Helloooo, friends!! It's been a minute since my last post, so I'm glad to be back with some fun projects to share with you all weekend and into next week, for the Papertrey August Countdown. I hope you'll plan to pop in each day and see what's new! This month is giving me allllll the warm and cozy feels, as I think about fall and about what life was like last fall.....about how HARD things were last fall and then about that amazing middle-of-the-night transplant phone call in October. I missed out on so much of fall last year between being so sick and then being in D.C. for the transplant just as the temps and colors were starting to change here at home, and then being in the hospital and missing those changes even in D.C, because they were a bit ahead of us in terms of weather and such. It was already pretty cold there. SO, I'm very much looking forward to really enjoying the upcoming fall season and celebrating all that the Lord has brought us through and all that He's done in our life since last year! But really, who am I kidding? Every day is a celebration around here! Ha!
So all of this month's new releases, with their bent towards all things fall and Halloween and pumpkins and cozy......they're just making me so excited! I mean, last year, we had invited all of our neighbors to pop over for chili on Halloween night, since we knew we'd have trick-or-treaters in and out. We knew I couldn't eat anything myself, but because I couldn't eat, it had been making it really hard to invite people over to eat with us. No one wants to sit and eat in front of someone who can't! BUT, we really wanted to be able to bless our neighbors in that way, and Halloween is a night when everyone is either out and about with their kids or they're opening their own door to the neighborhood, and since we knew we'd have a steady flow of visitors, it seemed like a great time to invite our neighbors in for a meal, because that night, of all nights, it wouldn't require me to sit down and watch them eat. Does that make sense? It was the perfect night to have them over without making anyone feel bad that I couldn't eat while they did. I'd be answering the door and passing out candy and it was a way to make the meal a lot more casual, and yet give us an opportunity to spend a bit of time with our neighbors and also, for our neighbors to all get to know each other a bit better, too. HOWEVER, the Lord had other plans! We got the transplant call on October 27 in the middle of the night and I had the transplant on October 28 in the middle of the night. Needless to say, we had to text all our neighbors quickly and un-invite them for Halloween chili! Ha! SO, I'm sure you can imagine how I'm hoping to spend this Halloween! ;)
But enough about all of that. We still have two whole months for you to listen to me talking about all of the events leading up to the transplant! Ha! How about we get to some new products and some cute projects, huh?
All of the new products you're getting peeks at this week will be available for purchase at Papertrey Ink beginning on August 15 at 10pm EST.
(Affiliates Disclaimer: Just so you know, I sometimes use affiliate links here on my blog, which means that I participate in several affiliate programs, in which I may receive a small commission when you click one of these links and purchase a product at the corresponding product site (usually within a certain amount of time). There are no additional costs for you as a result of these links, but by shopping through these links, you are not only supporting me and the work I do here in the Raspberry Suite studio, but you're also helping me to continue to bring you beautiful content and inspiration here at my blog, for free! Please know that I share products with you that I use and enjoy and I make every effort to represent those to you honestly. Thanks so much, friends, for your support! I appreciate you!)
So for this first card, I used three new stamp sets and some new dies, too! I started out by cutting out a piece of kraft card stock with my new Scallop Stackers: Small dies!! Yep, you guys have loved the two larger sizes of Scallop Stackers, so I'm happy to be bringing you a third set! So on that kraft layer, I stamped a couple of the different spider web images from the new Corner Adorner: August set by Lizzie Jones. I then added some pumpkins from Heather Nichols' new Grins & Ghouls and A Bit More Grins & Ghouls sets, and did a bit of ink blending on the bottom of the pumpkins for some shading and interest. I love how canyon clay and terracotta tile look when blended together.
As for the sentiments, I used a couple from the new Sentiment Staples: Halloween, as well as the "Trick or Treat" from Grins & Ghouls.
Also, one other thing of note.....and this may not be a big deal to some of you. But if you like to use foam adhesive but don't love paying a lot for it, I'd like to highly recommend the gigantor role of foam adhesive that I've linked below in the supply list. I used to buy pre-cut foam adhesive (little hexagons, I think they were), from Stampin' Up! years ago. Loved them but wanted something more affordable, as I use a lot of foam adhesive in this line of work! ;) So I started buying the store brand of foam adhesive squares at Michael's. I bought those for a lot of years. Then, one year, we had a Papertrey Stamp-a-faire live event and Lizzie Jones came (this was before she was on the design team!). She was crafting away at the table where I was teaching a make-and-take and she whipped out the most enormous roll of foam adhesive I'd ever seen in my life!! Hahahahaha!! I honestly had no idea they even made such a big roll! I mean, to be fair, it's maybe only a foot or foot and a half in diameter, so it's not like you need a dolly to wheel it around or anything, but compared to my tiny packs of adhesive, this thing was huge! Lol!!! I remember laughing with her about it because I think the poor girl got teased by just about everyone for bringing that gigantic roll of foam tape! BUT, I'm sure not laughing now, because turns out, the girl's not wrong about the stuff!!!! HAHA! I texted her one day last year or maybe it was technically 2016, and asked her if what I was about to buy on amazon was THE TAPE she used all the time, and yes, in fact, it was. SO, I bought a roll of it and wondered how long it would last me. Not counting the time I was off work for the transplant, I think my roll lasted for about 9 months of actual crafting! NINE months and I used a LOT of foam tape on those projects! Because I had such a giant roll, I felt like I didn't need to skimp on my cards, so I piled it on (when the card necessitated it, of course) and still, it lasted me for nine months or so. I JUST had to bust out a new roll of it this week! SO, all of that is just to say, I share that link with you here, because I buy it. I use it. And I am most definitely a fan. ;) (Thanks, Lizzie! I'm sorry if I laughed at you all those years ago! Haha!!!)
{Trick or Treat Card supplies -- click on thumbnails}
Ok, so next up, I've got a really quick and easy Halloween treat for you that would also be great as a party favor at a kids birthday party! I used Lexi Daly's new Scared Silly stamp set which is comprised of lots of monster building bits and pieces so you can create whatever little monsters you can dream up. I started out with the small glassine bags that Papertrey carries, and filled each one with dark chocolate m&m's (which are a staple around here!), but you could of course use Reese's Pieces or candy corn or whatever candy you prefer.
Next, I die cut several Tag Sale #12 tags (still my favorite tag die ever!) as well as some of the large circles that come in that die set, and then, I stamped monsters on each circle. I popped the circles on the tags with foam adhesive (Thank goodness I have a giant new roll! Haha!).
I used a small hole punch to punch a hole in the top corner of each bag and tied the tags on with a bit of baker's twine from my stash. Easy peasy.
Aaaaand, this is a really fun part where you get to put to use some of those hoards of washi tape you may have in your stash!!!! Wink! If you're like a lot of the countless paper crafters in this world, we can't resist washi tape, right? But then we get it and we don't know what to do with it! Hahaha! I get asked about this from time to time and here is one of the fun ways you can use it! Pick out a few different rolls that coordinate with your tags' color scheme and layer them on the back of the glassine bag to close it up after you've loaded it with candy! It's so cute and so easy and there is literally no precision at all, so you can even have your littles help you with this part!
Now, obviously these types of treat bags are gonna be for people who know you well, who will trust you enough to not fill their kiddos' bags with poisonous unwrapped candy! HA! These are great for those special neighbor kids that you know and love and they love you back, and you want to bless them with something extra special. Or for your own littles, for a fun surprise for them. Or for your nieces and nephews, or grands....you get the idea. Obviously, don't make these for strangers' kids or they're not gonna let them have the candy. Haha! But if you're having a birthday party for your little one, these would be perfect for your kiddos' friends!
And of course, if you've die cut a tag sale #12 tag out of a piece of patterned paper, you might as well use the negative bit of paper to make a card out of! This is the same tropical teal patterned paper I used for one of my tags. I also die cut it with the new Scalloped Stackers: Small die. I stamped the monsters on the card base, so they're peeking out the "window" of patterned paper and added a little die cut sentiment tag, also from Scared Silly.
Do you make little treats or favors for any holidays or events in the fall? Anything you could duplicate this type of project for? Or maybe you could even change things up and make cute little treat bags for Thanksgiving place settings for your family members.....or even little Christmas treat bags for coworkers or neighbors or small group/Bible study friends at church? There are lots of ways to use this easy project idea -- and use up some of that washi tape!!! -- and with the small glassine bags only being 2 bucks for 25 bags, you can't beat the price!
Hope I've given you a few ideas to get your own creative juices flowing today! You can find lots more inspiration from my teammates at the Papertrey Blog!
I'll see you back here tomorrow!
Much love to you, sweet friends!
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{Little Monster Treat Bags & Card supplies}
