Creating Me

Hello Baby (Handmade Card)

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

My friend recently asked me to make her a card for a baby shower. Usually an easy card to make – but this time, the baby’s room was decorated in earthy colors with llamas and succulents. A bit more challenging! 😉

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I don’t have any llama stamps but I remembered I do have this Plant Kindness Background stamp from Unity Stamp Company which has lots of succulents.

I didn’t want to use the entire stamp so I just used the bottom row of succulents on my card. A little trick for inking up just part of a stamp is to put tape (scotch or washi) over the part of the stamp you don’t want to stamp. Ink up the stamp, take the tape off, and stamp the image onto your card stock. On this particular stamp, I covered the 2nd to bottom row of the stamp with tape, inked up the bottom row, removed the tape, and stamped my image onto white card stock.

I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp my image on white card stock and colored it with Copic markers. Using the Deckle & Stitches Nesting Die Set from Unity Stamp Company, I die cut around the image. Then I die cut dark terra cotta card stock and layered the stamped piece to it. I die cut dark green card stock and attached it to a light terra cotta card. The stamped image is attached to the card with foam tape. I stamped the sentiment with black ink on light terra cotta card stock, die cut around it, and attached it to the card with foam tape. My “hello baby” stamp is discontinued, but any simple baby sentiment would work.

This card can be used for so many other occasions – just change the sentiment! Thank you, thinking of you, or happy birthday would work great with this layout!

Sometimes it’s fun to be challenged and to think outside the box! This was a fun card to make. 🙂

Anita

Posted in Baby, Cards, Stamping | Tagged Baby, Cards, Stamping | Leave a comment

Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

Pumpkins and apples are 2 of the best flavors of Fall! Add in some maple syrup, cinnamon, and a few other things to make this delicious Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal from Recipe Runner. It is the perfect Fall comfort food. 🙂

Here it is ready to bake and fresh from the oven! Your kitchen will smell amazing! 😋 I followed the recipe except I used 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice in place of the individual spices listed in the recipe because I had in it my pantry.

This is so good fresh from the oven with a little maple syrup drizzled over the top. It’s also tasty at room temperature. You can store the Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days – if it lasts that long! Warm it in the microwave for a quick breakfast or after school snack. It also freezes well. Divide it into individual servings and pull it out when you want a taste of Fall. 🍁🍂🍁😋

You can find the full recipe for Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal here from Recipe Runner. There are tons of other recipes on her site that look very tasty, too! 😊

Anita

Posted in Fall, Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged Fall, Recipe | Leave a comment

Little Muslin Fall Treat Bags

Posted on October 13, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

These little cotton muslin drawstring bags are the perfect size for treat bags. They measure about 4 by 6 inches and you can fit several fun size candies in the bag. I’ve stamped on them for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. This year I added Fall to the list. 🙂

I wanted the bags to work for the entire Fall season so I used a pumpkin stamp rather than a Jack-O-Lantern. Of course, you can totally use a Halloween themed stamp instead! 🎃

Both my pumpkin and sentiment stamps are older discontinued stamps from my collection. This set from Hero Arts has a smilier pumpkin stamp. This set by Photoplay has some fun Halloween sentiments. And this set also by Photoplay has some great Fall sentiments. Any simple stamp and Fall sentiment from your collection will work on your bags.

I used dye ink to stamp my pumpkin with orange ink (this is a similar orange ink) and my sentiment with green ink (this is a similar green ink). I slipped a piece of scrap card stock into my bags before stamping to make sure the ink didn’t go through to the back of my bags. So quick and easy!

You can stamp a lot of these bags in just a few minutes and they make giving a treat a little more fun! 🎃🍁🍂

Anita

Posted in Fall, Gifts, Stamping | Tagged Fall, Gift, Stamping | Leave a comment

Boo! from Eeyore (Handmade Card)

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

Even in disguise, Eeyore could never by scary! This is another cute stamp set from Unity Stamp Company called Winnie the Pooh: Eeyore – BOO-tifully Disguised. He makes the best Halloween card! 🎃

I stamped Eeyore with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white card stock and colored it with Copic markers. I used the Deckle & Stitches Nesting Die Set from Unity Stamp Company to cut around the image. I used the same die set to cut a piece from orange card stock and patterned paper. I applied black to the edges of the stamped piece and the orange card stock using a sponge dauber and then attached the stamped piece to the card stock. I attached a piece of orange card stock to a white card, leaving a small border of the card showing, and attached the patterned paper. The stamped image is attached to the card with foam tape.

My “boo” stamp is an older discontinued stamp that I had in my collection. Any of your smaller Halloween sentiment stamps would work great. (This set has some fun sentiments.) I stamped it with black ink on orange card stock, die cut around it with the same die set I used on Eeyore, and inked the edges of the piece with black ink. I attached it to the corner of the Eeyore piece.

Such a fun card using one of my favorites! Eeyore always makes me smile. 🎃

Anita

Posted in Cards, Fall, Stamping | Tagged Cards, Fall, Stamping | Leave a comment

Fall Flower Wreath

Posted on October 10, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

When I pulled out my Fall decorations, I noticed that my front door wreath had seen better days. My door faces east, so it gets the morning sun and my wreath had really faded over the last couple of years. I wanted to make a new one, but wanted it to be simple. I came up with this Fall Flower Wreath and you can make it in less than 30 minutes! 😊

This is one of the easiest wreaths to make. All you need is a floral wreath form (mine measures 15.6 inches), your favorite flower stems (I got floral bushes with several flowers on each one), and your glue gun.

First you’ll want to clip off your flowers with wire cutters, leaving a small portion of the stem as shown in the right picture below. Next poke it into your wreath to make a hole and push the flower flush with the wreath form, making sure it doesn’t go out through the back of the wreath. If the stem is too long, just trim a little more off. Pull the flower out, add a little hot glue to the stem (I forgot to take a pic of that 🙃), and push it back into the hole on the wreath form. Continue around your wreath until it is completely covered. I pinned a small piece of ribbon to the back of my wreath for hanging.

This is my wreath on my front door. Very simple, but it is just what I had in mind. 🙂 I had the hardest time getting the true colors of my flowers in my pictures. The actual colors are somewhere in-between the picture above and the picture below. But they really are the rich colors of Fall. 🍁🍂🍁

There are so many possibilities with making a wreath this way. Pick your favorite flowers in your favorite colors and you can have a new wreath for your front door in less than 30 minutes. 😊

Anita

Posted in Decor, Fall, Uncategorized | Tagged Decor, Fall | 2 Comments

Halloween Boo!

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

This Boo! sign and little ghost ornamnets came from Dollar Tree. They have had them in the Fall for several years, but I’m not sure if they had them this year. My local Dollar Tree has been kind of hit or miss with things lately and I didn’t see them. But I had them in my craft stash so I pulled them out to make a fun Halloween Boo! sign. 👻👻

I painted the word with black acrylic paint and painted the little ghosts with white acrylic paint. (Need to stock up your craft room? This is a great set of acrylic paints.) Once the paint was dry, I used a small round sponge dabber from this set and randomly applied white and orange dots to the BOO! I used E6000 clear adhesive to glue the ghosts to the word. I tied orange dotted ribbon into a tiny knot and glued them to ghosts as little bow ties.

It turned out super cute! It has an attached twine hanger for putting it on your wall or door. You can also prop it up on a shelf or your mantel – you might want to remove the twine hanger or tuck it behind the top of the “B”. (I forgot to do that in the pic on the right above!) 🙃

A few years ago, I used the BOO! in another project. You can see it in this post.

This is a fun project that you can make in an hour or so. It will be a cute addition to your Halloween decor. 👻👻

Anita

Posted in Decor, Fall, Uncategorized | Tagged Decor, Fall | Leave a comment

Trick or Treat (Handmade Card)

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

How could you not give a treat to sweet Pooh and Piglet? They are so cute all dressed up and ready for candy. 🎃

This adorable stamp set is called Winnie the Pooh: Winnie the Boo & Piglet from Unity Stamp Company. I know I use stamps from Unity a lot 😉 – but how can I not?!?! They have the best images and the quality is amazing! You really should check them out. 😊

To make the card, I stamped the Pooh & Piglet image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white card stock and colored it with Copic markers. Using the Scallops & Squares Nesting Dies from Unity Stamp Company, I die cut around the image and layered it to purple card stock cut with the same die set.

I trimmed 2 pieces of coordinating patterned paper and attached them to the front of a white card. Then I added a strip of a 3rd patterned paper over the seam where the other 2 pieces came together.

I stamped the sentiment with black ink on white card stock. Using the Scalloped & Stitched Sentiment Nesting Dies from Unity Stamp Company, I die cut around the sentiment and layered it to purple card stock cut with the same die set. The sentiment is part of the Winnie the Pooh: Trick or Treat stamp set also from Unity – another very cute set!

Pooh and Piglet are attached to the card using foam tape. The sentiment is attached directly to the card. I finished it off with 2 ghost buttons I had in my craft stash.

Pooh and Piglet will always bring a smile – and they’re so cute in their Halloween costumes! 🎃

Anita

Posted in Cards, Fall, Stamping | Tagged Cards, Fall, Stamping | 2 Comments

Decorating My Fireplace For Halloween and Fall

Posted on October 3, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

Do you like to decorate for the Fall season? Except for Christmas, it’s my favorite season to decorate for. 🍁🍂🎃 I love the rich colors and despite what my husband says, you can never have too many pumpkins. 😉

I do a little decorating for Halloween, but my collection of Fall decor is much larger. 😉 You can see my mantel below all decked out for Halloween. When November 1st comes around, I’ll put away the Jack-O-Lanterns along with the other Halloween things and add in any Fall decor I haven’t already put out.

Here are a few closer pictures of some of my Fall craft projects. I’ll include links to posts with all the details on how to make them. 😊

The details for making my cute Halloween Garland are here. 🎃👻

You can find this fun BOO! sign in this post.

The little BOO blocks are here and the Crochet Candy Corn Pumpkin pattern is here.

This pretty Paper Mache Pumpkin is in this post.

And there is a link to the pattern for this cute Crochet Pumpkin Rattle (without the rattle) in this post and for the fun Cuddly Crochet Candy Corn here.

On November 1st, I’ll change my Halloween Garland out for this Fall Garland until it’s time to decorate for Christmas. This year is going by so fast!! 🍂🍁

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my Fall decor and that I’ve inspired you to create something fun for your home! 🎃🍁🍂

Anita

Posted in Crochet, Decor, Fall | Tagged Crochet, Decor, Fall | 2 Comments

A Simple Fall Thank You Card

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

This clean and simple Fall Thank You Card comes together quickly. It will only take a few minutes to make and sometimes simple is just the thing!

The pumpkin is an old stamp from Hero Arts. The stamp is discontinued, but they have this set that includes a great pumpkin stamp. Also, any simple Fall stamp you have in your collection will work. I stamped the pumpkin with orange ink on white card stock. Using the Scallops & Circles Nesting Dies from Unity Stamp Company, I die cut around the image. I applied orange ink to the piece using this Blender Brush from Taylored Expressions. Using the same die set, I die cut a piece of green card stock and layered the pumpkin image to it.

I stamped “thanks” with green ink on white card stock, punched around it with a label punch, and brushed on orange ink. Both the stamp and punch I used are no longer available, but this stamp is similar. And this punch can make any length banner. Or use your favorite sentiment and punch from your collection.

I attached a piece of orange patterned paper to a white card and added a strip of coordinating patterned paper. I attached the pumpkin to the card with foam tape and then attached the sentiment to the card.

This layout can work for any type of card by simply changing the main stamped image, sentiment, or color scheme. It’s a great layout if you need a quick card. 😊

Anita

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If Friends Were Pumpkins (Handmade Card)

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Anita

Hi friends,

This cute little guy is from the Bootiful Friend stamp set by Unity Stamp Company. I love the sweet sentiment that’s also in the set! 🎃

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white card stock and colored it with Copic markers. I used the Scallops & Rectangles Nesting Dies from Unity Stamp Company to die cut around the image. I stamped the sentiment with black ink on white card stock and punched around it with an oval punch.

I attached a piece of patterned paper to a purple card. The pumpkin image is attached to the card with foam tape. The sentiment is attached to the upper left corner of the pumpkin piece. To finish the card, I added 3 purple Dew Drops.

What a fun way to send your friends a little Halloween smile! 🎃

Anita