DIY Faux Chalkboard Embellishments

The snow-pocalypse is upon us, so I'm holed up in my craft room with Pandora and lots of coffee. I've been drooling over the sneak peek of the newest chalkboard embellishments from My Mind's Eye. Since they're not available in stores yet, I decided to try making my own.

The Artiste Cricut cartridge (from Close To My Heart) has several of these swing cards; after cutting out the cards, I cut the coordinating label shapes out of leftover cereal box. I then painted them with matte black acrylic paint, rubbed them with chalk, and brushed off the excess. All that was left was to stamp some stylized sentiments with white pigment ink! Easy DIY faux chalkboard embellishments. 

I was also inspired by the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge: choose a word that describes what you hope for the new year. My word is POSSIBILITIES!

Can't wait to see what the coming year has in store...

ETA: Also linking up at the Paper Players Challenge: A Clean Slate. Thanks for the heads up, wienerhoneymooners! 

More Halloween Treats

I've got a few more Halloween projects to share today. First off, some little treat boxes:

The tops flip open like this:

And for our front door:

I just love Fall!

Supplies:

Treat Boxes: DCWV "Halloween & Fall" stack; The Paper Studio textured cardstock (black); transparent overlay; Cricut / Tags Bags Boxes & More 2 cartridge / Artiste cartridge

Wreath: DCWV "Halloween & Fall" stack; The Paper Studio textured cardstock (black); cereal box; Cricut / Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake cartridge / Artiste cartridge

Trick or Treat

Just wanted to pop in and share some little Halloween treat pouches I whipped up using the Cricut Artiste cartridge:

They're just right to hold a little fun-size candy bar.

Super easy, but super cute!

Supplies:

Stamps: My Mind's Eye ("All is Bright", "Happy Days", "Remember","Hello", "Everyday Fun"), Martha Stewart ("Carnival Cling")

Ink: Black pigment

Accessories: Cricut / Artiste cartridge, Crop-a-Dile, foam adhesive, ribbon

Crafty Space: In Progress

One of the challenges of our nomadic lifestyle is that we've had to really pare down our belongings. For the past eight years, the majority of our worldly goods fit into several Rubbermaid bins. So when we came back to the States in April, we had to scramble to furnish our new place - and on a tight budget, no less. With a little luck and a lot of elbow grease, we've been able to find just the right pieces to put together a cozy home that fits us to a T. Below is a shot of my new crafty space:

As you can see, it's still a work in progress - the walls are looking awfully bare. But can I just gush for a minute over this desk? 

The clean lines, the rich wood grain... It's my new pride and joy. I scooped this baby up for $10 at a dusty little thrift store. Yep, you read that correctly - TEN dollars. It wasn't in the greatest condition, but I stripped it, sanded it, and applied a Danish oil finish. Now it practically glows. 

The recliner was another great find. It's a vintage La-Z-Boy Reclina-Rocker:

The color is even more vibrant in real life, a gorgeous aqua tweed with underlying hints of olive. Love. 

This small chest of drawers in the far corner is the perfect height for my die-cutting machines:

Inside are my Cricut cartridges, cardstock, and patterned paper. 

I'm slowly adding decorative details around the room, mostly accents of white and silver. I'm just so happy to have a space of my own again - it's something I've really been needing!

Elegant Reindeer

This year I only bought one new set of holiday stamps, "North Country" by Prima. The flourished reindeer is one of my favorite stamps from the set - classic and elegant.

I love the idea of Papertrey Ink's Half & Half dies, but a) I don't own them (their international shipping is just too high) and b) I needed a wider version to accommodate the reindeer stamp. So, I created my own using my Cricut and the Elegant Edges cartridge. I really like how it turned out! The reindeer was stamped with antique gold pigment ink, then embellished with rhinestones in various sizes and colors. Papercrafting supplies may be virtually nonexistent here in China, but the one thing I can find plenty of is rhinestones!


This afternoon I'm enjoying a little post-holiday down-time, listening to the new Florence & the Machine album (so far I liked her first album better) and doing a little crafting. My tummy is full of tasty Ajisen Ramen soup, our apartment is warm and cozy, and I'm wrapped up in my favorite "grandpa sweater" sipping a cup of coffee. Yep, it's a good day.


Supplies
Stamps: Prima "North Country" (reindeer), SEI (flourish), Studio G (sentiment)
Ink: Stamp It Up! pigment (antique gold), ColorBox pigment (antique pewter), Versamark
Accessories: Cricut / Elegant Edges cartridge, clear embossing powder, small corner rounder punch, adhesive rhinestones, foam adhesive

MFTT: Stripe-tastic!

This week's Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger features this pic full of stripey goodness: 

I knew I wanted to replicate those bold, graphic stripes, so I rummaged through my stash till I found a long-forgotten stripe stamp. The dress and the styling of the photo seemed very "Anthro" to me, which led me down a creative rabbit-trail that ended with the idea of retro typography as the focal point for my card:

The sentiment was added with my labelmaker. I made this one as a winter holiday card, but by using a different color scheme and changing the words to "you" & "me", this could easily become a Valentine's Day or anniversary card. 

Be sure to stop by Moxie Fab World to check out the rest of the entries!


Supplies:
Stamps: Impression Obsession "Borders"
Ink: Stamp It Up pigment, My Mind's Eye pigment
Accessories: Cricut / Cake Basics cartridge, Dymo Labelmaker, black label tape, small corner rounder punch, foam adhesive

Star of Wonder...

 

Our stockings are hung, the presents are wrapped, and our Christmas playlist has been in heavy rotation. Tonight we're hoping to stroll through the Christkindlmarkt and watch a holiday movie or two. 

Today's card features a little glitter-trick I like to use called clear packing tape. Start off with a negative diecut, then apply a strip of tape across the backside of your cutout so that the sticky portion shows through to the front. Pour glitter onto the sticky portion, press down to adhere, then shake/brush off the excess. Perfect glitter application every time!

In this case, I added a second negative diecut, cut an inch larger than the first, adhered on top of the glittered layer with foam adhesive. The completed 3-D star panel was then attached flat to the cardfront.

I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing holiday, just me and the hubby. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your family and loved ones!


Supplies
Cricut / Joys of the Season cartridge, Martha Stewart "copper" glitter, clear packing tape, foam adhesive