L Letterpress Kit

I recently purchased the L Letterpress Starter Kit. If you are wondering it is compatible with other things like the Sizzix Big Shot. I haven't done anything letterpress related since college, so it's been fun experimenting with the kit. I purchased mine at Archiver's, although you can get your own at lifestylecrafts.com.

I realize now, that I should invest in a second set of the Alphabet script letters. Didn't think about the fact that Peace has two Es before I started setting up to print. I will say that the cleaning clothes are definitely worth buying and make cleanup a snap.

Here are a few snapshots of how the word Peace turned out with deep purple ink.

Halloween Fun

I decided to resurrect my old prom dress and use it to dress up as Anastasia for work. Here are a few photos! :)

Steelers/Vikings Game

This was totally incredible to go and watch. Never been to a pro-football game before and I really enjoyed Pittsburgh.

A few shots of the game and one of DH and I.

Columbus Day

I have done a terrible job this past month in updating the blog. The weather is cold now and Columbus Day was crazy busy at work. Hopefully, I will have a decent amount to post in the next few days.

Labor Day Weekend

So it's been a crazy week and weekend. We've been busy taking wallpaper down off of walls. I vow to never put up any wallpaper because I despise removing it. I have managed to post a few new items to my Etsy page. They are both memo pads, but in smaller sizes than I've previously used.

We went to a wedding on Saturday, which was actually quite a bit of fun. One of my younger brothers actually go out on the dance floor. I took a picture of the converse sneakers they had to wear. It was certainly an interesting wedding...the bride in the vows was Princess Peach and the groom was Mario.

Embellished Notepads

I thought today would be a great time to talk about embellishing notepads. Really the process is quite simple to create a unique look for a great gift or favor. I prefer to use white note pads for the simple reason that any color looks lovely on white. This particular pad had opera pink, black, and lilac used as the ink colors for the front page.

The example photo is one I created for a challenge for a stamping club that I have recently started participating in. The goal was to create a unique stamped pad that could still be used for writing notes.

Each page was individually handstamped with a variety of stamps I have from a clear stamp collection by Fancy Pants. I generally find these stamps at Archiver's, which is a wonderful scrapbooking and stamping store in Montrose. Keep in mind the more pages you stamp, the longer each pad takes to make.

You can add a little more character to your stamp pad by adding crystal embellishments like the flower pictured or even adding a 3-D pop to your design.

Tangerine Blazes

With Halloween getting closer, I've been thinking about fun ideas for cards and our carved pumpkins this year. Last year we had an enjoyable time carving pumpkins. DH maintains that his looked like a 5 year old carved it. I tried to tell him that it just takes time and patience to get them to turn out wonderfully. Even then the pumpkin may have a mind of its own and not cooperate.

I experimented with leaving some of the pumpking flesh intact, but still having the light shine through. The process was very time consuming, but I think the end result of the K was worth the time and cramps in my hand.

Feel free to share you favorite pumpkin memories!