Blog Hop: Check Out the Holiday Catalog!

Holy moly, it's October! The weather's cooling off, days are getting shorter, and there are pumpkins EVERYWHERE -- sure signs that the holidays are sneaking up on us. Did you know there are less than 15 Fridays until Christmas?! Crazy! So even though I'd like to think that we have all the time in the world to prep for the holiday fun & festivities, it really is time to get started. For all kinds of awesome holiday inspiration -- from Halloween to Christmas and everything in between -- be sure to check out the Holiday Catalog from Stampin Up.

I made a cute little gift box with the new die in the holiday catalog, featuring silver Glimmer Paper handles & tag tied on with Cherry Cobbler baker's twine.

Perfect size for a mini pumpkin muffin! Or a good-sized hunk of homemade fudge. Mmmm. Must be time to start on my favorite part of fall -- baking!

What other fun things are you looking forward to this holiday season? Keep on hoppin' through our Blog Hop to see what other inspiration you might find. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Halloween!

I know it's a bit late, but I wanted to share a quick post about some of the fun Halloween crafts I've seen and made over the last few weeks. Halloween has never been a huge holiday for me, but it sure makes for some fun creative opportunities. I dressed up in the costume I made for Comic Con in September, and my husband and I spent a quiet evening at home with friends celebrating Halloween. What are your Halloween traditions?


First up, the Halloween banner I made at Julie's class. Mine is the "condensed" version to fit on my kitchen cabinets, but I really love the way it gave some holiday spunk to my small little kitchen!

Close-up of some of the fun details on the center panel.
Isn't the glittery bat great? I love the small button, too.

Next up - another one of Julie's projects! She made these adorable Witches' Brooms our of black licorice, skinny cello bags, cardstock, and a stamp. Quick and easy, but super cute! I feel like that about sums up so many of Julie's projects.

These two adorable paper pumpkins were made for me by a friend. The first one is a more simple pumpkin, and the second one is made of layers of paper "lollies" -- accordion-folded paper circles. Both are wrapped around cute little twigs.

And here's my costume! I dressed as Chell from the computer game Portal. Not many people recognized who I was, but that's ok; the costume went over very well at Comic Con, which was it's intended audience anyway. I got the jumpsuit at a military surplus store, the shirt is stenciled on with a Sharpie, and I made the "long fall boots" out of hardware store finds, shoes from DI (thrift store), and officially licensed Portal socks.

Super pleased with how the boots turned out!!
Check out the originals here.

And here's our pumpkin! It's the Crest of Hyrule, from the Legend of Zelda video games. So yeah, we had a super-nerdy Halloween!

"Fall Fun" Blog Hop!

Hello! Thanks for checking out our Fall Fun Blog Hop!

If I'm your first stop, welcome! If you've been hopping for a few blogs, thanks for stopping by! For anyone who might not know, let me explain how our Blog Hop works: We are a group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators (and friends) who have banded together to put on a monthly blog hop for our readers. At the end of each post in the Hop, you'll see the "Next Blog" sign; after you've checked out this entry in the Hop, click on that sign to take you to the next blog, then the next one, etc., until you wind up right back where you started.

This month's theme was "Fall Fun." I'm a BIG fan of Fall! I love the crisp, cool weather and the changing colors in the trees. I love the back-to-school vibe (especially now that I'm done with school!) and all the great holidays that sneak up on us so fast in the next few months. I just wish that here in Utah Valley we could get true Fall weather for a bit longer before the snow sets in. Ah well. I hope you enjoy the fun, festive projects we've created for you today! Remember to click through the whole hop, and comments/pins/shares are always welcome. Happy Fall!

I created this card for the Cards In The Mail Swap I'm participating in this coming year. You can see the other (amazing!) cards I've received in my last post. This month's Swap theme was to focus on the Holiday catalog and anything "fall" themed (so it fit perfectly with this Hop -- two birds with one stone!). The lovely "Truly Grateful" stamp set from the Holiday catalog really stuck out to me. I LOVE wood grain, and so this background stamp was just begging for me to use it!

The layout for this card was actually inspired by a sketch challenge (which has, of course, expired by now -- just my luck) but it lent itself so well to this banner with a faded stamp detail. I chose the color palette using Stampin' Up's Color Coach, which I borrowed from Julie. I've had one on my "short list" for ... well, probably years now, and every time I use it I wonder why I haven't bought one yet. Hm. It may be going on my next order, now that I think about it.

Thanks again for stopping by! I hope you've enjoyed my "Fall Fun" creation. Be sure to click through to the rest of the Hoppers to see what they've made.

Fall Card Swap

Wow, September has been a busy month! Comic Con, birthdays, traveling with family, and school starting up again (for my husband -- I'm done, thank goodness). September also involved my first ever "Cards in the Mail" swap with some fellow stampers. I'm SO excited to show you all the fun cards I've gotten, so here we go!

 

Aren't they fantastic?! I love seeing all the great projects that my fellow stamp addicts come up with. Check back on Tuesday for our "Fall Fun Blog Hop" to see the card I made for the swap (and, of course, the other awesome projects by the ladies in the swap).

ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm holding a Halloween Banner class on Saturday, October 12. We'll be making an adorable "BOO" banner that's perfect for decorating this Fall season. Class is $15 per person; deadline to sign up is Friday October 4. Contact me to sign up today!

What fun fall projects are you planning? 

PS: Sorry for the short, image-heavy post today. Next week should have more posts from me, including one about my costume-making experience for Salt Lake Comic Con (yup, I'm that much of a nerd).