Ok Final Necklace.......I promise

This necklace you can't buy. It's already gone. My daughter's best friend requested a specific design made to his specifications. I don't know why, but it had to have an Ace of Spades in it....(Sorry Honey, I sacrificed a deck of cards just to punch out the Ace!). Well his birthday was last weekend, so this is the gift Katie took. He seemed to like it, but that is the last Bottle Cap necklace for me for quite a while!

Trick or Treat!!!

Ok, no tricks here....just some more amazing punch art. If I had half the talent that these creators have, I would be set!

I got this punch art idea from Monika Davis over at Monika Stamps, but she references Ellen Kemper of Blinkin, Thinkin, & Inkin.


This eye of newt was created by Holly over at Ink Paper Stamps. This was the first time I had ever used my Cog punch! But what a cute way to break it in!

Finally, this adorable Vampire comes from Bonnie over at Bonnie's Creative Place. We decided without his cape he looks kind of like a Sumo Wrestler......hmmm, maybe another use for him!

Happy Halloween Weekend!

I am definitely my mother's daughter. She has always loved Halloween, decorating the house and basically taking over the season. I remember as a kid that my mom always hung this corn husk witch over the kitchen table when Halloween drew near. Well, I didn't do much decorating this year (with hubby being gone it just isn't as much fun!) but I did want to acknowledge the season. So, I held a Halloween Punch Art class. Now, I want to say that none of the punch art I am going to show you is mine. I will give credit where credit is due......as long as I know where I got it from! Anyway, hope you enjoy. Oh, and just in case you aren't enjoying them....here is a Halloween joke to get you in the spirit.
Why don't witches have children?
Cause their husbands have hallow weenies!!!!!!

I have seen this simple pumpkin punch art so many places I can't begin to tell you where the idea originated. Whoever came up with it, thanks so much!
This adorable Witchy Owl on a broom was created by none other than Bonnie from Bonnie's Creative Place. Isn't he adorable?

Funky Friday Challenge.....3 weeks in a row!

Wow!! I actually managed to participate in the Funky Friday challenge for 3 weeks running now. Yes, I do believe it is a miracle. And my challenge for next week is already done too! (I'll be at the European convention next Friday, so I had to turn it in early. Since the RBT will be going on next weekend I won't have my challenge posted here, but you can view it on The Funky Friday Challenge Blog). So, now on to my entry.

This week was a sketch challenge (you all know how much I love those (she says as she rolls her eyes!!!). But, I had seen this little cardinal earlier this week in Robin Feicht's 12 weeks of Christmas newsletter, and I just had to recreate him. I'll be honest, I don't know if the European demo's have the cardinal wheel, but it was too cute to pass up. I hope you like it.


UPDATE:
For those who have asked, here is a great explanation of how to make the punch art cardinal.

I want my Mummy!!!!

Ok, not really, but you have to admit these guys are awfully cute! One word of warning though, when using a can made out of metal, don't use your finger to see if the edge is sharp. Take it from me, it is!!!

At the risk of looking Crazy....

I decided to show you the rest of the necklaces I have made. I didn't do it alone, the Cadette Girl Scout Troop that I lead helped make at least half of these. They were a part of earning their Just Jewelry badge, and all necklaces they made which are sold during the craft fair will benefit the troop. But yes, I got a bit obsessed, I was dumping out bottles of things (ok I admit it, American Beer) just to get the bottle caps! Hey, I'm in Germany...It's not like anyone around here is going to drink it! (Do all addicts rationalize like this??)

My New Obsession, Bottle Cap Necklaces

Carla Brasher, from the Southern Stamper blog, has been sending out Christmas projects every week. Well a couple of weeks ago, she emailed me this amazing bottle cap necklace. Well I have to say I was hooked. This is the one I made for my daughter. I don't look obsessed you say? well wait until tomorrow!

Even more skinny treats!

Ok, I warned you that I got a bit carried away. I showed you the wreaths a few weeks ago, but since I got into the skinny treat spirit, I made Christmas trees, Snowflakes, and wreaths...I also have some Polar Bears, but I'm waiting on my mom to send me some York Peppermint bites (the color matches better than the blue M&Ms). Please if you are local, come out and see what all we have to offer at the Craft Fair on Nov. 13. And, if your interested, keep checking back here and on my friend Sara's blog to see what other projects we will have available. Hope to see you there!

Back to Prepping for the craft fair....

Friday you all saw the cute little Turkey treats I made for the craft fair. Well, I think I may have gotten a tad carried away. Not only did I make Turkeys for Thanksgiving, but I also made Pumpkins and Leaves......that wouldn't be too bad, but tomorrow I'll have to show you what else I made.......Hope people buy these...otherwise I'll have them coming out of my ears!

UPDATE:
Several of you have asked where I got my bags. I was able to obtain these skinny treat bags through a bulk buy, but you can purchase them individually at http://www.gtbag.com/polyproliptape.html or you can also find them at http://www.clearbags.com/1-x-8-flap-crystal-clear-25x203.html. You want the 1x8 bags........good luck and let me know what you come up with!

Kelly

Unique use of SU! products

For some reason, my 12 year old daughter decided to do something nice for my 7 year old son (yes, I did think she was sick). Anyway, she decided he needed a transformer arm. Personally I don't have any idea what a transformer arm looks like, but both she and Jay insist that this is perfect! I have to admit, it's not something I would have thought of!

Funky Friday Challenge.......Fall Anyone?

This weeks Funky Friday challenge was to use Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, and Chocolate Chip (Ok I cheated a little bit, I added a retired color in there, but it's close enough right? :) ). I saw these colors and the American in me came out. I had to use them to make a turkey! These will be some of the skinny treat bags I sell during the Craft Fair next month. I filled them with M&Ms (Smarties would work for all you Brits!!!). I think the most time consuming part was separating all the M&Ms! Wait until next week when I show you all the other skinny treat bags I've created! I hope people like them or I will be handing them out to everyone just to get rid of them! Now, don't forget to join us over at the Funky Friday Challenge. I would love to see what you come up with!

Playing with Fabric

Recently, while I was on medical leave from my surgery, a good friend showed me how to make rag quilts. Well, as often happens with my addictive personality, I became over run. I ordered the Candy Cane Lane fabric from Stampin' Up! but had no idea what to do with it. After several months of it just sitting there, I finally decided that I would make up little bags for my Hostess Appreciation party in December. Now, I won't tell you what all is going in them, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to show you what I created. I used the Big Shot Dies as well as the fabric adhesive (which I absolutely love!!!! So easy to use!). I also made one other bag, but it is for my Ustamp project so to see it you will have to sign up to join us. Just click the blinky on the right of my blog. Oh, and if you would like to join us for free, leave a comment for a chance to win one of two FREE passes! Hope to see you there.

Cupcake Picks

For Jay's teacher's baby shower, the kids asked me to make cupcakes. I thought they needed something a little extra, so with the stamp set Every Little Bit, a couple of punches and card stock I made these cute little cupcake picks for the top. I think they made all the difference!

It's a Baby Shower!!!

Last week, Jay's 1st grade class held a baby shower for his teacher. She had a baby two days after school started, so she hadn't been to class for almost two months. I went in three weeks in a row to help the kids get ready. They made the invitations, and then they put together Build A Bears to decorate the diaper cake we gave her as a gift. I gave each of the bears white t-shirts and the kids were able to decorate each one as they liked. I think the teacher was surprised, and I was super proud of the kids!

MDS for Homework??

Ok, I've made invitations, t-shirts, scrapbooks, cards, and flyers with my MDS, but when my daughter came home and said she had to make an Alphabet Book using words from the book "Runt" I was stumped. That is until I remembered that MDS allows you to import pictures from anywhere. So, after searching the net for appropriate pictures, We put together this cute little book. Instead of using up all my ink, we printed the pages on photo paper and then bound them with my Bind it All (best Christmas present ever!!!). Just in case you were wondering....She got an A+!

Christmas on the Brain

Yes, believe it or not, I'm still crafting for the Christmas Fair. What in the world is wrong with me? I spent 18 hours yesterday doing nothing but stamping! (Ok, I admit it...I loved every minute!). Here are my next top sellers (I can only hope). These are my Reindeer Spares. What does Santa do if Rudolph's nose runs out of juice? You don't think he doesn't bring back-ups do you? These cute little tins will be filled with Red Hots. The stamp set is a retired one, Deer Friends, but it was too perfect not to use. You will find that I have used some retired items in my craft fair stash. Hopefully you hung on to yours too, and can recreate these projects, but if not...don't worry. Stampin' Up! Always has new products that will work just as well.

European Convention is in 3 weeks!!

I've been so busy getting ready for the Craft Fair, I just about forgot about the European convention coming up on Nov. 4! (Ok, I didn't really forget!) :) I had to squeeze in a few more swaps cards with all of the craft fair preparations! I think I am only going to take 50 swaps this year. I know they are expecting a bunch more demos, but since we have to fly to England this year (instead of drive to Frankfurt like last year), weight is a major issue. I am hoping that 50 swaps will be more than enough for me to try and pack back in my suitcase! This little guy is an older set....as a matter of fact, I got him when I signed up to be a demo in 2008. But he is still super cute. I used the aqua painter on watercolor paper to create him. I think he is cute. Hope people are willing to swap with me! Now all I need to do is finish up my shoe box swap for the pre-convention get together Sara and I planned for all our demo friends from last year and I'm good to go. If you didn't recieve an invite to the shoebox swap, and are interested in participating, please let me know. We would love to see you there!

Funky Friday Challenge....Halloween

I know, you all probably thought I got kicked off the inspiration team for the Funky Friday Challenges. To be honest, I probably should have been. I don't know what's wrong with me lately. Friday just seems to sneak up on me. Well this week the Brits have taken pity on poor me, and have done an Americanized challenge....HALLOWEEN!!! Woohoo, I can do this easy :)

Remember a month or so ago when I told you about the Halloween boxes I was making for the Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer? Well, I finally got them finished. All 55 of them! I decided that instead of adding more paper or ribbon or lace to them, I would just add more ink. So, using some additional stamps, I put a few finishing touches on them. What do you think? Hopefully they are cute enough that the Trick or Treaters won't come back and TP my house!