Monday, September 19, 2011

BFF Link Party #20 Wrap Up, Features, and Giveaway Winner!

First off, thank you everyone for your sweet birthday wishes. I  really enjoyed getting to celebrate my birthday with you all! Mr. Chocolate and I had a fun day out on Saturday to celebrate, and he took me to all my favorite  places starting with breakfast, then to an architectural salvage place (dust and rust yeah!), my favorite paper store, Seattle’s Pike Place Market where I got to pick out a gorgeous bouquet of flowers:

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an incredible spice shop, and then an extra special dinner. Perfect day.

And what wonderful goodies were linked up to last week’s party! My son is a mega comic book fanatic  so this piece from Megan at Polish the Stars immediately caught my eye:

I wonder if I can manage to do a Thor or Captain America poster? Or maybe I should just hire Megan!

Rhonda over at The Messy Roost did some great knockoffs of Halloween bottles she saw in a magazine :

Wonderful upcycle! They would look great next to these slouchy pumpkins that Tonia from The Gunny Sack whipped up:

They have REAL pumpkin stems! And last but not least, I think you have to check out these glitter pumpkins from Oasis Accents:

using glitter from Dollar Tree!

I’m excited to announce that  the winner of her choice of gift card from either Michael’s or JoAnn’s is:

Birthday Giveaway

Rachel from :

Thanks again everyone and hope to see you all again at this week’s BFF Open House!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Vinyl Skull Charger and Candle

I love the chargers Michaels always has this time of year and last week they were 2 for $3. They come in the coolest colors and even though I thought I was early, black was all gone. Oh well. They still had the metallic chocolate brown!
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The Cricut cartridge Wall Décor and More has a couple of great skull options. I used the plainer one since I knew I wanted to embellish it and cut it out using cream vinyl. Slapped that on the charger and then added a moustache from a package of moustache stickers I’d picked up for no particular reason.
Last week Michaels had all of their Recollections stickers and embellishments 50% off so I picked up a package of black swirly rhinestones. Two went on the skull’s head and two went on the rim of the charger. Easy peasy
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I oopsed when I first cut the skull on my Expression and it wasn’t big enough. I didn’t want to throw away a perfectly good piece of vinyl but what to do?
 Why make a candle to go with my charger ‘course!
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Mod Podged a black and white damask print scrapbook paper onto a glass candle, along with a taupe crackled scrap leftover from my altered bottles. Edged the top and bottom with K and Co self adhesive scrapbook stickers. Once the MP was dry, put the vinyl piece on and then added a rub on to the top. Kinda looks like a headband but it works. Embellished with some more rhinestone swirly thingies.
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Finished off the top with a velvet ribbon scrap, twine, and a couple of stray beads.
Linking Up At: 








Thursday, September 15, 2011

BFF Open House Link Party #20 and Celebration Giveaway!

Is it really the middle of September already?! YIKES! It will be Halloween before you know it and then we’ll be getting ready for Thanksgiving and then….

In other words, we’ve got TONS of stuff to make right? And that means we need supplies. Ssssshhhhh…..I’m celebrating my birthday! No I won’t tell you which anniversary of my 21st birthday this is. DO NOT ASK. But I want to celebrate with all my BFFs, so to celebrate the big day, one of you chocoholics will win your choice of $25 gift card to:
or
Winner’s choice. Keeping it simple. To be eligible, be a follower of The Answer Is Chocolate via GFC and leave a comment telling me you are. That’s it! Winner will be selected on Monday September 19.
Now, let’s see what everyone’s been up to this week.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Pick Your Poison: Altered Halloween Bottles

oneprettything

So, Mr. Chocolate likes an adult beverage from time to time which means I get some pretty cool bottles. I’m not saying I encourage him to drink the contents faster or anything .
Altered Halloween Bottles
I’m upgrading our Halloween décor each year to a more muted palette. I started with a crackled kraft colored scrapbook paper that went around each bottle followed by a black and white polka dot paper with torn edges. Mod Podged these on.
Altered Halloween Bottle Closeup
On the top and bottom of the paper, I added a row of sequened ribbon using double sided tape. Then I went to my sticker stash and had a round silver and rhinestone frame sticker from Making Memories and a silver foil sticker leftover from  a previous project.
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I picked up a package of “poision labels” at Michaels from their Recollection line ( 40% off of course) and those went on the bottles. Finished with black velveteen ribbon around the neck ( which already had a black wax finish…perfect!) added a button, and a skull rhinestone leftover from last year’s cards.
Altered Bottle Closeup

Altered Halloween Bottle Front
Linking Up At:
Tickled Pink at 504 Main
A place called home




Spider Web Glass Block

Dies dies everywhere I turn! Despite the fact that I have an Expression ( and want a Silhouette greedy guts that I am) there are times when I just want a single image and don’t want to buy a whole cartridge. So thank goodness for being able to use all different kinds of dies in all different kinds of manual die cutters!
Spider Web Block
I fell in love with Memory Box dies at first sight. They are so detailed! I bought this spider web die and knew immediately what I wanted to do with it. I had some glass blocks in my stash.
Memory Box Die
Spider Web Block Closeup
I ran the die through my Cuttlebug and cut out some vinyl. Stuck that to the glass block. Stuffed some lights in the block. Put some clear rhinestones on the webs and tied a black velvet ribbon around the block along with some scrap black fibers on top. BOO!
Fast and easy project!

Linking Up At: 

Monday, September 12, 2011

BFF Open House Link Party #19 Wrap Up and Features!

Thanks everyone who linked up and visited last week’s BFF Open House. I love visiting the links and seeing new and regular “faces”. Lots of wonderful ideas for Fall so here are just a few!

WIth Halloween approaching, here’s a bright and easy canvas and scrapbook paper idea from Pocket Full of Pink:
A seasonal twist on what to do with paint chip samples. Love this simple and elegant garland from Social Salutations:
Speaking of simply elegant, Carolyn from homework shows us how to make a gorgeous Fall envelope using leaf doilies from the dollar store :
I could see this idea adapted for place cards or table decorations at an Autumn dinner.
And finally, I fell in love with this tiered table makeover from Art is Beauty. Can’t you just see a Fall vignette displayed here?
Have a great week everyone and look forward to seeing you again this coming Friday!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Grandparent’s Day and Birthday Cards

While tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of September 11, a day  none of us can ever forget, it’s also Grandparent’s Day. The anniversary makes it even more important than ever to remember special people in our lives.

My son has my mom and my husband’s dad left as grandparents. I think he appreciates them even more now that he’s older, and they have been there every step of the way for him. I’m sure they won’t mind that this year we signed their cards on his behalf since he’s away at school and it seemed silly for me to make them , mail to him and have him mail to them!
Grandparent's Day
Owls immediately came to mind because they’re a symbol of wisdom…jut like grandparents.
Grandparent's Day Card Closeup
I used a graphic from my PrintShop program and generated the text using a Harry Potter font since the image reminded me of Hedwig. Used some coordinating papers and embellishments from my stash.  Added amber colored rhinestones for the eyes. The inside of the cards read:
Grandparent's Day Card Inside
Cheesy maybe, but true!

I also had a birthday card to make and guy cards are always challenging but Tim Holtz helped me out along with Making Memories Paper Reverie line with this cool argyle print:
Tim Holtz Life Imagined

Tim Holtz Life Imagined (2)
I stamped the image on a scrap of patterned paper and mounted it to a cream and then black scrap. Ran some patterned packing tape down the panel of the Making Memories paper and finished off with some metal self adhesive embellishments.