My Other Creations: Magnetic Memo House

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is ANYTHING GOES!  Whoa!  Such freedom can be wonderfully overwhelming.  I admit to being a little lost as to what to make.  In the end, I went with one of my favorite forms: a house.  You can't go wrong with a house and this little house has a metal front so it's a mini magnetic memo house!

This house was a lot of fun to make and is quite a fantastic addition to my boring grey cubicle that was screaming for somewhere fancy to stick my important memos.

I started with a block of wood that was cut into a house shape, then I covered the front panel with metal.  After I had my metal in place, I covered the whole thing with Prima paper.  I stamped some text sentiments on the front with black ink and also added some polka dots using a stencil and gel paste.  I inked it up with Tim Holtz distress inks and added some fabric accents to the front and to the roof.

I also added a magnet which I made from an October Afternoon tin pin.  And do you love the sentiment on that strip of fabric that starts with, "Do not use for children's..."?  For those of you who are curious like I would be, the rest of the sentence said, "pajamas."  The sad thing was that it was a piece of flannel.  So...while flannel that is unacceptable for making kids' pajamas does make me raise an eyebrow, I liked how it looked on my house.

Here are the fantastic products available at Simon Says Stamp that I used for this project:

Prima Lifetime Paper	Prima Finnabair Paper	Prima Divine Paper	Liquitex - Modeling Paste	Multi Medium- Matte	Dylusions Dotted Flowers Stencil	October Afternoon Farm Girl Tin Pins
Bo Bunny Ad Lib Stamp	Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink	Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers Distress Ink	Walnut Stain - Distress Ink	Colorbox Rain Forest Ink	Fiskars Acrylic Blocks	Basic Grey Large Magnet Discs

With a theme of "Anything Goes," there is no reason NOT to play along with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week!  I always feel so inspired when I see what you submit.  Give it a whirl and you could win 50 delicious dollars to spend at the Simon Says Stamp store.   

And hey- just in case haven't swung by the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog in awhile, it's got a nifty new location:

My Other Creations: Halloween Treats

Ah, October!  I love this month and I adore this week's "spooky" theme for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  This project was especially fun as it involved buying lots of sugar-loaded goodies that I...uhhm...accidentally...bought too many of (such a shame to have to eat the leftovers)!

So here's my party-ready set of Halloween treats:

Shall we start with the beverages?  Head to your local grocery store with your husband or buddy and have deep and serious discussions about which sodas look most like poison.   It is quite entertaining to watch the reaction of shoppers who overhear you.

The Authentique "Thrilling" paper collection provides so many great labels that you could add to soda or candy or any ghoulish treat.  I added the "may cause cackling" disclaimer, but other than that, the label was good to go!  Graphic 45's "Steampunk Spells" line also has some ready-to-use labels.  After I labelled my beverages, I added some Simon Says Stamp straws and a Halloween ticket that I made from Tim Holtz's "Odds and Ends" stamp set.

Next up is the little treat bag.  It started out white, but I put a quick end to that by spraying it with Dylusions green ink and doing a subtle pattern with black ink and a Simon Says Stamp Chevron stencil.  I attached an ephemera card from the "Steampunk Spells" set, then added a fabric-covered brad I made, a Prima black flower, a Tim Holtz clip to keep everything together and a piece of Doodlebug's black and white doodle twine.

Last but not least, my favorite seasonal goodie: test tube treats!  I've done a previous post on these, but it never hurts to repeat the info!  For this project, I love Martha Stewart's test tubes.  They are big enough to hold a good amount of candy and they come with a cork and with specimen label stickers.  You can name your specimens whatever you want.  I add some funky yarn and ribbon around the top and it's a great little party favor.

Here's a list of my favorite candy to use for "specimens":

Here are the fabulous products I used from Simon Says Stamp to spook-i-fy these goodies for Halloween:

Authentique Thrilling Paper Collection	Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells Paper Collection	Odds and Ends - Tim Holtz Stamps	Tim Holtz Ticket Strip Die	Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Powder Blue & Teal	Imaginisce I-top Tool: Brad Maker	Imaginisce Small I-top Brads
Prima Lyric Collection Mini Roses	Hero Arts Playful Alphabet Stamps	Hero Arts Basic Alphabet Stamps	Simon Says Stamp Assorted Straws	Hinge Clips - Idea-ology	Beetle Black Doodle Twine	Simon Says Stamp Chevron Stencil
Dylusions Ink Spray In Fresh Cut Grass	Dylusions Ink Sprays - Fresh Lime	Black soot - Distress ink	Barn Door - Distress ink	Ranger Archival Ink Black

And I know you've got some spook-tacular ideas of your own!  Share them with us on the Simon Says Monday Challenge Blog and you could win $50 to use at Simon Says Stamp!

My Other Creations: Stylish Halloween Music Compilation

I think we've established that I'm not a baker, so I often try to find non-edible gifts to give during this fantastic Fall season.  One such gift is a personalized music CD.  With iTunes and other online music sources where you can buy songs individually, it's pretty easy to buy songs that will match the specific tastes of your friends.  And what better kind of compilation than a Halloween mix?  

Here's the CD cover I made for a Halloween compilation I put together:

The paper is from Echo Park's Chillingsworth Manor collection and the fabric elements are from Tim Holtz.  I also used some Washi tape from Glitz and the witch image is a stamp from Close to My Heart's Wicked set.

So what songs does one put on a Halloween compilation?  It depends on your audience.  For this compilation, I bought songs that would appeal to both adults and kids.  My friend has a daughter in the tweeny bopper Disney years, so here's a list of songs I went with that are fun and hopefully not too annoying to either age group:

Halloween compilations are pretty entertaining to shop for and I much prefer them to those sound effect CD's where it sounds like someone is getting sawed in half, but that's just my opinion.  Whatever your Halloween plans are, happy haunting!

My Other Creations: Mermaid Cake

This week's theme for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is nautical.  Oh how I love the beach!  We vacation on some sort of coast as often as we can (which is never often enough)!  So for this challenge, I decided to make a fabric cake to display some of my beach treasures.

I pieced together various fabric scraps, many of which I bought at a beach-side fabric shop at my favorite vacation locale.  The mermaid and shells were also from some of my favorite sea shops.  I colored the fabric with lots of aqua and green inks and stuck the whole thing together with gel medium and E6000 glue.

I draped some dyed cheesecloth over the edges and stamped the sentiment onto fabric.  I also cut some numbers from a piece of Tim Holtz fabric (24 and 7) to represent my continual love of all things beachy.  I even added a "Love" sentiment from Prima's Lyric collection.

And that vial of sand?  Don't worry!  I didn't steal sand from the beach.  I used some brown sugar to replicate it.

I made this cake not only in sea colors, but also in bright pinks because my favorite coastal hang-outs also boast some of the most gorgeous flowers ever (Oregon, I'm talking to you!)  Ahhhhh...I can almost feel the ocean breeze now!

I used the following fab products from Simon Says Stamp to make my Mermaid Cake:

Hero Arts Basic Alphabet Stamps	E6000 Glue	Multi Medium- Matte	Prima Lyric Paper Pad	Corked Vails - Idea-ology	Tim Holtz Fabric: Melange	Memo Pins - Idea-ology
Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers Distress Ink	Tim Holtz Mowed Lawn Distress Ink	Colorbox Rain Forest Ink	Walnut Stain - Distress Ink	Black soot - Distress ink	Archival Ink - Jet Black

Feeling some nautical inspiration yourself?  Why not share your creation with us on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog?  Submit your masterpiece and you're automatically entered to win free shopping money to the Simon Says Stamp store.  Not too shabby!