More Halloween Fun!

Last year I wanted to create a wall hanging that I could switch out for my regular art on the walls. This is what I came up with first. It is a 12x12 wood board spray painted in a shiny black acrylic. I have a font with fun Halloween-themed dingbats, and I wanted to incorporate them into a square sign. I also wanted it to be versatile for smaller displays, so this particular design also works well on 4x4 black bathroom tiles.

I came up with the idea for this second sign after I made the Boo board. I was playing around with the idea of spiders and using two colors of vinyl to make a sign (much like our overlays). I love how it turned out. Now that I've gotten my orange vinyl, I'm thinking of tackling a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern design. It looks like I'll be finishing those after Halloween since this week I am trying to finish up the last of the Friday Frenzy orders, and I also need to help my sister-in-law who just fractured her kneecap and is 3rd term pregnancy. (Yikes!)

I've got one more Halloween inspired idea that I will try & post for you tomorrow. Let me just say, it's gone a long-way in preventing fights over candy. Until then, Happy Fall!
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Halloween Fun

This is a cute little sign I made for my home two years when we were first starting out. We love fall & Halloween around here. There is something in the air when leaves are falling that I just love. Orange reminds me of fall for so many reasons--leaves, pumpkins, Halloween & football (orange & blue were my high school colors).

And speaking of falling leaves, Melissa Allen, who took some of the professional shots for our website, just posted these gorgeous leaves on her photography blog. Check it out.

Still busy

Wow! I'm so excited! The response to the proposed craft day projects has been excellent. The ladies groups put out displays with several different options for vinyl projects (as well as some sewing, painting, card making & the like). Between the various women's groups I'm processing vinyl for over 325+ projects!

One of the most popular items has been the "Believe" blocks. You can see a picture of it below. It's a little hard to see, but instead of a dot for the "i" in believe--there is a gold star. This believe block is a super easy project to do--perhaps that is why it is so popular. :)

I've also been playing around with more project ideas in my head. I've got a couple of ideas for Halloween (now that I have my orange vinyl) that I'm excited to try out. I'll try & post pictures of a the projects I did last year over the next few days.

Another baby card!

So, I still haven't had time to finish assembling my latest stamped card (using Lizzie Anne Designs' High Hellos). But as I was clearing out my stamp room, I found another baby card. This one was my daughter’s birth announcement. I’ve got a tiny “she’s here” embossed in the corner. By Definition (Stampin' Up!) provides the background. I was careful to make sure love showed up in the top corner of all the announcements. It's a pretty simple color scheme, but it works for an announcement.

Do you have a favorite color combination for baby announcements/cards that is a little unusual, or do you stick with the basics too?

Blog Tag - About Me

So blogspot is having another technical error day. I'm not able to upload photos again.

Instead I'll post my answers to the tag game.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) –Cindy Maxima

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Pumpkin Oreo

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) T-Gun. Oooh I sound vicious.

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) –Celadon Tiger .

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Hannah Houston. Okay not really, but it sounds good, right?

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) – Gun-ti –sounds like a Gungan name unless I stick the hyphen in there like Shaak-ti. (Yes I’m a geek).

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) The Red Smoothie.

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)- William Harold

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Colors Twix.

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) none and none…so I will make up one…Jane Lawrence? or better yet... Jane Peters (after two of my favorite authors, Jane Austen & Elizabeth Peters).

Well, enough silliness for now. I've got to play with the kidlets and run some more orders.

Another Tile Idea

Phew! I made it through last week. I finally got a picture posted of the tile project we did. Blogspot was apparently having problems loading photos for a few days.

This week looks like it will be busy as well. My sister-in-law is expecting and getting very close to her delivery date. Consequently she's got several appointments & a birthing class, so I'll be watching her children a few days this week. My own kids have parent-teacher conferences coming up soon too. (Mom duty first guys!) In addition one of my sweet darlings may be having some food sensitivity issues, so I've got to change his diet. Hopefully this will be a positive thing for everyone. Fortunately, of all the children, he loves the biggest variety of foods. Wish me luck with these changes.

I'm posting a picture of another tile we're creating for one of the craft days I mentioned. It's a good reminder that we should take time to enjoy the things around us--not just muddle through the day/week/month/year (take your pick). :D

So even though you may be busy too, enjoy the small things around you. After all, as I've heard it said, "Any day above ground is a good one." :D

Crunch Time!

Well, it's only a week & a half into October--which means it's crunch time. From now until the holidays are over, we'll be going full-speed with our vinyl projects.

I did manage to stamp a new card for WCMD, but haven't been able to assemble or photograph it yet. (Yes, I'm that busy). :D

One of the reasons we've been so busy is all the craft days we're preparing for. In some places they call them Super Saturdays and in others they are Friday Frenzy. Either way it means a ton of cute new projects!

This new tile is one we've done for a church group. It looks nice sitting on an easel (haven't found one I like yet for my home decor) any time of year, or it could be considered a Christmas decoration.

I'll try and keep you posted on any other new projects we've created. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get them up on our Walls of Wisdom website since our webmaster & his wife just had their first baby. (Congrats guys!)

Looking Back in Time for World Cardmaking Day!

Have you heard about World Card Making Day? I heard about it from Lizzie Anne Designs. I think this a wonderful idea, and I'm going to be entering some new creations in their contest. I just got High Hellos in the mail, and after I take care of a couple of vinyl orders I plan on making up a couple of new cards using that set. I'll post them here when I'm done.

For the last couple of months, I’ve been cleaning out my stamp room. Now that I’m no longer a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, (which I did for 8+ years) I find I don’t need any of my set samplers. I've uncovered some buried treasures as well as some cards that make me laugh. (What were we thinking?)

I’ve been turning a few of the nicer card fronts into full-fledged cards. I think I'll use these are my backup cards when I don’t have time to make new creations.

Now as for those cards that make me laugh--as I’ve been looking back I’ve found some cards I made during my early days into stamping. I remember how awed I felt by the things you could do with Brush markers (see the Thank You sample in which we separated the flower from the verse). I also remember my first attempt at a wedding card and my first foray into spectrum pads. I’m posting them here for you to see. Don’t mock—these are from the days when I had only eight pads, two kinds of paper (white & naturals) and a couple of markers. I've definitely come a long way in style and technique since then.

BTW, all sets copyrighted Stampin’ Up! and are retired. If you’re dying to recreate these masterpieces--I’d be happy to sell you the set if I still have it. :P