Special Treats for my Favorite Little Neighbors

Happy All Saints Day!  I am currently coming down from my Halloween sugar high and wanted to share a few things with you.  First, I am blessed with the most amazing neighbors!  Seriously, I could not begin to tell you how wonderful they are - from the retired minister next door to the family with little kids across the street.  Well, I have to confess that each Halloween I have a few favorite neighborhood goblins!

The three children across the street, the children two doors down, and my neighbor Deanna's granddaughter.  Every year I try to come up with something special for my special kids - something other than the fun size milky ways (note - I refuse to admit how many I ate!) that all of the trick or treater receive.  This year I found the cutest candy necklace kits at JoAnn's.  The kits are individually sealed and contain the material to make fun and spooky candy necklaces!

I also found giant candy corn pops for the kids!  What makes these two treats especially great is that one of my little ghouls has an egg allergy, but he can have both of these two treats!!

I tied a thick glossy black ribbon around the candy corn pops to make them a bit more special and I whipped up some quick Cricut bag toppers for the candy necklace kits.   And I will tell you that my kids and their parents liked their special treats - and their milky ways!

Above is a photo from the necklace box showing the completed project.  Below is a photo of my sassy daughter, dressed as an 80's rocker, passing out candy.  She dressed as a 40's movie star for an event last week and decided she liked the "beauty mark".  She then reminded me of all of the 80's rocker girls with beauty marks.

I grabbed a quick photo of two of my favorite neighbors - Christy and Sarah Grace!  Aren't they just adorable?  Christy's mom did a great job on her face make up!  WOW.  And Sarah Grace is the cutest kitty ever!

Remember that I have blog candy up for grabs! To register for the my blog candy give away, please leave a message under yesterday's post and be a blog follower.

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And now for a little Close to my Heart fabulousness!  Don't you just love this fabulous stamp set pictured below?  Wouldn't you love to use this stamp to create your Christmas cards? 

Our new limited time only stamp set, Holiday Wishes, can be yours for $5.00 with a $25.00 acrylic stamp purchase.  That's right, for EVERY $25.00 in stamps you purchase, you can purchase Holiday Wishes for only $5.00*.  

To begin shopping for your acrylic stamps, visit my Close to my Heart on-line store. 

*Do not try to add the new set to your shopping cart, you will be prompted during check out to add the bonus purchase. 

Halloween Greatest Hit - Revisited

Sometimes projects are so fun and so fabulous that they deserve a re-post on the blog.  This haunted house is one of my "Halloween Greatest Hits".  Just as this week is my turn to select the cut for Bitten by the Bug 2 and I chose the flying witch, last year my turn also feel in October.  I was not nearly so easy with last year's challenge cut - I chose the haunted house from the Happy Hauntings.

I think my design team sisters wanted to shoot me but in the end we all made fabulous haunted houses.  And guess what??  The house survived in the top of a closet and is in use again this year!!  I feared that the humidity here in South Carolina might make the house droop, but being the air conditioning addicts we are, the house was fine!

If you have not tried to make on of the 3D houses, I suggest that you challenge yourself to do so.  You will be amazed at what you can do if you just give the house a try.  Sure the house was a lot of work, but I am getting my second year with this great home decor item!!

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I would love to assist you in acquiring the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge and stamp sets. Just click on the cartridge name to visit my Close to my Heart store site.

The Art Philosophy set includes:

CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge (retail $55.99)

Three coordinating stamp sets (retail $17.95 each)

Three chipboard sets (retail $4.95 each)

This is $124.69 value all for $99!!

Also please remember that the deadline for ordering your Stamp of the Month, Holiday Magic set is fast approaching. The stamp set retails for $17.95 but you can order it for $5.00 with any $50 order, but only it is only available until October 31st!!!

Art Philosophy Cartridge and Stamp set $99*

Stamp of the Month set $5*

You save $38.64!!!

* Shipping and taxes are extra 

Trick or Treat Layout

With Halloween coming up next week I decided to share a little Trick or Treats scrapbooking inspiration with you today.  I wish that I had taken more photos of my own children and their trick or treat adventures, though I did photograph them in their costumes. But I do regret the lack of Halloween photos with my children interacting with their friends.

This two page layout was created using CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge and Close to my Heart stamps.  I know I have mentioned this before, but I love adding stamps to my layouts!   I used two charcoal grey 11.5 x 11.5 inch squares of cardstock as backgrounds, framed by 12 x 12 sheets of Kraft cardstock.  Using Close to my Heart Halloween print cardstock, I cut the large tag shaped backgrounds.

I cut two rectangles in Kraft cardstock to used as a large mat.  I also cut the small orange mats with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I used a CTMH small star stamp to stamp a design onto the Kraft cardstock, and then I put a dot of black Stickles in the center of each star.

The large stars were also cut with Art Philosophy and stamped with CTMH star stamps.  I added a black pearl to the center of each larger star.  Also worthy of noting in the photos above and below, I used the edge of the large print background tag as a guide for my journaling. 

The font used on the layout is also from Art Philosophy.  I added a few black pearls and some dots of black Stickles to the letters.   Best of all, this layout was so easy and is something that anyone can make with just the basic Art Philosophy cartridge set.  For details on the Close to my Heart Art Philosophy set and the Stamp of the Month set, please see below.

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I will be back later in the week with additional projects to share. In the mean time, I would love to assist you in acquiring the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge and stamp sets.  Just click on the cartridge name to visit my Close to my Heart store site.

The Art Philosophy set includes:

CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge (retail $55.99)

Three coordinating stamp sets (retail $17.95 each)

Three chipboard sets (retail $4.95 each)

This is $124.69 value all for $99!!

Also please remember that the deadline for ordering your Stamp of the Month, Holiday Magic set is fast approaching. The stamp set retails for $17.95 but you can order it for $5.00 with any $50 order, but only it is only available until October 31st!!!

Art Philosophy Cartridge and Stamp set $99*
Stamp of the Month set $5*
You save $38.64!!!

* Shipping and taxes are extra

Witchy Pillow with Happy Hauntings & BBTB2

Hello everyone, it is another Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday!  I had the pleasure of selecting this week's challenge cut and I chose the FLYING WITCH from the HAPPY HAUNTINGS cartridge!  I love the intensity of this witch's posture - she has "purpose" written all over her.  She must have some Halloween spells to cast or witch's brew to create!

I decided to create home decor project with the witch cut - best of all a reusable project that I can pull out year after year!   I used home decor fabric leftovers from my crafting closet along with Silhouette's FLOCKED HEAT TRANSFER MATERIAL to craft my pillow. 

I placed a 9 x 9 inch square of the flocked heat transfer material onto my cutting mat and cut the witch image at 8 inches.  Following the instructions on the package, using a pressing cloth I ironed the flocked cut onto a square of home decor fabric.   I will add that it took me a few tries to get the hang of how hot the iron had to be and how long the iron had to sit in the same position for the bonding to occur. 

Next I took out my I-Rock tool and assorted color I-Rock gems and bedazzled my witch cut.  I used the hot I-Rock tool edge to outline the cape edges so that gem placement would be easier.  The heated line also defined the areas more clearly.  For those who did not know, I-Rock is great for setting gems onto fabric as well as cardstock/paper. 

Using the leftover home decor fabric from my office window treatments, I was able to sew together this great Halloween home decor pillow.  I photographed the pillow on my bed, simply because it photographed well in that location.  In reality the witch pillow has a spot of honor in an occasional chair in the great room.

Be sure to take time to visit the BBTB2 blog and check out all of the great witchy projects the design team put together!  Also, you may want think about joining the Bitten by the Bug 2 team in this week's challenge and create your own great Witchy project.  If you do not own the Happy Hauntings cartridge, feel free to use a witch from another cartridge in order to join the fun. 

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I will be back later in the week with some fun projects to share.  In the mean time, please remember that I am now a Close to My Heart consultant and would love to help you learn to use the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge and stamp sets. 

Also please remember that the deadline for ordering your Stamp of the Month, Holiday Magic set is fast approaching.  The stamp set retails for $17.95 but you can order it for $5.00 with any $50 order, but only it is only available until October 31st!!!

Hello Kitty Trick or Treat Card

Do you know how much I love Hello Kitty?  My Bitten by the Bug 2 design team sister, the lovely Theresa, actually had no idea that Kitty is one of my favorite characters - and character cartridges - when she selected this Halloween outfitted Kitty as our challenge cut of the week.  But how can you not love a trick or treat Hello Kitty?   

I used Cricut Design Studio and two cartridges to create this card:  Hello Kitty Greetings and Happy Hauntings.  All of the character cuts were from HKG, with only the spiderweb card coming from the Happy Hauntings cartridge.   The spiderweb card was created by welding to spiderwebs together.  I used CDS's Hide Select Contour feature (right click the cut, see the bottom item on the list) to hide the inside cuts on one of the spiderwebs.  The "blacked out" spiderweb became the back of the card.

I cut Kitty at just under four inches tall.  Her costume was cut in cardstock printed on the Imagine machine using Teresa Collin's Black & White cartridge!   Kitty was finished with black micro tipped doodles and a "trick or treat" stamp on her tummy.

Also on the front of the card are two other Halloween cuts from the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge.  I cut the pumpkin at 1.5 inches.  I used Smoochies to highlight the pumpkin cardstock and green Smoochies on the stem area.

The bat was cut at nearly two inches tall.  I used a grey textured striped cardstock for the bat body.  I used copper Smoochies over the grey area to color the bat brown.

I welded the base cuts of each of the three images together and completed the cut in a single piece.  I built the characters on this single cut, then carefully traced the spider lines with glue and glued the Kitty image scene to the spiderweb.    I cut the base cut a second time and glued it to the back side of the spiderweb.

The final additions to the card were orange Smoochies on Kitty's sucker and hairbow.  I also cut the blacked out spiderweb again, one-half inch smaller, in orange cardstock.  I attached the smaller orange cardstock to the inside of the card and stamped a Happy Halloween message in the center.

Thanks for stopping by Busy with the Cricky today.  If you have not already done so, please visit BBTB2 and check out all of the great Kitty designs the design team created this week.  Also, consider playing along with us and entering your own Halloween Hello Kitty project in the weekly challenge.

I will be back tomorrow with an exciting announcement.  I hope you will drop back by.

Halloween Centerpiece a Creepy Vulture

It is Monday and that means it is time for the Bitten by the Bug 2 weekly post.  This week's challenge cut, the Vulture from Cricut's Life's a Party cartridge, was selected by Agnes, my fun design team sister.   I have to admit that I found the vulture to be quite a challenge!  I did not want to do the expected birthday project, so had to put a great deal of thought into this week's project.  I designed a Halloween card that I felt rather indifferent about, but finally Sunday afternoon I had an inspiring thought! 

I remembered that I had this fabulously huge centerpiece vase, with the beads and the candle, that a friend had decorated for my 50th birthday last year.  I took the centerpiece apart, removing black ribbon and flowers, pulling the beads out of the inside, and completely disassembling the birthday vase. 

Using chalkboard vinyl, I cut the vulture from Life's a Party at 3.5 inches tall.  I then cut the graveyard fence from Happy Hauntings at 5.5 inches tall.  I peeled the backing from the vinyl and applied the vinyl to the vase.  Using rusty metallic orange vinyl, I cut the word BOO!, also from the Happy Hauntings cartridge. 

I applied adhesive runner around the top edge of the vase and about one inch from the bottom of the vase. Using black and silver beads, the top of the vase was decorated in a random draping design.  I was pleased that the adhesive held the beads in place.  I trimmed the length of a strand of silver beads and pushed them into the adhesive on the bottom of the vase.   I finished the project by wrapping silver beads around the candle in a criss-cross pattern.

I photographed the centerpiece in two different areas of my house.  I really liked it sitting on the baker's rack (pictured below) but the lighting was not good and I kept getting glare in the photos.  I found the photos above, on the coffee table, showed the details of the cuts far better. 

If you have not already done so, head over to the Bitten by the Bug 2 blog and checkout the design team's great projects.  Also, please consider playing along with us this week and post your project in the Mr. Linky area under this week's post at BBTB2.

Thanks for stopping by today, I will be back with more projects to share this week. 

She Turned Me Into A WHAT????

Happy Monday!  Today I am sharing this week's Bitten by the Bug 2 weekly challenge project.  The Cricut cartridge challenge cut of the week was selected by my design team sister, Carrie from DoubleClick Connections - AKA Abusybee Blog, who chose the cute frog from Cricut's Create a Critter cartridge. 

Given that today is the third day of October and OCTOBER brings constant thoughts of Halloween, I chose to go with a Halloween themed card. My theory is that every witch has a story that involves a frog. Perhaps the frog was a prince or perhaps he was a two legged human toad. Either way, the witch had a plan when she turned him into a frog. In my card, the frog was neither prince nor toad, but a nice man. And he is incredulous that he has been turned into a frog!  And yet, he is smiling because he is trying to make the best of the situation.

The crazy little witch (from Mini Monsters) is doing a happy dance with her arms and legs flying out, so thrilled is she that her frog spell worked.  Since she had planned to stay in and work today, the witch is not wearing her usual black outfit that she wears in public.  She is wearing her witch's "lounge at home" wear, hoping the color is becoming with her green complexion. 

In front of the background moon, I added the Have a Wicked Halloween tag.  I cut the tag using the Close to My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge and stamped the phrase with a stamp from the Close to my Heart September stamp of the month.  For more information on the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge, click on the name to go to Melanie's CTMH site. 

I used the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge and cut a cauldron for my witch's use.  I added a bit of white foam to the top of the cauldron.  The pumpkins are from a chipboard sticker set. 

Inside the gate fold card (built with George and Basic Shapes) I added a grey journaling rectangle along with a line of pumpkins and a phrase strip.

I designed this project as a gate fold card with the Halloween scene on the front of the card.  I welded a circle, the witch, cauldron, and the frog shadow images together to create a scene background.  I attached the scene to the right side of the gate fold card. 

Before I close I want to share with you the cute decoration I purchased last Friday.  I found these eyeballs while waiting to have dinner at a Cracker Barrel in Conyers, Georgia.  I was on my way home from returning Ian to Atlanta.  I thought these eyeballs were just too cute.  They are actually salt and pepper shakers, but they were not sold in sets, but individually.  I grabbed a few (at $1.00 each!) and was quite pleased with my purchase!!

I will be back tomorrow to share a Man Card - a fall man card!!  Thanks for stopping by today!