Sneaking in a quick challenge

Well...it's almost 3am in California and I'm still WIDE awake. I have to take the kids to school in four and a half hours, so now I'm deciding if I should just stay awake or what?! I see Starbucks in my very near future...

Since I'm awake with no distractions....I decided to play in my workshop for a bit. After cleaning and re-organizing for 2 hours, I came across a sketch that by buddy Jen just posted. Here's my take...
I used my new Whipper Snapper critter. Isn't he adorable? The bling is by Doodlebug and everything else is from my scrap bin. The lavender cardstock is shimmery, so that's why it looks weird in the photo.

Hugs,

A little thumbthing to hang on a bottle

Welcome to Day 2 of "Hambo Week" at Midnight Scramper!
With Christmas just around the corner - eeeek! - I decided to use Monica's challenge to get at least one holiday project done.

This is a wine bottle hanger and you can get 3 of them out of one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11" cardstock.
Here's how I did it:

Cut a strip of cardstock to 2 1/2" x 8 1/2".
Score it at 2 1/2".
Then just punch a whole to fit over the neck of the bottle.

Couldn't be easier.


Here's how I made the velvet antlers on my reindeer:
First I drew them out with my Tombo multi-adhesive. Then I poured my Doodlebug velvet flock on top of the glue and gently pressed it in with the lid of the bottle.
After letting it sit for a moment, I tapped off the excess.
Don't forget to use promo code "ScramperStalker" when you make a purchase at Hambo this week. You'll get 15% off your order just for being a loyal reader!

Remember this box I made for my class this past weekend? I made another one using Hambo stamps that I'll be sharing with you tomorrow, along with the template.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

ENABLER ALERT!

My buddy Jen is having a huge sale!! Click on the banner above....

Monica sent me a little "thumbthing"...

Last month I got a surprise package from Monica over at Hambo. Inside were these two stamps and a challenge to create something using only them. I came up with a few projects using these, plus some other Hambo goodies that I'll be sharing with you all week!


So here's what I came up with for my first little "thumbthing" to share. What do you think?
To make the bats, I stamped the thumbprint with black ink and then used a Sharpie to draw the wings and ears. Everything is cuter with googlie eyes right? So I had to add some of those too.
The cobweb background was made with the new Cuttlebug embossing folder that I picked up at "Little C's". I embossed it onto black cardstock and then brayered over it with Stampin Up white craft ink.

If you want to order these adorable images for yourself, you can find them in the "Funny Sayings" section here.
Thumbprint: Item #0709
Thumb Sentiment: Item #1510

Plus, as an added bonus, Monica has been VERY generous and offered a special promotion for my readers! All you have to do is go to the Hambo website and enter Promo code "ScramperStalker" at checkout to receive 15% off your entire order for this whole week!

Thanks for stopping by. You guys are the best!
Be sure to check out what the rest of the Hambo Design Team came up with!

Hugs,


CARD RECIPE
STAMPS - Hambo
CARDSTOCK - Stampin Up (Basic Black, Whisper White, Kraft)
INK - Stampin Up (Craft White, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black)
MISC - Ribbon, Stickles, googlie eyes

It happened....

I lost my mojo!

Here's Lauren's sketch for today.
Such a great sketch, but unfortunately my brain has turned to mush today.

After my first two stamped cards went into the garbage, I decided to reach for the rub-ons. I'm not thrilled with it, but we all have a dud every know and then right?
Oh well.....better luck next week!
Be sure to check out what the other design team girls did!
Alicia, Dawn, Kim, Kirsten, Kristy, Maria & Tamara

Hugs,

Ready to fool your family?

I shared this recipe with you back in June, but thought I'd share it again so my new blog readers could try it out.
This recipe has quickly become a family favorite and my kids were asking me all week to make this for dinner, so on Tuesday I made a HUGE pot of it by doubling the recipe. We've been gorging ourselves on leftovers for the last few days and now sadly....it's all gone."Buttered
" Noodles

"Simple buttered noodles make most kids very happy. In this version, they're getting their veggies, too."

Here's what you'll need:
8oz. of your favorite pasta noodles (I used Penne)
1/2 cup of butternut squash puree*
1/4 cup of nonfat milk
2 Tablespoons of butter
2 Tablespoons of grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon of salt


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente.

Drain, return the pasta to the warm pot, and stir in the squash puree, milk, butter, Parmesan and salt.

YUM-O!

* To make the butternut squash puree, just steam it and put it in a blender or a food processor. I was able to get about 3 cups of puree, which I pre-measured into 1/2 cup servings and froze to use as needed.

I bought my butternut squash at Trader Joe's in the refrigerated section by the salads. The squash was already cubed, pre-washed and ready to cook. Couldn't be simpler!



My buddy Libby suggested substituting baby food for the puree. I think that's a super idea!
Be sure to check back tomorrow for Lauren's Saturday sketch!

Class Project #3

Here is the last project that we'll be doing at my class this Sunday. Just in case you missed them (gasp), you can see the other two projects by clicking here and here. For this card I wanted to stay away from the "expected" Halloween colors. There is definitely orange and black in there, but it's not to over-powering. I decided to go with a neutral card base of SU Kraft cardstock which I ran through the "Swiss Dot" embossing folder by Cuttlebug.

The background behind the main image was brayered with So Saffron and then sponged with Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie and Elegant Eggplant. After the background was done I just used the "Haunting" wheel with black ink. I really need to start using my wheels more....
To finish it off, I embellished with some of that Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon that Stampin Up just released. LOVE IT!

Here's how I made the bat with my Round Tab Punch.
First I punched half of the design off of black cardstock.
Now, line up the edge of the paper that you just punched so there's just a tiny bit showing through the opening. The little piece that you punch out will be your bat! You can make em' as skinny or as fat as you want.
Super simple!
It looks like a bat right????

Kristina's Color Challenge

I haven't been able to participate in Kristina's color challenge for the last several weeks, because life has been ^@#*!@ crazy lately! Sometimes I wish there were just 8 more hours in a day.

I just got home from my monthly design team meeting at Green Tangerines and even though I'm swamped with deadlines this week, I decided to make time to participate today.
Here are this week's colors: Here's my entry using Stampin Up's new "Harvest Home" set.
I embellished with some yummy felt flowers and the new punch bundle. I'll be back at midnight with the final project that we'll be doing at my class this Sunday.
Until then.....

My new buddy :-)

Check out this post by my new friend Jen in Hawaii. Cracked me up!

Happy October!

It's a new month and that means new Hambo samples to share with you! I decided to do all Halloween projects for my design team assignments this month.

All four stamps that I used can be found on the Hambo website by clicking the links below:
Candle Border #1720
Spider Web #1401
Big Spider #1413
Halloween Definition #2206

I came up with the layout and "upgraded" to a 5" x 7" card base after I saw Jen's "Sketch for you to try". I love her sketches, and thanks to insomnia this weekend, I was finally able to play along.

Instead of using the traditional and expected Halloween colors, I decided to bust into my stash of SU's retired Purely Pomegranate. I created the background with my brayer and sponges and kept the candles white by using the emboss resist technique.

For those of you who aren't familiar with emboss resist, you basically just stamp your image onto white paper and color it way you want it. Then clear emboss over the whole thing. The clear embossing protects the original image while you brayer, sponge or stamp over the rest of the background. When you're done, just take a napkin and wipe the excess ink off of your embossed image. Voila! It's still perfectly white.


That's it for me today!
Hugs,