A site for my handmade cards, accompanied by my photos and written meanderings which are occasionally witty, often tongue-in-cheek, and rarely profound. Beginning in June 2013, you'll also see lots of NBUS, which is an acronym I coined for Never-Before-Used-Schtuff. Note: my Privacy Policy can be found at a tab below and you can find my NBUS Challenge online. I hope you'll join in the fun there! Thanks for coming by! Have a beverage and enjoy!

September 8, 2012

CFC69 ~ Embossing; FMS #51 ~ A Sketch by Cindy; Simon Says Put a Stamp On It!

Halloween.  It's not a holiday I decorate the house for.  Thanksgiving gets fanfold turkeys used every year since 1974, kidlet drawings, special linens, and a new fall coffee table flower arrangement.  Christmas gets every surface of the house covered.
But I do have a few Halloween stamps and last year in the after-holiday sales, I found this awesome paper designed by Tim Coffey and sold by K&Company. 
I finally got a chance to use it, even though it's only September.  First, the challenges:
1.  CASual Fridays (CFC69) Use embossing.
2.  Freshly Made Sketches (FMS #51) A sketch by the fab Cindy.
3.  Simon Says Stamp "Put a Stamp On It" Stamptember Challenge.

Second, my card:

I was so tickled to find that perfect round orange button in my stash to pumpkinize for an embellie on my embossed sentiment!  I die-cut a Memory Box tree and snipped off one of the tiny branches with leaves to give the "pumpkin" a stem.
~~~

My household decorations may not reflect Halloween, but my office does.  Just to show you that I have no shame, which you probably already worked out for yourselves, here are a couple of pictures of me totted up for the office:

2010 ~ Lumberjack Paul Bunyon
(those are actually Mister's gardening clothes and hiking boots!
And a pillow!  Please, I hope you didn't think that was for reals my stomach!!)

~~~

2011 ~ Dolly Parton,
(although I look more like a drag queen.
And a pillow!  Please, I hope you didn't think that was for reals my boobs!!)

~~~

Speaking of early Halloween, I got a surprise treat in the mail yesterday from my sister Diana!  A few weeks ago, she opened a loud crackly bag of something in my ear while we were on the speakerphone with each other, which nearly took my hearing out.  I had to yell over the noise, "Diana, what the ...!"  She explained that she was opening a bag of dark chocolate covered licorice. 

What?!!  They make such things?!  Oh, well then, please go ahead and never mind my hearing.  I would do the same if I had just come home with a bag like that when the phone rang and I couldn't contain myself any longer!  In fact, I proceeded to whine like a baby because I wanted some. 

(We all have a thing for licorice ever since Uncle Shike gave us kids Black Jack licorice gum as a reward after we swept the cow pies out of the back of his transport truck.  These days there are child labor laws, but we would have done it anyway for some of that gum.)

So anywoodles, I forgot all about it.  But my sister, Diana, she's a good listener and a thoughtful person, and she didn't forget.  She waited a bit so that she could surprise me with this:


Thank you, sister! They are were de lish and de vine!  Burp.

Enjoy your Saturday!   We are off to Adventure Park with our extraordinary offspring and the twins for a Funday tomorrow.  Hope your day is a Funday, too!  As always, thank you for stopping by to visit.   Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!

 
Paper:  K&Company, Tim Coffey Fall
  Pumpkins 30-159815
Stamp: California Rubber Stamp/Chris,
  Happy Halloween C 1409
Ink:  SU embossing powder, rust
Punch: SU (no name or number on it)
Button:  stash; leaves, MB tree die

23 comments:

Redanne said...

Hi Darnell, your card is gorgeous, love, love that pumpkin paper but then I do love Halloween although it is not celebrated too much here, or Thanksgiving for that matter. Those pictures are brilliant! Sorry to say but you do look a bit like a drag Queen, in a nice way thoug....... Choclolate coated licorice too - lucky lady! Enjoy tomorrow! Crafty hugs, Anne x

Sandy said...

Love your photos of you at work.. We don't celebrate Halloween here in Australia. Think the shops are trying to push it though see a bit more of the stuff about every year.. Card is cute, the paper is fun, love the embossing. Sandy :)

Mynn xx said...

What a beautiful fall card!!! LOVE that gorgeous paper! Also, your costumes are HILARIOUS! Please come join me at the Technique Tuesday challenge blog if you get the time! :)

Victoria said...

Oh dear, and I thought they were both real pictures.... my mum has always told me that when you get older, 'things' drop down, so I just assumed you'd put the pictures in the wrong order, and your Dolly Parton boobs had dropped down to your stomach! Ah well, i live and learn!!!!! (ouch, my pinkie!) Right now, I'm happy there's a big ole pond between us - please don't hurt me! Anyhoo, I love those gorgeous pumpkins and the green punched border is great with it. Have a super Funday at Adventure Park!

Amanda said...

Love the card, thought the costumes were priceless too funny for words. Mmmm that licorice sounds de lightful. Hugs, Amanda x

Kim Heggins said...

Not sure which is cuter, your fabulous photos or your card! Really your card is just so sweet, love that paper, so fun and festive! But those costumes, just amazing, love both. Halloween is my favorite holiday so I do decorate and need to get moving on that. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for this year's costume!!

Loll said...

Great Halloween card ... that DP is gorgeous. Love the green border and your PERFECT pumpkin button. Sweet, sweet, sweet!

Speaking of sweet, those dark chocolate covered licorice sound de lish for sure!! Lucky you to have such a thoughtful sis!

G Peplow said...

Always fun when I visit you Darnell, super post!!
I love your Hallow'een card, it's brilliant!! Love your costumes too LOL LOL What a super Sis you have, really thoughtful, it sounds as if you enjoyed your sweets LOL, Gay xx

Carol L said...

This is such a pretty card, and I too have a sheet of that pumpkin dsp in my stash :) Love your dress-up photos too - FUN! I've never heard of or seen that chocolate covered candy, but it sounds yummy :)

Jean said...

What a sweet Halloween card ~ and a very creative pumpkin embellishment! Love your Halloween costumes ~ I can hardly wait to see what you come up with this year!

shirley-bee said...

Love the card with its pumpkin button, and those photos are brilliant!

Ardyth said...

I love that 'split' on your card - perfectly lined up, but allows for the border to add interest. Also love the way the button pumpkin 'glows' - like a jack o lantern!

Not sure about the licorice, my favourite is Thornton's chocolate smothered (their word) special toffee. Fortunately you can only get it in the UK, so I only have it once or twice a year (my husband travels there for work), because every time I eat a pound of it, the scales go up 5 pounds! (How can that be??)

Inkyfingers said...

I love your pumpkin card and I agree that the button is just perfect for the card. I'm still chuckling over your dress up pictured and shall henceforth think of you as 'Dolly'. That liquorice looked scrummy!

Bonnie said...

Just a quick howdy since I need to get DH some supper. I've enjoyed stalking you this week. Sorry I haven't had time to say hello, but I couldn't miss my Darnell fix each day. What a beautiful Halloween card! Love the costumes. It's nice to see that gravity has worked backwards on you. Wish it would do that for me! LOL

Michele Gross said...

Wonderful! I love the pumpkin paper :) Thanks for having some fun with us at CAS-ual Fridays!

Virginia L. said...

Lovely pumpkin card, Darnell! Your embossing on the sentiment is gorgeous! Love that shine of orange! And how FUN are your Halloween photos!Those pillow sure come in handy! I may have to borrow your idea for Halloween costumes--WAY cheaper than plastic surgery (LOL)!!

Jen Timko said...

Ok, first that card is awesome! The way you used that beautiful print is simply fantastic. Now to those pictures. In a word, hilarious! Love the humor! What a great sister...glad the are, um were, as wonderful as you thought!!

Angie Tieman said...

What a pretty Fall card!! Love those pumpkins! Thanks for playing along with us this week at CAS-ual Fridays!

kingstonmama said...

Gorgeous fall card. I love the way you used that pretty fall paper and your pumpkin button is so cute. Your costumes are amazing. So much fun! :) ann

Jen Sannes said...

That little pumpkin button is the cutest! And I LOVE the Halloween pics - too funny! :) Thanks for playing along with this week's sketch!

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Great Halloween card with the pumpkin paper. I LOVE your costumes ! Too funny ! I don't have much in the way of Halloween stamps, I'll just keep using the same ones :) I hope you are having a great day, Shirleyx

Jen Mitchell said...

The pretty pumpkins get sort of lost amongst the herniated stomach and the big boobs, but it really is a lovely card. Now about the licorice. I have hated licorice since I was a kid (still do) BUT for some reason that I cannot explain I love Black Jack licorice gum. Odd, that. Wish I had some of that now!

Oh, and thanks for the chuckles, the walk down licorice memory lane, and for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches!

Dana said...

HAHAHAHA! I love those photos Darnell! You crack me up! *chuckle*
Your pumpkin card is super and that BUTTON! OH MY WORD, how perfect and round and shiny! So glad you joined us for CAS-ual Fridays this week:)