Pumpkin Carving 2010

Every year we get together with our friends Cindy and Dustin to carve pumpkins.  In fact - this year marked the 5th Anniversary of our annual pumpkin carving activities!  As always, it was a lot of fun, and I think this year's pumpkins were our best ever!

Before...

 I have a thing about making chocolate covered pretzels lately...

 Travis' famous artichoke dip... a Halloween tradition...

 Action shots...

 Cindy and I...

 The finished products!

Happy Halloween!

Skeleton Bone Pretzels

Hello, Baby!

I put together yet another baby gift this weekend - and while I can't share what's inside this bag (which is a simple drawstring bag I sewed myself with some wide ribbon as a closure) since its recipient may very well be reading, I can tell you about the tag I made for it.

In fact, I liked the tag so much that I used the entire Animal Stories stamp set to create a set of tags to stash away for the next baby gift.  Because you know there's lots more to come!

Gift tags are such a useful thing to have a stash of, don't you think?

The ink colors I used for the images were More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Pacific Point.  I inked the sentiment and edges of the circles in Early Espresso, and used the 1 3/4 inch circle punch and the XL scallop circle punch with some hemp twine to create the tags.  The "hello baby" sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  Purchase all of these products and more on my Stampin' Up! website.

Quick Birthday Card & Wrapping

One of my customer's and friends, Kim, had a birthday party for her daughter Zoe this weekend.  Zoe comes to stamp a stacks with Kim and loves to stamp - so I thought it was only fitting that I sent a little hand stamped card and gift over for her.  It was a great excuse to play with a pink and girly design!

I used the Birthday Bakery stamp set, which is a level one hostess set, on pretty in pink cardstock with melon mambo ink.  I colored in the cupcake with blender pens and of course, some glitter applied with a 2-way glue pen.  To finish, I used some raven lace trim from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

I stamped an image inside the card, in the bottom right corner.  I almost never stamp images or sentiments on the inside of a card, I just leave it blank.  I think I was having too much fun and wanted the opportunity to add more glitter!

I had a lunch sack style pink paper bag that I put some little treats in and used the same lace ribbon and stamps (and yes, more glitter!) to coordinate it with the card.

It's not often I get to design a card for a child - so this was extra fun.  Come to think of it, it's not often I get to design a card that's not for a workshop, stamp a stack, or other stamping event.  This was a lot of glittery fun!  Happy Monday!

To order any of the Stampin' Up! products shown here, head to my online store and click on "Shop Now"  To find out how you can earn the Birthday Bakery hostess set for FREE, contact me about hosting a workshop at joanneroehm@yahoo.com

Christmas Stamp A Stacks / Open Studios

It's never too soon to be thinking about Christmas Cards! I'm hosting four Christmas card making events in November and December to help you get your cards done before the holiday madness sets in.

Each event will last four hours (come for some or all of the time), I'll have snacks and beverages on hand - and you have two card assembly options:

1) Stamp A Stack: Create 16 cards for $20 or double up and make 32 cards for $35 - envelopes included. I'll have four sets of four designs of cards for you to choose from ahead of time, and everything will be cut and prepped ready for you to stamp and assemble. Bring your own adhesive, everything else is included.

2) Design your own cards: Order your Christmas card materials ahead of time and come use my space, Big Shot Machine, inks etc. to make your own. I'll be on hand to help with design ideas and choices. Bring your own cardstock, accessories, and adhesive.

Let me know if you have any questions.  Early RSVP's are very much appreciated to joanneroehm@yahoo.com. Group orders with FREE SHIPPING will be going in every two weeks or so between now and the holidays if you need me to order anything for you.

I'd love to help you create beautiful handmade cards that will be the envy of your friends and family! See you soon!

• Stamp A Stack 1 - Grand Rapids - November 6th from 10:00am to 2:00pm
• Stamp A Stack 2 - Tecumseh - November 19th from 6:00pm to 10:00pm 
• Stamp A Stack 3 - Grand Rapids - November 21st from 12:00-4:00pm
• Stamp A Stack 4 - Grand Rapids - December 3rd from 6:00-10:00pm

Stamp Set Option 1:  Northern Flurry

Stamp Set Option 2:  Cute Christmas

Stamp Set Option 3:  Sparkly & Bright

Stamp Set Option 4:  Season of Joy

 

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween Decorations!

Happy Thursday, folks!  Just one more day until the weekend!  There hasn't been much time for crafting this week (boo!) but we did carve out time (no pun intended!) to do a couple of fun fall things.  On Tuesday night we headed out to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins, and then last night we did a little Halloween decorating.  I thought I'd share some photos with you.

For the past three years we've headed to a local farm to pick our pumpkins with our good friends the Hill Family.  Usually we go on a weekend, but our schedules were extra packed this year so we ended up doing a weeknight.  It was actually a lot more relaxed, and very beautiful.

Anthony is always in charge of the wagon.  Thank goodness!  That sucker gets heavy with seven peoples' pumpkins in it!

We played on the playground and checked out the farm animals while we were there...

And of course we couldn't leave without two things:  1)  Sitting down and gorging on delicious homemade donuts and apple cider...

And flagging someone down to take our annual group photo.  Maybe I'm jinxing it by saying so, but somehow we ALWAYS end up getting a good picture of EVERYONE!  : )  Such a wonderful memory to keep each year!

I've never really decorated the exterior of our home for Halloween before.  Still being relatively new homeowners we don't have a lot of either Halloween or Christmas outdoor decorations, or the money to spend a lot of cash to buy them.  My Mum always says that you accumulate holiday decor over the years, so I'm kind of going with her philosophy and building our collection as we go along.

We have an enclosed porch and I change the tablecloth of our table out there for each season, so I've got the Halloween table cloth on now...

I picked up a box of orange lights for $3 and we hung them on some preexisting hooks in our front porch.  It took all of five minutes!  I figure I'll try to grab some more lights on clearance after Halloween for next year.  We then hung some ghosts from the lights - I was worried they wouldn't show up from the outside but you can see them really clearly, and at night the orange lights case a spooky glow over them!

A couple of $1 bags of cobwebs cover our bushes below the porch windows.  I need some big plastic spiders or something to put in them...

Our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.  Pleas disregard the extreme need for our front steps to be painted!  Next year...  : )

To finish it off I'd really love some of those fake gravestones in front of the bushes.  Again, maybe I can get some on clearance after Halloween for next year.  All in all, we decorated (minus the pumpkins and mums, which will stay until closer to Thanksgiving) for about $7.  Deal!

 

I hope you're enjoying the fall season as much as I am!

Get Ready for November Cupkins!

Can you believe how fast the month of October is flying by?  It's incredible!  It's time already to start thinking about and planning for November Cupkins... and Meg and I want YOU to join our Cupkins linkup party! 

Our November edition of Cupkins and the link party will take place on Monday November 8th and our theme is, of course, Thanksgiving!  We want to see your cupcake and/or muffin recipes, decorating ideas, and tips!

November's link party will be hosted right here on Ready, Set, Craft!  So get your ideas together, get baking, and link up here on Monday November 8th!

To see previous Cupkins post click HERE, and to view last month's link party head HERE.

Happy Baking! 

Handmade Holiday Promotion

Attention Stampers!  Today is the launch of Stampin' Up!'s Handmade Holiday Promotion.  Lots of 20% off deals on Holiday stamps, paper, and more.  This is a perfect opportunity for those of you who want to make your own Christmas cards, but don't know where to start!

ABC Holiday 1010 US

You can view all of the bundle items individually in my online store HERE.  Drop me a note at readysetcraft@yahoo.com if you have any questions or would like to take advantage of this great promotion!

Happy Tuesday!

Flowers & Glitter

Quick post today - it's been a busy start to a busy week.  But I am feeling lots better - thanks for all the get better wishes!  I took a break from Halloween and Christmas projects to make a couple of sets of cards with the Flower Fancy stamp set.  Please excuse the kind of dark cell phone pictures! 

I'm obsessed with glitter on my projects lately, and used Dazzling Diamonds on both these card sets.  I used a two way glue pen to adhere the glitter, it's fabulous because it's permanent, goes on blue and dries clear and has a narrow marker-like tip, so you can see exactly what you're doing and place the glitter exactly where you want it.

I made one set to give as a gift...

and one set to send out to some customers...

Happy Monday!  Have a creative week!

Week in Review

Each weekend in my Week in Review post I share with you some of my favorite crafty links I've come across during the week, from all over the blogosphere.  Enjoy!

 

I just adore this Ribbon Rose Ring at Craftster via Craft Gossip. 

So pretty - wouldn't these make lovely gifts for the Holidays?

 

This is an adorable pillow case dress for Halloween from Sugar Bee.  It would look darling layered over a long-sleeve tee and with a black cardigan and tights to go out trick or treating in!

I fell in love with these booties when I first saw them over at Rachel's blog.  HipKnitIzed provides the full tutorial - and it really does look like a quick and easy project!  I'm thinking these would be lovely Christmas gifts for all the little babies in my life!

And finally, not so much a project but I just LOVED Censational Girl's post on Holiday Housekeeping this week.  Some great times and ideas for getting organized for the holiday season.  Be sure to check it out!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!