Ready for Halloween

We're ready for Halloween earlier than we've ever been, thanks to the Happy Howl-loween digital stamp set at Digital Doodles.

You may recall my earlier post about candy buffets, where I said I was looking for an excuse to create one. Well, I found it -- Halloween! We have to have a party now!

The glass containers are ones that I had around the house (mostly from Ikea). I found the adorable Halloween gems in the glasses at Pier1. I also covered a message holder with the Happy Howl-loween pumpkin stamp to make it Halloween themed. Now all I have to do is keep the kids from eating all the candy for two months...

Fall Is in the Air

Fall is in the air. (Well, sort of -- lows are in the 70's now instead of the 90's.) But there is a wonderful, refreshing coolness in the air in the mornings and evenings that makes Halloween seem not all that far away. Digital Doodles latest multi-stamp kit, 'Happy Howl-loween', which will be on sale next Tuesday, is a great way to get a jump on the preparations.

I used the kit to make this Halloween banner. The kids like it so much that I am going to leave it up until Halloween, even though it is a bit early.

Here is the full kit:

I also have to mention two other kits that I used to create this : the Bubble Bubble digital kit by Betsy Tuma (for the paper) and the Banner Die Cuts kit by Liana Lamb (to cut the banner shapes). The die cuts kit contains files that you can use with a Silhouette or Cricut to cut wonderfully detailed, layered banners.

Check back next week for another project using the Happy Howl-loween kit -- something involving candy that I have always wanted to try!

A Card Set

This week Digital Doodles released a set of sentiment stamps to match their previously released images. This makes creating cards even easier, since you can select a sentiment to compliment the doodle perfectly.

Here's a set of 4 cards I made using some of the doodles and matching sentiments:

I especially love the round sentiments -- they are such a fun design element on the cards!

I changed the background color of the round sentiments and added some digital "stitching" around them using Photoshop brushes. I used the "Round and Round" brushes by Rhonna Farrer, which appears to no longer be available. Fortunately, however, similar brush sets can be found here and here.

Back to School

With the kids back in school, I have my days free again. I have no problem filling this time up, however. I just signed up today to be a lunch duty aide at my daughter's middle school. Brave or foolish? Not sure which! But hopefully it will give me a feel for the middle school environment, as I did not go to a big middle school. (Besides, that was so long ago, it wouldn't really count anyway!)

Back to school is also the theme of the latest Digital Doodles stamp, 'Pencil It In'. Kathy asked us to create a project this time, and I'm pretty happy with the results (if I do say so myself). I made some decorated paper clips, binder clips, and stickers for a teacher's gift. If you're interested in school-themed projects, check out some of the others on Kathy's blog -- there are decorated school supplies, more teacher's gifts, and cute lunch box notes.

Latest Digital Doodles

Whew! We're back from vacation, the kids have started school, and it's time to share my latest Digital Doodles card, which uses the 'Party Hats' stamp:


This is another super-versatile stamp: it can be used together (like I did) or separated, and is perfect for birthdays or any other kind of celebration.

If you a love Kathy Martin's adorable stamps and would enjoy creating with them, she is having a design team call! Check it out here.

E Is for Elephant

'E Is for Elephant' is the name of the latest Digital Doodles stamp from Kathy Martin. This little elephant just makes me happy! Like most of Kathy's stamps, it can be used so many different ways. I used a circus theme to make a baby card:


We're still in Colorado, but now high up in the mountains in Breckenridge. Yesterday we hiked our second 'Fourteener' (peak above 14,000 feet). It was quite an adventure, including a close encounter with lightning. Full story and photos to come soon!

Cooling Down

During these hot summer days, Kathy Martin's new Digital Doodle stamp 'Double Scoop' will help you cool down (mentally at least!) Even better, the top scoop of this adorable little cone is separate, so you can add as many additional scoops as you would like. Here's my card using the 'Double Scoop' stamp:


Fortunately for us, we are cooling down literally as well as mentally. The girls and I have been in Colorado for the past week and a half visiting my parents. It has gotten up to 90 a couple of days, but compared to 115, that's cool. This week, we are really cooling down up in the mountains, where the highs are in the low 70's.

We discovered during our visit that Colorado has a professional soccer team, so we had to take Charlotte to go see her first major league soccer game. On our way up to the game, we stopped at the Colorado Department of Transportation's 100th anniversay celebration, where they happened to have face painting as one of the activities. It just seemed natural to have Charlotte put on her 'game face':


We really enjoyed the game, despite the fact that a few fans had the infamous vuvuzelas that were such a annoyance at the World Cup games. This is my favorite shot of the game action. The goalie was unsuccessful in blocking the free kick, as you can see by the ball in the lower left corner of the net: