Monster Mash Card

Today I have another Halloween project to share with you -- this one is a sample I made for a recent Halloween kids class.  When I saw the Make a Monster stamp set in the Idea Book, I knew I had to have it for just this class!  And, I decided to pull out my Stampin' Pastels and let the kids try out the chalkboard technique.  Using Basic Black card stock (or another dark color would work, too), you stamp your image in Whisper White Craft ink, and then apply whatever pastel colors you choose.  Here's my card:

And, a close up of the monsters:

The card base is a piece of Old Olive card stock, which I stamped using the eyeballs from the Make a Monster set in Whisper White craft ink, and then applied Elegant Eggplant Stampin' Pastels.  The designer paper strip along the side is from the Wicked Fun Specialty Paper.  I created the eyeball-ish embellishment on that using a Whisper White flower punch from the Boho Blossoms Punch, topped with a Basic Black Circle and one of the Brights Glimmer Brads (from the Holiday Mini).  The monster focal image is mounted on a layer of Whisper White and Tangerine Tango.

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

Michelle VanWiggeren

Haunted House Construction Photos

Yesterday, I showed you the Decor Accents Design-a-House that my boys and I created.  Today, I'll show you how we did it.  The house comes white, pre-cut and pre-scored with easy-to-follow instructions.  You can cover your house with cardstock or designer paper, or you could ink it up as we did.

My 4-year-old Timothy and I started with the walls of the house, and decided that we wanted to make the outside a brownish-orange.  We first used River Rock Classic Ink, and swiped the ink pad directly across the outside of the house (aka direct to paper technique) until we were happy with that first coat:

 

Next, we added Crumb Cake Classic Ink, again using the direct to paper technique: 

Here's Tims deciding it needs some Pumpkin Pie ink:

But, first some Soft Suede Classic Ink:

Then, the Pumpkin Pie, both inside and out:

Once we had the color we wanted, we stamped on the outside using the Batty for You and Extreme Elements stamp sets:

We stamped some vellum and adhered that inside using Tombo Multi, for frosted, spooky windows:

Once all the windows were in, we used Sticky Strip to attach the walls to each other:



The house comes with a cute door knob -- we installed that in the front door:

For the roof, I forgot to take photos as we were working, but we used the same direct to paper technique.  We first used Rich Razzleberry, then Basic Gray, followed by Basic Black Classic and a little Basic Black craft.  Again, we used Sticky Strip to attach the roof to the walls of the house. 

And, last but not least, we inked up the chimney to match the house, and attached that to the roof using Sticky Strip:

Hope you are inspired to create your own Haunted House!  If you need supplies, please visit my online store:  http://www.michellevanwiggeren.stampinup.net/ (click shop now to visit the store). 

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Michelle VanWiggeren

Haunted House!

A few announcements first, then on to a project I'm very excited to share with you!  Today two specials start for Stampin' Up!  One I've already mentioned here is the My Digital Studio Professional Printing permanent price reduction.  You can see the list of amazing new prices, plus some fabulous new products, by clicking here.  The second announcement is Stampin' Up!'s new Perfect Handmade Holiday promotion -- which runs now through December 16th and features some great bundles for creating cards, packaging and gifts for 20% off!  You can see more about that by clicking here, and if you'd like to order any of those wonderful bundles, please visit my online store (click shop now from the promotion page or from this link. 

Now, on to my project!  Actually this is a project that I created with my two boys -- and was amazed at how easy and fun it was to put together.  We started with a Decor Accents Design-a-House (available in the Holiday Mini for only $5.95!!!), and decorated it to be a haunted house for Halloween.  Here's the finished project, front view

A side view:

Back view:

the other side view:

And, lit up with two battery-operated tea candles: 

Tomorrow, I'll show you how we made this!  I already have another, and the boys and I are looking forward to creating a "gingerbread" house with it!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Michelle VanWiggeren

My Digital Studio -- Lots of Big and Exciting News!!!!

There have been quite a few exciting developments at Stampin' Up! for the My Digital Studio digital crafting software lately!  First, there is a wonderful new share site -- mydigitalstudio.net, which I encourage you to check out if you haven't already!  (Be sure to add me as a friend if you create an account!  Would love to be able to chat and share with you there, too.)

Other big news is that there is a design contest -- design one digital card and two digital scrapbook layouts, submit them and you can be eligible to win free digital downloads valued at up to $400!  For complete rules and other information, please click here or on the image below.

I am also very excited to tell you that a permanent price reduction for most My Digital Studio professional print products was just announced and will be effective starting October 19th!!!  For instance, you can save $10 on printing an 8x8" Personalized Photo Album!  Check back for the complete list next week!

Finally, there are new digital downloads available!  To see them, please visit http://www.michellevanwiggeren.stampinup.net/, select shop now, then digital crafting, and finally newest downloads.  The downloads just released are:  Night Owl Digital Kit, Autumn Spice Digital Kit, Deck the Halls Photocard Digital Kit, Candy Cane Lane Photocard Digital Kit, Celebrations Digital Kit, and the Brad Add-On Pack.
 - Michelle

A Wicked Fun Halloween Card

The weather has been so warm the past few days here that it is really hard to believe that it is Fall, and Halloween is just around the corner!   I don't usually send too many Halloween cards, but they sure are fun to make!  The one I have to share with you today is a CASE from card in Stampin' Success, a magazine Stampin' Up! publishes for its demonstrators -- it's a wonderful resource, and actually was one of the perks that enticed me to sign up more than five and a half years ago now! 

Here's my version of the card:

The photo colors are a little off, but that is Rich Razzleberry for the card's base.  The fun polka dot paper  is from the Wicked Fun Specialty Designer Paper pack (on page 172 in the Idea Book).  The words and witches boots are from the Wicked Cool stamp set (on page 23 of the Idea Book).  They were stamped using Black Staz-On ink.  I loved adding the rhinestone jewels to the boots, too.  And, I spritzed the whole card first with the Color Spritz Tool and a Basic Black Stampin' Write marker and then with a light mist of the Silver Foil Smooch Spritz. 

The finishing touch was the ribbon -- in the Stampin' Success, the sample uses Whisper White Satin Ribbon and a razzleberry button with twine.  I decided to change that up (necessity is the mother of invention as I discovered that (gasp!) I was out of White Satin!), and go with the Basic Black satin ribbon again.  I thought there is a "ruching" technique, where you pull a thread or two from the ribbon and it will gather, but couldn't get that to work, and didn't want to pull out a needle and thread so decided to take a "faux ruching" approach -- simply folding and bunching the ribbon into a line of sticky strip.  Super easy, and I love the end result! 

I also wanted a little more bling, so decided to use one of the antique brads wrapped around the ribbon.  And, fit one of the rhinestone jewels right into the center.  Ta da!

Hope you like it! 

- Michelle

Playful Pumpkins

The World Cardmaking Day Extravaganza was great fun -- I figured out today that between everyone there, we worked on over 200 cards and other projects!!!  So, I think that was a pretty great way to celebrate the day!  A big thanks to everyone who joined me for that!

I finally have a new card to share with you -- this is one from my Playful Pumpkins class.  (The first class for this was at the end of September, but I have another one coming up this Friday, and if you are interested and in the area, there is still space!  Please email me or leave me a comment if you would like more information.) 

The card is made with a Crumb Cake base, plus Newsprint Designer Series Paper sponged with So Saffron and layered onto a piece of Chocolate Chip.  Pumpkin Pie was used for the punched ovals that form the pumpkin, Crumb Cake for the stem (inked with the Early Espresso pad, using the direct to paper technique), and Old Olive for the leaf. 

The ovals were punched using the Wide Oval Punch, then embossed using different embossing folders (in this case, Polka Dots and Elegant Lines, but during the class, we had fun trying out other folders as well).  I used dimensionals to pop up the top ovals and give the pumpkin even more of a 3-D look.

The stem was punched with the Word Window punch, then trimmed.  The leaf was punched using the Boho Blossoms punch.  I folded the flower to create the vein look on the leaf. 

The "4 you" is from the Tiny Tags set, stamped on Very Vanilla, and punched out with the Small Tag Punch.  The card was finished off with an Early Espresso 3/16" taffeta bow.

I have more Halloween projects to share with you!  Please let me know what you think and check back again soon to see more!

- Michelle

Clearance Rack Blitz

Now is a great time to see what Stampin' Up! has placed on the Clearance Rack in my online store (from my home page, click the "shop now" button and then select the Clearance Rack to start browsing the great deals!  On my computer, it was only displaying 10 pages of deals, but I found that if I kept clicking the arrow button to see the next page, there were actually more pages -- so be sure to click through so you don't miss anything!) 

There are items up to 80% off!!!  You'll want to hurry over because these great deals are only available while limited supplies last. 

Autumn Spice Basket for World Cardmaking Day Extravaganza

Not much longer now until the World Cardmaking Day Extravaganza.  Please click here for more information about the event!

As promised yesterday, here's the big reveal for my appropriate-for-Thanksgiving basket of mini notecards, using the gorgeous new Autumn Spice Designer Series Paper:

I had fun dressing up the basket and cards with trim die cut using the new Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die.  The images on the notecards are from the Cute By the Inch hostess set.

Hope you have a wonderful Cardmaking Day tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle