think I used it up on this card! The orange sequin trim was from the Target Dollar Spot and the star paper is from Doodlebug Design.

The leaves and vampire are from the same Imaginisce collection, the words are stickers that didn't stick anymore on their own and the flocked pumpkin is actually a new item from the Dollar Tree this year. The paper was from a Halloween win forever ago.

If you're looking for free vintage images, you can head here to Artfully Musing. Some are Halloween and some aren't, but they're all cool.

Happy Friday!

Chark

Taco Bout Awesome

I picked up a few new Doodlebug Design papers at the lss because they are adorable and funny and so easy to use for cards. Here are the papers I got and that you can get at Scrapbook.com if you like them. I've ordered from them before and they're pretty fast.

Here's the first card I made with the papers. It was fast and all I did was add some foam tape to pop up the taco panel and add enamel dots.

And that little Lego shark head in the picture? It's so you know this belongs to Chark. I figured this might be a cute way to let you know it's one of mine and thanks to my son for the loan of the shark head (from the Harry Potter Lego set from Goblet of Fire).

Happy Wednesday!
Chark

Ghostly Fun

So I doodled a little ghost and posted him as a free digi on this post and the other day, I colored him up. I used my Tombow Dual Brush pens, I love them for the different nibs and their watercoloring properties. Here he is in close-up.

I die cut him and added him to the adorable Doodlebug Pumpkin Party papers here. The finishing touches were ribbon and glittery dots.

I love how quick digi stamps make card making, especially since I'm not the greatest stamper in the world...though the MISTI has made me better!

Happy Friday!

Chark

Wedding Card That Should've Taken Less Time

So, have you ever made a card that took forever? And when it was finished you were all, hey! that's fab, and it looks as good as I thought it would and was worth all my time? Like a complicated folded card? Well, this isn't one of those cards. It's a pretty simple design but it took me forever and I had to trim it and then tore it so I had to go back and redo part of it and so on. Not kidding, I thought I'd never get this card up to snuff.

It's not the worst card, but I can't believe how many times I messed it up and had to work to get it good enough. I used some gold dot paper and gold heart die cuts from Pretty Little Studio, some letter stickers from my stash and black polka dot washi tape. You'd think that it would've been a breeze to make.

Here's a close-up of the shiny goldness. I really like the metallic papers and the printed vellum at PLS.

And I thought I'd throw in a pic of a card that actually took no time at all and came out pretty cute too. This was a Father's Day card for my husband, who is die-hard Coke fan. Won't even drink Pepsi and will opt for Mountain Dew at Pepsi restaurants. I prefer Coke, but a Pepsi will do in a pinch. Ideally, I want a tall fresh-brewed unsweetened iced tea for the caffeine boost and the tea flavor, but sometimes you want that fizz.

These are Doodlebug Design You're so Punny die cuts and papers. The Ale8 bottle top was just sitting on the table from my son's pop (also a fave of my husband), so it made its way onto the card. I doodled on the card with a black pen too.

Here's hoping that you don't have one of those frustrating-for-no-reason cards in your future!

Happy Wednesday!

Chark

Best Buds with Doodlebug

I used the cut files I got from Lori Whitlock that are Doodlebug Design. I don't have a cutting machine (just a Big Shot) but I printed these cuties out and added some colored pencils and then trimmed with scissors to add to my card. So happy to know the SVG files can just be printed and used without a Silhouette machine. Doodlebug Design makes me happy!

I'm entering it into the Coffee Loving Spring/Summer Blog Hop. I love this hop--so many prizes, so much inspiration and new companies to explore!

Happy Wednesday!

Chark

Christmas Mini Pizza Boxes

I saw some mini pizza boxes on a craft blog all decorated for Halloween and set out to find them...they are sold by Stampin' Up and I don't order from them, so I had to find a rep so I could get these cute boxes for Christmas. 

I knew they'd be perfect for cash and gift card gifts. And they were just $6 for 8 boxes. Okay, I had to make the shipping worth it so I might have purchased a couple other items :)

The woman who made those Halloween pizza boxes had made a belly band for the box but I knew I didn't want to do that, I just wanted to decorate the top. So I broke out my Christmas papers, including the new Doodlebug goodies I had and went to work. I just put the lid down on the paper and marked it with a pencil to measure the size.

These first two are more vintage looking than the others and are made from my stash.

These are the cute boxes, made with a mix of Doodlebug Design stickers and papers. It's Sugar Plum and Milk and Cookies.

And here is my favorite, using the My Favorite Things Santa stamps I have loved for a couple of years but resisted buying. I finally got them and am so glad I did. He's seriously the cutest Santa I've ever seen!

And here they are opened, with the gift cards and mini pizza sugar cookies I added for fun. I used brown M&Ms, mini red and green M&Ms, green Mike and Ike's cut up and shaved white chocolate for the cheese.

These were super fun to make and didn't take long at all. I may just need to order some more. This time I could put an actual pizza in them.

Happy Wednesday!

Chark

I Heart Gingerbread Boys

I have always loved the little gingerbread boy icon for holiday decorating and actually, just plain decorating (I have some in my kitchen year round) and this card came about because I had to buy the sticker set from Doodlebug with all the little gingerbread Santa Express stickers.

I added some of the gumdrops to the roof and gave the little guy a piece of candy. Now that's a scene I could get into. I love eating gingerbread too, though I prefer the cake version to the cookies. I'm all about the Betty Crocker Gingerbread mix, but here's an actual from-scratch recipe if you're thinking you need some gingerbread. I prefer whipped cream on mine but lemon glaze is good too.

I found these cutie earrings on Etsy and I might have to put them on my Christmas list...I can start that in September, right?

I saw this little guy on Pinterest (with no link to the original) but he looks pretty easy to sew up from felt, even for a novice seamstress like me.

When I saw this Santa Snacks stamp and cut set in the newest Hero Arts release, I had to get them. Now, what to make with them?! If you want your own set, head to the a2z Scrapbooking Supplies store and hit custom order. They're sold out already, but you can ask special order them at no extra cost. Also, you can head to the a2z blog here and enter the CASE a designer September challenge through the end of the month. Just pick a project you like on the blog and use that as inspiration with your Hero Arts products and you could win $25 to the store!

Happy Friday!

Chark

Kid's Decor

I made this decor for a magazine call and while it didn't get chosen, something did (yay!) and I'll share that later. This project is so inexpensive and easy and perfect to personalize for a kid's interest. 

First, take a 10x10 photo mat ($2.99 from Jo Ann's) and paint red with a foam brush. Take a wooden letter from the craft store and paint blue with a foam brush (I used Dylusions paint).

After they dry, cut the scrapbook paper of your choice to fit (I used Doodlebug Design Under the SEa paper for the background), but you could use baseball, soccer, dance, or whatever theme you like.and adhere it to the back of the mat. Then adhere the initial to the front with dry adhesive or glue dots. 

Here's a close-up of the cute paper.

On the back of the mat, attach a bent pop tab so it can be hung on a wall. We used these are wall hangers when I was in art school a thousand years ago...they're free and available everywhere and they work just fine, no expensive frame hangers needed. Well, they're probably not that expensive, but I'll bet you'd have to go to the store to get a hanger and you probably already have a pop tab around the house.

Happy Wednesday and last day of August!
Chark

Doodlebug Bunnies

I love Doodlebug Design for its cuteness—they consistently do cute very well. I know it's not up everyone's alley, but I think I buy something from each new line they come out with. From the Easter Parade line, I got two sheets of paper and stickers. For this project, I used the stickers only.
 

I used a little 4x6 canvas board I had, rubbed some Distress inks (Picked Raspberry, Lemonade and Peacock Blue) on it directly and then moved the ink with my finger. Then I added some of the cutest washi tape ever from Artsyville and the Doodlebug stickers, including the fence, and then added sequins. It came together really fast and made me happy.

Here it is in close-up and extreme close-up...or as Wayne from Wayne's World would say, unnecessary zoom.

 

The flower sequins are Teresa Collins.

Hope you have a great Monday, it's all sunny here in Ohio, so I'm going to enjoy that!

Chark

Wait A Minute, Mr. Postman

Love this song by the Marvelettes—I'm a sucker for any Motown really—and it's the thing that popped into my head as I got this post ready. I made a Christmas card mailbox with Doodlebug Designs products. Love how cute their products are. I got the idea from their blog last year and pinned it for this year.

1. I started with a papier mache mailbox from the craft store, and then covered the main part with the gingerbread boy paper. It doesn't cover all the way, so I flipped the paper over to the green side and used a scallop punch for the bottom section on either side.

2. I used some white grosgrain ribbon for the edges and glued it into place. I added some glittery stickers for a little elf scene.

 

3. I used green cardstock for the end piece and added another sticker scene. 

4. I used red cardstock for the front of the mailbox and added more cute stickers. Mrs. Claus has a gingerbread cookie for Rudolph.

5. For the inside of the lid, I added the same red cardstock and some patterned paper from the same Doodlebug line. I fussy cut out the gingerbread boy and gave him a friend and a house.

6. I replaced the plain metal brad with a fancier one, covered the flag in washi tape and added my last sticker. Here's the mailbox with cards. 

It was a fun project that took about an hour, since I wasn't sure what I was doing! The flag took the longest because I was going to cover it in paper and then paint it and finally decided on washi. I used glue stick for the large paper bits because I thought it would be more economical to cover the whole thing than if I used tape runner.

Here's my inspiration over at Pinterest, if you're interested.

Happy Monday!
Chark

Products I used  
Santa Express 12x12 Paper
Santa 's Workshop stickers 
EK Success Edge Punch 

You Don't Have To Drink That, Buddy

See below to win!*

Love the movie, Elf, and the quotes from it float around here a lot, including the title quote when Buddy tries coffee and hates it. I'm joining in Tsuruta Designs Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop with this gift bag I made. I think it would be perfect size for a gift card and maybe a candy bar.

I used Doodlebug Designs ribbon from Heather (thanks, Heather!) and stickers, along with a free digi art mug outline that I inked with Barn Door Distress Inks. Easy Peasy! I had fun designing a holiday mug for the hop.

Join me in the blog hop to win prizes! Check it out here!

SPONSORS

17 Turtles:  $15 Store Gift Card

A Muse Studio/Chris Franco:  Cup of Good Cheer stamp set

Add a Little Dazzle:  $25 Store Gift Card

Butterfly Reflections Ink:  Prima Coffee Break

Color Cast Designs:  Coffee Lovers kit

Create a Smile:  Monster Party stamp set

Hero Arts:  A Little & Today's Special stamps/Cup 'O Joe Shadow ink

Kraftin' Kimmie:  $25 Store Gift Card

Kreative Kymona:  Fancy Mug Giveaway

Latina Crafter:  Cafe Wood Veneers + $25 Store Gift Card

Neat & Tangled:  Warm Wishes stamp set

Newton's Nook:  $15 Store Gift Card

Paper Smooches:  $25  Store Gift Card

Pickled Potpourri:  $7 Store Gift Card

Poppystamps:  Tea Cup Stack Die

Reverse Confetti:  $15 Store Gift Card

Stamp Academy:  2 classes

Stampin' Up/Veronica Zalis:  $20 Store Gift Card

STAMPlorations:  $10 Store Gift Card

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store:  Coffee Cup Prize Pack

SugarPea Designs:  $20 Store Gift Card

Sweet 'n Sassy:  Pick Me Up Clear stamp & die set

The Alley Way Stamps:  Tea Par-tea stamp set

Two Paper Divas:  Your Warm My Heart stamp set

Your Next Stamp:  $20

Verve Stamps:  $25

Whole Wild World:  Coffee before Talkee mug

CANDY ALERT: *I'm giving away your choice of stencil from a2z Scrapbooking Supplies, where I'm on the Design Team. All you gotta do is comment on any of my three Friday posts about the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and you'll be entered. I'd love if you followed my blog, but that's not required. I'll announce the winner next week. Contest will end on Monday, Dec. 15, at 11:59pm (edt). 

p.s. If you spend $25 or more at a2z Scrapbooking, you can get 15% off your total if you use CHARK15 as your coupon code...hey, I'm a coupon! 

Happy Friday,

Chark