Our Beary Best

It's time for our new challenge at the Beary Scrap - and we just want to see your Beary Best!

I hope you will enjoy the card that I've made for you today!



Papers: Authentique - Glowing; Splendid
Stamps: JustRite - Friendship Blooms; Fancy Labels
Dies: Spellbinders - Labels 18
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Ribbon: May Arts
Embossing Powder: Lindy's Stamp Gang

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble. . .

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

MacBeth Act IV Scene 1

Here I am with my second Double or Nothing post and this week is dedicated to our DT leader Susan (and a guy named William!)-- who inspired me early this week by saying she was waiting to see a Double, Double Toil and Trouble project! I guess I haven't had enough of Halloween because that got me in the mood for a little Shakespeare (I do have an English minor!) and a double dose of Tear Bear Witches.


And so my Double or Nothing project this week is a DOUBLE pair of Halloween birthday days with DOUBLE Tear Bear Witches to wish my two nieces a DOUBLE Halloween birthday! (Yes it's true, these two sisters, turning 8 and 5 this year, share that spooky day a birthday. If you read my Halloween post last year, you might know who else shares that day with them! Hint: There's a reason I like Halloween so much!)


Here's a look at the front of my Halloween birthday cards, the Tear Bears are decorated with all kinds of cute Halloween stickers and bling.

A closeup of one of the cards:

Here they are standing up:
And a look at the inside:

Supplies used:

Bo Bunny Double Dot Cardstock-- Grape, Licorice and Orange
Authentique 6 x 6 paper pad-- Glowing (sold out but check out these Halloween papers)
Teddy Tear Bear Pattern
Beary Creative Tool
Tear Bear Flush Brush
Color Box Fluid Chalk-- Creamy Brown
Color Box Fluid Chalk-- Chestnut Roan
Sakura White pen
Sakura Micron black pen
Mulberry Paper-- Mocha
Mulberry Paper -- White

So, did you figure it out? Yep, it's my birthday too on Halloween, we are a whole freaky family of witches. And what I would love the most for my birthday is for YOU to enter our Double or Nothing challenge so I can visit your blogs and get inspired by your talented projects, so be sure to link up your project by 11:59 EST on Halloween night for your chance to win!

Spooky Double or Nothin'

Spooky Friday wishes to all my crafty friends out there!

I had so much fun making my Double or Nothing project for this week and can't wait to show you what I came up with:



I got this little wood coffin at my local craft store (it's about 6 inches tall and two inches deep) and couldn't wait to decorate it up. First I painted the whole thing black; for two reasons, first so I didn't have to cover every tiny surface with paper, and second, so that no wood would show between the edges of the paper.



Then I measured or traced each surface and cut some paper to fit from Authentique's fantastic Glowing papers. I know these are sold out in the story but Kimm has some super cute Halloween papers from My Mind's Eye and Echo Park that would also work great!

After covering the coffin with my TWO designer papers, I went to work embellishing it (oh, the most fun part!) with TWO types of trim (black tulle and Pumpkin Seam Binding) , two vintage Halloween potion tags (digi images bought off etsy), TWO black candy dots and TWO sparkly spiders.

But wait, I still have one more DOUBLE on my project, it's also a DOUBLE treat-- a cute coffin and then inside--


an extra goodie! I filled my coffin with some Halloween candy and this cute little mummy. I actually was thinking of putting a creepy skeleton inside but I've been making lots of these candy mummies and my daughter insisted this was perfect for putting into the coffin.


This one is a mini version made from a package of Tic Tacs (though I have been using full size Hershey bars for my other ones). Simply rip some strips of muslin fabric, glue around the candy, add two eyes and a sentiment (or any other decoration; I wanted to add a spider but then that would be 3 spiders and ruin my doubles! Hee hee).

I hope you have enjoyed our first week of Double or Nothing projects and are inspired to make one of your own. WE LOVE SEEING YOUR CREATIONS AND VISITING YOUR BLOGS so be sure to enter our current Beary Sweet Challenge by clicking HERE; you just might win a Beary Sweet voucher!

Boo to You!

We are continuing with our Anything Goes theme at the Beary Scrap this week. So you have no excuse not to play along with us, for your chance to win a $20 gift certificate!

I chose to make a Halloween card this week, using papers from Authentique's Glowing line. I had some really funky, vintage, sequined fabric that I used to cut my bats out with the Spellbinder's bat dies. I used Authentiques letter stickers and the Epiphany Crafts Studio Tool Round 14 to make my epoxy title.

Thanks for looking!

It's the Itsy Bitsy Spider - Eek!

Hey there crafty folks! This week the design team is continuing with whatever strikes our fancy, since it's a challenge Free for All!

I'm having loads of fun with my chunky Halloween houses - there's a village now! This week's house is made using Authentique's Glowing paper. Sadly, I didn't realize it was sold out in the shop and I don't have another project to inspire you. I hope this can give you an idea or two anyway. :) There are tons of available 6x6 pads to choose from!

It's a simple house, really... with a big, hairy occupant. (No, I'm not talking about Aunt Hilda, the poor dear...)The spider web was "painted" with Glossy Accents, as was the spider body (which was then covered with a Swarovski crystal). I covered the chimney with a scrap of the same paper left over from another project, so the right wall has a spider, also. This was a fun project and I'm really looking forward to a Christmas village!

Thanks for visiting today! Our Free for All / Anything Goes challenge continues through Friday the 14th. Come join us - you could win a $20 gift voucher from The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

Pumpkin Free for F'All

I have been so excited to see all your wonderful projects entered in our Free for F'All challenge-- wow! Keep those entries coming, you are all so talented and creative!

My project for this week is a quick paper pumpkin you can make as seasonal decor or to use as table favors for a fall occasion. All you need is a scallop circle punch and some great fall paper!


If you want to try out this little pumpkin for yourself, follow these steps:

1. From your patterned fall paper (you could use Halloween papers for a spooky pumpkin!), punch 8 scalloped circles. My punch was 3 inches but you could do smaller or larger depending on what you have or cut them out with a die cut machine.


2. Ink the edges of your scallop circles and then carefully line them up exactly and fold them in half.


3. After they are folded and even, unfold them and cut off the bottom scalloped edges to make a straight edge. The straight edge needs to be the same on all of the circles so measure carefully. (I had a little bit of a hard time getting them even, so don't get frustrated if the first try doesn't work out perfect! Just try again!)




4. Begin attaching the circles to each other, one at time so all the scallops match up (as close as possible) and the flat edges are all together on the bottom. You may have to fold a little more and adjust as you go to get everything matched up. You also may have to trim a little off the bottom to make the pumpkin stand straight if not all your straight edges lined up. You should end up with a shape that looks like this:



5. Embellish however you want! I broke a branch off a tree in my yard for a stem and worked it through the center of the pumpkin. You could also use some wire, fabric or just more paper for a stem. Add leaves, curled up wire or anything else you like! I spritzed some seam binding with Glimmer Mist and used that for my leaves.

Supplies used:
Authentique 6 x6 paper pad-- Glowing
Seam Binding-- Key Lime
Colorbox Fluid Chalk-- Chestnut Roan
Glue Dots
Aleene's Tacky Glue

Happy Crafting this weekend and remember to enter your project in our current challenge!

Buttons & Pumpkins

I have absolutely loved looking at all the stunning fall projects this way by our DT Ladies and also have been completely wowed by your challenge entries in our current Beary Sweet Challenge, "Happy Fall Y'All." Keep it up! You have an entire week still to enter and we'd love to see what gorgeous autumn creation you are working on.

Our challenge this week was to add buttons to our Happy Fall projects and I decided I wouldn't add just a button or two, but a whole barrel full!




Or at least an entire pumpkin full! The center of my card is a pumpkin made from buttons.




To start with I found a pumpkin pattern, (you can get your own copy by clicking here), traced it onto Bo Bunny Double Dot Burnt Orange cardstock and cut it out. Then I used Tacky Glue and adhered all shades and sizes of orange buttons to my pumpkin. This is a little tricky and I found it worked the best to just put glue on a small area, find buttons to fit and then move on to the next area, adjusting as I went. Once my pumpkin was dry I could then mount it to my card.


For my card I used some of the awesome new papers from Authentique's Glowing line. I love all their 6 x 6 paper pads, make sure to check out these new arrivals in the Beary Scrap store. I made my sentiment by applying letter stickers, inking over the top with an ink dauber and then removing the stickers.


Supplies Used:
Bo Bunny Cardstock-- Burnt Orange, Coffee, Clover
Authentique Glowing 6 x6 paper pad
SEI Windsor paper-- Farleigh
Seam Binding-- Key Lime
Color Box Fluid Chalk-- Chestnut Roan
Pink Paislee Expressions Whimsies Alphabet-- Chocolate
Fiskars Border Punch
Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue
Lots of miscellaneous buttons!

I hope the beautiful fall colors and weather find you wherever you are and continue to inspire you to create this weekend. Happy crafting!

Ushering in the Season...FALL

We have a new challenge and you're going to love it....HAPPY FALL Y'ALL! I adore the season of fall, it's my favorite. To me it's like everything is getting ready to go to sleep for the winter. The colors are so deep and rich and hearty...love, love, love. Can't you just smell the crisp air, the apples baking in the oven with a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon and see the leaves starting to fall to the ground. How could that not give you warm fuzzies all over.

I used the new Authentique 6 x 6 paper pads (Glowing and Blissful) for this card. I inked it up with a bit of distress ink to give a bit more aged look and to blend with the Fall colors I was reaching for. That's the nice thing about distress ink...if your paper isn't quite what you want it to be in color or tone...ink that thing up.

Have a great week and remember to jump in the challenge for your chance to win!  

Hugs,

A Sketch and A Snake-Oil Salesman (Updated!)

Hi folks! Happy Monday to you. I hope you had a nice weekend. Husband and I took a train up to NewYork to see a Broadway show. I love New York and all the hustle and bustle. I'm not going to take up your crafty time talking about the 9/11 anniversary, but I want to share one little experience with you.

As we sat in Penn Station to come home Sunday morning we could hear a pipe and drum band marching by outside. It was 8:35am and up until that moment the Amtrak station was full of the normal buzz. One by one, I could see the recognition of that sound dawn on my fellow travelers. I don't believe there is a sound more profound than a bagpipe, and a band can tear at the fibers of your heart while celebrating life, love and liberty. (Ok, I'm Scottish... can you tell?) The train station fell silent for a bit as we listened. It was a rare, truly poignant moment.

So this week the design team is wrapping up our September sketch challenge and late in the week Lori and Jamie will ring in an oh-so-timely theme challenge. As a way to spice up our final sketch samples Gini, Patricia and I are including our favorite embellishments. How easy is that?

 

Update: I added swirls of the Prima Say it in Crystals black rhinestones - love the effect!

I've used 3 favorites on today's card: lace, sewing and decorative pins! Haha - why chose just one when there are so many? The papers are from Authentique's "Glowing" 6x6 pad, and the image is one of my favorite vintage finds. The skeleton is a bit of a snake-oil salesman, isn't he? I have a whole collection of these Antikamnia Chemical Company calendar images (in full-color; black & white seemed perfect for this card, though). They really are quite amazing!

Card Recipe

• Image - vintage Antikamnia Calendar skeleton printed twice and layered
• Paper - Authentique's Glowing 6x6 pad; Bazzill Basics in orange and black; Canson Mi-Tiente white
• Medium - Ranger Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo; Ranger Stickles in Black Diamond
• Embellishments - Prima Say It In Crystals Borders Black (the 3 rhinestones in the upper right corner); handmade decorative pin set; lace and flowers from stash
• Tools/Adhesives -border punch; corner punch; Scor-Pal; Scor-Tape; Fabri-Tac

Thanks so much for visiting today! There is still plenty of time to get your September sketch challenge project entered (by midnight EDT Wednesday) - you might win a $20 gift voucher to The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

Spooky September Sketch

Hello hello my pretties... It's Monday and time for another project from me! Happy Labor Day to all my US friends. I hope you can relax today!

This week the design team is continuing with samples --and perhaps a little inspiration! -- for our brand spankin' new Beary Sweet sketch challenge. I got a little witchy with Authentique's "Glowing" 6x6 pad.

I used 4 different designs from the pack, including the polka dot spider. I stamped the sentiment onto scraps created by one of the layers. The stamps are individual letters that I laid out askew for a fun, messy effect. Actually, that's a lot about this that's distressing, including the chewed edges, sewing lines all over the place and pulled edges of the lace and tulle.

I have to give big props to Lori for inspiring me to make my own rosette for the very first time! Her card last week featured a rosette and I whined a bit about not having a rosette die. She pshaw'd me and showed me the way with a strip of paper and a handy dandy Scor-Pal. We don't need no stinkin' rosette dies! Thanks, Lori! We'll share a tutorial on it soon. :)

I was thinking of just using "tea party" and reveling in the double entendre, but decided to steer it in a less *ahem* political direction. The off-white threads behind the top text is a bit of cheese cloth.

Inside includes a ton of space for a spooky sentiment as well as more lace and a fun diamond pattern design from the stack. 

Card Recipe

• Image: vintage image found online and spiced up for a lush print
• Paper: Authentique "Glowing" 6x6 paper pad; vintage witches printed on ivory Canson Mi-Tiente paper (I love the texture for vintage images); Bazzill basics in black and orange; Rosette is made from a random strip of paper found in my stash
• Medium: Stickles Diamond on spider; Ranger Distress Ink in black and vintage photo on edges
• Embellishments: Hand made rosette; Kaisercraft black pearls; lace, cheese cloth and mirrored bird from stash
• Adhesives: Scor-Tape and Fabri-Tac 

Thanks so much for visiting today! We'd love to see what you can create using our September sketch - you could win a $20 gift voucher from The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan