My Other Creations: Halloween Treat Bags

 It's Throwback Challenge Week over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog!  What does that mean?  Be inspired by any previous Simon Says Stamp challenge theme; and there have been some good ones!  Since I'm still in Halloween mode, I chose to be inspired by Simon's October 2013 challenge theme of, "Spooky."  Back then, I had so much fun decorating some treats and I've gone with that same idea again.  As I've said before, I love to make fancy packaging to hide the fact that I can't cook/bake worth a darn! 

I started with some glassine bags and stamped some circles on them with Distress Ink.  I outlined them with black paper cut with the super-cool Simon Says Stamp die set called, Circle Loops.  

I made both the witch's legs and the black and white horizontal-striped element into clothespins so I'd have something to clip my bags closed with.  For the witch's legs, I used a striped stamp from Simon Says Stamp's Trick or Treat stamp set and added some die-cut witch boots at the bottom from Taylored Expressions.  I added a candy flashcard that I cut out of a 12 x 12 sheet of Crate Paper's After Dark paper collection.  I taped it all together and adhered it to a clothespin.  I did the same with the diagonally-striped piece of paper.  Here's a view from the back of my clips:

On the bag with the witch legs, I also added a cute dangly spider that I cut out of a piece of Doodlebug spider Washi Tape.  I tied green and teal ribbon/yarn around the bag after I'd filled it with green candy, then clipped it with the witch legs.

For the potion bag, I used a couple of great stamp sets from Taylored Expressions: Toil and Trouble and Witches Brew.  Once again, I filled the bag with some candy, then tied some yard around the top and added the clip to hold it all together.

With Halloween happening this week, all I can say is bring on the candy!  I really enjoyed making these bags with these supplies that I found at Simon Says Stamp:

Simon Says Stamp - Trick or Treat	Taylored Expressions Witch Boot Die	Sizzix Big Shot Machine	Simon Says Stamp Circle Loops Die Set	Taylored Expressions Toil and Trouble Stamp Set	Taylored Expressions Witches Brew Stamp Set	Doodlebug Spider Washi Tape
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Fiskars Acrylic Blocks	tim holtz picked raspberry distress ink pad	Dusty Concord - Distress Ink	Shaded Lilac - Distress Ink	Tim Holtz Distress Twisted Citron Ink Pad	Peacock Feathers - Distress Ink
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MERMAID LAGOON	Memento Ink--Lady Bug

I know you'll probably have plenty to do with your little ghouls and goblins this week, but if you have a chance, use the positives effects of your sugar buzz to craft!  I can't wait to see which former challenge inspires you now and what you create as a result.  Upload your projects to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store.  That is all treat and no tricks!

My Other Creations: Monster Party

LOVE this time of year and especially the fun that comes with Halloween.  The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog issued a fabulous theme this week: The Monster Mash!  Since I am a fan of cute Halloween rather than gory scary Halloween, I made a hip and happenin' monster party!

I have never been the haunted house/scary movie type of gal.  In fact, when my high school friends would drag me to haunted houses, I made a beeline to the "Pumpkin Patch" area and sat coloring with the 5-year-olds until my friends were ready to go.  And so I decided to make a cute monster dwelling for my project-- one that I wouldn't mind walking through!

I made the house using the new Tim Holtz Village Dwelling die.  I modified the awning a bit and I lined the inside with yellow paper so it would look like it was glowing light from the inside.  The wood-grain paper is from Simple Stories' Pumpkin Spice collection.  I added polka dots to the roof, a banner, a monster (Paper Smooches Ghoulfriends stamp), and a pumpkin, bat and ghost from My Favorite Things' Frightfully Fun Halloween stamp set.  I used some awesome Doodlebug washi tape for my monster's hat.

If you want to make your own monster mansion, here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Village Dwelling Die	Simple Stories Pumpkin Spice 12x12 Basics Kit	Paper Smooches Ghoulfriends Stamp Set	My Favorite Things Frightfully Fun Stamp Set	Doodlebug Christmas Candy Stripe Washi	Doodlebug Deck The Halls Washi Tape	Hero Arts Basic Alphabet Stamps
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Mowed Lawn - Distress Ink	Peacock Feathers - Distress Ink	Ripe Persimmon - Distress Ink	Spiced Marmalade - Distress Ink	Picked Raspberry - Distress Ink	Tim Holtz Distress Twisted Citron Ink Pad

What will you come up with this week?  I can't wait to see your creations.  Upload them to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to inspire all of us and enter yourself into the $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp!

My Cards and Tags: Simon Says Stamp Create Joy Release

Just a quick post to say YAY to Simon Says Stamp's new Create Joy release.  I made this card using the Soft Snowfall die, which is fabulously versatile.

 

I  used both the positive and negative cuts from the die, outlined the trees and stars with a black Sharpie pen, then bumped out the trees and wrapped them in yarn.  I inked the background with various shades of Distress Ink.

I added some yellow scribble circles behind the star tree-toppers and finished it off with a great loopy Merry Christmas sentiment, also from Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks to Simon for another great collection of products!

My Other Creations: Watercolor Bird's Nest

Welcome to another new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!  This week's theme is, "Wonderful Watercolor."  I decided to make a watercolored nest that also serves as a bowl to hold buttons or Scrabble tiles or other little things.

 
 I started out by watercoloring over some patterned paper (Prima's Garden Fable and Tim Holtz's Correspondence collections).  I also smudged on some Distress Ink in random areas for more spots of color.

Next I cut the watercolored pages into thick strips, then cut some of those into smaller strips using Martha Stewart's fringe-cutting scissors. 

I ran the strips through a paper crimper to give them even more dimension, then I crumbled them up and started gluing them to my nest base (a custard dish).  Once the outside was done, I cut word strips out of the Rise and Shine collection by American Crafts and started to cover the inside.

I made a cone hat for my bird using Prima's Royal Menagerie paper and added a "Create Magic" sentiment using the Brush stamp from Prima.  I added my bird to his new nest home and it was done!

Here are the supplies I used from Simon Says Stamp for this project:

Loew Cornell WATERCOLOR CAKES 24 Paints	Prima A4 Garden Fable Paper	Tim Holtz 12 x 12 Correspondence Paper Pack	American Crafts Rise and Shine 12x12 Paper	Prima Royal Menagerie 6x6 Paper	Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors	Prima Brush Stamp
Picked Raspberry - Distress Ink	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MERMAID LAGOON	Festive Berries - Distress Ink	Worn Lipstick Distress Ink Pad	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Black Sharpie Fine Point Pen

I'm looking forward to seeing how you use watercolors in your creations this week!  Be sure to upload them to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!