Pirate Treasure Map

Our big activity at the birthday party is a pirate treasure hunt. I started with a large piece of kraft paper. I created a path at random knowing I had 12 clues for the kiddos. Arthur picked out some pirate themed stickers to use in decorating our map.

Detail of the map:

The squares are where the clues will be attached as they are found. I went with simple little riddle rhymes. In case the kids don't get it, I also printed out images of where to find the next clue.

And at the end of the path, the treasure chest is waiting with coins (plastic and chocolate) and jewels (beads, plastic, and ring pops). 

Sunday Haul #14

A stop at Michael's for other party supplies (cupcake liners, frosting tips, gold spray) and came out wth some crafting supplies of course. I snagged some cute Halloween and fall stickers, leaf tags, and some pretty clearance washi tape.

I also received my small planner sticker order from Brianna Nicole Designz on Etsy. I grabbed some cute craft stickers, cleaning stickers, Hocus Pocus images, and two fall themed kits.

Pirate Thank Yous

Today's post is the first of my series celebrating Arthur and Quentin's Pirate Birthday party. Being the crafter, I had to make a ton of decorations and bits and bobs with the pirate theme. I needed to make some thank you cards, settled on a design, and then couldn't decide which image to use. Instead of deciding, I made multiple of each. I stamped a bottle with different fillings (whale, octopus, or pirate ship) and fussy cut the bottles out. From there I stamped a fun background on my kraft paper with repeating images. Time consuming, but I do love the effect. The addition of the gold glitter washi tape was the perfect finishing touch. Loved these cards!

• Stamps: Message in a Bottle; Labeler Alphabet
• Inks: Island Indigo; Crumb Cake; Real Red; Basic Black
• Cardstock: Real Red; Kraft; Whisper White
• Accessories: Gold Washi Tape (retired)
• Tools: Stitched Shapes Framelits; Washi Label Punch (retired)

Desktop Thursday #5

Along with cleaning for the party on Saturday, I pulled all my Christmas supplies. Here you can see my two boxes of random Christmas card related supplies and the stack of DSP leaned up against my holders. 

Smitten Mittens

For today's card, I pulled out my new Smitten Mittens bundle. After perusing the Holiday Catalog, I just knew i had to have these cut little mittens! My favorite part is the die that creates these cute cut-out mittens. For this card, I started with my Winter Wonder Embossing Folder and the mittens. From there, I decided to accent my card with metallics. Thank goodness I bought the Year of Cheer Washi Tape. The three skinny solid metallic rolls were perfect to create a fun shiny embellishment. I went even further by layering my white piece on top of a some copper foil. In person, this card is oh so shiny! 

• Stamps: Smitten Mittens
• Inks: Night of Navy
• Cardstock: Copper Foil; Night of Navy; Whisper White
• Accessories: Year of Cheer Washi Tapte
• Tools: Many Mittens Framelits; Winter Wonder Embossing Folder

Currently

Reading: The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick -- Been meaning to read this one for awhile. Loved his other histories. 

Watching: The Good Place Season 2 -- Holy cow! We were worried about where the show-runners were going to go in Season 2, but they have thankfully invented the show. Loving it.

Listening: Lots of Pod Save America podcast. Their anger at the current political climate is very cathartic for me.

Making: Dove into my fall foods this week with chili and cornbread, but more importantly pumpkin bread!

Feeling: Don't know if it's the weather or what, but I've been very stuffy lately.

Planning: Saturday's the big Arthur and Quentin joint birthday party. So much to do before then, but most things can't be done until Friday...

Loving: The cooler temps and fall weather have been great lately.

Apple Cider Time

Today's post is another fun card using my favorite Holiday Catalog stamp set, Merry Cafe! I wanted to make an Apple Cider card to celebrate apple season. I went simple with the accompanying bits with an embossed piece of Delightful Dijon as a great background. I'm loving the color combination of Delightful Dijon, Cherry Cobbler, and Chocolate Chip.  Now if I could find some yummy Apple Cider, life would be complete.

• Stamps: Merry Cafe
• Inks: Cherry Cobbler; Crumb Cake; Chocolate Chip
• Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler; Delight Dijon (retired); Chocolate Chip; Very Vanilla
• Accessories: 
• Tools: Sweater Embossing Folder; Stitched Shapes Framelits; Coffee Cups Framelits

October Crafting Goals

A recap of last month’s goals:

• Plan/Schedule classes for September and October -- Success! I got around to scheduling my Coffee and Cards, Crop Days, and Christmas Card Classes through November.
• August MP Pages -- Fail... I need to do this next month.
• Plan out club stamps/projects for October, November, and December -- Partial fail. I've got Octobers club projects ready and have November's planned. I still need to make November and decide on December (although I think I'm going to feature at least one Occasions Catalog project).
• September's Cards -- Success! I posted at least one card every MWF in September. Now to keep it up in October!

October's goals:

• Plan out November's 30 Days of Christmas Cards from Sketches! -- I have my plan, I've started laying out my supplies. I'm ready for my big project!
• September MP Pages -- Need to get back on track.
• Start Christmas card designs -- Beyond my 30 Days of Christmas Cards, I need to design a few cards for my holiday classes coming up.
• Craft destash -- My cabinets are getting a little too full right now. I need to do another destash.
• Finish 30 Days of Lists (September project) -- I completely dropped the ball on one of my favorite projects of the year. I need to make this project a priority in October.

Rat Crossing

Today's post is all about the Cat Punch in the Spooky Cat bundle. This card was super easy peasy! I punched the cat out, fussy cut the witch's hat, added some rhinestones, and stamped on some texture and rats. I finished the card with a strip of DSP and a sentiment. This card was one of the two Halloween themed options I showcased at September's stamp club. (The other card will be featured later this month.) 

• Stamps: Spooky Cat
• Inks: Basic Black; Smoky Slate
• Cardstock: Spooky Night DSP; Pumpkin Pie; Basic Black; Very Vanilla 
• Accessories: Black Rhinestones
• Tools: Cat Punch; Washi Label Punch (retired)

Cat Duo

Today's post is my last Halloween card of the season. I have completely fallen for the cat punch. I love punching out different patterned cats. I am sure I will be using this punch into the spring. But for this card, I punched a cat from the paper and then one from some great patterned DSP to create this cat duo. I embossed my piece of Very Vanilla leaving a section of un-embossed paper in the middle to layered my DSP strips. Finally I added a punched sentiment. Perfect!

• Stamps: Spooky Cat
• Inks: Basic Black
• Cardstock: Spooky Night DSP; Pumpkin Pie; Very Vanilla; Basic Black
• Accessories: 
• Tools: Cat Punch; Washi Label Punch (retired); Polka Dot Embossing Folder

Blog Hop List:

1. Tobe Buffenbarger <--- You are here!
2. Christine Szekeres
3. Merit Brown
4. Jennifer Blomquist
5. Susan Schultz