Ghouls Night Out!!

Well, it's October 31st again and time for all the little monsters to come out and play!! Actually last night there were a bunch of ghouls and goblins at the library!!!

As you saw me mention yesterday, we had an evening with some sassy female Canadian authors and we called it Ghouls Night Out! If you're a reader of romance and mystery with a paranormal twist, you've probably read their books, Kelley Armstrong, Michelle Rowen and Eve Silver. I was so thrilled when they agreed to all come together to our little shindig!! This was my first attempt at organizing such an event and I was a TAD nervous! I spent the whole day running around, picking up food, drinks, decorations etc., then decorating and arranging the meeting room, which looked fabulous, I must say. Well, it looked decent for a 35 year old room in the dungeon of the library that has never been renovated......I'll hope that it added to the ambience of the evening!!




For the main part of the decorations, a TON of pumpkins were donated and I coerced some of my coworkers to take them home and carve them for use at our par-tay! One of the girls carved each of the authors' names in their own pumpkin and they looked awesome!! I think the authors like them because they took them home with them!! A bunch of us girls dressed up in costume...I mean, how often do grown women get to don a spooky (and sexy) outfit and become someone else?? Really. Sometimes you just gotta loosen up!

We had a fabulous turnout and the authors were amazing. Each of them read excerpts from their book, all in the paranormal vein, which was very cool. Then they all took questions from the guests and everyone seemed to really enjoy that. I was afraid that people would be too inhibited to speak up but once they got going, they seemed to have more and more questions and things that they wanted to know! And the authors were really great sports and were a lot of fun. They each are so different in their writing styles and in their personalities, but they all were such a hoot and seemed to get into the discussions as much as the guests!

Afterwards, the local bookstore was there and the authors all sat together at a table and sold and signed copies of their books. I got a few myself and got each of them autographed....I feel like such a dork! But it's not often that I get to meet some of my favourite authors in the flesh....and you KNOW what a bookfreak I am! Michelle actually put something in my book that COULD be rather suggestive....she said 'Thanks for a great night, Kim!' Personally, I think she may have a thing for me.....baaaaaaaahahhaaaaaaa!! (I told you I would do it, Michelle!!) We had a good laugh about it!

I also discovered that Eve Silver is a scrapbooker too!!! How funny is that?? So, then I didn't feel like so much of a nerd when I asked them each to sign one of the Ghouls Night Out posters and then I scooped up their bookmarks and business cards for a scrapbook page I will be doing in the future!!! Eve even gave me a signed cover from her newest book which isn't even out yet!!



SO a fun evening was had by all, but I'm pooped this morning! I'd better perk up though because I'm heading out in a bit to meet my Mom and her friend Connie in Petrolia. We're having a nice lunch together and of course, we will be stopping in at The Town Scrapper for some stamp shoppin'!!! I'll be back later to post a card for you all!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

MFT Sketch Challenge!!

We're off early this morning. After we drop the Emster off at school (she is feeling much better today, thanks!), Al and I are heading over to the Passport office in London to hand in our applications. Sheesh what an ordeal just to get our passports!! Photos...no smiling, no white shirts, no shiny faces, no shadows! Applications filled out....no mistakes, block letters, sign in the tiny box without touching the sides!! Get someone to vouch for ya...signature, address, how long have you known them, their passport registration number, favourite food, shoe size!! Okay so I MAY be exaggerating a tiny bit, but man, everything better be right when we get there!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyhooo! The lovely Frances has posted a great sketch in the MFT Forum today and I had a chance to play with it. I used Baby It's Cold Outside and my new Be Merry dp that I got from The Town Scrapper. I coloured her in with my Copic markers and added Crystal Stickles to the snow and Mr. Snowman. I added a strip of Pretty in Pink after embossing it with the Snowflake folder. The 'Joy' layer is a diecut and the velvet ribbon is some retired SU stuff. I added brads in the corners and to the snowman's buttons and pop dotted the main layer!! Yippeee...another Christmas card done!!




Well, tonight is my big 'do' at the library. It's called Ghouls Night Out and we have three amazing female authors coming for a reading and booksigning. I have been organizing this for months and tonight is the big night. These ladies write romance and mystery and drama with a paranormal flair....like vampires and werewolves! Heehee! It's a lot of fun and they are hilarious!!! I can't wait to meet them! I'm going in to work at 1pm to do all the decorating and running around, picking up stuff for the punch and all the yummy Halloween cuppycakes that I ordered.

I was able to get a bunch of big pumpkins donated to us and a bunch of coworkers have taken them home to carve and bring them back for decorations in the room. One of my coworkers has this awesome computer program where you can type any words in and it will make it into a pumpkin template. So she has carved three pumpkins, one with each of the authors' names on them! I think they are going to LOVE them!!! It's also a costume party with a prize for the winner!! Anyway, big day for me and as much as I'm lookin' forward to it, I'll be glad when it's over!! Wish me luck!!

Spooky Mini Pizza Boxes!

Okay, WHO ordered the snow??!! That's what I wanna know! I said to Al last night that when we left for our holiday it was barely then end of summer here and then we come back and it's winter already!! Where the heck did FALL go??? Ugh! The buses are even cancelled here!! Anyway, it's a good day for stampin', right??? *wink* On to the crafting.....

Today's challenge at All That Scraps is to make a mini pizza box! And I thought what better container to make for little treats for my little ghouls!




The tutorial for this cute design can be found HERE. It's really very simple, so I went ahead and made two of them!

I used dp from the DCWV Fall Stack and the images and sentiments are from the Sugarplums Halloween stamp set. I coloured the images in with my Copic markers and added matting, sentiment layers, ribbon and embellishments. I hope my favourite little goblins enjoy them.....well, let's not kid ourselves, they'll be more interested in what's INSIDE the boxes, but that's okay. I had fun making them and now that I know how, I can make them for other gifties too! What a great challenge!



Be sure to head over to the ATS Blog later on today and check out what some of the other DT members have done with their pizza boxes!!

Willow with Lantern

Thanks so much for all your well wishes for Emileigh....I showed them all to her last night and she really appreciated them. I told her they were from all my 'pretend friends' and she laughed. She is feeling better today and is headed to school this morning. The antibiotics and extra sleep have started to work for her. What a relief!

Today's card is from the Whiff of Joy line of stamps and I think she is so elegant. Willow is dressed up in her holiday finest and doesn't she look pretty???



The card base is a 6x6 Blush Blossom square card and the dp is by Imaginisce. I stamped Willow on Wausau bright white cardstock and used my beloved Copic markers to colour her in. The velvet ribbon is by Making Memories and the Christmas flowers are by Prima. I used matching glittery brads by Imaginisce to attach the flowers and used my oval punch to cut out the sentiment. I pop dotted the main layer and now I have another snazzy Christmas card to add to my pile! Oh wait a minute, I think I may have sold that one already! Oh well. Guess I'd better make some more!!!

Oh and my fellow WOJ Design Team member, Suzy has some rubber goodness up for grabs today. So be sure to head on over to her blog and check it out!!!

Have a stampin' good day everyone!!

Happy Pink and Brown Holidays!!

Happy Monday, everyone!! Well, I got to sleep in a little this morning as I didn't get up to take Emileigh to school. Poor thing can hardly swallow and doesn't understand why those darn 'horse pills' don't instantly make her feel better. Hopefully she will start to turn a corner by tomorrow morning and not miss any more school. Thank you SO much for all your prayers and well wishes for her. I will show them all to her when she wakes up today.

Well, before we headed out on our holidays last week, I received some new images from Magnolia and was able to whip up a few cards for them. I really love this little one with her stocking hat, her little jumper and those tights!

I decided to use up some of my retired SU dp (I believe it was called Loves Me) to make this card. The base is a 6x6 square provided by Magnolia and I believe it's Bazzill cardstock. I used some coordinating leftover pieces of the dp to create the background. I stamped the winter bench on a piece of Wausau bright white cardstock and on a separate piece I stamped this new Tilda. I coloured them in using my Copic markers and cut Tilda out, pop dotting her on the main layer. I distressed the edges of the white, using some Ranger distress ink and a sponge (sorry I can't remember which colour of ink I used). The sentiment is by Papertrey which I stamped on Pretty in Pink cardstock and used my round tab punch to cut it out! I added a couple of white snowflake brads and some brown twine.



Well, I actually get to do some stamping today.....I hope I remember how!! haha! Oh how I've missed my beloved Copics!! Do you think they've missed me too???

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!

Hey there!! Did ya miss me??? I'm SO happy to be home!! Not that I didn't love a week away with my family....well, most of it! hahaha!! But I'm so glad to be able to sleep in my own bed and be near all my wonderful stamps!! Aaaahhhh!

I'm just posting a quick one today. We flew in early this morning and drove home, finally crashing into bed just before 5am. Then I got up this morning.....well, technically it was still morning because it wasn't yet noon....and had to take Emileigh to the hospital. The poor thing has strep throat and almost couldn't swallow this morning. She was feeling lousy for most of the trip but got a fever and really sore throat over the last couple of days. Now we are home and she has medication and hopefully will be on the mend soon!

Anyhoo, my card for today was made using Katharina's wonderful sketch for the High Hopes Challenge today!! I used Almost Amethyst for the card base and some of the retired Uptown dp by Stampin' Up. I used my Nestabilities to create the oval layers for my Baby Dragon how adorable is he....or she?? Then I added some purple heart brads, and some velvet ribbon along the bottom. I used an SU stamp and my scalloped circle punch to create the sentiment area. And of course I used my Copic markers to colour my baby.

Be sure to stop over at the HH Blog to see all the other Divas' creations and play along with us!!

Today I am busy catching up, doing laundry, cleaning house and maybe taking a nap in the near future! Hopefully I will get to play with some stamps and ink tomorrow!!! Thanks for stopping by!!

High Hopes Challenge #4!!!

Well, it's my favourite part of the week (and not just because I'm flying on an airplane as you read this...baaaaaahahahaaaaaa!)..it's time for another High Hopes Challenge!! yaaaaay!!

This time the challenge was to make anything BUT a card! Well, I don't generally like to do things out of the box....or rather out of my own comfort zone, so this was a little bit of a challenge for me. I'm not so good at the altering thing. But I did one anyway and I think my little altered notebook turned out pretty cute!

I had to use my new Be Merry dp by My Mind's Eye that I got from Phebe at The Town Scrapper. The colours are just SO pretty together! I used Bear-ly Warming Up as my main image and the sentiment just went perfectly with it!




I covered the notebook, distressed around the edges with my sanding block, made a binding using Regal Rose cardstock and added a strip of pink ric rack. Then I made a Cool Caribbean background using an oval Nestabilities die and pop dotted my polar bear on top!

Be sure to pop over to the HHBlog and check out what some of the other gals have made for your crafting inspiration!!!

See you next week!!!

Like My Ride??

Here is my favourite new Riley stamp....at least it is this week! Baaaaaahahahaaa! Gotta love those Rileys.

Well, I used a sketch challenge from a few weeks back on SCS and I think it went perfectly with the image. The patterned paper is all from MFT and the card base is Basic Black. The ribbon is also from MFT, the brads are SU and the punched out bats are from a Martha Stewart punch.

I stamped Riley on Wausau bright white cardstock and coloured him in using my Copic markers. I pop dotted the main layer, doodled around the frame and sparkled up the moon and stars with my Sakura Stardust gel pen. Oh and the sentiment is from CCDesigns! Don'tcha love it??! heehee!



Well, I am working all day today and then headin' out for our vay-kay! We will be staying in Detroit overnight and then flying out to Vegas early on Sunday morning. Please pray for a safe trip for my family....I'm really not looking forward to the flight....I just know I'll get stuck with kicking brats behind me like on our last trip! *sigh* What's with oblivious parents anyway??

I have a post timed to go up on here tomorrow with the High Hopes Challenge but then the rest of the week I probably won't be posting. Sorry. I don't know if I'll be near an internet connection and actually I really just need some time to rest and relax. I'm sure I'll be going nuts by the time we get home though!! If I do get near a computer, maybe I'll post some pictures of our trip!!!

See you soon and have a great week of stampin'!!

Friendship is Our Special-Tea!!

Today's card features one of the lovely stamps from Whiff of Joy called Willow with Hot Chocolate....but I'm pretending it's tea for this one!

I pulled out a selection of Garden Party patterned papers by We R Memorykeepers and some Blue Bayou and Cameo Coral cardstock. I also used my Martha Stewart border punch to make the lacey bit and layered it under a strip of Ruby Red. I must say I was rather disappointed with the punch though, as it will only go through thin cardstock, not the thicker SU cardstock. Bummer. The Fiskars punches go through just about anything but not the MS ones.




I used my Copic markers to colour her in, my oval Nestabilities to cut her out, emboss and layer the main image. I added several Prima flowers and attached them with rhinestone brads. The sentiment is by High Hopes.

Well, I have to go in to work after lunch so I am busy packing this morning and making sure we have everything to go on our trip. I'm always worried we'll forget something and I work right up until the minute we leave, so it's going to be a rush when I get home tomorrow afternoon. Yeesh.

High Hopes Blog Candy Winner!!!

OH!! Did you wanna know who won the High Hopes candy??? Of course you do!!! Well the winner, chosen randomly by Emileigh.org (hehe) is.............Gayle from Scotland!!!! Email me Gayle and I'll send your stamps out!!

And you might as well start hoppin' again, because ANOTHER one of the Divas has some yummy rubber goodness for ya!!! Get to hoppin'!!!

MFT Sketch Challenge #52!

Today there is a great sketch posted in the MFT Forum by the wonderful Frances! It's a square card that features a couple of circles....my favourite kind of sketch!

I pulled out what has to be one of my favourite MFT stamp sets, Winter Blast (which just happens to be on sale right now at the MFT website!!) and got to work! I thought the group stamp of the penguins playing ball would work perfectly for the large circular layer, so I stamped it and did the little bit of colouring using my Copic markers.

The card base is a white square and the patterned papers are all by Heidi Grace. I used Soft Sky to matt the main layer, added some snowflakes with silver brads and some satin ribbon. The final touch was the sparkly finish the I added to the snow and the 'star' using my Spica gel pen.




Well, today is my day off but I will be super busy doing a bunch of laundry and packing for our trip. OH! Didn't I tell you?? We are leaving on Saturday night for a week long much needed family vacation!!! yep! We are heading to Nevada to hang out at the Grand Canyon!! Of course we will be flying into Las Vegas so we will be there for a couple of days but then we are doing some different day trips to National Parks and stuff. It's going to be fun!!! I can't wait!

Ribbon Inspiration Challenge!!

Today's challenge at All That Scraps, is to use a piece of ribbon as the inspiration for your card! Well, I may have a few rolls of ribbon......okay, you could probably unravel it all and travel from here to Norway with all the ribbon I have! The trouble was choosing which piece of luscious ribbon to use as my inspiration!!

Well, I chose this wide piece of striped American Crafts ribbon! And I pulled out my Glam Girls to play along with this challenge! The card base is Blush Blossom and the accent pieces of coloured cardstock are Real Red and Old Olive. I paper pieced her lovely bell bottomed pants with some Real Red designer series paper and coloured the rest of her using Copic markers.




I added some buttons down in the corner and the fabulous sentiment on the card base. I had the strip of ribbon extend over the ends of the card to add a bit of visual interest and cut both ends to a fancy finish. I completed her glamorous look by sparkling up her fancy shades using my Sakura Stardust gel pen.

Why don't you play along with the challenge?? I KNOW you've got lots of ribbon!! *wink*

Don't forget to join in my High Hopes Blog Candy HERE. You have until 9pm EST tonight!!

Kim and Tara Challenge.....#2!!!

Well, it's time for another Kim and Tara Challenge!! We had so much fun doing it last month, we thought we'd play it again!!! This time Tara chose this Magnolia stamp starring Edwin!!!

What a perfect image for fall!! I pulled out my pad of Boxer dp by Basic Grey and pulled out the coordinating Copic markers. I coloured Edwin in with more of a sketch technique, leaving lots of white areas around the edges. I think it looks good on this particular image.

The card base is a 6x6 Night of Navy square and all the other papers are from the Boxer line of patterned papers. I added some retired SU ribbon, some Prima flowers with heart shaped brads and I pop dotted the sentiment, which is also by Magnolia. I finished him off by adding Waterfall Stickles to his light blue wings.



Be sure to hop over to Tara's blog, her design is amazing!!!

Well, it's back to work for me today. It was nice to have yesterday off from work and I had a great day stampin'! I did eight loads of laundry, completed 4 cards and made a nice barbecued pork chop dinner. Then I got to watch Dancing with the Stars and read for a bit before hitting the hay. Now I'm all refreshed and ready for the library again. I wonder what's in store for me today....hmmmmmm.

The High Hopes Hop Stops HERE!!!

If you are hopping around to all the High Hopes Divas blogs today looking for the Blog Candy.....well, you found it!!! I've got some yummy rubber goodness to give away!!! But first, the card!!

I knew I needed greens for this card so I pulled out my Creative License Simply Scrappin' Kit from SU and used some of the dp from there. The card base is Soft Sky with Blue Bayou and Pumpkin Pie for accents. I stamped the Mushroom stamp on Wausau bright white cardstock and then stamped the Frog Prince separately, coloured and cut him out. I used my circle Nestabilities for the main layers.




I pop dotted the froggie on the mushroom, added some stitched grosgrain ribbon and a heart brad. Then I stamped the Kiss Me sentiment on the bottom of the card base.

Well, as for the blog candy, one lucky random winner will win EACH of these High Hopes stamps PLUS the Sitting Princess stamp as well!!! Pretty awesome, huh?? All you have to do is leave a comment here before Wednesday night at 9pm EST and I will draw the winner and post it then!

Want to hear some other exciting news??? About 37 new images have been added to the High Hopes site today!!!! Yep!! We don't even have any of them yet to show you samples but you can go and check them out on the website. Just put HOTP (for Hot Off the Press) in the search bar and it will bring up all the newest release images and the ones that have just been uploaded are on pages 7-10. And there are MORE dragons!!! I love the dragons!!! Oh and there are some adorable Valentine stamps (the owls and dragons were my idea....heehee!).

Well, I've got the day off work today, so I'm going to stamp up a storm (in between all the loads of laundry)!! Hope you get to do the same!!!

High Hopes Challenge #3!! - Sew What?!!

First of all, let me wish all my Canadian stamper friends a safe and turkey-filled Thanksgiving, filled with family and friends....and if you're lucky, a little rubber and ink too!!

Today's High Hopes challenge is to SEW on your card! Whether it's real sewing or fake sewing, we got lots of stitches on our designs! I'll show you mine and then you can show me yours!!! *wink*

I decided to make a Christmas card using the Christmas Treat stamp with Santa Claus and his little puppy pal. The card base is a 6x6 Very Vanilla square with Real Red matting and the patterned paper is called Holiday Lane by SEI. I made my matted dp panels and sewed them first before I attached them to the card base, just in case I made a booboo while sewing.....or rather just in case my sewing machine ate them!

I coloured the image in using my Copic markers and added some wide red grosgrain ribbon across the bottom. I attached some Imaginisce poinsettias using a Basic Grey brad and pop dotted the sentiment which is from Verve Visual. It's a very simple design but I think the sewing and the wide ribbon make it look elegant.




Hope you can join in the Sewing challenge this week. Head on over to the HH Blog and check out what the other Divas have whipped up for your viewing pleasure!!!

Well, we are jumping in the car and heading to my parents' house this afternoon for some yummy turkey dinner and pie for dessert. Hope you get to enjoy some delicious homemade yummies too!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Bond....Charlie Bond!!

hahaha!!! Isn't he a handsome devil?? When I coloured Charlie all up in his tuxedo, I immediately thought of James Bond! You know, the new one...Daniel Craig with his beautiful ice blue eyes and his chiseled chest....mmmmmmm.......*cough*....back to the card.

This is a new image from Whiff of Joy called Charlie 007.....I kid you not! I'm not makin' that up! I figured his tuxedo should be black so I pulled out some fancy glittery DCWV paper that has shades of black, silver and white in it and coloured him to match. I had to give it a pop of colour, so I did his tie in red!

The card base is Basic Black with Real Red matting, added some red grosgrain ribbon and a couple of brads. The sentiment is by CCDesigns (love that sentiment) which I punched out with the Word Window Punch, pop dotted Charlie...or should we call him Charles?...and added some sparkle to his martini using my Sakura Stardust gel pen. He's so dapper!




Oh and I just happen to know that All That Scraps just got a shipment of Whiff of Joy stamps last night.....so if you're quick, you might be able to scoop some up!!!

Well, I'm off to work all day on this lovely, gorgeous fall day. *sigh* I'm filled up with coffee and prepared to answer stupid questions like, "Do you have the movie Armadillo with Bruce Willis in it?". I'm going to try not to snort as I hold in my sidesplitting laughter while Mr. I-wear-the-same-threadbare-shirt-everyday falls asleep at the desk right next to mine and snores so loud he wakes himself up. I'm even steeling myself for assisting Mr. Hasn't-washed-since-February-Stinkyman (who dresses like a dude from a Civil War reenactment), at least five times during his session at the internet, while holding my nose so I don't inhale the stench and throw up on him. Well, maybe I'll need another cup of coffee for that.

Riley's Winter Wishes

Over the weekend I had a chance to play with a couple of my new Riley's! Yay! I love Riley, he's so darn cute and does so many fun things on his stamps!!

The Hanna Stamps forum released some new stamps last week (I won the new Riley in his pyjamas too) and they posted a couple of cool challenges. I played in both of them but today I'll just show you the layers challenge. I really like it when challenges are pretty simple and general so that everyone can play along. I don't usually take part if there's a big technique or a lot of restrictions involved.

Anyway this challenge was to use more than 2 layers on your card, so I decided to use my new Riley with his Christmas tree and some scrap dp from DCWV that was laying on my desk (along with many other scraps). I stamped Riley on Wausau bright white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured him in using my handy, dandy......Copics!! Oh I had a deja vu of Blue's Clues there for a minute!! haha!




The card base is Certainly Celery, I matted Riley on Soft Sky and stamped the Verve Visual sentiment on So Saffron. I punched a couple of Martha Stewart snowflakes from some turquoise glitter paper and added some matching glitter brads in each of the four corners. I pop dotted the main layer and then added sparkle to the snow with Stardust Stickles!! Ain't he cute???

For those who are interested, yesterday's library trip was actually not as painful as I'd envisioned. We started off very early and made good time travelling to each of our destinations. We picked up a lot of ideas of what to do....and what not to do, when renovating our own library. I went with a fun group of ladies so we did a lot of yakking and laughing. But after a full day and a long drive home, I was whipped! I'm heading in to work the late shift today, so maybe I'll have a little nappy-poo this morning!

Have a great Friday!!!

Wise Men Still Seek Him

Yesterday morning I was actually able to join in with the sketch challenge over on SCS! That's exciting for me as I almost never get to play along with challenges on the day they are posted. This workin' for a living sucks, I tell ya!!! Haha!

Anyway, the sketch worked perfectly with the Wee Three Kings stamp by High Hopes. The dp that I used for colour inspiration is a really pretty paper by Sandylion. It is smooth and sparkly with deep, rich colours and I used coordinating Copic markers to colour the image in.




The card base is Always Artichoke with Bravo Burgundy for matting. The sentiment is stamped on River Rock and the main image is matted on Blue Bayou and pop dotted. I added a punched star from some silver glitter paper and some silver cording.

Well, I'm off today for a full day of touring libraries. Yep, you heard me. Doesn't that sound like fun?? Um...no. We will be driving and touring, taking notes and being squished in a tiny car for hours. I'm really looking forward to it, can't you tell?