Happy Halloween!

Hello sweet friends!!

Happy Halloween to you all!! I hope you enjoy the festivities and aren't frightened by too many ghouls and goblins showing up at your door--nor in your stomachs after all that Halloween Candy!

Halloween passed VERY uneventfully here as usual, but I'm a bit sad about the fact that we miss such a big season of tradition, fun and celebrations. Oh well. When my daughters get older we'll definitely have to bring Halloween into our yearly calendar :)

Despite that we didn't celebrate Halloween here, I've been feeling an itch to make a card for the 'season', so here it is:

Here's a little Halloween girl for you, I was going to make her a witches hat but she was just too cute, so rather than go "all-out" I kept it simple and just tried to give a feel of spooky darkness (it's much darker in life than this photo shows due to the camera flash).

Here's what I did:

1. Stamp the girl image on white cardstock using Memento ink
2. Stamp the same image onto Inkadinkadoo Masking Paper, cut out and (temporarily) adhere over original image.
3. Cover a small rounded section of the base of white cardstock (to form the ground)--(I just cut a piece of scrap paper into the right shape as I didn't want to use the Masking paper, because this was particular size and shape for this card.)
4. Ink up the Cloud Background stamp with Stormy Sky ink and stamp. (**NB The masking paper protects the little girl image and makes it look like she's standing in FRONT of the clouds)
5. Ink the Silhouette Grass Stamp with Scattered Straw ink, stamp.
6. Using my blending tool, add some Walnut stain ink to the base of the card to create the ground/dirt she is standing on.
7. Remove the masking paper, color the girl image with copics
8. Stamp Hello Flags stamps onto scrap paper in desired colors.
9. Adhere flags onto cardfront and either draw a black line between to create the banner's "rope" (or cut a thin strip of cardstock and adhere to cardfront underneath pennants)
10. Distress edge of card with scissors or distressing tool
11. Mount onto Black cardstock!

DONE!! It looks like a lot of steps but they're all VERY easy.

Here's what I used:

Hero Arts Clouds Rubber Stamp

Hero Arts Silhouette Grass Stamp

Hero Arts Sweet Wonderful You Stamp 

Hero Arts Hello Flags Stamp 

Foam Blending Tool

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Walnut Stain

Memento Tuxedo black ink

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Stormy Sky

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Pumice Stone

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Clear For Embossing (on inside of card)

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Scattered Straw

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Weathered Wood

Copic Marker X-Press Blending Card

Copic Sketch Markers

Inkadinkado Stamping Mask Paper 12/Pkg 

Bazzill Cardstock Black OP 12 x 12 

Have a FRIGHTULLY wonderful Halloween dear friends!

Till next time--

Linda x

Guest Blogger Virginia Lu and a Challenge!

Hi there friends!! Happy Wednesday!!!

Today I'm SO excited, because we have a special friend of ours visiting, Virginia! 

this was me when Virginia agreed to be a guest blogger :)

Virginia's blog HERE is just fantastic and her creations are even more so.  She's not only funny as all get-out and sweet, thoughtful and just all-around lovely, she's SUPER-creative!!

I check in on Virginia's blog daily (even though I'm signed up for the alerts when a new post comes up, I can never wait!) and I'm consistantly amazed and impressed with not only how versatile Virginia's style is, but what comes out of her inspiration!  

I'm a very "literal translation" kind of girl (maybe it comes from learning languages?!) so when I see an inspiration photo, my 'translation' into a card is usually quite similar to the original. 

Here's an example: I recently participated in the etsy inspired challenge, this was my inspiration photo:

which is from the amazing Becky Kazana's etsy shop (HERE).

and here's what I made:

See what I mean?! LITERAL.  I saw flowers, I made flowers, I saw yellow, I made yellow.  lol!  (You can see the full details of this card HERE)  

But Virginia?! Nuh-uh. She's AMAZINGLY creative and participates in challenges constantly, which has made her a truly innovative cardmaker. 

SO, when she agreed to be a special guest on the a2z blog, we were so excited!!  Virginia's cards are rarely super-extravagant, they're almost never highly embellished.  They're clean and simple, they're sweet and fun and kooky (just like Virginia I think!!).  Hopefully seeing some of her creations will inspire those of you who lack experience (or are just a bit low on mojo).  I know I've used her creations as inspiration MANY times.

Therefore, without further ado, I give you Virginia's first specially designed for our blog Halloween Card "Boo!";

 

See what I mean?! Simple, effective, funny, kooky--FABULOUS!!

Here are some step-by-step instructions straight from Virginia:

1. Stamp house in Versamark and emboss in white on black card stock

2. Cut the house and set it aside

3: Distress the pumpkin color card stock with Antique Linen

4: Run the bottom throught Cuttlbug with Bubbles folder

5: Use hard surfaced sponge and lightly colored the pop-up bubbles

6. Stamp the ghost images in black and cut them out.

7. Plaace all pieces and plan out for space to sentiment

8: Stamp BOO with the Alphabet set and trim and layer them in squares.

9: Apply Glossy Accent on the eyes of ghosts and the letter BOO

and how about this one "

SO CUTE!!! This is my favorite of the two, only because a) I giggled when I saw that little guy sitting in the tree and imagined his crazy high-pitched voice saying YOO HOO!!! and b) that's pretty much what I look like when I wake up in the morning :)

Again, here are some instructions:

1. Stamp house in Versamark and emboss in pink on grey card stock

2. Cut the house and set it aside

3. Distress the grey color card stock with Weathered Jeans 

4. Stamp the pumkins in black card stock and cut out.

5. Stamp the pumpkins in green using masking technique

6. Adhere the pumkins with pop dots

7. Emboss the little owl in white and stamp the branches (using makers or small cubes of ink)

8. Attach raffia at the bottom, place the houses with pop dots

9. Apply Stickles in background for the starry sky

--ooOOoo--

NOW--usually, we give you a list of links for the exact products you'll need to recreate a card or project.  But this time I want to do things a little differently. You will still get a list of products, but the main Hero Arts Stamps that I've listed are slightly different than those Virginia used.

I've done this, because rather than having you all go out and copy Virginia's gorgeous cards down to the letter, I thought--this blog is called "Creativity and Inspiration".  So that's your Challenge--be inspired to make your OWN version! Change things up, make the house different or the tree or the owl a little different, anything!

Use these cards as INSPIRATION for your own creation to come out, not a carbon copy of Virginia's.  Trust me, you'll feel better about it if it's truly yours. 

THEN, we'd love it if you either emailed us with photos of what you make, or uploaded them to our flickr gallery! (Just search on flickr for a2zscrapbookingsupplies)--of course, we'd also love it if you'd join our flickr group!

Show us how someone as amazing and inspiring as Virginia, has inspired you! (I know she'd love to see it too!)

So here are the links:

Stampendous Stamp N Stuff Embossing Powder White Opaque

Tsukineko Tuxedo Black ink

Tsukineko VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen)

Cuttlebug Swiss dots Embossing Folder 

Hero Arts Country Pumpkin Stamp
Hero Arts Two Houses Stamp
Hero Arts Owl-oween Stamp
Tsukineko Tuxedo Black ink  

Copic Markers

Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents

Tim Holtz Distress Ink  (Faded Jeans)
Ranger Frosted Lace Stickles  

umm, how perfect is this?!

Now:  do like the poster says!! GET EXCITED AND MAKE THINGS!!!

A huge thank you to Virginia for these gorgeous creations.

Talk to you soon lovelies--can't wait to see what you make!

Linda xx

Falling for Spellbinders Halloween.

Hello and thanks for joining me again Dear Friends!!

NB: This post was originally for Halloween sales at the store, however, I thought a few of you might still like to see the info about the products.

Happy Fall to you all!!  Here in Australia, Fall (or Autumn as we call it) really isn't that much of an event.  Our leaves don't turn golden and burnt umber in color, we don't really have a 'turning of the leaves'  as such.  Our school year starts in January so we don't celebrate that either. In fact, September is a bit of a quiet month for us--even though it's the beginning of Spring here, it creeps in quietly rather than launches with vibrant colours and birds a-tweetin'. 

HOWEVER!! I've discovered the remedy to this sad state of affairs--it's the new gorgeous line of Spellbinders dies.  In order to really make my September fantastically Fall-like, some of the following are definitely going to have to come home with me :)

I'm so excited by these: 

Spellbinders Assorted Leaves Cut and Emboss Dies

I mean--hello?! GORGEOUS!!! Can you get more Fall than these?? Maybe you can. How about...

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Nested Dies Maple Leaves

*sigh* Maple leaves. I love Maple leaves. So many options with this set of leafy loveliness.  I want to cut hundreds of these out, make a pile of them on the ground and jump on top *giggle*.

Now, I'll share a secret with you all--when I first saw these next two dies, I fell totally in love.

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Assorted Fresh Fruit

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Apples

They are so cute and fresh and pretty...BUT...I said to myself..."What does it have to do with Fall?!"  Linda from a2z quickly explained to me the tradition of Cornicopia at Thanksgiving.  Sounds wonderful--I might have to introduce it into my home!  You know what else I love about them?! They're so versatile! Those apples would be super-cute on a card or note to a teacher, or even on a set of ABC cards for your kids! A is for apple...B is for...you get my drift. *wink!*

I have a question for you all--WHOO loves Halloween?! We do!!! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Owls

My goodness if these owls got any cuter, it would just about be criminal.  I love that they look like a little family.  It took me many viewings of these owls to be able to think of singular uses for them. I just kept imagining them lined up on a tree branch all sleeping together in a little row, looking wise and all-knowing-even with their eyes shut *smile*.  Now that I can tear myself away from the image of a little paper-owl family and consider them individually, the options are almost endless!  They could be spooky and haunting in a dark twisty tree (think Tim Holtz) or cute and kid-friendly with googly eyes.

I think I'll be putting them in a scary old gnarly-looking tree with these guys flying overhead:

Spellbinders Nested Bats

and perhaps some of these sitting around the base of the tree for added effect and spook:

Spellbinders Jack-o-lanterns

*shudders* ...Spine-tingling scary.  You know what would really make these great?! Some bright bright yellow or even gold cardstock or foil behind them to recreat the effect of the glowing candles inside.  These goulish faces would really bring some fright then!

Halloween too, isn't much of anything here in Australia either, but this year--with these products, I'm doing to do my best to bring it back into the spotlight.

Spellbinders Pumpkins Nestabilities Dies

Need I say more? I didn't think so.

For something a bit more gothic, there's always these;

Spellbinders Graveyard Scene and Shapes

or even;

Spellbinders Halloween Fence Scenes

I love love LOVE how much you can mix and match with these sets.  Don't forget you could even team the above images with the Vampire punch from Martha Stewart that we showed you last time.

Now who doesn't love a a nice old lady with a cute cat, a sweeping device, some great boots and a hat??  Don't forget that she brought her crock pot with her!!! She's going to make us stew!!

Spellbinders Witches Brew

What's that you say?! She's going to make us INTO stew?! Oh dear. I might have to give her some of this to see if I can sweeten her up a bit:

Spellbinders Candy Corn Nested Dies

What do you think? Will that make her nicer??  She'd better watch out, with all the SPELLbinders I'll have in my stash, I might have to teach her some manners! *waves wand menacingly*  If she's not careful she'll end up looking like this guy:

Sizzix Movable Skeleton Bigz BIGkick/Big Shot Die

Of course, if you're after something to make your Halloween gifts more personal, hand-made tags are perfect--here's just the thing for you to use!

Sizzix Halloween #2 Embossing Folders

Well my lovelies, I think that's just about all for today.  I hope I've managed to inspire you with some ideas and of course, all of these gorgeous products!

Take care now and see you next time!

Linda x