Happy Pumpkin Day!

I'm going out on a limb and say that the Stephanie Bernard Sizzix Fold-it Pumpkin die was really popular this year.  I base that assumption on the contents of my mailbox this season:

 

Almost Halloween

I figure I'd better share the Halloween cards I made this year or else I'll have to save them until next year. I'm sure they would be stale by then, just like candy corn.

Then I got really ambitious and made this Halloween waterfall card.

The Fine Print: The local grocery store started selling candy corn in early September. When I laughed about it, I was told that it had been in the back room for 2 months already and the manager wanted it out of there. So no one can tell me that candy corn is fresh, ever. Top card: greeting by PSX, owl and papers by Stampin' Up, second card all by SU, third card monster by Paper Smooches, chipboard topper from K and Co., dracula card 3D stickers by Recollections, waterfall card stamps by SU. 

Halloween Cat

Hi. My name is Cindy and it's like cat blog hopping thing again today so I thought I'd tell you a little about myself. I'm very soft and pretty and loveable but there are rules. One of the rules is I get 400 attentions every day or else then I cause troubles.

The best thing ever is my favorite toy--it is a fish plushie. My mom's friend gived it to me when my mom's fish died. My mom seems to think it was for her. My mom steals my planet Mercury squishie ball all the time so I can have her fish. His name is Norman. I have a red big nosed mousie too and he is the best thing ever.

I like to eat salad, because a girl has to watch her figure. That's me in the picture after I finished my salad. I like spring mix. It is the best thing ever. Sometimes I eat spinach. That's the best thing ever too. Don't give me iceberg because that's not even real lettuce. I eat cheese too and that's the best thing ever. Did you know I just learned that crab meat is the best thing ever? I just had some for the first time this weekend and now I have to have some all the time. I put an order in on the grocery list. I can tell time and when the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 5 I get my dinner. I have to remind my mom because she can't tell time.

I have a best friend ever and his name is Joel. He flies around outside in circles and circles really fast. He is a mummingbird. I'm not allowed outside because dad says there are dragons out there. Joel says he saw one once and it said "City Bus" on the side. How scary!

Oh, do you want to know what is the best thing ever?  It's this Halloween card my mom made:

Did that spook you? That's good because it is Halloween time and you are supposed to be spooked. And give me treats.

That's the end.

The Fine Print: Zombie baby from the Spirit Store, stamps from Stampin' Up, embossing folder by Tim Holtz. 

Dear Cat, the Earth is Tilting

The Cat Lovers Hop has started! I hope you are emotionally prepared for all things catty for the next few days.  In honor of the CLH I have a cat story for you.

Every morning I find myself explaining to the cat about axial tilt and seasonal changes. Explaining that to a cat is rather like explaining quantum physics to... to... ...to a 50 year old school secretary.

See, Charles likes to see the sunshine streaming in through the kitchen window in the morning. He trots around chirping and purring until you open the blinds. Then he rushes over the wall where the sunshine hits. What he really likes about the sunshine is the shadows it makes as it comes through the various plants and things on the porch. He likes windy days when the shadows move. He likes it when I make my lunch and cause shadows in his stream of sunshine. He really likes it when my sparkly bracelet catches a ray and leaves sparkly bits all over the walls and ceilings.

But alas, the seasons are changing and every morning Charles escorts me down the hall to the kitchen telling me about his day and how he just can't wait to see the sun and how I'm the best mom ever for inviting the sun into our house.  Then I open the blinds and no sun.

No sun! Then Charles has an emotional meltdown that parents of toddlers will recognize. He squawks, he chirps, he runs around after me and runs back to the wall still devoid of shadows. He will not let me be until I fix it. For awhile there I got away with telling Charles the sun was sleeping in and will be by to visit soon, but now the tilt is too far for the sun to reach into the kitchen window.

I feel bad for Charles because you can see how upset he is. So this morning I was pleased when I noticed out the front window that sun had gotten up and was making long shadows across the front yard. "Charles, Charles! Come here! Your friend the sun is playing in the front yard today!" Charles came running because he comes when you call, expecting great things of you. Charles leaped into the window and saw the sunbeams. He was really happy.

That is right up until he realized those shadows weren't doing anything. They weren't moving the wind (since there wasn't any), his mom wasn't going to walk through them as she made her lunch and no mysterious bracelet sparkles were going to show up to entertain him.

Then with a crashing of gears, motors and metal the trashmen turned onto our street. "Oh look, Charles! The Green Men are here!" Charles watched with fascination as this huge noisy truck reached out an arm, plucked up the garbage can from across the street and dumped into the big hole in it's back. Charles quivered and looked at me in alarm. If he could talk, you just know he'd say, "Mom! The Green Men are taking those people's things! They are talking those people's things!" I know Charles would say that because he is concerned whenever the Blue Men come and take "the important things Dad put in that blue bin" in front of our house.

So for whatever reason I decided to explain it to Charles in kid-talk. I told him that both the Green Men and the Blue Men liked to get presents so we put presents in green or blue bins and put them on road for them to come get. I reminded him how everyone likes presents, which Charles could relate to. When I left that morning, Charles was sitting in the window waiting for the Blue Men to come get presents his Dad left them on the sidewalk in the blue bin. You could see the wheels turning in his little cat brain. I'm sure he was wondering if there were cat treats or fuzzy balls in the blue bin. After all, those are the best presents.

The Fine Print: Greeting stamp by Stampin' Up, stickers from Recollections, other stuff from my stash. BTW, the Green Men don't come down our side of the street, they visit us in the alley, but Charles doesn't care what happens in the alley. 

Ooh! Lookie!

Lookie! Lookie! That always in a hurry guy with brown shorts and a brown truck brought me brand new goodies!  Feast your eyes upon new stuff.  Gotta like that!

The Fine Print: New stuff by Stampin' Up. OMG! The old stuff on this card is by Stampin' Up too. Ha! Nope, no stamping here except for the greeting. It's all punched or cut out of DSP.

Funky Fronted Halloween Card

Happy Spooky Day to y'all. I thought I'd share this fronted gatefold card with you. The base design is your average gatefold card but the left side gets a card front that covers the whole card when closed. When you pull it open it stands up nicely and gives you lots of room to decorate or write messages.  It was a fun card to make. Have a great day and remember..... if the broom fits, fly it!

The Fine Print: Probably mostly likely all supplies by Stampin' Up.

Steampunk Pussy

Did you know that tomorrow is Halloween?! 

Well, it is. 

The Fine Print: Stamp by Stampendous, bat from Recollections, and other parts from my stash. 

Cat Lovers Day 2 - Holiday Kitties

It's Day 2 for the Cat Lovers Hop over at Her Peaceful Garden. Be sure to check out all the wonderful cat themed projects we've got going on.

I've got a two-fur to share with you today. We'll do this in chronological order.  First up I have a sweet little mummy kitty for Ike's Meowolloween challenge over at Show Us Your Pussies.

Next up I have a Christmas kitty that I'll share over at Scrappymo's Rudolph Day Challenge. I used those fun holly leaves that I got last year. They came on small sprigs and I just pluck them off to use on my creations.

I got home so late last night after a rainstorm made the world dark and wet. The street lamps and parking lot lamps didn't come on and I almost got run over and drowned in the PetSmart parking lot. Even though I missed the deadline for linking up I still want to share part of my cat stash with you because this photo includes a cat.  You know, Dio likes to be included.

Have a Happy Day! Cuz Dio says so!

The Fine Print: Buddy and Mummy stamp by Whippersnapper. Kitty and Mouse stamp by Penny Black. Brand new bag of cat food from PetSmart (they are not impressed by it, darn cats). 

Simply Simple

After yesterday's junk card experience I had to tone it down a bit. Well, actually I had to tone it down a whole lot.

These simple layered notecards are about all I have the energy for these days--just a few layers with some fun papers and ribbon for a bit of interest.

The Fine Print: Cat stamp by Hero Arts, ribbon and black cardstock from my stash, all other products by A Muse. 

Junk Pizza

You've heard of  goulash right? It's where you throw all the leftover meats and veggies into a stew and call it good.  Junk pizza is the pizza equivalent of that. I suspect junk pizza is how the pineapples on pizza craze started. Anyway, it is a good way of using up lots of the leftovers but sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.

This is a junk Halloween card, where I tried to use up some of the leftovers and excessive parts I have lying around. I'm not sure if it works or not. It feels so cluttered to me. It might be the excessive patterning on it--little dots, stripes, chevrons, and webs or it just might be that I don't normally throw everything onto a card.

Check it out--I even junked up the inside for good measure. *sigh*

The Fine Print: Buddy's Mummy stamp by Whipper Snapper, web border die by Memory Box, all other stuff from my stash.

Spooky Birds

Hi. My name is Charles. I'm kinda shy around peoples I don't know, okay? My mom asked me to do a guest post for her cuz she doesn't have any oxygen. She's coughing and coughing, and probably has bubonic plague. I keeped a close eye on her to see if she's gonna turn into a zombie. Not yet.

Here's a spooky card for a spooky day.

The Fine Print: My mom said I had to write about the card here. It has purples on it and birds. Then she said Inkadinkado. I think she's trying to cast spells. 

Magic in the Night

This pumpkin face reminds me of me when I'm trying to smile when I really want to just slap someone upside the head, with a brick. He's kind of silly.

The Fine Print: All products by A Muse Studio "You're Legendary" stamp set, jack tag and tag bundle dies, and Halloween collection washi tape. 

Quote the Raven

"Whatever"

The Fine Print: Wait, you didn't think this raven was going to say "Nevermore" did you?! He's probably actually a crow anyway. Stamp by PSY, pumpkin paper from my friend.

Ghostly Goblins

Did you know that Halloween happens later this month? Yes indeedy pie. It's time to dust off that broomstick and hat and be true to your inner witch.

I said "witch" you!

The Fine Print: Designer paper by DCWV, topper by K and Co., cardstock and fuzzy ribbon from my stash. 

I Want My Mummy!

You know what else besides zombies are cool?

MUMMIES!

Unless, of course, it is my mummy. Then it's all, "You never call me." "Sit up straight--don't slouch." "Eat your peas." "Your face is going to freeze like that." "Because I said so, that's why."

Maybe mummies aren't so cool after all.  Sorry, mummy.

The Fine Print: Mummy by Stampabilities, designer paper by DCWV, poofy bat sticker by the poofy bat sticker people, ribbon from my stash. 

Zombies are your Friend

I don't know about you but I'm tired of blue/green/yellow boat cards and blue/cream/brown puppy and kitty cards. Like I mentioned in yesterday's post I learned that there really can be too much of a good thing.

Unless it is a zombie. You can't have too many zombies.

The Fine Print: My logic may be a little faulty. Zombie stamp by Stampotique, chevron ribbon by A Muse Studio, spotted paper and flowers from my stash.

Boo Bats

I did a lot of this and that this weekend. One of the things I did was make some Halloween cards, like this one. It feels a wee bit early for Halloween however.

Although hubby says that a neighbor has decorated their gate with a witch hat already, so either it isn't really too early for Halloween or else their mother-in-law was visiting...

The Fine Print: Bats by Inky Antics, Boo by A Muse Artstamps, dies by Spellbinders, designer paper from a friend and ribbon from my stash. 

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream...

for Halloween!

Yeah, I know it is still a bit mature but I can't help but get excited by the latest collection from A Muse Studio. It's all about that spooky time of the year. I showed you the coffin treat box (to die for--ha!) and now here is the "You're Legendary" stamp set.

I made one ultra spooky card and one more lighthearted card for the weak-kneed of you.

Enjoy!

The Fine Print: Most products by A Muse studio except bare tree die (Memory Box), fence and graveyard border punches (Martha Stewart), button die (Impression Obsession) and pinking edge (honest to gosh pinking sheers). A Muse products used: "You're Legendary" stamp set and matching die set, pumpkin, Sleepy Hollow print, onxy, Seattle, kraft, sugar, hibiscus, lime, and orange petite hexagon print cardstock.

OMG It's Almost Halloween!

It turns out that I may be a bit premature (the only kind of mature I ever am) about my call for Halloween. Luckily, that isn't stopping A Muse Studio as they have brought out a fun and fabulous Halloween collection this month.

OMG! They have a some really great stamp sets and dies. Since I'm on a strict stamp budget I had to pick and choose carefully. I don't usually make things that aren't cards, but I HAD to have this coffin shaped treat box. HAD TO.

I'm sure you can see why. It has some other dies to decorate it with besides the traditional skull and crossbones. There are bats, stars and the number 31. My little stamp club is going to make some of these next time we get together. We might even have actual Halloween candy to put in it. I heard rumors that that stuff is already out there for purchase!

The Fine Print: Creepy Coffin Die set from A Muse Studio, available as part of the August monthly collection (meaning this month only).

You Can't Make Me!

I don't wanna write a blog post today!  Don't wanna! You can't make me!  Waaah!  I don't wanna do nothing. I just want to throw myself on the floor and pout.

Okay?

The Fine Print: Actually throwing myself on the floor and pouting sounds like a good way to get crippled. And stepped on.  Card made with leftover bits from my iris folding class with a DeNami greeting. I may be suffering from the effects of a wicked poisonous Arizona bug. Or not. But something definitely bit me on my hand three times leaving me with big red and purple welts. Good times!